Nov 10 2009 'Mad Men' Creator Goes Romantic Comedy
Whether you loved or hated this summer's breakout hit The Hangover, I'm guessing you, like every other human, probably walked away from the film with one primary thought pounding at your braindoor: Why was Jennifer Aniston not in this instead of Ed Helms? I DON'T KNOW WHY. NO ONE KNOWS.
But relax; it is being corrected by Mad Men's Matthew Weiner:
With another season of "Mad Men" now under his belt, Matthew Weiner is getting serious about his feature career.The creator-exec producer of the AMC/Lionsgate TV drama had planned to spend some of his "Mad Men" hiatus helming his first feature, a romantic comedy that he wrote during his "Sopranos" days. "You Are Here" has lined up indie financing and a marquee-friendly cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis.
I'm not sure how this movie will sweep the Primetime Television Emmys, but I'm confident it will find a way.
Jun 18 2009 'Love Happens' Poster: Sometimes a Concept Sells Itself
You mean to tell me two celebrities will be falling in love at some point in this film!? My heart is beating so hard that my pulse is intermittently forcing my throat closed! Whup, nosebleed! But before I clean this up, I have to ask, do you guys think there was REAL CHEMISTRY between Aniston and Eckhart on the set? God, I bet there was. I just cannot wait to imagine their fictional, improbable love story transposed onto my own lonely life. It's going to be really romantic.
'Love Happens' Poster [Cinemablend]
Apr 17 2009 'Management' Poster: Sexual Harrassment Marginally Acceptable in Blue Void
In an electric blue space of some nature, Steve Zahn--presumably a sort of manager--touches the ass of an inordinately long-legged woman--presumably Jennifer Aniston--prompting her to turn slightly.
Yeah, that plays.
Management Poster [IMPA]
Mar 11 2009 Jeff Goldblum is Watching You Exchange That Sperm with Your Own
Jeff Goldblum, most commonly associated with the bodily function of pooping, is about to shake things up a bit and co-star in the semen-switching comedy The Baster:
Jeff Goldblum has joined the cast of "The Baster," Mandate's romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman.Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, the story follows a man (Bateman) whose female best friend (Aniston) plans to become pregnant with artificial insemination, but he replaces the preferred sample with his own. Seven years later, she returns to New York with her son, and he is forced to live with the secret that he is the child's real father.
Goldblum will get to exercise his comedy chops by playing Bateman's business partner and confidant, whose idea of working out is walking slowly on the treadmill while eating a candy bar.
What great characterization! "This guy is really bad at working out. Really lackadaisical, plus defeating the purpose by simultaneously consuming empty calories." And maybe I'm wrong, but shouldn't someone fitting that description be overweight, or at least not noticeably lean and fit? As much as I like Jeff Goldblum, I fear they've miscast the "horrible exerciser" character.
Feb 6 2009 Aniston Secretly Filled with Bateman-Sperm! Whoops, Comedy!
Mandate Pictures--realizing they have nothing to compete against CBS Films' monopoly on "fertility-themed comedy"--have signed Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman to star in The Baster, a classic sperm mix-up story:
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have signed on to star in the fertility-themed comedy "The Baster" for Mandate Pictures.Will Speck and Josh Gordon, who previously teamed for the comedy "Blades of Glory," will helm "The Baster" from a screenplay by Allan Loeb ("21"). Film is based on Jeffrey Eugenides' short story "Baster," which was first published in The New Yorker.
"The Baster" centers on a neurotic and insecure man (Bateman) who finds out his best friend (Aniston) wants to have a child through artificial insemination. He surreptitiously replaces her donor's semen with his own and is then forced to live with the secret that he is the child's real father.
Wouldn't she realize the semen was switched once her child reaches his teenage years and starts turning in a wolfman? Teen Wolf Too, y'see. Reference.
Now it's New York Comic Con time for me, dudes. Reports forthcoming!
Aniston, Bateman to star in 'Baster' [Variety]
Nov 25 2008 'He's Just Not That Into You' or This Lazy Poster
Movie poster designers, there's been a misunderstanding. When myself and other internet people complain about the overuse of Photoshop, we generally mean that the stars are being airbrushed into a featureless oblivion, or that it's very apparent that no one is actually in the same room for the photo, or that Ben Stiller's head has quite obviously been thrown on a different body, and we're suggesting that maybe Photoshop shouldn't be used quite so heavily and lazily. We never meant to not use Photoshop at all, instead choosing to just do a Google image search for each star, grabbing the first image you find of them smiling, and dragging the variously-sized images into a rectangle. That makes it looks like a romantic comedy Atari game where each pixel is a random actor.
Anyone else who watched NBC's Ed notice this reunion of Warren Cheswick and Diane Snyder? Anyone else watch Ed at all?
Not Into You Poster [Jo Blo]
Oct 17 2008 'Marley & Me' Trailer Reminds Us Dogs That Aren't Talking Chihuahuas Are A-Holes
Why would you take a by-the-books Owen Wilson/Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy and combine it with the dog-as-a-mildly-sentient-asshole antics of Marmaduke? Because it's possible!
My favorite part is when "Bad to the Bone" starts playing. At that point I know, this dog must be a truly horrible dog. The music is laying it all down for me. Euthanize that puppy before he pulls his own logo into the frame and that familiar red-on-white lettering tells us this is meant to be a comedy. Give this dog the canine parvovirus before it ruins your fictional marriage, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. It's the only way when a dog is that bad to the bone.
Jun 4 2008 'Marley & Me' Teaser Trailer Appeals to Running Puppy, Pun Fans
Many lazy Chariots of Fire parodies have been made over the years, but I'm pretty sure none have ever had such a nonexistent payoff as this one. Are we supposed to think the dog was just running joyfully along the beach, totally within the limits of his acceptable behavior? Ut! Turns out, his (surprisingly famous!) masters would not prefer he act in such a way! Is the payoff that this isn't a Cottonelle commercial? That someone found "Heel the love" to be an acceptable tagline? Honestly, someone explain this to me.
Continue Reading " 'Marley & Me' Teaser Trailer Appeals to Running Puppy, Pun Fans "
May 28 2008 'He's Just Not That Into You' Trailer Informs Unlovable Women of Their Status
Women: they can never tell if we like them, hate them, or just want to see them be naked in a pool. So Greg Behrendt (consultant on Sex and the City, there to "keep it real," and one of the few comedians known who looks like more of an asshole than Dane Cook) and Liz Tuccillo (one of the sad ladies writing Sex and the City dialogue) co-authored He's Just Not That Into You, a self-help book meant to help women confused as to why men are avoiding them after initial contact. (Spoiler: it turns out it's a lack of interest.) Now the book has been turned into a movie--or, more specifically, turned into like five star-studded romantic comedies fused into one, creating the powerful beast known as the Voltrom-com. Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, and Mac Commercial Guy form the appendages of this particular Voltrom-com, and there's a trailer for the film below the cut. It looks something like Love Actually if you sucked out all of the Christmas elements and saccharine charm that made it tolerable.
Continue Reading " 'He's Just Not That Into You' Trailer Informs Unlovable Women of Their Status "
Aug 21 2007 Wilson, Aniston in Marmaduke-Style Disaster
As described in the pun and alliteration-filled Variety headline, "Wilson, Aniston fetch Fox feature," Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are going to be in a movie with a dog. Like Marmaduke or Beethoven before him, the titular dog of Marley & Me is an incorrigible canine that wreaks havoc, gets kicked out of obedience school, destroys things, and yet somehow isn't abandoned or put-down by the owners. Unlike Marmaduke or Beethoven, however, Marley is a Labrador Retriever, and thus isn't comically large. This subtle difference is what separates this future work of art from that frivolous rubbish.
Wilson, Aniston fetch Fox feature [Variety]
