Boy Writes Girl in Ruby Sparks

Not your conventional boy-meets-girl romantic story, “Ruby Sparks” leads us to Calvin Weir-Fields, (played by Paul Dano who also appeared in “Little Miss Sunshine,” “There Will Be Blood”) a literary wunderkind with an acclaimed first novel. But since then, he’s been stricken with a stubborn case of writer’s block magnified by a dismal love life. In a last-ditch attempt to reignite his creative spark, Calvin begins to envision a female protagonist in his mind. Then one morning she steps off the page and into his life. Suddenly, Ruby (portrayed by Zoe Kazan who is also the film’s writer) is sleeping in Calvin’s bed, cooking in his kitchen, beguiling him in every way, with one mind-boggling twist: he somehow has the power to change her every time he sits at his typewriter. As Calvin tries to juggle this power, he faces a major dilemma as a writer and a boyfriend: what will it take to make this relationship from his imagination work in the real world? It seems fitting that “Ruby Sparks,” a romantic fable about how two people weave a love story in and out of reality, was brought to life by a married pair of directors (Dayton & Faris) working with two actors who are also a devoted couple (Dano and Kazan). A sharp, modern take on the Pygmalion myth, “Ruby Sparks” is the story of a novelist’s vision who inexplicably comes to life, only to prove far more complicated than even he could have imagined. With a light touch and a dash of magical realism, the first screenplay from actress and playwright Zoe Kazan attracted the attention of Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, the married team who directed the run-away hit “Little Miss Sunshine.” The film takes an unpredictable route into fantasy, identity and the ways we invent love – and how love can re-invent us.

The duo decided to approach the story not as a sci-fi fantasy, but as something that is currently happening in the everyday world, no matter how bizarre it might seem to Calvin. “Even though the story is built around a fictional premise, it illuminates so many truths about relationships. We felt it was essential for the scenes to feel real and honest,” explains Dayton. On the premise’s conception, Kazan shared that “I started wondering what might happen if a writer had a character come to life who could give him exactly what he thought he wanted romantically. How do you love the person you’re with completely without saying ‘I don’t want this part or that part?’ How do you make room in a relationship for two separate people? But things get very complicated because when you really love someone you have to love all of the person, not just the parts you’ve idealized.” As Kazan wrote, she began sharing her work with her boyfriend, the actor Paul Dano, and though she had not set out to write something for the two of them, they couldn’t help but envision one another in the lead roles. “I think I was always subconsciously writing Calvin for Paul,” she muses. “But the weirdest thing is that I was writing a character who is writing my character! There was something very meta going on.” Kazan wasn’t so interested in the science fiction aspect of how a writer’s fantasy character might come to life – she was more intrigued by what would come next. How would a fictional creation fare in the midst of the messiness of real life, especially when the man writing her isn’t sure of exactly what he wants? There has been a long literary tradition of riffing on the man-made object made human: Shakespeare with Queen Hermione in “A Winter’s Tale,” George Bernard Shaw with Eliza Doolittle in “Pygmalion,” and Mary Shelley gave it another take with her “Frankenstein” myth. Kazan wanted to come at the concept from a literary perspective, exploring a writer who pens the lover he thinks he wants in his heart . . . but who makes him so nervous in the flesh, he is tempted to keep changing her. “The story leaves some questions open for discussion,” concludes Faris, “we hope that people will leave the theatre with something to talk about.” Adds Dayton: “Despite this movie’s high-concept premise, we think audiences will identify with Calvin’s predicament.” Kazan chimes in, “I am so proud of the movie we made. After such a happy collaboration, we are really excited to share the film with an audience, hear their reactions, start that conversation.” “Ruby Sparks” opens September 19 in cinemas from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

BRITISH COMEDY ACTOR RICHARD AYOADE JOINS BEN STILLER IN “THE WATCH”

Fast-rising British comedy talent Richard Ayoade joins Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill in the neighborhood comedy “The Watch” directed by award-winning writer and musician Akiva Schaffer (“Saturday Night Live”). “The Watch” follows four suburban men who formed a group to guard their neighborhood after a series of unexplained fatalities start to toll in their town. Headed by the civic-minded Evan (Stiller), along with Bob (Vaughn), Franklin (Hill) and Jamarcus (Ayoade), the group initially follows some dubious teens who stay way past their bedtime, thinking they might find the culprit in their midst. It wasn’t long before they realize that they’re fighting forces greater than they have imagined. The four eventually comes to terms to settle their differences when the aliens start rummaging and rampaging through their watch in an attempt to take full control of earth. To play the four members of “The Watch,” Levy and director Akiva Schaffer (a creative force on several famed “Saturday Night Live” short films) tapped three comedy icons and a new talent. “We wanted the best,” says Levy,” and so we went out and got the best – three titans …together in the same movie! And then we threw in the ‘grenade’ of ‘what the hell are you going to get with Richard Ayoade?’” Ayoade is a British comedian, writer and director best known for his iconic portrayal of Maurice Moss, the beloved über-geek in the award-winning British sitcom, “The IT Crowd.” Ayoade’s innovative twist on the high-tech misfit has garnered him nationwide acclaim and honors including the Monte-Carlo Television Festival’s award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Comedy Series. Equally masterful behind the camera, Ayoade’s foray into directing began with helming music videos for English indie rock bands such as the Arctic Monkeys and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. In 2010, he made his directorial feature debut with the coming-of-age adaptation, “Submarine,” which he also wrote that received rave reviews and garnered Ayoade a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut. Ayoade’s role Jamarcus, who is newly divorced and perpetually hungry for love, eagerly embraced The Watch’s off-kilter camaraderie. “Jamarcus feels that The Watch is an opportunity to burst out of his shell,” says Ayoade, who is also a noted filmmaker, having written and directed the acclaimed British film “Submarine.” Adds Schaffer: “He’s just looking to get out of the house and meet some ladies – and have sex with them.” On the surface, Jamarcus is kind of an odd duck, but he may prove to be a secret weapon in the looming battle against the forces threatening the neighborhood. Levy says it was Ayoade’s “idiosyncratic energy” that made him perfect for the role. “He’s wildly inventive and completely strange in the best possible way. You never know what you’re going to get next with Richard.” “Richard is the one the audience isn’t expecting, so he can sucker-punch them…with lovable jokes,” Schaffer concurs. Beyond the R-13 rated hilarity lies a story about four guys who were not complete, or their best selves, until they joined forces. As Bob admits to Evan: “You took a ragtag group of misfits and taught us there was something bigger than a few beers and some bro-time. You taught us about community and how important it is.” “The Watch” opens September 5 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Like Father, Like Daughter In Taken 2

Hit action director Olivier Megaton heats up the action arena with twice the thrill, action and carnage in the upcoming sequel “Taken 2” where the first movie cemented Liam Neeson as this era ’s most relatable action hero being a family man keen on saving his daughter at all cost from human trafficking. From the first movie where his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) had been abducted by a cartel of human traffickers, “Taken 2” now follows Bryan Mills and his family at Istanbul where the father of the cartel’s leader is out to avenge his son killed by Mills during his daughter’s rescue. With Mills and his wife abducted this time, Kim tries to save them at breakneck speed taking cues from his father’s infallible timely instructions to track them down. At the helm of the movie is director Olivier Megaton who was born Olivier Fontana – Megaton being his artistic name that fitted right into the mix of a new wave of action directors. Megaton started working on a number of TV and short projects and eventually teamed up with Luc Besson where he wrote and directed the film “Exit.” It was then followed by the crime thriller “The Red Siren” and continued to work in the production of the game-adapted movie “Hitman.” After the success of “Hitman,” he was then offered to direct “Transporter 3,” which went on to become the highest-grossing film in the “Transporter” series. In the first movie Bryan’s a guy with nothing to lose. He's divorced and he's lost filial relations, but all that changed when his daughter was kidnapped. “Taken 2” takes it in a whole new platform where Bryan’s got that relationship back and he's even flirting with his ex-wife (played by Famke Janssen). Director Megaton notes that “ It's almost cheesy, but that makes him all the more human at the beginning of the movie because he's not thinking about his training; he's thinking about his family. He's a little less strong, less robotic. He's a little less lonely, and he has some hope in this one. This hope is initially lost because when he tries to have lunch with his wife, he lets trouble in. He would never have invited Kim and Lenora to Istanbul before because he was working and he wasn't sure something could happen. It's sweet and at the same time it gives the character some more humanity. I think this is the little difference that makes the movie more interesting.” Megaton confirms that “Taken 2” they detoured from the action sequel’s formula, “Bryan Mills is exactly what people are looking for. You realize that you can change the formula, you don't have to stick to it, but what's important is the character. The fact that this guy has a daughter and she's becoming like him was really the brand new thing in TAKEN 2. Suddenly Kim becomes something different – a real action character. At the end of the first movie she's trying to rebuild her life, she tries to fall in love—the classic American girl—but she has been impacted by what's happened to her. These dark memories arrive suddenly and it makes her different, allowing her to become an action hero like her father. That was the real trick of TAKEN 2,” assures the director. “Taken 2” in theaters nationwide on October 4 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

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