Allison Janney

John Cusack Plays GRAND PIANO, Jude Law Stars in DOM HEMINGWAY and Liam James Added to THE WAY, WAY BACK

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: May 16th, 2012 at 5:34 pm

A couple of heavy hitters in casting news today.  Here are the headlines at a glance:

• John Cusack may join Elijah Wood in the indie thriller, Grand Piano.
• Jude Law will star in the title role of Richard Shepard’s Dom Hemingway.
• Liam James joins Steve Carell and Toni Collette in indie drama, The Way, Way Back.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

THE WEST WING Cast Members Reunite to Promote Walking (and Talking) in Funny or Die Video

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 1st, 2012 at 7:38 am

It’s been six years since The West Wing left television (and in my book, it’s more like a decade since I couldn’t keep going after Aaron Sorkin left the show), but it will always be one of the best programs in the medium’s history.  It was inspiring, funny, smart, and moving, both emotionally and with people constantly moving.  The “Walk-n-Talk” was one of the show’s memorable devices, and that device has now been appropriated to promote the fitness campaign, “Everbody Walk“.  Funny or Die has put together an amusing video for the campaign featuring West Wing cast members Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Joshua Malina, Melissa Fitzgerald, and William Duffy reprising their roles and poking fun at the classic show’s beloved trademarks.

Hit the jump to check out the video.

Steve Carell and Toni Collette Join Indie Family Drama THE WAY, WAY BACK

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: April 17th, 2012 at 7:05 pm

There’s a reunion of sorts happening for Steve Carell and Toni Collette, who last starred together in 2006 Oscar-winner, Little Miss Sunshine.  Carell and Collette will join Jim Rash (Community) and Nat Faxon’s (Bad Teacher) directorial debut, The Way, Way Back.  Their script landed on 2010′s Black List, and after earning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay of their effort for The Descendents, I’m sure we can look forward to much more from the duo.  The Way, Way Back is an indie drama about a dysfunctional family, but that’s where the similarities to Little Miss Sunshine seem to stop.  The plot centers on a teenage boy on summer vacation who is coming to grips with his emotionally-distant mother and his cheating step-father.  The parental roles will be played by Collette and Carell, while the film also stars Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney and Annasophia Robb. Hit the jump for more.

Katie Holmes, William Hurt, Allison Janney and More in Talks for Retelling of Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 10th, 2012 at 5:39 pm

Actor Christian Camargo, whom many remember from a crucial arc in the first season of the Showtime series Dexter, is gearing up to make his directorial debut with an ambitious modern retelling of Anton Checkhov’s The Seagull, and he’s got a stellar cast in tow.  Variety reports that Katie Holmes, William Hurt, Allison Janney, Russell Means, Jean Reno, Mark Rylance and Juliet Rylance are all in various stages of negotiations to join the ensemble cast.  The film will take place in rural New England “where reckless desire wreaks havoc over Memorial Day weekend as a family confronts the volatile and fragile nature of love.”

West Wing vet Janney will play a movie star based on the Seagull role of Irina, Hurt will play her ailing brother, and Holmes will play “the temperamental daughter of the estate’s caretaker.”  I haven’t read The Seagull, but I’m impressed by the cast Camargo has assembled here and I’m eager to see what this re-imagining has in store.  Camargo wrote the script himself and production is set to get underway this summer.  Hit the jump to read a synopsis for The Seagull.

First Trailer for STRUCK BY LIGHTNING Starring and Written By GLEE’s Chris Colfer

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: February 18th, 2012 at 8:15 pm

Even those who quickly grew weary with Glee maintain their love for Chris Colfer.  So we are all watching closely with Struck by Lightning, which is not only Colfer’s feature debut, but also his first produced script.  The first trailer has dropped, and there is definite promise.  Colfer’s writing is clearly influe nced by his day job, given the story’s focus on what it means to be an outcast in high school.  But Colfer smartly crafted a different kind of high school outcast for himself, one who wants to be the editor of The New Yorker rather than a Broadway star.  This ambition leads the character to, as he puts it, “blackmail the entire school to better my chances of getting into the school of my dreams.  And it’s exhilarating.”  Rebel Wilson, Sarah Hyland, Allison Janney,  Dermot Mulroney, Christina Hendricks, Allie Grant, and Angela Kinsey also star in Struck by Lightning, directed by Brian Dannelly (Pushing Daisies).  Watch the trailer after the jump.

THE HELP Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 10th, 2011 at 7:09 am

Movies that take place during the Civil Rights era have become their own genre and one that sometimes diminishes the characters and their stories by making everyone into a hero, a villain, or a martyr.  The Help tries to expand those roles by showing that not all southern white people in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi are vile racists, not all black people are born courageous activists, and that while the battle lines were clearly defined as right and wrong, some people had to do some soul-searching to find where they stood.  The movie stumbles when it forgets to shade its characters and by being too faithful to the book at the expense of effectively translating the story to the screen.  But despite these missteps, The Help manages to deliver some powerful emotional moments due in large part to yet another tremendous performance from Viola Davis.

8 Movie Clips from THE HELP

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: July 30th, 2011 at 11:14 am

Disney has sent over eight clips from writer/director Tate Taylor’s The Help, based on the bestselling book by Kathryn Stockett.  Set in Mississippi during the civil rights movement of the early 1960s, The Help is about “a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives—and a small Mississippi town—upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families.” The film stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Ocatvia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Lowell, Anna Camp, Ahna O Reilly, and Allison Janney.

I’ve spoken to a few people that have seen it and everyone has been raving.  Almost all say it’ll be a contender during Award season.  Hit the jump for the clips, and look for interviews with the cast week of release.

Casting Call: Allison Janney STRUCK BY LIGHTNING; Giancarlo Esposito Joins I, ALEX CROSS; HBO Casts Dev Patel in MORE AS THIS STORY DEVELOPS

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: June 28th, 2011 at 10:15 pm

Allison Janney has signed on to star opposite Chris Colfer (Glee) in the coming-of-age comedy Struck by Lightning.  Colfer also wrote the script which, per Variety, “opens with Colfer’s character being struck and killed by a bolt of lightning; flashbacks will chronicle his exploits as he blackmails his classmates into contributing to a literary magazine he’s publishing.”  The independent production will shoot this July in Los Angeles during Colfer’s summer hiatus from Glee.  Brian Dannelly (Saved!) will direct.

Hit the jump for more Giancarlo Esposito’s role in I, Alex Cross, and the casting of Dev Patel in More As This Story Develops.

New Trailer for SUPER 8; New Clips from HARRY POTTER and THE HELP

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 5th, 2011 at 8:20 pm

The MTV Movie Awards are a time for fans to gather round, vote for their favorite massive franchise, and give it a bucket of golden popcorn that’s like an Oscar except no one cares.  No one ever got more clout or more box office from an MTV Movie Award.

It’s also a time to give new looks at upcoming films that will most likely be nominated for awards the following year.  At tonight’s MTV Movie Awards, viewers got a new trailer for Super 8 and new clips from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and The Help.  The Super 8 trailer is more action-heavy than the previous ones, but I’m glad that they’re still not showing the alien.  The Harry Potter clip is short but intense (is it July yet? No? Damn.) and the clip from The Help doesn’t have spectacle, but I’m always happy to watch performances from Emma Stone and Allison Janney.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer and the clips.  Super 8 opens this Friday.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 opens in 3D on July 15th.  The Help opens August 12th.

First Trailer for THE HELP Plus 3 New Images

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 18th, 2011 at 4:03 pm

Disney has released the first trailer for The Help, based on the bestselling book by Kathryn Stockett.  Set in Mississippi during the civil rights movement of the early 1960s, The Help tells the story of three women: recent college graduate Skeeter (Emma Stone), wise black maid Aibileen (Viola Davis), and Aibileen’s sassy best friend Minny (Ocatvia Spencer).  The threesome “come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk.”  Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Lowell, Anna Camp, Ahna O Reilly, and Allison Janney also star.  Tate Taylor wrote and directed the adaptation.

The Help opens August 12.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

Allison Janney Interview MR. SUNSHINE

by Christina Radish    Posted: February 9th, 2011 at 1:49 pm

On the new ABC comedy Mr. Sunshine, Matthew Perry stars as Ben Donovan, the manager of a San Diego sports arena called the Sunshine Center. His boss is arena owner Crystal (Allison Janney), a woman who is as erratic and unpredictable as she is attractive and powerful, and who is the cause of many of the venue’s legal problems. Married six times, she is now faced with getting to know Roman (Nate Torrence), her sweet-faced but clueless adult son, who is looking to forge a relationship with his mother..

During a recent press day to promote the series debut, actress Allison Janney talked about the appeal of playing a character so drastically different from CJ Cregg on The West Wing, how gratifying it is to have a role created and written specifically for her, working with Matthew Perry as a co-star and executive producer, and how much fun she’s been having doing comedy. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

Nine High-Resolution Images from THE HELP Starring Emma Stone and Viola Davis

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 2nd, 2010 at 12:37 pm

DreamWorks has provided us with the first images along with the official synopsis for the upcoming 1960s drama The Help.  The film, which is based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, was directed by Tate Taylor and stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Octavia Spencer, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Hit the jump to check out nine high-resolution images from the film plus the official synopsis.  The Help is set to open on August 12, 2011.

Showtime Is SHAMELESS In Ordering William H. Macy Series

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: April 7th, 2010 at 6:51 pm

In news that further proves pay cable gets all the best movie stars, THR reports that Showtime has ordered 12 episodes of Shameless, an hourlong drama headlined by the indelible William H. Macy.  The series co-stars Emmy Rossum, whom I best remember as the lead in the 2004 Phantom of the Opera update: please let me know if I should update my cognitive database six years after the fact.  Promisingly, creator John Wells (ER) has alotted a recurring role for his former West Wing co-worker Allison Janney, who had a guest spot in the pilot.

The show is an adaptation of a British dramedy of the same name that revolves around the antics of a large single-parent family headed by an alcoholic (Macy).  More after the break:

5 Movie Clips and the Trailer – AWAY WE GO

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 11:44 am

Opening on June 5^th is director Sam Mendes new movie “Away We Go”. Since all reviews are under embargo for a few more weeks, I need to be careful what I say.

However, I don’t think anyone at Focus Features will mind me saying that I loved the movie. Loved. “Away We Go” has a brilliant script, beautiful cinematography, great acting, and Sam Mendes directed this thing to perfection. While the film isn’t some big budget summer extravaganza, it’s a film absolutely worth checking out when it gets released. Especially if you’re in your twenties or thirties and still trying to figure life out.

Anyway, to help promote the film, we’ve been given 5 clips from the movie and the trailer, so check them out after the jump.

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