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Movie Preview: Miley Cyrus in The Last Song

BuzzSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:30:56 -0800

Are you ready for your second Nicholas Sparks movie preview in as many months? (Last month's was the romance Dear John.) Here it is: The Last Song stars Miley Cyrus (cue The Soup's "It's Miley!" sound bite) as a girl who's dropped off at the home of her estranged father to spend the Summer. Obviously she doesn't want to be there, obviously she falls for a local boy, and obviously she and her father end up bonding.

You couldn't call me a Miley fan, but I do love Greg Kinnear, who plays her well-meaning father. From the trailer, the movie looks very sweet and very schlocky - which is exactly how Sparks usually does it. Interestingly, Sparks was commissioned to write both the screenplay and novel simultaneously, with Cyrus in mind. While I don't know that I'll be rushing to the theater for this one, it's probably something you'd find me secretly Netflixing later on; I'm kind of a sucker for the addictive cheesiness of a Sparks movie.

Check out the trailer for The Last Song when you read more.

The Last Song comes out on April 2, 2010.

Movie Preview: Matt Damon in Green Zone

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:30:59 -0700

Matt Damon is officially a Hollywood juggernaut. Not only does he have a ton of movies in the works (a Liberace biopic, an Eastwood film, and as of today a new project with the Coen brothers), and here's a peek at his upcoming thriller Green Zone. Even though I've been anxiously awaiting a fourth Bourne installment, Green Zone looks like a worthy substitute for the time being. (No doubt because it's directed by Paul Greengrass, who worked on the Bourne franchise.)

Damon is back to kicking butt and taking names as Roy Miller, an Army officer on the search for weapons of mass destruction. During his journey, Miller seeks the help of a journalist (Amy Ryan) and gets tangled up with an underhanded higher-up (Greg Kinnear). As a result of his sniffing around where he's not supposed to, Miller soon ends up with a giant bull's-eye on his head. Dun, dun, dun!

While the storyline doesn't sound entirely fresh, you can still count me in for this one. The trailer has that edge-of-your-seat suspense vibe, and with Damon and Greengrass working together, I know I'm sure to be entertained. It doesn't hit theaters until March 12, 2010, but you can watch the preview when you read more.

Ghost Town: Easygoing and Sweet

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:30:22 -0700

One of the things I like best about Ghost Town is that it doesn't ask anything of you. There's no brain power required, though it's not insultingly stupid or empty. It's not hysterically funny, but it's also not crude or painfully immature. For my money, it's certainly the most easygoing - easy to enjoy, easy to forget afterward - of all the movies out in theaters right now.

It's hard to categorize this movie, since it's not a romantic comedy, necessarily. There's not a lot of romance, and while there is comedy, it's often bittersweet, due to all the dead people. Ricky Gervais plays dentist Bertram Pincus, an ornery, solitary man who comes out of a medical procedure to discover that he died briefly during it. His momentary death gives him the ability to see people who have died but who are still hanging out on Earth because they have unfinished business. And now they implore Bertram to finish it for them. One such restless soul is Frank (Greg Kinnear) who needs Bertram to prevent Frank's widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), from remarrying. The ghosts torment Bertram until he agrees to Frank's request, but as he goes about breaking up Gwen and her fiance, Bertram starts to fall for Gwen. To find out my take on it all, read more.

The cast is great, and and I especially appreciate the female characters (and the actresses behind them), who are wonderfully funny and human. Kristen Wiig is hilarious as usual, and Tea Leoni is down to earth as the romantic lead: smart, funny and emotionally confused - but not to the point of hysteria. Her character is written as a person, not some weird parody of a woman. And Leoni easily embodies this beautiful, reasonable character.

Greg Kinnear is also well-cast, and with every new role I see him in, I warm to him more. He's got an honest, affable way about him that can be so endearing. Also, he's well-suited to play a counterpart to Ricky Gervais; Kinnear's more obvious humor and openness balances nicely with Gervais's dry, wry wit. Gervais is surprisingly capable as the leading man in this big American comedy, though with this material he's significantly aided by Kinnear who brings an almost clownish relief.

For some reason, I went into this expecting to laugh more than I did and feel less than I did. It's more emotional and heartwarming than I thought it would be. For any of the movie's faults (some scenes that drag, the occasional blandness of the tone overall), everything is forgiven in the final scene - specifically the last two lines - which is so full of hard-earned poignancy, it (I'll admit it) brought on the waterworks just a little.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Movie Preview: Flash of Genius

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:15:47 -0700

Honestly, if one were trying to get folks excited about a movie, a good way to fail would be to say it's about the guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper systems used on cars.

But what if we're told the movie stars Greg Kinnear as the inventor and the lovely Lauren Graham plays his wife? Add to that a real-life David vs. Goliath tale in which Goliath is the auto industry stealing the windshield wiper idea from David, and we're getting toward a movie worth talking about.

With the help of Dave Matthews, the trailer for Flash of Genius is already tugging at my heartstrings, and it looks beautifully shot with that nice soft lighting. While this is definitely a plot we've seen before in different incarnations over the years, I'm still curious about it, especially because the cast is so darn appealing (the movie also features Dermot Mulroney and Alan Alda).

The movie opens Oct. 25. To see the trailer, read more.

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Movie Preview: Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town

BuzzSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:30:03 -0700

In the comedy Ghost Town, Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is "a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) who pesters him into breaking up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen (Téa Leoni)."

From the new trailer, it seems silly and surreal, and not necessarily in a good way. Man, I wish I thought this looked awesome and funny. I love Gervais and he's pretty entertaining no matter what, but I only kinda-chuckled twice watching this trailer: once because of Kristen Wiig, once from a bit about shoes. Ghost Town opens September 19. To see the trailer for yourself, read more.

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Baby Mama: Super Funny, Super Cute

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:30:43 -0700

As I left the screening for Baby Mama, I tried to equate the warm happy feelings I had to the after-feelings of another film in recent history and I came up blank. Maybe after Juno, I thought, or perhaps Waitress, but both of those films were also tender and heartstringy. Baby Mama is just a feel-good, have-fun, sweet-humored good time. Sure, it's a little on the predictable side and certain jokes fall flat, but it's one of the more positive movie-watching experiences I've had in a while.

For one thing, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey make a great team as the wacky lady (Poehler) and the straight (wo)man (Fey). Plenty of folks will probably compare this story to that of The Odd Couple, and these two opposites often make for hilariously awkward or gross interactions. But what develops between the two women is also totally refreshing: They become girlfriends, and it's really sweet to watch. It's funny to see their two different worlds colliding, though it's possibly more satisfying and equally funny when they come together and find some kind of common ground. To see what I mean, read more.

Fey plays Kate Holbrook, a highly successful VP of an organic foods company. At 37, she's ready to have a baby, but her uterus is apparently a disappointment, and adoption can take years as a single woman. Enter: Angie, the strapped-for-cash surrogate Kate hires to carry her baby. When Angie breaks up with her boyfriend Carl (Dax Shepard), she moves in with Kate and of course, their disparate lifestyles make for awkward misunderstandings, occasionally interrupted by the ladies playing a karaoke video game or going clubbing.

Meanwhile, Kate meets a handsome juice smoothie shop owner and struggles to maintain her strong standing with her eccentric boss (a ponytailed Steve Martin), and Angie grapples with her own secrets. With a fabulous '80s-heavy soundtrack and some excellent supporting actors (particularly Romany Malco, who plays the doorman at Kate's building and frequently manages to provide a sort of bizarre voice of reason), the movie clips along nicely until the ending which is, admittedly, a little cheesy.

Romantic comedies in which the focal point is a male-female relationship are moderately cute enough, but there's something awesome about a funny movie that's not the bland watered-down "comedy" of stuff like Fool's Gold nor is it entirely dude humor and boys bonding. Amidst the scads of comedies about schlubby guys and their inexplicably hot girlfriends, finally here's a fine movie with a refreshing message: Female friendship is great, and it can be funny.

To see the trailer and video clips from Baby Mama, check out movies.ivillage.com.

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Feast of Love: Sweet But Not Filling

BuzzSugar — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 14:36:14 -0700

There are certainly some lovable things about Feast of Love. I love Morgan Freeman. I love the peaceful Oregon setting. I love watching Greg Kinnear do what he does best - play the blithely unaware guy. The movie aims to be a romantic weepie, and there are a few tears and there is some romance. There are good performances and a few sweet, truthful scenes. But all the elements put together make for a narrative that mopes along with a couple lightning bolts of drama trying to jolt us out of our stupor. In the end, it's a pretty unfulfilling "feast."

The story mostly revolves around the lovelorn Bradley (Kinnear) and his terrible luck, Harry's (Freeman) grief over having lost his son, and a young couple dealing with new love, minor money troubles, and an ominous psychic reading. Bradley marries one woman (Selma Blair) only to have her realize she is a lesbian and run off with - who else? - the shortstop on a rival softball team. Then Bradley finds another woman (Radha Mitchell) who can't seem to pull herself away from a man she's had an affair with for a long time. There is no shortage of naked breasts or lovemaking scenes while either the night sky looks on or the pounding rain provides a soundtrack. There's more to this movie than just that, though, so read more

In the meantime, Harry mostly dispenses a lot of kindly advice and privately continues to grieve for his dead son while shutting out his compassionate wife (Jane Alexander, in a role similar to the one she plays on "Tell Me You Love Me"). For a while I was very concerned that there would be some dumb twist where Harry was actually a figment of everyones' imaginations, but thankfully the story never delves into those tricks. The nicest aspect of the story is the relationship between Chloe (one half of the young couple, played sweetly by Alexa Davalos) and Harry as he becomes a kind of surrogate father to her.

On paper, I'm sure the script seemed really beautiful. And combined with these great actors, how could they go wrong? I'm not sure how they did, but they did. The audience around me was palpably restless and at times even I found myself making a to-do list in my head and checking my watch. I would recommend seeing this film if you a) want to cry and just need an excuse, b) have a ton of patience, and/or c) are feeling sick and need something relatively tame to lull you to sleep. Otherwise, skip it and wait for these great actors to find better projects.

Photos courtesy of MGM

Movie Preview: Feast of Love

BuzzSugar — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:27:25 -0700

As I mentioned in my romantic roundup of fall movies, Feast of Love is a little romantic drama starring Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear and Selma Blair. It takes place in Oregon and focuses on Bradley's (Kinnear) terrible luck with the ladies and how he learns all sorts of lessons on love from the various people in his life. Going out on a limb here, I assume Freeman's character doles out endless bits of sage advice. The movie opens September 28, so to check out the slightly cheesy trailer, read more

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