BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 7/31

BuzzSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:30:55 PDT

Amy Poehler will anchor a couple of episodes of Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday to promote Parks and Recreation. - Entertainment Weekly
Matthew McConaughey and Eva Mendes are in talks to star in the drama Southbound. - ComingSoon
Russell Crowe will star in The Next Three Days, the adaptation of the 2008 French film Pour Elle, for Crash director Paul Haggis. - Variety
Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, and Carter Jenkins have joined the all-star cast of Garry Marshall's romantic comedy Valentine's Day. - The Hollywood Reporter
House executive producer David Shore is working on a remake of The Rockford Files for NBC. - Variety
Ridley Scott is reportedly confirmed to direct the Alien prequel. - Entertainment Weekly
Kimberly Peirce, the award-winning filmmaker behind Boys Don't Cry, is working with Judd Apatow on an "untitled romantic sex comedy." - ComingSoon
Christopher Gorham will join Piper Perabo in USA's Covert Affairs, while Donal Logue will star in FX's Terriers. - The Hollywood Reporter
Ron Howard is in talks to direct The Parsifal Mosaic, an adaptation of the espionage thriller by The Bourne Identity author Robert Ludlum. - Variety

Stop-Loss: Overwrought but Good-Hearted

BuzzSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:33:21 PDT

It's an oft-lamented fact that movies about the Iraq war don't do very well - either in box office sales or with audience favor in general. There are plenty of reasons for this, but the fact is it's a challenge for filmmakers to put out movies about a controversial war that isn't yet over. With Stop-Loss, the filmmakers have attempted to make the topic more appealing by getting MTV on board, using popular good-looking young actors and featuring plenty of quick-edit montages set to rap songs.

The main characters in the movie are also relateable and familiar, just regular guys, playing with their techie devices, engaging in silly banter. This is presented right from the start, with a mock-amateur video in which a group of soldiers jostle each other, trade good-natured insults and sing along together as one of them, Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), plays his guitar. The action moves quickly to a bloody, violent conflict into which Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Philippe) inadvertently leads his group of soldiers. Some of the men don't make it out alive, one is severely injured and all the others are thoroughly messed up by the experience. This is the basis for all that comes afterward, so

Brandon returns to his hometown a decorated hero, along with his childhood best friend Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum) and the young Tommy Burgess. Relieved, he begins settling back into civilian life when he is informed that he's being sent back to Iraq via stop-loss, the US policy by which soldiers who have completed their terms of service can be called back to serve again, sometimes referred to as a back-door draft. Confused and furious, Brandon lashes out at his superiors and then goes AWOL and hits the road to Washington DC to discuss the matter with a senator he knows. Of course, the senator won't interact with a fugitive soldier, and Brandon's options narrow down to two: go back to Iraq, or leave the country and never see his family again.

I've heard people label this as an antiwar, antimilitary film when that's only half-right. It's antiwar, for sure, but it's fiercely promilitary. The film shows military families in the most respectful, reverent, and sympathetic light. Director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry) has a tenderness for these families, for Americana and cowboy culture, draping her Texas in blue and yellow hues and a warm, downhome atmosphere. These are good people, upright citizens, solid in their belief that it's right to serve one's country no matter what. This belief is challenged by the stop-loss policy, and this challenge - especially since they think they've been doing their time all these years, only to be told it's not quite enough - makes them angry. Very, very angry.

Anger is the key word for this movie, in fact. This is no deft, subtle, poignant piece of art but an explosion of rage, indignation, and violence. Those going to the film thinking there might be a strong love story involved - there isn't. The friendships between the men are intriguing and deeply rooted, but ultimately everything takes a backseat to just this blind fury Brandon feels over his lose-lose situation. Despite the muddled nature of this film, the helplessness of Brandon's dilemma clearly comes through. What's refreshing about this film is that this helplessness reflects the state of political affairs in Iraq on a grander scale. Other movies (Lions for Lambs, for example) may insert some heartfelt sadness amidst the two hours of people discussing politics, but this one does the opposite - a movie full of anger, machismo, and despair peppered with bits of politics. It's not a great movie. The accents are mostly terrible and the performances are not the best (except for the unbearably pitiable Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is excellent). But it is a powerful salute to our troops, and brings an important issue to light.

To see the trailer and more clips from Stop-Loss, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Movie Preview: Stop-Loss

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:30:00 PDT

Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, examines the difficult government policy by which soldiers who have completed their terms of service can be called back to serve again. Phillippe plays a soldier who refuses to return to service, despite being recalled to duty. It's a prickly issue, and so far I'm impressed by how the trailer makes it look like the movie doesn't shy away from examining the various sides of the matter. Stop-Loss doesn't open until March 28, but it's worth checking out the trailer if you

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3 Concerns About the New Carrie Remake

Shannon Vestal — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:46:12 PDT

A remake of the 1970s horror film Carrie is coming, with Chloe Moretz in the titular role of the tortured high schooler turned telekinetic teen. Even though I'm not a huge horror fan, I still consider Carrie to be a classic - and a movie that doesn't need any updating. Still, the reboot is on its way, and while I'm curious to see how it will translate 36 years later, I have some concerns - check them out below.

The acting in the original will be hard to top. After impressing in films like Kick-Ass, we know that 15-year-old Moretz is certainly talented, but she's filling the shoes of Sissy Spacek, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Carrie. It takes a certain quality to take on a character like this, who's shy and withdrawn, and then suddenly psychotic. Can Moretz live up to Spacek's legacy?
It might be silly now. Carrie is terrifying, but there are parts that now feel extremely campy. Carrie's classmates throw tampons at her, Carrie's mom calls her breasts "dirty pillows," and the possessed look on Carrie's face when she's at the prom all make up scenes that are unforgettable, but they're straight up goofy now. An update will need some serious revamping for those elements to not be laughable.
It's already been revisited, and it wasn't good. There was a sequel of sorts in 1999, Carrie 2: The Rage, with new characters set in modern day, but it was a cheap knockoff of the original that just borrowed the concept of the gifted teenager. As far as the new remake goes, director Kimberly Peirce has a solid credit behind her (Boys Don't Cry), but it'll be hard to measure up to legendary director Brian De Palma, who's also responsible for iconic films like Scarface.