Give Joshua Seftel some credit; he didn't pull any punches on War, Inc. In his first feature film, written by star/producer John Cusack, Jeremy Pisker, and Mark Leyner, Seftel attempts to make a scathing commentary on the War on Terror, the privatization of the military, the commercialization of societies all over the world, and other shenanigans. In a former life, Seftel was a former network news producer, and became known around Hollywood circles for directing documentaries like Breaking the Mold: The Kee Malesky Story.

He was nice enough to speak to me about the experience from a very blue room at the Tribeca Film Festival press office. Text and video are after the jump.

What do you say when a film is so bad that you actually feel physical pain for everyone involved? You literally sit there for an hour-and-a-half and feel sorry for everyone who put such a hard effort into the making of the film, only to see it lay there like a lox when it's finally projected on the big screen. As a reviewer, there's not much more you can do than just endure it and hope to see a fleeting moment or two of quality, just so you don't think you've completely wasted your time.

That's all the thoughts that were going through my head as I watched War, Inc., an ambitious film that fails miserably at everything it attempts to be. As a comedy, it's not funny. As a satire, it's as subtle as a sledgehammer. And as a treatise on war, the corporatization of the military, and the horrors of pop stardom, it doesn't tell you anything that you don't already know if you just watch the 24-hour news channels or read the news online even a little bit.

Take note, studio marketers -- there are movies out there that can show a lot, and explain a lot without spoiling the whole movie. Back in November, I posted about the first Kit Kittredge: An American Girl trailer. It was cute, but it didn't really say much. This time around, it describes all the players, giving enough cuteness for those that love cute kids and family films, and enough about the adults to pique some more mature tastes. (It's not perfectly spoiler-free however. There's a certain brief clip that I would bet comes at the end of the film, but this is family fare for tykes, so it's not really a surprise to see it, and I can forgive it.)

*Correction: The trailer is exclusive to KOL, and was leaked to YouTube, so the post has been changed to embed the KOL trailer.

Cinematical was just handed this exclusive poster for the film War, Inc. (click on the image to enlarge), starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, Marisa Tomei, Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd and Ben Kingsley. Now is that one helluva cast, or is that one helluva cast? Word has it this one is in the vein of Grosse Point Blank, which was another fun little flick starring the male Cusack. From the synopsis: "War, Inc. is a a political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former US Vice-President (Dan Akroyd). In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires a troubled hit man, played by John Cusack, to kill a Middle East oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation's Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff) an outrageous Middle Eastern pop star, and keeping a sexy left wing reporter (Marisa Tomei) in check."

War, Inc. arrives in theaters (in limited release) on May 23.

After delays presumably linked to the little tot that Isla Fisher just had with Sacha Baron Cohen, the adaptation of Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic has finally gone into production -- with some shopaholic-breeding parents along for the ride. Variety reports that Joan Cusack and John Goodman have signed on to play Rebecca's (Fisher) parental units in the comedy.

I say "Yay!" to the casting, because Joan and not-brother John are great, but oh, I love how real-life ages never really factor in. That is, unless Joan's character had the money-obsessed daughter in her early teens. Joan is 45, and Isla is 32. Luckily, the credit card-addicted heroine of the film is 25. This is just like The Graduate, where Anne Bancroft was only 6 years older than Dustin Hoffman, when she was really supposed to be old enough to be his mother.

Anyhow, this shallow shopping extravaganza is currently shooting in New York and Connecticut, and is scheduled to hit theaters just in time for Cupid's next holiday on February 13, 2009.

Back in February of this year, I posted about the American Girl doll Kit Kittredge, who was finally making her way to the big screen by means of HBO, who had taken the reigns from Walden Media. A "resourceful girl during the Great Depression," Kit is a writer who tries to keep life going through her words. Mansfield Park director Patricia Rozema helmed the movie, titled Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, from Narnia scribe Ann Peacock's script, and it has one heck of a good cast for a family film. Abigail Breslin is starring as Kit, Chris O'Donnell and Julia Ormond are her parents, Stanley Tucci and Joan Cusack are her uncle and aunt, and there's also Wallace Shawn as a Register reporter.

Now, finally, a trailer has popped up over at the film's American Girl website. It's looking like a cute, retro Nancy Drew, with mystery spy equipment traded in for an old-school typewriter and Breslin's insidious quirk. As the story goes, Kit is a writer, and a kid, who is trying to get her foot in the door at the local paper. Obviously, she isn't taken very seriously, but gets involved with a mystery to get the scoop and get the job. Breslin looks cute as the lead, although I have to say that I'm most intrigued by Joan Cusack's stint as some wild-driving crazy aunt. (That, and it's nice to see her co-star without brother John.) Nancy Drew had only a moderate response, so I'm wondering if putting the girl in the retro period, rather than putting her in retro clothes in modern-day, will help the film out. Besides, the flick already has a whole legion of girls with American Girl dolls waiting to see this.

The oddest thing happened as I started to watch Martian Child. The movie opens with John Cusack narrating ... or at least it was supposed to be Cusack. But the voice triggered a sense of deja vu: I'd heard it before, but not out of this particular actor's mouth. When his character started talking about his latest science-fiction novel, suddenly I figured it out, and it was freaky: I was seeing John Cusack and hearing Albert Brooks (who also played a sf author, in Mother). The sensation was uncanny, and almost impossible to shake. During the slower parts of this movie, I found myself wondering whether Cusack had some kind of secret chronic throat ailment and had been dubbed by Brooks.

Perhaps if the movie had engaged me more, I would have forgotten about the weird voice thing as the story progressed. Unfortunately, Martian Child never drew me in, although some scenes made me laugh and the cast was terrific. The movie was directed by Menno Meyjes, who also worked with Cusack in the 2002 film Max, and was based on a semi-autobiographical novel by science-fiction writer David Gerrold (who wrote the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles").

Cinematical was lucky enough to receive the one-sheet for Martian Child (click on the image above for a larger version), starring John Cusack as a guy who adopts a 6-year-old boy following the death of his wife in an effort to create a family. Problem is, the kid is convinced he's from Mars. I'm not sure what it was about this film, but practically every Cinematical writer requested to review Martian Child. And that never happens. Of course, it could have something to do with the love for Cusack; his creepy thriller 1408 did very well at the box office this past summer and folks are talking Oscar with regards to his leading performance in Grace is Gone.

Martian Child sort of combines elements from both of those films; here, Cusack plays a science fiction writer (he played a paranormal expert/writer in 1408) who's struggling to move past the death of his wife (which also happens to be the central premise in Grace is Gone). A film that tugs at your heart-strings and freaks you out? Nice. Joan Cusack and Amanda Peet co-star in the film which was based off David Gerrold's award-winning short story. So it's like K-PAX ... with a kid. I dig it. Martian Child lands in theaters on November 2 -- check out the trailer here.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly are on a roll lately. They are currently filming The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller, may or may not tackle the latest Three Stooges project and have just announced a new comedy based on a Jeffrey Euginedes short story called Baster, which they will write, direct, and executive produce. They describe it as a "character driven comedy for the in vitro age," so it doesn't take too much of a leap of faith to figure out the subject matter (batter?) of this film.

Casting has not yet been announced for the new flick, but we imagine a madcap, zany comedy where the lead character tries to find a sperm donor so she can be a mommy. For some reason I keep picturing Joan Cusack, because she's great at madcap, zany and slapstick, but it'll probably be someone younger. Especially since they'll need to emphasize the sex (or lack thereof?) in this movie. Plus the entire process of in vitro fertilization will probably get an enormous amount of attention from the Farrellys, who are huge fans of gross-out humor.

Who would you like to see in this role? Do you have a favorite female comedian who can handle Peter and Bobby?

After I posted an image from Breaking Away recently, someone mentioned a similar sleeper film, the 1980 movie My Bodyguard. I had plain forgotten about that movie, although it was another one that I taped from TV and watched quite a few times in my junior high days.

My Bodyguard is an odd little film. Chris Makepeace -- whose name I haven't heard in years and years -- starred as Clifford, the new kid in a high school who decides he doesn't want to pay off the school bullies like everyone else. He decides to hire his own bodyguard, another teen who can intimidate the bullies. The cast includes Joan Cusack and Adam Baldwin in their (nearly) first film roles, and Matt Dillon as the lead bully. Jennifer Beals appears for a fleeting moment as one of the high-school kids.

The comic subplots in this movie are generally acknowledged to be rather weak and unmemorable, despite the supporting cast of excellent character actors: Ruth Gordon, Martin Mull, John Houseman, Tim Kazurinsky, George Wendt and Richard Cusack (Joan and John's dad). The part of the movie worth watching is the story of Baldwin's character Linderman, the big quiet kid, and how he interacts with Clifford and the other teens. I haven't seen My Bodyguard since high school, but now I'm feeling an urge to rent it and see if I like it as much as I did then. Besides, I last saw Baldwin as Jayne in Serenity and I'd love to contrast that with his role in this film.

Anyone who enjoys movies keeps a secret tally of any movie's strengths and weaknesses. Like an Olympic judge rating an athlete's performance, the final score determines whether a movie rates a recommendation or is forgotten as an also-ran.

As far as formula fare goes, one could do worse than the above-middlin' romantic comedy Failure To Launch starring Matthew McConaughey as a 30-something who still lives with his folks (Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw) until they hire a motivationalist (Sarah Jessica Parker) to help him fly the nest. Naturally and against all odds, McConaughey's and Parker's completely artificial relationship blossoms into something more. Here's how I broke it down:

First, it's funny. Not just an occasional giggle, sit-com kind of funny but infused throughout funny. TV vets Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, who are attached to this year's Steve Carell update of Get Smart, may be green as screenwriters, this being their first project produced, but with that inexperience comes a kind of hunger. Of course, most first-timers become well-fed and lazy after a taste of success like this, but for now, proof of their talent is apparent. Each character is created with a specific purpose, as is every scene, sequence and act. It's all very textbook, but it works. Mark one in the "plus" column.
 

While Cinematical does its best to cover every square-inch of the Sundance Film Festival for its devoted readers (that's you!), I understand it's hard to connect with the excitement of the event when stuck on your living room couch, forced to only imagine what it would be like to ski down the slopes hand in hand with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Since it could be frustrating to read about films you've never heard of or may never see show up at your local theater anytime soon, I figured I'd dig up a peek at a few of the films playing the festival this year. Even with 120 features, it was damn hard to find five that actually had a trailer...on the internet. If anything, hopefully (for those unable to attend), this gives you a small taste of what's going down out in Park City. Oh, it's all about Sundance on this week's Trailer Park: