Easy Virtue Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A few movies out there, specifically Easy Virtue (255 screens), The Brothers Bloom (209 screens) and the new Cheri (opening this week on 80 screens), have taken it upon themselves to try and re-capture something of the style of old movies. Easy Virtue is based on a 1926 Noel Coward play, which was previously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1928. Cheri comes from a 1920 novel written by the creator of Gigi (1958). And The Brothers Bloom is a new, original screenplay but it comes with some of the sensibilities of old films, namely snappy dialogue and hats.

I'm all for this, since many of today's movie fans who name their "all time favorite" films rarely list anything made before 1999. Aside from that at least half the cinema buffs out there is generally aware of a short list of classic films, which includes things like The Godfather, Dr. Strangelove, maybe some Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, Casablanca, etc. And those are, of course, great places to start for those interested in looking at something beyond the IMAX screen. But there's a danger in labeling all that stuff "old movies." Not all of them come with country estates, or hats, or even dialogue.

In this day and age, why can't someone be both? Jessica Biel's dramatic turn as a stripper in Timothy Linh Bui's Powder Blue, which just hit DVD and Blu-ray, has been competing for attention with the theatrical release of Stephen Elliott's Easy Virtue, which opened in New York and Los Angeles before expanding this weekend. Throw in the tempest in a teacup about her interview with Allure Magazine, in which the actress was quoted as complaining that her beauty was causing her to miss out on more serious roles that instead went to Natalie Portman or Scarlett Johansson, and it may be hard to know what to think of the actress.

I don't know if the Allure quotes are accurate are not, taken out of context or completely made up, but watching her in Easy Virtue made me forget all the career stuff and gossip and get caught up with the characters and the story. That's not something I expected from a period piece based on a play by Noël Coward. Biel plays Larita, an American race car driver from Detroit who marries the young, very British John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) after a whirlwind romance. John takes her home to meet his very proper mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), his remote yet welcoming father (Colin Firth), and his two flighty sisters (Kimberly Nixon and Katherine Parkinson).

It wouldn't be fair to say that Biel steals this very funny film (with a more serious streak that's gradually revealed). For one thing, Firth is exquisitely good; for another, Elliot's direction is quite engaging. Still, Biel is something of a minor marvel in the role.

Deals. Michel Gondry's doc The Thorn in the Heart may not have generated much positive buzz when it premiered at Cannes last week, but it impressed the folks at Oscilloscope Laboratories. They acquired North American rights to the film and are planning a theatrical release, according to indieWIRE. Thorn examines the life of Gondry's aunt, a schoolteacher for more than 30 years in rural France. David Hudson at IFC's The Daily gathered links to the coverage, in which one critic calls Thorn a "glorified home movie" and another predicts that "normal people will simply walk out of it," while others defend it as "a lovely, minor-key ode" and "mildly diverting."

Box Office. Stephen Elliott's Easy Virtue led the way, earning a very tidy $110,443, according to Box Office Mojo, which averages out to $11,044 per screen. Jessica Biel gives her best performance so far as an American race car driver who marries a young British man (Ben Barnes) after a whirlwind romance, and then must deal with his stuffy mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), curiously distanced father (Colin Firth), and flighty sisters. It's a romantic comedy with dramatic depth, light on its feet yet unafraid to stand still and contemplate fate and mortality.

Expanding into 52 theaters in its second week of release, Rian Johnson's con man comedy The Brothers Bloom rode a wave of appreciative reviews to a per-screen average of $7,394, just a little ahead of Olivier Assayas' critically-acclaimed family drama Summer Hours, starring Juliette Binoche. (We've embedded the lively trailer for the latter title below.) The highly-praised doc Burma VJ opened on one theater with a modest take of $5,554 -- not bad on a crowded weekend.

After the jump: The festival beat goes on in Seattle and at Silverdocs.

Big news: another beautiful actress laments that her good looks limit her acting choices. Jessica Biel says that being so attractive "really is a problem ... I just want an opportunity," she told Allure for their June issue, on sale next week. "If you don't like the audition, then don't hire me! But if you don't want to even see me - that's hurtful."

The quick conclusion to draw is that Biel is seriously delusional, that she's another spoiled, overpaid pretty girl. "Wah wah wah! Poor, poor, pitiful me!" However, none of the interview is online, only quotes that are scattered among various online outlets, so it's impossible to evaluate the context of her quote. Biel may, in fact, be delusional about her own abilities; on the other hand, what's wrong with yearning for the opportunity to demonstrate a wider range of her skills, and not to be judged by her looks alone?

Of course, thousands (if not millions) of less attractive people will never get to have the opportunities that she currently enjoys, limited though she may feel they are. Given a choice between a more talented, average-looking actress and a less talented, more traditionally-attractive actress, guess who wins the role? It reminds me of a scene in James L. Brooks' Broadcast News: when the handsome news reporter William Hurt asks, "What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?," the less attractive but more talented news reporter Albert Brooks responds: "Keep it to yourself!" Good advice for Jessica Biel. You can watch her strip down for a dramatic role in Powder Blue, now available on DVD, or catch her in Easy Virtue, due out in theaters on Friday.

[ Via E! Online ]

This year it's Summer Appreciation at Cinematical, but summer doesn't just mean one lumbering tentpole blockbuster after another. In fact, smaller distributors and indie studio arms often use summertime to offer some great low-key alternatives -- not big Oscar contenders, but smaller-profile festival favorites. And this summer is particularly rife with other options if and when you tire of all the sequels and franchises. Here are seven small films -- most but not all of which I've seen -- that you might consider supporting in the next three or four months.

1. The Brothers Bloom (May 15) - Rian Johnson's sophomore feature -- a character-driven fairy tale masquerading as a con man flick -- debuted at Toronto last year to muted acclaim. It's no Brick, but it's actually a fantastic summer offering: sunny, whimsical and bittersweet. Summit was originally set to release the film last fall, then last winter, before finally bumping it to May. It's legitimately funny and whip-smart, which should make it an attractive option in mid-May.

Bruno
IMDB is giving the following as this film's informal alternative title: Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt. Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen adapts another character from Da Ali G show, this time assuming the persona of a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion designer. This is apparently shot in the same way they did Borat, with most of the people involved not realizing that Bruno is just a fictional character. I suspect this may be just as funny as Borat was, but we'll have to wait until July 10 to know for sure.

Fame
Really? A remake of the 1980 film? It's not something I would have thought people were clamoring for but the movie looks to be in the mold of modern dance flicks, and there's a catchy modernization of the classic theme song. If Step Up 2 The Streets is your kind of thing then Fame may work for you. Look for it on September 25.

Powder Blue
Indie drama about four individuals including a suicidal minister who has lost his faith (Forest Whitaker), a retired hit man (Ray Liotta), a single mom stripper (Jessica Biel) and a socially awkward mortician. In addition to these three stars we have Patrick Swayze and Kris Kristofferson rounding out an appealing cast. The story looks compelling, not just because of the strip tease scenes, but they certainly don't hurt. Watch for this in limited release on April 24.

A highbrow festival like Toronto doesn't offer many opportunities to laugh, and I was grateful for this one. Easy Virtue, an adaptation of an early Noël Coward play, is a droll and witty delight, a superb showcase for its cast, and a return to fine form for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert director Stephan Elliott, who last turned in the unsettling but incomprehensible Eye of the Beholder nearly 10 years ago. Where most TIFF films seemed to glower at me from the screen, this one winked and smiled.

Noël Coward may seem a strange choice for Elliott, whose films have favored the bizarre and the obscure. I don't know what attracted the filmmaker to this project, but I'm glad that something did. The material may seem almost purely verbal, all clever turns of phrase and sardonic interjections (what Americans think of as "Britishness"), but Elliott is constantly concerned with how the movie looks and sounds. Fittingly, he manages to give it a curious, otherworldly feel. This is most pronounced in the opening sequence, which marries choppy black-and-white footage, odd angles, and a jazzy soundtrack to introduce us to the characters and transport us to a universe that is ever so slightly off-kilter. It's a welcome recognition that these hyper-literate, impeccably constructed old comedies – Coward, Wilde, etc. – don't take place in a world quite like ours.

While it stars some great names in the world of film, we haven't heard too much about Easy Virtue. But now, as it gears up for that spanky Canadian festival known as TIFF, CinEmpire has published a whole slew of pictures -- a retro Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Ben Barnes, Kristin Scott Thomas, and more.

The film focuses on an American divorcee (Biel) who has to meet the parents (but hopefully without the cat milking). But unlike Stiller's version, she's already tied the knot with a sexy young Englishman (Barnes), so Mom (Scott Thomas) and Dad (Firth) can't stop the wedding. But I'm sure there'll be lots of dirty looks, and more than one smirk, like the one above.

Virtue is yet another romcom, but at least it heads back in time a little, and originally comes from a Noel Coward play that Alfred Hitchcock adapted years ago as a dramatic silent film. Good or bad, we'll find out soon enough.

[via The Bad and Ugly]

Oh Jessica Biel. Where would we be in life without her. Since talks to star in 8th Heaven broke down, The Hollywood Reporter tells us Biel has just signed on to star in a new romantic comedy called Easy Virtue, based on the play by Noel Coward. It's an indie, which I'd like to think is a step up from the last romantic comedy she was in (Chuck and Larry), and here she'll be starring opposite Ben Barnes. The plot revolves around an American divorcee (Biel) who travels to France and marries a Brit (Barnes) all spur of the moment like. Once married, she must return home with him to England and meet his disapproving family, with parents played by Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Stephan Elliott will direct, while Endgame Entertainment is financing. The Endgame CEO had this to say about the flick: "It's a funny, lovely movie with a point." Really? What's the point? That you shouldn't fly to Europe and marry some Brit on a whim because his family will probably hate you? Is there ever a "point" when it comes to romantic comedies? Alfred Hitchcock first adapted Easy Virtue wayyy back in 1928 as a silent film, of which I would love to see one day. That was a drama, though, and this version will play up the laughs more. Next up for Biel is Powder Blue, in which she'll be playing a stripper, and Nailed, in which she'll be playing a woman who gets hit in the head, thereby unleashing a slew of sexual urges. I smell a pattern developing ...