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Movie Preview: Woody Allen's Whatever Works

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:30:08 PDT

In the trailer for Woody Allen's next movie, Whatever Works, Larry David's character Boris insists that "this is not the feel-good movie of the year." While that may be true, I feel pretty good after watching it! I don't know if it's the great cast (which includes Patricia Clarkson, Evan Rachel Wood, and Ed Begley Jr., among others), Allen's writing and direction, or just Larry David's delivery, but I found myself laughing quite a lot at the preview for this bizarre-looking film.

According to a press notice I received about the movie, Boris is "an eccentric New Yorker" who "abandons his upper-class life to lead a more bohemian existence. He meets a young girl from the South [Evan Rachel Wood] and her family and no two people seem to get along in the entanglements that follow." Whatever Works opens in limited release June 19. To check out the trailer,

read more. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Finding Amanda: Never Finds Its Footing

BuzzSugar — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:30:43 PDT

For me, there are two big issues with writer/director Peter Tolan's feature-length debut: some crazy, disconcerting tonal shifts and a crazy, disconcerting casting choice. There's also a third, less important issue adding to my perplexity about Finding Amanda which is that Matthew Broderick lifelessly sleepwalks through his role.

Tonally, the movie seems to have no idea what it wants to be and vacillates between screwball comedy, dark humor, high drama, and bleak character study. Sometimes, when you toss those elements into a bag and shake them up, you get something pretty cool. But in this case, it's not cool. In fact, it reminds me of sitting in a car while someone learns how to drive a stick shift, getting jerked around uncomfortably between gears the entire ride. The gear shifts in this movie are so jarring emotionally that it made me want to get the heck out of that car.

To see why I think Brittany Snow should never, ever play another prostitute,

read more. In the opening we meet Matthew Broderick's character, Taylor Peters, a TV writer who's working on a low-rated comedy. We quickly discover he's a bit of an industry loser due to his many addiction problems (drugs, alcohol, etc.). He's supposedly kicked most of these habits at the behest of his wife (played by Maura Tierney) - except for gambling on horse races. Throughout this entire setup, Broderick has some life in him, giving big puppy dog eyes to the camera as he lies to his wife about being at the tracks. All the while, bouncy music a la Curb Your Enthusiasm plays along in the background. But things begin to unravel for Taylor when his wife threatens to leave him and in some strange attempt to prove his worth, he decides to save their niece Amanda (Snow) who is working as a prostitute in Vegas. This is about when things seriously unravel for the audience, too, because we are suddenly jerked into another gear when the bright eyed, sing-songy Amanda joyfully describes to her uncle in explicit detail the sexual acts she performs as a prostitute. She also reveals a terribly shocking secret about her past, to which Broderick basically responds with a shrug. Um, I never want to hear some of these words coming out of Snow's mouth again. It is like watching a Disney movie where suddenly the princess admits she was raped as a girl. It's icky, uncomfortable and completely outside of Snow's acting range. This is all even more disconcerting when Snow is directed to quit with the peppy "Hey, Uncle, I'm a happy hooker!" shtick and is breaking down in a bathroom stall. Her breakdown doesn't make you feel a thing besides "Wait. . .wha??" On some level, this project could be seen as a valiant try. Maybe give it an "A" for effort because it's not unintelligent and there are some good laughs. But the execution is so poor and actors so off that it's hard to care about it one way or another. Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

It's Not Easy "Living with Ed"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 15:29:49 PST

When I heard Ed Begley Jr. was getting his own reality show, my first reaction was a slack-jawed "seriously?" Begley, the earnest "St. Elsewhere" star who makes me laugh even when he's not trying to be funny, wasn't high on my list of celebrities whose lives I'm dying to explore.

But "Living with Ed," Begley's new HGTV show, looks like it could surprise me. Begley's a totally committed environmentalist who's known for riding his bike to Hollywood events, and the show focuses on life at his little California house, where he powers his lights with solar panels and times his wife while she's in the shower.

Begley's fervent commitment to a green lifestyle has been a Hollywood punchline for a while - I mean, the man lent his name to a natural cleaning product. Basically, he's his "Six Feet Under" character, the outdoorsy, electric-car-driving Hiram - only more extreme. When I saw the dead-serious picture of him meditating on the "Living with Ed" site, I figured the show would be way too preachy. But the video clips actually made me laugh, so

read more The clips on the show's MySpace page are pretty funny, thanks to Rachelle Carson, Begley's wife, who keeps it real while her husband rhapsodizes about his lifestyle. He shows off his solar oven; she points out she has to plan her cooking days in advance. He gushes about how he can eat straight from his garden; she admits the apples are pretty sour. Of course, green living is serious business (see also An Inconvenient Truth), and I'm all for finding ways to make a difference - even if Begley's model is a little extreme. "Living with Ed" looks like it could make me chuckle while also giving me a few environmental tips, so I might have to check out an episode or two. What about you? Did anyone catch the sneak peek on Monday? Source