don roos Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Celeb Sightings: Natalie Portman was spotted about town a little too overdressed (it's not cold yet!) and talking about her love of obscene hip hop. The In-Style bash scaled back this year to only the bare minimum of lavish foods and gifts. At that amfAR benefit, Sarah Maclachlan performed and more than $700,000 CND was raked in. But best of all, the SxSW karaoke party that many film bloggers hit on Tuesday night had a surprise guest: Samantha Morton showed up and belted out Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." And did you know Jay Baruchel is Canadian? Not only that, but he refuses to give up his Montreal home.

Our Coverage: There's one new review to hit the pages of Cinematical in the last 24 hours (but more are on the way!), and that's Todd Gilchrist's view of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story. He writes: "Capitalism: A Love Story redeems itself because it possesses the same quality that has inspired our country in the last year – hope. In his best moments, Moore is deeply passionate and relentlessly idealistic, but he's an advocate for positivity and redemption, if also for transparency and common decency."

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I can't vouch for John Grogan's 2005 best-selling memoir, Marley & Me, in which owning a yellow lab helped the journalist (Owen Wilson) and his wife (Jennifer Aniston) tolerate any number of trials and tribulations that came their way -- many of which could be chalked up to the carnage-prone canine himself. I suspect that, unlike their on-screen counterparts, the Grogans actually showed some indications of aging after thirteen years and three kids. I doubt that John had a perpetual bachelor of a best bud (Eric Dane) who lingered around to both knock and envy his marriage with convenient doses of sarcasm and handsomeness. I question that the couple could own a picturesque Pennsylvania estate on just one reporter's salary. But I'm fairly sure that both the book and the film shared a common goal -- to make its audience sit, stay, laugh, cry, and then get on with their lives -- and at those modest aspirations, the movie version pretty much succeeds.

I read the last hundred pages of Marley & Me at the counter of a neighborhood diner. Waiters and busboys and cooks milled around in front of me; fellow customers chomped on burgers to my left and my right. It was with around forty pages to go that I had the mortifying realization that I was crying. Sitting there in full view of what seemed at that moment to be all of San Francisco, reading a bright red book with a Labrador retriever puppy on the cover, tears streamed from my eyes.

Now, I won't try to sell you on the idea that Marley & Me is a great book. I can't even, in good conscience, recommend it as a "good book," which is what makes my teary diner incident so embarrassing. It's a sappy, sometimes shameless, thoroughly unremarkable memoir, consisting mostly of strained attempts to extract life lessons from mischievous-dog anecdotes. But there's something in it that pushes a certain button in those of us who melt at the sight of a grinning, tail-wagging canine. You know who you are. You may have wept watching My Dog Skip.

I know a lot of people come down on Jennifer Lopez for whatever reason (I heard she's not the friendliest person in the world), but as far as acting goes, I do think she has potential. Word has it that she's great in El Cantante, and I truly liked her performances in both Out of Sight and Bordertown (read my Berlin review of that film here). Of course, for every Selena, there's a Jersey Girl ... and a Monster-in-Law ... and a Gigli. What's next for the gal, you ask? Well, the Hollywood Reporter tells us that folks are moving forward with Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, with Lopez attached to star and Don Roos directing off his own script. I dig Roos. Did you see Happy Endings? The Opposite of Sex? He makes these ultra quirky relationship films that have just enough edge -- coupled with fantastic performances -- for us to not call out corny.

Capitol Films has boarded the film as a co-financier (just one of the many deals currently taking place over at the Cannes Film Festival), and they'll also be in charge of the pic's worldwide sales. With Marc Platt producing, story is said to revolve around the "tempestuous relationship" between a woman and her young stepson. Like with most of Roos' films, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits will mix a little comedy with a little drama, so that you'll be laughing at one point -- but then, when you least expect it, a tear slides down your cheek. Based on the title, I'm sure a lot of folks will crack the obvious Lopez joke; how the "Other Impossible Pursuits" include the actress trying to absolutely shine in a role. But I refuse to go there. Nope. Not me. I like her. I don't exactly know why I like her, but the talent is in there, somewhere. And here's hoping we see it come through soon.