“Welcome to the Rileys : The Kristen Stewart-Stripper Movie is Actually the Melissa Leo-Wife Movie - Phoenix New Times” plus 2 more

Welcome to the Rileys : The Kristen Stewart-Stripper Movie is Actually the Melissa Leo-Wife Movie - Phoenix New Times
Jane Lynch joins Muppets movie. Let's all freak out, Animal-style! - Entertainment Weekly Online
Movie Review: Due Date Nothing to Race Across Country For - Entertainment Online

Welcome to the Rileys : The Kristen Stewart-Stripper Movie is Actually the Melissa Leo-Wife Movie - Phoenix New Times

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 01:34 PM PST

Some young actors yearn for that flashy role in a blockbuster movie that will prove their bankability to a doubting Hollywood. Kristen Stewart, on the other hand, seems determined to accentuate her anti-star bona fides, delivering aggressively affectless interviews and bracketing this summer's $300 million-earning Twilight: Eclipse with two grittier roles in movies seemingly chosen for their dim commercial prospects.

Details

Directed by Jake Scott. Written by Ken Hixon. Starring Kristen Stewart, James Gandolfini, and Melissa Leo. Rated R.

More About

In this past spring's Runaways, Stewart was as flat as a pancake, but still, somehow, fascinating to watch as the young Joan Jett, a stretched-tight canvas upon which Dakota Fanning and Michael Shannon could paint the future.

But Jake Scott's Welcome to the Rileys is so underwritten that, despite a more energetic performance, Stewart makes much less of an impression. She's not exactly playing a hooker with a heart of gold, but she is playing a hooker, named Mallory, and the movie's got something to do with her heart — though a lot more to do with her bad-girl vibe, and her mouth, and what it looks like when a payload of F-bombs drops out of it. Try as Stewart might, she can't turn this Manic Trixie Nightmare Girl into a real person.

Rileys follows middle-aged schlub Doug Riley (James Gandolfini in dad jeans) from Indianapolis to the Crescent City. Still mourning a teenage daughter lost a few years back — as well as another, more recent loss — Doug ditches his plumbing convention to hang out with 16-year-old exotic dancer Mallory. Their relationship remains resolutely uncarnal, as he fixes her toilet, buys her clean sheets, and picks her up from tricks gone bad.

There's no mystery to what Doug's doing, and the blunt motivation makes this sad ex-father, whom Gandolfini saddles with a drawl that won't stay put, sympathetic but not particularly interesting. Gandolfini underplays accordingly.

Though dull, the relationship between Doug and Mallory can be sweet, and Scott directs unobtrusively and has a nice eye for detail. The son of Ridley and nephew of Tony, he exhibits little of the visual flair of his forebears — thank God — and lets New Orleans speak for itself.

Doug's wife, Lois (Melissa Leo), agoraphobic since their daughter's death, gathers her courage and follows her wayward husband south. Surprisingly, given the indignities visited upon her early in Ken Hixon's screenplay — watch the freakshow try to drive! — Lois becomes Rileys' most compelling character, thanks mostly to Leo, who in the face of her co-stars' opacity gives a transparent performance. Lois is incapable of hiding her emotions; Leo plays her as someone who's too exhausted even to try.

Thanks to Leo and the way she brings Gandolfini to attention in their scenes together, the movie is at its wisest when it explores the Rileys' strained 30-year marriage, and exults in that marriage's gentle renewal amid the squalor of Mallory's shitty row house. And so the best moments of Welcome to the Rileys don't include its most bankable star at all. Well played, Kristen Stewart. An anti-star is born.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Jane Lynch joins Muppets movie. Let's all freak out, Animal-style! - Entertainment Weekly Online

Posted: 12 Nov 2010 12:55 PM PST

jane-lynch-muppets Image Credit: Bob Charlotte/PR Photos; Everett CollectionYou know that game that you play with your friends when you ask each other which five dinner guests you'd invite to your home if you could choose anyone in the world? Well, I have a feeling that Disney is playing a Hollywood version of that game when it comes to casting its Muppets movie, co-written by Jason Segel. I mean, first there was Segel, who's also starring in the film. Then Amy Adams. Then Zach Galifianakis. And now, Disney has confirmed with EW that they have cast Community's Donald Glover, Machete's Danny Trejo, and — prepare yourself, fans of a certain Fox series about a jolly band of singing teenagers suspiciously hyper-aware of life pre-1990s — Glee's Jane Lynch. I know, I know — that news is so great, I want to take it behind the bleachers and insult it Sue Sylvester-style. But, really, what ~~pretend friends of mine~~ undeniably awesome people are next, Disney? Tina Fey? Meryl Streep? This cat?

According to The Wrap, Lynch will be playing a prison guard in the film, which is appropriate, since she already knows her way around Warden Gentiles' joint. And while Glover's character is not yet known, Trejo is on tap to play Lynch's prisoner (oh, the poor soul). Of course, this begs the question: What will the Muppets do in the film that will warrant (heh) a prison visit? Or, which Muppet is most likely to end up in the slammer? I know the popular choice would be Animal, but I'm going to guess Beaker. Something tells me someone as scientific and tweaked-out-looking as him has gotten into some Breaking Bad-esque trouble before.

Is it possible to not be excited for this flick? And are any of these actors on your dinner invite list?

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Movie Review: Due Date Nothing to Race Across Country For - Entertainment Online

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 06:15 PM PDT

Review in a Hurry: A road trip movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis should be a match made in buddy-flick heaven. Alas, with barely any planes, no trains and only a few automobiles, director Todd Phillips' much-anticipated comedy is an only occasionally funny and mostly bumpy ride.

The Bigger Picture: Peter Highman (Downey) is a tightly wound father-to-be whose wife's due date is only days away. On his way to Los Angeles from Atlanta he meets Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis). Through a series of wacky events, Tremblay inadvertently gets both men kicked off their plane and put on a "no fly" list...while Peter's luggage, wallet and ID take off without him. Although Peter already despises Ethan, he finds himself stuck with him—he is the dude with a rental car after all, so it's off to L.A. they go.

With both actors coming off very successful hits, Phillips had the right idea casting Downey and Galifianakis in a story that focuses on their interactions. They have great chemistry together.

Like many comedies of late, however, the script (by Phillips, Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland and Adam Sztykiel) is too focused on pitting crazy guy vs. crazier guy. While Ethan is the wacky man-child, sporting a bad perm and constantly talking about needing to go pee-pee, Peter is just as immature. (He's the one with the rage issues.) So it's not a shock that both men are a stunted mess and will most likely learn a lot as they travel from cheap hotels to the Mexican border. And if the film had more gut-busters and actual jokes, these character types wouldn't be an issue. But after the third time we hear Peter threaten to take out Ethan via a household appliance, the gag gets old. Worse is hearing Ethan ponder that Shakespeare was pronounced "Shakesbeard" and he was a pirate. Random goofiness only begets more tired jokes.

Speaking of tired, the time has come to recognize that as talented as Downey is, maybe he should stop taking scripts that are half-baked like this one and quit relying on his I'll-just-wing-it approach. Yes, it served him well on the first Iron Man, but not so much with Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man II and now, Due Date.

Thankfully, a small part of the movie—that isn't just Downey and Galifianakis—features solid cameos by Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis and Danny McBride. McBride, in particular, is in the funniest scene, playing a currency exchange teller who won't release $500 from a wire transaction. His über-machoness makes for a genuinely hilarious clash with Downey's rageaholic ways. Maybe they should do the sequel together?

The 180—a Second Opinion: As proven in The Hangover, Phillips knows how to shoot gorgeous, colorful films. Case in point, a stop at the Grand Canyon is sort of awe-inspiring and, dare we even say it, touching?

PHOTOS: Holiday Movie Guide