It’s so hard to find a reasonably enjoyable thriller these days that anything with a marginally intriguing premise and fewer than 10 plot holes has come to seem like a minor miracle. Man on a Ledge might have been that kind of modest miracle: Sam Worthington stars as Nick Cassidy, a pissed-off ex-cop who’s been convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Somehow – and the whole of Man on a Ledge deals with the whys and wherefores of that somehow – he springs himself from Sing Sing, suits up in some phenomenally nice-looking threads, and checks himself (under an assumed name) into a room on one of the upper floors of a midtown Manhattan luxury hotel. After a room-service breakfast of champagne, lobster and French fries, he creeps out onto the ledge and greets the cops who respond to the call with some very specific demands. Chief among those requirements is that he’ll speak with only one NYPD psychologist, Lydia Spencer (Elizabeth Banks). Spencer has been having a rough time on the force of late: When we first see her, she’s barely able to rouse herself from her bed – she’s having some sort of killer morning after, and her messy tumble of blond hair makes her look like a discarded Barbie doll. Cassidy, of course, has specific reasons for wanting to speak with Spencer. And even if he makes her day tougher than it was at the beginning, it’s clear from the way her superiors order her around – they include a sarcastic nutbuster played by Edward Burns and Titus Welliver as an overly caricatured, gum-chewing NYPD bossy-pants – that they don’t take her as seriously as Cassidy does. Somewhere in there, Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez sneak around as part of a carefully orchestrated plan to… well, to tell you too much would give the game away, but it involves a giant honker of a diamond that Cassidy supposedly stole from a loathsome Donald Trump type (played with great relish by Ed Harris, who usually gets to portray only principled guys). Meanwhile, Cassidy’s close friend and former partner (played by Anthony Mackie), frets about Cassidy’s fate. Because Cassidy is, after all, clinging somewhat daintily to a narrow strip of stone some 20 stories off the ground: This is a guy who doesn’t care if he lives or dies as long as he ultimately proves his innocence. And as you watch Man on a Ledge , you’ll have good cause to wonder why he’s going to such extremes. Director Asger Leth (son of Danish filmmaker Jørgen Leth and also the director of the 2006 documentary Ghosts of Cit
Joe Carnahan ’s thriller The Grey , currently receiving kudos for its blend of red-blooded action and considered existentialism, tells the fictional tale of a group of oilrig workers who survive a plane crash only to be hunted by wolves in the wild. Among the ragtag band of comrades facing off against nature under Liam Neeson ’s steady leadership is Dermot Mulroney’s Talget, who, like the others, learns to shed his protective layers and confront his own fears when forced to face off directly with Mother Nature. For Mulroney, The Grey represents a kind of muscular, male-driven pic that no longer gets made often enough. In a conversation ranging from the film’s throwback sense of masculinity to his reasons for joining Carnahan & Co. on the unusually brutal shoot (the cast and crew filmed in snowy, sub-zero conditions for months in Canada), Mulroney spoke candidly about how much the landscape has changed for him as an actor since he burst on the scene in the ‘80s, why he was happy to be in a film with no women, and how his first time on the other side of the camera (directing last year’s Love, Wedding, Marriage , which he describes as “a badly made movie”) turned him away from directing, at least for the time being. Liam Neeson aside, you’re probably the most recognizable cast member in The Grey even though you’ve been hidden under layers of clothing and those glasses. How much consideration went into the conception of how your character looks ? I can’t say that wasn’t deliberate but that wasn’t necessarily my idea. It was in conjunction discussing it with the director, Joe [Carnahan], who saw my character as someone who has kind of receded under his protective layers whether it’s the hat and the glasses and the beard and the scarf and all this, and then slowly as the movie progresses some of those layers come off. I hope that we pulled that off. That was his goal; he was so specific with character. What appealed to you about joining this ensemble pic and working with Joe Carnahan? But even from his screenplay, really, is what hooked me, and obviously the opportunity to work with him and Liam. You know, I love to work – I still love to work – and I’d go anywhere for something good like this. It turns out I was going to northern British Colombia in sub-zero temperatures and blizzard conditions… It seems like it was an unusually extreme scenario for a film shoot! But your cast mates have described Joe as having picked a disparate group of actors who somehow shared a specific quality, a like-mindedness about the project, that made it all worthwhile . Very much so. I don’t know what it is that Joe has to be able to do that, but my understanding is that he’s done that with all of his films – he’s handpicked people that have something, as you say, other than the fact that they were right for the part. They’re also the right man that he wants to have on the experience. He wants to experience . What Joe Carnahan loves to do more than anything at all is shoot a movie, so he wants to do it with people that are also going to enjoy it and make it more enjoyable for him. So he’s not just picking actors, he’s kind of picking future friends. Were you acquainted before the film? I’d never met him before! I walk in to audition and I can tell he’s a helluva guy and that I would enjoy his company – but I think he’s actually casting for that as well. He’s casting not only for the film, but for the steak dinners after work, you know? In a way, he was. And really what I’m describing is his ability to intuitively “get” what people would have to offer, and the thing that he was determined to achieve was to get guys who were willing and able. You know, as actors we’re of course all willing, but I don’t think all of them would’ve been able to take on those extreme conditions. I couldn’t believe that you all went into those freezing climes to shoot; word is Joe got frostbite out there at one point. I know Dallas [Roberts] got frostbit on the nose, and I think Joe Anderson got some fingertips… this is, like, angry cold. This is all-the-way cold! But as an actor, your body – your fingertips, your nose – is your livelihood! That seems like a risk to take for a film. Oh, I hadn’t even thought of that! I didn’t suffer any ill effects from the cold. [Laughs] I have good circulation, so… and everybody else handled it great, too. It certainly was never life-threatening, but it never occurred to me that it might somehow affect my ability to make a living. So when you signed on to The Grey , you were signing on not only to a film but to having an extraordinary experience . We were signing on not only to an extraordinary experience but to risk, but a lot of guys would have. These were parts that a lot of people wanted, for the quality, for the personnel, for the content, but also the same as Joe – for the experience of getting to do something like this. I’ve done a lot of movies on stages, and sets, in a house, around a dining room table, sitting in a thing, going to the dance, all that – wonderful. But how often does somebody say, ‘Hey – do you want to go up further than you’ve ever been and stand around in the cold with me for a couple of months?’ For me, I had just come from a movie called Big Miracle which comes out next month where there, too, we were shooting in Anchorage, Alaska and it was cold and dark. I’m guessing Drew Barrymore did not get frostbite on her nose. She did not get frostbite, but she did get in freezing cold water! In a wetsuit, for real – she did it all. Nobody complained and nobody got hurt, and even Kristen Bell, who’s as big as this, pulled off standing around all day in zero degree temperatures. Looking at the themes in The Grey , we’re in an era where metrosexuality has become a thing and more masculine stories and themes are something of another generation. The characters, not just Liam’s but all of them, are different shades of… Grey? Yes, in many respects. But moreso these guys seem to represent a spectrum of what it means to be a man, or to come to terms with your own masculinity and mortality, when faced with this kind of life or death situation. I think that’s a wonderful diagram of the film. I hadn’t quite tapped into that myself. If I were to try to get to the bottom of what character I was playing, my idea for Talget was that he’s the mother of the group. He’s the little old lady with the babushka and the thing and ‘Come on,’ because they already have a natural leader or father type, they already have a hotheaded adolescent with Diaz, and they have a knowledgeable wise grandparent type with Henrik. Where’s the mother? So I kind of filled that slot. That doesn’t answer your masculinity question because I’d much rather be accused of being testosterone-fueled than being a little old lady, but by the same token if you’re looking at each of these characters as a facet of what manhood is, then part of what manhood is, is your mother. But that’s okay! It’s only when these guys strip away their machismo that they are able to be emotionally honest with each other. Right. [Pause] There a couple of scenes in Jaws when the shark goes out of the movie, and you don’t really get a great look at that shark anyhow, much like this movie. But then they’re sitting in that boat and they’re just talking, and Shaw goes into this whole thing about the Indianapolis and it’s this incredible moment, an historical moment in the history of our cinema. So you say this movie has some throwback qualities, or some old school manly-man qualities; that’s intentional. That’s the kind of movie Joe wants to make. Joe is one of those guys. So, guilty as charged on that; if that’s something that needs to be brought back, then let’s bring it back. It seems like people are responding to that about this movie and to my mind there haven’t been enough of them. The pendulum swung the other way since I started in this business and there were men’s movies like whatever those Tom Cruise movies… The meaty ‘80s, yes. Yeah. And then all of a sudden Sigourney Weaver comes in the Alien and we have strong women, we have Working Girl , we have all this, we have Best Friend’s Wedding , and before you know it, all the fucking movies are about the girls! Do you really think so? I do! I do. The ones that I was asked to be in, for certain. All of them. So that’s kind of what I did for a while, and every once in a while I’d get this sweet relief of being in a movie like [ The Grey ], where there are no girls in it, there are no women in it – Nobody vying for your affections… Nobody’s vying for anybody’s affections in this movie, that’s right. [Laughs] That’s one relief right there. Aren’t we kind of tired of the vying for affection in the American cinema? Well, let me ask you this — [Laughs] I know, it’s tough because “wry” doesn’t really come across in print, but you put that on the website and we’ll see how that flies. “Too many ladies in the movies for a while there.” No! I think it’s interesting you say this, given your directorial debut, Love, Wedding, Marriage . Yeah, and it couldn’t be a more womanly movie, right? Let’s skip it. Change the topic. I am interested in your directing impulses… I’m not, so much. Did you get it all out in that one film? No, it just didn’t go very well. If I ever tried again I’d do it alarmingly differently. Why so? I don’t even want to talk about that movie, to be honest with you. I don’t think it’s a very clean segue, either, from masculine guy in The Grey to director of a badly made movie. It’s only that the types of movies that they are, are interesting in juxtaposition. I like movies like The Grey to view and to act in a lot more than I like movies like that. The Grey is in theaters Friday. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Jairon Jackson is a lover, not a fighter. Jennifer Lopez made this seemingly random assessment last night on American Idol , after the 19-year old Colorado native sang an original track for the judges. He titled the single “So Hard,” but Jackson’s soulful crooning made the panel’s decision ever so easy. Watch for yourself: Jairon Jackson American Idol Audition Jairon was one of a number of Aspen contestants to celebrate this week with a Golden Ticket. Other standouts included Angie Zeiderman and Shelby Tweten .
Blame it on editing if you like, but in just four episodes, Courtney Robertson has already cemented her place as one of the great villains in the history of The Bachelor. She’s just getting started, too. Next week features the already-infamous scene in which Courtney takes things to new depths in her quest to claim Ben’s heart (and other body parts) for her own. Even Ellen told him he’s being played, but when a model strips down and goes skinny dipping in the ocean with you, rational thoughts may be on the back burner. Can she be stopped before it’s too late? Watch Ben Fljanik and Courtney Robertson’s nude moment in the promo for Monday’s episode of The Bachelor (after this week’s DRAMATIC rose ceremony) below: The Bachelor Promo: Skinny Dipping The Bachelor’s Courtney Robertson …
Word on the street is Fat Joe and Lorena Cartagena are calling it quits after 17 YEARS of matrimony-dom! According to well-placed Bossip sources, for over a year now Lorena has suspected Joe of cheating with a specific young Indian-looking Muslim woman from Dubai. Pictures of the pair were sent to Lorena’s phone by a Terror Squad associate and eventually Lorena learned not only of places they’d slept together, but also that he was flying the chick all over the place… going so far as to accompany her in public — even to Knicks games! Our source also confirms the longtime rumors of Joe being involved with “Love & Hip-Hop’s” Emily Bustamante, Fab’s baby mother. Pictures coming up soon… SMH. Guess this is what happens when fat guys can see their d*ck again. More On Bossip! For The Fellas: Evelyn Lozada Brings Her Newly-Engaged, Puerto Rican, Reality Show Cakes To The Pages Of Maxim Magazine Don’t Cry, Seal! A History Of Other Swirly Couples That Didn’t Work Out Busted! The Most Embarrassing Examples Of Celebrities Making The Walk Of Shame For The Ladies: The Best Man Cakes Of The NFL, Part 1
Word on the street is Fat Joe and Lorena Cartagena are calling it quits after 17 YEARS of matrimony-dom! According to well-placed Bossip sources, for over a year now Lorena has suspected Joe of cheating with a specific young Indian-looking Muslim woman from Dubai. Pictures of the pair were sent to Lorena’s phone by a Terror Squad associate and eventually Lorena learned not only of places they’d slept together, but also that he was flying the chick all over the place… going so far as to accompany her in public — even to Knicks games! Our source also confirms the longtime rumors of Joe being involved with “Love & Hip-Hop’s” Emily Bustamante, Fab’s baby mother. Pictures coming up soon… SMH. Guess this is what happens when fat guys can see their d*ck again. More On Bossip! For The Fellas: Evelyn Lozada Brings Her Newly-Engaged, Puerto Rican, Reality Show Cakes To The Pages Of Maxim Magazine Don’t Cry, Seal! A History Of Other Swirly Couples That Didn’t Work Out Busted! The Most Embarrassing Examples Of Celebrities Making The Walk Of Shame For The Ladies: The Best Man Cakes Of The NFL, Part 1
George Clooney and BFF Brad Pitt to face off in Best Actor category. By Gil Kaufman Asa Butterfield in “Hugo” Photo: Paramount Pictures A silent picture, a baseball flick, a horse tale, a 3-D children’s movie for grown-ups, a infidelity family drama, an ode to classic cinema and a film that tackles race relations against the backdrop of the 1960’s civil right movement. The nominations for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards read like a travelogue of the history of film. The names of the nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards , hosted by Billy Crystal, were announced on Tuesday (January 24) morning and in addition to a lot of the expected vote-getters, a few dark horses emerged from the pack, which was led by Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” with 11 nods, followed by the acclaimed silent film “The Artist” with 10. For photos of all the Oscar nominees, click here. The Best Picture race will be a dogfight between one of the year’s most lauded films, the French silent movie “The Artist,” director Alexander Payne’s family drama “The Descendants,” the inspiring tale of “The Help,” Scorsese’s 3-D children’s film/ode to his love of the movies, “Hugo” and one of Woody Allen’s most box-office friendly flick in years, “Midnight in Paris.” Also making the list was the Brad Pitt baseball drama “Moneyball,” as well as Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse,” reclusive director Terrence Malick’s existential “The Tree of Life” and “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.” The bids for “The Artist” mark the first time in nearly 80 years that a black-and-white silent film is the leading contender to take the Best Picture award. The Oscars will air live on February 26 from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Golden Globe winner George Clooney and his pal Pitt will vie for the Best Actor award for their work, respectively, in “The Descendants” and “Moneyball.” They will need to overcome a strong bid from Jean Dujardin in “The Artist,” as well as Gary Oldman in the drama “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” Also in the mix is the surprise vote for Mexican actor Demian Bichir, who was praised for his work in “A Better Life” as a gardener in East L.A. intent on keeping his son out of a local gang. It’s a mix of the usual suspects and some new names in the Best Actress category, with 16-time nominee Meryl Streep leading the list for her take on Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron lady,” Viola Davis earning major kudos for her work as a sweet-natured maid in “The Help,” Michelle Williams getting a nod for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in “My Week With Marilyn” and first -time nominee Rooney Mara for her goth punk blitzkrieg in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” Glenn Close was also honored for her gender-bending turn in “Albert Nobbs.” Best Director will pit three legends — Scorsese, Allen and Malick — against Payne and a rising star in against Payne Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist.” The Best Supporting Actor category features Kenneth Branagh (“My Week with Marilyn”), Johan Hill (“Moneyball”), Nick Nolte (“Warrior”) Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) and Max Von Sydow (“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”). In the Best Supporting Actress race, Octavia Spencer (“The Help”), will take on “Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”), Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”), Jessica Chastain (“The Help” and Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”). Break-out “Saturday Night Live” star Kristen Wiig and her writing partner Annie Mumulo were honored with a Best Original Screenplay bid for their explosively funny “Bridesmaids” script, along with Allen for “Midnight in Paris,” Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” Asghar Farhadi for “A Separation” and J.C. Chandor for “Margin Call.” The Animated Feature battle will feature such popcorn pleasers as “Kung Fu Panda 2” going up against “Puss in Boots” and “Rango” as well as two lesser-known movies, “A Cat in Paris” and “Chico & Rita.” Related Videos Oscars 2012: And The Nominees Are… Related Photos 2012 Oscar Nominees
RPattz’s indie ‘Cosmopolis’ takes on the fresh franchise in MTV Movie Brawl 2012 — vote now! By Eric Ditzian Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games” Photo: Lionsgate It started three weeks ago with a simple question: What is truly the must-see movie of 2012? Everyone’s got an opinion. Maybe you’re a “Hobbit” guy who can’t believe that, after years of delay, Peter Jackson is set to deliver the first part of his series in December. Or perhaps you’re a “Dark Knight Rises” gal with an insatiable itch to see how Christopher Nolan wraps up his Batman trilogy. Or, hey, possibly you’re thinking, “Screw all these studio-driven tentpoles! I can’t wait for indies like ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ to hit and show us Emma Watson in her first post-‘Harry Potter’ role!” But we got to wondering: What’s the consensus pick? What’s the collective viewpoint across the globe? So we launched MTV Movie Brawl 2012 , a fan-driven tournament to determine the year’s most-anticipated film. Millions of votes have been cast thus far. The debate has echoed from the pages of MTV News to the updates of the Twitterverse and beyond. Now just two movies remain: “The Hunger Games” and “Cosmopolis.” One is a fresh franchise with a huge fanbase. The other is an indie drama featuring one of the biggest stars on the planet. And less than one day into the action — with hundreds of thousands of votes already cast — it’s anybody’s guess what is going to happen. And we couldn’t be more psyched about it. As of this writing ,”Hunger Games” is up by less than 2 percent over Robert Pattinson’s “Cosmopolis.” It’s been an unlikely run for RPattz’s cerebral drama, having entered the Brawl bracket as a #4 seed after an impressive run in the play-in round. From there, “Cosmopolis” dispatched another Pattinson flick in “Bel Ami,” then shockingly dispatched his own “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.” “The Dark Knight Rises” proved to be no match for “Cosmopolis,” as well, and so the movie came to face “Hunger Games.” Jennifer Lawrence’s film, which hits theaters in March, was a front-runner from the beginning, and it has not disappointed. Both “John Carter” and Daniel Radcliffe’s “Woman in Black” could not trip up the win-at-all-costs run of “Hunger Games.” So we wonder: Can Pattinson accomplish what no other star has so far in the Brawl? Can he fell the mighty “Hunger Games”? All will become clear when the polls close Monday at 5 p.m. Until then, the vote totals are being closely guarded. It’s up to the fans to keep voting for their fave flick and to make sure their must-see movie is crowned the champion of MTV Movie Brawl 2012. Vote For Your Favorite Upcoming Flick In MTV’s Movie Brawl 2012! What are you waiting for? “Hunger Games” and “Cosmopolis” need your support. It’s time to show character, poise and heart. Vote for your pick now at MTV Movie Brawl 2012 ! Related Videos MTV Movie Brawl 2012! Related Photos The Hunger Games
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