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Smash: Season 1 Episode 11: The Movie Star – TV Review

Guest Writer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:52:09 +0000

This week on Smash, Uma Thurman comes into her own (and tries to rewrite the show while she’s at it), Tom and Sam make out, and things aren’t looking good for Karen and Dev. Viewers rejoice as Ellis gets what he deserves for the second week in a row and there might be a Battlestar Galactica reference. Jury’s still out on that.

The Players:

Director: Tricia Brock
Writer: Julie Rottenberg & Elisa Zuritsky
Cast: Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Megan Hilty, Raza Jaffrey, Brian d’Arcy James, Jaime Cepero, Anjelica Huston, Leslie Odom Jr., Uma Thurman.

The Plot:

Uma Thurman’s Rebecca Duvall can’t sing, so Derek suggests that they need to bring Ivy back to the show for the “shadow selves.” Tom overhears Rebecca telling Derek that the songs are “boring” but by the end of the episode she has relaxed a little, admitted her shortcomings, and puts on a great musical number. Meanwhile, Tom puts the moves on Sam, Ivy upsets Karen, Eileen lets Nick convince her he isn’t such a bad guy and Ellis screws everything up for himself.

The Good:

Tom and Sam: Julia grows a pair on their behalf (channeling some leftover Grace Adler while she’s at it) getting them a dinner reservation, which they ditch in exchange for drinks and making out at Tom’, until Sam slows things down because he’s religious. He proves to be the handsome, romantic voice of reason Tom (and every girl who is wishing this character is straight and real and she could date him instead) needs to hear.
Julia Sans Family: The blessed first 7 minutes this week were all writer-Julia and it was delightful fun, reminiscent of her Grace Adler days. Let’s focus on that and pretend Frank didn’t show up later to chat about Leo’s failing grades. That’d be the worst.
Ellis’ Bowtie: Literally the only thing I will ever like about this character. Too bad it isn’t enough to teach him how to use his iPhone. He can’t deal with multiple calls (which should be no biggie for a producer’s assistant who likely spends a lot of his day rolling calls) and accidentally tells Rebecca’s assistant that he’s a loser who he’s sucking up to. Good for viewers who hate Ellis, bad for Ellis.
Eileen’s Female Empowerment Moment: Lady busted out her mace like it was nothing to keep Rebecca’s drunk ex-lover out of the rehearsal room.
Uma Thurman: She’s great and charismatic and perfect as the self-important movie star. A welcome edition to the show, which seemed to have been running out of steam in previous weeks.

The Bad:

Show Open: The “everyone showing up to rehearsal” opening is fun, but every week? Maybe just one time they could come up with something a little bit different.
Rebecca Duvall’s singing: Home-girl-big-movie-star can’t sing worth a damn. Thanks for nothing, Ellis. She does turn it around and admit her shortcomings, agreeing to hire a vocal coach by the end, but those early scenes are brutal.
Derek’s Dream Marilyn: Well, Battlestar Galactica fans now know what it would have been like if Gaius Baltar’s “Head Six” was just Tricia Helfer singing show tunes at him. It’s a weird little sequence that has shown up a couple of times now and will hopefully be explained/resolved soon. If not I’m going to pretend it is just a BSG nod, which will make me loyal to this show for LIFE.
Dev The Liar: Sweet Dev continues his transformation into Sneak Dev. Of course Karen drops in on work to learn about Dev’s new cubicle and flirtation with RJ. I want these two to stay together but they did a lot of chatting about being “on the same page” which is unfortunate. He’s a no show for a screening of Rebecca’s new movie Casual Friday 2. Can’t really blame him for that. It is very easy to blame him for spending the evening with RJ instead though. Hey Karen, as Michael Bluth once said, “you’ve gotta lock that down.”
Julia Plus Family: Frank lies to Leo’s principal, Julia admits the truth, blah blah blah blah nothing new here except I got a quick nap in.

The Quotable:

“Okay you guys have been flirting for like a week so would you please just go on a real date? Preferably one where I’m not there?” – Julia the sourpuss to the adorable Tom and Sam
“I admire your patience – I never wait for tables.” – Eileen
“Yes, yes, I’m boring you. I’m such a pain in the ass.” – Rebecca Duvall
“Republicans don’t own God.” – Sam
“Keep your enemies close, celebrities closer, and their assistants closer yet.” – Eileen

Overall:

Uma Thurman gives Smash an added dimension this week that has been missing and it’s nice to have a new kind of plot line, instead of just Ivy vs. Karen. Uma gets her first Stage Marilyn musical number and since it’s at the end of the episode, Tom has changed the key for her and the singing improves. The episode is decent (once again, it’s even better if you forget about Frank and Leo) and the show seems to be back to moving in a good direction, rather than a ridiculous one.

Rating: 8/10

Smash airs Monday nights at 10 PM on NBC.

What did you think of the episode?

Written by Guest Writer Amy Lindorff

Smash: Season 1 Episode 10: The Understudy – TV Review

Guest Writer — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:18:36 +0000

This week on Smash, Ivy plays nice to get back into Marilyn’s shoes, but it’s Karen who gets the understudy role, and none of it matters anyway when Uma Thurman waltzes in at the very end to give Bombshell some real movie star power. It was a significant improvement over last week, but there’s still a tad too much Frank and Leo involvement (i.e.: they are still part of this show).

The Players:

Director: Adam Bernstein
Writer: Jerome Hairston
Cast: Katharine McPhee, Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Megan Hilty, Anjelica Huston, Christian Borle, Jaime Cepero, Raza Jaffrey, Brian d’Arcy James, Uma Thurman.

The Plot:

Rebecca Duvall (Thurman) is stuck in Cuba on a “goodwill mission” with Sean Penn, so Karen understudies, while simultaneously dealing with a grouchy Dev. He hasn’t told her that he didn’t get the promotion at work, but she finally tells him (accidentally) about that birthday gift Derek asked for way back in the pilot. He freaks and gets in a fight with Derek later, after Derek comes by to tell Karen that Uma is on her way.

Tom and Julia have a little tradition where they go see a production of Three On A Match on the anniversary of its opening. This would be sweet except it ends in yet more Debra Messing tears when she admits to Tom that Frank left. She also waits for him in a coffee shop after stealing Leo’s phone to call him, but gets stood up.

Eileen gets her bartender boyfriend to introduce her to a new backer AND gets a real kiss. Uma Thurman makes her grand entrance but doesn’t do anything except that for now.

The Good:

Anjelica Huston’s Spanish: Terribly, terribly good.
Anjelica Huston’s Bartender: Anyone who plops a giant pile of money on anything is impressive. Anyone who then leads Eileen to another giant pile of money (in the form of a rock star investor) and doesn’t want his finder’s fee is a real gentleman. Then he caps it all off by burning up the contracts of the old investors as they watch. Watch out, Sam. New favorite characters, on the horizon.
Anjelica Huston, Reprimand Machine: This week, she puts Ellis in his place again, because really, of course she isn’t actually talking to one of the Castros, you idiot.
Sam and Tom: These dudes continue on their path to love. Tom even starts reading the sports page, which is the final warning sign the BF needs to justify ending things.
The Music: Ivy sings “Breakaway” and it’s nice to hear a Kelly Clarkson song that isn’t “Stronger” for once.
Tom As Stand-In: He subs in for this week’s original Bombshell number which conveniently gives him an opportunity to snap a towel at Sam. He also seems to have a lot of fun with it which is nice since he spent a lot of this week watching Debra Messing cry.

The Bad:

Dev Isn’t Promoted: This is bad for a number of reasons. It causes fights with Karen, strengthens his bond with RJ, and might lead to him wanting to move to DC. Which would mean Dev and Karen break up. That would just be too sad. It also leads to a shot of Raza Jaffrey gazing pensively out a window as the sun comes in through the blinds, which is about as cliché as anything can get.
Derek’s Laugh: There might be some places where it was genuine but the fake stuff was just horrendous.
Julia and Leo: Please, please make it stop. Leo’s voice somehow got even more annoying this week, there were a slew of terrible shots, and the more viewers are told to care about this family, the more quickly they will skyrocket to the top of everyone’s “Most Hated TV Families” lists.
The Backers: Surely Uma Thurman ate up a lot of the guest star budget, but the lady and gentlemen that they found to play the possible backers were just awful. Little to no acting skill between the three of them.

The Quotable:

“Okay, so I talk loud!” – Julia
“So according to Wikipedia you guys have been writing partners for ten years!” – NYU Student interviewer
“Cuba’s complicated!” – Eileen
“That’s the biggest piece of junk we’ve ever written.” – Julia, at Three On A Match
“Well, many people in the theater are insane. I, however, am not one of them.” – Eileen
“It’s not like I have to shag every leading lady.” – Derek

Overall:

It’s been said eighty million times at this point, but the sooner the Houston family is out of the picture, the better. Everything else this week worked well and Anjelica Huston just keeps outdoing herself. The drama between Dev and Karen was believable and it was good to see Karen finally tell him about the Derek situation (it had to come out eventually). The idea of Bombshell’s new rock star backer is interesting as well. So in the end, a decent episode, as long as we all pretend that Leo and Frank don’t exist and that Julia sleeps in the rehearsal room and has no home life.

Rating: 7.5/10

Smash airs Monday nights at 10 PM on NBC.

Written by Guest Writer Amy Lindorff

Uma Thurman Leaks Details About Quentin Tarantino’s Next Film

Travis Woods — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:38:18 +0000

Quentin Tarantino’s ‘muse,’ Uma Thurman, let some details slip about QT’s upcoming feature, according to Digital Spy, and claims that it will be a western film entitled A Southern (Note: In several interviews, Tarantino has referred to the film’s genre as ‘a southern,’ ie: a western that takes place in the American South, so A Southern may be a misquote on Digital Spy’s part—and ok, I’m flicking my fanboy nerd switch into the off position now).

So says Uma:

“I think he has a script ready to start off a new film, A Southern…I think it’s really exciting. It’s another new story and a fresh piece of material that he is channeling at the moment. So I think Kill Bill lives down the road.”

Thurman is referring to the long-rumored Kill Bill, Volume 3, which is set to be QT’s next film, and revolves around the child of Vivica A. Fox’s character seeking revenge against Uma Thurman’s ‘The Bride.’

Tarantino has already nabbed Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for Inglorious Basterds, to star in the new film, which the filmmaker described in 2009 to the New York Daily News as:

“I’d like to do a Western. But rather than set it in Texas, have it in slavery times. With that subject that everybody is afraid to deal with. Let’s shine that light on ourselves.

“You could do a ponderous history lesson of slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad. Or, you could make a movie that would be exciting. Do it as an adventure. A spaghetti Western that takes place during that time. And I would call it a Southern.”

No word yet on any further casting news, but if the gods are good they will please, please, please see fit to make sure that Sam Jackson somehow gets a role in this thing—seriously, I miss the days of his Tarantino badassery. We need you back, Sam.

What do you think of the Tarantino news?

Uma Thurman Joins Playing the Field With Gerard Butler

Krystal Clark — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:03:47 +0000

Uma Thurman has joined the cast of the athletic, romantic comedy Playing the Field according to Variety. The film is headlined by Gerard Butler, and will feature the Scottish actor in a love triangle with Thurman and Jessica Biel. Yes, Jessica Biel! This is definitely an interesting trio don’t you think? Find out more about the movie…

Playing the Field centers on a professional soccer player (Butler) who decides to coach his son’s youth team. He uses the job as a way to bond with his son, but he ends up dodging the sexual advances of multiple soccer moms instead. The trade reports that Thurman will play the mother of one of the other children on the team, and Biel will star as Butler’s ex-wife. The film will be directed by Gabrielle Muccino.

We don’t have a problem with Thurman and Butler as potential partners in this movie, but Biel? She plays his ex-wife? We’re assuming that she’s also the mother of his son, so how old is this kid exactly? Did Biel’s character have him fresh out of high school? The age difference between the characters is a bit unnerving.

What do you think about Thurman and Biel joining Butler in Playing the Field?

Photos of Robert Pattinson in Bel Ami

Krystal Clark — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:01:09 +0000

Last year it was announced that Robert Pattinson would once again use his sunken cheeks to seduce audiences in his new film, Bel Ami. It’s a period piece that co-stars several veteran actresses including Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christina Ricci. Not only will his character be surrounded by ladies but we’re pretty sure he’s going to sleep with 90% of them.

Bel Ami centers on George Duroy (Pattinson), a young journalist who rose from poverty to become one of the most successful men in Paris via the ruthless and calculating bedding of the city’s most glamorous and influential women. Thurman plays the wife of Duroy’s friend, a woman who is extremely involved and connected in the goings-on of Parisian society. She helps Duroy in his ascent, later becoming his wife.

Check out Thurman and Pattinson in heat below…

Pattinson’s character is essentially a man-whore who uses his body and charms to get what he wants. This is a long cry from his honorable alter ego Edward Cullen. How will the Twihards react?! Dun, dun, dun!!!

Bel Ami is directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod and is scheduled to hit theaters in 2011.

What do you think of Pattinson’s new role?

Source: Collider

New Percy Jackson and The Olympians Photos

Krystal Clark — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:03:33 +0000

Earlier today we learned that Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief star Logan Lerman might be up for the role of Peter Parker in the next Spider-Man, but until that news is confirmed we have some photos from his most recent project. We’ve got six high quality production stills taken directly from the film that feature Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and even Medusa.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on the book series of the same name by author, Rick Riordan. The story centered a 12-year-old boy (a teenager in the film) who sets out on a quest in present-day America to rescue his mother, return Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt and prevent a civil war from erupting among the gods.

The movie has an all star cast of gods and goddesses including a trio of godly brothers with Sean Bean as Zeus, Kevin McKidd as Poseidon, and Steve Coogan as Hades. On the lady’s front, Uma Thurman stars as Medusa, Rosario Dawson as Persephone, and Melina Kanakardes as Athena.

The following photos give us a peek at the main characters in action as they battle the elements and the gods to find Zeus’ lighting bolt. If you look closely in the Medusa photo, you’ll notice that she’s become entranced by her own reflection in Percy’s iPhone.

What do you think of the latest photos from Percy Jackson and The Olympians?

Source: Collider

Uma Thurman Joins Robert Pattinson in Bel Ami

Krystal Clark — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:04:53 +0000

A few weeks ago we clued you in on Robert Pattinson‘s upcoming feature, Bel Ami. Rumors were circulating that the New Moon star would play a seducer of women opposite Nicole Kidman, but that turned out to be false. According to THR, Uma Thurman will take on the role of the older woman in Pattinson’s life.

Kristen Scott Thomas has also come on board to play a clingy socialite who falls for Duroy in the midst of his rise to the top. The plot for this film will feature several women throwing themselves at Pattinson, which sounds like an average day in his life. The actor’s recent movie choices prove that he wants to branch out from his vampire mold to explore more dramatic material, and this is the perfect place to start.

What do you think of Uma and Robert going head to head in a romantic drama?

Uma Thurman Wants to Kill Bill Again

Krystal Clark — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:27:04 +0000

Give the people what they want, Uma! Actress Uma Thurman heard about the recent Kill Bill Vol 3 talk from writer-director Quentin Tarantino, and she’s down for the cause. A few weeks ago while overseas, Tarantino appeared on an Italian talk show where he confirmed that he was working on a third film in the series, and he stated that The Bride will fight again!

See what Thurman had to say about reprising her role…

Over at MTV, they spoke to the portrayer of The Bride, and she confirmed that Tarantino has shared some of his development ideas with her, but she can’t go into any specifics on what he disclosed.

“We did chat, we did chat,” she told us. He has not yet finished the script. I don’t even really know if he’s really started it, although I got a taste of some of his ideas and they are really good. He has started to share with me what he was thinking, and it’s awesome.”

From what we’ve heard in the past, the third film may center around the daughter of Vivica Fox’s character Vernita Green as she tries to avenge the death of her mother. Uma wouldn’t go into detail about what she learned, but she did say it would be fun to do another movie.

Do you want to see a Kill Bill Volume 3? What should the story be about?

Uma Thurman Joins Ceremony

Krystal Clark — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:42:09 +0000

Uma Thurman has signed on to star in the directorial debut of Max Winkler, according to Variety. The film is a romantic comedy entitled, Ceremony and it will be produced and financed by Nala Films. Winkler, the son of TV icon Henry Winkler, has made waves as a comedy writer in the past few years and is ready to make the transition to director.

The story of Ceremony centers on the May-December romance between a young man (Michael Angarano) who is about to marry an older woman (Uma Thurman). The script was written by Winkler, who also co-wrote the upcoming Jonah Hill comedy, The Adventurer’s Handbook. Jason Reitman will serve as an executive producer on Ceremony alongside Dan Dubiecki. Production on the film is set to begin October 21st, on Long Island.

Max Winkler is only 26 years old and has accumulated some pretty decent writing credits on his resume. His keen sense of comedy has become well known throughout the screenwriting community, and he’s finally getting his opportunity to shine as a director. It would be easy to fly into a fit of rage, at the thought of this young whipper snapper having the opportunity to work with Uma Thurman, but he’s earned it.

What do you think about Uma Thurman teaming up with Max Winkler for Ceremony?

Uma Thurman Joins Girl Soldier

Krystal Clark — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:50:29 +0000

Kill Bill star Uma Thurman is about to take part in another fight, but this time a sword won’t be her weapon of choice. According to Variety, the actress will star in the indie drama Girl Soldier. It’s a film based on the 2004 book “Stolen Angels,” which was written by Kathy Cook. Thurman will star as “a cleric who helped rescue 140 schoolgirls abducted in Uganda.”

“Stolen Angels” takes place in 1996 and focuses on the raid of a boarding school, where young girls were kidnapped by rebels. Their intention was to turn them into prostitutes, sex slaves, and soldiers. One of the teachers at the school, Sister Caroline managed to track down the invaders base camp, and asked for the girls’ release. Over 100 girls were returned to her, and this sparked a revolution to stop not only the trafficking of children in Uganda, but all over the world. Sister Caroline involved the United Nations, The Pope, and even parents to help with her crusade over the next few years.

According to Thurman, “This is a film that had to get made,” Thurman said. “It’s beyond me that in this day and age the exploitation of child soldiers goes virtually unnoticed and unchecked by Western media.” I totally agree. There are so many disturbing things being done to children all over the world, including the U.S. Girl Soldier’s screenplay is written by Stephanie Pinola and Karen Croner.

This sounds like a good dramatic piece for Thurman. I think she’s come a long way as an actress. In her early days she was known for being just a sexy screen presence, but I’m happy that she’s grown into a talented and formidable actress. This could be great for her career.

What do you think about Uma Thurman taking on such a dramatic role in Girl Soldiers?

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Teaser Trailer

Krystal Clark — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:10:50 +0000

A teaser trailer has been released for the upcoming family film, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The film’s directed by Chris Columbus and stars Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Catherine Keener, Rosario Dawson and Steve Coogan.

According to Coming Soon, the film centers on “Poseidon’s son, a 12-year-old boy,who sets out on a quest in present-day America to rescue his mother, return Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt and prevent a civil war from erupting among the gods.”

Check out the trailer after the jump.

Percy Jackson is set for release on February 12, 2010. I’m a sucker for anything that uses Greek mythology as a backdrop so I might actually give this film a shot.

What do you think of the first teaser trailer for Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief?

ScreenCrave.com » uma thurman

Smash: Season 1 Episode 11: The Movie Star – TV Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

The Quotable:

Overall:

Rating: 8/10

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The Bad:

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Rating: 7.5/10

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