NEWS: Clooney Joins The Descendents...

A little while back, news came out that I Are Movies favorite, Alexander Payne, had ditched his midget, uh, “little people” comedy, “Downsizing”, and instead shifting his efforts to his adaptation of “The Decendents”, a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Fox Searchlight owns the rights, and purchased them in hopes of getting it done by Payne, based on a script by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Here’s how The Playlist sums up the novel:

The novel is a tragicomedy that centers on the story of an attorney who finds himself at a crossroads in his life after his wife dies and takes a trip with his two daughters to find the man she was having an affair with.
Scheduled to start shooting in January of next year, it looks like Payne is getting a bit of a cast lined up. Well, at least a leading man that will definitely get the film a tad bit of buzz, because, the guy happens to just have the last name of Clooney.

Yes, that is right, George Clooney, who is currently over in Italy working on Anton Corbjin’s “The American”, is looking like he wants to stay a bit busy over the upcoming holiday season. Currently in talks to take the lead, Clooney would not only give a ton of clout to this already anticipated film, but also make this much more of a mainstream film, particularly in combination with the tagline “from the director of Sideways,” a film which I think is much more widely seen than many people think. Getting HUGE buzz out of Up In The Air, Jason Reitman’s new film, Clooney is not only at the top of his game, but he’s also in the ever important Oscar race, and barring 5 roles that NO ONE is talking about, should at least be nominated for Best Actor this year. I’m a huge Payne fan, and really, I don’t think there are many actors that can stand up to Clooney when he is on his game. Also, it’s nice to see the only real Hollywood star, continue to help smaller projects get made. Can’t wait. No way to better wash down horrible news of a remake than with a tall glass of Clooney. Delicious.

Go see something good!

VIDEO: First Clip From Jason Reitman's Up In The Air...

If you have looked at ANY major film blog over this long weekend, one thing will pop out at you. EVERYONE has fallen in love with Jason Reitman's third feature, Up In The Air.

Debuting at this past Telluride Film Festival, the film has won rave reviews from the likes of Firstshowing and /Film, and many other numerous outlets. Reitman's return to film making after his first two projects, Thank You For Smoking, and the unjustly critic jerk off that was Juno, this film was not only the bell of the ball at Telluride, similar to last years Slumdog Millionaire (which stole last years festival), this will also hopefully mark his return to solid comedy.

Well, after getting the Oscar level buzz (look for LOTS of people to mention this film in the same breath as Best Actor, Director and Picture), the only thing that can be done is to flood the market with clips and other marketing materials. First of these has been released by Apple Trailers, and the clip is our lead, played by George Clooney, first meets his match, played by Vera Farmiga.

Here's how The Playlist describes the scene:

Both of them are constant travellers, frequent-flyer obsessed and hotel/travel snobs. Their banter in the script is rich, delicious and a witty, clever flirtation repartee. In this clips it's intentionally toned down, a different rhythm but still trying to be a little snappy (and it is a bit obnoxious too). It's obviously impossible to gauge the film by the clip, so we won't do that, but little scene does underwhelm somewhat. It plays out like the "show me your scars" scene from "Lethal Weapon" or "Jaws." Clever, but it also doesn't totally win you over either. It probably needs the full context of the movie, but it does get us curious for the full thing that we'll see next week at TIFF."

Enjoy!

Up In The Air
by ThePlaylist

Go see something good!

TRAILER: The Men Who Stare At Goats...

So, I've been on a script reading binge over the past few days. It all started with the leak/release of the script for Darren Aronofsky's next film, Black Swan. Then I was able to obtain Kevin Smith's A Couple Of Dicks, the script for Ryan Reynolds indie one man show, Buried, and a Seth Rogen comedy, I'm With Cancer. However, one that I have sitting on my hard drive I'm more than interested in checking out is The Men Who Stare At Goats.

The film is directed by Grant Heslov, who previously wrote Good Night and Good Luck, and stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey and centers on a journalist's (McGregor) partnership with an ex-solider(Clooney) as they look to uncover the government's development of "Warrior Monks," a legion of psychic powered soldiers.

The trailer can be seen below, and I must say, I really kind of like it. It's funny as hell, and seeing Kevin Spacey, Clooney, and Jeff Bridges hamming it up is something I always love. The script seems to be top notch, and it looks to be quite the dark comedy. However, that voice over is beyond annoying, and quite pointless. If that is during the film, which is one of the reasons I want to get through that script, my anticipation will definitely take a hit. What do YOU think?



In this quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly believe is actually true, astonishing revelations about a top-secret wing of the U.S. military come to light when a reporter encounters an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission. Reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. Now, the program’s founder, Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), has gone missing and Cassady’s mission is to find him.

Intrigued by his new acquaintance’s far-fetched stories, Bob impulsively decides to accompany him on the search. When the pair tracks Django to a clandestine training camp run by renegade psychic Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), the reporter is trapped in the middle of a grudge match between the forces of Django’s New Earth Army and Hooper’s personal militia of super soldiers. In order to survive this wild adventure, Bob will have to outwit an enemy he never thought possible. The Men Who Stare at Goats was inspired by Jon Ronson’s non-fiction bestseller of the same name, an eye-opening and often hilarious exploration of the government’s attempts to harness paranormal abilities to combat its enemies.

Go see something good!