WHO
SAYS THERE ARE NO ROLES FOR WOMEN OVER 50?
Just try telling that
to any of these in-demand actresses who've passed the half-century
mark. Below, a few of their current and upcoming films.
LAUREN BACALL
BORN 9/16/24 NEW YORK,
NEW YORK
 THE
WALKER
Woody Harrelson, Lauren
Bacall, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty, Moritz Bleibtreu,
Willem Dafoe, William Hope, Geff Francis, Steven Hartley, Mary Beth
Hurt (Written and directed by Paul Schrader; Kintop Pictures)
Woody
is walking his baby back home. That’s right--Woody Harrelson
plays Lauren Bacall's gay escort in Paul Schrader’s new thriller,
"The Walker," and he also frequently “walks”
two other prominent Washington socialites, played by Lily Tomlin
and Kristin Scott Thomas. When he’s not squiring these wives
of wealthy politicians to social events, this son of a legendary
senator is apt to be lunching and dishing with them, or perhaps
joining them in a wicked game of canasta. Or he may have slipped
off for a tryst with his main man, an intense German-Turkish paparazzo,
(Moritz Bleibtreu, best known for “Run, Lola, Run”).
But suddenly there is trouble in the walker’s paradise, and
it involves the murder of a man having a hot affair with one of
the wives (Scott Thomas). In an attempt to shield the adultress
from scandal, he makes the serious mistake of telling the police
that it was he--not his gal pal-- who discovered the dead man’s
body. Writer-director Paul Schrader, who gave us “American
Gigolo” in 1980, has said that the central character in “The
Walker” might be viewed as a speculation on how the sexual
adventurer played by Richard Gere in that film might have aged.
To read the Variety
review of “The Walker,” click
here. Now
Playing
ELLEN BARKIN
BORN 4/16/54 NEW YORK,
NEW YORK
 TEXAS
LULLABY
Josh Hartnett, Ellen
Barkin, John Malkovich, Alison Lohman, Tom Waits (Directed by Malcolm
Venville; Written by Steve Allison; Alturus Films)
Something is
rotten in the state of Texas. A young man (Josh Hartnett) is distraught
because his father died mysteriously and his widowed mother (Ellen
Barkin) has wed her late husband’s brother (John Malkovich),
who happens to be the local sheriff. The son is so upset that he
is now considering suicide. To be or not to be--that is the question
to which we’re pretty sure we know the answer. Opening
date to be announced
KATHY BATES
BORN 6/28/48
 MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Carla Bruni (Written and directed by Woody Allen)
In the oddball 1996 musical comedy "Everyone Says I Love You," Woody Allen was a conspicuously uncomfortable American in Paris. Indeed, none of his American fellow-travelers--including Goldie Hawn, Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore and Natalie Portman--seemed to be having much fun in the City of Light. Now, in "Midnight in Paris, Woody won't have to worry about looking out of place. That's because, as usual these days, the writer-director will not be performing in his own film.
And even though his latest comedy-drama already has a title—a rarity for an Allen project yet to go before the camera—we still know very little about the plot, except that it deals with various members of a family who discover some surprising truths about themselves while traveling abroad together.
Just imagine the epiphanies that chronically depressed clan in “Interiors” might have experienced on a trip to Gay Paree! Opening date to be announced
ANNETTE BENING
BORN 5/29/58 TOPEKA, KANSAS
 THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, Kunal Sharma, Eddie Hassell, Zosia Mamet, Yaya Dacosta, Joaquin Garrido (Directed by Lisa Cholodenko; Written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg; Focus Features)
Jules (Julianne Moore) is a lovably flaky landscaper; Nic (Annette Bening), a distinguished doctor, is nice, too, but arguably more of a straight arrow. In many ways, they are a perfect pair. You could even say this affluent L.A. lesbian couple truly has it all, thanks, in large part, to Paul, a generous bachelor whose anonymous sperm donations, over the years, have made it possible for them to be the proud parents of a daughter and son, one of whom is about to become a college freshman.
So what could possibly go wrong? Simple. The kids have somehow managed to track down their biological pop and have decided to bring him home to finally meet his co-procreators. What follows is a wacky wave of shock, embarrassment, anger, frustration and fraternization, capped off with a totally unexpected burst of romance. Who could ask for anything more sitcomic? Now Playing
ELLEN BURSTYN
BORN 12/7/32 DETROIT,
MICHIGAN
 W.
Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ioan Gruffudd,
Thandie Newton, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Jeffrey Wright, Ellen
Burstyn, James Cromwell, Rob Corddry, Toby Jones, Michael Gaston
(Directed by Oliver Stone; Written by Stanley Weiser; Lionsgate)
In case you’re having
trouble sorting through the merits and flaws of the Junior Bush
administration, Oliver Stone lends you a hand with “W.”
This inevitably absurdist extravaganza stars Josh Brolin as George II--from hell-raising, booze-guzzling rogue to
chatting-with-Jesus commander in chief. Richard Dreyfuss plays gun-toting,
bunker-hugging VP Dick Cheney and Thandie Newton is the scholarly, vigorously inattentive Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice; Scott Glenn is the you-fight-with-the-army-you’ve-got
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; Elizabeth Banks is stand-by-your-cowboy
Laura; and the senior Bushes are played by James Cromwell and Ellen
Burstyn. Since Stone is the rascal who zeroed in on “JFK”
and “Nixon, ” we can probably count on him to capture these
history-making characters, warts and all. Now
Playing
JULIE CHRISTIE
BORN 4/14/41 CHABUA,
INDIA
 AWAY
FROM HER
Julie Christie, Gordon
Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, Kristen Thomson, Wendy
Crewson, Alberta Watson (Written and directed by Sarah Polley; Lionsgate)
At first glance, Fiona and Grant Anderson, husband and wife for
44 years, appear to be leading a blissful life, cross-country skiing
during the day and cozying up at night in their lovely country cottage.
But they both know that Fiona, disoriented by the onset of Alzheimer’s,
may soon lose her husband, her memory, and her very own identity.
Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent have won raves for their performances
as the elderly Canadian couple, as has Sarah Polley, the gifted
star of Atom Egoyan’s “The Sweet Hereafter,” who
made her screenwriting and directorial debut--at the ripe old age
of 28--with this adaptation of Alice Munro’s short story “The
Bear Who Came Over the Mountain.” To
read Guy Flatley's review of "Away From Her," click
here. Now Playing
JUDI DENCH
BORN 12/9/34 NORTH YORKSHIRE,
ENGLAND
 NINE
Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard,
Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Stacy Ferguson, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren
(Directed by Rob Marshall; Written by Anthony Minghella and Michael
Tolkin; Weinstein Company)
Who could forget “8 1⁄2,”
the stunning 1963 film in which Marcello Mastroianni, under the
direction of Federico Fellini, played a Felliniesque director who
made more women than movies? Certainly, composer Maury Yeston and
dramatist Arthur Kopit could not erase this classic from their memories.
That’s why, in 1982, they came up with a Broadway musicalization
of it starring the late, great Raul Julia as the womanizing auteur
on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The show, called “Nine,”
was successfully revived in 2003, showcasing the song-and-dance
skills of Antonio Banderas.
And now, here comes the movie version
of the hit musical, directed by Rob Marshall, who gave us “Chicago,”
and starring Daniel Day Lewis, one of the few actors now working
who could be ranked alongside Marcello Mastroianni. Penelope Cruz
plays his mistress, Marion Cotillard, who triumphed as Edith Piaf
in “La Vie en Rose,” is his shortchanged wife, Nicole
Kidman is an actress who greatly inspires him, and Sophia Loren
will haunt us as the ghost of his Mama. Now Playing
CATHERINE DENEUVE
BORN 10/22/43 PARIS,
FRANCE
 A
CHRISTMAS TALE
Catherine Deneuve,
Mathieu Amalric, Jean-Paul Russillon, Chiara Mastroianni, Emmanuelle
Devos, Emile Berling, Anne Consigny, Laurent Capelluto, Hippolyte
Girardot, Melvil Poupaud (Written and directed by Arnaud Desplechin;
IFC Films)
Christmas is a time when scattered family members reunite,
rejoice and count their numerous blessings. Well, that’s the
way it goes with some families, but certainly not with the volatile
clan that scrambles through Arnaud Desplechin’s thickly textured
comedy-drama. For starters, the elegant, demanding matriarch played
by Catherine Deneuve has just received a grim diagnosis from her
doctor, and it looks as if someone in the family will have to fork
over an organ. The donor could even be her rottenly behaved son
(Mathieu Amalric), who has been allowed on the premises for the
first time in five years. Or maybe Maman’s life will be saved
by her youngest son (Melvil Poupaud), a man who has been blessed--or
is it cursed?--with a gorgeous wife (played by Chiara Mastroianni,
Catherine Deneuve’s real-life daughter). Now Playing
IN DENEUVE'S OWN WORDS
"It’s very hard for me. Aging
is so difficult for a woman. Men, of course, have the same problem--you
see them when they turn 50, divorcing and getting married again
with a very young woman. To me, that’s very sad. But for an
actress, aging is especially difficult, because we live so much
in a world of image. I don’t struggle against it, but I cannot
say that I like it. Women who say they like aging are liars."
From Guy Flatley's 2000
profile of Catherine Deneuve in The New York Daily News
Click here
to read
the entire article.
JANE FONDA
BORN 12/21/37 NEW YORK,
NEW YORK
 GEORGIA
RULE
Lindsay Lohan, Jane Fonda,
Felicity Huffman, Cary Elwes (Written and directed by Garry Marshall;
Morgan Creek)
What would you do if you had a mom like Felicity Huffman
and a granny like Jane Fonda? You might find out if you catch “Georgia
Rule,” in which Lindsay Lohan plays a rebel who can’t
take any more of Felicity, who’s even more dysfunctional than
she was in “Transamerica,” and therefore throws herself
on the mercy of Jane, who we assume is less manipulative than she
was in “Monster-in-Law.” Cary Elwes co-stars as a Humbert
Humbert-like stepfather who thinks of Lindsay as his very own Lolita.
Now Playing
ANJELICA HUSTON
BORN 7/8/51 SANTA MONICA,
CALIFORNIA
 CHOKE
Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald,
Brad William Henke, Clark Gregg, Joel Grey, Bijou Phillips, Willi
Burke (Written and directed by Clark Gregg; Fox Searchlight)
A boy’s
best friend is not always his mother, and that’s very much
the case in this adaptation of "Choke," the novel by Chuck
Palahniuk, cult author of "Fight Club." Yet, even though
sicko lawbreaker Ida Mancini (Anjelica Huston) has always been cruel
in her treatment of her son Victor (Sam Rockwell), the loyal lad
foots the bill for her stay in a bizarre institution for women suffering
from dementia. But how does he come up with the money, considering
the fact that he is paid a mere pittance for his labors in a Colonial
American theme park? Easy--he dines in elegant restaurants, pretends
to be choking to death on his gourmet meal and then fleeces the
sap who steps in to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. And, in his spare
time, the orgasm-obsessed Victor attends 12-step meetings for sex
addicts with Denny (Brad William Henke), his masturbation-crazed
best friend. Meanwhile, mom's nurse (Kelly Macdonald) is hatching
a scheme whereby an unsuspecting Victor will sire her child.
Now Playing
DIANE KEATON
BORN 1/5/46 LOS ANGELES,
CALIFORNIA
 MORNING GLORY
Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, 50 Cent (Directed by Roger Michell; Written by Aline Brosh McKenna; Paramount)
Imagine this: Still half asleep, you click your remote to “Daybreak” one morning, expecting the predictably bland patter of the news show’s co-anchors to usher you calmly into the stress and turbulence of another day in urban America. Instead you are subjected to the shattering sight and sound of the normally polite Mike Pomeroy and Colleen Peck (Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton) as the veteran tube stars engage in a shockingly venomous, intensely personal war of words.
Riveting as the total loss of cool might be for thrill-starved viewers, it is not a scene destined to warm the hearts of the “Daybreak” people who gambled on the possibility that macho, hard-news Mike and girly-soft former beauty queen Colleen could combine forces and help raise the show’s sagging ratings. Who knew that they’d turn out to hate one another? Certainly not Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams), the panic-prone wannabe producer who pitched the idea of this dream team in the first place. Oh, well, if Becky is fired, it won't be the first time. Maybe she's lucky in love? Nope. Her dashing beau, played by Patrick Wilson, seems ready to dash off in a whole new direction. Opens 11/12/10
IN KEATON'S OWN WORDS
"I enjoyed doing
the second ‘Godfather’ movie, partly because I wasn’t
afraid of everybody this time. On the first one, I felt so inconsequential
and all I could do was be very friendly and very nice and very scared.
Jeeze, every time I’d run into Marlon Brando on the set my
face would turn red and I’d start laughing and laughing. I
was so high school. So totally into self-loathing."
From Guy Flatley's 1974 Los Angeles Times
interview with Diane Keaton Click
here to read the entire article.
JESSICA LANGE
BORN 4/20/49 CLOQUET,
MINNESOTA
 GREY
GARDENS
Drew Barrymore, Jessica
Lange (Written and directed by Michael Sucsy; Cinetic Media)
Little
Edie Beale was Jacqueline Kennedy's cousin, and her mother, Big
Edie Bouvier Beale, was the First Lady’s aunt. At one time,
the two Edies lived sumptuously on Manhattan’s Park Avenue,
but they ended up in a squalid, raccoon-infested estate on Long
Island. Thanks to the intervention of Jackie, the East Hampton health
department did not carry through with its plan to raid the dump.
But that didn’t keep the messy eccentrics out of the headlines,
and eventually they became the subjects of “Grey Gardens,”
a memorable 1976 documentary made by David and Albert Maysles. Now
an expanded version of their story that covers 40 years and includes
Little Edie’s late-budding career as a nightclub chanteuse
is in the works. Let us hope that Jessica Lange has more luck playing
Drew Barrymore’s mom than she did playing Christina Ricci’s
in the wretched “Prozac Nation.” This film won high praise when it eventually premiered on cable tv.
SOPHIA LOREN
BORN 9/20/34 ROME, ITALY
 NINE
Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard,
Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Stacy Ferguson, Sophia Loren,
(Directed by Rob Marshall; Written by Anthony Minghella and Michael
Tolkin; Weinstein Company) Who could forget “8 1⁄2,”
the stunning 1963 film in which Marcello Mastroianni, under the
direction of Federico Fellini, played a Felliniesque director who
made more women than movies? Certainly, composer Maury Yeston and
dramatist Arthur Kopit could not erase this classic from their memories.
That’s why, in 1982, they came up with a Broadway musicalization
of it starring the late, great Raul Julia as the womanizing auteur
on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The show, called “Nine,”
was successfully revived in 2003, showcasing the song-and-dance
skills of Antonio Banderas. And now, here comes the movie version
of the hit musical, directed by Rob Marshall, who gave us “Chicago,”
and starring Daniel Day Lewis, one of the few actors now working
who could be ranked alongside Marcello Mastroianni. Penelope Cruz
plays his mistress, Marion Cotillard, who triumphed as Edith Piaf
in “La Vie en Rose,” is his shortchanged wife, Nicole
Kidman is an actress who greatly inspires him, Kate Hudson is a
fashion reporter who intrigues him, and Sophia Loren will presumably
haunt him and us as the ghost of his Mama. Now Playing
SHIRLEY MacLAINE
BORN 4/24/34 RICHMOND,
VIRGINIA
 BERNIE
Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine (Written and directed by Richard Linklater; Castle Rock and Mandalay Pictures)
"Midnight in the Garden of East Texas” is what Skip Hollandsworth called his true-crime story published in Texas Monthly in 1998. And now Richard Linklater, the constantly surprising director of “Slacker,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Before Sunset,” “School of Rock,” “Fast Food Nation,” “A Scanner Darkly” and “Me and Orson Welles,” will bring his boldly sensitive touch to the off-center tale of Bernie Tiede, the playful Carthage, Texas undertaker who courted and, many say, murdered Marjorie Nugent, the town’s leading, drippingly wealthy citizen.
Bernie and Marjorie will undoubtedly make a smashing screen twosome, seeing as how they are being played by Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine. Black, of course, rolled into the positively big time with his mercurial, crazed performance as a musical guru to disadvantaged yet gifted kids in Linklater’s “School of Rock” (2003). As for MacLaine, she has been spotlighted as a flirty but soul-deep superstar under the direction of such Hollywood masters as Billy Wilder, Vincente Minnelli, Alfred Hitchcock, William Wyler, Hal Ashby, Bob Fosse, Mike Nichols, James L. Brooks, Don Siegel, Robert Wise and George Marshall. So how could "Bernie" possibly bomb? Opening date to be announced
IN MacLAINE'S OWN WORDS
"Perhaps we who hold feminist attitudes
have intimidated the writers. They are afraid their male chauvinism
will show. It’s a very small community out there and a subject
like women’s liberation is just too political for the Hollywoodians.
And so women have fallen into the same vacuum as the Vietnam War,
the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and corruption in high places. Except for
‘All the President’s Men,’ we’ve been ignoring
social problems, and credit for getting that film made must go to
Robert Redford, a man with extremely good values. And he’s
charming and pretty enough to force things through."
From Guy Flatley's 1977 profile of Shirley
MacLaine in The New York Times Click
here to
read the entire article.
BETTE MIDLER
BORN 12/1/45 HONOLULU,
HAWAII
 THE
WOMEN
Meg Ryan, Annette Bening,
Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Candice
Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar (Written and
directed by Diane English; Picturehouse)
Women--when they bond with
one another and struggle to make the world a better place in which
to live and love and wage peace--are adorable creatures. But at
least one of the women in Clare Boothe Luce’s 1936 Broadway
hit shrugged her shoulder at sisterhood and coolly sized up every
available--and unavailable--male who crossed her path. Her name
was Crystal, she was a gold-digging shopgirl, and she was played
with predatory precision by Joan Crawford in George Cukor’s
1939 film adaptation. Sixty-nine years later, in an update by writer-director
Diane Enlish, the blissfully cruel Crystal is being played by Eva
Mendes, a Cuban-American seductress who may finally have landed
her breakout role. Meg Ryan, an actress in urgent need of a comeback
role, plays the achingly noble Mary Haines, a lady whose wealthy
husband is the besotted victim of Crystal’s wiles. If Diane
English is true to Clare Boothe Luce, Mary’s hubby--and all
of the other men who figure prominently in the lives of these Manhattan
“Women”--will be present in spirit only. Now Playing
HELEN MIRREN
BORN 7/26/45 LONDON,
ENGLAND
 LOVE RANCH
Helen Mirren, Joe Pesci, Gina Gershon, Rio
Hackford (Directed by Taylor Hackford; Written by Mark Jacobson;
Capitol Films) Not so long ago we were calling Helen Mirren queen;
soon we’ll be calling her madam. That’s because the
Oscar winner is playing an earthy, enterprising woman based on the
character of Sally Conforte, who--along with hubby Joe--made her
wildest dream come true by opening the Mustang Ranch, Nevada’s
first legal brothel. Life became one big love-in for Sally and Joe--until
that memorable moment in 1976 when Oscar Bonavena, an Argentinian
prizefighter rumored to have gotten raunchy with the Mustang boss-lady,
was shot dead by a ranch bodyguard. Director Taylor Hackford, Mirren’s
real-life husband, will be putting his wife through her “Love
Ranch” paces. And her real-life stepson, actor Rio Hackford,
will also be on hand in a supporting role. Now Playing
MICHELLE PFEIFFER
BORN 4/29/58 SANTA ANA,
CALIFORNIA
 CHERI
Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates, Felicity Jones, Frances
Tomelty, Anita Pallenberg, Harriet Walter, Iben Hjejle (Directd
by Stephen Frears; Written by Christopher Hampton; Miramax)
Cheri
(Rupert Friend), a young, handsome, and deeply romantic Parisian,
is tutored in the ways of love by Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer), an aging,
equally romantic courtesan. What she is actually teaching this son
of an old friend, who is now a wealthy prostitute, is how to be
not just a gigolo, but a perfect gigolo. Naturally, the
affair turns tres torrid. Collette’s classic short
novel has been adapted by Christopher Hampton, who collaborated
brilliantly with director Frears and star Pfeiffer in 1988’s
“Dangerous Liaisons.” Click here for the Variety review of "Cheri." Now Playing
VANESSA REDGRAVE
BORN 1/30/37 LONDON,
ENGLAND
 HOW
ABOUT YOU
Vanessa Redgrave,
Hayley Atwell, Imelda Staunton, Brenda Fricker, Joss Ackland, Orla
Brady, Joan O’Hara (Directed by Anthony Byrne; Written by
Jean Pasley; Ferndale Films)
Who does Vanessa Redgrave think she
is, anyway--some kind of movie star? Well, that’s just who
she is--or, rather, who she plays--in this comedy-drama.
As for the kind of movie star she is, she’s the kind who was
far from a superstar during her lackluster career in Irish films.
And now she’s taken on the off-screen role of superbitch,
the leader of a cantankerous quartet of seniors who’ve been
left behind in a County Wicklow retirement home while their fellow
residents are spending the Christmas holiday with their families.
Redgrave and her cronies--Imelda Staunton and Brenda Fricker as
erstwhile high-society sisters and Joss Ackland as a former judge
(and repudedly former alcoholic)--are not about to budge an inch
when the determined young manager of the residence (Hayley Atwell)
makes a stab at turning them into good, cooperative scouts. May
the best generation win. If “How About You” sounds familiar
to you, you’ve probably had the pleasure of reading “Hardcore,”
the Maeve Binchy short story upon which it is based. Now Playing
SUSAN SARANDON
BORN 10/4/46 NEW YORK,
NEW YORK
 SOLITARY MAN
Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, David Costabile (Directed by David Levien and Brian Koppelman; Written by Brian Koppelman; Anchor Bay Films)
Some men cheat on their wives. Some men cheat on their wives by attempting to rekindle a relationship with their ex-wives. Some men even cross a dangerous line with the nubile daughters of their latest wives. And, forgetting women for a second, it’s true that some men are at their most untrustworthy in the cold-blooded pursuit of big bucks.
Rarely does all of the above apply to one solitary man. But, happily, Ben Kalman, the mendacious car salesman and dedicated womanizer superbly played by Michael Douglas in this wickedly dark comedy, is a notable exception. And he deserves a round of applause from all serious moviegoers. Now Playing
PEACOCK
Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Susan Sarandon,
Josh Lucas, Bill Pullman, Jaimi Paige, Virginia Newcomb, Paul Cram
(Directed by Michael Lander; Written by Michael Lander and Ryan
Roy; Mandate Pictures)
Nothing much ever happened in the tiny town
of Peacock, Nebraska--unless you count the day a train ran into
the back yard of a humble bank clerk mamed John Skillpa (Cillian
Murphy). That was the same day folks became aware that John had
a housemate, a woman they took to be his wife. Peacockians being
Peacockians, no one made much of the fact that John and his spouse
never appeared in the same place at the same time. Finally, somebody
took notice--a perky single mom (played by "Juno's" Ellen
Page) began to suspect that something strange, maybe even sick,
was going on in John's house. How could this well-intentioned snoop
bring John's story to a happy ending? Persuade John to put his wife
up for adoption? Or, discovering that the guy had been getting off
on slipping into something silky and masquerading as his own wife,
she might try convincing him that she herself would make the best
of all possible Mrs. Skillpas. Or maybe she should get the hell
out of Peacock. Opening date to be
announced
IN SARANDON'S OWN WORDS
"I believe in love
and trust and commitment, but not in marriage. Marriage may do something
for lawyers and mothers, but not for husbands and wives. I deal
with reality, with the feelings I have at the moment. And then I
go on from there." From Guy
Flatley's 1978 interview with Susan Sarandon in Cosmopolitan magazine
Click here to
read the entire article.
SISSY SPACEK
BORN 12/25/49 QUITMAN, TEXAS
 GET LOW
Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill Murray, Lucas Black (Directed by Aaron Schneider; Written by Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell; Sony Pictures Classics)
Some people love a parade; others love a carnival or maybe a wedding. And then there’s the rare bird who loves a funeral, such as Felix Bush, the elderly, irascible—some said menacing--loner who emerged from his backwoods Tennessee home one day during the Great Depression with the wacky goal of finding somebody to give him a festive, folksy funeral, replete with music, booze, and cash prizes. All this while Felix was still among the living.
Sound a bit far-fetched? Well, according to the makers of “Get Low,” it’s all true, based on events in the life of an eccentric whose proper name was Felix Breazeale and who did manage to celebrate his own fun-filled send-off from our prosaic planet with mischievous, surprisingly raunchy panache.
Critics who voted thumbs up on this sleeper did so largely because of the solid, in-depth performances by veterans Robert Duvall as the cantankerous but vulnerable Felix, Bill Murray as the crafty, highly unorthodox director of the local funeral parlor, and Sissy Spacek as a sweet yet sassy widow who once made the mistake of letting Felix fly off on his own. Now Playing
MERYL STREEP
BORN 6/22/49 SUMMIT,
NEW JERSEY
 JULIE & JULIA
Meryl Streep, Amy Adams (Written and directed
by Nora Ephron; Columbia)
A world-famous chef, who was also the
star of her own popular live-TV show, once blithely flipped a potato
pancake into the air, only to see it land not in the intended pan
but on a decidedly un-photogenic work table. Not a bit flustered,
she simply scooped up the smashed potato and molded it back into
shape. Then, looking firmly into the eye of the camera, she told
her audience, “Remember, you are alone in the kitchen, and
no one can see you.” This unflappable flipper, of course,
was Julia Child, the lovably eccentric American who somehow managed
to become an idolized French chef. And playing Child in this movie
is Meryl Streep, who, as you know, can glide from American to French
or any other nationality on a minute’s notice. The question
is, what sort of scenario has writer-director Nora Ephron concocted
that will give Streep a chance to don her apron and flip her potato
pancake, as well as engage in some out-of-the-kitchen antics? After
all, this film is supposedly an adaptation of “Julie and Julia:
365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen,” Julia Powell’s
2005 book dishing out the comedy-drama of her decision to cook,
over the course of one year, every single recipe in Julia Child’s
“Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and to serve the
presumably tasty results to her husband and other guinea pigs. Her
experiment took a toll in both the digestive and domestic realms.
Amy Adams ("Catch Me If You Can," "Junebug,"
"Charlie Wilson's War," "Doubt") plays the central
role of Julie. But you can bet that Ephron will cook up something
tres delicious for Streep, who played the author to perfection
in "Heartburn," based on Ephron's account of her disastrous
marriage to philandering journalist Carl Bernstein. Now Playing
DIRTY TRICKS
Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow,
Jim Broadbent, Annette Bening, Jill Clayburgh, Sharon Stone (Written
and directed by Ryan Murphy; Paramount) They called her Martha the
Mouth, Mouth of the South or simply Moutha. Her real name was Martha
Mitchell, and she was the full-throttle wife of John Mitchell, Attorney
General to President Richard M. Nixon. Never one to hold back, Martha,
who died in 1976, had this to say about her hubby’s boss:
“Nixon bleeds people. He draws every drop of blood and then
drops them from a cliff. He’ll blame any person he can put
his foot on.” Nor did Martha go all that easy on Mitchell
himself, referring to him at one point as “that gutless, despicable
crook.” Is it any wonder that in an effort to shut her up,
her enemies eventually drugged her and held her captive in a California
hotel room?
Ryan Murphy, director of “Running With Scissors”
and TV's popular "Glee" was long ago announced as the helmeher of this adaptation of John Jeter’s play about the
woman who spilled the beans that hastened Tricky Dick's departure
from the White House. And, best news of all, Murphy had the smarts
to cast Meryl Streep as the biggest Moutha ever. Also on prominent
display: Jim Broadbent and Jill Clayburgh as Dick and Pat Nixon;
former off-screen sweethearts Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow as John
and Maureen Dean; Sharon Stone as Washington Post publisher Katharine
Graham; and Annette Bening as Helen Thomas, the White House correspondent
who received many a late-night phone call from the whistle-blowing
Martha. The film is a production of Plan B Entertainment, the company
in which co-producer Pitt was once ambitiously partnered with former
wife Jennifer Aniston. Maybe the couple's breakup explains the fact that this promising project never seems to materialize. Was it all just a dream? Opening date
to be announced?????
FIRST MAN
Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep (Written and directed by Diane
English; Disney)
If a guy’s got tons of self esteem and doesn’t
give a hoot if people ridicule him for giving up his dream of becoming
the next Ted Turner in order to give his wife a career boost, he
deserves credit. Especially if his wife has her heart set on the
White House. Coming from Diane English, who created “Murphy
Brown,” this could turn out to be a cutting-edge romantic
comedy. On the other hand, didn’t Fred MacMurray and Polly
Bergen already cover this ground in 1964’s “Kisses for
My President”? Opening date to
be announced
CHAOS
Meryl Streep, Aishwarya Rai, Michael David
White (Directed by Coline Serreau)
Brutally assaulted by a trio
of street punks, a blood-splattered prostitute pleads with a middle-aged
couple to take her into their car. The driver shuts his window and
drives on to a dinner party. The next day, the driver’s guilt-ridden
wife tracks down the victim and before long they are close--and
exceptionally scheming--friends. French film director Coline Serreau
is directing this English-language remake of her story of vengeance,
violence and bizarre bonding. Streep plays the older woman, and
Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai plays the hooker who changes her
life, not entirely for the better. Opening
date to be announced
BARBRA STREISAND
BORN 4/24/42 BROOKLYN,
NEW YORK
 LITTLE
FOCKERS
Robert De Niro, Ben
Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner
(Directed by Jay Roach; Written by Larry Stuckey; Universal)
They’re
baaaack! We’re talking about the unstoppable Fockers--horny,
long-in-the-tooth hippies Bernie and Roz (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra
Streisand) and their terminally nerdy son (Ben Stiller). We’re
also talking about the Byrnes clan, former CIA operative Bernie
and his uptight wife (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) and their
flaky daughter (Teri Polo), who has more or less glued the family
to the Fockers. Who knows what the future holds for members of this
lucrative franchise, but the title does give one the sinking feeling
that we’ll be present at the birth of a whole flock of Fockerettes.
To read Guy Flatley's 1973 interview
with Barbra Streisand, click here;
for Guy's 1973 interview with Robert De Niro, click
here; for his 1979 interview with Dustin Hoffman, click
here; and for Diane Baroni's 2000 interview with Teri Polo,
click here. Opens 12/22/10
IN STREISAND'S OWN WORDS
"I’ve heard
Truman Capote say all actors are dumb and that maybe Marlon Brando
is the dumbest of all. Well, he’s dumb for saying that. He
was being provocative, but he was doing it at somebody else’s
expense. Any actor worth his salt is intelligent. As for Brando–-my God, he has genius! Brando is the only actor who ever really
touched me." From
Guy Flatley's 1973 profile of Barbra Streisand in The New York Times.
Click here
to read the entire article.
SIGOURNEY WEAVER
BORN 10/8/49 NEW YORK,
NEW YORK
 AVATAR
Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Laz Alonso, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang (Written and directed by James Cameron; Twentieth Century-Fox)
Sam Worthington, for whom"Avatar" may do what "Titanic" did for Leo and "Terminator" did for Arnie, is the vulnerable but sexy human hero in James Cameron's latest special-effects pig-out. The picture-perfect Aussie plays a severely wounded soldier who flees to another universe, a haven where he hopes to find--and inhabit--an alien whose body is in better shape than his own.
But he may need a helping medical hand to pull off that particular miracle, which, of couse, is where Dr. Grace Augustine--played by Sigourney Weaver, a cool actress we all applauded when she kicked butt in James Cameron's "Aliens"--comes in. And, in case you didn't know it, "Aliens" was directed by James Cameron. Now Playing
DEBRA WINGER
BORN 5/16/55 CLEVELAND
HEIGHTS, OHIO
 RACHEL
GETTING MARRIED
Anne
Hathaway, Debra Winger, Bill Irwin, Rosemarie DeWitt, Anna Deavere
Smith, Dorian Missick, Tamyra Gray, Daphne Rubin-Vega (Directed
by Jonathan Demme; Written by Jenny Lumet; Sony Pictures Classics)
In 1983, director James Brooks skillfully explored the complicated
relationship between an impetuous, disorderly rebel and her sweet,
impeccably behaved daughter. Both Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger
received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress of 1983, and
mama MacLaine took home the Oscar. Now, 25 years later, esteemed
director Jonathan Demme is focusing on another intriguing mother-daughter
combo in “Rachel Getting Married.” This time, it’s
Debra Winger who plays mom, a divorcee on the verge of reconnecting
with her estranged daughter, a neurotic ex-model recently released
from rehab and on her way home for her sister’s wedding. Perhaps
Winger, whose career could stand a little rehabilitation, will finally
nab her Oscar--though it’s possible the big winner could be
Anne Hathaway, who no doubt welcomed the chance to soil her squeaky
clean image in the role of Winger’s wayward sprout.
Now Playing
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