RichardE.Grant Tagged Articles at Cinematical

About 35 years ago, writer/director Barra Grant was an actress and one of the Daughters of Satan (who got to be married to Tom Selleck). But the on-screen days ended in the 70s, and now she is gearing up for her latest film, a new romantic comedy that has a pretty solid ensemble cast. Variety reports that the new feature, which is called HangingOutHookingUpFallingInLove, stars the likes of Richard E. Grant, Carrie-Anne Moss, Janeane Garofalo, Rita Rudner, Camryn Manheim, Caroline Aaron, and Johnny Pacar.

The film will focus on "a newly separated father having to learn how to date again with help from his teenage son who himself dreams of conquering one girl's heart." How... full of love. There's really nothing about the description that sets it apart from other romcom fare, or that makes it sound anything less than super-sappy, but I'm wondering if that spice will be left up to the cast. There's some snarky talent in the mix, which could make things considerably more interesting, or just be another romcom derailment (think The MatchMaker).

But that aside ... While I understand how some misspelled words or noticeably bad grammar can help make a film's name memorable, is that really the best way to go? Why have a 7-word title all smushed together as one?

There's lots of small casting announcements popping up over the last few days -- some of which might make you oooo, ahhh or possibly convulse in repulsion:

• Back in May, I told you that John Turturro was going to be the Evil Mouse King in the upcoming film, Nutcracker: The Untold Story. Since then, it seems that the name has been changed to Nutcracker: The True Story (I guess they weren't getting enough cred with the untold version), Variety reports that Odyssey Entertainment will take care of international sales and the cast has been completed. When word first came out, Turturro was joined by Nathan Lane and Elle Fanning. Now the list includes the wonderful Richard E. Grant added as Father, and Frances de la Tour added as the Rat Mother/Fraulein Eva.

The Hollywood Reporter also has a slew of casting updates up, check these out:

• Autumn Reeser, Taylor from The OC, has been added to the cast of the much-feared Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. If you remember, this film is going to deal with vampire surfers, and rumor was that both of the Coreys were going to be in it. In a bit of unoriginality, she'll play a girl who moves with her brother to Trinidad, California and is seduced by the leader of the vamp surfers. Can she live up to the likes of Jason Patric and Jami Gertz?
• Jessica Walter, who you might remember as Lucille Bluth* on Arrested Development, is going to play Luke Wilson's mother in the upcoming Henry Poole is Here. The film is about a depressed and terminally-ill man whose life is changed by a miracle -- seeing a stain on the wall that looks like the face of Christ. Jesus shows up in the strangest of places.. I imagine Lucille making the poor guy's life hell, but it seems that this mom is more focused on Wilson's lack of ambition and interest in other people. Anyhow, you can check out more info on the film in our posts here, here and here.
• Rounding things out -- Mark Feuerstein, Mia Wasikowska and Ravil Isyanov have joined Defiance, the Holocaust drama, Lindsey Kraft has signed on to See You in September and Melissa Keller is joining Brian Austin Green in an indie thriller called Breaking Point. (How exciting is that?)

* Good lord, I have no idea how or why my fingers typed "Booth!" Thanks for the catch, dear readers! -MB

Last week, Mena Suvari told Ryan during a press junket that she would be in the upcoming adaptation of the great, unfinished Ernest Hemingway novel -- The Garden of Eden -- news that I couldn't be happier about. The picture is to be helmed by John Irvin. He hasn't done many high-profile films lately, but he is the guy behind the 80's film Hamburger Hill, so hopefully he's got the chops for the project. Now Variety has fleshed out the cast for us. Besides Suvari, there is Jack Huston (yes, of the Huston dynasty), Caterina Murino (Casino Royale) and Richard E. Grant (do I need to explain who he is!?).

As Ryan said last week, the storyline is a love triangle between an ex-pat (David) and wife (Catherine) traveling through Europe, and a woman named Marita who they both fall for. It's also an interesting and pretty progressive look at gender bending that Hemingway started to write just after the end of World War II. Throughout the novel and affair, Catherine experiments with masculinity -- wearing pants and getting her hair cut, as well as saying things like: "I'm a girl. But now I'm a boy too and I can do anything ..." Heck, the gender-bending even extends into the bedroom. This novel undoubtedly has its roots in Hemingway's own childhood, where his mother would dress him in girl's clothing. Of course, as Variety describes, Suvari will be playing Catherine and Murino will be playing Marita. Sliding the men into their roles should be easy enough, I imagine Huston will play David, and Grant will take on Colonel John Boyle -- an acquaintance of the couple. The film will start production this month in Spain, and hopefully release will come soon after.

So much for my belief that St. Trinian's is the best cast movie in production right now. The film, which began shooting in March with top-notch British talents like Emily Watson, Colin Firth and Rupert Everett, has just added a young, American actress to sour up the mix. According to Variety, in a report from Cannes, Mischa Barton has joined the cast, which also includes Brits Toby Jones, Lena Headey, Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie, Anna Chancellor, Lucy Punch, Fenella Woolgar and possibly (still rumored, and not actually British) Richard E. Grant. To quote my favorite Sesame Street game: "One of these things is not like the other."

Hopefully Barton will simply be playing the bland girl from the States who happens to be studying at an English girls' school, and will not be expected to pull off an accent. Either way, she'll at least make the elder cast appear even greater. The former O.C. actress joins rising stars Jodie Whittaker (Venus), model Lily Cole, Talulah Riley (Pride & Prejudice), Tamsin Egerton (Driving Lessons), Juno Temple (Notes on a Scandal), Gemma Arterton and possibly (still rumored) singer Amy Winehouse, all of whom presumably play students at St. Trinian's, which they save from going bankrupt. St. Trinian's still seems to be, as Cinematical writer Monika Bartyzel called it, "a British film fan's wet dream," but thanks to the casting of Barton, the dream has gotten a little bit drier.

After the generally positive critical reception that greeted Richard E. Grant's Wah-Wah, his debut as a writer-director -- and despite the horrible trial that the movie's making was for him -- he's wasting no time in putting together another project. According to a recent interview, Grant is busy writing Zeitgeist, a screenplay "about the making of a disaster movie -- basically The Poseidon Adventure in outer space!" Mmm ... disaster movies. Things with Grant's pretend movie go south, however, when it "becomes a real disaster;" Zeitgeist will focus on the aftermath of the movie falling apart, "and how actors really are, as opposed to the PR version."

Nice. In the best possible world, it sounds sort of like Red Dwarf, except with behind-the-scenes looks at the bastards playing the parts. Which, really, could be pretty damn awesome. Awesome enough, even, for me to suppress my deep bitterness at Grant's final revelation in the interview: "It's fairly and squarely based on my experience working on Hudson Hawk with Bruce Willis 16 years ago," he said, "[The script comes] from bitter, first-hand experience." Doh!

If there is one underrated character actor in the world it is Richard E. Grant. Since his breakthrough role in Withnail and I, the actor has appeared in over 50 films and therefore has one of those faces that has audiences asking, "Where have I seen him before?" With a rubbery face and a remarkable skill with dialects, he seems comfortable with broad and dry comedy, serious drama and crazed villainy, all of which he's exhibited in films ranging from Spice World to The Age of Innocence. He has played the lead in quite a few movies, and carried them very well -- I especially like him in the little-seen A Merry War -- but he is most easily recognizable for supporting parts in which he tends to stand out. He was the one enjoyable part of Hudson Hawk (not that it was hard) and was a piece of the brilliant ensemble in Gosford Park.

After watching his directorial debut, Wah-Wah, I'd like Grant to stay in front of the camera. The film, which he also wrote, is not a wasted effort, but there is nothing about it that is evidence he should be making movies rather than stealing scenes in them. The only significance it holds is that it is based somewhat on his own coming of age in the South African country of Swaziland during its transition to independence from Great Britain. But that is only of significance to Grant, and not to viewers, who, if they are anything like me, could do just fine, thank you, without another cinematic memoir of alcoholic fathers and distant mothers and incoherent scenes that add up to a whole without a center.

Insane-in-a-good-way actor Richard E. Grant's directorial debut Wah-Wah has its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival tonight. The film, which Grant wrote and based on his own childhood, explores the life of a boy in Swaziland as his family falls apart, thanks to an abusive father and an adulterous mother. Jeez-- get me a ticket to that right away. Though it sounds profoundly depressing, the Festival's website insists that the film is actually "life-affirming, funny and wise." Depressing or not, the cast is an embarrassment of riches including Emily Watson (known for the uplifting Breaking the Waves), Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, and Julie Walters.

Despite Grant's stature (he admits that his name at least got him meetings), the film was plagued by difficulties, from the aging of its teenage star to the departure of a producer who made a sudden life-change and became "a drugs counsellor in the West Indies."  The film was shot on location in Swaziland and, despite all of the problems it encountered, was apparently brought in on budget.  If he can combine that miracle with some ticket sales, Grant might just have a new career on his hands.

About a Boy's Nicholas Hoult is growing up - literally. The child star is about a foot taller than when we last saw him onscreen with Hugh Grant, and, thankfully, he has lost the dreadful bowl haircut and bushy eyebrows that defined his character, Marcus, in the film. Now he's starring in a new film, Wah-Wah, an autobiographical film about the childhood in Swaziland of actor Richard E. Grant, who also stars in the film. Hoult plays Grant at age 15 in the film, which also stars Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson and Julie Walters.

The Telegraph has a great interview with Hoult (pictured in a shot from the article, above), who seems surprisingly well-grounded and articulate for a child star. No passing out drunk at premiere parties, no stints in rehab, no controversial sex tapes surfacing. No parents in a public, messy divorce battle. Could it be possible? A child star remarkably unaffected by his stardom? Wah-Wah  (which I really want to see now, only I'm nowhere near Scotland, darn it) premieres at the Edinburgh Film Festival, which opens tomorrow.