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Gwyneth Paltrow to Join Nicole Kidman in The Danish Girl

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:30:55 -0800

About a year ago Nicole Kidman signed on to play a transsexual in The Danish Girl, and now Gwyneth Paltrow has signed on to play her (his?) wife. Taking over a role originally slated for Charlize Theron, Paltrow will play Greta, an artist in 1920s Copenhagen who encourages her husband (Kidman) to pose as a female model - but has mixed feelings about the matter when her husband decides to undergo a sex change operation.

This is the second recent project that Charlize has dropped out of only to make room for another big star (the first is The Tourist), but do you think Gwyneth will be a better fit for the role?

Two Lovers: A Bittersweet Snapshot of Modern Love

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:30:18 -0800

There's a kind of achy beauty to Two Lovers, a romantic drama about a man who's drawn to two very different women, as it explores the complexities of attraction. Is it better to be with someone who has similar flaws because she "gets" you and is just as messed up as you are? Or is it a recipe for disaster to put together two people who are messed up in similar ways? Why do we become obsessed? Is the kind of love that's intoxicating and devastating better or worse than a calm love full of respect and companionship?

The story belongs fully to Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix), as we see everything from his point of view. Nothing happens unless Leonard sees it (and we see it with him). It's an intimate thing, this perspective. Not only do we root for Leonard, we are living with his decisions alongside him, right from the very first scene - in which Leonard attempts suicide. He jumps into water but eventually surfaces and walks away, back to his parents' apartment in Brighton Beach where we learn that this isn't Leonard's first attempt, and that he is bipolar. The narrative swiftly moves forward as we're introduced to the two women who become the objects of Leonard's affection: Kindhearted family friend Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) and the beautifully damaged Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow). Sandra makes her feelings clear, and Leonard could have a stable relationship with her - along with great joy and support from both families. But Leonard is irresistibly drawn to Michelle, in all her flighty dysfunction, because she's disturbed, confused, and vulnerable - just like Leonard. So, which one should he be with? For some of my thoughts on this story, read more.

Basically, Leonard's just a guy who falls for a woman that he perceives to be just like him. She's insecure and self-obsessed - and Leonard loves that with her he's maybe not the most messed-up person in the room. He likes the idea of being two crazy peas in an unstable pod. But then there's Sandra, pretty and loyal and generous. Sandra even says out loud that she wants to take care of Leonard, but these don’t seem to be the right words for him to hear. With Sandra he can have a nice home and family, close to his parents and the family business - he'll be taken care of in every way. But with Michelle he would get to be impulsive and carefree and best of all he'd get to be near her, this unpredictable woman. The thing is, hers are the very qualities that could send him over the edge during a downturn.

The humble, cozy setting of Leonard's parents' apartment in the old Brighton Beach community gives a meaty, slice-of-life feel to it all. His parents are caring and protective but they also have their own lives and a nice circle of friends. They're happy, and they only want what's best for their son. Perhaps because of the feeling of community and tradition within this setting, Two Lovers feels very old-fashioned, like an age-old tale of love and confusion. It's really not a new story but something about it still feels so authentically modern-day. The end result is a dramatic snapshot that's timeless and yet distinctly belongs to our generation.

Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Trailer For Two Lovers: Intriguing or Lame?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:00:21 -0800

Joaquin Phoenix may be retiring from acting, but his project Two Lovers still has yet to hit theaters. In it Phoenix plays a man who. . . has two lovers (played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw). I like these actors but from the trailer I just don't know if this movie will provide anything very new or interesting. Take a look and let me know what you think. Two Lovers opens Feb. 13 (Happy Valentine's Day! Ha!).

Are These the Worst Duets of All Time?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:33:04 -0700

When the movie Duets came out and I heard Gwyneth Paltrow was singing in it, I remember thinking, "Oh come on, world! Gorgeous hair and she can sing?! That's not fair." Well, that was then and this is now - and the world has responded. Or at least the editors of Spinner.com have. Don't shoot the messenger here, but they declared Gwyneth's "Cruisin" duet with Huey Lewis "the worst vocal collaboration of all time." Ouch.

Second worst? Paula Abdul's duet with MC Skat Kat for her hit single "Opposites Attract," which I take issue with because if that duet never happened then we wouldn't have this video. At No. 3 is Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's "The Girl Is Mine," followed by Bono and Frank Sinatra singing "I've Got You Under My Skin" in fourth. The duet in fifth place cracks me up: Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias, "To All The Girls I've Loved Before."

So, do you agree with the top five? Did anyone like Gwyneth's singing? For the rest of the top ten (I have a feeling some of you will object to No. 10 and I think No. 7 has no business on this list) and a clip of "Cruisin," read more.

No. 6: Mariah Carey and Busta Rhymes, "I Know What You Want" (2003)

No. 7: Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley, "I've Had The Time of My Life" (1987)

No. 8: Hilary and Haylie Duff, "Our Lips Are Sealed" (2004)

No. 9: Mick Jagger and David Bowie, "Dancing in the Streets" (1985)

No. 10: Madonna and Justin Timberlake, "4 Minutes" (2008)

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King Lear Movie Gets Keira, Gwyneth and Sir Anthony

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:38:01 -0700

Get ready for another Shakespearean film adaptation
Recent news coming out of the Cannes Film Festival (courtesy of the UK's Telegraph): there will be a new big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, this time starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Keira Knightley and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Daddy's Little Girls
Sir Anthony will naturally assume the role of King Lear, while Keira will portray his daughter Cordelia. According to the article, "Gwyneth Paltrow is tipped to take the role of Regan, Lear's treacherous middle daughter. His eldest daughter, Goneril, is yet to be cast." Could this be another Oscar-earning project for Gwyneth? According to the Academy she does well with Shakespeare stuff.

Competition already?
As the Telegraph points out, there have been tons of adaptations of Lear, and this newest film will be "judged against a Channel 4 adaptation, to be screened this Christmas, based on the recent and highly acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Sir Ian McKellen as Lear and Romola Garai as Cordelia. The play made the headlines due to McKellen's nude scene, which will be retained for the television version." So the Channel 4 version has nudity, but does it have the "epic battle sequences" that this latest adaptation promises? Nudity and battles aside, I'm curious to see this version of Shakespeare's play.

Source and source

Box Office: Audiences Make Iron Man the Year's First Blockbuster

BuzzSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:30:41 -0700

It wasn't just comic book fans that lined up this weekend for Iron Man, it was everybody! And I mean, everybody. The film raked in an extremely impressive $104.2 million its opening weekend, which is a staggering amount for any studio, much less for the first title fully produced and paid for by Marvel Studios.

I recently watched some footage of director Jon Favreau at a 2007 Comic-Con panel where he said, "If you make a good movie, the box office will be there." And boy, was he right. He also said that he cast the movie the way he might approach casting the (mostly independent) films he normally works on. Again, his instincts are proven right as the stellar reviews (including my own) praising the performances no doubt aided such a successful opening.

Variety reports Iron Man is the 10th best opening ever and "the second-best debut for a non-sequel after Spider-Man," which opened to $114.8 million on the same weekend in 2002.

Meanwhile, it was the romantic and the comedic films that rounded out the rest of the top five. Patrick Dempsey's so-so romcom Made of Honor was No. 2 and pulled in a respectable $15.5 million. It was followed by Baby Mama in the third spot, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall came in at No. 4. Finally, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay earned $6 million in the No. 5 spot.

Who saw Iron Man? Did you catch the teaser trailer after the credits?

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Iron Man: The Most Fun Ever

BuzzSugar — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:30:22 -0700

All hail John Favreau for rescuing the Summer blockbuster! Iron Man is the most fun I've had watching a movie in a long time. Going into the screening, I was wary of a premise centered around a giant robot superhero. I figured it would be a recipe for a lot of CGI and explosions and not much else, something any old director with a giant budget can churn out this time of year. However, as soon as the first scene opened, AC/DC's "Back in Black" guitar riff filled the theater and I got my first glimpse at Robert Downey Jr.'s acerbic smirk, something told me I was wrong.

If Spider-Man's alter ego is a dweeb and Batman's Bruce Wayne is kind of a "Debbie Downer," then the human inside this iron suit, Tony Stark, brings us a new kind of superhero: the coolest cat in the room. I haven't read the Marvel comic the movie is based on, but I think the cool factor has less to do with the original character and more to do with the spin director John Favreau puts on it - along with Robert Downey Jr.'s mesmerizing and nuanced performance.

Can you tell yet that I'm excited about this film? To see what else I loved and what I thought of the other performances from Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges, read more.

Our hero Tony Stark is a brilliant manufacturing magnate who is supplying the United States government with sophisticated and deadly weapon technologies. He has seemingly bought into the party line that without these weapons the world would be thrown into chaos and his company keeps everyone safe. We get to know Stark as a ladies' man who approaches just about everything, including charges that he is responsible for a lot of the world's suffering, with a largely irreverent outlook. He's charming, witty and arrogant, and watching Downey play him during this first part is a whole lot of fun.

This isn't to say that there aren't parts that, upon reflection, are fairly preposterous, like when Stark is captured by the bad guys in the Middle East who order him to make them a weapon and instead he builds a giant robot . . . in the desert. But it's a testament to how fun (and how well-made) this movie is that I totally didn't care about the absurdity.

I know I'm not the first to point out that anyone who has observed Downey's personal ups and downs will be able to see the similarities between him and his character. It's as if someone decided to make an allegorical comic book hero based on his life. Because of this inspired casting choice, Tony Stark's personal transformation into a superhero is more than just believable - it's downright moving. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between Tony and Robert Downey Jr. when his eyes well up and he realizes he should use his life to do good things with his unique talent.

Gwyneth Paltrow is wonderful as Stark's love interest/steadfast assistant, and Terrence Howard makes a great, straightlaced sidekick - first to Stark's hard-partying self, but later as someone who tries to understand his friend's new ambition to destroy all the weapons he supplied bad guys with. And then there is Jeff Bridges, who makes a marvelous, if prototypical, villain. This mature group of supporting actors, combined with a commanding lead actor and a director who leans heavily on story (not special effects) makes this one of the best movies you'll treat yourself to this year.

For the trailer and more videos from Iron Man, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Movie Preview: Iron Man

BuzzSugar — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:00:00 -0800

Many of you Lost fans automatically got a first peek at this trailer on Thursday night when it aired during "The Constant." For everyone else, here you go: Robert Downey Jr. and his devil-may-care attitude plays Tony Stark, a weapons designer who creates a crazy metal suit when he's taken hostage in Afghanistan. He uses the suit to help him break free and return to the U.S. where he leads a double life as Iron Man, the self-made superhero. Iron Man opens May 2. To check out the trailer, complete with some driving classic rock, read more.

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First Look: Iron Man

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:21:48 -0700

Well, it's a little ahead of schedule, but the teaser trailer for Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., has hit the Web. It's more "trailer" than it is "teaser," which is great because we definitely get a good sense for what the movie entails. It looks like Robert Downey Jr. was perfectly cast in this role as the smart-mouthed comic book character "Iron Man" who straps on "billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art armor and weaponry each night to fight crime, terrorism and corporate espionage." The trailer, which naturally features the Black Sabbath song by the same name, is pretty neat, so to check it out, read more

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The Results Are In: Recast Rear Window

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:07:42 -0700

From now on, the reader who wins the Recast challenge each week will win a BuzzSugar t-shirt! And last week, I asked you all to consider a new cast for Rear Window, the 1954 Hitchcock movie starring Jimmy Stewart as a freelance photographer who becomes suspicious of his neighbors.

I agree with Sweet Adeline and So Naive 00 that Clive Owen would be great in the Jimmy Stewart role. I also liked Adeline's choices of Don Cheadle as Det. Doyle and Kate Winslet in the Grace Kelly role. But the best cast list came from Lisara, whose choices were both safe and totally spot-on; I absolutely love who she has playing the neighbor, Lars Thorwald.

So, congratuations, Lisara: You win a t-shirt! To everyone else: We'll be posting another Recast challenge (and another chance to win a t-shirt) tomorrow. To see the winning entry and the "new" cast photo, read more

Lisara's Rear Window cast:

L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies: George Clooney
Lisa Carol Fremont: Gwyneth Paltrow
Lars Thorwald: Liam Neeson
Detective Thomas J. Doyle: Matt Damon