Archive for January, 2008
Candid Thoughts on Paris’ New Movie
In the year 1597, a little known English playwright by the name of William Shakespeare published a poorly received romantic comedy titled Romeo and Juliet (which has systematically been remade time and again). Contained in this oft forgotten work of fiction was the phrase, “A plague o’ both your houses!” How prophetic it seems now that those words have finally come to fruition. Here we stand as a nation divided, and on both our houses comes the plague of another romantic comedy. This one, starring Paris Hilton. And it’s called ever so eloquently, The Hottie and the Nottie. I’ll bet Shakespeare is kicking himself that he hadn’t thought of that first. Little known piece of trivia: when Shakespeare spoke of plagues, he was often referring to Hilton directly.
See if this description grabs you, culled from the movie’s own website:
Nate Cooper has been smitten with Cristabel Abbott since he first laid eyes on her at the impressionable age of six. In the intervening years, there have been other women in Nate’s life, but none who could measure up to Cristabel. Convinced Cristabel is the only girl for him, Nate decides to move back to L.A. and track her down. The good news: she’s still single and stunning. The bad news: there’s a reason she’s still single. Cristabel’s still best friends with the same ugly little girl from first grade, June Phigg. And Cristabel simply refuses to leave dear June home alone. Determined to spend as much time as possible with Cristabel, Nate sets out to find a boyfriend for June. But guys all flee at the sight of her, and it hits him: June needs a makeover. As Nate and June become friends and she emerges from her cocoon, Nate slowly realizes that the girl of his dreams may not be the hottie at all…
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 20, 2008
Visiting actress Mia Farrow says she’s ‘bewildered’ by Cambodian ban on Darfur ceremony
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) American actress Mia Farrow said she was bewildered by the Cambodian government’s attempt to block a ceremony at a former Khmer Rouge prison intended to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
“It’s pretty harsh to be against a ceremony that honors the victims of Darfur and genocide survivors everywhere,” Farrow said in an interview Saturday. “Frankly, I’m a little bewildered.”
Farrow said she and other activists were determined to press ahead with the Sunday ceremony at the Khmer Rouge’s infamous Tuol Sleng torture facility, and would hold it outside the former prison’s gates if police block them from entering.
Farrow, who is working with the U.S.-based advocacy group Dream for Darfur, traveled to Cambodia to stage a mock Olympic torch-lighting ceremony at the former prison. The ceremony aims to send a message to China host of the 2008 Olympics and one of Sudan’s major trading partners to press Khartoum to end abuses in Darfur.
China has strong economic ties with both Sudan and Cambodia.
The Cambodian government said days ago it would prevent the 62-year-old actress from going through with the ceremony because the group had “a political agenda against China” and was holding the event for political rather than humanitarian reasons.
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 20, 2008
A Different ‘Sunshine’ at Sundance
There’s more “Sunshine” at Sundance.
Two years after “Little Miss Sunshine” stormed out of the film festival to earn nearly $60 million and two Oscars, another comedic drama seems to be trying to follow in its footsteps.
Like its predecessor, “Sunshine Cleaning” revolves around a quirky family with communication problems, stars Alan Arkin as a grandpa encouraging a cute kid to succeed and features a sun-drenched Albuquerque, N.M. setting.
A broken-down car gets stuck on the roadside in one key scene, calling to mind the problematic VW bus of “Little Miss Sunshine.” In both films, an abundance of perky music propels the narrative.
Noting the loud buzz around “Sunshine Cleaning,” festival director Geoffrey Gilmore cautioned the premiere-night audience, “This isn’t the other ‘Sunshine.’”
Despite eminently likable stars Emily Blunt and Amy Adams, “Sunshine Cleaning” is much darker than the 2006 movie. At the premiere, audiences laughed for about the first 20 minutes, settled in for downward-spiraling drama that took up the majority of the movie, then laughed again in the last few minutes.
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 20, 2008
Lohan to Visit Morgue As Punishment
Lindsay Lohan is about to see dead people.
In June, the 21-year-old actress will visit a morgue as part of her punishment for misdemeanor drunken driving.
“She’s gonna see bodies. We’ll have anywhere from 20 to 25 people in the class and she’s treated like any other individual,” Los Angeles County Coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said Friday.
Lohan’s attorney, Blair Berk, appeared at a hearing Thursday to report to a judge on Lohan’s progress toward fulfilling the terms of her plea bargain. The actress was not required to appear.
Lohan has completed her rehabilitation and served 80 hours of community service with the American Red Cross, Berk said Friday.
Lohan was arrested twice last year on DUI charges and pleaded guilty in August to misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges. She served 84 minutes in jail as part of the plea deal.
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
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1 comment January 20, 2008
Wrap-Up of Entertainment Quotes
“Our hope is that all of the players involved will lock themselves in a room and not come out until they finish. We want this to be done.” George Clooney, on the Hollywood writers strike.
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“Somebody needs to step up and get this young woman into some quality care and I do not apologize one whit, not one second, for trying to make that happen.” “Dr. Phil” McGraw, responding to critics who said he crossed the line by making public statements after visiting Britney Spears in the hospital last week.
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“The writers! The guys on the fourth floor with the opium bongs, playing Guitar Hero all day! I find that a bit of a stretch.” An in-character Stephen Colbert, refusing to concede that his writing staff now on strike were required to provide his “commentaries” on “The Colbert Report.”
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 11, 2008
Honorary Mayor of Hollywood Dies at 84
Johnny Grant, the avuncular honorary mayor of Hollywood who traveled the world as Tinseltown’s No. 1 cheerleader for more than a half-century, has died. He was 84.
Grant died just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, apparently of natural causes, said Officer Jason Lee. Grant was found dead on a bed in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Lee said.
Grant was perhaps best known as the jolly host alongside more than 500 celebrities he inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The lifelong bachelor lived in a 14th-floor suite at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Grant’s mission in life was bringing the Tinseltown story to everyone. He hosted red carpet Oscar arrivals and Walk of Fame festivities, appeared in bit parts in movies, and produced Hollywood’s annual Christmas Parade.
“I feel I have been the luckiest guy in the world,” he often said. “It’s been a pretty good ride.”
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 11, 2008
Review: Subtle Scares in `Orphanage’
Floors creak and doors slam. Hidden passages lead to secret compartments. Ratty old dolls show up out of nowhere.
Are these playful signs from the children who lived in “The Orphanage” long ago, or a harbinger of something more sinister? That’s the mystery in this well-crafted if familiar haunted house story, the first feature from young Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona.
Guillermo del Toro serves as one of the film’s producers and Bayona, working from a script by Sergio Sanchez, seems to be aiming for the same mix of the real and the supernatural that del Toro himself achieved last year with his excellent “Pan’s Labyrinth.” It’s a tough balance to strike, and it’s even tougher to live up to comparisons to such a cinematic original. (“The Orphanage” is actually more reminiscent of Alejandro Amenabar’s super-creepy “The Others,” starring Nicole Kidman.)
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 5, 2008
Review: `Persepolis’ Is Wildly Inventive
“Persepolis” is a true original in the eclectic world of animation, one that’s full of fascinating contradictions.
It’s a colorful autobiography rendered in crisp black-and-white; it’s about Iran’s Islamic revolution, but it’s a comedy. You won’t see another film like this anytime soon, if ever, which is precisely why you should seek it out.
Marjane Satrapi adapted her own graphic novels (with the help of best friend and fellow comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud, who co-wrote and co-directed) and she did it with great humor, honesty and heart. Except for a chunk of the midsection where “Persepolis” gets a bit draggy, especially after wowing us with its inventiveness early on, you’d never know you’re in the hands of a first-time filmmaker.
The animation style may seem overly simplistic at first, but on the contrary there’s so much going on, it’s impossible for the eye to take it all in at once. Clearly inspired by German expressionism, Satrapi and Paronnaud make especially stunning use of severe angles, silhouettes and shadows.
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 5, 2008
Review: `Blood’ Is Anderson’s Epic
Someday, we’re probably going to look back at “There Will Be Blood,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic about greed, lies, manipulation and insanity, and call it his masterpiece.
Which is incredible because, except for the inescapable intensity, it’s nothing like his previous films; if Anderson’s name weren’t on it, you’d never know it was his. It’s thrilling to see him reinvent himself this way, applying his formidable directing talents in a totally different fashion.
Gone are the film-school tricks he made his name with in “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia” (and this critic loved those movies). Anderson has moved out of contemporary L.A. and away from the histrionics of the carefully orchestrated ensembles he set there. He now seems more interested in storytelling and character development.
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 5, 2008
Review: Denzel Steers ‘Great Debaters’
It could have been overly sentimental and feel-good, this movie about a pioneering black debate team in the segregated South. But Denzel Washington, as director and star, manages to find the right tone much of the time in “The Great Debaters.”
It certainly doesn’t hurt that he has an inspiring true story to work from Oprah Winfrey liked it so much, her Harpo Films company produced it.
Washington stars as professor Melvin B. Tolson, a future poet who serves as debate coach at the tiny, all-black Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. In 1935, Wiley’s debaters did something unprecedented: They competed against several predominantly white schools and won, including Harvard (in real life Wiley beat USC, but you get the idea).
Read the entire article at: www.cinema-pedia.com
Add comment January 5, 2008
