Movies blog: The Screening Room

Herewith, a rant about a visual gaffe in the current cinema.

On Friday's GuideLive cover, you'll see a large publicity photo of the stars of The Other Boleyn Girl (the same photo that's used in a movie ad inside the section). In the picture, Natalie Portman is at right, portraying Anne Boleyn.

Natalie herself looks great -- but what she's wearing made me cringe. The gown and hairstyle are OK. It's the jewelry that isn't working.

They have Anne Boleyn wearing a little pearl necklace with a big gold "B" hanging from it -- the like of which you might see in, say, a 21st-century Wal-mart. I seriously doubt you would have seen it anywhere in 16th-century England.

A little cross or crucifix hanging from the pearl necklace, or a pearl pendant, perhaps? Those styles would be historically acceptable. The big gold "B" is so not. You might as well have Eric Bana sporting a Rolodex as Henry VIII, and Scarlett Johanssen as Mary Boleyn with an iPod plugged into her ears.

Posted by Joyce Saenz Harris at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

AT&T and Martin Scorsese have teamed up for a sorta funny public service announcement that will begin running in movie theaters, urging people to shut off their cellphones. I'm all in favor of that, though I think the next step is to ask people to stop texting. Why anyone would pay $8 to sit in a dark room and type is beyond me. Anyway, here's the PSA if you wanna watch.

Posted by Stephen Becker at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Our neighborsgo.com site features a reader observation of the Paris craze the night of The Hottie and the Nottie premiere at Regent Highland Park Village. The short of it: Paris = gracious, her boys = faux thuggy.

• Neighborsgo reader review of the scene
• Stephen's 1/23 story on the scene

Posted by Christy Robinson at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dreaming and scheming: Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell (The Weinstein Company)

Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, whose gray tones dominate the film's visual style, is one of the best in the business. His credits include The Deer Hunter, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and McCabe and Mrs. Miller. However, none of his recent choices scream of such quality.

This is hardly the first blue period for the Woodman. Go back to the late '70s and into the '80s, when he was still trying to be Ingmar Bergman, and you'll find the likes of Interiors, September and Another Woman. Makes you think of the space aliens that arrived at the end of Stardust Memories talking about how much the liked "the early, funny ones."

Lots of critics were down on Cassandra, but not all of 'em. For a dissenting review, check out Manohla Dargis in the New York Times.

Posted by Chris Vognar at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Showtimes and review: Read Chris Vognar's review of the film

Video: Watch the trailer

Story: Q&A with Tracy Phillips

Story: Charlie Wilson says film does him justice

Story: 'Good Time Charlie' a fun-loving breed extinct in today's Congress

Video: Charlie Wilson campaign ads

Posted by Holly Warren at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Like Christmas dinner at Grandma's, this weekend's cinematic lineup has more to offer than you can possibly consume (well, you could try). Eight films open today, with five more coming on Christmas Day. And it's a pretty wide assortment: we've got comedy (Walk Hard, B); romance (P.S. I Love You, C); dysfunctional family drama (The Savages, B); adventure for the whole family (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, C); a comically serious history (Charlie Wilson's War, B); a Byzantine mine field (Youth Without Youth, D); a musical gore fest (Sweeney Todd, B+); and Blonde Ambition.

But if none of those hit your holiday sweet spot, head over to the Angelikas (Dallas or Plano) Sunday-Tuesday for a stroll down memory lane with screenings of It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.

Which leads us to the question du jour: What's your favorite, tried and true holiday movie?

Posted by Holly Warren at 4:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Wonder if Santa will bring me a Dewey Cox record? (Columbia Pictures)

If you find yourself out battling the holiday shopping crowds tonight, why not head to the theaters at midnight to get an early look at this week's new films? Four of the eight new releases have midnight showings:

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Then head back here and tell the rest of us slackers what you thought.

Posted by Holly Warren at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Joe, we hardly know ya: Strummer has left the building (IFC Films)

Posted by Chris Vognar at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gener8Xion Entertainment

And hey, if you do go see it, come back here and tell me what you thought.

Posted by Holly Warren at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Critical upbringing: Baumbach on the Margot set (Paramount Vantage)

Baumbach, whose Margot at the Wedding opens today, is the spawn of former Village Voice film critic Georgia Brown and critic/novelist Jonathan Baumbach. (Their divorce was the inspiration for his previous film, The Squid and the Whale). Though he emphasizes that both parental units were also fiction writers - and that Brown is not the inspiration for the abysmal mothering of Margot (played by Nicole Kidman) - he does recall a whole lot of movie talk around the house.

"I never thought of it as living with film critics," he says by phone. "They were movie lovers and book lovers. There was just a lot of interesting stuff available if I was up to it. That was definitely a fun aspect of our family. We’d see a movie and talk about it at dinner and come up with what we thought would be better or what we loved about it. If one of us saw a movie that the other hadn’t it was always pleasurable to tell the others about it. The delight taken in movies in my family certainly had a major influence on me."

Posted by Chris Vognar at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Say "Marvin": This Christmas (Screen Gems)

I was happy to see This Christmas stay pretty strong at the box office this weekend with $8.4 million (making a two-week total of $37 million). I went to see it last Thursday for my family movie story and was thoroughly entertained, not to mention impressed with the script's ability to juggle a big ensemble of characters. But the cherry on top for me was the closing sequence in which the entire cast steps out of character, one by one, and cuts a rug to Marvin Gaye's Got to Give it Up. It's one of my fave R&B cuts, and it seems to work particular well in movies: It was also featured very effectively in the first Barbershop. "I used to go out to parties/And stand around": No standing around to that groove.

Posted by Chris Vognar at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)