NY Observer > Ellen Page

Blackbird Soars to Screen

Hillary Frey — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:21:51 -0400

Calling fans of Hard Candy (the pedophile movie starring Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson, not the makeup): Variety reports today that David Harrower will be adapting his harrowing play Blackbird, which was put on by the Manhattan Theater Club last year with Jeff Daniels and Alison Pill, for the big screen. The story features only two characters—a middle-aged man and a young woman—who are reunited when the young woman hunts down the man to confront him about the affair they had when she was a girl. Don’t worry: There won’t be any castrating going on here (remember what happened to Mr. Wilson?). But that didn’t make the play any less affecting. Fingers crossed for a re-casting of Ms. Pill and Mr. Daniels, who shocked us with their terrifying and riveting stage performances.

Double Vision

Rex Reed — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:48:08 -0400

THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS
Running Time 78 minutes
Written by Maureen Medved
Directed by Bryce McDonald read more »

Ellen Page to Take on Jane Eyre

Gillian Reagan — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:10:50 -0400

Watch out Keira Knightley! Ellen Page is trying to take your career as period-piece queen! The Juno star is making big moves, from quick talkin', uber-hip hipster types to one of literature's most beloved characters in BBC's new adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Reuters reports:

BBC Films has signed on to develop an adaptation of the Charlotte Bronte novel and has attached Page to play Jane. Moira Buffini wrote the screenplay; a director has not yet been chosen.

The role would mark the first period piece for Page, who has signed on to a number of contemporary films since her Oscar-nominated turn in "Juno," including the roller-derby comedy "Whip It!" and the dramatic thriller "Peacock." She opted out of Sam Raimi's supernatural tale "Drag Me to Hell" this year, citing scheduling conflicts.

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Pieces of Ellen

Andrew Sarris — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:48:05 -0400

THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS
Running time 77 minutes
Written by Maureen Medved
Directed by Bruce McDonald read more »

Slayed by Quaid! Middle-Aged Glamour Boy Scores as Scruffy Prof

Rex Reed — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:03:36 -0400

SMART PEOPLE
Running Time 95 minutes
Written by Mark Jude Poirier
Directed by Noam Murro read more »

Manhattan Weekend Box Office: Smart People? Demographic Doppelgangers Devour Holdovers

Jake Brooks — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:45:52 -0400

There was a clear division over the weekend between the haves and the have nots—as in those movies that had an audience and those that did not. Each of the top four movies in Manhattan averaged near or over $20,000, while every other movie in the top ten, except for The Visitor (no. 7)—which averaged $23,500 at two theaters—averaged below $6,000. read more »

Adam Green Scrapes Off the Mold

J. Gabriel Boylan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:48:52 -0400

So there's no way Adam Green could have known that, when asked by director Jason Reitman what music her character ought to listen to, Juno star Ellen Page would reply "The Moldy Peaches" faster than you can say "homeskillet."
And there's no way Mr. Green could have known the film would become such a runaway success, or that a tune by his old band, the Moldy Peaches, featured prominently therein would become one of iTunes' hottest downloads, or that the soundtrack would rocket to the top of the Billboard 200, or that he'd end up reuniting with ex-band mate Kimya Dawson after a four-year hiatus to perform their old songs in front of the ladies on The View, or that thousands of teens across the country would record their own cover versions of Juno's unofficial theme "Anyone Else But You," and then load them up on YouTube. read more »

Olivia Thirlby: Juno’s Bestie on the Brink

Sara Vilkomerson — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:51:12 -0500

“My brain hasn’t really processed it. I actually can’t believe it,” said Olivia Thirlby, via phone, early in the morning of Oscar Sunday. The 21-year-old actress, in Los Angeles, was eating breakfast (“I’m sorry for the crunching”) and about to embark upon the daylong process of readying herself for the red carpet to end all red carpets at the Kodak Theatre for Hollywood’s glitziest, puffed-up night. Ms. Thirlby portrayed Leah, Ellen Page’s braid-wearing best friend in this year’s little-movie-that-could, Juno—a film that not only surpassed expectations at the box office, but was the one bright spot in a lineup of Best Picture nominees that skewed dark and heavy.
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Yay for Tina Fey! SNL Posts Highest Ratings Since 2006

Joe Pompeo — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:44:29 -0500

Over the weekend, the first new episode of Saturday Night Live to air since the end of the writers’ strike posted the show’s highest ratings since Feb. 4, 2006, easily topping seven million viewers, Variety reports. SNL hadn’t broadcast since the fall, which made Saturday’s show—the first in four consecutive weeks of new SNL episodes—with Tina Fey as host (see above), guest appearances by Mike Huckabee (he was on Weekend Update, too) and Steve Martin (who, coincidentally, hosted the Feb. 4, 2006 episode), and a musical performance by Carrie Underwood, a highly anticipated event. read more »

2008 Best Picture Nominees Show the Nation in Mid-Squall

Sara Vilkomerson — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:12:41 -0500

This Sunday night, the 80th Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, bringing the usual glitzy glut of red carpet fashion, faux-improvised speeches and what is perhaps the most important industry honor of the year: The Best Picture Oscar. Two thousand seven was heavy, judging from the nominees: No Country for Old Men, Atonement, There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton and Juno. read more »