Day: September 27, 2010

Gloria Stuart, The Eastwood/DiCaprio Hoover Movie + Hollywood Round-up, 9/27

Actress Gloria Stuart.

By Jason Apuzzo. • Actress Gloria Stuart of Titanic fame has died, several months after her 100th birthday. Govindini and I had the pleasure of meeting this elegant star from Hollywood’s Golden Age twice. On each occasion she was the picture of elegance and grace, and she will certainly be missed.

• Wall Street 2 took top prize at the weekend box office, with a haul of about $19 million. That’s not surprising; I think Oliver Stone crafted an entertaining and emotionally compelling film, the politics of which were relatively muted compared with what one might otherwise expect from him these days. [See my review of the film here.] One can only imagine how much better business the film might’ve done if Stone had only kept off the talk show circuit over the past week; the man truly does himself no favors.

• Details are starting to emerge about the forthcoming Clint Eastwood/Leonardo DiCaprio/J. Edgar Hoover pic, Hoover. Joaquin Phoenix may be in line to play Hoover’s unconfirmed ‘lover,’ and it seems that Hoover’s rumored homosexuality may be a significant aspect of the script; for what it’s worth in this context, incidentally, the screenwriter for Hoover also wrote Milk. And: according to the screenwriter, the film will apparently be rooted in “contradictions” between “what [Hoover] believed his history was and what his history actually was.” [Sigh. Here we go again.] I wonder whether these “contradictions” will involve threats associated with Soviet espionage in that era; I’m hoping the screenwriter doesn’t think those threats were ‘imaginary,’ the way Clooney did in Good Night, and Good Luck. Just a thought. As a footnote, by the way, John Goodman has just been cast in Kevin Smith’s forthcoming Red State, which deals with ostensive Christian intolerance toward homosexuals. Goodman seems more like Hoover than DiCaprio, to my eye.

• A “not necessarily complete” negative of Stanley Kubrick’s first feature Fear and Desire has finally been discovered, and will soon be getting the restoration/DVD treatment. Also on the Brooding Genius front, I love this recent quote from Werner Herzog:

For directors, you will never be a great director if you don’t read. I run my own film school — I call it a traveling circus, a rogue film school — and I have a mandatory reading list for those who apply. It starts with Virgil’s “Georgics.” Read it in Latin if possible. I have a short story by Hemingway; old Icelandic poetry; and, among others, the Warren Commission Report. It’s a fantastic piece of reading.

• On the Franchise front, Christopher Nolan is looking for a director for the new Superman reboot (which is actually a re-reboot); The Hobbit may be hobbled by union strife Down Under; and either Mia Wasikowska or Easy A’s Emma Stone or will be playing the female lead in the new Spider-Man reboot. [UPDATE: reader Shane points out they may actually be up for two different roles.] This seems like an easy choice to me: Emma Stone.

Scarlett Johansson as "The Black Widow."

• On the Hot Chicks with Guns front: Resident Evil 4 is still cleaning up at the worldwide box office; Kate Beckinsdale will apparently be back for an Underworld 4; Salt’s Angelina Jolie has just began casting her indie war drama set in Bosnia; and Scarlett Johansson is apparently going to get her own ‘Black Widow’ franchise, with the character already having appeared in Iron Man 2 and in the forthcoming Avengers movie. Three thoughts on this: 1) I think it’s a great idea to wrap a franchise around the ‘Black Widow’ character, which in its original incarnation was an ex-Soviet superspy; 2) the problem is, Salt already just gave us a sexy, former Soviet female superspy, so they’ll need to go somewhere new with the material (it appears they already are, based on the 2 films Johansson has done); 3) Johansson may be pleasant to look at, but I don’t actually think she’s right for the part. The character demands somebody vampy, with a saucy personality – and I just don’t think Johansson can pull it off. In any case, we’ll see how this develops.

• As you probably know by now, Katy Perry’s recent segment for Sesame Street was cut due to what might be termed her glandular superabundance – although Sesame Street has subsequently indicated that ‘Miss Katy’ will be back again in the future, perhaps in a mu-mu. Perry has since had some fun with the whole incident, appearing on Saturday Night Live in a Sesame Street T-shirt revealing much more of the original source-material of the controversy, as it were. Having studied the original Sesame Street segment, it’s my professional opinion that it would have done no harm to America’s young lads, whatsoever! Quite the contrary, actually …

• On the Sci-Fi/Alien Invasion front, the 1962 Brit sci-fi thriller Day of the Triffids (based on the 1951 novel) is getting a remake, and in 3D. Day of the Triffids?! Of all the sci-fi classics from that era, they’re remaking Day of the Triffids?! So we’re going to get marauding, carnivorous plants coming at us in 3D. And you thought Piranha 3D was campy? Imagine Riley Steele getting devoured by a fern. In other news, Guillermo del Toro talks here and here about his forthcoming adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness that he’s doing with James Cameron. An early, highly unflattering script review of that project has already frightened me off, and nothing del Toro is saying now is making me feel like he won’t botch this – which is a shame.

Sisters AJ and Aly Michalka.

• A special shout-out to the folks doing the Pioneer One webseries, the pilot of which we showed here at Libertas recently. [Special thanks to the screenwriter on that project, Josh Bernhard, for Tweeting our post.] Pioneer One just won the “Best Drama Pilot” award at the New York Television Festival. Congratulations! In quasi-related news Vladimir Mashkov has been cast as a Russian agent in Mission: Impossible 4.

• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … the Michalka sisters of Torrance/the South Bay are everywhere. Yowza! AJ Michalka just got cast in J.J. Abrams’ forthcoming sci-fi alien invasion thriller Super 8, and early indications are that sister Aly’s Hellcats show on the CW is likely to get picked up for a second season. Twin cameos in the Baywatch reboot can only be a matter of time!

And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood.

Posted on September 27th, 2010 at 1:37pm.

LFM Review: You Again

By Patricia Ducey. Gone with the Wind it’s not. Heck, it’s not even My Best Friend’s Wedding. But You Again is a pleasant enough production from Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, with some truly funny moments – and a lot of real heart. It’s the kind of family movie that the broadcast networks used to make before TV was handed over to reality show contestants and serial killers. You Again is a chick flick perfect for a tween or teen (but maybe not the boys), or anyone who can remember the sting of high school bullies.

Director Andy Frickman casts his New York stage pal Kristen Bell as Marni, an ugly duckling outsider in high school who has grown into a successful and beautiful career woman. She handles her PR firm duties with grace and aplomb. But her hard won self-confidence starts to crumble when her Mom announces that Marni’s beloved brother Will (James Wolk) is to marry, and the bride-to-be is none other than Marni’s high school nemesis, Joanna (Odette Yustman). Joanna was the head cheerleader, the gorgeous Alpha Girl, who led the torment against acne-ridden dweeb Marni. When the wary Marni returns home for the wedding weekend, however, she finds a new Joanna -someone who may or may not remember her at all, and who may or may not have morphed into an angel. Soon Joanna reveals the cause of her life change: she lost both of her parents in a car crash, and decided to dedicate the rest of her life to something that would make them proud.

Mom Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) and father (Victor Garber) and even the family pooch clearly adore Joanna, but Marni can’t help herself; her jealousy resurfaces once again. She tries to accept the new Joanna, but Marni still hasn’t tamed her inner loser. Ever suspicious, she eventually uncovers some evidence to justify some sweet, sweet revenge. We watch as Marni regresses, physically and emotionally, back to her high school days as her resentment overwhelms her mature career woman persona.

Kristen Bell and Odette Yustman in "You Again."

In that one improbable coincidence allowed any plot line, Joanna’s only surviving relative, Aunt Mona (Sigourney Weaver), arrives for the wedding weekend and turns out to be none other than Gail’s former high school nemesis. Gail soon learns that giving advice about jealousy is a lot easier than living it. So, on two levels, all these women will have to confront the green eyed-monsters still lurking in their hearts if they are to survive as a family. You Again is otherwise full of pratfalls and silliness, as well as drama, as it meanders toward the climactic rehearsal dinner.

You Again stands in stark contrast to the summer romantic comedy hit Easy A, which the critics loved, in that it doesn’t despise its audience. The family in You Again loves, and likes, each other. They’re human, though, and fall victim to their human foibles. These characters are surprised and disheartened by their own weaknesses – and do their best to conquer them. Sometimes they do make old grudges right, and the movie actually tells you why this is important. So if your daughter or niece wants to see a movie, steer her to You Again – not Easy A.

I chuckled when I checked the reviews of You Again—90% of the critics hated it, so I figured I would like it. The movie been called trite and sit-com-ish – and in some ways, that’s true. Marni’s family is intact, affectionate, and practically snark-free. Characters do tussle and fall into swimming pools. More than once. [By the way, Odette Yustman might just give Megan Fox a run for her money with her brunette good looks and mad rapping skills. Betty White also handles the Grandma Bunny duties well—and keep your eyes peeled for a few other cameos by ‘80s stars.] The dreaded patriarchy rears its head when Dad finally lays down the law and tells his squabbling women “enough.”  Meh. I liked it. It may seem trite to jaded movie critics – but judging from the laughter in my theater, audiences liked it too.

Posted on September 27th, 2010 at 7:19am.