Travis Carr wrote a great opinion piece on AC about “Hilary Duff’s Indie Makeover.” The article talks about how Hilary has used independent films to break out of her “Disney” image.

The article begins with Hilary Duff in 2003, a “preeminent teen queen”, star of teen flicks such as The Lizzie McGuire Movie, and Cheaper by the Dozen. They talk about how, since then, her movies have done well (though not as well) and her music has been well reviewed, though her CDs didn’t sell as well.

However, the article gives praise for Hilary Duff for her next moves - for taking control of her movie career, rather than fading away as a teen star. Hilary Duff has used independent film to change her career path. From War, Inc, to What Goes Up, Stay Cool and Greta, as well as the films she’s working on this summer: Provinces of Night, A Great Education and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.

“Duff has officially moved on from her Disney past and her indie reinvention could very well have saved her career.”

Oddly enough, I think today’s Disney stars have an easier time of breaking out of the “Disney” mould than stars like Hilary Duff did. They seem to be able to transition into non-kid roles earlier, and be taken more seriously in their music (aiming at mainstream pop, rather than teen pop, right away), than Hilary Duff did. Just look at Miley Cyrus or Demi Lovato! I wonder why they have it easier??

Also, check out these photos of Hilary Duff back in LA at the gym on July 3rd.

Image: Newscom

Hilary Duff’s movie, What Goes Up, is currently available on DVD in North America. The DVD will also soon be coming out in Australia (on August 5), with a new cover! Check out the comparison, with the Australia cover on the left and the North American cover on the right:

You can pre-order the Australian DVD here.

Which DVD cover do you like best, and why?

Hat tip to Duffeholic ; Images: EzyDVD.com.au & Amazon.com

If you’re as anxious as I am to see Hilary Duff in more films, you can share that excitement by becoming a fan of her movies on Facebook. I’ve put together some links for her current / upcoming movie projects and their Facebook pages.

• Official Facebook Page for What Goes Up
• Official Facebook Page for Greta
• Fan Facebook Group for Stay Cool
• No Facebook Group for Provinces of Night
• No Facebook Group for The Story of Bonnie & Clyde
• Facebook Group for A Great Education
• No Facebook Group for Foodfight!

It’s a pity that more of the movies aren’t on Facebook! Movie distributors really aren’t tapping the fan communities as well as they could. Look at everything What Goes Up did with the fans - I wish all movies did that!! I was also surprised that only 1 fan group existed out there for these other movies, though I did find a few out there for Greta.

Screenshots: Facebook

Olivia Thirlby, who co-stars in What Goes Up, recently talked about working with Hilary Duff on the movie. Olivia says,

“Working with Hilary was wonderful. I can’t speak highly enough of her. She’s a very cool, very kind and incredibly genuine person in every respect.”

Hilary Duff and Olivia Thirlby

Olivia shares that people would probably be surprised to know how “genuine” Hilary Duff is. That being famous has not made her aloof or detached, instead:

“She’s a very nice and sweet, very well-intentioned person, but she doesn’t carry around with her the fact that she’s incredibly famous around the world.”

Great praise from Olivia! The scenes between Olivia and Hilary were some of my favorite in the film.

Image used with permission

Hilary Duff’s movie, What Goes Up, was released to DVD today! According to the What Goes Up blog, the producers are still considering a second theatrical run for the film, after the success it has met so far. Other possibilities include more film festivals as well as showing the film outside of the US. James Hoke says:

“Some of these decisions will depend on the initial DVD sales, but we really want to expand the release.”

If you want to see some clips from the movie, head on over to YouTube and search for “What Goes Up”. Many of those clips are not there legally, so I would encourage you to buy the DVD instead!

Hilary Duff’s War, Inc has been included in a new Blu-ray “Starter Kit” with 3 other movies. The Blu-ray kit contains “Four classic films to Jump Start your Blu-ray collection”: War, Inc./The Contract/The Proposition/Immortal.

All four films are available from First Look Pictures, with the Blu-ray pack first being made available for sale on June 2nd. Amazon is selling the pack for $36.99

Image: Amazon.com ; hat tip to hilaryxxlogan

There have been a number of new reviews of Hilary Duff’s movie, What Goes Up, but none of them say very much that we haven’t already heard. However, I wanted to share this one since it’s a video review of the film:

The What Goes Up Insider blog also put up a post this week about how the film has been doing in its theatrical release, saying:

“All things considered, we did pretty well,” said James Hoke, executive producer. “We might have only opened with 16 theaters, but there was a buzz about the film that few independent releases ever see. We have a lot of fans — Steve Coogan fans, Josh Peck fans, new Olivia Thirlby fans, and Hilary Duff fans — to thank for all of that. Thank you. We’re still looking for ways to make the ride memorable.”

Hilary Duff’s upcoming movie, Greta, has been reviewed by the Motion Picture Classification and Rating Program and has received the rating of “PG-13″, which means some material may be inappropriate for children under 13, but they are not restricted from entering the movie without a parent or guardian.

There is no release date yet for the film, although the Facebook page indicates that will be announced soon!

About “Greta”

Hilary Duff stars as Greta, a 17-year-old girl struggling with feelings of suicide. Pushed aside by her mother Karen, Greta goes off to her grandparents (Ellen Burstyn, Michael Murphy) in Ocean Grove for the summer… against her will. She makes it known that she wants to kill herself during the summer, and compiles a book of suicide methods. It’s not until Greta falls for the short-order cook (Evan Ross) at the diner where she works, and realizes that people care for her fate, that things change. Check out the trailer for the film here.

Image: Greta Productions LLC for Whitewater Films ; Thanks krk

According to Amazon, the What Goes Up: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on physical CD on July 14, 2009. The soundtrack is currently available on iTunes, as is the single “Any Other Day“, sung by Hilary Duff.

And in other news, Hilary Duff was spotted in New York having dinner at SushiSamba recently.

“The starlet sipped wine with her sushi and ‘looked über-chic in a red strapless dress with a black scarf and killer gladiator black heels.’”

Image: Amazon

Hilary Duff’s movie What Goes Up hit select theaters yesterday and I was lucky to be able to review the film as well!

What Goes Up follows a “morally challenged” NY reporter, Campbell Babbitt (Steve Coogan), who returns to a small New Hampshire town to cover his hometown news surrounding the first civilian and teacher in space in the 1980s, giving us a glimpse into how heroes are made in this world. While there, he learns a few life lessons from a group of disaffected students (Hilary Duff, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby) who are mourning the loss of their teacher (and Babbitt’s friend), who committed suicide. Hilary Duff plays a “narcissistic seductress” named Lucy.

The movie itself is based around a story of heroism, a true one about the Challenger launch, but the real story is how regular people come to be heroes themselves… intentionally or not. Sometimes this came through much better than at other times. I actually thought that sometimes including the Challenger launch made the tie to heroism more literal than it needed to be, but it was the foundation for what brought all these characters together. Read more