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Do You Believe Viggo Mortensen Will Quit Acting?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:45:14 -0700

Another one bites the dust? Viggo Mortensen recently dropped a bombshell about the future of his career, telling Men's Journal in an interview that he's going to quit acting altogether.

Mortensen is currently promoting his film The Road with Charlize Theron, but I'm not sure what will become of his rumored two projects in the pipeline, A Wing and a Prayer and Vanikoro.

He did mention that he would come back for a possible sequel to Eastern Promises and The Hobbit prequels, which says to me that he's not exactly quitting acting, he's taking a break. It would be sad to see Mortensen bid farewell to Hollywood, and it would be even more depressing to see him follow in Joaquin Phoenix's bizarre footsteps. What do you make of Mortensen's declaration - will he really quit acting?

Movie Preview: The Road

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:00:13 -0700

It must be Highly Anticipated Trailer Day today or something: First we got a glimpse of Nine, and now we have the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. The movie stars Viggo Mortensen as a man coping emotionally and physically in a post-apocalyptic world and trying to defend his family.

The book uses an apocalyptic scenario as a way to meditate on themes of humanity, and the effect is stirring. I don't know if it's the marketing campaign or if this is the route the entire movie is taking, but I'm surprised this trailer makes The Road look more like an action-packed thriller (explosions, gun fights, chase scenes, etc.) rather than a solemn journey into our worst nightmare. Either way, it looks extremely creepy.

Even though the movie won't be out until Oct. 16, one early review is calling it "the most important movie of the year." That's a big statement!

The Road also stars Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, and Guy Pearce. To watch the trailer, read more.

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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:30:35 -0800

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 add Kevin Costner's Swing Vote to your queue.

Brideshead Revisited
Here's a movie I never got around to seeing in '08, which makes it my favorite kind of new DVD release! This lavishly costumed period drama starring the wonderful Emma Thompson sort of gives me an Atonement vibe except it didn't get nearly as much critical or box office attention.

Based on the bestselling novel, the movie follows "the memoirs of Captain Charles Ryder who is stationed at Brideshead Castle during WWII and remembers his involvement with the owners of the Brideshead estate: The aristocratic yet Catholic Flyte family and in particular brother and sister Sebastian and Julia."

Special features include deleted scenes, filmmakers' audio commentary, and a segment titled "The World of Brideshead."

Two more up next, so read more.

Appaloosa
I enjoy a Western every now and again and Appaloosa, directed by and starring Ed Harris, is a good one. Harris plays Virgil Cole, a man who, along with his partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), makes a living off the lawless frontier by helping out towns overrun with criminal activity. Things get complicated when a gal (Renee Zellweger) appears right as they're in the middle of sweeping the bad guys out of town.

It's a good-looking, sometimes funny movie with some great acting and, of course, shoot-em-ups. I recommend bringing this one home.

Special features include additional scenes and commentary by Harris and screenwriter/producer Robert Knott.

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
This recent Tyler Perry flick has a large and impressive ensemble cast that includes Kathy Bates, Sanaa Lathan, Alfre Woodard, Rockmond Dunbar and Benjamin Button's Taraji P. Henson. Like other Perry movies, The Family That Preys looks to be heavy on the familial melodrama that, according to Netflix, centers on "a pair of friends - wealthy socialite Charlotte (Academy Award winner Kathy Bates) and working-class Alice (Alfre Woodard) - whose families stand to be ripped apart by greed and scandal."

DVD extras include special featurettes titled "Two Families, Two Legends," "Preying in the Big Easy," "Casting the Family," and "Delving Into the Diner."

Movie Preview: Appaloosa

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:30:25 -0700

Appaloosa hasn't really been on my radar since the casting news was first announced over a year ago, which I find odd, especially since it stars some pretty big names, is directed by Ed Harris, and looks all Western epic-y. By contrast, we've had to see every new photo and poster and trailer for Australia as that film has been in production - and that one's coming out two months after this one. So, I find the lack of Appaloosa awareness to be strange.

Then again, the trailer's not totally fascinating. It's a dusty, dramatic Western. There are manly men (Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Jeremy Irons) and guns and a brief flash or two of a woman's face (Renee Zellweger). The plot description states, "Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow."

My favorite thing is the tagline on the movie's official website: "Feelings get you killed."

Is the fact that we haven't heard much about this a bad thing? Not necessarily. But I'm still a little puzzled. Appaloosa opens in limited release Sept. 17 before its wide release Oct. 3. To check out the trailer, read more.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Charlize, Viggo Travel Cormac McCarthy's Road

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:28:19 -0800

Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men has proven so successful in movie format, there's already another film in pre-production based on another of his works, The Road. Variety is reporting today that Charlize Theron has signed on for the project, and will star alongside Viggo Mortensen. Apparently, Theron is a huge fan of the novel. Here's more:

Story centers on a man who embarks on a nightmarish road trip after a nuclear explosion in an attempt to transport his son to safety while fending off cannibals. Theron, who will play the wife of Mortensen's character, will be seen mostly in flashback. Although the role is small, Theron joined the project because she's a big fan of the book.

I haven't read the book - yet! - but I know from my recent Buzzworthy challenge that some of you are fans of this McCarthy work. Can you see these casting picks working for the film?

Source and source

Renee Zellweger, Viggo Mortensen Headline Western

BuzzSugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:19:37 -0700

The news:
Renee Zellweger and Viggo Mortensen will star in Appaloosa, a Western based on a Robert B. Parker novel. Ed Harris will direct and also star.

Here's the story:
According to Variety, the film centers on "a pair of friends hired to protect a lawless town suffering at the hands of a renegade rancher. The arrival of an attractive widow disrupts their plans." I'm guessing Zellweger is the attractive widow.

What I like:
I have a soft spot for Ed Harris, and I'm glad to see him back behind the camera; the other feature he directed, Pollock, was a pretty impressive film that won Marcia Gay Harden an Oscar. Harris and Mortensen also shared the screen well in A History of Violence.

What I'm not sure of:
I actually loved Zellweger's Oscar-winning performance as the scrappy Ruby in Cold Mountain; it was probably my favorite thing about that movie, as well as one of my favorite Zellweger roles ever. I just hope she doesn't just turn the dial back to "spunky Westerner" and give the same performance again this time.

Source

What to Netflix: Valentine's Day Edition, Cynical Love

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:40:39 -0800

The theme for today's Valentine's Day Playlist is cynical love songs, which - like relationships themselves - can be both beautiful and bittersweet. The same can be said for one of my favorite romantic dramas, A Walk on the Moon, which one minute makes you hopeful about love then turns you into an utter pessimist the next.

This well-crafted story takes place at a Jewish summer retreat in the Catskills, where housewife Pearl Katrowitz (Diane Lane) is watching her daughter (Anna Paquin) revel in teenage freedom and wishing her own youth hadn't been cut short by an unexpected pregnancy. While her husband (Liev Shreiber) commutes back and forth to the city, she sparks up an affair with "the blouse man" (Viggo Mortensen), a wise hippie wanderer who sells clothes from a van.

You'll find yourself caught up in Pearl's giddiness as she imagines a completely different life for herself, and you'll feel just as guilty when her watchful mother-in-law (scene-stealer Tovah Feldshuh) reminds her about the family she's neglecting. Far from a cheesy chick-flick, this film is amazingly well-acted, alternately brimming with sexual novelty (two words: "Viggo" and "waterfall") and bitter regret.

What to TiVo: Friday

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:50:59 -0800

ABC has Shrek the Third, and is new with 20/20
CBS is new with Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and NUMB3RS
FOX has repeats of House and Bones
NBC is new with Law & Order and Dateline NBC
The CW is new with Smallville and has a repeat of America's Next Top Model
MTV has repeats of Southpark and Nitro Circus, and has Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof
TLC is new with Say Yes to the Dress and Happily Ever Faster
E! is new with The Soup
USA is new with Monk and White Collar
VH1 has repeats of For the Love of Ray Jay 2 and I Want to Work for Diddy 2
Late-night highlights include Kellan Lutz on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Viggo Mortensen on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; Eva Mendes and Bon Jovi on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and Death Cab for Cutie on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC; Neil Patrick Harris and David Gray on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC