Five Clips from 'The Giver' with Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and Taylor Swift

Lois Lowry's The Giver predates many of the currently popular YA novels, so there's been some attempt to separate it from the genre. The problem is, every single trailer and piece of footage makes it look exactly like the others, which is probably what The Weinstein Company wanted to begin with. Like it or not, these movies make a lot of money and those that tried to be different (I'll put Beautiful Creatures as one of those) haven't been met with a lot of success. With the film arriving in theaters this week, five new clips from the film have been released and one of them gives us a look at Taylor Swift in a small role.

The cast for this one is certainly impressive with Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges providing a veteran presence to Philip Noyce's film set in a society free of emotions and thus free of violence. In this supposedly utopian society one man, known as the giver, is gifted with the good and bad memories of the past. Brenton Thwaites plays Jonas, a young man who is the new Receiver of Memories, and upon learning how things used to be he decides that emotion needs to be restored. Of course there are those who would fight against him in order to keep the status quo. So basically this sounds almost exactly like Divergent, and with the requisite amount of teen romance in the midst of a societal breakdown it's just like every other YA story on the market. Katie Holmes and Odeya Rush co-star, and Taylor Swift makes a brief appearance as Rosemary, a key figure from the Giver's past.

Our own +Mae Abdulbaki swears by these books but I'm less than convinced. The Giver opens on August 15th, look for our review tomorrow.


The Giver Movie CLIP - Lose Him (2014) - Brenton Thwaites, Meryl Streep Movie HD by MovieTampan


The Giver Movie CLIP - The Girl Has A Name (2014) - Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges Movie HD. by Buzz Films


The Giver Movie CLIP - Something More (2014) - Jeff Bridges, Katie Holmes Movie HD. by Buzz Films


The Giver Movie CLIP - Rescue Gabe (2014) - Brenton Thwaites, Katie Holmes Movie HD by MovieTampan


Rosemary No Longer Exists In 'The Giver' by celebritywire

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New Trailer for 'The Giver' Shows a Colorless Future

In Lois Lowry's novel The Giver, there are numerous scenes depicted in stark black and white, so when the first trailer for the film emerged in full color it drove fans a little crazy. Maybe The Weinstein Company and director Philip Noyce heard the outcry, or maybe it was always designed to be this way, but the latest footage assures the book's readers the film will indeed be faithful.

While those same fans would also have you believe The Giver is not your typical YA adaptation, the trailers would seem to indicate otherwise. Starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgard, and Taylor Swift, the film is set in a seemingly idyllic world of total conformity, until one young boy receives the gift of past memories and threatens to expose a secret that could destroy everything. So it's not unlike Divergent and The Hunger Games in following one special character who threatens to break the fragile status quo by following their true feelings.

The Giver opens on August 15th.


The Giver Official Trailer #2 (2014) - Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges Movie HD by Trailer-Addict

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First Trailer for 'The Giver' with Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and Taylor Swift

Jeff Bridges has spent the better part of a decade developing The Giver, an adaptation of Lois Lowry's science-fiction children's novel. If it had come out then it would be entering a more wide open field, but with The Hunger Games, Divergent, and other similar adaptations out there it may be tough to stand out. It can't even lay claim to being (apparently) the only one to feature a male lead now that the male-dominated The Maze Runner is right around the corner. So what does The Giver have that these other films don't have? Meryl Streep.

The first trailer for The Giver has arrived and Streep is a big part of it, along with fellow Oscar-winner Bridges. Starring Brenton Thwaites, Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgarrd, Odeya Rush, and Taylor Swift (!!!), it's set in a seemingly perfect future society where there is no sickness, racism, or conflict. Only one person, known as the Receiver, still holds memories of the past. When Jonas (Thwaites) is selected to be the new Receiver, he uncovers dark secrets about the past while being trained by the Giver (Bridges).

There hasn't been much buzz about the film since it was announced,  and this rather dull trailer probably isn't going to change that. Will Streep fans pay to see her in a movie like this? We'll find out when the Philip Noyce-directed film opens August 6th.


The Giver Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Jeff Bridges, Taylor Swift Movie HD by NovaCotton

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Taylor Swift and Katie Holmes Join Meryl Streep In 'The Giver'

Taylor Swift has won seven Grammys, has a terrific voice, and (so I'm told) gives an impressive performance on stage. As an actress we can only really judge her on rom-com hodge podge Valentine's Day, which didn't call for her to do all that much. On the other hand, Katie Holmes' film career began strong with The Ice Storm then petered out as she got older, with her last starring role in Adam Sandler's Jack & Jill earning her a Razzie award win. Bravo. Basically, both actresses could use a big screen hit, and they'll have a pretty good shot by joining Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges in The Giver.

Directed by Philip Noyce, the film is based on Lois Lowry's novel set in an antiseptic utopian society where free will and diversity has been replaced by "sameness". Bridges plays a Giver, a keeper of memories who must past knowledge of the past to a Receiver, played by Brenton Thwaites. Meryl Streep is the villainous chief elder, while Holmes will play Thwaites' mother who dutifully follows the society's rules. It's yet to be revealed exactly what role Swift will be taking on.

Also starring Alexander Skarsgard, The Giver opens August 15th 2014. [THR]

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Hear Taylor Swift's new song, 'Safe and Sound', from 'The Hunger Games' soundtrack

This is really the only way you're going to get me to listen to a Taylor Swift song voluntarily, by adding i to the soundtrack of a film I'm itching with anticipation for. Last night, Swift tweeted a link to her new track, 'Safe and Sound', which will be featured in Gary Ross's The Hunger Games.  I checked out about thirty seconds of it before zoning out, but it's pretty inoffensive. I can see Katniss(Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta(Josh Hutcherson) making out to it in between dodging fireballs and kids with murderous intentions.

My lukewarm response to it aside, Swift's tactic proved successful as #safeandsound quickly become the top trending topic on Twitter. I'm sure that means something somewhere. The Hunger Games opens next year on March 23, but you can check out 'Safe and Sound' below....

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