Oprah Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A year ago, GQ published a feature article written by Devin Friedman called "Will You Be My Black Friend?" Having realized that he had only two black friends (much less than he had in his youth), Friedman whipped up an ad asking for black friends and threw it up on Craigslist. The article (a long but worthy read) dips into his self-deprecating thoughts on race, his social anxiety with black people, and thoughts on the friendship segregation alive in interpersonal relationships as he sets out to make new black friends. And now it's been picked up by Oprah.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films and Lionsgate are joining forces to develop Friedman's article into a feature film with Chris Rock starring. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he's one of the people met on the journey, because Rock is definitely not a "white, married Manhattan journalist" on a "quixotic quest" for friendship diversity.

Currently, no writer or director is attached, but that'll surely come in due time. I mean, can the world refuse Oprah? It doesn't seem likely. Now ... how long will it be before marketers decide to start up a "gain a black friend/gain a white friend" website? And would it work?

There is no denying that Precious has got critics and audiences in a lather, with audiences at Sundance, Cannes, and TIFF lauding the harrowing adaptation of Sapphire's first novel. Mo'Nique's performance as Precious' horrendously abusive mother monster Mary has also gotten folks humming about an Oscar nomination for the comedian, who readily acknowledges the dark places she had to go for this role. She told Eric Kohn in an interview at last year's Sundance that she herself was sexually abused and "The person who molested me was a monster. So I had to go to that person, because I know what it was like for me. [Daniels] said action, and be that monster." And wow, what a monster she became; each scene she was in cut closer to the bone. I covered my eyes in at least one scene and left the screening room slack-jawed.

But Roger Friedman at the Hollywood Reporter writes that Mo'Nique skipped press for the film at Cannes, TIFF, and the New York Film Festival, and that her newest publicist of just two weeks quit. Friedman writes "that Mo'Nique has gotten herself a reputation for demanding money for showing up to promote Precious. It's a first in Oscar history."

Okay, for this story I need you to try to remember something that happened, like, two years ago. Can you do that for me? Can you take your brain back that far, or do we need to call in McFly and the Doc? Anyway, remember all the hoopla surrounding James Frey's very popular book A Million Little Pieces? How Oprah used the so-called "memoir" to re-launch her book club, and how it turned into this huge success -- so much so that Warner Bros. desperately wanted to make a film out of it -- and how it later came out that Frey made up a good portion of the book ... and then Oprah smacked him around on TV ... and then the film went bye bye. Remember?

Well, that's what happened -- and now, two years after the fact, comes a film called A Million Little Pieces, based on the book by James Frey and directed by Nigel Tomm. And no, it's not being developed -- it's actually done ... in the can ... and available on DVD. Who's in it, you ask? Well, unlike the previous in-development adaptation, you're not going to see stars like Jake Gyllenhaal, Orlando Bloom, Josh Hartnett or Ryan Gosling (all of whom were interested in starring in the other flick). Nope, this one, according to its tagline, is -- wait for it -- "70 minutes and 41 seconds of pure turquoise screen. Nothing more, nothing less." On a budget of $345. Ahem. Confused?

Keep reading ...

What a difference a month can make. Back in September, Viggo Mortensen seemed pretty confident when he told MTV Movies Blog that he was in talks to star in a big-screen version of Cormac McCarthy's, The Road. Now, Shock Till You Drop is reporting that Guy Pearce could be replacing Mortensen in the film. Mortensen was never officially confirmed, so Pearce as a replacement would seem to be the most likely scenario -- especially since the story isn't exactly teeming with characters. The novel focuses on a father and son who are survivors of an apocalyptic event and are trying to make it to 'the coast' while surrounded by fellow survivors who have reverted to cannibalism. If you haven't read the book, I really recommend picking it up, although be warned: don't let that Oprah Book Club selection sticker lull you into thinking this is a feel-good story. Nothing could be further from the truth.

John Hillcoat is already set to direct the Joe Penhall adaptation and since Hillcoat worked with Pearce on the revisionist western, The Proposition, back in 2006, that could tip the scales in Pearce's favor. The film could be a bit of a hard-sell with audiences to begin with. There is some truly disturbing stuff going on in the story, and for those of you who have read the book, you probably know what I mean. Luckily, no matter which actor they go with, I think either would be more than capable of handling the role, don't you? The Road is tentatively scheduled for release in 2009.

If you're going to remake a classic film, you can do it one of two ways: Either you take the path of doing something so completely different from the original that their mutual origin is practically indistinguishable, or you pay homage to the first by sticking as close as possible to where you started. Charlotte's Web, starring Dakota Fanning as the spirited farmgirl, Fern, who saves the life of a runty pig, and Julia Roberts as the indefatigable spider who weaves a magical web to save him again.

I was five when the classic animated adaptation of the E.B. White book came out; I've watched it countless times -- especially as my own children came to love the film and watched it over (and over ... and over) on videocassette and then DVD -- and it's always held a special place in my heart. So when I heard a remake was in the works, I was a smidge ambivalent. Why mess with something that already works so well? Who could ever replace Debbie Reynolds as Charlotte A. Cavativa, the arachnoid with a heart of gold? Julia Roberts, that's who.

Poor James Frey. Seriously, I really do feel bad for the guy. I've never in my life seen someone so afraid of Oprah. After watching her tear him to shreds, I couldn't help but be reminded of that Simpson's episode in which Bart's crush literally rips his heart out and flings it against the tree-house wall.

With controversy building faster than a Trump anything, it was only a matter of time before someone asked, "So, what about that Million Little Pieces movie?" Well, Warner Bros. President Alan Thorn claims the studio is now "reevaluating our position on what to do." Oh, but surely that can't be because of Oprah, right? Thorn continues, "Obviously, we watch Oprah and, like everybody else, we're aware of the change in authenticity of this piece. At some point in the near future, we'll meet and decide what, if anything, to do about it."

Personally, I see that translating into, "If we can find a way to tie this whole scandal in before Lifetime shovels out My Life Is Ruined: The James Frey Story, then you bet your ass there'll be a movie, biotch!" Do you think there could ever be a successful film based on this book, or should they scrap the book and attack the scandal?

OK, so everyone has had it up to here (place hand near forehead) with all this talk about James Frey and the discussion on whether or not his book is true, fiction, or a little of both. But allow me just this one additional item, something that is being forgotten in all this talk (and yes, it does have something to do with films).

When did all of this drug addiction/rehab, etc stuff take place? The reason I ask is, what about the movie Frey wrote, Kissing A Fool, a sub-par romantic comedy with Friends star David Schwimmer, Bonnie Hunt, and My Name Is Earl's Jason Lee? That came out in 1998. Did he write it while going through things described in the book (that would explain a lot) or was it after, or what? 

[via Bookslut]

A Million Little Pieces, James Frey's scandalous, outrageous memoir of life as a Criminal (his capitalization) has been all over the place since it was published a few years ago. The hardback edition didn't sell much, but when Oprah made it the first non-fiction work featured by her book club, millions of Midwestern women (and, you know, others) started reading and raving about prison, vomit, and drug-free root canals. He was interviewed countless times, and everyone marveled at the badass-turned-writer. The movie rights were snatched up by Warner Brothers and the picture, which will be directed by The Libertine's Laurence Dunmore, is currently in development.

Unfortunately, the "memoir" is a work of fiction. Oh, and Frey's never been in prison. Ever. Extensive investigation by The Smoking Gun has revealed that Frey's book (his debut work) was rejected 17 times when it was presented as a fictional story so he just changed himself into an ass-kicking criminal and turned the book into a "memoir." So, basically, he's (based on reviews) not a very good writer and a liar with giant balls.

No word on if this little revelation will have any effect on how Warner approaches and/or sells the film.

 [via MeFi]

Sure, some negative, evil people might find Tom Cruise just the slightest bit irritating, particularly when he does things like, in the immortal words of England's The Guardian, "Bouncing around on Oprah's sofa like a hormonal adolescent." But the REAL fans know that he's just an irrepressible genius who keeps it real, and that's why, in an online poll of about 10,000 participants conducted by Empire magazine, Cruise was voted the "biggest star of all time." In taking the top spot, he beat out such minor figures as Robert De Niro (#2), and Marilyn Monroe (#5), among others. Yeah! Take that, all you Tom haters.

Yesterday on his blog, David Poland dropped a one-line blind item that got his readers all riled up: "FINALLY!!! A movie that makes Bewitched look like a professionally made film!"

65 comments later, it seems more likely than not that this teaser was directed at Fantastic Four, which Poland screened earlier this week and which opens in general release tomorrow. Poland doesn't have to say much - as reviews filter in, the 37 (!) on Metacritic, and 21% (!!!) on Rotten Tomatoes, say enough. It already seems likely that the bad review of record will end up being Roger Ebert's full-stop, one-star pan. Yeah, you heard me - one star. That's half the stars Ebert awarded last week to the imminently forgettable Martin Lawrence sports com Rebound.

So on what grounds does Tim Story's superhero movie so offend?