Hugh Grant Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The new trailer over at Yahoo for Did You Hear About the Morgans? looks... adorable. There, I said it. Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker play two high-strung, high-powered NYC couples on the verge of divorce when, oops, they witness a murder and have to enroll in the Federal Witness Protection Program. They're sent to the middle of nowhere -- catch always-fab Mary Steenburgen wielding a shotgun -- and are forced to reexamine their relationship in close quarters. And milk cows.

Yes, hijinks ensue. Yes, it's Hugh Grant being neurotic and English, and SJP is being, well, a slightly more chill version of her Carrie Bradshaw character, and it's the whole "New Yorkers stuck out in the Midwest, oh noes!" thing, but it looks like a cute holiday flick. And I was instantly won over by Steenburgen. Sue me.

Check out the trailer for yourself after the jump (or over on Yahoo) and give me your two cents.

He's been through Four Weddings and a Funeral, traversed the world of Jane Austen, learned what life's like when it's About a Boy, and canoodled the likes of Andie MacDowell, Julia Roberts, Renee Zellweger, and Drew Barrymore. Now Hugh Grant's getting the woman of Manolo Blahniks -- Sarah Jessica Parker.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Columbia Pictures has pulled the pair together for Marc Lawrence's new, untitled romantic comedy. Refreshingly, there's a slight spin on this puppy to keep it from the usual man, woman, drama, and romantic happy ending rut -- witness protection. It seems the pair will play "an estranged high-powered New York couple who witness a murder and are placed in a witness-protection program in a small Wyoming town." I wonder if they choose to be together so at least they both know someone, or if the powers that be weren't interested in cooking up two top-secret locales. Whatever the case, it could be interesting.

Do you think ol' pros Hugh and Sarah will cook up some good chemistry when production begins next Spring?

Her first Hollywood production (Things We Lost in the Fire) didn't pan out so good, but perhaps Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier will do better with romantic comedy than with serious drama. She's set to direct Lost for Words, a Universal Pictures release that may star the bumbling Brit Hugh Grant and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi. With such diverse international talent , it's easy to imagine that the movie's title will also be a good description of the set between takes.

The plot of Lost for Words actually has to do with film set communications. Grant is in negotiations to play a movie star appearing in a film directed by a Chinese woman (Zhang). He develops feelings for her, but unfortunately he initially becomes involved with her flirtatious translator. So, if he's to confess his love for the non-English-speaking filmmaker, he must do so through this other woman, whose heart he must first break. I guess he isn't aware that love is a universal language and he could simply just point to his heart and then to her and then they can have a perfect, wordless affair.

Lost for Words was scripted by Jamie Curtis (Spice World) and Oscar nominee Dan Mazer (Borat). Bier is also kind of an Oscar nominee; her last Scandinavian production, After the Wedding, was up for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 Academy Awards.

Chemistry. It's a word tossed around in plenty of movie reviews, generally to diagnose whether two actors have it or not. Chemistry can be in the eye of the beholder: some critics may disagree, but if the chemistry is really there, it will show in the way the film catches on. No one can deny that Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan had it in When Harry Met Sally, or that William Powell and Myrna Loy, or Woody Allen and Diane Keaton had it in their many films. But for every hit, there are many, many failed experiments. Here are seven of the most (or least) memorable.

1. Fred Astaire and Joan Fontaine in A Damsel in Distress (1937)
For whatever reason, Astaire decided to break up his hit formula with Ginger Rogers and make this movie without her. His new partner? Joan Fontaine, best known for playing mousy, quietly pretty types (Rebecca, Letter from an Unknown Woman, etc.) and definitely not a song-and-dance woman. Poor Joan was taken to the mat for her lack of singing and hoofing, although the film actually isn't that bad. The ultra-witty P.G. Wodehouse adapted his own novel, it won an Oscar for its dance choreography, and it features another great team: George Burns and Gracie Allen.

2. Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock in Two Weeks Notice (2002)
Every so often some Hollywood executive gets the idea to team up two big stars, hoping that their massive appeal will translate into screen chemistry; it mostly doesn't. These two romantic comedy masters, who have been wonderful in other films with other people, came together like a dull, wet flint, unable to strike even the most meager spark. Another infamous example of this type of casting came in 1986: recent Oscar winners Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep came together for Mike Nichols' Heartburn. Before it opened, it had lots of buzz. After it opened, it had more of a stench.

"This is the man Hugh Grant dubbed 'Fang Lee' after making Sense and Sensibility with him," so says a new article in The Age about Ang Lee's apparent reputation for being a cruel taskmaster on his movie sets, although in Lee's defense the piece doesn't offer a great deal of examples to support its premise and comes across more like a hook to write up an otherwise boring piece about Lust, Caution. In fact, the closest it comes to naming names is offering the vague assertion that Heath Ledger once claimed Lee pushed him to the brink of physical endurance during the shooting of Brokeback Mountain, which doesn't sound like a damning accusation even if it's taken in context. But who cares about context? Lets have some more hyperbole: Lee is "the industry's Clark Kent," according to the piece. "Under that mild-mannered exterior -- consisting of a gentle-to-inaudible speaking voice, self-deprecating manner and an overall Zen calm -- lurks a driven obsessive, a Caligula among directors."

According to the article, Lee reportedly spent 100 hours to film a ten minute sex scene in Lust, Caution, but he defends his exactitude as a necessary part of the job. "None of us enjoys it," he's quoted as saying. "By nature it's very uncomfortable, draining and painful. We're just common people. It felt pretty harsh. But we used the pain. We enjoyed the pain." Okay, maybe that last line tags him as a bit of a weirdo, but I rarely believe stories about directors being unreasonable on the set, and if you want to know why, check out the making-of documentary on the DVD of The Shining. There's a great moment when Kubrick loses his cool at Shelley Duvall for not hitting her mark, and you can see how little moments like that can create a 'reputation,' but it still seems like something that's all in a day's work.

In case you didn't know, baked beans are the new weapon of warfare. With this latest bit of news, I'm beginning to think that all the creativity in Hollywood is getting sucked into the fury of stars dealing with insidious paparazzi. Last year, some elderly bystanders were caught in the laptop crossfire between Denise Richards and two unauthorized photographers on the set of Blonde and Blonder. Now, we've got some gassy baked beans flying through the air of London. Forget all the sequels and remakes, when will Hollywood put out a film that brings all these stories together? They're too strange to just die on the pages of a paper here or there.

It seems that photographer Ian Whittaker ticked off Hugh Grant this week, which sent the British actor into a fury near his home in the British city. While the police won't confirm that it was Grant, they stated that a 46-year-old man was arrested after an allegation of assault on April 24, and will have to return to the station next month. According to the story flying around, it started off as a simple fight, with Grant kicking the photographer and kneeing him in the groin. But then, things get interesting. Somewhere, somehow, he had a family-sized tub of beans, which he threw at the photographer, leaving him "bruised, battered and covered in baked beans." The photographer claims that Grant got even nastier, telling him that he hoped Whittaker's two children would die of cancer, but the actor refutes the quotes. Moral of the story? If you're paparazzi, stay away from Hugh Grant. Or, if you're either a fan or friend, stay away from Grant's house, because no one should be eating that many baked beans.

I guess because I'm not a dedicated Hugh Grant fan I don't quite understand the impulse to handcuff myself to him. It might not have been the actions of an overzealous fan, but that's what happened to the star at the Dutch premiere of the romantic comedy Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore. Hollywood.com reported that Dutch TV personality Cielke Sijben from 101 TV approached Grant as he walked the red carpet at the Amsterdam Pathé theatre and without saying a word, calmly shackled herself to him. It is assumed that Sijben was performing a prank for a show for the network but that didn't make the incident any less bizarre for those nearby.

An onlooker at the event commented, "It was incredible. She appeared from nowhere and Grant couldn't believe it was happening." Police later arrested Sijben, but not before Grant had to stand attached to her for almost ten minutes before fire fighters could arrive to cut the handcuffs. Grant said nothing while waiting to be freed, but as soon as the cuffs were off he went back to working the press line alongside co-star Drew Barrymore. After Grant had fulfilled his publicity obligations he was described as seeming to be "relieved when he disappeared into the theatre--she could have been a maniac." Not to mention that the sensation of wearing handcuffs probably brought back some unpleasant memories.

"Extraordinary how potent cheap music is."

-- Noel Coward

Music and Lyrics is a nice, light, bright romantic comedy -- a demonstration of the best and the worst of modern romantic comedy in action, in fact -- that only winds up winning you over because it's not hard to have a good time watching Hugh Grant be charming and Drew Barrymore be sweet. I mean, they're good at those things, so in many ways the success of Music and Lyrics is just the triumph of watching professionals at work. Grant is Alex Fletcher, who used to be one of the members of Pop!, an '80s pop band whose work evokes not-entirely-pleasant memories of Wham, A-Ha and ABC. Making a living off of royalties and mall appearances, Fletcher could nonetheless use a big break -- which he gets, as popstar-of-the-moment Cora Corman (Haley Bennett) asks Alex to write her a song.

Alex is a melody man -- and he knows this. After looking for hired-gun co-writers, into Alex's life wanders, in true modern romantic comedy fashion, the last thing he ever expected. ... Namely, substitute plant watering contractor Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), whose idle under-her-breath musings on Alex's music suggest that she may be a natural songwriter. Can the two of them not only finish a hit song before the end of the week but reconcile their growing attraction and affection? Do objects fall down when you drop them?

Twice in the past year, I've seen movies in which the closing credits were the funniest part of the movie, which is not exactly a recommendation for those films (Cars and Code Name: The Cleaner). Now I have the dubious honor of having seen a film in which the opening credits are the funniest part: Music and Lyrics. The film opens with a perfect spoof of an Eighties-era music video, featuring the band Pop! with Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant). In the video, Hugh Grant looks like an alternate member of Duran Duran, doing dance moves stolen from George Michael or Wham! -- in fact, it might be worth seeing the movie simply for this video. However, the video and some other clever musical moments are attached to a routine and somewhat lackluster romantic comedy.

It turns out that Fletcher's career has declined since the demise of Pop! and he's now performing at state fairs, Knott's Berry Farm, and high-school reunions. He's a hack who doesn't care what happens to the music he writes or performs as long as there's a check in it for him. When teen pop sensation Cora asks him to write a song for her upcoming concert, Fletcher agrees ... but he needs a lyricist in a hurry. Cue Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), a wacky woman who waters his plants and turns out to have a hidden gift for writing pop lyrics. If you've ever seen a romantic comedy, you should be able to figure it out from here.

It's not my fault that when I see the phrase "romantic comedy," my eyes get all glassy and my brain starts thinking about pizza. I happen to be a huge fan of some really great "rom-coms," you know. There's When Harry Met Sally... and Say Anything... and, OK, basically any movie title that ends with an ellipses is a brilliant romantic comedy.

Oh, Serendipity! That one I liked. Of the dozens and dozens of pre-packaged chick-flick rom-coms I've seen, I kinda liked Serendipity. Oh, and Wimbledon. Kinda. Is that weird? I think I also liked that one with Hugh Jackman and the time travel. Oh wait, no, I didn't.

So when I stopped by trailer central to see what new goodies were on display, I offered an involuntary eyeball-roll for Music and Lyrics, which stars Hugh Grant as a has-been pop-star and Drew Barrymore as his late-career muse. And, god help me, I actually liked this trailer. Wait a sec, hold on; I gotta go watch the Transformers trailer one more time. Just to boost my testosterone levels.

I was actually feeling pretty positive about Music and Lyrics -- until I realized it was written and directed by Marc Lawrence, the man who gave you Life with Mikey, The Out-of-Towners, and three of Sandra Bullock's most rotten movies. Still, I do think Hugh Grant can be pretty funny (given the proper material) and I'll always have that Gen-x crush on Drew Barrymore (no matter how old the two of us get), so I suppose things could be much worse. The thing could star Debra Messing and Paul Walker.

Music and Lyrics opens on Valentine's Day, so go find a date right now before they all run out.