BuzzSugar

Are You More Interested in Theater If a Big Name Is Involved?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:30:08 -0700

Theater casting makes big news when a high-profile actor is involved, such as today's news that Keira Knightley is set to make her debut on London's West End in the play Misanthrope.

I'm well aware that Broadway and the West End don't need movie stars to boost the caliber of talent in their productions, but people do seem to sit up and take notice when a movie star decides to take an onstage role. Remember when Katie Holmes boosted the notoriety of Broadway's All My Sons?

When I'm buying tickets, I usually choose based on the title rather than the name attached, but every now and then I can't help myself (like when Sarah Jessica Parker hit Broadway in Once Upon a Mattress). What about you?

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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Oscar Nominee: The Duchess For Best Costume Design

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:30:26 -0800

As we gear up for the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees for Best Costume Design. It's a big year for this category as the films nominated represent vastly different historical periods. Be it 18th-century England or San Francisco in the '70s, these films include some gorgeous threads. Today's featured movie is The Duchess.

Oh lucky, lucky Keira Knightley! She plays Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire, and while the dramatic life of this charismatic woman was probably what drew her to the role, I'm sure the movie's lavish period costumes were a nice little bonus. Who wouldn't want to adorn herself in such gorgeousness? There's 18th-century costumes and then there's this movie: The wigs, the jewelry, the dapper menswear, the exquisite detail . . . The Duchess is a frenzy of beautiful period costuming - and I can't get enough of it.

To see a gallery of the costumes, just read more.

View 15 Photos ›

Photos courtesy of Paramount Vantage

What to Netflix: Weekend Edition!

BuzzSugar — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:30:58 -0800

Usually the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays, but there are a handful of big releases out today so I thought I'd alert you. Today, just like I do each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I'm sorting through the best of the batch to suggest some additions for your queue.

The Duchess
I'm glad this sumptuous movie is out on DVD because it's so beautiful to look at. The costumes in this period drama starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes are gorgeous and the rest of the movie is pretty good too.

Knightley plays Georgiana, wife of William Cavendish (Fiennes), the Duke of Devonshire. While their relationship grows bitter in private, Georgiana starts to become quite popular in public and immerses herself in the world of politics and high society. As her husband puts other women between them, Georgiana finds herself falling in love with a young politician, Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper). However, the threat of scandal proves too great for the Duke and Duchess, and a relationship with Charles is forbidden.

Special features include a featurette titled, "Georgiana in Her Own Words," the making of the movie, and a costume diary.

Two more up next so read more.

Ghost Town
Aw, Ricky Gervais. This comedy wasn't the smash hit that someone of his talent deserves but it's an easygoing and sometimes bittersweet comedy all the same.

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. One such restless soul is Frank (Greg Kinnear) who needs Bertram to prevent Frank's widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), from remarrying. This is a good pick for something to watch with the family if you're still hanging around with them til the New Year.

Special features include commentary from Gervais and the making of the movie.

Eagle Eye
This is one of the most intense-looking DVD covers I've seen in awhile. In fact it's kind of stressing me out, which is about the right vibe for this movie. I actually thought this movie was rather thrilling, even if the actual stuff going on in the plot is a wee bit preposterous.

Shia LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a slacker with low ambitions and little money. The sudden death of his estranged twin brother Ethan sets off a series of baffling occurrences for Jerry, starting with a strange woman contacting him on the phone just as he's being set up to look like a terrorist. Oh, this is only the beginning, though! Michelle Monaghan is also in this movie and she and LaBeouf make a surprisingly adorable onscreen pair.

Special features include a gag reel and a photo gallery.

The Duchess: Oh, the (Beautifully Costumed) Drama!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:30:41 -0700

Of course The Duchess is dramatic. Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire, led a dramatic life and she herself was a dramatic - and smart, and charismatic - woman. I really liked this movie, but I might have liked it more if it were a slightly broader examination of the Duchess. I don't mean that they should have included more years in her life (I think that would have been a mistake) but the vast majority of the film is about her romantic and reproductive woes. She was a daring, intelligent, and remarkably influential woman during a time when women were expected to be anything but those things. While I liked this sweeping period drama, I might have enjoyed less soap opera and a tad more substance.

The costumes, however, cannot be disputed, for they are devastatingly gorgeous. I would watch this movie over and over with the sound off just to feast my eyes on the clothes. Dressed to perfection in every scene, Keira Knightley plays Georgiana, who marries William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire when she is just a teenager. The marriage is soon strained as it appears that Georgiana will only bear daughters. While the relationship grows bitter in private, Georgiana starts to become quite popular in public and immerses herself in the world of politics and high society. She's a natural charmer and trend-setter, though her husband puts more and more distance between them, choosing other women over his wife. Before long, Georgiana finds herself falling in love with a young politician, Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), but the threat of scandal proves too great for the Duke and Duchess and a relationship with Charles is forbidden. There's much more to the story, but I won't spoil things for you. I can still share some thoughts, though, so read more.

Knightley strongly carries the film with her focused, honest portrayal of the brightly alluring yet unfortunate Duchess of Devonshire, and if she veers into melodrama it’s because the material clearly calls for it. She’s still a relatively young actress, which I think people sometimes forget, and while she still appears young onscreen (with that permanently youthful bounce in her step, a fresh energy to even her most morose scenes), there is so much potential there for her to mature into a truly phenomenal performer. She acts with her entire body, conveying emotion in the tiniest details: her whole frame rigid with rage, a coquettish tip of her head and a sidelong glance, the utterly distraught balling up of one fist . . . these things inform our understanding of Georgiana's emotional landscape.

Most of the time I cringed and tsk-tsked at the wretchedness of this poor young woman’s life, as the story is basically a long string of relationship issues and anxiety over pregnancies. There are countless historical movies that, if they center on a woman at all, focus on the pressure to conceive a male heir, the havoc this wreaks on a marriage, and the power plays that arise between the women who can conceive and those who cannot. This is understandable, given the nature of society back then, and yet here’s a story with some built-in political drama as well, with a fearless, deeply inspiring female protagonist. I would have appreciated more of that story. That said, I was riveted to this movie, intoxicated by the costumes and just as smitten with the Duchess as the rest of England seems to be. It’s a beautiful and sad film that is well worth seeing.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Vantage

Keira May Play Zelda...Who Will Be Her Fitzgerald?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:30:20 -0700

Director Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, Alpha Dog) is hoping Keira Knightley will play Zelda Sayre in a "period love story" titled The Beautiful and the Damned. The Hollywood Reporter has more info:

Damned revolves around Zelda Sayre (Knightley) and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who became Jazz Age icons known for living large, soaring high, and crashing hard. Although toasts of town in the 1920s, their courtship and marriage was festooned with jealousy and acrimony. Fitzgerald used their relationship as material for his novels, and Sayre - who tried hard to find an artistic identity of her own and ended up being admitted to a sanitarium - did the same.

Now for the question: Who should play F. Scott Fitzgerald to Keira's Zelda?

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Keira Knightley in Talks to Star in My Fair Lady Remake

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:38:21 -0700

Columbia Pictures is looking to put together a new version of My Fair Lady, with Keira Knightley reportedly in talks to star as Eliza Doolittle. ComingSoon has more from the statement issued by Columbia today:

The new film will use the original songs of the much-loved Broadway show, and will not alter its 1912 setting, but Kenworthy and Mackintosh intend where possible to shoot the film on location in the original London settings of Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Tottenham Court Road, Wimpole Street, and Ascot racecourse. The filmmaking team will also look to adapt Alan Jay Lerner's book more fully for the screen by drawing additional material from Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw's play that served as the source material for the musical - in order to dramatize as believably as possible for present-day audiences the emotional highs and lows of Eliza Doolittle as she undergoes the ultimate makeover.

Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad added, "The classic story of a flower girl transformed into an instant sensation couldn't be more timely in a contemporary world obsessed with overnight celebrity." Huh. Interesting thought. I guess.

I gotta say, I have some major mixed feelings about this. Most of all, I don't see the point. What do you think about a new My Fair Lady movie?

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What Was Truly the Best Movie Kiss of the Year?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:01:07 -0700

This Sunday June 1, the MTV Movie Awards will strike again and while they aren't the most prestigious awards around, they at least get creative with their nomination categories. My favorite: Best Kiss.

Here are the nominees:

Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, Enchanted
Briana Evigan and Robert Hoffman, Step Up 2 the Streets
Shia LaBeouf and Sarah Roemer, Disturbia
Ellen Page and Michael Cera, Juno
Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I would love it if Ellen Page and Michael Cera won and then reenacted their kiss during the acceptance speech. But I have a feeling The LaBeouf will take that win.

Anyway, is it just me or were there some way better kisses this year than these nominees? There's a great scene in Waitress where Kerri Russell's character imagines a gorgeous kiss with her doctor friend (Nathan Fillion, anyone?) for example. Or hello? The library kisses between Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in Atonement!

Do you agree with this list or are there others you would add? What were some of the great on-screen kisses of the year (and by "this year" I guess we're talking all or most of 2007 since Disturbia came out in April of that year)?

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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.

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Movie Preview: The Gorgeous Dylan Thomas Movie With Keira and Sienna

BuzzSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:45:47 -0700

Wow, the trailer for The Edge of Love (previously titled The Best Time of Our Lives) looks breathtakingly beautiful. The film follows the true story of a love triangle between the poet Dylan Thomas (played by Brothers and Sisters' Matthew Rhys!), his wife Caitlin (Sienna Miller) and a woman named Vera Phillips (Keira Knightley). Vera eventually married William Killick (the ever-chilling Cillian Murphy) but still couldn't tear herself away from her poet - despite becoming close friends with Caitlin. In the strange real-life story, the jealous William ultimately attacked Dylan and Caitlin's house.

Comparisons could be made to Atonement, for sure, as the visual tone of the film has that same sweeping, desperate romance (and the hair, makeup and costume artists have done an impeccable job on this film as well). Knightley even says her husky "Come back" in the trailer. But it also looks distinctly, grippingly different. Especially for those of you who enjoyed Becoming Jane, or any number of other dramatic films about writers' lives, you must treat yourself to this extremely beautiful trailer.

There's no U.S. release date yet (sad!) but the film premieres at the Edinburgh Film Festival on June 18 and opens elsewhere in the UK June 20. To watch the trailer, read more.

The Edge Of Love Trailer
by ox-stargirl-xo

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