Away We Link

<-- The Where the Wild Things Are poster has been wet pasted and squeegeed onto every surface on the net. So fuzzy! JA made me cackle with his take

Love. I want to go to the store, buy a copy of it, bring it home, lay it across my living-room floor, and hump it until there is nothing but tatters (of it and me both) left. Love.

I don't quite want to hump it BUT it does present a problem for me expectation-wise. How can I live in a world where this movie is anything less than a masterpiece? Uh-oh. Expectations too high too high too high. May the trailer be terrible so that I can find myself in a more reasonable pre-screening headspace.

LiNKs
FilmMaker a conversation with Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater. There's even a Madonna anecdote.
Cinevistaramascope a smart review of Milk, now on DVD.
Rope of Silicon first look at Jeunet's Micmacs a tire-larigot. (That's quite a mouthful).
Suburban Idealist a beautifully written piece on Greyhound, the economy and Forrest Gump on loop.
ModFab casting couch: who should play Thor?
Coming Soon cast coming together for Leap Year, Amy Adams first leading trek into regular RomCom land (Enchanted is too much of a hybrid to count) where all popular actresses eventually go to test their mettle and get sized up for that box office queen crown. Will it fit? That crown is more coveted better than any glass slipper. Who need princes when you can dozens of castles with your own paychecks?
Burbanked is wary of Sam Mendes but likes this Away We Go trailer...



I personally love how low-key it feels and I'm hoping that's reflected in the film because my biggest gripe about Sam Mendes work is how heavy with portent and planning it always feels.

We Can't Wait #15 Away We Go

Directed by Mr. Kate Winslet
Starring John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Catherine O'Hara, Josh Hamilton, Melanie Lynskey, Allison Janney and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Synopsis a young pregnant couple travel the US "in search of a place to put down roots"
Brought to you by Focus Features
Expected Release Date June 5th

Nathaniel: I put this on my list for the curiousity factor: Sam Mendes, lover of dramatic angst and crushing profundities (Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road, American Beauty, Jarhead) is doing a comedy. It might be just the thing to shake that monkey (let's call it "Oscar") off his back. He really needs to try something different, looser and funkier. I hope this is it.

JA: That list of names... those are like a thousand of my favorite things right there. I mean, Catherine O'Hara alone, but Janney, Rudolph, Gyllenhaal and Lynskey! Brain-freeze. If I were gonna play that game where one chooses who you'd like to have dinner with, five famous people, living or dead, well you wouldn't go very wrong with choosing these names.

So yeah, I could stand to be stuck in a car with these folks for a bit.

Whitney: I'm always a little scared of movies involving pregnancy. Not because of anything the movies do or don't do, but just because babies freak me the fuck out.

Fox: In the way that Nathaniel is a little bit scared of Drag Me To Hell, I'm pretty terrified to hear that Sam Mendes already has another film coming out after he made us ("me") suffer through Revolutionary Road. At least three years were allowed to pass between Jarhead and RR (same for the time in between Road to Perdition and Jarhead). So, Sam, how about taking your family on vacation for a while and canning this one until 2011, 'kay?

That cast, though... I'd like to see Krasinski and Rudolph in more big screen comedies.

Joe: I don't know what it is about Sam Mendes that keeps me loyal to him despite the fact that I'm not crazy-in-love with ANY of his movies. Like most people, American Beauty has faded in its esteem for me in recent years. Jarhead was good but (Santa hat "OPP" dance sequence notwithstanding) fell way short of expectations, and I outright hated Revolutionary Road. I did like Road to Perdition more than many people did, but it's not like I'm cuckoo bananas crazy for it or anything. And yet I'm always all "New Sam Mendes movie!" Maybe it's the Winslet fan in me.

How fun is this cast? a) extremely b) very c) quite d) yes

And it's a damn fine cast he's got here. I've heard rumblings that it's a dark comedy that might be a shade too dark (i.e. depressing) to let the laughs squeak out, but I remain hopeful. Particular with regard to the breakthrough potential for one Ms. Maya Rudolph, who I think is just so insanely talented. Here's your time to shine, lady!

Nathaniel: I hope she does. Road trip comedies can be divine. If it's as funny as Flirting With Disaster it's going to be a big smart highlight of 2009. And it better be since that's my birthday weekend!

In case you missed any entries they went like so...
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We Can't Wait:
#1 Inglourious Basterds, #2 Where the Wild Things Are, #3 Fantastic Mr. Fox,
#4 Avatar, #5 Bright Star, #6 Shutter Island, #7 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
#8 Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9 Nailed, #10 Taking Woodstock,
#11 Watchmen, #12 The Hurt Locker, #13 The Road, #14 The Tree of Life
#15 Away We Go, #16 500 Days of Summer, #17 Drag Me To Hell,
#18 Whatever Works, #19 Broken Embraces, #20 Nine (the musical)
intro (orphans -didn't make group list)
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