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The Informers: Convoluted and Boring

BuzzSugar — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:30:51 -0700

Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever.

Or so goes the tagline for The Informers, a new film adapted from a collection of short stories by Bret Easton Ellis. You may recognize Ellis's name from the posters of several films in the past decade, namely American Psycho and The Rules of Attraction (there's also Glitterati, if that ever sees the light of day). If you're familiar with his work, you'll know, loosely, what to expect from his latest venture: Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. There's plenty of all the aforementioned (hence the tagline), but, unfortunately the end result is more of a melodramatic mess than an examination of the excesses of the '80s.

Don't blame the actors, especially the more seasoned among them. A few - Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke and to a slightly lesser degree Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton - even give memorable performances in a movie that is anything but. The younger newcomers don't fare quite as well with the inane script that contains far too many storylines with far too many unlikeable characters. What's worse, the stories barely intersect, adding confusion on top of disdain.

Let me try to explain what goes down, when you read more.

If you break it down, there are five major plot pieces fighting for attention throughout the movie (apparently a vampire subplot starring Brandon Routh was cut). The most watchable of the bunch are the scenes with Thornton, Basinger, and Ryder. Thornton plays a TV exec who is trying to reconcile his marriage to Basinger's character, while still having an affair with Ryder. Basinger's open to reconciliation, but she's also currently sleeping with one of her son's friends. Which brings in plotline No. 2 involving most of the younger actors of the film. Austin Nichols, Jon Foster, and Amber Heard form a trio of friends who have nothing better to do than drugs and each other. Plot No. 3 has their friend Lou Taylor Pucci fighting off seedy seductions with his gung-ho father (Chris Isaak) in Hawaii. And finally plot No. 4 (don't even get me started on the fifth storyline) follows Mickey Rourke who is trying to sell a kidnapped kid to pedophiles, despite objection from his nephew played by the late Brad Renfro. Confused yet? I certainly was. Bored? That too.

Ultimately the film falters in its attempt to cover too much ground, spreading itself too thin with characters not worth caring about. And not that this movie needed another subplot, but a little vampire love could have added some bite to this film without a pulse.

Bottom Line: The Ellis fans out there may want to check out this first film for which he (co)-wrote the screenplay, but I'd skip the theatrical release.

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2009 Sundance Spotlight: Brooklyn's Finest, The Informers, 500 Days of Summer

BuzzSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:30:39 -0800

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections:

Brooklyn's Finest
Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Brooklyn's Finest just became this year's first sale at Sundance. Apparently "Senator Distribution nabbed North American rights . . . on Saturday night, 24 hours after its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. . . Senator says it will release the film in the fourth quarter for awards consideration." According to Senator president Mark Urman, the company "went into aggressive pursuit right after Friday's screening." Wow! All of this spells good things for the cop drama which features a stellar cast (Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin). The plot is described as: "Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths." The guy responsible for the screenplay has a unique and intriguing story himself (you can read about it here). No clips available just yet, but now that it's been purchased I'm sure we'll hear and see much more about this film in the future.

Two more great-looking movies, with talented folks like Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Mickey Rourke, if you read more.

The Informers
Well, the long-awaited movie adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's collection of short stories is upon us. The movie, starring a whole lot of people from the '80s and early '90s (most notably Mickey Rourke, continuing his amazing career comeback) is about LA in the '80s in all its beautiful, indulgent, moral-decaying glory. The Informers also includes Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder, Billy Bob Thornton, Chris Isaak, and the late Brad Renfro (his final role). I have mixed feelings about this movie, but then again, any trailer that includes a song by A Flock of Seagulls deserves a chance in my book.

FYI: The trailer for The Informers below is not suitable for work due to some topless ladies. Proceed with caution:

500 Days of Summer
Oh, man. Could these two be cuter together? I think not. I was so excited when this casting news first came out and I'm even more thrilled that the movie's premiering at Sundance (to not-bad reviews so far) and has a release date (July 24) and now has a super cute teaser trailer (see below!). At first glance, the movie's description sounds like a little tale of unrequited love (boy loves girl, girl doesn't believe in love) but here's the part that got me really curious: "energized by dance numbers, split screens, and two dynamic performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel." Dance numbers? Why not?! Check out the trailer below and for additional clips, click here.

Photos courtesy of Sundance

Buzz News Roundup, 10/22

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:03:35 -0700

You were right: After just four days and two episodes, Viva Laughlin is the season's first scripted show to get canceled, writes The Futon Critic.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will produce an HBO dramatic series following disaster-relief workers, and PopSugar has the details.
According to USA Today, we shouldn't believe those spoilers about which new House doctors are sticking around.
ComingSoon reports that Eva Longoria, Jason Biggs and Rob Corddry have signed on for an "elementary school comedy" called Lower Learning.
Paramount and MTV have signed on to create the fact-based drama Bong Hits 4 Jesus, writes Variety.

Niki Taylor and Tyson Beckford will host a Bravo modeling competition series called Make Me a Supermodel, Zap2it reports.
Billboard reports that Jay-Z will briefly tour to support his American Gangster album.
Reuters reports that musician Chris Isaak has been cast in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' The Informers.

Photo courtesy of CBS