BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 7/31

BuzzSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:30:55 -0700

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

Ron Howard Might Direct From His Daughter's Screenplay

BuzzSugar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:30:55 -0700

Bryce Dallas Howard wrote a movie and guess who might direct it? That's right, just in time for Father's Day, there's talk of a sweet little father-daughter project, reteaming Bryce Dallas Howard (actress-turned-screenwriter) and her father, director Ron Howard. The dramatic movie is titled The Originals and is described as "an ensemble film about a group of twentysomethings who reconvene for a weekend in New York after learning that the teacher who shaped their childhoods has fallen into a mysterious coma."

Bryce Dallas Howard has been collaborating with her writing partner Dane Charbeneau on the project for three years, after she had the idea of "writing something that tackled the quarter-life crisis issues her contemporaries were dealing with." Coming off the release of his Da Vinci Code sequel, Angels and Demons, Bryce's director dad has yet to officially sign on for his daughter's project, but does see it as "a potential antidote to the huge productions for which he is known."

How cute is this? I like this family and I think it's cool that the father-daughter duo can team up creatively.

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Angels and Demons: Information Overload

BuzzSugar — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:30:29 -0700

Angels and Demons reunites Tom Hanks and Ron Howard for another Dan Brown adaptation. While Brown's book was a prequel to the author's best-selling The Da Vinci Code, this installment in the movie franchise is set up as a sequel.

The Da Vinci Code received awful reviews when it debuted, mostly due to its excruciatingly slow pace. It then went on to earn a gazillion dollars, proving there's an appetite for escapist movies involving Vatican conspiracy theories. But while the pacing is much improved in Angels and Demons, the mindless entertainment part is basically ruined thanks to an enormous amount of expository dialogue. Every time the action starts to click along, every time the mystery deepens, Hanks's professor character shows up with another long-winded history lesson that's completely pointless in terms of understanding the plot. In other words, it's a buzzkill.

To see why this would be a much better experience if the professor were muzzled, read more.

The story begins promisingly enough with some high-stakes circumstances. The beloved pope is dead! The preferiti - the four cardinals up for pope - have been kidnapped! The kidnapper is leaving clues full of strange symbols! This must be a job for a symbologist!

Enter Harvard scholar Robert Langdon (Hanks), whom we first see buff and tanned (and without that terrible bouffant he sported the last time) swimming laps. A man with a briefcase approaches. In the first of many "Thank you, Captain Obvious" moments, Langdon pops up for air and explains in great detail that a symbol on the briefcase must mean the man is from the Vatican. And then the man says, "Yes. I am from the Vatican." That's the sort of thing that happens all throughout this movie.

Regardless, the chase is on to save the cardinals from a mad man who Langdon believes is part of an ancient group of scientists/terrorists called the Illuminati. Adding to the suspense is a dangerous "God particle," stolen from an Italian biophysicist named Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), ticking away like a time bomb and threatening to blow the Holy City to smithereens.

Further complicating the story is a cast of Vatican power players filled out by three excellent actors: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Stellan Skarsgard, and Ewan McGregor. I wish these characters had their own movie in which they could maneuver around each other in the aftermath of the pope's mysterious death. But no, they have to call in that yappy professor, who takes forever to explain things the audience has already figured out.

While the first half of the movie is predictable and mind-numbing, the final act is so preposterous it's actually fun. The climactic scene is so silly and nonsensical you'll likely have fun talking about it for days (I know I have). The set design and costumes are actually quite beautiful, as is the cinematography, which gives many of the scenes a lovely, heavenly glow.

In the end the ingredients are all there for a stylish and fun (and most holy) suspense thriller. Too bad Howard and his team ruined it by talking too much.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movie Preview: Angels and Demons

BuzzSugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:30:04 -0800

We got a taste of Ron Howard's followup to his 2006 film The DaVinci Code a few months ago, and a longer peek aired during the Super Bowl. Now, a full-length trailer for Angels and Demons, in all its dramatic mysteriousness, has hit the web. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this time working to "solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican." Joining him in the film is Ayelet Zurer as Langdon's new female cohort and Ewan McGregor as the Camerlengo. Oh, Ewan. He looks so handsome, even in priestly garb.

Though Dan Brown's book is a prequel to The DaVinci Code, this film adaptation is a sequel. Angels and Demons opens May 15. To check out the full-length trailer, read more.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

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

Fox Searchlight Reportedly Picks Up Arrested Development Movie!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:40:05 -0800

If all the "sources" are correct, Arrested Development fans have something to celebrate today: The movie is a go!

Yup, I think I just blue myself.

The Hollywood Reporter is saying today that Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard are "reportedly closing deals for the long-gestating project from Imagine and Fox Searchlight."

E! Online's Watch With Kristin is going a step further to confirm that without a doubt, the "Arrested Development movie will happen." However! There is apparently some behind-the-scenes drama already, since "one of the show's original cast members has not signed on to the movie." Kristin continues, "The good news is that aside from this actor (who, sorry, cannot be named), I'm told that all of the other main cast members have committed to be a part of the big-screen project." That utterly sucks about the one "holdout," though maybe he or she will come around? Fingers (and hooks!) crossed!

Now, if you need me I'll be in the hospital bar, wearing my "slut" t-shirt.

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First Look: Teaser For Angels and Demons

BuzzSugar — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:30:38 -0700

I'm not totally sure that The Da Vinci Code was so awesome that Dan Brown's other popular novel, Angels and Demons, needed to be adapted for film, but Hollywood didn't listen to me on this one and the movie moved forward. Now we have a little peek at what might be in store for us and from this very brief look, the film does appear to be pretty spooky and riveting.

Ron Howard directs and Tom Hanks is again playing Robert Langdon the Harvard symbologist who "works to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican." The movie opens May 15.

Have you read this book? Did you like The Da Vinci Code?

To take a look at the teaser trailer and let me know what you think, read more.

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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.

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Buzz News Roundup, 10/26

BuzzSugar — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:43:49 -0700

E! Online reports that Ron Howard is directing an adaptation of Angels & Demons, which will be written for the screen as a sequel to The DaVinci Code.
ABC has asked for more Dirty Sexy Money scripts, writes the Hollywood Reporter.
ComingSoon reports that John Travolta will join Denzel Washington in the remake of The Taking of Pelham 123.
The Los Angeles Times talks to Brooke Smith about joining Grey's Anatomy.
Variety has news that director Michael Mann will team up with Robert DeNiro for the movie Frankie Machine.
Billboard has details on a gigantic Pink Floyd box set coming out in December.
More young people are watching The Price is Right now that Drew Carey is hosting, Variety reports.

Movie Preview: In the Shadow of the Moon

BuzzSugar — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:28:42 -0700

When I saw the trailer for In the Shadow of the Moon, a new documentary by David Sington and presented by Ron Howard, I knew I wanted to see it. Then Cinematical's take on the film only further reinforced this desire: "Combining new interviews with archival footage - from NASA and other sources - In the Shadow of the Moon's both transcendently beautiful and impressively down-to-earth. The footage of the moon missions - some of it never seen before - is both beautiful and magnificent; the interviews with the astronauts (with the notable absence of Neil Armstrong) are human and humble. There are no interviews with cultural commentators or scientists or NASA administrators - just the small group of men who've been to our nearest celestial neighbor: This is who we are; this is what we did."

For any of you who ever wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, or for those who have simply wondered what a trip to the moon must have been like, this film's for you. In the Shadow of the Moon is in select theaters now, so to watch the trailer, read more

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