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It's Like Watchmen for Lifetime Women

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (40)



Anne-Hathaway-001.jpg

How many of you ladies caught He’s Just Not That Into You around Valentine’s Day this year? Way too damn many of you, that’s for sure. It nearly made $100 million at the box office, which has made it the most financially successful romantic comedy of 2009 so far (at least until The Proposal comes along). Terrible goddamn movie, though. They just packed it with so many stars — Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Long, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly — that you just couldn’t resist the lure, huh?

Well, that’s New Lines newest strategy in its efforts to become to Valentine’s Day what Lionsgate and Saw are to Halloween. They’ve decided to make another ensemble romantic comedy and cram it full of enough high-profile celebrities to raise the female population’s collective estrogen levels, forcing them into the theater to satiate their fix. The next movie, titled appropriately enough, Valentine’s Day, will be directed by Garry Marshall, and get a load of this cast: Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Bradley Cooper and Ashton Kutcher.

That’s a lot of big names. The story will focus on five interweaving storylines (see, He’s Just Not That Into You) that all take place on Valentine’s Day. Here’s the cliched plotline sketches:

Roberts is an army officer on leave from Iraq on a flight to L.A. Cooper, on the same flight, is a gay man whose lover is a closeted football player.

Kutcher is an owner of a flower shop who proposes to his girlfriend (Alba), only to realize he is in love with his close friend, played by Garner, who discovers her boyfriend is married.

MacLaine plays Roberts’ mother, a happy retiree who reveals to her husband a long-ago affair.

Hathaway is an assistant working at the biggest talent agency in town and dating a mailroom assistant; Biel is a publicist unlucky in love (is there any other kind?) who has no date on Valentine’s Day.

And the only interesting thing there is Bradley Cooper playing a gay man, which should bring in the gay demographic, as well. All of which is to say: This movie can be absolutely atrocious (and no doubt, it will be) and it’ll still make a bazillion dollars. Now, if The Comedian comes out in the end with a blowtorch and torches all the characters do death, New Line would hit the demographic jackpot.









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Comments

Movie: eh.

Header image: Rowr!

Posted by: Kolby at May 12, 2009 11:22 AM

Eh, the only "big" names there are Hathaway and MAYBE Roberts, Kutchtool, Biel and alleged non-latina Alba couldn't open Walmart let alone a movie.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at May 12, 2009 11:25 AM

Yeah, but you'd shop the hell out of that WalMart, Slim.

Posted by: Kolby at May 12, 2009 11:26 AM

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I thought Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, and Jennifer Garner were the same person.

Prediction: "Roberts is an army officer on leave from Iraq on a flight to L.A. Cooper, on the same flight, is a gay man whose lover is a closeted football player." They have gay sex in the airplane toilet with the lights off because Cooper can pretend Roberts is the football player if the lights are out?

Posted by: BWeaves at May 12, 2009 11:29 AM

I'd agrue that Shirley MacLaine is a big name.

I hate, loathe, despise, and smite Ashton Kutcher.

Posted by: Melody at May 12, 2009 11:29 AM

Garner has a stronger jaw line. She was SpyBarbie!

Alba/Biel I can get.

Posted by: Melody at May 12, 2009 11:30 AM

Yeah Shirley is a big name, at least to us.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at May 12, 2009 11:34 AM

Alba/Biel I can get.

Biel can act. Alba is the female Keanu Reeves.

Posted by: twig at May 12, 2009 11:37 AM

Biel can act.

Posted by: twig at May 12, 2009 11:37 AM

-----------------------------------------

Really? In what alternative universe?

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at May 12, 2009 11:40 AM

God I hate that I know this, but Garner already made a movie where she found out her boyfriend was married. Come on, Bristow, you're better than this.

Posted by: Courtney at May 12, 2009 11:41 AM

Really? In what alternative universe?

I saw The Illusionist which was no Prestige but at no point did I have to fight not to bleed from the eyes the way I did watching every single scene with The Alba in Sin City.

All she had to do there was be pretty, doe-eyed and topless and she couldn't even do that right.

Posted by: twig at May 12, 2009 11:44 AM

All she had to do there was be pretty, doe-eyed and topless and she couldn't even do that right.

Posted by: twig at May 12, 2009 11:44 AM

-----------------------------------------------

Oh, I agree with you on Alba. Fantastic 4 becomes an unintentional comedy every time she acts all "scientific." You can see her struggling like a special needs child trying to fingerpaint.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at May 12, 2009 11:50 AM

It's Like The Watchmen

HA HA, very funny, motherfucker!

Your mother got a wooden leg with a kickstand, motherfucker!

Posted by: Jay at May 12, 2009 11:51 AM

Now, if The Comedian comes out in the end with a blowtorch and torches all the characters do death, New Line would hit the demographic jackpot.

Dustin, you just gave me the quick fix ending to any dismal piece of shit movie I'm forced to sit through for the rest of my life. I owe you a drink, mi amigo.

Posted by: Doctor Controversy at May 12, 2009 11:53 AM

Didn't this movie come out a while ago? I think it was called Love Actually.

Posted by: Quincy at May 12, 2009 11:57 AM

No SIR! I did NOT see He's Just Not Th-zzzzzz, but everyone at the salon I work at did and they keep telling me how awesome it is. They also keep talking about Twilight *spits* and they want me to read it and or see the movie. I keep reading my Sookie Stackhouse trash, but my resolve is waning. I love those ladies, but I hate their movie choices.

Also, the fact that it has Kutcher in it assures that I won't be seeing this dreck. A POX ON THAT DOUCHE!

Posted by: Kayanne at May 12, 2009 11:58 AM

Roberts is an army officer on leave from Iraq on a flight to L.A. Cooper, on the same flight, is a gay man whose lover is a closeted football player.

Umm...what? This is a joke, right? Did they just throw darts at notecards on the wall to pick this plot, like the tabloid newspaper editor in "Blankman"?

Biel is a publicist unlucky in love (is there any other kind?) who has no date on Valentine’s Day.

Right, I'm sure Jessica Biel is on match.com at this very moment looking for a date. Because if there's one thing guys HATE, it is beautiful young women with perfect asses and supple breasts. I'm glad Hollywood has finally figured this out.

Posted by: Abe Froman at May 12, 2009 12:00 PM

Well after they bleached her hair and gave her those ridiculous blue contacts just to make her Sue Storm I'm not entirely surprised that her performance was just as bad. They couldn't find someone who's actually blonde with blue eyes? They had to give her super-creepy contacts? Why?

Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at May 12, 2009 12:01 PM

"How many of us ladies caught He's Just Not That Into You?" For claiming to be so goddamn progressive and hip, why is this post directed at the "ladies?" I watch the Military channel more often than Lifetime.

Just for the record, the only two people that I know went to go see the last "chick flick," the Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past, were GUYS. Hetero guys, at that.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Dustin.

Posted by: Emily at May 12, 2009 12:15 PM

Jay,
Nice Eddie Murphy reference.
Emily,
Those guys are gay.

Posted by: Kballs at May 12, 2009 12:37 PM

Oh, but don't you see, Optimus? It wasn't 'ridiculous', because Alba is whiter than the driven snow. This is why she throws a fit whenever someone comes within a ten-mile radius of the idea that 'Alba' is not, in fact, a Danish name. Unless there's a province called 'Danish, Mexico', of which I have not yet been informed. Aw, I think she thinks she's in an all-white cast, shucks-darn! If people figure it out, it is going to be terrible for the property values.

Hayworth says, 'Thanks'.

I'm pretty tired of the romantic trope that dictates that a person cannot know his/her heart's truest desires until he/she was decimated the lives of all in his/her wake. Don't applaud the efforts, start punching. Start punching with guns.

There's a movie coming out called THE PROPOSAL? I will hollow out the reproducing parts of all who land before me with a rusty spoon, because you NEED this.

Oh, well. Just more crap that I don't have to pay to watch. Nothing to see here.

Posted by: Jo 'Mama' Besser at May 12, 2009 12:38 PM

Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel and Ashton Kutcher in one movie. Let us pray that all three are never on screen together. Watching that much pouting and empty-eyed staring can't be good for one's health.

Posted by: puddin' cup at May 12, 2009 12:44 PM

I love how they just pack these things with the blandest, most mediocre actresses they can find. Jessica Alba? REALLY? Couldn't think of a more boring actress--oh, right, Jessica Biel.

Posted by: figgy at May 12, 2009 12:49 PM

Start punching with guns.

Posted by: Jo 'Mama' Besser at May 12, 2009 12:38 PM
____________________________

Now I have a new verbal toy to play with!

Posted by: Kballs at May 12, 2009 12:55 PM

How come none of the ladies have homolicious storylines? I'm all for Mr. Cooper playing a gay guy (although, what are the odds he'll actually interact much with his boyfriend on screen?), but as a half-gay lady I'd like to see some of the chicks in this movie getting their storylines all intwined, if you catch my drift. In the end it doesn't matter, because I don't watch romcoms anyway...but I've given myself some very pleasant imagery to get me through the work day. (I'm talkin' bout Shirley and Julia, of course.)

Posted by: puregonzo at May 12, 2009 12:57 PM

(I'm talkin' bout Shirley and Julia, of course.)

Why must you sully both Shirley and my stomach's disposition like that?

Posted by: Jay at May 12, 2009 1:00 PM

This is a "Love Boat" episode, isn't it?

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at May 12, 2009 1:35 PM

I have to second that emotion, Jay. Julia Roberts is not an attractive woman.

Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at May 12, 2009 2:36 PM

Anne sure is pretty in that picture.

They should make it a horror movie instead. Market it as a romcom and then pull a switch halfway through the movie without any warning whatsoever. Once the buzz hit, they'd get the horror and the romcom audiences. They'd make a killing.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at May 12, 2009 2:39 PM

This reminds me less of Love Actually and more of Playing by Heart which I'd be embarrassed to admit I've seen except that it has an absolutely stellar cast for such a piece of shit movie. Really. Go imdb it up.

I never saw He's Just Not That Into You and I won't be seeing this. If I need a reminder that attractive, smart, interesting women can have difficulty in the dating world, I'll just take a stroll down my own memory lane, thank you very much.

Posted by: Genny (also Rusty) at May 12, 2009 2:53 PM

Market it as a romcom and then pull a switch halfway through the movie without any warning whatsoever.

You mean they'd make Audition? Yes, that will fuck you up.

Unfortunately, the surprise would never get past the trailers. I think it's some law that all movies must come pre-spoilered these days.

Posted by: twig at May 12, 2009 3:15 PM

I just barfed up my uterus.

Posted by: Janey at May 12, 2009 4:17 PM

*sigh* Bradley Cooper, why do you do this to me?

I also have to go on a little mini-rant on how it's movies like this that make people automatically assume that all romantic comedies are crap. Some do actually exist that are witty and charming and sweet, with actual good acting, but noooooo. Matthew McConaughey just keeps making his garbage ones, thus tainting the entire genre. And then, of course, women can't be taken seriously as film lovers if they admit they enjoy them unironically. That's so fucking retarded.

Posted by: Mimi at May 12, 2009 4:26 PM

I'm calling shenanigans on this one. It has to be a fake item.

Posted by: Drake at May 12, 2009 4:27 PM

I refuse to acknowledge the existence of these films.

...speaking of romantic comedies, you wouldn't happen to know if "Bitch Slap" is out on DVD yet, would you? My boys and I want to get drunk (and possibly high) and watch the hell out of it. One of them has a terrible habit of yelling "Titties!" randomly in the worst places, e.g. in the restaurant at work.

Posted by: Joker at May 12, 2009 4:49 PM

I'm going to pretend that BarbadoSlim didn't just put Anne Hathaway in the "name" department while dissing the woman who co-starred in The damn Apartment.

Posted by: samantha t at May 12, 2009 5:06 PM

twig>> Yeah, I know. It'd just be nice if it were possible in this day and age to pull a Marion-Crane-Psycho level of surprise on the audience.

I haven't watched Audition yet because someone ruined the surprise for me.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at May 12, 2009 5:42 PM

It's Like The Watchmen

So Julia Roberts wears a mask most of the movie and Anne Hathaway and Jessica Biel will have manic sex on a ship on the clouds while Jessica Alba walks around naked for the whole movie?

Hmm...that's a movie I'd see

Posted by: Fredo at May 12, 2009 7:04 PM

No, you're thinking of "Watchmen".

Posted by: Jay at May 12, 2009 7:25 PM

If Hathaway, Johannson, and Biel don't end up sharing some serious screen time in a minimal-clothing environment then my interest shall remain minimal.

Posted by: lordhelmet at May 13, 2009 4:54 PM


















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