Today marks the opening of Funny Games, writer-director Michael Haneke’s English-language remake of his own 1997 German-language film. I’d never seen the original, and I was quite hesitant about checking out the updated version — as much as I love horror movies, I’m really not into overly explicit violence and watching people suffer. Given that, going to watch a movie about a bourgeois family brutalized as a pair of psychopaths keep them captive in their summer home is something on my "to do" list that falls ... oh, somewhere between “scrub the floor” and “punch yourself in the face.” Earlier this week, though, I caught a screening. The “You really need to see it” urgings I received from a few trusted sources got me thinking about it, but in the end what got me to the theater was the fact that Funny Games stars Naomi Watts.

I’ll readily admit it — Watts is like kryptonite for me. My roommate is a film journalist and just this week had the opportunity to interview Naomi on the Funny Games press junket. While I was all cool as a cucumber on the outside with my “Wow, you’re so lucky I’m so jealous tell me if she’s really pretty I wonder how tall she is man you are soooo lucky,” on the inside I was ... well, let’s just say that I briefly considered buying some chloroform and a wig that looks like my roommate’s hair and going to the press conference in her stead. What? I didn’t DO it, sheesh. And I would have, like, done all the dishes for a week to make up for it. C’mon, man, it’s Naomi Watts!

I’ll see anything she’s in, just to see her. She’s displayed remarkable range in her career, and I honestly believe she’s one of the greatest working actresses today. Oh, and some people might kind of find her maybe a little bit attractive. … continue reading

That's not to be confused with "fun and games." It's funny in that special way where "side-splitting" is no longer a metaphor for hilarity but possibly a literal part of the script. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's the scoop: Naomi Watts has joined Tim Roth in a reauthored Hollywood version of Michael Haneke's 1997 thriller, Funny Games.

Watts's other foray into the brutal and the bizarre is the one movie that still gives me occasional nightmares, all these years later. Yeah, The Ring, I'm talking to you. Get out of my head! … continue reading