Monday, August 14, 2006

"Sunshine" expands; a new role for Pegg

Finally, someone with some power is listening to me. Well, probably not, but I think I'll take a smidgen of credit anyway.

I've been ranting for a while now to anyone who will listen that the very thin distribution of "Little Miss Sunshine" has been simply criminal. Now comes word that this Sundance fave will go nationwide at more than 1,500 theaters Aug. 25 (not sure if this will be quite wide enough to hit Macon, Ga., but if not, I just might take to the streets.)

What has been particularly apalling to me about the marketing of "Sunshine" is that, along with having a variety of fairly big-name stars, it seems to be a family film. OK, an oddball, road-trip family film, but certainly not anything that would damage the psyches of those of us who reside in the hinterlands.

With Beerfest coming and then, hopefully, this little but growing gem, maybe August won't be so dreadful after all.

Get Alienated by Simon Pegg

This one should just be pure fun. Coming on the heels of the "surprising" (to who?) success of "The Devil Wears Prada," Simon Pegg has been cast as British writer Toby Young, who dished about his days at "Vanity Fair" in the book "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People."

According to Variety, Young is very hard on himself about his hapless attempts to cuddle up to celebrities and supermodels, but equally scathing about Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.

No word yet on who will play Carter, but whoever it is should have a ball with this mass of ego. Pegg is the perfect choice for Young. He showed his impeccable comic timing in "Shaun of the Dead" and, in a small but welcome part, in "M:I:III." No word yet on when "Hot Fuzz," the follow-up from the "Shaun" team, will hit the U.S., but I'll definitely be there for that. (By the way, if you know this info, please don't be afraid to share.)

In case you needed any more incentive to look forward to the Vanity Fair expose, Robert Weide, co-executive producer and sometime director of the sublime "Curb Your Enthusiasm," will make his feature film directing debut with this one. Sounds like a perfect match to me.

A date for "Doctor Who"

As I shared here earlier, season two of "Doctor Who" will be coming to Sci Fi in September. Now comes word that the specific date will be Sept. 29, starting with the two-hour "Christmas Invasion" special that introduced David Tennant as the 10th incarnation of the good doctor.

Since I posted a picture of Mr. Tennant with the last post, here, in the interest of equal time and because I want to is one of la bella Billie Piper, who will be returning as the good doctor's partner in battle, Rose Tyler.

Coming one week later, Oct. 6, will be the third-season premiere of "Battlestar Galactica." With these two shows back-to-back, Sci Fi has one seriously solid block of programming for Fridays (second, in my mind, only to the upcoming "Gilmore Girls"-"Veronica Mars" block coming to the CW on Tuesdays.)

11 comments:

Chris said...

Movie distribution is difficult to understand; I've always felt that the studios have treated movies like Little Miss Sunshine like they've always done since the early 90s, when indies were not palatable and they had to ease them into "that useless piece of land between New York and L.A. called America." They simply will never be confident blowing an indie movie open right off the jump.

But now, since we have the internet, hundreds of entertainment shows and magazines, a movie like Little Miss Sunshine should be able to go wide quicker--we've heard about it since January.

When I was living in Nashville, I couldn't believe they were doing the same thing with Brokeback Mountain. Everyone who wanted to see that movie was ready to see that movie well before it finally arrived...early this year, while bigger markets had been watching it for a month.

Maybe it's time to write petitions!

Reel Fanatic said...

You're dead right, Chris ... maybe this one will change things if it gets a big enough response on the weekend of Aug. 25

Gypsy said...

I hate that we somehow don't get Veronica Mars on our satellite. Drat! But I am looking forward to the next season of Dr. Who.

Reel Fanatic said...

That is a true shame, Gypsy! ... I just have fairly basic cable, but I would definitely suffer without a weekly Veronica Mars fix

Divinity said...

Hot Buzz on Hot Fuzz: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112/releaseinfo

Reel Fanatic said...

Thanks, divinity ... I think that one could be just as funny as Shaun of the Dead, from the early buzz I've heard

Mike Belding said...

if you enjoy simon pegg you should check out his old series 'Spaced.'
i'm hoping for good things from beerfest, as club dread was a step back from super troopers, but still pretty enjoyable. go brozen lizard!

Reel Fanatic said...

I hadn't heard of that, Get Up Kid, but I will definitely check it out on Netflix, If I can .. thanks for the tip!

Unknown said...

I must be too young or something because I have NO interest in Dr. Who. It does NOTHING for me. However, Gallactica I'm looking forward to!

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