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John C. Reilly
is joining the
Cirque. The
Cirque Du Freak,
that is. (I
know. You were
all hoping to
see Reilly in a
Cirque Du Soleil
thing, maybe
wearing a
colorful spandex
and sequined
outfit , with
mime type
make-up,
juggling
balloons while
dancing on a
giant wheel. To
the
accompaniment of
Pink Floyd as
covered by Norah
Jones.)
Freak
is the
first in a
well-liked
series of
children’s books
by Darren Shan.
In this one, two
kids sneak out
to visit a freak
show and become
tangled up with
vampires and
giant spiders.
Reilly will be
playing Larten
Crepsley, the
lead vampire.
(Cheers to
Reilly! This is
why it rocks to
be a character
actor–he gets to
play a vampire,
a hard-living
country star, a
member of a
NASCAR pit crew,
sing in a
musical, and
do about 8,000
other things.)
Variety
tells us that
Universal holds
the rights to
all twelve
Cirque
books. Paul
Weitz is doing
the adaptation
and directing.
This is
presumably his
bid for the
children/fantasy
slot on his
resume; brother
Chris is busy
crossing his
fingers and
hoping for the
best with the
upcoming
Golden Compass.
Paul Weitz
did a good job
with About a
Boy and
In Good Company
(the latter
is a
particularly
thoughtful movie
that slipped by
a lot of
people), but
bombed with the
ill-conceived
American
Dreamz. I’m
hoping for the
best with this
one (I’m always
hoping for the
best!! While
it’s fun to pick
on bad movies, I
do want
them to be good!
Really!).
Here’s why
I’m always
pro-Weitz
brothers. Have
you ever seen
Douglas Sirk’s
Imitation of
Life
(1959)? If not,
do! The very
Sirk-ian
(Cirque-ian?)
’50s melodrama
features a
star-making,
furious
performance by a
young actress
named Susan
Kohner (a
Natalie Wood
type). Alas, Ms.
Kohner dropped
out of
movie-making
soon to marry
and have
children.
However, those
children are
Paul and Chris
Weitz, who’ve
managed to carry
on the family
business in a
rather
accomplished
fashion.
http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/reilly-shows-up-for-cirque-du-freak/ |
