Cinematical Seven: Ways to Leave Your Employer
Filed under: Cinematical Seven
The film Up in the Air opens in theaters on Friday, and a large part of the film is about people leaving their jobs, usually involuntarily. George Clooney's character makes a living from laying off people, and the reactions of the dismissed employees in the film are often amazing. I must say, I was laid off from a day job a few months ago (and miraculously found a better one a month later, so no need for sympathy), and after seeing Up in the Air, I wished it had been Clooney's character that did the deed. He really does have a knack.
Hollywood has given us so many examples of ways people are laid off, fired, and quit ... or do something spectacularly insane that they know will end their employment one way or another. There must be 50 ways to leave your employer, especially if Paul Simon is involved, but we have space for seven. I know I've left out some excellent scenes -- my original list had 14 films on it -- so don't hesitate to let us know which ones I forgot or was crazy not to include. Warning: There may be a few spoilers below.
Review: Up in the Air
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, New Releases, Theatrical Reviews
By: Eugene Novikov, reprinted from the Toronto Film Festival '09
Sometimes it seems like one of Hollywood's main goals is to make people without spouses and children feel really bad about themselves. If that sort of thing bothers you, I would recommend passing on Up in the Air, which is as strident about the notion that a life without a family is worthless as any movie I've ever seen. Fortunately, it is also brisk, funny, and not enslaved to genre conventions. Parts of the film, in fact, approach comic brilliance. The reason that the film's message-mongering doesn't grate, I think, is that we really do feel sorry for the protagonist – an obsessive frequent flier who begins to realize that his life is an empty, lonely shell of rationalizations and self-delusions.
In some respects, Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) approaches caricature: not only is he wifeless, childless and practically homeless – he has a barren studio in Omaha and spends 320 days a year on the road – but he fires people for a living and occasionally gives motivational speeches urging people to "empty their backpacks" and rid themselves of commitment. But there's a kernel of truth to him, in the sense that there is something compelling, almost romantic about transience. His world of luxury hotels and airline perks – and a hot frequent flier girlfriend (Vera Farmiga) with whom he sleeps with when their paths cross but who asks for nothing more – actually seems kind of cool.
'The Birds' Remake May Take a Trip to the 'Last House on the Left'
Filed under: Horror, RumorMonger
Platinum Dunes, the company behind the reboots of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and the upcoming Nightmare on Elm Street, announced they were going to revisit Alfred Hitchcock's classic nature-run-amok film The Birds over two years ago. Though little progress has been tracked since then, the bulk of that time span found Casino Royale and Goldeneye director Martin Campbell the main name attached to the helm. And while one could have assumed the lack of visible progress meant the remake had idled at the studio, Pajiba is now reporting that's no longer the case.According to their source, The Birds is once again looking to get off the ground, only without Campbell in the pilot's seat. They're told that Dennis Iliades is being courted to take over, a move that should divide fans of the original film. On the one hand, Campbell's experience with grand set pieces would have been a snug fit for a movie that requires as much as adventure as it does beak-pecking horror. On the other, Iliades delivery of The Last House on the Left update earlier this year was, I felt, one of the better horror remakes of the last couple years and announced the arrival of a keen new eye for horror.
Charles Shyer to Direct Chick Buddy Flick 'BFF'
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Baby Boom and Alfie (2004) director Charles Shyer has signed on to direct a chick flick. Shyer will be behind the lens for the tale of two best friends (BFF, for the acronym-challenged, means best friends forever in girlspeak) who have reunited as adults, only to find one is a country mouse and one is a well-heeled city gal. The script was originally written by Vanessa Parise and Robin Dunne and is now being rewritten by Ellen Greenberg and Hallie Shyer, who is currently co-writing the screenplay for Eloise in Paris along with Charles Shyer, who will also direct. It's hard not to wonder why Greenberg and Shyer are rewriting an original script -- too many cooks in the kitchen, etc. -- but let's give them the benefit of the doubt.As we all know, reuniting with old friends usually brings a host of problems with it -- especially old rivalries. Will BFF follow the typical formula of jealousy and catfights like the shrill Bride Wars, or will we get something fun like Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, a guilty pleasure film wherein the BFFs don't reunite but go back to their high school reunion and show those folks what's up?
On a related tip, one totally underseen, direct-to-DVD chick buddy flick is Spring Breakdown, starring Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, and Rachel Dratch. Have you rented it? What's your favorite girly buddy movie?
Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Voices an Animated Character: Jack Frost
Filed under: Animation, Casting, Family Films, Dreamworks, Images
It's hard to believe that after so many years being one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, Leonardo DiCaprio had never lent his voice for an animated film. Alas, in these times where studios still think A-list names sell tickets, even when you can't see their pretty faces, it was only a matter of time before Leo went before the microphone to speak for a cartoon character. He'll be heard as the voice of Jack Frost in DreamWorks Animation's The Guardians, based on the upcoming series of books by children's author William Joyce (A Day with Wilbur Robinson, source of Meet the Robinsons). The computer-animated film will be directed by Peter Ramsey, whose only known credit is the recent Monsters vs. Aliens DVD spin-off Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space. Interestingly enough, The Guardians is also somewhat holiday-related. In addition to Jack Frost, characters include Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, as well as the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman. The plot follows the heroes as they band together to battle the Bogeyman. Why Cupid, Baby New Year and Punxatawney Phil didn't join the group is unclear, but they all seem like weaklings in most depictions, so their reputations may have been a factor.
2009 to Set New All-Time Record at Box Office?
Filed under: Box Office
It's news like this that casts doubt on Hollywood's soapbox crusade against piracy: Variety is reporting that even with a few key weeks still to go, the cumulative box office haul for 2009 has been a gobsmacking $9.48 billion, a number I'd also like to write in full so as to appreciate how many zeroes are involved: $9,480,000,000.00. That figure is only $175 million below the historical high, too, which means that come the release of Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squekuell, and a certain movie called Avatar that absolutely no one is paying attention to, 2009 should be resetting the record.
Say what you will about the languishing lack of creativity in Hollywood, but that number is impressive; particularly so considering the rest of the world is suffering the crushing effects of the dreaded recession. Appropriate enough, though, it is this very same suffering that has, most likely, been the fuel for the (soon to be) groundbreaking number. Though ticket prices have been rising in years, going to the movies is comparatively more affordable than most other sources of family entertainment, making a trip to the theater a welcome does of mental Novocaine during tough times.
And it's not only the premium price of 3D and IMAX tickets that has buoyed the movie industry's collective balance sheets, as total admissions are also up 3% over the rates seen in 2008. I for one know that I've made considerably more trips to the theater in 2009 than I did in 2008, but that's largely thanks to a move from Northern Virginia to Austin, Texas, home of the legendary Alamo Drafthouse. But what about you? Are you part of that 3% statistic that has been stockpiling on ticket stubs or have your movie-going habits remained unaffected by the economy at large?
Discuss: Should Gay Actors Stay in the Closet?
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy
A few days before Meredith Baxter (the mom from Family Ties) came out of the closet, the always-outspoken Rupert Everett had some choice words for gay actors: get comfy in the closet. Coincidentally, Everett's new movie St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold, has him playing Camilla Fritton, an eccentric headmistress who looks like a cross between the Queen Mum and Madame the puppet. In the previous St. Trinians, which I couldn't sit through, he also played her brother, Carnaby. The openly gay actor blames coming out of the closet for the state of his career, telling The Guardian, "The fact is that you could not be, and still cannot be, a 25-year-old homosexual trying to make it in the British film business or the American film business or even the Italian film business. It just doesn't work and you're going to hit a brick wall at some point. You're going to manage to make it roll for a certain amount of time, but at the first sign of failure they'll cut you right off. And I'm sick of saying, 'Yes, it's probably my own fault.' Because I've always tried to make it work and when it stops working somewhere, I try to make it work somewhere else. But the fact of the matter is, and I don't care who disagrees, it doesn't work if you're gay." (I really recommend reading the whole interview; it's very interesting.)
I'm a heterosexual woman who's also not an actor and can't speak to the true experience of being a gay man in the film industry. I first saw Everett in Cemetery Man and was later somewhat disappointed to find out the handsome star was gay, but I was more turned off by his later choice of roles than anything else. I know I am the minority when it comes to my reaction, unfortunately.
Sundance '10 Announces Non-Competing Film Premieres
Filed under: Sundance, Newsstand
Sundance is a celebration of independent filmmaking, but half the fun is seeing the premieres of larger films that might not come out for months, or years in some cases. In fact, the non-industry people who attend Sundance every year might not be able to tell you what documentary won the Grand Jury prize last year (it was Ondi Timoner's We Live In Public), but they're always able to tell you when they saw "that new George Clooney movie."
With that in mind, Sundance has announced the premieres that are screening out of competition. You can see a full list, complete with synopsis and cast listing for each film, just beyond the break. There's a few standouts so far, and I'd have to say my most eagerly anticipated is The Company Men, where Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and others have to survive corporate downsizing. There are a few films that sound potentially painful, including Buried, where Ryan Reynolds plays a contractor in Iraq who finds himself buried alive with only a lighter and a cell phone.
However, our real money is on Splice, a Park City at Midnight premiere, which are usually quirky comedies or horror movies. "Clive and Elsa 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." Excellent! Plus it's directed by Vincenzo Natali, who also helmed the terrific Cube, and stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley.
Check out the full list just beyond the break, where you'll see that Catherine Keener and John C. Reilly are appearing in two movies apiece at Sundance, thereby making them eligible for the Parker Posey award.
Is Warren Beatty Working on a 'Dick Tracy' Documentary?
Filed under: Documentary, Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Actor/director Warren Beatty's long legal battle with Tribune Company over the rights to the character Dick Tracy revealed an interesting kernel of information on what might be Beatty's next film project -- a documentary on the comic strip detective. Tribune Co. tried to claim the Dick Tracy rights as an asset in a recent bankruptcy hearing, but Beatty holds the rights to the character as long as he makes "productive use" of the property. It's a sweet deal for Beatty and an absolute nightmare for Tribune Co., as the wording of the agreement doesn't seem to put any time table on when the agreement expires.
This isn't the first time Tribune has tried to wrest control of their character from Beatty. in 2005, Beatty announced that he was interested in pursuing a Dick Tracy sequel/reboot/remake/cash grab with the apparent intention of getting Tribune off his back over the rights. It's been almost five years since that announcement, and obviously it hasn't happened yet, however it doesn't seem to be stopping Beatty from making up new, seemingly off-the-cuff Dick Tracy projects to thwart Tribune's demands.
'The 40 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It' is Sadly Real and Has a Trailer
Filed under: Comedy, 20th Century Fox, Trailers and Clips
When I came across the title The 40 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It on IMDb my brain shut down and went into an automated fear response of rapid Googling to confirm whether or not it was some kind of hoax. It is not. This is a full-on, feature length, distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, motion picture (thank the comedy Gods it isn't getting a theatrical release). And though you'd rightfully expect that this is a stepchild of the same team who put together cash-in spoofs like Meet the Spartans and both Epic and Disaster Movies, The 40 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It has nothing to do with either Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, which means that we can now add a third name to the list of the horsemen of the apocalypse: Craig Moss.
Moss' sole credit to date is the 8-minute short film Saving Ryan's Privates, which I always thought was a joke title and not something someone had actually brought into the world. It stars Bryan Callen as the Steve Carrell surrogate who gets Mircea Monroe pregnant while proceeding to re-enact every major event from the most notable films to come out of the Judd Apatow camp. And while I would absolutely love to keep going on and on and on about this wonderful, unique cinematic angel on our horizon, I think I'll just let the trailer speak for itself.
Note: Cinematical is not responsible for the severe ocular strain you'll soon endure from an unprecedented amount of eye rolling.
Discuss: Should Gay Actors Stay in the Closet?
Sundance '10 Announces Non-Competing Film Premieres
'Up in the Air' Named Best Film of the Year by NBR
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The International 'Iron Man 2' Poster Subtracts a Suit
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