BuzzSugar

Online Dating Disaster in Broken English

GeekSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:02:18 PST

I got around to Netflixing the movie Broken English this weekend, and I was really touched by the story of Nora (the always fabulous Parker Posey), a lovelorn thirtysomething living in New York City. Single and unsatisfied, the first half of the movie courts your sympathies for Nora and the loneliness she's experiencing in many parts of her life.

Frustrated by her lack of men in the beginning, she happens upon a Match.com-like dating site and gets some pretty funny - yet harsh and straightforward news: "Your selection didn't turn up anything." Online dating sometimes makes you feel like there's slim-pickins out there. We feel your pain, Nora.

Broken English: Parker Posey, All Grown Up

BuzzSugar — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:28:49 PDT

The realization struck me hard about halfway through Broken English: Parker Posey isn't Party Girl anymore. She hasn't been Party Girl for years, of course, and the roles she's taken have evolved steadily from neurotic 20-somethings to neurotic 30-somethings. But in Broken English, I saw for the first time that Posey and her characters are adults now - a little less hopeful, a little more world-weary, a lot more afraid of the idea that this could be the best life gets.

Posey plays Nora Wilder, a chronically single 30-something who once dreamed of an art career but ended up as the guest relations director at a boutique hotel. In the name of "putting herself out there," she launches into a series of bad dates - one with a famous actor who later tells a Hollywood news program he's dating his costar; another with a sad sack of a man who can't get over his ex. Then, at an almost laughably bad party thrown by a coworker, Nora meets Julien (Melvil Poupaud), who's sweet, attentive, romantic - and about to return to Paris. Julien encourages Nora to run away to Paris with him, and she's too practical (or too self-sabotaging, or too scared) to go. But at the urging of a friend, she ultimately takes off for the romantic city, in search of a fantasy of love. That's just the skeleton, so to hear more of what I thought,

Broken English is beautiful to look at. Director Zoe Cassavetes - daughter of film legend John, directing her first feature here - has given the film a gauzy, almost pastel look reminiscent of Lost in Translation. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Posey's covetable wardrobe.

Cassavetes and Posey manage to make a familiar story of screwed-up singledom feel relatively fresh, but the director's inexperience is obvious in places. A few subplots (the screwed-up marriage of Nora's best friend, Audrey, as well as the confusing courier mission that gets Audrey and Nora to Paris eventually) slide in and out of relevance, as if Cassavetes couldn't quite decide how important those stories were to Nora's journey. And the movie seemed to both drag on for too long and end too soon; the buildup to the final moments felt overly drawn out, while the ending itself was too abrupt.

But in the end, this is Nora's story. She's not quite an everywoman in Posey's hands; rather, she's that lovable mess of a friend we all know and love. She's too romantic, then too practical, then too regretful to do much of anything. It's a performance that is strong, nuanced and - above all - grown up.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Posey & Drea Debut Their Broken English

Molly — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 16:17:38 PDT

Yay, how cute is the premiere of Broken English!? Sorry, sometimes I get a little excited about Parker Posey, Sofia Coppola, and Drea de Matteo -- so when they're all together it's pretty awesome. The movie they're out to celebrate looks pretty seriously precious and funny and endearing, too. Everything about this (other than Drea's dress, but she's pregnant, so she gets a bye) just makes me feel all fuzzy and indie-loving. And I mean that in the best way possible.

To see more pics of the event just

View 14 Photos ›

Images include Zoe Cassavetes, Drea de Matteo, Parker Posey, Liev Schreiber, Justin Theroux, Sofia Coppola, Thomas Mars

Source & Source

Movie Preview: Parker Posey in Broken English

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 13:35:14 PDT

Broken English first caught my eye when it premiered at Sundance earlier this year because it stars one of the greatest film actresses out there (Parker Posey), and because it was written and directed by a lady (Zoe Cassavetes). Since then, I've just been waiting for it to come out, and this Friday the wait is over. Originally, it looked like a comedy - and was billed as such - but now, having seen the trailer I'm not so sure. It looks a lot like a romantic drama with some moments of funny thrown in, but you can see for yourself.

Posey stars as 30-something Nora whose mother keeps urging her to "settle down." When an intriguing Frenchman enters her life, Nora decides to move to Paris in the pursuit of love and happiness (or, as one French man pronounces it in the trailer, "ah-peeness"). I really can't wait to see this movie now that I've watched the sweet-looking trailer, so to check it out,

Source

"Failed Painter" Angelina Jolie on Defying Rules, Clint Eastwood, Defining Success

Allie Merriam — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:55:40 PST

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey, a love story set during the Bosnian War in the '90s, opens here in the US on Friday. She was in NYC earlier this month doing press for the film and joined her cast for a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria. Leading ladies Zana Marjanovic and Vanessa Glodjo, as well as actors Goran Kostic and Rade Serbedzija, sat with Angelina on a panel moderated by NPR's Tom Gjelten. The conversation was all about the movie, with Angelina speaking about the process of creating the script with input from survivors. She also touched on the directors she has learned from and the challenges of making a movie in a foreign language. Angelina said:

On learning about directing: "You learn from everybody. Clint Eastwood taught me a lot about working with people that you love, that you think are great people, and making a family - working with nice people, good people. He's also very fast, so I had to learn about the economy of a shoot and a budget."
On deciding to make the movie in Bosnian and English: "When you want to do a film about this subject matter, many people tell you, 'Well, you're going to have to do a lot of different things in order to get people to see this.' One of them being, English, and the other being you're going to have to cast people who people recognize. We decided to do neither."
On how she'll define success for the movie: "We had a very low budget, so we're starting at a good base. It's gonna be alright I think . . . I hope it's received as a film. I hope people see it as a piece of art as well. I hope the actors involved are recognized for being extraordinary actors. So my fingers are crossed for that."
On the importance of art themes in the film: "I think Zana and I are both failed painters. We both tried to paint. I would have loved to be a painter. This part of the world - they're artists. During the siege, a film festival started under the siege of Sarajevo! Plays were put on, art was made. It was their art that just stood stronger and stronger while they were being starved and shot at. Art is representative of the region. As a woman and an artist it was a beautiful tool to express the internal side of a character."

To read what Angelina said about her road to making the movie, using real-life stories from the cast in the plot, and finding her directorial voice, just read more.

Michael Bublé Makes a Special Stop in Napa to Sing, Share About Luisana, His Wedding, and More For Beringer & Bublé

Lauren Turner — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:20:00 PDT

Michael Bublé made a special appearance at Beringer Vineyards in St. Helena on Friday. He's been working with the winery, which is one of his Crazy Love tour sponsors, throughout the year and made the trip to Napa to meet with press and perform for 200 lucky fans who won the Beringer & Bublé contest. Also on hand for the event were Jason Priestley and his wife, Naomi Lowde, who enjoyed dinner and watched the show from the audience. We sat down with Michael before he hit the stage and he showed off his charming personality, shared a sample of his sexy voice, and toasted the room with a glass of Beringer Sauvignon Blanc. During the chat, Michael opened up about meeting his wife, Luisana Lopilato, their wedding in Argentina, his Christmas album, and more:

On being in Napa with Luisana: "She's here. I asked her if she wanted to come here and hang out with me and she didn't. She was outside tanning, and now she's at the spa having a massage and a faahh-shil (facial) as she calls it. We arrived late, late last night and had a hot tub off our balcony, which was nice; we had a little glass of wine.
On meeting his wife: "She went to go see me, I was in concert in Argentina. When I saw her my security was whisking me away to a room. I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was actually really crushed because I knew that I wouldn't get to meet her again. I was with my grandpa and I was really down, I'd come out of a relationship and I was feeling really destroyed over it. I was sitting there, probably drinking a little too much. The guy who runs the record company asked me if I wanted to meet Argentina's most famous actor. I said fine, and there she walked in. I didn't know what to do. She was with this guy who looked like Brad Pitt on steroids. I just thought well that's great, and thank you God. I didn't want to hit on her because they were obviously together. I sat down, and she didn't speak English, and I didn't speak Spanish, but this guy with her spoke English. I sat with him and I tried very softly to ask him questions and find out what was going on between them. By my third scotch it was like 'you're so beautiful.' I remember grabbing his arm and being like, 'God I hate you. You're such a good looking couple.' And he's like 'no, we're not a couple.' At the same time she was on the phone texting her mom saying, 'I come to meet Michael Bublé and he is so gay.' It took me a couple days to convince her I wasn't."
On getting married: "The best night of my life I've ever had was the wedding night in Argentina. We partied, danced, drank, yelled, and screamed until 7 in the morning. It was beautiful. I made the deal with Lu we were going to get married there so all her people could come but my people weren't there. So I had an unwedding, as some people call it, I had a party in Vancouver. But then everyone said 'look he's doing it again, he must be the most romantic . . .' I'm just like stop, I'm not. It seemed so cheesy. It really creeps me out that people thought I was getting married four times. You know nothing against Seal and Heidi Klum, but I don't know about getting married every single year. Renewing your vows every five years or something cute like that, that's fine."
On settling down and having kids: "My home base will be in Vancouver, and Los Angeles, and Argentina. I'll split the time between Argentina and Vancouver until we hopefully have kids. And even then until they're about 4 or 5 years old we don't really have to worry too much. But it's going to be an issue. Obviously she loves her country, she's proud of her country, that's where her friends and family are."
On writing songs for people: "I've never written songs for someone. I write songs that are inspired by the feelings I have at the time whether I'm in love or my heart is broken. I don't seem to write very well if I'm just normal. Now I'm content and I will probably never write a hit song again."
On his Christmas album: "This morning I had to work, I was recording with Shania Twain for my Christmas record. She's in Europe. I was on Skype connected to my music producer David Foster, who was connected to Shania with her new husband and kids. I have one more date with David and then I have to go in with Bob Rock, who's another incredible producer. Then I start doing press, photoshoots, I'll start doing the music videos. Come November I'm sure they'll have me . . . I'm not sure how many countries I'll be in but I'm sure wherever they celebrate Christmas I'll be around."