Screenhead

I’m not sure why I enjoy Anne Hathaway’s work as much as I do.  Maybe it’s that innocent quality to her, that wide-eyed almost naivete that’s just so unaccountably charming.  Maybe it’s just that she’s hotter than stolen plutonium.

Anyway, when I first heard about Passengers, all I could think was, great, yet another Sixth Sense knockoff.  Sadly, I was more right than I cared to admit, but frankly, it’d be spoilering to tell you how.  Besides…you can probably draw the inferences yourself based on what I just said.  Simple logic’ll let you draw THAT connection.

As for the plot, it’s rather straightforward—Anne Hathaway will play Claire Summers, a psychologist who’s just received one doozy of an assignment: take psychological care of about half a dozen survivors of a plane crash.  They’ve all got wildly different stories about what happened on that crash, and that’s got our Claire very concerned.  What’s got Claire even MORE concerned, however, is that her new patients are starting to disappear.  Not just miss sessions, but actually vanish off the face of the earth.  Sometimes, they even disappear within seconds of her speaking to them.  And to further complicate matters, she’s actually falling for one of her patients, who forces her to see a whole new side of herself in the midst of the therapy.  And as she proceeds through the therapy, and the rash of missing persons cases, she discovers a whole lot more than she ever expected to find.

Yes, it’s got “thriller” stamped all over it, even if it’s a little short on the thrills and a whole lot longer than you’d expect on the romance and drama.  In fact, I’m feeling pretty cheated that they even CALLED this thing a thriller.  The plotline is basic thriller material but it’s like they left all the thrills out of it.  I know I just said that, but I’m downright baffled.  Where did they GO?  There’s almost nothing scary in here at ALL.  You might as well just call this a romance drama and have done with it because I got like one good jump scare and one good shock out of the whole thing.  The rest of the time it was just Anne Hathaway carrying on a romance with Patrick Wilson and acting like she’s going insane.  Worse, it’s not even in a really convincing fashion.  I spent half the movie convinced that Anne Hathaway needs to do more horror movies, and the OTHER half convinced that she needs to stick to romantic comedies.  Maybe a little more time on the darker side of film would give her some extra punch and range.  I’d LOVE to see her take on a haunted house or go up against a Pennywise the Dancing Clown or something.  That’d be just awesome.  Because right now, she is sorely lacking in the horror chops department.  She’s got chops enough to be good in most anything, but suspense, thrillers, horror—the darker stuff—is clearly not something she’s well-acquainted with.  It shows.

I did get some fun out of it, even if the ending was a pretty big disappointment in retrospect.  I’d never buy a copy of Passengers, but it makes a decent rental, and isn’t a bad date movie either.  It’s a bit weak, but it’s solid enough that it’s not a complete loss.  So go ahead and give it a try, especially on those nights when you can’t find anything better to rent.

I take my chances today, folks, as there’s a pretty solid likelihood my membership in the International Fraternity of Guys is going to get at least censured and possibly revoked, because I’m willingly going to cover a movie called Bride Wars, just recently released to DVD.

And in this one, nigh-permanent BFFs Liv (played by Kate Hudson) and Emma (played by Anne Hathaway) have been—like most women, apparently—planning their dream wedding since they were little girls, and as they grow up, it soon becomes time to make those dreams a reality.  And both has longed for just one thing—a wedding at New York’s magnificent Plaza Hotel.  With a little judicious planning, both manage to save a date there.  But a clerical error soon causes trouble as both weddings are slated for the same date.  Who will walk away with all the marbles?  Who will have her dream wedding while the other is forced to attempt a likely disastrous date switching procedure?  Will the duo even emerge friends afterward?

Now, when I slapped this sucker in, I confess my expectations were wide and varied.  Was this going to emphasize the “bride”…or the “wars”?  The trailers certainly suggested both would be possible, but which would come out ahead?  As it turns out, it’s both.

Guys, I know you’re probably trying to avoid this one, but don’t worry.  See, this IS a chick flick.  But it’s one you can get behind—you know that show Bridezillas?  Well, this sucker is Bridezilla Versus Bridealon.  If Kate Hudson or Anne Hathaway made an occasional Godzilla snarl, it’d be complete.  In the perfect catty fashion, these two are going to toss barbs and really mean-spirited harsh language back and forth like streams of hot radioactive breath.  Then when they escalate into a full-bore prank war, with each lifelong friend taking eager and malicious advantage of each other’s weaknesses, it’ll only get funnier.

Okay, sure, there are a whole lot fewer explosions in this than your average Godzilla flick. But we WILL get hot chicks engaging in a catfight in bridal wear, and this is not a bad thing.  And there will be a shockingly good segment involving our two leads at a strip club.  It’s like they KNEW women would be dragging guys to this one and thus wanted to throw something in for them, as if to say, you poor bastard…here’s something to make you forget you’re not watching Terminator 2 again.

It’s a surprise, but there are a lot of laughs in this little package—a lot more laughs than I ever expected.   The word “unexpected” comes up a lot in this one.  It was a downright shock how much I enjoyed this movie.  Sure, it had all kinds of sappy chick flick in it, but there was so much force and violence to it that it almost felt like an action flick, or at the very least, a good scrappy Tommy Boy-esque comedy.

So basically, Bride Wars is a movie that has a surprisingly large appeal.  Between the pretty much guaranteed appeal to the ladies, who are no doubt nodding and muttering “Yeah, been there” to at least parts of this, there will also be plenty for the guys to enjoy.  Fellas—do yourselves a favor.  Bring home a copy of this some night. It won’t be near as painful as you think.

The trades are heralding the confirmation of Anne Hathaway attached to star as Judy Garland in the biopic Get Happy for the Weinstein Co.

I have no doubt that Hathaway can pull this off. She’s a fantastic singer, which Shirley Maclaine praised at the Oscars after Hathaway sang wonderfully with Hugh Jackman in the Oscar opener.

Rent the movie Ella Enchanted watch Hathaway belt out “Somebody to Love” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. “

The project is based on Gerald Clarke’s biography of the same name. Clarke draws on numerous real-life sources to narrate the life story of Garland, who began singing and acting as a toddler and continued doing so all the way through her untimely death at the age of 47.

Garland led a life filled with talent but also turbulence, starring and singing in a multitude of studio musicals and other pictures, as well as giving memorable performances on stages in New York and London. She also grappled with addiction and endured a series of relationship dramas.

The first major award of Oscar season has sent ripples of surprise across Hollywood. The National Board of Review, a collection of cultural elite, acdemics, and wealthy supporters of moving imagery, have announced its yearly award winners. The NBR awards always lean towards the arthouse crowd, and are rarely indicators of the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but last year they were the first to award No Country for Old Men for its brilliance, and we all know how well that film was received.

This year the presence of Danny Boyle’s Indian-based drama Slumdog Millionaire probably surprised many by being named as best film of 2008. The premise (a young Indian boy wins the local version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire) sounds pithy at first, but the consistently glowing reviews suggest this film has more heart than a hundred blockbusters. Could this Slumdog go all the way to the Oscars? We can only wait and see.

Other awards included David Fincher for Best Director, for his fairy-tale The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Clint Eastwood won for best actor in Gran Torino, and Anne Hathaway won Best Actress for Rachel Getting Married. For a complete list, go here.

The trailer starts off slow but crescendos to huge laughter.  The lines delivered by Kristen Johnston are hilarious; especially the very last line of the trailer.

Warner Bros. The Fiance is set for a production in March with Anne Hathaway to star and Burr Steers to direct the romantic comedy.

According the Variety, Hathaway is set to play a woman who cancels wedding plans and breaks off with her seemingly perfect fiance, so she can try to figure out who she really is. Her interfering parents try to patch things up between the pair, making it insufferable for her to move on.

Fiance has a development history that originally started with Disney. After the studio dropped it, Hathaway become interested as well as Steers, and suddenly four studios were vying for it.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland casting wit shines brightly with Anne Hathaway as Queen White and Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Red.  Hathaway’s Queen White is kind to Alice as she helps her defeat a creature known as the Bandersnatch.

Bonham Carter’s Queen Red yells, “Off with her head!!!”

Johnny Depp plays the Mad Hatter while Michael Sheen is also in the movie without a role yet.

Who will play the Cheshire Cat?

20^th Century Fox’s The Opposite of Love nabs Anne Hathaway to star as an attorney who doesn’t commit to love, but has a well-constructed life coming apart at the seams when she rebuffs her ready-for-marriage boyfriend.

Film is based on the bestselling debut novel by Julie Buxbaum. Fox optioned the book in June and signed Kara Holden to adapt.

Rachel Getting Married review in Variety was positive with the ensemble of actors creating a great movie. Looks like Demme made an excellent movie. Anne Hathaway is always good and Debra Winger also stars.

The movie opens October 3rd.