Disturbia Movie Poster Revealed

Disturbia posterWe’ve been really excited about Disturbia since it was first announced. The film is basically a contemporary teen version of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. The trailer worried us a bit, as it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. And now this poster… What were they thinking?
The poster, shown to the left, has the tag-line “Every Killer Lives Next Door to Someone.” As always, left click for higher resolution.

Directed by D.J. Caruso, the film stars Shia LaBeouf, David Morse, and Carrie-Anne Moss. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters on April 13th 2007.

Check out the official website at Disturbia.com.

Hounddog Movie Review

At this year’s Sundance film Festival everyone seems to be talking about three movies: Teeth about a girl who has teeth in her private area, Zoo a documentary about a guy who died when having sex with a horse and Hounddog (one word) which is being referred to as the Dakota Fanning Rape movie. A catholic organization protested last night’s premiere at the racquet club theater, insisting that it was child pornography. So is it?

The first scene involves young Dakota “whoring” herself out to her young best friend Buddy. She offers him a kiss in exchange for seeing his penis. Of course we don’t see the kid’s private area, it’s all done off screen. Well the film also contain the following:

Hounddog Poster smallThat said, there is nothing sexy about the rape sequence. In fact, it’s very short, respectfully done, with most of the action happening off screen. It’s more disturbing that anything else. But the question now becomes: without the shock value of the Dakota Fanning sex stuff, is Hounddog a good film? Well sort of.

The story drags but the performances and cinematography are extraordinary. Fanning delivers a matured and sophisticated performance. And I must applaud the film for it’s use of realistic characters vs. the usual cultural stereotypes. But in the end the movie is much ado about nothing.

Written and Directed by: Deborah Kampmeier
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Isabelle Fuhrman, Cody Hanford, Piper Laurie, David Morse, Jill Scott, Robin Wright Penn

Helen Hunt Biography

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A pretty, effervescent blonde player, Helen Hunt is the daughter of acting coach and director Gordon Hunt. Born in Culver City, CA, she moved with her family to NYC for six years where she was exposed to theater. When her family returned to L.A., Hunt had decided she wanted to be an actress. Her first job was in the TV-movie “Pioneer Woman” (ABC, 1973), as the daughter of Joanna Pettet. Hunt landed her first spot as a series regular playing the daughter of a policewoman (Jessica Walter) on “Amy Prentiss” (NBC, 1974-75). She continued playing daughters (”Swiss Family Robinson”, ABC 1975-76; “It Takes Two” ABC, 1982-83) or girls-next-door (”The Fitzpatricks”, CBS 1977-78) in series TV, guest appearances (”Family”) and TV-movies (”Angel Dusted”, NBC 1981). Her lead performance in the CBS TV-movie “Quarterback Princess” (1983) earned her praise. One of Hunt’s first adult roles was as the girlfriend of Dr. Jack Morrison (David Morse) on the acclaimed NBC drama series “St. Elsewhere”. She played the title role in “Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story” (1991) about a school teacher arrested along with her 16-year-old lover for the murder of her husband. Hunt received some of her best notices to date (as well as several awards including two Emmys) as Jamie Buchman in the weekly comedy series “Mad About You” (NBC, 1992-99), co-starring with Paul Reiser as a couple facing the ups and downs of marriage.

On stage, Hunt appeared off-Broadway with Mary Stuart Masterson in “Been Taken” (1985) and co-starred opposite first Eric Stoltz and later Jason Gedrick on Broadway as Emily Webb in a revival of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” (1989). She has appeared in Los Angeles-area productions of “Vital Signs”, “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Value of Names”.

On the big screen, Hunt made her debut in “Rollercoaster” (1977), played Sarah Jessica Parker’s goofy friend in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (1985) and Kathleen Turner’s teenaged daughter in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986). She brought spunk to her role as an animal trainer in “Project X” (1987), was wasted as Patrick Swayze’s wife in “Next of Kin” (1989) and delivered a delicately nuanced, richly observed portrayal of a married editor of a writer crippled in a climbing accident who becomes romantically involved with him in Neil Jimenez’s “The Waterdance” (1992). In 1992, her “Quarterback Princess” co-star Tim Robbins directed her in a cameo in his political satire “Bob Roberts” and she won praise as a smart-mouthed young agent of Buddy Young Jr (Billy Crystal) in “Mr. Saturday Night” (1992). After a turn as David Caruso’s wife in Barbet Schroeder’s “Kiss of Death” (1995), Hunt had her biggest screen hit with Jan De Bont’s “Twister” (1996). Hunt looked great in a tank top but also brought a strong presence and believable intelligence to her role as a scientist tracking tornadoes with her estranged husband (Bill Paxton). She earned glowing reviews and netted a Best Actress Oscar for her turn as a single mother and waitress who becomes involved with Jack Nicholson’s curmudgeon in “As Good As It Gets” (1997). On the strength of this performance, Hunt was cast as the leading lady in a slew of movies in 2000, playing opposite Kevin Spacey, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks. In 2001, she starred opposited Woody Allen in “Curse of the Jade Scorpion,” and in 2002 was busy developing several projects under her Hunt/Tavel Productions company, these with Hunt in a leading, rather than romantic supporting role.

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