With a deceptively simple plot, a somewhat evasive tone and a cast of stars who are far better known on the Other Side of the Pond, the new half-hour dramedy Rain Dogs may be a tough sell for HBO.
Allow me to try: Rain Dogs is The Last of Us with poverty instead of mushroom zombies. I could add that it’s also a fine economic counterbalance to the satirical affluence of The White Lotus and Succession, but nah. Let’s go with The Last of Us as my primary point of comparison. Sure, that’s inviting disappointment for a handful of [million] video game fans, but if it gets some additional viewers to check out a rewarding, but undeniably tough, little show, it’s probably worth it.
On a more practical level, series creator Cash Carraway is essentially giving The Object of My Affection — you may remember either Stephen McCauley...
Allow me to try: Rain Dogs is The Last of Us with poverty instead of mushroom zombies. I could add that it’s also a fine economic counterbalance to the satirical affluence of The White Lotus and Succession, but nah. Let’s go with The Last of Us as my primary point of comparison. Sure, that’s inviting disappointment for a handful of [million] video game fans, but if it gets some additional viewers to check out a rewarding, but undeniably tough, little show, it’s probably worth it.
On a more practical level, series creator Cash Carraway is essentially giving The Object of My Affection — you may remember either Stephen McCauley...
- 3/3/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope
Doesn't it look like these two crazy, beautiful kids would make a cute couple? Think again.Another week, another 1998 comedy about the relationship between a woman and her gay best friend starring a cast member of Friends. You have to love a specific subgenre. While Lisa Kudrow and Martin Donovan traveled across the country to find Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex, Jennifer Aniston stayed in New York in a more familiar genre -- the romantic comedy.
As the title The Object of My Affection suggests, Aniston falls in love. Unfortunately for her, the titular role is her new gay best friend, a first grade teacher played by a baby-faced, charming Paul Rudd. Wendy Wasserstein’s adaptation of the Stephen McCauley book of the same name uses genre tropes to sand some of the thorny elements of the premise.
Doesn't it look like these two crazy, beautiful kids would make a cute couple? Think again.Another week, another 1998 comedy about the relationship between a woman and her gay best friend starring a cast member of Friends. You have to love a specific subgenre. While Lisa Kudrow and Martin Donovan traveled across the country to find Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex, Jennifer Aniston stayed in New York in a more familiar genre -- the romantic comedy.
As the title The Object of My Affection suggests, Aniston falls in love. Unfortunately for her, the titular role is her new gay best friend, a first grade teacher played by a baby-faced, charming Paul Rudd. Wendy Wasserstein’s adaptation of the Stephen McCauley book of the same name uses genre tropes to sand some of the thorny elements of the premise.
- 2/1/2021
- by Christopher James
- FilmExperience
Veteran producer John Wells is staying with the studio he’s called home since 1986, signing a new five-year overall deal with Warner Bros. TV Group.
The deal is said to be in the nine-figure range, an insider with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap. A representative for Warner Bros. TV did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Wells’ deal comes as Warner Bros. parent company, WarnerMedia, is reportedly closing in on a huge film and TV deal with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.
Along with Showtime’s “Shameless,” Wells is an executive producer on TNT’s “Animal Kingdom” and is known for being behind some of TV’s biggest dramas including “ER,” “Southland” and “The West Wing.”
Also Read: Warner Bros TV Sets New Development Team, Restructures Current Programming Department
Under the new deal, which runs through 2024, Wells will continue to develop original projects for multiple platforms, including premium and basic cable channels,...
The deal is said to be in the nine-figure range, an insider with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap. A representative for Warner Bros. TV did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Wells’ deal comes as Warner Bros. parent company, WarnerMedia, is reportedly closing in on a huge film and TV deal with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.
Along with Showtime’s “Shameless,” Wells is an executive producer on TNT’s “Animal Kingdom” and is known for being behind some of TV’s biggest dramas including “ER,” “Southland” and “The West Wing.”
Also Read: Warner Bros TV Sets New Development Team, Restructures Current Programming Department
Under the new deal, which runs through 2024, Wells will continue to develop original projects for multiple platforms, including premium and basic cable channels,...
- 6/20/2019
- by Tim Baysinger
- The Wrap
French sales agent heads to Belgium to set up new company. First slate includes Belgian Hans Herbots’ crime thriller The Treatment.
Long-time Films Distribution sales agent Pamela Leu has launched her own Brussels-based sales company, Be for Films.
Leu left Nicolas Brigaud-Robert and François Yon’s Paris-based Films Distribution on amicable terms last month.
The company will provide some initial back office support while Leu rolls out her first independent slate at Cannes.
“After 11 years of collaboration with Films Distribution, running a company and creating Be for Films was the obvious step to achieve my own dreams and desires for doing business in the film industry,” Leu told ScreenDaily.
Be for Films is the only fully-fledged sales company based within Belgian borders, although state-backed organisations like Wallonie Bruxelles Image and Flanders Image do a lot of promotional work for local productions.
“My first goal is to support local French and Flemish-speaking productions and bring news talent to the...
Long-time Films Distribution sales agent Pamela Leu has launched her own Brussels-based sales company, Be for Films.
Leu left Nicolas Brigaud-Robert and François Yon’s Paris-based Films Distribution on amicable terms last month.
The company will provide some initial back office support while Leu rolls out her first independent slate at Cannes.
“After 11 years of collaboration with Films Distribution, running a company and creating Be for Films was the obvious step to achieve my own dreams and desires for doing business in the film industry,” Leu told ScreenDaily.
Be for Films is the only fully-fledged sales company based within Belgian borders, although state-backed organisations like Wallonie Bruxelles Image and Flanders Image do a lot of promotional work for local productions.
“My first goal is to support local French and Flemish-speaking productions and bring news talent to the...
- 4/30/2014
- ScreenDaily
When studios put out themed DVD collections for whatever occasion, the final result rarely does the subject in question justice. When they seek to honor independent flicks they typically just go for the most popular ones and not the best. For foreign films they’ll select the few that actually made ripples and not the underdog that had to fight for every theater screen. However, when MGM compiled its Cinema Pride Collection in honor of June being Gay Pride month they hit the nail on the head – and they hit it dead on. The collection not only features some of the favorites within the gay community but it features a few highly acclaimed heavy hitters as well. This may just be one of the best box sets a studio has ever released that isn’t based on one actor or director’s filmography. It has variety and it has quality in spades.
- 6/13/2010
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
There's an interesting line at the end of Stephen McCauley's funny new novel Insignificant Others, and how I interpreted it pretty much determined how much I ultimately liked this book. The main character writes to another character: "Begin with the truth. Everything else will fall into place."
But from start to finish, we've just spent the entire novel following the actions of a deeply (and hilariously) self-deluded man.
In other words, I interpreted that line to be ironic, and I found the whole book to be a satire of this sad and pathetic man.
Truthfully? Had I not quickly decided that the book was satire — if I'd thought I was being asked to sympathize and relate to this man, as opposed to laughing at him — I don't think I would've liked it nearly as much, because his problems are all (a) mostly ridiculous, and (b) almost entirely self-induced.
McCauley,...
But from start to finish, we've just spent the entire novel following the actions of a deeply (and hilariously) self-deluded man.
In other words, I interpreted that line to be ironic, and I found the whole book to be a satire of this sad and pathetic man.
Truthfully? Had I not quickly decided that the book was satire — if I'd thought I was being asked to sympathize and relate to this man, as opposed to laughing at him — I don't think I would've liked it nearly as much, because his problems are all (a) mostly ridiculous, and (b) almost entirely self-induced.
McCauley,...
- 6/9/2010
- by Brent Hartinger
- The Backlot
Just when it seemed every romantic comedy was manufactured with a cookie-cutter sameness, along comes playwright Wendy Wasserstein ("The Sisters Rosensweig", "The Heidi Chronicles") and British director Nicholas Hytner ("The Madness of King George") to shake things up a little.
Their refreshingly grown-up collaboration, "The Object of My Affection", is something of a grounded flip side to "My Best Friend's Wedding". Only here, the acerbic gay best friend hasn't been neutered for mass-audience consumption.
While the result makes for a considerably less-than-mainstream proposition and the picture's first half has pacing problems, the consistently smart writing and terrific performances should generate some enthusiastic word-of-mouth, at least in big-city markets.
Based on a novel by Stephen McCauley, the film has changed the first-person male point of view to that of Nina Borowski (Jennifer Aniston), a Brooklyn social worker who offers her spare room to George Hanson (Paul Rudd), a schoolteacher about to be unceremoniously dumped by his smarmy college professor boyfriend, Dr. Joley (Tim Daly).
The fact that Nina and George get along famously doesn't sit quite well with her brash, civil liberties lawyer boyfriend, Vince (John Pankow), especially when she finds out she's pregnant with his child but announces she'd rather have George (with whom she's become smitten) help her raise the baby.
Initially tickled by the idea, George is subsequently faced with making a tough decision when he meets Paul (Amo Gulinello), the very young roommate of a much older theater critic (the always on-the-money Nigel Hawthorne).
A little too heavy on the dramatic element to be labeled a true romantic comedy, "The Object of My Affection" tends to derive its humor from dialogue rather than situation. Although Wasserstein's way with words is always welcome, the film could have benefited from a bit more of the latter.
Still, Hytner's direction is never less than involving, and his cast is uniformly wonderful. Aniston's never been better than as the vulnerable but determined Nina, while Rudd's conflicted George rings three-dimensionally true. Both leads remain appealingly cute without becoming cutesy.
Among the rich support work, Pankow (Cousin Ira on "Mad About You") also manages to tread a fine line between being outspoken and obnoxious; Hawthorne brings a finely tuned wit and grace to his role of the chastened father figure; and Allison Janney (the scene-stealing stumbler in "Primary Colors") and Alan Alda are a blast as Aniston's snooty matchmaking sister and her name-dropping, literary agent husband.
Fine, too, are Daly as Rudd's full-of-himself former flame and Gulinello as the spirited new guy in Rudd's life. As an inside joke for stage buffs, Daly and Hawthorne are joined in a panel discussion putting down contemporary theater by real-life leading lights Alfred Uhry, Christopher Durang and Michael Weller, among others.
THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION
20th Century Fox
A Laurence Mark production
A Nicholas Hytner film
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Producer: Laurence Mark
Screenwriter: Wendy Wasserstein
Based on the novel by: Stephen McCauley
Director of photography: Oliver Stapleton
Production designer: Jane Musky
Editor: Tariq Anwar
Costume designer: John Dunn
Music: George Fenton
Music supervisor: Alex Steyermark
Casting: Daniel Swee
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nina Borowski: Jennifer Aniston
George Hanson: Paul Rudd
Vince McBride: John Pankow
Sidney Miller: Alan Alda
Dr. Robert Joley: Tim Daly
Rodney Fraser: Nigel Hawthorne
Constance Miller: Allison Janney
Paul James: Amo Gulinello
Running time - 112 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Their refreshingly grown-up collaboration, "The Object of My Affection", is something of a grounded flip side to "My Best Friend's Wedding". Only here, the acerbic gay best friend hasn't been neutered for mass-audience consumption.
While the result makes for a considerably less-than-mainstream proposition and the picture's first half has pacing problems, the consistently smart writing and terrific performances should generate some enthusiastic word-of-mouth, at least in big-city markets.
Based on a novel by Stephen McCauley, the film has changed the first-person male point of view to that of Nina Borowski (Jennifer Aniston), a Brooklyn social worker who offers her spare room to George Hanson (Paul Rudd), a schoolteacher about to be unceremoniously dumped by his smarmy college professor boyfriend, Dr. Joley (Tim Daly).
The fact that Nina and George get along famously doesn't sit quite well with her brash, civil liberties lawyer boyfriend, Vince (John Pankow), especially when she finds out she's pregnant with his child but announces she'd rather have George (with whom she's become smitten) help her raise the baby.
Initially tickled by the idea, George is subsequently faced with making a tough decision when he meets Paul (Amo Gulinello), the very young roommate of a much older theater critic (the always on-the-money Nigel Hawthorne).
A little too heavy on the dramatic element to be labeled a true romantic comedy, "The Object of My Affection" tends to derive its humor from dialogue rather than situation. Although Wasserstein's way with words is always welcome, the film could have benefited from a bit more of the latter.
Still, Hytner's direction is never less than involving, and his cast is uniformly wonderful. Aniston's never been better than as the vulnerable but determined Nina, while Rudd's conflicted George rings three-dimensionally true. Both leads remain appealingly cute without becoming cutesy.
Among the rich support work, Pankow (Cousin Ira on "Mad About You") also manages to tread a fine line between being outspoken and obnoxious; Hawthorne brings a finely tuned wit and grace to his role of the chastened father figure; and Allison Janney (the scene-stealing stumbler in "Primary Colors") and Alan Alda are a blast as Aniston's snooty matchmaking sister and her name-dropping, literary agent husband.
Fine, too, are Daly as Rudd's full-of-himself former flame and Gulinello as the spirited new guy in Rudd's life. As an inside joke for stage buffs, Daly and Hawthorne are joined in a panel discussion putting down contemporary theater by real-life leading lights Alfred Uhry, Christopher Durang and Michael Weller, among others.
THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION
20th Century Fox
A Laurence Mark production
A Nicholas Hytner film
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Producer: Laurence Mark
Screenwriter: Wendy Wasserstein
Based on the novel by: Stephen McCauley
Director of photography: Oliver Stapleton
Production designer: Jane Musky
Editor: Tariq Anwar
Costume designer: John Dunn
Music: George Fenton
Music supervisor: Alex Steyermark
Casting: Daniel Swee
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nina Borowski: Jennifer Aniston
George Hanson: Paul Rudd
Vince McBride: John Pankow
Sidney Miller: Alan Alda
Dr. Robert Joley: Tim Daly
Rodney Fraser: Nigel Hawthorne
Constance Miller: Allison Janney
Paul James: Amo Gulinello
Running time - 112 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/13/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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