BuzzSugar

Amanda Seyfried Is A Woman of No Importance

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:00:54 -0800

This adaptation of Oscar Wilde's comedy A Woman of No Importance has been in the works for a while now, with Lindsay Lohan reportedly having the main role initially but then backing out of the project a year ago. Next up there were rumors that Sienna Miller was taking the lead role, and at the time of this posting, her name is still on the project's IMDB page. But today various news sources are reporting that Amanda Seyfried will in fact play the main character.

Annette Bening and Sean Bean will also star in the film in which "Seyfried will play an American who finds herself falling in love with the womanizing Lord Illingworth (Bean) in the English countryside until his mother (Bening) throws a wrench in his plans."

Surely Oscar Wilde deserves a better actress than Lindsay Lohan, but between Sienna Miller and Amanda Seyfried, do you think Seyfried is the better choice? I personally prefer Seyfried, and she won't have to fake an American accent, which is nice. I just think they should get on with production already!

Source and source

Buzz News Roundup, 11/7

BuzzSugar — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:31:04 -0800

Fox has announced its Winter schedule, and is moving "houses" with Dollhouse on Fridays and House on Mondays. - Zap2it
Antonio Banderas is in talks to portray Salvador Dali in the indie biopic, Dali. - Variety
Dylan McDermott will play the lead in a TNT pilot called The Line, about a group of undercover LAPD officers. - The Hollywood Reporter
HBO has bought the rights to a documentary about Barack Obama that's been in the works since 2006. - AP
In other Obama-related news, Bruce Springsteen's next album is expected for release around the time of Obama's January inauguration. - Billboard
Reiko Aylesworth is in talks to join the cast of Lost as "Amy, a smart and successful professional woman with a love for the outdoors who is looking for the right man." - ComingSoon
Annette Bening and Naomi Watts will star together in Mother and Child, a drama from writer and director Rodrigo Garcia. - ComingSoon
ABC won't air the Alyssa Milano comedy Single with Parents. - Variety

Photos courtesy of Fox

The Women: Not Fizzy, Just Empty

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:34:00 -0700

Philosophically, the very existence of The Women is something that makes me cheer. As its title suggests, it's a movie full of only women - and many of them "women of a certain age," at that. Director and screenwriter Diane English spent years trying to steer her remake of George Cukor's 1939 classic to the screen, and I respect and admire her determination. A powerful remake of The Women could have sent yet another signal that moviegoers want to see women on screen in all their beautiful, imperfect, daffy, lovable, clueless, fantastic glory.

On screen, though, The Women disappoints to an almost depressing degree. It's not an outright disaster; there are good moments from nearly everyone in the gigantic cast. But it's not screwball enough to honor its '30s movie heritage, not clever enough to make for a fun night out at the theater. And its own message on women is utterly conflicted, threatening to undermine the potential positive impact of bringing an all-female movie to the big screen.

Meg Ryan stars as Mary Haines, whose life comes complete with adorable daughter, fabulous luncheons, and blooming garden she planted herself. If there are cracks in that shiny veneer, she'd hardly notice; as a friend, Alex (Jada Pinkett Smith), points out, she's too busy filling them in. So it knocks her flat when she finds out - thanks to her gossipy manicurist (Debi Mazar) - that her husband is having an affair with the Saks perfume "spritzer girl" (Eva Mendes). That betrayal would be bad enough, but before long, there's another one, courtesy of her best friend Sylvie (Annette Bening), who sells out Mary to save her own floundering career. The Women does fine with that broad sketch of a plot. It's in the details that the movie loses its footing, so read more.

Some of the movie's issues lie in the direction, which isn't confident enough to pull off some of the more screwball elements. English also doesn't seem to know how to use Bette Midler, who has a brief cameo that is delightful to watch but doesn't contribute much to the story, and Debra Messing and Smith are hardly in the movie. The whole look of the film is flat - understandable given its relatively small budget, but far from engaging for a viewer.

What The Women gets right is Mary's devastation at Sylvie's betrayal; losing her husband wouldn't have been so bad if the whole mess hadn't taken her friend along with it. The few scenes with the friends together are a treat, especially when they're plotting their confrontation of (and revenge against) the spritzer girl. Mendes basically just has to act hot and stupid, and she does that well. And Candice Bergen is amusing as Mary's mother, who dispenses advice that seems to be from another era.

Or is it? The Women seems confused about its own thoughts on women's roles. And while I can live with the ultimate outcome of Mary's journey to find herself (though I thought it was far too easy and predictable), what I can't condone is the movie's treatment of Mary's daughter Molly, who is basically a living representation of Why Women Hate Themselves. In her first scene, she tells Mary she's on a diet because she's fat; Mary laughs it off . Over the course of the movie, she starts smoking to keep from eating, burns tampons because she hates being a girl, and laments that she doesn't understand why magazine editors like Sylvie send such mixed signals to women. Sylvie's ultimate response when confronted with all of Molly's baggage? "I'm a hypocrite. Life is complicated."

That's all?

Sadly, that empty, cop-out response is far too apt a metaphor for The Women as a whole.

Photos courtesy of Picturehouse

Movie Preview: The Women Starring. . . Lots of Women

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:30:48 -0700

I was interested in this remake of the 1939 film The Women when there was initial casting news about it (Debra Messing, Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes, Candace Bergen, etc. etc.), but after the incredible success of the Sex and the City movie, I'm even more excited about the opportunities for movies directed at a female audience. If nothing else the SATC movie might have indicated to filmmakers and studios that (hello!) it's possible to actually have a female-centric film do well at the box office. In other words: women can be valuable audience members, too, you know.

Anyway, from the new trailer it looks like there's The Woman (Meg Ryan) and all her girlfriends discover that there's The Other Woman (Eva Mendes) but the women don't know how to tell her about this other woman. True to the original, there don't appear to be any men in the movie. This new trailer isn't phenomenal, but it still looks like a reasonably funny movie about female friendship (and rivalry).

The Women opens September 12. To check out the trailer and tell me what you think, read more.

Look at All The Women!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 05:29:00 -0700

In the second piece of recent movie news that features the year 1939, screenwriter Diane English is finally close to securing a large cast of ladies for a remake of the 1939 classic The Women after working for many years to get the project going. Variety has the scoop:

Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing and Candice Bergen have either signed or are near committing to star in a contemporized version of the George Cukor-directed film, which Picturehouse will distribute domestically next year.

The bitchy tone of the Clare Boothe Luce play lent itself perfectly to a 1939 original film that starred Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell and others.

[Diane English's] script maintains the arch spirit of the original, and the all-female cast, but the gals aren't as relentlessly catty this time around. Story follows a group of female friends when the one they envied most discovers her husband's cheating on her.

I am so looking forward to seeing all these fabulous women in one film, though the article also mentions that the movie's budget is $20 million, so I'm curious how that will be spread out among such a great-looking cast. Another peculiar tidbit: Mick Jagger is producing. Some bizarre details going on here, but I have faith this quirky project will turn out to be awesome.

Source and source

Link Time! Watch George Clooney Voicing Fantastic Mr. Fox

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:30:25 -0800

So cool - see how the voice acting was done on The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Cinematical
Comedy Central is teaming up with The Onion for a TV show - The Hollywood Reporter
No Doubt is suing Activision for using their likenesses inappropriately in Band Hero - GeekSugar
2012 already has a TV series sequel, 2013 - MTV Movies Blog
Fox Searchlight has halted the national release of Gentlemen Broncos - Vulture
Sufjan Stevens admits his 50 states album concept was a joke - Stereogum
Amazing video mash-up of scenes with characters saying the movie's title - Videogum
Anthony Hopkins and Annette Bening will play Ernest Hemingway and wife in Hemingway and Fuentes - Variety
The Decemberists' Colin Meloy and wife Carson Ellis are writing a children's book - Pitchfork
10 scary Christmas movies to bridge Halloween and Christmas - Rotten Tomatoes