lajos koltai Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Odds and ends from Friday and the weekend:

• After she finishes directing Things We Lost in the Fire, Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier will tackle an adaptation of Amanda Foreman's novel, Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire. Simply called The Duchess, pic tells a story of "politics, wealth, and intrigue of late-eighteenth-century aristocracy through the intimate story of a woman who was its leader." Bier also directed the Danish film Open Hearts, which Zach Braff is supposed to direct at some point in the very late future.
• The cast for Lajos Koltai's Evening just got a whole more interesting. Hopping onboard the project are Meryl Streep and Mammie Gummer. Mother and daughter in real life, the two will play the same character at different phases in her life. Also joining this list of amazing female actresses (which already included Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette and Claire Danes) are Glenn Close and Eileen Atkins.
• While there's no direct quote from the man, according to a few different sources Steven Spielberg may be interested in directing the next Jurassic Park flick himself. Though Joe Johnston (who directed part three) is Spielberg's first choice to helm, if for some reason he cannot do it then Stevie will take on the task. What does this mean for Indiana Jones 4? Hell if I know, but it can't be good.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• Patrick Wilson is set to spend a hot and steamy Evening with Vanessa Redgrave, as the actor has signed on to play the love of her life (through flashbacks, I assume) in the upcoming film to be directed by Lajos Koltai. Claire Danes, Toni Collette and Hugh Dancy also star in a story about a 65-year-old cancer patient who, with her two daughters by her side, reflects on the weekend in which she met the man of her dreams.
• Filming is set to begin next week in Norway on True North, starring Michelle Yeoh, Sean Bean and newcomer Michelle Crusiec. Directed by Asif Kapadia (from a script by Kapadia and Tim Miller), pic is described as "a story about the collision of a native culture with greed-driven invaders." Returning once again to produce (after working with Kapadia on his debut film, The Warrior) will be Film4 and The Bureau. The French label Celluloid Dreams will be in charge of the film's international sales. (Note: A subscription is required to view the above link.)
• With his tenth film (Arthur and the Minimoys) coming out this winter, Luc Besson has officially announced that he's calling it a wrap ... as far as directing goes. Though he's mentioned in the past that his tenth film will be his last, the director (whose resumé includes such films as The Fifth Element and The Professional) spoke out Monday and once again confirmed to the press that this is it. Says Besson, "They are my 10 babies and I love them all. Now it's over." While this may mark the end of his directing career, Besson did not say anything about writing or producing, which leads us to believe he will still linger around.

• Date Movie - Nowhere in the formula "Comedy = Tragedy + Time" does "Cruelty" figure in, something that this caca-palooza -- "from 2 of the 6 writers of Scary Movie" -- sets out to correct from the very first scene. When they introduce us to morbidly obese Julia Jones (Alyson Hannigan), it is with ridicule as they paint her as a hideous beast that makes men vomit and turn gay. Of course, when we remember that 2 of the 6 writers of Scary Movie were Wayans Brothers, whose stock in trade is that kind of cruelty, it makes sense (even if these are another two writers.)

A parody of romantic comedies like Bridget Jones's Diary, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Hitch, this lame spoof goes for the easy laugh almost every time, beating to death with a golf club every gag with the subtlety of, well ... someone who beats someone else to death with a golf club. The "13" in the movie's "PG-13" rating would seem to be either a limit for either I.Q. or emotional age, as the movie's show pieces are either juvenile blue bits or have something to do with either poop, pee, puke or pus (the dreaded "4 P's"). Putting gifted comic actors like Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge in this stinky mess makes them both stinky by association, though as time goes by, the whole lot of them will only be guilty of contributing to a vast background of white noise that we will have learned to filter out when we grow up. Presently #64 on the IMDB's Bottom 100 of all time.