Emily Watson

Synecdoche, New York, is a haunting film. In the weeks since I saw it, I'm not sure a day has gone by that I haven't thought about it. It's also a humongous, confusing mess. But I'm willing to forgive Charlie Kaufman that; the high points are too high not to.

As the writer of such films as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kaufman has become known for his surreal — and, yet, ultimately, very real — explorations of humanity. Synecdoche, New York, his directorial debut, is maybe his most precise work on that theme, tracing his main character through years of middle age, declining health, and the potent desire to do something while there's still time. Kaufman may be suffering from a bit of that desire himself, as he tosses all kinds of twists into his story, some of which lead it astray. But that doesn't keep it from being a moving mood piece of a film.

Synecdoche, New York actually has a mostly logical main story: Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Caden Cotard, a local theater director producing a lowish-rent production of Death of a Salesman and struggling to maintain his marriage with his more-famous wife, Adele (Catherine Keener). When she takes off for Germany with their daughter and Caden receives a MacArthur grant, he decides to stage a giant-scale theater piece about life (yes, just that: life), setting it inside a towering replica of New York. Everything else spins off from there, so just read more

I feel compelled to give a warning before showing this trailer: Proceed only if you're feeling emotionally strong. Fireflies in the Garden boasts an impressive cast (Julia Roberts, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Ryan Reynolds, Hayden Panettiere) and it looks to be well-made — though I'm not sure I saw it very clearly through my tears. This film looks gut-wrenching.

The plot description is basic ("The semi-autobiographical story centers on the complexities of love and commitment in a family torn apart when faced by an unexpected tragedy"), but you get a pretty clear sense of what the movie's all about from the international trailer, which you can see after the jump. The family drama screened at the Berlin Film Festival, but it's unclear when it will arrive in American theaters. To see the international trailer, read more

Another day, another couple film projects based on books. First, there's Die a Little, a crime thriller based on Megan Abbott's novel. The movie will star Jessica Biel and "explores how the lives of a schoolteacher and her LAPD detective brother are turned upside down by a mysterious woman." The story is set in 1954 but the movie will take place in present day.

I haven't read that one, but I have read The Memory Keeper's Daughter, a weepy dramatic book by Kim Edwards. This project, which will star Emily Watson and Dermot Mulroney, won't make it to the big screen, but will be a TV movie made for Lifetime. In the telepic, "Mulroney plays a doctor who delivers his own twin babies — one with Down's syndrome. In order to spare his wife heartache, he tells her the child with Down's died at birth. The doctor tells his nurse, played by Watson, to put the girl in an institution, but instead she raises the baby as her own."

Reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter, I could easily envision it turning into a film and figured it was just a matter of time. Now that they have Emily Watson on board, too, I'm intrigued to see this heartstrings-yanker brought to life.

Biel photo source
Watson photo source

Anna Wintour joined Renee and Ewan for the NY premiere of Miss Potter over the weekend. Renee is looking fabulous lately while promoting her new film. She seems to have traded in her stick thin figure for a more healthier one. Maybe the underfed look is on its way out. LL is no longer too thin, and even Nicole is working on gaining her weight back (of course, they both have their share of other problems to deal with). And Anna herself is even joining the cause. She's already called a meeting with the leaders of the fashion industry to discuss how to deal with the issue. Here's more:

Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour is spearheading the effort to get the session together. "Anna held a symposium on the issue, and she's planning another meeting this week," said one model agency chief. "We would much rather come up with a way of self-policing ourselves than have regulations rammed down our throats."

The head of another modeling agency said, "Everyone should take a look at it, and if there's a problem, let's fix it."

Italy's government and its fashion chiefs said last week they're working on a plan to crack down on ultra-thin models who appear to be suffering from eating disorders.

The move came three months after Spain passed a law requiring that every model have a body-mass index of at least 18 (a measure of body fat). Last month, Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died at age 21 from anorexia.

Hopefully this is just another step in getting the fashion industry and those who follow it out of this dangerous trend. For more pics of the premiere just read more