Trailer Thursday: “Magic in the Moonlight”

Love home or hate him, my man Woody Allen has been having a hell of a run lately. And if this gorgeous trailer for his upcoming Magic in the Moonlight is any indication, Allen seems to be continuing that trend in a big way.

Featuring another glittery, top-notch cast — the positively luminous Emma Stone, Colin Firth, Eileen Atkins, Hamish Linklater, Jacki Weaver and Marcia Gay Harden! — the movie is set in the shiny, sun-dappled south of France and looks almost good enough to eat…so, seriously, what's not to love? Rock on, Woody!

Posted with Blogsy

Trailer Thursday: “Boyhood”

I’ve been a huge fan of writer-director Richard Linklater’s work since his mid-90’s glory days of Slacker, Before Sunrise and Dazed and Confused. Hell, I even dig most of the big studio movies he directed for hire as well. For while projects like School of Rock and the hilarious Bad News Bears remake with Billy Bob Thornton might not have penned by Linklater, they are still totally infused with this distinctly Linklater-ish warmth and offbeat humor.

Of course, School of Rock was written by another one of my film geek heroes, the super cool Mike White, and features a bunch of very cute kids playing music (which Greta absolutely loves!) so, it’s got that going for it as well.

Anyway, I’m always excited to see what Linklater’s got cooking, but, this new trailer for his upcoming flick Boyhood totally threw me for a loop. Simply put, it looks amazing!

Shot over twelve years with the same actors (newcomer Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, among others) the movie follows Coltrane’s life in real time like no other movie I can think of. Sure, Michael Apted’s critically-acclaimed Up series covers similar terrain, but, those films are documentaries. Linklater’s fictional story about one boy’s coming of age looks like something totally new and boldy-original.

I can’t even imagine the level of patience something like this would take to make. Wow. And as a parent who has watched the last five years fly by, the changes in Coltrane’s appearance as he ages literally took my breath away. Wow!

So, even if the movie itself totally sucks, I applaud Linklater for tackling something so totally outside the box. Enjoy the clip and kudos to you, Mr. Linklater…long may you innovate!

 

…and Diablo Cody too!

Believe it or not, Joan Didion was not my only literary hero I got to meet this past week! Although worlds away from Didion in terms of content and style, Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”) is another female writer who just slays me — what is it with all these rad female writers, man? — and, as luck would have it, we got to meet her last night at a post-screening Q&A for her new film “Young Adult”.

If you haven’t heard of the movie yet, you will, because it’s got Oscar bait written all over it. Reteaming with “Juno” director Jason Reitman, Cody’s script is about a delusional, mildly-crazy author of Young Adult fiction — played beautifully by Charlize Theron — who returns to her hometown to snatch back the high school sweetheart she left behind. I know that doesn’t sound like the most original premise, but, trust me, this movie rocks.

It’s funny, dark, twisted, and almost painfully realistic at times and Theron gives what might just be the performance of her career. Love her or hate her, Theron’s hilarious, deeply-flawed character is one for the ages. Just a really classically-great film character. Rock on, Miss Cody!

Later, while asking her to sign my copy of the “Juno” screenplay, I told Cody that the movie reminded me of a female “Wonder Boys” (which is another crazy writer movie that I love!) and she laughed and said she totally agreed. So, if you dig crazy writer movies or even just crazy people movies, you should check this shit out when it opens near you.

And until it does, here’s the trailer to get you all charged up. Enjoy!