Les Misérables, that epic modern classic of musical theater, is going to be a movie, and I'm pretty sure it will be a glorious musical comedy in the grand tradition of Singin' in the Rain and Glitter. Under the direction of Tom Hooper, director of The King's Speech (he was surely inspired by Ron Howard's perfect portrayal of the lisping Winthrop Paroo in The Music Man), this movie is going to seamlessly transfer the spectacle from the Broadway stage to the celluloid, and it's boasting an all-star cast.

First of all, we have Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe as the lovable criminal Jean Valjean and his ruthless pursuer Javert, respectively. You couldn't pick two Australians more perfect to play these dueling Frenchmen. Jackman will likely spice things up, turning Valjean from a somber fellow full of regret to a song-and-dance man full of razzle-dazzle, and prone to shaking those sensuous hips. Valjean has never been so sexy! And there's the gruff Crowe as the stoic and and serious Javert. Do you think he'll keep his ponytail? 

Of course, no film about Paris in the 19th century is complete without a sad prostitute with a heart of gold. As Fantine, Anne Hathaway is ready for her big number, where she'll die on a bed in the first half-hour. Have you ever been more excited for an Anne Hathaway movie? I suppose the real question is: haven't you been waiting for an Anne Hathaway movie wherein she dies before you can even finish your popcorn?

Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried is obviously no stranger to wacky musicals, so she's perfect as Cosette, the grown daughter of Fantine, who has been adopted by Valjean. (Don't you see the resemblance between Hathaway and Seyfried? Do you not have eyeballs?) Never has there been a musical theater character with less of a personality and an affinity for dour black dresses covered in gigantic doilies. If Seyfried wasn't going to be competing for every other woman in this film, I'd say she's sure to get an Oscar nomination. 

Don't forget the other important supporting characters: Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the Thénardiers, the wicked owners of a French country inn (again, these are staples for any ensemble film about France). You'll remember that this pair are just as experienced as the rest of the cast, as they starred in the Tim Burton-directed adaptation of Sweeney Todd. Now that they've had the complicated tunes by Stephen Sondheim under their belts, they're sure to belt the hell out of those entry-level Claude-Michel Schönberg rhythms. The role is especially convenient for Helena Bonham Carter, who can show up in her street clothes of tattered black dress, unkempt hair, and soot-infused make-up.

Who's left? Well Eponine, of course! She's the child of the Thénardiers, a plucky little street urchin who pines for the affections of Marius, the student revolutionary who is too taken with boring old Cosette to notice Eponine in her fierce Newsies cap. Who else could play the daughter of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, but the immensely talented and emotionally expressive Taylor Swift. Sure, you may suggest that her lack of any formal acting experience as well as her limited 22-year-old's worldview might put her at a disadvantage when it comes to fully comprehending the complicated emotions of a young girl living in a politically volatile climate in a foreign land so long ago. But you will also forget that that classic ode to unrequited love, "On My Own," is essentially just the musical theater version of Swift's "You Belong to Me." Eponine is really just a girl in love with a boy who just happens to also meet her untimely end by the bullets of the brutal French police. I mean, Swift was more emotionally scarred by Kanye West, right? 

Now we all must attempt to control our anxious excitement, as Les Misérables isn't due in theaters until December of this year. In the meantime, I guess we'll just have to hate-watch Glee, if only to snicker at Lea Michele's inability to outshine Taylor Swift. 

[Image by Bobby Finger]

Musical Comedy Version of 'Les Misérables' Headed to the Big Screen – Movies – BlackBook

John Krasinski, Helen Hunt, Michael Cera, Amanda Seyfried, Danny Glover and rap star Common are among the stars with movies heading to the Sundance Film Festival. Films announced last week that will compete for prizes at next month

Starting This Week

"ARTHUR CHRISTMAS" (Premiere 10) Santa's son sets out to deliver a misplaced present. Animated comedy with James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent and Bill Nighy. PG. 97 minutes. Not reviewed.

"THE MUPPETS" (PC-6, Town & Country) The Muppets reunite to save their theater. Family comedy with Amy Adams, Jason Segel and Chris Cooper. PG. 110 minutes. HHH

"HUGO" (Century 12) An orphan living in a train station in Paris in the 1930s tries to solve a mystery about his father. Adventure with Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz and Christopher Lee. PG. 127 minutes. HHH

Continuing

"ANONYMOUS" (Premiere 10) The 17th Earl of Oxford writes Shakespeare's plays as a rebellion forms against the queen. Drama with Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave and David Thewlis. PG-13. 130 minutes. Not reviewed.

"COURAGEOUS" (Century 12) Four police officers embrace their roles as fathers. Drama with Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel and Kevin Downes. PG-13. Not reviewed.

"FOOTLOOSE" (PC-6) A young man moves to a town where dancing has been banned. Comedic drama with Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid. PG-13. 113 minutes. Not reviewed.

"HAPPY FEET TWO" (PC-6, Town & Country) An iceberg threatens a colony of penguins. Animated comedy with Elijah Wood, Robin Williams and Pink. PG. 99 minutes. H

"IMMORTALS" (Premiere 10) A young man fights to prevent a tyrannical king from destroying the Greek gods. Action fantasy with Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke and John Hurt. R. 110 minutes. Not reviewed.

"IN TIME" (Premiere 10) In a future where aging can be stopped, people steal time from each other. Sci-fi thriller with Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy. PG-13. 109 minutes. Not reviewed.

"J. EDGAR" (Premiere 10) The life story of J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the FBI. Dramatic biography with Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts. R. 137 minutes. HHH

"JACK AND JILL" (Century 12) A man suffers through a Thanksgiving reunion with his twin sister. Comedy with Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes and Al Pacino. PG. Not reviewed.

"PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3" (Century 12) A pair of young girls make an invisible friend. Horror with Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden and Lauren Bittner. 84 minutes. Not reviewed.

"PUSS IN BOOTS" (Century 12) The story of the swashbuckling cat before meeting Shrek. Animated adventure/comedy with Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Zach Galifianakis. PG. 90 minutes. HHH

"REAL STEEL" (Premiere 10) A man tries to find the next robot boxing champion. Action sci-fi with Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly and Dakota Goyo. PG-13. 127 minutes. H½

"RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES" (Westwood) Genetically modified apes stage a revolution against man. Action sci-fi with James Franco, Andy Serkis and Freida Pinto. PG-13. HH½

"THE SMURFS" (Westwood) An evil wizard chases a pack of tiny blue people into New York City. Animated comedy with Hank Azaria, Katy Perry and Jonathan Winters. PG. 86 minutes. Not reviewed.

"TOWER HEIST" (Century 12, Town & Country) The victims of a Ponzi scheme plot to rob the man who conned them. Action comedy with Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller and Casey Affleck. PG-13. 104 minutes. Not reviewed.

"THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — PART 1" (Century 12, Town & Country) Edward and Bella are beset by werewolves and vampires. Adventure drama with Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. PG-13. 117 minutes. Not reviewed.

"A VERY HAROLD AND KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS" (Century 12) A pair of stoners have a holiday adventure. Comedy with Kal Penn, John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris. R. 90 minutes. Not reviewed.

Our rating system

Four stars (HHHH) signify it's a don't-miss movie. Three stars (HHH) mean the movie comes highly recommended. Two (HH) designate average fare. One (H) means the movie is not recommended. For a movie with no redeeming or social values, we'll alert you with a Bomb! rating.

Movies this week 11/24/2011

“Is it stealing if it’s already been stolen?” 28-year-old Will Salas (played by Justin Timberlake) asks in the recently-released sci-fi thriller “In Time,” directed by Andrew Niccol. The film, which also stars Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy, asks this question repeatedly, turning an intriguing and original premise into a glorified Bonnie and Clyde storyline.“In Time” takes place in 2161, in a dystopian world where time is literally money; it is both currency and the number of hours one has left on the earth. The poor live in constant fear of running out of time, while the rich hoard their time, sometimes living for centuries. If a person has enough time, he or she can live forever.Enter Salas, a poor man in the ghetto who is thrown into the world of the rich after a man gives him over a century of time in which to live. With the instructions to “not waste my time,” Salas, along with Silvia Weis (Seyfried) begins a two-hour-long quest to bring down the time-as-money system and help the oppressed poor people.The movie’s interesting plot idea really pulls watchers in, but it seems that it relies a little too heavily on that premise. The filmmaking is sometimes choppy, and pauses between dialogue are too long at times. Also, while the film has a strong start and finish, the middle drags on with several awkward love scenes between Timberlake and Seyfried. Their chemistry does not jump out at the viewer, and at times feels very fake.To his credit, Timberlake really does a good job in this movie. His acting is effective at creating a character who watchers want to see succeed; he is the hero who is trying to bring justice to a land of unjust actions. He seems to be successfully making the transition into more serious roles.Seyfried is not very compelling in this role, however. Her acting is average, and Silvia comes off as a “poor little rich girl” with no real character depth. The movie might have been just as good without her character in it at all.But although “In Time” depends a lot on the idea surrounding it, that idea is very captivating. Fans of movies such as “Inception” and “The Matrix” will find this movie interesting, if not very well done. It incorporates some interesting science fiction concepts, has a cool, retro-futuristic setting and examines compelling moral questions.The movie also makes a strong political statement, especially in light of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Salas is essentially fighting against the supremely rich, the people who control the stock market, and those who support the wealthy at the expense of the poor.Although the world is fictional, a lot of parallels can be drawn between its futuristic setting and modern American society. In 2161, people on the bottom are continually being forced lower while those at the top keep moving up. Watchers who side with the recent protesters will find a healthy amount of support from “In Time.”While the concepts and Timberlake make this an entertaining and thought-provoking film, “In Time” also seems to leave something to be desired. It is riddled with Robin Hood-esque ideas (steal from the rich to give to the poor) and plot clichés.However, fans of dystopian plot lines that offer questions on morality will probably walk away at least somewhat satisfied, if not completely fulfilled, by the movie’s interesting thesis on the effects of a time-centered society: If you could live forever, would you really want to?Two and a half stars out of four.

New Timberlake film ‘thought-provoking,’ while slow

In Time utilizes an interesting concept that also makes it inherently difficult to digest. The idea that time itself is the only currency isn't the hard part to grasp – it's the way that people distribute it amongst themselves that raises questions. The film foregoes most explanation, which perhaps helps to blanket the dubious events, but also forces the discerning viewer to pick apart more than they might have done otherwise. At least the suspenseful adventure that the film prioritizes offers solid entertainment and heightened immediacy – just as long as the film's running time doesn't outlast your suspension of disbelief.

In a futuristic world where time is the most valuable commodity, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) finds himself the recipient of a staggering sum from a rich stranger who no longer values his overabundance of time – his apparent immortality. With dangerous thieves that rule the ghettos intent on acquiring his new inheritance, and a Timekeeper police officer (Cillian Murphy) hot on his trail, Will kidnaps Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter of a powerful finance magnate, to aid in his plan to restore balance to a corrupt system and its tyrannical hold over human life. The nouveau riche embarks on high-stakes games of chance and flights from the authorities, intent on living each minute to the fullest and redistributing the unbalanced societal wealth.

The film has a premise that is just too silly for its own good (which incidentally raised a plagiarism lawsuit by author Harlan Ellison, stating that the plot is based on his award-winning 1965 short story, Repent, Harlequin Said the Ticktockman). Although the story could have been approached with greater sincerity, writer/director Andrew Niccol wasn't overly concerned with recreating the dark, contemplative, believable science-fiction tone of his more brilliant, earlier work Gattaca (1997). This piece is too polished, bright, bloodless, predicament-free and pumped with Hollywood stars and glamor to establish a genuinely dystopian/totalitarian future, governed by Matrix-like cops and the youthful upper crust. Resultantly, the accidental laughs occur quite frequently, even though comic relief is purposely inserted and time-is-money puns and jokes are present (Wilde is a mother, coffee costs four minutes, 59 years. plus tax for a nice ride, the corner building is a 99 Second store).

The environment doesn't get a visual update to match the genetic technology advances, but the cinematography is still effective. The CG (most notably in a car crash) is largely substandard, Murphy plays his role with a faithful veracity like Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, and Seyfried takes her dialogue so seriously that even when she's supposed to emote sarcasm, she delivers her lines determinedly. The romance could have been convincing had there been time to develop it, the similarities to Robin Hood and Bonnie and Clyde are annoying at best, and Seyfried's nonstop running and stunts in high heels draws attention to her conspicuously unlikely mobility. In Time is simply too funny to be the intense, action-packed thriller it wants to be.

- The Massie Twins (GoneWithTheTwins.com)

Recycling: it’s good for the environment – and relationships! It looks like Amanda Seyfried is getting over her split with Ryan Phillippe – by getting back together with ex-boyfriend Dominic Cooper. The blonde actress was photographed shopping with her hunky Momma Mia costar at West Hollywood’s Burberry store yesterday, reports the Daily Mail.

Seyfried and Phillippe’s split "was mutual," a source tells Us Weekly, adding, 'They were never fully committed. It was always on and off. They were also seeing other people."

Phillippe reportedly took advantage of that arrangement and may have knocked up model Alexis Knapp, who is due to give birth later this month. Phillippe has agreed to submit to a paternity test after the child is born and has stated that if the baby is his, he will take full responsibility.

Seyfried, 25, and Cooper, 32, met on the set of Mamma Mia in 2008 and dated for two years. The actress took their split badly, telling Elle magazine, "I got my heart broken pretty hard. After that, it's really hard to open myself up to a new person. Really hard."

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Amanda Seyfried Spotted with Ex Dominic Cooper

Much to the disappointment of Gretchen Wieners, “fetch” may have never caught on, but plenty of other quotes from “Mean Girls” did. A surprise hit in 2004, the film starred Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried and Tina Fey (who also wrote the screenplay).  The eminently quotable film earned a surprising $130 million worldwide and, ironically, helped launch the careers of McAdams and Seyfried as bigger stars while Lohan began her spiral into oblivion soon thereafter. Now, it’s on to the best quotes from “Mean Girls.”

“I know, right?” – This repeated line was head Plastic Regina’s trademark saying that turned into a catchphrase from the movie. It may have only been cool for about six months, but saying or texting “I know, right?” was very much in style in 2004 thanks to “Mean Girls.”

“Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die! Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just don't do it, promise? Okay, everybody take some rubbers.” – Said by Coach Carr in health class at Cady’s first day at school. Cady never heard the sage advice since she ditched class to be with Damian and Janis. Hasn’t everyone had a gym teacher for health class, though?

“I gave him everything. I was half a virgin when I met him.” This “Mean Girls” quote was made by Regina George after her boyfriend, Aaron, dumped her when he found out she was cheating on him. Cady blurted out the cheating after she had just kissed Aaron during a math tutoring session (which she didn’t need) and Aaron said that he couldn’t continue since it wouldn’t be fair to Regina. Next, we cut to a crying Regina in her enormous bedroom being consoled by the rest of the Plastics as she utters the above line.

“Why should Caesar just get to stomp around like a giant while the rest of us try not to get smushed under his big feet? What’s so great about Caesar? Brutus is just as cute as Caesar. Brutus is just as smart as Caesar. People totally like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar, and when did it become okay for one person to be the boss of everybody because that's not what Rome is about! We should totally just STAB CAESAR!” This is probably the best monologue from the film as insecure rich girl Gretchen Wieners finally cracks under pressure applied by Cady to turn Gretchen against Regina by making her think Regina thinks of Cady as a better friend instead of her. This all comes to a boiling point after the Christmas talent show where Regina lashes out at Gretchen telling her that “fetch” is not going to happen. We cut to history class and Gretchen lets loose the above diatribe, a thinly veiled jealous attack on Regina, as she reads her paper about Caesar to the class.

“So, if you’re from Africa, why are you white?” A bewildered Karen asks Cady this after Regina invites Cady to join them at the Plastics’ lunch table early in the movie. Cady informed them that she is new to the school and this is because she had lived and was homeschooled in Africa. This concept appears to be beyond Karen’s comprehension and leads to one of the great quotes from “Mean Girls.” This, and “It’s like I have ESPN or something. My breasts can always tell when it’s going to rain,” cement Karen’s position of as one of the most totally dumb blondes in movie history.

Take a Bite Out of these Quotes From Mean Girls

Jennifer's Body is a 2009 horror film distributed by 20th Century Fox. It stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, and Sal Cortez. Diablo Cody is the writer and the director is Karyn Kusama.

The story centers around popular girl Jennifer and her best friend Anita, or Needy as she is called in the film. Needy is now a violent inmate at a mental hospital. After being thrown in solitary for kicking an orderly, Needy tells the story of how she got there. It all started one night when Jennifer invited her to a dive bar to see a concert by an indie band called Low Shoulder. After the bar mysteriously burns down and the girls escape, they encounter the band outside and Jennifer joins them, against Needy's objections. Later that night, after she has returned home, Needy finds Jennifer, all bloodied and eating from her refrigerator. She vomits up the food and leaves quickly. The next morning at school, Jennifer shows up as if nothing had happened. She seems indifferent to the tragedy at the bar the previous night. Soon, partially eaten bodies begin to turn up. Due to untrue reports of Low Shoulder's heroism at the bar, the band gains popularity and offers a free charity concert at the high school's upcoming dance. Needy finds out that her best friend was killed that night after leaving the bar. Low Shoulder had sacrificed her as part of a Satanic ritual in order to gain fame and fortune, thinking she was a virgin. Needy soon discovers that since Jennifer was not, in fact, a virgin, a demon now possesses her body and must feed on meat in order to sustain itself.

In this film, we see the lengths some people will go to obtain fame and fortune, outside of actually working for it. Low Shoulder was a small independent band looking for popularity, but, instead of working hard and being patient, they were willing to sell their souls to Satan in order to get it right now. While this film didn't literally depict the bandmembers as selling their souls to the devil, it was very strongly implied, especially in the sacrifice ritual. In my opinion, the idea of getting something that I didn't earn and had to sacrifice my morals for is rather sickening.

Another feature of Jennifer's Body that I found rather interesting was the fact that the demonic Jennifer only attacked and killed males. Some teenage girls tend to define themselves by how many boys they can get to notice them. It's how they maintain their social status. Put simply, teenage girls use teenage boys to sustain themselves in the social circle of teenage life. It's not all that different with Jennifer, except for the obvious fact that she uses teenage boys to feed off of instead of simply using them as social pawns, if you will.

To wrap, Jennifer's Body is a great mix of science fiction and horror. If that's what you want, I highly suggest you see this movie

Catherine Hardwicke, the woman behind the mega-successful Twilight series, turns one of the world's most loved fairy tales into an unabashed daily soap adaptation. She could have waited for the Twilight prequel and happily revisited the werewolf-vampire-doe-eyed-gal territory rather than making Red Riding Hood look like the unofficial fourth installment of the werewolf-vampire-doe-eyed-gal series.

In a sleepy little village Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) loves Peter (Shiloh Fernandez) but her mother (Virginia Madsen) wants her to hook up with Henry (Max Irons), the richer one. The lovers decide to make a dash for it but the cursed werewolf that troubles their existence decides to kill a human, Lucie, Valerie's sister. By breaking years of truce the village decides to kill the werewolf but in the bargain Henry's father dies and Henry holds Peter responsible for his loss.

Enter the werewolf hunter Father Solomon (Gary Oldman on a roller-coaster) who tells them that the werewolf is actually a human who turns into the deadly killer at night. Later that night Valerie is attacked by werewolf who talks to her and spares her.

Suddenly Valerie starts looking at the people around her rather suspiciously and everyone right from her sinisterly motivated grandmother (Julie Christe) to her father (Billy Burke), Peter, Henry, even Father Solomon give her reasons to believe that they could be the werewolf.

Red Riding Hood tries to build a certain mood in order to impress upon you that it's a horror film and you should be scared but this is far from anything that could scare you. Shot like a dream that has been dreamt far too many times in films like Twilight or any fantasy laden Hollywood film, Red Riding Hood takes itself a little too seriously. The characters look worried on cue, they run in fear when demanded; they indulge in merry making by drinking and dancing the night away and yet end up looking like cardboard cut-outs.

The acting also looks very school play like; Seyfried's huge eyes do most of the talking as she just doesn't care to emote; Shiloh Fernandez is a complete disaster thanks to his Robert Pattinson hangover and Max Irons' Henry is the made from the same mould that created Prince Caspian from the Narnia series–nothing new there. Christie and Oldman just have one motive–to swagger as much as possible and then a little more.

The screenplay is a cesspool of stupidity in the name of substance–Valerie loves Peter who hates Henry who loves Valerie but was the object of Valerie's sister's desire but in reality Henry's Lucie half-brother.after a little while you just don't bother. Rather you look at the obviously stupid things in the film–all of Solomon's henchmen are tough multi-racial men–Blacks, Asians, and what have you; Valerie drinks and dances with her best friend Prudence to make Peter feel jealous who to get over her is dancing with a girl he doesn't even like.

A few moments later Peter gets in the mood and just can't keep her paws off Valerie; whoever said it's these days that boys got happy looking at some 'girl-on-girl action' Avoid.

Red Riding Hood Rating: 1/5

Red Riding Hood Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Virginia Madsen, Lukas Haas, Julie Christie

Red Riding Hood Written by: David Johnson

Red Riding Hood Directed by: Catherine Hardwicke

There is a growing list of Pierce Brosnan movies. The Irish actor is famous for playing the role of James Bond in four films from 1995 to 2002.

Pierce Brosnan has appeared in nearly 50 movies including eight television films. His early roles include The Long Good Friday (1980) and the television flick Murphy's Stroke (1980).

Here is a list of the most admired Pierce Brosnan Movies:

• The Fourth Protocol (1987)
• Mister Johnson (1990)
• Mrs Doubtfire (1993)
• The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)
• Mars Attacks (1996)
• The Nephew (1998)
• The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
• The Tailor of Panama (2001)
• Evelyn (2002)
• After the Sunset (2004)
• The Matador (2005)
• Seraphim Falls (2006)
• Shattered (2007)
• Married Life (2007)
• Mamma Mia (2008)
• The Greatest (2009)
• The Ghost Writer (2010)
• Remember Me (2010)

Now let's have at look at the most popular Pierce Brosnan movies:

The Ghost Writer (2010)

In this political thriller starring Ewan McGregor, Kim Cattrall and Olivia Williams, Pierce Brosnan is Adam Lang, a previous British prime minister. Lang hires a ghost writer (McGregor) to complete his life story after the first writer had died of accidental causes. The new ghost writer's life is soon under threat when he discovers secret information on Lang that is supposedly concealed in the manuscript left from his predecessor.

Mamma Mia (2008)

This popular musical comedy starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried is one of the highest grossing musicals movies of all time. The film uses tunes from the famous Swedish pop group ABBA, and is the tale of bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan (Seyfried) attempting to see her true father. Pierce Brosnan is Sam Carmichael, a New York architect, and one of three men to be sent an invitation to Sheridan's wedding.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

In this remake of the 1968 film Brosnan stars alongside Rene Russo as Thomas Crown. He is a wealthy executive and steals an expensive painting from a museum in New York. Insurance investigator Catherine Banning (Russo) believes Crown is behind the theft and soon begins a relationship with him.

Mars Attacks (1996)

This comic science fiction movie is based on a trading card series released in 1962. It features an ensemble cast including Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Natalie Portman, Joe Don Baker, Jack Black, and Christina Applegate. Pierce Brosnan is Professor Donald Kessler who believes the Martians are good creatures and does not understand the reason for their attack.

Mrs Doubtfire (1993)

In this popular comedy film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field, Brosnan plays Stuart Dunmeyer, the new boyfriend to Miranda Hillard (Field). Stuart has a dislike for Miranda's ex-husband (Williams) and tries to fit in with her family.

Pierce Brosnan became the fourth 007 actor after a six year hiatus in the series. Here is a summary of each of the James Bond Pierce Brosnan movies:

GoldenEye (1995)

One of the most popular Pierce Brosnan movies is GoldenEye. James Bond is on assignment to halt former MI6 agent Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean) who is planning to use a satellite weapon to destroy England's economy. 007 is ably assisted by Russian systems programmer Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco) and travels to Monaco, Russia, Cuba during the mission.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Agent 007 is drawn against Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), a media mogul who is intending to start a catastrophic war between world powers in order to gain global news rights. Bond receives information from Carver's wife, Paris (Teri Hatcher), and works with Colonel Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) of the Chinese People's External Security Force in order to infiltrate Carver's operation.

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

In Brosnan's third outing as James Bond he is faced with two key adversaries: Renard (Robert Carlyle), a dangerous terrorist planning a nuclear meltdown in the Bosphorus, and Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) who is working with Renard and planning to control oil supplies into the West. 007 works with nuclear physicist Dr Christmas Jones (Denise Richards) to ensure the deadly scheme fails.

Die Another Day (2002)

Agent 007 joins forces with NSA agent Giacinta Johnson (Halle Berry), Jinx, to prevent villain Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) from achieving his objectives. Graves is assisting North Korea in its aim to control the Korean Peninsula by making use of his diamond powered satellite weapon. Jinx and Bond travel to Cuba, Iceland and North Korea on this action packed mission.

The movies currently ruling the DVD rental battle are recent releases True Grit, Just Go With It, Drive Angry 3D, I Am Number Four, No Strings Attached, Gnomeo & Juliet, The Dilemma, The Mechanic, The Green Hornet and Little Fockers.

A new slate of DVD/Blu-ray June 14, 2011 releases hopes to shake up this top 10 list. Here are highlights for the weekend of June 17:

Red Riding Hood: Amanda Seyfried is a brooding teen caught between two hunks in this horror revamp of the classic tale. She's in love with woodcutter Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), but promised by her parents (Billy Burke, Virginia Madsen) to the blacksmith's son Henry (Max Irons). Things become more complicated when she realizes one of her guys is a werewolf.  With Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm, the film is visually stunning with lots of soapy love triangles and red herrings. It's gotten raves for imagery, but not story.

Hall Pass: The Farrelly brothers take on marriage in this comedy about two couples that get a week-long free pass from their vows to have affairs and just go wild. Best pals Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) wild out with the guys, while the missus, Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christina Applegate), go for their own adventure. Stephen Merchant, J.B. Smoove, Larry Joe Campbell and Tyler Hoechlin also star.

Battle: Los Angeles: After Earth is attacked by unknown forces; the land of sunshine and bikinis becomes ground zero for mankind's last stand against an alien invasion. Jonathan Liebesman's uber-high action, sci-fi war film stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Peña, Ne-Yo, Ramon Rodriguez and Bridget Moynahan.

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son: In his second follow-up to 2000's Big Momma's House, Martin Lawrence is back as FBI Agent Malcolm Turner and this time, his rapping stepson Trent (Brandon T. Jackson) is along for the ride. After Trent witnesses a murder, the guys go undercover at an all-girls performing arts school, which means solving a crime — and perhaps falling in love — in drag.

Jackass 3.5: The Unrated Movie: In this straight to video follow-up to Jackass 3D, Johnny Knoxville and his crew pull off more stunts, gags and fart jokes involving an alligator-snapping turtle, a dildo rocket, enemas, fat suits and various hits to the face, head and genitalia.

The Con Artist: A notorious car thief (Rossif Sutherland) is paroled from prison and becomes a passionate artist. His sculptures manage to catch the eye of sophisticated art dealer Belinda (Rebecca Romijn). Unfortunately, his former handler (Donald Sutherland) will do anything to see him back in the game.

Foo Fighters: Back and Forth: The Foo Fighters rockumentary tracks the band's 16-year history, starting with Nirvana and Kurt Cobain's suicide in the '90s and featuring Nirvana drummer turned Foo frontman Dave Grohl.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Ultimate Edition): the rerelease includes over one hour of never-before-seen bonus content.

Fabulous Betty White Collection: This four-DVD set is a 40-episode collection of black and white Betty White classics.

Other releases this week include the Irish-American gangster drama Kill the Irishman (Ray Stevenson, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken); director Nicolas Roeg’s 1985 drama Insignificance, about four characters reminiscent of Albert Einstein, Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe and Joseph McCarthy (Gary Busey, Tony Curtis, Michael Emil, Theresa Russell); Shot in the Dark, the HBO documentary about Adrian Grenier’s (Entourage) search for his biological father and When They Were Young, a look back at the high school and youth basketball days of NBA greats.

TV series hitting the market include Supernatural: The Complete Second Season (Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles); the Stephen King inspired supernatural TV series Haven (Eric Balfour, Lucas Bryant, Nicholas Campbell); The Glades: Season One (Matt Passmore); Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Vol. 8; Yo Gabba Gabba!: Circus; and The Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show: Collector's Edition.

Green Lantern movie reviewBlake Lively: Green Lantern's heroine dishesMr. Popper's Penguins movie reviewJim Carrey chats Penguins and more

Redbox DVD/Blu-ray report: Hall Pass, Red Riding Hood & Foo Fighters!

Ryan Phillippe and Amanda Seyfried have ended their relationship again. The couple – who briefly split in February – are said to have mutually agreed to call time on their seven-month romance but plan to stay friends. A source said: "It was mutual. They were never fully committed. There's no bad blood. They're cool." According to friends, 36-year-old Ryan – whose former lover Alexis Knapp is due to give birth to what she claims is his baby later this month – and Amanda (25) were never serious about their relationship. The source added to Us Weekly magazine: "They were always on and off. They were always seeing other people." News of the split comes weeks after Amanda spoke of her desire to have children. She said: "I want children! My publicist now has two kids – I love her, so I like to think I'm an auntie to her kids. I can't wait to have my own! I think it's really exciting to know that I want them. Knock on wood, I hope I'm fertile, but I've never got pregnant before." Ryan has daughter Ava (11) and son Deacon (7) with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon.

Ryan, Amanda over

1 1/2 stars

Christopher Kelly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes: Ever since their 1998 modern classic "There's Something About Mary," writers and directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly have struggled to recapture lightning in a bottle and conjure up yet another raunchy comedy with a heart of gold. Their latest effort is "Hall Pass," starring Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis as a pair of married suburban men yearning for the freedom of youth. What follows is yet another slapdash bromance in which overgrown children must learn to finally become men. Rated R

Battle: Los Angeles

2 1/2 stars

Cary Darling of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes: War is hell. And so is alien invasion. That's the long and short of "Battle: Los Angeles," a distillation of grunt's-eye-view, war-movie clichés with nasty, insectlike extraterrestrials standing in for every enemy the Marines have ever faced. Aaron Eckhart stars as a Marine staff sergeant whose new platoon takes on the enemy when Earth is attacked. Rated PG-13

Red Riding Hood

2 1/2 stars

Rick Bentley of the Fresno Bee writes: Catherine Hardwicke's latest film, "Red Riding Hood," is … almost the same thing as "Twilight." The updated take on the fairy tale follows a brooding young girl, Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), who's being wooed by two mysterious hunks. The only thing that could get in the way of true romance is a werewolf. Rated PG-13

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

2 stars

Mike Hale of the New York Times writes: Since new school vs. old school is one of the plot-generators (as opposed to ideas) floating around in the amiable, schlocky family comedy "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son," it seems fair to point out that of all the cross-dressing comedies of recent decades, none has channeled "Some Like It Hot" quite so thoroughly. Martin Lawrence plays Big Momma, his FBI-agent-in-drag character, for the third time, now with the addition of a rapping stepson (Brandon T. Jackson). Some narrative nonsense involving a murder and an FBI mole sets the scene for Lawrence and Jackson to don fat suits, fake breasts and plus-size women's clothes and hide out in a girls high school. Rated PG-13

Kill the Irishman

3 stars

Based on the real-life exploits of a Cleveland gangster, "Kill the Irishman" contains many elements that will be familiar to fans of crime movies. Vincent D'Onofrio and Paul Sorvino play Italian gangsters – of course they do (of course they should) – and you will recognize more than a couple of faces from "Goodfellas" and "The Sopranos." But what makes this film special and memorable is the character of Danny Green, who is not the usual neighborhood hoodlum you see in movies, the kind who gets in deep and gradually loses his soul. Danny is played by Ray Stevenson ("Rome"), hardly a household name, and "Kill the Irishman" may not turn him into one. Yet within the film industry, people will take note of Stevenson's confidence and presence, and the fact that he seems to have enough testosterone to power a city block. Rated R

TV ON DVD

The Glades: Season One

Man vs. Food: Season Three

Supernatural: Season Two

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

New DVDs: 06/17/11

My oh my, did I want Red Riding Hood to be awful.

“Awful” can turn a bad movie into a genuinely memorable one (see: Birdemic, The Room, The Happening)—I expected Red Riding Hood to fall in line.  It’s Twilight­-director Catherine Hardwicke’s take on the iconic childhood fairy tale, with a love triangle between Red (called “Valerie” here, and played by Amanda Seyfried) and two hunky gentlemen (Shiloh Fernandez and Max Irons), a werewolf that’s stalking Red’s village and could be (GASP!) anyone in disguise, and a scenery-chewing performance from Gary Oldman as the world’s best werewolf hunter.  Twilight certainly delivered on the gloriously awful front; I had no reason to suspect that Red Riding Hood wouldn’t.

Except it doesn’t.  It doesn’t hard.

Hardwicke talks on the video commentary about wanting a fairy tale atmosphere; maybe that explains why her film is so boring, but even the best fairy tales are loaded with crazy nonsense.

What does Red Riding Hood have?  A mopey love story with no heat.  I have seen Seyfried convincingly act in other films, but as David Denby wrote of the film in The New Yorker (and there’s no way anyone can top it), “Seyfried…walks around with her mouth open, as if she had strayed into the movie from a porn flick,” and it’s true—she brings that same anesthetized and vacant attitude that certain actresses from that particular cinematic persuasion have.  Not that “Red’s Men” offer much help in the chemistry department.  Fernandez is so blandly offensive; you could digitally erase him from the movie and very little would change.  Irons fares better—he has some of the same smoldering intensity as his father, Jeremy Irons—save for the fact that his character is the most underwritten corner of the love triangle.

The werewolf angle has the same plodding appeal as the love story.  Hardwicke and writer David Johnson bungle the potential for a lurid, Ten Little Indians-esque mystery by adhering to the whodunit mechanics of a “Scooby Doo” episode.  Put it this way: ten minutes into the film, I’d figured out the werewolf “Red Herring” character and narrowed down the rest of the suspects to two, and one of them turned out to be the baddie.  Suffice to say, the movie wasn’t as suspenseful as it should have been.

Even the aesthetics don’t work.  Tom Sanders’ production design is inventive and striking, but Hardwicke has no idea how to shoot it for maximum effect, so it just looks like a cheap set.  Furthermore, the physical werewolf design of the movie provides no pleasures because a) Red Riding Hood is PG-13, so no gore is allowed, and b) Rhythm and Hues, the effects house that did such good work on The Wolfman and Solaris, made the beast look like a big dog with fake CG fur.

What does work?  Julie Christie (as Red’s grandma) still looks fantastic at age seventy, and Gary Oldman livens up all his scenes as a crazed werewolf hunter.  His character makes no sense— like Nicolas Cage, Oldman has a tendency to lapse into weird for weird’s sake in projects that are beneath him—but his intensity and bizarre vocal mannerisms are entertaining to watch.

I wish the same could be said for the rest of the film.  I never expected Red Riding Hood to be “good,” but I thought I had a good shot at getting “awful.”  It’s possible I’ve underrated achieving that latter objective since Red Riding Hood fails even with all the proper elements at its disposal.  What a disappointment.

Warner Home Entertainment’s Red Riding Hood Blu-ray looks fantastic, despite my distaste for the actual movie; the 2.39:1 frame gets a luscious 1080p video transfer and an appropriately aggressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.  Given the middling performance of the film at the US box office (roughly $38 million earned against a $42 million budget), I’m surprised that Warner did such a thorough job with the A/V work—it’s proof-positive of their appreciation for Blu-ray and for film in general.

They’ve also given Red Riding Hood a fair amount of special features, though you’d be hard-pressed to find much substantive content here.  To wit:

• Alternate Cut:  This Blu-ray exclusive alternate cut runs thirty-four seconds longer than the theatrical release.  The only change comes in the last five minutes, and it’s a horrible addendum that makes explicit what was only implied in the theatrical cut.
• Secrets Behind the Red Hood:  This picture-in-picture commentary intersperses BTS footage from the set with a sit-down conversation between Hardwicke and actors Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, and Max Irons as they watch the film.  The BTS stuff is unspectacularly produced but decently informative, while the bits with Hardwicke, Seyfried, Fernandez, and Irons are dreadful.  Fernandez drops banal observations, Seyfried looks uncomfortable, and Hardwicke, though an enthusiastic and friendly speaker, is unfocused and repeats much of what she said in the BTS portion of the commentary.
• Behind the Story:  Whenever these seven featurettes stray towards fluffier topics—such as the “Red’s Men” and “Casting Tapes” ones engineered to show out Irons and Fernandez—they suffer, but the more technically-oriented BTS segments—like "Before the Fur” and "Making of the Score"—are quite good.
• Additional scenes: Cut for a reason.  Move along.
• Gag reel: Eh, if you’re a fan of watching Seyfried and Co. blow their lines and giggle, then this is for you.
• 2 music videos: Fever Ray's "The Wolf" and Anthony Gonzalez’s "Just a Fragment of You."

The Blu-ray has a lot of material, but most of it isn’t terribly informative.  Still, fans of Red Riding Hood should be satisfied with the quantity of material.

Not that I’d imagine there are many fans out there.  This reimagining of the classic fable fails as both an absorbing fairy tale and as a potential camp classic; it’s too bland and boring to satisfy.  This is a good Blu-ray of a bad movie.  Pity it’s not bad enough.

Hall Pass streets on June 14th.  Click HERE to view Amazon’s pre-order listing.

Blu-ray Roundup: RED RIDING HOOD – Alternate Cut

The ensemble romantic comedy GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM got yet another star attached to the project today as Topher Grace has joined the cast.  As you recall, the film is about a married couple that pretends to still be married as they attend their daughter's wedding.  Grace will play the son of the married couple that falls in love with a Latin woman, who also happens to be his adopted brother's sister.  because pseudo-incest love stories are always a crowd favorite..sigh. I appreciate the efforts to put an all-star cast together for a rom-com, but nothing about this film gets me excited.  now they've added this incest-like love story and it's like they're trying to keep people away.

The film has quite a cast that includes Robert de Niro, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried and Katherine Heigl.  They're still ironing out who will play which character.  Justin Zackham will be directing the film, which will start filming in July.

Source: Deadline

Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl, movie news, Robert de Niro, topher grace

Topher Grace joins Amanda Seyfried and Katherine Heigl in Gently Down the Stream

Gary Oldman couldn't look at Amanda Seyfried when filming 'Red Riding Hood' because she made him laugh so much.

The 53-year-old actor stars with the blonde beauty in Catherine Hardwicke's reimagining of the classic fairytale, and he admits the pair struggled to suppress their giggles when on set together.

He said: "She is so funny. She'd whisper something and I'd lose it.

"I had to tell her not to look at me because we'd crack up. I said I'd look at her forehead and she should look at my ear. She's a riot."

Gary also explained he was attracted to the "dark and twisted" nature of the script for the movie, which sees him play a priest.

He said: "It's a dark and twisted version and I found that appealing. I just had to do it.

"I liked the script very much and I thought the character was fun. it also gave me the chance to work with the lovely Amanda Seyfried and the director Catherine Hardwicke, whose visual style is stunning."

(C) BANG Media International

Read more in our Gossip channel

And Matthew McConaughey too!

Ryan Phillippe and girlfriend Amanda Seyfried were snapped arriving at the Roissy Airport in Paris today, and after grabbing their bags, the lovebirds split and headed to the Shangri-La Hotel. as you know, Matty and Ryan are promoting The Lincoln Lawyer overseas, and the film has already grossed $32.6 million here in the US, so hopefully this trend will continue across the pond!

P.S. things must be pretty serious between Amanda and Ryan if he's bringing her to Europe as his date — wonder what the Red Riding Hood hottie is going to say about this?

"Jimmy K's Hottie Body Diet" skit features the return of several A-listers including Jessica Biel, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Blunt and Jessica Alba. this time, however, Jimmy K's weight loss method encourages his "hottie body" clients to cut calories while indulging. 

How do Jimmy Kimmel's clients achieve massive weight loss on "Jimmy K's Hottie Body Diet?" Easy, he simply eats most of your meal while you watch and salivate. It's all about the "Decalorizing Physioreduction Technology." 

Other stars jumping on Jimmy Kimmel's full-proof diet include Rebecca Romijn, Amanda Seyfried, January Jones, Zoe Saldana, Anna Faris and Heidi Klum. 

Check out "Jimmy K's Hottie Body Diet" and tell us if you think it will work just as well as the "Hottie Body Hump Club" workout video.

Something tells us, we'll be seeing a lot of thinning stars thanks to Jimmy Kimmel. 

TV comedian Jimmy Kimmel has gathered some of the hottest female stars in Hollywood for part Two of his funny diet and exercise parody.

Biel, Scarlett Johansson, Erin Andrews, Emily Blunt, Amanda Seyfried, Jessica Alba, Heidi Klum, Anna Faris, Kristen Bell, Kerry Washington, Marisa Miller, Rebecca Romijn and January Jones, all took part in the ‘Jim-Miracle’ diet skit where Kimmel claims to help you lose weight by eating 4/5 of your food for you.

The women talk about how nothing worked for them until they tried the Jimmy K diet: “I swallowed a tape worm,” said Emily Blunt.

“I hired a ninja to slap the food out of my hand before I could eat it,” said Scarlett Johansson. Starship Troopers actor Neil Patrick Harris made an appearance as “a real doctor” for the science part of the skit.

In the April issue of ELLE, the 25-year-old Red Riding Hood actress finally confirms that she's been dating actor Ryan Phillippe, 36, since they met at Kate Hudson's Halloween party last October.

"I've been 'seen' with him," she said.

Amanda's previous relationship with actor Dominic Cooper ended abruptly after she discovered he was still seeing his longtime girlfriend.

"I was just kind of foolishly thinking that the two of them were done and Dom and I were involved. but we weren't really as involved as I thought. so I got my heart broken pretty hard," Seyfried says of Cooper, her Mamma Mia! costar.

"And then it took a long time for us to break up again. after that, it's really hard to open myself up to a new person. Really hard."

Amanda recently revealed that she finds penis jokes hilarious.

“I think it comes from the morbid sense of humor my sister has," she said.

"I love sick jokes. I can’t tell you, but what I will say is that nothing shocks me. Really nothing. Gross things make me laugh like a 12-year-old. Penis jokes make me laugh.”

Tags: amanda seyfried