By Mark Mix
Home day care providers would be forced into unions
Woody Allen said everything he needed to say about Italian cinema in "Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask."
Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love" began with better titles. Yet despite the exquisite locations of the filmmaker's first story of love, Italian style, this bland ensemble romance deserves the generic name rather than the clever working titles it started with.
Whit Stillman doesn't want to talk about politics. Ask the famed indie film director for his thoughts about the current Republican primary race, and he politely — but flatly — declines. Lightly pressed, he changes the subject, turning the tables to ask questions of his own. He wasn't always so evasive when it came to political hot topics.
Woody Allen has finalized the cast for his next film, "The Bop Decameron."
"Arthur" _ Another inferior, unnecessary remake, Russell Brand's comedy at least is benign fluff that should please younger audiences unfamiliar with the 1981 comedy, even if purists who adore the original may hate this version. The movie is respectful of and faithful to Dudley Moore's original _ maybe too much so. The filmmakers tweak things to modernize the story and fit the persona of drunken, debauched, billionaire man-child onto Brand (not surprisingly, it's no stretch for the British comic with the party-boy past). Yet the alterations are mostly cosmetic, including the big one, changing the sex of Arthur's stern but loving guardian Hobson from a man (John Gielgud as Moore's butler in the original) to a woman (Helen Mirren as Brand's nanny). First-time director Jason Winer (TV's "Modern Family") stuffs this version with too many cute, cloying moments as Brand's Arthur grows up while finding true love with a penniless tour guide (Greta Gerwig) and avoiding an arranged marriage with a corporate-climbing executive (Jennifer Garner). Considering the crudeness of many remakes, this could have turned out much worse. PG-13 for alcohol use throughout, sexual content, language and some drug references. 110 minutes. Two stars out of four.
The remake of the 1981 comedy "Arthur" has a bit of a drinking problem.
The rural crime thriller "Winter's Bone" earned a leading seven nominations Tuesday for the Spirit Awards honoring independent film, including best picture and acting honors for Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes and Dale Dickey.
Miss Gerwig says the director "encouraged me and the other [female] actors to never play anything for comedy or judgment. Everything we were doing was sincere."
Whit Stillman breaks Hollywood taboo, says he was 'blacklisted' from directing TV →
