Saturday, April 18, 2009

FILM: Fey & Wahlberg; "Eat, Pray, Love" Adapted; "Little Shop of Horrors" Remake, and more

• Leslie Mann is probably (and unfortunately) best known for having roles in her husband, Judd Apatow's testosterone-filled films, but now she's teaming up with Elizabeth Banks for her own buddy film. It's based on the Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman novel What Was I Thinking?, a compilation of "worst ex-boyfriend" stories. Banks will play a jilted bride and Mann will play a woman who just can't find the one. Two other female roles of supportive bffs need to be cast. Let's see. Two actresses who are B-list enough not to outshine the leads, but are damn funny? Perhaps, Kristin Wigg (Adventureland), who's subtly hilarious, Maya Rudolph (Away We Go), who's yet to make us laugh outside of "SNL," Sandra Oh ("Grey's Anatomy"), who has a knack for deadpan humor, and Becki Newton ("Ugly Betty"), whose wily personality deserves big screen exposure. Who would you cast?

The first High School Musical was loosely based on Grease, so the fourth one, which won't feature the main actors of the original, will be based on West Side Story. It follows lovebirds from rivals East High and West High. Hmm, I wonder if there'll be knives involved. lol

Ok so, if I were Tina Fey--overflowing with power and clout--and I got to pick a hunky guy to flirt with me in a movie, I'd totally choose Mark Wahlberg. Great minds think alike! Wahlberg is rumored to be joining Fey and Steve Carrell in what sounds like a romantic action comedy called Date Night, where a married couple fail miserably at trying to have their weekly night-out-on-the-town because of several misunderstandings and odd occurrences. Wahlberg plays a hot security expert who flirts heavily with Fey, and, to add to the hilarity, James Franco plays a petty con man, Kristin Wiig (Adventureland) plays her bff, and Leighton Meester ("Gossip Girl") plays her babysitter. (It's like the producers shook a bag full of Hollywood types and pulled out names randomly. lol)

If you find Elizabeth Moss as amusing on "Mad Men" as I do, then you might want to catch her in Get Him to the Greek, where she'll play Jonah Hill's repressed doctor girlfriend. The film is about a record company lackey who has to get a rock star, played by British comedian Russell Brand, to a specific location. Rose Byrne ("Damages") will play Brand's ex-girlfriend, a Courtney Love-type rocker.

• Elizabeth Gilbert's food-inspired memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, is being adapted into a film that'll star Julia Roberts. It's about a woman "who seemingly has it all but comes to the realization that life isn't for her. After a painful divorce, she sets out on a journey of self-discovery around the world."

X-Men: Wolverine won't be the last spinoff of the saga. A film focusing on the younger generation, subtitled First Class, will chronicle the beginnings of the original team, following young Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Beast. I think the most interesting bit of news concerning this spinoff is that they've tapped "Gossip Girl" creator Josh Schwartz to write the script. He's become the go-to for tolerable teen content. I just wonder if they intend on slipping in any mean girls into the high school-set world of mutants. Can't wait to see who they cast! I know they kind of already have a young Cyclops (newcomer Tim Pocock) in Wolverine, but what about Matt Long for First Class, and maybe Odette Yustman (Cloverfield) or Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Live Free or Die Hard) for Jean?

• Megan Fox seems to have a knack for the adrenaline-pumping and eerie roles. She has the horror comedy Jennifer's Body this fall and the action thriller Jonah Hex next summer. Soon she'll start shooting the action adventure Ironclad and the crime thriller The Crossing. I think the latter will be her first non-big-budget, studio-hawked film. It's about a woman who has to smuggle heroin across the border in order to free her kidnapped husband--expect a lot of crying, begging, and then an 11th hour turnaround where she kicks somebody's ass. Hmm, since Michelle Rodriguez won't be in the next Fast & Furious--yes, there's going to be a 5th one--I think they should add Megan. It might seem beneath her, but car porn was practically invented for girls who look like her. Hell, she can talk and walk at the same time, which is more than I can say for most of the girls in that franchise. *cough*Gal Gadot*cough*

Little Shop of Horrors is the sole reason I visit the dentist maybe once every three years. (No worries, my doc says my teeth are awesome.) But I just can't imagine anyone else striking that fear into my heart besides Steve Martin and Rick Moranis (who's been stuck on voice-over duty for more than 10 years, but will finally return to the big screen when Ghost Busters gets revived in 2012). Unfortunately, some Hollywood douche has decided that not only does he want to retell the story of a mild-mannered florist who discovers a singing, carnivorous plant that feeds on human blood (and flesh), but he plans on taking it in a "different direction." Why don't you just write original content and leave this masterpiece alone? Honestly, I don't think you should be allowed to remake a movie unless all of the main actors are dead or it really sucked. For example, Pirates of the Caribbean? No. Nim's Island? Yes!

Speaking of funny murder plots, you know how everyone thinks Reese Witherspoon is super sweet and super cute? Well, she's about to mock the hell out of that notion when she stars in the crime comedy Nice. It's about a magazine writer who accidentally kills her boyfriend, then realizes it's easier to kill them than break up with them. Ohhh the amount of women that will flock to the theaters is unimaginable. lol

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