Movie Buzz – 12/19

Just when audiences start thinking the Golden Globes might be a legitimate awards show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association slaps us in the face with an insulting nod for an asinine performance.

Last year, Sacha Baron Cohen won the Best Actor Golden Globe in the Musical or Comedy category for his role in the funny, but utterly stupid “Borat.” Now, John C. Reilly has been nominated for an equally silly role, that of the title character in  “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”

Reilly stars as an off-the-wall rocker who is meant to be a parody of some weird iconic rock star who is part Jim Morrison, part Johnny Cash, part Buddy Holly and part James Brown. This mockumentary comes from writer-producer Judd Apatow, the comic moneymaker behind “Knocked Up” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

Does anyone else fondly remember the days when Reilly was a celebrated serious actor? He was lauded for his performances in roles with more critical weight, like the ones he played in “Chicago” and “The Good Girl.”

Reilly will have to duke it out with Johnny Depp for his Golden Globe. Depp is nominated for his starring role in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” This marks Depp’s eighth Golden Globe nomination (and fifth consecutive), but will it be his first victory from the Hollywood Foreign Press?

Director Tim Burton, whose dark style has added character to several other Johnny Depp films like “Edward Scissorhands,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” is the creative mind behind this adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical comedy.

Burton’s significant other, Helena Bonham Carter, takes over the role made famous by Angela Lansbury, and Alan Rickman, who has perfected acting’s darker side in the “Harry Potter” movies, co-star in this gory musical masterpiece about the bloody extremes one man will go to for vengeance.

Another Golden Globe nomination-adorned flick opening this week is “Charlie Wilson’s War,” which finds Hollywood’s pickiest actors gifting audiences with their wildly famous onscreen presences.

It has been a while since we’ve seen Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, who have been hiding out and only lending their voices to animated flicks over the past few years. The one exception is Hanks’ “The Da Vinci Code” debacle.

Director Mike Nichols takes the helm as Hanks and Roberts play a fun-loving Texas politician and socialite, respectively, who work with a jilted government agent (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to make a war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union go the way they want it to go. Their actions made a huge difference in Soviet Union and sent weapons to the Middle East, impacting us greatly in the present day.

Aaron Sorkin, the writer behind TV’s former political drama “The West Wing,” adapted this screenplay from journalist George Crile’s book, based on the true story.

Other openers this week are less critically acclaimed, but a high-profile sequel could earn some major box-office dough. “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” finds Nicolas Cage unlocking government secrets and seeking treasure once again.

Meanwhile, Hilary Swank tries the romantic comedy genre on for size with the help of “Friend” Lisa Kudrow in “P.S. I Love You.”