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Will You See or Skip These May Movies?

PopSugarUK — Sun, 03 May 2009 23:00:00 -0700

May sees the release of several big films on the big screens of the UK. From romantic comedies and dramas to action, sci-fi, 3D concerts and tween favourites, check out the cinema releases of the month and let me know whether you plan to see or skip each film.

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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:30:33 -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 my picks below, you can now watch Cadillac Records, Let the Right One In, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in the comfort of your own home.

Milk
If you still haven't seen Milk after all the months of accolades and awards, now's your chance to learn what all the fuss is about. In addition to being an incredibly moving story based on the real life of San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk, it's wonderfully acted and directed. It's everything a biopic ought to be, right down to beautifully recreating the events of such an extraordinary life.

The cast is full of talented, adorable actors, like Sean Penn (who won the Oscar for his portrayal of Milk), James Franco, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, and Emile Hirsch. I am anxious to watch it again, even though it's so heartbreaking.

Special features include deleted scenes, a featurette about remembering Harvey, and another titled "Hollywood comes to San Francisco."

So much more to recommend, so read more.

Rachel Getting Married
Even though this heavy portrayal of familial heartache and forgiveness is intense to watch, I highly recommend it. You may have noticed Anne Hathaway at a couple of awards shows this year - all due to this movie (not Bride Wars, just in case there's any confusion on that). Rosemarie Dewitt, also a phenomenal actress, is another reason to add this to your queue.

Special features include deleted scenes, filmmaker and cast commentaries, and "A Look Behind the Scenes of Rachel Getting Married."

Synecdoche, New York
You know him as the writer of such films as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and now Charlie Kaufman can add "Director" to his filmography with Synecdoche, NY. The movie stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard, a local theater director struggling to maintain his marriage with his more-famous wife, Adele (Catherine Keener). When she takes off for Germany with their daughter and Caden receives a grant, he decides to stage a giant-scale theater piece about life, setting it inside a towering replica of New York. It's a complicated, difficult, sometimes frustrating piece of cinema but I found the experience to be totally worthwhile.

Featurettes include "The Story of Caden Cotard: In Conversation With Philip Seymour Hoffman," "Infectious Diseases in Cattle: Blogger's Roundtable," and "NFTS/Script Masterclass with Charlie Kaufman."

Happy-Go-Lucky
I called this movie a sweet slice of life when I first saw it and I was thrilled when the talented Sally Hawkins won the Golden Globe for her performance in it. The movie is essentially plotless, focusing mostly on a woman whose outlook on life remains defiantly sunny despite the world's inevitable darkness and sorrow. It's so moving because despite it's bright and colorful surface, the film is also a meditation on sadness, longing, confusion, and hopefulness. You know, the stuff of life.

Special features include commentary by director Mike Leigh and the featurettes "Behind the wheel of Happy-Go-Lucky" and "Happy-in-character."

Synecdoche, New York: Frustrating, Unsettling, and Worth It

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:15:16 -0800

Synecdoche, New York, is a haunting film. In the weeks since I saw it, I'm not sure a day has gone by that I haven't thought about it. It's also a humongous, confusing mess. But I'm willing to forgive Charlie Kaufman that; the high points are too high not to.

As the writer of such films as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kaufman has become known for his surreal - and, yet, ultimately, very real - explorations of humanity. Synecdoche, New York, his directorial debut, is maybe his most precise work on that theme, tracing his main character through years of middle age, declining health, and the potent desire to do something while there's still time. Kaufman may be suffering from a bit of that desire himself, as he tosses all kinds of twists into his story, some of which lead it astray. But that doesn't keep it from being a moving mood piece of a film.

Synecdoche, New York actually has a mostly logical main story: Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Caden Cotard, a local theater director producing a lowish-rent production of Death of a Salesman and struggling to maintain his marriage with his more-famous wife, Adele (Catherine Keener). When she takes off for Germany with their daughter and Caden receives a MacArthur grant, he decides to stage a giant-scale theater piece about life (yes, just that: life), setting it inside a towering replica of New York. Everything else spins off from there, so just read more.

Beyond that general outline, trying to make sense of Synecdoche, New York is largely a losing battle. It's best to just take the developments as they come - oh, of course Caden is seeing himself as a TV cartoon; naturally, that's his daughter all grown up and covered in tattoos. The plot is not necessarily the point; it's more about what the plot evokes. And what it evokes (other than some powerful, sweeping images) is a deeply unsettling feeling about what it means to grow up and grow old. Illness is a major presence, as Caden stumbles into affliction after affliction - some from unfortunate coincidence, some from unknown cause. Time is practically a character of its own, with Kaufman occasionally fixing the story at a given point and then drifting from it, letting his audience wonder if it's been weeks, months, or (in one case) 17 years since a particular event.

Not everything works: The subplots involving Caden's family life and sexuality feel particularly flimsy and occasionally even uncomfortable. But in the world of Caden's theater piece, things start to click. Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, and Emily Watson deserve a chunk of the credit for that, as they deftly play the three women drifting in and out of Caden's life. Each of their performances is subtle and yet memorable, a particularly notable feat considering that before the film is over, they've each played a version of the same character. And to say too much about Tom Noonan's role would spoil it, but suffice to say it speaks directly to the movie's central theme of identity.

Watching Synecdoche, New York can be a frustrating experience. There's so much that doesn't make sense, that doesn't fit that just doesn't seem possible. And yet at the end, as I watched the credits roll over a gorgeous, haunting tune (Jon Brion's "Little Person"), I felt like I'd just had a cathartic cry or some really intense therapy. Synecdoche, New York has its stumbles, faults, and flaws, but in the end, the experience is worth the trouble.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Michelle Williams Brings Spike to Synecdoche, New York

Molly — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:30:00 -0700

Michelle Williams smiled big at a screening of her new movie Synecdoche, New York in, where else, NYC last night. The screenwriter, director, producer for the film Charlie Kaufman posed next to his stars Michelle and Catherine Keener. Afterward, the group was off to the after party where Michelle and Spike Jonze held hands and cuddled close while chatting with friends, even sneaking a few kisses on their way out. Kaufman's directional debut looks like a visually stunning and thought provoking masterpiece - just the kind of film where Michelle Williams will shine. With another heart wrenching movie coming soon, it looks like we have some amazing performances on the way from Michelle, which will be something to savor if she really takes a deserved break from work.

To see more from the premiere including Spike, Michelle, Charlie and Catherine just read more.

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Images include: Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Charlie Kaufman, Spike Jonze

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Movie Preview: Synecdoche, New York

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:30:08 -0700

Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, has been generating positive buzz ever since it premiered at Cannes this year. Time Magazine calls it "A miracle movie," while Variety claims it is "a wildly ambitious and gravely serious contemplation of life. The picture exerts power and artistic mystery." If this new trailer is any indication, I am starting to see what all the fuss is about.

Philip Seymour Hoffman leads a hugely talented cast (including Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and many more) in this story in which "[a] theater director (Hoffman) struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play."

Synecdoche, New York will start with a limited release on Oct. 24. To check out the trailer, read more.

trailer de Synecdoche new york
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Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Michelle Hits Another Red Carpet Before Jetting Out of Cannes

PopSugar — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:10:00 -0700

Yesterday Michelle Williams lit up the red carpet at the premiere of Adoration at Cannes and today she was promoting her own film, Synecdoche, New York with co-stars Catherine Keener and Philip Seymour Hoffman by her side. (Buzz has a couple of movie clips here) Michelle went casual for the photocall before slipping into another gown for the big premiere. It's great to see her out at events again, and while she's only in town for a quick two days, she's looking to make a few memories. She said, "[It's] something you can look back on at the end of your life and think, 'That was a cool thing I did when I was 27.'" Considering how much film festival fun the celebrities have been having, we can't argue with Michelle on that one.

To see a lot more images of Michelle and her co-stars, just read more

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Images Include: Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Charlie Kaufman, Kerry Washington, Noemie Lenoir

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Cannes Clips: Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:37:59 -0700

Did you like Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? How you answer this question will probably indicate whether or not you'll be interested in Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York. The movie is premiering at Cannes and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams and Jennifer Jason Leigh, among a ton of others.

IMDB describes the movie's plot like this: "A theater director (Hoffman) struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play." If it's similar to the movies Kaufman has written in the past, Synecdoche, New York will be darkly bizarre and incredibly self-aware (and self-referential). The clips from the movie already indicate this for the most part, and will probably make more sense within the full context of the movie. To check out the clips from Synecdoche, New York, read more.

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Movie Preview: Michelle Williams in Mammoth

BuzzSugar — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:30:38 -0800

Sometimes it's still hard to believe that Michelle Williams was once Jen Lindley on Dawson's Creek. She's completely broken out of that mold with her ongoing string of indie films like Wendy and Lucy and Synecdoche, New York, and now comes yet another dark choice to add to her resume.

Williams stars opposite Gael Garcia Bernal in the upcoming drama, Mammoth, which follows a young family whose world begins to crumble after a few bad decisions. Leo (Bernal) is a website mogul off on a trip to Thailand, Ellen (Williams) is his doctor wife, and the film spotlights their daughter's nanny, Gloria, as well. Judging by the trailer, things begin to implode after Leo goes to a club and takes up with a prostitute - and everyone, even Gloria, feels the consequences.

I'm already mentally preparing myself for Mammoth. Thanks to its global, interconnected stories set up, I'm thinking it will be on the same intensity scale as a Babel or Crash. (Which means it's probably a downer that I'll need to decompress from later). Still, that sort of riveting drama can make for a great watch - albeit stressful - and Williams and Bernal's performances look exceptionally good in this one. It comes to theaters November 20, but watch the trailer and tell me if you agree with my assessment when you read more.

Which Hairstyle Do You Like Best On Samantha Morton?

BellaSugarUK — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:30:00 -0700

English actress, Samantha Morton was spotted out last night at the Synecdoche, New York Premiere in London with long, curled brown hair. I'm not sure how closely you've followed Samantha's career, but over the years, she's never been afraid to chop, dye or change her hair for a role. Out of these eight vastly different looks, which do you like the most on Ms. Morton?

For close up images of Samantha's hair from the past to the present, read more.

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Michelle and Penelope Get Award Ready at Gotham Awards

Molly — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:00:00 -0800

Movie award season kicked off last night in NYC with the 2008 Gotham Awards. We should get used to seeing some of these winners names and some of these familiar faces when the New Year comes along and Award Season really gets rolling, but for now the group took the red carpet to start honoring each other. While Frozen River took home the top honors, Michelle Williams and Penelope Cruz both had reasons to smile. Rachel Weisz came out to support her husband's movie The Wrestler. Michelle's Synecdoche, New York won the Robert Altman Award for best director, casting and ensemble while Vicky Cristina Barcelona also won an award for best ensemble cast. Check out the full list of winners here.

To see more of the Gotham Awards including Amy Adams, Ben Kingsley, Jeff Goldblum, Jennifer Esposito, Mickey Rourke and others just read more.

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Images include: Amy Adams, Ben Kingsley, Debra Winger, Dennis Hopper, Ethan Hawke, Evan Rachel Wood, Gus Van Sant, Jeff Goldblum, Jennifer Esposito, Michelle Williams, Mickey Rourke, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Terrence Howard, Rachel Weisz, Ron Livingston, Marisa Tomei, Sean Penn

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