Two things I enjoyed about Definitely, Maybe, which came out on DVD today: the cheesy jokes about New York City in the early '90s and the fact that it is a chick flick for guys. What I mean by the latter is that the movie seems targeted to females yet it caters more to the male viewer. It's basically a male fantasy: Ryan Reynolds tells the story of how he dated three beautiful women (played by Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz and Elizabeth Banks), one of whom he married and later divorced -- meaning he's now single again. And he also got a cute, precocious daughter (Abigail Breslin) out of the deal who becomes beneficial to him in his return to bachelorhood.

But then is it really a chick flick? I guess it is if you count romantic comedies in that grouping, though the genre has never necessarily been aligned with the term, nor vice versa. And in the age of Judd Apatow, it's more likely that any new romantic comedy is actually a guy movie. Do many men realize it's a movie for them, though? Probably not. Though chick flicks are typically movies primarily populated by women characters and/or a female protagonist (think Steel Magnolias), romance films not made by either Apatow or the Farrelly brothers may be thought of as being for the ladies, even if they feature a male lead, like Reynolds in Definitely, Maybe.

I'll admit I've always been confused about chick flicks as a term. I apparently enjoy many so-called chick flicks, including even (especially) Beaches. So, I may not be using the term correctly in this list. However, I am a guy and I know what guys want. So, I'm going to do this my way, and answer the following question: What other films may have been initially perceived by males as being made for chicks but which turned out to be more for them (us)?

[Photo removed at request of 20th Century Fox]

This is too good not to share. It's no secret that I wasn't pleased with the last round of Amelia pics that hit the net. Hilary Swank just looked goofy, and the images did nothing to drum up excitement. In fact, it did just the opposite. But man, the picture above, part of a slew that went up on Oh No They Didn't, is definitely worth it.

Finally, we've got Swank in the flying ensemble! She's got on the obligatory leather jacket, cap, and goggles, although the wardrobe gurus seem to have decided against Earhart's oft-worn scarf, and selected a striped tie instead. But that's not all. We know that it's Richard Gere standing on the right, but do you recognize the woman on the left? I've loved her since Fire with Fire, but didn't notice at first that the lady in red is, indeed, Virginia Madsen. Okay, I'm a bit more excited now.

You?

Quick hits on three titles of interest: As I wrote last November, Meeting Resistance "is not the end-all, be-all of Iraq War documentaries, nor does it pretend to be. Filmmakers Steve Connors and Molly Bingham stay tightly focused on their subjects -- members of the resistance movement in Iraq -- and get them to open up about their motivations. In doing so, they provide an invaluable window into a world that remains unknown to most foreigners." The DVD from First Run Features includes an audio commentary, filmmaker Q&A, biographies, and a photo gallery.

Olivier Meyrou's documentary Beyond Hatred examines the aftermath of the brutal murder of a young gay man by a gang of skinheads. Ed Gonzalez in Slant Magazine felt it "arrives at essential truths about suffering and loss through abstract means." The DVD from First Run Features appears to be a bare-bones edition; no extras are listed at the official site.

I'm waiting for my rental copy of The Flock to arrive in the mail, but I don't have high hopes for this psychological drama, even though it stars Richard Gere and Claire Danes. Hong Kong director Andrew Lau can be hit (Internal Affairs) or miss (Confession of Pain), and the long delay between production (late 2004) and release doesn't bode well. The DVD from The Weinstein Co. has no extras, according to this review by Brian Orndorf at DVD Talk, who felt the movie looked too much like a bad TV show.

After tons of speculation and millions of votes counted, the results are in -- Richard Gere is still The Man. Seriously, how many people do you know who look 33 when they're actually 106? None. Gere. That's it. And Variety tells us he's signed on for not one, but two more films. The Pope turned 81and he's riding around in a little bulletproof car. Gere is 106 and he's doing two movies! Who do you think is more awesome? Hint: His name rhymes with Fear??

First up, he'll star opposite Hilary Swank in Amelia -- a biopic on the famed aviatrix, Amelia Earhart, which will be directed by Mira Nair off a screenplay by Ron Bass. Gere will play Earhart's husband, publisher George Putnam, and the film will document their rocky relationship. Additionally (and this is something we already reported), Gere will co-star in the cop flick Brooklyn's Finest, alongside folks like Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke. Antoine Fuqua will direct. (Currently, there's no word on which young actress Gere will be shaggin' in that film, but we'll let you know when more info is released ...)

Two reasons I'm writing this story: 1) I love screenwriter success stories, and 2) I love New York City screenwriting success stories. (No, I'm not very interested in seeing a sequel to New Jack City ... unless, of course, Chris Rock loses fifty pounds and plays another crack addict.) Over at Yahoo, they have a great story about a NYC tollbooth worker who wrote a crime script last year called Brooklyn's Finest. See, his car was totaled in an accident and so he entered this screenwriting competition with hopes the cash prize would help pay for a new ride. While Michael Martin had studied film in college, he had never written a full screenplay before -- and though his script placed second, it attracted attention from all over the place; landing on the steps of a Warner Bros-based producer who was searching for someone gritty enough to write the sequel to New Jack City.

Dude eventually moved to Los Angeles, wrote for the Showtime series Sleeper Cell, but then got homesick and returned to New York -- where, to this day, he works for the Transit Authority (he was just promoted to construction flagger). In between flagging, he still works on the New Jack City 2 script (which will probably go direct to DVD) on break in the subway tunnels, all while Brooklyn's Finest gears up to go into production this May -- in Brookyln -- with Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere and Ellen Barkin starring. Training Day's Antoine Fuqua will direct.

Oh, and he has a new car now.

Great story; you can read the entire thing here. And good luck to you Mr. Martin!

Last May, word came out that a remake of the Japanese tearjerker Hachiko monogatari was in the works, starring the actor who has had a bum rap when it comes to animals -- Richard Gere. The production was supposed to kick into action back in September, but as is usually the case, the project was delayed. Hachiko, A Dog's Story now has a new start date in January, and Variety reports that it's also got a co-star and director. Joan Allen (The Upside of Anger) has signed on to star with Gere, and Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) will take the directorial chair.

The project is based on the true story of the Hachiko statue in Tokyo's Shibuya station. A teaching assistant had a devout dog who would meet him every day. When the man gets sick and doesn't return home, the dog continues to wait, for what Variety says is almost ten years. As the remake story goes, Gere is a college prof who takes in an abandoned dog, so I'm not sure if the dog gets abandoned twice, or if he gives it a new home after it waits around for its master for years. Either way, it's sure to be full of tears and heartbreak, just what every moviegoer is looking for! Annoyingly, there is no word on who Allen is playing. Gere's lady friend? A sinister person from the pound? Who knows. The film heads into production this January in Rhode Island, if there are no further delays.

I walked directly from the delayed press screening of I'm Not There, the new film from director Todd Haynes (Safe, Far From Heaven) to our interview. It didn't feel like enough time -- and also like you couldn't possibly prepare enough to take on the layers and levels and tricks and treats of Haynes's sprawling, fractured take on the life and times of Bob Dylan. Haynes spoke with Cinematical about finding truth through myth, pop and politics and which Bob Dylan songs he can, in fact, still listen to after capturing six different iterations of one man. You can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



You can also download the entire interview right here.

(I'm Not There opens November 21st.)

I'm Not There may be a brilliant myth-making exercise, a fearsome piece of pop art, a truly fascinating film. It may also be a hollow jumble of post-modern pick-up-sticks -- a chaotic stack of signifiers and images and in-jokes with nothing at the heart. Part of me wants to see it again as soon as possible; crack its codes, follow the arcs, catch anything I missed. I also wanted to not see it ever again -- to let it be a dream, a blur, like a few notes of music that find you at an unexpected moment and you hear the rest of your life.

Six actors, six stories "Inspired by the Life and Music of Bob Dylan." Well, even as a casual Dylan fan (or, more specifically, someone with a copy of Desire on vinyl), I think you've got a lot to work with. And director Todd Haynes -- who co-wrote the script with Oren Moverman -- puts a lot on the screen. A young African American rides the rails playing folk music. An arch, overgrown juvenile delinquent gives cryptic answers to unknown questioners. A folksinger who walked away from it all in the '70s. A '60s vision of style itself stalking London. The actor who played the folksinger, once, in a movie, dealing with fame and family. A hippie-cowboy-monk in some never-was Old West.

And all the Dylans -- none of whom are Dylan -- cross and connect and clash. The youngest is played by African American teen Marcus Carl Franklin. British actor Ben Wishaw is next, cryptic and dry. Christian Bale broods and seethes through a mockumentary. Cate Blanchett staggers and swaggers through Don't Look Back re-imagined as a Fellini fever dream. Heath Ledger's actor drifts through a very '70s California break-up with Charlotte Gainsbourg. Richard Gere wanders in a carnival-western cosmos shot through a haze of dust and sunlight. Like the blind men and the elephant, Haynes and his cast fumble at immensity and come back with distortions, misrepresentations, textures.

How do you make a comedy about a hideous Civil War? Are TV journalists automatically 'sexier' than print journalists? How much time does a director have to devote to 'method hair'? What's it like filming in a Holiday Inn pockmarked with bullet holes? And is it easier, or harder, to make a movie with the suits from the studio an ocean away? Cinematical had the chance to speak with director and writer Richard Shepard about The Hunting Party, his follow-up to the Sundance breakthrough hit The Matador. The Hunting Party stars Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg as three journalists of wildly varying experience and wildly varying ethics who choose to search for a notorious Balkan war criminal -- but are they looking for the story, or for something more? Articulate, animated, and never ambivalent, Shepard spoke with Cinematical in San Francisco; you can download the interview right here.

At the beginning of the month, we brought you the ultra-wordy poster for The Hunting Party. No, it isn't some flick about rifles and the hunt for gamey meat, but instead, the hunt for notorious bad guys. Aside from having tons of words, the poster actually answered its own question, which is both weird and funny. They asked: "How can they find the World's most wanted war criminal when they C.I.A. can't?" This is followed by some journalistic style: "[by actually looking]." The poster -- it's alright, but it isn't half as cool as the trailer that is now out.

The film stars, get this -- Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg as a few risk-loving journalists and a cameraman who decide to find the top war criminal in Bosnia. (I'd go see it just for the cast alone!) The trailer is all about the irresistibility of danger, mixed in with some good, old-fashioned American cover-ups and humor. This is the first time in eons that I've been intrigued by Gere in a role, and I love seeing him with Howard, who usually picks great movies and Eisenberg, who is just plain awesome. While it doesn't seem to really tread new ground, Hunting looks pretty entertaining and fun -- and it's based on an Esquire article called What I Did on my Summer Vacation by Scott Anderson. What's even better -- you don't have to wait too long to check it out. The film comes out September 7.