Robert Redford

The Sundance Film Festival is officially in full swing and big names flocked to Park City to promote their movies. Ben Affleck stopped on his way to DC for "Reporter," which he serves as executive producer. Jim Carrey had his girlfriend Jenny McCarthy to help support his role where Ewan McGregor is his boyfriend in I Love You Philip Morris. Ashton was there to promote his gigolo film, Spread, with his loyal wife Demi by his side. Funny ladies Amy Poehler, Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch posed for a portrait picture, which is a lot more tame than their film Spring Breakdown. Festival favorites like Michael Cera, Zooey Deschanel, and Sam Rockwell all showed off their films while Paris Hilton made sure to hit all the parties. Mariah continues to look elated in every photo with Nick but her movie "Push" is apparently pretty dramatic. Even Anna Wintour hit the festival this year to promote her debut in a The September Issue. The festival is just getting started so expect many more big names all week long posing in cute portrait shots, walking red carpets and attending parties.

To see tons more pictures including new dad Gael Garcia Bernal, Kevin Bacon, Emily Blunt, Susan Sarandon, Pierce Brosnan and many, many more just read more

This year marks the 25th anniversary for the Sundance Film Festival, which is about as long as some of us have been alive. It's easy to take for granted the fact that this festival held in a snowy little Utah town wasn't always the influential mega-event it is today. Recently the LA Times had an interesting retrospective about the festival's origins and the way it revolutionized independent film.

Some interesting nuggets:

• Steven Soderbergh's debut feature film is partly responsible for the festival's success. Director Bryan Singer reminisces, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape made guys like me go, 'If I can get into the Sundance Film Festival, I'll have a shot at a career.'"

• Aw, Kevin Smith was working as a convenience store clerk when he brought his little movie Clerks to Sundance. He says of the heady experience, "It was basically me showing up in Utah and the Mormon God saying, 'I am going to grant you every wish you ever had, including some you never thought of.'"
• Also, Smith tells the reporter that Clerks was made for $27,575.
• Originally the festival was called The Utah/U.S. Film Festival but after Robert Redford's gang took over in 1989, some changes were made. "Organizers began to shift the festival's focus toward contemporary films that took storytelling risks."
• The article asserts that "nobody embodies the go-for-broke moviemaking ingenuity now commonly associated with Sundance entries more than. . . Robert Rodriguez." Apparently Rodriquez (director of Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City) raised money for one of his movies by "volunteering for experimental clinical drug testing." Hard core.

Photo courtesy of Sundance

I've been really inspired by traveling this week — both because of my own itch to go on an adventure and because I have a handful of friends who are either planning their honeymoon or enjoying it right now. As part of my travel urge, I got to thinking about movies that captured a culture and a country so well that they've made me add a new entry to my list of places I have vowed to visit. Come away with me on a mini-jaunt around the globe via this movie night!

Out of Africa
This Oscar-winning classic directed by the late Sydney Pollack starred Meryl Streep and an extremely dreamy Robert Redford, but the biggest star of the film is East Africa. The movie is loosely based on Karen Blixen's 1937 autobiography about her real-life journey to Kenya. The character based on Blixen enters a loveless marriage but then meets Redford's character, a local-game hunter, and an epic romance ensues. The movie was filmed on location and is breathtakingly beautiful. If this doesn't make you consider Africa as a travel destination, I don't know what will.

Two more glorious locations, so read more

Tax season is upon us and I know how stressful it can be to dig up receipts, fill out the forms and file the ol' taxes. Although my friend Savvy wouldn't be too happy to hear this, I have a bad habit of procrastinating and will find any reason to avoid doing my taxes. This year I have a new strategy: hold a money movie night with the following films and then do my taxes — no more excuses! It's a good plan because there are a lot of good lessons to learn from these movies, you know? OK, that's a lame rationalization, but hey, these movies are fun and might even convince you to stay away from white-collar crimes.

Trading Places
Just thinking about Trading Places makes me laugh, which is the perfect way to kick off a tax season movie night. Eddie Murphy stars alongside fellow funny man Dan Aykroyd in this film that poses the question: Does money make the man?

Louis Winthorpe III (Aykroyd) is a Harvard educated broker who has it all. Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy) is a street hustler angling for a dollar. When these two men switch places in society, all hilarity breaks loose. It's a wacky premise, but Murphy is hysterical and it's a funny peek at the ways in which money changes people.


Two more money movies, so read more

There's a lot of great post-Sundance news out there, but this story is really making me smile: Festival founder Robert Redford has said that his next project will be an adaptation of A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson's best-selling book about an attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail. Redford plans to play Bryson, and Barry Levinson is expected to direct the film.

I'm getting a kick out of the idea of Redford as Bryson, who was an overweight, out-of-shape man edging toward a mid-life crisis when he decided to walk the trail in 1997 (that's the real Bryson up there on the right). And apparently, so is Redford, who told the Associated Press "I don't know when I've read a book that I laughed so loud."

Redford also noted that the landscape of the country will be a big part of the film as Bryson and his hiking companion, Stephen Katz, make their way along the trail. (In the book, the two men didn't finish their hike — so do you think the movie will get a Hollywood ending?)

Other than making me want to read A Walk in the Woods again, this news makes me wonder: Who's going to play Katz? Their hilarious banter is one of the best parts of the book. Any suggestions?

Source, Source, and Source

While our girls Molly and Buzz are checking out all the goodness at the Sundance Film Festival, Park City has been chock full of celebrities showing off their new films. Emily Blunt joined cute father/son duo Tom and Colin Hanks at the premiere of The Great Buck Howard, while Bono and his fellow bandmates supported their U2 3D. Adorable Elle Fanning held her own at the premiere of Phoebe In Wonderland, and Jack Black was unsurprisingly perfectly comfortable showing off his dark roots for his new movie Be Kind Rewind. Obviously there are lots of exciting movies and stars all over the film festival, so be sure to check back for updates from Molly and Buzz about all the movies and any hot gossip that comes their way.

Lots more pics including Felicity Huffman, Bill Pullman, Jodie Foster, and Robert Redford, so just read more

Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs is not exactly a cinematic tour de force. In fact, it could have easily been a play, or even a staged reading. Set in three places for the entirety of the movie's 88 minutes, it's low on action and high on talk. Thus, while it's not a visually interesting film, as a spirited debate about current politics, Lions for Lambs is very engaging.

One of the locales is in the office of California professor Dr. Malley who has called in one of his brightest students, Todd (Andrew Garfield) to find out why the boy went from enthusiastic debater to a slacker who's stopped participating. In their discussions Dr. Malley tells Todd about former students of his Ernest and Arian, who, inspired by Dr. Malley's class to do something meaningful with their lives, joined the military. He explains that the two were not the brightest kids and that he didn't even agree with their decision. But they risked their lives to do something important while Todd, with all his intelligence and privilege, was cutting class and slacking off. Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, a senator (Tom Cruise) reveals to a journalist (Meryl Streep) his bombshell plan of action that will directly impact Arian and Ernest's lives. Lively arguments about right and wrong ensue. Actually, with the exception of some combat scenes with Arian and Ernest, the majority of the movie is filled with argument.

For the rest of my take on Lions for Lambs, read more