Last night at SXSW , Broken Lizard alum Jay Chandrasekhar debuted his latest comedy, The Babymakers , which features Olivia Munn as a woman whose not-so-potent husband (Paul Schneider) breaks into a sperm bank to retrieve his own, um, donations so they can get pregnant. Given the film’s balls-out embracing of sex jokes and a subplot concerning racy photographs, one could view those recent hacked photos of Munn in provocative poses as brilliantly conceived viral marketing, a fact that hasn’t escaped Chandrasekhar. He offered Movieline his two cents on the matter with a nod to Munn’s own recently-released photo response. “I spoke to Olivia about it,” said Chandrasekhar, who has worked with the G4 host-turned-actress on three Broken Lizard-related comedies. “At the end of the day what happened was her phone was hacked. It’s private! I know people could say, ‘Well, maybe you shouldn’t have pictures like that on your phone,’ but if my phone was hacked… it’s such a violation. And then once the pictures get out there on the internet, we’re looking at a real violation of somebody.” Photos taken from Munn’s hacked phone made their way to the interwebs last week , depicting the scantily clad actress in racy poses. Accompanying Photoshopped (or, rather, Skitched ) arrows and dirty talk scrawled across the pictures only made them more infamous and bizarre, but Munn wasn’t the only celebrity whose private phone cam pics made waves that week. “I honestly believe Olivia is a great actress and I think that there’s a part of this business that will try to do what it did to Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears – they want you to explode, eventually,” said Chandrasekhar. “They want you to become really famous for being really hot then they want to see you naked and then they want to eat you alive. I think Olivia, because of her acting ability, has an opportunity to be famous for her talent and not for this. And look, it’s not her fault these pictures came out.” That said, the timing of the photo leak may serve as a coincidental boon for The Babymakers , which is currently seeking distribution. Chandrasekhar says Munn cooked up a set of her own mock sexy pictures in response to the hubbub, poking fun at the situation; might her good-humored reaction pique audience interest in the film by showing that Munn has a sense of humor? “From a marketing standpoint I totally recognize that it’s going to be a positive for the film. I get it, people will be curious. But she’s printed some subsequent pictures that are fucking hilarious. She hasn’t put them out yet [ ed. Today Munn released at least one of these response pics today along with an open letter ], but they’re hilarious and really make fun of this whole event. She totally gets how to spin something funny.” [ @oliviamunn , WSJ Speakeasy ]
Talking about Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s savvy and surprising genre deconstruction Cabin in the Woods , the opening night film of SXSW 2012 , is a tricky thing partly because nobody involved wants any part of the film spoiled for their opening weekend audience and also, more importantly, because those surprises really are best left discovered by virgin eyes. So rest assured: All spoilery plot details, character developments, casting choices, kills, and surprises that follow in this piece have been redacted for the preservation of discovery, leaving only all the vital bits of information up for discussion. Like, after filming in 2009 and being delayed for so long that star Chris Hemsworth is now kind of famous, is Cabin in the Woods actually any good? The quick and easy answer is (mostly) yes, though folks who rooted out early-early word on the mysterious meta-horror pic already know that nothing but raves came from an unofficial unveiling – call it a test run in friendly waters – at last winter’s Butt-Numb-A-Thon in Austin. But Friday at SXSW Cabin in the Woods had its true blue world premiere, confirming those early rumblings: It’s smart, fresh, and utterly Whedonesque, even if its ultimate point is more muddled and incomplete than profound. The basic plot setup is as follows: Five attractive college kids embark on a weekend getaway in the woods at a lakeside cabin, each repping a different classic horror movie type. There’s Curt (Chris Hemsworth), the jock; Jules (Anna Hutchison), his blonde girlfriend; Dana (Kristen Connolly), the average-but-extraordinary in a secretly-stronger-than-she-thinks kind of final girl way; Holden (Jesse Williams), Curt’s good looking friend/ Dana’s new love interest; and Marty (Fran Kranz), their stoner pal. Once at the cabin, the gang is beset by [redacted] and [redacted] ensues, in keeping with every horror movie ever made. We get to know these doomed coeds as they go through the requisite horror movie paces, ignorant to the dangers that await – the awkward/menacing brush with a [redacted] , the predictable descent into the darkened [redacted] filled with [redacted] and [redacted] and [redacted] , the moonlit rendezvous in the uninhabited backwoods where there surely aren’t any [redacted] lying in wait… and here, something wonderful happens. We learn that there’s more to these stock dead teenager types than expected – for example, [redacted] is more [redacted] than he seems, and [redacted] only recently [redacted] –adding subtle layers of sophistication to our understanding of why it is we, or anyone, expects these kids to behave according to type to begin with. And yet there’s even more going on here than meets the eye. Unbeknownst to the gang they’ve entered a [redacted] controlled by a pair of jaded [redacted] played by [redacted] and [redacted] , who run a [redacted] that manipulates every bit of [redacted] with elements like [redacted] and [redacted] . Part [redacted] , part [redacted] , they’re also voyeurs in this game, watching our heroes hurtle through scenarios straight out of horror classics from the obvious influencers ( [redacted] ) to the more heady ( [redacted] ).. Of course, [redacted] isn’t going down without a fight. And the movie, co-written by Whedon and Goddard, isn’t letting its audience go without at least one more major, mind-blowing shake-up, which is when chaos really reigns, literally and conceptually. The film is at its cleverest when it’s peeling away layers to turn clichés on their head, and it turns out that isn’t just confined to the kids in the cabin in the woods; Whedon and Goddard aren’t just having a fun little go at tired horror movie conventions — they’re trying to nuke the entire genre so it can be restarted anew. But amusing as the film is when subverting horror clichés, it loses steam and focus in its final act. Characters that had been developing in refreshingly dimensional ways get short shrift as their journeys come to abrupt ends, as if Whedon and Goddard had been so busy turning over concepts they forgot that every story needs to end well, too. Themes of faith and religion hinted at throughout the film give way to a disappointingly uninspired new mythology and an ending that is, perhaps, pointedly meaningless in many ways and more than a little nihilistic. Whedon and Goddard seem to be suggesting that they have made what should be the last and perhaps greatest horror movie ever made, at least in this generation of self-aware, referential, overstimulated mass media. The way things end in this ultimate smartypants, knowing, deconstructed, playfully reverential horror movie – which is just as much about watching horror movies as it is making them – they’ve essentially dropped the mic but are also trying to close the lid shut on the genre as it stands. Ultimately it’s a ride that deep-thinking horror fans will probably love, average moviegoers should be tickled (or possibly confused) by, and Whedon-watchers will continue to worship him for on account of it fits in his wheelhouse of eye-winking, wholesomely aware fantasy-comedy and yet marks a step outside his norm. Goddard acquits himself well in his feature directing debut, though he does struggle to juggle all the pieces and bring it all home. What begins as a clever excursion into simple, familiar territory expands exponentially until everything’s been razed, as one character suggests, to pave the way for the next wave – a fascinating declaration to end on, in the least. But then where do we go next? Cabin in the Woods will be released on April 13. Read more from SXSW 2012 here. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Unemployment is bad, but things like What’s Your Number are apparently worse: “In the overall (all countries) adjusted model, adolescents with higher exposure to alcohol use in movies were significantly more likely to have engaged in binge drinking, even after controlling for age, gender, family affluence, school performance, television screen time, sensation seeking and rebelliousness, and frequency of drinking of peers, parents, and siblings.” The most troubling part of this study might be its definition of binge drinking as five or more drinks in one sitting, which I otherwise tend to refer to as “lunch.” [ Pediatrics (PDF) via Deadline ]
Unemployment is bad, but things like What’s Your Number are apparently worse: “In the overall (all countries) adjusted model, adolescents with higher exposure to alcohol use in movies were significantly more likely to have engaged in binge drinking, even after controlling for age, gender, family affluence, school performance, television screen time, sensation seeking and rebelliousness, and frequency of drinking of peers, parents, and siblings.” The most troubling part of this study might be its definition of binge drinking as five or more drinks in one sitting, which I otherwise tend to refer to as “lunch.” [ Pediatrics (PDF) via Deadline ]
Taylor Kitsch is about to have a very big 2012. In addition to carrying Disney’s ambitious sci-fi adaptation John Carter as the titular Edgar Rice Burroughs hero, a Civil War veteran transported to Mars, he’s also fronting Peter Berg’s alien invasion actioner Battleship and starring in Oliver Stone ’s Savages later this year. But as Kitsch revealed to Movieline, the John Carter job wasn’t easy to get — and the toll it took on him during production was a challenge in itself. So who better to offer pro tips on nabbing the spotlight and handling the pressure of becoming an action hero than Kitsch, on the eve of a new chapter in his career? It should be noted that Kitsch is no stranger to action, having appeared in films like Snakes on a Plane , The Covenant , and X-Men Origins: Wolverine already in his six-year career, and no stranger to the spotlight thanks to his beloved turn as Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights . But John Carter marks his first starring role and by far his biggest film to date, a sprawling epic set on a vast alien world envisioned in great detail by director Andrew Stanton ( Finding Nemo , WALL-E ). So how did Kitsch land the coveted role? What does his John Carter role share in common with his last one, as the late South African photojournalist Kevin Carter, in The Bang Bang Club ? All this and more as Taylor Kitsch shares his pro tips on landing (and keeping) that action hero gig. 1. Don’t think of yourself as an action star . “That’s you guys labeling me, so me saying yes to that – I can’t say yes to that because I refuse to put myself in that bubble. You saw Bang Bang Club , that’s no action movie. We hope to keep throwing you curveballs so you can’t put me in a spot like that.” 2. Ignore the hype and the naysayers – worry about putting pressure on yourself to do the work so you can sleep at night . “The pressure is what I put myself on in the sense of getting and doing the best I can, and having no regrets with what I put into it. That’s the pressure. The pressure now is that you can overthink everything, from how it’s going to do and how people are going to perceive it, you, this and that. If you want to drive yourself crazy over that you can, but I think that’s why you put so much into it. So you can lay down at night and be okay with what you did and be like, you know what? I still wouldn’t change it. If you say I’m fucking shit, I still wouldn’t change it.” 3. Be picky. Taking on a blockbuster gig is a huge commitment, so make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. “Hopefully you feel that, you see it. You see the emotion and the energy that it takes to really do what it deserves, potentially. I think that’s what it’s about, and that’s why I’m so picky with the jobs. I’m all in. I’m never going to do a job for the sake of working. So we’re at a point now of looking at the next job, or whatever that is, and my people, my team, have been with me from Day One. If I don’t work for a year, I’m OK with it. We’re not going to do it unless we have to do it. “I was and still am okay with doing indies for the rest of my life. I don’t need to be in the spotlight; if anything, I’ll push it away even more. I live in Austin. I love the work. I love the storytelling, and that’s what the first meeting represented. I could play so many parts in this one character, from the Western, from the guy that doesn’t give a shit, to the guy who’s finally come full circle and become the leader that he’s pushed away for so long. I love that, and I love working with an Andrew Stanton, a Willem Dafoe, a Mark Strong, a Sam Morton, a Thomas Haden Church, a Lynn Collins.” 4. Make sure there is a “there” there. “Man, I will be shit if you give me nothing to play. Any actor will tell you, the more you can give me, the more depth I can escape into, the better it’s going to be on every level.” 5. Flawed characters are more interesting to play, and are worth diving into headfirst — even if it takes a lot out of you. “It’s not the war thing, but the more interesting guys I grew up watching — I like watching the more flawed guys than the perfect guys, and that’s more interesting for me to play. That’s more real to me. I love that and I love bringing people into a performance and it takes so fucking much out of you to do it honestly, but it’s worth it. Kev Carter – you won’t meet a guy more flawed. That crushed me.” 6. Remember to maintain balance with the emotional and physical demands of carrying a tentpole… especially when they require regular, long-term maintenance of action-hero muscles. “I was beyond exhausted in this film. Yeah, six day weeks is what killed me. I think I just pushed myself — I don’t regret it because you see it, but at times I could have had a better balance, maybe, just because waking up that early so often and the lack of sleep and pushing yourself that much, to have that much energy onscreen… for seven months, to be at that aesthetic! It’d be a lot easier if I had one shirtless scene and I could just get toned for that then be OK and balance it out, but it was 11 months that I was on that diet and training regimen. It’s very unreal to do that and to look that way, obviously, but it’s what I guess I demanded out of myself. This goes back to Kev [Carter, of the Bang Bang Club ], too. No one asked me to lose a pound, I wanted to. 7. That said, don’t worry too much about how you look, stud . “Fuck, man. You never want to be that conscious in a scene. That’d mean I’d be so totally out of John Carter mode, if I’m really that conscious of how I look and the lighting. That’s really bad. [But] you definitely have to do what you have to do to put yourself in the moment so it’s connecting to whatever it is. I think you’ve just got to get to a point where you’re okay with how you look and what you’re doing and you leave it and let it lay. Whatever it is, I look at that scene and it is what it is” 8. Go out for a role knowing it’s yours to lose. The audition process for John Carter was particularly grueling, with five actors and five actresses vying for the same roles over the course of two intense days. “Man, I was just so focused, I was so myopic with it. I prepped so much for that audition. I’ve always been an underdog and I came in on this gig that way, but it was like I felt it was mine to lose. I went in with that thinking really, if I can go in all out on this, I’m going to go in and kill it as much as I can. But it was a tough process, for sure. Two 14-hour days… and you’ve got to remember, what’s bizarre about getting roles and auditioning for the most part is you do your prep and everything for the most part after you get the role. It’s like OK, now I’ve got to sit down and really sketch this guy out. It’s a trip. “ 9. Whatever you do, do not go out partying the night before a big audition. “I won’t call the guy out, but I know and it gave me more oomph, put it that way, knowing that this one guy that was up for it was out partying quite hard the night before or two nights before. No matter what, I hear about that and I know I got ya, man. It’s like, good on ya for making it a little bit easier on me.” John Carter is in theaters this week. Read more on the film here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
This just in: “French President Nicolas Sarkozy has named Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company (TWC), a recipient of the 2012 Légion d’Honneur, in recognition of Weinstein’s contributions to cinema and his decades of work producing some of the most highly regarded films of our time.” And those are just the ones on his shelf ! Read on for the full release. Seriously, though: How else would you expect Harvey Week to end? You didn’t think that the guy who acknowledges he was introduced to foreign film because he thought The 400 Blows was porn was just gonna let all that French post-Oscar goodwill get away, did you? Sigh. Anyway, this happened. Congrats, Harvey. Will raise a glass or 70. ====== Paris, France – March 2, 2012 – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has named Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company (TWC), a recipient of the 2012 Légion d’Honneur, in recognition of Weinstein’s contributions to cinema and his decades of work producing some of the most highly regarded films of our time. Weinstein was nominated personally by President Sarkozy on July 22, 2011 and will receive the award in a ceremony to take place in Paris. President Sarkozy wrote the following upon nominating Weinstein to the Légion d’Honneur: “This prestigious distinction, which I wanted to come from my personal allocation, is a testimony of the admiration of millions of French citizens for the exceptional quality of the films that you have produced. It also expresses our gratitude to someone who has always shown great friendship towards our country and our cinema which you have enabled so many Americans to discover.” Said Weinstein, “I am honored and humbled by this recognition from President Sarkozy and the people of France. All my life, I have loved and been inspired by French cinema. I am still the young boy who walked two miles to The Mayfair movie theater in Flushing, NY to see films by the greats – Lelouch, Godard, Renoir and my personal favorite François Truffaut. They inspired me and led me to the place I am in today. I hope to continue my friendship with France and its filmmakers for many years to come.” France’s oldest and highest distinction, the Légion d’Honneur was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 and is awarded to outstanding individuals who have contributed to France and to the ideals it upholds. Past recipients include Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich, Akira Kurosawa, Clint Eastwood, Robert DeNiro, Satyajit Ray, and Steven Spielberg to name just a few. Weinstein requested to keep the honor private until now to avoid any conflict of interest with Academy Award® Best Picture winner THE ARTIST. Weinstein will enter the Légion d’Honneur with the grade of “Chevalier.” Weinstein has been bringing interesting and cutting edge independent films to audiences for three decades, first as founder and Chairman of Miramax from 1979-2005, and subsequently as founder and Co-Chairman of TWC, launched in 2005. In spring 2011, he acquired Michel Hazanavicius’s THE ARTIST, a French production that went on to win five 2012 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. Over the years, the cultural impact of some of his most well known films – PULP FICTION, GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE AVIATOR, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, THE PIANO, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, GOOD WILL HUNTING – has been recognized and awarded on many levels. Weinstein has been responsible for the distribution and promotion of more than 30 French films in the United States, including previously released EDITH AND MARCEL (EDITH ET MARCEL, 1983); DELICATESSEN (1991); THREE COLORS: BLUE (TROIS COULEURS: BLEU, 1993); THREE COLORS: RED (TROIS COULEURS: ROUGE, 1994); THREE COLORS: WHITE (TROIS COULEURS: BIALY, 1994); AMÉLIE (2001); LE CONCERT (2009); SARAH’S KEY (ELLE S’APPELAIT SARAH, 2010); and upcoming releases including box office sensation THE INTOUCHABLES (UNTOUCHABLES, 2011); A GANG STORY (LES LYONNAIS, 2012); WAR OF THE BUTTONS (LA NOVELLE GUERRE DES BOUTONS, 2012); and PLAYERS (LES INFIDELES, 2012). LETTER TO HARVEY WEINSTEIN FROM PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY July 22, 2011 Dear Mr. Weinstein, I have great pleasure of informing you that I have signed a decree which nominates you to the order of the Legion D’Honneur. This prestigious distinction, which I wanted to come from my personal allocation, is a testimony of the admiration of millions of French citizens for the exceptional quality of the films that you have produced. It also expresses our gratitude to someone who has always shown great friendship towards our country and our cinema, which you have enabled so many Americans to discover. I would like to express my personal congratulations for the well deserved distinction which France has bestowed on you. Yours sincerely, Nicolas Sarkozy ###
Usually we celebrate birthdays ’round these parts with a look at someone’s best screen work. But pop icon Justin Bieber has only a guest turn on CSI and his hit concert doc Justin Bieber: Never Say Never under his newly notched cinematic belt — so far. Still, he’s got plans to break into acting with a handful of projects on the horizon, so in honor of the Biebster’s 18th birthday, let’s predict what the future may hold for the doe-eyed Canadian crooner as he adds “actor” to his resume in earnest. As far as musicians-turned-actors go, the transition certainly can be made, and well; just look at examples from recent generations of teen idols-turned-thespians like Justin Timberlake , Ryan Gosling , and Mark (-y Mark) Wahlberg . After getting their respective starts by singing and dancing their way into the hearts of their fans (or, in the case of Wahlberg, rapping and dancing his way out of his pants for Calvin Klein), each took a different route to gain full-fledged respect as an actor. Timberlake enjoyed early fame as the youngest member of boy band ‘N SYNC before testing the waters of acting with the 2000 ABC telefilm Model Behavior , which any good ‘N SYNC fan watched because it was Justin Timberlake Acting. Eventually he graduated to bolder choices in projects like Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan , which declared his more serious acting aspirations, and thank goodness; he’s much more interesting to watch these days even if every Social Network is balanced out by a Yogi Bear , In Time , Bad Teacher , or Friends with Benefits . Gosling spent his youth alongside (and in the shadow of) Timberlake on The Mickey Mouse Club , a mop-topped Canadian R&B enthusiast who didn’t quite go on to achieve the pop glory of the more successful of his peers. So he earned his stripes the old-fashioned way: At first on television in Young Hercules , then by going for braver roles in films like The Believer , which established Gosling’s more indie-leaning tastes. Wahlberg, meanwhile, shed his “Marky Mark” moniker as he pursued a serious acting career in the early-to-mid ’90s. After appearing in supporting roles that tapped into his natural charisma in Renaissance Man and The Basketball Diaries , he dared to play bad in Fear and established himself by playing porn star Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights . So Bieber has no shortage of role models to mold his burgeoning acting career after; he’s already got a starring feature project cooking with Wahlberg and may team up with Ashton Kutcher for a comedy. He’s already too famous to follow in Gosling’s footsteps — the Drive star’s trajectory was borne of necessity rather than celebrity — but he could certainly take a cue from Gosling’s choices. Then again, Bieber’s got his brand and his fans to consider; how best can he transition into an acting career (not to mention young adulthood) while the world watches, and while he’s still making more records that need selling? That’s not to say anyone’s ready to see angel-faced Bieber playing thugs, evil boyfriends, neo-Nazis, or porn stars. (Just yet.) But I’d like to think he’d like to, one day. His stint on CSI playing a doomed serial bomber hinted at a desire to play against his pop persona. Show us more darkness, oh cherubic one! Use that magic hair for evil! I’m hoping the day comes when I can watch Bieber act and forget he’s Bieber — that he can make us Belieb, for real.
Marvel’s The Avengers has the pressure of living up to years of hype resting on its shoulders, but a new trailer for the May 4 superhero pic looks promising, if not terribly complicated. Plot details, like what Loki’s up to and why? Save it for the movie. This is the chance to give every one of the Avengers their close-up. Well, except for you, Hawkeye. Admittedly, Jeremy Renner ‘s archery expert — the least-well known character of the bunch, looking like the loner weirdo lurking around the popular kids at school — does get a neat falling-backwards-through-the-air-while-shooting-an-arrow moment in the trailer, so there’s that. Everyone else, though, gets to reveal a smidge of character in the span of two minutes: Nick Fury is concerned! Captain America is resentful! Tony Stark is bitchy! Black Widow is suggestive! We already know that our heroes will bicker before they unite to fight evil, blah blah blah. It is rather touching to see Hulk leap into the air to save Iron Man from eating pavement. I’m just waiting for fans to shout about how superior Ruffalo’s Hulk is from the Ed Norton and Eric Bana versions, because guys? His Hulkface doesn’t look that much better, does it? Verdict: Oh, who am I kidding? We’re all seeing this one, aren’t we? Anyway, head to Apple to watch the trailer in high res. The Avengers hits theaters on May 4.
I won’t waste space rattling off a list of the personal and professional troubles that have plagued Lindsay Lohan ‘s life and career in recent years, so let’s cut to the chase: Will her Saturday Night Live hosting gig this weekend — her fourth time on the show after some admittedly hilarious prior turns — show the world that La Lohan’s ready to mount a comeback? Watch a healthy-ish-looking Lohan vaguely touch on her well-documented absence from glory in her SNL promos after the jump. First thoughts: – Who sent Lohan to Zooey Deschanel’s hairdresser ? – Am I the only one transfixed by the plasticized morphing of her face from the face I thought she had? – Seriously, I know Kenan Thompson is in this bit too, but I can’t. Stop. Staring. At Lohan. – Linds-sanity! What would Ben & Jerry put in that flavor of ice cream? – Glimmers of the comic timing I remember seeing in Lohan long ago. Encouraging! Anyway, I’m setting my DVR now. [ NBC via LA Times ]
Davy Jones, once named by Yahoo as the number 1 teen idol of all time, passed away at the age of 66 after suffering a heart attack. As a member of the Beatles-inspired musical group The Monkees, created for their eponymous television show in 1966, Jones rose to fame alongside bandmates Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith and subsequently embarked on a successful solo musical career of his own; let’s remember Jones with a look back at The Monkees, Jones’ acting career, and the group’s 1968 psychedelic cult film, Head . The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer”: Jones’ singing “Girl” during his cameo on The Brady Bunch : Jones sings “Daddy’s Song” in Head , a film that stymied then and now but remains a highlight of the Monkees legacy: Swoon away with your own Jones remembrances below. [via TMZ ]
