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Motherhood: A Harried-Mom Tale That Often Feels Tired

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:30:20 -0700

When you have a parenting movie set in New York, you should know better than to expect a warm-'n'-fuzzy story about the joys of having kids. In fact, Motherhood is out to prove that mothers have it rough.

The film follows Eliza Welsh (Uma Thurman), a Manhattan writer dealing with a cramped apartment, busy husband, and side-street parking while raising her two kids. A day in her life feels like a really, really long 24 hours. Eliza runs around frantically trying to prepare for her 6-year-old's birthday while composing an essay for a parenting magazine contest and squeezing in a sample sale with her mommy friend Sheila (Minnie Driver). We know that Eliza was once a great writer, but when she had kids, she decided to give up her job to raise her family. Now, she's a shell of her former self in frumpy clothes and messy hair. Simply put, Eliza is dealing with the classic parent conundrum: how do you care for your kids and still retain something for yourself? The answer? It ain't easy.

For more about what I mean, read more.

Eliza doesn't try to feign martyrdom. In fact, she often whines about her plight in a way that screams, "I'm angry, dammit!" And at first, you're angry for her too. (No woman deserves to put up with all that she does.) But as the film goes on, Eliza's bitterness knocks you over the head, and you have to you wonder - is she like this every day? Yeesh.

Luckily we have Eliza's friend Sheila for some needed comic relief. Sheila is the cool single mom to the more neurotic Eliza - she mouths off cheeky one-liners and uses her son's motorized bath toy for her "alone time." Jodie Foster also delivers a hilarious cameo as a celebrity mom swearing at the paparazzi on the playground - aka, herself. Both women keep Eliza's "what-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong" storyline from wearing too thin.

Mothers will probably identify with either Eliza or Sheila but what about the rest of us? While the actors perform well and the movie provides laughs for those who can relate (read: parents), most of the jokes don't feel fresh, and you've probably seen similar setups on shows like The Middle or In the Motherhood or any of the other dozens of family comedies in recent years. Props to the filmmakers for giving mothers their due, but if you're not one yourself, an hour and a half with Eliza may be enough to make you rush out of the theater and buy birth control.

Mel Gibson to Star in The Beaver With Jodie Foster Directing

BuzzSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:30:43 -0700

The Beaver, a dark comedy about a depressed man "who finds solace in wearing a beaver hand-puppet," has been in the works for a long time now, with Steve Carell originally attached to play the lead role. At some point, Jim Carrey was rumored to be taking over the role, but now it's official: neither of these men will star in The Beaver - Mel Gibson will play the lead instead.

Jodie Foster will direct Gibson in the comedy, and she may also play the man's wife. Foster is no stranger to the director's chair, having already helmed Little Man Tate and Home For the Holidays.

The script, written by Kyle Killen, "has generated enormous interest in development circles, drawing comparisons to Being John Malkovich and Lars and the Real Girl." I'm actually looking forward to seeing what Gibson does with this role. I'm not a huge Mel Gibson fan, but I do like it when he plays the more offbeat characters, like the unstable Jerry Fletcher in Conspiracy Theory. Pairing him up with Jodie Foster as director is also pretty intriguing.

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:30:30 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the the titles below, you can get to know the presidential candidates a little better with election-edition A&E Biography docs on Obama and McCain.

The Counterfeiters
Winner of this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, The Counterfeiters tells the dramatic true story of Jewish forger Salomon Sorowitsch, who is sent to a concentration camp and becomes part of an assembly of counterfeiters whose work is aiding the Nazis and undermining the Allies' economies. The film centers on Sorowitsch's unthinkable choice between continuing to help the Nazis or face death. You can watch a preview of the movie here.

As is often the case with foreign cinema, the movie had a limited release and I missed it when it came out, so I'm excited to get this one in the mail.

Special features include commentary with director Stefan Ruzowitzky, deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and interviews with real-life counterfeiter Adolf Burger and actor Karl Markovics.

One more (and more family friendly) title, so read more.

Nim's Island
Another movie I haven't seen is out on DVD today - yay! As you know, I watch a lot of movies so it's a fun rarity when I get to add something to my queue that I've never seen. Nim's Island is a good one because the trailer looks so adorable. Of course, I'm charmed by young Breslin, I love Jodie Foster, and I believe Gerard Butler is extremely attractive. As far as home-viewing goes, it doesn't get much better than that.

Foster plays successful children's book novelist Alexandra, whose main character, Alex Rover, is the hero to Nim (Breslin), a girl living on her magical Nim's Island with her scientist father (Butler). When her father goes missing, Nim desperately needs Alexandra's (and Alex Rover's - also played by Butler) help in conquering the mysterious island's challenges. Good old-fashioned family fun ensues.

Special features include adventure commentary with Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin.

What to Netflix: Home for the Holidays

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:00:00 -0800

Home for the Holidays is not a feel-good holiday film. But the movie still is one of my favorite choices for post-pumpkin pie viewing on Thanksgiving Day. And the reason for that is simple: No matter how annoying, infuriating or downright dysfunctional your family may be, it's still hard to top the Larsons.

Here's an idea of what things are like for Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter), the main character of this 1995 Jodie Foster-directed film: In the movie's opening minutes, she loses her job, makes out with her soon-to-be ex-boss, and is informed that her teenage daughter plans to have sex - and that's before she gets on a plane to visit her severely screwed-up family in Baltimore. Once there, she's confronted by a whole slew of uncomfortable situations: sleeping in the room next to her chain-smoking, wig-wearing, hyper-critical mother (Anne Bancroft); being gently pushed toward a romance with her little brother's friend and business partner (Dylan McDermott); dealing with a sad-sack high school flame who's grown up into a sad-sack heater repairman who solemnly tells Claudia, "Well, merry Christmas, in case I never see you again."

What's great about Home for the Holidays is that it's neither too light nor too dark. It's wryly funny but mostly not goofy, save for a scene where a turkey goes flying into one Larson's lap. The characters are more fully drawn than in many family films: Yes, the Larsons are types, but they're not just "the gay brother" and "the quirky aunt," rather "the gay brother who takes Polaroids of his family naked" and "the quirky aunt who has 200 plants, gives away lamps, and makes necklaces out of Froot Loops." (Incidentally, Geraldine Chaplin deserves a medal for her portrayal of the latter.) And there are no deep, dark revelations or scenes that will leave you sobbing - just the slow, creeping realization that no matter how nutty your family may be, they're still the best thing you've got.

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The Brave One: A Flawed Superhero Saga

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 07:30:00 -0700

The trailer for Jodie Foster's latest vehicle The Brave One makes it look like a slightly tiresome tale of one woman's revenge. But the chick-power flick also has an alter ego: It's a modern-day superhero story in disguise.

Foster plays Erica Bain, who lives a blissful Boho existence hosting a public radio show about the found sounds of New York City. But her fate shifts when she and her fiance (Naveen Andrews) are beaten by punks in a park and only she survives the assault. How, a friend asks, can you come back from something like that? You can't, she answers: "You become someone else." For where she goes from there, read more

Llike Batman avenging his parents' death, Bain becomes - without entirely trying - a vigilante who trolls the streets in anonymous pursuit of justice. Along the way, she befriends Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard), the NYPD cop on the case of the headline-making vigilante. As in so many superhero sagas, the relationship between our flawed hero and her law-enforcement counterpart is marked by mutual respect and muted antagonism.

It's an interesting concept, and more artful in the hands of director Neil Jordan than I expected. The performances - particularly those from Foster, Howard, and Nicky Katt as Howard's partner - prove that subtle, natural acting can be far more powerful than histrionics.

Unfortunately, the movie just isn't great. Since the setting and characters are presented in a realistic way, it's tough to get past the far-fetched premise that Bain is getting away with these crimes and the complex balancing act of her life. If the movie relied more on its cool concept and less on hokey Hollywood tropes, it would be a far greater triumph.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Movie Preview: The Brave One

BuzzSugar — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:30:00 -0700

I saw the trailer for The Brave One before seeing The Invasion recently and was instantly intrigued. Not only do I appreciate that Jodie Foster is at the center of this drama, but it also stars Terrence Howard who always turns in compelling performances (his role in Crash moved me to tears, for one). Naveen Andrews from "Lost" also stars. Most of all, however, I'm curious about the subject matter.

Foster plays radio host Erica Bain who falls victim to a horrific beating that her fiance (Andrews) does not survive. She purchases a gun and becomes obsessed with finding her attackers. Yet now armed with the gun, she starts to use it on various violent perpetrators she encounters in the city. Howard plays the official on the hunt for this "vigilante," unaware that she's right in front of him. I'm fascinated by this story mostly because any woman who lives in a city - especially anyone who has been attacked in some way - can relate to the sense of powerlessness and the desire for revenge, or at the very least the desire to never feel powerless again. Variety has a really great interview with Jodie Foster all about these issues her character faces in the movie.

The film opens on September 14, so to check out the trailer, read more

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Buzz News Roundup, 4/30

BuzzSugar — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:11:17 -0700

Jodie Foster will play Leni Riefenstahl, friend to Hitler and director of propaganda films for the Third Reich, in a biopic about the woman's life, the Guardian reports.
The Los Angeles Times explains why comics guru Frank Miller is so hot right now.
Sigourney Weaver will join Amy Poehler and Tina Fey in their movie Baby Mama, says Reuters.
In case you were wondering, that was not a testicle on "Grey's Anatomy" last week, according to E!
Band of Horses, Regina Spektor and Cat Power are among the nominees for the Shortlist Music Prize, Billboard reports.
"TRL" will likely be renamed "YouRL," according to Broadcasting and Cable.
Russell Crowe will star as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Nottingham, a Robin Hood movie that Ridley Scott will direct, reports Variety.
In "American Idol" news, season four's Jessica Sierra was arrested on battery charges, Zap2it reports, while Constantine Maroulis landed a role on "The Bold and the Beautiful."
According to the AP, Courtney Love will be auctioning off Kurt Cobain's belongings.