What to See This Weekend: Ben Affleck Goes to 'Town,' Emma Stone Causes a Scandal

Oscar-hopeful season kicks off in earnest this weekend with the release of dramas 'The Town' and "Never Let Me Go.' Which isn't to say that there's not also plenty of frivolous fun ('Easy A,' 'Devil,' 'Alpha and Omega').

New and Noteworthy: 'The Town'

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively
Directed by: Ben Affleck
What It's About: After making his feature directing debut in 2007 with the acclaimed 'Gone Baby Gone,' Affleck returns to the world of Boston crime dramas with this adaptation of Chuck Hogan's novel 'Prince of Thieves,' this time starring and co-scripting as well. It's Stockholm syndrome in reverse when Affleck, leader of an accomplished team of bank robbers, falls for a lovely hostage (Hall) and finds his loyalties divided between her and his tight-knit, family-like crew.
Why Should You See It? The Boston-bred Affleck certainly knows the turf, works well crafting the performances of other actors and (lest we forget) is already an Oscar-winning screenwriter. He's out to prove 'Gone' was no fluke, and early word is he's done so. Plus, the film has plenty of action, not to mention the man you can't get enough of, Jon Hamm.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Departed,' 'Mystic River,' 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle' Oscar-hopeful season kicks off in earnest this weekend with the release of dramas 'The Town' and "Never Let Me Go.' Which isn't to say that there's not also plenty of frivolous fun ('Easy A,' 'Devil,' 'Alpha and Omega').

New and Noteworthy: 'The Town'

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively
Directed by: Ben Affleck
What It's About: After making his feature directing debut in 2007 with the acclaimed 'Gone Baby Gone,' Affleck returns to the world of Boston crime dramas with this adaptation of Chuck Hogan's novel 'Prince of Thieves,' this time starring and co-scripting as well. It's Stockholm syndrome in reverse when Affleck, leader of an accomplished team of bank robbers, falls for a lovely hostage (Hall) and finds his loyalties divided between her and his tight-knit, family-like crew.
Why Should You See It? The Boston-bred Affleck certainly knows the turf, works well crafting the performances of other actors and (lest we forget) is already an Oscar-winning screenwriter. He's out to prove 'Gone' was no fluke, and early word is he's done so. Plus, the film has plenty of action, not to mention the man you can't get enough of, Jon Hamm.
You Might Like It If You Like: 'The Departed,' 'Mystic River,' 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle'

•Showtimes & Tickets
•The 10 Best Heist-Movie Disguises
•Reviews: Cinematical | Variety | indieWIRE's Leonard Maltin

'Easy A'
Starring: Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Dan Byrd, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church, Stanley Tucci
Directed by: Will Gluck
What It's About: Reading 'The Scarlet Letter' in English class, high-schooler Olive (Stone) discovers that letting people know you're sexually active is still a way to make yourself a scandal-magnet in your community. Even if, as in Olive's case, it's not true.
Why Should You See It? Gawky geek bombshell Stone ('Superbad', 'Zombieland') at last gets to carry a movie and show off her full comic range, with the help of an ace supporting cast. Plus, seeing this is a lot easier than actually, y'know, reading 'The Scarlet Letter' yourself.
You Might Like It If You Like: '10 Things I Hate About You,' 'Clueless,' 'She's All That,' or any other teen comedy that cribs liberally from classic works of literature

•Showtimes & Tickets
•Moviefone Minute: 'Easy A' Premiere
•Moviefone Minute: 'Easy A' Screening with Emma Stone and Will Gluck
•Reviews: Cinematical | Hollywood Reporter

'Easy A': Trailer No. 1

Also New: 'Never Let Me Go'
What It's About: Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro ('The Remains of the Day'), Mark Romanek's beautifully shot drama stars Carey Mulligan, Kiera Knightley and future Spider-Man Andrew Garfield as friends raised in an English boarding school, bred and groomed for a horrific purpose. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips

'Devil'
What It's About: The first film in 'The Night Chronicles,' a series of low-budget horror features produced by M. Night Shyamalan, this one finds several office workers trapped in an elevator with Satan himself. (Think of it as a vertical version of Sartre's 'No Exit.') Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips

'Alpha and Omega'
What It's About: For once, wolves are the heroes in this 3-D cartoon that sends two of them (voiced by Justin Long and Hayden Panettiere) on a cross-continental journey back to the national park they call home. Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips
In Limited Release

'Catfish' is a Sundance-fave documentary, in which filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman learn a valuable lesson about social media: that people you meet on the Internet aren't necessarily who they say they are. (Hard to say more about this acclaimed, idiosyncratic tale without spoiling it.) Showtimes & Tickets

'Jack Goes Boating' marks the directing debut of Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Oscar-winning actor stars opposite Amy Ryan in this romantic drama about two couples, one coming together, the other coming apart. Showtimes & Tickets
Still in Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Resident Evil: Afterlife' -- Watch Milla Jovovich kick zombie butt again, this time in 3-D and IMAX. Showtimes & Tickets

'Takers' -- 'The Town' faces some stiff competition from this stylish heist caper, still going strong in its fourth week in theaters. Showtimes & Tickets

'I'm Still Here' -- We're pretty sure this chronicle of actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix's epic two-year meltdown is a massive Method acting stunt. But what if it isn't? Showtimes & Tickets
Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD This Week: An ancient hex, James Bond's ex (Gemma Arterton), special effects, Jake Gyllenhaal's pecs -- that's what you get in 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,' the sprawling Disney action spectacle from Jerry Bruckheimer, based on the popular videogame. Buy or rent the DVD | More new DVD releases

Movie Homework, Part 1: Need proof that Ben Affleck can act? See 'Hollywoodland,' in which his portrait of the life and mysterious death of TV Superman George Reeves offers not only a poignant character study but also an ironic commentary on Affleck's own thwarted desire to be taken seriously in Hollywood. Buy or rent the DVD

Movie Homework, Part 2: 'Easy A' is full of references to high school syllabus staple 'The Scarlet Letter.' The best and most faithful of the dozen or so filmed versions of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel is the Emmy-winning 1979 PBS mini-series, starring Meg Foster as the adulterous Hester Prynne. (Stay away from the thoroughly absurd Demi Moore version.)

On My Netflix Queue: Harold Gould, who passed away earlier this week, was an elegant, mustachioed character actor who tended to play dapper gents with a mischievous twinkle in their eyes. Exhibit A: Woody Allen's Tolstoy parody 'Love and Death,' in which Gould plays a snobby, hot-tempered Russian nobleman who challenges Allen's cowardly peasant to a duel, with unexpectedly wacky results. Buy or rent the DVD
•Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.

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Edward Norton on 'Stone,' His Cornrows, Detroit, and Prison Murder

Everyone knows that Edward Norton likes his roles complex. His latest, as a foul-mouthed convict with cornrows in 'Stone,' is a doozy as far as dichotomy and multi-faceted development is concerned. He plays Gerald "Stone" Creeson, an arsonist who allegedly killed his grandparents. Sitting across the table from him is prison parole officer Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro), who's nearing retirement and working on Stone as a last case.

'Stone,' on its surface, is a classic story about a correctional officer and a prisoner; underneath, however, are swirling currents about religion, convention, and spiritual rebirth -- can someone who's sinned be redeemed? Can someone who's never sinned recover from just one sin? Brought home via Norton's (and De Niro's) super-raw performance, the messages of the film are driven hard and deep.

Moviefone caught up with Norton at the Toronto Film Festival, where he chatted about his cornrows, the abandonment of Detroit and playing a prisoner on the verge of a spiritual awakening.

You have no cornrows now. I have to say I'm disappointed. Were those painful to get?
[Laughs] I had this wonderful woman from downtown Detroit, Crystal. She treated me kindly.

So 'Stone' was filmed in Detroit. How did that affect your character or the film at large?
I started nosing around in Detroit to really figure out who my character was -- like, "Who is this guy?" Detroit is ... man. That is one of the most incredible landscapes I've ever seen in my life. It's like a city going back to nature. It's so feral. I've never seen abandonment like that.

Very post-apocalyptic.
Yes, exactly. That was so compelling. John [Curran, the director] had this urgency to really try to locate this in the landscape of corrosion, abandonment and decay. He was interested in the idea of superficial structures of morality and marriage, and how Detroit kind of represented that.

And how did that change the way you approached your role?
John had said that when the audience first meets Stone, they should feel like he's the least likely person to have a spiritual transformation. These kinds of guys were everywhere -- these southwest Detroit white guys -- living in the Crips or in black gangs. It was really interesting. In the prisons we met some of these guys too, and that's where I really formed my character.

Well, you portrayed him convincingly.
I think that John's basic idea of challenging the audience to distinguish between authentic spiritual transformation and morality as applied by one person on another ... or rather, that whole idea of what makes one person fit to judge another's position on the spiritual curve, was really, really cool. He kept saying, "I want the two guys who face each other across the desk [Norton and De Niro], by the end of the movie, to have inverted."

Stone becomes almost obsessed with the religion Zukangor. Is it real? Fake? How did you come across it?
[Laughs] No. The truth is I really can't say what it is. It's a real thing that we found, but we had to rename it so we didn't offend anybody. It has the same syllables, the same consonants, but it's a different name. It was like Scientology, a trademarked religion. There was nothing we could do.

Do you find you're attracted to dichotomous roles?
It's all semantics, but I've done things that were overtly dichotomous, like 'Stone' or 'American History X' or 'The Painted Veil.' I would say that this movie appealed to me more because it was complex. This character kept revealing more and more layers as he unfolded.

In some scenes you don't say a word, but it's clear what Stone is thinking.
We saw a documentary about a prison and this particular gang. There was an event in it that was caught on a security camera, where two people are murdering another person. You could see in the video, right next to where this murder was happening, that there was somebody in a holding cell who could see the whole thing going down. In the actual video, you see the person against the bars, then dropping to the floor, and then reaching at the guy getting killed. It was the wildest thing.

Very disturbing.
John said to me: "People have epiphanies for so many different reasons, and they're so often not in synagogues or churches. They have moments of insight and revelation everywhere." And that really hit home for me that all of the characters in the movie have these moments of revelation, where this sound is coming in on them, and then the volume just dials down on everything, and there's clarity.

This was your second time working with De Niro. Your rapport was evident.
People project a lot of things onto him, mainly because of their relationships with his roles. In truth, he's a very thoughtful and committed guy. It's very bracing to do scenes with him; he resists the idea that it should end up in a particular place just because it's scripted that way. You really have to earn it with him, and it's very... uh, healthy. [Laughs]

And what about working with Milla Jovovich?
Milla reminds me of another actress, Karen Black. She's beautiful, but she's got such an odd, unsettling rhythm. Milla brings that rhythm to things... it's a very bold performance from her. Milla's got the ghetto thing down, that's for sure.

'Stone' opens in theaters on October 8.

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Penn Badgley Talks 'Easy A' and Working With Emma Stone

If you're a fan of 'Gossip Girl,' you know Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey, the guy-next-door. In smart teen flick 'Easy A,' he's not that far off. He plays nice guy Todd (otherwise known as high-school mascot Woodchuck Todd), who is the failed-first-kiss of Emma Stone's character Olive. While he doesn't get much screen time, Badgley manages to bring a comedic zing to the film that we weren't expecting.

Moviefone caught up with Badgley at the Toronto Film Festival – and all we can say is thank goodness for tinted glass; otherwise we would have had legions of screaming girls on our hands. He spoke about being part of 'Easy A,' what it was like working with Emma Stone, and whether or not the mascot outfit smelled like...well, pee.
If you're a fan of 'Gossip Girl,' you know Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey, the guy-next-door. In smart teen flick 'Easy A,' he's not that far off. He plays nice guy Todd (otherwise known as high-school mascot Woodchuck Todd), who is the failed-first-kiss of Emma Stone's character, Olive. While he doesn't get much screen time, Badgley manages to bring a comedic zing to the film that we weren't expecting.

Moviefone caught up with Badgley at the Toronto Film Festival -- and all we can say is thank goodness for tinted glass; otherwise we would have had legions of screaming girls on our hands. He spoke about being part of 'Easy A,' what it was like working with Emma Stone, and whether or not the mascot outfit smelled like...well, pee.

This was different than your average "teen" film. It seemed smarter.
Thanks, man. Not that I don't have faith in my own projects, but I'm still shocked at how broad the audience seems to be, or at least the kinds of people giving it a great response. I'm pleasantly surprised.

How was it on set?
It was a blast for me. I think I only did about eight days, and I was flying back and forth for 'Gossip Girl.' But for me, it was a nice departure from what I've normally done. It was off-beat, a little strange ... especially with the mascot stuff.

What was it like wearing that costume?
There were points where it was kind of awful.

Did it smell like pee? I hope not. You know how those things smell.
[Laughs] I think that's only after a lot of use. Thankfully, mine was clean. It probably didn't smell very good after I wore it, though, since I was wearing full body paint underneath the costume. I shot the mascot stuff all in one day, so the paint was dripping. Man, it was a mess.

You didn't do your own stunts, did you?
I wanted to, but of course couldn't. One thing that I wanted to do was the belly flop from the trampoline. It doesn't sound that bad, but the stunt double broke two ribs doing it. Well, he broke one rib, didn't say anything, and then did it again in another take, where he broke another rib. They really give their bodies to it. It's a matter of pride for them. It's crazy.

Were there any pranks or anything on set? It seems like a cast of funny people.
I bet you there were between Emma [Stone] and Will [Gluck, the director]. But, as I said, I wasn't on set for very long, so I don't know.

Emma Stone is hilarious in this movie. What was it like working with her?
Emma is great. She's super-talented. I hope she gets all the attention she deserves from this film. I hope she goes to the top. She's able to deadpan.

And Amanda Bynes playing the far-right religious wingnut -- that was great.
Seeing her play that role, since she normally plays the "straight" girl, was fantastic to see. I know for her it was lot of fun. She basically got to play a total bitch!

Who is your favorite character in the movie, besides yourself?
Hmm ... every single one of my mascots. [Laughs] I would say Stanley Tucci's and Patricia Clarkson's characters. Olive's parents together are so good. To me, they just elevate the movie to a whole other level. They are astounding.

What was your high school experience like? You were acting from a young age.
I was. I tried to avoid having set tutors ... rather than having to do the requisite three hours a day on set, I took the general proficiency and then took college courses at Santa Monica. So I guess I never really had a high school experience. I went for about a month, and on the first day one of my friends got punched in the eye. It was Southern California Public High School. Needless to say, I wasn't there for long.

Teenagers in the audience were cracking up at this movie.
That's good. I'm glad. I feel a bit awkward about 'Gossip Girl' sometimes, though, when young teens come up to me to talk about the show. Sometimes I just want to ask them, "Why are you watching?" I feel that maybe they're too young. I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate that they spend their time watching what we do, but I feel in some cases it may be too much for them.

Maybe they don't get 100 percent of it.
Oh, I think they get it, man. That's the bad part. I don't think anything is going over their heads.

Any 'Gossip Girl' tidbits for the fans?
I really can't. There's a baby. That's all I can say. Someone has a brush with death and we're in Paris. That's it.

What's next for you after this film is released?
I have another movie that'll hopefully come out next year. It's the most adult thing I've done. I'm by far the youngest person in it. It's about the financial collapse, called 'Margin Call.' It's got an amazing cast – Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore. I'm very glad to be a part of it.

'Easy A' opens on Sept. 17.

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