andrew meieran Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I know that we all have to head towards the future and not get stuck with the past. We must be prepared for the changes in music, the modernization of old-school styles, and new generations of thinkers and creators who may not mesh with our tastes. But I refuse to believe that libraries are amongst the things we need to wave g'bye to. Across the country, libraries are dwindling. Hell, September brought word that ALL of Philly's libraries were closing. ALL.

But at least one filmmaker is doing something about this crappy trend. Andrew Meieran is directing a dark comedy called Highland Park (co-written with Christopher Keyser), and The Hollywood Reporter posts that Parker Posey has just signed onto the cast. The film stars Danny Glover as teacher in a struggling community who wins the lottery and decides "to restore the local library and energize the community in the process." Remember, this is a dark comedy, so it won't be one of those overly saccharine feel-good school flicks. Posey will play Shirley Paine, the opportunistic mayor of Highland Park who used to be the homecoming queen.

First, there's a pretty cool motive behind the project -- they're using the movie to help Detroit's McGregor Library, which was shut down in 2002 due to lack of money. (A doc on the library will also be made.) Two, it brings Posey back to the world of higher knowledge (hello, Party Girl!). Reading news like this, I wish more filmmakers would get creative and do similar to keep these institutions running. I mean, if we can have a bajillion stripper movies, can't we have a least a handful or 50 library flicks that not only entertain, but also do great things for the communities across the country?

In the meantime, check out Posey laying down the library law after the jump.

Oh, if only all biopics were as aptly titled as Big Eyes, a movie about the artist Margaret Keane. If you're not familiar with her work, simply do a Google image search and you'll see why the title makes sense. Of course, I would have gone a little further and named it Creepy Big Eyes. According to Variety, the production has cast Kate Hudson as Keane, who is still alive to possibly assist the actress with the role. The independently financed film was scripted by biopic masters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood; The People vs. Larry Flynt; Man on the Moon) and it will also be the duo's directorial debut, who will also direct (they last helmed the 2000 comedy Screwed). Scheduled to begin shooting in June, depending on how the SAG contract negotiation goes, Big Eyes will be produced by Dan Halsted (Garden State), Albert Berger (Little Miss Sunshine), Ron Yerxa (Little Miss Sunshine) and financier Andrew Meieran.

Variety reports that Big Eyes will deal with Keane's personal life, specifically her lawsuit against her second husband, Walter Keane, who had taken credit for her mass-produced artwork until the 1960s. Not to give away spoilers, but according to Keane's Wikipedia page, she finally won the rights to her work in divorce proceedings that went all the way to Federal court. How did she prove she was the real talent? She painted in court in front of the judge (Walter meanwhile declined to do the same). I apologize for ruining the ending of the film, but I figured I'd share that info so that when the scene pops up in Big Eyes, you'll know it isn't just some cinematic tool used to make the story more visually interesting.

Regardless of how the movie is received now, though, it's sure to be one of the most popular movies come 2173 (see Woody Allen's Sleeper, which claims that in the future Keane is considered one of the greatest artists of all time)