Boldly Go!

Boldly Go!

Posted May 1, 2009

You’re a talented man on the rise. Intelligent, deeply committed to your craft. You devote serious hours and effort to some lofty goal or project or, say, movie role opposite a then-starlet named Lindsay Lohan. The universe responds with a collective “Meh.” Chris Pine has been there. He’s endured so much rejection and outright dismissal over the years that it’s hard to know what has shaped him more–the jobs scored or the knocks along the way. On the bumpy road to where he is now—a 32-year-old action star headlining two of Hollywood’s biggest franchises, Star Trek and Jack Ryan—he could have quit many […]

Seven Pounds

Seven Pounds

Posted April 29, 2009

This would have been a better movie if it wasn’t so utterly predictable.

The story itself is interesting, I can’t deny that. It’s fairly unique also. Except that as soon as the movie started I could see exactly where it was going. I might have half guessed it from the trailer.

Supernatural Sexy. Scary. Over?

Posted April 24, 2009

In the intense universe of fandom surrounding Supernatural — the CW series that follows the chisel-jawed Winchester brothers — there are ”Sam girls” and ”Dean girls.” Websites chronicle every scrap of minutiae (including the fellas’ sweet ride, a ’67 Chevy Impala), and bloggers dig around casting directors’ sites looking for snippets of scenes to post online (they’ve even managed to spoil entire scripts). One creative fan actually showed up on set in an orange vest, pretending to be a production assistant. ”They gave her a walkie-talkie!” recalls Ackles. ”She worked the entire day there until somebody finally figured it out. […]

Robert Pattinson| He’s Hot, He’s Sexy, He’s Undead

Robert Pattinson| He’s Hot, He’s Sexy, He’s Undead

Posted April 24, 2009

A few days after meeting Robert Pattinson for the first time, co-star Kristen Stewart says this about him: “He can’t lie. It makes things a little scary for him sometimes. But it’s my favorite thing about him.” In a little bakery-café on Doheny Drive, in West Hollywood, the whole time, Pattinson seems to be telling the truth compulsively, heedlessly, helplessly, as if he’d been shot with a sodium pentothal dart while parking his car. Pattinson’s other problem—he admits this early on—is that he can’t abide a conversational lull. “I just say the first thing that comes into my head out […]

The problem with Syfy

The problem with Syfy

Posted March 18, 2009

I was thinking about this while driving into work this morning. But, to be fair, I’ve thought along this line often enough before just not thoroughly enough to warrant writing it down.

Dakota Fanning Pushes the Limits

Posted February 24, 2009

The adorable Dakota Fanning is growing up. The go-to child star has made her move into bona fide teenage roles — and she’s more than ready to go beyond her usual sweet and innocent side in the sci-fi thriller Push. She swears, has a brief drunk scene and carries a gun. This kid you play in Push is pretty out front and in your face, isn’t she?My character is a true 14-year-old — kind of rebellious. She has a very sassy attitude and that was very fun to get to explore in this film. She says and does things that […]

Casablanca

Casablanca

Posted February 14, 2009

Surprisingly, no, I’d never seen Casablanca before last week. I generally don’t like old movies so I pretty much don’t ever make the time to watch them. The production values are lower, the stories or characters can seem cheesy to a sophisticated audience (yes, that would be me). Plus, I don’t ascribe to the belief that just because a movie is a classic it’s therefore good. Someone once said that the golden age in Hollywood wasn’t really golden, it’s just when we learned to industrialize movie making. I agree, so, I don’t expect that all classic movies will stand the […]

The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees

Posted February 14, 2009

Sweet and heartwarming, this coming of age story is well told with wisdom and strength.

I loved the language of the film, the words and sentences. I don’t know how much of that came

Push

Push

Posted February 7, 2009

Push actually envisions how psychic powers would play out in the real world rather than the heightened reality we’re accustomed to with these sorts of stories. Gritty and realistic, it

A Hollywood Elusive

A Hollywood Elusive

Posted February 1, 2009

With all Cate Blanchett has on her plate—three young boys, a three-stage theater, and a global acting career—she might be forgiven the occasional emotional outburst or diva-like moment. Instead, the author encounters a Hollywood anomaly: a star who doesn’t do drama offscreen, whose only hint of domestic conflict is her husband’s threat to divorce her if she gets cosmetic surgery, and whose latest role, as Brad Pitt’s soulmate in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, has her focused on aging and death. When David Fincher first saw Cate Blanchett play the Virgin Queen, a decade ago, he was stunned. “I […]