Also in Thursday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, Lynn Cohen joins the cast of the next Hunger Games , while Lucas Till takes on an action-thriller. Doc NYC releases some highlights for its November documentary festival. Drew Barrymore has a new directing gig. And Octavia Spencer joins a new Fox Searchlight comedy. Lynn Cohen Joins The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Cohen will play Mags in the next installment of the popular franchise. A former mentor to Finnick Odair, Mags is an eighty year old Hunger Games victor from District 4. The second round of the series begins as “Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.” Lionsgate will release Catching Fire November 22nd. Doc NYC to Close with The Central Park Five New York’s documentary festival Doc NYC will close out its third annual event with Den Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon’s The Central Park Five . The film, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May, follows the story of five innocent teenagers wrongfully imprisoned for the infamous “Central Park jogger” rape case. The festival also announced an ambitious, expanded line-up of panel discussions called “Doc-a-thon,” covering the art and business of documentary filmmaking. Spanning five days, the program features some twenty seminars and panels with acclaimed filmmakers and experts devoted to different stages in the filmmaking process. Doc NYC takes place November 8 – 15. Lucas Till Boards Wolves Till ( X-Men: First Class ) will play the lead in the directorial debut of David Hayter’s Wolves who wrote X-Men . The action-thriller centers on Caleb Richards (Till) – a young, handsome eighteen year-old with an edge. Forced to hit the road after the death of his parents, Caleb finds his way to an isolated town to hunt down the truths of his ancestry. Around the ‘net… Bill Murray Won’t Haunt Ghostbusters 3 Dan Aykroyd said, “”It’s sad but we’re passing it on to a new generation. Ghostbusters 3 can be a successful movie without Bill.” Aykroyd also offered up that the sequel will begin shooting next year and also without its original star, Vulture reports . Matthew McConaughey Joins The Wolf Of Wall Street McConaughey will play Mark Hanna in the Martin Scorsese-directed feature, an early boss and mentor of Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Deadline reports . Drew Barrymore to Direct The End The end of the world drama will be produced by Warner Bros. The story will apparently focus on several people as they face the apocalypse and will take an “uplifting and humanistic” approach. Aron Eli Coleite (writer-producer on TV’s Heroes ) wrote the script, THR reports . Octavia Spencer Joins Baggage Claim The Oscar-winner boards the cast of the Fox Searchlight comedy that stars Paula Patton as a flight attendant who is the oldest unmarried woman in her family and decides to find a mate before her sister’s upcoming wedding, Deadline reports .
At one point, Kate Beckinsale remembers, director Len Wiseman thought of tapping her for a cameo as a three-breasted hooker in his Total Recall remake. Luckily for the actress, Wiseman (who directed the British beauty in Underworld and Underworld: Evolution — and happens to be her husband in real life) instead cast Beckinsale in the much juicier role of Lori, the adoring wife of factory worker Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) whom Quaid discovers is actually an undercover agent hellbent on killing him. Consider that a divorce, indeed . Expanded considerably by scribes Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback as an amalgam of Sharon Stone’s duplicitous Lori and Michael Ironside’s ruthless Richter from Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 version , Beckinsale’s Lori — her first onscreen villain — is baddie Cohaagen’s (Bryan Cranston) loyal right-hand woman, embittered by the humiliating role she’s been assigned, but relishing in her dogged pursuit of Farrell’s Quaid with glee. (She also boasts unfailingly fantastic hair, in keeping with Beckinsale’s action cinema filmography.) Beckinsale sat for a chat with Movieline about Total Recall , Lori’s inner psyche, how marriage lends insight to her working relationship with Wiseman, and how she resolves her “Kate Beckinsale” public image/action heroine reputation with her literary roots and lesser-seen work. This version of Total Recall is quite different from the Verhoeven original in many ways, including its emphasis on a more geopolitical commentary. But the Lori character in particular, which is vastly expanded here, is a sharp, strong woman who literally rejects this domestic role that she’s been given, playing wife to Douglas Quaid at the behest of her employer. I think she’s an extremely highly trained, highly intelligent, and very much at the top of her field operative, and the detail that she’s been given is actually quite degrading, if you think about it. For a police officer at that level to have to basically sleep in a bed, have sex with, make dinner for this person who appears to be a factory worker of no real note indefinitely, must be incredibly frustrating – and I think must feel like, “I have this because I’m a woman.” And there’s nothing more maddening than to feel like you’re being passed over or degraded or humiliated because of your gender. Were these elements that were in the script originally, or did those shades come in as you worked on the character? It was a little more sketched, and I know that Len wanted to feel like that about her, so it was quite early on when we were talking about the character. Because otherwise I think it’s peculiar; first of all, it’s a strange situation for someone to be undercover pretending to be somebody’s wife. What would that feel like, if you were that highly trained? And equally, there’s nothing more boring than a bad guy who’s just being a bad guy for no reason. Mainstream audiences know you best from the Underworld movies and as this lithe, lethal action heroine, but your career began with very different kinds of roles; ironically, the character of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing was one of your first breakthrough parts. And even before that, some of your first awards came as a writer, for your poetry. Does it feel strange to you that so many moviegoers know you primarily for your action roles in the Underworld movies and the like? I think that dwelling on other people’s perception of you is the road to complete madness, unfortunately. I try and resist that. You can’t help it a bit, because it is quite odd when other people are responsible for conveying your image or your words. That is quite a strange spot to be in, especially if things do come off unfamiliar. You can feel a bit gypped. But I suppose a part of you has to go, there is a kind of penalty for being so lucky to have this kind of a job that those things are going to happen. I do feel very fulfilled by the work that I’ve done, and often by the work that I’ve done that many people haven’t seen. So the bottom line is, I have actually done the work and I’ve had that experience, and it has been amazing. And yes, it would be nice if more people were aware of those, but at the end of the day it’s more important that I’ve actually had the experience. Even on Google, the first items that pop up about you involve your “Sexiest Woman Alive” type honors, or quote you talking about nude scenes… It’s maddening! And the thing is, a lot of the time you’ll do a whole long interview with somebody and then they’ll say, “By the way, have you thought about doing a nude scene?” and that’s the thing… so it’s quite skewed in terms of the balance of the interview where you’re talking about all sorts of things, but people tend to pull out the one that fits the image they have for you. And that can be a little bit annoying if it’s always about, you know, not having knickers on or being sexy or what beauty products are you using? I have no idea who that person is. It’s just odd when you kind of go, I’m coming off a bit as the sort of person who walks into a room and tries to tell everyone what I’m eating all day. Len [Wiseman] said he wanted to cast you in the role of Lori because he saw aspects in the character that he thought you hadn’t had the chance to play onscreen before very much – even Lori’s guile, her complexity. She’s not a comedic character, but the film has a sense of humor about her. What’s your take on Lori as a role? I think this is a really good part, and really great parts don’t come along every ten seconds. But I think the thing that’s great about her is she’s really intelligent – she’s obviously a bit unhinged, but she’s a very, very smart person, and people who are crazy and smart at the same time are usually the most dangerous people. I think he really wanted to get a sense of that, and I may have been in some rather not-very-intelligent looking photo shoots and/or movies, but my husband observes me in my natural habitat and knows that I’m quite a smart girl. It’s nice that your offscreen relationship could help lend that sort of insight into your working relationship. And it means he’s not just receiving the kind of Kate Beckinsale that’s out there. The quote-unquote “Kate Beckinsale.” Yes! There’s a dichotomy and gender reversal as Lori reveals herself and attempts to kill Quaid: As she chases him through the city, it’s clear that she’s highly lethal and the disoriented Quaid is rather clumsy and scared. Later you two have the most brutal hand-to-hand fight, but it remains on equal footing. I really like the movie, for all of that. It’s a very fun ride, but it’s actually very thoughtful. What deeper meaning could we draw from Len casting his own wife as the ultimate evil wife? And all the film’s many nods to their sham marriage, were those written in to begin with? Some of them were, some of them we came up with. But we obviously don’t have that sort of relationship. Len is still walking around! [Laughs] Total Recall is in theaters Friday. Read Movieline’s review here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Hollywood.TV is your source for all the latest celebrity news, gossip and videos of your favorite stars! bit.ly – Click to Subscribe! Facebook.com – Become a Fan! Twitter.com – Follow Us! Ashley Benson was spotted leaving Bootsy Bellows Saturday night, and who did she rush out with? None other than Glee actor Chord Overstreet! Looks like Chord is all on the rebound, and even though Ashley has denied they are dating, moments make this make her look like a pretty little liar. Hollywood.TV is the global leader in capturing celebrity breaking news as it happens. We cover all the major Hollywood events including The Golden Globes, The Oscars, The Screen Actors Guild Awards, The Grammy’s, The Emmy’s and the American Music Awards, as well as all the red carpet movie premiers in Los Angeles and New York. HTV is on the streets 24/7, at all the industry events and invited by the stars to cover their every move in Hollywood, New York and Miami. Hollywood.TV is currently the third most viewed reporter channel on www.youtube.com YouTube with almost 400 million views, and our footage is seen worldwide! Tune in daily for all the latest Hollywood news on www.hollywood.tv and http like us on Facebook! FFC910FE
Like so many of the R-rated comedies of Judd Apatow and Todd Phillips, the Danish film Klown is about men behaving amusingly badly while the women in their lives wait on the sidelines for them to grow up and get their act together. In Klown , however, the ladies have a pretty good case for just walking away, and a certain resignation in their attitudes suggests they know it, but have already put so much time into these relationships that they feel terminally invested. Directed by Mikkel Nørgaard and based on a 2005-2009 TV series of the same name that you need know nothing about to appreciate the film, Klown is the story of besties Frank (Frank Hvam) and Casper (Casper Christensen) and the camping trip they’ve planned together that’s actually an excuse for Casper to sleep around and Frank to attempt to prove he’s fit for fatherhood. It’s startlingly funny in an uncomfortable, envelope-pushing way that’s all the more effective for how it sneaks up on you — its shocking gags are folded into a low-key, semi-realistic style like a Dogme 95 take on The Hangover . Frank is the petulant, awkward half of Klown ‘s central friendship, while Casper is the outgoing horndog, and however long the pair have been pals, there are few boundaries between them. The vacation they’ve planned strategically involves a canoe, because, as Casper explains, his girlfriend Iben ( High Fidelity ‘s Iben Hjejle) would never want to come along on a canoe trip and so she won’t be around to prevent his running wild. Their end goal is a party being thrown by their friend Bent (musician/composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, playing, like most everyone else in the film, a Curb Your Enthusiasm -style gloss on his real-life self) for which prostitutes from around the world are flown in for a once-a-year bacchanal. But then Frank learns from a friend that his girlfriend Mia (Mia Lyhne) is pregnant, and that she hasn’t told him because, as she puts it, “I worry you don’t have enough potential as a father.” She has reason for concern — and Frank’s plan to prove her wrong involves spontaneously and ill-advisedly taking Bo (Marcuz Jess Petersen), Mia’s 12-year-old nephew left in their care while his newly remarried mother is on her honeymoon, with them on what Casper has given the child-unfriendly name of the “Tour de Pussy.” Near the start of the film, Klown winkingly places its main characters at a book club meeting in which the novel chosen is Heart of Darkness (neither Frank nor Casper did the reading). But our two heroes aren’t journeying into the forbidding unknown — they’re the agents of chaos, bringing entertaining disaster to everyone they encounter, from a group of high school students on a field trip to a woman who takes them in and feeds them after their boat capsizes. Klown has a looseness to it that can feel improvised, but many of its jokes reveal themselves to be carefully structured, from one that plays off of Casper’s technique of male flirting to get his way (he matter-of-factly insists to Frank that all men are a little gay) to another involving the single-serving bottles of Underberg liquor the pair are constantly downing. Tubby, solemn Bo is no adorable sidekick, and Frank’s no natural with kids, and his attempts to entertain the boy go wincingly poorly. When there is the odd moment of sweetness, it’s disarmingly off-kilter, as when Frank consoles Bo about the fact that for guys with their build, their tummy fat can make their penises look smaller. Frank’s fitness for fatherhood comes down to a genuine question about whether he’ll ever be able to put the well-being of someone else before his own, and while he means well, poor Bo rarely seems in safe hands throughout the trip. The kid gets humiliated, neglected and endangered, but also gets an instance or two of giddy, well-earned, irresponsible joy — it’s thanks to him that the film can find something touching about the act of peeing while standing up. Are there lessons to be learned in Klown ? Thank god, no, though Frank does experience a smidgen of hard-won growth while Casper remains gleefully unchanged (Christensen is the film’s comedic stand-out, his smirkingly slick persona landing him in outrageously humiliating situations). It’s hard to call the film a tribute to male friendship when it presents guy-bonding time as all an excuse to get smashed, hit on teenagers and bang one’s way through multiple continents worth of hookers, but it does touch on the dread of getting older and the desire to hold on to both the feckless kid you were while also being the grown-up you inarguably have become, one that can lead to some lousy decisions. One of the film’s best and most hilarious moments comes after a rough night for both of the characters that ends in a jaw-dropping reveal. Reunited, the two walk through the campsite determinedly not talking about what they’ve each been through. Sometimes friendship means sticking by someone, and other times it mean knowing when to just let things be. Klown is in theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Austin and on VOD Friday. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
His film The Avengers is one of the highest grossers of the year and legions of fans gave adulation to him at the recent Comic-Con and even more did so at the box office. So what do you do when you have a blockbuster that has made nearly $1.5 billion worldwide and quickly counting? Take on Shakespeare and Much Ado About Nothing ! Well, he’s done it already and it’s headed to the Toronto International Film Festival in September, but the film adds to the filmmaker’s wide-ranging repertoire which has included, of course, The Avengers , a portion of last year’s doc Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope (as a writer) and TV episodes of Glee , The Office and Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Whedon’s version of Much Ado About Nothing will be a contemporary version of the Shakespearean story, which was shot in just 12 days, the Los Angeles Times notes . Toronto programmers noted the black and white movie “offers a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love.” The Bellwether Pictures project actually completed shooting last fall, well ahead of The Avengers massive debut in April. The film stars Amy Acker (from Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods and Alexis Denisof ( How I Met Your Mother ) as Beatrice and Benedick, which Bellwether calls “the least likely lovers” who are headed for their “inevitable tumble into love.” It is not the first time the story has been picked as a springboard for a contemporary re-telling. Kenneth Branagh took it on back in the early ’90s. That version starred Branagh along with Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale and Denzel Washington. Also starring in Whedon’s Ado are Nathan Fillion ( Waitress , Clark Gregg ( Avengers , Fran Kranz ( Cabin in the Woods and Reed Diamond ( Moneyball ). [Source: Los Angeles Times ]
Call her a Teen Choice Award winner. Carly Rae Jepsen took home two trophies at last night’s fun ceremony , one for Breakout Star and the other for having the Song of the Summer. Perhaps you’ve heard it once or twice. If so, go ahead and make it three times, as the 26-year old Canadian put on one of the more enjoyable performance of the night, belting out a rendition of “Call Me Maybe” while the screen behind her flashed shots of other celebrities lip-syncing along. We dare you not to do the same as you watch…
They may be friends away from the red carpet, but it’s every celebrity for him or herself when it comes to a Fashion Face-Off. That’s right, readers, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift both made appearances (and took home surf boards) at last night’s Teen Choice Awards , but only one can come out on top of this matchup. Will it be Gomez and her pink dress? Or Swift and her white outfit? Compare. Contrast. And cast your vote between the beautiful young stars now:
It’s a matchup of two Teen Choice Award winners. Both Lea Michele ( Glee ) and Lucy Hale ( Pretty Little Liars ) enjoyed extremely successful nights in Los Angeles yesterday, both for themselves and their hit shows. But neither could have known what awaited them when they posted on the red carpet ahead of time… except an eventual Fashion Face-Off showdown! Each young beauty came prepared with a cute outfit, but you know the rules: only one can be crowned victor. Study Lea and Lucy now, cast your vote and then head over to do the same between Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift .
America’s Got Talent started off strong this week… then immediately disappointed. Until the second hour, there was only one standout performance, although at least we ended on a high note. Come along now and see if you agree with the grades we handed out: The Untouchables – Miami All-Stars Jr. had the advantage of being choreographed by a strong teacher that understood NBC’s production values. The background did a huge disservice for the dancers because it created visual chaos. There were tons of visuals going on that a solid background would have helped. I liked the use of levels and the amount of tricks. It was smart to keep only a handful of dancers front and center to prevent even more chaos. Grade: A- “Rock Star Juggler” Mike Price – I don’t think there is such a thing as a “rock star juggler,” even though Mike’s talented. He upped his game with the cheesy unicycle. The knives then went into fire clubs which he sucked at while he was on the unicycle. He then proceeded to drop a club. The next sequence involved him jugging over a girl, but with his wide stance you knew he wouldn’t drop anything. Grade: B- Inspire The Fire – Black Glee has a great story about the arts, but I hated the arrangement of “Firework.” The harmonization of voices were weak and heavy breathing didn’t help. The one guy did a flip and failed. The moment where the girl hit the high note was awful. The ending was weak and if this was supposed to be uplifting, I was confused. Grade: D Cristin Sandu – Cristin has a legacy of circus performers on his father’s side. He started with unnecessary cube twirling. His act takes too long to prep for a 90 second routine, but when Cristin got on his pile he knew that it was over. That one tube dangled on the edge and he fell over immediately. He didn’t even get to the fire. Grade: F Elusive – It was smart that Elusive had random background people to make his performance look like it could fit a larger stage. I appreciated his level variations and his tricks were pretty strong. Elusive wasted too much time between tricks and I don’t understand why he didn’t end on the top of the staircase. Grade: B Jake Wesley Rogers – Jake’s 15, awkward, and believes in his awkwardness. His choice of “Toxic” matched the whole “awkward” storyline, but why was he even in front of the piano when you could barely hear it? The way the cameras covered up his hands, he could have been miming piano for all we know. Then he wandered around the stage and claimed that he was “ready.” Nope. Sorry. Not tonight. Grade: C All Wheel Sports – The emergence of the bicyclist from the sky was interesting. I normally complain about groups being too busy, but the longer ramp helped with the problem. I compare All Wheel Sports as an edgier, rock star Cirque du Solei. In a very weak group of performers they stood out as a clean and dynamic group. Grade: A Wordspit and the Illest! – The hip-hop fusion group decided to go with an original performance and it didn’t work. The opening sounded like noise until the rapper started. The volume of all the instruments didn’t help the performance at all, the electric guitar was too loud where it was competing with the rapper and main singer. I didn’t like their song, instead of the phrase “Lights, Camera, Flashin'” being a catchy pop hook, it was annoying. Grade: C+ Jacob Williams – Jacob’s voice in his interview was so monotone, it was sleep-inducing. He decided to go with his life-story with more of an awkward angle. The vomit jokes were great, the party of one jokes worked well. I appreciated the tempo of Jacob’s routine especially after Tom Cotter was a little too rapid fire. He got to evolve his story in one nice swoop. Grade: A- All Beef Patty – If you love camp, you’d live All Beef Patty. The vocals for “Let’s hear it for the boy” were actually pretty strong. Having all the backup dancers covered up the fact that All Beef Patty didn’t move. For a drag act, All Beef Patty did everything she could have, but I’m just hoping that there was enough of a voting block. Grade: B Spencer Horseman – The performance had Spencer suspended with a really cool looking straightjacket and a bank bag. He upped his game that the performance was visually appealing. We couldn’t see exactly what was happening which was disappointing; watching Spencer almost-drown the last time was exhilarating. He didn’t need the full 45 seconds because he ended with 13 seconds to spare. Grade: B+ Lightwire Theater – There was a lot of time spent constructing new puppet/costumes and I’m happy to see that we got some new figurines. I appreciated the fact that the camera predominantly stayed in a wide shot. While the act was really similar to their dinosaur segment, the birds provided a lot of cute motions and with the naive bird it worked really well. Grade: A
Casts of ‘Glee’ and ‘Vampire Diaries’ (and hopefully some surprise guests) will also be on hand in San Diego. By Kara Warner Kristen Stewart Photo: Getty Images
