BuzzSugar

Wedding Movie Gets Whitaker, Ferrera and Mencia

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:30:42 -0700

Looks like all the wedding stuff on the Sugar network (especially this post) might come in handy for the characters in an upcoming untitled wedding comedy by Fox Searchlight. Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia are signed on to play two dads and America Ferrera is the bride-to-be. Here's more:

Described as a clash-of-cultures comedy, story centers on two overbearing fathers (Whitaker, Mencia) who must put aside their differences to plan the wedding of their son and daughter (Ferrera) in less than two weeks.

Hmm . . . I wonder who will play the groom. Who could you see alongside the beautiful Ferrera? It sounds like a cute movie and I adore Forest Whitaker, though it'll be interesting to see the Oscar winner yukking it up with Carlos Mencia in Mencia's first major feature film role. It could be sweet if this came out around Father's Day next year. What do you think?

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Keira Knightley to Star in Never Let Me Go

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:30:25 -0800

Variety has announced one of Keira Knightley's next projects - a movie titled Never Let Me Go. And yet, even though the movie's plot description is completely the same as that of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel by the same title, neither Ishiguro nor the novel is mentioned in the article, as though the film is not an adaptation of this book. Hmmm . . .

Produced by Fox Searchlight, the film is described as a sci-fi thriller revolving "around a trio who grew up in a boarding school with no contact or knowledge of the outside world until they discover they are clones grown for the sole purpose of organ donation." That definitely matches the plot of the never-mentioned book, so I have to assume they're related somehow.

If so, I'm picturing Knightley as Kathy H., the reflective main character. She's thoughtful and wistful - both characteristics I associate with Knightley - and the sci-fi elements of the book are relatively subtle, so it shouldn't pull Knightley too far out of her comfort zone. I thought the book told a beautiful and haunting story, but I'm not 100 percent sold on it as a movie - what about you? If you've read the book, could you see Knightley in the role?

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Deschanel, Gordon-Levitt Have 500 Days of Summer

BuzzSugar — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:34:06 -0700

Even more so than the Zooey Deschanel-Paul Dano pair-up, this movie casting news has me all swoony. Zooey will star alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in - what else? - an indie film, this time titled 500 Days of Summer. The romantic comedy has Gordon-Levitt playing a man who "falls hopelessly in love with a woman (Deschanel) who doesn't believe in love."

I was never all that into 3rd Rock From the Sun, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt has consistently floored me in the movie roles he's taken since that show. He fit perfectly into the high school noir thriller Brick, and was totally sympathetic in the heist thriller The Lookout. In the recent war drama Stop-Loss he basically stole every scene he was in. I seriously can't wait to see him paired up with the ever-magnificent Zooey.

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David E. Talbert's Baggage Claim Picked Up by Fox Searchlight

BuzzSugar — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:29:15 -0800

Fox Searchlight, flying high these days on their Juno success, is signing up to bring David Talbert's novel Baggage Claim to the big screen. The story follows thirtysomething flight attendant Montana Moore who, "frustrated with being single, embarks on a 30-day, 30,000-mile barnstorm across America to find an appropriate suitor. Along the way she encounters several interested prospects, including a preacher, a politician and a tycoon."

Author David Talbert has often been compared to Tyler Perry, as he writes, directs and produces projects like First Sunday, opening in wide release today and starring Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan. For Baggage Claim, Talbert will again write, direct and produce.

I really like this plot description, and I'm especially amused by this little blurb from a reader's review on Amazon: "[Montana Moore] has men in categories:

Overnight Bag kind of man
Garment Bag kind of man
Briefcase man
Duffel Bag kind of man
Trunk kind of man"

Ha! Now I'm curious to read Talbert's book before the project makes its way to theaters. What do you think about this movie news? Have you read Baggage Claim?

Biopic About Legendary Punk Band Ramones in the Works

BuzzSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:30:29 -0700

I'll just say it: Gabba Gabba Hey! Fox Searchlight is in negotiations to produce a biopic about The Ramones, the seminal punk band formed in the '70s and best known for songs like "I Wanna be Sedated," "Blitzkrieg Bop," and "Rockaway Beach."

The movie will be based on the not-yet-published book I Slept With Joey Ramone by Joey's brother Mickey Leigh, and will center around Joey's life and the early days of the band - widely considered to be the first punk rock group.

I'm guessing we'll also get to see the band's infighting, health and drug problems, right up to the recent deaths of founders Joey, Johnny, and Dee Dee between 2001 and 2004. What I know for certain is that the movie will have an amazing soundtrack.

Link Time! Watch George Clooney Voicing Fantastic Mr. Fox

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:30:25 -0800

So cool - see how the voice acting was done on The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Cinematical
Comedy Central is teaming up with The Onion for a TV show - The Hollywood Reporter
No Doubt is suing Activision for using their likenesses inappropriately in Band Hero - GeekSugar
2012 already has a TV series sequel, 2013 - MTV Movies Blog
Fox Searchlight has halted the national release of Gentlemen Broncos - Vulture
Sufjan Stevens admits his 50 states album concept was a joke - Stereogum
Amazing video mash-up of scenes with characters saying the movie's title - Videogum
Anthony Hopkins and Annette Bening will play Ernest Hemingway and wife in Hemingway and Fuentes - Variety
The Decemberists' Colin Meloy and wife Carson Ellis are writing a children's book - Pitchfork
10 scary Christmas movies to bridge Halloween and Christmas - Rotten Tomatoes

Amelia: Never Really Takes Flight

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:30:00 -0700

I love the way a biopic makes me feel - like I'm treated to a back-in-time look at an amazing life. They're epic, and that's why I'm willing to sit through the slow moments (and often for more than two hours) for the payoff. This is the experience I hoped for from Amelia, directed by Mira Nair and starring Hilary Swank as the pioneering aviator who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

There's plenty of opportunity for grandness, even though Nair chose not to focus much on the circumstances of Earhart's disappearance during her flight around the world. Earhart had an extraordinary life, eschewing social conventions for her gender and never giving up her one true love: flying.

Unfortunately, Amelia misses the epic mark and lands instead somewhere in the mediocre, underusing its cast's talents and history's treasury. However, it's not an altogether unpleasant journey, so to see my thoughts on the film, just read more.

First, the film is beautiful - Mira Nair knows how to shoot a gorgeous scene (she was behind the richly-styled films Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake), and she really takes advantage of the oceans, the landscapes of jungles, beaches, and moors. Much of it is seen through Amelia's eyes as she's soaring over it, and occasionally you feel the same freedom in flying that she so desires.

Along with the scenery, the minor success the film does achieve is ascribed to Hilary Swank's acting. I was expecting the two-time Oscar winner to be fantastic, and she didn't let me down. From transforming her looks to match the androgynous icon's to altering her voice to a Katherine Hepburn-ish gravel, she captures the pre-feminist aviatrix in all her glory.

The problem is that intriguing parts of Earhart's life are introduced but merely glossed over. For instance, Earhart's marriage to publisher George Putnam (played by Richard Gere) is complicated by the fact that she carries on an affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). However, this affair is only briefly touched on (they meet, they kiss, it's suddenly over). For his part, Ewan McGregor is given little more than a cameo role, which is an unsatisfying tease for any fan of the actor.

While I'm on unsatisfying, if you've ever been fascinated by the mysterious circumstances of Earhart's death (she disappeared over the Pacific on a round-the-world-flight), you'll get no gratification here. Understandably, there's no speculation about what happened, but there's no closure either.

That seemed justified, because when this project was announced, it was reported that Nair wouldn't focus on the mystery, but Earhart's remarkable life instead. Unfortunately, there's not enough focus on that remarkable life to do the woman's memory justice.

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Whip It: A Rollicking Good Time

BuzzSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:30:56 -0700

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, roller derby comedy Whip It, is not unlike the actress's persona: cute, fun, and with a whole lot going on.

Ellen Page stars as quiet 17-year-old Bliss Cavendar, whose mother (Marcia Gay Harden) wants to make her the queen of small-town Texas beauty pageants. Bliss meekly goes along with the idea, her voice too small to tell her mom she hates the contests. But one chance visit to nearby big city Austin and everything changes. Bliss admires some intimidating derby girls, and after sneaking off to a match, decides to try out. What follows is a fast-paced, highly entertaining girl-power anthem.

To read more about what I did and didn't like about the movie, just read more.

The movie is perfectly cast; Page plays a shy teen easily, never giving up her sweetness even after she adopts the moniker "Babe Ruthless" and gets repeatedly knocked into the rink sidelines. The team who welcomes her, the Hurl Scouts, is a motley crew: Eve and Zoe Bell don't become much more than background players, Barrymore is an ebullient if minor supporter ("Smashley Simpson"), but team captain Kristen Wiig is one of the hearts of the movie. With a part bigger than the trailer implies, Wiig (I never get tired of the derby names: "Maggie Mayhem") emerges as a mother figure when Bliss's relationship with her own mom is strained. It's nice to see her playing straight for once, and besides Page, Wiig is really the only multi-faceted derby girl.

That's not to say that the derby girls aren't anything special. Beautiful, tough, and impossibly cool, maybe you wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley, but you'd definitely want to be invited to their party. Juliette Lewis looks every part the queen bee - aggressive and sexy, she'll push you in a locker before you know what hit you. And naturally, there's a love interest, musician Landon Pigg - but he's kind of an afterthought, which I liked. By not giving in to the cliche that a girl gets everything she wants when she finds her passion, it strengthens the movie's pervasive girl power idea.

The movie isn't just about derby; it's a coming-of-age tale too, and Bliss didn't come from a shaky foundation. Alia Shawkat (yay, Maeby!) plays the hilarious and supportive BFF who doesn't exist just to cheer Bliss on from the sidelines. She's got her own thing, and is too confident to be left behind when Bliss gets wrapped up in her new life - a refreshing departure from the typical best friend character. And Harden isn't merely a strict parent caricature; she may want something completely different for her daughter, but her caring nature shines through.

It's not all success on skates, though. Sometimes the portrayal of the derby world gets to be an overzealous glorification. Sure, it's an amazing outlet for a lot of people and one of the few contact sports that really belongs to women, but the movie pushes the sexualization of the players a little too far. It's already sexy that the women play such a powerful sport, so it's not really necessary to do close-ups of the actresses' bare flesh to show the bruises.

There are a few things you could criticize about Barrymore's direction; for instance, Shauna Cross's screenplay is really quite funny, but some of the actors' lines fall flat. Also, the roller derby scenes have such potential to be exciting, and they could have been even more epic. Then again, this is Barrymore's first outing as a director, and it's still what you would expect from her: a fun-loving, freewheeling confection of a movie with a killer soundtrack.

Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight

ABC Brings TV Show From the Writers of (500) Days of Summer

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:30:26 -0700

What if the Friends loft and Central Perk were infiltrated by hipsters? We might find out soon, because ABC has just struck a deal to make a sitcom called Friends With Benefits from the writers of this Summer's indie rom-com (500) Days of Summer.

Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber have been given the green light to bring their show to TV, saying, "It's about a group of twenty-somethings at a point in their lives that everyone can relate to, when they ask questions like: 'Is this your girlfriend or someone you just hang out with? Is this a job, or is this a career?'"

It's a familiar concept, but a pretty timeless one - relationships can always be mined for fodder, and when you add young, good-looking actors, you have a recipe for potential success. It's not a far cry from (500) Days, which finds a new way to detail what happens when boy meets girl. I thought the movie was sweet despite its too-hip leanings, so I'd probably watch this. Oh, and the Wedding Crashers director is attached to shoot the pilot. Intrigued yet?

Photos courtesy Fox Searchlight and Getty