What do you think of the cast of the new Anna Karenina film?

Bump, seeing as it went off-topic :)

Here's what I don't understand: Apparently the last Twilight and Harry Potter books are so long and epic that they needed to split them up into two movies...Yet, somehow, Anna ****ing Karenina only deserves one.

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Originally Posted by Desolation

Here's what I don't understand: Apparently the last Twilight and Harry Potter books are so long and epic that they needed to split them up into two movies...Yet, somehow, Anna ****ing Karenina only deserves one.

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Crazy, hey? But the box office know that they could have split Twilight and HP into 5 films and people would have gone to see each one.

It's a shame that Karenina doesn't have the name recognition to be given a decent adaptation. But, maybe they can still make a good movie out of it in one shot.

On the other end of the spectrum, though, The Great Gatsby is being made with a $150 million dollar budget, and is set to be released in 3D.

I just don't get Hollywood...

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Originally Posted by Playtime

Yep. Money and lack of ingenuity/originality. They want something that can make money and is relatively low risk, and the common way to do this is sequels/adaptations/prequels/remakes/reboots.

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Amen. Seems like that's the only thing on the menu anymore: adaptations that are infinitely inferior to earlier ones, toilet humor comedies, and sci-fi thrillers with juvenile scripts and ridiculous plots. The King's Speech was good, but great films seem to be like red diamonds these days. I watch foreign films almost exclusively now...

http://roscoeson7th.com/images/champagne_glass.png

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Originally Posted by Playtime

Yep. Money and lack of ingenuity/originality. They want something that can make money and is relatively low risk, and the common way to do this is sequels/adaptations/prequels/remakes/reboots.

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... and I thought the professionals at Hollywood and those screenwriting manuals claim that they want something 'fresh and new'...

Or maybe too many people write about contemporary trends. At least that's what I'm seeing too much in one of my creative writing classes currently.

The mere mention of Keira Knightley makes me recoil in horror unfortunately :/

Apart from that, looks good though :L

I don't know why Intuition is blaming the director. I doubt it was he who decided to adapt Anna Karenina into a movie.

At least the cast is well known, though I don't like Keira Knightley.

I keep thinking Winona Ryder would be good at another literary movie. She was fantastic in "The Crucible" and "Autumn in New York;" then again, I am biased, as she's my celebrity crush and her soft features seduced me in the latter movie.

A bit ridiculous really. Jude Law as the physically unattractive Karenin?! Keira Knightley as Anna, who is beautiful, but is also quite curvaceous, and is beautiful in a "radiates inner beauty" more than a 'model type' beauty like Keira. And Aaron Johnson as Vronsky, who is older than Kitty and physically not attractive, or attractive in a very masculine (he was quite large and had a big, unkempt, I think, beard) way...I fear that this film will ruin what is one of the most beautiful works of all time.

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Originally Posted by kelby_lake

Joe Wright is apparantly going to direct a new version in 2012. What are your thoughts on the cast?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781769/board/threads/

I don't have too much of a problem with Keira Knightly. She looks right although I'm not sure how well she could pull off neurotic passion. Aaron Johnson is still practically a boy so who knows why he's been cast as Vronsky. Jude Law might have made a better, if perhaps a little bland, Vronsky but for some bizarre reason he's been cast as Karenin! Yes, Karenin who is supposed to be in his late 50's and past the point of being sexually attractive. Law is famous for playing pretty boys. Would anyone really leave Law for Johnson? I think not.

On the plus side, I think Saiorse Ronan might make a good Kitty.

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They filmed part of this film on Salisbury Plains near to where I live in Wiltshire a few months ago.

Ronan and Johnson are terrible castings for their roles. I would much rather see someone like Sean Bean (if only he were 10 years younger) as Count Vronsky or Clive Owen could have worked.

I read Anna Karenina now and I find the cast interesting!Jude is a fantastic actor stage and film...so no questions I think he will be great...Keira...I will wait she is really good actress but Russian literature is different from what she had been in..Aaron Johnson perfect for the "empty" Vronsky I hate him and I dislike Aaron so perfect match...Kind of disappointed for Levin I don't know...Will there be Koznyshev? I love him in the book!!!

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Originally Posted by Ecurb

West Side Story is terrible. Of course many critics like it, because (in my opinion) they think it "highbrow". It's an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and the music is by a classical composer, Leonard Bernstein. Nonetheless, the score is sappy mush (can anyone listen to "I Feel Pretty" without being nauseated). The cast is terrible - neither of the leads can act or sing. And the script is ridiculous. When one's mind's ear hears, "Oh, I am fortune's fool", the movie's hero shouts, "Maria!" over and over.

A few of the songs and dance numbers are OK, but in general the movie is not even close to Singin' in the Rain. Complaining about a lack of narrative in a Musical is like complaining about a lack of singing in a tragic drama. It's all about the songs and dances. The light-hearted, jazz oriented numbers in Singin' blow away the balletic schmaltz in West Side. I never saw West Side Story on the stage, and, by reports, the dancing was innovative. In the movie, it doesn't work. It's meant to capture the teen angst of disaffected youth -- but the gang members look more like ballerinas than dissaffected youths. The best number is the one backstage number -- the dance in the gymn.

"Say it loud and there's music playing / Say it soft and it's almost like praying..." Barf!

I'll grant that mine is not a standard opinion (the movie won the Oscar), but it is the opinion of a huge movie-musical fan (me). Nothing in West Side Story comes even close to the "Singin' in the Rain" number or the long "Broadway Melody" ballet at the end (starring the incomparable Cyd Charisse, who also starred in the superb "Band Wagon").

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You compare it to one of the greats, if not the all-time great (Gene Kelly), and you wonder why it does not seem to measure up

As far as your criticism of Natalie Wood - tremendous acting skill does not always make a great role. Travolta and Olivia Newton-John were not terrific actors - but they were perfect and charming in the movie version of Grease. Same with the girl who played Mary Magdalene in the movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar. She was a pretty poor actress, but her version of Mary was unforgettable

It looks like a great cast to me. Keira Knightley is a good actress. People probably associate her too much with "Pirates of the C". I learned to know her in "Oliver Twist" and I immediately liked her.

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Originally Posted by Patrick_Bateman

I would much rather see someone like Sean Bean (if only he were 10 years younger) as Count Vronsky.

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Sean Bean played Vronsky in the 1997 adaptation of Anna Karenina, with Sophie Marceau as Anna :)

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Originally Posted by wordeater

Keira Knightley is a good actress.

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She's good in lighter films but I'm not convinced that she would make a good Anna. I still can't get over the bizarre casting of Jude Law as Karenin. If they wanted him in the film, they could have cast him as Vronsky. Aaron Johnson wasn't bad in Nowhere Boy but I think the casting is relying on his real-life romantic experiences.

Can't wait to see Knightly throw herself under a train... Worth the ticket price for that- I might cheer.

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Originally Posted by Night_Lamp

Can't wait to see Knightly throw herself under a train... Worth the ticket price for that- I might cheer.

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:rofl:

Natalie Portman would be good.

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Originally Posted by Ecurb

I love Caberet, too. Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood have to be the two worst stars in any musical. They can't sing,they can't dance and they can't act. I prefer Kiss me Kate for a Shakesperean musical. Look for Bob Fosse as one of Bianca's suitors. (I'll admit that Katherine Grayson is lousy, but even she is better than Natalie.

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Reading through these posts I don't know how they got onto musicals from Anna Karenina but as far as West Side Story is concerned, it's a clever adaptation of Romeo and Juliette and regardless of whether you think that it doesn't stand up to its film musical predecessors, you would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by this.

http://youtu.be/ycTwZh4nBt0

Hopefully they'll be better at the end than Tolstoy. Anna Karenina was about as perfect as a novel can be, until the last 50 pages.

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Originally Posted by Brett Cottrell

Hopefully they'll be better at the end than Tolstoy. Anna Karenina was about as perfect as a novel can be, until the last 50 pages.

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I imagine the film will remove most, if not all of the Levin parts. I can understand why as although I love them in the novel and would hope to see them included in a TV mini-series, it would be hard to convey in a film.

Henry Ian Cusick as Levin please.

Well, pictures are up!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781769/

Could they have made Vronsky look any less appealing? He looks like he should be a Scandinavian boyband member.

Seriously, they should at least have actors cast for their likeness to the roles - Knightley is so British, and post-modern that I think it will be a punishment to see. IT seems every now and then a British team comes by with an idea of how to ruin a Russian classic - this one looks like it will be the next Onegin.

The worst is Aaron Johnson. He just looks so unappealing.

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Originally Posted by CreativeAlien

agreed. And added: making money off classics is the occupation low.

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I don't mind the idea of adapting it. I really enjoyed the Garbo Karenina, even if it was just a vehicle for her. Nevertheless, if you are going to adapt Anna Karenina, you have some duty to at least faintly resemble the novel!

By making Vronsky too young, it just looks ridiculous.

Aaron Johnson is a young up and coming British star, and in the end Hollywood runs on star power so this is not surprising.

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Originally Posted by cyberbob

Aaron Johnson is a young up and coming British star, and in the end Hollywood runs on star power so this is not surprising.

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There's probably quite a few "up-and-coming" British actors.They can sell the film on Keira Knightly and Jude Law's names alone. Besides, the styling is what is so poor, not just the fact that he looks too young. Vrosnky's supposed to be younger than Karenin but he's still supposed to look like a man.

The trailer's just been released...
Anna Karenina Trailer

I think it looks pretty phenomenal...Much better than the new Gatsby movie.

I'm hopeful for Jude Law.

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Originally Posted by aj47

I think Keira Knightley is a little too young. Anna is supposed to be around the same age as Dolly and Oblonsky, right? Like in their early 30's, and Keira still looks about 19 sometimes. I can't really picture her as a mother.

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I think Anna is meant to be in her late-twenties. She married young so Karenin seeped the life out of her a bit. Sophie Marceau in the 1997 film was a good choice, as she looked young but looked like a woman rather than a girl. It's important that Anna looks like a woman because Kitty is meant to look young and a girl compared to Anna's womanliness.

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Originally Posted by aj47

I don't think the age difference between Keira Knightley and the actress playing Kitty is great enough to really get that idea across (or to show how Kitty admires and kind of looks up to Anna) she still looks a little more girl than woman.

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Kitty was going to be played by Saoirse Ronan, which would have worked much better. She could be played by someone younger than 19, especially as Keira's still young.

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I think Jude Law does look pretty different :)

Has anyone seen the clip from the new film that was released yesterday?

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My only problem with Aaron Johnson in this film is that he is really really cute but somehow he's not cute as Vronsky.

I am willing to give Keira Knightley a chance, when I saw 'Doctor Zhivago' that she was in I wanted to read the book. So people that haven't read 'Anna Karenina' might find it as great as I thought Zhivago was (before I read the book, not so much now).

I am sure many will go see it cause it's a big movie with big stars and the trailer looks good, few of them will have actually read the whole book.