The Runaways

[conspiracy08]

^ im so jealous! i wanna see it too.

 

[dajrekshn]

community.livejournal.com/team_kbitch/

 

[MUXU]

saw it this morning. thoroughly enjoyable. like other viewers who commented, it is not a stellar award ridden movie but the actresses gave very good performances.
though...i do have to say that...perhaps it is because i read the script beforehand so i knew what was coming, but felt like the high point of the movie didnt really felt so high as i would expect it to be. considering the director did rock music videos, the visuals, especially the performance sections were really well done. and kristen and dakota really sang. i hope kristen do more singing roles haha, but not like high school musical style...she has a voice for rock'n'roll

cant wait for it to be on dvd

 

[Dora]

New Kristen & Dakota Interview

Q: So, Dakota, Cherie Currie said there was a moment you felt like it was fate intervening for you to get this role?
DF: Yes! I had a cherry temporary tattoo that I had put on for fun that day, and I came home from school, and my mom was reading the script, and she said, “You need to read this.” I always try to get more information from her before I read anything, but she never tells me much — she doesn’t want to bias my opinion — so the only thing she would say is that the girl I would play had a tattoo just like that, so I was like, “Wow!” It was just a little thing where it’s a sign that it was meant to be.

Q: Did you get much help from Joan Jett and Cherie Currie to prep for the film?
DF: Cherie, the mike move she does during “Cherry Bomb”? She taught me that so I could do it, too.
KS: That was crazy. I had never seen that before. Yeah, they filled us in on little stuff that was probably random but gave us a sense of what it was like to live back then. It was good that they were around, we needed them to fill in the blanks, but we also saw the videos they’ve got of themselves when they were younger, so we got a lot from that.

DF: And they were in the studio with us. I was definitely nervous, but the only way to rerecord the songs would be if I had the voice to do it, so I was thrown in the studio and we recorded the songs, and that’s what you hear in the movie. I thought I’d be recording them a bunch of times, not just the first few times and that’s it. But that was probably good, because that’s how they recorded them. They were just thrown in and just did it a couple of times.
KS: Joan was helping me be better at guitar. She’s pretty good. She’s got a really unique connection to the music, the way it comes out of her. She was telling me — and this is the only way to describe it, and I’ve said it before, but it’s the only way that feels right — she says you have to **** your guitar. I’m sorry, I don’t know how else to say it! [Laughs]

Q: How did spending time with them help you develop your roles?
DF: I think when you know a character well, you know what to do. Cherie, she was a completely different person onstage than she was off stage. And still to this day, she’s kept that vulnerability and innocence. And Cherie’s become my friend, so that makes you want to be the best you can at this for them.
KS: Joan has no regrets, I know she doesn’t, and that was huge to her. Everything in your life makes you who you are, and she’s really loving life right now. I’ve never seen anybody walk into a room that completely confident, and she doesn’t even realize that other people might not be like that, too. It’s not overcompensations. She’s not trying to be a certain way.
And to see them interact now, together, that was really helpful, too, because they turn into the people they were then, and they still really love each other. It’s hard to describe. It’s such a unique friendship and they relied on each other so strongly, and it’s like you add a kiss to something and suddenly it makes it like, “Oh. My. God. They love each other and they are lesbians!” They kissed one night, no big deal. They’re just really close.

Q: For some people, this might be their introduction to who the Runaways were and what they meant to rock and roll.
DF: I think probably for the younger audiences, and maybe that will lead them to go back and listen to the music or watch Live in Japan. I didn’t know who the Runaways were when I first read the script.
KS: Oh, man. If we didn’t tell this story right, since this is the version of the Runaways story that people my age would know about, that thought drove me crazy. When you care about something so much, it’s scary. Usually if the movie isn’t good or it doesn’t turn out the way you thought, that’s the way it goes. But this? We didn’t have any other options. The guilt I would have harbored for the rest of my life? It would turn my stomach. It would be horrible.

kstewartfans @livejournal

 

[Dora]

The Real Runaways Story: Behind the Scenes with Kristin Stewart, Director Floria and Kim Fowley

Author: Justin Timberlake
Posted on: Wednesday April 7, 2010 at 12:00 PM

Why is importrant to see the biopic film The Runaways? While leaving the theatre, we overheard two teenage girls saying: "Wow! I didn't even know that song, "I Love Rock 'N' Roll" was by Joan Jett. The two versions of the song I know are that one and Britney Spears' version."

Wait! Hold on! Stop the press! For any young girl who appreciates her independence, loves to play music loud, and is enchanted by Gwen Stefani, Katy Perry, or even pop stars like Lady Gaga, they should see the film The Runaways to know the path that was blazed by the all-female hard rock band, The Runaways, in the 1970s. Like rock equivalent of feminist bra-burners, the corset-wearing, electric-guitar-blaring group helped pave the way for the bra-bearing independence of female musicians today (and indeed females in general), by breaking all industry and societal rules.

As for why males should see the film? Young chicks rocking in corsets and leather, sweating on an electric guitar. Nuf said.

Based off the book, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, (co-written by Cherie Currie), the film is engrossing. Within the golden-tinted sun of the bell-bottomed 70s, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning are a convincing mix of niave and deviant as Joan Jett and blonde bombshell Cherie Currie. Meanwhile, tall, brazen Michael Shannon debuts as the film's comedic break-out character, strutting and hollering around in David Bowie facepaint as their eccentric manager/producer Kim Fowley.

We met Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and first time director Floria Sigismondi at this year's SXSW. Afterwards, we coincidentally sat next to the still charismatic, 'slightly' lunatic 70-year-old Kim Fowley on the plane from Austin to LA. Below we've assembled the behind-the-scenes bible of quotes from the stars and legends of The Runaways. Enjoy:

Behind-The-Scenes Quotes About The Runaways

Kristen Stewart on playing Joan Jett:

"You do one movie for a million reasons, but somebody said, "Hey do you want to play Joan Jett?" and I was like “yeah” and then I got really freaked out afterwards bc you realize all the stuff that goes along with that. [But] to a T, the most I’ve ever seen anyone be comfortable with themselves, Joan is comfortable with herself, even though she’s shy."

Director Floria on how she prepared for the film:
"I did a ton of research. But also that’s the period that I love from music. For the girls, I just kind of went back into my childhood, and sort of picked at things that I remembered that felt right…"

Kim Fowley on Floria's direction:
"She did a good job. But she wasn't making a documentary. That's not what she signed up to do. She had a book; she made a movie of a book. It must be hard for her because we're still living."

Floria on the rock aesthetic:
"For me, it was very important for the girls to play their instruments so everybody had lessons, [and] bonded together as a band. I made sure that happened every day like four hours a day for two weeks….so they were able to really feel what it was like. I wanted to give it an energy."

Floria on the explicit aspects of the film:
"If this was a PG movie, I would have been completely unfaithful to the Runaways and to those girls. I think the thing that made it so instrumental [was] how young they were - thrown into this world [with] no parental guidance, plucked away from their families on tour. Can you imagine?!? You are at that age when you want to just try everything - in the 70s."

Dakota Fanning on wearing THE corset:
"I really loved the corset. It was exactly like the one she wore. I felt the most in character in the corset. If you did know who Cherie is, you think of her performing in that corset so it was really an exciting moment for me."

Floria on Michael Shannon playing Kim Foley:
"Oh my god, he just knew how to play it! [His dialogue] was so wordy, and in the wrong mouth - my god - it could have been awful! [But] he played it in a way that was menacing but funny and condescending. There’s so many things that were a little bit more complicated in his dialogue. I thought he nailed…."

Kim Fowley on training Michael Shannon:
"Michael met me offset. Joan suggested that he should meet me to get the character research thing going on. Since they didn't let me on the set, they had to meet me at Denny's. Micheal and his assistant, Kristin Stewart, Joan Jett, an Associated Press and my ex-girlfriend showed up. I said to Micheal I have 28 personalities. I used them all on these girls. Clown, pimp, idiot, monster shrink...I wasn't dad, I wasn't the priest, but I was the PR guy. I was the roadie. I was all over.

Kristen Stewart on the 70s setting:
"I’ve always been really nostalgic for the 70s, even though I’ve never obviously lived in them. SO I was excited to live in the 70s for a while."

Dakota and Kristen on what soundtracks they listened to while filming:
Dakota: "I listened to a lot of the runaways and joan and David Bowie on set."
Kristen: "Joan put together little playlists."

Kim on Joan Jett:
"Joan and I are comfortable with each other talking and that's why in the movie Kristin Stewart and Kim could converse like we're conversing. I believed in her. It was just her and me before the other ones came along."

Floria on the ending:
"I think this ending is inspirational. I think Cherie’s story is very inspirational; she listens to herself and gets out when she can. I think it would have ended the other way if she had stayed.
Hopefully it gives [the younger generation] some courage to follow that little voice inside of them, telling them you should really be doing this…"

justintimberlake

 

[Dora]

Four new stills from TR:



twifans

 

[Dora]

‘Runaways’ director didn’t follow traditional Hollywood template

“Twilight’s” Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning are the box office draws in “The Runaways.” Yet more of the credit should go to Floria Sigismondi, a director who doesn’t follow traditional Hollywood methods for making a musical movie.

First, it is not a concert film of wall-to-wall music. Second, she has made a warts-and-all work. Third, she has persuaded her two stars to delve deeply into the personas of the real Joan Jett (Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Fanning).

Both fled their oppressive environments and landed with an eccentric manager, Kim Fowley (a brilliant Michael Shannon), who ruled with an iron fist and profane mouth and spent no money.

Expectedly, the teens came under the influence of alcohol and drugs, with sex also in the mix. Sigismondi shows how celebrity and the stress of touring influenced the teens’ behavior, but she doesn’t excuse it. Rowley’s cheapness, which forced band members to share rooms in dismal motels, also shares some blame in the woes of the band, also called The Runaways.

Stewart emerges as the better actress-singer of the two stars. One reason: Her role is better written and her work at trying to keep the group together makes her more sympathetic.

Fanning is no singer, but she’s a fine actress who projects the hopes and traumas of her character, which makes her a wrenching figure.

kstewartfans @ livejournal

 

[Dora]

The Runaways in Word magazine:



gossip-dance

 

[colourmefashion]

whats up with the cover
its hideous

 

[Dora]

Runaways sputters; what went wrong?

After more than four weeks since its limited release and it’s broader release April 9, Joan Jett biopic “The Runaways,” is sputtering at the box office.

Twilight’s Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning provided plenty of star power and the early reviews, while not overwhelming, were generally good.

Yet the film only did $285,000 over the weekend, and has grossed about $3 million since it’s release, which is still well shy of its modest $10 million price tag.

The film’s average per theater is $1,214, or about half of what it was a week ago, according to Box Office Mojo. That usually means a lot of empty theater seats.

As of this weekend, it was playing in about 243 theaters and the take is down 37 percent from last week. The film played in 39 more theaters this weekend, but whether more will be added remains problematic.

That left “The Runaways” ranked 17th among releases currently in theaters.

In contrast, the weekend’s No. 1 film “How to Train Your Dragon” pulled in $20 million from a little over 3,800 theaters, averaging about $5,229 a theater.

Probably the biggest problem facing “The Runaways,” is it’s R-rating, which makes it difficult for a large segment of Stewart’s Twilight fan base from seeing the film, without being accompanied by an adult.

Robert Pattinson’s “Remember Me” has grossed almost $19 million domestically after a six-week run. It cost $16 million to make, and is doing well overseas. The film also has a PG-13 rating, which opened the doors to his legion of young “Twilight” fans.

While The Runaways also got fairly good reviews, drawing a 68% score on movie Web site, Rotten Tomatoes, many reviews were lukewarm, and big city newspaper reviews as well as influential music fanzine Rolling Stone tended to be negative.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: “Say what you will about the Runaways — they never played it safe. The movie does.”

A.O. Scott of The New York Times chimes in: “The movie may be a little too tame in the end, but at its best it is just wild enough.”

Kyle Smith of The New York Post also gave it a tepid review: “Amusing though it sometimes is, the closest thing the movie offers to a reason for its existence is the post-Runaways success of Jett,” he wrote.

Betsey Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times outright panned the movie, although she gave props to Kristen for her acting, largely laying the blame on Writer-director Floria Sigismondi.

It’s a shame for Kristen. Although “The Runaways” was shot on a shoe-string indie budget, it was her first feature role outside of the “Twilight” series. Now, it’s back to Bella, for the actress.

Stewart will next swing back into the media campaign for “Twilight” sequel “Eclipse,” which hits theaters in June.

theimproper

 

[Dora]

Kristen Stewart Was the Perfect Joan Jett

Little known fact about Jennifer Stone? She auditioned for the role of Joan Jett in The Runaways!

The 17-year-old actress dished to JJJ at Disney’s Friends For Change shoot yesterday afternoon that she actually auditioned for the part that ultimately went to Kristen Stewart.

Jennifer shared, “I’ve always loved Joan Jett and when I heard Kristen Stewart got the part, I was like, ‘Totally get that.’ She did a phenomenal job. I watched a lot of Joan’s YouTube videos to get in the mindset of the part. She’s such a great role model for young girls that I didn’t want to screw anything up. I’m so happy Kristen got that part.”

When we asked if she would recast the movie, Jenn told us, “I wouldn’t recast. It was flawless. Everyone — Dakota Fanning and Kristen, did a fantastic job. There isn’t anyone who I’d recast.”

kstewartfans

 

[Dora]

New Runaways review-Kristen "is terrific as Joan Jett"

BY DARRYNKING ON APR 27 2010, 06:00AM
Yes, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star in this one, but for anyone expecting a natural progression from a certain vampire series, a word of warning (or endorsement, depending on your point of view The Runaways is dripping with sex. It’s about music fuelled by the furious desire to have an orgasm, a celebration of the X chromosome, chicks with guitars and other feminist thesis fodder. The Runaways is just the latest band biopic to vamp on that familiar riff of sex, drugs and you-know-what, but with the girls finally taking centrestage. Played by Kristen Stewart, Joan Jett exudes badass. Shag-haired and clad in a guy’s studded leather jacket – there are precious few female role models for her to look up to – she’s hell-bent on breaking some strings and blowing some amps. When a music teacher informs her that “Girls don’t play electric guitar,” she chooses to take it as a personal challenge. Providing counterpoint is Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, a platinum blonde nymphet who is just as much a rebel and misfit as Joan; she is quietly, perversely pleased by the violent reception she gets for her David Bowie lip-sync performance at a school talent show. Joan and Cherie (and a couple of not-as-important band members) come together under the tattered wing of rock impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon from Revolutionary Road). The Runaways are born in a derelict trailer park, with Joan on the axe and Cherie rocking the mic, as they promptly bust out their feisty classic ‘Cherry Bomb’ with next to no effort.

As you might expect from Sigismondi’s credentials, The Runaways looks and sounds great. It has a grainy, gritty visual style that perfectly complements the rough-edged energy of the music. What lets it down is the script, which seems to have been assembled out of hazy memories during a bad hangover. It was based on Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, Cherie Currie’s 1989 memoir, which partially explains why the movie turns into the story of Cherie – the one who ended up running away from The Runaways. There is, subsequently a big blind spot where Joan’s personal journey should be. One gets the impression she ceases to exist when she unstraps her guitar. It’s a missed opportunity.

That said, Kristen Stewart looks good in a leather jacket, and is terrific as Joan Jett. Heck, when she knocks together her own Sex Pistols T-shirt and casually flips herself the V in the mirror as she’s trying it on, you believe she is Joan Jett. Unlike Robert Pattinson, whose dreadful Remember Me opened a week earlier Stateside, Stewart proves herself a very capable performer, and leaves the Twihards coughing dust in her wake. It was a calculated decision to leave Bella Swan far behind, but the right one to make. Dakota Fanning is also remarkable as the girl thrust unprepared into fame, no doubt a story she knows well. Thing is, it’s hard to get behind her the way you want to, since Sigismondi has a knack for moving on quickly just as things are getting interesting – the film, for instance, hints at a relationship between Joan and Cherie but then doesn’t know what to do with it. Perhaps another byproduct of Sigismondi’s music video experience: she doesn’t want to linger for fear of being boring.

Just as the original band owed their success to part-manager, part-pimp Kim Fowley, this movie gets it mojo from Michael Shannon, who is in a class of his own as the cocksure Fowley training his chicks. It’s Fowley that brands the girls as fetish objects, works them like a drill sergeant at band boot camp, exploits them, abuses them. (Verbally that is. It’s been suggested that Fowley abused them in ways not purely verbal, but that isn’t addressed here.) It’s a fierce performance of the sort of character you only get in real life – since in fiction he’d probably need some redemptive qualities. America didn’t really warm to all-girl ’70s rock group The Runaways the first time round. They barely made a dent in the charts and disbanded after five years. If this film achieves anything, it’s bringing Joan Jett and The Runaways to a whole new audience, which is nice. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t quite manage to rock as hard as The Runaways did.

twitter/kstewangel

 

[farou7a]

whats up with the cover
its hideous

i second that

 

[Alvedansen]

...didn't want to write too much about TR in Kristens thread so i'll post it here

re: TR possibly becoming a success in europe

i think the main problem with TR is that it's a "young" movie, it's very fast and critics said it's like a 90-minute music-video (not in a negative way), so the movie is mainly attractive to a younger audience (also due to the actresses and their ages - which of course is part of the story) and a big part of that audience couldn't watch it because of the r-rating. and TR aren't big enough in music history that people in their late teens/early 20s know about them or are interested enough in watching the movie, on the other hand people who did grow up with them aren't interested because the movie looks rather childish when you watch the trailers, i haven't seen it, but judging from the previews/trailers it looks like a typical teenmovie, not an artsy indie movie. this isn't meant in a bad way at all, i'd love to see it (not in the cinema though) but i feel like they wanted too many things at the same time and didn't care enough about their target audience, it's too teeny/music-video-ish for the older generation and the r-rating didn't make it accessible to the younger audience, that's why i feel it didn't succeed and will have a hard time in europe as well (but i'm not an expert in these things, so who really knows )

 

[kokobombon]

A DVD screener is up for download

http://www.rlslog.net/the-runaways-2010-dvdscr-xvid-ta/

 

[farou7a]

^ thank youuuuuuuuuuu

 

[cloudyshambles]

A DVD screener is up for download

http://www.rlslog.net/the-runaways-2010-dvdscr-xvid-ta/

awesome!! don't know whether you received my karma, there was some weird error message... i'll definitely watch it this weekend!

 

[kokobombon]

^I got it, thank you

 

[dajrekshn]

watched it! finally!

it's so noticable Floria did the movie, the colouring.... by the end of the movie she even had her "famous" coldness caught (which i wondered if she's gonna be able seeing from the stills how "warm" she went and later throughout the movie). at times the story seems a bit inconsistent, like a "splash of look you give to the books' pages when you're searching for something to buy in the bookstore" kinda way, but overrall it's a good movie.

biggest disappointment for me was Dakota, at times she was just perfect but sometimes she looked out of the place - like a complete miscast (i don't get it, btw). the biggest surprise was Kristen - she did one hell of a job, i was:"STFU, i can't believe it's her! WOW!". Michael Sheen continues to be one of the most underrated actors atm. he was utterly amazing, AMAZING! seemed shizophrenic at certain moments.

anyhow, overall good movie, a bit underwhelmed, but good movie.

 

[Alvedansen]

^i'm the complete opposite, i HATED the movie watched it with a friend and we barely made it through it, it was so f*cking boring. i liked the script but they changed it for the worse and i felt like nothing really happened. i was constantly "well, when they finally go on tour it's gonna be interesting...when they go to Japan it's gonna be interesting etc" unfortunately the gripping part never came
the only good thing were the costumes, kristen wore some really nice tops (not just the tshirts) and that one dress dakota wore (when she's singing on her bed in the beginning, i think - white with blue chiffon(?) draped around it) was so gorgeous. and the movie made me long for summer and a roadtrip
Kristen was ok at times, terrible at others (not twilight terrible, but she always fell back into her mouth-acting instead of trying to act more with the eyes). dakota was good, she's not the over-actor that Kristen is, she's so much more subtle with her expressions which makes her look more natural
but yeah, i was looking forward to seeing the movie and i was so disappointed

eta: and i liked that Dakota had to change her persona throughout the movie, Kristen just had to be the same from beginning to end