BuzzSugar

Diane Lane to Play the "First Lady" of Horse Racing

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:30:45 -0700

Move over Seabiscuit, it's Secretariat's time to shine on the big screen. The story of 1973 Triple Crown-winning racehorse Secretariat and his owner, Penny Chenery, is deemed "a real underdog story" and filmmakers have cast Diane Lane to play Chenery, the "first lady of racing" in a movie about the horse. Chenery is "a mother and housewife who knew little about horse racing when she took over her ailing father's farm in Virginia. Around the time that Secretariat established himself as a horse with serious potential, she was pressured to sell him and everything else after her father died and she was hit with a large inheritance tax."

I just adore Diane Lane. She brings elegance and charm to every role she takes on, and I suspect Secretariat will be no different. As a sidenote, did anyone else collect these Breyer horses (pictured above)? This one really is the Secretariat model.

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Movie Preview: Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane in Killshot

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:30:36 -0800

Killshot, a thriller starring Diane Lane, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson and "comeback kid" Mickey Rourke, has already quietly opened in certain cities but hasn't gotten quite the promotional push you might expect from a film that boasts a recent Oscar nominee. Lane plays Carmen Colson who is placed in the Federal Witness Protection program with her husband Wayne "after witnessing an extortion scheme go wrong. Thinking they are at last safe, they are targeted by an experienced intimidating hit man [Rourke] and a psychopathic young upstart killer [Gordon-Levitt]."

Some reviews are saying it's nothing remarkable, which may well be true, though the trailer is more intriguing than I expected it to be. Chances are this one'll be available on DVD sooner rather than later, but for now you can check out the trailer if you read more.

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Nights in Rodanthe: Something to Watch With Grandma

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:30:40 -0700

As you might've predicted, Nights in Rodanthe is a sentimental, non-threatening weepie that could have just as easily been made for TV and run on the Hallmark channel. The story is bland and yet sugar-saturated at the same time. It's tame, not too racy and it features unlayered characters. There’s redemption in the male character’s storyline and an awakening in the woman’s. It’s boring as all get-out sometimes, and tries its damndest to make you cry. So, in other words, it's your average Nicholas Sparks stuff.

Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) separated from her husband after he cheated on her with her best friend. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) is a doctor whose workaholic tendencies drove away his wife and son (played by James Franco). After a patient dies on his operating table, Paul travels to Rodanthe to meet with the patient's husband. He stays at the inn that Adrienne is running while her friend is away. There's a big storm that brings the two of them together, bada bing bada boom, they both learn how to love again. What follows is a string of scenes meant to be either heartwarming or heartbreaking, depending on Diane Lane's incredibly expressive face. For more of my thoughts on all this, read more.

All in all, it's sappy, cheesy stuff that doesn’t demand much of the viewer. There's an unnerving amount of time for your mind to wander, due to not being truly invested in these people or their stories. The editing is almost comically jerky. And James Franco is in it for maybe four minutes, total.

At the same time, I understand that movies like this serve a purpose. The only reason I watched A Walk to Remember was because I was with some older relatives and it was something we could all watch. This movie is in a very similar vein as A Walk to Remember, so I’m guessing that if you liked that one, you’ll like Rodanthe.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Movie Preview: Richard Gere and Diane Lane in Nights in Rodanthe

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:30:02 -0700

So, Nicholas Sparks has given us many things, one of them being The Notebook. I have to say, I'm convinced the film version of the book did as well as it did because of the talent involved (Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams) because when I think of the books of his I've read they all fall into the same category as the movie version of A Walk to Remember: cheesy, trite and overwrought. This next book-to-film adaptation of a Sparks work, Nights in Rodanthe stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane, both of whom I like a lot as actors. So maybe the movie will be great?

I'm hoping so, because the trailer - despite a strong supporting cast including Mae Whitman (her?) and James Franco - leaves so, so much to be desired. Not the least of its worries (but a pretty big one), the movie utilizes the tired old tactic of randomly giving the white protagonist a wise black best girlfriend whose sole purpose in life is to nurture and soothe the crazy/lovelorn/depressed white lady (this Black Best Friend syndrome has been written about quite a bit, including an L.A. Times slideshow of a few notable "BBFs"). Ugh.

The romantic drama comes out October 3. To see the trailer for yourself, read more.

Jumper: Teleport Yourself Far Away From This One

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:31:55 -0800

The sci-fi "thriller" Jumper can be described in one word: empty. Pretty much everything about this movie is devoid of any real energy, passion or substance. The performances are stale and lifeless, the plot is interesting in theory but fails in execution and the visuals aren't cool enough to keep us engaged. The plot is boringly similar to that of Heroes (which is itself like a clone of X-Men), and yet Heroes is so much more enjoyable. At least Heroes features intriguing characters who might band together for a higher purpose. Lacking both good characters and any kind of higher purpose, Jumper just lays there.

Here's the plot: David (Christensen) is a "Jumper," someone who can teleport himself. The Jumpers of the world are at odds with the Paladins, and one Paladin in particular, Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) is on a mission to rid the world of all Jumpers everywhere. In his pursuit, he has no problem killing all of the jumpers' loved ones. Hence, David's lady friend Millie (Rachel Bilson) is in danger, and David must protect her as well as elude Roland's grasp. That's it for the story, but for more of my thoughts on the film, read more.

In a seriously empty movie, the emptiest part is Hayden Christensen on whom I think we'd be hard-pressed to find a pulse. He must have been stoked to get this part that requires so little of him because this way he can be comatose onscreen and people are left to wonder if it's the actor or the material. I suspect it's a little bit of both, though Christensen definitely needs to be held accountable for his dismal performance. It angers me that he can't even be bothered to, say, add any kind of inflection to his voice. As though we're the ones wasting his time and not the other way around.

And in tired repetition of an old formula, the main female character is helpless and outrageously stupid and the lone black character is the face of evil. David's mother, played by Diane Lane, is also a hateful character. Christensen makes it impossible for us to care about David, so that leaves one interesting character: David's fellow Jumper Griffin, played with some degree of liveliness by Jamie Bell. When the audience is longing to find out more about this secondary character to the point of being annoyed with the protagonists for getting in the way of his story, there's a problem. Unless your eyes need some exercise in rolling, I think it's best you jump away from this movie.

For exclusive videos about Jumper - including a preview video - check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Movie Preview: Untraceable

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:30:00 -0800

Whether or not this is great in execution, the story idea for Untraceable is pretty darn scary. The movie follows a serial killer who posts video of his victims as he tortures them to death on his website KillWithMe.com. The more people that view the site, the faster the person dies. Diane Lane and Colin Hanks play the FBI agents tasked with finding the killer, though somehow his online activity is untraceable. But the closer Lane's character gets to finding him, the closer he gets to capturing her and her daughter.

Untraceable opens January 25 so to check out the creepy trailer, read more

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:40:23 -0700

Rewind: This Week's Buzz

BuzzSugar — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:30:36 -0700

Yay! The third season of Mad Men returns Aug. 16! I've already marked my calendar, how about you?
Lucky me! I got to talk to Sam Mendes, Maya Rudolph, and John Krasinski about their new movie Away We Go. I think the movie is super sweet and has a fantastic soundtrack.
This gives me mixed emotions: VH1 might cancel Best Week Ever. How do you feel about it?
Lots of ladies making casting news this week: Amy Poehler in a new movie about a lunch lady, Diane Lane in a movie about a horse racing lady, and Anne Hathaway in a movie about a lady who loves a character played by Jake Gyllenhaal.
Oh! And in man-casting news, Javier Bardem has joined the cast of Eat, Pray, Love. He makes me want to see this movie now.
Check out this folksy song from Paolo Nutini. The young lad has won me over.
Finally, take a look at this extended clip of the Melrose Place reboot.

Photo courtesy of AMC

More Nicholas Sparks Movies? Really?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:30:42 -0800

We all know that author Nicholas Sparks wrote The Notebook, which became a movie starring the sweet duo Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Before The Notebook Sparks's novel Message in a Bottle became a movie. Later came A Walk to Remember starring Mandy Moore, and this year his book Nights in Rodanthe arrived on the big screen towing Richard Gere and Diane Lane in its wake.

Now there are not one, but two more Sparks-induced movies in the works: Dear John and the recently announced adaptation of The Lucky One.

Sparks's writing is rather recognizable now for its combination of desperate romance and heartbreaking tragedy. Do you like these movies? Do you think they'll work if they have a good combination of actors (like Ryan and Rachel)? Or should we just stop with the Nicholas Sparks already?

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Watch, Pass, TiVo, or Rent: Nights in Rodanthe

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:30:37 -0700

Last week when I tried out my version of Do, Dump or Marry, Team member luckyme suggested having a TV option in addition to "Watch," "Pass" or "Rent." I like that idea a lot, seeing as there are plenty of movies I wouldn't ever rent, but will probably watch on TV if I happen upon it. Hence, the TiVo option, which doesn't necessarily mean you'd TiVo it (though it could; I often TiVo movies), but includes catching the movie on TBS or something someday (having "Watch on TV" as an option would make the title so cumbersome!).

This week's movie in question: the Nicholas Sparks weepie Nights in Rodanthe starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane.

One-sheet image courtesy of Warner Bros.