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To Rome With Love Trailer: Woody Allen Takes Another All-Star Cast to a Romantic City

Becky Kirsch — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:56:30 PDT

Woody Allen has hit home runs with European-set films Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Match Point, and Midnight in Paris, but can he do it again in Italy? We'll have our answer with To Rome With Love, which follows another star-studded cast as their love lives get a little more complicated in - you guessed it - Rome. This time, the lineup includes Jesse Eisenberg as a guy who's seduced by his girlfriend's friend (Ellen Page), Penelope Cruz as an Italian prostitute, and Allen himself wearing some pants that are pulled up very high.

As with Midnight in Paris, it's obvious that the setting is going to be a major character here, which is enough of a reason for me to be enticed by the film. My only gripe is that Page seems a bit miscast as the boyfriend-stealing sexpot, but I can definitely see her and Eisenberg as a match. The movie hits theaters this June, but you can watch the trailer when you

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Super: A Major Misnomer of a Movie Title

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:00:00 PDT

In Super, Rainn Wilson dons a costume to play a different kind of social avenger: one without any powers, strength, or special talents. Wilson plays Frank, a downtrodden diner cook whose spouse (Liv Tyler) has recently left him. He has an enlightening spiritual experience that compels him to suit up as "The Crimson Bolt," and run around his town fighting crime with nothing but a disguise, the intention to help people, and a huge, highly effective wrench.

Though Frank originally sets out to take down criminals like the smarmy Jacques (Kevin Bacon), the drug dealer that his recovering addict wife has taken up with, soon Frank finds himself literally splitting the skulls of anyone he perceives as corrupt. This includes citizens as innocuous as line cutters at the movie theater, leading the media - and the audience - to start questioning whether the Crimson Bolt is a bad guy himself.

When Frank befriends local comic book fan Libby (Ellen Page) while he's doing "research" for his side job, she figures out his secret identity and wants a piece of the action. Cue Page in a skintight green and yellow ensemble, pitching herself as "Boltie," a sidekick to the Crimson Bolt. The sight of Page in her homemade costume doing cartwheels and other silly gymnastic moves is a funny one - and the last time you'll laugh. Though Super begins as a comedy with an offbeat sense of humor, it takes a severe change in tone and turns into a movie that's needlessly violent and repulsive.

To find out what's so wrong with Super, just

In theory, there's a lot to like about the movie. Wilson is an unconventional comedy favorite, and he's well cast as an insecure dope who's easily taken advantage of. Before the violence of Super starts getting out of hand, Wilson's delivery of the mildly funny dialogue is spot-on. Similarly, Page is amusing as a bored hipster when she hasn't yet started her tenure as Boltie. But once the Crimson Bolt and Boltie take to the streets as a pair, Libby becomes frighteningly bloodthirsty. It's frankly unbelievable how psychotic she becomes.

Though it seems that director James Gunn is going for a certain level of absurdity with the characters and the plot, it's poorly executed. Gunn completely misuses the kind of comic book fighting that other movies are able to pull off and instead offers scenes of stomach-turning brutality. If you don't do well with gore in movies, stay far away - this one is so aggressively graphic that I wanted to walk out.

Stuck on its frenzied roller coaster of bloodlust, the film loses all direction in its mission to shock. Once you're sufficiently disturbed, the ending seems to come out of nowhere. It's another 180-degree tone change, with a conclusion that doesn't fit at all. Super is a mishmash of madness - but not in a fun way.

Liv and Steven Tyler Have a Super Night of Father-Daughter Bonding

Allie Merriam — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:47:28 PDT

Liv Tyler had her American Idol judge father, Steven, on her arm for the LA premiere of her new movie Super last night. The Aerosmith frontman has been busy promoting his Fox program and bonding with his new buds Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Lopez, but he seemed happy to support his daughter's big evening and even show some paternal PDA. Her costars in the indie superhero film Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson also stepped onto the red carpet, and later Rainn and Liv tore up the dance floor with their crazy moves. Liv has been focusing on her East Coast social schedule recently alongside her rumored boyfriend Theo Wenner, who is both the son of Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner and a photographer who memorably shot Robert Pattinson for Dossier magazine in 2009.

Movie Preview: Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page Fight Bad Guys in Super

Lauren Bradshaw — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:24:02 PST

The Office's Rainn Wilson is leaving his desk job to take on a masked alter ego in Super. Wilson stars as Frank, a married man whose wife (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a drug dealer (Kevin Bacon). Upset over the split, Frank decides to win her back by taking on the persona of Crimson Bolt, a violent hero who wields a wrench as his weapon. To help him in his endeavors, a girl from a comic book store (Ellen Page) offers herself up to be his sidekick, Boltie.

Sound familiar? It should, because by all appearances, Super plays out like a ripoff of Kick-Ass. It's impossible not to see the similarities between the films' concepts or how Boltie resembles Hit Girl. That said, Super looks more quirky-indie and, unfortunately, not as good. My other complaint: could we please see more Nathan Fillion? The actor only pops up once in the trailer. Take a look, and share your assessment after the jump.

Buzz Readers Cast The Great Gatsby

BuzzSugar — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:00:52 PDT

We were pumped about yesterday's rumblings regarding Baz Luhrmann's remake of The Great Gatsby. Rumor is Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Rebecca Hall are being considered for the roles of Jay, Nick, and Daisy, but you actually have some casting ideas of your own. Several of the comments suggested potential Hollywood replacements for the trio of characters (and actress picks for Jordan), so here are the stars you'd like to see in the parts.

Toronto Film Festival Kicks Off With a Star-Studded Weekend of Premieres!

Molly — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:03:36 PDT

While the fashion world has all eyes on NYFW, tons of stars flocked north to Canada for the big first weekend of the Toronto Film Festival. On Friday, the cast of The Town headed out to dinner together after a successful press conference earlier in the day. By Saturday, Jennifer Garner flew out from LA to meet her husband, Ben Affleck, and joined in the red carpet fun at last night's premiere of The Town. She wore a sexy black dress, while Blake Lively was a showstopper in red sequins. Ben once again goofed around with Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner before introducing his second directorial effort to the audience. The whole crew, Jennifer included, celebrated late into the night at their afterparty. Ben's best friend Matt Damon also has a movie at the festival, Hereafter, and he stepped out yesterday afternoon for a private lunch for his ONEXONE foundation.

James Franco arrived in the morning yesterday, just in time for his first press conference promoting 127 Hours. The incredibly intense Danny Boyle movie based on the true story about a trapped rock climber is already getting great reviews, and enigmatic James happily posed with his costar Kate Mara. On Friday, Megan Fox gushed about married life with Brian Austin Green by her side at the screening of her Passion Play. Vogue covergirl Carey Mulligan had a big grin on her face for the debut of Never Let Me Go while her boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, was spotted jogging elsewhere in the city on Saturday. Clive Owen put on a sexy stare for his duties talking Trust alongside his director David Schwimmer. Javier Bardem was in town for Biutiful, Marion Cotillard looked gorgeous for Little White Lies, and Ellen Page got buddy buddy with Justin Long for her project Super. There's tons more to look forward to at the festival like Ryan Reynolds with Buried and Blue Valentine's Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, so stay tuned!

To see lots more from the festival including Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer, and others, just

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Images include: Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Minnie Driver, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Leslie Bibb, Marion Cotillard, Brian Austin Green, Megan Fox, Liv Tyler, Ellen Page, Justin Long, Rainn Wilson, Javier Bardem, Ben Affleck, Blake Lively, Jennifer Garner, James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Josh Brolin, Emma Roberts, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Westfeldt, Rebecca Hall, Chris Cooper, Matt Damon, Michael Sheen

Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, and Liv Tyler Make Comic-Con Super

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:03:46 PDT

Another superhero took the stage at Comic-Con, but you've probably never heard of him before. He's Crimson Bolt, a middle-aged guy in a red spandex suit played by Rainn Wilson. Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, and Nathan Fillion joined director James Gunn to debut the masked man during the panel for Super, a project which Wilson has supposedly referred to as an "F'ed up, low-rent Watchmen." Personally, I think it's more like Kick Ass for an older audience, but if I've got you curious, keep reading.

The discussion started with a very early trailer and scene from the film, which takes us through the days leading up to Wilson's transformation into Crimson Bolt. At first, he's just a regular Joe who gets married to the lovely Liv Tyler - until Kevin Bacon swoops in and steals her from him. Ticked off, Wilson decides to adopt his own superhero persona to seek vengeance, wacking people's heads with his weapon of choice - a wrench. First impression: This is a one dark, twisted, bloody comedy.
Ellen Page plays Libby, the Hit Girl to Wilson's Kick Ass, if you will. She's a punky teen with anger issues who Page describes as a "lunatic." But she didn't go the route of most actresses and get fight training; according to Page, her moves are all improv. She also hinted at an intimate scene between her and Wilson in the film, though I can't imagine what that's about.
As for Fillion's character, he's a superhero on TV named the Holy Avenger who becomes Crimson Bolt's mentor of sorts. Fillion said, "He has the power of charisma. It's that 'I really want him' power, but kind of mixed in with the church. Chur-isma." He also wears super-tight pants.

For more on the film straight from the mouths of its stars,

One person who deserves cred for the film is Jenna Fischer. The Office star was married to Gunn during the project's development and convinced him to take it on; she's also the reason behind Wilson becoming the lead. Wilson remarked that he actually got the emailed script while using Dwight Schrute's computer on The Office set, teasing, "I had some peon PA print it out for me and carry it to my trailer on a pillow."
Even though Kevin Bacon couldn't attend (he was at a concert in Philadelphia), he was still mentioned several times. Wilson called him "very Bacon-esque," while Fillion added, "I think it's a universal truth that if you take anything good and add bacon, it gets better exponentially."
Other hot topics from the cast: Twitter (Fillion even tweeted from his seat), foot models (Liv Tyler refuses to use them), and curse words. "I feel terrible, because I dropped the F-bomb earlier, and my 5-year-old son is in the audience," admitted Rainn.
Fans of The Sarah Silverman Program, Page feels your pain. The actress remarked that she's "heartbroken" that her beloved show won't be coming back for another season, saying, "We should start a letter writing program. I didn't say that."
In perhaps the most entertaining part of the panel, Fillion and Wilson started fighting on stage! Well, it was only stage combat, but Rainn put some WWE moves on Fillion, throwing him under the table. Someone get those two on pay-per-view.

Be sure to check out all of my Comic-Con coverage and follow me on Twitter for live updates!

Cast the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:30:45 PDT

Production on the much-anticipated American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is moving forward - even though the cast hasn't been finalized yet. The film is set to be released on Dec. 21, 2011, and Daniel Craig is still the front-runner to play Mikael, but the role of Lisbeth is still up in the air. Carey Mulligan's name is still on the list, but check out the other contenders and tell me who gets your vote.

Inception: What Movie Dreams Are Made Of

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:30:00 PDT

Ladies and gentleman, your ultimate Summer blockbuster has arrived. Inception has been shrouded in mystery virtually since its onset, and the hype surrounding Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller has only intensified over time. The film lives up to expectations, delivering a solid, action-packed ride that provides as much food for thought as eye-popping special effects.

Leonardo DiCaprio is our leading man, Dom Cobb, who has the ability to infiltrate the dreams of others with intention to extract information from the subject's subconscious. But extraction can't be done alone; it's an involved process that necessitates extensive research, a well-organized plan, and a team of players. Once inside, Cobb has mastered the art of manipulating his artificial surroundings to obtain the information or idea he needs - but his own inner demons are beginning to muck up the process.

As far as I'm concerned, the less you know about the film, the more exhilarating the experience will be - but for more on why I liked the film, just keep reading.

Spencer Crashes The Hills Party, Audrina Comments on Heidi, and John Mayer on Drug Use

Molly — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:05:00 PDT

Spencer Pratt makes a scene outside The Hills finale party, Audrina Patridge and more cast members share their thoughts on Heidi Montag's transformation, and John Mayer clarifies the amount of recreational drug use he actually partakes in. Plus, Leonardo at the Inception premiere - watch today's all-new PopSugar Rush!