Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer (2011)

Megan McDonald's popular series of children's books comes to life on the big screen in this family friendly adventure that finds mischievous third grader Judy Moody experiencing a summer she'll never forget. School is out, and with the endless possibilities that summer has to offer, Judy (Jordanna Beatty) plans to have fun in the sun with her best pals Rocky and Amy. And right after learning that Rocky and Amy will both be leaving town with their families until fall, Judy finds out her own parents are taking a trip to sunny California without the kids. At first Judy grows depressed at the thought of spending the summer at home with her little brother Stink (Parris Mosteller) and their friend Frank Pearl, but once their Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) arrives, things quickly start to look up. Later, after making a list of dares to spice up their summer at home, Judy and her friends discover you don't have to travel far to find real fun, because every day is an adventure if you want it to be.

Alison Brie, Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr Join 'Save The Date'

Today in holy crap news: Alison Brie, Lizzy Caplan, Martin Starr and Geoffrey Arend have all joined an new indie called Save the Date, according to Variety, which is a romantic comedy produced by The Kids Are All Right's Jordan Horowitz. Yes. We're for real. The film, written by Jeff Brown, Mike Mohan and Egan Reich, will tell the story of two sisters, "one who's ambivalent about her future (Caplan) and another more at peace with life and long-term commitment (Brie)." Mohan will also direct.

The cast seems almost too good to be true, considering that pretty much everybody is in love with Brie and Caplan right now. Brie's won us over with her portrayal of the sweet and innocent Annie on NBC's Community, while Caplan showed us a dirty, comedic side in Starz's critically-acclaimed series Party Down (which has since been canceled, R.I.P.). But beyond the two ladies, Starr also comes from Party Down (and a couple other memorable roles, specifically Knocked Up). And Arend? Well, that dude is married to Christina Hendricks, which clearly speaks to his incomprehensible level of charm.

Exclusive Interview With Ewan McGregor

Moviegoers hungry for an alternative to the summer’s onslaught of sequels, prequels and reboots would do well to check out Beginners, the semi-autobiographical dramedy from indie writer-director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker). The movie, which is drawing critical raves, centers on the travails of a 38-year-old Los Angeles bachelor (Ewan McGregor) who, shortly after his mother succumbs to cancer, receives the startling news that his 75-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) is gay.

We caught up with McGregor recently to talk about the unique challenges of playing a role based, at least in part, on his own director:

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Much as I enjoyed X-Men: First Class, Fox’s exuberant prequel/reboot (preboot?) of the fabled Marvel Comics series, I was a bit disoriented by its opening sequence, in which a Mengele-esque Nazi scientist, played by Kevin Bacon, attempts to coax a terrified young Erik Lensherr, a death camp inmate, into demonstrating his newly discovered mutant powers. As the interaction transpires, the camera does something odd: It remains static, holding its gaze on the characters’ faces, affording us the rare treat of being able to scrutinize their expressions without the distraction of rapid-fire cuts or circling dollies or palsy-cams or any of the other myriad tools preferred by Hollywood’s increasingly ADD-addled action directors.

Restraint? In a comic book film? Strange but true. Even stranger is that it comes courtesy of director Matthew Vaughn, whose previous comic book adaptation, Kick-Ass, was so over-adrenalized it should have come with a complimentary shot of insulin. Here, Vaughn shows greater confidence in his material, his actors, and, most admirably, his audience, letting the story hold sway, unhindered by gimmicky enhancements. First Class is hardly a throwback, mind you – it features all of CGI accoutrements one expects from a proper summer blockbuster – but it has a stylish, retro sensibility to it that is as refreshing as it is unexpected.

In fact, were it not for all of its superhuman characters, one might not be able to tell that it’s based on a comic book. Whilst devising an approach suitable for his film’s early ‘60s Cold War setting, Vaughn, a Brit, clearly found inspiration in his country’s most enduring film franchise. First Class bears far more in common with The Spy Who Loved Me than with any of the previous X-Men installments, or any other comic book flicks, for that matter, and is all the better because of it.

Playing Vaughn’s Stromberg is Bacon, whose character has graduated from death camp atrocitier to swaggering supervillain in the intervening years since the war’s end. Ensconced in his underwater lair aboard a well-appointed submarine, Sebastian Shaw, as he has re-christened himself (only in the comic book world does a fugitive Nazi war criminal choose an alias with the initials “S.S.”), is secretly conspiring to ignite a fatal, MAD-provoking nuclear conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

No Bond-inspired film would be complete without a dose of benign sexism, embodied ably by Mad Men’s January Jones in the role of Shaw’s right-hand woman, Emma Frost. A mutant who can read minds and manifest diamond-plated armor, Emma’s greatest gift, the filmmakers make abundantly clear, is her superhuman rack, which, when activated, turns her into a walking honey trap no soldier or government official can resist. (It’s also the movie's most potent marketing weapon.)

Even our hero, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), has got a bit of 007’s DNA in him. Cheeky, rakish, given to funneling beers and hitting on Oxford co-eds, McAvoy’s Xavier is a far cry from Patrick Stewart’s stuffy, avuncular version of the character. Though his mutant telepathic abilities are highly developed, his human intuition isn’t, as he scarcely notices the insecurity metastasizing in his adopted sister, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), a blue-skinned shape-shifter in desperate need of validation.

She eventually finds that validation in Lensherr (played as an adult by Michael Fassbender), whose cynical view of humanity, bred by prolonged exposure to its more sinister aspects, places him at odds with Xavier’s vision of peaceful co-existence between mutants and their unenhanced counterparts. Nevertheless, Xavier and Lensherr become fast friends, and they agree to collaborate in the recruitment and training of a clandestine force of superhumans capable of stopping Shaw. Shortly thereafter, the first-ever mutant all-star team is born.

Anyone vaguely familiar with the comic book knows how this relationship turns out. But Vaughn’s fresh approach to the characters and their underlying motivations helps ameliorate some of the predictability of film’s plot and its inevitable resolution. Like Batman Begins, First Class is bound to pursue a pre-determined outcome, but it makes brief detours here and there that refresh the franchise without jeopardizing its sacred canon. Vaughn takes great care to appease the film's fanboy base without alienating the broader audience. Though I couldn’t care a whit about Torso-Beam Boy, Winged Stripper Girl, or a handful of other extraneous characters, devotees of the comics will no doubt rejoice in the screen time allotted to their respective backstories.

There are a handful of moments when Vaughn’s ambitions exceed his effects budget, but for the most part he proves a dexterous purveyor of popcorn theatrics. Some of the best bits, including a spectacular sequence in which an anchor tears through the deck of a luxury yacht, have been spoiled by the film’s trailers, but they still impress when writ large on the big screen. And there are a few surprises in First Class that remain thankfully unspoiled. Better see it quick before the next ad campaign debuts.
DISQUS...

Young Hollywood's Top-Earning Stars

If the tabloids are to be believed, Hollywood's young stars are in big trouble. Each day brings new tales--and the pictures to prove it--of junior VIPs, bereft of adult supervision, engaged in drinking, hard-partying, and the kind of sexual exploits typically reserved for pay-per-view.

But the salacious scenes of Britney, Paris and Nicole are overshadowing the other story in entertainment, that of the growing cadre of soon-to-be superstars, the most talented, aggressive and well-compensated group of showbiz kids in Hollywood history.

Forbes' Young Hollywood's Top-Earning Stars is an exclusive list of the entertainment industry's most sought-after talent under 21 years of age. While a few--most notably Lindsay Lohan--are well known, most of these names aren't. Commit them to memory--these are mega-careers in the making.