In the meantime, here’s a little video from ReelzChannel with the stars talking up the movie.

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Here, Bradley Cooper, her co-star in the upcoming “All About Steve,” talks about how tyrannical she is to work with, while Sandra explains that it’s impossible to explain the movie in 10 seconds. Makes sense to me. Go see the movie instead. It looks like good fun.

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The story is all about corporate intrigue, spies and secrets, but it’s more light-hearted than you might think at first glance. Instead of missiles and terrorists, we’re dealing with something more benign, along the lines of body lotion, hair gel and pizza crust. The great Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti also star in this fun caper, written and directed by Tony Gilroy.

Read my review here, and see if you agree with my assessment.

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Image: Amazon.com

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But seven years later, it all goes either oh-so-wrong or oh-so-right when it turns out that her best friend Wally (Jason Bateman) replaced the sperm sample with his own!

Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck (co-directors on “Blades of Glory”), on a screenplay by Allan Loeb (”21″), “The Baster” is set for a 2010 release date. Here’s a photo with the two leads rehearsing on the movie set. I really like these two in lighter, romantic comedies, so I’m looking forward to it.

Image: splashnewsonline.com

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I’ve been excited to see “Duplicity” since I first heard about it. Not only does it pair Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in a movie with lots of snappy banter and intrigue (they did “Closer” together in 2004), but it also teams them with Tony Gilroy.

Gilroy earned a place in my heart with films like “Michael Clayton,” which he wrote and directed, and the “Bourne” movies, for which he wrote the screenplay. He also wrote the screenplay for “State of Play,” the upcoming crime thriller starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.

The trio of Roberts, Owen and Gilroy works, for the most part, and Gilroy wisely plays up the stars’ snappy banter and cat-and-mouse chemistry.

“Duplicity” is all about corporate intrigue, spies and secrets, but it’s more light-hearted than you might think at first glance. Instead of missiles and terrorists, we’re dealing with something more benign, along the lines of body lotion, hair gel and pizza crust.

The story begins with the heads of two companies, played by the great Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti, on an airport tarmac surrounded by their respective staff and entourage. The scene plays in slow-motion, as the two corporate giants fly at each other and eventually end up rolling around on the ground like schoolboys. It sets the scene for the rest of the movie, which while filled with intrigue and a twisty-turny plot, always has a comic air to it.

Clive Owen plays Ray Koval, an ex-MI6 agent who butts heads with an ex-CIA agent named Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts, with a more world-weary look than in previous films). The two former spies have joined the private sector, working in security for the research and development departments of the companies helmed by Wilkinson and Giamatti. There’s a secret new product being developed by one or the other, and we don’t get to know what it is until later in the film. But it doesn’t much matter, because the product is secondary to the goings on of Koval and Stenwick.

Their history goes back five years and has played across the globe in Dubai, Rome and Cleveland. You have to keep an eye on the screen and read the subtitles telling us just where we are in the couples’ timeline. It’s all about who’s double-crossing whom and when and where, and the film ends differently than you might expect it to end.

While overly long and a little plodding, this movie is worth a look if you’re a fan of the main players or Gilroy or romantic spy movies, in general. For me, it wavered too much between being a romantic spy movie and a dark mystery-thriller such as “Michael Claytons.” I wish it would have been one or the other.

Note to Parents: Rated PG-13, this movie is fine for kids 13 and older. However, the story is complex and twisty, and teens not into this type of genre might lose interest. Sexual content includes lots of innuendoes and sexual banter, as well as several scenes of the main characters in bed together. Language includes “sh*t,” “a**hole” and “swinging d**k.”

Photos: Universal Pictures; Copyright: © 2008 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Via Image.net.

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Sometimes you just need a nice, non-scandalous romantic comedy to set things right in your world. "New in Town" is just that movie. There’s nothing too remarkable about it, but the characters are cute, the dialogue is fun, and the ending beautifully predictable. 

"New in Town" stars Renee Zellweger as Lucy Hill, an uptight, corporate suit with a big company in Miami. Lucy is given the task of going to the frigid town of New Ulm, Minnesota, to restructure a food manufacturing plant that employs most of the town. Basically, she’s there to downsize the plant right out of business.

From the moment she steps foot in the airport, Lucy is like a fish out of ice water. She’s ill-prepared for the cold winds that blow in the northern country, wearing light jackets and stiletto heels, and speaking corporate-speak that’s like a different language to the simple working folks there.

By contrast, the townsfolk are a friendly bunch who enjoy scrapbooking, eating meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and working Jesus into most conversations. And they’ve all got that "Fargo" accent going, dontcha know.

There’s Blanche (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), Lucy’s office assistant and confidante; Stu Kopenhafer (J.K. Simmons), the plant foreman who immediately butts heads with Lucy, and Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick, Jr.), the rough-hewn, widowed union rep whom Blanche thinks would be a perfect match for Lucy. He has a 13-year-old daughter who desperately needs some female guidance.

You can see where all this is headed. There’s no surprises here. All of this revolves around the question of whether Lucy will do the right thing and figure out how to save the plant so all of these nice people don’t end up jobless.

Harry Connick, Jr. is an interesting character. He’s cute, but not the cute character you might remember from previous films like "P.S. I Love You" or "Hope Floats." He’s got a scruffy beard and is basically a woodsman-type guy. But paired with Zellweger’s tiny, high-powered exec from the big city of Miami, it works.

In summary, if you like a cute romantic comedy with no surprises, you’ll probably enjoy "New in Town." And it’s fun seeing Zellweger’s character deal with all the snow and ice and frigid winds. One funny scene involves her careening off the road to avoid hitting a cow, and ending up buried inside her car in a snowbank. As Blanche mentions later, people actually do freeze to death in these situations, but you don’t think too much about that during the scene.

Also notable is Frances Conroy, who plays one of the locals, Trudy Van Uuden. I loved her in HBO’s "Six Feet Under," and wish she’d find another long-running project where I could see her more often. 

Note to Parents: While it’s rated PG, this movie isn’t appropriate for kids younger than 12. It includes a few language issues, including sh*t; some scenes with drinking, including the main character getting drunk; and some kissing and innuendos, but no nudity or violence. A character’s nipples (because it’s cold) are a major part of one scene, and two characters in the midst of sex or heavy-petting are interrupted by a child.

Images: New in Town, Lionsgate, 2009

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In the meantime, here’s the trailer for her upcoming movie, "All About Steve." Bullock plays a brilliant, but eccentric crossword puzzle aficionado who’s convinced that a CNN cameraman (Bradley Cooper) is her one true love. In theaters March 6, 2009.

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Now he’s signed to play a TV personality in “Morning Glory,” a Paramount comedy that revolves around a morning talk show. Rachel McAdams is in final negotiations to star, as well.

Roger Michell (“Venus”) is attached to direct, with J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk producing through their Bad Robot banner.

The script was penned by Aline Brosh McKenna, which bodes well because she also wrote the fabulous script for “The Devil Wears Prada,”, one of my favorite chick-flicks of all time.

More after the jump…

The story follows a grizzled old-school anchor (Ford), who quits in disgust because of the gossip-heavy direction of the evening newscast. He’s then recruited by an up-and-coming producer (McAdams) to help revive a morning talk show, only to be paired with his rival.

The other thing I love about this is that Harrison Ford really hasn’t done a comedy in a while, so it’ll be fun seeing him return to that genre.

Image: Newscom

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Now she’s lined up two projects. One is a romantic comedy called “20 Times a Lady.” Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan wrote the script, based on the book by Karyn Bosnak. It centers on a woman who journeys through her sexual past in an effort to find Mr. Right, wondering if a person’s sexual quota matters. I’m thinking of that scene in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” where Andie MacDowell and Hugh Grant discuss their past lovers.

The other is an untitled Paramount project – a female buddy comedy following two estranged sisters who team up to land a husband.

Image: The House Bunny, Columbia Pictures, 2008

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