BuzzSugar

Robert Pattinson's Next Leading Lady Is Uma Thurman

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:25:01 -0800

New Moon hits the theaters today, and with it comes even more news about the future of Robert Pattinson's career: Uma Thurman has signed on to star opposite the heartthrob in the upcoming Bel Ami. Pattinson is George Duroy, a poor journalist who sleeps his way to the top in Paris, and Thurman will play the woman who eventually becomes his wife. Kristin Scott Thomas has also just signed on for the film.

Nicole Kidman's name was originally attached to the project, and I have to admit that I would have preferred to see her playing opposite Pattinson. Still, it should be interesting (to say the least) to see him in the arms of an older woman. Many of you aren't digging Pattinson's Remember Me costar Emilie de Ravin (check out the trailer here), but are you more intrigued to see him alongside one of Hollywood's seasoned veterans?

Motherhood: A Harried-Mom Tale That Often Feels Tired

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:30:20 -0700

When you have a parenting movie set in New York, you should know better than to expect a warm-'n'-fuzzy story about the joys of having kids. In fact, Motherhood is out to prove that mothers have it rough.

The film follows Eliza Welsh (Uma Thurman), a Manhattan writer dealing with a cramped apartment, busy husband, and side-street parking while raising her two kids. A day in her life feels like a really, really long 24 hours. Eliza runs around frantically trying to prepare for her 6-year-old's birthday while composing an essay for a parenting magazine contest and squeezing in a sample sale with her mommy friend Sheila (Minnie Driver). We know that Eliza was once a great writer, but when she had kids, she decided to give up her job to raise her family. Now, she's a shell of her former self in frumpy clothes and messy hair. Simply put, Eliza is dealing with the classic parent conundrum: how do you care for your kids and still retain something for yourself? The answer? It ain't easy.

For more about what I mean, read more.

Eliza doesn't try to feign martyrdom. In fact, she often whines about her plight in a way that screams, "I'm angry, dammit!" And at first, you're angry for her too. (No woman deserves to put up with all that she does.) But as the film goes on, Eliza's bitterness knocks you over the head, and you have to you wonder - is she like this every day? Yeesh.

Luckily we have Eliza's friend Sheila for some needed comic relief. Sheila is the cool single mom to the more neurotic Eliza - she mouths off cheeky one-liners and uses her son's motorized bath toy for her "alone time." Jodie Foster also delivers a hilarious cameo as a celebrity mom swearing at the paparazzi on the playground - aka, herself. Both women keep Eliza's "what-can-go-wrong-will-go-wrong" storyline from wearing too thin.

Mothers will probably identify with either Eliza or Sheila but what about the rest of us? While the actors perform well and the movie provides laughs for those who can relate (read: parents), most of the jokes don't feel fresh, and you've probably seen similar setups on shows like The Middle or In the Motherhood or any of the other dozens of family comedies in recent years. Props to the filmmakers for giving mothers their due, but if you're not one yourself, an hour and a half with Eliza may be enough to make you rush out of the theater and buy birth control.

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:30:06 -0700

Kevin Zegers joins Gossip Girl as a love interest for Jenny - TV Squad
Jane Lynch talks about Paul, the Simon Pegg movie she's appearing in - MTV Movies Blog
Admiring the supporting, random, and lead roles of Paul Schneider - The AV Club
Listen to an unreleased Nirvana song from the Bleach reissue - Pitchfork
Thomas the Tank will come to theaters as a CGI feature film - Coming Soon
Guess Robert Pattinson's not going to be in Dune - Cinematical
Lauren Conrad's LA Candy gets a movie deal - PopSugar
Mandy Moore divulges what Rapunzel's personality will be like in the animated flick - Rotten Tomatoes
Production on Halloween 3D has been shut down - Movieline
Uma Thurman will star in the upcoming comedy Ceremony - Coming Soon

Movie Preview: Uma Thurman in Motherhood

BuzzSugar — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:30:35 -0700

I first heard about Motherhood during the Sundance Film Festival, but now there's a full-length trailer to see. Not unlike the classic Parenthood, the film focuses on the frustrating, messy (and often comical) side of being a parent - except this time it's all about the matriarch. Sure, Anthony Edwards (Goose!) is there as the somewhat clueless husband, but the focus is on Eliza Welsh's (Uma Thurman) life as the seemingly last stay-at-home mom in the world. As she suffers the scrutiny of everyone from playground moms to snarky cashiers, frazzled Eliza finally finds time for herself by writing for a parenting magazine. The movie looks like it might have a few funny moments, but it also looks pretty touchy-feely. To check out the preview and let me know what you think, read more.

Buzz News Roundup, 7/22

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:30:55 -0700

Sam Raimi will direct a live-action movie based on the video game World of Warcraft. - Variety
The Comedy Central series Drawn Together is also getting the feature treatment, but it'll be straight to DVD. - Broadcasting and Cable
Adele, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, and Miley Cyrus are VH1's new Divas. - E! Online
Uma Thurman will star in the indie drama Girl Soldier, about a woman who helps rescue schoolgirls in Uganda. - ComingSoon
Wipeout will be back with a mostly new obstacle course. - The Hollywood Reporter
Daughtry tops this week's album sales charts. - Billboard
The novel Beginner's Greek will be adapted for film by the screenwriters of 500 Days of Summer. - ComingSoon
Sam Worthington will star in a remake of Danish thriller The Candidate. - Variety

Thurman, Brosnan, McKidd to Play Greek Gods

BuzzSugar — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:30:36 -0700

Hollywood just got even more powerful with the casting of Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean in the Greek god fantasy adventure, Percy Jackson. Thurman will play Medusa, Brosnan will portray Chiron and Bean is taking the role of Zeus. Additionally, Kevin McKidd will play Poseidon and Melina Kanakaredes has been cast as Athena. Here's more:

The studio is still looking to fill the roles of Aries, Hades and Persephone.

Story centers on Poseidon's 12-year-old half-human son ([Logan] Lerman), who embarks on a quest across modern-day America to save his mother, return Zeus' stolen lightning bolt and prevent a deadly war between the gods.

Chris Columbus (Adventures in Babysitting, Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire) is directing and aiming for a 2010 release. I'm actually kind of psyched to see this. What do you think of this godly news?

Source

2009 Sundance Spotlight: Motherhood and Grace

BuzzSugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:30:07 -0800

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities.

Today's spotlight is kind of fun in that both of these selections have some provocative points of view regarding motherhood and make for a nice - if a little weird - themed post. Check them out:

Motherhood
"Mommy blogging" is a pretty popular thing to do, what with many new moms wanting to document each and every step of their parental journeys. This movie, starring Uma Thurman and Minnie Driver, looks like it takes a darkly humorous look at the life of one such mommy blogger. Motherhood follows Uma's character Eliza who "has to throw her daughter's sixth birthday party, battle for a parking space, chase her toddler son, navigate playground politics, repair a botched birthday cake, contemplate a fling with a sexy messenger half her age, juggle a career-changing opportunity, find time to have a breakdown, briefly run away from home, and realize what is truly valuable in her life - all in one day." Sounds kind of funny, actually

You can check out a clip of Motherhood in which Minnie Driver's character is pretty peeved at Uma's character for blogging about her here.

To see another one of my Sundance finds that has to do with a very, very different kind of motherhood, just read more.

Grace
Um. So. This movie looks really disturbing and that's a huge understatement. I'm not totally sure I'll ever be able to see this myself, but I feel compelled to share with you my awe that this is out there in the world. Grace is about a pregnant woman who is "determined to carry the stillborn baby to term, where she miraculously wills the delivered corpse into life. But it is not too long before the increasingly isolated mother realizes that something is not right with baby Grace, and she must make horrible sacrifices to keep her living." One reviewer who watched this at Sundance describes it in this way: "If you are the sort of person who might enjoy an effed-up gore fest about a woman who delivers an undead baby, you can rest assured that Grace lives up to its potential." It sounds nuts!

Here's the teaser trailer. Nothing insane happens per se, but there is a baby with blood on it and other stuff that makes for a generally disturbing video-watching experience. Proceed with caution.

Photos courtesy of Sundance

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:32:02 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the selections below you can also check out the fourth season of House, Street Kings starring Keanu Reeves, and the HBO movie, Recount which I chatted about with Citizen here.

Gossip Girl: Season 1
Try to ignore for a moment that nobody on that DVD cover looks like a character I recognize from the show. Am I right? That is some wacky Photoshopping there. But anyway, the first season of Gossip Girl is now out on DVD so you can get your collection started and catch up if you haven't seen all the episodes. I'm sure some of you will appreciate this as the CW was not great about putting all their episodes on the Web, especially during the latter part of the season, so you may have missed some pivotal episodes.

I'm excited to relive the early GG days - especially the pilot - but I'm most looking forward to the special features. They include unaired scenes, featurettes titled "The Beginning, XOXO: Concept to Execution," "Gossip Girl Couture," "A Gossip Girl Wedding," and "LOL: Gag Reel." The DVDs also include music videos from The Pierces. How sweet is that?

Three more good ones, so read more.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
What do you get when you blend Frances McDormand with Amy Adams and sprinkle in Lee Pace? A no-brainer Netflix pick!

I adored this little movie about Guinevere Pettigrew (McDormand) an out-of-work governess who sort of accidentally becomes the social secretary of American cabaret singer Delysia Lafosse (Adams). The energy of the two women plus the solid acting from the men who make up the rest of the cast make this movie a total delight. If you didn't catch it in the theaters, it's high time you treated yourself.

Special features include deleted scenes and featurettes titled "Making an Unforgettable Day" and "Miss Pettigrew's Long Trip to Hollywood."

The Life Before Her Eyes
I was so intrigued by the trailer for this film adaptation of Laura Kasischke's book, I made the novel my April Buzz Book Club selection. House of Sand and Fog director Vadim Perelman paints a beautiful portrait with this movie starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood as the older and younger versions of the same woman. The plot might leave you a bit dissatisfied, as it did me (though he changed some aspects of the book that I found jarring, so I may be biased), but it's visually lovely, and not a bad choice for a thought-provoking movie at home.

Special effects include deleted scenes, a behind the scenes featurette and, most intriguingly, an alternate ending.

Dexter: Season Two
If you missed this season (or the entire series thus far), now you can catch up with the new second season DVDs - and not with the neutered episodes on CBS . Dexter (Michael C. Hall, who was nominated for an Emmy for this role) continues with his serial killing - but only picking off the truly evil ones, of course. Meanwhile, he works to maintain a pristine image at home. This season, FBI agent Frank Lundy's (Keith Carradine) work threatens to expose Dexter.

It's worth catching up with Dexter before the new season starts on Showtime September 28.

Spies and the BuzzSugar Who Loves Them

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:30:03 -0700

Spies are the coolest of the cool. The secret-holders and protectors. The smartest and often the most spry. It's no wonder many of us want to be them, or you know, make out with them. This weekend's spy comedy Get Smart reminded me that there are so many spies I love. To see my favorite spies from TV and movies, just hit "Start."

View Slideshow ›

The Life Before Her Eyes: Beautiful But Puzzling

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:30:06 -0700

The film adaptation of Laura Kasischke's lovely novel The Life Before Her Eyes begins with close-up images of gorgeous, colorful flowers shifting and morphing, one blossom blooming as another one dissolves. The symbolism of this - birth, bloom, change, eventual decay, and rebirth - shows up in a variety of ways throughout the film, both in visual metaphors and in the action and language within the story. It's a beautiful film, full of water and flowers and food and cats, but it all gets to be a bit too much by the end. And the end - for anyone who has read the novel, which was my April book club book - is rather baffling.

The story hinges on one fateful day in the lives of high school best friends Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maureen (Eva Amurri) when a classmate brings a gun to school and goes on a rampage. He enters the girls' bathroom and tells Diana and Maureen that he will have to kill one of them. From here, we flash to an adult Diana (Uma Thurman) living a wonderfully steady life: a beautiful young daughter, handsome husband, spacious house. But the adult Diana begins to notice strange things happening, quirks about her daughter that seem off and other occurrences that leave her unsettled. The narrative bounces from scenes of adult Diana to scenes from before the day of the shooting which fill in some of the story of Diana's friendship with Maureen, and her adolescence in general. Every so often, we return to the girls' bathroom and learn another tiny piece of what happens on that terrible day.

To see what else I thought about the movie, read more.

Uma Thurman's journey in this film is layered and intimate. Some of the most powerful scenes feature a confused and agonizingly haunted adult Diana fighting like mad to keep it together as her perception of reality unravels. Evan Rachel Wood is equally arresting in her portrayal of a young woman testing out the bad girl's life while fiercely loving and secretly admiring her born-again Christian best friend, Maureen.

It takes a true visual artist to interpret Kasischke's dreamy, poetic language into vivid painting-like images that burst with color, texture and emotion. For this, I commend director Vadim Perelman. In regard to the story and the adaptation of Kasischke's work, there are aspects I loved, like the honest-feeling friendship between the young Diana and Maureen. But some parts - particularly certain deviations from the story and some hammer-over-the-head symbolism ("The heart is the body's strongest muscle" is repeated way too many times to count, for example, in case we missed the double meaning the first time) left me feeling frustrated.

For the trailer and video clips from The Life Before Her Eyes, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures