JonathanPryce Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It sounds like a can't-miss concept: a Disney movie about a guy who tells wonderful, fantastic bedtime stories that actually come true in real life. And when the guy is Adam Sandler, how can this possibly be a bad movie? Aren't you buying tickets online for your entire family right now, even as you read about this possible cinematic land of delights? Except that watching Bedtime Stories is about as delightful as peeking into your Christmas stocking and finding it empty except for a few lint-covered peppermints.

The movie opens with a little tale narrated by the most stereotypically folksy voice you can imagine, a distillation of Wilford Brimley and Roy Rogers ... and it's Jonathan Pryce, setting up the story of Sandler's character Skeeter. Seeing Pryce at this time of year made me think of Brazil, thus triggering nostalgia for a movie that is the diametric opposite of this one. Pryce's character, Marty, has to sell the hotel to a Brit who gets to keep his accent, Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths), who promises that someday Marty's little boy Skeeter can earn the chance to run the hotel himself. (Marty's daughter is SOL, one presumes.) Barry agrees, then replaces most of the homey motel with a snazzy high-rise hotel.

HBO Films has locked up Uma Thurman to star in My Zinc Bed, a film based on a popular British stage play by David Hare, who also wrote The Hours. The story of Zinc revolves around a young alcoholic who has an affair with the wife of his boss. Paddy Considine will play the young lush and Jonathan Pryce will play the old man who is wealthy enough to bag Uma Thurman. Directing duties will be handled by Anthony Page, most known for his television work. BBC is also co-producing with HBO, and the film is apparently set for first-run broadcast on HBO, not in theaters. As Variety points out, this project is being shepherded by Julie Goldstein, a Miramax honcho who was brought on board HBO earlier this year.

As for Uma, this isn't her first daliance with HBO -- she also starred in the 2002 Mira Nair film Hysterical Blindness. Aside from Zinc, she's also got a couple of interesting projects lined up for the end of 2007 and early 2008. She's going to be starring in a film by Vadim Perelman, the guy who directed House of Sand and Fog, and she's starring in The Accidental Husband, a romantic comedy in which she plays a radio talk show host who ruins a guy's marriage by telling his wife to dump him. This causes the guy to seek some kind of revenge on her. And speaking of revenge, no matter what roles she lines up after these, Uma will still have to show up in 15 years or so to do another turn as The Bride in Kill Bill 3.

With Terry Gilliam's luck what it is these days, it might be smart for him to move ahead with projects when he can. In the case of his next film, Good Omens, may mean not casting as he would prefer. It seems that the religious fantasy comedy, which is based on the novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, may begin shooting as early as this winter now that Stephen Evans has stepped in as producer. Brendon Connelly at Film Ick points out that schedule won't fit Johnny Depp's, and the actor will therefore not be starring as was hoped. In fact, actors Gilliam had in mind for other characters, namely Robin Williams (who is always good in Gilliam films, if not much else) and Jonathan Pryce, are also expected to be unavailable at that time.

As an enormous fan of Gilliam, I have to say I'm completely bummed. Not so much because of Depp and Williams not being in the movie, but more because I would prefer it if Gilliam could deliver his exact vision, as he so famously fought for on his earlier pictures. Sure casting is just one simple part of the vision, and using actors who aren't your first choice isn't as horrible as being forced to shoot a happy ending to Brazil or urged to use CGI in The Brothers Grimm, but knowing that a different movie exists in Gilliam's warped and brilliant mind, is enough to make for a disappointing end-product. I will admit that Grimm probably wouldn't have been much better had (supposedly) original choices Depp and Williams been cast, and I was surprised at how enjoyable Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are in the film. So, don't think I will be taking prejudice with whoever is cast in Good Omens. But I won't be able to help imagining the film that should have been.