RZA meets 'Mr. Right'; Aubrey Plaza goes to 'Fresno'; 'Ant-Man' Adds Martin Donovan in Pivotal Role

RZA's Fox series Gang Related may not have lasted as long as he hoped, but the rapper/filmmaker has plenty to do on the big screen. He's joining Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick in Mr. Right, a comedy about a woman who falls in love with the perfect guy....except that he's a hitman. Paco Cabezas, who directed the dreadful Nicolas Cage thriller, Rage, is behind the camera for this one, but the script was written by Max Landis, who penned Chronicle.

The film Fresno already had a great pair of stars in Judy Greer and Natasha Lyonne, but now the cast has gotten even better with the addition of Aubrey Plaza. She joins the Jamie Bobbitt-directed film along with Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Clea Duvall, and Ron Livingston. The story centers on "two co-dependent sisters who work as hotel maids in Fresno."[Variety]

Martin Donovan, who is normally seen alongside Mary Louise Parker in everything from Saved! to Weeds, has just landed a "pivotal" and very secret role in Marvel's Ant-Man.  Filming is already underway so one would think the role is pretty small, which begs the question how important it can really be to the story? Perhaps the character he plays will go on to bigger things in future Marvel movies? Only time will tell. Peyton Reed is directing Ant-Man with Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, T.I., and John Slattery starring. [THR]

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Review: 'Life After Beth' Starring Dane DeHaan and Aubrey Plaza

NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Sundance Film Festival.  Life After Beth is available now exclusively on DirecTV.

It seems like so long ago that zombie movies were cool, but eventually the market became so flooded with the undead that they became as stale as their rotted flesh. That's led to a number of twists on the zombie genre designed to give it a fresh look; make them funny (thank you Shaun of the Dead), make them romantic parodies (lookin' at you Warm Bodies), make them something other than scary flesh-eaters. And already we've seen so many of these films that the update is in dire need of an update, best evidenced by Life After Beth, an indistinguishable and messy zombie comedy with a lot of talent but not a lot of laughs.

Written and directed by Jeff Baena, co-writer of David O. Russell's wonky I Heart Huckabees, Life After Beth is just as scattered tonally, and doesn't seem to have a clear point to make about relationships. An ominous shot of a girl hiking through the woods introduces us very briefly to Beth (Aubrey Plaza), who had just recently dumped her ex-boyfriend Zach (Dane DeHaan) to "see other people". When she dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances, Zach is understandably broken up and reaches out for any connection to her he can find. That means spending a lot of time with her parents (John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon), and pining for a second chance to do things over.

Miraculously, he gets his wish when Beth shows up at her home with zero recollection of anything that had happened. She doesn't remember the break-up or any of the problems that led up to it; all she recalls are the happy times. At first Zach comes to believe she's a zombie, but is unable to convince Beth's parents who want to act as if their daughter's return is perfectly normal. Eventually Zach just decides to go with it and take this opportunity to fix their relationship. It's like a really screwed up version of The Vow as they go out to their favorite spots and even have sex (ewwwww), while her fractured memory continues to deteriorate. But when she starts to decompose and give in to fits of rage, not even Zach is able to ignore it for long.

Ostensibly about our need to hold on to an ugly but comfortable past rather than moving on to something new, the Baena never takes this idea seriously enough for it to hold any significance. Nor is there any consistency to Zach's reaction to Beth's return. At first shocked and a little horrified, he goes in a flash to loving her again, only to fall out of love just as quickly. As he attempts to move on with an old acquaintance (Anna Kendrick), Zach just looks like a jerk, and a wish-washy one at that. No wonder Beth dumped him in the first place.

With a supporting cast that also includes Paul Reiser and Cheryl Hines, there a number of funny comic touches, but laughs never come consistently. The best gags come as Beth begins to exhibit zombie behavior for the first time, subtly snapping her jaws and growing more feral. The film makes the most out of zombie indestructibility, and sight gags involving a car and a giant weight strapped to Beth's back are truly inspired. It's unclear whether we're supposed to take this zombie threat (yes there are other undead walking around) seriously or just brush it off as genre silliness. If Baena wants us to take something meaningful from this story it's not readily apparent.

Safety Not Guaranteed offered a small glimpse of the sweeter side of Aubrey Plaza, but we see it fully on display here. She actually gets to cover the entire spectrum as Beth goes from Zach's excitable lover to drenched in blood and screaming at the top of her lungs in anger, confusion, and ultimately hunger. DeHaan is perhaps too cerebral of an actor for a role that requires him to be lighter on his feet comedically, and we get some solid work from the reliable John C. Reilly. Life After Beth doesn't compare to the best the zom-com genre has to offer, but nor is it the absolute worst. It lies somewhere in the unimpressive middle, and maybe it's time for other movies such as this to stay buried for awhile.

 Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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First Trailer and Posters for Zombie Comedy 'Life After Beth' with Aubrey Plaza and Dane DeHaan

Zombie movies have been a largely overused facet of the horror genre for decades without much deviation, but lately we've started to see filmmakers take the idea in some fun new directions. Of course there was Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland which played up the familiar aspects of zombie movies in a comedic way, and last year's Warm Bodies gave us a romantic twist on the formula. Following a similar path is Jeff Baena's zombie rom-com Life After Beth, which debuted at Sundance and has now just released its first trailer.

Aubrey Plaza and Dane DeHaan play the couple at the center of this one, with him as a guy who desperately wants to get back together with his ex-girlfriend, Beth. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, he gets that opportunity when she is killed and returns as a slowly deteriorating zombie with total amnesia. Baena has pulled together a great supporting cast with Paul Reiser, John C. Reilly, Anna Kendrick, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, and Matthew Gray Gubler, but it's Plaza who really steals the show in what I believe is her finest work since Safety Not Guaranteed. Overall the film was too inconsistent to make the best use of such a fun idea, saying in my review it "lies somewhere in the unimpressive middle" of the growing zom-com genre.

Life After Beth hits theaters on August 15th.

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Snap Judgments Review: Clark Gregg's 'Trust Me'

Clark Gregg (The Avengers, Agents of SHIELD) writes, directs, and stars in the Hollywood-skewering comedy, Trust Me, playing Howard Holloway, a former child actor-turned-agent for child actors who can't catch a break. With his company on the verge of going under after he loses yet another client to his archnemesis (Sam Rockwell), things start to look up for Howard when he meets the supremely talented Lydia (Saxon Sharbino), a young actress who just secured a major Twilight-esque franchise and wants to be Howard's client....assuming he doesn't screw things up.

Trust Me is available now On Demand. Check out my Snap Judgments review of Trust Me below.

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Sundance Review: 'Life After Beth' Starring Dane DeHaan and Aubrey Plaza

It seems like so long ago that zombie movies were cool, but eventually the market became so flooded with the undead that they became as stale as their rotted flesh. That's led to a number of twists on the zombie genre designed to give it a fresh look; make them funny (thank you Shaun of the Dead), make them romantic parodies (lookin' at you Warm Bodies), make them something other than scary flesh-eaters. And already we've seen so many of these films that the update is in dire need of an update, best evidenced by Life After Beth, an indistinguishable and messy zombie comedy with a lot of talent but not a lot of laughs.

Written and directed by Jeff Baena, co-writer of David O. Russell's wonky I Heart Huckabees, Life After Beth is just as scattered tonally, and doesn't seem to have a clear point to make about relationships. An ominous shot of a girl hiking through the woods introduces us very briefly to Beth (Aubrey Plaza), who had just recently dumped her ex-boyfriend Zach (Dane DeHaan) to "see other people". When she dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances, Zach is understandably broken up and reaches out for any connection to her he can find. That means spending a lot of time with her parents (John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon), and pining for a second chance to do things over.

Miraculously, he gets his wish when Beth shows up at her home with zero recollection of anything that had happened. She doesn't remember the break-up or any of the problems that led up to it; all she recalls are the happy times. At first Zach comes to believe she's a zombie, but is unable to convince Beth's parents who want to act as if their daughter's return is perfectly normal. Eventually Zach just decides to go with it and take this opportunity to fix their relationship. It's like a really screwed up version of The Vow as they go out to their favorite spots and even have sex (ewwwww), while her fractured memory continues to deteriorate. But when she starts to decompose and give in to fits of rage, not even Zach is able to ignore it for long.

Ostensibly about our need to hold on to an ugly but comfortable past rather than moving on to something new, the Baena never takes this idea seriously enough for it to hold any significance. Nor is there any consistency to Zach's reaction to Beth's return. At first shocked and a little horrified, he goes in a flash to loving her again, only to fall out of love just as quickly. As he attempts to move on with an old acquaintance (Anna Kendrick), Zach just looks like a jerk, and a wish-washy one at that. No wonder Beth dumped him in the first place.

With a supporting cast that also includes Paul Reiser and Cheryl Hines, there a number of funny comic touches, but laughs never come consistently. The best gags come as Beth begins to exhibit zombie behavior for the first time, subtly snapping her jaws and growing more feral. The film makes the most out of zombie indestructibility, and sight gags involving a car and a giant weight strapped to Beth's back are truly inspired. It's unclear whether we're supposed to take this zombie threat (yes there are other undead walking around) seriously or just brush it off as genre silliness. If Baena wants us to take something meaningful from this story it's not readily apparent.

Safety Not Guaranteed offered a small glimpse of the sweeter side of Aubrey Plaza, but we see it fully on display here. She actually gets to cover the entire spectrum as Beth goes from Zach's excitable lover to drenched in blood and screaming at the top of her lungs in anger, confusion, and ultimately hunger. DeHaan is perhaps too cerebral of an actor for a role that requires him to be lighter on his feet comedically, and we get some solid work from the reliable John C. Reilly. Life After Beth doesn't compare to the best the zom-com genre has to offer, but nor is it the absolute worst. It lies somewhere in the unimpressive middle, and maybe it's time for other movies such as this to stay buried for awhile.

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