A steep box office drop off for Eat Pray Love (which opened well thanks to Julia Roberts and the memoir's popularity) or its generally blah reviews could easily kill it, but Richard Jenkins has a slam dunk Best Supporting Actor Type part, don't you think? Yeah, you know that category has its types.
For me though, the character I keep thinking about is Stephen (Billy Crudup). Crudup made a vivid impression in just a couple of scenes so I wrote him up for my "Best in Show" column at Tribeca Film. He's like a little boy whose heart Julia stomped on till it broke. So sad.
I have to start my spreadsheets for the 2010 Film Bitch Awards now lest I forget something (I've usually started them by now. Eeep). Are than any cameos or limited roles this year that wowed you that you want everyone else to love? If so, share them in the comments. (Here's who I went with last year in those "limited" categories.)
Speaking of men Julia Roberts may or may not have clobbered emotionally, apparently Eric (her older brother) and she have mended their previously tense relationship. The Daily Beast has an interview with Eric Roberts about his career and their relationship. Like his friend Mickey Rourke he isn't one to mince words and I love that in celebrities even if their handlers do not. He just flat out admits that he gave up chasing a certain kind of career after his Oscar loss.
When you hand in great performances in Star 80 and Runaway Train and the Oscar goes to Don Ameche, it kind of bums you out.
Brutal honesty plus shameless self regard. Love it! (To be fair he is just fantastic in Star 80 and should be proud of himself.) I also get bummed out about the Cocoon love. But if anyone but Ameche was going to win that particular Oscar, it would have been Klaus Maria Brandauer in Out of Africa. *
We try to keep our new movie expectations safely balanced by weighing the possible highs and lows suggested by new trailers. Here's the first peak of the summer drama Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts.
Eat Pray Love is based on the bestselling memoirs of Elizabeth Gilbert who travelled to Rome, Mumbai and Bali on a journey of self-discovery after her divorce.
yes Spiritual, romantic or emotional journeys (is this one all three?) can be thrilling to watch if the right actress is playing the right role (provided, of course, that the filmmakers aren't after one of those lame, shallow "you can have it all!" empowerment tales). Julia Roberts might be a perfect fit for this since she's got the outward appearance of someone who has it all but an inner soulfulness that can tilt towards the despairing, troubled or needy. The buttery light and the presence of Javier Bardem makes me think of Vicky Cristina Barcelona and the 'woman opens up in a foreign country' makes me think of EM Forster adaptations and the though of India touching a long-locked white woman makes me think of "Thank U" by Alanis Morrissette. These are all good things to be reminded of.
no On the other hand, this could be really whiny and insufferable, another entry in the dread genre Pretty Rich White People With Problems.
Since I was fifteen, I've either been with a guy or breaking up with a guy. I have not given myself two weeks of a breather just to deal with myself
So let me get this straight. As soon as Julia is done with dreamboat Billy Crudup, handsome young James Franco pines for her while Spanish lover Javier Bardem waits just around the corner. And she has enough money to quit work for a year on this vacation to find herself? Oh boo hoo! How does she wake up in the morning!?!
We should all have those problems.
This particular subgenre of road movie also has the inherent danger of cultural insensitivity. Quite often the "exotic" people and lands of these stories exist only to aid and fulfill the lives of the Pretty Rich White People and aren't ever given dimension and a point of view of their own (The Darjeeling Limited provides a recent beautifully illustrative example of this dilemma.)
maybe so But on the other hand, don't we need these stories? Catharsis is one of the great benefits of art and travel is also a reliable eye-opener. And no matter what country you're from when you do travel to another, you are in fact viewing that "exotic" land from your own limited perspective be it Mumbai, Paris, New York, or Kansas City. And even wealthy beautiful people need to find themselves and really live.
And Julia touches an elephant!
Redemptive journey movies can be inspirational if they're not too reductive and if they don't play things too easy. So if the director (Ryan Murphy of Running With Scissors) is careful and the cast (including fine lesser-known actors like Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis and Mary Testa) is on their game, Eat Pray Love could be really good. If it is, lines like
If you could clear out all that space in your mind you'd have a doorway. And you know what the universe would do? Rush in!
won't sound like new age tripe but healing words of wisdom instead.
Jose here with a confession: few things nowadays get me as happy as the idea of a new Julia Roberts movie (yes, I'm slightly easy to please sometimes). So you can imagine the excitement this month has provided for me! First was the cute, and star studded, trailer for Valentine's Day (what do you mean you haven't seen it? Do so now!).
And today the web is bursting with Julia in saris, flower necklaces and bodyguards as she begins shooting Eat, Pray, Love in the town of Mirzapur in northern India. The movie, directed by Ryan Murphy, is based on the eponymous novel by Elizabeth Gilbert and tells the story of a divorced woman who travels across the world to regain her inner peace.
But back to Julia, TheIndian Times reports
Wearing a purple kurta, black salwar and rudraksha beads, she completed her first day's shoot for a Hollywood film in Pataudi on Sunday (Sept 20), living up her role every bit! One scene had her eating rice, chapati, aloo-gobi and muttar-paneer the Indian way - with her bare hands.
She's just like the rest of us...
The Associated Press also commented on Mrs. Moder's Indian visit and how she was all the rage amongst the villagers of Mirzapur where young boys climbed trees and villagers crowded rooftops. Is it me being morbid or does this remind you of Slumdog Millionaire a bit?
Fortunately for Julia the film kicked off with the rightfully blessed foot as Indian priest Swami Dharam Dev offered prayers for the whole cast and crew. He also gave Julia's children the names of Indian gods [he] named her twins Hazel and Phinnaeus as Laxmi and Ganesh, while Henry will be called Krishna Balram.
The movie is set to open in 2011 and also stars Javier Bardem as the man she falls in love with, Billy Crudup as the man she was in love with, Viola Davis as yet another rom-com best friend and Richard Jenkins.
5:00 PMMickey Rourke (a lot more on him if you scroll down), Kerry Washington, Taraji P Henson, John Malkovich, Darren Aronofsky, Debra Winger, Rosemarie DeWitt... lots of famous faces flashing at us, some of them probably trying desperately not to think about the Oscars tomorrow. Ben Stiller is talking at us to introduce our host Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder, Hamlet 2). Why is it that I think Stiller is so funny when he's playing himself and not so funny in actual movie roles? Jokes about "most of us haven't seen these films"... why do I get so much flak for suggesting Hollywood types don't watch all the nominated movies and yet, they themselves joke about it constantly. (sigh) He's joking about how the Oscars are orgies of backpatting for beautiful people. At the indie spirits they're beautiful on the inside instead. People don't seem to think this joke is funny. Neither does the cameraman because they cut to Aaron Eckhart and Jenny Lumet (both classically beautiful, neither apparently amused)
...and then he's on to talking about Penélope Cruz and making lesbian jokes. Weird segueway.
5:10 Jonathan Demme is wearing an orange t-shirt. For a second I thought it had Obama's face stencilled on it. The face being inescapable. Even when we're celebrating movies.
5:20Best Supporting Actor goes to James Franco for Milk.Haaz Sleiman does not win but you can't really types "loses" when the subject looks like this...
<--- (yeah, like that) 5:25Best First Screenplay goes to Dustin Lance Black for Milk, beating Jenny Lumet for Rachel Getting Married (it's going to be a Milk day obviously. But then the Indie Spirits usually end up sucking up to one of the main Oscar nominees. Last year it was Juno for everything). Black gets political and says we can't wait 30 more years for equal civil rights for gay and lesbian citizens. It'll be awesome at the Oscars to hear this spoken aloud (since he'll win there, too).
5:30First Feature goes to Charlie Kauffman for Synecdoche New York. He thinks "best" is "crap"... I think that's a nod to his competitors but the speech is kind of jumbled so who knows. The speech is not circular or full of allusions or depressing or, in short, anything like his movies.
5:32Best Supporting Actress goes to Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She's the only Oscar nominee in this lineup so winning the Oscar isn't the same battle at all. But her speech (she hasn't prepared one is really fun) and I love the story about Woody Allen actually leaving the set to see his dermatologist (new freckle discovery) on the day she was making out with Scarlett Johansson. Debra Winger loves this story too. It's nice to see her laugh. I love that Misty Upham (Frozen River) is all dressed up. At the Spirits!
5:45 John Cassavetes Award goes to ??? I forgot already. This is the type of movie one senses the Indie Spirits exist for. But if they didn't include all the Hollywood stuff nobody would watch the show.
5:55 No fair. No song to introduce Rachel Getting Married. Just a song from the movie.
6:00Documentary goes to Man on Wire. Shortest speech of the night. Basically 'thanks'. It was presented by Batman and a fake Joaquin Phoenix. Kinda funny but I have to admit --you miss a lot when you live blog. I don't even know who that was making the Bale "we're done professionally" jokes. How fresh!
6:05Melissa Leo wins Best Actress for Frozen River. Rachel Getting Married is going to lose everything but great films are their own reward. I'm watching this show with two friends one says "She made her dress from the Golden Girls couch!" The other says "She looks like a Relief Society President" You'll get that if you're Mormon but otherwise you're out of luck. But maybe you know enough about Mormons to know. They're taking over. Mormon raised at least: Amy Adams, Aaron Eckhart, Eliza Dushku, Dustin Lance Black. They're everywhere! When I was a wee tyke the only celebrities who were "a little bit" Mormon (past or present) were Donnie & Marie.
at some point in this presentation Teri Hatcher did a really disturbing "Bitch is Back" number celebrating Wendy & Lucy. I don't think Michelle Williams knew what to make of it but since she isn't exactly a "loud" actor or a "loud" personality it's anyone's guess what she was feeling.
6:11 Some woman won some award. That's all I know. See what I mean about missing things while live-blogging. She's from Seattle. There's some specificity for you!
6:15 I want this to be over.
6:somethingor other Rosie Perez is presenting something and says 'I hate Penélope Cruz.' I love Rosie Perez. Why doesn't Hollywood? 6:29 The Class won foreign film. Yay! So I got to see my silver medal director Laurent Cantet.
6:30 Cinematography goes to Maryse Alberti for The Wrestler. Director Darren Aronofsky accepts. I love that he always says "I'm Darren". For a brilliant auteur he sure doesn't waste a lot of time selling himself. Could you imagine M Night Shyamalan's trademark intro being "Hi, I'm M"?
6:32 Cameron Diaz gives the Robert Altman Award for to Synecdoche New York. Great cast that movie had. I just wish someone else had directed it. I love Kauffman's writing but I feel like his writing is too self-devouring for the same person who dreamt it up and wrenched it out of its creative womb to also try and visualize it. Just my take. Obviously, others disagree.
6:38 Rainn Wilson does a musical number for The Wrestler. I shan't torture you with a photo but Darren Aronofsky and Rachel Weisz find it amusing.
6:42 Laura Dern THE FACE presents Best Actor which goes to Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. I don't know if y'all checked that link the other day about "hair" and Oscar winners but if he wins tomorrow he'll be only the second Best Actor winner ever to win for a long haired role (the only other one was Jon Voight in Coming Home. His speech is on fire and it's spreading. It starts with a tribute to another 80s up and comer who never quite became what he was supposed to become (Eric Roberts -- Julia's brother, yes -- last seen in The Dark Knight) and I have to agree with him there. Someone give Eric another great role. If you've seen Bob Fosse's Star 80 you'll understand Mickey's shout out.
This might be the craziest longest most train-of-thought speech since Ally Sheedy won for High Art.
Update: Here is the whole thing...
To Darren Aronofsky ,who is worried about actors being scared away from working with him because of Mickey's story about how "tough" Darren is:
If they aint got the balls to bring it, then fuck 'em
He's crazy. He totally gets the room going. He cracks Laura Dern and Philip Seymour Hoffman up. He scandalizes Anne Hathaway with a story about wrestler's "banging chicks in the ass in the bathroom". Well done Mickey. This is what the Indie Spirits live for.
6:53 John Waters and quirk queen Zooey Deschanel make jokes about inflated budgets on these so called "indies". It's mildly amusing.
6:54Tom McCarthy wins Best Director of The Visitor. He's worried about following Mickey Rourke. No kidding. I love this guy although I wish the beard would go. He thanks "Dickie Jenkins" Hee. Richard seems very happy for him. And this also means more shots of Haaz.
6:59 Best Picture goes to The Wrestler. I'm happy for them. Darren... Just "Darren" please ... gets a full kiss from Mickey and the cheek kiss from his partner Rachel Weisz. Thank you. Darren calls The Wrestler a "Passion piece. We all bled to get here" It shows. Damn what a movie it is. I hope you've seen it by now. Twice. I'm not even that mad that Rachel Getting Married lost everything tonight. Because at least the awards went to fine films.
Jane Fonda's Blog!!! Why is it that it took me 29 whole days to discover that she was writing a blog? I lurve me some Fonda. Topics so far have included the inauguration, her father as Abraham Lincoln, dreams of Bob Redford, her dog, her dressing room (she's rehearsing for a play) and Danny Boyle --yes, Slumdog Millionaire has invaded ever nook and cranny of everything. I am pretty sure that Slumdog Millionaire was appearing in some way on every channel on my cable box yesterday and every website I visited, too. I think I accidentally sprinkled some Slumdog Millionaire on my pizza today. If you cut me I would bleed Slumdog Millionaire. (February 23rd can't come quickly enough!)
Mighty God King defines "nerdy". It needed to be done TMZ assaults Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins with questions at the airport. I don't think he's used to this treatment, god bless. Slant insightful piece on Oscar's best score category Erik Lundegaard gives out "Lundys", a fun award for the best review of each Best Picture nominee Pop ElegantariumHarold and Maude finger puppets? I'm dying here
popbytes Scarjo is blonde no more! The Bad and the Ugly brings together all the Dollhouse promos. Eliza Dushku makes me drool. Drooling is not good for keyboards Ephemerist on the preparations for the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack The Carpetbagger amused by Jon Stewart's take on Benjamin Button. Have you seen it? So funny. Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves Poor Puppy Bale. Daddy is a mean one
..and a couple of Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue photoshoots for Australia and The Wrestler
Here are some photos if that vid is not enough... and how could it be since there's no ... COVER. Argh.
If you combine all of this year's nominated Best Actor Nominees into one composite character you get an 6' tall old pro of 55 years of age who's making his comeback playing a disgraced ex president of the New Orleans Drummers Association who wrestles at nights in gay bars for extra cash.
Will someone please make a movie about that guy?
Click on over to the Best Actor page to vote on your preference (not prediction) for Hollywood's top honor for male actors and see my theories as to how they all got nominated. Do you love Frank Langella's Nixon, Mickey Rourke wrestler, Sean Penn's gay politico, Brad Pitt's southern drawl and magically disappearing wrinkles. Or maybe you'd prefer a visit from or a drum circle with Richard Jenkins?
And in the comments here, who do you think is going to win... Mickey or Sean or (gasp) someone else?, perhaps slipping up into the indecision between them.
I wish I could say I had some clever reasons for including Marisa Tomei in this lineup but it doesn't go much deeper than that I love to look at her. *
One of the great falsehoods of movie awards season, eagerly promoted by each year's precursor awards groups, Oscar and most movie fans too, is that if a movie is the Best it is the Best. Period. In every way! This is why you hear the annual gripe "Did this movie direct itself?" when a best picture nominee misses a directorial nod (it didn't happen to any film this year but it generally does) and it's also why a great many adequate to good performances have been Oscar nominated over the years in place of actually great performances that had the misfortune of being in not-so-great films or simply less beloved films.
This 'all or nothing' mode of awardage is especially aggravating when it comes to the annual Screen Actors Guild awards and their "ensemble" prize. They treat it exactly the same as a Best Picture prize... which it shouldn't be. This year they were especially unimaginative nominating their cast members individually in every case as well. It's especially silly in the case of Doubt. The SAG honor actually only includes the four principles -- none of the nuns or the schoolchildren are part of the nomination -- who are then each nominated individually. It's stingy and repetitive. What's more, I don't personally think Doubt is much of an ensemble. It's more like a duet, most of the big scenes involving just two actors, battling it out or letting the other showboat for that particular scene. A fine cast? Yes. A great ensemble? Er...
Give me bigger, messier, more interactive acting any day before I start talking "Best Ensemble". I had so many goodies to choose from this year and only 1 of SAG's nominated films is in my top 12 ensembles. That'd be Milk which I don't think will win. (I'm guessing its a three way race between Doubt if they're thinking about acting or Benjamin Button vs. Slumdog if they're thinking in terms of Best Picture as they sometimes do). In addition to Milk, I wish SAG had stopped to at least consider Burn After Reading, A Christmas Tale, Happy-Go-Lucky, Rachel Getting Married, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Stop-Loss or Synecdoche New Yorkamong others...
Do you remember where you saw every movie? For some reason the location of my screenings rarely escapes me. I have favorite screens, convenient locations that aren't necessarily the best theaters, places I avoid if it can be helped at all, and theaters that I just never think to go.
In the latter group is Clearview's single screen 62nd & Broadway theater. So when I saw The Visitor(finally) there yesterday, I kept thinking that I hadn't been there since I saw Transamerica. Which naturally leads to the following question: Would Professor Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) have been as welcoming finding a nervous depressed tranvestite squatter in his abandoned apartment as he was upon finding two gorgeous polite illegal immigrants?
In both cases I attended the movie due to Oscar buzz for the lead turn. The difference is that I thought Transamerica was a histrionic mess and The Visitor was an involving subtle success --lead performances included. So if you believe in coincidence or that the universe revolves around me (Why is this implausible? Shut up) this might mean that Richard Jenkins is heading for a Best Actor for sure (like Felicity) or he isn't because I liked his performance about as much as I disliked hers. And we all know Oscar loves histrionic more than subtle.
Do you remember where you see movies? What are your feelings on Richard Jenkins chances in the Best Actor category? They're ready to campaign.
Restoring the Sunday Oscar series (or: season 2. episode 1) in which we pen the the Oscar focused topics into Sundays so as to prevent Oscar fatigue before the pre season madness begins...
Where are the future Oscar nominees?
Last year by this time -- 4 months and one week into the year-- we had seen three of our eventual Oscar nominees, and two of them were biggies: Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress candidates (Away From Her) and [gulp] a Make Up nod (Norbit). Apart from Iron Man's visual f/x (you can probably ink that down) and maybe sound... is there anything out there that AMPAS could remember by year's end? Will Iron Man's jet-pack ignite the very earliest of the early bird nods? What else is there?
Best Picture, Director, Screenplays? Zilch. The Academy has previously shown a liking for the great playwright Martin McDonagh who wrote and directed the crime comedy In Bruges but despite winning somewhat surprised fans, it didn't make enough waves. Stop-Loss (my review) had the heavy-weight topic you need for awardage but not the reviews or audiences. That's a no go, too.
Performances? There's two leads playing (or about to) that we could conceivably see as eventual Oscar ...um... Indie Spirit nominees? Richard Jenkins for The Visitor and Famke Janssen for Turn the River (seeprevious post) will have their fans but Oscar bids remain far fetched. Even to make it all the way until the Spirits, they'll need a committed team and a heap of luck. We'll see.
Otherwise Young @ Heart is a real crowd pleasing documentary but it's always risky to assume that any particular film will show up in the documentary race... it's not always even clear which films will prove eligible. I suppose Horton Hears a Who could land itself in the animated feature three-spot but the year is young and much ballyhooed contestants are still to come.
Finally, there's the off chance that an early contender could score in Costume Design. That branch of the Academy isn't as beholden to the rest of the competitive Oscar field as some others. To paraphrase Fleetwood Mac 'they can go their own way... go their own waay--ayy-aay'... The candidates thus far: Louise Frogley did 20s work on Leatherheads. George Clooney loves her --she's provided his threads in five films already. On the other hand, the Academy has yet to notice her strengths; There's period gowns and even a lingerie fashion show from Michael O'Connor (never nominated) in Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day; Most likely given previous track records, AMPAS could opt for the great Sandy Powell's royal and elaborate gowns from The Other Boleyn Girl...BestMost Costume Design!
Slave driving two-time Oscar winner Sandy Powell forces ScarJo to mend her own gowns on the set of The Other Boleyn Girl.
Do you see any early birds within Oscar's eventual nominees or do you think Iron Man's cocky "oh yeah. I can fly" visual and/or sound effects will be the only contender from 2008's releases to date?
L I M I T E D Chaos Theory -Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer and Mr. Charlize Theron star in this comedy about an efficiency expert (Reynolds) who starts going a little crazy Dark Matter -Meryl Streep has a supporting role here for which she's winning fine reviews (surprise!) as a wealthy university patron but the movie is about a Chinese student (Liu Ye) at an American university whose academic theories run counter to those of his mentor's (Aidan Quinn). Persepolis -The English language version this time... some of the same voices though, Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastrioanni remain. Remember the Daze -a movie about graduating high school seniors in 1999 -- they include Amber Heard, Melonie Diaz and Alexa Vega The Visitor The wonderful Richard Jenkins (who you'll remember as the ghost that haunted Six Feet Under, the dad that cried for daughter Charlize in North Country and that dinner table political quagmire in I Heart Huckabees) finally gets to carry a movie. This is the sophomore effort from the actor turned writer/director of The Station Agent and it's about a professor whose life is altered when he meets a foreign couple.
D O C U M E N T A R Y L A N D Body of War -is the story of a paralyzed Iraq war vet. It won the NBR for best documentary but it's only open in DC so far. Bra Boys Russell Crowe narrates this documentary about manboobs (?) drag queens (?) I kid. This is actually about a surfing community in Australia. Young @ Heart could be huge. Who doesn't love cute old people doing youthful things like [danny zuko voice] "rockin' and rolling' and whatnot"? P.S. The poster is so cute. Gimmicky but really pinching cheeks worthy, don't you think?
W I D E Prom Night I'm so glad this is opening because I'm so sick of its 'let's kill beautiful girls on their big night' vibe polluting my TV every night. They play that commercial everywhere ...as if the demographic that might be interested in watching teen beauties hacked up might also enjoy gay minstrels in Bravo, intergalactic interspecies warfare, and endless Clinton vs. Obama punditry. Smart People Sarah Jessica Parker (or SJP as we prefer) warms up for her summertime pop culture stampede in Sex The City: THE MOVIE --you will be trampled by its Manolo Blahniks! Don't even think you'll escape the puncture wounds -- by romancing 50something widower Dennis Quaid. Ellen Page and Thomas Hayden Church wisecrack from the sidelines. It's a very low key film, Quaid is particularly subdued. He's quite convincing as a misanthropic paunchy literature professor but he's turned down his star wattage so much to fit into a closed man that he doesn't pop like usual ... still, if you enjoy those four actors you could do worse.
sex shooter. shootin' love in your direction. unnnh-huhh unhh-huh
Street Kings Keanu Reeves is swinging around heavy artillery again. It's been awhile. He's now 43 which is... unreal. How can Keanu Reeves be 43? I like the trailer because Chris Evans is playing his junior partner (they're cops) and I like to imagine that performance is actually the real thing --Chris Evans realizing he's a star-in-training whilst Keanu Reeves --whatever one thinks of his acting skills-- is the real thing: a movie star. *
Directed by The Coen Bros Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Richard Jenkins, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand Synopsis OK... this is a Coen Bros comedy so the plot is pretty crazed and probably best left discovered in the theater. It involves a CIA Agent (Malkovich) his friend (Clooney) his wife (Swinton) and two gym trainers (McDormand and Pitt) who get their hands on a disc containing the Agent's memoirs and plan to blackmail him with it. Lots of confusion, internet dating (?) and comedic hijinx ensue. Brought to You By Working Title Films & Focus Features Expected Release Date Sept 26th, 2008
Nathaniel: We're reaching the tippity top of the list and it's harder to breathe up here. All I heard was the Coen Bros and my mind sort of went blank like a dial tone. Only in a pleasureable way like Meryl Streep humming to her toes in Adaptation. I realize that isn't a Coen Bros reference but my mind wanders through celluloid like that.
Anywayyy... someone take it from here. Please to explain. It's obviously high on everyone's lists.
MaryAnn: It's the Coen Brothers. Honestly, need more be said? Well, okay then: It's George and Brad. And Tilda. And Malkovich and McDormand.
George Clooney filming a scene in Brooklyn Heights
And -- oh my god -- parts of this were shot in the Bronx, too!
Glenn: Unlike The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I am looking forward to Brad Pitt in this Coen Bros flick - their first after their sure-to-be-Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men. He's worked well with George Clooney before and we all know that George Clooney worked well with Tilda Swinton before, too, so throw in the Coen Bros who are coming down from their (feel free to argue this point) career apex and I'm doing my best not to quake in anticipation.
Joe: It really is like a Six Degrees Mobius Strip kind of thing, where Brad worked with Clooney and Clooney worked with Tilda (who is in Benjamin Button with Pitt), and also with the Coens (the underrated O Brother, Where Art Thou?), and the Coens have obviously worked with Frances McDormand, who was in North Country with Richard Jenkins, and on and on. Good to see the Coens returning to (I'm assuming) screwball comedy after the dark night of their Oscar-winning (fingers still crossed) soul. Great director plus all-star cast. It's the easiest math I know.
Nathaniel: Yes, math and I aren't tight but that's a simple mouthwatering equation. It's always tough to come off of a masterpiece or near masterpiece or whatever No Country was but this should be an easy transition on account of... how do you compare? That's another way of saying that I'm glad it's a comedy and an original screenplay again after the adaptations they've been doing. I love Fargo and Raising Arizona like crazy. And The Big Lebowski I've been itching to see again. It's time for a comedic Coen home festival.
A steep box office drop off for Eat Pray Love (which opened well thanks to Julia Roberts and the memoir's popularity) or its generally blah reviews could easily kill it, but Richard Jenkins has a slam dunk Best Supporting Actor Type part, don't you think? Yeah, you know that category has its types.
Speaking of men Julia Roberts may or may not have clobbered emotionally, apparently Eric (her older brother) and she have mended their previously tense relationship. The Daily Beast has an interview with Eric Roberts about his career and their relationship. Like his friend Mickey Rourke he isn't one to mince words and I love that in celebrities even if their handlers do not. He just flat out admits that he gave up chasing a certain kind of career after his Oscar loss.
