Trailer for 'Blue Jasmine' Directed by...Woody Allen?

Really? Woody Allen directed this?

From the trailer you wouldn't know it, couldn't tell it. This cuts nicely. I like it and, yes, I'm not much of a fan of Allen's stuff. His movies are so...crisp, clean and neatly folded. Tasty in a tightly focused way, refined and lightly sweetened, like something you'd have with tea in the afternoon, but with an appeal few find compelling. Woody Allen's movies are for people who want stories that are clever but restrained, funny but not viscerally so, humorous in that intellectual way that was so sought after in the 50s, 60s, and 70s but rarely finds a home on the big screen today.

'Blue Jasmine', however, looks greasy and delicious -- like a big juicy burger that everyone wants to munch, gobble, devour, and wash down with a huge frosty glass of beer. It's for people who want to get lost in a crazy world that's populated by irresistible characters. This is a movie that's funny because you feel it in your gut.

'Blue Jasmine' still looks smart, mind you. These people have layers, and the subject matter -- addiction, ego-driven materialism, relationships built on a foundation of ulterior motives -- look like they're handled with utmost care. But, intellectual? Perhaps not so much. And, that, exactly that, is what audiences will be drawn to.

Woody Allen has given us cerebral somewhat tightly-wound comedy in the past. 'Blue Jasmine', on the other hand, plays like a boisterous ballet, has raw poetry, and is hella funny, while remaining shrewd, observant, honest, and (yes) smart.

Star studded as usual but Alec Baldwin and Cate Blanchett have that certain something. Like really nice icing on a really nice cake.

Must-see, can't wait.






















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Richard Roeper Reviews 'Hanna'

'Hanna' Cast Interview

And, here's one more. With maybe a total of one second new footage

'Hanna' Featurette

These are starting to look the same, but...here it is:

'Hanna' Featurette

With director Joe Wright, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, and Saoirse Ronan.

Some new finished footage.

'Hanna' Featurette

Clip from 'Hanna'

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

'Hanna' Trailer

I've said it before. This one is worth seeing just for Cate Blanchett playing the heavy. Her affixing a silencer to an automatic is akin to Nicole Kidman wielding a shotgun in 'The Others'. That Cate wears latex gloves while doing it only adds to the...what's the word?...enticement.

'Hanna' International Trailer

Trailer for 'Hanna'

Cate Blanchett affixing a silencer... Can't beat it.

Cate Does W Magazine

I'm not sure how but Cate Blanchett keeps getting better looking. See more at W Magazine.

Curious Case Trailer

Apple has a new hi-def trailer for 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' which is much more compelling than earlier teasers. Based on the first trailers I saw, I was not very confident in this picture. Here, though, Cate Blanchett is especially glowing (even more so than usual, if that's possible). Pitt comes off well -- not at all superficial or mannered, as might be expected in an effects-heavy production. We also get a hint at the thematic core of the story. Very nicely done.

8 Minutes From I'm Not There

With the DVD release of 'I'm Not There' and, hopefully the Oscars, right around the corner The Weinstein Company is stoking support for the movie and Cate Blanchett as best supporting actress by posting the first hour or so online. Here's the fifth installment -- 8 minutes from 'I'm Not There'.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

It's easy to accept Cate Blanchett as Queen of England. Whereas another actor would seem simply dressed-up, and uncomfortable, Blanchett is regal without effort while maintaining a believable humanity; she portrays a character who is every inch a queen yet still a woman with all her attendant foibles.

(Well, on second thought, Blanchett doesn't portray as much as she inhabits -- let's be fair).

'Elizabeth' is one of my favorite movies -- a layered story with the ring of truth elegantly captured by an unobtrusive and technically accomplished director. The principal players return for 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' and, if I had to hazard a guess, this movie will have greater scope and depth, and will move with more energy.

Here is an extended preview.

Nice Concept, Nice Poster, But...

Love Cate Blanchett as Dylan, really like the new poster, but I don't think this one has a hook. The Weinstein's will have a lot riding on a Best Supporting nomination for Blanchett.

I'm Not There

New footage of Cate Blanchett as Dylan.

The Treatment

Elvis Mitchell talks with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director of "Babel", the third in the trilogy of films with the theme of communication which also includes "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams"

Hollywood Of The South

Where is "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" being filmed? In New Orleans. Post-Katrina Louisiana is doing some brisk movie-production business. 'Curious Case' stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and has the highest budget of any movie ever shot in Louisiana, $150 million. Several other high-profile projects have been shot in Louisiana, including "Deja Vu" with Denzel Washington (pictured), "Premonition" with Sandra Bullock, and "Factory Girl" with Guy Pearce and Sienna Miller. Here is NPR's story about the 'Hollywood of the South'.

Cate Blanchett

Every time I see a character brought to life by Cate Blanchett I come away feeling slightly changed, a bit smarter, as if I've been propelled forward just a tad. By turns endearing and naive, then thrilling or even frightening, Blanchett is always fun to watch and has the chops to carry any scene.

Even when she plays a distasteful character -- as she did in "The Shipping News" as Petal, the elegantly trashy skate who strings along a feeble and needy putz (Quoyle, played by Kevin Spacey) just for sport -- she still engenders empathy, often to the point of seeming to be exactly the kind of person you wish you knew in real life. The more risky the role the more she rises to the challenge, as in "Bandits" (who else could have pulled that off?). Sometimes, she is the very best thing about a given movie, as she was in "The Gift". Other times she is flat-out and conventionally just plain good, as she was in "Elizabeth". She is also one of the few actors whose mere presence in a movie is enough to make me want to see it.

She is seen next portraying two complex characters (it's almost redundant to say this about the roles she takes); one is a prostitute in "The Good German", the other a teacher who has an affair with a sixteen year old student in "Notes on a Scandal" (pictured with Judi Dench). NPR's Melissa Block talks with Blanchett.

NPR has a couple other good stories from the past few days: A talk with Tina Fey, the first female head-writer at Saturday Night Live (as well as writer of "Mean Girls").

Kim Masters on the obstacles black actors face in Hollywood and why Will Smith is the biggest movie star in the world.

The Good German

So. That's what a fedora looks like.

Anne Thompson screened "The Good German" in her class at UCLA. Here are some of her impressions:

As Attanasio labored over the script for five years, Soderbergh threw things at him: like, make the female lead a prostitute, and, try telling the movie from multiple points-of-view. Tobey Maguire, who had turned down everything in sight until he read this script, was eager to play a foul-mouthed lout of a soldier who slaps around his hooker girlfriend. Early on, The Good German shocks us with a sex scene between Maguire and Blanchett that signals: hold on, this is not your ordinary movie.

And Clooney, while he's as handsome as ever, continues to resist playing a conventionally active hero. His lovelorn journalist keeps getting beat up and doesn't know what's going on. The actors had to figure out how to perform in a 40s pre-Method declarative style while fighting their instincts on how to be natural and believable, Attanasio said. Soderbergh is challenging audiences to question their expectations. Will they get a white knight hero who saves the day? A fallen woman who finds redemption? A little romance? Check it out.

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