Jennifer Garner stars in a new short film called Serena, in which she makes some outrageous confessions onscreen! Hear her talk about being a "naughty" nun in today's PopSugar Rush.
In the classic Shakespeare play The Tempest, a magician and rightful duke named Prospero is banished to a distant island by his jealous brother, who seeks the crown. Julie Taymor gives her film adaptation a girl power makeover, turning Prospero into Prospera and making her leading lady (Helen Mirren) the wife of a duke. When her conniving brother-in-law, Antonio (Chris Cooper), accuses Propsera of killing her husband with witchcraft, she's sent away on a ship with her 4-year-old daughter. She conjures a storm to lure Antonio to the island she and her daughter have been inhabiting.
It sounds like typical Shakespeare tragedy (murder! treason! banishment!) but The Tempest is actually a comedy, and the trailer's got some funny moments (thanks to Russell Brand and Alfred Molina). If you're expecting to see Brand branching out from his typical fare, then you may be disappointed, but he's oddly fitting here as a jester. As expected for a film about a sorcerer, there's also special effects to spare here — not to mention a stellar cast. Check it out after the jump.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time teeters right on the brink of movie mediocrity. It's neither amazing nor offensively bad, the action sequences are entertaining but not mind-blowing, and the performances are fine but not nuanced. Using Jake Gyllenhaal's familiar face and jacked up abs as a promotional tool helps to tip the scales in the right direction, but ultimately it's not enough to keep the film afloat against Summer's heaviest hitters.
Gyllenhaal plays our scrappy titular prince, Dastan. Born a street urchin and taken under the King's wing as a boy, Dastan's lack of royal blood doesn't make him any less a part of the family, which consists of his two brothers and uncle (an always-excellent Ben Kingsley). That is, until he's framed for his father's murder and forced to flee the city. With only a mysterious dagger that can turn back time and a hot-headed princess in tow, Dastan sets out to prove his innocence and set things right — finding romance, hijinks, and some ostriches along the way.
So is Jakey G worth your money or not? Find out when you read more
There's very little time left for Carey Mulligan to be an unknown. She plays the central character in An Education, and it's a mesmerizing, star-making turn.
Nick Hornby is behind the screenplay, which follows 16-year-old schoolgirl Jenny as she navigates her strict school-minded parents and the affections of a man twice her age in '60s London. Though some might be turned off by the Lolita-esque premise, this isn't a movie about a May-December romance but the story of Jenny's discovery of the world and adulthood.
To see what I liked about the movie, just read more
The description for An Education goes like this: "A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age." And the new trailer for the movie, written by Nick Hornby, shows just that. In fact, the whole movie seems to unfold within this trailer, and yet, I still really, really want to see the movie. In a rare occurrence, I'm anxious to find out what happens in between all the scenes we see in the preview. This is largely due to the engaging cast, which includes Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina and Rosamund Pike. Carey Mulligan, as the young woman at the center of the story, is particularly riveting, a spirited pixie with a sharp mind and the sweetest, most innocent face in the world.
An Education opens in limited release here in the U.S. Oct. 9. To watch the trailer, read more
The Christmas dramedy Nothing Like the Holidays really is like a fruitcake: Seasonal, obligatory and cliche. It's unoriginal in its presentation, but then again, it is the holidays and someone put in the effort to make it, so a part of you appreciates it a little. You just don't want to taste it ever again. And maybe another part of you is the teeniest bit resentful that you were given something so forgettable.
Having said all that, there are some refreshing aspects to this particular sweet-sour overbaked good. The plot relies heavily on that tiresome declaration of "look how totally wacky and loud we are but we are also so loving!" But at least this time it's a Puerto Rican-American family, an ethnic group that's pretty severely underrepresented in mainstream film. The adult children in the Rodriguez family are gathering together at their parents' Chicago home for Christmas, including big-time New York City lawyer Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and his Jewish fish-out-of-water wife Sarah (Debra Messing), aspiring Hollywood actress Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito), and soldier Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez) who is just now returning from Iraq. A circle of extra players surrounds the group: cousin Johnny (Luis Guzmán), family friend with a history of gangster life Ozzy (Jay Hernandez), and Jesse's old flame (the one that got away) Marissa (Melonie Diaz) — along with her son and new boyfriend. For more on why there's just nothing like the holidays, read more
Sure, when I first saw the poster and description for Nothing Like the Holidays, I kinda groaned inside. Nothing like another reheated family holiday flick! And yet, now that I've watched the trailer, I'm charmed by this new take on an old genre.
For one thing, the film focuses on a Latino family, which is unusual (embarrassingly so) in both film and television. For another thing, the cast is fantastic. John Leguizamo has already won me over (being one of my favorite actors ever helps), as has another favorite of mine, Alfred Molina. In addition there's the lovable Debra Messing and (ready, Getty Girls?) the winsome Freddy Rodriguez.
The movie's description goes like this: "A Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park in west Chicago face what may be their last Christmas together." It starts out seeming tamely cute/funny, and then moves into some more poignant territory. Nothing Like the Holidays opens Nov. 21, and to watch the trailer, read more
Silk is like that good-looking celebrity you admire from afar for a while, and when you finally get the chance to sit down and talk to them, they turn out to be vapid and uninteresting. The strength of this movie lies in the visuals, as was the case with another of director François Girard's aesthetically appealing films, The Red Violin. Nature appears to be at its most lush and there are some gorgeous costumes. François Girard and his cinematographer Alain Dostie also seem to have a love for Asian cultures, creating stunning shots of the landscape and people alike. Yet beyond the visuals the movie has an empty feeling to it.
Michael Pitt sleepily plays Hervé, a young silk merchant who travels to a remote part of Japan for healthy eggs at the prompting of his ambitious boss Baldabiou (Alfred Molina, bringing his usual strength and warmth). While there, he encounters a beautiful concubine with whom he becomes obsessed. Even when he's not required to return to Japan and despite political strife rendering the journey dangerous, he goes anyway, inexplicably drawn to this woman with whom he can't even communicate. For more about Silk, read more
