Cyrus is the kind of independent movie that makes me love independent movies, so it might seem paradoxical that I don’t want to write this review. I just want to tell you to go directly to your nearest theater and see it, without knowing anything about it beforehand. But I do have to write something, so as much as possible, I will eschew plot summary, and only endeavor to persuade you to go see it, right away.

Cyrus is made by the Brothers Duplass (Mark and Jay), who have climbed into Hollywood by way of the Mumblecore trapdoor. The Duplasses made their name with their first two features, Puffy Chair and Baghead, but they’ve matured with incredible speed, and Cyrus is a big step up.

A love triangle such as you’ve never seen before, Cyrus is the story of John, a shambling mess of a man (John C. Reilly) who describes himself as “like Shrek,” Molly, the lovely woman who accepts him as he is (Marissa Tomei), and Cyrus, the twenty-one-year-old son (Jonah Hill) who still lives with her.

Those are capsule character descriptions, and as such, they are wholly inaccurate. For this movie is all about character, and the ways character can manifest and change, all in an instant. You would think this movie was a thriller, the way it places you on alert. The tone is so wobbly (which is not to say inconsistent, or uncontrolled) that from moment to moment, scene to scene, I literally had no idea what was going to happen next. It made me realize how formulaic almost all scripts are. They follow the three-act or five-act rules and the audience obediently holds on for the predictable ride.

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By Shannon Hood

Reprinted from the SXSW Film Festival, 3/17/2010

Mark and Jay Duplass caused a bit of a commotion at Sundance and SXSW in 2005 when their feature film The Puffy Chair debuted to rave reviews and serious buzz. The brothers’ approach to filmmaking was so innovative that they had a new genre of film named after them: mumblecore.

Mumblecore is an indie genre characterized by low budget, improvisation, “non-actor” actors, and plots dealing primarily with personal relationships. The brothers followed up The Puffy Chair with Baghead (2008.)

Even though Cyrus cannot be categorized as pure mumblecore, it is certainly heavily influenced by the Duplass brothers’ earlier films. The movie stars well known comedic actors Jonah Hill (Superbad) and John C. Reilly (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), as well as Oscar winner Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler.)

John C. Reilly is wonderful as John, a downtrodden divorced man who finds out that his ex-wife Jamie (played by Catherine Keener) is getting remarried, and wants him to attend an engagement party. Humiliating stuff for even the most confident of men, and John is far from confident.

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Perhaps only New Yorkers can fully appreciate the unique but not uncommon real estate transaction that underlies Nicole Holofcener’s fourth feature film Please Give. Successful dealers in trendy midcentury modern furniture, Kate and Alex have leapt at the chance to purchase the apartment next door, allowing them to expand their own… just as soon as that adjoining apartment’s elderly tenant vacates the premises, a process which in places other than Manhattan is known as dying.

This civilized death watch may be at the heart of Kate’s compulsive guilt, or not. Played by Holofcener muse Catherine Keener (who has starred in all four films) with her usual intelligence and razor wit, Kate is both open and judgmental, destructive and compassionate, blind and perceptive, conflicted and utterly believable. Holofcener’s work has always explored a particular strain of modern woman—one who occupies a place in a privileged and finely parsed world, albeit uneasily.

Kate is affluent but ashamed of her affluence. And although her affable husband Alex (Oliver Platt) assures her it is fine, she feels guilty about buying the furniture of dead people and selling it at a steep mark-up in her chic store. She walks around with rolls of cash to hand out to the homeless (or those she perceives to be homeless), while arguing with her teen daughter Abby over the ethical problem of $200 jeans for high schoolers.

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I got a chance to sit down for a round table discussion with Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly, two of the stars of Cyrus, which premiered at the 2010 SXSW festival. Hill plays Cyrus, a 21 year old living with his mother (Catherine Keener) who develops an antagonistic and competitive relationship with his mom’s boyfriend played by Reilly.

So do you think the John C. Reilly era of a romantic lead in a comedy is finally here?

John C. Reilly: I hope so. I’m a very romantic type person. I like doing parts like this, and I think that there are a lot of people out there who are not represented in movies, whose stories don’t get told.

You know what I’m talking about (to a male journalist.) Neither of us look like Brad Pitt, let’s not fool ourselves.

Your characters had some similarities and some differences, you both have a co-dependence thing, did that come into play when you preparing as far as how your characters related to each other?

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Every year, there tends to be a common theme in most big-budget Hollywood films. Back in 2006, magicians were a big hit, as in both The Illusionist and The Prestige. We haven’t even hit 2010 yet, but it looks like the theme for next year may just be Greek Mythology, between Clash of the Titans and Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Though the name is WAY too long, this newest trailer actually makes the film look quite good, and even shows off the who’s who of a cast, from Rosario Dawson to Pierce Brosnon to Uma Thurman. The film is about a regular boy who finds out that he’s actually the son of a Greek God, and must then embark on an adventure which will help him earn his title as demigod.

The film is based on the series of books by Rick Riordan, and even has epic family film director Chris Columbus behind the wheel. The film hits theaters on February 12th, 2010, and you can check out the international trailer after the jump.

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I’ve got to give it to Spike Jonze. He took on the Herculean task of adapting one of the most beloved children’s books of all time, and mostly got it right. I remember the book vividly, and seeing the creatures in the movie brought to life is a spectacle to behold. It is absolutely breathtaking. They are exactly as you remember them, but real.

When Jonze decided to forgo the usual CGI, film followers exhaled a sigh of relief. Instead, a combination of puppetry, live action and CGI (for the facial expressions) was employed. Jonze said that he felt a physical presence was necessary for the actor (Max Richards) to interact with. I agree. However, at times I felt the creatures tread a little too close to H.R. Pufnstuf territory, and I would be jarred out of the movie.

The film begins with the hero Max displaying the typical antics of a boy his age. He’s hyper as hell as he dashes about the house, partakes in a snowball fight in his yard, and terrorizes the family dog. He tries to get the attention of his harried mom (Catherine Keener) and is upset when his sister leaves with her friends.

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Now that the Summer blockbuster season has settled down and most of the tent pole films for the year have been put to bed, it’s time for the sleeper hits of 2009 to shine. The Fall is a pretty big time for films like District 9, Gamer, and of course Where the Wild Things Are to take over the box office in a substantial way.

The first trailer for Where the Wild Things Are hit a few months back, and didn’t show us very much. Still, we knew that director Spike Jonze, who was the mastermind behind this stroke of genius, would do the children’s book classic. We now get a new trailer filled with plenty of footage of the titular “wild things” and surprisingly lots of James Gandolfini.

Also starring Forest Whitaker, Catherine Ohara, Lauren Ambrose, Mark Ruffalo, Catherine Keener, and Max Records, Warner’s Where the WIld Things Are hits screens October 16th nationwide.

Check it out the brand new trailer after the jump.

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