valerie faris Tagged Articles at Cinematical

All the way back in 2006, Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey were headed to a future where women not only rule the world, they also "clone and trade men like used cars." Emily Mortimer was going to co-star as a woman whose unease over buying a cloned man leads to love with the cookie cutter Stiller. However, a few days later, the whole thing was scrapped ... but then it was back on the pre-strike priority list. And now, it's back on (again), with a whole new focus.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that the sci-fi comedy has dropped Jim Carrey, and will now star Stiller and Reese Witherspoon. But this isn't a case of sex-changing characters. The project will now focus on Clone Ben, and his relationship with clone owner Witherspoon -- in other words, the character once played by Emily Mortimer. Little Miss Sunshine's Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton are in talks to helm the project, but no writer has been hired yet to change things up.

This makes perfect sense. When the economy is alright, the project is scrapped because it would be way too pricey. The economy tanks, and they decide to pay for a big re-write, and to hire another big-paycheck star. As for the why behind switching this from buddy comedy to romance, THR notes that "Fox hasn't yet successfully mined the new vein of guy-centric comedy," but have fared well with funny flicks aimed at women. Yay. Gotta love when films of the future go back to the stereotypical past. Couldn't this be aimed at us without making the central theme romance? I mean, it is about a women-leading future after all.

There was a time, long ago, when a single, solitary television channel was dedicated to the world of music. On said channel, before the citizenswent wild for "reality" and killed all that was right in the world, short films showcased every song that was played. Some were simply grainy concert footage or quick studio performances, while others stretched the boundaries of moviemaking, showcasing whole narrative stories for a simple, short collection of notes.

Unsurprisingly, these same directors then set their sights on the big screen, itching to stretch their talents from short, three-minute intervals to hours of material. They've given us everything, from men who like to destroy pretty things, to the warped creativity of the mind, to a woman who finds her late husband inside a little boy. They've offered mainstream hits, critical successes, and cult films we all love, and they symbolize that time when music meant videos, and the two went hand in hand.

Things have changed so much that we probably won't see a continuing influx of this sort of talent, but we can savor what the '80s and '90s brought us, and how some small screen vision led to big screen success.

The DGA announced its noms a few moments ago, and I, tragically, had only one right: Martin Scorsese for The Departed. The five official nominees (drum roll, please):

Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)
Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine)
Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu (Babel) and
Stephen Frears (The Queen)

Well, well, well. I suppose it's not shocking that the DGA nommed Condon for Dreamgirls -- they did, after all, shell their award out to Rob Marshall in 2002 for Chicago -- but I'm disappointed that they'd nom Condon over Cuaron. Oscar tends to march to the DGA's beat on Best Director (they've been a matched set for five years running), so it's a pretty safe bet that whoever ends up with the DGA's big gold plate will be counting their chickens in the days leading up to Oscar night.

This was largely a crap shoot, but I am rather shocked not to see Eastwood's name up there. Scorsese wasn't a shocker -- every last film journo whose predicitions were listed on Oscar watch had him on their lists.

My other predictions were Clint Eastwood (for Letters, not Flags), Paul Greengrass (United 93) and Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men), and Guillermo del Toro for Pan's Labyrinth -- I was really hoping the recent critical surge for both those films might give them a leg-up, but alas, it was not to be. The Hollywood Reporter's Anne Thompson came the closest to nailing all five -- she's just that good, folks. She was the only hold out who didn't have Eastwood on her list -- the rest of us had him as a shoo-in, but clearly she pegged that one.

The only thing Thompson missed was the Dayton-Faris nod -- to give cred where its due, only Jeff Wells from Hollywood Elsewhere pegged that one (and no doubt he'll be crowing over it, but we'll grant that he has the right to do so). I'm surprised by that nom (especially in light of Cuaron and del Toro, the other two of the Three Amigos) getting the cold shoulder, but nonetheless delighted for the Little Miss Sunshine gang -- that film is just the little movie that could.

So, now that the noms are announced, who do you think will win? And will the winner take the Oscar, to boot?

**UPDATE: I should have looked closer at the predictions grid (that's what I get for writing before I've had my coffee). A second glance showed me that Thompson wasn't the only one whose crystal ball was in top form. Five other pundits scored 4/5, all of them missing only Little Miss Sunshine. The other top predictors were:

Scott Bowles (USA Today)
Pete Hammond (Hollywiretap)
Kris Tapley (InContention)
Sasha Stone (OscarWatch)
Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today)

I feel like I haven't been paying attention lately. I had no idea there was an Alliance for Women Film Journalists until last week, when AWFJ's 2006 award nominations were announced, and now I've learned about the Women Film Critics Circle, which has just announced its awards. Obviously I have now some career goals to reach in 2007.

The WFCC website doesn't give many details about who's in the group other than the obvious: Female film critics and reporters. The awards include the obvious categories: Best Picture by a Woman went to Little Miss Sunshine, which was co-directed by Valerie Faris (and Jonathan Dayton, although he's not mentioned). Best Picture About Women was a tie between Volver and The Queen, both of which focus on strong female characters, although both were written and directed by men. Some of the more interesting awards categories include Best Equality of the Sexes, awarded to Ellen Page in Hard Candy (pictured above)... yow. I'm not sure that character's behavior warrants an award. Most Offensive Male Character was a tie: the obvious Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat along with Jason Statham in Crank. These women are brave -- I've noticed that any female (including myself) who says they found parts of Borat even the least bit sexist or offensive is immediately accused of that cliched crime, Having No Sense of Humor.

One new category the WFCC started this year is the Adrienne Shelly award, given in memory of the late actress/filmmaker for a film that "passionately opposes violence against women." The winner was Sisters in Law, a documentary about female judges in Africa that I'm sorry I missed at SXSW this year. The group's lifetime achievement award went to Barbara Kopple, the documentary filmmaker who won Oscars for Harlan County USA and American Dream, and who directed Shut Up & Sing, the 2006 documentary about the Dixie Chicks. There's also a Hall of Shame listing of ten 2006 films, and I'm sorry that no explanation is given for why these films are in the Hall of Shame, particularly Venus. (Anyone want to venture some opinions?)

A resounding success at Sundance, where it sold for a rumored $10 million amid frantic interest from multiple distributors, Little Miss Sunshine gives us a glorious peek into the lives of the Hoovers, a not-so-happy family, which, as Tolstoy might have noted, is "unhappy in its own way." That's a good thing, because really, who would want to sit for 90 minutes watching a happy family?

There's so much more room for interesting relationships, drama, and the delicately comedic moments that life has a way of wringing out of tragedy, in a family that's miserable most of the time and clinging together. As the film opens, Sheryl (Toni Collette), the family matriarch, is picking up her brother Frank (Steve Carell), the self-described "number one Proustian scholar in the world," from the hospital following a botched suicide attempt. She brings Frank home under strict orders that he is not to be left alone, which means he gets to share a bedroom with the household teenager, Dwayne (Paul Dano), who isn't talking to anyone.

During a summer full of gigantic blockbusters, huge stars and massive special effects, Little Miss Sunshine swept its way into my life like a breath of fresh air. By far my favorite film of the year so far, Sunshine delivers in every way possible. From its near-perfect script to the outstanding performances from its cast, this little ray of light will travel real far ... if people actually go see it. And, trust me, they should.

After finding out she's been accepted as a contestant in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, young Olive's entire dysfunctional family decides to band together and go on a cross-country trek, via an old-school VW bus, with only a couple days left before the show. Oh, but that's just the set up. The film's about so much more.

This past Monday, I had the pleasure of attending the press junket for Little Miss Sunshine, hosted by those friendly folks over at Fox Searchlight. For those of you who don't know much about how these things work, the junket was divided into three separate conference rooms, each with a table that can fit roughly ten people. Though the film's big stars were absent (Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell and Toni Collette), Sunshine's directors (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris) and the remainder of its cast (Alan Arkin, Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin) were on hand to answer whatever questions were thrown their way.

We'll have our review of Little Miss Sunshine later this month, as well as my one on one interview with actor Paul Dano. For now, I'll just give you a little recap of the morning's festivities and, hopefully, a sneak peak at what to expect from what, in my opinion, is this summer's sleeper hit.

We were so wrong. Though two Cinematical bloggers heard rumors in the past 24 hours that Paramount had closed a deal for as much as $15 million on Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' Little Miss Sunshine, word is now coming down the wires that worldwide rights actually went to Fox Searchlight, for a more-reasonable but still somewhat outlandish $10 million. Anne Thompson is reporting that John Sloss closed the deal for Cinetic in the wee hours of the morning – making the rumor Kim heard last night a bit suspicious, and the one I heard this morning downright strange. The only thing I can think of is that someone from the Fox camp sent an intern out to lead bloggers astray – and, great job, guys! It totally worked. More details on this deal and others as they come in.