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Coming Soon: The Beaver starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster & Anton Yelchin

Posted on December 14, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Beaver starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster & Anton Yelchin. Directed by Jodie Foster. Image via shockya.com

The Beaver is Mel Gibson & Jodie Foster’s latest collaboration. The two met and became good friends while they were shooting Maverick together in 1994. Maverick is a western comedy/adventure starring Foster and Gibson. It was directed by Richard Donner.

The Beaver was written by Kyle Killen & directed by Jodie Foster. Jodie Foster co-stars alongside Gibson. The cast also features the young and talented Anton Yelchin, who performed brilliantly both on Charlie Bartlett and Fierce People.

The Story

Walter Black (Mel Gibson) has become increasingly detached and depressed. His wife Meredith (Jodie Foster) feels like she has no choice but to take their two kids Porter (Anton Yelchin) & Henry (Riley Thomas Stewart) and leave. Walter, however, finds a weird solution. He takes a beaver hand-puppet and starts using it to communicate, both in his personal and professional life. This further infuriates his son Porter but this just might be a working method for the old Walter coming back…

The Verdict

Well, I have to see the movie first. But I will definitely see it. Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster are two of my favorite actors. And I try to give movies about depression a chance because they might end up being very hopeful and/or uplifting, in total contrast to the theme. Because depression is something that can happen to anyone and anytime and well, who better than Mel to portray it since he is not only a great actor but also has gone through depression himself. He was diagnosed with manic-depression and he’s still struggling to keep it under control.

Of course it might end up being a bad movie, but so far it looks promising.

You can watch the trailer here.

Also on Jodie Foster:

Nim’s Island starring Gerard Butler, Jodie Foster & Abigail Breslin

Sommersby starring Richard Gere, Jodie Foster and Bill Pullman

Also on Mel Gibson and His Movies

Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson

MEL GIBSON TOP 10: The movies that prove he can act, direct and entertain better than anyone

All About Mel: A Fun Yet Fair Mel Gibson Tribute

8 Reasons to Love Braveheart- Braveheart Movie Review

MEL GIBSON IS A DAD. AGAIN!!!

Mel Gibson: what in the world happened to you?

Favorite Revenge Movies

A Movie Poll with 10 Fun Questions Featuring Mel Gibson, James Cameron, Heath Ledger and More

11 Bad Celebrity Behaviors – Inspired by Mel Gibson

11 Great Mel Gibson Films You Should Consider Watching

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Posted on December 13, 2010 Written by ripitup

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

John Nash (Russell Crowe) is a brilliant mathematician who gets into Princeton on a prestigious degree. Obsessively working on a big and original idea for his doctorate thesis, he is often mocked by his peers due to his highly anti-social and odd behavior. His only real friend turns out to be his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany).

After a while, a night out with friends gives him the perfect idea and he gets the credit and success he deserves. Years later, he is working with his Princeton friends, Sol (Adam Goldberg) and Bender (Anthony Rapp) at MIT. There he meets a beautiful student named Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and they start dating. However, Nash has already accepted a secret government assignment as a code-breaker, recruited by a man named William Parcher (Ed Harris) and his assignments start getting riskier after marrying Alicia. But is John’s paranoia justified?

As Nash is admitted to a mental hospital under the authority of Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer), both Nash and Alicia are about to face a shocking revelation…

A Beautiful Mind is based on the life of the mathematician John Nash, and the biographical book of the same name. Directed by Ron Howard in 2001, A Beautiful Mind is one of those rare movies where you agree that it deserved all the Oscars and Oscar nominations it received. And I definitely wish Crowe had won Best Actor. It was one of the most humane, authentic and touching performances I have ever seen on screen.

The movie won 4 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly), Best Director (Ron Howard), Best Film (Ron Howard & Brian Grazer) and Best Adapted Screenplay ( Akiva Goldsman). The nominations were Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Editing, Best Makeup and Best Music (James Horner). I also wish the movie had gotten the best makeup academy award – especially for what they have done with Russell Crowe.

You see, I have never been a Guy Ritchie or Christopher Nolan or Quentin Tarantino fan. Sure there have been Nolan movies that I enjoyed but as I realized once more, I will take a Ron Howard movie any day. Ron has directed Apollo 13, Ransom, Far and Away, The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella and more. Yeah, I guess I am more into old-fashioned story-telling with great actors, lovely music and an interesting story than cult appeal.

Highly recommended.

Fun Note: Co-stars Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly got married in 2003 and they have a child together.

Other Posts on Russell Crowe & his movies

A Good Year starring Russell Crowe & Marion Cotillard

Other Posts on Jennifer Connelly & her movies

Coming Soon:The Dilemma starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin James, Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum

Jennifer Connelly Trivia: 14 Facts About Actress Jennifer Connelly

Dark City

Requiem for a Dream

He is just not that into you

Of Love and Shadows

6 Hollywood Couples: Gorgeous, Glamorous and Happy Together

Other Paul Bettany Movies & Posts

The Tourist starring Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie & Paul Bettany

Firewall starring Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen and Paul Bettany

6 Hollywood Couples: Gorgeous, Glamorous and Happy Together

Other Ed Harris Movies

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris & Diane Kruger

Swing Shift starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell & Ed Harris

Wicker Park starring Josh Hartnett, Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne & Matthew Lillard

Posted on December 9, 2010 Written by ripitup

Wicker Park starring Josh Hartnett, Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne & Matthew Lillard

Plot

Matthew (Josh Hartnett) has a promising career in advertising and a beautiful girlfriend named Rebecca (Jessica Paré). However he is unsure about proposing, as deep down, he has never gotten over the love of his life, Lisa (Diane Kruger). She has left him without saying anything 2 years ago. When he thinks he saw her at a restaurant, he decides to ditch his business trip and look for her. The clues take him to a hotel and then an apartment. There he gets a real surprise, because the woman living there isn’t his Lisa but a brunette who claims that her name is Lisa (Rose Byrne). She also happens to be wearing Lisa’s clothes and shoes…

Matt has also run into his old friend Luke (Matthew Lillard) who runs a shoe shop and knows what Lisa meant to him. But he thinks that Matt’s quest for Lisa is crazy and he is more concerned with his love life. Despite pretending to be a player, he is actually a nice and decent guy with a huge crush on Alex, a theater actress. Alex’s behavior is highly unpredictable for reasons Luke might never find out. Alex can be the key to everything mysterious about Lisa’s disappearance. But will Matt be able to find out?

Wicker Park is a really solid mystery/romance. It is just different. It is very emotional and revolves around the 4 characters, especially Matthew, Alex and Lisa. It is a gripping drama romance with some thriller-like elements and its characters are just deliciously flawed. All of the main characters make bad choices, act stupidly and/or naively and/or selfishly. They also have redeeming qualities that make us feel for them. The music is really good (feat. Stereophonics, Coldplay, The White Stripes and more). I’d say that it is one of those rare romance movies where cynics and romantics will both have a good time.

The bad things? Oh, the characters are sometimes so monumentally stupid that it makes you want to smack them. And there is this whole string of (bad) coincidences that don’t always feel natural. And Matt is the right guy for only Lisa. For any other girl, he is one of the worst choices. So this is not a romance film where I will just talk about how unrealistically awesome the protagonist is. Because he is a very real character. So yes, the movie has its flaws but character development and a decent dose of realism are definitely not among them.

Background

Yes, the script is not technically original as It is based on the 1996 French film L’ Appartment starring Star Romane Bohringer, Vincent Cassel, Jean-Philippe Écoffey and Monica Belluci. It was written & directed by Gilles Mimount.

This 2004 American version was written by Brandon Boyce and directed by Paul McGuigan (Push, Lucky Number Slevin). I’ll see the original French film but if you haven’t already seen it, this version is pretty good.

Currently rated 6.8 on IMDB. L’ Appartement is rated 7.6. For Wicker Park, my vote is a solid 7, and in some aspects even 7.5.

Fun note: Vincent Cassel and Monica Belluci, the two starring actors of L’ Appartement,got married in 1999, 3 years after the making of the film. They have 2 kids together.

Other Diane Kruger Movies

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Jesse Eisenberg & Terrence Howard. Feat. Kruger

Copying Beethoven starring Diane Kruger & Ed Harris

40 Days and 40 Nights starring Josh Hartnett & Shannyn Sossamon

Hollywood’s Tall Actors feat. Hartnett, Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds& more

Rose Byrne

Damages TV Show Review – starring Rose Byrne and Glenn Close

Adam starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne

2012 starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover & Woody Harrelson

Posted on December 4, 2010 Written by ripitup

2012 starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover & Woody Harrelson. Directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. 2009.

The Mayans were right after all…2009. Scientists run across some scary figures that can be bad news. They try to find another explanation other than the most obvious and terrifying one: the world is coming to an end.

These results are shared with world leaders and some very rich men. Only a selected number of people will live through the disaster and unless you are really important, you don’t stand a chance: In the name of preventing anarchy, the bad news is kept from the public until the last minute (with the insistence of Oliver Platt’s character Anheuser).

Enter Jackson (John Cusack), a published but not exactly financially successful author. He is divorced with two young kids, who live with his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet) and her boyfriend Gordon (Thomas McCarthy).When he takes his kids to camping, Jackson realizes something is way off and they run into military officials. Then he meets a nutty blogger/podcaster/radio DJ Charlie (Woody Harrelson) who lives in a caravan at the national park and is sharing his conspiracy theories about the world’s end. Jackson at first dismisses his wild assumptions but shattering earthquakes convince him that Charlie may not be so nutty after all.

From then on, the world really starts falling apart. Jackson takes his family & Gordon and he drives them to the small plane he has rented, with the city literally coming down on them. They find the pilot dead so they rely on Gordon’ flying lessons to survive. Jackson decides to see Charlie one more time, since he had every theory right so far and he was talking about the “spaceships” the government was building.

The movie continues to get faster with bigger adventures and effects, with disaster following the family in the air, on the ground and more… Can anyone really make it alive? Will the “spaceships” work?

Now, I have to say 2012 turned out to be better than I was expecting. OK, I am not talking about the script. It is full of your typical clichés, complete with heroic characters, doting family members and all that But Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day) is usually good at making the best of these clichés and providing great effects. I was bored early into the film but you just need to hang on for the first 25-30 minutes or so (the movie is about 158 minutes long).

So Roland has done it again- average story with impressive effects, typically likeable characters, an insane theory and lots of human vs. nature action. I had a lot of fun. Now, if the world was really coming to an end, would I recommend this movie? Probably not. But then again, despite being a total movie nut, I wouldn’t recommend any movie in that scenario. Hey, if we had 1 year left to live, we would go out to live life to the fullest and not watch film. Especially not by Emmerich.

5.9 on IMDB. I don’t have an overall verdict. Instead:

5 – for the story (it is as average as it gets).

6.5 – for the cast (Danny Glover, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson)

8- for the effects.

Enjoy.

Roland Emmerich Movies

The Day After Tomorrow starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal and Sela Ward,

The Patriot starring Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger

Independence Day starring Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith

Other Diane Kruger Movies

Other Josh Hartnett Films and Posts

Rose Byrne