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40 year-old virgin Steve Carell gets smart in “Date Night” 0

Posted on March 31, 2010 by kankan
After catapulting to international fame as the “Forty-Year Old Virgin,” Steve Carell offers more funny smarts on marriage in the upcoming “Date Night” movie with the equally multi-talented Tina Fey.
In “Date Night,” the Fosters couple Phil (Carell) and Claire (Fey) are a suburban New Jersey couple who are stuck in the day-to-day drudgery of family life. When they hear the news that friends are divorcing, they decide to take positive action to reignite the passion in their own relationship and set off on a romantic ‘date night.’ They have however failed to make a reservation in a posh Manhattan restaurant. Discovering that   another couple has not turned up for dinner, Claire and Phil Foster decide to take their table and become the Tripplehorns for the evening  - never expecting the tumultuous events that are about to unravel.  The Tripplehorns are in fact criminals involved in a complicated web of intrigue and what follows is a case of mistaken identity. As the evening progresses, they find themselves in deep trouble. Everything is suddenly at stake: their marriage and even their very lives.
The enormously talented Steve Carell in the following q&a discusses comedy and the joys of married life.
Q:        What appealed to you about the script?
A:         “I like the idea of a comedy revolving around a married couple; it is something you do not see very often. Then on top of that, these two develop a greater understanding of each other in the process, so it is both funny and moving and with any luck, it will also be relatable.”
Q:        Can you talk about the chemistry between you and Tina?
A:         “Tina is the one of those people who I believe makes anyone a better actor. She is an incredibly smart person and I think so much of her humor stems from that intelligence. I have admired her for awhile and was very excited to get the chance to work with her.  Not only is she funny but she is a really good person too, and that shines through.”
Q:        What was it like working with Mark Wahlberg?
A:         “He was incredibly funny. I had never met him before, and I honestly did not know what to expect because he seems to be a very quiet, introspective person and I think he brought that to the movie. He had a great sense of humor about himself and about the character.  I think he has drawn a very amusing and intriguing character for DATE NIGHT as being shirtless all throughout.”
Q:        How do you think people around the world will relate to the film? Is the concept of DATE NIGHT international?
A:         “Couples all over the world understand the need to have special time with each other. Date Night is a generational thing though, but these days parents are so immersed in their kids’ lives. So you tend to lose those special times with your spouse in the midst of life.”
Q:        Can you talk about your own family; do you take the time for date nights?
A:         “We don’t have any structured date nights. We truly enjoy staying in a lot when the kids are in bed. Tina and I were talking about this earlier. Sometimes the best part of a date night is just coming home and just being alone together. I think date nights do not necessarily have to involve going out anywhere fancy. I think it is really a matter of connection. The simpler the better is what works for us.”
Q:        How much are you enjoying the massive success you have experienced over the past few years?
A:         “It is great and I think that having it a little older when you have a little more maturity is a good thing because you just take it for what it is. My life is much the same as it was before. It is about my wife and my kids, and that’s what is important to me and what defines me as opposed to my work. So becoming more successful has not shifted the focus of my life.”
Born in Massachusetts, the talented and versatile Steve Carell studied at the Second City Theater Group inChicago.  He is the Golden Globe winning star of the US version of the popular TV show THE OFFICE. His film roles include “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Bewitched,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Dan In Real Life.” He starred in “Bruce Almighty” with Jim Carrey and the sequel, “Evan Almighty.”  His acclaimed starring film “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” was nominated for Best Original Screenplay  from the Writer’s Guild Association which he co-wrote with director Judd Apatow.  Carell went on to star  in “Get Smart” opposite Anne Hathaway. He provided the voice   for The Mayor of Whoville in the huge animated hit, “Horton Hears A Who.”
Mark your “Date Night” when it opens April 9 (Friday) in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan De Oro, Bohol, Baguio and Pampanga theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

steve_carell

After catapulting to international fame as the “Forty-Year Old Virgin,” Steve Carell offers more funny smarts on marriage in the upcoming “Date Night” movie with the equally multi-talented Tina Fey.

In “Date Night,” the Fosters couple Phil (Carell) and Claire (Fey) are a suburban New Jersey couple who are stuck in the day-to-day drudgery of family life. When they hear the news that friends are divorcing, they decide to take positive action to reignite the passion in their own relationship and set off on a romantic ‘date night.’ They have however failed to make a reservation in a posh Manhattan restaurant. Discovering that   another couple has not turned up for dinner, Claire and Phil Foster decide to take their table and become the Tripplehorns for the evening  - never expecting the tumultuous events that are about to unravel.  The Tripplehorns are in fact criminals involved in a complicated web of intrigue and what follows is a case of mistaken identity. As the evening progresses, they find themselves in deep trouble. Everything is suddenly at stake: their marriage and even their very lives.

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“Date Night’s” appealing support cast 0

Posted on March 25, 2010 by kankan
Mark Wahlberg goes shirtless in all scenes, gorgeous gal Leighton Meester turns up as babysitter, James Franco is a clumsy drug dealer and Ray Liotta looks like an unlikely crime lord in the upcoming action-comedy “Date Night” starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey.
“Date Night” sets out when Phil (Carell) and Claire (Fey) Foster venture into the heart of Manhattan for a romantic date intending to spice up their relationship. There is nothing exactly wrong with their marriage. They love each other but the passion has faded. They decide to leave the New Jersey suburb where they live with their two children for an evening of fun and splash out on a night  inManhattan. They impulsively take a table belonging to another couple who haven’t turned up for dinner. The Fosters become “The Tripplehorns” played by James Franco and Mila Kunis, which leads to a host of problems  that  rapidly begin to unravel.
Along their night-from-hell journey, Phil and Claire encounter a cavalcade of characters on both sides of the law. And getting high-powered stars to join the DATE NIGHT team wasn’t just a matter of coincidence for director Shawn Levy.  “So many people were so keen to find a way to work with Steve and Tina – they just found a way to make it work,” says Levy.
Mark Wahlberg portrays a former real estate client of Claire’s, the pair turns to in the middle of the night.  “I play a guy named Holbrooke Grant, who is a security expert who Claire and Phil come to for help,” Wahlberg explains.  Wahlberg had the simplest costume in the entire cast.  “There is no wardrobe – just a pair of silk genie pants,” he recalls, noting that he regularly found himself freezing on the air-conditioned set. “Mark was shirtless for three or four days,” Fey says, prompting an increase in women who suddenly had additional tasks to address on set on the days he was on the job.
Ray Liotta plays the formidable boss gangster Joe Miletto, from whom the Tripplehorns have apparently stolen something of importance that he wants back.  The casting of acclaimed actor Ray Liotta as Miletto delighted Carell and Fey.  “We were shooting a scene with Ray one night,” recalls Carell, “and Tina looked over and said, ‘I feel like I am in a 3D version of ‘Goodfellas.  Ray Liotta is actually walking up and talking to me.’  It was like a ride at a theme park.”
Portraying the “real” Tripplehorns – actually a drug dealer named Taste and his wacky stripper girlfriend, Whippit – are James Franco and Mila Kunis. Kunis describes the pair as “very passionate – when they’re angry, they’re very angry, and when they’re happy, they’re madly in love.”  “Gossip Girl’s” Leighton Meester also takes on the key role as the Fosters’ babysitter Katy.
“Date Night” opens April 9 (Friday) from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

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Mark Wahlberg goes shirtless in all scenes, gorgeous gal Leighton Meester turns up as babysitter, James Franco is a clumsy drug dealer and Ray Liotta looks like an unlikely crime lord in the upcoming action-comedy “Date Night” starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

Read the rest of this entry →

James Franco’s comedic streak in “Date Night” 0

Posted on March 05, 2010 by kankan
From his myriad of notable roles, James Franco (best known as Harry Osborn in “Spiderman” movies) lays bare his feelings of inadequacy as a man the upcoming couples’ comedy “Date Night” starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey.
“Date Night” follows the misadventures of the Fosters couple played by Fey and Carell in their one-of-a-kind date night that went upside down – way upside down.  The Fosters have their weekly “date night” – an attempt at re-experiencing the spice of the dates of yesteryear, involving the same weekly night out at a local tavern.  Exhausted from their jobs and kids, their dates rarely end in fore- or any other kind of play, let alone romance.
In an attempt to take date night off auto-pilot, and hopefully inject a little spice into their lives, Phil decides a change of plans is in order:  take Claire into Manhattan to the city’s hottest new restaurant. The Fosters, however, don’t have reservations.  Hoping to be seated sometime before the clock strikes twelve, they steal a no-show couple’s reservations.  Phil and Claire are now the Tripplehorns.
The real Tripplehorns, however, it turns out, are a thieving couple who are being hunted down by a pair of corrupt cops for having stolen property from some very dangerous people.  Forced on the run before they’ve even finished their risotto, Phil and Claire soon realize that their play-date-for-parents has gone hilariously awry, as they embark on a wild and dangerous series of crazy adventures to save their lives. . . and their marriage.
Portraying the “real” Tripplehorns –a drug dealer named Taste and his wacky stripper girlfriend, Whippit – are James Franco and model-turned actress Mila Kunis.  Despite their different life circumstances, the pair has much in common with the Fosters, being in the same spot in their relationship as their clean-cut counterparts. Notes screenwriter Josh Klausner: “Whether you’re a drug dealer or a suburban husband, you still feel the pangs of ‘You never look at me the way you used to’ and ‘You don’t have time for me.’  What the two couples are going through is exactly the same,” making the exchanges between the two couples both hilarious and poignant at the same time.
Kunis describes the pair as “very passionate – when they’re angry, they’re very angry, and when they’re happy, they’re madly in love.”  Whippit, specifically, she describes as a “psycho, who is very up and down.  She goes through three different emotions within two and a half script pages.”
The name “Taste,” Franco says, is left over from an earlier concept of the character – a 6 ft. 7 in. bald man with “TASTE” tattooed on his forehead.  “So when they asked me to be in the movie, I said, ‘Well, I’m certainly not that.’”  The character’s description was then rewritten, but the name stuck.  “I was up for facial tattoos, too,” Franco says with a laugh.  “We just went for the cheesy ‘Grim Reaper.’”
Rated PG-13 by the MTRCB, “Date Night” is a couples’ day out cinema treat on April 9 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

james_franco

From his myriad of notable roles, James Franco (best known as Harry Osborn in “Spiderman” movies) lays bare his feelings of inadequacy as a man the upcoming couples’ comedy “Date Night” starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

Read the rest of this entry →



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