PopSugar

Thomas Haden Church on His Big-Screen Brother Matt Damon and Real We Bought a Zoo Story

Lindsay Miller — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:42:00 PST

Thomas Haden Church may play the role of Matt Damon's overly concerned brother in We Bought a Zoo, but we learned that the actor is actually the proud owner of a fully functioning ranch in real life! No stranger to working with animals, Church spoke at a recent press day for the movie in NYC about the unpredictability of acting alongside zebras, ostriches, and even a 900-pound bear on the set. He also talked about one of his human costars - Matt. The two share a great brotherly chemistry on screen, and Thomas said they bonded easily over their shared love of "guy stuff" like football and cowboy movies. Watch our interview and see We Bought a Zoo when it hits theaters this weekend.

Matt, Scarlett, and Elle Reveal Big Holiday Plans at Their NYC Premiere

Allie Merriam — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:20:04 PST

The stars of We Bought a Zoo gathered in NYC last night for their big premiere. Matt Damon walked the carpet with his wife Luciana close behind, as Scarlett Johansson and Elle Fanning showed off their lovely dresses. Elle picked a white Louis Vuitton number, while Scarlett went with the opposite in black Dolce & Gabbana. We caught a minute with the three stars yesterday, with Elle telling us about her holiday plans. She'd love a film camera for Christmas, and aspires to stop biting her nails in 2012! Scarlett, meanwhile, is looking to catch up on her sleep during her holidays. Matt is planning to take a break with his family, including his four daughters. Matt's latest movie, Almost Famous director Cameron Crowe's first-ever family film, hasn't earned him points with the little ones, though. He said that his kids definitely do not think he's a cool dad! Stay tuned for our report from the scene later today on PopSugar Rush.

Matt Damon Shares a Serious Man Hug on Set

Lauren Turner — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:05:00 PST

Matt Damon and Thomas Haden Church hugged it out for the cameras on the set of We Bought a Zoo in LA yesterday. He was joined by his costar after filming solo last week. The movie's female lead, Scarlett Johansson, hasn't reported to work yet, but she's apparently in town preparing for the role. Matt currently has more than one film in the works with Contagion also in production, though for now it seems like he's fully focused on the Cameron Crowe project.

Easy A: Gets High Marks in Charm

Lauren Bradshaw — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:00:00 PDT

In Easy A, our heroine Olive Pendergast says she wants her life to be like a John Hughes movie. It's a lofty aspiration considering Hughes's reputation as the teen movie master, but it's one that the film unapologetically strives for with a playful wink. You have the alluring love interest à la Sixteen Candles (played here by Penn Badgley), Ferris Bueller-inspired shower karaoke, and a witty red-headed leading lady who is seemingly oblivious to her own coolness.

Emma Stone plays Olive, a teen homebody who's mistakenly branded as the school's own Hester Prynne after lying to her BFF (Aly Michalka) about losing her virginity. When the self-righteous religious club leader (Amanda Bynes) overhears, it's not long before everyone knows about Olive's supposed fling. Enter Brandon (Cougar Town's Dan Byrd), a bullied closeted gay student. Olive pretends to have sex with him to help his reputation, and she becomes the Mother Teresa of social outcasts, offering imaginary makeouts and boob fondling to help geeks up their popularity. When her charade spirals out of control, she's left without friends. To find out why I loved it,

Never before has Stone been required to carry a film, and she handles it with aplomb. The actress is perfectly convincing as a sharp-tongued girl who rattles off pop culture references as often as SAT words. Stone handles the vulnerability of her character's moral conflict (should she help others if it means hurting herself?) with ease, and of course it helps having an excellent ensemble to back her up. As Olive's parents, Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson nearly steal the show as a goofy, loving couple who are genuinely friends with their daughter. Thomas Haden Church plays Olive's sarcastic, "cool" teacher, and Lisa Kudrow as his wife gets to be a guidance counselor who's delightfully crazy.

Thanks to its cast, the movie goes beyond your typical high school comedy, and even cutesy high school dialogue feels more endearing than irritating. It may not go down in history like the works of John Hughes, but in the company of more recent school movies, Easy A easily makes the grade.

Sandra and Bradley Are Together and All About Steve

Molly — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:00:51 PDT

Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper hit the red carpet together for their All About Steve premiere in LA last night. In the movie, Sandra's character is known for her bright red boots but last night it was all about the on trend booties to go with her colorful dress. Bradley Cooper's coming to the end of a whirlwind Summer of romance and hit movies, but he was still rolling solo despite his rumored relationship with Renee Zellweger. The two were spotted kissing in Barcelona, though most of you aren't that into hearing about any supposed love triangle with Jennifer Aniston even if he is the hottest thing at the moment.

To see more from the premiere including Thomas Haden Church just

View 25 Photos ›

Images include: Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper, Sandra Bullock

Movie Preview: All About Steve

BuzzSugar — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 13:30:56 PST

I've dragged my feet a bit in putting up this trailer for the comedy All About Steve, despite (or maybe because of) my love for Sandra Bullock. I think of Bullock as a funny actress and I enjoy so many of her comedic roles. But this? Um. I'm just not sure how I feel about it.

Bullock plays Mary Horowitz , described as "an eccentric crossword puzzler" (she's so eccentric, you guys, she never takes off her shiny red boots! That kook!) who becomes obsessed with a CNN cameraman (played by Bradley Cooper) and follows him around the world trying to convince him they belong together.

There are some funny moments in the trailer, so check it out after the jump and tell me if it looks like a cute movie after all. I can't decide. . . kinda funny? Or just cheesy-lame? All About Steve opens March 6. To watch the trailer,

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:30:16 PDT

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Smart People
I had high hopes for Smart People, mainly due to the stellar cast that includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church, and Dennis Quaid.

The story takes place near the Carnegie Mellon campus and centers around a family headed by a widowed professor (Quaid) who are all having a terrible time relating to each other and the outside world, despite how book smart they are. When the professor's free-spirited brother (Church) crashes into their lives they all start to thaw out a bit and discover how far a little humanity can go.

The movie didn't quite meet my expectations but it's certainly a worthwhile rental if you're looking for a few laughs and a genuinely talented ensemble cast.

Special features include interviews with the producers, cast and crew of the movie, commentary from the director and writer, a collection of outtakes, nine deleted scenes and exclusive footage from the premiere of Smart People at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Two more new options on DVD if you

The Wire: Season Five
I still have not totally come to grips with the fact that this final season of The Wire was overlooked by Emmy voters. The show has spent years as one of the most consistently well reviewed shows on television, though its ratings were never high. Today the final piece of the puzzle, the show's fifth season, is out on DVD, and marks the final chapter of David Simon's epic saga about Baltimore with a critical look at the media.

The season got more criticism than most (maybe because the media had to see themselves, rather than police officers or teachers, through Simon's bleak lens), but that didn't make it any less satisfying for me. The 10 episodes wrap up many of the stories Simon and series co-creator Ed Burns had been working on for years, and even at the end, nothing about The Wire is ever too neat or tidy. Once again, the lines between good guys and bad guys end up blurred, and that's a big part of what makes the show so captivating.

Special features include "The Wire Odyssey: A Retrospective of the First Four Seasons," "The Wire: The Last Word - A Documentary Exploring the Role of the Media," and six audio commentaries with Simon and members of the cast and crew.

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer
I just happened to read something yesterday about how difficult it is for studios to embrace and market smart movies that are for and about women, even after the huge success of Sex and the City. So, it's an interesting coincidence that an example of this phenomenon is out on DVD today. I hardly heard anything about this film, even though it received an 84% on RottenTomatoes and stars one of Hollywood's biggest young stars. What the heck?

Anyway, How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer is about three generations of Mexican women grappling with issues of romance and sexuality - at all stages of life. It looks compelling, thoughtful and relatable and I, for one, am stoked to see this. The movie stars America Ferrera, Elizabeth Peña, Lucy Gallardo, and Eliana Alexander and was screened in competition at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. (Yeah: 2005! Sheesh.)

Smart People: Emotionally Unintelligent

BuzzSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:30:08 PDT

Smart People has a lot of good stuff going for it: a great cast (including Ellen Page in the follow-up to her star-making Juno role), sharp and funny dialogue, and a studied look at familial dysfunction.

The movie takes place in a dreary Pittsburgh near the Carnegie Mellon campus and is centered around a family headed by a widowed professor given a name that could only go to a serious blow-hard: Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid). He is father to high school senior Vanessa (Page) and Carnegie Melon student/talented poet James. Lawrence, we quickly learn, also has an adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), who's a major slacker and/or free spirit who comes to crash with the family when he's run out of money.

The story isn't the most original idea ever scripted, but if told right, it could have been a nice little movie about learning to love and appreciate the crazy nut-heads we're all dealt in life: our relatives. Unfortunately the loving and appreciating comes far too late and as a result, we end up watching a lot of seriously miserable people roam around being miserable without much point. To see what I think rescues this film from being a total Debbie Downer,

The Wetherholds, save for Chuck, are, as the title suggests, extremely intelligent (in the "we wear tweed and get published in The New Yorker" kind of way) but completely emotionally withdrawn. It takes a new love interest (Sarah Jessica Parker) to begin to melt the ice around the professor's heart and the fun-loving uncle to get the family to reveal an ounce of humanity to the outside world. Thankfully, they're so darn smart that when they take verbal jabs at each other, they're witty and biting enough to make for some good laughs.

Page, in particular, plays her politically conservative, uptight character with the same smart-aleck timing as slacker-teen Juno MacGuff - so it's funny, but not an acting stretch. However, some of the best moments of this film come during her scenes with Church, who takes an interest in getting his stick-in-the-mud niece to loosen up a little. They smoke pot together, get drunk, and have some really wonderfully touching, offbeat moments of bonding that are the result of two fine actors bringing out the best in each other.

Quaid's character, on the other hand, is really quite repellent. He is withdrawn, shows zero interest in his students, takes his children for granted and is that guy who talks about himself for 45 minutes on a date without asking the woman a question. Why would any woman, much less an attractive, accomplished doctor, want to be with him?

Unfortunately, the professor doesn't begin to see the error of his ways until it's much too late and as a result, it's hard to care about him - and, by extension, his family. At least there is one character who found the Wetherholds' repressed, socially awkward personalities unpleasant and indulgent. As Chuck, Church mastered a facial expression during exchanges between these unhappy people that perfectly expressed what I as a viewer was thinking: "Man, and they call me the idiot?"

To see the trailer and more clips from Smart People check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Miramax Films

SJP and Ellen Page Are Bright Ladies at Smart People

Molly — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:01:00 PDT

Surprisingly, Ellen Page was the girly looking one at last night's NYC premiere of Smart People. Sarah Jessica Parker, on the other hand, went a little more rock star with her leggings, leopard print and hot pink. The cute little ladies' costars Dennis Quaid and Thomas Hayden Church were both on hand for the event. This was one of the hot movies at Sundance Film Festival and with such an adorable and talented cast, I can't wait to finally see it when it hits theaters April 11.

To see more from the premiere including Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, just

View 21 Photos ›

Images include: Beth Ostrosky, Candace Bushnell, Cynthia Nixon, Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, Ellen Page, James Lipton, Jane Fonda, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church

Source

Sundance Spotlight: Ellen Page, SJP in Smart People

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:30:19 PST

I have been sulking ever since I couldn't into the premiere of Smart People at Sundance. The cast is fantastic and the buzz surrounding it has been good. The family dramedy stars Dennis Quaid as an acerbic widowed professor with some sassy kids (including Vanessa, played by Ellen Page) whose life gets complicated when he falls in love with his former student (Sarah Jessica Parker), and his adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church) re-enters his life.

After the jump there are a couple clips from the movie, featuring Ellen Page once again making wisecracks like someone beyond her years. I'm still sad that I didn't get to a screening for this one, but the clips help a little. To check them out,