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Love It or Leave It: My One and Only Starring Renee Zellweger

BuzzSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:30:01 -0700

In My One and Only, Renee Zellweger stars as Ann Devereaux, a charming but mercurial society lady who leaves her cheating husband and takes to the road with her young sons (one of whom, it turns out, grows up to be the actor George Hamilton). The movie's tagline is "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Husbands," that seems to be an appropriate description for Ann's journey, as she meets and discards (or is discarded by) men of all stripes. Kevin Bacon, Chris Noth, Eric McCormack, and Steven Weber also star. Check out the trailer below and tell me: Will you be rushing to theaters for this one on Aug. 21? Or would you rather skip it?

Frost/Nixon: A Solid and Entertaining Talkathon

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:30:01 -0800

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

Movie Preview: Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:45:47 -0700

"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, read more.

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 6/20

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:31:18 -0700

According to Variety, the Weinsteins are making a bunch of their movies into stage musicals, starting with Finding Neverland, and later including Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat and Cinema Paradiso, among others.
Kevin Bacon is joining Renee Zellweger and Chris Noth in My One and Only, writes ComingSoon.
Sarah Silverman, Niecy Nash, Rashida Jones, and Norm McDonald are among the panelists for TBS's new version of Match Game, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
Annoyed with how slowly MTV has been moving on their movie, Motley Crue is looking for a new partner to help them get the project done, Billboard reports.

Wilmer Valderrama will star in a one-hour comedy pilot for Fox called The Emancipation of Ernesto, writes MediaWeek.
Viral video director Wayne McClammy is on a roll: in addition to directing Cool School, he just sold a comedy script to MGM and will most likely direct that one as well. According to Variety, his movie is titled Le Car and follows "an unconventional group of CIA agents."
The AP has the news that a whole slew of Hollywood folks will be getting stars on the Walk of Fame next year, like Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Felicity Huffman, Tim Burton, Cameron Diaz and The Village People.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has altered the rules for the Oscars so that "the Original Song category will only allow a maximum of two nominated songs from any one film," so movies like Enchanted or Dreamgirls won't dominate the category, Zap2It writes.
TV Guide points out that the Sesame Street guest stars for next season - Jessica Alba, David Beckham, and Heidi Klum, among them - are pretty darn hot for a kids' show.

Movie Preview: The Air I Breathe

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:30:32 -0800

This movie is intriguing for the incredible ensemble cast, although when that's the only good thing its own stars have to say about it, that's not a good sign. The Air I Breathe opens in New York and Los Angeles tonight and I wanted to get your thoughts on the preview, as I'm a little torn. There's a lot of talent piled into this flick (Forest Whitaker, Andy Garcia, Julie Delpy, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Emile Hirsch), but I'm a little confused by the trailer . . . which is maybe the point.

Apparently the plot follows several intersecting stories based on "four emotional cornerstones: happiness, pleasure, sorrow and love." IMDB continues, "A businessman (Whitaker) bets his life on a horse race; a gangster (Brendan Fraser) sees the future; a pop star (Gellar) falls prey to a crime boss (Garcia); a doctor (Kevin Bacon) must save the love of his life."

The New York Times reports that debut feature director Jieho Lee describes his movie this way:

"[It's] a film noir variation of The Wizard of Oz and an exploration of the theme of character as destiny."

Huh. Okay. To check out the trailer and tell me what you think, head on over to iVillage.

Photo courtesy of ThinkFilm

Zac Efron Cast in Footloose Remake

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:30:54 -0700

Let me preface this by saying I couldn't have cared less about Zac Efron - until I went to the Hairspray screening. And kind of fell in love a little. Which is almost inappropriate given the age difference, but hey, it's working for Ashton and Demi, right? Then, of course, there are photos like these that make me rethink young Efron's charms. So I don't know how I feel about this kid. He's pretty cute (underneath all the makeup) and he's definitely got some charisma onscreen. But today's casting news has me worried.

First off, a Footloose remake?
Now, my recast challenges are all in fun and harmless because, well, these perfect-the-first-time movies and TV shows are not actually being remade. This, however, is real. Footloose is actually going to be remade... by Kenny Ortega, the director of High School Musical. But... but... why?

Secondly, Zac Efron? Really?
As I just said, I like the kid, I really do. But can he "play Ren McCormack, the rebellious newcomer (originally played by Kevin Bacon) in a town where dancing has been banned"? Can he brood? Will he appropriately "kick off your Sunday shoes"?

What do you think? Can Efron handle this iconic role?

Efron photo source