Rachel McAdams falls in love with a time traveler (again) in 'About Time'

If About Time is as sweet as it looks in the trailer, it might just redeem Rachel McAdams from appearing in the horrible time travel romance The Time Traveler's Wife. The two-minute preview sets up a plot that has just enough twists on existing time travel movies to make it interesting. Domhnall Gleeson plays a man who learns from his father (Bill Nighy) that everyone in his family has the gift of time travel. There's both Groundhog Day elements, where he uses his ability to time travel to redo moments with women where he messes up the first time, and larger thoughts about fate--in one scene, it's implied that the effects of a car crash can't be reversed, and in another, he meets the woman he's married in an earlier scene (Rachel McAdams), only to discover she doesn't recognize him. The above-average level of intricacy makes this sound intriguing.

 

There hasn't been a lot of Internet chatter about this release, which will come out November 8 through Universal. That's a strong time slot, which indicates that the trailer may be able to deliver on its promise. McAdams is already a proven romantic lead, with two big hits, The Notebook and The Vow, under her belt. But those movies co-starred Ryan Gosling and Channing Tatum, respectively, who are male romantic stars in their own right. In this feature, the story is told from the man's perspective, and Gleeson isn't as well-known. The redhead actor first rose to fame with his role as the gawky Bill Weasely in the Harry Potter series. He's since appeared in the well-regarded Never Let Me Go and last year as Levin in Anna Karenina. In the movie, he plays down his looks in the Bill Weasley direction, making him appear like the guy who can never get the girl--at least until he has time travel on his side.

The screenwriter and sometimes director Richard Curtis is helming the project, which seems like a bonus. He both wrote and directed Love Actually, which is part of the romantic comedy canon for those who love the genre. He's also written the scripts for Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and both the Bridget Jones series and all the Mr. Bean movies. The combination of McAdams, Gleeson, and Curtis may add up to an end-of-year romantic comedy that actually delivers.

Hot novel 'Fifty Shades of Grey' may be turned into a movie

Forget Twilight. The latest female-driven literary sensation is Fifty Shades of Grey, an erotic romance novel that has sold 250,000 copies to date--most of them in discreet e-book form. Now the literary agent of the property is having meetings with major Hollywood studios in preparation for a rights auction. The novel centers on the sexual relationship between a young entrepreneur and a college student who interviews him for her school paper. The novel has become particularly popular among mothers, where recommendations and discussion of the book have become a hot topic. But could Hollywood make an adaptation of a book that's so racy? Twilight, after all, had just one kiss in the first book in the series. The same can't be said for Fifty Shades of Grey.

A friend who loves to download romance novels on her Kindle reports that Fifty Shades of Grey is actually one of the tamer novels in that genre, which may explain why the New York Times describes the book as a crossover success, luring in readers who typically don't read erotica. In its favor, the novel has been something of a viral success. This isn't something that has been forced on readers, but rather something they have embraced and recommended to their friends. It's only recently been picked up by a more mainstream publisher. Shockingly, the original novel started out on a a Twilight fan fiction site. It was spotted by a small publisher, reworked, and was turned into a trilogy. Boding well for the series' success, it's already getting tons of hype with only the first novel published.

Bestselling books don't always catch on at the box office. Another "mommy" film of quite a different variety, Sarah Jessica Parker's I Just Don't Know How She Does It, fell totally flat onscreen. For many busy people, finding time to squeeze in a little reading is a lot different than finding time to see a movie. Could the romance scenes work better on the page rather than on the screen? Whatever studio picks up the property will be moving into less-charted territory. Sexually explicit movies tend to be the province of the arthouse, not the multiplex. Even then, they aren't very common. With so much of Hollywood stuck in the rut of the same-old, I applaud the studio that takes a risk and bets that Fifty Shades of Grey will be a sensation as it steps from the privacy of e-readers to the big screen.

But can she direct? Angelina Jolie tackles Bosnian-Serb romance

By Sarah Sluis

Let's be honest. No good deed goes unpunished, and it's easy to question the motivation of every celebrity on an international goodwill trip taking a photo op with a local baby (Is this a good time to bring up the time Lindsay Lohan did some kind of documentary in India?). Angelina Jolie, however, has shown herself committed to her role as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and adopted several children from around

the world. Her latest project will see her in the director's seat helming a love story between a Bosnian and Serbian set during the war between the two factions.

Jolie reportedly visits the area regularly in her capacity as a goodwill ambassador. She will not only direct the film, it also seems that she wrote it! I'm a little skeptical of this, if only because she is a working actress, is constantly seen traveling the world with her gaggle of kids, and has a pretty packed film resume. Surely she had some help?

The cast is led by Zana Marjanovic, an actress known for her role in the Bosnian film Snow, Nikola Djuricko, and Rade Serbedzija. All of these actors come from the region, a casting choice made by Jolie. Filming will start late this year, which means maybe the movie will hit the festival circuit in 2011?

Whenever actors branch out into directing, they're subject to a different brand of criticism. Any A-lister who wanted to would have no trouble finding a movie to helm: their name alone would serve as proof of marketability. Skill, on the other hand, is more elusive, and Jolie will be up against some tough critics (including myself) who are interested in the story but need to be shown she's able to give a point-of-view from her spot in the director's chair.

If Jolie proves herself to be a competent director, she'll be following other women who started as actresses and turned into directors. Hollywood director Ida Lupino first worked as an actress, as did Jodie Foster and Penny Marshall. Though I doubt Jolie would envy this comparison, infamous German propagandist Leni Reifenstahl also segued from actress to director. Even last year's Best Director winner at the Oscars, Kathryn Bigelow, once appeared in a music video directed by her then-romantic interest, James Cameron. With women underrepresented as Hollywood directors, the actor-to-director transition may just be a welcome back door that will get more women into the director seat.