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Video: Director Josh Radnor Talks Liberal Arts and the "Not Over-Hyped" Elizabeth Olsen

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:43:46 PST

Josh Radnor has taken another turn as writer and director for his latest film to hit the Sundance Film Festival, Liberal Arts. Hear how his all-star cast, which includes Elizabeth Olsen and Zac Efron, came to be in our chat from Park City, Utah!

Josh Radnor to Teach Elizabeth Olsen Liberal Arts, Love

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:45:24 PDT

Josh Radnor's character on How I Met Your Mother may not have his main love interest yet, but in the movies, Radnor is lining them up. After the recent release of his directorial debut, HappyThankYouMorePlease, which Radnor wrote and starred in, too, he has just sealed a deal for his next project, a film called Liberal Arts, which he also wrote and will direct and appear in. The movie is about a 35-year-old professor (Radnor) who falls for one of his 19-year-old students, who will be played by Elizabeth Olsen (sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley). The movie will shoot while How I Met Your Mother is on hiatus.

HappyThankYouMorePlease: Pleasingly Precious

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:34:30 PST

HappyThankYouMorePlease is the directorial debut of How I Met Your Mother's Josh Radnor, who wrote and stars in the indie romance. He plays Sam, a writer living in New York City in his late 20s. En route to a meeting, he happens upon a young boy named Rasheen, who's been left alone on the subway. Not sure what to do, Sam becomes Rasheen's reluctant guardian for the next few days. As ill-equipped Sam deals with his new charge and finds a possible love interest (Kate Mara), we meet his friends: unlucky-in-love Annie (Malin Akerman) and couple Mary Catherine and Charlie (Zoe Kazan and Pablo Schreiber).

Radnor's first feature is an impressive effort; the individual stories are only moderately compelling, but the slice of life he portrays makes for a disarming and completely enjoyable experience. To find out why else I liked about HappyThankYouMorePlease, just

The entire cast is charming, and each character is likable (even when Sam has a tendency to dip into stereotypical jerky male tendencies). The way he treats Mississippi (Mara), vacillating between puppy dog infatuation and freaked-out dismissal, is maddening, but only because it's how many men his age would behave. For her part, Mississippi's behavior is also realistic; she's charmed by Sam at first but wounded when he disappoints her.

Akerman is believable as the single Annie, who is affected by Alopecia, but even more afflicted by her poor choices in men. It's nice to see Akerman de-glammed and expressing real vulnerability. I appreciate it even more that Annie suffers from emotional pitfalls, but she's still a strong woman with multiple dimensions.

But perhaps the movie's great standout is Kazan. As Mary Catherine, she's hit a wall in her current relationship with her boyfriend, who's mulling a cross-country move for work. The struggle comes through in Kazan's eyes, even when she's cracking jokes to hide her true feelings. She's matched closely by Schreiber, who is caught between his love for Mary Catherine and his desire to move his life forward.

The real gems in Radnor's script lie in the documentation of mundane aspects of his character's lives. Their dialogue about dating and relationships feels authentic, and sometimes frighteningly familiar. Some lines are so relatable that you can't help but laugh. That's also Radnor's other strong suit; the script is often funny, and it's the humor that saves a lot of the contrived situations. Some of his plot points, like Rasheen's entrance into Sam's life, feel forced, while others feel overly cutesy. Still, the lens of optimism that's present throughout the film keeps it all afloat.

Josh Radnor Talks About His Directorial Debut, HIMYM, and His Leading Ladies Kate and Malin

PopSugar — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:00:00 PST

We recently caught up with Josh Radnor at the LA press day for his new movie, HappyThankYouMorePlease. The How I Met Your Mother actor wrote, directed, and stars in the heartfelt romantic comedy, which costars Malin Akerman and Kate Mara (here's a look at the trailer). Josh told us the film was loosely inspired by his 20s, chatted about his plans to continue working behind the camera, and talked about what's next for Ted's love life on HIMYM. Check it out and stay tuned for our interviews with Malin and Kate!

James, Natalie, and More Triumph at the Independent Spirit Awards

Allie Merriam — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:58:33 PST

This evening's Independent Spirit Awards in LA gave Hollywood another chance to celebrate the best actors and films of the year. Many stars looked amazing on the red carpet, including lovely ladies like Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, and Jennifer Lawrence. It's the last show before the Oscars - make sure to print out Buzz's ballot to pick your winners for tomorrow - but not all of the usual suspects of this year's award season went home winners today. Pregnant and glowing Natalie did seize the best actress statue for her ballerina role in Black Swan, but unlike at many other shows, it was James Franco who was crowned best actor for 127 Hours. He headed into the press room after accepting his honor, and revealed a few hints about what's in store at the Academy Awards.

This show was full of A-list presenters, like a side-swept Nicole Kidman and Jeremy Renner. Twilight's Anna Kendrick was alongside How I Met Your Mother star and director of the upcoming Happythankyoumoreplease Josh Radnor. A Chanel-clad Naomi Watts, who attended with Liev Schreiber, took the stage with Ewan McGregor. James made the rounds to chat with Natalie's director, Darren Aronofsky, and Diego Luna. There were plenty of adorable couples in attendance, too, as Nicole spent time with her husband, Keith Urban, and Jon Hamm stayed close to his girlfriend, Jennifer Westfeldt. Nominee Annette Bening was next to Warren Beatty, while pals Jeremy and Mark Ruffalo caught up. Check out the full list of winners from the Independent Spirits and make sure to stay tuned to PopSugar for tomorrow's live broadcast from the Oscars red carpet on Sunday. Watch here on PopSugar and follow us on Twitter for breaking news and photos!

To see more from the show just

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Sundance Snapshot: HappyThankYouMorePlease

BuzzSugar — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:30:36 PST

I've had a little crush on ~~Ted Mosby~~ Josh Radnor ever since I got hooked on How I Met Your Mother, and I've had high hopes for the side project he's been working on between seasons. Radnor makes his debut as a triple threat writer/director/actor in HappyThankYouMorePlease - but don't let the quirky title turn you away. I'm happy to report the film is among my favorites from Sundance 2010, so let's get into the good stuff.

Who's behind it? I already mentioned that Radnor wrote and directed the script, and he has plenty of talent supporting his cast, including Malin Akerman, Tony Hale, and Kate Mara.
What's it about? The movie centers around Sam Wexler (Radnor), a writer in his late 20s living in New York and struggling to find meaning in his love life and career. On a particularly fateful day, Sam befriends and takes in a young boy who's been separated from his foster family and meets a potential love interest in Mississippi (Mara). Akerman plays Sam's best friend and confidant Annie, who's got her own issues to deal with (particularly with a co-worker (Hale) who won't give up until he gets a date with her). Finally, Zoe Kazan plays Mary Catherine, a lifelong friend of Sam's who is struggling to figure out whether or not she and her boyfriend have a future together in New York.

To see why I enjoyed the film so much, just

What did I think? The premise sounds simple (and cliched enough): six new yorkers looking for meaning in their relationships and going through mini quarter-life crises. Though the idea is not the most original story line, Radnor's witty script and real characters are what keep the movie afloat and thoroughly enjoyable. We can all relate to at least one of the characters, who are each afraid of moving forward into adulthood. The connections between them are refreshingly genuine: Sam and Annie have a rare platonic friendship that doesn't inevitably veer into a relationship; Mary Catherine gets caught between the city she loves and the man she loves. Equal parts charming, funny, and painfully real, HappyThankYouMorePlease is a sweet little movie that (hopefully) means only bigger and better things for Radnor's bright future.

The How I Met Your Mother Gang Is Holding Out For Aniston

PopSugar — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:30:00 PST

The stars of How I Met Your Mother were together in LA last night celebrating their 100th episode at the Paley Center. The men of the series stopped to pose for photos on the way in, as a Lindsay Lohan-less Jason Segel and the single again Josh Radnor hammed it up alongside Neil Patrick Harris. Alyson Hannigan and Colbie Smulders were expectant mamas at a similar panel last year, but both stars have since welcomed daughters. Their series won big at Wednesday's People's Choice Awards, though the ladies are hoping for more - Alyson revealed her ideal guest star would be Jennifer Aniston, while Colbie is pulling for Meryl Streep. As for the ongoing mystery of who actually is the mother, Jason joked, "If we keep waiting, science will catch up and there's no reason that Marshall [his character] won't be the mother."

More photos of the HIMYM cast so

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NPH Hosts and Jokes His Way Through Mad Men, 30 Rock's Big Emmy Night!

Molly — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:57:20 PDT

Neil Patrick Harris was the star of the night at yesterday's Primetime Emmy Awards. He hosted the long show and managed to keep things interesting with his constant jokes and hours of preparation looking up the tiniest, most obscure roles on all the presenters' resumes to introduce them with. Check out all the winners here. Blake Lively and Leighton Meester looked gorgeous together as they took the stage to hand out an Emmy, though their show might not ever be up for any. Jessica Lange beat out her costar Drew Barrymore but the close friends looked overjoyed and the night's cutest acceptance speech might just go to a teary Kristin Chenoweth.

Justin Timberlake was all over the awards with his multiple nominations, though he didn't take any home he did win an Emmy last weekend. Heidi Klum and Seal shared a kiss in the audience, which is a lot less stressful than where she was last year up on stage as one of the hosts. Mad Men and 30 Rock took home the awards for best Drama and Comedy series respectively, but Jon Hamm and Tina Fey didn't win Actor or Actress. While the show was up against some tough competition with Sunday Night Football, NPH did a great job keeping the awards fun, funny and livelier than they've been in years.

For lots more photos from the show including Jimmy Fallon's fall, cute Chris O'Donnell and many others just

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Images include: Alec Baldwin, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, Josh Radnor, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Tina Fey, Rob Lowe, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Jon Hamm, Toni Collette, Justin Timberlake, Amy Poehler, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Fallon, Simon Baker, Sigourney Weaver, Chandra Wilson, Kate Walsh, Hayden Panettiere, Jon Cryer, LL Cool J, Chris O'Donnell, Jon Stewart, Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Patricia Arquette, Jessica Lange, Kiefer Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, Stephen Moyer, David Boreanaz, January Jones, Jennifer Westfeldt, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Heidi Klum, Seal, Mary-Louise Parker

The Guys Get Gorgeous on the Emmys Red Carpet

PopSugar — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:52:45 PDT

Lots of attention gets lavished on the lovely ladies on the red carpet, but the guys looked great as well last night at the Emmys. From the men of Entourage to John Krasinski, Ryan Kwanten and Neil Patrick Harris - click through to see all the gentleman.

Lindsay Price and Josh Radnor Cozy Up on Emmy Red Carpet

Molly — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:19:01 PDT

Lindsay Price and Josh Radnor hit the Emmy Awards red carpet together today. She looked stunning in purple with her handsome boyfriend on her arm. Both were there to support their shows. His How I Met Your Mother costar Neil Patrick Harris is getting ready to host the big night and her Eastwick premieres Wednesday. Let us know what you think about Lindsay's look and all the other red-carpet madness with Fab and Bella's live love it or leave it polls, and stay tuned for updates from the awards all night long!

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