There’s nothing we like better than an overnight success story but Jessica Chastain’s feels just too good to be true. A perfect storm of Chastain movies, swelled by critical adulation, is brewing in what looks like a co-ordinated assault on the awards season.

Earlier this year was a taster, with the release of Terrence Malick’s winner at Cannes, The Tree of Life, in which Chastain played Brad Pitt’s wife – as auspicious a debut as any actor could hope for. Then came civil rights Oscar bait The Help. Next up are apocalyptic fable Take Shelter, another winner at Cannes, and The Debt, an espionage drama starring Helen Mirren. (more…)

It’s become a rare experience to sit down to a movie and discover that Jessica Chastain’s not in it, says Tim Robey.

When the cast for Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life was announced, there was one name no one could put to a face. As far as we knew, “Jessica Chastain” might have been some exotically-plumed bird Malick had found on a trip round the Galapagos, or perhaps a species of willow in the title role. The trailers gave us a tantalising glimpse of her flame-haired beauty, but “Jessica Who?” was very much the refrain.

A few months after Tree’s Cannes premiere, things are quite different. It’s become a rare experience to sit down to a movie, scrutinise the cast, and discover that Jessica Chastain’s not in it. I’ve heard plenty of quips from colleagues by now that her presence feels like a statutory requirement in every 2011 release. It certainly makes you wonder about the last time a film star was this omnipresent. Back in the mid-1990s, it felt like Steve Buscemi was in everything (40 film roles, give or take, between 1990 and 1998). With seven back-to-back releases in this one year, Chastain’s starting to give him a run for his money. I’d recommend that Buscemi watch his back, but the likelihood of them gunning for the same parts is, prima facie, fairly slim. (more…)

I just added two new gorgeous portraits done during Toronto Film Festival. Check it:

Here’s the new US trailer for Coriolanus:

Looking to update the site, I added captures of ‘The Tree of Life’ in our gallery. More updates to come, so do not forget to keep checking us.