Day: July 21, 2014

Untitled Cameron Crowe Movie Starring Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone & Bill Murray Pushed To 2015

With release schedules in the fall generally packed with tentpoles trying to muscle way between Oscar contenders, it can be tough to try and fit something in that’s neither. And certainly, Cameron Crowe’s upcoming untiled rom-com would’ve faced stiff competition. Originally set for a Christmas Day release, the movie has now been pushed to next spring, and it looks like a wise move.

Sony has announced the release date change and it takes Crowe’s movie out of the way of Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken,” Disney’s musical “Into The Woods,” MGM’s sequel “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” and the family movie “Paddington” all opening in wide release. And that’s not to mention the MLK pic “Selma” and Tim Burton’s “Big Eyes” coming in limited release. Sometimes, you gotta know when to fold ’em. And to hear Sony tell it, Crowe’s film probably wasn’t going to be an awards season contender anyway. Now, the still untitled film will open on May 29, 2015 putting it right in blockbuster season, and it will face far lesser competition with “Insidious Chapter 3” and “Monster Trucks” opening.

“Once we saw the film, we knew that it would make a perfect summer release. The movie is Cameron at his best,” Jeff Blake, Chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures said. And this cast will certainly make for an attractive multiplex offering.

Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, and Alec Baldwin are part of the ensemble about a celebrated military contractor who reconnects with a long-ago love while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog assigned to him. Meanwhile, a complex satellite system being launched by an enigmatic billionaire with suspicious intentions. So yes, sounds more wacky and less statue worthy. While we’re bummed we’ll have to wait even longer for this, we’re glad it’s getting a date deserving of Crowe is putting together.

Harry and Sally have weathered the (25!) years well

Sally and Harry would be eligible for their AARP cards today, but their romance has aged gracefully.

This month marks the 25th anniversary of When Harry Met Sally, a delightful classic that set a new standard for romantic comedies when it came out in July 1989.

Written by Nora Ephron, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Meg Ryan as the lovable control freak Sally Albright and Billy Crystal as the wise-cracking, sometimes abrasive, Harry Burns, it struck a chord. Audiences loved its witty exchanges, charming sense of honesty and romantic New York locations.

The line “I’ll have what she’s having” is an iconic movie quip that has made its way into the popular lexicon, originating from the film’s most memorable scene — Sally demonstrating a fake orgasm inside Katz’s Deli. The line was uttered by a deli patron sitting nearby, played by Reiner’s mother, Estelle.

“I just get a kick out of the fact that my mother says a line listed as one of the top lines in movie history,” says Reiner, who reminisced about the movie with USA TODAY. “They link it with Clark Gable saying ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.’ There’s Clark Gable and there’s Estelle Reiner.”

The film’s style has been widely copied in the ensuing years, though no rom-com since has come close to capturing the hearts of viewers quite like When Harry Met Sally.

“I saw it when it came out and continue to watch it over and over,” says Marguerita Drew, 47, a high school English teacher from Pasadena, Calif. “It’s one of my all-time favorite movies. It’s so on target and so funny. It so cleverly shows the differences between how men and women think.”

It also provides the satirical cornerstone for They Came Together, a spoof of romantic comedies starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler, currently in theaters and on VOD.

When Harry Met Sally is “one of the best rom-coms ever made,” says David Wain, who directed They Came Together. “It’s certainly a movie of its time, but I think the staying power is that it’s really, really well done. They’re digging deep into truths and things that are truly funny. They talk about friendship in ways that anyone who’s been in any relationship can relate to.”

Initially, some critics dismissed it as a Woody Allen wannabe, citing similarities with Annie Hall’s opening credits and the soundtrack’s use of Gershwin. But Wain says that over the years, “I’ve realized that the real soul and core of that movie is not at all Woody Allen. It’s not about the same kinds of anxieties. It’s clearly from a different voice and point of view. Everything about that movie that really matters and lasts is not derivative.”

Reiner maintains the key is the story’s universality. Much of the movie is concerned with whether men and women can be friends, as well as the skirmishes on the dating front lines.

“It’s this awkward dance that men and women do with each other and I don’t think that changes, no matter what age you are,” Reiner says. In his latest movie, And So It Goes, Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton explore romance among sixtysomethings.

The relatability of the actors helped. Neither were stars at the time, Reiner points out.

“Billy Crystal looks like an ordinary guy,” Drew says. “And Meg Ryan was cute, but she looks like someone you knew. This could be a slice of anybody’s life, a slice of my life.”