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TV Tonight: The Return of Jezebel James

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:30:00 -0700

It hurts me so much to write this post, because the fact is, The Return of Jezebel James should be my new favorite TV show. It stars Parker Posey, one of my favorite actresses of all time, alongside Lauren Ambrose, who absolutely stole my heart as Claire Fisher on Six Feet Under. It has an intriguing plot: The sister who has her life together (Posey) can't have children, so she asks her screwed-up younger sister (Ambrose) to carry a child for her. And the whole thing is created and written by Amy Sherman-Palladino, who made her mark with Gilmore Girls.

So it hurts me, truly, to say that I didn't like The Return of Jezebel James. When I talked to Amy Sherman-Palladino at the TCA press tour last summer, she said she wanted Jezebel to be a return to her sitcom roots, when she was a writer on Roseanne. But Sherman-Palladino's quick and witty dialogue just doesn't seem to lend itself well to a show with a laugh track. Both Posey and Ambrose - but especially Posey - feel too big for the very two-dimensional world of Jezebel. And, maybe worst of all, the two don't quite have a believable chemistry as sisters. That last part, I believe, would come with time - but, given the show's other problems and the fact that Fox has already cut its order to seven episodes and socked it into a killer Friday night time slot, I'm not sure the actresses will ever have that chance.

It's possible my expectations were just too high. Maybe I'm being too hard on poor Jezebel; maybe it is a return to the days of Roseanne (or, as Posey suggested, Family Ties) and nothing more. But I wanted more, and Jezebel just didn't deliver for me. Still have faith? The show's first two episodes air tonight starting at 8 p.m. EDT and PDT. To watch a preview, just read more.

Photo courtesy of Fox

Buzz News Roundup, 11/26

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:30:47 -0800

The Munchkins of Oz finally got their own Walk of Fame star in Hollywood after 68 years, Reuters reports.
The Hollywood Reporter has news that Lauren Ambrose will voice a creature in Where the Wild Things Are, replacing Michelle Williams.
FunnyOrDie and Pale Force are among the online video award winners chosen by TV Guide.
Ben Stiller will produce a TV pilot called Gods Behaving Badly, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
The Women in Film Foundation will accept film submissions for their Film Finishing Fund the first week in December, Variety reports.
Elizabeth Berkeley of Showgirls and Saved by the Bell fame has won a recurring role on CSI: Miami as Horatio Caine's ex-wife, Zap2it reports.
According to Billboard, Scottish rock group Jesus and Mary Chain is working on a new album.
Broadcasting & Cable wonders what a Webisode is worth.

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Where is the Fisher Family Now?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:28:38 -0700

With today's news that Freddy Rodriguez is joining the cast of "Ugly Betty," nearly every actor who played a main character on "Six Feet Under" is now back on TV somewhere. Here's a look at where the Fisher and Diaz folks have ended up:

Peter Krause (Nate Fisher) will star in ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" this fall as Nick George, an attorney who takes over his father's role as counselor to the absurdly wealthy Darling family.
Michael C. Hall (David Fisher) has reinvented himself as a blood spatter analyst-turned-serial killer in Showtime's "Dexter," for which he already received a Golden Globe nomination.
Lauren Ambrose (Claire Fisher) has been cast as Parker Posey's sister in "The Return of Jezebel James," a Fox comedy from "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino that is currently scheduled to air as a midseason replacement.

Lots more - including Rico's new role - so read more

Freddy Rodriguez (Rico Diaz) is newly cast in "Ugly Betty" as Gio, an ambitious blue-collar sandwich maker who just might complicate the burgeoning love between Betty and Henry.
Rachel Griffiths (Brenda Chenowith) now plays Sarah on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" - and is a big part of the reason I hope the women of that show will pull in some Emmy nominations.
Jeremy Sisto (Billy Chenowith) had a short-lived stint on NBC's "Kidnapped" last fall, but this year he'll be back as the new detective on "Law & Order."
Lili Taylor (Lisa Kimmel Fisher) starts a starring turn this Sunday as a mixed-up therapist on Lifetime's "State of Mind."

As for the others, Frances Conroy (Ruth Fisher), Mathew St. Patrick (Keith Charles) and Justina Machado (Vanessa) are currently filming movies, while James Cromwell (George) starred this past season as Jack's dad on "24."

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Pilot Watch: "The Return of Jezebel James"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:29:00 -0700

The networks have announced their fall schedules, but which of the series will actually be worth watching? Throughout the summer, as I watch the pilots, I'll be posting my first impressions. Note that a lot can change before a show actually makes it to air, so these aren't comprehensive reviews, just quick thoughts on how the shows look now. Today's installment: Fox's "The Return of Jezebel James."

What's it about? Two estranged sisters - a driven book editor and an alterna-slacker - reconnect when the younger sister agrees to carry the older one's baby.

Who's in it? Parker Posey, Lauren Ambrose, Michael Arden, Scott Cohen

The good: The show is written by Amy Sherman-Palladino of "Gilmore Girls" fame, and the first episode packs in plenty of her signature snappy dialogue. Posey and Ambrose have a great sisterly chemistry, and the plot seems full of potential for at least a couple of strong seasons.

The bad: The production of this show was a huge turnoff for me. It's a half-hour comedy that should be a one-hour drama - or, at the very least, a comedy produced more in the style of "The Office." At least a couple of good lines got buried in the distracting laugh track, and the show felt very sound-stage-y - I'm not sure there was a single exterior shot! The episode also seemed rushed, as though 30 minutes wasn't enough for all the plot and character development the writers wanted to do.

Will I watch? This show has two of my favorite actresses and one of my favorite writers, so I want it to be good. But I have to say, if this show doesn't change a lot before it makes it to the air at midseason, I don't think I'll be watching.

To watch a preview clip and see a gallery of photos from the show, read more

"The Return of Jezebel James"

View 4 Photos ›

Photos and video courtesy of Fox

Diggers: A Quietly Charming Slice of Life

BuzzSugar — Wed, 02 May 2007 12:23:12 -0700

Diggers is less like a movie than a moment, a few minutes of poking your head into someone else's life. It's a small, quiet movie where nothing much happens, but its subtle charms make it worth a look - especially because it's already available on DVD.

Diggers focuses on a ragtag group of of clam diggers growing up on Long Island in 1976. It's a hardworking but mostly comfortable life - until a big corporation starts encroaching on their turf. In the midst of the storm is Hunt (played with a quiet sweetness by Paul Rudd), a slacker-digger who oversleeps one morning and later finds his father, whom he was supposed to dig with that day, dead in the water. The death prompts Hunt and his friends - the angry Frankie (Ken Marino, who also wrote the movie), lowbrow pot dealer Cons (Josh Hamilton), and ladies' man Jack (Ron Eldard) - to re-examine their own lives, so read more

For Hunt, that means developing a flirtation with Zoey (Lauren Ambrose), a city girl visiting Long Island. It's clear that Hunt isn't completely resigned to the digger life - he's also a wannabe artist who takes black-and-white Polaroids of everything - and Zoey encourages Hunt's desires to escape. I'm not quite sure what to make of Zoey; she's written like a city sophisticate, but Ambrose plays her as something more suspicious, like she's hiding a whole history we don't really ever see.

But it hardly matters, because at its heart, Diggers is a buddy film. I couldn't help being reminded of Beautiful Girls, another movie about a clan of old friends. In Diggers, the guys are so used to being around each other that their greeting is the finger and their banter is sharp but old-sweatshirt comfortable. Their dramas are small but not insignificant, and that's what ultimately makes Diggers feel real.

Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Movie Preview: Diggers

BuzzSugar — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:00:35 -0700

We all know about my deep affection for Paul Rudd, "The State," and most things "Six Feet Under"-related. So I am loving the trailer for Diggers, a drama that a) focuses on a character played by Paul Rudd, b) was produced by David Wain and written by Ken Marino, both from "The State," and c) stars "Six Feet Under"'s sassy redhead Lauren Ambrose. Count me in!

The film is only out in limited release this Friday before moving into DVD release the following Tuesday, May 1. IMDB calls it a "coming-of-age story about four working-class friends growing up in Long Island, New York, as clam diggers. Their fathers were clam diggers as well as their grandfathers before them." The trailer, however, is a lot more intriguing than that. You can check it out and tell me what you think if you read more

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Where the Wild Things Are: A Passionate Ode to Childhood

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:30:00 -0700

There's been a bit of a controversy over how to market Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book, Where The Wild Things Are. Is it for kids? Adults? Adult hipsters?

The answer is anyone who wants to feel what it's like to be a child, and not in the fun-loving, no-responsibilities way. As adults, we tend to forget the insecurity and fears we had as kids, which the film's young character Max is in the throes of. There's just enough exposition before the fantasy begins: Max has a single mom (Catherine Keener) and an older sister who has recently outgrown him. His first few acts at home show his innocence and the savage emotions under the surface. He knows it as being "wild."

Where the Wild Things Are isn't a heavy-handed allegory, or an edgy children's movie; it's a loyal tribute to the way kids think and feel. To see what else I thought of the film, just read more.

Max reaches the world of the wild things after throwing a particularly heinous fit, prompting his mother to yell, "You're out of control!" After running away, Max finds himself on a boat that finally brings him to a strange land. This is where the wild things are. The creatures Jonze has created are aesthetic wonders: creepy, hostile, and huggable at once. These aren't Jim Henson's Muppets, but real characters, led by Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini). The rest of the group is comprised of Lauren Ambrose as aloof KW, Catherine O'Hara as prickly Judith, Paul Dano as timid Alexander, Chris Cooper as Douglas, and Forest Whitaker as Ira.

Each creature has a fully realized personality, with flaws and varying temperaments; their faces are so emotive and their dialogue so human that their scenes with Max are as real as those with his mother. This group is not easily classified as friend or foe - they're dysfunctional in their relationships and don't always treat each other well. One of the most successful elements of the movie is the dialogue of the wild things, which is rooted in Max's head.

In many ways, screenwriter Dave Eggers's job was tougher than Spike Jonze's, because it's imperative to remember the way children think. Max's interactions with Carol and his new clan are made up of the kind of things a kid would hear from his parents and peers and then internalize. In fact, in the wild world, Max declares himself king to bring order, and he summons up speeches from the authority figures that he's pulling away from in his real life. Naturally, he's too young to recognize how his subverted position is significant.

Max's relationship with Carol is most telling. As the de facto leader of the group who can't handle sadness, loneliness, or jealousy, he acts out as a mirror of Max while still being his own character. The richness of Carol and the creature cast stays with you; when Max has to say goodbye to his friends, your heart breaks.

Jonze impressed me with his non-conformity; in another movie, Max would have demonstrated the grand lessons he learned from his time on the island, but in this one, he doesn't have to learn anything. He just gets to feel and experience and appreciate his emotionally fragmented new friends. It's devastating as a viewer, especially if you can put yourself back in that childlike place when your feelings were so raw and simple.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.