Happiness Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Back in June of last year, Erik Davis blogged about a new project from indie filmmaker Todd Solondz. Said to be a companion piece to Happiness, the film was supposed to begin production in the fall, with the wonderful Paul Reubens/Pee-Wee Herman attached to star. There's been no word since then, and that's because the film slipped into limbo rather than slipping into production. As Erik mentioned -- since Solondz's indie hit Welcome to the Dollhouse, his films have done progressively worse at the box office. So, it's really no surprise to learn that this latest feature, Life During Wartime, is having money issues.

Reubens recently talked to MTV about the project and had lots of positive things to say about Solondz while ruing about the film's troubles: "If it gets made, I'm doing it -- but I'm not sure. It's gotten pushed three times. He's had problems with the financing on it. To me, it's such a sad state of events that he can't get that movie made. He's such a talented guy. His movies are so incredible." I imagine the fight for funding will continue for a while, but should the film get made, what will it be like? Well, rumored cast includes Emma Thompson, Demi Moore, and Paul Dano, and Reubens says: "It's characters from Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness whose paths converge. It's all different people playing the same roles. I'm playing a role someone else played in one of those movies." Now... If Pee-Wee was going to take on Dawn Wiener... I really, really hope they get funding because I would pay to see that.

If you've seen the films, what role would you want Reubens to play?

Before he gets started on those two new Pee wee Herman movies, Paul Reubens will have a role in a new Todd Solondz film. And no, that's not a joke. Sounds like the perfect way to win back your family friendly audience, huh? We're not sure whether this is the same Solondz film that was first announced back at Cannes in 2006, but we'll assume it is and it's currently scheduled to begin shooting this fall. No word on who Reubens will be playing; knowing Solondz and the type of material he's drawn to, the part might be a tad explicit. And since the film in question is apparently a sequel of sorts (or companion piece) to his 1998 flick Happiness, I'd say there's a good chance Reubens may once again be caught with his pants down.

Solondz has been absent from the film world ever since his 2004 film, Palindromes, failed to cross the $1 million mark at the box office. Then again, Storytelling didn't do much better -- in fact, ever since Welcome to the Dollhouse scored roughly $4 million, each film's gross has progressively gotten worse. If he's lucky, perhaps Solondz will walk away from his next project with 10 bucks and a free piece of Bazooka Joe gum. But I hate to knock the guy; although his films are a bit out there, there's definitely a method to his madness. And hey, he discovered Heather Matarazzo -- who, surprisingly, managed to get pretty over the years. Who woulda thunk it? As far as Reubens goes, he's still talking up these so-called Pee wee Herman films. Ideally, he'd like to shoot two, with one revolving around Pee Wee and his Playhouse pals embarking on a road trip, and the other -- labeled "the dark Pee-wee movie" -- has him dealing with "Hollywood and the trappings of fame." For those who'd like to see what Pee wee looks like now, Reubens donned the classic outfit for the first time in 15 years during Spike TV's Guys Choice Awards earlier this month. And yup, that's a pic of him up there to the right of this post.

I admit, you have to be a certain kind of person to fully enjoy and understand a Todd Solondz film. Personally, I became a fan of his after watching Happiness and saying to myself, "Holy crap, that was disturbing, yet oddly enjoyable." Most, if not all Solondz films deal with obsession, and he does a wonderful job of unearthing the inadequate emotions found in his characters.

Remember that scene in Happiness where Philip Seymour Hoffman was treating his body as if it were an amusement park? Or, in Storytelling, the, um, interesting scene between Selma Blair and her professor? Solondz is a master at making us feel uncomfortable. However, that's often why his films never get much press. Just recently, Solondz announced his next film which, for the time being, is called The New Todd Solondz Film. Partnering, once again, with producer Ted Hope (Happiness, Storytelling), Solondz admits his next film will serve as sort of a companion piece to Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse. He says, "Many of the characters from these movies unexpectedly beckoned to me, and so I have explored new ways of developing and enlarging their stories, with the intent to recast them from a fresh perspective." Seeing as those two films are my favorite of his by far, I'm certainly excited to see where he goes with this. You?

• Bukowski: Born in to This - There is a morbidly fascinating fly-on-the-wall vibe that pervades John Dullaghan's profile of the late Beat writer Charles Bukowski, a base familiarity that parallels the Ham On Rye author's own inimitable hard-lived life and style. Epic in scope (and length), first-time director Dullaghan compiles dozens of meticulously screened hours of archival footage, coupling the best of it with new interviews with Bukowski survivors to present a terrifically real character study of a little-studied real character. The watchable Chuck-alike Happy Hour, starring Anthony LaPaglia as a booze-addled writer, is also just out.

Yay for Valentine's Day! If you're like me, you woke up this morning, threw open the closet and dusted off that crusty old red sweater you save solely for this day. Your day. You shine in your red sweater and, even though most of the people you talk to despise this semi-holiday, you love it...if only because everyone else hates it so much.

There's that one girl who wears all black in an attempt to protest the commercialism of chocolate covered flowers, so you make sure to wish her a happy V-Day a good 20 times throughout the day. That's right, you're the kind of person who sends flowers to your mailman's granddaughter because it's just so sweet. That's you - Captain Valentine!

Now, for those that actually have real dates (ie: human beings) tonight and are thinking about vegging on the couch with a groovy flick in the DVD player, I must warn you that only certain films are acceptable for Valentine's Day viewing. The following are a few movies that, no matter how great the night is going, you must keep far, far away from your Valentine today...