Review: 'Song One' starring Anne Hathaway and Johnny Flynn

 NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from last year's Sundance Film Festival. 

Coming off Anne Hathaway's unforgettable, heartbreaking cries in Les Miserables, one might expect that seeing her in a film titled Song One would promise a similar emotional tenor. Nothing could be further from reality, other than the many chirpy contrivances in this airy story about a folk musician and an anthropologist who find love in the midst of sudden tragedy.

Henry (Ben Rosenfield) is one of those passionate sub-indie musicians plying his trade in the New York subway system, playing for pennies so that he can afford to upload his music to MySpace or something. Pursuing his dreams put him at odds with his sister Franny (Hathaway), who is off studying the native tribes of Morocco for her PhD. Their last conversation was heated and hurtful, and they've been estranged ever since. When an accident lands Henry in a coma, all she can recall is how angry they had left things, and decides to do something about. Hoping sensory recall will bring him back, Franny captures all of Henry's favorite sounds and smells, spending every waking moment by his bedside along with their mother (Mary Steenburgen), who resents her daughter's distance. Rifling through things, Franny discovers a concert ticket to see Henry's favorite musician, James Forester (real-life musician Johnny Flynn), and is instantly smitten with both the man and his brand of coffee house folk.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, the two hit it off and soon they are inseparable. Franny brings him to Henry's hospital room to perform for his greatest fan, and she becomes James' top groupie attending all of his concerts. After a hit album five years earlier, James has been touring the clubs of New York, but is now due to return home in a matter of days. Will Henry come out of his coma in time? Will Franny drop her boring career path and embark on a life of musical creativity with James? Will your teeth rot out from this sickeningly sweet extended meet-cute?

Snark aside, there are a few genuine moments between Franny and James as she discovers her own love of music and he is all too happy to share his. Hathaway doesn't get to let the pipes ring out too much, other than a few lines here or there, but Flynn gets multiple opportunities on stage. The film really counts on you digging his sound to help bolster the fairly common love story, but the tracks are rather flavorless and indistinct. Written and directed by first-timer Kate Barker-Froyland, the film has more than its share of tonal misfires. It's always going to be weird when people are chatting away and playing music around a comatose patient, but that awkwardness extends out of the hospital, as well. Hathaway isn't stretching herself too much playing the grieving sister, but Flynn is about as vanilla bland as they come. It's hard to believe this guy has such a commanding presence he's surrounded by a throng of devotees at all times. A film like this should have no problem rounding up an audience looking for an easy, romantic tune to follow, but those hoping for something more will find Song One is a little out of rhythm.

 Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Anne Hathaway Finds Love and Music in Trailer for 'Song One'

The redemptive power of a good song is a theme we saw explored last summer in John Carney's underrated musical Begin Again, which just received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. That idea is due to get explored again later this month in the Anne Hathaway film, Song One, which also explores how music can not just heal the soul, but the body as well.

Hathaway stars alongsid Johnny Flynn in the story of a lonely Brooklyn woman who falls in love with her comatose brother's favorite musician. For all of writer/director Kate Barker-Froyland's good intentions I found the film incredibly bland, largely due to the lack of chemistry between Hathaway and Flynn. Still, this kind of movie has an audience and they'll likely turn out for it, just don't expect to hear much singing from Hathaway.

Also starring Mary Steenburgen and Ben Rosenfield with original songs by Jenny Lewis, Song One opens January 23rd.

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Anne Hathaway Makes Beautiful Music in First Trailer for 'Song One'

Following on her heartbreaking portrayal in Les Miserables, Anne Hathaway quickly signed on for another musical weeper, Song One. Only this one wasn't met with the same critical adoration, at least not when it debuted at Sundance earlier this year. The film has pretty much been forgotten about since then but with a release date right around the corner the first trailer has been released.

Co-starring musician Johnny Flynn, Song One stars Hathaway as a Brooklyn girl who begins researching her brother's favorite bands after an accident leaves him in a coma. That puts her in touch with her brother's idol (Flynn), and the two embark on a romance fueled by a mutual love of music.

I found the film to be utterly forgettable and "sickeningly sweet", but also something that should appeal easily to audiences looking for a happy diversion. Song One opens January 23rd 2015.

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Review: Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and More

Heavy is the weight of expectation on everything Christopher Nolan does at this point. Eight incredibly successful, thought-provoking films, including three of the greatest superhero movies ever and one of the best pieces of sci-fi in Inception, will cause most to believe Nolan will always perform on that high level. And that has certainly been the case with his ninth film, Interstellar, which has been shrouded in secrecy; promising high-concept science of the quantum physics variety, the kind us laymen get cloudy-eyed over. There's no denying Nolan's sheer ambition and glorious intellectual curiosity, it's in Interstellar's DNA, but what good is that adventurous spirit if Nolan doesn't trust the audience enough to see it through to the end?

At the head of a glowing cast is Matthew McConaughey as Cooper, a former NASA pilot now forced to become a farmer due to the severe lack of food. The near-future has seen the planet infected with an intentionally vague "blight" that has wiped out most of the crops and left the world covered in a thick dust. There's no place for men like Coop anymore; space flights have not only been ceased due to the costs (hey, that sounds familiar) but are also the subject of conspiracy theories used to paint space exploration in a negative light. Coop's daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy, played later by Jessica Chastain) takes after her old man, while his son wants to plow the fields and be useful. But it's becoming obvious that Earth doesn't have long left, and that all the farming in the world won't save it.

Fortunately, there's a glimmer of hope that emerges in Murph's room of all places, in the form of a "ghost" that knocks things off the wall and causes the dust to fall in what looks like binary code patterns. Using their wits, Murph and Coop follow the code's coordinates to a secret locale where they uncover his old mentor, Professor Brand (Michael Caine), who is leading a team of astronauts whose sole mission is to find humanity a new home planet. We've been aided in our journey by a mysterious wormhole that emerged out of nowhere, with the decidedly un-scientific theory that all-powerful beings left it there for us to find. These beings that are strong enough to leave wormholes lying around but not to just drop by and say "Hey, you could move humanity to this planet over here. We've decorated it nicely for ya." Others have gone ahead, scouting multiple new worlds but never returning, sending out beacons to the most promising prospects. It's then that Coop makes the gut-wrenching decision to leave his family behind and join in the next mission into deep space along with Brand's stiff and impersonal daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway) and a pair of others. There's even a jokey little robot (voiced by Bill Irwin) tagging along for a dose of humor, although its presence doesn't quite work with the film's serious tone.

While often considered too precise, too clinical of a filmmaker, the genuine heart and wonder he injects into Interstellar is considerable. Especially during the first half of the film, during the earthbound portions as Coop searches for meaning in a world that no longer seems to need him. At the same time he must help his children find their own reason for existence and to nurture whatever that cause may be. In a way, he's carrying over themes of paternal legacy explored in all three of his Batman movies.

It's as Nolan and screenwriter brother Jonathan delve into the technical aspects that things begin to unravel. There are some huge ideas here, with Nolan again interested in the flexibility of time, much like with Inception. Only now one must factor in space and relativity, and the result are a bit jumbled. Certainly, the average moviegoer isn't going to understand a word of the technical gobbledygook, but that shouldn't really matter if the story is engrossing enough. And for a vast chunk of time it most definitely is. Shot mostly in 70mm IMAX, every single frame is an absolute stunner and demands to be seen in the larger format. Whether we're floating through the dark, silent void of space or hurtling impossibly through a black hole, the beauty Nolan is able to craft is impressive, right up there with what we saw in Gravity just last year. If only the same precision could be found in Hans Zimmer's overbearing score, which of course is meant to be epic but sounds like someone dropped a boulder on a giant organ and left it. The herky-jerky final act offers up a series of miscues as the film begins to resemble Event Horizonmore than 2001: A Space Odyssey. While it brings with it certain manufactured thrills that some audiences will love, it comes at the expense of what had been the film's calling card up to that point: science. Even more confusing is Nolan's decision to ditch the cerebral and rely more on the emotional; to show that love is a powerful enough force to overcome time and space. Nolan's point is clear, and maybe in a different film that message would resonate deeper, but in the deeply analytical and flawed Interstellar it's just lost in space.

 Rating: 3 out of 5

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Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Reveals Final Trailer; Confirms IMAX Release Date

Now that the final trailer for Christopher Nolan's secretive Interstellar is here, those eagerly awaiting the film's release in a few weeks are faced with a dilemma. It's a quandary that seems to follow all of Nolan's work, and it is whether or not to watch the footage and possibly have something spoiled; or wait the few weeks and see the whole thing.

For what it's worth, the latest trailer keeps the epic feel of the others while doing a pretty good job of maintaining the mystery. We know the particulars of the story without the finer details. Matthew McConaughey leads a team of astronauts into deep space when Earth becomes inhabitable. There's a lot more to it than that, and part of the fun is going to be watching how Nolan peels back those layers.

Starring Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, and more, Interstellar has been confirmed for an early IMAX release on November 5th, opening nationwide two days later.

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New Photos from 'Interstellar'; Matthew McConaughey calls it 'Biggest Film" he's Ever Done

After keeping Interstellar under lock and key for so long, Christopher Nolan will be unveiling the film to anxious viewers before too long. Never one to reveal too much too soon, Nolan is now beginning to talk about it in measured doses while maintaining a sense of mystery. Recently it was Empire who caught up with him and stars Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, who spoke about the sci-fi epic's ambitious scope.

McConaughey:  "This is the grandest adventure I think any of us will ever see on film... This is the biggest film I've ever been a part of. This is one of the biggest films anyone's ever been a part of."

Those are pretty big words coming from McConaughey, who co-starred with Jodie Foster in the equally grand sci-fi film, Contact, early in his career.  Hathaway agrees, and believes Interstellar will have a reach that goes far beyond that of typical films, entering the national discussion in way few movies do...

Hathaway: "I am so excited for the world to receive this film, because there's going to be a new conversation I believe will happen because of it. It's not a dry, science-based film. It has a pulse. It's got blood in its veins."

As for Nolan, he doesn't go too far into details but does compare the film's structure to that of Inception...

Nolan: "It’s a very classically constructed movie, but the freshness of the narrative elements really enhance it. I liken it to the blockbusters I grew up with as a kid, family films in the best sense: edgy, incisive, challenging... "It’s almost a mirror image of 'Inception.' It expands out in the way 'Inception' contracts inwards."

Meanwhile, a handful of new images have been released that give us a look McConaughey, Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and a bearded Casey Affleck, along with some behind-the-scenes shots of Nolan at work. Interstellar opens November 7th.

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Mike Epps Frontrunner to Play Richard Pryor in Lee Daniels' Biopic; Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson Eyed for Role

Making movies about real life people is always a complicated thing because there are factors involved that have nothing to do with what's on-screen. Often the central figure's estate gets involved and holds things up or shuts them down entirely, and then there's that whole problem of finding just the right actor. Many have attempted to make a biopic on Richard Pryor over the years with very little success, and Lee Daniels is next to give it a shot. And while he's facing issues from Pryor's son who is threatening a legal fight, Daniels is moving ahead on casting and a frontrunner has emerged in Mike Epps.

Deadline reports Epps as the new prime candidate to play Pryor, which makes sense for a couple of reasons. Epps' stand-up style has a similar energy to Pryor (I'm not saying he's just as good, trust me), to the point where Epps actually played Pryor in the controversial Nina Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana. When Daniels first came aboard it was Michael B. Jordan eyed for the role, and then Nick Cannon made a serious case for it. Both appear to still be in contention alongside Marlon Wayans. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway are said to be up to portray his widow, Richard Lee Pryor, but where those negotiations are is unclear.

This could be a "big deal" film that Oscars get handed out for so understandably the competition for this one is fierce, and Daniels will probably take his time in making a decision. 

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New Trailer for Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Starring Matthew McConaughey

How is it that the guy who made the defining comic book trilogy of all-time has never been to Comic-Con? That was the case for Christopher Nolan until this past weekend when he turned up at the event to help Paramount promote Interstellar, his ambitious sci-fi film led by Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, and many more. And part of the presentation included a revealing new trailer which has now emerged online.

This footage is "revealing" only in the Nolan sense of the word, meaning that it gives away just enough without actually telling you much of anything. What it does is establish a grandiose tone, very much in the vein of Terrence Malick, while keeping the central mystery under wraps. McConaughey plays an engineer who joins a mission into space in hopes of finding a means to save humanity, and to do it they will use the power of a newly-discovered wormhole.

Interstellar opens November 6th.


Interstellar (2014) - Official Trailer #3 [VO-HD] by Eklecty-City.fr

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Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart, & Brie Larson are 'Just One of the Guys' in Jenny Lewis' Music Video

She may be a big rock star now but Jenny Lewis got her start as an actress, playing Super Mario Bros. opposite Fred Savage in The Wizard and starring with Angelina Jolie in Foxfire. She's since contributed to a number of movie soundtracks, including the upcoming musical rom-com Song One which stars Anne Hathaway. Um, I'll let my review of that film speak for itself, but it's clear Lewis has made quite a few Hollywood friends and she's dialed them up to be in her latest video.

Lewis convinced Hathaway, Kristen Stewart, and Brie Larson to play back-up and dress in drag for the video for "Just One of the Guys". Too much sexy in one place! I can't stand it!! If the name recalls a certain '80s comedy about a girl who dresses up as a dude then you get the gist of what Lewis is trying to pull off with the song and video, which is about the undue burdens placed on women. While it's funny to watch the ladies don their mustaches and track suits to look like guys the message is actually a serious one, and it makes me wish the song weren't so forgettable. 

Lewis' first solo album in six years, 'Voyager', releases on July 29th.

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New Trailer for Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Rockets into Space

"We're not meant to save the world, we're meant to leave it." Christopher Nolan has kept much of his sci-fi drama Interstellar under wraps, as he tends to do with most of his films. But he's been especially secret about this one, with early plot summaries including things like wormholes, time travel, and alternate dimensions. The latest trailer still keeps much of what Nolan has planned under wraps while finally showing taking us off the Earth and into the void of space.

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, David Oyelowo and more, the film follows a team of astronauts on a mission to the stars in hopes of saving the world. As Oyelowo's character ominously notes, the world has run out of food and the only chance of survival may be finding a new planet elsewhere. Nolan is working with a different cinematographer other than Wally Pfister (who went off to direct Transcendence, probably not the wisest choice) and yet the results appear to be the same as the film looks stunning.

Interstellar opens on November 7th.


INTERSTELLAR - Trailer by dmagianet

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Snap Judgments Review: 'Don Peyote'

Dan Fogler (Take Me Home Tonight, Balls of Fury) co-writes, co-directs, and stars in the trippy stoner comedy Don Peyote as Warren, an unemployed graphic artist who goes down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and Doomsday scenarios to deal with anxiety over his upcoming marriage.  The film co-stars Anne Hathaway, Josh Duhamel, Jay Baruchel, Topher Grace, and Kelly Hutchinson.

Check out my Snap Judgments review of Don Peyote below. The film is available now On Demand and will hit theaters on May 16th.

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Review: “Rio 2,” starring Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, and Andy Garcia

In the three years since Rio, was anyone really clamoring for a follow-up? Yes, the movie made a bunch of money, but so did The Smurfs, and then that got a sequel that turned out to be terrible. So maybe it was within Rio’s destiny as an already-meh children’s movie that it would get a further-meh children’s movie sequel. Those are the laws of Hollywood, I guess.

So there it is: Rio 2 is not very good, and I say that as an adult who knows about being in love and being in a relationship, concepts that Rio 2 is surprisingly obsessed with given that it’s supposed to be a children’s movie, you know, for children. Not for parents with trust issues or identity crises, but kids. But we have a movie that focuses predominantly on the marriage of our main bird characters, Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (voiced by Anne Hathaway), and very little on their children, or on any other younger protagonists. It’s kind of strange, but the plot overall is a recycled save-the-forests thing, so maybe it’s not that surprising that nothing about this movie feels remarkable.

Here’s the gist: Some years ago, blue macaws Blu and Jewel, supposedly the last birds of their kind, fell in love, even though Blu used to be a pet and Jewel was once a wild animal. Despite their differences, they decide to start a new life together, and their former owners, Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann) and Tulio (voiced by Rodrigo Santoro), start a nature sanctuary together. Fast-forward to where Rio 2 picks up, with Blu and Jewel the parents of three tween birds; you won’t really catch their names, but there’s a chubby older girl attached to her music device, a nerdy younger girl with her beak in a book, and a mischievous boy who likes to blow things up. Blu and Jewel live on the nature sanctuary created by Linda and Tulio, who are married and still exploring the Amazon, trying to find more blue macaws in the jungle. Instead, they stumble upon illegal loggers, cutting down the rainforest for their own personal gain. Oh no!

Simultaneously, Blu and Jewel are also being stalked by the evil bird Nigel (voiced by Jemaine Clement), who Blu seriously injured during the first film; now unable to fly, Nigel wants his revenge. Along with a poisonous frog who is in love with him but can’t touch him because she’d kill him and a goofy anteater that serves as his main transportation, Nigel wants to inflict revenge on Blu, and if his family gets in the way, so be it.

While those plots are going on—loggers vs. Linda and Tulio, Nigel and Co. vs. Blu and Family—there’s also a third plot involving the appearance of hundreds of other blue macaws, who have been hiding in the rainforest from humans all this time. Among them are Jewel’s father Eduardo (Andy Garcia) and an old crush, Roberto (voiced by Bruno Mars), who are shocked at Blu’s human-like qualities, like needing a GPS to get around the jungle and a fondness for breath mints. Why wouldn’t Jewel and her children move to the jungle to be with their family? And if Blu doesn’t want to come along—well, Roberto could raise his children, and Eduardo doesn’t really want this pansy city bird as a son-in-law, anyway.

Oh, and at the same time, there’s ANOTHER side plot about the Carnival, as Blu’s other bird friends, Toucan Rafael (voiced by George Lopez), cardinal Pedro (voiced by will.i.am), and canary Nico (voiced by Jamie Foxx), try to find a bird or animal act that could suitably perform at the festival. So they come along to the jungle, too, thinking they could find a good “native” option that will add some local flair to the proceedings.

That’s a lot, right? That’s an overwhelming amount of sideplots for an animated movie that lasts only 101 minutes, and because the movie is so crammed and jumps so often from thing to thing, the characters don’t really move past what they already were in Rio. Blu is still too complacent, still too awkward; after years of marriage, why are he and Jewel still sparring over the most simple things? And Jewel seems incredibly selfish, forcing Blu to meet her demands regarding her family without ever acknowledging that for him, the human Linda is the closest thing he has to a mother. Bad-guy Nigel remains one-dimensional; the only good part of his storyline is evil frog Gabi (voiced by Kristin Chenoweth), whose operatic rendition of their tragic love story is one of the only humorous parts of this otherwise boring movie. And Blu and Jewel’s children, or his friends Rafael, Pedro, and Nico—they remain vehicles for one liners, nothing more.

The strength of Rio 2 should be its music and visuals, really, because its characters are so lackluster. But while Rio 2 is pretty enough visually—the colors of the various birds pop, the detail given to the rainforest is nice, and the Carnival scenes are very exciting—it doesn’t need its 3D effects, and there are no songs—aside from the one sung by Gabi, in which she laments that touching her love Nigel would kill him—that are memorable. Not one. Competition for “Let It Go,” this isn’t.

Perhaps the fact that Rio 2 is set in South America and voiced by a multicultural cast is in itself an accomplishment for a children’s film. But the ho-hum songs, the weirdly mature plot, the expected nature-is-good messaging—children’s movies are defined by their attention to detail and creation of relatable characters, and the lack of both in Rio 2 make it thoroughly mediocre.

Rating: 2 out of 5 Guttenbergs

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Anne Hathaway Applies for 'The Intern' with Robert De Niro

There's been a lot of movement at the top of Nancy Meyers' The Intern, but she's having no trouble luring in talent to join co-star Robert De Niro. Once set for Tina Fey, the project never got moving until it came back last year with De Niro and Reese Witherspoon. That configuration didn't last long as Witherspoon dropped out soon after, and now it's Anne Hathaway who may give it a shot.

According to THR, Hathaway is in talks to join Meyers' workplace comedy, which she will write and direct. If all works out, she'll play the founder of a successful fashion company who decides to hire a senior citizen (De Niro) as her intern. A relationship develops between them as he becomes an indispensable asset around the office.

Hathaway is set to star in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, and will lead the musical drama Song One which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

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Sundance Review: 'Song One' Starring Anne Hathaway

Coming off Anne Hathaway's unforgettable, heartbreaking cries in Les Miserables, one might expect that seeing her in a film titled Song One would promise a similar emotional tenor. Nothing could be further from reality, other than the many chirpy contrivances in this airy story about a folk musician and an anthropologist who find love in the midst of sudden tragedy.

Henry (Ben Rosenfeld) is one of those passionate sub-indie musicians plying his trade in the New York subway system, playing for pennies so that he can afford to upload his music to MySpace or something. Pursuing his dreams put him at odds with his sister Franny (Hathaway), who is off studying the native tribes of Morocco for her PhD. Their last conversation was heated and hurtful, and they've been estranged ever since. When an accident lands Henry in a coma, all she can recall is how angry they had left things, and decides to do something about. Hoping sensory recall will bring him back, Franny captures all of Henry's favorite sounds and smells, spending every waking moment by his bedside along with their mother (Mary Steenburgen), who resents her daughter's distance. Rifling through things, Franny discovers a concert ticket to see Henry's favorite musician, James Forester (real-life musician Johnny Flynn), and is instantly smitten with both the man and his brand of coffee house folk.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, the two hit it off and soon they are inseparable. Franny brings him to Henry's hospital room to perform for his greatest fan, and she becomes James' top groupie attending all of his concerts. After a hit album five years earlier, James has been touring the clubs of New York, but is now due to return home in a matter of days. Will Henry come out of his coma in time? Will Franny drop her boring career path and embark on a life of musical creativity with James? Will your teeth rot out from this sickeningly sweet extended meet-cute?

Snark aside, there are a few genuine moments between Franny and James as she discovers her own love of music and he is all too happy to share his. Hathaway doesn't get to let the pipes ring out too much, other than a few lines here or there, but Flynn gets multiple opportunities on stage. The film really counts on you digging his sound to help bolster the fairly common love story, but the tracks are rather flavorless and indistinct. Written and directed by first-timer Kate Barker-Froyland, the film has more than its share of tonal misfires. It's always going to be weird when people are chatting away and playing music around a comatose patient, but that awkwardness extends out of the hospital, as well. Hathaway isn't stretching herself too much playing the grieving sister, but Flynn is about as vanilla bland as they come. It's hard to believe this guy has such a commanding presence he's surrounded by a throng of devotees at all times. A film like this should have no problem rounding up an audience looking for an easy, romantic tune to follow, but those hoping for something more will find Song One is a little out of rhythm.

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Trailer for Dan Fogler's 'Don Peyote' Featuring Anne Hathaway, Jay Baruchel, and Topher Grace

It kind of looked for awhile like Dan Fogler might be the next Jack Black or something, and then Balls of Fury happened. But he's stuck around and has actually been pretty good in movies like Take Me Home Tonight and Scenic Route, and recently moved behind the camera for his directorial debut, Hysterical Psycho. Now he's back with his follow-up, titled Don Peyote, and while it's mostly flying under the radar, one look at the list of cameos could change that.

The first trailer for the indie comedy has been released and it features appearances by folks who dwarf Fogler in star power. Anne Hathaway, Jay Baruchel, Wallace Shawn, Abel Ferrara, and his Take Me Home Tonight pal, Topher Grace. What's it about? Who the heck knows? Here's the synopsis courtesy of Yahoo!

Warren Allman is an unemployed stoner who finally finds a purpose in life after an unpleasant encounter with a homeless man preaching the end is near. Fueled by vivid apocalyptic dreams, Warren becomes obsessed with 2012 doomsday theories and decides to make a documentary on the subject while his fiancé is busy planning their wedding.

Looks chaotic and not especially funny, but Fogler deserves credit for wrangling this crew of celebs together. Don Peyote opens this May.

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New Trailer for 'Rio 2' Takes to the Air

With only a few exceptions from the usual suspects, this has been a pretty weak year for animated movies. Pixar's Monsters University was a hit at the box office but hardly their most inspired work, and Despicable Me 2 was an enjoyable if familiar sequel. Disney's Frozen has given the year a substantial boost but overall the field has left much to be desired. Fortunately, 2014 is looking a lot better, and a film that's guaranteed to be the most vibrant is Rio 2.

Bringing back Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway as the voices of macaws Blu and Jewel, the film finds leaving their boring domesticated city life for a return to nature in the Amazon jungle. Expect lots of crazy characters, salsa music and big dance numbers orchestrated by director Carlos Saldanha.

Featuring the voices of Jemaine Clement, Tracey Morgan, Leslie Mann, George Lopez, Rodrigo Santoro, Andy Garcia, Rita Moreno, Natalie Morales, Kristen Chenworth and Jamie Foxx, Rio 2 opens April 11th 2014. Check out the latest trailer below:

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Full Trailer for 'Rio 2' Featuring Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway

Not every animated film featuring mouthy talking animals needs to be as uninspiring as Free Birds and The Nut Job. 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios are back with Rio 2, the sequel to their vibrant and charming rare bird comedy featuring the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway. Directed by the returning Carlos Saldanha, the film has macaws Blu (Eisenberg) and Jewel (Hathaway) happily living with their three kids in the comfort of the sanctuary, only to take a vacation in the Amazon where things are very different than what they are accustomed to. Along the way they meet a cast of colorful characters, including Jewel's father (Andy Garcia) and their evil nemesis, Nigel the Cockatoo.

The prior film beautifully captured the splendor and festive atmosphere of Brazil, which made the the rather generic bird smuggling plot more fun than it had any right to be. This trailer suggests a simple Meet the Parents-style plot while maintaining the same gorgeous animation and wonderful soundtrack.

Featuring the voices of Jemaine Clement, will.i.am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, and Jamie Foxx, Rio 2 takes flight on April 11th 2014.


RIO 2 - Trailer 2 by dmagianet

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Anne Hathaway To Produce And Star In 'The Lifeboat'

Anne Hathaway has never been one to jump from project to project without giving it much thought, and since earning her Oscar for Les Miserables she's been especially choosy. Joining Christopher Nolan's Interstellar was a no-brainer, and the indie drama Song One she's currently filming includes a number of people she's familiar with. But now she's decided on what to take on next, and it'll be an adaptation of Charlotte Rogan's novel, The Lifeboat.

Hathaway will produce and star in the period drama, which features a script by Apollo 13 and Jarhead scribe, William Broyles Jr. Hathaway will play Grace Winter, a widow standing trial for murder in 1914. Grace and her husband had been aboard the ocean liner Empress when an explosion forces it to sink. Secured in a lifeboat that quickly reaches maximum capacity, the survivors begin discussing who needs to be kicked off to save the rest.

A director still needs to be secured, but this sounds very promising and a definite turn towards darker material for Hathaway. [THR]

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Get down with the teaser trailer for 'Rio 2'

Blue Sky Studios has had a pretty good go of it with their animated line-up, beginning of course with the mega-successful Ice Age movies and others like Robots and Horton Hears a Who! But nobody could have predicted that 2011's incredibly vibrant Rio would take home nearly $500M worldwide. Yet that's exactly what it did, and so a sequel was whipped up that now has a trailer all set and ready to go.

The teaser doesn't actually explain much of the plot, instead letting us know this will be as much of a jubilant musical celebration as the last one. Jesse Eisenberg is back voicing Blu, the quirky blue macaw who now lives in Rio de Janiero with his three kids and wife Jewel, voiced by Anne Hathaway. Afraid their kids are growing soft in the big city, they decide to take them out in the Amazon wilds to live like real birds.  Tracy Morgan, Leslie Mann, Will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, and Jermaine Clement all return.

Carlos Saldanha is back to direct Rio 2, which opens on April 11th 2014.


RIO 2 - Bande-Annonce Teaser [VF|HD1080p] by Lyricis

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Anne Hathaway rejoins Christopher Nolan for 'Interstellar'

Winning Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables was just the icing on what turned out to be an incredible year for Anne Hathaway. There may have been some Internet backlash for her performance in Tom Hooper's musical, but the response was  almost completely positive for her turn as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. Earning $1B during a busy summer for superhero films, it gave her a chance to work alongside Christopher Nolan, and the experience must have been a good one because they're teaming up again.

Hathaway will join Nolan for his upcoming sci-fi film, Interstellar, which recently confirmed Matthew McConaughey as one of the leads. Details on the plot remain under Nolan's typically secretive control, but we know it will follow a group of explorers on a heroic voyage to the far reaches of time and space. Nolan is rewriting and building on the script developed by his brother, Jonathan, back when it was a project Steven Spielberg was eying.

Hathaway becomes a member of Nolan's growing circle of frequent collaborators that includes Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy. Interstellar will land in theaters on November 7th 2014. [Deadline]

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