We Live Here

Betty Gilpin, Oscar Isaac, Amy Irving, Mark Blum, Jessica Collins and Jeremy Shamos star in the tense family drama We Live Here. A Manhattan Theater Club presentation of a play in two acts by Zoe Kazan. Directed by Sam Gold.Maggie - Amy Irving Dinah - Betty Gilpin Lawrence - Mark Blum Sandy - Jeremy Shamos Althea - Jessica Collins Daniel - Oscar IsaacActor-playwright Zoe Kazan ("A Behanding in Spokane") sets the stage for a tense family drama in "We Live Here" when a gifted Juilliard student brings an unsuitable boyfriend home for her older sister's wedding. But despite some artful dodging by helmer Sam Gold, events never get past the foreplay stage, putting some very capable performers in the awkward position of having to look busy while spinning in place. From the looks of it, Manhattan Theater Club jumped the gun by mounting a mainstage production of this commissioned piece before it was in shape to come out of workshop. The handsome set that John Lee Beatty has designed for a family of academics living in a New England college town is so warm and inviting it's hard to believe that anyone who grew up in this homey environment would suffer much of a family tragedy. It's that tragedy that no one will talk about, but hangs heavily in the air until the Big Reveal in the final scene. By that time, it's far too late to put this intelligence to any practical dramatic use. The disclosure does, however, satisfy what seems to be the scribe's primary objective of explaining why her heroine is such a sourpuss. Jessica Collins ("Rubicon") bravely refuses to play bride-to-be Althea Bateman for sympathy, meaning the thesp makes no excuses for her character's moody behavior. Everyone else does, though, including Althea's high-strung mother, Maggie (the ever-charming Amy Irving), her doting father, Lawrence (Mark Blum, dependably solid), and her adoring fiance, Sandy (Jeremy Shamos, the go-to actor for sweet-guy roles). The one exception is Althea's younger sister, Dinah (Betty Gilpin, so self-contained she's almost scary). Dinah is the family genius, a gifted composer coming into her own at Julliard -- but so naive she thinks it's okay to bring her new boyfriend, Daniel (Oscar Isaac), to the wedding. As one of Dinah's Julliard instructors, 30-year-old Daniel does seem to be unsuitable boyfriend material for the 19-year-old student. But what makes the situation really awkward is his link to that tragedy no one will discuss. Still, a volatile situation does not a drama make, and Kazan seems unwilling to engage her characters in sustained dramatic conflicts. Instead of sending them into battle, she allows them to retreat behind torrents of evasive small talk and distracting stage business. As the mother of this hectic household, Maggie is given the most inane things to say and the most dubious chores (like opening the wedding presents) to perform. But each character is assigned some physical task (like painting a portrait) or conversational ploy (like holding forth on a point of Aristotelian philosophy) for avoiding an emotional showdown. Finally, after everyone is thoroughly exhausted from all that ducking and weaving, Kazan pulls a deus ex machina to put them out of their misery. Somewhere, the gods of dramaturgy are weeping.Set, John Lee Beatty; costumes, David Zinn; lighting, Ben Stanton; original music and sound, Ryan Rumery; production stage manager, David H. Lurie. Opened Oct. 12, 2011. Reviewed Oct. 5. Running time: 2 HOURS. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Glam Slam: Xanadu Style Rules Again

First Published: October 11, 2011 3:57 PM EDT Credit: Access Hollywood Caption Access Hollywoods Anthony Ramos, Ryan Patterson, Cara Petry, Susan Moore and Joe Siyam celebrate at the Xanadu birthday bashLOS ANGELES, Calif. -- I went to the most awesome birthday party this past weekend it was literally a blast from the past! My friend Joe turned 40 and celebrated with a Xanadu themed Disco Roller Party- just the sound of that is pretty fab, right? It all started with the invites, which included a DVD of the Olivia Newton-John cult classic Xanadu, to inspire us for costume ideas. I admit- I did not do too well in the costume department. I could not think of anything to wear and just tried to be festive with a sparkly DVF jacket. I wish I had been more creative because there were some incredible outfits there. It was a sea of metallic spandexwhich in this case was a good thing! The birthday boy was dressed in a 70s white suita la Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. Many of the women came in flowy dresses with headbands like in the film, or in sleek 80s workout gear like Olivia wore in her Lets Get Physical music video. We arrived at the Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale where Xanadu was being projected on one of the walls outside. We were greeted with the smell of In-N-Out Burgers - a truck was on hand to make them to order. Girls in pink satin outfits (which were replicas from Xanadus final scene) delivered the burgers to partygoers by skates, of course. There were Xanadu cookies, as well as cookies in the shape of roller skates. The snack bar was also open serving popcorn, candy, soda and any other rink food you could wish for. Everyone accessorized with glow-in-the- dark necklaces and bracelets. We had some laughs striking silly poses in front of a Xanadu themed backdrop and also for photo booth style pix that we got to take home. But the most fun was the skating. Im not exaggerating when I say I havent skated in DECADESand it showed! I was really rusty at first, but I got more comfortable with it. I didnt want to leave the floor and spent almost the entire night skating. My friend James, who rocked the 70s with his shorts, tube socks and huge sunglasses, kept skating up to me and saying, Are you living right now, or what? I said, I am not only living, I am winning! As if it wasnt fun enough to dance and skate to all the old disco hits (Hello Bad Girls!), there was also an Olivia Newton-John performer who sang and danced to Lets Get Physical and the theme from Xanadu. (Which I still keep singing in my headNow that we are here, Xanadu, Xan-a-du-oo-oo.) It was crazy how much planning went into this partyEvery single detail, down to the free tokens for the video games, was perfect. Happy Birthday, Joe! Well done, well done! Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Is the Halo movie back on?

Has the Halo movie finally fought its way out of development hell?Information included in a French press release for a book based on the videogame suggests a movie is planned for release in 2012 and is being made in cooperation with some major names."A film adaptation is set in 2012. It will be conducted jointly by two heavyweights of American cinema: Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks," says the press release for Halo: Cryptum, after a little translation.ET go home (before we frag your ass)?Sadly, Microsoft has already shot down rumours of a rebirth for the Halo movie."The information in the press release in question is inaccurate. We have no plans for a Halo feature film right now. Our focus is on developing Halo: Anniversary and Halo 4," the tech giant told IGN. Master Chief, where are you?

The One Thing Prequel's Stars Talk Contractor

Interviews explain how it'll all workAmajor concern for fans from the original The One Thing was how Matthijs van Heijningen Junior. and the new (old) crew of Norwegian and American researchers were going to be along with the original's story.This video we now have for you personally below seeks to rectify your understandable anxieties. Focus on the "seeks"there, incidentally.Mixing trailer footage in the film itself with video interviews using the stars (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton) and producers (J. Miles Dale), in addition to Carpenter's 1982 classic itself, it is going a way to creating horror buffs more reassured.Or, possibly it does not?Will it really cause you to much more scared... and never in a great way? Or perhaps is it simply that which you required to allay your fears concerning the approaching horror remake? Tell us within the comment box below.The truth is out December 2.

Microsoft Ink Multiple TV Content Deals for Xbox 360 360 360 Live

Microsoft has already established another step toward its goal of making its Xbox 360 360 360 gaming system most likely probably the most useful and ubiquitous box inside the living room.our editor recommendsE3 Daily Dispatch: Microsoft presenting Live TV and Voice-Controlled Entertainment to Xbox 360 360 360 Ubisoft Offers Free Tom Clancy Gaming On Wednesday, this program maker mentioned it's struck handles some three dozen designers and entrepreneurs of TV content from 20 nations, including Bravo, Comcast, Cinemax Go, FiOS and SyFy, for live and also on-demand television shows. Clients will still need a subscription with a traditional provider of TV, nevertheless the Xbox 360 360 360 Live service will set this content on multiple TV screens without turning to many boxes, and will also make finding shows simpler. PHOTOS: Netflix's 10 Most Leased Movies ever The service, available around Christmas, uses the Kinect gaming device to eliminate the requirement of multiple remotes for switching between live TV, on-demand shows or winning contests. Rather, TV will probably be controlled through voice control or arm motions, so no complicated button-sequences to fumble with. Here's how Microsoft known to that particular area of the Xbox 360 360 360 upgrades within the announcement on Wednesday: "Using voice search with Bing on Xbox 360 360, easily look across numerous high quality services and play in the programming you need without ever raising a finger. Getting trouble finding last evening's episode in the Office? It's now basically a voice command away. Just say 'Xbox, Bing, Work and Xbox 360 360 finds it." Related Subjects Comcast Microsoft Cinemax Work Bravo SyFy Xbox 360 360

New era, new rules

Targeted marketing has helped Fox promote catalog franchises including 'X-Men: First Class.' For audiences the many way to view movies -- via game consoles, smartphones, Internet, television -- is a boon but for marketers, it's been a few years of rewriting the rules of engagement."We've actually seen growth in this downturn economy on VOD and EST, hitting new levels on VOD and EST," says Aubrey Freeborn, senior VP of marketing and product management for worldwide VOD and electronic sell-through at 20th Century Fox. Freeborn is a panelist at Variety's Film Marketing Summit, addressing the topic Marketing Across Windows: Theatrical, VOD, Home Entertainment.Freeborn says one advance that has affected the industry for the better is day-and-date availability; it has helped VOD growth because of the new releases and the content is fresher.She adds another reason for the upswing is new improvements in navigation -- it is easier to discover and search for content and it is also easier to see what is new and available.However, Fox is not waiting around to see what the next new invention may be, they, like other Hollywood majors, are being proactive in searching out new ways to market."We have worked closely with the cable companies and other studios to create an industrywide marketing effort under the 'Movies on Demand' brand that has quickly become the most comprehensive and successful campaign to date for VOD. We've only scratched the surface on the growth opportunities," Freeborn says.Fox has also made other improvements in looking to get the attention of consumers in the digital download arena, by adding behind-the-scenes material and other special content that consumers came to expect on a DVD onto digital files."We can work together with our theatrical colleagues to promote theatrical releases with special content, while at the same time promoting the catalog, such as 'X-Men: First Class' and the 'X-Men' franchise," Freeborn says.Through targeted marketing, Fox has found out a few surprising (and helpful) things as well."VOD used to be very male and teen -- it's broadened and now the primary consumer is age 35-44 for women in the traditional VOD outlets. Another interesting thing is that the demos from the platforms vary, based on whether it's Xbox, Comcast, etc. Our marketing approach is targeted as much as possible based on the demo of the platform," says Freeborn.FILM MARKETING SUMMIT 2011:New era, new rules | The hard sell | Levy's job is a dream that works Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Yahoo, ABC News enter online news pact

Yahoo! Monday introduced a comprehensive alliance with ABC News, beginning with GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo! and three new movie first series with ABC anchors and correspondents. The newsmakers series debuts with George Stephanopolous ending up in Leader Obama within the White-colored House Monday mid-day, which will stream survive Yahoo! and ABCNews.com. ''Yahoo! is dedicated to building the richest number of premium and personalized content encounters for that clients,'' mentioned Ross Levinsohn, professional V . p . of Americas at Yahoo! in the statement before a morning press conference scheduled within the company's Occasions Square offices in Gotham. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com