Video reviews blog

Charlie Bartlett: Starring Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr. and Hope Davis. Directed by Jon Poll. (R. 97 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)

Those waiting for the arrival of the next “Juno” may want to skip “Charlie Bartlett,” a relentlessly earnest teen film about a 17-year-old misfit who’s been tossed out of one prep school after another for bad behavior.

With bits and pieces borrowed from films such as “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Weird Science,” “Risky Business” and a garnish or two from “American Pie,” Gustin Nash has cobbled together the kind of screenplay that probably mirrors the awkward teenage years of guys who grew up to run major studios in Hollywood and love the idea of the high school untouchable who wins the girl, becomes the most popular kid in school and triumphs over the oppressive adult world around him.

Charlie (Anton Yelchin) lives in a big mansion with his booze-soaked, Klonopin-popping mom, Marilyn (Hope Davis), but not his father, whose whereabouts remain pointedly unknown for a while. After getting pitched from his most recent prep school for manufacturing fake driver’s licenses, Charlie gets sent to his worst nightmare: public high school, where he’s quickly and repeatedly pummeled by the school bully, Murphey Bivens (Tyler Hilton).

His continual failure to fit in lands Charlie on a shrink’s couch and earns him a prescription for Ritalin. Charlie, the unrepentant hustler, gets an idea: He’ll fake psychological maladies to secure prescriptions for various pills, which he and his new business partner, Murphey, will sell to high school kids.

Meanwhile, Charlie has fallen in love with Susan Gardner (Kat Dennings), who is being raised by her divorced father when he’s not holed up in his study drinking every night. Why does he drink? Because he’s a former history teacher who’s been kicked upstairs to the job of principal of Charlie and Susan’s high school.

Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr.) doesn’t like Charlie dating his daughter, but he’s even more resentful that Charlie seems to have the world on a string and is looked to as a leader by the other kids.

All of this pretty much goes where you expect it to. We can’t have lots of high school kids zonked out on prescription meds for too long, so Something Major and Entirely Predictable has to happen. Faster than you can say “After-School Special but without the laughs,” Charlie is dumping the meds down the can.

Other plot elements, similarly telegraphed way in advance, include: Principal Gardner facing off with Charlie and realizing that he doesn’t need booze and he ought to be a better dad; the punk loser Murphey cleaning up and getting to date the girl of his dreams; and the real truth about Charlie’s father finally revealed. Of course, there’s a big finale where all the kids get an over-the-top chance to tell the voices of adult authority that they are capable of making good choices.

There may not be many films where the young hero becomes an amateur shrink and dispenses prescription drugs to his classmates, but there are plenty of others where the misfit kid finds some other kind of ticket to popularity, only to realize, in the end, that there’s no substitute for family values, true love, being who you are or fill in the blank.

The script is adequate, although screenwriter Nash has created one distasteful character after another, and there’s barely a ripple of relieving humor in the entire film. Charlie is precocious, at times bordering on insufferably so; his mother is a caricature; Principal Gardner is a gutless toady around his boss and a lousy dad when he’s at home. The material might have worked better if the filmmakers had adopted a satirical tone, or even if they’d gone the whole “American Pie” route. Instead, the film grinds on with only a few bright moments.

The big problem, though, isn’t the script but rather the direction and, specifically, the plodding pace of the film. That’s surprising, given that first-time director Jon Poll has a background in film editing. It may have something do with knowing pretty much what will happen from one moment to the next, but you keep wanting Poll and his cast to get on with things, or at least, energize the film some way or another. The tone is often just turgid.

The cast is appealing and competent for the most part. Yelchin looks like a young Ethan Hawke and is fine at depicting Charlie’s rise to the top of the high school heap, although he can’t quite manage complete credibility when Charlie has his inevitable transformation. Dennings also turns in a winning performance as one of the few completely likable characters in the film. The two young leads keep the film afloat throughout.

Downey is credible as the self-loathing Principal Gardner. For the most part, he mumbles and mopes through his role between swigs of booze until a final, over-the-top scene toward the end that only a really great actor like Downey could pull off. Why? Because with any merely competent actor, you wouldn’t believe the scene for a minute.

Yet, for all its problems, the film is often sincere, often earnest. It wants so badly to offer testimony to the possibility that a loser kid can turn his life around and have the whole world cheering for him. You’ll find yourself rooting for the filmmakers in spite of yourself, and, more to the point, in spite of the mistakes they’ve made.

– Advisory: Contains sexual situations, drug use and coarse language.

E-mail David Wiegand at dwiegand@sfchronicle.com.

Lights, camera, contract! 

The Directors Guild of America gave its final seal of approval Wednesday to a new work agreement with Hollywood studios and producers, a contract that will guarantee filmmakers a share of residuals for work streamed over the Internet.

The union did not release information on how many of its 13,500 members voted to ratify the new contract, but the DGA said it represented a solid majority.

"The vote reflects the strong support and enthusiasm our members have for our new contract," said DGA President Michael Apted. "We won important gains such as higher wages, higher residual bases, significant improvements in basic cable, a more secure health plan and solutions to problems affecting our ADs [assistant directors] and UPMs [unit production managers]."

The DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers began negotiations in earnest in early January, after the AMPTP broke off talks with the Writers Guild of America, whose members went on strike Nov. 5.

While the AMPTP and the WGA remained at an impasse for nearly three months, talks between producers and directors went relatively smoothly, and the two sides settled on a new contract in a quick five days.

Those terms laid the groundwork for the subsequent pact with the writers and helped end the 100-day walkout on Feb. 12, but not before costing the economy of Los Angeles a whopping $2.5 billion, according to a report issued Wednesday by the L.A. County Economic Development Corp.

"Our negotiations with DGA proved beyond any doubt that when both parties are prepared to bargain seriously, groundbreaking new media labor pacts can be reached without resorting to harmful and unnecessary strikes," AMPTP said in a statement.

After some tête-à-tête at the bargaining table, the directors won some vital concessions regarding how they're paid royalties for content in the digital age.

Perhaps the most important, producers recognized directors' jurisdictional rights when it comes to new media, enabling the DGA a voice in future negotiations as business models evolve and the Internet becomes a larger revenue source. Directors also doubled residuals paid for TV and movie downloads to 0.7 percent and 0.65 percent respectively once a certain number of downloads are reached.

Additionally, the contract mandates that studios hire union members for shows costing higher than $15,000 per minute, or $300,000 per program.

The DGA's governing board recommended the deal to union members on Jan. 27. The new contract begins July 1, one day after the Screen Actors Guild's current contract with producers is set to expire.

That union is also seeking favorable terms along the lines of the WGA and DGA deals, but some of its highest-profile members, such as Tom Hanks, George Clooney and Meryl Streep, are urging their fellow actors to avoid another costly work stoppage.

Informal negotiations are expected to get underway as early as March.

Days after showing off her her Lohans to the world, Lindsay has lined herself up a brand-new, fully clothed, A-list project.

Producers have exclusively confirmed to E! News that the tabloid queen is resuming her day job, signing on to star alongside Jack Black in Ye Olde Times, a comedy tentatively set to start rolling this April.

A source at Patriot Pictures, which is producing the yukfest, told E! News that the film follows two rival Renaissance Faire troupes as they make their way through the competitive circuit. It's unclear whether Lohan will be one of Black's repertory players or a member of a competing Ren Faire faction.

Lohan's mother, Dina, also let slip via a phone call to E! News from her Long Island home that her firstborn was currently in talks to star in one other big-screen project, though she did not reveal any details.

The 21-year-old star most recently has been shooting the tango-themed romance Dare to Love Me, her first feature since completing an extended stint in rehab.

Lohan, who is currently in Milan for the city's Fashion Week but will be back in Los Angeles to make the pre-Oscar rounds this weekend, is also recording a new album that sources say has a hip-hop vibe.

Still, her biggest hit of late is her Marilyn Monroe-channeling New York Magazine nude photo spread.

Dina Lohan was quick to defend her daughter's participation in the shoot.

"She's an artist and is back on her feet and working. She's on the cover of a respected magazine. How can that be a bad career move? It is not!" she said.

"We had no idea it would blow up like it did," the elder Lohan continued. "She was just doing a project connected to someone near and dear to her heart with an amazing photographer. Marilyn Monroe has always been someone close to her heart…[Lindsay] just wanted to honor this icon she had never met. She wanted to keep [Monroe's] memory alive."

New York published five additional photos of the naked star, leftovers from the shoot, on its website Wednesday. The highly publicized release drove such a high amount of traffic that it effectively froze the site.

"I had no idea about the outtakes," said Dina Lohan. "That's the one part of it that I'm not thrilled about, because the photos in the magazine are what, from an artistic perspective, were meant to be out there. But you can't control that stuff. I'm just happy with the finished product."

The mother also took a crack at coverage of her comeback-minded daughter, while seemingly taking a whack at another A-list member of young Hollywood.

"Scarlett Johannson goes to clubs and no one cares about it," she said. "But if Lindsay goes to a club, it is world news!"

Leonardo DiCaprio's going in for a 'toon up.

The Hollywood star has signed on to produce a live-action big-screen adaptation of the Japanese anime classic Akira for Warner Bros.

DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions will oversee development on Akira, which is being developed as a franchise, with the first of two planned movies slated to hit theaters in the summer of 2009.

Released in 1988 and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira was based on the director's graphic novels, or manga. It became one of Japan's biggest anime hits and is considered a cult classic.

With eye-popping visuals, the landmark feature-length 'toon followed a band of bikers in postapocalyptic 21st century Tokyo, otherwise known as Neo Tokyo, and a young cyberpunk named Tetsuo. He becomes embroiled in a mysterious government project known as Akira that grants him psychic powers and disturbing hallucinations. It's up to Tetsuo's friends to stop him before his dormant power unleashes destruction on the city.

As of now, DiCaprio is not expected to star in the films. 

Akira will be helmed by first-time filmmaker Ruairi Robinson and is being written by Gary Whitta.

Coproducing with DiCaprio is Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance Productions and Jennifer Davisson, president of Appian Way.

DiCaprio's company has long been trying to get Akira off the ground, initially acquiring the rights years ago and rotating through a string of producers , including Jon Peters, and directors like Stephen Norrington (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and the singularly named Pitof (Catwoman).

The rights eventually lapsed and were snapped up by Warner Bros.

One major change is that the action will be set in New York City this time around, instead of Tokyo.

Robinson  came to the attention of Hollywood executives after scoring an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short for the sci-fi comedy Fifty Percent Grey.

DiCaprio, meanwhile, is gearing up to shoot Shutter Island, his fourth film with Oscar winner Martin Scorsese and a follow-up to last year's Best Picture Winner, The Departed.

The suspense thriller focuses on a U.S. Marshal (DiCaprio) probing the disappearance of a female killer from a maximum-security prison hospital on the isolated Shutter Island. At the same time, a major hurricane cuts off all access to the mainland.

As the world turns, so does the cast of Law & Order. 

Jesse L. Martin, who's been carrying Detective Ed Green's badge for nearly nine years, is leaving the procedural drama later this season. 

Per trade reports, the 39-year-old actor had only signed on for 13 episodes of the NBC warhorse's 18th season, and he has one more to shoot in which his character will be written out of the show. 

Anthony Anderson, 37, who pulled a few shifts with Law & Order: SVU's Christopher Meloni when Mariska Hargitay was on maternity leave (aka doing undercover work for the FBI) in 2006, will step in to partner with recent L&O addition Jeremy Sisto. 

(So, that about does it for Anderson's previous series, Fox's K-Ville, apparently.) 

Martin joined the cast of Dick Wolf's mothership in 1999 and spent five seasons hunting down bad guys with Jerry Orbach's Lennie Briscoe before having to readjust to Dennis Farina's Joe Fontana, Milena Govich's Nina Cassidy and, this year, Sisto's Cyrus Lupo. 

The stage and screen star briefly took time out toward the end of the 2004-05 season to reprise his Broadway role of philosophy professor Tom Collins in the big-screen adaptation of Rent. During those episodes, Martin's character was supposedly recovering from a gunshot wound, and Farina temporarily paired up with The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli. 

For some time, Martin has been attached to star in a biopic about R&B crooner Marvin Gaye, which has finally been given a title—Sexual Healing—and is set to begin production in late April or early May. 

The musically inclined actor's other small-screen credits include a guest arc on Ally McBeal and a turn as the Ghost of Christmas Present in 2004's Kelsey Grammar-starring version of A Christmas Carol. 

Anderson's recent résumé enhancers include a pivotal role in the 2007 Best Picture Oscar winner The Departed and guest spots on The Shield and ''Til Death.

Since its inception in 1990, L&O has had nine different main detectives, two lieutenants, three executive assistant district attorneys, seven assistant district attorneys (six of them women) and four district attorneys, including longtime first chair Sam Waterston, who moved behind the big desk this year after 13 seasons of imposing order. 

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC’s top-rated “Grey’s Anatomy” will return to its usual Thursday night time period in April, bumping “Lost” to the less desirable 10 p.m. slot.

Having resumed production after the writers strike, the medical drama will come back to the tentpole 9 p.m. period for five original episodes beginning April 24.

“Lost” will also air the first of five originals on that date. But the drama will find itself in a slot with lower viewing levels, and the show notably declined after shifting from 9 p.m. Wednesdays to 10 p.m. last season. “Lost,” however, might gain significantly from a large “Grey’s” lead-in, even if their respective audiences are not perfectly compatible.

ABC has tried several new shows in the 10 p.m. Thursday period that have been unable to capitalize on “Grey’s” success. Case in point: Current occupant “Eli Stone” is notably absent from the newly announced spring lineup. An ABC spokesman said the network hasn’t decided when the remaining “Stone” episodes will air.

Also, there still is no word on “bubble” shows “Men in Trees” or “Women’s Murder Club” (the latter might return if ABC and 20th Century Fox Television can quickly find a new showrunner to take over the production).

ABC announced the “Grey’s Anatomy” change Wednesday as part of its spring schedule, which also includes premiere dates for “Desperate Housewives,” “Boston Legal,” “Ugly Betty,” “Samantha Who?” and “Brothers & Sisters.” The other major broadcast networks already have announced their spring schedules.

Returning to their usual ABC time periods: “Samantha Who?” on April 7 (six originals); “Boston Legal,” April 8 (six originals); “Desperate Housewives,” April 13 (five originals and a two-hour finale); “Brothers & Sisters,” April 20 (four originals); and “Ugly Betty,” April 24 (five originals). ABC’s renewed freshmen dramas “Pushing Daisies,” “Private Practice” and “Dirty Sexy Money” will return next season.

Also on Wednesday, CBS said it is shuffling its Monday night comedy lineup when it returns March 17. Instead of leading off with “How I Met Your Mother,” the freshman hit “Big Bang Theory” will open the night at 8 p.m. “Mother” shifts to 8:30 p.m. At 9 p.m., “Two and a Half Men” will continue to anchor the lineup, followed by “The New Adventures of Old Christine” at 9:30 p.m.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Sony Pictures has picked up disaster-movie king Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic script “2012,” one of the first big projects to hit the market since the three-month writers strike ended on February 12.

While a deal almost was assured, many studios quickly dropped out of the hunt. Some didn’t like the story, describing it as a “Roland Emmerich greatest-hits package.” Others balked at the price tag. The project comes with a $200 million budget.

The script blends the idea of the Mayan calendar, which predicts the world ending in 2012, with natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, typhoons and glaciers plaguing the planet and a large cast of characters dealing with the mayhem.

Emmerich, known for such films as “Independence Day” and “Godzilla,” will direct the project from a script he co-wrote with Harald Kloser. Sony is planning a July 10, 2009, release.

Emmerich and Kloser collaborated on the prehistoric action movie “10,000 B.C.,” which is generating strong buzz ahead of its March 7 release.

Even if “2012″ comes in on budget, it will require success in the international marketplace to recoup costs. Emmerich demanded a $20 million advance against 25% of gross profits, payable before the studio gets anything, sources said.

Still, for certain studios looking to quickly fill their sparse 2009 release schedules with a tentpole, “2012″ was what the doctor ordered.

Emmerich’s most recent disaster film, 2004’s “The Day After Tomorrow,” was a smash for 20th Century Fox, bringing in more than $542 million at the worldwide box office, according to Box Office Mojo. It cost $140 million to make.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony became the parents of twins early on Friday in a New York-area hospital, according to People magazine, which reportedly paid upward of $6 million for the photo rights.

The boy and girl, delivered in a Long Island, New York, hospital, were the first for the 38-year-old actress and singer, whose efforts to become pregnant have filled tabloid pages in the past few years. Anthony, a 39-year-old salsa singer, has a daughter and two sons from two previous relationships.

Lopez did not confirm her much-rumored pregnancy until early November, when she announced the news to a Miami audience while on a concert tour with her husband.

The trade publication Advertising Age reported earlier this week that People magazine was poised to pay the couple between $4 million and $6 million for exclusive U.S. rights to the first photos of the twins.

“VANTAGE POINT” is proof that a good pulp idea can overcome a multitude of sins, but not all of them. Initially intriguing and energetic, this film ends up demonstrating that a good script needs to be more than a clever concept and fine direction must be more than moving things fast.The good idea, courtesy of screenwriter Barry L. Levy, is to examine an attempted assassination of the president of the United States from the different viewpoints of eight individuals, each of whom gets 10 minutes or so of screen time devoted to their very own p.o.v.Though the intriguing device of seeing the same events more than once made at least one preview audience noticeably restive, it is definitely an unusual twist on standard thriller material. The film’s producer has made lofty comparisons to “Rashomon,”(film) but “Vantage Point” is more like a riff on the old story of the blind men and the elephant. The different characters don’t have different points of view on what’s happened as in the Japanese classic, they simply have different pieces of the puzzle that the film presents as a mystery to be solved.Because the script is positively miserly in the way it doles out information, we can’t help being initially drawn into the narrative, even if it’s a bit against our will. Levy’s script is a nakedly slick and manipulative piece of business, but as directed by Pete Travis, it does create an initial want-to-see.The setting is the teeming Plaza Mayor, or central square, in Salamanca, Spain (re-created for logistical reasons in Mexico City), where U.S. President Ashton (William Hurt) has journeyed to sign a multinational agreement that will “put a stranglehold on international terrorism.” If you think that makes the terrorists happy, you’ve got a lot to learn.We initially view this setup through the eyes of Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver), a harried TV news producer. We are with her in the network truck when the unthinkable happens: Shots are fired at the president and, moments later, even more chaos ensues.When this segment ends, the clock gets wound back to the beginning of the story, and we see the same thing from the vantage point of Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid), a heroic Secret Service agent who, thanks to the support of fellow agent Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox), has returned to duty in Salamanca after having taken a bullet for this same president several months earlier. One of the people whom Barnes nervously eyes in the crowd is humble American tourist Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker). He’s in Spain on his own as a result of some undefined trouble with his marriage and wants to film the president’s appearance to take home to his kids.There are lots of witnesses lined up for screen time after Lewis, including assorted terrorists and even Hurt’s President Ashton, so stiff and unbending you wonder how he got elected in the first place, but it’s with this segment that “Vantage Point’s” problems begin to emerge.For even with Oscar-winner Whitaker in the role, Howard Lewis is less a real person than a paper-thin construct put together strictly to fulfill a plot demand. Screenwriter Levy has no doubt done the best he could, but without believable people his elaborate story simply can’t be sustained on screen.Attempting to make the best of this is director Travis, whose first feature was the excellent “Omagh,” which brought both feeling and excitement to the story of a bombing in Northern Ireland. But there, with the benefit of a script co-written by Paul Greengrass, writer and director of “Bloody Sunday,” he made the situation feel relevant and real. Travis has a facility with action and movement, and he does what he can here, but this film’s pedestrian dialogue and nonexistent character development are barriers that can’t be overcome. For the lack of even borderline real folks means that “Vantage Point’s” gimmickry and coincidence start to seem increasingly implausible. We don’t necessarily mind all the plot tricks thrown at us, but we need something to make us believe this might be happening, and this film can’t supply it.The truth is that two other films with Greengrass’ name on them, “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum,” have spoiled us for this kind of thriller filmmaking, and stacked against that, “Vantage Point” doesn’t have a chance.kenneth.turan@latimes.com”Vantage Point.” MPAA rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language. Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes. In general release.

Despite some adamant claims to the contrary, Britney Spears' troubles are still very much an L.A. story.  

A U.S. District Court judge has given attorney Jon Eardley—the latest legal eagle enlisted by the "Toxic" songstress to battle her father's conservatorship status—until Feb. 29 to provide a legitimate reason to remove the case from Los Angeles to federal court. (View the order.)

A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Mar. 17. 

Of course, that's just one of the many strands in Britney's tangled web of a legal docket.

A source close to the embattled pop princess tells E! News that the divorced mother of two has been "emotionally down" since Tuesday's custody hearing, during which Court Commissioner Scott Gordon persisted in refusing to allow her to visit sons Sean Preston and Jayden James.

"She's bummed out," the Spears insider said, adding that Britney's low spirits also led to the cancellation of some upcoming dance rehearsals. "She had hoped for some sort of visitation, but it didn't happen. She's pretty down about it."

Britney last saw her kids Jan. 3, when a bizarre standoff with police at her Beverly Hills home resulted in a brief stay at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for observation.  

But it was her slightly longer stint in UCLA Medical Center's psych ward a few weeks ago that led to her father's unwelcome new role in her life and her involuntary estrangement from some of her once constant companions.  

Sam Lutfi's publicist filed a petition on Feb. 14 to transfer the conservatorship case on behalf of the New York-based Eardley. The complaint alleged Britney's civil rights had been trampled by the court's refusal to properly investigate her family's claims that she's unfit to manage her finances, choose what company to keep and make various other decisions regarding her welfare.  

Michael Sands, acting as spokesman for both Lutfi and Eardley, said last week that he had filed the documents before a court commissioner extended Jamie Spears' temporary conservatorship until Mar. 10, thereby making the action null and void.

Meanwhile, an L.A. Superior Court spokesperson said Friday that all Britney business remained under their jurisdiction.

"Jon Eardley is very happy that the judge will look at the explosive documentary evidence in the Britney Spears conservatorship railroad," Sands told E! News Tuesday.

"This is a very positive step that the judge is concerned. Jon Eardley will have court papers filed by Feb. 29…This is the first step in the victimization of Britney Spears by L.A. Superior Court."

But just in case Eardley can come up with an argument to sway U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, Britney's father has cooked up plenty of reasons to block the switcheroo. 

Jamie Spears' camp—arguing that Britney isn't capable of hiring counsel and, therefore, Eardley is "an attorney without a client"—filed a motion Tuesday objecting to Lutfi & Co.'s "brazen—but vain—attempt to strip a probate court of jurisdiction before it could enter Orders" prolonging the conservatorship. (View the motion.)