We at CH have some sooper-special news for all you musical geeks out there today, but before we unveil the big news, let’s take a little quiz, shall we? Just answer the following true-or-false statements as honestly as possible—yes, that means you—and we’ll see where we are. Got it? Good.

True or false:
I like to sing in public.
Hippie Meryl Streep doesn’t frighten me at all!
I love it when people stand up in front of me during a movie and dance, especially in non-stadium seating.
Colin Firth sure is dreamy when he plays the guitar!
Colin Firth sure is dreamy all the time!
I make a point to wear shiny clothing whenever possible.
Mother/daughter movies are the best!
I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I looooove the letter T!

If you scored (heh, “scored”) mostly Ts, Universal may be your new best friend: starting August 29, selected theaters nationwide will feature a sing-along version of Mamma Mia! If you answered mostly Fs, well, we at CH can’t really help you, and perhaps you should have your heart and/or your sense of rollicking disco-y fun examined.

I believe I can predict a 50-50 split among readers on this issue: Half of you are thinking, “You couldn’t pay me enough money to drive within ten blocks of sing-along Mamma Mia!, or sing-along anything, for that matter.” The other half are thinking, “Isn’t every showing of Mamma Mia! a sing-along show?” (Psssst…that’s the Ts.) What separates a sing-along showing from a regular showing is twofold: 1) the lyrics to each song appearing onscreen, bouncing-ball style (for those of us who may not remember/have been born in the 70s), and 2) a reasonable certainty that nobody around you will mind your (compulsive) belting of “Dancing Queen.” So, a win/win situation, no?

Details on theaters and showtimes are expected soon; to check up on the latest info, head over to the Mamma Mia! movie site. I’m sure you and your tone-deafness will be embraced with open arms.

Mamma Mia!, sing-along Mamma Mia!, singalong Mamma Mia!, singalong movies, Meryl Streep, musicals

Stay out of trouble, kids, and I’ll see you on the flip side.

Once, years ago, I heard a critic (now lost to time and memory) questioning the wisdom of casting Gwyneth Paltrow as Sylvia Plath. Paltrow, he said, wasn’t exactly a bad choice, but she wasn’t the best choice, either. There was something about rage, about finding an actor who could embody the spark of angry madness that drove Plath to her tragic ending. And this I remember: this critic said there was simply one actor in all of Hollywood who could make a convincing Sylvia Plath, and that actor was Julia Stiles.

Well, fast-forward five years, and this guy’s got his wish, kind of. Stiles’s next project is an adaptation of Plath’s semi-to-mostly-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, about a Smith College student who undergoes a mental breakdown while interning at a Manhattan fashion magazine. Despite her rather bland presence in the Bourne Whatever movies, Stiles is a pretty good choice–she’s smart and she’s a reasonably good actor, and odds are she’s actually read The Bell Jar at some point, or at least heard of it. Thumbs up from CHHQ.

It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on with the movie itself—IMDB lists a 2008 release date, but there’s no other cast listed, and I’m fairly certain Esther Greenwood isn’t the only character we’re going to meet (or, at least, I hope not). And, not to be a Debbie Downer, or anything, but writer Tristine Skyler’s filmography frankly doesn’t inspire much confidence. But hey, everybody’s gotta have a breaking-in story, right? It’s not like I’ve written any published episodes of Law and Order: Trial by Jury. So maybe I should just shut my stupid mouth now. What I’m trying to say is: dark-horse writer, no cast except for Stiles…but let’s keep up hope, shall we?

Or am I overstepping my bounds? Does hoping go against the Plath way? We can at least look on with expectation, or something. Prove us wrong, Bell Jar. We dare you.

Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, Julia Stiles, Gwyneth Paltrow, Esther Greenwood, Tristine Skyler

It seems to me that Kevin James may be more popular than I know. He’s not part of my personal comedy landscape (i.e. never once has he reported for The Daily Show), and it’s not like you hear about people passing around bits of his routines. He’s not a catchphrase guy, not a super-edgy guy—a quick scroll through Youtube yielded multiple versions of a “guys hate romantic greeting cards” bit—and he doesn’t do the wry-hipster thing. But I suspect there’s a significant population out there who like, respect, and identify with him.

Here’s the thing: James isn’t part of my comic world, but I kind of like him anyway. I always had a secret affection for The King of Queens reruns (totally because Stacey Carosi grew up and got a real show, but whatever), and then Hitch came out, and it turns out he’s actually funny and kind of sweet, and makes a credible leading man. Who knew?

His next movie’s called Mall Cop, or possibly Paul Blart: Mall Cop; it’s kind of hard to tell. The video above isn’t a trailer so much as a viral marketing bit, something to make us laugh and then act all surprised when it turns out this skateboarding video is (gasp!) actually ultra-manufactured by the studio. But it’s kind of funny, what with the shirt spray-painted yellow and the Segway (the cops at my local mall have them; I see mischief in their future), and all. So maybe it’s not exactly a vehicle by which to judge the movie as a whole, but it’s a place to think about James getting his own movie. Can Paul Blart move him beyond the King of Queens demographic?

Readers, what do you think? Is Kevin James the next great movie comedian?

Kevin James, Mall Cop, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Hitch, King of Queens, Stacey Carosi, Leah Remini

Remember 2005, when Amber Tamblyn was talking to God, America Ferrara was somehow not famous, Blake Lively was Gossip-free, and Alexis Bledel got the “…and Alexis Bledel” treatment? How these girls have grown. Suddenly, Tamblyn’s flirting with Lifetime Movie territory (but we love her and her politics anyway), Ferrara gets awards practically for waking up in the morning, Lively’s super-hot, and, well, Bledel still gets the final-name perk. The second Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie seems to take all of this into account—these girls are actors now, apparently, and this go-round treats them like actual adults with actual skills, and (surprise!) it’s a better movie for it.

The series has grown up with the actors, and it’s just as well. This second movie is more even-tempered than the first, with less intense highs (nothing to match Ferrara’s pitch-perfect phone freak-out from the first one) but, more importantly, a corresponding drop in the number of cringey moments. Elizabeth Chandler’s script picks and chooses storylines from each of the last three novels and provides each girl with a reasonably thoughtful (though meandering) arc—it’s like a best-of reel for girly coming-of-age stories, but in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or even all that predictable. Onscreen, everybody has something to do, and nobody is obviously overburdened—Lively, in particular, gets the award for Most Improved, and Ferrara works her usual magic in giving definition to an overly subtle arc. Bledel gets to play shy—a lock for her, after seven seasons as Rory Gilmore, occasional Queen of the Awkward—and Tamblyn is delightfully sardonic, which is just as she should be (plus, she pulls off some fairly risky costumes, including a Rosalind Russell wig). It’s all good fun and, if we’re being all girlfriendly-honest, it’s the kind of movie you might enjoy with some girlfriends without drinking something mildly alcoholic beforehand. So, a step up from last time.

The difficulty of addressing four separate characters’ solo arcs is a little apparent, but it’s hard to tell whether the chop factor is due to careless writing or directing. Our four heroines spend most of the movie apart, and each girl’s got plenty of story to get through; in places, the succession of short scenes and lack of logical transitions gets tiresome. On the other hand, the scenes where the Sisterhood are together have a real rapport (far more so than in the first movie)—somewhere along the line, these girls learned to like each other, or at least to look like they do, and they easily provide the kind of girlfriendly wish fulfillment the movie’s producers are hoping for. The ending is lovely (thoughtfully provided by the source material; thanks, Ann Brashares!)—unexpected and bittersweet, and just what you’d hope for the end of the series. It all comes out in the wash, as the characters and their stories combine, and the heart is there, even when the finesse isn’t. And in the end, isn’t it the heart that matters?

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrara, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, Ann Brashares, movie reviews, young-adult movies, chick flicks, Elizabeth Chandler

When you watch the preview for The House Bunny, you’ll probably think to yourself, “I’ve never seen that girl before.” You’ll probably be wrong. Brokeback Mountain? Lost in Translation? If you’ve seen these, you’ve met Anna Faris. And it’s about time we all remembered her name: if anybody deserves to move onto the A-list, it’s probably her.

Mildly condescending trailer aside, this movie might be a star-maker for Faris. The script comes from Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, the pens behind Legally Blonde and 10 Things I Hate About You—chick-flick classics, both, and rightly so. And maybe we’ve seen this schtick from them before—swap “Playboy bunny” for “sorority girl” and “sorority girls” for “Harvard Law,” and you know where we’d be—but maybe an extra be-all-that-you-can-be girl movie isn’t the worst thing in the world. And unlike some other chick-flick writers I could name, these writers’ affection for smart young women of all stripes (alterna-girl, sorority sister, athlete, whatever) leads me to believe that surely this movie will be funny, happy, possibly thoughtful, and less preachy than the trailer editors would have us know. And their movies tend to be career boosters for actors of a certain caliber. I’m sure Reese Witherspoon and Julia Stiles would agree.

And then there’s Faris herself. You wouldn’t know it, but this woman’s a character actor wrapped in the body of, well, a Playboy bunny (ironic!). Her filmography is long and mixes heavy hitters like the ones mentioned earlier with a parade of goofy teen movies—from which she steals scenes like nobody’s looking. For prime Faris silliness, check out Just Friends (I’m going to assume most of you haven’t seen it; don’t worry, it won’t bite, and might actually kind of crack you up). You’ll see her talent, her ease onscreen, and her attention to the details of being ridiculous—exactly the traits that could and should make her incredibly famous. The House Bunny doesn’t look extreme, but it looks like material that she can work with, and maybe that’s exactly what she’s been waiting for.

Congratulations, Anna Faris.

Anna Faris, The House Bunny, Just Friends, Paris Hilton, Brokeback Mountain, Lost in Translation, Kirsten Smith, Karen McCullah Lutz, Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You

According to the AP, Morgan Freeman was injured in a major car accident today when his car flipped on a rural road in Mississippi. The Freeman camp says he’s more or less okay—he reportedly suffered a broken arm and elbow, as well as some shoulder damage—and for that, many people behind the camera and in front of the silver screen must be grateful. We at CH wish him fast healing and good spirits.

And not to be morbid, or anything, but I’ve been thinking: What would the (fictional) world be like without Morgan Freeman? Is there anybody who does more stuff in more movies than he does? Who’s more of a jack of all trades for the big and small screens? For one thing, I guess we’d be out of luck where God’s concerned. Who else wears a white suit with such compassion and authority? Nobody would have driven Miss Daisy. Tim Robbins might still be in prison, with no music over the loudspeaker to soothe his soul. Who would have taunted Clint Eastwood into training a scrappy female boxer? Certainly nobody would keep Batman as gadgeted up as Freeman does as Lucius Fox. Jack Nicholson would have failed to experience true friendship and remained friendless and alone. And, of course, the world might go completely unnarrated without his gently powerful voice to guide us through it. This sounds like a sad world, indeed. Don’t you think?

All this to say: speedy recovery, Morgan. Where would we be without you?

Morgan Freeman, car accident, Morgan Freeman car accident, celebrity news

Okay, everyone. Let’s get something straight. Just in case nothing in the last eight years has tipped you off—you’ve been in a bomb shelter, or trapped under something heavy, or whatever—the 1990s are officially over. Gone. They took their cloud of Gap khakis and enormous cell phones and went home. How do we know we’re in a new decade? A new century? A new millennium? Here’s how: Kevin Costner has a movie coming out this weekend, and nobody even noticed.

The movie is Swing Vote, starring the Prince of Thieves himself, plus the little girl who played Ben’s childhood sweetheart that one time on Lost, as an apathetic Ohio resident whose vote will determine the Presidential election. It’s small. It’s domestic and political (which you know is a winning combination at the box office). It’s the kind of movie that’s going to be dated as soon as it hits theaters, or at the very latest, the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November. But it’s a bit of a milestone for Costner anyway, and we at CH applaud his efforts. Don’t give up, Kevin!

How did this happen? How is it that one of the most marketable film stars of the last decade doesn’t even register anymore? Was it…the string of bad movies connecting 1991 to 2007? I think we can all learn something here. Note to self: In the event of international fame for acting (which is totally going to happen aaaaaany day now), make at most one terrible, bloated “epic” per five-year period. Kapisce?

Ultimately, though, Costner’s sudden under-the-radar status may be the best thing that ever happens to him: a chance to build up some equity in smaller films, remember what it’s like to play a person in the current, living universe, and shift from A-List Adventure Guy to Person Who Isn’t Always On A Horse (as he ages, Orlando Bloom might consider the same transformation. Are you listening to me, O?). He generated some positive buzz in The Upside of Anger, and although Rumor Has It… was a travesty of filmmaking, it wasn’t his usual lead-balloon fare, and that’s something. He is bringing back his famed Midwest Guy persona, a la Field of Dreams, but that’s forgivable. Baby steps, after all. Maybe this is just the beginning of new Costner, someone who’s slightly less cringe-y, has a little more sense about the roles he accepts, someone who’s scaling it down a little. We can hope. Good luck, Kevin.

Swing Vote, Kevin Costner, Madeline Carroll, Orlando Bloom, upcoming movies, new releases

This just in: official trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! If you’ve lost count (as I had), this places us at number six of eight, with Deathly Hallows split conveniently into two separate movies to squeeze everything in. And this, well, how cool does it look? Thumbs up for Young Tom Riddle, and how about that effect at the end, with Tom *flash* Voldemort? Very sneaky, you crazy trailer-editing kids.

Readers, what do you think?

Well, that’s over. The summer movie season, I mean. Unless you count The Mummy, which I’m not sure I do, the time for overblown shoot-em-up/superhero/adventure movies is finished. Kaput. Lost and gone away. It’s still July, and it might as well be Labor Day.

But say you’re done with blockbusters. Say you’re looking for something a little smaller, with less fire power and more words per minute. In that case, August is your month! It’s all you’ve been waiting for! Here are some selections for upcoming weekends:

Pineapple Express: Okay, when I said “less fire power,” I meant “…than Iron Man.” Seth Rogen and James Franco star in this stoner action comedy(!), written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad) and produced, unsurprisingly, by Judd Apatow and Co.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: And now for something completely different, the chickiest of chick flicks (part two!) revisits four very different friends as they part ways for the summer, passing a pair of very dirty but very magical pants between them. Good thing they squeezed this in before all of the actors turned 30, thereby entering the Land of 90210. (For those playing the home game, this second movie is an adaptation of the fourth and final book in the series.)

Tropic Thunder: Epic flop or brilliant box-office success? Who can tell? Ben Stiller and Jack Black seem, sadly, to indicate the former, but wait! Add Robert Downey Jr. in blackface, and all bets are off. Anything could happen in this war-movie-within-a-comedy; plus, we hear there are guerillas. Awesome.

Henry Poole is Here: Well, this sounds nice. Believing that he’s going to die soon, Henry Poole (Luke Wilson, who is less famous but in many ways more likeable than his brother) leaves his life to spend his last days in solitude, only to find himself surrounded by people who won’t let him. Awww.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Woody Allen’s latest, described by the studio like so: “Vicky and Cristina, two young Americans, spend a summer in Spain and meet a flamboyant artist and his beautiful but insane ex-wife. Vicky is straight-laced and about to be married. Cristina is a sexually adventurous free spirit. When they all become amorously entangled, both comedic and harrowing results ensue.” Sounds like…fun? I don’t know, but it’s got Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson, and I’ll let you guess whether she’s the straight-laced girl or the “sexually adventurous free spirit.”

So, you see, don’t give up on summer. Find yourself something weird and wacky, settle in with some popcorn, and we’ll check in again around Labor Day.

[tags]summer movies, august movies, pineapple express, seth rogen, evan goldberg, judd apatow, stoner comedy, sisterhood of the traveling pants, sisterhood of the traveling pants 2,