I saw Wall Street in my film class. It was mandatory. Financial dramas aren't really my thing, especially ones where a guy lectures the audience about the power of money and how awesome he is at using it to manipulate others. Gordon Gekko was an icon in the 80s. Hell, he still might even be the reason some college graduates are interested in sporting suspenders and power ties on their way to the Stock Market. The question is, in these financially unstable times, do we need another dose of the Gekko?
After watching the teaser, I realize that this film is good for a few things:
1) Comparing Gekko's 80s financial mentality to our present day philosophy to see if we've advanced at all. Plus, there's bound to be plenty of age jokes. The trailer alone points out the technological differences. That cell phone was ginormous! Can't wait to see him try to use an iPhone, let alone an iPad. lol
2) Watching Shia Labeouf get his hands dirty. I liked that he said, "No matter how much money you make. You'll never be rich." Obviously, this kid's learned something about business that's made his ambitions greater than just wealth. Sometimes the desire for respect is far more dangerous.
3) The twist: I read that while Gekko seems helpful and eager to adopt an apprentice, he also has his own secret agenda. And men who come out of prison rarely have peaceful ambitions...unless, of course, they found Jesus.
Best Line: "Someone reminded me I once said 'Greed is good.' Now it seems it's legal."--Gekko
Saturday, January 30, 2010
FILM: Will Ferrell says "I Do" & Seth Rogen wants Michelle Williams to "Take This Waltz"
Earlier this week, I read that Will Ferrell was going to be in a romantic comedy about avoiding relationships. I thought it had a pretty funny concept and I was on board. Then I read that Seth Rogen was doing a romantic drama with Michelle Williams about his attempts at wooing a chronic cheater, and I immediately sighed. I like Seth Rogen. He's a funny guy. I don't want to see him stuck in a rut, doing the same fat schlub routine for the rest of his life. However, I also don't want to watch him play a guy who must have low enough self-esteem to figure that the best he can do is a girl who sabotages all of her relationships. Sure, it pegs him as sensitive and the romantic hero, but why can't anyone cast him as the guy the girl wants from the beginning, instead of the guy they seemingly force themselves to fall in love with (i.e. Knocked Up, Zack & Miri Make a Porno, Observe and Report)?
Allow me to elaborate. Ferrell signed on for I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single, a remake of the 2006 French film. He'll play "a 40-something bachelor pressured by his mother and seven sisters to settle down and get married, prompting him to ask a friend's sister to leave him at the altar so that everyone will leave him alone." I imagine he'll fall for the girl anyway (even if the character doesn't in the French film, because that's America for ya), but at least he's not as pathetic sounding as Rogen's character. In Take This Waltz, "a young woman struggles with her infidelities and the budding realization that she may be addicted to the honeymoon period of her relationships." Sounds like an intriguing starring vehicle for a female actress. But the guys will most likely take a beating in this, and I'm just sad that guy has to be Rogen. Perhaps it's more believable than say...rejecting James Franco, but it's just not fair.
Allow me to elaborate. Ferrell signed on for I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single, a remake of the 2006 French film. He'll play "a 40-something bachelor pressured by his mother and seven sisters to settle down and get married, prompting him to ask a friend's sister to leave him at the altar so that everyone will leave him alone." I imagine he'll fall for the girl anyway (even if the character doesn't in the French film, because that's America for ya), but at least he's not as pathetic sounding as Rogen's character. In Take This Waltz, "a young woman struggles with her infidelities and the budding realization that she may be addicted to the honeymoon period of her relationships." Sounds like an intriguing starring vehicle for a female actress. But the guys will most likely take a beating in this, and I'm just sad that guy has to be Rogen. Perhaps it's more believable than say...rejecting James Franco, but it's just not fair.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
FILM/TV NEWS: Efron on "Fire," Demi Moore & Miley Cyrus "LOL," "La Femme Nikita" Remake, and more
FILM NEWS
• Zac Efron just signed on for another action film. The first was Johnny Quest, and now he's signed on for the comic adaptation of Fire. He'll "play a college student who is recruited by the CIA, only to find that he has been trained for a program that creates expendable agents." Sounds like he and Taylor Lautner are both trying to follow in Matt Damon's Bourne footseps.
• It's been about 13 years since Demi Moore did anything worth mentioning or flocking to theaters for. G.I. Jane was the nail in her career's coffin. She needs to make waves to get everyone talking again, so I guess that's why she's doing a film with Miley Cyrus. In the remake of the French comedy LOL, she'll play a divorcee who's stuggling with moving on, and Cyrus will play a teenager who goes after her boyfriend's bff after he dumps her for being sexually inexperienced. Hmm, I'll withhold my judgement until I see the trailer.
• Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man and "Skins") just scored a role in the upcoming Mad Max remake.
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was screenwriter Shane West's directorial debut, and I loved it. So naturally I'd be excited for whatever he has planned next. Unfortunately, both of his upcoming projects involve Mel Gibson. Not only did he write Lethal Weapon 5, but he's going to direct the spy thriller Cold Warrior. "The story follows a Cold War spy (Gibson) who comes out of retirement to confront a domestic terrorism threat from Russia by joining with a younger agent." Ugh. I was really hoping I could neglect Gibson's "forgive me" campaign, but I might have to watch this. Hopefully, they'll cast someone cool in the "younger agent" role, like Chris Pine or Shia Labeouf or you know someone who isn't busy right now. It helps that Bruce Willis is so old, even 30 counts as young. Hmm, maybe Bradley Cooper could be a nice fit. Two douchebags cancel each other out.
TV NEWS
• The CW is planning to remake "La Femme Nikita," which was really big on the USA Network in '97. "This time Nikita goes rogue and a new assassin is trained to replace her." McG ("Supernatural" and "Chuck") is executive producing.
• Director David Fincher (Zodiac and Fight Club) and actress Charlize Theron are teaming up with the executive producer of "Dexter" Scott Buck to produce a new HBO serial killer series. "Mind Hunter" will be based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker's book, which covers Douglas' criminal profiling career as a top FBI investigator of serial killers and rapists.
• Zac Efron just signed on for another action film. The first was Johnny Quest, and now he's signed on for the comic adaptation of Fire. He'll "play a college student who is recruited by the CIA, only to find that he has been trained for a program that creates expendable agents." Sounds like he and Taylor Lautner are both trying to follow in Matt Damon's Bourne footseps.
• It's been about 13 years since Demi Moore did anything worth mentioning or flocking to theaters for. G.I. Jane was the nail in her career's coffin. She needs to make waves to get everyone talking again, so I guess that's why she's doing a film with Miley Cyrus. In the remake of the French comedy LOL, she'll play a divorcee who's stuggling with moving on, and Cyrus will play a teenager who goes after her boyfriend's bff after he dumps her for being sexually inexperienced. Hmm, I'll withhold my judgement until I see the trailer.
• Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man and "Skins") just scored a role in the upcoming Mad Max remake.
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was screenwriter Shane West's directorial debut, and I loved it. So naturally I'd be excited for whatever he has planned next. Unfortunately, both of his upcoming projects involve Mel Gibson. Not only did he write Lethal Weapon 5, but he's going to direct the spy thriller Cold Warrior. "The story follows a Cold War spy (Gibson) who comes out of retirement to confront a domestic terrorism threat from Russia by joining with a younger agent." Ugh. I was really hoping I could neglect Gibson's "forgive me" campaign, but I might have to watch this. Hopefully, they'll cast someone cool in the "younger agent" role, like Chris Pine or Shia Labeouf or you know someone who isn't busy right now. It helps that Bruce Willis is so old, even 30 counts as young. Hmm, maybe Bradley Cooper could be a nice fit. Two douchebags cancel each other out.
TV NEWS
• The CW is planning to remake "La Femme Nikita," which was really big on the USA Network in '97. "This time Nikita goes rogue and a new assassin is trained to replace her." McG ("Supernatural" and "Chuck") is executive producing.
• Director David Fincher (Zodiac and Fight Club) and actress Charlize Theron are teaming up with the executive producer of "Dexter" Scott Buck to produce a new HBO serial killer series. "Mind Hunter" will be based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker's book, which covers Douglas' criminal profiling career as a top FBI investigator of serial killers and rapists.
TV Topic: I love the British Series "Skins"
(Season 1 & 2)
His drama: He cheats on his girlfriend Michelle and preys on her insecurities, calling her Nips because of her "uneven" nipples. He treats his best friend Sid like a pet.
Craziest Scene: When he decided to dabble in homosexuality because he was bored.
His Redeeming Quality: He covers for his wild child little sister Effy, and tries to help Sid lose his virginity.
Why I love him: Before his accident, he was the most manipulative and sadistic a-hole in the history of teenage characters. He could've made Gossip Girl's Chuck his bitch.
Latest gigs: He played Colin Firth's temporary distraction in the dramatic indie A Single Man. This March you can see him in Clash of the Titans, and soon he'll start shooting his role in the Mad Max revival.
Her drama: She's majorly insecure. Tony can send her in a downward spiral with just one word. She has a twisted--albeit stereotypical--belief that she can control her boyfriend with sex and that all she's good for is a roll in the hay.
Craziest Scene: When she refused to talk any other language but Spanish so she could practice for their finals. She actually sounded fluent. But the one word she needed to know desperately, "pregnant," she couldn't translate.
Her Redeeming Quality: She not only introduces Sid to his future one-and-only, but ironically helps Jal get over her insecurities.
Why I love her: No matter how down or damaged she gets, she always has Sid's best interest at heart.
Latest gigs: She was in last Spring's UK horror comedy Tormented.
His drama: His parents are romantically screwed up. He thinks he's in love with Michelle, even though she's his bff's girlfriend, and he realizes way too late that he's in love with Cassie. He's also a D student with no set future.
Craziest Scene: When he had to evade a pot dealer who he owed a crapload of money to.
His Redeeming Quality: If you sit him down and tell him he has to try harder, he tries harder. Things may go right over his head sometimes, but he has such a good heart that he doesn't disregard other people's emotions even if he doesn't get them.
Why I love him: He's so awkward and goofy that he can make you laugh without saying anything.
Latest gigs: He's in the BBC battle-heavy, Middle Earth series "1066."
Her drama: She's anorexic and her free-spirited nude artist parents are extremely neglectful. Her most reliable parental figure is the cab driver who takes her to rehab. She feels incompatible with the rest of the world and is always questioning why people do things and why things happen. Even though she's smitten with Sid, she hurts herself whenever she can't compete with Michelle.
Craziest Scene: Post-Michelle-and-Sid's hookup, she turns semi-evil and sleeps with every guy and girl she comes across to get back at him. She even gets two slugs and names it after both of them.
Her Redeeming Quality: She plays dumb and loopy, but she understands more about people then most of her friends. And she may say "Wow" a lot, like an airhead, but she can turn around and give you the harshest truth when you need to hear it.
Why I love her: Her ability to throw you a curve ball. She's always more lucid than she lets on.
Latest gigs: She just wrapped up the German film Womb, and the American teen thriller Chatroom with Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass).
Her drama: Her mother abandoned her and her brothers when they were little. Her dad neglects her because she looks too much like her mom. She stresses herself out trying to get into music school with her clarinet skills. She's like the designated-walker for all of her friends, who are often high on pills or drunk. She's also their most reliable shoulder to cry on. When one of them is in trouble, she's the one who is most likely to actively try to solve their problem, but they're rarely there for her.
Craziest Scene: The boys dared her to steal the hat of a singer while he was singing and she did.
Her Redeeming Quality: Even though she's a push-over, she's also a hot-head. When something pisses her off, she really lets whoever's to blame have it. She has balls of steel. lol.
Why I love her: She's very nurturing for someone who doesn't have a mom.
Latest gigs: She did Tormented with April.
His drama: He's always high on some type of pills. He's always up for a party. His dad abandoned him for another family, and his mom later abandons him too. He has a serious heriditary condition that he ignores happily. He has a very low opinion of himself because no one has ever believed in him, so he clings to any girl that shows any confidence in him, including his teacher.
Craziest Scene: When he tried to bed his Psychology teacher on the class trip to Russia.
His Redeeming Quality: He gave Cassie shelter when she needed it most, and he fell in love with Jal.
Why I love him: He's one of those lovable fuckups. His devotion is very adorable. And when he falls for a girl, he falls hard. He'd change his name if they asked him to.
Latest gigs: He did an episode of "Merlin" this summer, and is currently filming the upcoming drama Edge.
His drama: He's gay and he's proud of it, but his best friend Anwar, a Muslim, is forced to be religiously opposed to it. There are also a few city thugs who rag on him for being gay. While his dad does support his life choice, he doesn't approve of his decision to skip college and become a dancer. Plus, Sketch, a geeky shut-in who photographs him from a distance, tries to make him fall in love with her by seducing Anwar.
Craziest Scene: When he viciously rejects Sketch on stage in the middle of the school play.
His Redeeming Quality: Even though his best friend disapproves of his life choice, he doesn't just brush him off and stick to the gay crowd. He fights for him.
Why I love him: He's an amazing dancer.
Latest gigs: He was one of the stars of the "Glee"-like British teen series, "Britannia High."
His drama: The only religious rules he follows are praying and rejecting homosexuality. He doesn't believe in his religion and doesn't want to follow in his father's professional footsteps. He's also hard-up for sex, which makes him desperate enough to sleep with whoever's available, including his bff's stalker.
Craziest Scene: When he rescues a Russian teenager from who he thought was her abusive father, and then had his sexual awakening.
His Redeeming Quality: He would do anything for his bff, even if it means going against his life-long beliefs.
Why I love him: He's so misinformed in the ways of women that his every flirtatious attempt is laughable.
Latest gigs: Well, you've already seen him in Slumdog Millionaire. This summer he'll star in M. Night Shyamalan's action adventure The Last Airbender.
Her drama: She has a self-destructive nature, stays out all night, strings guys along, and does whatever drug is at a party.
Craziest Scene: When she went to a warehouse party and swung from the ceiling in a harness while straddling a guy she just met.
Her Redeeming Quality: She was the strongest person that her brother could rely on after his accident, and when her parents fell apart, she cleaned up after them too.
Why I love her: She knows who and how to manipulate in order to execute a perfect plan.
Latest gigs: She was in the indie space drama Moon last year. She'll be in the unorthodox violent teen indie Shank, and she'll also have a role in the upcoming Clash of the Titans.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
BUZZ: Worthington's "Dracula Year Zero" vs. Hunnam's "Vlad," Jason Momoa is "Conan the Barbarian," and more
• I love Sam Worthington. But I don't love that he's going to be in Alex Proyas's (I, Robot and Knowing) Dracula: Year Zero. With the resurgence of vampire shows and films, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that some of the plots will start to overlap. But I was already wary of Charlie Hunnam's ("Sons of Anarchy") screenwriting debut Vlad getting the brush-off, and now an Avatar actor is going to play the infamous character in a big-budget film. Granted, they do have different plots. Hunnam's is more historical than mystical, and Proyas' has Vlad searching for a dark magical power that turns him into a creature of the night, in order to beat the Turkish army. Either way, by 2011 there will be two Vlads. With any luck, having Brad Pitt as a producer will score Hunnam a big-name lead.
• The Coen brothers are gearing up for their next film, a remake of True Grit, due out this Christmas. They've already cast Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon to play a U.S. marshal and a lawman, who help a 14-year-old girl track her father's killer in hostile Indian territory, but they haven't cast the teenager yet. Maybe it might be overkill, but my vote's for Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass and 500 Days of Summer). She's proven to be tough enough to hunt for a killer.
• One of Steven Soderbergh's (The Informant) next projects is the action spy thriller Knockout. A black ops super soldier (mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano) seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission. Channing Tatum will play one of the guys on her team, who's sent to bring her back, and Michael Angarano (Lords of Dogtown) will play a teenager who ends up helping her. Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, and Dennis Quaid also star. This sounds like a unique opportunity to watch him get his ass kicked by a professional fighter. lol
• For some unknown reason there's going to be a sequel to Four Brothers, and for an even more inexplicable reason it will be called Five Brothers. Since one of them died in the first film, there's speculation that there will be flashbacks of the deceased brother. However, that still doesn't explain who the fifth brother is. Did they adopt? Did he just get out of jail? Oooh, maybe it'll be the dead kid's biological brother. Now that might be interesting.
• Here's an unlikely pairing: Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Duhamel (When in Rome and Transformers) are teaming up for the supernatural thriller Sympathy for the Devil, where they play lawmen who are "caught in a cosmic confrontation between Heaven and Hell after stopping an assassination attempt of a charismatic preacher." Random!
• The Hawaiian Adonis Jason Momoa ("Baywatch Hawaii" and "Stargate: Atlantis") has been cast to play the lead in the Conan the Barbarian remake. (Hmm, I wonder if that means we'll finally be free of the dreds.) People keep saying he "beat out" Kellan Lutz, as if beating someone from Twilight is actually that difficult. Not to mention, Kellan's had like 6 lines in the entire franchise so far. Also rumored to be cast is Jared Padelicki ("Supernatural"). Can't wait to see how he factors in. lol
• For those of you who enjoyed the simplicity of Paranormal Activity, you'll be disappointed to learn that in the sequel There Will Be Blood!!! lol j/k Saw VI director Kevin Geutert has signed on to direct.
• I'm excited to see who gets cast for Jeff Morris's action-comedy True Memoirs of an International Assassin. "The story focuses on an accountant who writes a novel about the life he wishes he had, that of a fearless assassin. He sells the book, the publisher labels it a memoir, and the world comes to believe he is his alter ego. When he goes on vacation to Belize, he finds himself coerced into killing the country's prime minister and must now become the hero he's always written about but never dreamed he'd be." It'll have to be someone who looks geeky enough to be an accountant and that you'd never expect to do anything badass, like John Krasinski, Adam Brody, Demetri Martin, etc.
• What happens when you run out of quirky ways for people to meet in a romantic comedy? This: In 31 Days of Larry, a broke woman and a suicidal man agree to marry so that he can get help killing himself and she can collect on the life insurance. Awwww. Sounds like a Valentine's Day release to me!
• The priest at my church on Sunday delivered a sermon about how a lot of people have lost their way and how attendance is dwindling. Well, he'll be happy to know that there is in fact a solution. In Jeff Somers' sci-fi novel The Electric Church, a bodyguard-assassin is ordered to kill the founder of a church that converts people by transplanting their brains into pliant robotic bodies. It's unorthodox, but effective. I vote for Keanu Reeves to be one of the robots...for obvious reasons. ;)
TV NEWS
• Perhaps studios are expecting "Heroes" to get canned soon or they're attempting to capitalize off of their poor ratings. Either way, there are plans to adapt the sci-fi action film Push into a series. "The story centres on people with paranormal powers who band together to take down a corrupt government agency." Its one advantage is that David Hayter (Watchmen and X-Men) will be writing the pilot.
• AMC greenlit a new series, "The Walking Dead," an adaptation of Robert Kirkman's graphic novel. It follows a group of people who survive a zombie apocalypse. Led by a police officer they search for a safe home. I dunno. This kind of sounds like Zombieland, except not funny...which then defeats the purpose. lol
• The Coen brothers are gearing up for their next film, a remake of True Grit, due out this Christmas. They've already cast Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon to play a U.S. marshal and a lawman, who help a 14-year-old girl track her father's killer in hostile Indian territory, but they haven't cast the teenager yet. Maybe it might be overkill, but my vote's for Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass and 500 Days of Summer). She's proven to be tough enough to hunt for a killer.
• One of Steven Soderbergh's (The Informant) next projects is the action spy thriller Knockout. A black ops super soldier (mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano) seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission. Channing Tatum will play one of the guys on her team, who's sent to bring her back, and Michael Angarano (Lords of Dogtown) will play a teenager who ends up helping her. Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, and Dennis Quaid also star. This sounds like a unique opportunity to watch him get his ass kicked by a professional fighter. lol
• For some unknown reason there's going to be a sequel to Four Brothers, and for an even more inexplicable reason it will be called Five Brothers. Since one of them died in the first film, there's speculation that there will be flashbacks of the deceased brother. However, that still doesn't explain who the fifth brother is. Did they adopt? Did he just get out of jail? Oooh, maybe it'll be the dead kid's biological brother. Now that might be interesting.
• Here's an unlikely pairing: Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Duhamel (When in Rome and Transformers) are teaming up for the supernatural thriller Sympathy for the Devil, where they play lawmen who are "caught in a cosmic confrontation between Heaven and Hell after stopping an assassination attempt of a charismatic preacher." Random!
• The Hawaiian Adonis Jason Momoa ("Baywatch Hawaii" and "Stargate: Atlantis") has been cast to play the lead in the Conan the Barbarian remake. (Hmm, I wonder if that means we'll finally be free of the dreds.) People keep saying he "beat out" Kellan Lutz, as if beating someone from Twilight is actually that difficult. Not to mention, Kellan's had like 6 lines in the entire franchise so far. Also rumored to be cast is Jared Padelicki ("Supernatural"). Can't wait to see how he factors in. lol
• For those of you who enjoyed the simplicity of Paranormal Activity, you'll be disappointed to learn that in the sequel There Will Be Blood!!! lol j/k Saw VI director Kevin Geutert has signed on to direct.
• I'm excited to see who gets cast for Jeff Morris's action-comedy True Memoirs of an International Assassin. "The story focuses on an accountant who writes a novel about the life he wishes he had, that of a fearless assassin. He sells the book, the publisher labels it a memoir, and the world comes to believe he is his alter ego. When he goes on vacation to Belize, he finds himself coerced into killing the country's prime minister and must now become the hero he's always written about but never dreamed he'd be." It'll have to be someone who looks geeky enough to be an accountant and that you'd never expect to do anything badass, like John Krasinski, Adam Brody, Demetri Martin, etc.
• What happens when you run out of quirky ways for people to meet in a romantic comedy? This: In 31 Days of Larry, a broke woman and a suicidal man agree to marry so that he can get help killing himself and she can collect on the life insurance. Awwww. Sounds like a Valentine's Day release to me!
• The priest at my church on Sunday delivered a sermon about how a lot of people have lost their way and how attendance is dwindling. Well, he'll be happy to know that there is in fact a solution. In Jeff Somers' sci-fi novel The Electric Church, a bodyguard-assassin is ordered to kill the founder of a church that converts people by transplanting their brains into pliant robotic bodies. It's unorthodox, but effective. I vote for Keanu Reeves to be one of the robots...for obvious reasons. ;)
TV NEWS
• Perhaps studios are expecting "Heroes" to get canned soon or they're attempting to capitalize off of their poor ratings. Either way, there are plans to adapt the sci-fi action film Push into a series. "The story centres on people with paranormal powers who band together to take down a corrupt government agency." Its one advantage is that David Hayter (Watchmen and X-Men) will be writing the pilot.
• AMC greenlit a new series, "The Walking Dead," an adaptation of Robert Kirkman's graphic novel. It follows a group of people who survive a zombie apocalypse. Led by a police officer they search for a safe home. I dunno. This kind of sounds like Zombieland, except not funny...which then defeats the purpose. lol
Sunday, January 24, 2010
TV REVIEW: "The Deep End" - Pilot
I'm more of a medical-show ("Grey's Anatomy," "Mercy," "Scrubs," and "Trauma") watcher than a law-show ("Drop Dead Diva") watcher, but I figured since there were some young, attractive actors in this and Billy Zane (The Phantom and "Samantha, Who?") was playing a bad boy, I'd give it a shot. Here it is in a fat nutshell:
Four recent law school graduates have been hand-picked by a prestigious law firm's big kahuna, Cliff Huddle (Zane), to be the new junior associates. Their mentor/babysitter Rowdy (Norbert Leo Butz from Dan in Real Life) makes sure they stay on-point and don't piss off any huge clients. Of course, they all have their flaws which will interfere with their ability to impress. Dylan (Matt Long from "Jack and Bobby" and Sydney White) came to the firm after Rowdy promised that he would be nurtured and handheld until he's the best damn lawyer he can be. Not gonna happen. Liam (newcomer Ben Lawson), the Australian playboy, has a little trouble keeping his junk in his pants, feeling compelled to sleep with not only fellow associates, but secretaries and clients. Beth (Leah Pipes from "Life is Wild" and Sorority Row) is eager to impress her dad, after rejecting his offer to join his firm and essentially coast on his name. And Addy (Tina Majorino from "Veronica Mars") is a pixie-voiced and pint-sized pushover who needs to develop a backbone if she's going to both get assigned cases and win them.
Cliff's boss Hart Sterling (Clancy Brown from The Informant and The Guardian) took a leave of absence when his wife was ill, and after a period of grieving, returned to revamp the money-grubbing empire that Cliff built into a pro-bono bleeding heart. Since Cliff refused to step down, Hart decided to undermine him by hiring a junior associate of his own. Malcolm (Mehcad Brooks from "True Blood" and "Desperate Housewives") didn't get much screen time, but from commercials and his run-in with the pixie, I can tell that he'll become chummy with Liam and maybe flirty with Addy. In other romantic hookup predictions, Beth, who beds Liam when she's down, will probably develop sincere feelings for him, which will be interesting considering his compulsion. Meanwhile, Dylan ingeniously decided that the best breakup medicine for Katie (Rachelle Lefevre from Twilight), the legal aide who helped him win his first case, was a roll in the hay with him. Unfortunately, Katie's ex, who refuses to let her go, is actually their boss Cliff, who is married to Susan (Nicole Ari Parker from "Soul Food"), the firm's other big kahuna. He can officially kiss any offers of mentoring goodbye.
Many blogs and publications have been describing this series as "Grey's Anatomy" with lawyers, which is an insult to Shonda Rhimes. For the sake of civility, I will provide somewhat constructive criticism. Here are a few suggestions to make it better:
1) Give the Aussie more airtime. He's funny, his background is more interesting, and he's terribly flawed. Why watch a show about some kid who wants to make a difference? Don't we have enough of those already? Lawyers are often portrayed as these heroic figures who buck the system and fight for the little guy. How many of your friends go to law school so they can one day "buck the system"? At least Liam seems like a more believable character. Meanwhile, Dylan is like a starry-eyed freshman, who just realized college isn't going to be a non-stop adventure. I mean, maybe if he had a backstory to support his hero-complex, it would be easier to jump on board with. But these days TV is littered with protagonists who are either reluctantly helpful (Chuck on "Chuck"), obligated to be helpful (Michael on "Burn Notice" and Neal from "White Collar"), or seemingly just out for an adrenaline rush (Christopher from "Human Target"). Hell, even Eli Stone only became a pro-bono lawyer after a fatal prognosis.
2) Give the blonde a personality. Rigid and robotic are the only acceptable words to describe the cardboard persona that Beth has. The only time she shines is when she's around Liam, and even though she might have more class than he does, she's not even worthy of a one-night stand let alone a potential relationship.
3) Every time the adults are talking, I find myself daydreaming. How can you possibly make Billy Zane boring? How? And on what planet would anyone believe that he'd marry someone as tight-ass and morally-driven as Susan? Sleep with an easily manipulated legal aide? Yes. Marry a smart, driven woman? What? I mean, granted she's obviously easy to manipulate too, but why even bother? For appearances? His right-hand man Rowdy is the most interesting, mainly because of his concern for the newbies and his burgeoning mid-life crisis, made obvious by the car he drives, the girls he chases, and the colloquialisms he thinks are cool. And as for Hart, I could so-so-so care less about his philanthropic agenda to be a pro-bono-ing machine.
4) Stop talking to us like we're stupid. How many times can you emphasize that "the deep end" is where the law firm metaphorically throws you as a test? We get it! High school students aren't watching this, and even if they were, they take Calculus. They're not that dumb. There's no need to not only explain it, but then push someone LITERALLY into the deep end. Seriously?
5) Get better lighting. Why does everyone look gray? I know what you're thinking. Adjust your TV set. My TV's fine. It's a flat screen and every other TV show has vibrant colors, except for maybe "Fringe," which is supposed to be creepy and dreary. And while it's true that this law series doesn't take place in Miami or the Bahamas, even rainy Seattle-based "Grey's Anatomy" has more shades of the rainbow.
Will I watch next week?
Well, both "Bones" and "Vampire Diaries" are far more interesting and funny. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to TiVo, since most of next week's TV shows will be running re-runs and I don't have any intention of watching the Super Bowl. *sigh* Maybe if it gets better, there'll be a legitimate reason for why "Flashforward" is on break.
TV RECAP: Elena is Adopted & Alaric's Revenge on "Vampire Diaries"
*Gasp* She's adopted!!!!! dum-Dum-DUM!!!!
And the plot thickens. I have to admit, I didn't really expect for Stefan to have an actual explanation for why Elena looked exactly like his long-lost, undead love Katherine. After she found the photo and bolted from his house post-love-making, I thought he was going to admit to being super creepy and jonesing after her because of the resemblance, then beg for forgiveness. And I was pretty sure she'd forgive him, because while the two ladies do look similar, they have very, very different personalities. But apparently there's been a whole lot more behind Stefan's brooding stares than he's let on.
The first time Stefan saw Elena wasn't on the first day of school, but when she and her parents crashed their car into the river. Her mother was a goner, but he could still save her dad. Unfortunately, her father demanded that Stefan save her first. After noticing the resemblance, a mixture of shock and the rapid sinking of the car resulted in her father's death. In spite of his discovery, Stefan's main concern from that point on wasn't to woo her, but verify that she wasn't Katherine. So he went through her medical files and discovered that although her birth certificate does exist, there is no record of her mom giving birth to her at the hospital on record. Therefore, he deduced that she must be adopted, which means Katherine could very well be one of her ancestors. My theory is that, since her family kept a journal of the town's vampire legends, they must've been apart of that makeshift "neighborhood watch." Perhaps, they knew her mom and they were forced to either take Elena away when her mom was turned or adopt her when she was killed. Either way, Elena just got ten times more interesting.
Damon & Elena's Budding Friendship
I was psyched to see how Damon would convince Elena that he could be a trusted friend, but the end result was a let-down. On the surface (and in the daylight), he was cracking jokes and hugging witches and being Elena's devoted bodyguard, but that didn't last for long. He took her on a roadtrip to see a witch named Bree (Gina Torres from "Gossip Girl" and Serenity) that he used to bed a few decades back (lol was she supposed to be in her late 20s? please) to ask her more about the methods he can use to release Katherine from the tomb. She swore that he did everything he could and without the crystal he was screwed. Then she called up the boyfriend of Stefan's female bff Lexi and told him that Damon was in town. Naturally, he was seeking vengeance of the maximum variety, since Damon killed Lexi. If you remember, she said that her boyfriend was human and she refused to turn him. But he knew that if he was going to go head-to-head with Damon, he'd have to be a vamp. With his newfound gifts, he not only threw Damon around, but bashed in his legs so he couldn't run away, poured gasoline all over him, and prepared to set him on fire. If it wasn't for Elena's pleas, he probably would've succeeded in not only ridding this world of Damon, but preventing Katherine from being freed...because you know it's going to happen eventually.
*sigh* I don't think she realizes how much trouble she could've avoided if she just let it happen. She could've at least saved Bree, whose heart he later ripped out. I mean, I get why she saved his life. He saved hers from the vampire that was going to drain her dry after causing her to crash, but she's human and good. That makes sense. Saving a murderous psychopath doesn't. I thought they were going to have a real friendship, but it just seems like she's being duped by his charms. It's a catch-22. I want them to be friends, but I don't want him to be good. We've already seen what happens to a neutered bad boy on "Gossip Girl." It results in boring plot lines.
Alaric's Secret Agenda
Unsurprisingly Damon has way more enemies than friends. How he hasn't been fileted alive yet is the real mystery. The smolderingly sexy professor Alaric, who's taken young Jeremy under his wing and inspired him to research the town's history--no doubt for his own gain--treated us to a flashback. Apparently, he walked in on Damon draining his beautiful wife, and since he was entranced by the blood, Damon never noticed him. That must be why he doesn't flinch whenever Alaric looks his way. I mean, the only other explanation is that Damon is so coldhearted he doesn't even bother to memorize the faces of the humans whose lives he's destroyed. Either way, the flashback didn't really explain what Alaric was doing in town. Yes, he wants revenge. But why not take a page out of Lexi's boyfriend's book, pour gasoline on him, and light a match? Why do in-depth research about all the main families of the town?
My theory is that he is searching for a way to perform the classic "an eye for an eye." I think he wants to free Katherine and kill her once and for all. Damon managed to squeeze out a confession from Bree, revealing that if he finds Emily's spell book, he can find the reversal spell, which means that Alaric could be searching for that particular book. That might be stretching it a bit, but honestly, what other reason would he have to brush up on so much history? Then there's the fact that he wears a ring similar to the Salvatore brothers. As illustrated in the scene where he lost it in his car and wasn't in the least bit harmed by the sunlight, he doesn't actually need it. So where did he get it from...or who did he steal it from? In the chapters that I read from the first book, their father wasn't a vampire. They were the first generation vampires in their family. And the person who gave them that ring was Katherine, which means that it could be one of her family's heirlooms, adding to the idea that he's searching for her. So if he's searching through her family history and Elena is related to her, it stands to reason that whatever he finds might be of use to Elena.
Jeremy's Vampire Research
Apparently, when you aren't deeply depressed, high on drugs, and obsessed with a trashy girl that's way out of your league, you have plenty of time to do extracurricular activities...like hang out at the library. Wow! This boy is exhilarating! Anyway, he bumped into (literally, more than once) a cute girl named Anna (Malese Jow from "Unfabulous" and Aliens in the Attic), while perusing the shelves. They got all flirty while talking about the town's history. She's well-versed on it and understandably nerdy, because she's home-schooled. The library is her idea of "getting out." With her assistance, Jeremy's starting to realize that all of those mysterious deaths that have been happening aren't actually that mysterious. Me thinks he'll figure out what really happened to Vicki, which will surely put a damper on his relationship with his sister, if she gets too chummy with Damon.
The Witch's Path
Bonnie and Stefan had a little bonding session. He was trying to get her to find Elena, but Bonnie suddenly realized that she didn't have any more powers ever since they performed the ceremony in the forest that destroyed the crystal. She went back to the scene of the ritual to see if...I don't know why to be honest. What did she think she could do? Roll around on the ground and pick up some supernatural fairy dust? *rolls eyes* Being the genius that she is, knowing that vampires exist and there's a tomb of vampires beneath the forest, she wanders around the woods, and, for our own personal amusement, falls through a shaft. Cue the creepy whispers of the entrapped undead and the inevitable whimpering. Stefan eventually comes to the rescue, promises that he'll make sure the vamps don't get out, and manages to bond with her grandmother, reminding her that they'd met in the past when she was an inspiring activist. It was funny that while she didn't seem to mistrust him, she had no intentions of inviting him into her home.
Matt, Caroline, & Tyler
They were all MIA during this episode, but I read that Matt's mom (Melinda Clarke from "The O.C.") is coming back and she's going to go after Damon. I wonder, since she's a cougar lush, if she'll even care that he's a vamp. Hopefully, he doesn't kill her though. I think Matt's suffered enough for one decade. Honestly, he should be the one doing drugs (not that I condone or advise that sort of thing). It's just that Jeremy's parents may have died, but Matt's chose to leave him and he thinks Vicki did too. I'd be pretty depressed if I were him.
Next week, there's a 50s-themed school dance and the creepy vamp of the shadows that almost killed her will be back to finish her off. Hmm, I wonder which Salvatore will come to the rescue?
And the plot thickens. I have to admit, I didn't really expect for Stefan to have an actual explanation for why Elena looked exactly like his long-lost, undead love Katherine. After she found the photo and bolted from his house post-love-making, I thought he was going to admit to being super creepy and jonesing after her because of the resemblance, then beg for forgiveness. And I was pretty sure she'd forgive him, because while the two ladies do look similar, they have very, very different personalities. But apparently there's been a whole lot more behind Stefan's brooding stares than he's let on.
The first time Stefan saw Elena wasn't on the first day of school, but when she and her parents crashed their car into the river. Her mother was a goner, but he could still save her dad. Unfortunately, her father demanded that Stefan save her first. After noticing the resemblance, a mixture of shock and the rapid sinking of the car resulted in her father's death. In spite of his discovery, Stefan's main concern from that point on wasn't to woo her, but verify that she wasn't Katherine. So he went through her medical files and discovered that although her birth certificate does exist, there is no record of her mom giving birth to her at the hospital on record. Therefore, he deduced that she must be adopted, which means Katherine could very well be one of her ancestors. My theory is that, since her family kept a journal of the town's vampire legends, they must've been apart of that makeshift "neighborhood watch." Perhaps, they knew her mom and they were forced to either take Elena away when her mom was turned or adopt her when she was killed. Either way, Elena just got ten times more interesting.
Damon & Elena's Budding Friendship
I was psyched to see how Damon would convince Elena that he could be a trusted friend, but the end result was a let-down. On the surface (and in the daylight), he was cracking jokes and hugging witches and being Elena's devoted bodyguard, but that didn't last for long. He took her on a roadtrip to see a witch named Bree (Gina Torres from "Gossip Girl" and Serenity) that he used to bed a few decades back (lol was she supposed to be in her late 20s? please) to ask her more about the methods he can use to release Katherine from the tomb. She swore that he did everything he could and without the crystal he was screwed. Then she called up the boyfriend of Stefan's female bff Lexi and told him that Damon was in town. Naturally, he was seeking vengeance of the maximum variety, since Damon killed Lexi. If you remember, she said that her boyfriend was human and she refused to turn him. But he knew that if he was going to go head-to-head with Damon, he'd have to be a vamp. With his newfound gifts, he not only threw Damon around, but bashed in his legs so he couldn't run away, poured gasoline all over him, and prepared to set him on fire. If it wasn't for Elena's pleas, he probably would've succeeded in not only ridding this world of Damon, but preventing Katherine from being freed...because you know it's going to happen eventually.
*sigh* I don't think she realizes how much trouble she could've avoided if she just let it happen. She could've at least saved Bree, whose heart he later ripped out. I mean, I get why she saved his life. He saved hers from the vampire that was going to drain her dry after causing her to crash, but she's human and good. That makes sense. Saving a murderous psychopath doesn't. I thought they were going to have a real friendship, but it just seems like she's being duped by his charms. It's a catch-22. I want them to be friends, but I don't want him to be good. We've already seen what happens to a neutered bad boy on "Gossip Girl." It results in boring plot lines.
Alaric's Secret Agenda
Unsurprisingly Damon has way more enemies than friends. How he hasn't been fileted alive yet is the real mystery. The smolderingly sexy professor Alaric, who's taken young Jeremy under his wing and inspired him to research the town's history--no doubt for his own gain--treated us to a flashback. Apparently, he walked in on Damon draining his beautiful wife, and since he was entranced by the blood, Damon never noticed him. That must be why he doesn't flinch whenever Alaric looks his way. I mean, the only other explanation is that Damon is so coldhearted he doesn't even bother to memorize the faces of the humans whose lives he's destroyed. Either way, the flashback didn't really explain what Alaric was doing in town. Yes, he wants revenge. But why not take a page out of Lexi's boyfriend's book, pour gasoline on him, and light a match? Why do in-depth research about all the main families of the town?
My theory is that he is searching for a way to perform the classic "an eye for an eye." I think he wants to free Katherine and kill her once and for all. Damon managed to squeeze out a confession from Bree, revealing that if he finds Emily's spell book, he can find the reversal spell, which means that Alaric could be searching for that particular book. That might be stretching it a bit, but honestly, what other reason would he have to brush up on so much history? Then there's the fact that he wears a ring similar to the Salvatore brothers. As illustrated in the scene where he lost it in his car and wasn't in the least bit harmed by the sunlight, he doesn't actually need it. So where did he get it from...or who did he steal it from? In the chapters that I read from the first book, their father wasn't a vampire. They were the first generation vampires in their family. And the person who gave them that ring was Katherine, which means that it could be one of her family's heirlooms, adding to the idea that he's searching for her. So if he's searching through her family history and Elena is related to her, it stands to reason that whatever he finds might be of use to Elena.
Jeremy's Vampire Research
Apparently, when you aren't deeply depressed, high on drugs, and obsessed with a trashy girl that's way out of your league, you have plenty of time to do extracurricular activities...like hang out at the library. Wow! This boy is exhilarating! Anyway, he bumped into (literally, more than once) a cute girl named Anna (Malese Jow from "Unfabulous" and Aliens in the Attic), while perusing the shelves. They got all flirty while talking about the town's history. She's well-versed on it and understandably nerdy, because she's home-schooled. The library is her idea of "getting out." With her assistance, Jeremy's starting to realize that all of those mysterious deaths that have been happening aren't actually that mysterious. Me thinks he'll figure out what really happened to Vicki, which will surely put a damper on his relationship with his sister, if she gets too chummy with Damon.
The Witch's Path
Bonnie and Stefan had a little bonding session. He was trying to get her to find Elena, but Bonnie suddenly realized that she didn't have any more powers ever since they performed the ceremony in the forest that destroyed the crystal. She went back to the scene of the ritual to see if...I don't know why to be honest. What did she think she could do? Roll around on the ground and pick up some supernatural fairy dust? *rolls eyes* Being the genius that she is, knowing that vampires exist and there's a tomb of vampires beneath the forest, she wanders around the woods, and, for our own personal amusement, falls through a shaft. Cue the creepy whispers of the entrapped undead and the inevitable whimpering. Stefan eventually comes to the rescue, promises that he'll make sure the vamps don't get out, and manages to bond with her grandmother, reminding her that they'd met in the past when she was an inspiring activist. It was funny that while she didn't seem to mistrust him, she had no intentions of inviting him into her home.
Matt, Caroline, & Tyler
They were all MIA during this episode, but I read that Matt's mom (Melinda Clarke from "The O.C.") is coming back and she's going to go after Damon. I wonder, since she's a cougar lush, if she'll even care that he's a vamp. Hopefully, he doesn't kill her though. I think Matt's suffered enough for one decade. Honestly, he should be the one doing drugs (not that I condone or advise that sort of thing). It's just that Jeremy's parents may have died, but Matt's chose to leave him and he thinks Vicki did too. I'd be pretty depressed if I were him.
Next week, there's a 50s-themed school dance and the creepy vamp of the shadows that almost killed her will be back to finish her off. Hmm, I wonder which Salvatore will come to the rescue?
Saturday, January 23, 2010
VIDEO: Star Wars Adidas Commercial
I was going to try to ignore this lame attempt at capitalizing off of a 30-year-old franchise, but it's difficult when they remix the theme song and make a sick commercial like this:
I won't be buying them (lol), but I'll stop knocking 'em.
I won't be buying them (lol), but I'll stop knocking 'em.
FILM: Banksy's "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
The renegade street artist Banksy made a documentary about his escapades tagging the world. I love graffiti and I especially love seeing it in random places. Banksy, unlike most taggers, doesn't just scrawl his name on the side of convenience stores. Most of his art is politically driven and very tongue-in-cheek. His documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, premieres at Sundance this year. Check out the trailer:
Here's a gallery of a few of my favorite Banksy finds:
Here's a gallery of a few of my favorite Banksy finds:
MUSIC: Leighton Meester's "Your Love's a Drug"
The title track (and second single) off Leighton Meester's debut album was just released this week. I didn't like the first single, "Somebody to Love" featuring Robin Thicke. It sounded like she was trying too hard to seem posh and mature. I don't blame her. Developing an over 20-years-old fanbase that doesn't watch "Gossip Girl" is definitely going to be a challenge. This latest single, however, might be a step in the right direction. It sounds airy and sweet enough to appeal to lovebirds this coming Valentine's Day and maybe get a few repeated plays on Z100. I wish she would've debuted it closer to summer though. It could've been one of those overplayed summer jams for sure. Do you like it?
Thursday, January 21, 2010
FILM: Sundance 2010 / List of Star-Studded Films
Here's a list of Sundance films that are either directed by or starring Hollywood's finest:
3 Backyards [drama]
Cast: Edith Falco, Embeth Davidtz (Fracture), Elias Koteas (The Haunting in Connecticut)
The Gist: "A trio of brief, yet potentially life-altering, adventures unfold on one seemingly normal autumn day."
Elaboration: "In a complacent suburban neighborhood, an emotionally troubled businessman (Koteas) wanders around his hometown while waiting for a delayed flight, a starstruck housewife (Falco) embarks on an peculiar trip when she gives her famous neighbor a ride to the local ferry, and an eight-year-old girl takes a wrong turn on the way to school and finds herself in an unexpected adult realm."
Abel [dramedy]
Directed by Diego Luna
Plot: "Adorable little Abel has problems in the head. His mother collects him from the psychiatric ward hoping not to upset him. She carefully discusses with his teacher how to deal with the absence of Abel’s father. The entire family is on pins and needles, worrying about Abel breaking down. But things take an interesting turn when the little boy emphatically carves out a new role for himself in the family—he decides to become the father of the house. Abel transforms the fear his family has about his episodes into the respect due to the head of the household. Oddly enough, it works! That is, until a stranger shows up at the breakfast table, claiming to be Abel’s father."
Blue Valentine [drama]
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, and Mike Vogel
The Gist: It's "an intimate, shattering portrait of a disintegrating marriage."
Elaboration: "On the far side of a once-passionate romance, Cindy (Williams) and Dean (Gosling) are married with a young daughter. Hoping to save their marriage, they steal away to a theme hotel. We then encounter them years earlier, when they met and fell in love—full of life and hope. Moving fluidly between these two time periods, Blue Valentine unfolds like a cinematic duet whose refrain asks, where did their love go?"
Buried [thriller]
Cast: Ryan Reynolds
Plot: "After his convoy is attacked by a group of insurgents, Paul Conroy (Reynolds), a U.S. citizen working as a contract driver in Iraq, awakens to find himself buried alive inside a coffin. His captors have given him nothing but a lighter and a cell phone, which he must use to find some way of meeting their five-million-dollar ransom demand. Faced with limited oxygen and unlimited panic, Paul finds himself in a tension-filled race against time to escape this claustrophobic deathtrap before it’s too late."
The Company Men [drama]
Cast: Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello, and Rosemary DeWitt
Plot: "One of the first casualties of a corporate downsize is Bobby Walker (Affleck), a hot-shot sales executive who is living the idyllic life—complete with two kids and a mortgaged picket fence. His boss, and founder of the company, doesn’t take Bobby’s severance well, and he storms into the boardroom to demand a reprieve of the severe measures. He learns quickly that some choices are out of his hands, and this is only the beginning. We embark on a journey that is all too familiar in today’s recessionary economy: one that will test friendships, loyalties, and family bonds."
Watch the trailer!
Cyrus [comedy]
Cast: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, and Catherine Keener
Plot: "Alone and acutely depressed, having just learned of his ex-wife’s wedding plans, John (Reilly) can’t believe his luck when he encounters beautiful, charming Molly (Tomei) at a party. The two get along famously and launch a passionate affair, until Molly’s 21-year-old son, Cyrus (Hill), enters the scene. Will Molly and Cyrus’s deep and idiosyncratic bond leave room for John?"
The Dry Land [war drama]
Cast: America Ferrara, Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Ryan O’Nan ("The Unusuals"), Jason Ritter, Wilmer Valderrama, June Diane Raphael (Year One)
The Gist: "James (O'Nan) returns from Iraq to face a new battle—reintegrating into his small-town life in Texas."
Elaboration: "His wife (Ferrera), his mother (Leo), and his friend (Ritter) provide support, but they can’t fully understand the pain and suffering he feels since his tour of duty ended. Lonely, James reconnects with an army buddy (Valderrama), who provides him with compassion and camaraderie during his battle to process his experiences in Iraq. But their reunion also exposes the different ways that war affects people—at least on the surface."
The Extra Man [comedy]
Cast: Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, John C. Reilly, Katie Holmes
Plot: "Louis Ives (Dano), a lonely dreamer who fancies himself the hero of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, leaves his job and heads to Manhattan to become a writer. He rents a room in the ramshackle apartment of Henry Harrison (Kline), a wildly eccentric, but brilliant, playwright who happens to be an “extra man”—a social escort for the wealthy widows of New York’s high society. The two form an unexpected bond."
Get Low [dramedy]
Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black (Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift)
Plot: "Felix (Duvall) is a miserable old hermit who has lived in an isolated cabin for the past 38 years. He catches word that an old friend has passed away and hatches a plan to throw himself a “funeral party.” He even wants the townsfolk, who either despise him or fear him, to attend the party and share all the crazy stories they may have heard about creepy old Felix. Is he a fugitive? A murderer? Or something worse?"
HappyThankYouMorePlease [comedy]
Directed by Josh Radnor (Ted on CBS’s "How I Met Your Mother")
Cast: Josh Radnor, Kate Mara, Malin Akerman (Couples Retreat and 27 Dresses), and Tony Hale ("Arrested Development")
The Gist: "Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood."
Elaboration: "Sam Wexler (Radnor) is a struggling writer who’s having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam’s life revolves around his friends—Annie (Akerman), whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie (Pablo Schreiber) and Mary Catherine (Zoe Kazan), a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi (Mara), a cabaret singer who catches Sam’s eye."
Hesher [drama]
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson, John Carroll Lynch
The Gist: "Hesher is the story of a family struggling to deal with loss and the anarchist who helps them do it—in a very unexpected way."
Elaboration: "TJ (Devin Brochu) is 13 years old. Two months ago, his mom was killed in an accident, leaving TJ and his grieving dad to move in with grandma (Piper Laurie) to pick up the pieces. Hesher (Gordon-Levitt) is a loner. He hates the world—and everyone in it. He has long, greasy hair and homemade tattoos. He likes fire and blowing things up. He lives in his van—until he meets TJ.
HIGH School [comedy]
Cast: Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Matt Bush (Adventureland), Sean Marquette (Chris's little brother), Colin Hanks
Plot: "So it’s the end of the school year, and smarmy Principal Gordon (Chiklis) has suddenly instituted a zero-tolerance crusade against his nemesis, the reviled marijuana. A mandatory drug test for all students is to be administered, failure of which will result in immediate expulsion. Normally, this would be of no consequence to straight-arrow valedictorian Henry Burke (Bush), except he just tried ganja for the very first time. With his college scholarship hanging in the balance, Burke begrudgingly teams up with charismatic pothead Travis Breaux (Marquette) to do the only thing they can think of to neutralize this threat—get the entire student body stoned."
Holy Rollers [crime drama]
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland and Adventureland), Justin Bartha (The Hangover), Ari Graynor (Whip It and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), rapper Q-Tip
The Gist: "Inspired by actual events, Holy Rollers uses the incredible story of Hasidic Jews smuggling Ecstasy in the late ’90s as a backdrop to examine the difference between faith and “blind” faith."
Elaboration: "Sam Gold (Eisenberg), an insulated Hasid on the cusp of manhood, is frustrated by the constraints of his beliefs and his father’s poor business decisions. When Sam is presented with an opportunity to make some real money smuggling Ecstasy between Amsterdam and New York, he cautiously accepts it—and quickly finds himself seduced by the allure of the secular world. Caught between life as a smuggler and the path back to God, Sam and his worlds begin to unravel."
Howl [biopic]
Cast: James Franco, David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum), John Hamm ("Mad Men"), Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds"), Jeff Daniels, Treat Williams ("Everwood")
The Gist: "It’s San Francisco in 1957, and an American masterpiece is put on trial."
Elaboration: "Howl, the film, recounts this dark moment using three interwoven threads: the tumultuous life events that led a young Allen Ginsberg (Franco) to find his true voice as an artist; society’s reaction (the obscenity trial); and mind-expanding animation that echoes the startling originality of the poem itself. All three coalesce in a genre-bending hybrid that brilliantly captures a pivotal moment—the birth of a counterculture."
Jack Goes Boating [romantic comedy]
Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan ("The Wire"), John Ortiz (Fast and Furious)
Plot: "Jack (Hoffman) and Connie (Ryan) are two single people who on their own might continue to recede into the anonymous background of the city, but in each other begin to find the courage and desire to pursue their budding relationship. In contrast, the couple who brought them together, Clyde (Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega), are confronting the unresolved issues in their rocky marriage."
The Killer Inside Me [dramatic thriller]
Cast: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson
Plot: "Based on the novel by legendary pulp writer Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me tells the story of handsome, charming, unassuming small-town deputy sheriff Lou Ford (Affleck), who has a bunch of problems. Women problems. Law-enforcement problems. And an ever-growing pile of murder victims in his west Texas jurisdiction. All the while Lou manages to remain his stoic self. However, as evidence is discovered over the course of the investigation, suspicion begins to fall on Lou. But in this savage and bleak universe, nothing is ever what it seems."
Mother & Child [drama]
Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson
Plot: "Destiny plays a part in the lives of three women—a 50-year-old physical therapist, the daughter she gave up for adoption 35 years earlier, and a woman looking to adopt her first child. In this exploration of one of nature’s most basic instincts, their pasts intertwine, inform, and evolve to reveal their innermost desires."
Night Catches Us [dramatic romance]
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Jamie Hector (Max Payne), Wendell Pierce ("The Wire")
The Gist: "In the summer of ’76, as President Jimmy Carter pledges to give government back to the people, tensions run high in a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood where the Black Panthers once flourished."
Elaboration: When Marcus (Mackie) returns—having bolted years earlier—his homecoming isn’t exactly met with fanfare. His former movement brothers blame him for an unspeakable betrayal. Only his best friend’s widow, Patricia (Washington), appreciates Marcus’s predicament, which both unites and paralyzes them. As Patricia’s daughter compels the two comrades to confront their past, history repeats itself in dangerous ways."
Please Give [comedy]
Cast: Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Sarah Steele (Spanglish)
Plot: "Kate (Keener) and Alex (Platt), a married couple who run a successful business reselling estate-sale furniture, live in Manhattan with their teenage daughter, Abby (Steele). Wanting to expand their two-bedroom apartment, they buy the unit next door, planning to knock the walls out. However, before doing so, they have to wait for the occupant, Andra, a cranky elderly woman, to die. The wait becomes complicated when the family develops relationships with Andra and her two grown granddaughters."
The Romantics [romantic dramedy]
Cast: Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel ("Las Vegas" and When in Rome), Anna Paquin ("True Blood"), Adam Brody ("The O.C." and Jennifer's Body), Malin Ackerman (Couples Retreat and 27 Dresses), Elijah Wood, Candice Bergen
Plot: "Seven close friends—all members of a tight, eclectic college clique—reconvene at a deluxe seaside wedding to watch two of their own tie the knot. Lila (Paquin) is the golden girl preparing for her dream wedding, and Laura (Holmes) is Lila’s maid of honor. Once college roommates, Laura and Lila have been best friends since their first meeting on campus, but Lila’s groom, Tom (Duhamel), is the man they have long rivaled over. Promiscuity and hi-jinks abound as the drunken friends frolic in the nearby surf and revel in the nostalgic haze of their glory days."
The Runaways [biopic]
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat (Whip It), Tatum O’Neal
Plot: "Of all the bands to come out of the 1970s Los Angeles music scene, The Runaways are by far the most uniquely fascinating. This is partially due to their music, but more so to the fact that they were teenage girls whose wild and reckless lifestyle was the stuff of legend. Focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett (Stewart) and lead vocalist Cherie Currie (Fanning) as they navigate a rocky road of touring and recordlabel woes, the film chronicles the band’s formation as well as their meteoric rise under the malevolent eye of an abusive manager."
Skateland [drama]
Cast: Shiloh Fernandez ("United States of Tara" and "Jericho"), Ashley Greene (Twilight saga), Heath Freeman ("Raising the Bar"), Taylor Handley ("Hidden Palms"), AJ Buckley ("CSI: NY")
The Gist: "It’s 1983, and Skateland, the roller rink and local hangout of a small town, is becoming a fading memory of an earlier time, when disco and roller-skating were king."
Elaboration: "The party scene is getting stale, and 19-year-old Ritchie’s (Fernandez) romantic life is as cloudy as his future. He struggles to make sense of it all, and decisions do not come easily to the carefree young man. When tragedy strikes his friends and family, Ritchie must face the music—and make the biggest decision of his life."
Splice [sci-fi horror thriller]
Cast: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley (Dawn of the Dead), David Hewlett ("Stargate: Atlantis")
Plot: Clive (Brody) and Elsa (Polley) are young, brilliant, and ambitious. The new animal species they engineered has made them rebel superstars of the scientific world. In secret, they introduce human DNA into the experiment. The result is something that is greater than the sum of its parts: a female animal/ human hybrid that may be a step up on the evolutionary ladder. They think they may have created the perfect organism—until she makes a final shocking metamorphosis that could destroy them—and the rest of humanity.
Sympathy for Delicious [dramedy]
Directed by Mark Ruffalo
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Juliette Lewis, Orlando Bloom, Laura Linney
The Gist: "Recently paralyzed DJ “Delicious” Dean (Christopher Thornton) battles the mean streets of Los Angeles, struggling to survive in his wheelchair."
Elaboration: "Yearning to walk again, and fighting to spark the ashes that were once his career, Dean
turns to the dubious world of faith healing and gets much more than he bargained for. Lured by easy money and the heat of fame, Dean sells out to an unstable rock band, stomping the dreams of so many who see him as their only hope. World-famous DJ “Delicious” must now tackle his own worst demon—himself—if he is ever to conquer his “handicap” and find true healing."
Teenage Paparazzi [documentary]
Written and directed by Adrian Grenier
Cast: Adrian Grenier (HBO’s "Entourage"), Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Whoopi Goldberg, Paris Hilton, Perez Hitlon, Kevin Connelly, Lindsay Lohan, Eva Longoria Parker, Mario Lopez, Rosie O'Donnell
Plot: "When precocious 13-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk snapped a photo of celebrity Adrian Grenier, little did he know his life was about to change. Turning the tables on the juvenile paparazzo, Grenier stepped on the other side of the lens in an attempt to mentor a teenager obsessed with the lure of the Hollywood lifestyle. Grenier develops a meaningful relationship with his camera-clicking young friend as he attempts to reconcile their mutual exploitation. Indeed, Grenier puts himself on the line here, trying to make sense of his own recently acquired fame."
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil [comedy]
Cast: Tyler Labine ("Reaper"), Alan Tudyk ("Dollhouse"), Katrina Bowden ("30 Rock"), Jesse Moss (The Uninvited)
Plot: "Tucker (Tudyk) and Dale (Labine), two hillbillies heading to their “fixer-upper” cabin for some relaxin’, discover they ain’t alone in them woods. They encounter an SUV full of vacationing college kids, and Dale unintentionally creeps them out. But later, as he and Tucker are fishing, Dale rescues one of them—the pretty blond Alison (Bowden)—after she falls into the lake. Assuming she’s been captured, the indomitably preppy college kids rally to find her."
Twelve [drama]
Cast: Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Kiefer Sutherland, Ellen Barkin
Plot: "Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Nick McDonell, written when he was only 17 years old, Twelve is a chilling chronicle of privileged urban adolescence on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Set over spring break, the story follows White Mike (Crawford), a kid with unlimited potential, who has dropped out of his senior year of high school and sells marijuana to his rich, spoiled peers. When his cousin is brutally murdered in an East Harlem project, and his best friend is arrested for the crime, White Mike is hurled on a collision course with his own destiny."
Welcome to the Rileys [drama]
Cast: James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo
The Gist: "Trauma transforms us. Years after their teenage daughter’s death, Lois and Doug Riley, an upstanding Indiana couple, are frozen by estranging grief."
Elaboration: "She (Leo) isolates herself in their immaculate suburban home. He (Gandolfini) philanders with a local waitress, anesthetizing pain with easy passion. When he loses his mistress to cancer, Doug, beset by further heartache, escapes to New Orleans on a business trip. Compelled by urgencies he doesn’t understand, he insinuates himself into the life of an underage hooker (Stewart), becoming her platonic guardian. Meanwhile, Lois summons all of her remaining force to overcome agoraphobia and venture south to reclaim her marriage."
3 Backyards [drama]
Cast: Edith Falco, Embeth Davidtz (Fracture), Elias Koteas (The Haunting in Connecticut)
The Gist: "A trio of brief, yet potentially life-altering, adventures unfold on one seemingly normal autumn day."
Elaboration: "In a complacent suburban neighborhood, an emotionally troubled businessman (Koteas) wanders around his hometown while waiting for a delayed flight, a starstruck housewife (Falco) embarks on an peculiar trip when she gives her famous neighbor a ride to the local ferry, and an eight-year-old girl takes a wrong turn on the way to school and finds herself in an unexpected adult realm."
Abel [dramedy]
Directed by Diego Luna
Plot: "Adorable little Abel has problems in the head. His mother collects him from the psychiatric ward hoping not to upset him. She carefully discusses with his teacher how to deal with the absence of Abel’s father. The entire family is on pins and needles, worrying about Abel breaking down. But things take an interesting turn when the little boy emphatically carves out a new role for himself in the family—he decides to become the father of the house. Abel transforms the fear his family has about his episodes into the respect due to the head of the household. Oddly enough, it works! That is, until a stranger shows up at the breakfast table, claiming to be Abel’s father."
Blue Valentine [drama]
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, and Mike Vogel
The Gist: It's "an intimate, shattering portrait of a disintegrating marriage."
Elaboration: "On the far side of a once-passionate romance, Cindy (Williams) and Dean (Gosling) are married with a young daughter. Hoping to save their marriage, they steal away to a theme hotel. We then encounter them years earlier, when they met and fell in love—full of life and hope. Moving fluidly between these two time periods, Blue Valentine unfolds like a cinematic duet whose refrain asks, where did their love go?"
Buried [thriller]
Cast: Ryan Reynolds
Plot: "After his convoy is attacked by a group of insurgents, Paul Conroy (Reynolds), a U.S. citizen working as a contract driver in Iraq, awakens to find himself buried alive inside a coffin. His captors have given him nothing but a lighter and a cell phone, which he must use to find some way of meeting their five-million-dollar ransom demand. Faced with limited oxygen and unlimited panic, Paul finds himself in a tension-filled race against time to escape this claustrophobic deathtrap before it’s too late."
The Company Men [drama]
Cast: Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Maria Bello, and Rosemary DeWitt
Plot: "One of the first casualties of a corporate downsize is Bobby Walker (Affleck), a hot-shot sales executive who is living the idyllic life—complete with two kids and a mortgaged picket fence. His boss, and founder of the company, doesn’t take Bobby’s severance well, and he storms into the boardroom to demand a reprieve of the severe measures. He learns quickly that some choices are out of his hands, and this is only the beginning. We embark on a journey that is all too familiar in today’s recessionary economy: one that will test friendships, loyalties, and family bonds."
Watch the trailer!
Cyrus [comedy]
Cast: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, and Catherine Keener
Plot: "Alone and acutely depressed, having just learned of his ex-wife’s wedding plans, John (Reilly) can’t believe his luck when he encounters beautiful, charming Molly (Tomei) at a party. The two get along famously and launch a passionate affair, until Molly’s 21-year-old son, Cyrus (Hill), enters the scene. Will Molly and Cyrus’s deep and idiosyncratic bond leave room for John?"
The Dry Land [war drama]
Cast: America Ferrara, Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Ryan O’Nan ("The Unusuals"), Jason Ritter, Wilmer Valderrama, June Diane Raphael (Year One)
The Gist: "James (O'Nan) returns from Iraq to face a new battle—reintegrating into his small-town life in Texas."
Elaboration: "His wife (Ferrera), his mother (Leo), and his friend (Ritter) provide support, but they can’t fully understand the pain and suffering he feels since his tour of duty ended. Lonely, James reconnects with an army buddy (Valderrama), who provides him with compassion and camaraderie during his battle to process his experiences in Iraq. But their reunion also exposes the different ways that war affects people—at least on the surface."
The Extra Man [comedy]
Cast: Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, John C. Reilly, Katie Holmes
Plot: "Louis Ives (Dano), a lonely dreamer who fancies himself the hero of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, leaves his job and heads to Manhattan to become a writer. He rents a room in the ramshackle apartment of Henry Harrison (Kline), a wildly eccentric, but brilliant, playwright who happens to be an “extra man”—a social escort for the wealthy widows of New York’s high society. The two form an unexpected bond."
Get Low [dramedy]
Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black (Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift)
Plot: "Felix (Duvall) is a miserable old hermit who has lived in an isolated cabin for the past 38 years. He catches word that an old friend has passed away and hatches a plan to throw himself a “funeral party.” He even wants the townsfolk, who either despise him or fear him, to attend the party and share all the crazy stories they may have heard about creepy old Felix. Is he a fugitive? A murderer? Or something worse?"
HappyThankYouMorePlease [comedy]
Directed by Josh Radnor (Ted on CBS’s "How I Met Your Mother")
Cast: Josh Radnor, Kate Mara, Malin Akerman (Couples Retreat and 27 Dresses), and Tony Hale ("Arrested Development")
The Gist: "Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood."
Elaboration: "Sam Wexler (Radnor) is a struggling writer who’s having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam’s life revolves around his friends—Annie (Akerman), whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie (Pablo Schreiber) and Mary Catherine (Zoe Kazan), a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi (Mara), a cabaret singer who catches Sam’s eye."
Hesher [drama]
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson, John Carroll Lynch
The Gist: "Hesher is the story of a family struggling to deal with loss and the anarchist who helps them do it—in a very unexpected way."
Elaboration: "TJ (Devin Brochu) is 13 years old. Two months ago, his mom was killed in an accident, leaving TJ and his grieving dad to move in with grandma (Piper Laurie) to pick up the pieces. Hesher (Gordon-Levitt) is a loner. He hates the world—and everyone in it. He has long, greasy hair and homemade tattoos. He likes fire and blowing things up. He lives in his van—until he meets TJ.
HIGH School [comedy]
Cast: Adrien Brody, Michael Chiklis, Matt Bush (Adventureland), Sean Marquette (Chris's little brother), Colin Hanks
Plot: "So it’s the end of the school year, and smarmy Principal Gordon (Chiklis) has suddenly instituted a zero-tolerance crusade against his nemesis, the reviled marijuana. A mandatory drug test for all students is to be administered, failure of which will result in immediate expulsion. Normally, this would be of no consequence to straight-arrow valedictorian Henry Burke (Bush), except he just tried ganja for the very first time. With his college scholarship hanging in the balance, Burke begrudgingly teams up with charismatic pothead Travis Breaux (Marquette) to do the only thing they can think of to neutralize this threat—get the entire student body stoned."
Holy Rollers [crime drama]
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland and Adventureland), Justin Bartha (The Hangover), Ari Graynor (Whip It and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), rapper Q-Tip
The Gist: "Inspired by actual events, Holy Rollers uses the incredible story of Hasidic Jews smuggling Ecstasy in the late ’90s as a backdrop to examine the difference between faith and “blind” faith."
Elaboration: "Sam Gold (Eisenberg), an insulated Hasid on the cusp of manhood, is frustrated by the constraints of his beliefs and his father’s poor business decisions. When Sam is presented with an opportunity to make some real money smuggling Ecstasy between Amsterdam and New York, he cautiously accepts it—and quickly finds himself seduced by the allure of the secular world. Caught between life as a smuggler and the path back to God, Sam and his worlds begin to unravel."
Howl [biopic]
Cast: James Franco, David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum), John Hamm ("Mad Men"), Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds"), Jeff Daniels, Treat Williams ("Everwood")
The Gist: "It’s San Francisco in 1957, and an American masterpiece is put on trial."
Elaboration: "Howl, the film, recounts this dark moment using three interwoven threads: the tumultuous life events that led a young Allen Ginsberg (Franco) to find his true voice as an artist; society’s reaction (the obscenity trial); and mind-expanding animation that echoes the startling originality of the poem itself. All three coalesce in a genre-bending hybrid that brilliantly captures a pivotal moment—the birth of a counterculture."
Jack Goes Boating [romantic comedy]
Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan ("The Wire"), John Ortiz (Fast and Furious)
Plot: "Jack (Hoffman) and Connie (Ryan) are two single people who on their own might continue to recede into the anonymous background of the city, but in each other begin to find the courage and desire to pursue their budding relationship. In contrast, the couple who brought them together, Clyde (Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega), are confronting the unresolved issues in their rocky marriage."
The Killer Inside Me [dramatic thriller]
Cast: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson
Plot: "Based on the novel by legendary pulp writer Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me tells the story of handsome, charming, unassuming small-town deputy sheriff Lou Ford (Affleck), who has a bunch of problems. Women problems. Law-enforcement problems. And an ever-growing pile of murder victims in his west Texas jurisdiction. All the while Lou manages to remain his stoic self. However, as evidence is discovered over the course of the investigation, suspicion begins to fall on Lou. But in this savage and bleak universe, nothing is ever what it seems."
Mother & Child [drama]
Cast: Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Jimmy Smits, Samuel L. Jackson
Plot: "Destiny plays a part in the lives of three women—a 50-year-old physical therapist, the daughter she gave up for adoption 35 years earlier, and a woman looking to adopt her first child. In this exploration of one of nature’s most basic instincts, their pasts intertwine, inform, and evolve to reveal their innermost desires."
Night Catches Us [dramatic romance]
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Jamie Hector (Max Payne), Wendell Pierce ("The Wire")
The Gist: "In the summer of ’76, as President Jimmy Carter pledges to give government back to the people, tensions run high in a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood where the Black Panthers once flourished."
Elaboration: When Marcus (Mackie) returns—having bolted years earlier—his homecoming isn’t exactly met with fanfare. His former movement brothers blame him for an unspeakable betrayal. Only his best friend’s widow, Patricia (Washington), appreciates Marcus’s predicament, which both unites and paralyzes them. As Patricia’s daughter compels the two comrades to confront their past, history repeats itself in dangerous ways."
Please Give [comedy]
Cast: Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Sarah Steele (Spanglish)
Plot: "Kate (Keener) and Alex (Platt), a married couple who run a successful business reselling estate-sale furniture, live in Manhattan with their teenage daughter, Abby (Steele). Wanting to expand their two-bedroom apartment, they buy the unit next door, planning to knock the walls out. However, before doing so, they have to wait for the occupant, Andra, a cranky elderly woman, to die. The wait becomes complicated when the family develops relationships with Andra and her two grown granddaughters."
The Romantics [romantic dramedy]
Cast: Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel ("Las Vegas" and When in Rome), Anna Paquin ("True Blood"), Adam Brody ("The O.C." and Jennifer's Body), Malin Ackerman (Couples Retreat and 27 Dresses), Elijah Wood, Candice Bergen
Plot: "Seven close friends—all members of a tight, eclectic college clique—reconvene at a deluxe seaside wedding to watch two of their own tie the knot. Lila (Paquin) is the golden girl preparing for her dream wedding, and Laura (Holmes) is Lila’s maid of honor. Once college roommates, Laura and Lila have been best friends since their first meeting on campus, but Lila’s groom, Tom (Duhamel), is the man they have long rivaled over. Promiscuity and hi-jinks abound as the drunken friends frolic in the nearby surf and revel in the nostalgic haze of their glory days."
The Runaways [biopic]
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat (Whip It), Tatum O’Neal
Plot: "Of all the bands to come out of the 1970s Los Angeles music scene, The Runaways are by far the most uniquely fascinating. This is partially due to their music, but more so to the fact that they were teenage girls whose wild and reckless lifestyle was the stuff of legend. Focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett (Stewart) and lead vocalist Cherie Currie (Fanning) as they navigate a rocky road of touring and recordlabel woes, the film chronicles the band’s formation as well as their meteoric rise under the malevolent eye of an abusive manager."
Skateland [drama]
Cast: Shiloh Fernandez ("United States of Tara" and "Jericho"), Ashley Greene (Twilight saga), Heath Freeman ("Raising the Bar"), Taylor Handley ("Hidden Palms"), AJ Buckley ("CSI: NY")
The Gist: "It’s 1983, and Skateland, the roller rink and local hangout of a small town, is becoming a fading memory of an earlier time, when disco and roller-skating were king."
Elaboration: "The party scene is getting stale, and 19-year-old Ritchie’s (Fernandez) romantic life is as cloudy as his future. He struggles to make sense of it all, and decisions do not come easily to the carefree young man. When tragedy strikes his friends and family, Ritchie must face the music—and make the biggest decision of his life."
Splice [sci-fi horror thriller]
Cast: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley (Dawn of the Dead), David Hewlett ("Stargate: Atlantis")
Plot: Clive (Brody) and Elsa (Polley) are young, brilliant, and ambitious. The new animal species they engineered has made them rebel superstars of the scientific world. In secret, they introduce human DNA into the experiment. The result is something that is greater than the sum of its parts: a female animal/ human hybrid that may be a step up on the evolutionary ladder. They think they may have created the perfect organism—until she makes a final shocking metamorphosis that could destroy them—and the rest of humanity.
Sympathy for Delicious [dramedy]
Directed by Mark Ruffalo
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Juliette Lewis, Orlando Bloom, Laura Linney
The Gist: "Recently paralyzed DJ “Delicious” Dean (Christopher Thornton) battles the mean streets of Los Angeles, struggling to survive in his wheelchair."
Elaboration: "Yearning to walk again, and fighting to spark the ashes that were once his career, Dean
turns to the dubious world of faith healing and gets much more than he bargained for. Lured by easy money and the heat of fame, Dean sells out to an unstable rock band, stomping the dreams of so many who see him as their only hope. World-famous DJ “Delicious” must now tackle his own worst demon—himself—if he is ever to conquer his “handicap” and find true healing."
Teenage Paparazzi [documentary]
Written and directed by Adrian Grenier
Cast: Adrian Grenier (HBO’s "Entourage"), Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Whoopi Goldberg, Paris Hilton, Perez Hitlon, Kevin Connelly, Lindsay Lohan, Eva Longoria Parker, Mario Lopez, Rosie O'Donnell
Plot: "When precocious 13-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk snapped a photo of celebrity Adrian Grenier, little did he know his life was about to change. Turning the tables on the juvenile paparazzo, Grenier stepped on the other side of the lens in an attempt to mentor a teenager obsessed with the lure of the Hollywood lifestyle. Grenier develops a meaningful relationship with his camera-clicking young friend as he attempts to reconcile their mutual exploitation. Indeed, Grenier puts himself on the line here, trying to make sense of his own recently acquired fame."
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil [comedy]
Cast: Tyler Labine ("Reaper"), Alan Tudyk ("Dollhouse"), Katrina Bowden ("30 Rock"), Jesse Moss (The Uninvited)
Plot: "Tucker (Tudyk) and Dale (Labine), two hillbillies heading to their “fixer-upper” cabin for some relaxin’, discover they ain’t alone in them woods. They encounter an SUV full of vacationing college kids, and Dale unintentionally creeps them out. But later, as he and Tucker are fishing, Dale rescues one of them—the pretty blond Alison (Bowden)—after she falls into the lake. Assuming she’s been captured, the indomitably preppy college kids rally to find her."
Twelve [drama]
Cast: Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Kiefer Sutherland, Ellen Barkin
Plot: "Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Nick McDonell, written when he was only 17 years old, Twelve is a chilling chronicle of privileged urban adolescence on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Set over spring break, the story follows White Mike (Crawford), a kid with unlimited potential, who has dropped out of his senior year of high school and sells marijuana to his rich, spoiled peers. When his cousin is brutally murdered in an East Harlem project, and his best friend is arrested for the crime, White Mike is hurled on a collision course with his own destiny."
Welcome to the Rileys [drama]
Cast: James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo
The Gist: "Trauma transforms us. Years after their teenage daughter’s death, Lois and Doug Riley, an upstanding Indiana couple, are frozen by estranging grief."
Elaboration: "She (Leo) isolates herself in their immaculate suburban home. He (Gandolfini) philanders with a local waitress, anesthetizing pain with easy passion. When he loses his mistress to cancer, Doug, beset by further heartache, escapes to New Orleans on a business trip. Compelled by urgencies he doesn’t understand, he insinuates himself into the life of an underage hooker (Stewart), becoming her platonic guardian. Meanwhile, Lois summons all of her remaining force to overcome agoraphobia and venture south to reclaim her marriage."
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
TV: New 2010 Spring TV Shows
FOX's "Human Target" - Wednesdays
Cast: Mark Valley ("Fringe" and "Keen Eddie"), Chi McBride ("Pushing Daisies"), and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen and Little Children).
Why watch: After I saw the preview, I was immediately sold because of three factors:
1) Mark Valley, whose 2003 cop series "Keen Eddie" was criminally cancelled.
2) The action, which I always appreciate more of in my life.
3) The premise: a con artist who takes on new identities in order to help his wealthy clients evade assassins. Sure, it wreaks of "Burn Notice" and even "White Collar," but the difference is that he's not doing it against his will, so it's even more lighthearted.
Lasting Power: I think USA should pick it up and replace "White Collar" with it. Unless an action drama/comedy is as high-intensity and politically-driven as "24" or has a mysterious and mythological background like "Fringe," it'll have a hard time keeping viewers on the hook. Just ask the makers of "Chuck" and "Heroes."
The CW's "Life Unexpected" - Mondays
Cast: Shiri Appleby ("Roswell"), Kristoffer Polaha ("Miss Guided"), Kerr Smith ("Dawson's Creek), and Brittany Robertson ("Swingtown" and the hilariously over-dramatic daughter in Dan in Real Life)
Why watch: Because you miss shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "Everwood" that were as wholesome as they were scandalous, and you're tired of all the glitz and glam that the network shines on the rich and vapid in "Gossip Girl," "Melrose Place," and "90210." I, personally, will be watching just because I'm curious as to how this is all going to play out. Straight-A student Cate (Shiri Appleby) and football jock Baze (Kristoffer Polaha) had a one-night stand, and Cate secretly gives up their baby girl Lux for adoption. Sixteen years later she shows up looking to be emancipated. What will they do? What would YOU do? You have a second chance to make it right. You might even have a second chance to get the girl or guy of your adolescent dreams back. You might actually have a chance at a family. Of course, none of this is instantaneous, which is half the fun. First off, "mom and dad" hate each other. Then there's the fact that Cate is in a serious relationship with Ryan (Kerr Smith), a very good and deserving guy. Meanwhile, dad lives a carefree life of boozing and enabling at his bar. These are not adults that are prepared to put their differences aside and care for an opinionated and emotinal teenager. This series is bubbling over with drama. Can you imagine if this were "One Tree Hill," and instead of raising Jamie, Haley and Nathan gave him up and he just magically showed up on the footsteps of Nathan's obnoxiously large bachelor pad and interrupted Haley's music career, forcing them to get back to who they were in high school and rediscover the feelings they had for each other? Now THAT would be a reason to watch that series. *sigh*
Lasting power: We'll have to be really convinced that these two high school sweethearts are meant to be and then we'll have to be convinced that they'll be not only good for each other, but good for their daughter...all within 60 minutes.
ABC's "The Deep End" - Thursdays at 8pm
Cast: Matt Long ("Jack & Bobby"), Tina Majorino ("Veronica Mars"), Leah Pipes ("Life is Wild" and Sorority Row), Ben Lawson (Australian series "Neighbours"), Mehcad Brooks ("True Blood" and "Desperate Housewives"), Billy Zane
Why watch: I don't normally watch legal shows, but ABC made a safe bet that they can grab a wider audience if a majority of the cast were in their 20s. Instead of meeting the legal eagles when they're in their prime, like on "Drop Dead Gorgeous," or after a mid-life crisis, like in "Eli Stone," or simply in their midlife, like "The Good Wife," they decided to show the first years of a law career.
Lasting Power: It's basically "Grey's Anatomy" at a law firm, so if you like a steady mix of good drama and goofy comedy, then you might like this.
FOX's " Past Life" - Feb. 11th - Thursdays at 8pm
Cast: Kelli Giddish ("The Burg" and "All My Children"), Nicholas Bishop ("Home and Away"), Richard Schiff, Ravi Patel ("Static" and "Easy Money")
Why watch: An expert in reincarnation (Giddish) works with her team to help people who are possessed by dead spirits or haunted by memories of a past life. So it's like "The Ghost Whisperer," but less creepy.
Lasting Power: If you don't care about a well-known cast and you just like police procedurals, supernatural in particular, they you might like this. As long as they can keep the cases fresh, they might gain a fanbase. Might.
NBC's "Parenthood" - March 2nd - Tuesdays at 10pm
Cast: Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls"), Erika Christensen ("Six Degrees" and Swimfan), Peter Krause ("Dirty Sexy Money"), Monica Potter ("Trust Me"), Dax Sheppard (Employee of the Month), Craig T. Nelson ("The District"), Sam Jaeger ("Eli Stone"), Marguerite Moreau (Queen of the Damned), Bonnie Bedelia ("The Division")
Why watch: Ron Howard and Brian Grazer created this family series to vent their parental frustrations. Joel (Jaeger) is a married stay-at-home dad, who's starved for adult interaction. Julia (Christensen) is his workaholic lawyer wife, who feels like she's missing out on raising her daughter. Adam (Krause) is the big brother of the family, who everyone goes to for advice. While he's working to maintain a perfect family facade and stay innocent in the cut-throat corporation he works for, he must be patient while raising his teenage daughter and his 8-year-old who has Asperger's syndrome. He's married to Kristina (Potter), his college sweetheart, who's incredibly supportive, but dying to go back to work. Their oldest daughter Haddie (Sarah Ramos from "Runaway" and "American Dreams") is tired of being a perfect little girl and is about to start her slutty drug phase. Sarah (Graham) is the oldest sister, who has a deadbeat rocker ex-husand and two teenage kids. Her daughter Amber (Mae Whitman from "Arrested Development") is eager to get her GED and move in with her wannabe rockstar boyfriend, while her son Drew (Miles Heizer from Rails & Ties) falls into depression because of his father's abandonment. Sarah's mission in life is to help them get the life she threw away and try to salvage her own, so she moves back in with her mom (Bedelia) and dad (Nelson). Last but not least, Crosby (Shepard) is an immature slacker, who spends most of his time trying to avoid his girlfriend Katie's (Moreau) attempts at starting a family.
Lasting Power: It's like a half-hour version of "Brothers & Sisters," so if you like the formula, you might like this.
FOX's "Sons of Tucson" - March 14th - Sundays 8:30pm
Cast: Tyler Labine ("Reaper"), Frank Dolce, Matthew Levy, Benjamin Stockham
Why watch: Three little boys are on the verge of being shipped off to an orphanage after their dad gets sent to prison. In an attempt to stay together, they decide to choose their new guardian themselves, in the form of a homeless schemer who works at a sporting goods store. It seems their father's immoral influence has led them to decide that the only person they can trust is someone as devious as they are. But can he trust them? "Gary (Dolce), 11, is the bright and driven leader of the pack who is every bit the con man that his father is; Brandon (Levy), 13, is a committed optimist with a unique world view; and Robby (Stockham), 8, is a loose cannon who doesn't respond well to authority." Will all of Ron's life-training as an opportunistic slacker help him raise three juvy-bound kids?
Lasting Power: I don't know. Those kids are going to have to top the kids from both "Modern Family" and "The Middle" and tip the cute/mischievous-factor scale in order to win families over.
CBS's "Miami Trauma" - April 2nd - Fridays at 10pm
Cast: Jeremy Northam ("The Tudors"), Lana Parrilla ("Swingtown" and "Windfall"), Elisabeth Harnois ("Point Pleasant" and "One Tree Hill"), Omar Gooding ("Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and "Smart Guy"), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield)
Why watch: "It's about a team of expert surgeons who work at one of the premiere trauma facilities in the country, where only patients with life threatening injuries are treated. Dr. Matthew Proctor (Northam) is new to the trauma team, after a tour of duty in a MASH unit during the Gulf war. Dr. Eva Zambrano (Parrilla) is a workaholic surgeon who is more comfortable in her scrubs than she is out in the real world. Dr. Christopher Deleo, "Dr. C.," is a playboy who thrives on the high-stakes of trauma medicine and is, by his own description, a genius redneck. Dr. Serena Warren (Harnois) is fresh out of medical school, and head nurse Tuck Brody (Gooding) keeps the doctors on track and the patients' families updated in this chaotic corner of the medical profession. Together, this team of doctors excels in the "golden hour," the 60 minutes after being critically injured, when a patient's life hangs in the balance.
Lasting Power: It's literally NBC's "Trauma" inside an OR.
Cast: Mark Valley ("Fringe" and "Keen Eddie"), Chi McBride ("Pushing Daisies"), and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen and Little Children).
Why watch: After I saw the preview, I was immediately sold because of three factors:
1) Mark Valley, whose 2003 cop series "Keen Eddie" was criminally cancelled.
2) The action, which I always appreciate more of in my life.
3) The premise: a con artist who takes on new identities in order to help his wealthy clients evade assassins. Sure, it wreaks of "Burn Notice" and even "White Collar," but the difference is that he's not doing it against his will, so it's even more lighthearted.
Lasting Power: I think USA should pick it up and replace "White Collar" with it. Unless an action drama/comedy is as high-intensity and politically-driven as "24" or has a mysterious and mythological background like "Fringe," it'll have a hard time keeping viewers on the hook. Just ask the makers of "Chuck" and "Heroes."
The CW's "Life Unexpected" - Mondays
Cast: Shiri Appleby ("Roswell"), Kristoffer Polaha ("Miss Guided"), Kerr Smith ("Dawson's Creek), and Brittany Robertson ("Swingtown" and the hilariously over-dramatic daughter in Dan in Real Life)
Why watch: Because you miss shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "Everwood" that were as wholesome as they were scandalous, and you're tired of all the glitz and glam that the network shines on the rich and vapid in "Gossip Girl," "Melrose Place," and "90210." I, personally, will be watching just because I'm curious as to how this is all going to play out. Straight-A student Cate (Shiri Appleby) and football jock Baze (Kristoffer Polaha) had a one-night stand, and Cate secretly gives up their baby girl Lux for adoption. Sixteen years later she shows up looking to be emancipated. What will they do? What would YOU do? You have a second chance to make it right. You might even have a second chance to get the girl or guy of your adolescent dreams back. You might actually have a chance at a family. Of course, none of this is instantaneous, which is half the fun. First off, "mom and dad" hate each other. Then there's the fact that Cate is in a serious relationship with Ryan (Kerr Smith), a very good and deserving guy. Meanwhile, dad lives a carefree life of boozing and enabling at his bar. These are not adults that are prepared to put their differences aside and care for an opinionated and emotinal teenager. This series is bubbling over with drama. Can you imagine if this were "One Tree Hill," and instead of raising Jamie, Haley and Nathan gave him up and he just magically showed up on the footsteps of Nathan's obnoxiously large bachelor pad and interrupted Haley's music career, forcing them to get back to who they were in high school and rediscover the feelings they had for each other? Now THAT would be a reason to watch that series. *sigh*
Lasting power: We'll have to be really convinced that these two high school sweethearts are meant to be and then we'll have to be convinced that they'll be not only good for each other, but good for their daughter...all within 60 minutes.
ABC's "The Deep End" - Thursdays at 8pm
Cast: Matt Long ("Jack & Bobby"), Tina Majorino ("Veronica Mars"), Leah Pipes ("Life is Wild" and Sorority Row), Ben Lawson (Australian series "Neighbours"), Mehcad Brooks ("True Blood" and "Desperate Housewives"), Billy Zane
Why watch: I don't normally watch legal shows, but ABC made a safe bet that they can grab a wider audience if a majority of the cast were in their 20s. Instead of meeting the legal eagles when they're in their prime, like on "Drop Dead Gorgeous," or after a mid-life crisis, like in "Eli Stone," or simply in their midlife, like "The Good Wife," they decided to show the first years of a law career.
Lasting Power: It's basically "Grey's Anatomy" at a law firm, so if you like a steady mix of good drama and goofy comedy, then you might like this.
FOX's " Past Life" - Feb. 11th - Thursdays at 8pm
Cast: Kelli Giddish ("The Burg" and "All My Children"), Nicholas Bishop ("Home and Away"), Richard Schiff, Ravi Patel ("Static" and "Easy Money")
Why watch: An expert in reincarnation (Giddish) works with her team to help people who are possessed by dead spirits or haunted by memories of a past life. So it's like "The Ghost Whisperer," but less creepy.
Lasting Power: If you don't care about a well-known cast and you just like police procedurals, supernatural in particular, they you might like this. As long as they can keep the cases fresh, they might gain a fanbase. Might.
NBC's "Parenthood" - March 2nd - Tuesdays at 10pm
Cast: Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls"), Erika Christensen ("Six Degrees" and Swimfan), Peter Krause ("Dirty Sexy Money"), Monica Potter ("Trust Me"), Dax Sheppard (Employee of the Month), Craig T. Nelson ("The District"), Sam Jaeger ("Eli Stone"), Marguerite Moreau (Queen of the Damned), Bonnie Bedelia ("The Division")
Why watch: Ron Howard and Brian Grazer created this family series to vent their parental frustrations. Joel (Jaeger) is a married stay-at-home dad, who's starved for adult interaction. Julia (Christensen) is his workaholic lawyer wife, who feels like she's missing out on raising her daughter. Adam (Krause) is the big brother of the family, who everyone goes to for advice. While he's working to maintain a perfect family facade and stay innocent in the cut-throat corporation he works for, he must be patient while raising his teenage daughter and his 8-year-old who has Asperger's syndrome. He's married to Kristina (Potter), his college sweetheart, who's incredibly supportive, but dying to go back to work. Their oldest daughter Haddie (Sarah Ramos from "Runaway" and "American Dreams") is tired of being a perfect little girl and is about to start her slutty drug phase. Sarah (Graham) is the oldest sister, who has a deadbeat rocker ex-husand and two teenage kids. Her daughter Amber (Mae Whitman from "Arrested Development") is eager to get her GED and move in with her wannabe rockstar boyfriend, while her son Drew (Miles Heizer from Rails & Ties) falls into depression because of his father's abandonment. Sarah's mission in life is to help them get the life she threw away and try to salvage her own, so she moves back in with her mom (Bedelia) and dad (Nelson). Last but not least, Crosby (Shepard) is an immature slacker, who spends most of his time trying to avoid his girlfriend Katie's (Moreau) attempts at starting a family.
Lasting Power: It's like a half-hour version of "Brothers & Sisters," so if you like the formula, you might like this.
FOX's "Sons of Tucson" - March 14th - Sundays 8:30pm
Cast: Tyler Labine ("Reaper"), Frank Dolce, Matthew Levy, Benjamin Stockham
Why watch: Three little boys are on the verge of being shipped off to an orphanage after their dad gets sent to prison. In an attempt to stay together, they decide to choose their new guardian themselves, in the form of a homeless schemer who works at a sporting goods store. It seems their father's immoral influence has led them to decide that the only person they can trust is someone as devious as they are. But can he trust them? "Gary (Dolce), 11, is the bright and driven leader of the pack who is every bit the con man that his father is; Brandon (Levy), 13, is a committed optimist with a unique world view; and Robby (Stockham), 8, is a loose cannon who doesn't respond well to authority." Will all of Ron's life-training as an opportunistic slacker help him raise three juvy-bound kids?
Lasting Power: I don't know. Those kids are going to have to top the kids from both "Modern Family" and "The Middle" and tip the cute/mischievous-factor scale in order to win families over.
CBS's "Miami Trauma" - April 2nd - Fridays at 10pm
Cast: Jeremy Northam ("The Tudors"), Lana Parrilla ("Swingtown" and "Windfall"), Elisabeth Harnois ("Point Pleasant" and "One Tree Hill"), Omar Gooding ("Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and "Smart Guy"), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield)
Why watch: "It's about a team of expert surgeons who work at one of the premiere trauma facilities in the country, where only patients with life threatening injuries are treated. Dr. Matthew Proctor (Northam) is new to the trauma team, after a tour of duty in a MASH unit during the Gulf war. Dr. Eva Zambrano (Parrilla) is a workaholic surgeon who is more comfortable in her scrubs than she is out in the real world. Dr. Christopher Deleo, "Dr. C.," is a playboy who thrives on the high-stakes of trauma medicine and is, by his own description, a genius redneck. Dr. Serena Warren (Harnois) is fresh out of medical school, and head nurse Tuck Brody (Gooding) keeps the doctors on track and the patients' families updated in this chaotic corner of the medical profession. Together, this team of doctors excels in the "golden hour," the 60 minutes after being critically injured, when a patient's life hangs in the balance.
Lasting Power: It's literally NBC's "Trauma" inside an OR.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
TRAILER: Bryan Greenberg & Alexis Bledel's "The Good Guy"
Alright so, I've kind of given up on Alexis Bledel's move from TV to film, but I'm glad that her journey onto the big screen allowed Bryan Greenberg to keep shining. This upcoming year is going to be a big one for the "One Tree Hill" graduate and former star of "October Road." I've missed Greenberg ever since his ABC series was cancelled. I even enjoyed watching him in that short-lived HBO pseudo-documentary "Unscripted," so it was a nice surprise to see him in last year's Bride Wars. But it was so painful to watch, I started praying that this wasn't the best his agent could do.
Thankfully, Mark Wahlberg gave him his own series on HBO called "How to Make It in America," which he'll star in with another talented actor, Victor Rasuk (Lords of Dogtown). Before it hits cable though, we'll see him in this indie dramedy The Good Guy. Once again, little Rory Gilmore is in the middle of a love triangle between a super sweet guy (Greenberg) and a clever douche (Scott Porter from "Friday Night Lights"). Even though he barely says a word in the trailer, you can really see the struggle he's having adapting to the city, accepting Wall Street's idea of professionalism, and not falling in love with his friend's girlfriend. This could be the decade that Greenberg actually turns some heads.
Release Date: February 19
Thankfully, Mark Wahlberg gave him his own series on HBO called "How to Make It in America," which he'll star in with another talented actor, Victor Rasuk (Lords of Dogtown). Before it hits cable though, we'll see him in this indie dramedy The Good Guy. Once again, little Rory Gilmore is in the middle of a love triangle between a super sweet guy (Greenberg) and a clever douche (Scott Porter from "Friday Night Lights"). Even though he barely says a word in the trailer, you can really see the struggle he's having adapting to the city, accepting Wall Street's idea of professionalism, and not falling in love with his friend's girlfriend. This could be the decade that Greenberg actually turns some heads.
FILM: The Anti-Superhero Superhero Trend
I'm sure Hollywood knows that we like our superheroes big and burly (Wolverine), determined (Batman), impressive (The X-Men), and funny (Iron Man), but for some reason they've decided to allow a burgeoning trend to erupt. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the anti-superheroes:
You've already heard the hype around Kick-Ass, which is totally warranted. It's the story of a teenage dork (Aaron Johnson), who decides that it isn't totally insane to put on a costume and fight crime. He joins a father-and-daughter duo, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz from 500 Days of Summer) and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage), and an even dorkier hero Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse from Superbad) to take down a resident gangster (Mark Strong from Sherlock Holmes). The fight scenes are stellar and pretty impressive for a bunch of young kids. It's sure to blow everyone out of the water.
Then there's the fantasy drama Defendor, which still doesn't have a release date. However, it stars Woody Harrelson, who just finished up an awesome year with 2012, Zombieland, and The Messenger, so I'm sure it'll get one soon. In the film, a slightly mentally unstable guy begins to believe he's a superhero, and his only council are a teenage girl (Kat Dennings) and his therapist (Sandra Oh from "Grey's Anatomy").
Last, but not least, there's Rainn Wilson's action comedy Super, where he plays the husband of a woman (Liv Tyler), who falls under the influence of a drug dealer and has to turn into the Crimson Bolt in order to save her. Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon also star.
So it seems that Hollywood thinks that we superhero lovers want to be superheroes so bad that we'd want to watch movies about people just like us. Uhhh, the only reason we like superhero movies is because of the action. When you turn that action into slapstick, it's a little less enticing (i.e. Spider-Man 3). Sure, you'll get maybe $20-40 mil, but there's no way that either of these two films will become blockbusters. That's why Kick-Ass is the only sure bet.
What do you think? Does it matter how goofy the superhero is?
You've already heard the hype around Kick-Ass, which is totally warranted. It's the story of a teenage dork (Aaron Johnson), who decides that it isn't totally insane to put on a costume and fight crime. He joins a father-and-daughter duo, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz from 500 Days of Summer) and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage), and an even dorkier hero Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse from Superbad) to take down a resident gangster (Mark Strong from Sherlock Holmes). The fight scenes are stellar and pretty impressive for a bunch of young kids. It's sure to blow everyone out of the water.
Then there's the fantasy drama Defendor, which still doesn't have a release date. However, it stars Woody Harrelson, who just finished up an awesome year with 2012, Zombieland, and The Messenger, so I'm sure it'll get one soon. In the film, a slightly mentally unstable guy begins to believe he's a superhero, and his only council are a teenage girl (Kat Dennings) and his therapist (Sandra Oh from "Grey's Anatomy").
Last, but not least, there's Rainn Wilson's action comedy Super, where he plays the husband of a woman (Liv Tyler), who falls under the influence of a drug dealer and has to turn into the Crimson Bolt in order to save her. Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon also star.
So it seems that Hollywood thinks that we superhero lovers want to be superheroes so bad that we'd want to watch movies about people just like us. Uhhh, the only reason we like superhero movies is because of the action. When you turn that action into slapstick, it's a little less enticing (i.e. Spider-Man 3). Sure, you'll get maybe $20-40 mil, but there's no way that either of these two films will become blockbusters. That's why Kick-Ass is the only sure bet.
What do you think? Does it matter how goofy the superhero is?
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