Sitcom Stars Storm Theaters July 10 in ‘Weather Girl’
June 18, 2009 by Chandra
Weather Girl: Partly Cloudy with a 90% Chance of Total Meltdown
Love that tag line!
The new indie comedy movie Weather Girl doesn’t hit theaters in the United States until July 10, but it has already generated excellent word of mouth and racked up a few notable honors at several film festivals, including Best Narrative Feature at the deadCENTER Film Festival, Honorary Mention for the Audience Award at the Nashville Film Festival, and Best Narrative Feature at the Vail Film Festival.
Written and directed by Blayne Weaver (Outside Sales, Losing Lois Lane), the flick stars The New Adventures of Old Christine’s Tricia O’Kelley as poor Sylvia Miller, a 35-year-old Seattle morning-show weather girl who wigs out on television when she discovers that her no-good boyfriend Dale Waters (Mark Harmon, NCIS) has been getting it on with her co-host Sherry Warren (Kaitlin Olson, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia).
Follow the jump for more details and the official trailer.
‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ on DVD February 3
January 25, 2009 by Chandra
Director and writer Kevin Smith has done it again. Combining the talents of Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express, Superbad, Knocked Up) and Elizabeth Banks (Scrubs, The 40 Year Old Virgin, the Spider-Man trilogy) with a hilarious script helped him create his latest hit flick, last year’s distinctively titled sex comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
The movie follows the adventures of Zack Brown (Rogen) and Miriam Linky (Banks) as they attempt to do exactly what the title says. Nobody can claim they don’t know what they’re getting themselves into when they sit down to watch this one.
But, Zack and Miri have a method to their madness besides playing nasty — they need the money to pay their bills. In the process of getting down to business, however, the two oddballs discover their mutual feelings for each other, giving viewers a romance and a porno all rolled up in one!
‘Soul Men’ on DVD Next Month
January 24, 2009 by Chandra
The comedy drama Soul Men was a bittersweet film release for two major reasons: the cast includes comedian Bernie Mac and musician Isaac Hayes, both of whom passed away unexpectedly within a day of each other, on August 9th and August 10th of last year, respectively. Fans of the entertainers will have the chance to own a memento next month when the music-themed movie is released on DVD on Tuesday, February 10.
Soul Men is about two estranged soul music legends (Mac and Samuel L. Jackson) who discover their friend and former bandleader has died. Afterwards, they decide to reunite to honor his memory by delivering a final memorial performance together at the historic Apollo Theatre in New York. The only problem is they must first work through their twenty-year grudge during a five-day cross-country car trip to the venue.
Additional co-stars include Sharon Leal (Boston Public), Sean Hayes (Will & Grace), Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie), and music artist John Legend. Better still, the DVD release features a tribute to both Mac and Hayes among the special features.
Follow the jump for more details about the DVD versions of Soul Men, as well as stills from the film.
This Just in for Teen Dudes: Star in a Comedy Flick with…
January 7, 2009 by Chandra
…movie superstars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin! Yowza! That lineup almost makes me wish I could knock off a couple of decades years and switch my gender for the following casting opportunity.
Reps for Universal Pictures have just sent out information regarding an open casting call for males aged 15 to 17 years. According to the studio, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been acting since the womb or never before in your life. All they require is a serious focus on becoming an actor.
Sounds good so far. Read on to review the word-for-word instructions, just to make sure interested parties don’t miss any essential details.
OPEN CASTING CALL FOR YOUNG MEN FOR UPCOMING UNIVERSAL PICTURES COMEDY STARRING MERYL STREEP, ALEC BALDWIN AND STEVE MARTIN
Universal Pictures is currently searching for a young male to play “Edward,” a high school senior in an upcoming comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin! Casting is looking for the next Michael Cera / McLovin type to play a 17-year-old in the film. The film will shoot in New York City and Los Angeles in early 2009. No prior acting experience is necessary, and if you cannot attend the open casting call, auditions may be submitted online. Step by step instructions are available at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49824991095
Sarah Chalke Lands ‘Maneater’ Gig
December 12, 2008 by Chandra
Cool casting news: It looks like Scrubs star Sarah Chalke is heading back to Lifetime in another made-for-TV project.
The Canadian actress many sitcom fans know best as fictional Sacred Heart’s Dr. Elliot Reid last appeared on the network in the successful 2006 movie Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy. Now, she’s set to star in the four-hour mini-series Maneater, slated to premiere in 2009.
The series is based on the book of the same name by Starter Wife novel author Gigi Levangie Grazer (and, yes, the Debra Messing mini-series turned series is based on that bestseller, as well). Chalke plays self-involved, 31-year-old socialite Clarissa Alpert, who becomes determined to snag a famous Hollywood producer named Aaron Mason as her husband and enlists her entire family and group of friends to help.
Timothy Busfield, who has been busy filming episodes of series like Lipstick Jungle and Without a Trace lately, will direct, and writer Suzanne Martin, a two-time Emmy winner for Frasier, will handle the adaptation.
If you’re a Chalke fan or if this sort of chick-TV is your thing, get happy because there’s little doubt the project is destined to become another hit for Lifetime — the combination of talent is just too potent for it to be any other way.
Patricia Heaton Stars in ‘Front of the Class’
Everybody Loves Raymond and Back to You sitcom veteran Patricia Heaton will appear in an entirely different kind of television program tonight when her new Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Front of the Class premieres on CBS at 9pm EST.
The feel-good drama is reportedly based on the true story of Brad Cohen (Jimmy Wolk), who became a successful teacher, despite suffering years of ridicule and complications due to Tourette’s syndrome. Heaton plays his mother Ellen, alongside Treat Williams (Everwood), who stars as his father Norman.
Take a look at an interview about the movie Heaton recently gave on CBS News in the video after the jump. And, if you plan to watch, get ready to pull out the hankies since this is a Hallmark flick after all.
December Giveaway: Win a ‘Longshots’ T-Shirt
December 5, 2008 by Chandra
On Tuesday, the Weinstein Company and Genius Products released the DVD version of the recent comedy-drama family flick The Longshots, starring rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube (Barbershop) and teen actress Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee). I haven’t seen it yet, but that’s not stopping me from giving one lucky fan of the movie the opportunity to win a very cool T-Shirt in support of the release.
Based on the real-life story of Pop Warner’s first female quarterback, The Longshots follows Jasmine Plummer’s (Palmer) journey from misfit to football hero under the coaching of her uncle, former high school football star Curtis Plummer (Ice Cube). Blowing away the skeptics and the competition alike with her skills on the gridiron, Jasmine takes control and leads her team to the league’s Super Bowl.
Disaster Movie: Four Teaser Posters and a Trailer
August 29, 2008 by Chandra
Today marks the U.S. (and Estonian!) opening of Disaster Movie, the latest genre spoof from filmmakers Jason Friedbeg and Aaron Seltzer. In case you don’t know, they’re the team that parodied the teen-horror genre in Scary Movie, clichéd romantic comedies in Date Movie, overblown blockbusters in Epic Movie, and the ultra-macho film 300 in Meet The Spartans.
The current release stars Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minnillo, Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian, G-Thang, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan, and Ike Barinholtz in a tale of continual and increasingly worse mishaps certain to boggle the mind.
According to the official synopsis, the movie “follows the comic misadventures of a group of ridiculously attractive twenty-somethings during one fateful night as they try to make their way to safety while every known natural disaster and catastrophic event — asteroids, twisters, earthquakes, the works — hits the city and their path as they try to solve a series of mysteries to end the rampant destruction.”
But will it be funny? Let’s just say what I’ve seen so far looks colossally stupid, which might count as funny, depending on your personal sense of humor.
Take a look at four teaser posters and a trailer for the big-screen comedy after the jump.
DVD Review: Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?
August 27, 2008 by Chandra
Oscar-nominated writer-director Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me and 30 Days fame accomplishes a remarkable feat with his smart yet funny documentary Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?. He manages to evoke laughter while dissecting one of the least funny situations in the history of modern civilization: the War on Terror, its causes, and its many repercussions for various societies.
Concerned about the state of mankind after his wife Alexandra Jamieson learns she’s pregnant with their first child — she gives birth to son Laken James at the end of the film during Operation Delivery — Spurlock decides to get proactive about what is arguably the most pressing issue threatening the safety of the world’s inhabitants today and in the future.
His approach to his newfound mission is to undergo a hasty round of language tutoring, vaccinations, and survival training before heading to the Middle East to track down Planet Earth’s most wanted man, fugitive Osama bin Laden. Although there’s no clear indication what Spurlock would do if he were to succeed where scores have failed, I’m guessing he’d start with a little one-on-one chat along the lines of, “What the hell are you doing, dude?!”
Coming to DVD: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
August 18, 2008 by Chandra
How I Met Your Mother fans, take note. Series star Jason Segel’s last big-screen movie, April’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is about to hit small screens, thanks to the September 30th DVD release from Universal Studios. 30 Rock fans can get psyched, too, since Jack McBrayer has a big role in the film also.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall stars Jason as Peter Bretter, a struggling musician completely in love with his TV-star girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristin Bell). After she dumps him and hooks up with a pretentious rock star (Russell Brand), Peter is forced to move on with his life. However, the situation isn’t helped when he takes a vacation to Oahu and bumps into Sarah and her new boyfriend vacationing there, as well.
Universal is going all out with the DVD release, offering both a special three-disc Unrated Collector’s Edition (includes the original theatrical version of the film plus an unrated extended version not shown in theaters) and a seven-disc Unrated Comedy Collection (includes the Unrated Collector’s Edition and seven-disc unrated special editions of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up), in addition to the standard widescreen, full screen, and Blu-ray editions.