dean craig Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Charlize Theron is 'Florence of Arabia'
Filed under: Comedy », Casting », Deals », Scripts »
First we had Lawrence of Arabia, as Peter O'Toole set out to bring Brit T.E. Lawrence's WWI experiences in Arabia to the big screen. Now we're getting his epic, pun-tacular counterpart. Variety reports that Charlize Theron's production company, Denver and Delilah Films, has picked up the rights to Christopher Buckley's Florence of Arabia, which she will produce and star in.The Variety description makes it sound all sorts of serious -- a State Dept. worker (Theron) fights for women's rights in a Middle Eastern country after her friend marries a prince and gets beheaded. While that sounds a little Mighty Heart-ish, the book is actually a satire more reminiscent of War Inc. The country in question is the fictional Wasabia, and Florence's mission for women's rights -- creating a women's television network, a move that has surprising results. Like, perchance, a riot of Arab Valerie Bertinelli impersonators sick of sappy made-for-TV movies?
One would assume this project is one of the reasons Theron is moving away from the hell that is Atlas Shrugged. There's no reason to jump on a sinking ship when you can ride the waves of satire. The book will be adapted by Dean Craig, scribe of the upcoming Death at a Funeral, but a director hasn't been set yet.
What say you? Is it time for Larry to move aside for Flo?
Indies on DVD: 'Death at a Funeral,' 'Goya's Ghosts,' 'Silk,' 'Slipstream'
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », MGM », New on DVD », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie »
My indie pick of the week is Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited; which our own Monika Bartyzel has already reviewed elsewhere. My next pick is a film that Cinematical's Scott Weinberg recommended: Death at a Funeral. The title may be misleading: it's a comedy directed by Frank Oz (Little Shop of Horrors, What About Bob?) and Scott described it as "a very broad, very British and very funny farce ... that will definitely appeal to people over the age of 30." MGM's DVD includes an audio commentary by Mr. Oz, another by screenwriter Dean Craig and actors Alan Tudyk and Andy Nyman, and a gag reel.New Oscar winner Javier Bardem also starred in last year's Goya's Ghosts, a bio-pic directed by Milos Forman; Ryan Stewart wrote: "It just comes across as odd and indicative of a serious lack of directorial focus." He further stated: "If it were not the work of a major director, it's hard to imagine why anyone would suffer the mental agitation of trying to figure out how its various pieces fit together ..." Ryan explained his disappointment very well, but if you're a glutton for punishment -- or a huge, huge fan of Bardem and co-star Natalie Portman -- you might decide to rent the DVD from Samuel Goldwyn, which includes a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
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