Richard Gere

While I won't be heading down to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this year, I will be sorting through the humongous pile of festival entries to share with you some of the films I think look most promising. From quirky documentaries to talented young filmmaker debuts to a potential runaway hit, Sundance is filled with entertainment possibilities. Here are today's selections:

Brooklyn's Finest
Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Brooklyn's Finest just became this year's first sale at Sundance. Apparently "Senator Distribution nabbed North American rights . . . on Saturday night, 24 hours after its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. . . Senator says it will release the film in the fourth quarter for awards consideration." According to Senator president Mark Urman, the company "went into aggressive pursuit right after Friday's screening." Wow! All of this spells good things for the cop drama which features a stellar cast (Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin). The plot is described as: "Three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location after enduring vastly different career paths." The guy responsible for the screenplay has a unique and intriguing story himself (you can read about it here). No clips available just yet, but now that it's been purchased I'm sure we'll hear and see much more about this film in the future.

Two more great-looking movies, with talented folks like Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Mickey Rourke, if you read more

As you might've predicted, Nights in Rodanthe is a sentimental, non-threatening weepie that could have just as easily been made for TV and run on the Hallmark channel. The story is bland and yet sugar-saturated at the same time. It's tame, not too racy and it features unlayered characters. There’s redemption in the male character’s storyline and an awakening in the woman’s. It’s boring as all get-out sometimes, and tries its damndest to make you cry. So, in other words, it's your average Nicholas Sparks stuff.

Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) separated from her husband after he cheated on her with her best friend. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) is a doctor whose workaholic tendencies drove away his wife and son (played by James Franco). After a patient dies on his operating table, Paul travels to Rodanthe to meet with the patient's husband. He stays at the inn that Adrienne is running while her friend is away. There's a big storm that brings the two of them together, bada bing bada boom, they both learn how to love again. What follows is a string of scenes meant to be either heartwarming or heartbreaking, depending on Diane Lane's incredibly expressive face. For more of my thoughts on all this, read more

So, Nicholas Sparks has given us many things, one of them being The Notebook. I have to say, I'm convinced the film version of the book did as well as it did because of the talent involved (Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams) because when I think of the books of his I've read they all fall into the same category as the movie version of A Walk to Remember: cheesy, trite and overwrought. This next book-to-film adaptation of a Sparks work, Nights in Rodanthe stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane, both of whom I like a lot as actors. So maybe the movie will be great?

I'm hoping so, because the trailer — despite a strong supporting cast including Mae Whitman (her?) and James Franco — leaves so, so much to be desired. Not the least of its worries (but a pretty big one), the movie utilizes the tired old tactic of randomly giving the white protagonist a wise black best girlfriend whose sole purpose in life is to nurture and soothe the crazy/lovelorn/depressed white lady (this Black Best Friend syndrome has been written about quite a bit, including an L.A. Times slideshow of a few notable "BBFs"). Ugh.

The romantic drama comes out October 3. To see the trailer for yourself, read more

According to Real Estalker, Richard Gere has put his four-bedroom, four-bath property in the Palazzo Chupi building in New York's West Village on the market for nearly $18 million. You may remember the building, which was designed by Julian Schnabel of directorial fame, from my recent Coveted Crib. Schnabel is said to have "created the apartment to feel like Venice in Manhattan." The listing reads:

Room proportions are grand, ceilings are 12'6"+/- high, light streams in from all directions and there are huge French doors in every room leading to terraces with Hudson River views. A large wood-burning fireplace exists in the living room and there is a covered 66'+/- colonnade running along the entire north side of the apartment. Drama abounds. Amenities include parking, elevator, air conditioning, pool, and 24-hour doorman.

Well, it turns out that Gere isn't much for old Venezia; he purchased the property in September 2007 for only $12 million, and never moved in. He's made few improvements aside from aesthetic changes like changing the color of the kitchen cabinets, so the $6-million markup seems a little absurd. But, it may actually be a steal — Schnabel himself is selling the two other units in the building (there are only five) for $32 million each.

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At least two people are dead following clashes between protesters and security forces in Tibet's main city of Lhasa. The incidents occurred at rallies week, sparked when a number of Buddhist monks were reportedly arrested after a march marking the 49th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. They have continued all week, leading some to call them the largest protests against Beijing's rule in 20 years.

The crux of the longstanding conflict? China says Tibet has always been part of its territory even though Tibet has enjoyed long periods of autonomy prior to the twentieth century. Many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959.

Under the heading of related but not: Richard Gere, famous Tibetan advocate, has been cleared of an arrest warrant today. He was a wanted man in India for allegedly breaking public obscenity laws by kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The controversial kiss happened at an AIDS awareness event last year prompting Hindu hardliners to allege the pair had offended the sensibilities of India's traditionally conservative culture.

His statement of freedom? "Gere is allowed to come and leave. He can't be arrested," according to an attorney for Shetty.

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• After a great deal of speculation, Minnie Driver confirmed last night that she is expecting her first child, though she did not reveal the identity of the father. — lilsugar
• An audio tape between Chris Rock and the controversial LA investigator Anthony Pellicano has been leaked; in it, the two men discuss plans to dirty the reputation of a woman who accused Chris of rape after an affair in 1998. — The Huffington Post
• An Indian court has cleared Richard Gere of obscenity charges, following an incident last year in which he publicly embraced and kissed a Bollywood actress. — CitizenSugar
• Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly have spoken out about the accidental overdose of their newborn twins in order to draw attention to preventable medical errors. He said, "there's 100,000 people a year killed . . . in hospitals by medical mistakes. It’s bigger than AIDS. It’s bigger than breast cancer. It’s bigger than automobile accidents and yet, no one seems to be really aware of the problem." — CBS
• Sheryl Crow is planning a collaboration with Fleetwood Mac. — AP

It must be something with the name Todd that motivates talented directors to make films that have the potential to be great, but then ruin them with complicated casting and an overly ambitious plot. First it was Todd Solondz (director of the wonderful Welcome to the Dollhouse) who cluttered Palindromes by employing eight different actors to play the same 13-year-old girl; now it's Todd Haynes who uses a very similar technique in the truly awful I'm Not There. Instead of a 13-year-old girl, the actors portray Bob Dylan, and this time around there are six actors instead of eight. One would think that two less actors would make the movie a little less jumbled. It didn't.

The reason I'm Not There is even more perplexing than Palindromes (which I didn't believe was possible) is that in addition to six actors emulating Bob Dylan, they each have different names and live in different eras. At least Palindromes was linear and each of the eight actors used the same name. In I'm Not There "Bob" is referred to as John, Jack, Jude, Woody, Arthur, and Billy. Confused? I certainly was! If you want to read the only two compelling reasons to watch this film read more

All sorts of on screen Bob Dylans (but not the man himself) came out for a screening of I'm Not There in NYC last night. Three of the movie's Bobs — Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Marcus Carl Franklin — met up on the red carpet, while Adrian Grenier just paid homage to the iconic artist with his big hair. Elle Macpherson looked like a rock star herself with her hot leather jacket. As for Julianne Moore, I'm just happy she's a redhead again. Check back at the end of the week to see what Buzz thinks about I'm Not There — at this point I think it looks like it could be either awesome or terrible but probably nothing in between, you?

To see more from the premiere including Heath, Adrian, Elle, Richard and others just read more