NY Observer > Olivia Thirlby

The Wackness is ... Ack! Yes, Even with Sir Ben Kingsley

Rex Reed — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:14:35 -0400

TheWackness
Running time 110 minutes
Written and directed by Jonathan Levine
Starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby, Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen

Not the least of the problems facing people who write about movies on a weekly basis is the deadlines. You can’t say, “I think I’d rather go to the beach today.” The empty space looms at you like a computerized monster, always demanding to be filled with your words, whether you have anything to say or not. Also, they say as you get older your attention span shortens. I don’t know about that, but I can promise you as sure as Monday follows the weekend that as the world changes and filmmakers get younger, the quality of motion pictures has diminished, and I find very few movies of worthwhile value to hold my interest. read more »

Hip-Hop Hooray

Andrew Sarris — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:07:28 -0400

The Wackness
Running time 110 minutes
Written and directed by Jonathan Levine
Starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby, Famke Janssen

Jonathan Levine’s The Wackness, from his own screenplay, takes place in New York during the summer of 1994, when the newly inaugurated mayor, Rudy Giuliani, was beginning his now notorious crackdown on all sorts of petty crimes and even mere nuisances. His name is taken in vain several times during the course of the narrative, as if he and he alone were responsible for taking all the fun out of the Lindsay/Dinkins Fun City. Still, “fun” is spelled for the most part as D-O-P-E to the musical accompaniment of the hip-hop rants of the period. read more »

Vanity Fair's Young Hollywood Loves Guitar Hero, Obama, Shoes

Irina Aleksander — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:58:31 -0400

In an effort to name promising newcomers so that they can later say, "We Told You So!" Vanity Fair has come out with its Bright Young Hollywood package for its August issue.

The spread of young men and women features their answers to a hard-hitting questionnaire about their lifestyle preferences: Levi's or J Brand? BlackBerry or iPhone? Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin?

And what do we learn?

They love shoes!

Seventeen year-old Emma "Julia's Niece" Roberts, tells the magazine that she owns a little under 50 pairs of shoes and hopes to imitate the Olsen twin look. read more »

Olivia Thirlby Is Poor, Mildly 'Ticked Off' at Judd Apatow

Irina Aleksander — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:27:41 -0400

Olivia Thirlby has been busy since her appearance as Ellen Page's best friend in Juno.

There is her role opposite Ben Kigsley and Mary Kate Olsen in The Wackness (out July 3rd), Safety Glass with Steve Coogan and The Dream of the Romans with Lauren Graham, both in post-production, the delayed Kenneth Lonergan drama, Margaret, and the yet-to-be-greenlit Jack and Diane, a lesbian picture to be done with Ms. Page.

But then there is also Judd Apatow's Pineapple Express for which Ms. Thirlby was briefly cast and then dropped.

In an interview with New York Magazine this week, Ms. Thirlby says, “I don’t know if I’m going to see it. read more »

Snow Angels in Soho! Malick Manque David Gordon Green at Apple Store

Jake Brooks — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:50:16 -0500

David Gordon Green's dream of becoming the next Terrence Malick may have stalled a bit after the lukewarm reception of 2004's Undertow, a heavy family drama starring Jamie Bell, Dermot Mulroney, and Josh Lucas. But he's back with—you guessed it!—another heavy family drama, entitled Snow Angels, based on the Stewart O'Nan novel of the same name. And he wants to tell you all about it. He'll be at the Apple Store in Soho, Wednesday, March 5, chatting up fans and shoppers alike and showing clips from the movie. read more »

Olivia Thirlby: Juno’s Bestie on the Brink

Sara Vilkomerson — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:51:12 -0500

“My brain hasn’t really processed it. I actually can’t believe it,” said Olivia Thirlby, via phone, early in the morning of Oscar Sunday. The 21-year-old actress, in Los Angeles, was eating breakfast (“I’m sorry for the crunching”) and about to embark upon the daylong process of readying herself for the red carpet to end all red carpets at the Kodak Theatre for Hollywood’s glitziest, puffed-up night. Ms. Thirlby portrayed Leah, Ellen Page’s braid-wearing best friend in this year’s little-movie-that-could, Juno—a film that not only surpassed expectations at the box office, but was the one bright spot in a lineup of Best Picture nominees that skewed dark and heavy.