Eu aqui vejo muitas questões a vir ao de cima e vocês?

Por exemplo, porque não comprar um pacote de lenços de papel, ou lenços de seda bordados, não sei o que ela prefere e promover o assistente que lhe limpa o rabo? Pensaram bem, ela está a combater o desemprego!

Segundo, eu pessoalmente teria dificuldade em saber quanto pagar a essa pessoa. Nunca vi uma conversa do tipo: "Quanto é que pagas ao teu assoador de nariz? Epá depende do mês, na Primavera por causa das alergias leva um aumentozinho"

Por último será que esse assistente recebe, décimo terceiro mês, seguro de acidentes no trabalho e subsídio de férias? Claro que não! Pensem, quem é que queria ir de férias quando no passaporte diz: Profissão - Assoador de Narizes! Eu não queria de certeza...

Título original: Speed Racer

Gênero: Ação; Aventura; Infantil

Ano: 2008

País: EUA

Duração: 129 minutos

Língua: Inglês

Classificação: Livre

Diretor: Andy Wachowski e Larry Wachowski

Elenco: Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon

Sinopse: Na trama do filme, Speed tenta honrar a memória do irmão, Rex, morto na pista de corrida. Quando Speed recusa uma oferta milionária da Royalton Industries para ser seu piloto, ele não só enfurece o maníaco dono da companhia como descobre um segredo: algumas das maiores corridas do circuito estão sendo arranjadas. Se Speed não correr para a Royalton, a Royalton assegurará que o Mach 5 nunca mais atravesse uma linha de chegada. O único jeito de Speed salvar o negócio de sua família é se unir ao rival Corredor X e vencer The Crucible, um rali que atravessa o país e desafia a morte - a corrida que tomou a vida de seu irmão.

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- BANQUETE DO AMOR

Título original: Feast of Love

Gênero: Romance

Ano: 2007

País: EUA

Duração: 103 minutos

Língua: Inglês

Classificação: 14 anos

Diretor: Robert Benton

Elenco: Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear e Selma Blair

Sinopse: Reprisando seu eterno papel de conselheiro existencial, Morgan Freeman vive o professor de filosofia Harry Stevenson. Ele ajuda o tipo certinho (Greg Kinnear) que projeta nas suas esposas as mulheres que só ele vê, a corretora de imóvel (Radha Mitchell) que não se acerta com seu amante casado e também o casal adolescente (Alexa Davalos e Toby Hemingway) cujo amor perfeito sofre diante das imperfeições do dia-a-dia. O professor pena para ajudar cada um deles e esquece que quem realmente precisa de ajuda é si mesmo.

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- O AMOR NÃO TEM REGRAS

Título original: Leatherheads

Gênero: Romance

Ano: 2008

País: EUA

Duração: 114 minutos

Língua: Inglês

Diretor: George Clooney

Elenco: George Clooney, John Krasinski, Renée Zellweger, Stephen Root.

Sinopse: Durante a década de 20, Jimmy Dodge Connelly (George Clooney) é dono de um time de futebol americano. Ele tenta fazer com que um astro universitário desista do time para que ele tente sua sorte em uma nova liga profissional. Porém, Jimmy acaba se apaixonando pela noiva do rapaz.

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Veja mais:

Dia das mães.

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139 Minutes

Written And Directed By: Cameron Crowe

But if anybody else wants to come with me, this moment will be the ground floor of something real and fun and inspiring and true in this godforsaken business and we will do it together! Who's coming with me besides...”Flipper" here? -Jerry Maguire

Synopsis

Jerry Maguire is your typical high-powered sports agent, who has been corrupted so he can make his millions and make his clients rich.  It's a cut throat industry, and Jerry is cutthroat as they come.  He loves who and what he is, until one night he faces a battle of morality, goes on a manic tangent and writes a mission statement about changes that should be made in the company, though some may call it a memo.  Jerry's mission statement is applauded in the office, especially by an accountant Dorothy Boyd whom secretly fancies him.  Bob Sugar, his boss fires him and Jerry rushes to take as many clients with him as he can.  They all decline, save Rod Tidwell, an ego maniac wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals.  When Jerry leaves the office he asked his fellow colleagues and underlings to join him on his way to start his own business.  Only Dorothy follows, and the people he thought were his friends watch him walk out the door.  Jerry's life seems to be falling apart, or is it a new beginning?

Review

Cameron Crowe structures the entire film around the relationships of his three main characters, and makes them connect with each other in a witty, and palpable way.  The change that Jerry goes through is heeded by the influence of Rod and Dorothy, but his own behavior is reflected in changes in them as well.  The film is obviously based on a romantic theme but balanced perfectly with a comedic tone.  By it's end, it gives you a genuinely satisfied feeling.

Jerry Maguire has a large appeal because it's so versatile.  The romance is not over the top, the comedy borders slap stick but never crosses that line, and the dramtic performances are there, but the level of sweetness and fun never extinguishes completely.  It's a film that balances complex character structures, explores different film genres together as one, and also entertains on a level that just about anyone could connect with.  It was undoubtably one of the best films of 1996.

Cast

• Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire
• Renee Zellweger as Dorothy Boyd
• Cuba Gooding Jr. as Rod TIdwell
• Regina King as Marcee Tidwell
• Jonathan Lipnicki as Ray Boyd
• Jay Mohr as Bob Sugar
• Kelly Preston as Avery Bishop
• Bonnie Hunt as Laurel
• Jerry O'Connell as Frank Cushman

Tom Cruise took a break from his action hero status and came back to play a role that was versatile in nature.  A tough guy that metamorphoses into a morally right man, who still hasn't lost the fire to succeed in his field.  The complexity and confusion of Jerry, and the fact that he isn't always even likable, was a risky but smart choice for Cruise.  The role of Dorothy Boyd opened the door to a new star, Renee Zellweger, who not only stole scenes with her infectious sweetness, but her ability to perform dramatically as a single mom, looking for inspiration and direction in her life.  Cuba Gooding Jr. burst onto the screen with scene stealing comic timing and an overwhelming likability, even though his character on the surface seemed to be no more than an arrogant jock.

Ratings And Suggestions

Jerry Maguire is about finding yourself and finding love.  Not just love in a relationship, but a passion and joy for existing and doing what you are inspired to be.  It's about being able to take pride in who you are, and being able to persevere over adversity and being able to be successful in a corrupt system, and still chasing your dream.  This is a motion picture that is absolutely infectious.  I adore Jerry Maguire, and so will you.  Four out of four stars.

Nicole Richie

Hilary Duff

Renee Zellweger

Avril Lavigne

Cameron Diaz

Jennifer Lopez

Jessica Alba

Pamela Anderson

Lisa Kurdow

Kim Kardashian

Ashley Tisdale

Tyra Banks

Reality is cruel.

While she's never produced anything for television before, Zellweger served as an executive producer on her 2006 film Miss Potter. The TV movie's premiere is set for October, National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Living Proof is a significant part of the cable network's annual Stop Breast Cancer for Life campaign.

Posted at TV squad.com May 2nd 2008 7:05PM by Erin Martell

Gossip To Go

According to Celebrity Journalist, Flo Anthony

   THIS IS GOSSIP TO GO WITH FLO. IT COMES AS NO SURPRISE THAT CSI’S GARY DOURDAN WAS BUSTED IN PALM SPRINGS MONDAY ON SUSPICION OF POSSESSING HEROIN, COCIANE, ECSTASY AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. LAW ENFORCEMENT SOURCES SAY THE ACTOR WAS ASLEEP IN HIS CAR AT 5:21 AM WHEN THEY APPROACHED THE VEHICLE AND MADE THE BUST. DOURDAN WAS TAKEN TO PALM SPRINGS JAIL WHERE HE POSTED $5,000 AND BAILED OUT. LAST WEEK DOURDAN TOLD REPORTERS THAT HE QUIT CSI – BUT HE WAS FIRED DUE TO DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE. SHOW INSIDERS INSIST THAT STUDIO BRASS GAVE HIM THE BOOT AFTER  WEEKS OF TENSION ON THE SET. THE 43 YEAR OLD ACTOR HAS CONFESSED IN INTERVIEWS TO ‘RECKLESS PERIODS” WHEN HE ABUSED DRUGS AND ALCOHOL, BUT CLAIMS HE QUIT COLD TURKEY IN HIS 20S……..

      ANGELA BASSETT WILL JOIN THE CAST OF ‘ER” FOR ITS 15^TH AND FINAL SEASON. ANGELA, WHO ARRIVES IN THE SEASON’S SECOND EPISODE, WILL PLAY A DOCTOR WHO HAS SPENT THE LAST FEW YEARS IN INDONESIA, WORKING ON TSUNAMI RELIEF. HER ARRIVAL AT COUNTY GENERAL IS INTENDED TO SHAKE THINGS UP. SAYS ‘ER” EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JOHN WELLS: “ANGELA IS A WONDEFULLY TALENTED ACTRESS WHOM I’VE LONG HOPED TO WORK WITH.” THIS IS ANGELA’S FIRST TIME AS A SERIES REGULAR, THOUGH SHE HAS GUEST-STARRED ON SHOWS SUCH AS “ALIAS” AND ‘THIRTYSOMETHING.” ANGELA WILL JOIN ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER NOAH WYLE, WHO WILL REPRISE THE ROLE AS DR. JOHN CARTER FOR AT LEAST FOUR OF THE FINAL 19 EPISODES……….

      THOUGH HER FILM ROLES KEEP HER ON THE MOVE, RENEE ZELLWEGER SAYS SHE CAN’T HELP FIXING UP EVEN HER TEMPORARY HOMES. “I JUST LOVE HOME DEPOT,” RENEE , WHOSE FATHER TAUGHT HER HOW TO LAY FLOORBOARDS AND GROUT TILE, TOLD W MAGAZINE. SHE CONTINUED: ‘DURING JERRY MAGUIRE, I LIVED IN THIS TINY LITTLE APARTMENT – WHICH I REFERRED TO AS ‘THE CRACK APARTMENT – I GOT IN THERE AND REDID THE WHOLE PLACE WHILE WE WERE MAKING THE MOVIE.”…….

      AS PROMISED, T.I. RELEASED THE BRAND NEW BANGER ‘NO MATTER WHAT.” IN THE TRACK, REMINISCENT OF T.I.  BACK IN THE DAYS, TIP RAPS: ‘I AIN’T RUN/I AIN’T SCARED…..FACING ALL KINDA TIME/BUT SMILE LIKE I’M FINE.” ON THE SONG, IT APPEARS T.I. IS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST SHAWTY LO, WHO’S BEEN ON HIS OWN DEFAMATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE KING, QUESTIONING HIS CREDIBILITY ON THE STREETS OF BANKHEAD.” THIS HAS BEEN FLO ANTHONY WITH GOSSIP TO GO.  

Mas, ao sair de casa sem maquiagem (e, em alguns casos, sem pentear o cabelo ou passar a roupa), as celebridades vêm provar: elas são gente como a gente.

Que tal todas essas moças sem maquiagem?

Rosanna Arquette

Renee Zellweger

Alicia Silverstone

Gisele Bündchen

Cher

Christina Ricci

Courtney Love

Drew Barrymore

Helen Hunt

Kelly Osbourne

Jessica Biel

Jodie Foster

Oprah Winfrey

Viu? A realidade também é dura para as celebridades.

Fonte: Ig Gente

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Fazit:
Die Holländer bringen einfach die am besten zusammengestellten Boxen auf den Markt und die Romantic Comedy Box stellt mit Nichten eine Ausnahme dessen dar. Auch optisch ist sie nicht zu verachten und mit einem Kaufpreis von 9,99€ habe ich hier definitiv ein Megaschnäppchen gemacht. :) (Inzwischen kostet sie wieder 36€, Stand: 28.04.08 ) :P

Hier geht's zu KiNGUs Notting Hill-Review

First up, Leatherheads.

Now before we begin this, I have to confess something: I love George Clooney.  Yep, I said it and I meant it.  And I've loved the guy for a good years now.  See it was 10 years ago when he made Out of Sight, the best Elmore Leonard adaptation there is (and he happens to be my favorite author so it should all make sense), and subsequently a movie that, depending on my mood, happens to be my favorite film of all time. 

So what is it about Clooney that I love so much?  Well other than starring in my favorite movie of all time (depending on when you ask), there was an interview he did once around the time Three Kings came out.  He said that after making Batman & Robin his agent said he was rich enough to never have to work again.  So with that in mind he would only do movies and projects he really believed in, and work with people he really wanted to work with.  And for the most part I think he's stuck with that. 

Or maybe that it's he reminds me of Cary Grant, my favorite classic movie actor.  I don't know.  It's one of those or all of those.

So here we come to Leatherheads which not only does Clooney star in, but he also directed.  Hense he must really believe in this!

Leatherheads is a would-be screwball comedy that takes place in 1925 in Duluth, MN (though the scene does shift to other towns like Chicago) and revolves around the world of professional football.  At the time it was great and respectable to play college football, but no one cared about pro football.

Clooney is Dodge Connolley, (Dodge is a great screwball comedy name!) the leader of his team of misfits, the Duluth Bulldogs.  The Bulldogs play down and dirty and cheat to win not necessarily for winning sake, but certainly for the fun of cheating, a quality I can certainly respect.

The Bulldogs fold up shop, like many other teams of the day, but ol Dodge has a grand idea to get his team, and professional foobtall on the map.  The idea is to get war hero and college football phenom Carter 'The Bullet' Rutherford (John Krasinski) to play for the Bulldogs.  Ya see, Carter got an entire platoon of German soldiers to surrender in The Great War, so people hound him for autographs wherever he goes.

Once Carter is in the fold, you can add in the dame, here played by Renee Zellweger, as the fast talking newspaper reporter out to expose Carter as a fraud. 

Okay that's enough plot for now.  Here's the problem(s) that I had with Leatherheads.  On paper it's a great idea, and I'm sure the screenplay reads funnier that the finished product.  But somewhere along the line screwball came out of the comedy and what you are left with is a basic period romantic comedy that seems fairly straightforward.  Clooney is good as Dodge but the character needed to be a bit more like Paul Newman in Slap Shot for this movie to really cook.  Sure Dodge is kind of a weasel, but he needed to be more of one.  Krasinski is fine as Carter, but his character seems to get lost in the shuffle really and by the end I wasn't sure if I should be rooting for him or against him.  Worst of the lot here is Zellweger.  Again this casting choice must have seemed grand on paper but something about her here is off.  Her character should be something along the lines of Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hudsucker Proxy and instead it just seems like she's in a movie.  She's a fast talking dame alright, just not fast enough.

Leatherheads does have its good points and the occaisional laugh, but It's hard for me to reccommend a film based on it being polite.

Renee Zellweger recently said that she appreciates people who are mean because they are supposedly the "real" people.  Bull! They are just the ones with the least amount of sleep!

"I know that sounds so crazy, but I really cherish it when someone is mean, because they're just having a bad day and they don't recognize that you know Tom Cruise, and so they don't alter their behavior in any way. I love it. I love it when the stewardess is just nasty. I just cringe when she (the stewardess) comes back and apologizes because she didn't realize."

I can understand that as an actress and celebrity, you'd like to blend in with the crowd and receive no special treatment, but going as far as saying you'd rather people be nasty to you is just over the top.

Spesso le motivazioni nascono proprio dal lavoro. La persona ormai ex è un collega di ufficio oppure una persona che abbiamo incontrato per un progetto di lavoro. Se il rapporto d'amore naufraga ciò non significa che dobbiamo cambiare anche mestiere. Il mondo, quello lavorativo, è piccolo e alla fine ci si ritrova gomito a gomito con chi due mesi prima avevamo lasciato con un freddo sms.

In questa strana situazione ci si possono trovare anche star del cinema. E in questi giorni, infatti, potete averne la conferma con l'uscita nelle sale del film "In amore niente regole" dove è riunita per motivi di lavoro l'ex coppia George Clooney e Renée Zellweger.

E voi ci lavorereste con il vostro ex?

No, I have not gone mad (well not really).

She says that being put in her place, especially but sh*tty service people makes her feel more down to earth.

"I know that sounds so crazy, but I really cherish it when someone is mean, because they're just having a bad day and they don't recognize that you know TOM CRUISE, and so they don't alter their behaviour in any way. I love it. I love it when the stewardess is just nasty. I just cringe when she (the stewardess) comes back and apologizes because she didn't realize."

Story courtesy of SF Gate

Written By - TheLostGirl ONLY for TheLostGirl’s Blog website - Accept no imitators. http://iamthelostgirl.wordpress.com

Please let me know if you are reading this post ANYWHERE other than http://iamthelostgirl.wordpress.com. I, TheLostGirl, have NOT given permission for my post to be reproduced elsewhere. Anyone else who has this post up has likely pilfered it - cheeky bugger! You deserve better than stolen content. Read the real blog at my site – accept no imitators.

[04/04 a 06/04/08]

Quebrando a Banca permance na liderança, Superhero Movie cai fora do Top 05, e novo filme de George Cooney (na função de diretor) estréia em 3º lugar...

1º Quebrando a Banca - Mantendo-se no topo do top 05 da semana, a trama (estrelada por Kate Bosworth - Superman Returns e dirigida por Robert Luketic - A Sogra) sobre um grupo de estudantes que se tornam experts em contagens de cartas com o intuito de “quebrar a banca” dos cassinos da cidade faturou mais US$ 15,33 milhões.

2º Nim's Island - A aventura liderada por Jodie Foster - Plano de Vôo (Abigail Breslin - Pequena Miss Sunshine e Gerard Butler - 300 também estão no elenco) ficou em 2º lugar com US$ 13,21 milhões.

3º Leatherheads - O terceiro trabalho de George Clooney (Boa Noite, Boa Sorte) na cadeira de diretor rendeu uma bilheteria rasoável de US$ 12,68 milhões. Clooney estrela o filme ao lado de Renée Zellweger (Chicago).

4º Horton e o Mundo dos Quem - Provando por a+b que animação é retorno financeiro praticamente certo, a aventura infantil (dublada por Jim Carrey e Steve Carrel) fez mais US$ 9,11 milhões, e já ultrapassa o valor total de US$ 130 milhões.

5º The Ruins - Adaptação ao cinema do livro de Scott Smith ficou com o último lugar, arrecadando US$ 8,03 milhões.

[11/04 a 13/04/08]

A Morte Convida Para Dançar desbanca os experts em jogo de cassino de Quebrando a Banca, e novo filme de Keanu Reeves estréia em 2º lugar...

1º A Morte Convida Para Dançar - O suspense teen volta as telas, e voltou em "alta", pelo menos em relação a bilheteria. O filme (estrelado por Brittany Snow - Hairspray: Em Busca da Fama) conseguiu fazer US$ 20,80 milhões. 

2º Os Reis da Rua - Dirigido por David Ayer (que foi roteirista do filme S.W.A.T.) e estrelado por Keanu Reeves (A Casa do Lago), o filme policial não foi páreo para os adolescentes em perigo de A Morte Convida Para Dançar, e ocupou o 2º lugar com US$ 12,46 milhões.

3º Quebrando a Banca - Caindo 2 posições em relação a semana passada, a trama envolvendo estudantes com a pretensão de "quebrar a banca" dos cassinos ainda conseguiu mais US$ 10,47 milhões.

4º Nim's Island - Também caindo 2 posições em relação a semana passada, a aventura com Jodie Foster continua no top 05, e nesta semana fez mais US$ 9,1 milhões.

5º Leatherheads - George Clooney (Boa Noite, Boa Sorte) e Renée Zellweger (Chicago) em trama da década de 20 ficaram com o 5º lugar, somando mais US$ 3,27 milhões.

[18/04 a 20/04/08]

Duelo de titãs em The Forbidden Kingdom lidera o Top 05, e Kristen Bell estréia em 2º lugar com a comédia Forgetting Sarah Marshall...

1º The Forbidden Kingdom - O encontro que promove o combate entre dois grandes mestres nas artes marciais (Jackie Chan vs. Jet Lee) estreou liderando o top 05 (tirando A Morte Convida Para Dançar da liderança) com US$ 21,40 milhões.

2º Forgetting Sarah Marshall - A nova comédia do diretor Judd Apatow (Superbad) estrelada por Jason Segel e Kristen Bell (da série Verônica Mars) estreou com medalha de prata, e faturou US$ 17,72 milhões.

3º A Morte Convida Para Dançar - Provando que o suspense teen não está esquecido (apesar do gênero já estar bastante gasto, a galera quando quer escrever algo legal, se esforça e consegue!), Britanny Snow e sua turma que lutam pelas próprias vidas fugindo de um psicopata, permanecem por mais uma semana no top 05, e faturam mais US$ 8,67 milhões.

4º 88 Minutos - O "novo" filme (bom, novo não, né? porque há vários anos o filme já existe em dvd no Brasil, agora, porque "relaçaram" ou algo assim, não sei responder... :S) de Al Pacino (que anda sendo muito mal criticado pelos "críticos especializados") conseguiu arrecadar US$ 6,95 milhões.

5º Nim's Island - Segurando a última vaga no top 05, a aventura estrelada por Jodie Foster conseguiu mais US$ 5,68 milhões.

An IMDB "joint ventures" search reveals that Hollywood powerhouses Renée Zellweger and George Clooney have never once joined forces in a motion picture. This gross error in Hollywood casting history has finally been rectified with the modestly hilarious prohibition-era football comedy Leatherheads.

Which two actors can be so simultaneously suave and screwball? With lightning-quick repartee and chemistry rivaling the greats, Zellweger and Clooney elevate Leatherheads from silly to sizzling. Sure, the adorable John Krasinski does his darndest to melt your heart at every turn, and the reliable Stephen Root is at his Miltony-est--but it's the film's two A-listers who make the thing worth watching, even for this football-hating critic.

Once upon a time, college football ruled the world, and professional football was a dying business. When his financially failing professional team goes bankrupt, Dodge Connelly (Clooney) hatches a plan to recruit football's only celebrity, a war-hero-turned-college-quarterback (Krasinski), to play for the defunct team. The plot particulars are a little bit fuzzy and not entirely compelling, but who needs plot when you've got this kind of star power?

Unfortunately, the moment either Clooney or Zellweger saunters and/or flounces offscreen, the lack of direction and rambling pace become apparent. The birth pangs of a sport that is now a ubiquitous nationwide obsession are sort of interesting to watch, but the action sequences themselves left me glancing at my watch, wondering when the movie would quit pretending to be a historical biopic and get back to being funny.

And funny it is, when the film plays to its strengths. Often touted as the heir to Cary Grant, Clooney proves himself worthy of the mantle (working the smirk/raised eyebrow combo like a champ), while Zellweger's sassy reporter Lexie Littleton more than holds her own against the onslaught of charm that is George Clooney.

Leatherheads is fluff--ridiculous, zany, happy fluff--and the film's shining moments occur when it lets the actors be their fluffy selves, rather than attempting to be a legitimate sports drama. If today's NFL was this much fun, maybe you'd catch me in front of the TV on a few more Monday nights come football season. George Clooney for MVP, anyone?

Leatherheads stars George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski and Stephen Root.

Click here for showtimes in Austin, Texas.

Mi domando sempre più spesso se i titoli italiani siano semplicemente sbagliati o cerchino di ingannare il pubblico. Il titolo originale è Leatherheads, letteralmente teste-di-cuoio, che si riferisce ai caschetti in pelle portati dai giocatori in locandina.

Ma visto che il pubblico italiano del football degli anni '20 negli States non sa cosa farsene e ancora più probabilmente non si sarebbero filato il film, i produttori hanno cambiato titolo e locandina.

Di amore ce n'é poco, di regole anche troppe :D

Ma almeno non è noioso come Ogni maledetta domenica :D Penso sia l'unico film con cui ho dormito in sala. :D

Tre personaggi si scontrano nel film:

• Jimmy 'Dodge' Connelly (George Clooney)
• Lixie Littleton (Renée Zellweger)
• Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski)

Ognuno di loro è nel ruolo sbagliato.

• Dodge è un attempato giocatore di football professionistico, ma sarebbe più indicato se lasciasse lo spazio ai giovani e si dedicasse al giornalismo sportivo.
• Lixie è una giornalista trentenne zitella del Tribune che tenta di scalare la catena di comando del suo giornale. Invece di inseguire un possibile scandalo, dovrebbe pensare a comprarsi degli occhiali spessi per la miopia. Metà del film lo passa a strizzare gli occhi. :D
• Carter è un fortunato eroe di guerra con un piccolo segreto che tutti nel film conoscono e viene tirato di forza nel football professionistico anche se lui avesse voluto diventare un avvocato mediocre piuttosto di un diavolo di giocatore.

La trama generale è che al mondo ci impongono delle regole: o giochi accettandole o non giochi. Ma che gusto c'é a giocare se non si infrange qualche regola? :P Valutazione finale: un film che mischia filmico con profilmico. Racconta una storia ambientata nel primo dopoguerra usando un linguaggio cinematografico, regia e montaggio, dell'epoca.

Esempi sono le scazzottate: si sa la motivazione che la fa iniziare, stacca, episodi a graffa della lotta, stacca, si trova un motivo per smettere, stacca, tutti stanno bevendo e cantando ubriachi.

Dialoghi serrati e ostinatamente brillanti, tipici degli anni '20, sono intervallati da sketch comici rapidissimi e assurdi.

Perfetta equazione! Parla come mangi = Gira il film come cosa vedi :D ]]> http://vivreboutique.wordpress.com/?p=471 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:47:10 +0000 v http://vivreboutique.wordpress.com/?p=471 We simply had to share this one. Tracy Ullman is a genius.

Director George Clooney’s “Leatherheads,” a sports comedy circa 1925, amuses in a rote fashion that manages to be consistently convivial without offering a novel nuance or saying anything of great consequence. It’s a testament to what technically skilled filmmaking can accomplish even if the magic of inspiration doesn’t appear on its roster.

Such razzle can dazzle you a bit. The movie becomes the underdog. Human nature dictates that something better might await just beyond the next frame. While such optimism is an attribute far more important to great explorers than filmgoers, nobody’s going to laugh at you for hanging in there. It’s not like you’re saying the screen is round.

But alas, even with George Clooney’s movie star presence as aging pro football star Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly and Renee Zellweger’s swell effervescence as news reporter Lexie Littleton, no amount of hope can make “Leatherheads” a bona fide winner. And yet, good film or bad, it’d seem unsportsmanlike not to root for the Duluth Bulldogs.

That’s Dodge’s team, a motley crew of gridiron reprobates who’d rather knock heads with fellow outcasts on Sunday than toil all week in the mines and fields. They are the perfect bottom curs if ever there were any. But what really entices us to their chances is Clooney’s role as their tacitly acknowledged alpha leader. You see, Dodge has flair.

In fact, it’s his brainstorm that sets in motion the story by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly. Back on their own two-yard-line financially, and no equivalent of the punt at their disposal, it looks like it’s the showers for Duluth. Several other so-called pro teams have already folded. And then a great notion strikes. Reinvent. Add style. Bring in a war hero.

There just so happens to be one on hand, of late glomming ink on all the front pages. Stepping right out of central casting, John Krasinki’s Carter Rutherford is male panache, 1920s style. Every schoolboy and his older sister can recite the tales of his bravery in the Argonne. Now attending Princeton, the tall, handsome lad is wowing ‘em on the gridiron.

Credit Dodge for a 6th sense that comes of being the real deal, if not the touted hero. He’s a survivor. A bit long of tooth at forty-five, but nonetheless still suiting up weekly, he figures Carter isn’t going to be happy when it comes time to relinquish the pedestal college football has afforded. He just might be the guy to legitimize the pro game.

Of course there’s a rub. A disgruntled vet who served with our golden boy is telling another version of the war story. And when he brings it to the attention of the editor at the Chicago Tribune, top reporter Lexie Littleton is handed the assignment: See if it’s all a myth and, if so, debunk it. Which means the gal will be doing the Mata Hari thing.

Under the pretext that she’s writing a piece about this great watershed in professional football, spunky, sexy and sassy Lexie is soon an embedded, so to speak, correspondent with the Bulldogs. In usual madcap comedy form, it only follows that both Carter and Dodge will be falling for the lass. Before long, the typically tangled web is woven.

Adding to the complications, the Feds want in on the action just in case this renaissance thing works. They install government wonk Pete Harkin (Peter Gerety) as commissioner in charge of regulating the sport. Uh oh…rules. Among other flies in the ointment with a vested interest there’s Carter’s handler, CC Frazier (Jonathan Pryce). The man is shady.

All these plot pieces in place, no real forward motion is achieved. Indeed, the costumes and award-worthy art direction do a fairly nice job of evoking the era. But while the verbal thrust and parry of the love triangle crackles with perfunctory sarcasm, you can almost imagine a laugh track refrain complementing it. There is no soul, no commitment.

The result is a stream of good-natured banter that, five years hence, playing on TV while you iron the laundry, will make for pleasant enough background noise. Problem is, Mr. Clooney had no great script. But he did have a potentially intriguing subject. Instead of running the same, tired old play, some scrambling in the backfield was in order.

A winning look at the nascency of pro football that happens to be funny would have been far preferable to a formulaic farce that just happens to be about pro football. But, in his position of movie quarterback, Clooney fails to read that signal and “Leatherheads” gets penalized many yards at the box office for possessing a mediocre game plan.

“Leatherheads,” rated PG-13, is a Universal Pictures release directed by George Clooney and stars George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski. Running time: 114 minutes

There are no delusions of grandeur here. No Oscars will be won and no box office records broken. But that is fine–good even–because Leatherheads knows exactly what it is up to. George Clooney stars in and directs this movie that like the un-rule-encumbered prohibition era game of pro football they play must have been just for fun.

Clooney plays Dodge Connelly, team captain of the sorry Duluth Bulldogs. Although he is just the QB, he fills the role of manager, promoter, and coach–as usual Clooney is the only suave, brainy charmer in a crowd of ignoramuses. In 1925 pro football is in such a sorry state that bankruptcy threatens to destroy the Bulldogs. The only thing that can save the organization is war hero and college football phenomena Carter ‘The Bullet’ Rutherford (John Krasinski). Trouble is just around the corner though, because feisty crack reporter Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) is hot on the trail of what looks like a blemish in Rutherford’s record.

Honestly the plot and characters are a little bit generic, but it is not exactly predictable, and they are still feisty and endearing. The joy is in the execution. The costumes and Randy Newman’s score alone are worth the ticket price, not to mention all the snappy dialogue. This movie is a pure homage to the comedies of 1930s Hollywood. Much of the pleasure comes from watching Clooney and Zellweger play off each other–they are the perfect actors for these roles–had they been working in 1937 they could have been as famous as they are today.

Clooney, who has now directed three worthwhile films including Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Good Night, and Good Luck, understands something about storytelling that I think a lot of Hollywood is missing in 2008. There is a certain place where good movies can live that is neither pandering to the masses or tackling a polarizing issue. Where there is no agenda, and no target demographic. Somewhere between Remember the Titans and Rudy, Charlie Chaplain and The Three Stooges there could be a comedy that just is. Leatherheads is that movie. Some have called it a critique of the current professional sports situation, and it certainly could be read that way, but much more central to the film is simply the joy of telling a story in a style that we don’t see much of any more.

In this capacity I think Clooney and Leatherheads owe as much to the Coen brothers as they do the films of the 1930s. The Coens value character, dialogue, localities, film history, and simply telling stories above all else. Clooney seems to be setting himself up as their apprentice, having worked with them on O Brother Where Art Thou?, Intolerable Cruelty, and the forthcoming Burn After Reading. Fans of Clooney and the Coens will rejoice to hear that for his next project Clooney is rumored to be directing a Coen script. May their careers be long and prolific. 

But my other friends are far more neurotic about be big 3-0. My friend R and I were debating the reasons why in a restaurant the other week. She and I, whilst quite different in our personalities are very much single and okay-with-it-thankyou-very -much. And we are both happy about turning 30. Its the married ones who apparently, are not.

We reckoned the reason why was because these other girls were definatley girls with a 'PLAN'. You know, the ones who graduate from university wanting to be married by the time they were 25, first kid by the time they are 30 (and doing well in their chosen career) etc etc. I, dear reader, do NOT have a 'PLAN' and neither does R, and I think that we are actually a lot more happier because of our free wheeling attitude to life.

R has always danced to her own tune; I myself tried co-habitation for six months and it ended very badly indeed. I was in love with my partner, but that love was no compensation for having to share my living space with him and compromise the way I wanted to live my life. Suddenly my everyday foibles were criticised at every turn, and every single thing I did had to come up for comment or compromise. The closest thing it felt like was like having a child, but some kind of fully grown man-child who it took superhuman amounts of effort to please. I gave up very quickly, and love left the building, screaming blue murder.

I was starting to think it was just me (and R) but then I read an interview with Renee Zellweger, (by accident as these things aren't really my scene) where she actually appeared to be talking sense. I quote:

Motherhood has never been an ambition. I don’t think like that,” she insists. “I never have expectations like ‘when I’m 19 I’m going to do this, and by the time I’ve hit 25 I’m going to do that’. I just take things as they come, each day at a time, and if things happen, all well and good. I just want to be independent and be able to take care of myself. Anything else is just gravy.

You know, I really do hope she isn't just paying lip service because it seems the woman is taking sense, and I understand exactly where she's coming from. What ever happened to just taking what life throws at us and enjoying the results? Where did this god awful 'planning' come from? Surely that takes the excitement out of life?

I remember sitting on the sofa with my ex one day and thinking "Oh my god, this. is. it." I could see my life stretching ahead of me, in the same routine with the same compromises til the day I died, and my heart and stomach sank to my shoes. I loved the man, but I certainly didn't love being tied down by him and the expectations that our relationship generated. When it finally ended, and I had my flat to myself and my LIFE BACK I felt like I'd been liberated. I certainly didn't plan for that to happen; I just accepted that sometimes life veers from the expected path and that is a good thing, that is what makes us feel alive.