Thanks Pittfary.

Thank you Pittfary.

On October 18, viewers will finally get to see Steve McQueen’s movie adaptation of the stunning memoir 12 Years a Slave, written in the 1850s by Solomon Northup. With a cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Giamatti, Quvenzhané Wallis from “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Sarah Paulson of “Mud,” and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northrup, expectations for McQueen’s film are through the roof. Today, we get another peek at the epic tale with the release of the television trailer.

McQueen’s previous film, the titillating “Shame” starring Michael Fassbender as a sex-addicted thirty-something, spared nothing in its approach to a loaded topic. Our expectation is that McQueen will employ the same raw energy and direction to “12 Years.”

Northrup’s memoir recounts the years following his enslavement. Northrup was born a free man – but on one fateful day, he is kidnapped, drugged, and sold into slavery in Louisiana. What follows is a decade-plus of his quiet wish to find the freedom that was once his. And when that wish comes true, Northrup takes his case to the courts.

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Thanks Carole & Pittfary.

FYI. Webmiss is gonna ‘invade/explore’ Asia the next 3 weeks. My very sweet friend La_Miga will look after my precious SimplyBrad.com. Please be kind to her. Thanks again!

Thanks Pittfary.

Thanks Pittfary.

D-Day veteran and ex-Sherman tank crewman Peter Comfort, 90, had the Hollywood legend in fits of laughter

A World War II hero told how he had Hollywood legend Brad Pitt in fits of laughter after telling him he had no idea who he was.

Ex-tank crewman Peter Comfort, 90, got a phone call from the producers of Pitt’s latest blockbuster in which the actor plays the commander of a Sherman tank.

They invited the D-Day veteran on-set to watch the filming of the A-list star’s latest WWII action movie ‘Fury’ and help the actor get to know what life was like living and fighting in a Sherman.

Peter went to meet the Ocean’s Eleven star – and left the film crew in stitches when he told him he’d had to check him out on the internet first.

He said: “Mr Pitt was very friendly and charming actually but I didn’t know who he was.

“I said to him ‘Until last night I didn’t have a clue who you were and then I googled you and you’ve been in quite a lot of films’.

“They all rolled about laughing when I said that.

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Thanks to Pittfary & Carole.

Brad Pitt may be one of Hollywood’s recognizable faces but it’s his work off-camera that’s keeping his career ticking at an alarming rate.

“12 Years a Slave,” the 19th century drama from director Steve McQueen, has garnered Oscar buzz after receiving not one but two standing ovations in less than a week, the latest at the Toronto Film Festival on Friday.

“It’s pretty special,” Brad Pitt said of the strong reaction to the drama, which the actor not only co-starred in but also produced through his Plan B banner.

“It’s one of those rare moments where story, performance and storytelling come together at the level,” he added from the Variety Studio. “We’re very proud of it.”

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave” is based on the novel by John Ridley and tells the true story of Solomon Northrop, a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the 1840s.

“Ultimately what it’s reminding us is our responsibility to take care of each other,” he said of the film’s civil themes.

Producer Jeremy Kleiner, co-president of Plan B, initially reached out to McQueen, along with Pitt and Plan B’s Dede Gardner, after the director’s first feature “Hunger” and asked him what he’d like to do next.

“The fact that there hadn’t been more films about slavery didn’t make sense for him,” Kleiner said, which led to McQueen’s wife stumbling upon the book.

“Our early mandate was to work with directors and storytellers we found complex and (who) might need a little help getting over the hill,” Pitt said of his company.

Gardner, who helped oversee production on the shoot, said the goal for Plan B and Fox Searchlight was always simple: to make it bullet-proof.

“From the beginning the idea was to get the movie far enough down the field to make it undeniable, to get it to a point where no one could poke holes in it,” she said.

So far, they’ve managed to do just that.

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TORONTO — The upcoming film “12 Years a Slave” is a harrowing look at slavery, but its stars, including Brad Pitt, say it’s a subject that needs to be explored more on the big screen.

Pitt, whose Plan B company produced the film about a free man sold into slavery, was at its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Pitt said he was first drawn to the film because of its British director, Steve McQueen, known for such films as “Hunger” and “Shame.”

“We started talking to him about what he most wanted to do next and he asked the question, asked the question that no American asked, why aren’t there more films about slavery?” Pitt recalled on Friday night. “And that’s what he wanted to do. And that’s where it started and that’s what led us here tonight.”

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With his hair hanging below his shoulder, Brad Pitt sat on the stage of the Palm Theater after the screening of “12 Years a Slave.” There had been low-register buzz earlier in the day that Pitt, whose company Plan B produced the searing drama, would be in the mountain town for the world premiere. Set to open in the fall, “12 Years a Slave” is based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man who in 1843 was kidnapped while traveling and sold into slavery.

“First of all, I’ve seen this film a couple of times now and I find it a little difficult to speak afterwards,” said Pitt. “It might be more productive if we just had a group walk around the block.” Nearby sat McQueen and his astounding cast: Northup’s portrayer Chiwetel Ejifor; Michael Fassbender, who plays slave owner Edwin Epps; and Lupita Nyong’o, making a searing debut as Patsey.
Pitt is right. McQueen, a celebrated British artist turned filmmaker, has made a film that is as brilliantly crafted as it is relentless in depicting slavery.

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