The second I heard that Justin was coming to Sydney for his Believe Promo Tour , I began to freak out. Justin rarely comes here, and I knew I had to utilize this incredible opportunity. There were many competitions to win tickets to see Justin perform live – but unfortunately, I didn’t win any, despite entering daily for all of them. I began to DM and tweet the member’s of Justin’s crew on Twitter, asking if they could help me in any way. And, unbelievably, I got a response from one of them. He DM’d me “I can get you tickets to Justin’s show in Sydney.” I immediately began to cry, and I phoned my best friend in shock to tell her the exciting news. I couldn’t believe that I actually had tickets to see Justin perform live for the first time. The day finally arrived, and my friends and I spent the entire morning stalking Justin ALL over Sydney, but unfortunately, with no luck. But we didn’t mind too much – we were going to be seeing Justin perform that night, and we met so many lovely beliebers! In the late afternoon, we went to the meeting point and boarded the buses, which took us to the secret location where Justin would perform. We finally arrived, and walked across a red carpet, inside the venue. My friends and I ran to the very front of the area and we managed to get standing spots at the very front of the pit! After a reasonable wait, Justin came on stage. I couldn’t believe how flawless he looked in person, and when he began to sing, I was so overwhelmed to be hearing Justin’s incredible voice, in person. I took videos and photos of Justin performing, and during “Die In Your Arms,” I yelled out “I’LL DIE IN YOUR ARMS” and Justin looked in my direction, and gave me a huge grin (I caught it on video). In the middle of his performance, I saw Alfredo Flores, and I managed to catch his attention. My friends and I gave him our gift for Justin – a cowbell. Alfredo laughed, and put it in his bag, promising that he would give it to Justin. Later on, he tweeted me that Justin had it, and he had been playing with it all night. And after that – Dan Kanter threw his guitar pick into the crowd, and I caught it! After Justin’s INCREDIBLE acoustic performance, my friends and I rushed to the side of the hall, and found Scrappy and Moshe, whom we got photos with. We also found Kenny, and had a short conversation with him. Two of my friends had meet and greets to see Justin and I accidently called one of them during the session. And, just my luck, she handed the phone to Justin, who said to me “Hey Abi, how are you?” I started to freak out, I recognized the voice but I didn’t understand HOW it could actually be Justin… I put the phone on loudspeaker so my friends could hear, and he told me, “Yes, this is Justin Bieber…” and shortly after, we hung up. It was incredible. Justin Bieber said my name and I managed to speak to him, even though it was brief. It was an incredible night – the best night of my life infact, and I am so thankful that I got to finally see my idol perform live. I hope that one day I will be able to meet him, and tell him just how much he means to me. -@KidrauhlYolo Excerpt from: The second I heard that Justin was coming to Sydney for his…
An Olympics-themed film program sounds like the kind of project that would drive most cinema curators bonkers. I mean, there’s Jim Thorpe: All American , if you want to tell a really sad tale at a moment when we’re supposed to be stoking the thrill of American victory. And then there’s Cool Runnings , which I’ve long thought of as the ideal film for herbal triathletes: mighty-lunged consumers of pot, hash and Salvia. Lucky for Westchester residents, The Pelham Picture House , a non–profit film organization operating out of a beautifully restored 1921 single-screen movie house in Pelham, NY has risen to the challenge with Faster, Higher, Stronger: The Olympics on Film. Through Thursday, the eve of the Games’ star-studded opening ceremony in London, the theater is showing a creatively curated selection of pictures that captures the highs, lows and entirely made-up madcap comedy that the Olympics have produced. On Wednesday, the schedule includes Walk, Don’t Run , the 1966 film which starred Cary Grant in his last role. He plays a businessman who can’t find lodging during the 1964 Tokyo games. Grant ends up sharing an apartment with Samantha Eggar and fixing her up with an American athlete played by Jim Hutton. Hijinks ensue. Also on the schedule: Miracle , the 2004 picture that stars Kurt Russell as the coach of the 1980 Olympic hockey team who brought home gold after defeating the Soviet team against all odds. Yung Chang’s China Heavyweight documentary, which follows former Chinese boxing star and state coach Qi Moxiang as recruits Olympic hopefuls from the impoverished villages of Sichuan province. Other films that have already played in the program include Laurens Grant’s documentary Jesse Owens, the Oscar-winning One Day in Munich , about the Palestinian organization Black September’s kidnapping of athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and Warrior Champions, Craig and Brent Renaud’s documentary about disabled Iraq War vets pursuing the Olympic dream. Jim Thorpe: All American did not make the cut, but Cool Runnings, a comedy inspired by the 1988 Jamaican Olympic bobsled team, gets multiple screenings on Wednesday and Thursday. Leave your blunts at home, though. The late, great John Candy is in the movie, and just looking at him can produce uncontrollable fits of laughter even when you’re totally straight. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter Follow Movieline on Twitter
Hobbit director Peter Jackson is nothing if not a man of the people, so when he took to San Diego’s Comic-Con earlier this month to present footage to 6,000+ lucky fans shortly after wrapping, he recorded a video diary to share with the rest of the Lord of the Rings faithful. Watch as Jackson navigates the perils of press junkets and Hall H’s screaming fans, filming on his trusty iPhone along the way! Or, y’know… skip ahead a few minutes to fantastic 10+ minutes of behind-the-scenes peeks from the set of The Hobbit . The set footage is the real treat for fans hungry for Hobbit peeks, but you’ve got to also hand it to Jackson and his videography crew for interviewing just about everybody involved in production, down to the freaking key grip. And yet, my favorite part? Mark Hadlow in costume as the Dwarf Dori, quoting Anchorman . Runner-up line of the vid: “I’ve never worked on such a hairy movie.” The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey hits theaters December 14, with its conclusion, There and Back Again , following in 2013. [ Peter Jackson via Facebook ]
If you thought you were getting any work done during the second part of the day, think again. The good people at Vulture have apparently teamed up with the RAND Corporation and NASA to devise a series of charts with endless permutations that rank today’s most valuable movie stars . But, we ask: Who are today’s Most Valuable Indie Stars? How does one determine who is most valuable? Vulture is more than willing to pull back the curtain on their methodology . (Oh, if only the folks at Diebold could learn a thing or two from celeb-obsessed journalists!) They may have their nifty algorithms, but we’ve got our gut instincts. Using those and those only, we’d like to devise a highly unscientific list of the most valuable indie actors working today. 6. Michael Shannon He’s got many more credits than you might think ( Kangaroo Jack! ) but he first came to our attention as an unusual leading man in Jeff Nichols’ Shotgun Stories . His turn in Werner Herzog’s My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? secured him a lifetime of indie cred, and this was before Boardwalk Empire and Take Shelter . By my algorithm, he can appear in Man of Steel and two sequels and still be considered an indie star. 5. Mathieu Amalric It isn’t crazy to call this French import a next gen Steve Buscemi. Amalric’s worked with a number of top level international directors like Julian Schnabel, Alain Resnais and Arnaud Desplechin. When he works in Hollywood it’s in top tier material like Munich and Quantum of Solace , which, you must remember, looked like it was going to be good on paper. 4. Michelle Williams From Dawson’s Creek to Synechdoche, NY , Michelle Williams is such a beloved indie star we’ll put up with her breaking our hearts ( Blue Valentine ), forgive her, then let her do it again ( Take This Waltz .) No trip to the Park Slope Food Co-op is complete without thinking you see her in the loose tea aisle. 3. Michael Fassbender From his indistinguishable accent to the phallic puns about his last name, it’s impossible not to give this guy a high ranking. I was hesitant to see Hunger because we’d already seen the Bobby Sands story in Some Mother’s Son , but when I realized it was one of the shirtless dudes from 300 we got curious. Since then he’s put in remarkable turns in Inglourious Basterds , A Dangerous Method , Jane Eyre and Haywire . Even when he does a major studio picture it is with an provocateur in the director’s chair like Matthew Vaughn or Ridley Scott. Fassbender is one of the few actors out there that elite moviegoers will follow from project-to-project indiscriminately. 2. Tilda Swinton …and in that regard, he’s right alongside Tilda Swinton. Who else out there has punk rock cred from her early Derek Jarman years and is also the descendant of medieval landed gentry? From the films of the Coen Brothers to Jim Jarmusch to Lynne Ramsay to Wes Anderson to oddball gems like Julia and I Am Love , Swinton strikes me as someone who doesn’t need to work, to the point that she’s very selective about what she does. As such, anything she’s involved in is very much worth your time. 1. Paul Giamatti If you’ve missed Michelle Williams in Brooklyn, maybe you’ve seen Paulie G around. A gifted comic, and uncannily sympathetic, Giamatti brings a level of excellence to everything he does. Barney’s Version is, I hate to say it, not a good movie. Yet Giamatti’s performance made me literally laugh and cry – oftentimes in the same moment. What’s more, Giamatti is quick to use his Hollywood clout to champion far-flung indie films, which was made abundantly clear during this year’s Sundance with the ultra-niche John Dies at the End . Those are our indie-world MVPs. Have more to add? Make your case below!
Thursday June 21 was like any other Thursday. I woke up early, got ready for work and headed out. I come home kick my shoes off, grab a bite to eat, and browse the interweb. I happened to have message on Facebook from my close friend Anita (@bieberinla95). “Guess what? Justin Bieber will be at Radio Disney on Monday!” I literally screamed and ran around my house like an idiot. Once I calmed down, I called Anita to get all the details and make sure she was going too. After making arrangements for Monday I waited dreadfully long for the weekend to be over. I don’t think I got a full nights sleep. Finally Monday rolled around. I woke up at 6:30 am and got ready for what I hoped would be a day to remember. It was more than that. I arrived at RD at like 8:30-9ish and hung out with Twitter friends Katy and Jessica. (@loluvsJB & @katiekeegann). We waited anxiously for JB to arrive with other girls such as Shelby and Stalker Sarah. Somehow word got out about the RD interview and more girls than I could count showed up. All of us who arrived early and waited all day prayed that they wouldn’t hoard. It was about 1:30 when JB showed up and girls flocked to him like sheep without a herder. He was quickly rushed into the studio while girls screamed at the windows . I was devastated, me and Anita already knew that there was no way he would be able to stop and take pictures with all like 100 of us plus he was already running late. We both left crushed and heart broken. We decided to go to Culver City to have some lunch and then possibly head to Venice Beach. On our way to a great french bakery, we happened to get a glimpse of grey van and what looked like to be segway on the back. We quickly pulled over and asked a man walking inside what was this place. It happened to be another radio station. KROQ or AMP, they were both in there. We ran to the gate and realized that was Justin’s van! Then we caught sight of Moshe, Vanessa, and Kenny and we were like “OMG. We still have chance.” We motioned Vanessa over and begged her to please let Justin know that we were outside and we really wanted to meet him. She said that she would let him know but couldn’t make any promises. Then we tried to motion Kenny over but he waved us off claiming he was busy. We waited about 10 mins and then Justin exited out the building. Anita and I both were like, “Please, please, please, Justin come take a picture with us.” But he just got in his van and Moshe told us he was sorry but they were running late. We still tried one last time, “Pleasse Justin, PLEASEEE.” They were about to close the door and drive off when I was like “Come on guys, let’s just give up.” We turned to walk back towards our cars when we heard, “WAIT! Come back.” Moshe motioned us over and Justin greeted us outside his van . I literally cannot explain how grateful, happy, and blessed I felt. He took pictures with me, Anita, her mom’s friend’s daughter, and another fan who happened to be by there (she told me her twitter but I forgot it) and Anita’s mom. He was honestly so sweet and nice even when he was rushing and running late. All I can say guys is fate has mysterious ways of working. Seriously never give up it will happen. Take every opportunity that you can. I never thought this would happen and I was ready to go home and cry myself to sleep that night but I believed and I was determined. You will have your Bieber Experience. I promise. -@virginiaknightt Read more: Thursday June 21 was like any other Thursday. I woke up early,…
‘I’m going to be 15 or 16 by the end, but I started off when I was 10,’ Willow Shields tells MTV News at Comic-Con. By Terri Schwartz, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Willow Shields Photo: MTV News
‘I’m going to be 15 or 16 by the end, but I started off when I was 10,’ Willow Shields tells MTV News at Comic-Con. By Terri Schwartz, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Willow Shields Photo: MTV News
Jodie Foster returns to the screen – and to sci-fi – in next spring’s Elysium , the latest from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. Speaking with Movieline today at her first-ever Comic-Con , Foster described the dystopian future of the film, in which she plays a methodical bureaucrat controlling the “border” of an artificially-created space station (a character now named Delacourt – so take note, internet ). The movie-loving polymath also waxed ecstatic about her one-time Panic Room co-star Kristen Stewart, Beasts of the Southern Wild , and her current obsession: HBO’s True Blood . Elysium takes place in a future in which overpopulation has driven the privileged to take up residence on a man-made space station while the poor remain on Earth; contrary to early reports, Foster says her character is named Minister Delacourt, a government official of French descent committed to keeping the “have-nots” out of paradise. There’s been some secrecy surrounding Elysium’s plot, but we now have a synopsis and some additional hints at what to expect. How would you now describe the film and what it’s really about? In the future, the haves and have nots have become more polarized; there are fewer and fewer haves and more “nots,” and the Earth has devolved. A few incredibly rich and powerful people have created their own habitat. It’s about the battle between those two worlds. Your character could be described as the antagonist of Elysium , correct? Yeah, she’s the antagonist. She’s the minister, she’s the person who controls who gets to come in and who doesn’t. She’s methodical, her antagonism has a point. Where is she coming from? She’s French! I speak a little French in there. This is an international place, obviously – there are people that come from all over the earth to be there. It does harken a bit back to the European history and this idea that there was something worth holding onto, something in our past and aristocratic past with class distinctions. She’s very hell bent on saying there’s a lot about the way that it was that’s better than it is now. Between the imagery that we’ve seen and the themes within Elysium it seems to be of a piece with Neill’s previous film, District 9 . Yeah, it has a grittiness to it – more than half, I think 70 percent of the movie has this incredible grittiness, this romantic degradation. Did you get to immerse yourself very much in that on set given that your character is more of a bureaucrat? I’m in the polished world! Our world is very sterile and very inorganic. They’re trying to create a fake organic habitat, but it’s not organic. There’s a bit of viral marketing on the Comic-Con convention floor in the guise of a futuristic Elysium border agent. What issues does Elysium address in its undercurrent of social commentary? Immigration’s a big one. There’s increasing class separation in the world – what’s to become of the Earth when we’ve destroyed our planet, and where are we going to go after that? What initially sold you on this project and this role when you first spoke with Neill? It’s a great script, and him, honestly. I think he’s an incredibly talented director, and a lot of it is conscious but a lot of it is unconscious, too. I think he’s at this really interesting place in his life where he’s old enough and experienced enough to know how to tell the story, but also young enough to understand that there are things that he cares about that he doesn’t entirely understand. The fact that Secretary Rhodes is a woman – Her name is Delacourt now! They changed it. Minister Delacourt. The press kit must be wrong! Are you telling me that everything you read on the internet is not necessarily true? That’s right! Shocking! So, Delacourt – she’s a woman, and the main antagonist here, which is in itself a rarity. Do you feel that the genre world allows for more progressive characterizations of women? I don’t know about that. I’m not sure that’s true. Was the character always written as a woman? It pretty much was. I mean, that’s an interesting idea. But I think genre films, because they have to, usually paint things much more in black and white, whether it’s women or not women, because the storytelling in ways is a lot more primitive. If you look at recent films for example, you see a string of big-screen heroine tales – Kristen Stewart as Snow White, for example. Which I loved! I loved it. To be so bold and so emotional, I just thought she was terrific. They were both great; Charlize Theron was fantastic. I really loved it, and I did not expect to like it. I didn’t think I was going to care, but it really got me. Do you get out to see movies much? Yeah, I go with my kids. I see all the big ones with my kids, but the smaller ones I tend to see on the small screen. I just went to see this movie yesterday that’s just unbelievable called Beasts of the Southern Wild . It’s a life-changing movie. Talk about complexity. That whole ending part, I loved it. I loved her. That’s another recent film revolving around a young heroine – add that to Snow White and The Hunger Games and they’re all stories about young women following the hero’s journey as the Chosen One. That’s right, and that’s always been the domain of men. I remember feeling that about Silence of the Lambs ; you look at that character and it’s a quintessential archetypal character. The young boy has to go find the panacea and they have to go through the Forest of Experience and meet gnomes and demons along the way and then slay them, and then he finds out in some way the things he didn’t know about himself were actually the demons that he had to slay… it’s always been reserved for men, and that’s changing. When you look at Hunger Games , there’s a lot to like, but I will say the thing I liked the most about The Hunger Games was seeing a woman in the number 1 point of view as the protagonist who changes and finds her strength, who you’re rooting for, and who saves the men – it’s fantastic. I’m so happy for her. A few years ago there was word that you wanted to make your own science fiction film. It didn’t work out! I do lots of things and develop lots of movies that don’t get made. It’s hard making personal films and the kinds of movies I like to make – very verbal, intelligent films – are hard to get off the ground. Because we’re here at Comic-Con where fandom is celebrated, are there any geek properties that you’re way, way into? I love True Blood . Are you into vampire stories in general? I like them all – zombies, all those stories. I just like A) that he does it with humor and that the writing is so good, and I think the characters are so fantastic. I just love them. Elysium hits theaters March 1, 2013. Read more from Comic-Con 2012 here. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Hip hop artist RZA can now add “film director” to his already impressive resume. The co-founder of the Wu-Tang Clan completed his first feature, the action pic The Man with the Iron Fists , in which he appears along with Jamie Chung, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Dave Bautista and more. RZA says Comic-Con itself inspired him by “coming across great art and lots of life.” He also gives his take on Quentin Tarantino (RZA scored Kill Bill ) who inspired him to make movie set in feudal China. Written by Eli Roth and RZA, the story revolves around a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village and finds himself having to defend himself and his fellow villagers. Beyond the Trailer host Grace Randolph chats with RZA at Comic-Con who gives insight on how the movie got made and what kind of director he wants to be.
Twilight has been credited with really putting Comic-Con on the map, or if it was on the map already, then it put the massive fanboy (and girl) genre-action-science-fiction-nerd-bonanza front and center in mid-July pop culture. But now the franchise is complete, but the cast came out en force to promote the film (not that it should have much problem luring adoring audiences and their cash). At the event, Beyond The Trailer host Grace Randolph speaks with the stars including Taylor Lautner who gives his personal feelings about Jacob and Robert Pattinson who offers up his view on whether his character has redefined “prince charming.” And of course, there’s Kristen Stewart, aka Vampire Bella. The actress tells what she thinks about the un-dead version of her character and what she thought of her before reading Breaking Dawn . Randolph also speaks with Ashley Greene about villains, and looking quite the adorable young star, Mackenzie Randolph shares insight on Renesmee. Check out the latest Twilight goings-on from the red carpet…
