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Posts Tagged ‘Amanda Seyfried’
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
The science-fiction action-drama I’M.MORTAL looks like it has assembled a decent cast with Cillian Murphy the latest to join the film. Murphy, hot off his INCEPTION success, will presumably play one of the law enforcement officials trying to track down Justin Timberlake’s Will. Will is a poor boy that comes into a fortune and then goes on the run when he kidnaps a beautiful heiress (Amanda Seyfried). They live in a world where the aging gene can be “shut off” and “time” is the currency. While the rich can live forever, the others have to negotiate their way into living forever.
Andrew Niccol will be directing with Marc Abraham and Eric Newman’s Strike Entertainment producing. It should also be noted that although Timberlake is thought to be a sure thing, he technically hasn’t signed on the dotted line yet. So anything can happen.
Source: Heat Vision
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Andrew Niccol, Cillian Murphy, justin timberlake, movie news
Posted in News |
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Amanda Seyfried is everywhere these days. Although she typically does the light-hearted fare like MAMMA MIA or LETTERS TO JULIET, she took a drastic departure from those family films to do CHLOE, an erotic suspense thriller that showcases Seyfried’s darker side and shows that the young actress is set to be more than a rom-com staple. As well as she, and everyone else performed, the movie lacked direction and was riddled with too many inconsistencies to be noteworthy for anything other than Seyfried’s welcomed departure from the cheesy romance films.
After he misses his surprise birthday party, Catherine Stewart (Julianne Moore) begins to think her dashing husband David (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her. Needing the proof for her own piece of mind, she hires a prostitute named Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to see if her husband will go for her. When Chloe reports back that he did, in fact, go for her, Catherine discovers that she’s not only upset at her husband’s indiscretion, but she’s also aroused by the young Chloe. This leads to a dangerous obsession that is quickly taken too far for Catherine’s liking.
One of the biggest faults of the film is how they deal with and develop the character of Chloe. In the beginning, she’s presented as this strong, confident seductress that knows what she wants and how to get it. We continue this character development as we see her interact with Catherine and David and the audience begins to believe Chloe is much more than just a prostitute. But the third act is predicated on Chloe being something other than strong and confident, which changes the whole tone of the film. She inexplicably turns into a disturbed, weak and needy little girl that is neither strong nor intelligent. This change comes too quickly and contradicts everything we had just seen.
I also kept waiting for the big payoff. I liked the idea of a married woman hiring a prostitute to see if her husband will sway when tempted. I also love the idea of the prostitute using the wife’s insecurities for her own benefit. But neither idea was fully developed. I was hoping there was going to be some master plan and we’d get a justification for everything we’d witnessed, but the ending fell with a thud and the events in the film turned out to be nothing more than what we saw. Director Atom Egoyan has done this kind of thing before in films like EXOTICA and WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, which leads me to believe he relies too heavily on the erotic scenes and loses focus with the story.
As much as I enjoyed the eroticism between Chloe and Catherine, I need a lot more from my films than a well-filmed sex scene. Egoyan missed a chance to tell a sophisticated thriller and instead he let the audience down by failing to develop any type of mystery or deviant plan. The performances in CHLOE were top notch, but they couldn’t make up for the underdeveloped story.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: This is a beautiful transfer with black levels displayed wonderfully. The movie goes from well-lit to dimly-lit several times, but the transfer held true, which can be a challenge for some smaller films.
Audio: The surround channels weren’t used often as this is a dialogue-driven film, but what we got was fine.
Commentary with Amanda Seyfried, Atom Egoyan and Erin Cressida Wilson: I was worried when I saw who was participating in this commentary that it would be a spliced together track, but thankfully, they’re all together, or at least do the track together. Atom and Erin do most of the talking with Amanda chiming up when prompted. I enjoyed hearing from Erin, the screenwriter, just to get some of her insights into the script. Overall, it’s a good track and a definite must for fans of the film.
Introducing Cloe (25:42): The cast and crew show up to discuss what the film is and what the film means. It feels like it’s a made for TV featurette, so everyone is trying to tell you how great the film is. We get a little details on how the script came to be and how the cast became a part of the film. It’s a nice featurette for those that don’t have time for the commentary.
Deleted Scenes (5:24): The first deleted scene is a powerful one and adds a brand new element to the film with Catherine’s son. The other kind of plays off that storyline and add more to Michael’s storyline. I liked the storyline, but it needed more than two scenes to develop, so I’m glad these were cut.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Atom Egoyan, Blu-ray, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, movie reviews
Posted in Blu-Ray Reviews, Reviews |
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Posted by: Nathan Swank
Amanda Seyfried has been cast in the New Regency sci-fi film I’M.MORTAL, which is to be distributed by Fox. Hold on to your hats folks but this is not a remake or sequel. Yes, this original script was penned by Andrew Niccol, who is also set to direct. He previously wrote and directed the vastly underrated GATTICA with Ethan Hawke and Jude Law. Niccol also wrote one of my all time favorites in THE TRUMAN SHOW with Jim Carrey. Seyfried might be one of the busiest actresses around turning out a minimum of three films a year.
The film takes place in the future where time has become a currency. People stop aging at 25 and depending on how wealthy one is, they can live forever. A falsely accused rebel (yet to be cast) is on the run for murdering a wealthy man for his time. Along with a beautiful girl (Seyfried) they discover life doesn’t matter if you never experience love. This does have a certain LOGAN’S RUN feel to it but I’m excited for some originality.
Source: Variety
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Andrew Niccol, Ethan Hawke, Jim Carrey, jude law, movie news
Posted in News |
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Posted by: Kristy Sturdivant
It’s been reported that Ridley and Tony Scott are going to produce a sci-fi romantic epic entitled ION, and Channing Tatum is attached to star. The film has been likened to James Cameron’s latest hit AVATAR, in that it will have “otherworldly elements to the script”. ION will be about a man who travels to other worlds to be reunited with his reincarnated lover. No word yet as to when the film will start shooting or eventually released.
I like Channing Tatum, but I’m not convinced he can play a star-crossed lover type. His role in DEAR JOHN was robotic-like but there is potential. I just hope they don’t pair him with Amanda Seyfried again, I think we’ve seen enough of her lately.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, avatar, Channing Tatum, movie news, ridley scott, Tony Scott
Posted in News |
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
“The best romantic couple since THE NOTEBOOK” this is a terribly misrepresented quote plastered on the DEAR JOHN Blu-ray case. It is true that Nicholas Sparks is the author of both books but it is definitely false that these characters have anywhere near the romantic depth and love compared to Noah and Allie.
Special Forces Army Sergeant John Tyree (Channing Tatum) is on leave for a couple of weeks. While at home, he meets the sweet, giving Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). Their love quickly grows in the short time span and they promise to write each other over his last 12 months of enlistment. After the 9/11 attacks, John reenlists and their long distant love is put to a heavier challenge.
The major problem is that we don’t connect with the characters or their love. I think both actors are charismatic enough but the connection seems like one of those passing moment crushes that we have all encountered on a trip or vacation that we never hear from again. Meeting each other’s family, helps connect them but I specifically can’t understand Savannah’s love attraction toward John. True, he has a chiseled military body, but he has zero personality and even seems to have a few anger issues which is inexplicably presented early on, only to be quickly discarded and never heard from again.
Many scenes are bit improvised in their dialogue to give a more natural feeling. Well that works, if the two people are veteran actors and have more of a romantic chemistry. The scenes are definitely natural but they are natural in the awkward date that would not become a love connection. We see a date begin then we jump to a later point in the date where they are just getting to basic questions. So are we to believe that they’ve been talking on and on for hours? Because I believe it was just one long awkward pause.
To be fair, some scenes worked okay. Seyfried has a naturally bubbly spirit that felt true as a character willing to help people. I can understand her feelings for John, but only as a fixing project not true love. Channing is not quite at the level that his performance needed to be. His “quiet strength” consisted of him grinding his back teeth so his jaw flexed. He did shine at moments specifically in a touching scene with his mildly autistic father (Richard Jenkins). Which brings me to the supporting actors. Jenkins along with Henry Thomas as a close friend to Savannah and single father to an autistic child brought a weight to their performances that definitely grounded the film and made it stronger. I actually cared more about their storylines than our two distant lovers.
In the end, the love-connection and some of the family drama felt a bit forced and gimmicky. The young actors show lots of promise but I’m not sure they can handle the range quite yet. My recommendation would be to skip the film but listen to the smooth sounds of the soundtrack featuring “Paperweight” by Joshua Radin & Schuler Fisk.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: The picture was okay with the exception of a few spots at the beginning that seem a bit out of place and grainy.
Audio: The sound was decent but a couple of times I had to use the captions to understand Channing’s mumbling dialogue.
Alternate Ending (3:41): A longer narration of the final letter from Savannah
Outtakes (2:24): This is a pitiful excuse for an outtakes reel.
Deleted and Alternate Scenes (10:13): 12 scenes that were excusably cut either for redundancy or bad acting.
A Conversation with Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and Lasse Hallstrom (5:24): They all talk lovingly upon working with each other.
Transforming Charleston (14:51): The art director talks about making Charleston look as if it were in Afghanistan, Africa or other location spots in the film. This is always impressive to me and makes me wonder, how much money goes toward this aspect?
Military in Movies: Dear John’s Military Advisors (11:03): A few of the military advisors talk in detail about a soldiers outlook. They discuss the different transitions and changes the military took in the time span the film takes place in, especially through 9/11.
Mr. Tyree, The Mule, and Benny Dietz (4:53): A more detailed look at the history and different coins and the mules which are two coins mixed to become one.
The Story of Braeden Reed (24:33): This goes into detail about the young autistic actor playing an autistic character. They discuss the benefits and challenges of working with an autistic child and how most of the actors ad-libbing when it came to him.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Blu-ray, Channing Tatum, Lasse Hallstrom, movie reviews, richard jenkins
Posted in Blu-Ray Reviews, Reviews |
Monday, May 24th, 2010
Posted by: Kristy Sturdivant
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that the thriller CHLOE, starring Amanda Seyfried, Julianne Moore and Lian Neeson, will be released on Blu-ray July 13, 2010. The film follows a married woman (Moore) who hires a young escort (Seyfried) to befriend her husband, whom she suspects is being unfaithful. The film had a limited theatrical release but was deemed by some critics as a very intense thriller with great performances by Seyfried, Moore and Neeson. CHLOE was directed by Atom Egoyan who has two Academy Award nominations for his work on the film THE SWEET HEREAFTER. Special features for the film include:
- Introducing Chloe: The Making of Chloe
- Commentary with actress Amanda Seyfried, director Atom Egoyan and writer Erin Cressida Wilson
- Deleted scenes
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Atom Egoyan, Blu-ray, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, movie news
Posted in Blu-Ray News, News |
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Amanda Seyfried has a future in show business. She has this future because she is a likeable character, a beautiful woman, and a talented actress. Her new film LETTERS TO JULIET, is not based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, which is usually the main draw for romantic movies these days, and since I still saw pretty decent sized crowds for this new movie this weekend, I can attribute at least a little bit of that audience to her. She has used her big, beautiful eyes create characters that women can care about and not feel threatened by, a trait that the uber-gorgeous Megan Fox will never have, but one she doesn’t really care to have either, as long as she keeps getting huge paychecks from the action movies she does (and yes, I will be watching her closely in JONAH HEX). But with her likeability and acting chops (recently showcased in her great role in CHLOE), Amanda Seyfried is working on a faithful audience that could rival some of the big name actresses in Hollywood, even with mediocre fare like LETTERS FROM JULIET.
In LETTERS TO JULIET, we are taken to Verona, Italy, city of “Romeo and Juliet.” In that city there is a wall where women of all ages write and post letters to the fictional Juliet, telling her or their heartaches and various romantic trials, and four random Italian women, calling themselves The Secretaries of Juliet, answer these letters. Amanda Seyfried plays Sophie, a young New Yorker taking a pre-honeymoon trip to Verona with her fiancée, the obnoxious and unlikable Gael Garcia Bernal (I might be biased, though. I dated a girl once who thought he was just the most beautiful man alive), and she stumbles across the secretaries, finds a 50 year old letter lodged deep in the wall and writes back to the author. Said author is a British grandmother, Claire, played with playfulness and youth by Vanessa Redgrave, who comes to Verona with her handsome but skeptical grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan), to find her one true love, Lorenzo Bertolini. Problem is, the relationship occurred 50 years ago and Lorenzo Bertolini in Italy is apparently like John Smith in the US of A, so Sophie tags along to make sure she gave good advice, and to chronicle the story as she wishes to be a contributing author to The New Yorker. Yes, The New Yorker. Eventually, as they meet the various Lorenzo’s of Italy, Charlie falls for Sophie, and vice versa, but Sophie is spoken for, so how can these kids make it work? And will Claire ever meet her true love, the real Lorenzo Bartolini. These are the questions that unfold in the story, most of which were answered in the previews.
The problem is the middle part of the story, which seems to drag on for an eternity. The characters are likeable enough, though Charlie’s eventual relaxation from his British, prudish skepticism is contrived, and Vanessa Redgrave is a great woman to root for finding her true love. I was annoyed every time Bernal was onscreen, but that might have been the goal, since we’re supposed to be rooting for Charlie and Sophie. There is some Shakespeare quotes, but not too many, and an obligatory balcony scene, but the obligation is commented on, so the ending wraps everything up very well, but it’s that middle part that drags the movie out and takes away from what could be a compelling romance. But Seyfried does great in this part, because we root for her, we like watching her, and women can relate to her.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Gary Winick, movie reviews, Vanessa Redgrave
Posted in Reviews |
Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
In anticipation of its release, I felt ROBIN HOOD was the least exciting summer blockbuster of the year. The whole film felt like a retread of so many different films we’ve seen before, even from the same people (Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott). So I’m not surprised it wasn’t able to dethrone IRON MAN 2, even though the comic book sequel lost a whopping 59% of its audience from last weekend. The counter-programming award has to go to Amanda Seyfried’s LETTERS TO JULIET as it managed to finish third to the macho films with $13.8 million. Overall, it was a very “meh” weekend at the box office.
Next week sees the release of SHREK: FOREVER AFTER and MACGRUBER. Although I’m sure America is sick and tired of the Shrek movies, it is still a kids’ movie, which inevitably do well this time of year. As for MACGRUBER, I personally think it looks hilarious, but I’m not sure this is the right time of year to be releasing a movie like that.
1. Iron Man 2 $53 million
2. Robin Hood $37.1 million
3. Letters to Juliet $13.8 million
4. Just Wright $8.2 million
5. Nightmare on Elm Street $4.6 million
6. Date Night $4 million
7. How to Train Your Dragon $5.2 million
8. The Back-Up Plan $2.5 million
9. Furry Vengeance $2.1 million
10. Clash of the Titans $1.1 million
Source: Box Office Mojo and Deadline
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, movie news, ridley scott, robert downey jr., russell crowe
Posted in News |
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
When Amanda Seyfried was on the red carpet during the Oscars, she confirmed that she’d be doing the upcoming THE GIRL WITH THE RED RIDING HOOD. Today, we get another cast member with little known Shiloh Fernandez taking the role of Peter, an orphaned woodcutter and Seyfried’s love interest. The film is a darker, more modern take on the classic children’s fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood. The film is described as “gothic horror”, but I’m not completely sure what that means. I’m pretty sure the Twilight films were once described as “gothic horror” and they are neither “gothic” nor “horror”.
TWILIGHT director Catherine Hardwicke will be handling directing duties on this with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson Killoran (via Appian Way) and Julie Yorn producing.
Source: Heat Vision
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Catherine Hardwicke, movie news, Shiloh Fernandez
Posted in News |
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
Now, this is a thriller. I recently reviewed THE GHOST WRITER, the latest Roman Polanski political movie that claimed to be a thriller. It had some mysterious moments, but by and large I felt little tension throughout, and the ending fell flat for me. Atom Egoyan’s psychological/erotic thriller CHLOE is a film that lives up to its billing as a thriller, riding a wave of great performances by solid, seasoned actors, and one newbie who is impressing me with every new role. The film also serves as a welcome primer for those husbands eyeing infidelity. Liam Neeson commits many mistakes early in the film: excessive flirting, IMing people then quickly shutting off his screen when his wife comes up behind him, and above all not monitoring his cell phone 100% of the time (have we learned nothing from Tiger Woods?). But this is not simply a tale of a husband’s affair in the vein of FATAL ATTRACTION, though it does play off of that formula, and Julianne Moore as the put-upon wife and Amanda Seyfried as the title character allow CHLOE to transcend the formula to combine the erotic with the psychological to provide real tension on two levels for the audience. And Amanda Seyfried is just dead sexy.
Julianne Moore as a Toronto wife, Catherine, also gives us a lesson in what not to do: do not plan a surprise party. For her husband’s birthday, she plans a surprise party, inviting all his friends to surprise him as he comes back from his lecture to music students in New York and he calls and cancels. Upon his return, David (Liam Neeson) gets a phone message from a student simply reading “Thanks for last night.” Of course, Catherine sees it. Separate cell phones, guys. Aside from the infidelity, times are tough enough at the couple’s household, with their son, Michael (Max Thieriot) in therapy and having more sex than Mom. In her attempt to prove her husband’s infidelity beyond a shadow of a doubt, she hires a prostitute she can see working the streets from her multi-windowed gynecological office. Chloe, played erotic but also somewhat innocent by Amanda Seyfried, is the hired pro, and as she meets David she reports back each encounter in sexy detail. This is as far as I want to go into the weeds of the story, because the third act of this opera is where the wheels really come off the wagon. As Catherine wants to call off the trysts between Chloe and David, she strangely feels closer to him through the erotic replay from Chloe and can’t call it off…and then Chloe comes to the line of scrimmage and starts calling audibles of her own. In not knowing where she’s going next or why, that is where the true tension comes in…and watching Catherine twist in that uncertainty adds a level of excitement as well.
Julianne Moore carries the brunt of the dramatic weight in this film, but carries it with that sadness and desperation we have seen in her in MAGNOLIA and THE HOURS, but there is a reason she has been so acclaimed in such roles. Julianne Moore runs the gamut of all emotions of aging women, unfairly cast into a system of marriage that sees men age more gracefully, called distinguished, while women grow wrinkled, flabby and solely designated as old. She hires Chloe first out of investigatory purposes, then sees her as the only window back to the man she loved, making her tragic but also immensely sympathetic. Meanwhile, Chloe plays a number of emotions, from the conniving co-conspirator to the hapless victim, then back to calculated vixen. And did I mention she’s dead sexy. Huge eyes that pull you into every emotion, and a rockin’ body she shows off whenever she can, but also in the context of the story. Liam Neeson plays his role reserved, as this is a movie about the women and how they react/behave to this situation, but he still plays his scenes to pitch-perfect perfection, and when Julianne Moore has to deal with all the things thrown at her so unsuspected, she deals with them in a realistic way, never overacting or self-congratulating, and that makes the movie’s emotions that much more real. The final act is a hodge-podge of good parts and scenes for all the actors, so I won’t give that away, but I will suggest this film to all those seeking a thriller. Put off THE GHOST WRITER until…I don’t know, until it’s a Lifetime Channel World Premiere. In the meantime, watch this film.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Atom Egoyan, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, movie reviews
Posted in Reviews |
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
The sappiness continues with yet another Nicholas Sparks’ novel hitting the big screen, this time in the form of DEAR JOHN with Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. As you can tell by our movie review, the film didn’t appeal to our reviewer as much as it did to many audience members, but maybe he’s not the target audience. The Blu-ray is pretty weak as far as special features, but it looks like we get more from our two main stars and that’s what everyone wants anyway. The Lasse Halstrom film hits Blu-ray on May 25th. Meanwhile, you can catch Miley Cyrus in another Sparks adaptation this weekend in THE LAST SONG.
- A conversation with Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and Lasse Hallström
- Featurettes:
- Transforming Charleston
- Military in Movies: Dear John‘s Military Advisors
- Mr. Tyree, the Mule, and Benny Dietz
- The Story of Braeden Reed
- Deleted and alternate scenes
- Alternate ending
- Outtakes
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Channing Tatum, Lasse Hallstrom, movie news
Posted in Blu-Ray News, News |
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
Amanda Seyfried is everywhere these days. We just learned she’d be doing a small part in ALBERT NOBBS and now she’s signed on to star in THE GIRL WHO CONNED THE IVY LEAGUE, which will be directed by McG. The film tells the incredible true story of Esther Reed who made her way across America and into Ivy League schools while stealing the identity of various missing women.
I will take a minute here and bring your attention to the Rolling Stone article the film is based on. The article is written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely and it’s a fascinating story, not to mention extremely well written. It’s several pages long, so be forewarned, but it’s definitely well worth the time. We’ve heard counterfeiting and identity theft stories before, but this is one of the most elaborate stories I’ve heard that actually takes place in the digital age. The fact that she was able to get away with this for as long as she did is incredible. This should make for a great film if McG can make it 2 hours without blowing something up.
Source: Production Weekly (via Twitter)
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Esther Reed, McG, movie news
Posted in News |
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
I always get excited when I hear of an actor or actress that has a pet project that they invest a lot of personal time, energy and money into. So I’m attentively following ALBERT NOBBS, which is nothing short of Glenn Close’s personal project. She’s already starred in the stage version of the short story and apart from starring in the film, she also wrote the script. Today she got good news as Amanda Seyfried and Jonathan Rhys Meyers have joined the cast that already included Close, Michael Gambon, Orlando Bloom and Janet McTeer. Rodrigo Garcia will be directing.
The story is about a woman (Close) forced to disguise herself as a man to survive in 19th century Ireland. Glenn Close has never been beautiful, but it seems like only yesterday she was the sexy seductress in FATAL ATTRACTION and now she’s starring as a woman/man in 19th century Ireland.
Source: Variety
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Glenn Close, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, movie news, Orlando Bloom
Posted in News |
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Nicholas Sparks’ novels adapted for the screen make for good romantic fare with no shortage of tear-jerking situations, the jerkiest of which being 2004’s THE NOTEBOOK. His latest, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, is DEAR JOHN with Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried playing the young lovers attempting to overcome the obstacles of the plot. Obstacles in relationships span from situation’s as diverse as the Bard’s “Romeo and Juliet” to Billy Joe Royal’s 1965 song “Down in the Boondocks,” but one thing DEAR JOHN does well that has typically been the death nail for other films is incorporate a post-9/11 military aspect to the story. This is overcome due to our investment in the early stages of the relationship of Seyfried and Tatum. They are likable leads and well acted characters, but years pass in the movie with no explanation and its easy to get lost in the ambiguous timeline. By the time they meet again later in the film, we are confused and less interested due to that confusion. Also, the premise of the film in the title – writing letters – is an antiquated concept in the age of e-mail and IM and what not, even in times of war. Finally, the ending is quickly thrown together and lacks the emotional punch we’d expect from this consummate tear-jerker.
Channing Tatum plays John Tyree, an Army Special Forces sergeant on leave back home in Charleston, surfing to show off his Army body. He meets Seyfried’s Savannah Curtis as she is on a break from college and in their 2 weeks together they develop a sweet relationship that feels real. The story hints at John’s past as a troublemaker but it only manifests in one altercation at a beach party after a fight with Savannah and we never see it again. There are sweet elements involving Savannah’s friends Tim (Henry Thomas) and his autistic son, and a great performance by Richard Jenkins as John’s father. However, as they part and begin their pen pal relationship we become less interested as we simply get a series of montages and voiceovers. The conflict occurs within John after 9/11 when he is torn between getting out of the service to be with Savannah or re-enlisting to fight the war and support his Army unit. Later, there is a nice element of surprise when we find out Savannah has pursued another relationship and in finding out with whom, but then there’s a quickly thrown together story of an illness and a death which takes us away from the romance only to throw it back together again hastily. The ending got to some of the women in the theater, but not all of them, and dry eyes at the end of a Sparks’ movie is not a good sign.
Tatum does well here as the gentle warrior who wins the girl with more than just his physique. He has emotional scenes dealing with his possible re-enlistment after September 11th and a medical condition of his father’s, and it doesn’t feel forced or contrived. When he gets his real “Dear John” letter about Savannah being engaged to someone else, he doesn’t oversell his pain, but makes the smart decision to play it down. As Savannah, Amanda Seyfried is adorable and charming, especially in the sweetness displayed toward Tim’s autistic child and John’s father. I’ve always liked Seyfried and appreciate the diversity of her larger roles as of late (MAMMA MIA!, JENNIFER’S BODY, to this). Richard Jenkins plays the role of John’s father incredibly well, with reserve for most of the film but with a heartbreaking scene of panic befitting an actor of his caliber. Other supporting players play their parts well, but their side stories lead to drastic changes in the plot, but aren’t fully fleshed out.
The problem is not the performances, but rather the second half of the film, so that even when John and Savannah meet up again towards the end, we don’t care as much as we should. As I walked out, I heard some women saying the ending was changed from the ending in the book. Not having read it, I cannot say, but maybe sticking with the original ending would have been a better route to take.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Channing Tatum, Lasse Hallstrom, movie reviews, richard jenkins
Posted in Reviews |
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
AVATAR officially passed TITANIC on Tuesday and most analysts predicted it would easily make it eight weekends in a row, but what they couldn’t predict is the appeal of a shirtless Channing Tatum. That, and people love their Nicholas Sparks novels/movies. DEAR JOHN (watch the trailer here) took the top spot at the box office with over $32 million, which was good enough to beat AVATAR’s $23 million. I think when you take into consideration the release date and the continued draw of AVATAR, you have to be pretty impressed by DEAR JOHN’s numbers. But so far, AVATAR has managed over $630 million, putting it $30 million past TITANIC and counting. The other movie opening this weekend was FROM PARIS WITH LOVE, starring a goatee-touting John Travolta. It didn’t fare as well and only managed $8 million. I was halfway expecting THE BLIND SIDE to jump back into the top ten after getting an Oscar nomination, but maybe its time has passed.
Next week sees the release of THE WOLFMAN and VALENTINE’S DAY and I’m guessing your view on love will dictate which movie you go see. It would almost be a travesty if a movie called “Valentine’s Day” couldn’t capture the box office on Valentine’s Day weekend. Of course, if you’ve seen the VALENTINE’S DAY trailer, maybe that won’t be such a surprise.
1 Dear John $32,400,000
2 Avatar $23,600,000
3 From Paris with Love $8,120,000
4 Edge of Darkness $7,005,000
5 Tooth Fairy $6,500,000
6 When in Rome $5,504,000
7 The Book of Eli $4,835,000
8 Crazy Heart $3,650,000
9 Legion (2010) $3,400,000
10 Sherlock Holmes $2,630,000
Source: Box Office Mojo
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Channing Tatum, james cameron, movie news
Posted in News |
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
The trailer for Amanda Seyfried’s LETTERS TO JULIET is here and it looks like Seyfried is determined to star in the sappiest movies she can find. We just recently posted the trailer for DEAR JOHN, so maybe she has a fascination with writing letters as well. In Juliet, Seyfried plays a girl that finds an old letter in a wall and decides to respond to the author, who turns out to be Vanessa Redgrave, still searching for her true love. Gael Garcia Bernal will play the token boyfriend that’s clearly not good enough for our heroine. The film is directed by Gary Winick, who also directed the travesty that was BRIDE WARS.
I was okay with this trailer until they started playing Taylor Swift’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and then it lost me.
Watch the trailer here.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Gael Garcia Bernal, Gary Winick, movie news, Vanessa Redgrave
Posted in News |
Monday, September 28th, 2009
I loved JUNO when it came out in late ‘07/early ’08. I thought Ellen Page was great, Jason Bateman was funny, and Michael Cera did his awkward/quiet thing to perfection. The writer, Diablo Cody (real name Brook Busey), kind of went into a media blitz where we couldn’t hear anything else but how she was a stripper and she bounced from writing a blog and a memoir to this hip script on teenage pregnancy. But it was still a great script and we got to see said exotic dancer at the podium with a statuette and her huge, garish tattoo come Oscar time, which led to Steven Spielberg signing her on to write for his series “The United States of Tara” which got Toni Collette a statue of her own recently. So yeah, she’s got some game.
But when I heard her next film would be a zombie-demon-teen horror flick, I was skeptical, even with the smoking hot Megan Fox signed on to star. And even in sitting through the film, I kept bouncing back and forth as to whether or not I liked it. Teen horror flicks tend to lean towards the cheesy, and for those parts of the film, the followed that formulaic pattern. But Cody put in touches of her hip-funny dialogue at other parts which took the movie to a level above the typical, banal horror banter. However, apparently her dialogue exists on a bell curve, where you can only put up with it to a point, and then you just think she’s trying too hard for the obvious laugh. For example, an early riff on backdoor virginity gets laughs, but her line later (from the previews) about “going both ways” gets a groan.
The storyline is an original twist on the typical horror flick. A band fronted by an eyeliner-wearing Adam Brody comes to the little town of Devil’s Kettle and seduces local hottie Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) into their suspicious van. Jennifer’s friend, Needy Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfreid, looking good as well, though playing second fiddle to Fox), notices a change to Jennifer after this van trip, and also notices an increase in gruesome murders among the local boys. In true best friend fashion, Jennifer explains the circumstances of her demonic transformation to Needy, its link to the dead boys, and Needy must make that often difficult decision most young girls have to make with their best friends: stay friends, or kill her. Needy’s boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons), ends up being an object of contention between the two girls, making the decision a little easier for Lesnicki, leading to the climactic GIRLFIGHT…which incidentally was the title of this director’s (Karyn Kusama) first movie.
Speaking of the director, Karyn Kusama’s association with the show “The L Word” may have caused her to add a completely random, yet incredibly hot, kissing scene between Fox and Seyfreid. It has nothing to do with the plot, does nothing to further the story, and is not dealt with afterward. But again…pretty hot.
But that kissing scene, some of the early lines, all of Adam Brody’s parts, and some great lines from J.K. Simmons as a teacher, give the movie what little credit it should receive. But when all is said and done, it’s still a teen horror flick, with just a few interesting parts… and most of those parts belong to Megan Fox (Get it? I’m referring to body parts. It works better in a Groucho Marx accent).
Tags: Adam Brody, Amanda Seyfried, Karyn Kusama, Megan Fox, movie reviews
Posted in Reviews |
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Sigh. Society has dictated that liking certain things makes a man less of a man. For example; liking the color pink, throw pillows or fruity drinks will usually get your man card revoked. I’m not sure when certain things became less manly, but men feel pressure to either not like those things, or to hide their fondness. Another example would be the Swedish 70’s band, Abba and indirectly, the musical MAMMA MIA!.
But you’ll occasionally catch me at the bar sipping on a Rum Runner or picking out new throw pillows at Macy’s. I’ve never been one to change my likes or dislikes because I want to fit a particular image. So with that in mind, I will make my declaration to the world that I love Abba. Not only Abba, but the musical and movie MAMMA MIA! It’s fun, it’s cute, it’s sweet and the musical numbers make you want to get up and dance. If admitting that makes me less of a man, well, I guess I’m okay with that.
Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) is about to get married and dreams of having her father walk her down the aisle. Unfortunately for her, her mom was a bit of a slut wild when she was younger and she doesn’t really know who the father is. So Sophie has narrowed it down to three contestants and much to the surprise of her mother, she invites all three of them to her wedding. Of course, this comes as a shock and the rest of the film is dedicated to trying to figure out who her father is.
The entire movie is set to Abba music, much like ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was set to Beatles music. If I have to compare the two, I’d say the biggest difference is that the actors singing the songs in MAMMA MIA aren’t nearly as good of singers as the actors in ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. Seyfried and Streep do okay, but Dominic Cooper and Pierce Brosnan shouldn’t even sing in the shower. Thankfully, they limit their singing, or give them songs that don’t require much range. However, for those roles, I think they would have been better served finding singers that can act and not actors that can sing. Sometimes it’s better to surround a talented cast with actual musicians in order to handle the more difficult songs, or to add a bit of legitimacy to the film, ala CHICAGO.
But regardless of who sings, the music is the selling point. Good music in a musical will at least make it okay. What makes MAMMA MIA! good is that director Phyllida Lloyd keeps everything rolling and doesn’t waste the audience’s time. She knows why we’re there and she skips to the next song quickly and smoothly. She also does a fine job with the dance numbers, which provide pleasing visuals while you’re listening to some good songs. The routines won’t blow you away, but they work for the movie.
MAMMA MIA! is a fun film that will please anyone that’s a fan of Abba. But even if you don’t have one of their albums, or won’t admit to having one, I think you’ll catch on to the songs rather quickly. The film covers just about every decent Abba song and it does it so well that you’ll probably want to watch this one a few times.
Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, movie reviews, Phyllida Lloyd, Pierce Brosnan
Posted in Reviews |
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