【Saturday Cinema】"The Samurai's Menu," a delicious screening from Berlin Film Festival's "Culinary Panorama"

Release Date: 2014-04-11

Duration: 1 hour 43 minutes

Director: Nat Faxon & Jim Rash of "The Way, Way Back"

Cast: Steve Carell of "Crazy, Stupid, Love", Sam Rockwell of "Iron Man 2", Toni Collette of "Little Miss Sunshine", Allison Janney of "The Help", Maya Rudolph of "Bridesmaids", Liam James of "The Thing Below", AnnaSophia Robb of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

 

This film tells the story of 14-year-old Duncan (Liam James), who spends an awkward, funny, and sometimes painful summer with his mother Pam (Toni Collette), her overbearing boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell), and Trent’s daughter Steph (Zoe Levin). Though Duncan struggles to fit in and find his place, he unexpectedly befriends and is mentored by Owen (Sam Rockwell), a laid-back employee at a local water park where Duncan eventually works. As Duncan grows apart from his mother over the summer, Owen encourages him to open up and grow.

 

Making their directorial debut, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash poke fun at human vulnerability as a means of enduring life, transforming a sharp script into a charming and insightful satirical comedy. Backed by a stellar cast of A-list actors and rising young heartthrob Liam James in a transformative comedic role, "The Way, Way Back" is packed with the humor of adolescent dreaming and the memorable depth of classic coming-of-age films.

Release Date: 2014-04-18

Duration: Not provided

Director: Nick Cassavetes of "My Sister's Keeper"

Cast: Cameron Diaz of "Knight and Day", Leslie Mann of "This Is 40", Kate Upton of "The Other Woman", Nicki Minaj, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of "Game of Thrones"

 

Cameron Diaz plays a woman who discovers her boyfriend is married and tries to reclaim her life. When she unexpectedly meets her boyfriend’s betrayed wife (Leslie Mann), they realize they have a lot in common — and their enemy quickly becomes their ally. When yet another girlfriend (Kate Upton) of her boyfriend surfaces, the three women team up to plot revenge against the serial cheater.

 

Carrie Whitten (Cameron Diaz) is a no-nonsense New York lawyer with high standards for both love and men. But when she meets Mark King (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), she lets her guard down and falls for him. She surprises him with a visit to his Connecticut home, only to find out he’s married to Kate (Leslie Mann), a devoted homemaker shocked by her husband’s infidelity — and Carrie is furious her boyfriend is married. Instead of turning against each other, the two women become allies and uncover Mark’s mistress Amber (Kate Upton), joining forces to teach the cheating Mark a lesson. Their plan becomes increasingly effective, and their friendship grows stronger.

 

When producer Julie Yorn was convinced by writer Melissa Stack’s concept for the screenplay, she had already spent quite some time searching for a female-led (or female ensemble) comedy writer. Yorn explained why Stack was the perfect choice: “Melissa is insanely funny and incredibly talented — we all loved her. There are so few writers like her, and after reading the first thirty pages of her script, I said, ‘We’re making this movie.’”

 

Early in their discussions about the story, Stack made her stance clear. “I said, I don’t want the wife to be a doormat or a pathetic loser,” Stack recalled. “And I didn’t want the other woman to just be a bitch. We talked about those common character stereotypes — the so-called ‘female movie tropes.’”

 

Stack’s creative inspiration came from an interesting place. “I’ve seen a lot of French comedies where everyone is sleeping with someone who’s not their spouse. In America, we take adultery more seriously, so seeing characters in all kinds of French comedies deal with these complicated relationships and issues was pretty fascinating. It’s messy, but it’s real — not just about ‘bad guys’ and ‘good guys.’”