Fresh off their recent Oscar buzz, James Franco and Natalie Portman seem to be doing their best to make people forget about it. But I applaud them both for taking on an obvious throwaway stoner comedy like this purely for the fun of making it. Director David Gordon Green and star/writer Danny McBride have been friends for a long time, having worked together on All The Real Girls, Pineapple Express, and now this. But medievel movies are a tough sell under the best of circumstances, and adding gross out gags to the mix could reduce the audience even further. Check out my review of Your Highness by going
here!
Those trying to equate Hanna with every other hitman movie on the block need a serious head check. There's nothing ordinary about Joe Wright's film, which features his Atonement breakout star Saoirse Ronan as a cold blooded child assassin trying to survive in an unfamilar world. It's amazing to watch such a young, relatively new actress holding her own against the likes of Cate Blanchett, and I suspect that her Best Supporting nomination will be the first of many. My review of Hanna can be found
here.
I'm not particularly offended that they've remade 1981's
Arthur
, which starred Dudley Moore as a spoiled rich guy who risks losing his inheritance if he doesn't marry the right woman. It's not a film I really like all that much. My beef is in what I've seen from the trailers and TV spots, which have Russell Brand looking like an oversized, bratty infant. Even Helen Mirren looks out of place, and don't get me started on Jennifer Garner. The only thing that has me even a little bit hopeful is the presence of the awesome Greta Gerwig, who has been the shining light of every film she's been in(
No Strings Attached
,
Greenberg
).
I really hate that poster for Soul Surfer, showing a buffed AnnaSophia Robb as surfing star Bethany Hamilton peering from behind a shark bitten surf board. It takes the focus off of her and gives the impression the film is primarily about the attack, which it isn't. It's really about how Bethany overcame phenomenal odds, losing an arm in the attack, through the love and undying support of her family. Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt, and Carrie Underwood round out a truly inspirational story. My review of Soul Surfer can be read
here.
Susanne Bier's been a remarkable global presence as a filmmaker for years with great movies like
After the Wedding
(Mads Mikkelsen? Crazy good),
Brothers(the basis for the Tobey Maguire/Jake Gyllenhaal version), and the under appreciated
Things We Lost in the Fire
, but she's yet to really gain traction here in the United States. Hopefully that's about to change, as her latest film,
In A Better World
, recently won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Oscars. Here's hoping it has enough crossover appeal to make her more of a house hold name.
For a filmmaker with such a unique outlook and perspective as Eric Mendolsohn, it's a shame we don't get to see more of his work. The last film I can remember from him was 1999's
Judy Berlin
, which earned him the Directing Award at Sundance that year. His new film,
3 Backyards, earned Mendolsohn yet another Directing Award, making him the only director win twice. That makes him two for two when casting Edie Falco(
Nurse Jackie
). That's not just coincidence, that's a trend.
