kate hudson Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Let me make this clear: when I say that I'm compiling a list of the most contrived rom-com scenarios, I'm not saying that they're automatically the worst -- although a glance at the titles doesn't exactly stray far from that correlation. Tomorrow's The Proposal finds Sandra Bullock forcing Ryan Reynolds into marriage for the sake of holding off immigration authorities and keeping her/their jobs (I guess it's not too soon to remake Green Card and Picture Perfect after all), so we're talking about seven plot points along those lines of high-concept, close-quarters thinking, with some (dis)honorable mentions along the way...

With never-ending zeal, Hollywood looks back to the good ol' days with remakes and re-imaginings. But it's always the plots; always the stories. What about the actors? If there was any way that looking to the past would be beneficial, it would be grabbing those actors of today and getting them to dip back into the roles of yesterday -- the gigs that made us love them, but were so soon forgotten or cast aside.

Between casting ruts and earnest attempts to foster specific career paths, actors all too often leave their well-loved roots in the past, becoming an entirely different sort of performer. Very rarely do we get glimpses of those early years, and as nice as it is to see glimpses of former glory in a skit that pops up on SNL or Funny or Die, it's not the same as a feature-length, starring gig.

What follows are seven actors and actresses who are ripe for a return to the past. Naturally, this is only the start of a very long list, so be sure to add your picks in the comments.

Now I know I'm not the only one who is fascinated by the prospect of watching the great Daniel Day Lewis singing and dancing in Rob Marshall's Nine. But the first trailer has been released on Apple for Marshall's adaptation of the Tony-nominated play of the same name, and if you were hoping for a glimpse of Lewis doing jazz-hands, then you're going to be disappointed. But, jazz-hands aside, after watching this trailer I think I may have to change my opinion of the directing talents of Mr. Marshall -- because Marshall's musical skills look better without Renee Zellwegger doing '3/4 shot' dance numbers while warbling her heart out.

Nine is based on the classic Fellini film, 8 1/2, and centers on the famous film director, Guido Contini. The story is set in early-1960s Venice, and on the eve of Contini's 40th birthday he is struggling to complete his latest film, and attempting to balance the women in his life. Those women include his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Penélope Cruz), his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman), his producer Liliane (Judi Dench), and his mother (Sophia Loren). But that's not all, because as Monika told us back in 2008, Stacy Ferguson (better known as Fergie) will play a whore from Contini's youth, and Kate Hudson also has a small role as an American fashion journalist. It's not often you get this many big name actresses in one film, but I'm sure Lewis won't have any trouble handling all that estrogen.

So to the strains of 'Be Italian' we finally get our first glimpses of the big-budget musical, and it looks like Marshall may owe a small debt to the style of Bob Fosse's production numbers once again. But that doesn't mean Nine won't be a good time at the movies for fans of both Broadway, and classic cinema. So take a look, and tell me what you think. Oscar contender?

Nine will arrive in theaters on November, 25th.

Hold up. No one told me about the adaptation of Jim Thompson's classic The Killer Inside Me. A true '50s noir, Thompson's book is a bite-your-nails tale about a Texas sheriff's deputy who is also the town murderer. He's calm and cool on the outside and a brutal killer on the inside. And yes, it's also a song by MC 900 FT Jesus.

I'm down with that, since the younger and less chinny Affleck proved his chops in Gone Baby Gone and The Assassination of Jesse Ford by the Coward Robert Ford, although IMDb pro also lists him as the director of "Untitled Joaquin Phoenix Documentary," so we've got him to thank for that sh*tshow. Bill Pullman and awesomely creepy Elias Koteas (Crash) also star.

On the other hand, the rest of the cast is a uneven, and this particular adaptation has quite the long back story. Kate Hudson plays Lou's good-girl girlfriend Amy Stanton, while Jessica Alba is Joyce Lakeland, a prostitute who digs Lou's ugly side. And then there's Simon Baker, star of TV's "The Mentalist" and films like Sex and Death 101 and The Devil Wears Prada, Something New, Land of the Dead, and The Ring Two, as the small-town lawyer out to get Lou.

So you're nowhere near New York City right now, but you'd still like to taste a little of what the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival is serving up this year, am I right? Good news for you is the YouTube Screening Room is currently hosting four different short films screening at Tribeca this week, and you can watch them for free, in their entirety, right ... now.

We've posted one of the short films below; it's called Cutlass and it was directed by actress Kate Hudson as part of that ongoing series from Glamour. Starring Virginia Madsen, Kurt Russell, Kristen Stewart, Chevy Chase and Sarah Roemer, Cutlass follows a woman (Madsen) who, after getting into an argument with her daughter (Fanning), takes a trip down memory lane back to when she was a teenager who desperately wanted a hot new 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Loving Kurt Russell, and Stewart, as the younger version of Madsen, shows a lot of emotion (which is something we rarely see out of her). Not sure I understand the overall message here, but it's not too bad; Hudson keeps it fairly simple, cute and nostalgic for her directorial debut. Check it out below and let us know what you think.



The three other shorts -- Section 44, Wu and The Confession -- can be watched over at the YouTube Screening Room. The Tribeca Film Festival runs through May 3; check out more of our coverage over here.

Life. It's a word that describes pretty much everything. Certain movies have "life" in them, like Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married. Somehow, some way, that movie managed to capture a feel of what it really feels like to live, what it feels like to attend a wedding, what it feels like to need and hurt and be lonely. Anne Hathaway was a big part of why that movie worked, playing an essentially selfish, needy character but doing so in a completely three-dimensional way; we understood where her flaws came from, rather than simply being presented with them. Now here is Ms. Hathaway again, in a new movie, Bride Wars, and she manages that life once again, but only in one scene, for one fleeting moment. The rest of the time, for 88 out of its 89 minutes, it's a movie totally devoid of life.

In that scene, Emma (Hathaway) runs into with her ex-BFF's brother, Nate (Bryan Greenberg) and reluctantly goes with him to help him try on his tux (and, of course, tie his bow tie). Her relationship with her fiancé is faltering, her plans are falling apart and she misses her feuding friend. Nate asks her how she's doing. She says "fine." He prods, and she breaks down, all of those emotions: excitement, grief, uncertainty, coming out at once. She re-composes herself and leaves the store. It's an example of a skilled actor overcoming weak, lazy material, which is something I've come to see more and more lately.

In writing posts for Cinematical over the last few years, I have been pained at the sheer lack of women-centric comedies that really deal with those parts of female nature that are so very real and relevant. You know -- cool clothes, spray tans, and perfect weddings.

Yeah, I like me some fashion and beauty from time to time, and I even have quite the Fluevog fetish, but come on, Hollywood -- this is getting old! I mean, I knew what was coming when word of Bride Wars hit, but seeing the trailer (over at /film) just makes me want to bang my head against the wall many, many times. The hope I had in Gary Winick -- that's gone. The trailer is basically just a parade of stereotypes -- the girls hungry for marriage who have it all planned out and obsess about it, who accidentally find their rings before the proposal (or at least one does), and then busy themselves with body insults, clueless guys, and of course, quickly growing to hate each other over trivial things.

Yeah, it's just a movie, but even fluff can be better than that! Someone needs to send Kate back to the Almost Famous years and remind Anne about the better wedding-centric work out there, like Rachel Getting Married.

Yesterday, Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere put up the poster for the new comedy My Best Friend's Girl, starring Kate Hudson, Dane Cook, Jason Biggs and Alec Baldwin. The poster (which premiered online earlier this summer) is boring in the extreme, making the film look like your typical snoozerific rom-com, and the digital altering on the photo makes everyone involved look rather ... freakish.

My first reaction on seeing the poster was, "Boy, somebody's screwing up the marketing on this film," quickly followed by "Hey, I don't remember Dane Cook's complexion looking quite so dewy-fresh ... "

I've seen the red-band trailer, which is actually pretty funny, if you can overlook the more misogynistic elements (or at least, in my own case, overcome the feminist tendency to be immediately annoyed by blow-job jokes) , and the film being marketed in that trailer and the film being promoted on this poster are not the same film. Not that it looks like something I'd choose to see over a good indie flick, but if I wanted a lightweight comedy film, and I'd already seen Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express, and couldn't find anything else to do here in Seattle on a nice day, I'd maybe see this.

This just in to Cinematical headquarters: The Weinstein Co. announced that Kate Hudson has joined Rob Marshall's adaptation of the famed musical, Nine. Hudson will co-star alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard -- and if that beautiful cast doesn't get asses in seats, I don't know what will. Day-Lewis will play director Guido Contini who, while preparing for his latest picture, has trouble balancing the many women in his life.

Personally, I've been waiting for Hudson to take a little departure from starring in cheesy rom-coms for awhile now, though I'm sure some of you would be happy if she disappeared forever at this point. That said, I still remain a Hudson supporter (damn you Almost Famous!), and I know she's got some good stuff holed up in places we just haven't been fortunate to discover yet. What do you think? A step up for Hudson, or a step down?

The trailer for My Best Friend's Girl (originally known as "Bachelor No. 2"), starring Kate Hudson and Dane Cook, is now online, and the only word that comes to mind is "monstrosity". Why don't you take a look at it up top. Go ahead, I'll wait here.

Are you as horrified as I am? Normally I prefer not to inflict my negativity about upcoming releases on you; if all I have to contribute is whining, I try to leave the blogging to someone else. But I couldn't pass this up. What we seem to have here is: a) the ten-millionth iteration of the plot where X starts a relationship with Y on a bet or a job but ends up falling in love; b) starring Kate Hudson, the reigning queen of the nondescript rom-com (at least Matthew McConaughey is nowhere to be found); c) co-starring Dane Cook, whose very presence is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, as a professional a**hole, and Jason Biggs as an awkward nice guy; and d) directed by Howard Deutch, who is responsible for some of the worst comedies of the last ten years. Oh, and it's named after a song. Despite not being dead, the Cars are spinning in their graves.

On one hand, I'd love to be proven wrong about My Best Friend's Girl; on the other hand, I really, really don't want to subject myself to it. Would it be a dereliction of duty to skip the thing?