mjgchick

a*shot*of*whiskey

Thanks Lena. Hehe cute title

Ok Jill we now have a new thread, now release those goodies your promised

Elyx

tftnt

Baby-Puffster

Boo Hilarie didn't go? Why did Sophia find the time to go and she didn't even have a purpose being there and Hilarie couldn't find time to support the movie? Boo. I wonder if we will get any reviews.

jilliek

Sophia was always scheduled to attend--her film (The Narrows) is just showing there. TSLOB was actually a "Gala Premiere" (pretty damn huge), so it would've been nice if Hilarie went. The only positive I can pull out of Hilarie not attending was that Paul (who was originally on the "attending" list) didn't go either, so...eh.

I don't know if you want to replace those old articles in the OP with TIFF pics (no Hil/Paul, though)...
Cast + writer + producers + Fox execs


Cast (minus the white supporting actors ) + Director (in red)

jilliek

Starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo, a powerhouse ensemble of women from the world of music and film, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES is the touching story about the need for love, sisterhood and redemption that explores the undeniable desire for a sense of belonging and the often daunting journeys that we must navigate to achieve it. Set in South Carolina, the home of the intelligent and independent honey-making Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys and Okonedo) is suddenly thrust into upheaval with the arrival of fourteen year-old Lily Owens (Fanning) and her caretaker Rosaleen (Hudson). Surrounded by the unexpected comforts, grace and deep rooted spirituality Lily (Fanning) encounters in the Boatwright home, she soon forms a maternal bond with each of these women whose unique and special gifts help reconcile the loss of her mother. Through the strength and female empowerment that embodies the Boatwright sisters, Lily ultimately comes to the realization that sometimes you must leave home in order to find it.

Owning and operating a successful bee farm and honey-making business, August Boatwright (Latifah) is the family matriarch running the household with a firm but loving hand with her sisters, the fiercely independent music teacher June (Keys) and the innocent childlike May (Okonedo). The Boatwright sisters’ lives are disrupted when fourteen year-old Lily Owens (Fanning) and her caretaker Rosaleen (Hudson) appear on their doorstep seeking refuge. After fleeing with Rosaleen to Tiburon, South Carolina, a place surrounded by mystery and a strong connection to Lily’s mother, they find shelter at the Boatwright household. Lily is immediately taken under the wing of August Boatwright (Latifah) as her new beekeeping apprentice. There she is given a comfortable place to explore and, for the first time in her life, just be. Lily also discovers joy in the simple pleasures of life through her deepening relationship with the Boatwright sisters and soon comes into her own, determined to enjoy the sweet nectar of life for the first time. As a budding young woman who has left the place she once called home, Lily unexpectedly finds her true home and a family she has always yearned for.

Tristan Wilds stars as August’s godson and Lily’s newfound friend, Zachary Lincoln Taylor, a hardworking teenager who dreams of becoming a lawyer; Nate Parker as a young man head over heels in love with marriage resistant June Boatwright (Keys), Hilarie Burton as the mother Lily only remembers in her dreams and Paul Bettany as her embittered and widowed father.

Casting quotes
Internationally acclaimed actor Paul Bettany, whom audiences recall as the loyal, but relentlessly daunting imaginary friend to Russell Crowe in A BEAUTIFUL MIND, portrays Fanning’s cruel father, T. Ray, in the film. “To try and think like another human being - however awful they are, however you might judge them as horrible and cruel - it’s very edifying,” Bettany
says.

It was Bettany’s chameleon-like ability to seamlessly morph from one character to the next in previous film roles that caught the attention of the filmmaking team, especially the director.
Even before she’d met him, Prince-Bythewood had thought of Bettany during the screenwriting process. Then, at their first meeting, she recalls being flabbergasted. “All I kept thinking was “Oh my God, he’s T. Ray!” Immediately following the meeting, she called and offered him the role. “There’s obviously a bunch of really great American actors that she could have gone with,” says Bettany. “Because she had faith in me, I wanted to give her my best.”

With the help of a voice coach, the versatile Bettany replaced his genteel British lilt with a Southern vernacular and transformed his easy-going, off-screen personality into that of an enigmatic time bomb, T. Ray, the lonely peach farmer who eventually becomes a cruel parent. “The struggle is to put aside your own politics and sense of right and wrong to try and produce a man of his era,” says Bettany.

Prince-Bythewood shares a surprising bit of on-set observation about Bettany. “I know T. Ray is such a dark character, but you say cut, and Paul is cracking everybody up,” she says. “He is so funny.”

Describing her character as a woman who marries beneath her social strata, so caught up in dating a “bad boy,” Hilarie Burton portrays T.Ray’s wife and Lily’s mother, Deborah Owens. The actress hopes women will find Deborah relatable and think before they act. “She knows she put herself in a difficult position, so there’s a lot of self-loathing there.”

(new still!) The lovely Paul as T-Ray:


The still where you can see Hilarie as Deborah (in the pics behind Dakota)


I also have the FULL credits (stuff that rolls at the end of the movie) if anyone wants info from that (music, whatever).

simplyme7196

thanks for all the info Jill at least there's some Hil

jilliek

No problem! I tried to compile all the Hil info/tidbits as possible.

Another title thing option:

mjgchick

Jill you want me to add all that in the opening?

jilliek

Sure! Dunno if you want to add the Paul stuff, also. I only bring it over, cause TBQH, those are the only 2 I care about.

The articles in the OP can be deleted, since we know Hil was casted. Also, release date is October 17, 2008, if you want to add that.

Also, there's a few more new stills (Alicia/Nate, the sisters, Dakota/Queen, director directing), does anyone care about those?

mjgchick

Seriously none of Hil lmfao ugh I keep passing out lol

jilliek

Yep, still no Hil. And I haven't seen the HQ of that Dakota one (to enlarge the Hil pics). At least there was Paul! I know T-Ray's a creep, but that new still of PB is freakin' hotttttttttttt.

LOL, narcoleptic.

mjgchick

Paul is pretty. I'm attracted to crazy guys

No more like my ADD is acting up LOL

a*shot*of*whiskey

Thanks for the info Jill and thanks Lena for updating the OP!

jilliek

Film Review: The Secret Life of Bees
Bottom Line: Buzzworthy.

By Michael Rechtshaffen
Sep 5, 2008

Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO -- Sue Monk Kidd's acclaimed, Civil Rights-era novel, "The Secret Life of Bees," about a troubled South Carolina teen who finds redemption in an unlikely place, has been turned into an affecting ensemble piece that's destined to generate a fair share of awards-season buzz.

Nicely adapted and directed by Gina Prince-Blythewood ("Love & Basketball"), the Toronto International Film Festival premiere really takes flight on the wings of its powerhouse, female-centric cast headed up by Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and, especially, Sophie Okonedo. At least a couple of those performances are certain to resonate particularly strongly ahead of the film's October 17 release, which, along with sturdy word-of-mouth should give Fox Searchlight a head-start in its kudos campaigning.

Young Fanning, who so far seems destined to avoid that awkward teen phase, is as impressive as ever in the role of Lily Owens, a 14-year-old who must cope with tremendous guilt feelings over the death of her mother, as well as daily castigation at the hands of her cold, abusive father (Paul Bettany). Ultimately fleeing with her caretaker, the strong-willed Rosaleen (Hudson), the two find sanctuary in a big Pepto-Bismol-pink house belonging to successful bee farmer August Boatwright (Queen Latifah) and her two sisters--the independent June (Keys) and the delicate, childlike May (Okonedo). Director-screenwriter Prince-Blythewood maintains, for the most part, a firm grip on the material, careful not to overplay potentially tricky, big dramatic sequences.

But while that admirable restraint occasionally comes across as tentativeness in other parts of the film, she succeeds in coaxing uniformly lovely performances from her honey of a cast.

Fanning aside, Queen Latifah shines as the calming nurturer of the three sisters; while Keys proves to be as commanding (and as a striking) a presence in front of the camera as she is behind a piano.

And while Hudson, though in a less substantial role, continues to make good on her Oscar-winning Dreamgirls promise, it's ultimately Okonedo who movingly steals the show as the Boatwright sister who tragically carries the weight of the world on her fragile shoulders.

Having previously been nominated for an Oscar for her turn opposite Don Cheadle in "Hotel Rwanda," it would be surprising if Okonedo's achingly poignant performance here didn't earn her a return ticket.

The Hollywood Reporter