Toni Wants Some of That Ass

Much like Joseph's coat I am a man of many technicolors, and so I kind of loved Toni Collette's broad broad broooooad rom-com Mafia Mamma last year (here is my review) even while acknowledging that it felt beamed straight out of 1992. It's always nice when Toni goes loose and goofy and the movie was far weirder than it got credit for and whatever, the world is ending, I don't have to defend myself! Anyway I just wanted to put that slice of surprise up-front so you're not totally knocked out of your shorts when I tell you that the news today that Toni is re-teaming with Mamma director Catherine Hardwicke (via, thx Mac) for a remake of a French comedy that's pretty similar in spirit to their former collab has me totally gleeful. What can I say? 

How about this -- the French comedy they're remaking is Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes, which was released here in the U.S. as My Donkey, My Lover, and I, and I totally loved that movie too! I reviewed it right here when it screened for the 2021 edition of the "Rendez-vous With French Cinema" series here in NYC -- actress Laure Calamy (who plays a school-teacher who stalks her ex on a romantic French getaway and ends up trapped on a donkey trek through the mountains) is super charming in it and the movie goes on all of these unexpected detours and it's is just lovely, absolutely lovely. (You can rent it on Amazon right here.) I hope TC & CH can tap into that charm. I'll be there either way, because we need shit like this as much as we need all of the uber-depressing and hyper-violent shit I usually go on about. We're rounded people, yo.