Roger is lost in life and he decides to try and sort it our by taking a break from life by moving into his brother’s house in LA for a bit while they are gone on vacation.  Florence is in a similar place in her life, though a bit younger in age to Roger, and the two meet as Florence checks up on Roger’s brothers house as she is the family’s personal assistant.  The two begin to strike up a bit of a friendship as they cross paths at the house and both hesitantly move towards possible romantic feelings.  Roger is a bit conflicted though, as he is with everything, as he contemplates hooking up with an ex from his past and tries to figure out if she was the one who got away.  Roger also reconnects with an old friend, Ivan who is also his former bandmate, who has changed quite a bit but the two try and find a common ground to rekindle their thing relationship.  From these lines we follow Roger and Florence as they try and figure out what happened to their lives, where they want to go, and watch them make mistakes along the way with and separate from each other.

Now if that summary seems a bit all over the place it because that is essentially what the film is.  It lacks a real solid plot or sense of structure and days will pass from scene to scene as we follow Roger’s time in LA.  This isn’t a complaint though, the lack of structure, the film works quite well at scooting along, showing the interesting bits, and showing us the scenes that matter in these characters lives.  The film might be a challenge for some though as Roger isn’t the most likeable guy in the world.  We might laugh at him a lot in the film but it is hard to connect with his plight.  Ivan and Florence are the more relatable characters in the picture and while they might be a tad different their feelings are the ones that seem the sanest.  The picture also works because these characters get to tell Roger what we want to tell him and Roger is rarely allowed to get away with his irresponsible actions; which makes his character more tolerable.  If he was running around having these outbursts he has without consequence I don’t think the film would have worked as well as it does.

Baumbach’s script manages to find plenty of heart in it and is full of some great dry humor.  The film slowly gets rolling and as it moves along it really begins to build its laughs as we ease into the films sense of humor.  Baumbach also gets some great work out of his actors and fills them with subtle nuances and touches that add a whole lot to the picture without making a big deal about them.

Ben Stiller stars as our unlikely protagonist and he does a great job at capturing the aloof nature of Roger and his wishy washy ways when dealing with just about every decision in his life.  Stiller also really does a great job at bringing Roger back from his little freak outs and not completely disconnecting the character from the viewer.  Greta Gerwig is cute and captivating as Florence as she sucks you into her characters quirky oddness.  There is something vulnerable and real about her character that just resonates through the screen and her role just comes across as authentic for someone of her age in the film.  Ivan is wonderfully played by Rhys Ifans as he quietly reconnects with Roger and Ifans slowly reveals the strain Roger is causing on their relationship.  Ifans also represents the viewer’s relationship with Roger and does a great job at capturing our frustrations and he eases us back into a positive relationship with him as Ivan forgives him like a true friend would.  The rest of the cast is rounded out by some solid work by some great talents, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mark Duplass, Susan Traylor; they all fill out the supporting cast to great effect.

In the end, Greenberg is an odd and dry comedy that isn’t for everyone but will make you laugh plenty of you can get into it.  Stiller, Ifans, and Gerwig all do some great work off Baumbach’s solid script and provide plenty of humor and honest characters for us to enjoy.  From Roger’s tantrums, to the scenes with the dog, or the awkward romance the film runs a wide range of emotions and finds humor in all of them.  If Baumbach’s past work wasn’t your cup of tea before, it won’t be here either, but fans of the director’s work will be right at home as he continues to show why he is one of the better working directors of this day.

Greenberg is a B+

He's so hot right now.

Last week we reported that there was a sequel to the cult comedy, Zoolander, in the works. (Read our article here.) Well, the star of the first film, Ben Stiller, who played the title character, Derek Zoolander, has confirmed that they are indeed working on a sequel. Stiller in an interview with MTV, said, “We are in the process of getting a script written. It’s in the early stages, but it’s gonna happen.”

“We have a new story idea that we feel excited about and we’re going to try to go forward. The beginning of the movie is [set]… 10 years later, and Derek & Hansel are literally forgotten. Nobody even knows who they are, so they have to re-invent themselves.”

He also talked about the possibility of Will Ferrell coming back as the evil fashion designer, Mugatu. “If Will says yes, he definitely has to be a part of it. To me, Mugatu is one of the classic screen villains of all time.”

This sequel really can’t come quick enough. I know a lot of people probably think I’m a film snob, but I enjoy the “stupid” comedy every now and then, it just has to be done well like in Zoolander’s case.

Ben Stiller will be returning, but there is no word on if Owen Wilson will also be back for the sequel. Villain this time around is said to be played by Jonah Hill.

Theroux is apparently attending fashion week in Paris to prepare himself for the role.  The studio is planning a $50 million dollar budget for him to work with, which is considerably larger than the first film’s $28 million budget. The original Zoolander went on to a $60 million dollar gross worldwide, but really took off once it hit DVD.

I’m excited about this honestly. If you don’t know Justin Theroux, you will be after Iron Man 2 takes off.  He’s a genuinely talented actor and writer, who works with a lot big names in comedy. I’m sure you’ve seen him in roles before even if you don’t know who he is.

Do you think Zoolander’s cult status will help it at the box office? Is this a mistake making a sequel to Zoolander?

Synopsis:

A recently divorced man, down on his luck, meets the woman of his dreams. Things are going great until he meets her son, who still has an unhealthy dependent relationship with her.

Cast: John C. Reilly, Catherine Keener, Marissa Tomei, Jonah Hill
Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Release Date: Unknown

It seems like it all might change. Noah Baumbach who is fast becoming an award season favorite. His previous directing credits include The Squid and The Whale and Margot at the Wedding, not to mention the fact that he is credited with work on Fantastic Mr. Fox’s screenplay. Match this guys style and wit with Stiller’s comedic talent, and you get an entertaining and possibly moving film. It does look like that manufactured indie work we’ve been seeing a lot of lately. You know, the loner talking about nothing, with indie music laid over the background, and a tentative love interest. I’m hoping it will be a move in the right direction for Stiller’s career.

Synopsis:

Ben Stiller falls for his brother’s assistant (Greta Gerwig) while suffering from a midlife crisis in Noah Baumbach’s (The Squid and the Whale) latest comedy drama. Scott Rudin produces the Focus Features production, with Rhys Ifans, Brie Larson, and Juno Temple heading up the rest of the cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Cast: Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Greta Gerwig
Director: Noah Baumbach
Release Date: January 1, 2010

From Variety.com:

Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, who penned Disney’s upcoming “The Princess and the Frog” and Ben Stiller pic “The Return of King Doug” at Paramount, will write the script for the “Spore” movie. It will be produced as a CG-animated toon by EA and Blue Sky Studios, which is behind the studio’s “Ice Age” pics, “Robots” and its next effort, “Rio.”

In the game, which was released in September 2008, players create their own creatures and the worlds they live in and share them with other gamers to create an overall universe.

“I’m always looking for unique worlds to go to in animation,” Wedge said. “From every perspective — visually, thematically and comedically — the world of ‘Spore’ provides the potential to put something truly original on the screen.”

Fox is especially high on Wedge after “Ice Age” turned into a major franchise for the studio, generating $1.9 billion from three pics since 2002. He recently exec produced the third installment and “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who” for Fox.

Last week, the studio locked down the toon “Leaf Men” for Wedge to direct, stopping a tug-of-war with Pixar (Daily Variety, Sept. 23). Blue Sky is also producing that pic for Fox Animation.
More than one option

* (Co) Daily Variety
Filmography, Year, Role
* (Co) Daily Variety

Wedge additionally has the live-action pic “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” set up at Warner Bros., with Graham King and Johnny Depp producing.

EA Entertainment’s Patrick O’Brien will exec produce the “Spore” pic with Lucy Bradshaw, VP of Maxis Studio, which developed the game with Will Wright, who also created the blockbuster “Sim City” and “The Sims” franchises for EA.

A movie is seen as a way to not only boost interest among current gamers and newbies to the property, especially as sequels and expansion packs are released, but also to create a new source of revenue for EA.

So far, various iterations of “Spore” have sold more than 3.2 million units.

Yet, “with more than 100 million unique creatures uploaded to our website, it’s clear that people are passionate about the game, and it will be exciting to offer a powerful medium like film in order to expand their experience with ‘Spore,’ ” Bradshaw said.

EA has set up a bigscreen version of “The Sims” at Fox, with John Davis producing. At Universal, it has “Army of Two,” with director Peter Berg, and “Dante’s Inferno,” with Strike Entertainment producing. DJ Caruso will helm “Dead Space,” with Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey producing, and “Mass Effect” is set up with Avi Arad.

The “Spore” pact is the sixth pic deal that EA has set up since it aligned with UTA.

Check out this video from Ben Stiller, making fun of 20th Century Fox and it’s movies. This video, that was most likely never supposed to be seen outside of Stiller’s co-workers, contains Stiller ripping on Fox’s executives and their movies.

The folks at CinemaBlend think that the video was probably made for the employees of Stiller’s production company, Red Hour, as a joke after being purchased by 20th Century Fox. Most likely it is just Ben Stiller being himself, and is to be taken as a complete joke. We have yet to hear anyone from Fox comment on the video. Pretty funny though.

Night at the Museum 2 – Battle of the Smithsonian is an action/comedy film that attempts to be a meaningful and engaging sequel to the original Night at the Museum movie that scored broad fan appreciation back in 2006. Both films feature Ben Stiller as the main character and hero who literally fights to save a multitude of museum characters. Some are human, others are animal, and are neither human or animal–who by some kind of ancient magic, come to life at night at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. Stiller stars as Larry Daley, the former museum guard in the first movie, who now has his own company which sells such handy products like glow-in–the dark flashlights. Larry Daley’s son Nick, played by Jack Cherry, is also in this movie helping his father with the challenges deciphering the logistics of where the multitude of museum characters are being moved to in their soon to be new home in the Smithsonian Museum basement.

Many characters from that first movie, repeat in the sequel such as: Ricky Gervais as Dr. McPhee, a curator at the museum. Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt, played by Robin Williams; Owen Wilson again plays the miniature cowboy character Jedediah Smith; along with another miniature figure, a famous Roman General Octavius, played by British Comedian Steve Coogan. Attractive Mizuo Peck plays Sacagawea, the famous female Indian Scout from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Other memorable characters are the mischievous Dexter the monkey, the giant T-Rex skeleton and giant Squid and Wooly Mammoth, along with lions and snakes, etc.

There are new characters appearing in the second episode to add new plot lines. For example, General George Armstrong Custer, played by Bill Hader, of Saturday Night Live, has a key role. The famous Chicagoland gangster, Al Capone if played by Jon Bernthal. Hank Azaria plays the main villain, Khamunrah. And Amy Adams plays Amelia Earhart, the love interest to Ben Stiller’s character, Larry Daly.

Director Shawn Levy directed both Night at the Museum movies, and seems to have used the same exact formula of high jinx, good vs. bad, but added a potential for romance between Larry Daley and Amelia Earhart. The romantic scenes between the two seemed out of place in the swirling high action tempo that involves both characters—when we suddenly see them casually getting to know each other—while doom is knocking on the door. Not that there can’t be chemistry between a man and a women in stressful situations—but what was starkly out of place was the effort to “stop and smell the body odor” in the midst of the sky is falling around them with the bad guys gaining the advantage, and the end is near type scenario.

I applaud the writers, Robert Garant and Thomas Lennon, for attempting to link interaction between very unique historical figures who carry a lot of famous and infamous baggage that can be, and was distracting in some instances. For example, casting General George Custer in a leadership role, where his historical past reminds most of us that Custer was and is despised by most Native Americans, and others, to this day for the pain and suffering he brought to bear on the Native Americans he encountered pushing Manifest Destiny down their throats. More historians agree that such a despised historical figure would be a lightning-rod of controversy if he was recast in some misunderstood nice guy type role. Imagine Hitler coming to the rescue of non-Germans in any situation. Custer was a bad guy. In the movie he’s saddened by failing to crush the Indians at Little Big Horn. Just make him a bad guy along with Capone and Attila the Hun. That works.

Realist Rant:

Other disconnects include throwing in of cavemen who easily seem to adjust to understanding becoming part of the modern gang of good guys. In reality these cavemen would be as wild as the lions who do want to eat Larry Daley. Then, watching this shiny balloon blow-up pony bopping around was cute but goofy. And using President Abraham Lincoln as the ultimate trump card against the bad guys makes sense but from a leadership role and inspirational role—not as the kick-ass guy in his plaster business suit doing battle with an arch villain. However, we would like to see politicians who get us into war—go fight in those wars. If you’re going to use the battle Lincoln, remember he put together the best fighting generals and inspired them to kick-ass through their best fighting men. History loves heroes, so do give historical relevance to the real bad guys and the real good guys from the roles they actually played. Teddy Roosevelt was a Rough Rider and did charge the enemy in the get-up Robin Williams’ wore. That makes sense. Teddy wasn’t President then—he actually was a Rough Rider. That made sense. Hoping a statue of a great man will embody what it takes to fight evil is not making history come alive. It simply makes history more confusing. In the end, a single shot actually took President Lincoln out, so—so much for his hand-to-hand combat promise.

I do recommend seeing this movie if you have little or a lot of historical perspective in the characters represented. Blissful ignorance will block out all potential distractions because it won’t matter much what General Custer does in the movie if one is unaware of what he did in the past. However, softening a bad guy for modern consumption can irk people/customers with long memories.

Amelia Earhart does win our hearts once again as she flies out into the wild blue yonder. Too bad she was lost and never found. Writers and directors seem to want us to bring them back because we actually missed them for what they meant to us. Earhart was a very brave and curious woman who inspires women and others as a pioneer for people who want to climb a mountain, or fly high when most would not want to take on such a challenge. She didn’t cure cancer or save any lives that I can recall, but Amelia Earhart did inspire many to risk losing yourself for what you believe in. If I were to choose a romantic female lead in such a movie—I’d go with Joan of Arc. She was inspiring and kick-ass and didn’t get lost in the wind. She burned for her willingness to fight for was right in the face of tyranny. Night at the Museum 2 – Battle of the Smithsonian is pure, but confusing entertainment—that could be done so much better by real historians and casting directors. If we leave it at that, the popcorn will go down much more easily. Yes, tease us with characters who left our memories long ago. Some made an impression, good and bad—others my make us go back to history to research what we missed. We may discover a hidden history which I like to call the true history. Written by eye-witnesses, people who lived it or researched it to the point of facts based history. If Night at the Museum 2 – Battle of the Smithsonian does anything—it should be to inspire us to go back in history to discover the good, bad and ugly and how repeating it is our biggest curse. Not only will that be entertaining, it will allow us to dodge the real alligators in the water that seem to come trick us every time into getting deeper and deeper into repeating mistakes of the past—you can name the issue, e.g., war, depression, tyranny, environmental threats, and human nature. Repeating history cuts two ways. We can learn from it and grow to survive, or not. See you at the movies.

May 1st – X-Men Origins – Wolverine

Wolverine is the first big blockbuster type film of the summer. It will be a solid release, but it won’t put up weekend numbers like X-Men 3. The huge drop off that X-Men 3 had a few summers ago showed what audiences really thought about it. It will be hard to build on the audience from that movie.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $220 Million

May 8th – Star Trek

Mark my words, Star Trek will be huge. Not only does it have a huge fan base, but add on top of that a new young cast and J.J. Abrams. The trailers are appealing to a wide audience, with bright visuals and attractive people. I’m interested to see what Abrams does with it. I’m waiting to see if this will convert me (and many others) into Star Trek fans.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $320 Million

May 15th – Angels and Demons

There was once a time when people thought Tom Hanks could do no wrong. However, his last few films have not performed as well as expected. The sequel to the DaVinci Code is not looking like something that will break the trend. The first movie was a tired adaptation with no inspiration. I’m not really looking to give it a second go. I was never a big fan of the books to begin with. It will probably make it’s costs back, but there is too much else out this summer for this to truly breakout.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $140 Million

May 22nd- Terminator: Salvation

This is yet another movie that might underperform because of the weakness of the movie before it. Terminator 3 was stale and boring. This is also the first Terminator movie without Arnold at it’s forefront. What will change this movies luck is Christian Bale. Hot off the sucess of The Dark Knight he has become one of the newest household names. Just like he revived the Batman franchise he looks like he will revive this one as well.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $270 Million

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

This is going to be one tough weekend. Most people age 18-25 will probably be seeing Terminator, while anyone with a family will be seeing the new Night at the Museum. I can honestly say I was surprised when the first one broke out like it did. I guess it just shows how out of touch I am with my inner child these days. This one might have been better saved for a Christmas season release like the first one. Who knows though, the gamble might pay off. I will probably grossly underestimate this one.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $190 Million

May 29th – Up

Who doesn’t love Pixar? Even their weakest movie to date was better than many of the slew of animated movies that have come out over the past 10 years. They have yet to have a major flop. They do seem to be out of their heyday though. They are no longer setting records anymore, but are having respectable grosses. Wall-E was one of my favorite movies last year, and I’m hoping Up can compete. Although Wall-E’s trailer wowed me, Up seems to be slightly more mundane than Pixar is used to. (Yes, I know the house flies away…)

Estimated Domestic Gross: $175 Million

June 5th – Land of the Lost

This is the movie where we find out just how burnt out on Will Ferrell we are. His schtick is still funny to me at times, but Blades of Glory and Semi-Pro left me almost feeling bad for him. I don’t know how many times someone can play the same character and still be sucessful. Although there are plenty of people who have done that their whole careers and are still fine. This will have a great opening weekend but drop steadily after opening weekend.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $160 Million

June 19th – The Year One

Here we have the sleeper hit of 2009. It seems Michael Cera is exponetionally increasing in popularity lately. Jack Black is well, Jack Black. The few short trailers I have seen of this looks fantastic. I also think it got probably the most laughs at the Super Bowl party I was at compared to any other commercial.

Estimated Domestic Gross – $205 Million

June 26th – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Well it is between this and Harry Potter for the largest opening weekend this summer. Transformers should out gross it’s predecessor unless the movie is entirely awful (which it is impossible). To get this wrong though you would just have to take out the action sequences and have no Megan Fox. I’m hoping this one sticks more to giant robots, rather than silly secret government agencies.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $430 Million

July 3rd – Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs

Children love the Ice Age series. I like the movies because they have good reference scenes to set up a home theater to. This might actually have the chance to beat out Pixar’s UP in terms of gross. Kids love established and familiar characters. Expect it to do well this summer.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $280 Million

July 10th – Bruno

This is one I feel could go either way. It could breakout like Borat, but I don’t think it is as likely. On the Ali G show, Borat was always the funniest character on the show. Ali G and Bruno both provided a good laugh every now and then, but not like the antics of Cohen’s Borat. It will break the $100 million mark, but just barely.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $105 Million

July 17th – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Potter fans have been waiting extra long for this one. The studio decided because of the writer’s strike they needed more strong summer releases, so the obvious move was to push back a surefire blockbuster like Half-Blood Prince into a prime summer spot. Luckily Potter fans are foaming at the mouth for this movie that it shouldn’t hurt their gross at all. In fact most fans will forget about how pissed they were once they see the finished product. This series has only gotten better with each movie. I expect the trend to continue.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $390 Million

July 31st – Funny People

Aptow’s name is gold on comedies now. It’s funny that before 40 Year Old Virgin he was associated with great but failed tv show attempts. Now he is one of Hollywood’s best known producers. This one will follow similar trends to Knocked Up and 40 Year Old Virgin.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $150 Million

August 7th – G.I. Joe

Similar to Transformers in many ways this movie will not gross nearly as much. It’s being put out in late summer, which while still a strong time to open, is not the best time to finish. It will be strong out of the gate. Most likely it will be strong enough to warrant a sequel. Hopefully not in a summer where it has to compete with a sister franchise.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $220 Million

August 21st – Inglorious Bastards

Quentin Tarentino’s following is huge, but it is still a cult following. Although this doesn’t look like his normal fare. He might draw in more people with his war movie than any movie he has done previously. A big name like Brad Pitt involved will only strengthen it’s chances of becoming a hit.

Estimated Domestic Gross: $130 Million

Missed the cut as spring releases: I Love You Man, Monsters vs. Aliens, Fast and Furious, Adventureland, and Observe & Report.

The spring is going to be huge. With the year to date already being very strong this year appears to only be getting better. Who knows how the current recession will affect the entertainment industry this summer. Who knows, maybe more people will go to the theater to forget about real problems.