BuzzSugar

Transsiberian: Spooky But Irritating

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:30:29 -0700

In select cities, a little indie thriller titled Transsiberian quietly opened over the weekend and did fairly well in the indie market (despite the long shadow cast by The Dark Knight's opening), which frankly surprises me. With some folks calling the movie "Hitchcockian" in its suspense, and featuring a cast that includes the enigmatic Emily Mortimer and a shape-shifting Ben Kingsley, I was interested in seeing it myself. But now I kinda wish I hadn't.

Emily Mortimer and Woody Harrelson play Americans Roy and Jesse, who are taking a train through Russia after completing a missionary assignment teaching English in China. Roy is your typical all-American tourist, boisterous, over-eager and naive, while Jesse has worked hard to get over her bad girl past, in which she struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. They meet another young couple, Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), who turn out to have some shady secrets of their own, and Carlos manages to rope Jesse into a dangerous world of drug trafficking. Enter the two-faced Russian cop Grinko (Ben Kingsley) who has interests in Carlos's activities extending beyond official police work. When Carlos goes missing and Jesse was the last to see him, Grinko focuses all his energies on the American couple, and the movie kinda derails from there. To see what I mean, read more.

In terms of setting up a chilling, unfamiliar atmosphere in which terrible things could happen, director Brad Anderson succeeds on all counts. The snow white light of middle-of-nowhere Russia casts everything in a filmy gray, and the bulk of the story takes place on a speeding train, evoking a panicky feeling of being trapped in an foreign country in close quarters with untrustworthy people. Certainly, there are moments of genuine suspense, and the setting is such that this could have been a real nail-biter. But then someone talks, or does something incredibly dumb, and it's all over.

The most debilitating aspect of Transsiberian is the set of characters. At every turn Jesse does something (or doesn't do something - how hard is it to discreetly drop a bag in a trash bin in a public space where nobody is paying attention to you? Come on!) that is so inane, so illogical, there's no response but to throw your hands up in the air and curse under your breath. Indeed, this is the kind of film that was fun to watch with a few friends - but only because we could yell at the screen together out of bafflement and frustration. Though she admirably puts her all into it, even Mortimer can't elevate the quality of this character.

And then there's Woody Harrelson, who brings the stock character of dumb American buffoon to preposterous levels. He could have easily taken the blithe ignorance down a notch and we would have still gotten the picture. As it was, his character was so incredibly stupid at times, I wondered if there were something wrong with him, mentally. In the end, you can have a spooky setting, but characters really matter, too, and if we don't root for, care about or even remotely like any of them, it's hard to find the film worthwhile.

Buzz News Roundup, 2/27

BuzzSugar — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:30:07 -0800

USA Today has a gallery of images from the psychological thriller The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden.
It's official: Hollywood writers approved their new contract with almost 94 percent of WGA members voting in favor of the agreement, the Associated Press reports.
Miss/Guided, the ABC comedy starring Judy Greer, will premiere in March, Zap2it reports.
The next Terminator movie, starring Christian Bale, will open Memorial Day weekend of 2009, Variety reports.
Billboard writes that Justin Timberlake, Lou Reed and Billy Joel are among the people who will induct members of the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class next month in New York.
The New York Times reports that several networks are ready to claim Jay Leno once he's done with The Tonight Show next year.
The Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island, starring Leonardo Dicaprio, just added Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Haley and Max von Sydow to the cast, according to ComingSoon.
Variety has the news that Jonathan Rhys Meyers will join Julianne Moore in the supernatural thriller Shelter.

Movie Preview: Chiwetel Ejiofor in David Mamet's Redbelt

BuzzSugar — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:30:40 -0800

When I'm looking for a movie with strong writing and snappy dialogue, I often reach for something by David Mamet. This spring, the writer/director is turning his eye to the boxing ring with Redbelt, the story of a martial arts instructor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who stays far away from the high-pressure competition circuit - until mysterious circumstances force him into the ring to pay off debts and regain his honor.

Honestly, I've watched the trailer a couple of times now, and I still can't say I fully understand what the story is about. But it's Mamet, so I'm willing to believe it will all make sense when the movie is released this spring. Plus, it stars both Ejiofor and Emily Mortimer, two of my favorite actors, which alone makes me want to give it the benefit of the doubt.

The film will be out in limited release April 25, but for now, you can check out the trailer if you read more.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

First Look: Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl

BuzzSugar — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:27:20 -0700

Well, after much speculation over exactly how this movie would shape up, the Ryan Gosling movie in which he falls for a doll finally has a trailer. Lars and the Real Girl certainly looks bizarre, but also funnier than I thought it would be.

Gosling's character Lars, a loner-type who seems to have issues with dating real human women, orders a life-size doll off the internet and insists that he is dating her. He tells his friends and family that "Bianca" is a "missionary," which is most likely a reference to the missionary position probably described on the Bianca's packaging. The adorable Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson also star.

This strange romantic indie screens at the Toronto Film Festival in September before opening in limited release October 12. To see the trailer, read more

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