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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - Love Does Cost a Thing

Becky Kirsch — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:30:43 PDT

If Oliver Stone's iconic 1987 film, Wall Street, is about rising to the top of the financial world, then Money Never Sleeps is the sequel that shows the flip side: what happens when all that money and power is taken away?

Gordon Gekko, the villain (or hero, depending on how you look at it) of Wall Street, is back, having just completed eight years of hard jail time and looking at a very different financial world than the one he once ruled. As the economy begins to collapse, Gekko collides with Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf), an eager Wall Street wunderkind who is engaged to Gekko's estranged daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan). Gekko takes notice of Jacob's naivete, and uses it to his advantage as a means to repair his relationship with Winnie and get himself back on top. To find out where the film works and where it doesn't, just

read more. LaBeouf brings just the right amount of tenderness to his role as the impressionable yet determined-to-do-the-right-thing Jacob. He gives a performance that is both restrained and emotional in the right places, making Jacob human but not a complete pushover. The sparkle in his eye when he looks at Gordon and Winnie is offset by the crackling competitive energy he brings when facing off with his onscreen nemesis (played by Josh Brolin). Mulligan does what she can with a role that mostly requires her to be on the verge of tears at all times, but her chemistry with LaBeouf makes their scenes together a welcome reprieve in the midst of the often-leaden financial mumbo jumbo. Upon their first meeting, a seemingly reformed Gordon tells Jacob that "Money is not the prime asset in life. Time is." Oliver Stone pushes this theme throughout the film, from the opening scene where Gordon is handed his Zach Morris-era cell phone to Jacob's aging mentor (Frank Langella) referring to himself as a dinosaur. The camera work is so in-your-face (literally) that I found myself wondering if the close-ups of Michael Douglas's wrinkles were intended to serve as superfluous evidence of how he's aged since the original film. Stone also goes overboard trying to make sure the audience feels the urgency and rapid pace of the economic collapse. As Jacob learns that his company is going under, we see the news coming from all angles of the media as a graph showing the plummeting Dow Jones simultaneously scrolls across the screen. The aggressively edited scenes get the point across, but getting hit over the head about a crisis we've all lived through feels a bit patronizing. In the midst of the dizzying cinematography and metaphors, Money Never Sleeps finds its center in the same place that Wall Street does: the question of whether or not greed is good. Predictably, we find the same answer the second time around, but there's a lot more sentimentality along the way. The bright side is that LaBeouf and Mulligan are so sweet that it helps forgive a wishy-washy plot that requires a bailout of its own.

Ryan Gosling Does Bad Things in the All Good Things Trailer

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:30:00 PDT

Ryan Gosling is fairly selective about his movie roles, so it's always a treat to get a taste of the Oscar nominee when he's got a new film on tap. His latest, All Good Things, doesn't have a release date just yet, but today brings the first peek at the film with the international trailer. Based on a true story, Gosling stars as David Marks, a man from a very wealthy upbringing whose family ends up in some hot water when his wife (Kirsten Dunst) goes missing.

The thriller touts all the basics: secrets, lies, scandal, betrayal. From the looks of the preview, Dunst is just a pawn in a game that mostly revolves around David and his father (played by Frank Langella). See for yourself after the jump.

Shia Has Canines, Not Carey, For Company on Set

PopSugar — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:00:00 PDT

Shia LaBeouf was joined on the set of Money Never Sleeps on Thursday by costar Frank Langella and director Oliver Stone as they filmed in NYC's Central Park. He and Frank took a walk together, along with four adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Shia filmed alongside his offscreen lady love Carey Mullligan earlier this week, but she wasn't on set this time around. With the weekend coming up, perhaps Shia and Carey can reunite for one of their romantic city strolls.

To see more from the set, just read more.

View 10 Photos ›

Buzz News Roundup, 8/10

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:30:58 PDT

Chase and Cameron will get their old jobs back on House. - Entertainment Weekly
Battlestar Galactica star Edward James Olmos will reportedly star alongside Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz in The Green Hornet. - ComingSoon
Frank Langella will join the cast of Oliver Stone's sequel Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, which already stars Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas. - Variety
King of the Hill's one-hour series finale will air Sept. 13. - Zap2it
Four more actors have joined the Red Dawn remake, including Tom Cruise's son Connor. - AP
The creator of The Shield is working on a new cop drama called Ridealong for Fox. - The Hollywood Reporter
Universal has bought the "body-switching comedy" Change Up by Hangover screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. - Variety
TNT has renewed Hawthorne for a second season. - Broadcasting and Cable

Photo courtesy of Fox

Movie Preview: The Box

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:45:42 PDT

I've been watching out for director Richard Kelly's (Donnie Darko) movie The Box for a long time now, and I'm excited to say that while the premise sounds odd/silly, I think this could turn out to be a great film. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play married couple Norma and Arthur Lewis who have a pretty storybook life but eventually run into money troubles. Cue very creepy music and Frank Langella showing up on their doorstep with a box. He tells them that if they push the button in the box someone they do not know will die and they will receive a lot of money.

Again, it sounds silly but so did a movie about a teenage boy who talks to a bunny rabbit named Frank, and we know how well that turned out (really well). The trailer is weird and creepy, and totally smacks of Richard Kelly. Count me in! The movie will hit theaters Oct. 30. To watch the trailer for yourself,

read more. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Frost/Nixon: A Solid and Entertaining Talkathon

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:30:01 PST

Doubt and Frost/Nixon have a lot in common: Both are stage-to-screen adaptations, both are receiving a lot of awards buzz, and neither has a particularly compelling visual story to tell. Instead, the drama lies in the words people are saying. I've heard both of these movies referred to as "grown-up" cinema, which is probably apt given that it takes a pretty mature attention span to fully appreciate them.

All this might sound a bit boring but Frost/Nixon actually ends up being just the opposite. Playwright/screenwriter Peter Morgan is proving to be an expert at lifting the curtain on some of history's most intriguing leaders and applying his imagination to the factual outlines of their lives (he also wrote The Queen and The Last King of Scotland). To see why I think Morgan - with the help of director Ron Howard - has created another smart and absorbing movie,

read more. Frost/Nixon revisits some familiar cinematic ground with Richard Nixon. The disgraced thirty-seventh President of the United States has come to symbolize so many things and is often regarded as a deeply flawed, morally-challenged, Machiavellian caricature of himself. That's fun stuff for dramatists! It's no wonder everyone from Oliver Stone to Gene Hackman has tackled the man. Heck, there's even a book called Nixon at the Movies. But Morgan, Howard and Co. tell a new story with this movie, a story of the president's post-resignation TV inquisition by the most unlikely journalist/TV personality. Frost (played by Michael Sheen reprising his stage role) is the underdog in this scenario who will take numerous punches while interviewing President Nixon (Frank Langella, who also originated the role on stage). Langella's Nixon is giant and lumbering and doesn't bear all that much resemblance to the actual guy. The power of his performance lies in the way he conveys the complexities and emotions of a man who was practically kicked out of the White House. Frost sets out to resuscitate his career by getting Nixon to sit down for a multi-session television interview with the metaphorical death blow being when he corners the president into giving the American people the confession of guilt he'd thus far avoided. Frost and his research team (played with humor and charm by Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, and the super cute Matthew Macfadyen) come up against all kinds of obstacles in between each sit-down - including getting someone to pay for and air the interview. Meanwhile, Nixon's intellect and question-dodging abilities prove to be formidable, giving this talkfest most of its nail-biting moments. In retrospect it's amazing that so much talking between two men about familiar events can lend itself to such a natural dramatic arc. This is a well-matched duel between two giant egos. Both are in it for something but only one can triumph. Nixon is a tough beast to slay, but just when you think Frost is down, you can bet (as is the case in most movies based on a match like this) the little guy will eventually rally. All in all, it's a smart movie that manages to get your adrenaline pumping with lots of words. Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

Surprise! Barbara Walters Finds Obama Most Fascinating

LibertySugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:30:00 PST

President-elect Barack Obama has topped Barbara Walters's list of the Most Fascinating People of 2008. The ABC special aired last night, and last year the honor of Most Fascinating Person went to Harry Potter author JK Rowling. While many people probably agree that Obama is the most fascinating figure of the year, it's somewhat surprising that his opponent John McCain did not make the list.

The complete list includes:

Barack Obama
Tom Cruise
Sarah Palin
Frank Langella
Thomas Beatie
Rush Limbaugh
Tina Fey
Miley Cyrus
Michael Phelps
Will Smith

Do you find the people on this list fascinating? Anyone you'd like to sub in?

Source

Movie Preview: Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:45:47 PDT

"There's a reason they called him Tricky Dick."

The international trailer for the new Ron Howard movie, Frost/Nixon, has arrived and from what I can tell it looks pretty amazing. Based on the well-received play of the same title by Peter Morgan (the same man who wrote the script for The Queen), the movie chronicles the true story of a series of televised interviews Nixon gave to British journalist David Frost in 1977. Both lead actors in the movie played the same roles on the stage: Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost.

This is a really good trailer and I'm trying to figure out what's so gripping. Obviously the story is an interesting one but it doesn't look like it's presented in an overly simplistic way, and I get the sense that the shades of grey that defined this moment in time are handled with care. Also, the cast looks stellar. Langella appears to be pulling off Nixon just fine, Sheen already has me pinned to my seat, and then throw in Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt and Rebecca Hall and I'm sold.

If you want to learn more about the play, check out this interesting clip of The Charlie Rose show. The movie opens December 5 (hopefully) and to check out the trailer for yourself,

Buzz News Roundup, 5/23

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:30:57 PDT

ComingSoon has the newly announced NBC Fall premiere dates, which includes a two-hour season premiere of Heroes on Monday September 22.
Hellboy's Ron Perlman will star in the upcoming FX series Sons of Anarchy, writes Hollywood Reporter.
There's now a Bruce Lee Broadway musical in the works, Variety writes.
According to Billboard, Jonathan Demme is now directing the Bob Marley documentary, replacing Martin Scorsese.
Marvel Studios will adapt the series Runaways for the big screen, ComingSoon reports.
Beau Bridges has been cast in an untitled ABC comedy pilot, according to Zap2It.
Law & Order and Criminal Intent have been renewed for another season, Reuters reports.
Variety has news that Frank Langella will topline a Broadway production of A Man for All Seasons in the Fall.

Photo courtesy of NBC