Tag: Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Page 1 of 2)

Staff Pick: “Along Came Polly” (2004)

April 23, 2023 / John Fever

“Along Came Polly” isn’t a great film. It’s a pretty conventional and predictable romantic comedy released in 2004, directed by John Hamburg and starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. Yet the film has many of the ingredients that make it succeed in the romantic comedy genre, including chemistry between the co-stars and some hilarious scenes that make you laugh out loud.

The story follows Reuben Feffer (Stiller), a somewhat reserved and neurotic risk analyst who marries lovely Lisa (Debra Messing), the woman of his dreams, as the film opens. But on their honeymoon in St. Barts, their marriage falls apart when Reuben catches Lisa cheating on him with her athletic and well-endowed scuba diving instructor. Devastated and heartbroken, Reuben returns to New York City and tries to get his life back on track.

That’s when he meets an old acquaintance, Polly Prince (Aniston), a free-spirited and impulsive woman who shakes up Reuben’s world. Despite their different personalities, they start dating, and Reuben discovers new passions and experiences he had never imagined before. You can pretty much guess the rest of the movie from here.

Actors, Actresses, Movie Comedies, Movies

Alec Baldwin Ben Stiller Debra Messing Jennifer Aniston John Hamburg Phillip Seymour Hoffman Romantic comedy staff pick

Hidden Netflix Gems – Mary and Max

April 21, 2012 / Ezra Stead

The first feature from Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot, the main creative force behind the Oscar-winning 2003 animated short Harvie Krumpet (which is also superb), Mary and Max tells the true story of young Mary Daisy Dinkle (Bethany Whitmore) a lonely eight-year-old Australian girl who lives with her sherry-swilling, kleptomaniac mother Vera (Renee Geyer) and her taxidermy enthusiast father, a character so sad and dull we never even hear his voice. One day, she decides to pick a name out of an American phone book and write to whomever she finds in this way, in order to ask burning questions about America, such as “Are babies found in soda cans?”

The person her letter eventually reaches is 44-year-old Max Horovitz (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a morbidly obese, atheistic man living in New York City who, despite his atheism, was raised Jewish and still wears his yarmulke every day, “to keep my brain warm.” Sharing a love of chocolate and a sweet innocence that is far more commonplace at Mary’s age than at Max’s, they begin a 20-year friendship composed entirely of written correspondence. As Mary grows into adulthood, at which point she is voiced by Toni Collette, and Max struggles with his love of “chocolate hot dogs” (chocolate bars housed in hot dog buns) and subsequent gradual weight gain, their friendship grows and develops into something larger than themselves.

Animation, Movie Comedies, Movie DVDs, Movies

Adam Elliot Asperger's Syndrome Australian Bethany Whitmore Claymation Eric Bana Ezra Stead Harvie Krumpet Hidden Netflix Gems Mary and Max Mary and Max review Netflix New York City Phillip Seymour Hoffman Renee Geyer Toni Collette

Midweek movie news

September 23, 2010 / Bob Westal

No promises we’ll have a Friday news dump this week, so you’d better enjoy this edition…

* Well, the big news tonight is most definitely the reorganization going over at the Warner Brothers megastudio. As far as I’m able to suss out, what this amounts to is a consolidation of power for CEO Jeff Bewkes. Reading Nikki Finke‘s current summary of the situation is a bit like reading a Television Without Pity post for a very complicated soap opera you’ve never seen, but Anne Thompson keeps it much, much simpler. On his way out exec Alan Horn is a good guy who Thompson believes was simply superfluous. Another case of a nice guy finishing last?

However, Nikki Finke does allude to a very crucial part of the Warners empire, and that’s DC Comics now being headed by the Warners minded and Finke approved Diane Nelson. As it happens, my deep, deep connections in the comics biz were e-mailing me news earlier today — which I was somewhat aware of but failed to properly cover earlier in the week — of an onging reorganization going on over there which certainly ties into the ongoing attempts at Warners to become more aggressive regarding comics adaptations along the lines of what Marvel Entertainment has been doing for some time — and also to try and avoid more flops like “Jonah Hex.”

There was even talk some talk of DC becoming entirely a West Coast operation, but that would be a major breach of publishing industry tradition with some actual problems involved and, in any case, thanks to FedEx and the ‘net, freelancers can live where they want now. Heidi MacDonald’s great comics blog The Beat has been covering this end of the story and you read about some of what’s going on here.

Action Movies, Actors, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Horror Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, True Blood, TV, TV Dramas

Aaron Sorkin Alan Horn Alfred Hitchcock Anne Thompson Black Widow Clint Eastwood Clyde Tolson Cornell Woolrich DC Comics Diane Nelson Disturbia Dustin Lance Black Goodfellas Headlines Heidi MacDonald J. Edgar Hoover Jeff Bewkes Jeremy Renner Joaquin Phoenix John Gotti John Michael Hayes Leonardo DiCaprio Martin Scorsese Nicolas Pilleggi Nikki Finke Paul Thomas Anderson Phillip Seymour Hoffman Rear Window Scarlett Johansson Scientology Shia LaBeouf The Master The Social Network True Blood Warner Brothers

Movies news on a Monday night

September 20, 2010 / Bob Westal

Direct from the Starbucks at Pico & Robertson…

* Rumors have been circulating for at least a week that Jon Hamm of “Mad Men” and now “The Town” is being considered to play Superman. I’m a huge fan of the guy, but count me among those who think he’s a bit old to play an eternally youthful superguy, if there’s going to be more than one movie anyhow. Kal-El is not Tony Stark. In any case, apparently someone else who it appears did turn down the role of Superman director was Guillermo del Toro. Actually, if they ever make a movie set in the Bizarro world, del Toro would be the guy. Otherwise, I don’t see it at all and, it seems, neither did del Toro.

* In terms of film biz transactions, the Toronto International Film Festival surprised everyone and did rather well with numerous indie films being purchased for release. What doe it mean? Mike Fleming sees a modified return of the indie market, though with a thriftier than ever edge.

* The first casting news has come for the J.J. Abrams’ science fiction Steven Spielberg homage/collaboration, “Super 8.” Naturally, one of the stars is a young person — Elle Fanning. The other is closer to my age and is best known for his TV work. No, it’s not Abe Vigoda, but Kyle Chandler of “Friday Night Lights.”

* Speaking of people in my general age cohort who can’t escape their youth, Keanu Reeves is apparently getting colleauges like Alex Winter ready to do a middle-aged edition of the “Bill & Ted” epic. As actors go, Reeves may not be a Philip Seymour Hoffman-level thespian, but he really excels at certain kinds of comedy and I’m board for this. He does a pretty good Werner Herzog, besides.

* Tim Burton is going back to where he started as a director with a stop-motion version of his career-starting live-action short, “Frankenweenie.” The voice cast has just been announced and it will include Winona Ryder, Martin Landau, and SCTV alums Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short.

* Did anybody out there ask for a “Timecop” reboot? Simon Brew is game.

* Re: l’affaire du Hulk back in July, Edward Norton continues to kill Marvel’s Kevin Feige with perhaps not kindness, but civility. Ouch.

* I beg to differ with Sarah Silverman, her “full frontal” nude scene will be pretty. Very pretty.

* I’ve seen movies in some mighty small “shoebox” multiplex theaters and screening rooms, but if you’re wondering how small a movie theater can be, this promotion for “Buried” answers the question.

* As I write this I’m getting ready to watch the multi-director documentary “Freakonomics” for free. You however, may pay as little as a penny and as much as a $100 to see it this Wednesday. It’s your choice. Still, we know there’ s no such thing as a truly free, or almost free, anything and, as with writers like myself, some effort is expected in return. Details here.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Mad Men, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies, TV, TV Dramas

Abe Vigoda Bill and Ted Buried Catherine O'Hara Edward Norton Elle Fanning Frankenweenie Freakonomics Friday Night Lights Guillermo del Toro Headlines Hulk J.J. Abrams Jon Hamm Kal-El Keanu Reeves Kevin Feige Kyle Chandler Martin Landau Martin Short Phillip Seymour Hoffman Sarah Silverman SCTV Steven Spielberg Super-8 Superman Tim Burton Timecop Tony Stark Toronto International Film Festival Werner Herzog Winona Ryder

Met Them at the Greek — a press day chat with Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Rose Byrne and Nicholas Stoller of “Get Him to the Greek”

June 3, 2010 / Bob Westal

If you saw “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” — and I hope you have as its one of the stronger comedies to be made over the last several years — you’ll likely have noticed the strong comic chemistry between British comedy sensation Russell Brand as three-quarters insane, recovering addict rock star Aldous Snow and Jonah Hill (“Superbad“) as a resort waiter and somewhat overly devoted fan of Snow’s. Well, you’re not the only one, and so we have the somewhat slapdash, sometimes brilliant, and ultimately winning new comedy, “Get Him to the Greek,” which once again brings us Brand as Aldous Snow, who, since the events of “Sarah Marshall” has suffered a failed marriage to rocker Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), had a seven-year old son, and removed the “recovering” from his addiction — kind of impressive since “Sarah Marshall” was only two years ago.

Nevertheless, having fallen headlong off the wagon, Snow needs help arriving on-time and semi-cognizant for an important TV appearance, a sound check, and a special comeback performance at L.A.’s Greek Theater. The task falls to ambitious young record company assistant Aaron Green (Hill, playing a different character than in “Sarah Marshall”), a huge fan of Snow’s in a sweet but rocky relationship with his improbably adorable doctor girlfriend (Elizabeth Moss of “Mad Men“). Frequently vomit-stained hijinks ensue as Green and Snow barely survive a number of unfortunate events, including a nearly apocalyptic visit to the set of “The Today Show,” one of the most truly mad Las Vegas sequences in film history, and the kind of freaky three-ways that would make most porn producers blanch. It’s all wrapped up with the sort of good-hearted traditional morality which reminds us that the producer is the Walt Disney of male-centric, R-rated comedies, Judd Apatow.

Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External Movies, Interviews, Movie Comedies, Movies

21 Jump Street 28 Weeks Later Aaron Green Adventures in Babysitting Aldous Snow Almost Famous Andew Sachs Arthur Back to the Future Bill Murray Boogie Nights Brad Pitt Charlie Chaplin Chris Miller Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Cyrus Damages Dan Bern Despicable Me Devin Faraci Dudley Moore Duplass Brothers Elizabeth Moss Fawlty Towers Forgetting Sarah Marshall Get Him to the Greek Glenn Close Heckler Helen Mirren I Hop Jackie Q Jamie Kennedy Jason Schwartzman Jason Segel Jay Leno Jeff Dashnaw Jim Carrey John C. Reilly John Gielgud Johnny Depp Jonah Hill Jonah Hill interview Jonathan Ross Judd Apatow Julie Taymor Katy Perry Knocked Up Lars Ulrich Liza Minelli Mad Men Marisa Tomei Mark Duplass Mark Linn-Baker Martin Scorsese Matt Stoller Metalica Midnight Run Mike Bacall Mike Viola Moneyball Morrissey Muppets My Favorite Year Neil Young Nestle Nicholas Stoller Nicholas Stoller interview P. Diddy Paul Krugman Perfect Strangers Peter DeLuise Peter O'Toole Phil Lord Phillip Glass Phillip Seymour Hoffman Richard Greico Richard Pryor Robert Yeoman Robin Williams Rodney Rothman Rose Byrne Rose Byrne interview Russell Brand Russell Brand interview Scooby Doo Sean Combs Sergio Roma Steve Martin Superbad The Adventurers Handbook The Dail Mail The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made The Sitter The Tempest The Today Show Troy Walk Hard Wes Anderson Woody Allen

Tag: Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Page 1 of 2)

Staff Pick: “Along Came Polly” (2004)

Hidden Netflix Gems – Mary and Max

Movies news on a Monday night

Met Them at the Greek — a press day chat with Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Rose Byrne and Nicholas Stoller of “Get Him to the Greek”

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