Peliculeando: ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘Priest 3D’ & Blurays!
05.13.2011 | By Jack Rico |
05.12.2011 | By Jack Rico |
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The modern romantic comedy ‘No Strings Attached‘ starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman is surprisingly not as bad as I expected. The film benefits from an interesting premise, good chemistry between the stars and appealing situations that will easily engage romantic couples looking for a fun time at theater.
The plot centers on Adam and Emma (Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman), childhood friends who try to maintain a strictly sexual relationship, but it’s not long before they both discover that love is impossible to resist.
The romantic comedies of today, a.k.a rom-coms, tend to be very formulaic, predictable and unoriginal, but this one, because of its R rating, takes advantage of it by being mischievous. Of course, you’ll experience all the typical ploy devices inserted into these movies such as the irritating best friends, the poppy soundtrack, and of course, the ultimate declarations of love at the end of the movie. Nevertheless, the film aims to reach adults, in particular those who have been through experiences like this at some point in their lives. The movie has shades of the recent ‘Love and Other Drugs’ (Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway), whose plot also involved a woman who just wanted a purely sexual relationship. Her reasons were different and legitimate as opposed to Portman’s character. The tone was also more dramatic and not as playful as this.
Much of the upbeat tone of ‘Attached’ comes from the cerebral dallyings of screenwriter Elizabeth Meriwether, who has built a real and authentic narrative that reflects the times we live in today – an ode to a sexual revolution that has become part of the natural order of things. The dialogue is another matter. Phrases like, “I’m warning you… if you come closer one more step, I might never let you go”, sound like scratching nails on a chalkboard. To be frank, no right-minded man would dare say something like that in real life because he runs the risk that the woman who hears it will throw up on him. Defects like these run rampant in every rom-com, but here you get over it because Portman’s and Kutcher’s charm is irresistible.
Portman, a soon to be Best Actress winner at this year’s Oscar for Black Swan, is exploring a new genre with great results. She plays a sexy, beautiful, confident woman who is not shy in proving she has a fun side to her. Mix that in with her dramatic strengths and you have an actress who won’t keep on embarrassing the genre any further. Do not be surprised if we see her in more romantic comedies in the not too distant future. Kutcher on the other hand, is overshadowed by Portman’s screen presence and skill. Even though he looks the part perfectly, his limited acting range fails him time and time again in the climactic moments of the finale.
The director Ivan Reitman, creator of such classic films as Ghostbusters, Stripes, and Twins, in this instance chooses to leave vulgar comedy to the side and focus on the psychology of the principle relationship. As a result, the film feels adult and less silly.
‘No Strings Attached’ is not compelling as ‘When Harry Met Sally‘ or as savvy as ‘500 Days of Summer,’ but it achieves its objective of being a pleasant diversion for a couples night out at the movies.
05.10.2011 | By Karen Posada |
ShowBizCafe.com was very excited to get invited to Grand Rapids, Michigan back in September 2010, where we spent a chunk of the nighttime in a scrap yard seeing the cast of ’30 Minutes or Less’ film a couple of pretty neat scenes. A few of us film junkies were picked up at our hotel by 7pm the day we arrived and were taken to a secret location to see Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson, Michael Peña and Dilshad Vadsaria making the movie directed by Ruben Fleischer with Ben Stiller as an executive producer.
The action/comedy is set to come out in theaters on August 12, 2011. The plot: Nick (Eisenberg) a pizza delivery guy who has no real goals set for himself in life is forced to get himself together when two small time robbers (McBride & Swardson) make him rob a bank; making Nick realize how much life has to offer. Chet (Ansari) his best friend comically helps him along the way and the final push is given when the love of his life (Vadsaira) is put at risk, in the meantime, Peña is given a task to accomplish from the bad guys themselves. This is a dream team, with Eisenberg’s silly/serious comedy skits, McBride & Swardson’s jokes bouncing from one to the other, Ansari & Peña’s nonchalant crazy behavior and Vadsaria’s beauty this is set to be a good laugh out loud comedy with bits of good action.
When we arrived on the set we walked to the scrap yard where we got to see the main character, Nick, struggling to keep his cool as a bomb attached to him is about to explode and he’s trying to get the main lady to safety (since she plays the damsel in distress). We hear the bad guys who are dressed in monkey suits (to avoid getting recognized) screaming, cursing and making jokes as poor Nick tries to man up to the situation. Fleischer takes various shots of this scene, from different angles, distances and even let’s the actors play with their own lines to make their own script as they ease into character. In another scene we see a struggle between the bad guys dressed in monkey suits and Michael Peña. It was a cool, clear summer night and the lights on the set cast beautiful shadows off of the mountains of scrap metal set around the lot; there’s even some fake metal deer, computers and funky machinery. We were quiet on set and could see from the camera and a TV set up close to us how the scene plays out. Vadsaira’s screams are loud as are the laughs of McBride & Swardson (the bad guys), Eisenberg’s character breathes nervously and tries to find the right words as cool sweat fills his forehead. We got to interview the entire cast along with the director and the props, visual effects, stunt coordinator and special effects guys. After a great buffet dinner we got to see the coolest thing of all, a flame thrower getting used! It was the first time it was being used on set by Swardson, you must have been able to see that thing from space; that’s how big the flame was.
Here’s some of the stuff the cast & director got to tell us:
Jesse Eisenberg‘s character is closer to what he was in “Zombieland” than on the “Facebook movie”, although here he looks more grown up and mature. Eisenberg cautiously and kindly approached us as we bombarded him with questions late in the night.
ShowBizCafe (SBC): What was it like working with Ruben(director) once again and how was it compared to Zombieland?
Jesse Eisenberg (JE): It was great! Ruben has a great kind of sense of how to create a comedic movie and not compromise the characters and he does that really well. I mean the tone of the movie is a little bit different from Zombieland since this is set in more of a real world context, in that movie for my character was more heightened comedy, here my character is pretty straightforward. The comedy in this is a little less winking to the audience, Zombieland constantly was playing on the absurdity of the real characters whereas this movie is genuinely scary in a real way. The stakes in this movie are legitimately high and the character, at least Aziz and my character are real world characters.
SBC: can you tell us about the toughest scene to make and about the love story in this film?
JE: Every scene kind of has some challenge logistically. I’m wearing this bomb throughout the whole movie, but as I said, the movie kind of takes place in this very real world setting, so it’s occasionally been challenging because there’s so much action and there’s also so many things that are comedic elements in the movie but it’s my job to kind of maintain the emotional honesty. At the risk of being pretentious, that’s my job, so that’s occasionally challenging. The love part, I’ve been in love with my best friend’s twin sister; I’ve spent the last several years not doing anything important in my life and never taking control of my life so one of the things that the bomb does is allow me to…
SBC: What do you have coming up after this movie?
JE: I’m not sure. I have a lot of publicity engagements(for the Facebook movie, which was coming out then) which last until like October and then I’m trying to do a play in New York City. I write stage plays.
The director, Ruben Fleischer, made sure to give us a full run down on what we were seeing, showing us pictures and sketches of the scenes and explaining to us how certain things work; such as the flame thrower and car chases. He also spoke about the freedom he gives actors with their lines and their characters.
SBC: How much liberty do you give the actors and how are you able to control that at a certain point?
RF: We work together,
SBC: Besides the entertainment factor, would you like the audience to get something else out o the film?
RF: The theme of the movie is: Jesse plays this pizza delivery guy who just sits on his couch and has let life pass him by, he’s kind of never really done anything and when he’s faced with the circumstances of the bomb he’s forced to prioritize. He essentially has one day to live, so it forces him to get off his ass and do something and also to tell the girl he’s always loved how he feel and finally to be real with his best friend about some sh*t he’s never talked about.
Danny McBride and Nick Swardson make up a necessary component of the film. They seemed to also have formed a tight friendship outside of the film as we interview the two together behind the cameras and they continued to finish each other’s jokes.
SBC: What kind of bad guys are you?
NS: We are almost like dumb and dumber bad guys, we’re not pure evil. We are just bored and don’t know what to do with our lives.
DM: I don’t know, we are motherf*&*ers in this thing. We’re making some bad choices but we have goals and ambitions, you know. Maybe people will root for us, we wanna change the world; we want to create the first tanning salon where guys get…
SBC: Talk to us a little about your improv skits and freedom.
NS: well they let us improvise a lot, we definitely got the scripts as much as we could but we were given free reign to add stuff and whatever. We have to stay in check though, it’s bad because when I look at Danny and when I look at Jesse, and Jesse cracks up and it’s just like I’m susceptible to it.
DM: The cool thing about working with Nick is he isn’t like one of the improvisers, you are just doing like stand up comedy in the scene. We never take it too far off the page, the scene is always what it’s about and we’ll just try to come up with different ways to spit the jokes out.
NS: Yeah, you don’t’ want to be self-indulgent. You want to make sure to stay in character, it’s not just us doing fart jokes in the middle of a drive-by shooting.
DM: That’s not to say that there aren’t.
NS: There are. But, it’s in the context (laughs)
SBC: What brought you to this project and what projects do you guys have coming up? Danny you have a noir detective movie with Jody Hill, when’s that coming out?
DM: For me it just seemed like a cool project and I liked everyone involved so you just kind of make time for the things you want to do. You know Diliberti and Sullivan, the same guys who wrote L.A.P.I., it’s kind of a throwback to movies like The Long Goodbye and Chinatown, yeah it’s a noir/comedy, Jody and I are both very tired. We’ve had long years. I don’t know what the booking is, but it probably won’t be until next year.
NS: My reason for this project was perfect timing, I just finished a romantic comedy in June so it was perfect timing to jump into something completely different. I have a show coming out in October, a sketch show; so it was a perfect window before doing press for that. The sketch is called Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time, it will be on Comedy Central; just more filth in the airwaves.
We also caught up with the co-star Aziz Ansari; so we continued on with the comedic strike as he spoke to us as he spoke us about his character in this film along with some of his more known characters.
SBC: Tell us about your character in this film and about some of the action you got to be a part of.
AA: Well my character is just a guy whose best friend is given this impossible situation and they have a rough time in the begging because he confessed to being in love with his twin sister and they are forced into this situation when they are robbing a bank together.
SBC: What are some of your favorite movies?
AA: When I was growing up my favorites, the ones that I watched all the time, I mean I watched comedies and stuff but the movies I watched all the time were Die Hard and Terminator 2, like the classic 80’s, 90’s action movies. In this movie there is a thing where these guys like Lethal Weapon a lot…so i brought that out in my personality, so I was like this guy must really be into action movies like Point Break and Terminator 2 and Die hard, like those are his favorite movies.
SBC: We heard you are working on writing with Danny, can you tell us about that and about the Randy movie?
AA:
Finally, we got to ask Michael Peña on his take on the movie and on his character.
SBC: What’s your character like?
MP: He’s a professional assassin, or at least he thinks he is. Along the movie though it is proven he’s not. a little bit like someone I know from Chicago who’s always in and out of the pen and he loves Scarface, the Good fellas and the Godfather he always talks like them and is always quoting them. He has a partner who is a stripper, she’s the one that basically sets me up with the other bad guys and we have a romantic scene.
SBC: How have you balanced the comedy and action in the film?
MP: It’s been interesting to me, because when I did Observe and report, like you knew you were doing the comedy and I was kind of the bad guy for that, this one is interesting because you have to do a little bit of drama…some of the scenes are more like drama the other ones you can
After a long night on set we were greeted off by the viewing of the flame thrower and left the cast to continue working into the wee hours of the morning. We had a chance to explore Grand Rapids the next day and even got to sneak into one of the museums across our hotel. This set visit gave us a pretty intimate look into the making of this film as well as the people involved in it. It definitely has all the ingredients to entertain with it’s action and comedy, we look forward to seeing the outcome.
05.9.2011 | By Jack Rico |
New York, NY (May 3, 2011) – Nominations in 26 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing’s 65th Annual Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards® were announced today by Tony Award winning actor Matthew Broderick and Tony Award winning actress Anika Noni Rose, at the Tony Award Nominations Announcement sponsored by IBM. The nominees were selected by an independent committee of 22 theatre professionals appointed by the Tony Awards Administration Committee. The 2011 Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. (The list of nominations follows.)
Marking 65 years of excellence on Broadway, The Tony Awards will be broadcast live from the Beacon Theatre on CBS, Sunday, June 12th, 8:00 – 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT time delay).
Legitimate theatrical productions opening in any of the 40 eligible Broadway theatres during the current season may be considered for Tony nominations. The 2010/2011 eligibility season began April 30, 2010 and ended April 28, 2011. The Tony Awards will be voted in 26 competitive categories by 824 members of the theatrical community.
As previously announced, the 2011 Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement will be presented to playwright Athol Fugard and Philip J. Smith, Chairman of the Shubert Organization. The Isabelle Stevenson Award will be presented V-Day founder and artistic director, Eve Ensler. The 2011 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre will be presented to William Berloni, The Drama Book Shop and Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.
The Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards are bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement. The Tony is one of the most coveted awards in the entertainment industry and the annual telecast is considered one of the most prestigious programs on television.
Nominations for the 2011 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards®
Presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing
Best Play
Good People
Author: David Lindsay-Abaire
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove
Jerusalem
Author: Jez Butterworth
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Royal Court Theatre Productions, Beverly Bartner/Alice Tulchin, Dede Harris/Rupert Gavin, Broadway Across America, Jon B. Platt, 1001 Nights/Stephanie P. McClelland, Carole L. Haber/Richard Willis, Jacki Barlia Florin/Adam Blanshay
The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Author: Stephen Adly Guirgis
Producers: Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Public Theater Productions, Oskar Eustis, Joey Parnes, Labyrinth Theater Company, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mimi O’Donnell, Yul Vázquez, Danny Feldman, Fabula Media Partners LLC, Jean Doumanian, Ruth Hendel, Carl Moellenberg, Jon B. Platt, Tulchin Bartner/Jamie deRoy
War Horse
Author: Nick Stafford
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, National Theatre of Great Britain, Nicholas Hytner, Nick Starr, Bob Boyett, War Horse LP
Best Musical
The Book of Mormon
Producers: Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Scott M. Delman, Jean Doumanian, Roy Furman, Important Musicals LLC, Stephanie P. McClelland, Kevin Morris, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson
Catch Me If You Can
Producers: Margo Lion, Hal Luftig, Stacey Mindich, Yasuhiro Kawana, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, The Rialto Group, The Araca Group, Michael Watt, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Pittsburgh CLO, Elizabeth Williams, Johnny Roscoe Productions/Van Dean, Fakston Productions/Solshay Productions, Patty Baker/Richard Winkler, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Warren Trepp, Remmel T. Dickinson, Paula Herold/Kate Lear, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jamie deRoy, Barry Feirstein, Rainerio J. Reyes, Rodney Rigby, Loraine Boyle, Amuse Inc., Joseph & Matthew Deitch/Cathy Chernoff, Joan Stein/Jon Murray, The 5th Avenue Theatre
The Scottsboro Boys
Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler, Jacki Barlia Florin, Janet Pailet/Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Nederlander Presentations, Inc./The Shubert Organization, Beechwood Entertainment, Broadway Across America, Mark Zimmerman, Adam Blanshay/R2D2 Productions, Rick Danzansky/Barry Tatelman, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Allen Spivak/Jerry Frankel, Bard Theatricals/Probo Productions/Randy Donaldson, Catherine Schreiber/Michael Palitz/Patti Laskawy, Vineyard Theatre
Sister Act
Producers: Whoopi Goldberg & Stage Entertainment, The Shubert Organization and Disney Theatrical Productions
Best Book of a Musical
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Alex Timbers
The Book of Mormon
Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone
The Scottsboro Boys
David Thompson
Sister Act
Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Book of Mormon
Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone
The Scottsboro Boys
Music & Lyrics: John Kander and Fred Ebb
Sister Act
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Glenn Slater
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
Best Revival of a Play
Arcadia
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Roger Berlind, Stephanie P. McClelland, Scott M. Delman, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Disney Theatrical Group, Robert G. Bartner, Olympus Theatricals, Douglas Smith, Janine Safer Whitney
The Importance of Being Earnest
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy
The Merchant of Venice
Producers: The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Andrew D. Hamingson, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Debbie Bisno & Eva Price, Amy Nederlander, Jonathan First, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Merritt Forrest Baer, The Araca Group, Broadway Across America, Joseph & Matthew Deitch, JK Productions, Terry Allen Kramer, Cathy Chernoff/Jay & Cindy Gutterman, Mallory Factor/Cheryl Lachowicz, Joey Parnes, The Shubert Organization
The Normal Heart
Producers: Daryl Roth, Paul Boskind, Martian Entertainment, Gregory Rae, Jayne Baron Sherman/Alexander Fraser
Best Revival of a Musical
Anything Goes
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Producers: Broadway Across America, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Joseph Smith, Michael McCabe, Candy Spelling, Takonkiet Viravan/Scenario Thailand, Hilary A. Williams, Jen Namoff/Fakston Productions, Two Left Feet Productions/Power Arts, Hop Theatricals, LLC/Paul Chau/Daniel Frishwasser/Michael Jackowitz, Michael Speyer-Bernie Abrams/Jacki Barlia Florin-Adam Blanshay/Arlene Scanlan/TBS Service
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest
Bobby Cannavale, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday
Frances McDormand, Good People
Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy
Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Joshua Henry, The Scottsboro Boys
Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon
Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Beth Leavel, Baby It’s You!
Patina Miller, Sister Act
Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Mackenzie Crook, Jerusalem
Billy Crudup, Arcadia
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart
Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Yul Vázquez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart
Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves
Judith Light, Lombardi
Joanna Lumley, La Bête
Elizabeth Rodriguez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Colman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys
Adam Godley, Anything Goes
John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Forrest McClendon, The Scottsboro Boys
Rory O’Malley, The Book of Mormon
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Tammy Blanchard, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Victoria Clark, Sister Act
Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon
Patti LuPone, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Todd Rosenthal, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Rae Smith, War Horse
Ultz, Jerusalem
Mark Wendland, The Merchant of Venice
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt, The Scottsboro Boys
Derek McLane, Anything Goes
Scott Pask, The Book of Mormon
Donyale Werle, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jess Goldstein, The Merchant of Venice
Desmond Heeley, The Importance of Being Earnest
Mark Thompson, La Bête
Catherine Zuber, Born Yesterday
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Martin Pakledinaz, Anything Goes
Ann Roth, The Book of Mormon
Catherine Zuber, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, War Horse
David Lander, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Kenneth Posner, The Merchant of Venice
Mimi Jordan Sherin, Jerusalem
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, The Scottsboro Boys
Howell Binkley, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Peter Kaczorowski, Anything Goes
Brian MacDevitt, The Book of Mormon
Best Sound Design of a Play
Acme Sound Partners & Cricket S. Myers, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Simon Baker, Brief Encounter
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Jerusalem
Christopher Shutt, War Horse
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Peter Hylenski, The Scottsboro Boys
Steve Canyon Kennedy, Catch Me If You Can
Brian Ronan, Anything Goes
Brian Ronan, The Book of Mormon
Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse
Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart
Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Daniel Sullivan, The Merchant of Venice
Best Direction of a Musical
Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys
Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys
Best Orchestrations
Doug Besterman, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Larry Hochman, The Scottsboro Boys
Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon
Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank, Catch Me If You Can
Tony Nominations by Production
The Book of Mormon – 14
The Scottsboro Boys – 12
Anything Goes – 9
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – 8
The Merchant of Venice – 7
Jerusalem – 6
The Motherf**ker with the Hat – 6
The Normal Heart – 5
Sister Act – 5
War Horse – 5
Catch Me If You Can – 4
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo – 3
The Importance of Being Earnest – 3
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – 3
Arcadia – 2
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson – 2
Born Yesterday – 2
Brief Encounter – 2
Good People – 2
La Bête – 2
Priscilla Queen of the Desert – 2
Baby It’s You! – 1
Driving Miss Daisy – 1
The House of Blue Leaves – 1
Lombardi – 1
The People in the Picture – 1
www.TonyAwards.com
05.6.2011 | By Jack Rico |
The “1-4-0″: ‘Last Night’ explores temptation from the female and male perspectives. Which one will give and the questions that surround it in is what this film centers on.
The Gist: Infidelity. Can people really be faithful to one another no matter how in love they are? This is the topic director Massy Tadjedin explores in an authentic, intimate, emotionally charged depiction of love in New York City. During an evening apart, married couple Joanna and Michael encounter tempting opportunities to cheat on each other: Michael spends time on a business trip with his sexy colleague, Laura, while Joanna crosses paths with a former flame, Alex.
What Works: I really enjoyed this film. ‘Last Night’ is a realistic look at what happens to people when sexual temptation is presented to them front and center. What most pulled me in was how director Tadjedin delved deep into the struggles of infidelity. The performances are modest here, but great casting choice in Eva Mendes who was perfect as Washington’s seductive paramour. This is an eye opener, one that shows how much pain and anguish one goes through when feelings of unfaithfulness begin to take hold. You stick around intensely engaged to see how the whole thing will it end. Will they cheat on each other, will you as a viewer lose faith in your own relationship because of it? The storyline is relatable, the outcome is unexpected, just like in real life.
What Doesn’t Work: If you’re not used to intensive dialogue, even one as interesting as this one, then you shouldn’t watch this film. It’s for people who enjoy cinema that cates to real issues that people can identify and connect with.
Pay or Nay? Pay. Keira Knightley is becoming good at acting in these indie romance NYC films that focus on women in search for love in the big city. The movie serves up a good dose of raw emotion and tension in the form of temptation. It’s a wonderful date movie, one which will perhaps spark many questions about your own relationship.
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05.6.2011 | By Jack Rico |
‘Thor,’ the first Marvel superhero film of the year, debuts this weekend to high expectations from cinephiles to film executives. This film adaptation is faithful to the mythology of the comic book hero, has a well blend of humor and drama, is visually stunning, but stumbles through the end, and although it recovers, it does not manage to have a place in the pantheon of superhero classics such as ‘Superman II’ and ‘The Dark Knight.’ However, the film, mostly, is great popcorn fun and is worth spending the money to see, especially in IMAX 3D. Read More
05.3.2011 | By Jack Rico |
‘From Prada to Nada’ marks a special occasion in film history since its release signals the coming of a new type of cinema into the Hollywood landscape – Hispanic American films for the US Hispanic. Pantelion, a new movie studio joint venture between Lionsgate and Mexico’s powerful Group Televisa, is the first major Latino Hollywood studio to enter into the foray of the $9 billion dollar box office US film industry. It’s purpose is to create culturally relevant Hispanic motion pictures, in English and Spanish, that include top-rated Latino actors, directors and writers. But it seems that this mission statement was only half met on their first cinematic effort.
‘From Prada to Nada’ is a modern twist on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. It’s a riches to rags story of two spoiled sisters: Nora (Camilla Belle), a law student, and Mary (Alexa Vega), an undergrad party girl, living with their father in a luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills. Mary has become so “90210” she refuses to admit she is of Mexican descent. When dad suddenly passes away, their posh lives are turned upside down. They discover they have been left penniless and are forced to move into their estranged aunt Aurelia’s (Adriana Barraza) modest but lively home in the Latino-centric Boyle Heights neighborhood of East LA. They are terrified to leave their world of privilege, and terrified of their new thug neighbor with a heart of gold played by Wilmer Valderrama; neither Nora nor Mary speak Spanish or have ever had to take on actual responsibility. The girls gradually adapt to their new environment; their BMW and Prius are traded for the public bus and a used car. As they embrace the culture that for so long they refused to accept, they both discover the true meaning of their Mexican heritage and romance along the way.
Though it might not seem it at a glance, ‘Prada’ is carrying around a tremendous amount of responsibility and pressure to deliver a good film. Why? In part because historically, US Latino films have underwhelmed, disappointed and failed to meet the expectations of a hungry Hispanic moviegoing demographic, along with its press compeers. It seems that almost all Latino oriented films made never improve, better or advance the current state of Latino cinema in this country. Therefore, Hollywood producers take less risks in investing in movies that adhere to the culture, unless its obscenely stereotypical like Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
Hispanic American movies made in the United States live in a type of limbo where it’s not gritty, political, or intriguing enough to attract critical attention, as its South American counterparts do, nor do their production values rival its Hollywood peers.
Even though it’s not as embarrassing as the disgraceful ‘Chasing Papi’, it doesn’t deliver anything that can make you feel proud of the future of Latinos in Hollywood. I must confess that Alexa Vega is very good and better than a lot of actresses out there, period. She’s charming and pretty and delivers. Unfortunately she can’t carry this film all on her own.
‘From Prada to Nada’ is a DVD movie that should’ve gone directly to DVD and not via a theatrical release. You can see what I’m talking about at a Netflix near you.
05.2.2011 | By Mack Chico |
The action film ‘Fast Five‘ sped to the top of the box office this weekend, grossing $83.6 million in North America and raising movie studios’ hopes for a profitable summer after a lackluster spring.
The Fast and Furious saga just beat its own record in the United States. ‘Fast Five’ takes no less than $83.6 billion in its U.S. debut in theaters. The biggest success so far this year for any production in its first week.
“Fast Five“ also set a record as the best debut ever for a month in April, surpassing its predecessor “Fast and Furious 4“, which debuted with $71 million at the box office two years ago.
In second place is the second highest grossing film of 2011 “Rio“ with $39.2 million. “Rio“ slipped to No. 2 this weekend, with $14.4 million.
In third place was the comedy “Tyler Perry‘s Madea‘s Big Happy Family“, with $10.1 million.
Here are the 10 highest grossing films of this past weekend.
1. “Fast Five“, 83.6 million.
2. “Rio“, 14.4 million.
3. “Tyler Perry‘s Madea‘s Big Happy Family“, 10.1 million.
4. “Water for Elephants“, 9.1 million.
5. “Prom“, 5 million.
6. “Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil“, 4.1 million.
7. “Soul Surfer, “ 3.3 million.
8. “Insidious“, 2.7 million.
9. “Hop“, 2.6 million.
10. “Source Code“, 2.5 million.
04.26.2011 | By Mack Chico |
Mexican-born actress, Fernanda Romero, who had small scenes in “Drag Me To Hell” and “The Eye,” and who will next be seen in Mun2’s new ‘Fast Five’ television Spanglish show ‘RPM Miami,’ is accused of entering a sham marriage to remain in the United States. On Monday (April 25), U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ordered both Romero and American musician Kent Ross to spend 30 days behind bars. She and her husband will serve the sentence on weekends.
In January, the Drag Me To Hell star pleaded guilty to making a false statement to authorities investigating her fraudulent marriage.
Federal prosecutors presented evidence that the couple didn’t live together as they stated on immigration forms, and essentially lived separate lives.
Romero, is best known in Mexico for a soap opera called “Eternamente Tuya.”
04.22.2011 | By Jack Rico |
‘Water for Elephants’ is one of the most beautiful films you’ll see this year. With the help of one of the greatest Mexican cinematographers in Rodrigo Prieto, director Francis Lawrence who helmed ‘I Am Legend’ and ‘Constantine,’ gives us a visually beautiful, colorful picture full of vibrancy and panache with love at its core. This is the theme that traverses the story at every level. You see it subtly, passionately, and in complex ways. A mixed bag of everything. Unfortunately, you need real chemistry to pull this off, not a modicum. ‘Water for Elephants’ has its great moments but it also possesses some mediocre mush that weighs it down. It is ultimately a fine film, but because it could’ve been perfect, it is measured at a different scale. The criticisms here are not of the negative kind, but would like them to be viewed as constructive, a ‘what could have been better’ analysis of the events.
The film, in essence, is the circus story version of 1997’s Titanic. It follows almost the same exact plot structure: old man narrates his story of a tragic event in the form of flashbacks when he was young, his romance with a woman that was out of his reach, and the memory of the tragedy that our narrator has never been able to forget. Robert Pattinson is Leonardo DiCaprio and Reese Witherspoon is Kate Winslet’s character, with a circus ambience. This structure is very successful, but I have already seen it and have seen it done better. I don’t think it’s nonsensical to say that many who watch the movie will feel like they’ve seen it before. It’ll be an involuntary and subconscious reaction, but one that will affect the viewer’s judgement of it.
Based on the book by Sara Gruen, ‘Water for Elephants’ swirls around the life of a veterinary student from the wrong side of the tracks, Jacob (Robert Pattinson), who meets and falls in love with Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), a star performer in a circus of a bygone era. They discover beauty amidst the world of the Big Top, and come together through their compassion for an elephant named Rosie. Both are faced with the challenge of her charismatic and dangerous husband August (Christopher Waltz), who seeks to keep his matrimony and the circus alive no matter the consequences.
Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson’s individual work here is the best I’ve seen him do. He’s photogenic, charming and definitely has the magic to attract a vast contingency of female cinephiles with that ‘aww shucks’ demeanor. Witherspoon is Witherspoon, nothing more, and Waltz channeled Col. Hans Landa. Very good, but again I’ve seen him perform this character better in Inglorious Basterds. I tip my hat and salute the performance of Hal Holbrook as the elderly Jacob. You almost choked up in most of the scenes he was in, especially at the end. There’s something to say about watching an elderly person be so fragile and vulnerable in a close up. It’s powerful stuff.
Pacing and dialogue play a big part in the reasons this film made one or more yawn a few times. The pace is at times uneven because the dialogue withers a bit in the middle and it felt slow and wearisome. It then picks back up only to wane again. It did this a few times until it moved consistently enough to engross you once and for all through the end. Lawrence should’ve cut some scenes and push the movie forward even if it risked cutting out his favorite scenes with Pattinson. During the fist hour I must’ve looked at my watch once or twice and a guy in the back let out a loud yawn. Is it entertaining? No, not in the Fast Five type of way, but it’s not supposed to. It is supposed to titillate my senses and crescendo into a rousing symphony of engagement for me. It never reached those heights, but it also didn’t ruin my experience. This is a delightful movie, not a preeminent one.
