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Pop Preview: Easy Virtue

PopSugarUK — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:00:00 -0800

Jessica Biel steals the show as glamourous and intelligent Larita in Easy Virtue, a 1920s romantic comedy based on Noel Coward's play. After a whirlwind romance in America, Larita has married young earnest John (Ben Barnes), and when the couple arrive at the Whittakers' stately country house it's time for Larita to face her in-laws. Mrs Whittaker (Kristin Scott Thomas) is certainly not impressed to have an American for a daughter-in-law, while a withdrawn Mr Whittaker (Colin Firth) does his best to keep out of the way. We watch as Larita goes from trying to fit in to trying to wrest control of the situation, and her marriage, from her overbearing mother-in-law.

The tension between Larita and Mrs Whittaker creates a lot of the laughs in the film, as each tries to outdo the other through a series of verbal bouts and one-up-manship. There is also a more serious side to the film, especially evident in the figure of Mr Whittaker, a man who has withdrawn from life after the Great War. As the film develops we learn more about not only his past, but also Larita's previous controversial life. The battle between the two main female characters to win John also takes a more dramatic turn when the Whittakers' true situation is revealed.

To see what else I thought, plus more images from the film and the trailer,

Pop Preview: Brideshead Revisited

PopSugarUK — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:00:00 -0700

Miramax has made the brave decision of releasing a film version of Brideshead Revisited which takes a fair few liberties with Evelyn Waugh's novel. If you've read it (which I did for September's PopUK Book Club) you may find the alterations distracting, but view the film as a separate entity and you can marvel at the acting and cinematography.

It tells the story of Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) and his involvement with the aristocratic Flytes, from his Oxford days with Sebastian (Ben Whishaw) to his relationship with Julia (Hayley Atwell). The family are controlled by Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson) and her strict Catholic views, while Lord Marchmain (Michael Gambon) lives with his mistress in Venice.

The most outstanding aspect of the film for me was the cinematography. The action moves between the glowing buildings of Oxford University, the dark corners of a London house, the stately grounds of Brideshead, the luxury of a cruise ship, the waterways of Venice and the hot streets of Morocco. The different qualities of light, as well as the beautiful locations, are truly breathtaking. This is a feast for the eyes, and a sumptuous celebration of the visual.

To find out what else I thought of this adaptation just

Pineapple Express: A Fun Action-Packed Buddy Movie

PopSugarUK — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:30:00 -0700

The biggest strength of Pineapple Express (out today in the UK) is the brilliant chemistry between Seth Rogen as stoner Dale Denton and the yummy James Franco as his dealer Saul Silver. I have fond memories of the two actors working together when they were younger in one of my favourite TV shows Freaks and Geeks, so seeing them reunited in this movie was fun on a couple of levels for me.

Both Dale and Saul are the typical emotionally-stunted guys you see in a Judd Apatow produced movie (see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up etc). Dale's in his twenties, he serves subpoenas for a living, dates a girl who's still in high school, and smokes a lot of pot. Saul seems pretty lonely, watches daytime TV and deals pot for a living. So far, the characters are kind of familiar and uninspiring, but it's obvious from a very early stage that Franco and Rogen had a blast making this movie and this is infectious — whenever they have a scene where it's just the two of them, their interaction and easy repartee is so natural and charmingly funny that I couldn't help being caught up in it. Thanks to this I was won over pretty early.

To read more of my thoughts on the movie, just

Pop Preview: The Duchess

PopSugarUK — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0700

Keira Knightley's latest period offering, The Duchess, is finally released at cinemas across the UK today. We've seen the stars at the world premiere and attending radio interviews, and now it's time to see if the film lives up to all the hype. Although the poster carries the famous Diana quote — "there were three people in her marriage" — the film has nothing to do with her (as the cast and director told me when I met them recently) so that aspect of the trailer is for marketing and doesn't reflect the content of the film. As Keira said, the Duchess is a fascinating character in her own right.

Keira plays the part of Georgiana Spencer, who becomes Duchess of Devonshire when she marries the much older Duke (Ralph Fiennes). The Duchess was famous at the end of the eighteenth century for her beauty, fashion sense and appetite for gambling. She became a shrewd political operator and a doting mother, but it is her search for love that forms the heart of this story. The complexities of her relationship with her best friend and husband's mistress, Bess Foster (Hayley Atwell), and her affair with Prime Minister in training Earl Grey (Dominic Cooper), drive the plot as Georgiana faces heartbreaking decisions imposed on her by her powerful husband.

To find out why I gave The Duchess four stars, and to read the cast and director's thoughts on the film, just

Pop Preview: RocknRolla

PopSugarUK — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:00:00 -0700

Guy Ritchie has rolled out his tried and tested (and hugely enjoyable) gangster crime caper formula for his latest offering, RocknRolla.

Like Lock Stock and Snatch before, RocknRolla brings the lives of London's criminals together in a funny, well-acted and entertaining action flick.

It's not just the capital's head mobster (Tom Wilkinson) and right hand man (Mark Strong) who take notice when a Russian billionaire (Karel Roden) arrives in town looking to make a big money land deal; a corrupt councillor (Jimi Mistry), plotting accountant (Thandie Newton), and underworld gang The Wild Bunch (Gerard Butler, Idris Elba and Tom Hardy) all want in on the big bucks too.

Throw in a "dead" junkie rock star (Toby Kebbell) and his American agents (Ludacris and Jeremy Piven) and you'll get an idea of the quality of the ensemble cast. There's plenty of eye candy, but it's the kind of film which men and women will enjoy.

To find out more about the movie, and see stills from the film, just

Pop Preview: The Wackness

PopSugarUK — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0700

NB: I was lucky enough to catch a screening of this indie movie back in early June, and was so taken with it that I posted the preview for you back then. The movie's coming out this Friday, so here's a reminder / rundown of what I thought of it!

First things first: The Wackness is dope. Yes, brush up on your '90s lingo because the next big indie film is set in the sweltering New York summer of 1994! It follows adorable "most unpopular of the popular" teen Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) as he lives out his last summer before college – selling pot, falling in love, finding an unlikely best friend and trying to sort out his parents' problems. The movie's not out until August 29 (UK), but I liked last night's preview so much that I had to post about it now!

The soundtrack is absolutely awesome – from the cheesy yet oh-so-summer strains of Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, to the classic hip hop of Notorious B.I.G and Nas. After last night I know that 90s hip hop and all those rediscovered classics will be the soundtrack to my summer! The film is visually gorgeous too – being set in NYC doesn't hurt it of course – but the cinematography is beautiful and sets the chilled tone of the film.

For more of my thoughts on the movie including some on Mary Kate Olsen, Juno's Olivia Thirlby and Sir Ben Kingsley, and a gorgeous gallery from the film just

Pop Preview: Make It Happen

PopSugarUK — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:00:00 -0700

If you're looking for a likable summer film that has a comfortingly predictable plot but a load of music and dance sequences, then you can't go far wrong with Make It Happen.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Lauryn, a girl from a small town with a big dream; to leave her bookkeeping role at her late parents' garage and enroll at the Chicago School of Music and Dance. After she fails her audition — because she isn't in touch enough with her emotions — she gets lucky by meeting Dana, who gets her a back-office job in burlesque club Ruby's. What follows is a journey of self-discovery, as Lauryn gets in touch with her feelings by hooking up with music director Russ, becoming a burlesque dancer, and dealing with her grief and guilt over her parents' deaths.

The best thing about this film is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, which is just as well as she's in pretty much every scene! She combines her awesome dance talent with solid acting, and I was surprised to find myself genuinely moved in the scenes where Lauryn starts to come to terms with her grief. I can't pretend the movie is jam-packed with emotion and drama, and there are nowhere near enough conflicts to give the plot any real drive, but it chugs along steadily with a running time of less than 90 minutes.

To find out more about the movie, and to see stills from the film,

Pop Preview: Baby Mama

PopSugarUK — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:00:00 -0700

First things first, Baby Mama ain't rocket science. And why should it be? It's a likeable, smile-inducing comedy with a couple of super-talented ladies at the helm: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Tina plays Kate Holbrook, a woman at the top of her game professionally, but slightly less so personally. Babies haunt her: everywhere she turns, there's a baby... it's kinda scary. But "I just don't like your uterus" says her doctor, and she's told she's unable to have a child herself. Enter hard up Angie (Poehler), who rents out her womb to Kate in return for a dollop of cash for her and on-again off-again man Carl (Dax Shepard). After their relationship flips to off again, Angie moves in with Kate and the fun begins!

Angie has many many less social graces than control-freak Kate, causing all kinds of awkwardness and a couple of gross-out moments, but despite all that they gradually become genuinely believable friends. The friendship between the two of them is one of the main draws of the movie for me.

To find out what I thought of the supporting cast including Steve Martin, and what I thought could have been better, just

The Dark Knight – No Joke, It's Thrilling and Deliciously Dark

PopSugarUK — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If you haven't already booked your tickets for this week's UK opening of The Dark Knight then I urge you to do so, because I'm going to add my voice to the chorus shouting that this film is something special. Just so you know my stance on these movies, I didn't think that Batman Begins was anything more than a competent film, and – though the trailers for this one were fantastic – with the running time at over two and a half hours I was worried it would be patchy. It wasn't. At all. I spent the entire 152 minutes on the edge of my seat, riveted by the thrilling joyride playing out onscreen.

Christopher Nolan has set a darker mood than before – much darker – corruption and evil spreads to many unexpected places, and as the plot weaves beautifully around the handful of complicated lead characters, it gets saturated with the chaos that reflects The Joker's reason for being.

In my opinion there isn't a bad, or even just passable, performance among the lead characters. Aaron Eckhart is a great addition to the cast as Harvey Dent, and his journey epitomises the good vs evil theme that's typical in this kind of film – the good thing about it in this movie is that it's nowhere near clear cut. There's one standout scene between Dent and The Joker which just underscores this beautifully – the struggle between doing what's right or just giving in to everything that's wrong in a desperate moment.

For my thoughts on the rest of the actors, Heath Ledger's dynamic performance and to find out why it gets five stars (and no spoilers, promise!) just

Pop Preview: Mamma Mia!

PopSugarUK — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:00:00 -0700

With well-known ABBA songs, an idyllic Greek location and more stars than you can shake a stick at, Mamma Mia! is bound to be the feel-good hit film of the summer.

Based on the hugely successful stage production, this musical movie stars Meryl Streep as ex-pat Donna, a single mum with a run-down hotel on a beautiful Greek island. Her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is marrying Sky (the gorgeous, and often topless, Dominic Cooper) and the bride-to-be wants her father at the wedding. Only trouble is, he could be one of three (played by Firth, Brosnan and Skarsgård). Sophie secretly invites them all to the wedding in the hope that her mother will reveal the truth.

As you would expect, it's a pretty silly film, but that's a huge part of its charm. Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are brilliantly funny as Donna's best friends and one-time backing singers in Donna and the Dynamos, and seeing James Bond attempting to sing ABBA is almost worth the ticket price alone. Fans of Colin Firth's wet shirt Mr Darcy moment must rush out to see this film too, as the gorgeous man goes one step further towards the end of the film in a moment of shirtless abandon.

To read the rest of my thoughts on the film just

Pop Preview: The Rocker

PopSugarUK — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend a little time with the lovely Rainn Wilson, who I adore in his usual dorky character as Dwight Schrute in The Office: An American Workplace as well as his fun small part in Juno. He's over here to promote his new movie comedy The Rocker (out in October) – I'll let you know what we talked about in a few weeks – but in the meantime check out the trailer and tell me what you think!

Source

Pop Preview: Superhero Movie

PopSugarUK — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:30:00 -0700

Last night I went to see a press screening of Superhero Movie, from the stable of Airplane!, The Naked Gun and the Scary Movie series.

I didn't have high hopes for this film, as spoof movies have been getting progressively worse over the past few years (Meet The Spartans anyone?), but I was actually pleasantly surprised.

It doesn't start well – in fact the first fifteen minutes are filled with bad jokes – but as I was watching I remembered that the film is certified 12A – and I think younger teens will get a good few kicks out of those minutes. Once Leslie Nielsen appears it becomes pretty enjoyable for the rest of the audience. He and Marion Ross play nicely into that nostalgia bracket and you can tell Nielsen's made his career out of his great comic timing and line delivery.

Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) manages to completely steal the couple of scenes he is in – his fast-paced, full-of-nonsense doctor even manages to make a couple of really bad jokes amusing. A few American references left the screening room silent, but there were giggles at the internet gags that some have said are grating.

To read my thoughts on the wonders of Drake Bell, and my conclusions about the movie, just

Pop Preview: The Hottie and the Nottie

PopSugarUK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:00:00 -0800

I had the pleasure, or should I say confusion, of watching Paris Hilton's new film The Hottie and the Nottie last night. It's a classic (or rather, clichéd) ugly duckling tale, mixed with some serious gross-out humour that made me want to vomit. Seriously.

I wasn't expecting to be wowed, but there was one surprising positive: Paris wasn't as awful in her role of the Hottie as I feared. But as Fab UK pointed out, she is essentially playing herself and how hard could that be?

What I found confusing, however, was that the film didn't seem to know what it was. Yes it was a gross-out comedy, yes it had a saccharine twist, but it also hinted at being a parody of such films without fully convincing me that it was that self-aware.

There are some crazy moments where the microphone sneaks into shot, which got the loudest laughs of the entire screening. While some of the journalists were convinced it was poor editing, I was fairly sure it was a deliberate self-referential undermining of the film, maybe in an attempt to claw back some credibility. But maybe I'm being too generous ...

To view the trailer and get more of my thoughts on the film, just