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Paul Giamatti and Benicio Del Toro Make Two of Three Stooges

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:30:58 -0700

Funny filmmaker Peter Farrelly revealed to The Boston Globe that he and his brother Bobby have settled on a replacement for Sean Penn as Larry in their Three Stooges movie: Paul Giamatti. He joins the already-cast Benicio Del Toro (apparently "one Hollywood's biggest Three Stooges fans"), who will star as Moe. Though there was talk previously of Jim Carrey taking on the role of Curly, Farrelly said that this is not the case, and he didn't offer up any other names.

When I did a Recast challenge for the Three Stooges long before there was news of an actual movie, John C. Reilly was the winning choice for Curly, which I could easily envision with Giamatti and Del Toro. What do you think? Who should play Curly in the Farrelly Bros. movie?

Duplicity: Stylish Spy Caper That's a Touch Too Calculating

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:00:55 -0700

It's hard to go wrong with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in a movie together. The two starred in Closer as a couple in a toxic marriage. This time around they play two corporate spies who are intoxicated with each other. The sexy part comes from the way they look (Owen is tan, Roberts is back with that big ol' movie star smile) and the fact that the characters' day jobs make it hard for them to trust each other, despite the longing between them.

I was expecting Duplicity to be the kind of movie at which I could kick back and enjoy the chemistry between the two stars. You know, the kind of movie in which double-crossing is just a spy's way of flirting, and covert operation lingo is laced with innuendo. I'm sad to report that's not the movie I viewed at all. I'll tell you why if you read more.

I've been intrigued by the idea of Tony Gilroy (the man responsible for the 2007 drama Michael Clayton and writer of the suspenseful Bourne movies) delivering a fun and sexy spy romp starring two of the world's most gorgeous people. I knew to expect a grown-up movie that respects my intelligence, though I was skeptical about how much lightheartedness Gilroy could bring to the screen.

Turns out my skepticism was valid, as I found that the romantic and comedic elements take a backseat to a complex storyline about the corporate spy organizations within pharmaceutical companies. It's all made even more tiresome by a complicated timeline (there are a lot of flashbacks). Instead of asking you to invest in the sexy leads, Gilroy asks the audience to just hang in there through every twist and turn of nonsense in return for a big reveal that will piece it all together for us in the end. Well, by the time I saw the big reveal, I was just glad the movie was over rather than blown away by the cleverness.

On the plus side, the movie looks gorgeous and is delightfully sophisticated. The opening slow-motion sequence on a tarmac is funny and stylized in a way that reminded me of the Oceans 11 movies. Julia and Clive are delightful in Rome and there's a particular moment in which he kisses her neck that satisfied the kind of airy seductiveness I was looking for. There's also a great little sequence with the hilarious Carrie Preston (of True Blood) that is truly alive with comedic timing and wit. But unfortunately, the fun stuff is weighed down by the overly serious corporate saga unfolding. I think the drama is supposed to give us some food for thought on top of the fun, but it's actually just a drag, and it's utterly useless as a parable.

Then there's the matter of Julia Roberts. It's amazing to see this famous siren of the screen back in action. She's all curves with decolletage proudly on display. She's glamorously dressed in European weekend-wear and expensive-looking heels and trench coats. She's middle-aged and it's such a blessing to see a real woman sexily strut her stuff up there on the big screen. But Roberts' performance is distractingly uneven. One moment her eyes are alive with intelligence and wit and the next it looks as though no one is home. When she laughs it's electric, but then other times she just looks drained of energy. It's a strange "comeback" to be sure, but hey, maybe it's just a warm up.

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

Witherspoon, Giamatti, and Cohen Looking to Downsize

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:30:26 -0800

I've been mulling over this movie news all day because it's this bizarre mix of intriguing and "whaaaaaaa?" I'm not sure I've figured it all out entirely, but I'll relay the stuff we know so far.

The good news is that this project, titled Downsizing, will be directed by Alexander Payne, the man behind Election and Sideways. And awesomely enough, he's gotten stars from both of those movies, Reese Witherspoon and Paul Giamatti, to sign on for this latest endeavor.

The plot is what loses me, however. Giamatti will play "a man low on money who decides he can have a much nicer life if he undergoes a process to shrink himself." What? Why will his life be nicer? And though the original article that posted yesterday stated that Giamatti and Witherspoon were married and that they both decide to become little people, now Variety is reporting that Witherspoon "would play a woman Giamatti meets on his journey as a miniature person." Variety also claims that Sacha Baron Cohen "would play a pint-sized foreigner." (in the earlier report, Baron Cohen was playing two different men, twins, one of whom is a "pint-sized Spaniard").

The way the article was originally written made me believe the "shrinking" meant that Giamatti would become a little person. But now I'm thinking this is more in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids realm. Apparently "Downsizing would require considerable special effects."

I'm not sold on this project just yet. Then again, maybe the details will completely change all over again and it'll seem like a fantastic movie. It is a great cast and a director I like very much. Hmm . . . Thoughts?

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Movie Preview: Clive and Julia in Duplicity

BuzzSugar — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:30:40 -0800

The next project from Tony Gilroy, writer and director of Michael Clayton, is Duplicity, a spy thriller with a sexy couple at the heart of it. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts play two corporate spies with a romantic past who "hook up to pull off the ultimate con job on their respective bosses." Paul Giamatti and the awe-inspiring Tom Wilkinson also star.

I watched the trailer a few times because I'm easily distracted by how good-looking Clive Owen is, but in the end I think it looks like an intriguing enough film. There's not a lot of chemistry going on with the main duo, but the premise seems fun. And I think the song used in the second part of the trailer is that Bitter:Sweet tune used as the theme song for Lipstick Jungle (it drove me a little crazy at first trying to figure that out). Duplicity opens March 20. To check out the trailer, read more.

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Odds and Ends From the Emmy Press Room

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:30:51 -0700

I'm still feeling the afterglow today from my time in the Emmy press room, where so many happy stars came to talk about their big awards. There are a bunch of tidbits I didn't get to share with you live, so to see what Bryan Cranston, Paul Giamatti, and Laura Linney had to say, read on!

Bryan Cranston was maybe the happiest guy on Earth when he came back to the press room, clutching his Emmy in one hand and the envelope with his name on it in the other. "I thought I was the dark horse, I really did," he said. "I thought I should have been in the back of the pack. Breaking Bad only had seven episodes to air. I didn't know if that would be enough sampling for the academy to take a look. I'm shocked and wonderfully surprised."
Cranston also talked a little about his bald head, a look he's currently sporting for the role as his character is going through chemotherapy (he's also lost 17 pounds, he said). Immersing himself in a character that way, he said, is "something actors dream about." That said, he compared baldness to having a skull made of velcro. "There are all kinds of things that are sticking to my head - fuzz, a jujube . . . "
Someone asked Jon Hamm about his reaction to his success and whether he was getting either a) shy or b) a big head. After laughing that both of those things were true, Hamm got serious: "I still feel like I'm in 10th grade and no one will talk to me at lunch," he said.
Laura Linney said she's still got a huge stack of history books by her bed, long after her work on John Adams was done. "I had a real understanding of how people get addicted to American history," she said, because each person leads to another. "I'm still reading, actually."

To hear from Jerry Bruckheimer, Jeff Probst, and January Jones, just read more.

Jeff Probst shrugged off criticism about the Emmys opening when he came backstage to talk about winning the Outstanding Reality Host award. "Did that work? I don't know," he said. "I give a lot of credit to [producer] Ken Ehrlich and those guys in terms of putting up with us."
Speaking of that opener, Jeremy Piven poked some fun at it during his acceptance speech and then went on at length about it backstage. "I thought we were being punked as an audience," he said. "There was that awkward - you know, like in the movie The Producers, [play-within-a-play] Springtime for Hitler? It was that confusing moment like, you know, what's happening right now?"

During the Mad Men session, January Jones declined to hint at where Betty's storyline is going, but she did say it's been fun to play the darker side of Betty. "The first season was all Betty sort of imploding," she said, "and the second season she's sort of exploding."
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner made an interesting point when reporters asked how it felt to be the first basic cable show to win an outstanding series award. "I'm surprised that there's such a segregated and caste system at the Emmys - I was unaware of it," he said. "I have this amazing cast. None of them were asked to present tonight."
Before he started rambling about inappropriate things, Barry Sonnenfeld praised the upcoming season of Pushing Daisies: "The scripts are better than last year," he said. "I think they're funnier. I think all of the actors have really gotten into their characters."
Wishing The Amazing Race would stop submitting its name after six straight Emmy wins? Don't count on it. "I doubt it, I really do," producer Jerry Bruckheimer said when asked if the show would step aside. "We love these statues."
Though Paul Giamatti was widely expected to win for playing John Adams, he claimed he had no expectations himself. "Not an optimist," he said. He compared his work on the miniseries to an endurance test (while wearing a hot wig): "I had to do everything," he said. But, on the other hand, "I got to do everything, which was amazing - run the emotional gamut and ride a horse . . . "

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Leo Tolstoy Biopic Shaping Up Nicely

BuzzSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:30:00 -0700

Director Michael Hoffman's (A Midsummer Night's Dream, One Fine Day, Soapdish) Leo Tolstoy biopic The Last Station begins shooting April 7 in Germany with several more high-quality players on board. Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer join Paul Giamatti, James McAvoy, and McAvoy's wife Anne-Marie Duff in the film, which is based on Jay Parini's 1990 novel. Mirren and Plummer are replacing Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins in these roles.

According to Variety, the movie follows "the turbulent final year in the life of the Russian writer and philosopher and his troubled marriage." Plummer will play Tolstoy and Mirren will step into the role of Tolstoy's wife Sofia. Here's more:

Giamatti plays Tolstoy's trusted follower Chertkov, a supporter of the writer's nonviolent socialist Christian movement who becomes Sofia's cunning adversary, while McAvoy plays a naive private secretary sent by Chertkov to work for Tolstoy. British actress Anne-Marie Duff. . .stars as Tolstoy's daughter Sasha.

Interestingly, the movie has been largely financed by German film subsidy organizations, like the German Federal Film Board and the Federal Film Fund. Looks like the money is going to good use - this is one incredibly talented cast.

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First Look: John Adams on HBO

BuzzSugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:30:02 -0800

When I think of fascinating historical figures, John Adams isn't necessarily one who jumps out at me. But maybe that's because I just don't know enough about him yet. After all, as executive producer Tom Hanks says in the preview for HBO's upcoming John Adams miniseries, "If I had been told this at any time in my educational career, it would have blown my little skull."

Based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, the seven-part miniseries chronicles Adams' life as a man both dedicated to law and committed to freedom. Besides focusing on his role as a founding father, the movie also spotlights his relationship with his wife, Abigail, regarded - as HBO puts it - as "one of the most moving love stories in American history." It helps that two of my favorite actors, Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, appear in the starring roles.

The miniseries starts March 16 with a special two-part broadcast. I know Citizen and Liberty are pumped - are you? To watch a preview and a clip with Giamatti and Linney talking about their roles, just read more.

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Buzz News Roundup, 2/18

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:30:01 -0800

Jordin Sparks will open for Alicia Keys on her North American As I Am tour that kicks off April 19 in Hampton, Virginia, E! Online reports.
HBO's long-awaited adaptation of David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography John Adams has a premiere date, according to Zap2It. The seven-part miniseries starring Paul Giamatti will start on Sunday, March 16.
ComingSoon has news that the same guys who wrote Saw IV and Saw V will write the Hellraiser remake Clive Barker Presents: Hellraiser.
French writer and filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet has died today at age 85, Reuters reports. Robbe-Grillet first came to fame as a novelist who rejected conventional writing structures in a style that came to be known as the "new novel."
Variety writes that Persepolis was screened legally in Iran, despite the fact that the way the film presents the Iranian Revolution had originally outraged the government.
MTV will run a 22-minute sneak peek of Internet series Quarterlife prior to the show's premiere on NBC. The Futon Critic has the details.
A national autism group is demanding an apology from CBS over a remark a contestant on Big Brother made, writes the Associated Press. The contestant who made the remark said he works for an autism foundation.
Billboard has the news that American Idol is teaming up with iTunes to offer downloads of every performance from the top 24 contestants. Full songs will be 99 cents, while full videos of the final 12 contestants will be $1.99. Don't we get this kind of thing for free from other networks?

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Fred Claus: Holiday Classic?

BuzzSugar — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 07:00:00 -0800

The recipe for the perfect holiday movie requires a pinch of star power, a dash of humor, and a heaping handful of good old-fashioned family feuds. There are a slew of films that have mastered this combination, namely National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, and, more recently, Elf. Not only have these films perfected the holiday formula, they have since become modern-day classics. What Thanksgiving or Christmas is complete without at least one viewing of the aforementioned movies? And while Fred Claus seems to have all of the ingredients to add it to the list of Christmas classics, it falls short. Or should I say it's a little bland?

One thing Fred Claus certainly is not lacking is that pinch of star power. Vince Vaughn plays Fred, the brother to Paul Giamatti's Nick Claus (AKA Santa). The film focuses on the relationship between these brothers spanning the course of many centuries. At the very beginning we see the brothers quarreling as little boys do. The difference is that the boys aren't fighting over who gets what toy, they're fighting over who Nick gives the toy to. You see, Nick is a do-gooder from birth and as such is the prize possession of the boys' mother, played by Kathy Bates. From there the boys grow older and Nick becomes sainted and as a result he and his family become eternal. Fast forward to present day and the two boys are estranged, Nick lives in the North Pole (naturally) and Fred resides in Chicago. And though they may be separated by location, they're both in predicaments that require the other. To find out why read more

Fred is a repo man who's unlucky in love with his girlfriend (a badly miscasted Rachel Weisz) and out of money. Nick agrees to lend a heaping handful (sick of the food puns yet?) on the condition that Fred agrees to come work at the North Pole during the busy holiday season. Fred reluctantly agrees. But when he arrives, he finds out that Nick has problems of his own, namely an efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) who feels that the Santa isn't as speedy as he could be with the growing demands of children across the world. Unsurprisingly, Fred runs amok and ruins Nick's chance of impressing the efficiency expert. Shocker!

The lack of true surprises is the ultimate downfall of the movie. It's all been done before, and better. The only true gem of the movie comes in the form of a siblings anonymous meeting (similar to alcoholics anonymous) where non-famous brothers complain about their famous siblings. It's almost worth the price of admission, but not enough to add this to my short list of holiday classics.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Shoot 'Em Up: Good, Dirty Fun

BuzzSugar — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 08:30:00 -0700

There couldn't be a better title for this movie than Shoot 'Em Up because, well, that's what happens. It's loud. It's crass. And most of all, it's hilarious. This is the perfect film to see with your rowdiest girlfriends, possibly after a few martinis. There's tons of raunchiness, some sick humor and so much outrageous gunfire your ears will be ringing by the end. It's violence with a very healthy sense of humor. Yet what makes it all work is Clive Owen as Smith, our rough-and-tumble hero, a grumpy, low-income version of James Bond who was weaned on weapons and, apparently, carrots.

Indeed, carrots are a running gag throughout the film - Smith chomps on them when he needs to think, and creatively employs them as murder weapons, making him a kind of R-rated warrior version of Bugs Bunny. It's this kind of silliness that makes Shoot 'Em Up the perfect combination of high-energy, over-the-top violence and absurd humor. Simply put: it's pure entertainment. To find out more about why, read more

Chomping a carrot by himself one night, Smith observes a man with a gun pursuing a frightened pregnant woman. Smith reluctantly follows them, a gun fight ensues, Smith saves the woman long enough to help her give birth before she's shot. Smith realizes both the woman and baby were wanted by some evil folks, most notably the leery, sneery, slimy-in-every-corner-of-his-soul Hertz (Paul Giamatti). Smith brings the baby to a prostitute friend (Monica Bellucci, oozing sex and sympathy) who eventually agrees to help him save the child from all the evildoers. Plenty of chases, fighting, inventive gun play, sex and bloodshed follows, peppered with glib one-liners.

I had no idea how much of a parody this movie would turn out to be. It's so ridiculously over-the-top, you can't help but laugh. It almost feels wrong to be laughing at such darkly twisted things, but it's not that we find murder funny, it's that it's all so utterly absurd. However, the best thing about this wildly entertaining ride is that it's not a full-on spoof. There are certainly elements that remind me of movies like Hot Fuzz, its tongue so firmly planted in its cheek. Yet there's a streak of seriousness to Shoot 'Em Up that holds everything just anchored in reality enough to keep the audience riveted. And it's especially funny to watch the actors take it all so very seriously. I know many of you will go for the Clive Owen, so it'll be a pleasant surprise to find that it's a hugely funny, bloody movie to boot.

Photos courtesy of New Line Cinema