BuzzSugar

Movie Preview: Harold

BuzzSugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:30:39 -0700

"I'm going over the nerd wall and I ain't never going back." Those are words to live by.

Trying to guess exactly how the film Harold would shape up based on the casting news alone was kinda difficult. There is an odd mix of actors involved, including Cuba Gooding Jr., some Saturday Night Live alums (Rachel Dratch, Colin Quinn, Chris Parnell), '80s star Ally Sheedy, and cute young actors like Spencer Breslin and Nikki Blonsky in her first feature film role since Hairspray.

The trailer is goofy and sweet and makes me laugh. The idea of a kid with premature balding getting picked on is you know, heartbreaking, but I can't help but giggle at people mistaking the poor guy for an elderly person. And Cuba Gooding Jr. actually looks like he may be back on his game, as he seems pretty charming and funny in the preview. The whole thing looks sweetly absurd with something life-affirming at the core.

The movie opens in limited release July 11. To check the trailer, read more.

Source

Blonsky, Quinn and Sheedy Join Teen Comedy

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:36:44 -0700

Harold, the rapidly aging teen.
Nikki Blonsky, Ally Sheedy and Colin Quinn have been added to the cast of the comedy Harold, all about a prematurely balding teenager (played by Spencer Breslin). Blonsky, in her first role after Hairspray, will play Harold's loyal, nerdy friend Rhonda. Sheedy, returning to her teenage movie roots (she played Allison in The Breakfast Club), will play Harold's mother tasked with the challenge of helping her son endure the teasing of his peers. Quinn, who I rarely enjoy watching at all, will play Reedy, "a drunken barfly who's a regular at a strip club Harold frequents."

Interestingly...
The movie will be shot at Blonsky's real-life former middle school, about which she says, "It's kinda creepy. I didn't have the best time there, so going back is definitely cooler."

Oh, and then there's this:
"Cuba Gooding Jr., one of the film's producers, plays a school janitor who befriends the troubled title character."

Source

What Love Is: The Year's Worst-Looking Film

BuzzSugar — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 05:00:41 -0700

Most likely, you haven't heard about What Love Is, and that's probably because the people involved are ashamed. Well, I'm here to inform you about it and to speculate as to how movies like this ever get made. It truly baffles me that, at the completion of this movie, after everything wrapped and the editing was done, someone sat back and said, "Yup, that's it: Perfection!"

The most hilarious part is that, at some point, the filmmakers had extremely overzealous hopes for this movie, which will open quietly this Friday. Allow me to present this nugget from the production notes:

"What Tom says to Sara in that final moment will not only go down as one of the all-time classic moments in filmmaking history, but it will not leave a single dry eye in the house."

Um. Not likely.

That's not even the half of it, so read more

In summary: Tom Riley (Cuba Gooding Jr.) goes home to propose to his girlfriend Sara on Valentine's Day night, only to find that she's left him but will be coming back to the house to pick up her remaining suitcases. Problem is, Tom invited his buddies (Matthew Lillard alert!) over to celebrate what he thought would be his new engagement. So, the buddies arrive and, in their dudely wisdom, offer advice on what to do about Sara. Here I must defer again to the outrageous production notes:

As more and more testosterone flows and more and more alcohol is consumed these five men work themselves up into such a frenzy that finally when there is a knock on the door nobody knows what to do! Everyone freezes except Tom, who is forced to gather up his courage once again and open the front door to confront Sara... only it's not Sara... it's five drop-dead gorgeous women standing in his doorway and asking him... "Is this where the Valentine's party is?" (Apparently Sal invited some women from back at the bar to join the party!)

The many ellipses are not my own, by the way.

I can't really stomach much more of this, so please, just watch the trailer and witness this cinematic treasure for yourself.