Can you remember the last time a documentary actually took your breath away?
I can. It happened on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, in a theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The film was Citizenfour, which documented the encounters between National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden and the filmmaker/journalists Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill.
My datebook for the day simply said “Poitras”—she was on hand to introduce the picture, of which I had no particular expectations. Documentaries come, and documentaries go by the hundred, after all. This one, I thought, was just one more in a crowded season.
But within minutes I knew I was wrong, stunningly so. In a shocking act of cinematic transgression, Poitras and her colleagues had risked the rage of multiple governments to record evidence of vast surveillance overreach by virtually unfettered intelligence agencies. They had filmed Snowden in real time,...
I can. It happened on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, in a theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The film was Citizenfour, which documented the encounters between National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden and the filmmaker/journalists Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill.
My datebook for the day simply said “Poitras”—she was on hand to introduce the picture, of which I had no particular expectations. Documentaries come, and documentaries go by the hundred, after all. This one, I thought, was just one more in a crowded season.
But within minutes I knew I was wrong, stunningly so. In a shocking act of cinematic transgression, Poitras and her colleagues had risked the rage of multiple governments to record evidence of vast surveillance overreach by virtually unfettered intelligence agencies. They had filmed Snowden in real time,...
- 1/3/2023
- by Michael Cieply
- Deadline Film + TV
More than her urgently and perceptively topical subject matter, American documentarian Laura Poitras has a habit, and penchant, not solely for making work about the right things, but in being there as they’re occurring, standing in the center of them unafraid. It’s not a documentary filmmaking language where you can carefully compose, refocus, and reframe a shot; it’s “start rolling and go,” and maybe hide it under your arm in case there’s some brute who might smash your camera and its Sd card. You can call this predominantly a journalistic skill: there she was in June 2013, flanked by the Guardian‘s Glenn Greenwald (now did his story turn elsewhere) and Ewen MacAskill, before legendary Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden in her documentary Citizenfour—a vital audiovisual documenter of contemporary radical US history.
Turning even further towards domestic affairs—after 2017’s Risk couldn’t quite find the necessary...
Turning even further towards domestic affairs—after 2017’s Risk couldn’t quite find the necessary...
- 9/7/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
First Look Media co-founder Laura Poitras published an open letter Thursday, writing that she’s been fired from First Look, the nonprofit that owns investigative journalism outlet The Intercept and the documentary studio Field of Vision. Poitras said the firing, which happened back in November, came after she publicly criticized The Intercept’s handling of whistleblower Reality Winner. She says the organization is betraying its founding mission to serve as a public watchdog anchored in deep, investigative reporting.
The Oscar-winning documentarian wrote that she was terminated on November 30, ostensibly without cause, but she connected the move to her speaking out about the way The Intercept handled the Winner case. Winner, an Nsa intelligence specialist, in 2017 sent the publication classified documents about Russian meddling in the US election. Federal investigators traced the documents back to Winner before The Intercept published its story; she is serving a five-year sentence for the leak.
The Oscar-winning documentarian wrote that she was terminated on November 30, ostensibly without cause, but she connected the move to her speaking out about the way The Intercept handled the Winner case. Winner, an Nsa intelligence specialist, in 2017 sent the publication classified documents about Russian meddling in the US election. Federal investigators traced the documents back to Winner before The Intercept published its story; she is serving a five-year sentence for the leak.
- 1/14/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
The two most famous whistleblowers in modern history discuss Steven Spielberg’s new film, The Post, about Ellsberg’s leaking of the Pentagon Papers, the personal cost of what they did – and if they’d advise anybody to follow in their footsteps. Introduced by Ewen MacAskill
Daniel Ellsberg, the Us whistleblower celebrated in Steven Spielberg’s new film, The Post, was called “the most dangerous man in America” by the Nixon administration in the 70s. More than 40 years later, the man he helped inspire, Edward Snowden, was called “the terrible traitor” by Donald Trump, as he called for Snowden’s execution.
The Guardian has brought the two together – the most famous whistleblower of the 20th century and the most famous of the 21st so far – to discuss leaks, press freedom and other issues raised in Spielberg’s film.
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Daniel Ellsberg, the Us whistleblower celebrated in Steven Spielberg’s new film, The Post, was called “the most dangerous man in America” by the Nixon administration in the 70s. More than 40 years later, the man he helped inspire, Edward Snowden, was called “the terrible traitor” by Donald Trump, as he called for Snowden’s execution.
The Guardian has brought the two together – the most famous whistleblower of the 20th century and the most famous of the 21st so far – to discuss leaks, press freedom and other issues raised in Spielberg’s film.
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- 1/16/2018
- by Ewen MacAskill, Edward Snowden and Daniel Ellsberg
- The Guardian - Film News
MaryAnn’s quick take… A gripping précis of what Edward Snowden learned at the CIA and Nsa, why he went public, and why it matters. Entertaining yet also deeply unsettling. I’m “biast” (pro): big fan of Oliver Stone, and of Edward Snowden; love the cast
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
I have not read the source material
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Snowden opens in June 2013, as journalists Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo: London Has Fallen, The Big Short) and Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto: Star Trek Beyond, Hitman: Agent 47) first meet and interview, over several days, Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt: The Night Before, The Walk), in a hotel in Hong Kong. My first thought upon my second viewing this weekend of Oliver Stone’s (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, W.) gripping docudrama about these shocking real-life events is...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
I have not read the source material
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Snowden opens in June 2013, as journalists Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo: London Has Fallen, The Big Short) and Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto: Star Trek Beyond, Hitman: Agent 47) first meet and interview, over several days, Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt: The Night Before, The Walk), in a hotel in Hong Kong. My first thought upon my second viewing this weekend of Oliver Stone’s (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, W.) gripping docudrama about these shocking real-life events is...
- 4/3/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives an intelligent, alert performance as whistleblower Edward Snowden, in Oliver Stone’s best work since the 90s
“The Social Network’s Evil Twin” could be one way of describing Oliver Stone’s expertly made movie: a tense, taut drama with heart-stopping moments – Stone’s best since his 90s paranoia thrillers Nixon and JFK. It’s based on the story of Edward Snowden, the Us intelligence analyst who in 2013 went public about America’s spying and data mining: the global abolition of privacy. In some ways, the stories of Mark Zuckerberg and Snowden bookend this whole debate. The web put us in touch with each other and then put state snoopers in touch with us.
Related: Snowden the movie: Ewen MacAskill watches the Nsa super-leak come back to life
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“The Social Network’s Evil Twin” could be one way of describing Oliver Stone’s expertly made movie: a tense, taut drama with heart-stopping moments – Stone’s best since his 90s paranoia thrillers Nixon and JFK. It’s based on the story of Edward Snowden, the Us intelligence analyst who in 2013 went public about America’s spying and data mining: the global abolition of privacy. In some ways, the stories of Mark Zuckerberg and Snowden bookend this whole debate. The web put us in touch with each other and then put state snoopers in touch with us.
Related: Snowden the movie: Ewen MacAskill watches the Nsa super-leak come back to life
Continue reading...
- 12/8/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – The experience of director Oliver Stone, to look underneath the slimy rocks of government secrecy and bureaucracy, produces an excellent history lesson in “Snowden,” an overview of Edward Snowden, a whistleblower against the government who is still in exile.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Stone is clear on his position on Snowden, who essentially told the world that their privacy rights were being violated through government access into their technology, he is a patriot. How he became that way is fascinating, with the complexities of spying on chilling display. Get your band-aids or masking tape out and tape that camera hole on your computer, or maybe you’re next on the CIA/Nsa “candid camera.” That is what the film warns, and again Oliver Stone is the agent provocateur who leads the way to teaching us something through his role, as he puts it, as a dramatist.
The story is told in flashback.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Stone is clear on his position on Snowden, who essentially told the world that their privacy rights were being violated through government access into their technology, he is a patriot. How he became that way is fascinating, with the complexities of spying on chilling display. Get your band-aids or masking tape out and tape that camera hole on your computer, or maybe you’re next on the CIA/Nsa “candid camera.” That is what the film warns, and again Oliver Stone is the agent provocateur who leads the way to teaching us something through his role, as he puts it, as a dramatist.
The story is told in flashback.
- 9/19/2016
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
At first glance, there is little about Snowden that would seem to distinguish it from some of this year’s other “I’m not sure there’s a movie in that true story” based-on-a-true-story movies like Sully and Deepwater Horizon, especially in the wake of the Wikileaks film The Fifth Estate or the exceptional documentary Citizenfour. But Snowden has a secret weapon, and it’s one that I wasn’t expecting: a fully-engaged and on-his-game Oliver Stone. And when Oliver Stone is on his game and fully engaged, there are few filmmakers who are more interesting or provocative. I have been a fan of his work for most of the time I have been a film fan, even before I knew fully who he was. I was drawn to films he had written, and when he made the jump to directing full-time with the back-to-back accomplishment of Salvador and Platoon,...
- 9/16/2016
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Depending on your point-of-view, Edward Snowden is a hero or a traitor. When whistle-blower Snowden leaked documents to the public, through the Guardian newspaper, that exposed the United States government’s massive surveillance and data collection on own citizens, the news exploded around the world, sparked outrage among the American people (either that their government was spying on them or that Snowden revealed it), and sent Snowden on the run and into hiding.
Hero or villain, few would deny that what Edward Snowden did is a worthy subject for a serious film. It even sounds like the subject might be a good fit for director Oliver Stone, a filmmaker famous for his affinity for conspiracy theories and for his libertarian-to-liberal views. But anyone expecting a very liberal slant to this film will be surprised, as Stone takes an even-handed approach, offering some of the arguments on both sides. The problem...
Hero or villain, few would deny that what Edward Snowden did is a worthy subject for a serious film. It even sounds like the subject might be a good fit for director Oliver Stone, a filmmaker famous for his affinity for conspiracy theories and for his libertarian-to-liberal views. But anyone expecting a very liberal slant to this film will be surprised, as Stone takes an even-handed approach, offering some of the arguments on both sides. The problem...
- 9/16/2016
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Oliver Stone’s film about the Nsa whistleblower now living in Russia presents ‘an excellent opportunity to learn what actually happened’, says Kremlin spokesman
A spokesperson for the Kremlin has urged people to see Oliver Stone’s new biopic about Edward Snowden, the Nsa whistleblower who has been living in exile in Russia since 2013.
Related: Snowden the movie: Ewen MacAskill watches the Nsa super-leak come back to life
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A spokesperson for the Kremlin has urged people to see Oliver Stone’s new biopic about Edward Snowden, the Nsa whistleblower who has been living in exile in Russia since 2013.
Related: Snowden the movie: Ewen MacAskill watches the Nsa super-leak come back to life
Continue reading...
- 9/16/2016
- by Catherine Shoard and agencies
- The Guardian - Film News
A few days ago we had a chance to sit down and chat with some of the cast members of Snowden.
From Oliver Stone, Snowden is a riveting personal look at one of the most polarizing figures of the 21st century, the man responsible for what has been described as th emost far-reaching security breach in U.S. intelligence history. In 2013 Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) quietly leaves his job at the Nsa and flies to Hong Kong to meet with journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) and filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to reveal U.S. government cyber surveillance of epic proportions. Ed has discovered that a virtual mountain of data os being assembled tracking all forms of digital communication, not just from foreign governments and terror groups, but from ordinary Americans.
Have a look at out Exclusive interview below.
Snowden is in theaters September 16th.
From Oliver Stone, Snowden is a riveting personal look at one of the most polarizing figures of the 21st century, the man responsible for what has been described as th emost far-reaching security breach in U.S. intelligence history. In 2013 Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) quietly leaves his job at the Nsa and flies to Hong Kong to meet with journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) and filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to reveal U.S. government cyber surveillance of epic proportions. Ed has discovered that a virtual mountain of data os being assembled tracking all forms of digital communication, not just from foreign governments and terror groups, but from ordinary Americans.
Have a look at out Exclusive interview below.
Snowden is in theaters September 16th.
- 9/15/2016
- by Fernando Esquivel
- LRMonline.com
“Snowden,” Oliver Stone’s best movie in years, benefits from the same biopic approach as “Born on the Fourth of July,” by giving us the personal story and not just the inner workings of the intelligence community that we gleaned from Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning “Citizenfour” documentary.
“Snowden” is a gripping narrative about the changing perceptions of the whistleblower (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he moves from idealism to disillusionment— while remaining a patriot. The film’s editors Lee Percy and Alex Marquez helped to humanize the Nsa contractor’s life and what motivated him to leak thousands of classified documents to journalists, exposing covert global surveillance programs.
While exploring the covert world of spying and complicated computer tech, Stone focuses heavily on Snowden’s relationships, particularly with girlfriend Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley), who broadens his ideology, and CIA recruiter and mentor Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans), whose surname was lifted from George Orwell...
“Snowden” is a gripping narrative about the changing perceptions of the whistleblower (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he moves from idealism to disillusionment— while remaining a patriot. The film’s editors Lee Percy and Alex Marquez helped to humanize the Nsa contractor’s life and what motivated him to leak thousands of classified documents to journalists, exposing covert global surveillance programs.
While exploring the covert world of spying and complicated computer tech, Stone focuses heavily on Snowden’s relationships, particularly with girlfriend Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley), who broadens his ideology, and CIA recruiter and mentor Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans), whose surname was lifted from George Orwell...
- 9/14/2016
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
What's your take on Edward Snowden: A patriot deserving of a presidential pardon? A traitor deserving of execution, as Trump believes? Something in between? In Snowden the movie, in which a fiercely committed Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the title role, Oliver Stone removes all doubt. He's Saint Edward, the cyber-nerd who's living in exile in Russia for the crime (or heroic act) of leaking classified Nsa documents that show how Uncle Sam (or Big Brother) is monitoring us, all of us, 24/7. As in Citizenfour, the brilliant documentary from Laura Poitras,...
- 9/14/2016
- Rollingstone.com
There’s no more obvious candidate for directing a Edward Snowden biopic than Oliver Stone, the reigning king of conspiratorial left-wing political thrillers. However, the definitive movie about Snowden’s dramatic leak of Nsa files already exists: Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning documentary “Citizenfour.” Stone’s “Snowden” recounts the same events, using them as a framing device to recount the young character’s radicalization. As a result, “Snowden” largely becomes the CliffsNotes “Citizenfour,” now with a Hollywood gloss.
See More Oliver Stone Interview: Why ‘Snowden’ Is His Answer to American Bullies
We find the defector (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose monotonous intonations echo Snowden’s own) meeting with a camera-wielding Poitras (an underutilized Melissa Leo), along with former Guardian reporters Glenn Greenwald (an overzealous Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson on autopilot). That interrogation shapes “Snowden” as it flashes back from the 2013 encounter to 2004, then works its way toward the present, as the...
See More Oliver Stone Interview: Why ‘Snowden’ Is His Answer to American Bullies
We find the defector (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose monotonous intonations echo Snowden’s own) meeting with a camera-wielding Poitras (an underutilized Melissa Leo), along with former Guardian reporters Glenn Greenwald (an overzealous Zachary Quinto) and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson on autopilot). That interrogation shapes “Snowden” as it flashes back from the 2013 encounter to 2004, then works its way toward the present, as the...
- 9/10/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Ewen MacAskill was at the heart of events as the whistleblower revealed the extent of Us government surveillance. On set he meets director Oliver Stone, star Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Wilkinson, who plays … Ewen MacAskill
Oliver Stone looks overwhelmed. It is May 2015, and we are in Munich on the penultimate day of shooting his drama about Edward Snowden. At lunch, the director seems anxious and weary, eyes heavy, shoulders stooped, energy sapped. When the idea of Snowden was proposed, he explains, he had strongly resisted. Then, slowly and reluctantly, he was drawn in. Today, he sounds as if he might regret that decision. There have been problems with finance, with finding distributors, in portraying something as dull as the cyberworld that Snowden inhabits.
“A director has to say everything is great, things are wonderful,” he says, exasperated. “Every day on a set is a potential disaster. Every day on a...
Oliver Stone looks overwhelmed. It is May 2015, and we are in Munich on the penultimate day of shooting his drama about Edward Snowden. At lunch, the director seems anxious and weary, eyes heavy, shoulders stooped, energy sapped. When the idea of Snowden was proposed, he explains, he had strongly resisted. Then, slowly and reluctantly, he was drawn in. Today, he sounds as if he might regret that decision. There have been problems with finance, with finding distributors, in portraying something as dull as the cyberworld that Snowden inhabits.
“A director has to say everything is great, things are wonderful,” he says, exasperated. “Every day on a set is a potential disaster. Every day on a...
- 8/18/2016
- by Ewen MacAskill
- The Guardian - Film News
The latest look at Oliver Stone’s real-life espionage drama concentrates on Edward Snowden’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) relationships – with his girlfriend (played by Shailene Woodley) and with the journalists and film-maker in whom he confides: Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto), Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson) and Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo). The film, based in part on Guardian journalist Luke Harding’s book about the episode, is due to be released in the Us on 16 September
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- 7/22/2016
- by Guardian Staff
- The Guardian - Film News
The first trailer for Oliver Stone's Snowden, a thriller about Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden, was released Wednesday. The film will chronicle the U.S. government's surveillance of its own citizens with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role.
While the Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour showed the real-life aftermath of Snowden's decision to leak documents pertaining to the government's intrusive spying program, Snowden tells the computer analyst's story from his military service after learning the depths of the Nsa's surveillance.
At one point in the trailer, Snowden and his girlfriend (played...
While the Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour showed the real-life aftermath of Snowden's decision to leak documents pertaining to the government's intrusive spying program, Snowden tells the computer analyst's story from his military service after learning the depths of the Nsa's surveillance.
At one point in the trailer, Snowden and his girlfriend (played...
- 4/27/2016
- Rollingstone.com
How do you make a riveting, chest tightening film out of the raw documentation of one of the most reported on watershed moments in the history of American whistle-blowing of which we already know the final outcome? Somehow Laura Poitras has constructed a stupendously taut thriller out of what is essentially an exclusive account of history in the making with Citizenfour, a film that was produced in secret, premiered at the New York Film Festival with the support of HBO and Radius-twc and deservedly showered in awards, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature.
The film begins in the darkness of a tunnel with Poitras in voiceover, reading calmly, clearly, yet still in a hushed, ominous tone, the first anonymously sent encrypted contact she received from Edward Snowden, operating covertly at the time under the code name ‘Citizenfour’. He has access to incriminating government secrets. He believes the American public should know about them.
The film begins in the darkness of a tunnel with Poitras in voiceover, reading calmly, clearly, yet still in a hushed, ominous tone, the first anonymously sent encrypted contact she received from Edward Snowden, operating covertly at the time under the code name ‘Citizenfour’. He has access to incriminating government secrets. He believes the American public should know about them.
- 9/8/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Open Road Films has released the first image of Oliver Stone's upcoming biopic "Snowden" which features Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the infamous leaker Edward Snowden and, surprise, it's not what you'd expect. Much of Snowden's past has been skimmed over in public discussion. People are aware he worked for the CIA for a time and eventually resigned before working for a Dell division contracted by the Nsa. That's where he acquired most of the thousands of classified documents he eventually leaked to news agencies around the world. What many don't know, however, is that earlier in his life Snowden joined the U.S. Army Reserve and underwent Special Forces training before, reportedly, breaking both legs during a training accident. His attempt to serve his country as a soldier is your first look at Gordon-Levitt as Snowden, which you can check out at the top of this post. Stone's first...
- 3/3/2015
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
During the opening minutes of "Citizenfour," it hits you that filmmaker Laura Poitras was actually filming Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden from their first meeting. She shows us first hand what happened and takes us deep into his mind in her new documentary "Citizenfour," a New York Film Festival world premiere and Oscar winner for Best Documentary. It premiered on HBO February 23, the day after the Oscars. Poitras documents the eight days she spent in a Hong Kong hotel room with Snowden and Guardian journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill as Snowden prepares to drop the bomb on the world. While it should not have been a shock that last year's winner of the International Documentary Association's Courage Under Fire Award was preparing a film on Snowden, the cone of secrecy surrounding the project meant that the announcement that the film was finished, breaking at the Nyff and hitting theaters October...
- 2/24/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Oliver Stone has added three actors to the cast of his upcoming Edward Snowden film, simply titled Snowden, on the heels of Open Road Films dating the anticipated picture for a Christmas Day release.
Nicolas Cage, Rhys Ifans and Joely Richardson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) have all joined a cast led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley. Melissa Leo, Tom Wilkinson, Zachary Quinto, Scott Eastwood, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Schnetzer and Jaymes Butler also star. Cage will play a former U.S. intelligence official, while no details have been revealed about Ifans and Richardson’s roles.
Gordon-Levitt, of course, is taking on the role of Edward Snowden, the American-born whistleblower who exposed numerous global surveillance programs run by the Nsa and the Five Eyes before fleeing the United States in hopes of being granted sanctuary in Russia. Woodley plays his girlfriend Lindsey Mills; Leo portrays journalist and filmmaker Laura Poitras...
Nicolas Cage, Rhys Ifans and Joely Richardson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) have all joined a cast led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley. Melissa Leo, Tom Wilkinson, Zachary Quinto, Scott Eastwood, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Schnetzer and Jaymes Butler also star. Cage will play a former U.S. intelligence official, while no details have been revealed about Ifans and Richardson’s roles.
Gordon-Levitt, of course, is taking on the role of Edward Snowden, the American-born whistleblower who exposed numerous global surveillance programs run by the Nsa and the Five Eyes before fleeing the United States in hopes of being granted sanctuary in Russia. Woodley plays his girlfriend Lindsey Mills; Leo portrays journalist and filmmaker Laura Poitras...
- 2/23/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
FX’s Justified is just weeks away from the finale of its sixth and final season, but star Timothy Olyphant doesn’t need to worry about being out of work once it’s curtains for the acclaimed drama. Deadline reveals that the actor is negotiating a deal to join Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley in Oliver Stone’s Edward Snowden pic.
Olyphant will portray a CIA agent who befriended Snowden before the American contractor, who leaked thousands of classified documents that he acquired while working for the Nsa, fled to Russia seeking asylum.
The actor was last seen on screen in ill-received dramedy This is Where I Leave You, but he’s known to TV aficionados not only for Justified but also for his stints on Deadwood and The Office. This latest project is sure to send his stock soaring even higher.
Stone pulled from multiple sources to assemble the screenplay,...
Olyphant will portray a CIA agent who befriended Snowden before the American contractor, who leaked thousands of classified documents that he acquired while working for the Nsa, fled to Russia seeking asylum.
The actor was last seen on screen in ill-received dramedy This is Where I Leave You, but he’s known to TV aficionados not only for Justified but also for his stints on Deadwood and The Office. This latest project is sure to send his stock soaring even higher.
Stone pulled from multiple sources to assemble the screenplay,...
- 2/20/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
Terrence Malick is having a busy week, which for the director who formerly took ages between films, must rank among his busiest. Malick has first been working on a documentary called Voyage of Time that will incorporate footage from The Tree of Life and be “a celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse,” according to a press release via HitFix. One version of the film will be just 40 minutes long, will feature narration by Brad Pitt, and will appear on IMAX screens. Another longer version will appear in traditional theaters and will be narrated by Cate Blanchett. Neither version has a release date just yet but are being planned for 2016.
His latest film however, Knight of Cups, is about to premiere at the Berlinale on February 8 (watch the trailer here), and the full plot revealed for the film sounds perfectly Malick-esque.
His latest film however, Knight of Cups, is about to premiere at the Berlinale on February 8 (watch the trailer here), and the full plot revealed for the film sounds perfectly Malick-esque.
- 2/6/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto and Tom Wilkinson are in negotiations to join Oliver Stone's untitled Edward Snowden movie at Open Road Films and Endgame Entertainment.
Based on Anatoly Kucherena's "Time of the Octopus" and Luke Harding's "The Snowden Files," Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star as the Nsa contractor who leaked classified documents. Shailene Woodley co-stars as his longtime girlfriend Lindsay Mills, and Scott Eastwood is also onboard.
Leo would play Laura Poitras, the documentary filmmaker who helmed "Citizenfour" and contributed to the reporting of the Nsa disclosures when the story broke.
Quito would play Glenn Greenwald, the lawyer and journalist whom Snowden chose to leak sensitive information to. Wilkinson would play Ewen MacAskill, the defense and intelligence correspondent for The Guardian who helped break the story.
Moritz Borman and Eric Kopeloff are producing the film which is slated to begin production shortly.
Source: The Wrap...
Based on Anatoly Kucherena's "Time of the Octopus" and Luke Harding's "The Snowden Files," Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star as the Nsa contractor who leaked classified documents. Shailene Woodley co-stars as his longtime girlfriend Lindsay Mills, and Scott Eastwood is also onboard.
Leo would play Laura Poitras, the documentary filmmaker who helmed "Citizenfour" and contributed to the reporting of the Nsa disclosures when the story broke.
Quito would play Glenn Greenwald, the lawyer and journalist whom Snowden chose to leak sensitive information to. Wilkinson would play Ewen MacAskill, the defense and intelligence correspondent for The Guardian who helped break the story.
Moritz Borman and Eric Kopeloff are producing the film which is slated to begin production shortly.
Source: The Wrap...
- 2/5/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
There's a scene in Laura Poitras' documentary, Citizenfour, where 29-year-old American intelligence employee Edward Snowden is hunkered down in a Hong Kong hotel room with London Guardian journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill when the fire alarm goes off. Snowden, who was surreptitiously meeting with Poitras and the reporters in May 2013 to expose the massive intelligence capability of the U.S. government, freezes—practically terrified. He'd just unplugged the room's phone and warned his new friends that intelligence agencies can easily use them as microphones, and you can tell that he's not one who believes in coincidences. "Maybe they...
- 12/4/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
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