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Actress Malin Akerman's career has been on an upward trajectory since her breakout role on the short-lived Lisa Kudrow series The Comeback. Since then, Akerman has gone psycho in The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller, played a superhero in Zack Snyder's Watchmen, and is currently starring in one of this year's biggest comedy hits, Couples Retreat.
In the October issue of 944 magazine, Akerman talked about some of her upcoming projects and discussed the price of fame. For her next film, she's taking a break from comedy for a dramatic role.
Yes, The Bang Bang Club — it's based on a true story of two photojournalists' journey through the end of Apartheid — I play the photo editor. The story's incredible and it's really raw. We used a lot of locals and shot in all the same places where things happened.
Akerman will return to comedy in writer-director Josh Radnor's HappyThankYouMorePlease, an ensemble piece that Malin calls her "love."
I play a woman with alopecia universalis. I shaved off my eyebrows for the part and wore a bald cap. It's about all of our journeys to find love — and obviously I have added difficulties as a bald woman. It's [about] her trying to stay positive.
The more projects Akerman does, the more famous she becomes, a situation she says is "manageable" for the time being.
I couldn't imagine being Robert Pattinson right now. That would scare the sh-- out of me. I'd rather be able to walk out the door have a life.
Posted 10.25.09 by BrentJS -
Malin Akerman may have been "disappointed" with the more mature Vince Vaughn, but audiences clearly cheered his growth, since Couples Retreat dominated the weekend box office.
Often playing petulant and obnoxious bachelors, Vaughn instead plays a committed family man in Retreat. Vaughn told CNN that this is because the life of a married man is right where he wants to be these days.
Recently, for the first time, I decided that something I actively wanted was to be married and have kids. I always thought I would like to have kids someday, but it became a priority of mine just recently, and I met someone and I'm engaged now ... Just as your priorities change as you get older, so do the subjects that have you interested. Swingers came out of Jon [Favreau] moving to California. We had become friends on Rudy, and I started taking him around to underground swing scenes and swing bands that I like. So he wrote an over-exaggerated comedic movie based on him getting past a relationship
The story with Couples Retreat was the same thing. As I started thinking about going to the next place in my life with kids and marriage, it was just on my mind. I think our films really reflect what is going on in our lives.
And unlike Vaughn's other comedies, Vaughn says Retreat isn't "raunchy."
There's no intentional F-words in the movie. There's no GD or taking the Lord's name in vain. This movie didn't warrant that. I think there's a love that comes off the movie in spite of the fact that we deal with adult stuff. I loved it because it didn't go so raunchy.
It's like a [Bill] Cosby record in a sense in that you're dealing with something in a way that's funny but not too down and dirty.
A Vaughn/Favreau movie being compared to a Cosby record seems a little off to us, but Retreat's $35 million at the box office this weekend proves that he's got at least something right.
Posted 10.12.09 by Ryan -
Actress/comedienne Kali Hawk may not be an A-list celebrity yet, but give her time. Hawk is currently appearing in this weekend's smash hit comedy Couples Retreat and soon she'll be appearing in Judd Apatow's newest feature, Get Him to the Greek. According to what Hawk told Movieline, both parts were minimal when she was cast, but were later expanded to better utilize her talents.
Get Him to the Greek, that was a one-line part where, even though I'd just done Couples Retreat, I wanted to do this movie because it's Judd Apatow and I want to work with those guys. I'd be a craft services person to get close to them, like, Judd knows talent and if he likes me, then maybe there's something that he could do. And then I got that part and my one-line character got expanded to where they would just put me into stuff.
Hawk was a member of the Groundlings improv group for about a year, and her intention was to become a cast member of Saturday Night Live, which she would use as a springboard into movies. However, things "worked out the opposite" for her, and when the opportunity finally arose, Hawk didn't want to become famous for lampooning the First Lady.
. . . do I want my introduction to the world to be me taking a shot at the better half of this great couple that everyone across the world has put their hope and faith into? I'm already kind of off the chain in Couples Retreat, so what am I going to do: Go sign up to be the token black girl on this show and make fun of one of the most prestigious women that we have? No!
What will Hawk do next? Not even Kali could tell you.
Life is not a straight line for me. There's no rhyme or reason. I'm that person who's walking down the street and meets Ron Howard in the supermarket and he puts me in a movie.
Posted 10.12.09 by BrentJS -
| Title | Weekend | Total | Analysis |
| Couples Retreat | $35.3M | $35.3M | Poor reviews don't affect Vince Vaughn-Jon Favreau comedy as it has highest per-screen average since Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds back in August. |
| Zombieland | $15.0M | $47.8M | Low-ish budget zombie comedy continues strong showing in 2nd week of release. |
| Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | $12.0M | $96.2M | Animated adaptation of popular children's book turning into one of the biggest successes of entire year. |
| Toy Story / Toy Story 2 (3D) | $7.7M | $22.7M | 3D re-release of classic Pixar flicks a good business decision. |
| Paranormal Activity | $7.1M | $8.3M | Micro-budget horror pic rockets into Top 5 after strong reviews and even stronger marketing push from Paramount. Look for this soon at a theater near you. |
Bomb of the Week: Without a clear-cut bomb this week we're giving it to Pandorum for the 3rd week in a row as it disappears from theaters faster than you can say "bomb." $15,000 budgeted Paranormal Activity has earned nearly as much as $40M-budget sci-fi horror.
Posted 10.11.09 by reelz -
First, a quick recap of Iron Man villains: Jeff Bridges anchored Iron Man's genesis story, with Faran Tahir supporting as the terrorist leader Raza (who may return as Mandarin in Iron Man 3), and Iron Man 2 will see Mickey Rourke battle as Whiplash with Sam Rockwell behind the scenes as Justin Hammer. So with that in mind, could fans see Couples Retreat actor Faizon Love as a villain in Iron Man 3? Love told Moviehole that he almost appeared in the first Iron Man.
They already tried to put me in Iron Man but I couldn't. I think I would make it suck. I don't know that genre. These guys do. I didn't know it was a real comic book. [Jon Favreau] thinks I'd make a good villain. Maybe I should just get it out of my way and just do it?
Love should take Favreau's advice. Someone has to play Crusher. Then again, Love took Favreau's offer to appear in Couples Retreat, which isn't looking so good.
Posted 10.08.09 by Ryan -
We had bad vibes about this one when, at the movie's Chicago premiere, co-star Malin Akerman said Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau had "grown up a little" and are "definitely a little more subdued." Unfortunately it seems to have rubbed off on their latest movie, in a not-funny way.
"It contains little comedy, except for free-standing one-liners, and no suspense, except for the timing of the obligatory reconciliation. It doesn't even make you think you'd like to visit its island paradise."
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...a not lousy but unmemorable tropical-vacation comedy."
— Dennis Harvey, Variety
"This intermittently funny tale of four couples undergoing relationship therapy struggles hard for its occasional laughs."
— Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
"An ostensible paean to making a marriage work, Couples Retreat is instead so long, inert, and torturously unfunny that it makes a strong case for the drunk-and-promiscuous single life."
— Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
Posted 10.08.09 by reelz -
At last night's Chicago premiere of Couples Retreat, star Malin Ackerman (Watchmen) said she had a preconceived notion of Vaughn and frequent collaborator Jon Favreau, and they didn't meet it.
Everyone has that idea of the single-and-crazy Vince and Jon in Swingers and Made, but I think they've grown up a little. They're still a little crazy ... but they're definitely a little more subdued.
As big fans of Swingers and Made who were considering seeing Couples Retreat over the weekend, we're not very happy about this news.
See also: The Hottest Comic Book Movie Babes of 2009, and a Malin Ackerman photo gallery.
Posted 10.07.09 by reelz -
Couples Retreat, the latest comedy from Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, follows four couples on a tropical vacation where they are forced to participate in the resort's therapy sessions. The idea was conceived by Vaughn, who brought Favreau on to help him write the script. Vaughn and Malin Akerman (Watchmen) spoke to ComingSoon about the movie, with Akerman revealing that having a script didn't keep Vaughn and Favreau from improvising constantly.
Yes. I think there was so much improv that we could probably do a whole other film on the side, but it was great. That was sort of some of the fun parts where you have your character, your intention, your goal for the scene and then it was really cool working with these guys because of the improv. I always love it. I think it's so much fun and so great. Although, once him and Jon start you're like, "Holy s**t." You can tell that there's some history there because you guys together are like husband and wife. You guys should've been a couple.
Since Favreau and Vaughn's second movie, Made, improvisation has been a staple when the two actors work together. Vaughn said that they have a system worked out.
I always do it the same way with Jon. I'll setup two cameras so that we can cut back and forth so that you don't try to match something that comes to your mind on the one side. I've always written, this is the first time I've taken credit, but I've always written a lot on all the movies I've done and not just dialogue but actual story and other people's lines. I've always done that. The great thing about doing that with Jon is that he knows what the story intentions of the scene needs. So it's not like you're with someone just rambling and saying bizarre things. It's all viable and cuttable choices. I think on the DVD of The Breakup, that scene in the bar where Favreau suggests putting a hit out on the new guy that she's dating, I put on that DVD a few other takes that are all really, really good that are just completely different ways to go to get to the exact same end result.
Unlike their previous efforts, Retreat sees Favreau and Vaughn in a role reversal, with Vaughn playing the straight-laced family guy and Favreau as a cheating husband. Vaughn purposely put Favreau in the role.
A lot of times the protagonist or the lead [in a movie] will [have] the burden of staying grounded so that the audience can see the movie through their eyes but a character like Trent [Vaughn's role in Swingers] is allowed more freedom to be out there because he's the comic relief. So for me it's just fun to watch Favreau in that role as it was in Breakup. I thought that he was really great and hilarious and in this one, too, he's so driven and ultimately so likable because Favs is very funny and also has a real warmth to him.
Posted 10.04.09 by Ryan -
Couples Retreat, the latest comedy from Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, focuses on four couples who head to a tropical resort where couples therapy is mandatory. The trailer shows how Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell convince the other couples (Vaughn and Malin Akerman, Favreau and Kristen Davis, and Faizon Love and Kali Hawk) to join them at the retreat using a PowerPoint presentation.
The group soon learns that Bell's pitch is far from the truth once they learn truth about the Eden resort from Peter Serafinowicz.
The following clip has an extended look at the couples yoga session teased in the movie's trailer.
Posted 09.25.09 by Ryan -
With less than a month before Couples Retreat opens in theaters on October 9, Universal Pictures has finally released a new promotional item for the movie. Yet, rather than unveil a trailer or clip, Universal kept it simple with an international poster that's eerily similar to its domestic predecessor. Unlike the previous poster, which depicted four couples standing in water, the international poster shows only three couples, eliminating Faizon Love and Kali Hawk altogether.
The recently R-rated comedy, written by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, follows four couples who head to a tropical resort only to realize that couples therapy is a requirement. Love and Hawk will appear alongside Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Kristen Davis, Vaughn, and Favreau — at least domestically. If the international poster is any guide, Love and Hawk's relationship may not make it.
Posted 09.11.09 by Ryan