Last week saw the release of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ‘ highly entertaining ensemble indie comedy Ruby Sparks. While high marks go to the directing duo (who also gave us Little Miss Sunshine) and even higher ones going to star/writer Zoe Kazan, this post is an effort to highlight the unsung hero of that charming and highly original film; one Chris Messina. He’s the likable every-man but also has the chops to pull off any and all roles from “that guy” to a capable leading man. Just a solid staple in every film he’s in, his star is steadily rising but he still hasn’t quite broken out yet. In the film world we’ve seen actors like…
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Sweet Trailer…'Playing For Keeps'
The trailer for Film District’s pending romantic comedy, Playing For Keeps, tells us one thing right off the bat: Gerard Butler is still firmly interred in rom-com prison. The single most interesting detail here is that for once he’s not being forced to play American, which lets the film have a little fun with little kids and British pejoratives. (Listening to little children scream “wanker”, for various reasons, takes me back to childhood. It’s a long story.) I don’t know if that sells the film to anyone beyond its core audience, but it’s a change of pace. Have a look… Playing to the norms of the genre, Butler plays a has-been…
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G-S-T Review…The Campaign
For a film enjoying its theatrical run as the 2012 presidential election race draws closer and closer to the finish line, The Campaign feels supremely out of date. It’s worth mentioning right away that regardless, the film is frequently hilarious; from little, quiet, unexpectedly odd moments to much grander and more orchestrated fits of pure lunacy, The Campaign works on a strictly comic level. That’s half the battle, of course, maybe more depending on how you like your comedies, but it’s impossible to shake off the frivolity on full display right next to the movie’s prominent absurdities. How does one make a picture about politics in a politically aware era and at…
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G-S-T Review…The Bourne Legacy
We’re at a point in franchising history where three films will no longer do. Series from Die Hard to Indiana Jones have been expanded beyond their trilogy borders to include a fourth entry; meanwhile, the future third film in the Hunger Games saga is already being split into two parts. Traditionally, conventional wisdom marks the third film in a trilogy as the lesser installment of the series, but as three-parters get expanded to four, so too is that adage stretched out– and if The Bourne Legacy has anything to add to the discussion, then the fourth film is the new third. Call it tepid, call it slack, call it pointless;…