BurrSteers Tagged Articles at Cinematical

This is difficult for me to confess, but I'm starting to like Zac Efron ... although not in a crushworthy way, because at my age, that would be creepy. High School Musical 3 was not my thing, and he didn't make an impression on me in Hairspray, but I thought he was wonderfully energetic and fun in Me and Orson Welles when I saw Richard Linklater's film at SXSW last month. And now Efron is starring in 17 Again, a run-of-the-mill family comedy that would be tiresome if not for Efron and a few of the other cast members. Together, these actors kept me from digging through my purse continually for my phone so I could see how many minutes were left in the movie.

17 Again drags out every cliche from body-changing movies -- if you don't know them, check out Christopher Campbell's hilariously accurate list on SpoutBlog -- and unfortunately, doesn't try anything new or suspenseful. In this particular variation, Mike (Matthew Perry) is still reliving his high-school days, when he was the BMOC and a basketball star and everything was perfect, until he made a choice that has landed him with a dead-end job, two kids in high school who practically ignore him, and a wife (Leslie Mann) who's divorcing him because she's justifiably tired of his eternal whininess. So he wishes he were his teenage self again, and does so in front of a Clarence-esque janitor (Brian Doyle-Murray) -- and whammo! He's 17, but everyone else stayed the same age. Now he can go back to high school and help his kids and shoot lots of hoops and make it all better.

Consider this Burr Steers day on Cinematical. Just as word hits that he's going to work with Anne Hathaway on The Fiance, the trailer for his current film hits the web. Straight from Moviefone, you can check out the all-too-familiar trailer for Seventeen Again above -- the flick where Matthew Perry gets turned back to the age of 17 (as Zac Efron) and goes to school with his kids.

The only thing this trailer doesn't have is a foot-tapping keyboard at FAO Schwartz. Yes, basically this is Big for the next generation. If you can get beyond its derivative flavor, the movie looks decent enough -- all the requisite silliness and jokes. But I do have to ask: How long is Michelle Trachtenberg going to keep up with the teen roles? She's 23, so she isn't into 90210 territory yet, but it'd be nice to see her graduate to the next phase of on-screen life.

Watch the trailer and weigh in below: Will you go see Seventeen Again, or will you just rent Big?

If you want to see the trailer Hi-Def, click on the film's title above.

Okay ... the lady is officially possessed with nuptials -- but at least this time it's about running away from them. On the heels of Rachel Getting Married and Bride Wars, Anne Hathaway is adding another wedding-centric production. Variety reports that she's just signed on for a new rom-com called The Fiance.

Instead of being stringently tight-arsed about a wedding date with Kate Hudson, she will star as a woman who cancels her wedding and breaks off her engagement to try and find herself. But since her ex-beau is the seemingly "perfect fiance," her parents try to get them back together, which blocks her from moving on.

Disney originally picked up the project (and dropped it) before Warner Bros. got their hands on it, which doesn't necessarily bode well, but there is a bright side. First, Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) is penning a rewrite. Second, Burr Steers will direct it. Relative of Gore Vidal, this is the guy who wrote and directed the excellently dysfunctional indie Igby Goes Down. That's enough to keep me optimistic. How about you?