Posts tagged JoanCusack at Cinematical

Posts with tag JoanCusack

Tribeca Review: War, Inc.

Posted Apr 28th 2008 10:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Comedy, Tribeca, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports, War

What do you say when a film is so bad that you actually feel physical pain for everyone involved? You literally sit there for an hour-and-a-half and feel sorry for everyone who put such a hard effort into the making of the film, only to see it lay there like a lox when it's finally projected on the big screen. As a reviewer, there's not much more you can do than just endure it and hope to see a fleeting moment or two of quality, just so you don't think you've completely wasted your time.

That's all the thoughts that were going through my head as I watched War, Inc., an ambitious film that fails miserably at everything it attempts to be. As a comedy, it's not funny. As a satire, it's as subtle as a sledgehammer. And as a treatise on war, the corporatization of the military, and the horrors of pop stardom, it doesn't tell you anything that you don't already know if you just watch the 24-hour news channels or read the news online even a little bit.

Continue reading Tribeca Review: War, Inc.

Check Out the Full Kit Kittredge Trailer!

Posted Apr 4th 2008 11:32AM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Fandom, Family Films, Trailers and Clips

Take note, studio marketers -- there are movies out there that can show a lot, and explain a lot without spoiling the whole movie. Back in November, I posted about the first Kit Kittredge: An American Girl trailer. It was cute, but it didn't really say much. This time around, it describes all the players, giving enough cuteness for those that love cute kids and family films, and enough about the adults to pique some more mature tastes. (It's not perfectly spoiler-free however. There's a certain brief clip that I would bet comes at the end of the film, but this is family fare for tykes, so it's not really a surprise to see it, and I can forgive it.)

*Correction: The trailer is exclusive to KOL, and was leaked to YouTube, so the post has been changed to embed the KOL trailer.

Continue reading Check Out the Full Kit Kittredge Trailer!

EXCLUSIVE: 'War, Inc.' Poster Premiere!

Posted Mar 24th 2008 4:32PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Posters

Cinematical was just handed this exclusive poster for the film War, Inc. (click on the image to enlarge), starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd and Ben Kingsley. Now is that one helluva cast, or is that one helluva cast? Word has it this one is in the vein of Grosse Point Blank, which was another fun little flick starring the male Cusack. From the synopsis: "War, Inc. is a a political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice-President (Dan Akroyd). In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires a troubled hit man, played by John Cusack, to kill a Middle East oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation's Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff) an outrageous Middle Eastern pop star, and keeping a sexy left wing reporter (Marisa Tomei) in check."

War, Inc. arrives in theaters (in limited release) on May 23.

Joan Cusack & John Goodman Want to Be Shopaholics Too!

Posted Mar 5th 2008 5:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Casting

After delays presumably linked to the little tot that Isla Fisher just had with Sacha Baron Cohen, the adaptation of Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic has finally gone into production -- with some shopaholic-breeding parents along for the ride. Variety reports that Joan Cusack and John Goodman have signed on to play Rebecca's (Fisher) parental units in the comedy.

I say "Yay!" to the casting, because Joan and not-brother John are great, but oh, I love how real-life ages never really factor in. That is, unless Joan's character had the money-obsessed daughter in her early teens. Joan is 45, and Isla is 32. Luckily, the credit card-addicted heroine of the film is 25. This is just like The Graduate, where Anne Bancroft was only 6 years older than Dustin Hoffman, when she was really supposed to be old enough to be his mother.

Anyhow, this shallow shopping extravaganza is currently shooting in New York and Connecticut, and is scheduled to hit theaters just in time for Cupid's next holiday on February 13, 2009.

Kit Kittredge Hits the Net with American Girl Trailer

Posted Nov 24th 2007 5:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Family Films, Trailers and Clips

Back in February of this year, I posted about the American Girl doll Kit Kittredge, who was finally making her way to the big screen by means of HBO, who had taken the reigns from Walden Media. A "resourceful girl during the Great Depression," Kit is a writer who tries to keep life going through her words. Mansfield Park director Patricia Rozema helmed the movie, titled Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, from Narnia scribe Ann Peacock's script, and it has one heck of a good cast for a family film. Abigail Breslin is starring as Kit, Chris O'Donnell and Julia Ormond are her parents, Stanley Tucci and Joan Cusack are her uncle and aunt, and there's also Wallace Shawn as a Register reporter.

Now, finally, a trailer has popped up over at the film's American Girl website. It's looking like a cute, retro Nancy Drew, with mystery spy equipment traded in for an old-school typewriter and Breslin's insidious quirk. As the story goes, Kit is a writer, and a kid, who is trying to get her foot in the door at the local paper. Obviously, she isn't taken very seriously, but gets involved with a mystery to get the scoop and get the job. Breslin looks cute as the lead, although I have to say that I'm most intrigued by Joan Cusack's stint as some wild-driving crazy aunt. (That, and it's nice to see her co-star without brother John.) Nancy Drew had only a moderate response, so I'm wondering if putting the girl in the retro period, rather than putting her in retro clothes in modern-day, will help the film out. Besides, the flick already has a whole legion of girls with American Girl dolls waiting to see this.

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Monika Bartyzel	166	0
2	Erik Davis	126	55
3	Elisabeth Rappe	89	0
4	Eugene Novikov	56	18
5	Kim Voynar	44	19
6	Scott Weinberg	41	18
7	Jessica Barnes	40	0
8	Peter Martin	28	18
9	Eric Kohn	25	4
10	James Rocchi	23	1
11	Jeffrey M. Anderson	20	4
12	Eric D. Snider	19	0
13	Matt Bradshaw	13	2
14	Joel Keller	13	1
15	Christopher Campbell	10	8
16	Jette Kernion	5	2
17	Patrick Walsh	3	1
18	Willy Volk	2	0
19	Richard von Busack	1	0
20	Patricia Chui	1	0

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Tribeca Review: War, Inc.

Check Out the Full Kit Kittredge Trailer!

EXCLUSIVE: 'War, Inc.' Poster Premiere!

Joan Cusack & John Goodman Want to Be Shopaholics Too!

Kit Kittredge Hits the Net with American Girl Trailer

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