PaulaPatton Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oprah is pushing both Precious and the book it's based on, Push by Sapphire, on her show, and I'm seriously curious to know what her audience will think about it. How many people will be able to watch a film told from the point of view of an illiterate high schooler who is raped by her father, physically (and, in the book, sexually) abused by her mother, hates herself for not being white, has given birth to one child with Down's Syndrome who's nicknamed Mongo (short for Mongoloid), and is pregnant for a second time with her father's child?

Let's assume that Oprah's reach is strong enough and far enough to get her demographic to plunk down their eight to 12 dollars to see Precious – the Oprah Effect in full effect. (You can find out where and when Precious is playing near you on the official movie website.)

I'm not talking about critics and journalists or the people in big cities who like to participate in a friendly Oscar pool or want to be up on what was in the New York Times. They're already seeing the movie in droves; it made $1.8M in limited release its opening weekend. The latest numbers I could find on her demographic are from 2007, back when people were wondering if Oprah could help get a president elected. (Answer: Yes, she can.)

According to Nielsen via MSNBC, "Oprah's audience is predominantly female, white, and over the age of 55. Nationally 7.4 million people watch Oprah daily -- about 2.6% of American households. Four percent of American women (about 5.7 million) watch her daily, compared with 1.2% of men (1.7 million people). Overall, 2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watch Oprah."

It must be a horrible, wonderful thing to be a movie star in this modern age -- rewarded and yet tightly caged by the public's perception of you. Stay within the expectations of the ticket-buying public, and you're likely (or, more accurately, more likely) to not fall off the public's radar; at the same time, that gilded cage must, at some point, feel more and more like a prison. I mention this in talking about Swing Vote because Kevin Costner manages a somewhat nifty trick in his performance as Bud Johnston, a New Mexico ne'er-do-well who, thanks to a close-fought election and a voting machine error, gets to pick the next president. Oh, sure, we all do that on voting day -- but, due to a electoral college tie and a tie in New Mexico, it turns out Bud's vote will be the deciding one. For, well, everyone. Before this is established by Jason Richman and Joshua Michael Stern's screenplay, though, we get a sense of Bud -- and, at first, Bud seems like another in a long line of Kevin Costner likable rascals from Bull Durham's Crash Davis to Tin Cup's Roy MacAvoy. But Bud is something more interesting -- a man whose charm can't quite cover up the holes in his soul. Bud's a drunkard. Bud's lazy. And if it weren't for his daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll), Bud would be even more adrift and frayed. Early, Bud tells his civic-minded daughter that " ... voting doesn't count for a goddamn thing." Bud's the kind of guy who's wrong a lot -- and he knows it -- but, thanks to the gentle contortions of Swing Vote's plot, never more so than now.

All I had to hear was the name Alex Aja and I was immediately interested. The fact that the latest film (Mirrors) from the director of High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes also offers the added bonuses of Kiefer Sutherland, Amy Smart, Paula Patton, and Jason Flemyng got me doubly intrigued. Then I learned that Aja's Mirrors was set to be a seriously harsh R-rated horror thriller -- and I was hooked.

So this morning I attended a very cool breakfast / press conference that Fox put together for Mirrors. We were fed fine foods, introduced to Mr. Sutherland, Ms. Smart, and Monsieur Aja, treated to four rather compelling clips from the film, and then the floor was opened to questions. We didn't actually learn all THAT much about the upcoming film -- which I consider a good thing, as I don't want the whole thing spoiled before I see it -- but the room was more or less buzzing after it witnessed a sequence known as "jaw rip." Suffice to say that Ms. Smart suffers through one hellacious bathtub experience, and then we'll just leave it at that. Really nasty stuff, but in a very cool way.

Topics covered in the event included: Where Aja thinks horror is going (he's not sure, but he really hopes we're not due for another Scream-style irony session), what Ms. Smart has on the horizon (another horror flick called Seventh Moon and, of course, Crank 2), and why Kiefer chose to do a dark horror flick on his extended hiatus from 24. (He appreciates the fact that horror movies can really "strike" an audience in a way that other genres generally can't.) Mr. Aja also dropped just a few little hints about his remake of Piranha -- but all he did is reassure us that is was going to be "fun gore!"

All in all, a very cool Comic-Con event for what certainly looks to be a rough, tough, and challenging horror flick. Mirrors hits theaters on August 15.

Cinematical has just received a whole bunch of new images from the upcoming film Swing Vote, starring Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper and Paula Patton. I'm loving the concept behind this one -- imagine if an entire presidential election somehow came down to one vote ... and it was yours. That's exactly what happened to Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), a simple man living a simple life -- and Swing Vote follows Bud, as well as his 12-year-old daughter, when they're suddenly thrust into the national spotlight.

Grammer and Hopper play both presidential candidates, while Nathan Lane and Stanley Tucci chime in as their campaign managers. Additionally, a whole mess of real-life personalities will pop up -- like Larry King, Bill Maher, Arianna Huffington, Tucker Carlson and more. With the country stressing out over our current presidential election, it'll be nice to take in a sweet comedy that pokes fun at this ridiculous process and the even more ridiculous people who take part in it. Can't we just elect an average guy ... like Bud?

Check out the gallery below for a slew of brand new pics from the film. Swing Vote arrives in theaters on August 1.

Disney might be the last studio I'd trust to get behind a political comedy, but Disney's Touchstone Pictures has picked up distribution rights for Swing Vote, an indie starring Kevin Costner that began filming last month. In the movie, Costner plays a single father whose vote will determine the outcome of a Presidential election. Disney chairman Dick Cook likens the film to a Capra classic, which hopefully doesn't mean it will be as bad as Disney/Hollywood's Mr. Smith sorta-remake, The Distinguished Gentleman.

As the candidates, Dennis Hopper is the Democrat contender and Kelsey Grammar is the Republican (in my imagination: Frank Booth vs. Sideshow Bob -- who would be the better Prez?). As reported previously, the cast also includes Stanley Tucci, Nathan Lane, George Lopez and little Madeline Carroll. Variety now adds Judge Reinhold (hopefully as a Supreme Justice -- "Mr. Reinhold's Courtroom"!), former Brat Packer Mare Winningham, NASCAR racer Richard Petty (as himself) and Willie Nelson (returning to political comedy after his great cameo in Wag the Dog). The IMDb also lists Deja Vu's Paula Patton in a major role.

You may remember that Disney refused to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11 due to its politics. Sure, Swing Vote is likely very far from being so specific in its attacks or its comedy -- it may not even be meant as a relevant or biting satire -- but I'm still surprised the studio would want to touch anything political. Costner, who is co-producing and financing Swing Vote, considers himself a conservative, so maybe the movie is closer to Disney's interests. But then again, CelebPolitics.com rates the actor as "somewhat liberal" and he's reportedly been voting for Democrats since the mid-90s (he's registered as Independent). I guess real politics don't need to come into play with a comedy like Swing Vote and I'm simply letting my mind wander with regards to all this information. The movie, which is scheduled for release next year (in time for the 2008 elections, perhaps?) was co-written by Jason Richman (Joel Schumacher's terrible Bad Company) and Joshua Michael Stern, who is directing.

Maybe it's just me, but when I hear that there is going to be a new horror movie about crazy mall mirrors, I imagine something goofy, with a battery of up-and-comers who hope this stint will be their catapult into bigger and better roles. Then again, Mirrors is Alexandre Aja's remake of a Korean horror film. For some reason, horror remakes from overseas usually seems to get higher-profile names. The Ring had Naomi Watts, The Grudge had Sarah Michelle Gellar and The Eye will have Jessica Alba. Hmm, I guess Mirrors didn't want to follow the "the" pattern, besides changing it up with a male lead.

Previously, I brought you word that Kiefer Sutherland was attached to star as the mall security guard trying to find the origin of the evil in the mirrors. Then, Ryan Stewart posted Paula Patton's addition to the cast. Now Bloody Disgusting has the rest of the cast list, that is headlined by The Butterfly Effect and Crank star, Amy Smart. Now, there is no word on her character, but the IMDb cast list has got her, Sutherland and Patton having the same last name -- along with a few others. Patton was previously said to be the 24 star's disbelieving fiance, so either Smart is a kid he had at an extremely young age, or maybe an ex-wife and mother of his kids? Obviously, this is some sort of family affair. Production is currently in full swing over in Romania, and we've got just a little bit more of the plot to flesh things out -- Kiefer's character is investigating mysterious deaths that happen at a department store, in front of the mirrors, and finds out "that there are murderous reflections out for revenge." Well, that makes a little more sense.

We recently brought you news of Kiefer Sutherland's next big-screen adventure -- he'll be teaming with 'splat pack' charter member Alexandre Aja on a supernatural thriller called Mirrors. Sutherland plays a mall security guard, who must investigate the weird mirrors in a department store. According to various sources, the mirrors reflect back evil versions of the people they are mirroring. There's no evidence that this will be a comedy, but it sure sounds like it. Today there is news that Sutherland now has a co-star, Paula Patton, who was Denzel Washington's love interest in the mediocre time-travel film Deja Vu. Patton will play Sutherland's fiance who disbelieves his claims about the mirrors. The film is going to be shot in Romania, with a start date of May 1.

Patton is also attached to the Christine Crokos drama This Wednesday, which is about a prostitute and her pimp -- that film is currently in pre-production. As for Aja, his other upcoming project is, of course, the remake of Joe Dante's Piranha. [Along with the news of Helen Mirren joining National Treasure 2, Shia LaBeouf joining Indy 4 and any number of other recent stories, the Pirahna story was brought to you first by the online film community.] There's no word yet on Pirahna casting, but I have no doubt whatsoever that Aja will push the gore-factor on this one, despite the fact that the studio apparently wants to maintain the humorous tone of the original.