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Ryan Reynolds and Reese Witherspoon to Topline Big Eyes

Damon Houx — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:56:06 +0000

Ryan Reynolds and Reese Witherspoon are now attached to star in Big Eyes, the story of the Keanes and their infamous art. The film will be produced by Tim Burton, and written and directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, best known for creating the Problem Child franchise, and writing such bio-pics as Ed Wood and The People Versus Larry Flynt. The film has a Spring start date.

Though obviously both leads have a comic background, the story of Margaret and Walter Keane is no straight comedy. Walter became famous for his big eyed art but a divorce revealed that Margaret had done all the work herself. Going by Alexander and Karaszewski’s background, it looks to be a black comedy, and probably Oscar contender.

Alexander and Karaszewski released a statement and said this about their stars:

“Walter is a larger-than-life antihero — charming, funny, dangerous, and a little crazy. Ryan will knock it out of the park. As for Reese, she will be perfect as Margaret — soulful, decent, transforming from vulnerability to learning to fight for herself.”

So it’s something of a female empowerment film. Like many writers before them, the duo have knocked many of the films based on their screenplays, including the Problem Child films and Screwed. Of late the two worked on 1408, and wrote a version of the Percy Jackson sequel, but haven’t had much credited work for a while. As it goes with many high profile writers, that doesn’t mean they haven’t been working.

Are you familiar with the Keanes?

Reese Witherspoon to Star in Devil’s Knot

Damon Houx — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:48:36 +0000

It’s been an interesting road for Reese Witherspoon post-Oscar. The award tends to suggest importance, but Witherspoon is best known for her light comic performances, and she’s appeared in an number that haven’t found their audience. Perhaps it’s best that she start making more serious dramas, so it’s smart she’s signed on for Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot, which looks to dramatize the events of the West Memphis 3, according to Variety.

The West Memphis Three have been in the news a lot lately because they were just released from jail after having their appeals funded by filmmaker Peter Jackson. Their case was first taken up by documentarians Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky in the film Paradise Lost – which has had two sequels – detailing the triple homicide that sent three heavy-metal-loving boys to jail for eighteen years.

In the film – and it’s sequels – there is a case made that Terry Hobbs was the actual murderer, and Witherspoon’s role would be as his wife. That’s a juicy, juicy part, and it sounds like the fulcrum of the film as she changes her mind on who the killer or killers are. Director Egoyan spent much of the 1990′s as an indie darling, with the Canadian filmmaker receiving awards and praise for films like Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter. He has fallen out of favor in recent years, though his film Chloe – with Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore – got a theatrical release and some curiousity for its well-publicized nudity.

Were you following the West Memphis Three case?

Tom Hardy and Chris Pine fight for Reese Witherspoon in This Means War Trailer

Damon Houx — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:56:41 +0000

The premise of This Means War is stupidly irresistable. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy play secret agents. Both end up dating Reese Witherspoon. She seems to be a normal girl, but their interest gets so heightened that they use their spy tools on each other. Director McG may have a real winner on his hands. Check out the trailer…

This is high-concept filmmaking at its most psuedo-Jerry Bruckheimer. Fifteen ago Tony Scott would have directed it with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Now we get the slightly cheaper version, but I’ll say this for the trailer: it’s got the scale it needs.

the biggest question this film raises is that Hollywood is not entirely sure what constitutes a starlet any more. I can’t imagine this picture with Katherine Heigl (who’s entered into a genre ghetto at this point), but Witherspoon strikes as being older than the normal casting in a picture like this, and looks to have a couple years on her co-stars. In and of itself that’s a good thing, it’s nice to see Hollywood isn’t afraid of a leading lady who isn’t fresh out of college, but it also suggests there’s no new Reese Witherspoon. Who is her younger equal in terms of comediennes? This Means War opens February 17, 2012.

Seriously, who is the new Reese Witherspoon?

Reese Witherspoon Struck By A Car In Los Angeles

traviswoods — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:37:34 +0000

Look—I, like any healthy-minded adult human being, hate all of Reese Witherspoon’s post-Election films (ok, ok, Walk the Line was OK), but that doesn’t mean I advocate vehicular manslaughter to prevent her from making whichever new interchangeable romantic comedy Kate Hudson decided not to star in. Turns out, an 84 year old motorist in Los Angeles felt differently, and decided to take Witherspoon out with her car and spare us all from Four Christmases Part 2: Four Harder.

Oh, I’m just kidding. It was just a bad driver who wasn’t paying attention (which had nothing to do, I’m sure, with the driver being 84 years old. Nope. Nothing at all. Nothing. At. All) Via the Los Angeles Times:

Witherspoon, 35, is recovering at home after receiving treatment for minor injuries.

Police say the driver was an 84-year-old woman from Santa Monica.

She was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and released.

Witherspoon was “jogging around 11 a.m. near 20th Street and Georgina Avenue when she was struck,” at which point, somewhere in Hollywood, a film exec snapped his fingers and exclaimed, “I’ve got it! Reese Witherspoon plays a plucky magazine writer in L.A., totally unlucky in love. Old lady hits her with a car. She and the old lady switch bodies, and Reese learns several life lessons, and eventually returns to her body a changed and better woman. Let’s get that one much less attractive comedienne to play her wisecracking and cynical best friend, and Vince Vaughn will play the voice of the car, let’s call him Vroom-Vroom, and only Reese’s love will make him human again. $60 million budget, the thing sells itself.” Cue boardroom applause.

Water for Elephants: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:30:54 +0000

Water for Elephants hits theaters this weekend with a whimper… Though the film stars the almost always successful box office champ Reese Witherspoon, the most powerful heartthrob of the moment Robert Pattinson, and one the most lovable baddies of the last decade Christoph Waltz, the film falls short because it never really focuses on it’s true star, Rosie the Elephant — the one we all came to see.

The Players:

Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay) and Sara Gruen (novel)
Actors: Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz, Paul Schneider, Jim Norton, Hal Holbrook
Original Music by: James Newton Howard
Cinematography by: Rodrigo Prieto

Plot:

After a young veterinary student loses his parents in a car accident, he abandons his life and joins a traveling circus as their vet. At first everything appears to be a dream come true, until the realities of a working for a ruthless employer during the depression. Unfortunately the more he wants to get out, the more things he has pulling them in, including the bosses wife. Will he be able to win the girl and make his dreams come true before it’s too late?

The Good:

The Visuals: The lighting, cinematography, set design and costume design are all completely over the top and wonderfully done in this film. They all managed to embody the idea of a grandiose circus performance, while at the same time maintaining the rough edges of life on a train as a circus employee. There are numerous shots in this film that you could easily turn into artwork on your walls. They did such a great job with the train I wish they would have spent more time on it to really help us get that claustrophobic vibe that the people in the film kept talking about. But if this film has anything going for it, it’s the look.
The Ending: Though the build up is minimal and they don’t give the star enough time on screen, Rosie the Elephant’s final moment makes this film almost worth seeing! She will fill your heart with joy and is definitely the highlight of the film. If only they would have made the film more about her story, we would have been set because she’s the true heart of it and the one we’re really siding with.

The Bad:

So many things…

The Script: It was filled with lines like “You’re beautiful, you deserve a beautiful life.” Because if you’re not beautiful, you deserve a crappy life filled with no presents and no love. WHAT?! Put that aside and you have a somewhat sweet story that never really gets dark enough unless it’s dealing with animal abuse in which is goes too far. The characters have far more depth than they’re allowed to show on screen and it feels like the best parts were cut out to make this a PG-13 instead of being more honest and representing the true dark sides of all these characters in an R-rated film.
Animal Abuse: While they didn’t go in depth with some of the characters, they made of point of having extremely drawn out animal abuse scenes which felt unnecessary. If you’re going to “go there” it needs to pay off, and despite the ending, the abuse never felt fully justified. Abusing an animal just to make the ending more powerful is not a good enough reason, it needs to mean something or tell a story.
Length: This is NOT the epic it wants to be. If you’re going to make people sit down and give you their attention for 122 minutes, you better be more than just a romantic drama, you better be something life changing, something that teaches people something they didn’t know, or change cinema as we know it! This film has NONE of that.
Pacing: They spend so much time setting up for the final act and yet once we are there they race through it and you hardly know what’s going on. Suddenly you’re left with a happy ending that doesn’t even highlight the star of the film (Rosie the elephant) but rather an inconvenient love story that really is the co-star to the real heart of the film, the circus!
Facts: For a person who got on a train with absolutely nothing, Pattinson’s character sure acquires a lot of stuff including as amazingly expensive leather jacket — where did it all come from? The world may never know! As a person who has had horses for 20 years, there are certain things that just don’t add up. First of all “he’s going to founder” — no the horse has already foundered and is foundering as they speak — nerdy I know, but you have to get your facts right. Also, you’d never shoot a horse in a tiny space because how the hell would you get it out?

Overall:

The couples love story would have played much stronger if they would have let the animal’s story be the real star of the show. The romance between the two leads felt so forced, especially when there were far more interesting stories going on around them. Despite the beautiful craftsmanship put into this film, it’s not worth your time or money.

Rating: 3/10

Water for Elephants is in theaters April 22nd.

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

New DVD Releases: The Tourist, How Do You Know, Yogi Bear

Andrew Payne — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:31:10 +0000

A couple of major star vehicles hitting DVD this week, and two that you probably don’t remember. Seriously, close your eyes and try to envision what movie How Do You Know? was. Got it yet? No? Yeah, didn’t think so – it was the rom-com featuring Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd. Okay, you still don’t know what it is, just trust me, it exists and you can get it on DVD this week.

It’s joined by the controversial Golden Globe choice The Tourist and perhaps the biggest star of them all, as Yogi Bear makes his DVD debut. All that, plus you can now follow me around on Twitter @paynehumor and get all my snark 140 characters at a time.

Check it out below…

Feature Films

How Do You Know? and The Tourist

It’s been said before, but allow me to throw one more shovel-full of dirt on the grave that is the idea that movie stars help a film succeed at the box office.

Exhibit A: The Tourist

By all measures, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp are the top female and male box office stars, respectively. She’s on the cover of every magazine, routinely makes hit films, and is given the keys as the sole headliner of many high-profile vehicles. Depp, meanwhile hit a $1 Billion worldwide with Alice in Wonderland right after headlining the very successful Pirates trilogy with one more on the way.

Throw them together in a sexy thriller and you’ve got easy box office gold, right? Well that is if you consider $67 Million against a $100 Million budget to be something that Kind Midas would enjoy.

Exhibit B: How Do You Know?

My impression of a film executive trying to tell himself that this movie is nothing to worry about:

“Okay, so we’ve spent $120 Million on a romantic comedy from the guy who last gave us Spanglish.

“But it’s okay because we have Reese Witherspoon. She’s probably the most bankable female movie star out there, especially when it comes to rom-coms. Plus, we have Paul Rudd. All his movies make money!

“Not only that, but we have Owen Wilson – he was in Wedding Crashers, that movie was huge! And Jack Nicholson to boot. Everybody loves Jack!”

Well, that theory didn’t quite work out. Didn’t work out to the tune of making only $30 million against that staggering budget. So how did it even get that high? Probably because when you have a nice roster of movie stars headlining, you can get a blank check. Of course, being James L. Brooks doesn’t hurt either.

So what does this show us? That it didn’t matter who was in these movies. They looked bad, the trailers stunk, and they bombed. Absolutely bombed.

As little as ten years ago, these films would have been massive hits with these stars. All you needed to do in decades past, was list your stars and people would flock to the theater regardless of the trailer. Now we see the movie stars all over TMZ and the Internet whenever we want, and we need a good movie as an excuse to pay to see them, not the other way around.

So why do they continue to shell out big bucks to the stars? Beats me. Unless you consider the fact that The Tourist made almost $200 Million abroad. Perhaps the stars still draw overseas.

However, if you still dig on movie stars, you can buy The Tourist on DVD. Or, you can buy How Do You Know? on DVD.

Also:

Skyline – Buy Now
Yogi Bear – Buy Now

And Just So You Know, This DVD Exists…

No, it’s not Battle: Los Angeles, but it does have Kel Mitchell!

Robert Pattinson in New Water for Elephants Trailer

Krystal Clark — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:32:05 +0000

Amazon.com debuts trailers now? Is this old news and are we just catching on? The super site has premiered a new trailer for the Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson drama Water for Elephants. The film takes place during the Great Depression and features all the things we love: romance, betrayal, poverty, and who even the circus! Check out the new trailer…

Water for Elephants is an adaptation of the novel of the same name. The feature is directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Pattinson as a poor drifter named Jacob, who finds family and love at a circus. He becomes involved with the main attraction, Marlena, who happens to be married to the ruthless ringmaster August (Christoph Waltz). Despite the danger surrounding their relationship Jacob and Marlena continue to fight for each other and their love.

Even though we’re happy to see Pattinson outside of the Twilight universe, why does he always have such crappy relationships with women in all his movies? We understand problems keep things interesting, but jeez! How many times does he have to get his butt beat for a girl?

Water for Elephants opens in theaters on April 22.

What do you think of the latest trailer for Water for Elephants? Are you interested in seeing the movie?

International Trailer for Water for Elephants

Krystal Clark — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:21:54 +0000

A new trailer has been released for the period drama, Water for Elephants that stars Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. It’s an international version that showcases the sultry duo as they maneuver a love triangle that includes Oscar winner Christoph Waltz. Will he play the villain in everything? Check out the international trailer below…

Unlike most people, we don’t want to pigeon-hold Pattinson in his Edward Cullen role. He’s obviously trying to branch out and do more serious films that don’t leech off his teen heartthrob persona, unfortunately his acting in this trailer doesn’t help him. All the sulking, all the stares, all the sighs, it’s so — emo.

Official Synopsis:

Based on the acclaimed bestseller, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS presents an unexpected romance in a uniquely compelling setting. Veterinary school student Jacob meets and falls in love with Marlena, 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 a special elephant. Against all odds — including the wrath of Marlena’s charismatic but dangerous husband, August — Jacob and Marlena find lifelong love.

Water for Elephants opens in theaters on April 22, 2011.

What do you think of the latest trailer for Water for Elephants?

How Do You Know: Movie Review

JC — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 06:19:01 +0000

Kindly ignore the deceptive array of billboards posted around Los Angeles presenting quotes like “Reese Witherspoon At Her BEST!” and “Funniest Film Of The Holiday Season!” Writer/director James L. Brooks teams up with the usually charming Reese Witherspoon along with Jack Nicholson, Owen Wilson, and Paul Rudd for one of poorest displays of cinema I’ve seen since I Love You, Philliip Morris. Be sure to dodge How Do You Know at all costs – it opens in theaters this weekend…

The Players:

Writer/Director/Producer: James L. Brooks
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson, Owen Wilson

The Plot:

Lisa (Witherspoon) gets cut from her pro softball team. Bummer. Later that afternoon she accepts an invitation for a blind date with George (Rudd), who is having an equally tragic day, given that he may or may not be headed to jail for a financial crime. Lisa’s convinced the date was an epic bore while George is convinced she’s the woman of his dreams. Lisa decides it’d be far more fun to date pro baseball player, Matty (Wilson), who has the I.Q. of a lemon. Is George willing to fight for love? You’ll sure find out!

The Bad:

Structure: Whomever is responsible for green-lighting this project should be hiding under a rock in the Philippines. The central issue, which ultimately sprouts many, is the film’s structure. Brooks attempts to pull the randomly correlated story-line bit (which has proven successful for several rom-com’s like Love Actually, He’s Just Not That Into You, etc) and fails.
Reese Witherspoon: If it were possible for the Academy to revoke awards, Ms. Witherspoon would be walking on thin ice. This is by far the worst performance of her career. Presumably aware that her 5’5, petite blonde swag doesn’t exactly line up with that of a softball star, Witherspoon made astronomical efforts to drop her voice four octaves and walk/slouch/gesticulate like a “dude.” Her performance was also strikingly devoid of comedic timing – a rarity for Witherspoon
Characters: There is nothing particularly appealing or relatable about the four featured characters, which leaves the audience detached from/uninterested in their respective stories.
Jack Nicholson: Had no part in this film.

The Good:

Owen Wilson: Never, ever fails to humor an audience. His character was both a womanizer and imbecile – and I loved every minute of it. Thank you, sir, for contributing the only redeeming aspect of this film.

Overall:

Do not see this film.

Rating: 1/10

The film opens nationwide December 17.

Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon in Water for Elephants Trailer

Krystal Clark — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:09:24 +0000

If you’ve been going through Robert Pattinson withdrawal over the past few months we’ve got something that might tide you over. It’s not another Twilight movie, but it does feature Pattinson alongside Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz. The film is called Water for Elephants and it’s a period piece that places a young man in the middle of a circus and a love triangle. Take a look…

We hope Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson do more in this movie than just stare at each other. The majority of this trailer is just looks. Granted, they don’t want to give anything away but come on?

Official Synopsis:

Based on the acclaimed bestseller, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS presents an unexpected romance in a uniquely compelling setting. Veterinary school student Jacob meets and falls in love with Marlena, 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 a special elephant. Against all odds — including the wrath of Marlena’s charismatic but dangerous husband, August — Jacob and Marlena find lifelong love.

Water for Elephants opens in theaters on April 15, 2011.

What do you think of the trailer for Water for Elephants? Are you interested in seeing the movie?

Source: Apple

How Do You Know Trailer Released

Mali Elfman — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:01:09 +0000

Not sure whatever happened to “you know when you know” apparently for busy New Yorkers that’s just know good enough! They need to know the reason why things work out the way they do with love! Good thing we have a film to explain just that! The first trailer for James L. Brooks latest holiday-romantic-comedy How Do You Know starring Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon (the Holiday box office queen), Owen Wilson with none other than Jack Nicholson as a supportive dad (not his usual smart-ass self) has just his the web.

Check out the trailer below…

Though I’m not one for the rom-com genre, Paul Rudd can make just about anything watchable and the rest of the cast isn’t half-bad either. Who knows, maybe this will surprise the non-romantic-film-goers! It’s almost guaranteed to do well seeing as it’s jam-packed with A-listers and a story about love right before Christmas. Damn the Holiday spirit which makes everyone need to believe in love!

Official Synopsis:

Feeling a bit past her prime at 27, former athlete Lisa Jorgenson finds herself in the middle of a love triangle, as a corporate guy in crisis competes with Lisa’s current, baseball-playing beau.

The film will be released on December 17th 2010.

What do you think of the trailer?

Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon Reunite in How Do You Know Trailer

Krystal Clark — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:51:36 +0000

A lot of you might not remember a little film called Overnight Delivery that came out in 1998. It was kind of like Road Trip, and it was one of those movies that you either hated or loved. But there were two universally good things that came out of it: Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon. They had awesome chemistry together and we’ll get to see that connection again with their new film, How Do You Know. The first trailer has been released on Yahoo Movies and we’ve got it for you below…

How Do You Know is obviously another romantic comedy to throw on the fire but it features several elements that we like: Rudd, Witherspoon, and Jack Nicholson. It was also written and directed by Oscar winner James L. Brooks, who has more than a decent track record (As Good as it Gets, Terms of Endearment) with these types of films.

The story centers on two men who are both in love with the same woman. One is a baseball player (Owen Wilson) and the other is a white collar, straight-laced business man. They both have unconventional ways of expressing their feelings but then again she’s an unconventional woman. She’s lost in love limbo and doesn’t know what to do.

How Do You Know is scheduled to hit theaters on December 17th, which is kind of unfortunate considering that’s the same day Tron Legacy opens. Depending on what you’re into this could still have a solid debut. There are different strokes for different folks.

What do you think of the trailer for How Do You Know?

ScreenCrave.com » reese witherspoon

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Water for Elephants: Movie Review

The Players:

Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 3/10

Photo Gallery:

Trailer:

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