Ron Livingston Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Jay Roach's Dinner for Schmucks is adding another seat at the table for Ron Livingston; the movie also stars funny guys Zach Galifianakis, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd. Dinner is based on the famous French movie directed and written by Francis Veber, Le dîner de cons, otherwise known as The Dinner Game, which won a César for best writing. Dinner is the story of a dining group with a rather interesting twist; they have a contest to see who can bring the biggest idiot to dinner. Soon enough, though, the guests realize their little snarky game isn't so harmless.

The question is, who will be the biggest schmuck? Carell and Rudd star, and either could be schmucky, although Carell can play dumb with a straight face pretty damn well. (He loves lamp, after all.) However, I can't picture Zach Galifianakis as a bougie dinner party guest and not a schmuck. Maybe he's a more minor schmuck? In any case, this dinner table is getting full of schmuckitude, and will give all us writers a great chance to exercise our mastery of Yiddish slang for weiners.

*Warning: Clip contains foul language.*

Only nine years ago, Ron Livingston played the young, fax machine-stealing, disgruntled worker Peter Gibbons in Office Space. Whoever would've thought that less than a decade later, he'd head back to the office to be an aging businessman. Man, Hollywood is tough on age.

Variety reports the Livingston will lead an indie comedy called The Company Men, that Raul Sanchez will direct from his own screenplay. As the star, Ron gets to be "an aging businessman who struggles with a collapsing economy as he tries to save a sinking company." I guess the over-the-hill moniker sticks (Livingston is 41). It'll be interesting to see how this lives up to the cult favorite, and fan expectations. But really, the big question is: Will he use a red Swingline stapler?

Meanwhile, Livingston has a co-starring gig in The Time Traveler's Wife, which hits screens on Christmas Day.

Usually, heavy drama and inspirational fare are mixed into hard-hitting or heart-sagging packages. But sometimes, the tough-to-swallow is mixed with comedy -- not in a way where the funny is the only thing that matters, but in a way that helps move the story and keep you out of that moviegoer depression. When done right, it can be a really enjoyable experience -- one that makes you think, feel, and laugh.

Now, I'm cheating a little bit for this double feature. One of the films just came out on DVD this week, but the other doesn't come out until Tuesday (Double Feature of the Future!). But having received both screeners, and having them sitting here on the desk, looking at me, I couldn't help but use them because they go so well together. Both contain some pretty dramatic moments, but the drama is couched in levity. I present: Music Within and Lars and the Real Girl -- two films that embrace the marriage of comedy and drama, as well as people who get past their own fears and offer help to others.

My personal pick is the powerful, haunting There Will Be Blood, but there are other intriguing titles to explore. Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) won the inaugural Cinema Eye Award for Best Feature; according to one synopsis, the documentary examines the "cycles of violence that plague Brazil's upper and lower economic classes in fits of rampant corruption and violent kidnappings." The DVD from City Lights includes an audio commentary by the director and producers, as well as several additional scenes.

Linda Hattendorf first met the subject of her documentary, The Cats of Mirikitani, on the streets of New York. He was homeless; she bought one of his drawings. "Thus began a strange, intimate relationship," Martha Fischer wrote in her review. She called the doc "a treasure of personal filmmaking, created on a shoe-string budget and completely devoid of pretensions or aspirations beyond simple, intimate, storytelling." The DVD from Arts Alliance America includes 20 minutes of bonus footage, deleted scenes and Mirikitani art gallery images.

With a high-profile cast, high-profile filmmakers, tremendous buzz, and limited competition, it would have been shocking if No Country for Old Men had not finished in first place for the specialty box office this weekend. The Coen Brothers' film has received near-unanimous praise (95% positive per Rotten Tomatoes), including great reviews from our own Patrick Walsh and James Rocchi. No Country averaged $42,928 per screen at 28 locations in New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. for distributor Paramount Vantage, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo.

Opening in just one theater in New York, Holly pulled down a very impressive $35,000, also according to Box Office Mojo. Ron Livingston stars as an American in Cambodia who tries to save a young girl who has been sold into child prostitution. In my review, I noted that "what makes the film distinctive is the spare, subtle approach of the filmmakers. ... It offers no easy answers and does not sidestep stickier questions. ... Ron Livingston turns in a controlled, admirably restrained performance." Holly expands later this month; it deserves to be seen as widely as possible.

Leonard Klady of Movie City News commented: "Bollywood appeared to be making Hollywood-like misjudgments with two high profile films butting heads for Diwali holiday business." Om Shanti Om (from Eros Entertainment) earned $14,650 per screen at 114 while Saawariya (from Sony) made $6,350 per screen at 85 engagements. Eric D. Snider has more information on both films in The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar.

Documentary War/Dance has received very good reviews, such as Kim Voynar's glowing rave, and earned $5,300 per screen at three theaters in New York and Los Angeles during its opening weekend, according to Klady's estimates.

Suffering from "issue fatigue"? That would be an understandable response to the fall movie season, in which a flock of serious, issue-driven, adult-oriented dramas clamor for attention. In most cases, the filmmakers are sincere in their desire to convey a message or sound a warning. Too often, however, fictional films collapse under the weight of good intentions. Documentaries have an inherent advantage in that they ostensibly portray a measure of truth, while dramatic treatments are immediately suspect due to their obvious need to create a story arc that will obey the rules of narrative storytelling and provide a degree of entertainment value. It's far too easy to fall into the trap of melodramatic plot devices, Dickensian coincidences and third-act "twists" that surprise no one.

Holly, which opened yesterday in New York before expanding later in the month to other cities, does not entirely avoid conventions. A simple synopsis sounds like a thousand other well-meant movies: shady Patrick (Ron Livingston) agrees to do something for fellow American Freddie (Chris Penn). His motorcycle breaks down and he is stranded at a brothel overnight, where he encounters Holly (Thuy Nguyen), a 12 year old Vietnamese girl who has just been sold into prostitution. His heart goes out to her pathetic situation and he tries to save her. He also crosses paths with a slick, slimy brothel customer (Udo Kier) and an earnest welfare worker (Virginie Ledoyen).

My initial reaction was to recoil at the prospect of yet another movie in which a Noble White American Is The Only One Who Can Save Yellow (or black or brown or whatever) People In Developing Nations From Themselves And In The Process Save Himself. But director Guy Moshe and producer Guy Jacobson, who collaborated on the script, are smarter than that.

As a movie lover living in flyover country, three things keep me from watching every movie that comes out: time, money and opportunity. The first two limit how many I can afford to see, while the last limits what I can see, since not every movie plays in my neck of the woods. Faced with these limitations, I'm forever prioritizing: can I wait and watch it later on DVD or cable? Or is the film crying out to be seen right now on the big screen?

As I noted in my weekly Indie Weekend Box Office report, both Black Irish and Music Within opened last weekend and struggled to find audiences. Both appear to be relying chiefly on reviews and word-of-mouth rather than expensive advertising campaigns. Black Irish revolves around a sterling, thoroughly engaging performance by Michael Angarano as a high schooler in Boston coming to grips with his family and his future; the script and direction by Brad Gann is solid and features a few surprising, gentle twists. Music Within stars Ron Livingston as Richard Pimental, a real-life character who didn't find a direction in life until he lost his hearing during the Vietnam War. Ultimately he became a remarkably effective activist for the disabled.

I don't mean to damn the the films with faint praise -- I've seen and enjoyed both to varying degrees -- yet I'm not positive that they demand to be seen in a theater. They're small scale dramas with a degree of humor that would, most likely, play just as effectively on a small screen. If you have an affinity for the subject matter or like the actors, though, by all means seek them out. (Check the official sites for Black Irish and Music Within for more information.) As always, prioritize according to your own criteria.

While to most of us he will be forever be remembered as the charming 'workaphobe' Peter Gibbons in Office Space, Ron Livingston has played a variety of roles over the years. Even though his latest attempt at TV stardom did not work out as planned, there is still plenty of work for him in the movies. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Livingston will join Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana in The Time Traveler's Wife. The novel, by Audrey Niffenegger, is an unconventional love story about a librarian with an uncontrollable disorder that causes him to travel spontaneously through time. Bana will play the time-traveling librarian and McAdams will play his long-suffering wife. As is the case with most of Livingston's film roles, he will be playing best friend and sidekick to Bana's "dashing librarian."

New Line has signed Robert Schwentke (Flightplan) to direct The Time Traveler's Wife, and the script has been adapted by Jeremy Leven and Bruce Joel Rubin. Rubin was responsible for writing Ghost, one of the highest-grossing romance films of all time. New Line is probably hoping to recreate a little of that magic for this romantic flick. Monika Bartyzel let us know about some rewrites that took place back in January, which usually is not an encouraging sign. But as Monika pointed out, the project has been in development since 2003, so rewrites are probably par for the course by now. Plus, fans of the novel are likely relieved to know that the studio isn't rushing to adapt the challenging novel -- between jumping timelines, characters and events, it could not have been an easy script to write. It looks like the wrinkles have finally been worked out, and the production is ready to start shooting in Toronto this September.

The film section - rather formally known as the Film Discovery Program - of this year's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival has a remarkably full slate, including the screenings of 23 films (six world premieres among them), discussions with big Hollywood cheeses and, best of all, a celebration of the 10th anniversary of a little picture called Swingers. The latter will feature a reunion of the film's stars: Jon Favreau (who also wrote the movie), Vince Vaughn, and Ron Livingston, and the trio will participate in a moderated discussion on the film. Happily for those of us who can't jet off to see the event in person, the entire Festival is organized by HBO, so there's a darn good chance the Swingers reunion will show up on TV sooner or later.

On the non-Swingers front, the Program will offer a series of "fireside chats" with studio executives involved with independent comedy, including the presidents of Picturehouse and Miramax, as well as executive vice-presidents (whatever that means) from Fox, HBO Films, and New Line. In addition, there's a new, demented-but-cool sounding event in which "industry executives will meet filmmakers in 12-minute, speed dating-type meetings." Assuming the goal is here is networking rather than actually meeting ones beloved, it sounds like a great opportunity for indie filmmakers to get some facetime with people who are usually hidden behind a whole lot of doors.

This year's Festival takes place in Aspen (as always) from March 8-12.