ChristineBaranski Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Casting Bites: Dafoe, Straw Dogs, Dames, and Dempsey
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
Some mid-week casting nibblets:The wonderful Willem Dafoe is about to make a trip to Mars. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Dafoe has signed on to play Tars Tarkas in the Civil War/space project John Carter of Mars. Seeing Dafoe take a slight pause from his horror-filled schedule is nice, and it's even better that Tarkas is both a great warrior and compassionate man -- a gig that Dafoe should be able to tackle easily. But there is a twist -- Dafoe is once again going green for a gig. This is what Tarkas looks like.
And it's been a while since we got casting news for Rod Lurie's Straw Dogs remake, but now Variety reports that Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard are joining the roster. Bosworth will play James Marsden's wife, as they leave Hollywood for her Mississippi hometown. Skarsgard will play her old high school boyfriend and ex-football hero. One things for certain: this isn't the usual crop of names one would see on such an epically violent story.
Meanwhile, Christine Baranski will play Jennifer Aniston's mom in her Gerard Butler comedy Bounty Hunter, according to Variety. There's still no word on just what kind of fugitive Aniston is, and why, but Baranski should make things interesting.
And finally, Patrick Dempsey is changing things up a bit with a new big-screen role. Variety reports that he'll star in Universal's adaptation of The Art of Racing in the Rain. Yes, it's a racing movie, but not exactly a racing movie. See, it's fueled by memories from "Enzo, a family dog with a near-human soul and philosopher's mind, who evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner, the race-car driver Denny Swift." No romance and fairy tale quirk this time around, just a little Marley magic and a bit of Dempsey's own race car driving ways.
'Bonneville' Cruises into a Unique Marketing Scheme
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Distribution », Movie Marketing »
A few years ago, a little film called Bonneville premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. A year went by, and then the film popped up at a few more festivals. Finally, SenArt Films grabbed the feature, and it's finally making its way to the big screen this year. You'd think that it must be some sort of super-indie to create pretty much zero buzz and not find any takers for well over a year after its premiere, but it's actually a film that has quite of few big-name actresses in it -- Joan Allen, Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, and Christine Baranski. (On the male side of things, there's also Tom Wopat, yes that Wopat, and Tom Skerritt.)Now that it will hit screens this February, The Hollywood Reporter has posted about the film's unique marketing campaign. You'd think with a road trip movie named Bonneville, they might have some sort of car promotion, or maybe even a big party in Bonneville, PA. Not in the least. Instead, they are teaming up with Princess Cruises and hosting sneak previews on a number of the line's ships. It will be shown on oceanic trips to destinations like Australia, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Argentina.
I don't get it, but nevertheless, even if you're not cruising around the world on a Princess ship any time soon, this is what you'll get if you go see the flick next month -- a woman named Arvilla (Lange) is faced with a big life decision, so she grabs her two best friends (Bates and Allen) and they take a road trip across the US in a '66 Bonneville convertible. Of course, this trip is a rediscovery, so I imagine it'll be a bit like Boys on the Side, but for an older generation. Limited release begins on February 29.
Colin Firth Joins 'Mamma Mia!'
Filed under: Comedy », Music & Musicals », Romance », Casting », Remakes and Sequels »
I love the music of ABBA more than any allegedly heterosexual male should. And I'm not just talking "Dancing Queen" here, I celebrate their entire catalog. I am not ashamed to tell you that I am pretty excited about the feature film adaptation of Mamma Mia!. And they're putting together an exceptional cast for this thing. We already reported that Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, and Pierce Brosnan would play the lead roles, and it was just announced that Colin Firth, the very funny Christine Baranski, and authentic Swede Stellan Skarsgard have joined the cast. You probably know Skarsgard from Good Will Hunting, you probably know Baranski from The Birdcage, and you probably know Firth from your girlfriend asking you to be more like him.I saw the show on Broadway and found it extremely dumb but a lot of fun. The story centers on a bride-to-be (Seyfreid), and her formerly slutty mom (Streep). Mom has never told the daughter who her father was, so the daughter invites three possible candidates to the wedding. Swedish-scored hijinks ensue. Firth, Skarsgard, and Brosnan will play the three potential dads, and Baranski will play "a plastic surgery-loving party girl in her 40's who is bossy and boozy." If you're looking to brush up on your ABBA before the movie hits theaters, the best place to start is with their greatest hits album, Gold -- it certainly lives up to its name. Go ahead and laugh, but if you're not drying your eyes by the final chorus of "Chiquitita," you're a stronger man than I. Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong! British theater director Phyllida Lloyd is directing Mamma Mia!, which is set for release on July 18th, 2008.
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