wonderful world Tagged Articles at Cinematical

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Cinematical has just received the official poster for Matthew Broderick's sharpie-smiled Wonderful World. It's been a good two years since the actor signed on to the project, which was then simply described as a movie that "centers on a depressed, divorced, and unemployed father who finds solace in his Senegalese roommate's sister." That now sounds as telling of the story as saying The Lord of the Rings is about a journey to play a fiery game of ring toss.

The directorial debut of writer Joshua Goldin, this feature also marks a reunion with Broderick, who starred in his 1992 script, Out on a Limb. But this flick sounds like it will be even further out on that limb, making Broderick's stint in Election sound like your Average Joe kinda day:

"A pessimistic pothead struggles with his own cynicism after his Senegalese roommate is stricken ill and an insensitive municipal employee inadvertently exacerbates an already desperate situation. Ben Singer (Matthew Broderick) wanted to be a children's folk singer; instead he's become a career proofreader and the world's worst weekend dad. But while Ben's life may be a mess, at least his regular chess games with his roommate Ibou offer some amount of intellectual release. That all changes with Ibou falls mysteriously ill, and his malady is compounded by the indifference of a rude municipal employee. Convinced that his negative worldview has finally been confirmed, Ben channels all of his energy into a frivolous lawsuit against the city before discovering that his misanthropy may be a simple matter of perspective."

Chess, folk singing, Senegalese roomies, proofreading ... I'm getting the funny feeling that there's a lot going on behind that piece of yellow-lined paper, and I'm dying to see it. In one of those VOD-before-theater marketing pushes, Magnolia's Wonderful World will be available on VOD starting December 4, and then have a stint in theaters in the New Year, on January 8.

Check out the full poster in the gallery below.

One week into the Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) and the screenings keep humming along. It's probably a softer buzz than previous years; some attendees have even dared to take a night or two off to care for other, personal matters (like sleep) -- something you'd never hear about at Sundance, Cannes, or Toronto. Perhaps that's a consequence of the festival being held in such a costly city: very expensive for out-of-towners to cover, and locals can't get away from their personal lives the same as when they're traveling.

Scene. Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience premiered on Tuesday evening (the post-screening party featured chocolate-covered bacon), and tonight Soderbergh and star Sasha Grey shared a panel to discuss the film. Eric Bana made an appearance in support of Love the Beast, a documentary he directed about his favorite car, and Zachary Quinto chatted with him at a party in the East Village. Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker walked the red carpet for Joshua Goldin's Wonderful World, in which Broderick stars. Racing Dreams, currently leading the Audience Awards voting, is apparently not a Go-Kart movie, as we have previously described it. Sorry!

Our Coverage. Eric D. Snider reviewed Raymond De Felitta's City Island ("a merry comedy about one of those quarrelsome Italian-American families where everybody fights a lot but ultimately loves one another") and Conor McPherson's The Eclipse ("an unusual mixture of somber character drama and supernatural horror"). Erik Davis took a critical look at Which Way Home ("a riveting documentary that taps into the same concept and themes of Sin Nombre, except it's all real and it's all heartbreaking to watch") and gave us a glimpse of the TFF flasher and other "bumps." Check out all of our coverage right here.

For your Monday perusal, here are the latest casting blips from Variety:

• Brett Granstaff, who has appeared in films like Deserted and States of Grace, and looks ridiculously familiar although I've never seen his movies, has got himself a role in that Al Pacino/Robert De Niro flick, Righteous Kill. It's not too shabby for the new actor, since he's already finished The Deal with the likes of Meg Ryan, William H. Macy, and Jason Ritter. The dude has gone from no-buzz to high-buzz flicks, so I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of him in the future. For now, you can just stare at the pic to the right.
  
• The following news amuses me. Just last week, I found myself in need of entertainment and was saved by a very friendly Aussie woman who let me watch some of her CSI: Miami episodes -- for amusement, of course. It was this uber-ridiculous, yet almost-funny episode called Triple Threat that you'd have to see to believe. Now word has it that Colin Ferguson, who co-starred in the episode, will star as an ex-NFL football player in an upcoming film called The Egg Factory. According to Yahoo, it's being directed by William Fruet, and is about a kid genius who is mourning the death of his dad. However, he "finds a new friend and champion in Cutter Hanson, his dad's estranged brother, a former NFL player." But that's not all -- the pair team up to "save a young girl from a group of murderous mobsters." You know, instead of those stuffed animal-loving mobsters. Man, Ferguson knows how to pick interesting, spastic premises.
• Ally Walker, who has spent time on television shows like The Profiler and Tell Me You Love Me, is going to star alongside Sanaa Lathan and Matthew Broderick in Wonderful World. That's the film I posted about earlier this month, which "centers on a depressed, divorced, and unemployed father who finds solace in his Senegalese roommate's sister." Variety says Walker will play Broderick's wife, but I assume that means "ex-wife." The awesome kid from Tideland, Jodelle Ferland, is also involved.
  
• Ah, Brian Bloom. I never watched his first acting stint, As the World Turns, but man, his face was always in those celebrity teen rags. This is some television spin-off news, so I'll just be brief. He's scored himself a recurring role in The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Will he be a man? A machine? Variety isn't saying; however, in the meantime, you can check him out in Smokin' Aces.

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Either the little Parker-Broderick is in need of a cushy college fund, or Matthew Broderick is loving the push of a many-movies year. After making it big in the '80s (ah, Ladyhawke and Ferris...), the actor has always taken it easy, tackling 1-3 films a year, with a few off here and there. The one exception was 2004, where he had 3 features plus one direct-to-video flick. Granted, he had a lot of stage work to also keep him busy. Now he's got 5 new films on the way, starting with Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie next month, and it looks like 2008 could be the year of the cinematic Broderick.

Variety reports that the actor has signed on to lead an indie feature called Wonderful World with Brown Sugar star and Tony nominee Sanaa Lathan. Joshua Goldin, one of the writers on Darkman, has written the feature and will take the directorial chair when production starts next week in Shreveport, Louisiana. Not much is being said about the film, other than that it "centers on a depressed, divorced, and unemployed father who finds solace in his Senegalese roommate's sister." The film should be a nice reprieve from his usual comic stints, which will include Finding Amanda and Diminished Capacity next year.

Apparently the people at upstart production company Big Beach have a bit of a "sunshine" fixation: They're going to follow up their smash indie hit Little Miss Sunshine with a project called Sunshine Cleaning. Not, just so we're clear, a sequel in any way -- they're just really, really into the word. According to this morning's Screen Daily, the film will star Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, and is "a character piece about a woman who starts up a business that cleans up after someone dies." Hmm. So we can pretend for the moment that it's about Harvey Keitel from Pulp Fiction, except as a woman? Sounds good to me. The movie is budgeted at about $7 million, and will be directed by New Zealander Christine Jeffs.

Sunshine Cleaning co-producer Glenn Williamson (Hollywoodland) spoke briefly about the project in Venice yesterday, and also offered a few details about another film with which he's involved, entitled Wonderful World. This one is another character piece with an even smaller budget -- $3-5 million, according to Williamson -- and will tell the story of "a cynical divorcee (Matthew Broderick) who starts a relationship with an African woman (Sophie Okonedo)." The film is being written by Josh Goldin, who will also direct.