Away We Go

The cast of Away We Go and some special loved ones hit the red carpet at a screening in NYC last night. Kate Winslet looked gorgeous in her LBD out to support her husband, director Sam Mendes. In the movie Maya Rudolph plays a pregnant woman, and her real-life baby bump is growing as she prepares for number two. John Krasinski looked cute smiling with his costars after spending the weekend visiting his family and showing off the film back in his hometown Boston.

To see more from the premiere including David Schwimmer, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, and others, just read more

Actress and comedienne Maya Rudolph is celebrated for her comedic timing on-screen, but it is her dead-on timing offscreen that is generating buzz these days. The former Saturday Night Live cast member — whose impersonations of Condoleezza Rice and Donatella Versace were reasons enough to stay up past most mamas' bedtimes — recently announced that she is expecting baby number two just as she begins promoting her Summer film, Away We Go, in which she plays a mama-to-be.

Already mother to 3-year-old Pearl with longtime boyfriend Paul Thomas Anderson, Rudolph is no stranger to raising children in the public eye. The daughter of soul songstress Minnie Riperton and songwriter Richard Rudolph, Maya grew up in Los Angeles, befriending other celeb spawn like Gwyneth Paltrow during childhood.

Since leaving SNL in 2007, Rudolph has graced the screen in such Hollywood hits as A Prairie Home Companion and Shrek the Third, as well as co-starring in Kath & Kim. In Away We Go, Rudolph stars opposite John Krasinski as a couple traveling around the country in search of the perfect place to plant their roots and raise their impending babe.

Source

Director Sam Mendes has gone from helming Revolutionary Road to Away We Go, yet another relationship-y film (though this one looks far less devastatingly sad than Revolutionary Road). Back when we first heard about this movie, I somehow assumed it would be a sort of light and happy comedy, but now that the trailer's out it more closely resembles something like Juno or Garden State. Except, you know, with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in the lead roles.

Krasinski and Rudolph play a couple expecting their first child and who "travel around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family." A nice assortment of cool, random actors pop up in supporting roles, including Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Jeff Daniels, Cheryl Hines and more. The movie will have a limited run starting June 5. To check out the adorably funny and touching trailer, read more

• Catherine O'Hara and Andie MacDowell have signed on for ABC pilots, Zap2it reports: O'Hara will play the mom in Good Behavior from Rob Thomas, while MacDowell's plot is described as a Hamlet-like drama set in the auto industry.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal will replace Toni Collette in the Sam Mendes relationship comedy that also stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, Variety writes.
• According to ComingSoon, comedian Demetri Martin will be joining Ang Lee's next project, Taking Woodstock.
• Billboard writes that The Cure has announced the date of their next album release: September 13, with a new single coming out every month until then, starting on May 13.
• Variety reports that iTunes will now offer movies to be purchased and downloaded on the day of DVD release.
• If you liked the Christian Siriano-designed blouse that Amanda wore on Ugly Betty last night, you can bid on it now; details on how are at The Futon Critic.
• E! reports that Leighton Meester will be reprising her role on Entourage as a Britney-esque pop star.
• Pitchfork has new details on the new album from The Hold Steady, which will be released in July.

Source

Update: As of Dec. 9, this movie is officially titled Away We Go.

This project already had so much going for it: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) directing, a script by Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida, John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph playing the lead characters and Toni Collette recently cast in a supporting role. Now, the previously untitled "relationship comedy" has gotten a title — and Allison Janney!

In the tentatively titled This Must Be the Place, Janney will play "a loud, brassy, decidedly un-PC woman who admittedly has a few screws loose. She reunites with a former employee in Phoenix, where the expectant mother/employee (Rudolph) begins a tour of the country with her husband (Krasinski) to find the best place to raise their child."

Now, while I still can't wait for Mendes' adaptation of Revolutionary Road starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, I'm also insanely curious to see how he does with this comedic material and phenomenal cast. Also in Janney's future is a role in an Eddie Murphy movie A Thousand Words in which she'll play Murphy's boss, "a savvy, money-grubbing head of a literary agency."

Source

I love news days like today. Three actresses I love and admire have nabbed roles in promising comedies. Check it out:

• Leslie Mann — Everyone's favorite hysterical wife from Knocked Up is signed on to play another spouse, this time married to Jim Carrey in the black comedy I Love You, Phillip Morris. According to Hollywood Reporter, "The story follows a married father (Carrey) who is sent to prison and falls in love with a cellmate named Phillip Morris. His love leads him to make several escape attempts."
• Toni Collette will be joining the untitled Sam Mendes "relationship comedy" that already stars Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski. The HR description makes me smirk: "Collette will play a college professor and close family friend of a couple (Krasinski and Rudolph) canvasing the country to find the best place to raise their unborn child. She's convinced that their kid will end up dysfunctional no matter where it's raised." Yet another funny lady, Cheryl Hines, will also star in this one.
• Candice Bergen will probably effortlessly slip into the role of "Marion St. Claire, the queen of all wedding planners" in the wedding comedy Bride Wars which stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. According to Variety, "Story revolves around best friends (Hudson and Hathaway) who are pitted against each other when their wedding dates clash. They compete for venues, services and guests."

Source

When reading this casting news today, I got the eerie feeling that someone out there overheard my silent prayers for there to be a) more lead roles for talented female comedians, b) more funny film opportunities for John Krasinski, and c) more promising light-hearted movies in 2008. Now, the hilarious SNL star Maya Rudolph has been paired with Krasinski and given the lead role in a relationship-themed comedy. Amen!

Variety reports that the untitled film will be directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) and "follows an expectant couple (Krasinski, Rudolph) as they travel the country in search of a place to put down roots and raise a family." Other fun facts about this project: Cheryl Hines will co-star, and the screenplay was written by Dave Eggers and his his wife, novelist Vendela Vida.

With Baby Mama starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on the way to theaters this Spring and now this news about Rudolph, I'm overjoyed that some of my favorite female comedians are no longer relegated to goofy best-friend sidekick roles. These are the actresses that I find more interesting and relatable as leading ladies, especially compared to some of what we've seen this year. Are you guys as excited for this as I am?

Source