Ahhh can you smell it? Yes, LOVE IS IN THE AIR!!! Although there were times I’ve dreaded flowers and red heart shaped balloons flying around on VALENTINES DAY, I am still a woman in LOVE with LOVE. I enjoy seeing couples walking around in pure bliss because they’ve found “that one” to make them happy! However, there are lot of single peeps out here who sit in the house looking at their four walls, sobbing because no one will send roses, daisies, not even tulips to light up their day. But cheer up ladies! I found a few guidelines to help you through it! Hope you have an enjoyable Happy Valentines Day Jazzy McBee Cards – It may seem a little “4th grade”, but go all out with Valentine cards this year. There are really cute friendship and family cards- and it’s never the wrong time to spread a little love around to those who you care about. Feeling adventurous? Design some of your own cards. Whip out your arts and crafts box and make personalized cards for those who make you smile during this time of the year. Bake- There’s no better time than now to practice your baking skills while also gaining a leg up in some of your relationships. Try out a new cookie recipe and throw in some heart shapes and red food coloring to stick with the season. It’s fun to do and it makes for a good ‘just because’ present. Plan Your V-day Night : No matter how you might feel, we promise that you are not the only single lady out there. Gather up your single girls (and guys!) and plan a pot-luck. Get everyone involved by having a fun night with the people that you love. Courtesy of HelloBeautiful.com
Sometime after getting her start on NBC’s short-lived but well-loved cult series Freaks and Geeks , starring in two live-action studio Scooby-Doo movies, appearing for six seasons on ER , and turning in various screen performances (including a role as Ennis del Mar’s waitress fling in Brokeback Mountain ), Linda Cardellini took a break to reassess her career. “I wanted to step back and reevaluate myself as an actress and find out what I was capable of,” she told Movieline, describing her turn as a shell-shocked female soldier readjusting to life at home in this week’s Return , “and this was sort of the perfect role for that.” Return brought the actress in close collaboration with filmmaker Liza Johnson, who wrote and directed the drama about Kelli (Cardellini), a wife and mother who’s recently come home to her suburban Ohio town after a tour of duty in the Middle East with the National Guard. Despite the fact that she suffered no notable trauma overseas, Kelli finds that her familiar world has been utterly changed nonetheless; nothing seems to be in its right place anymore, in her home and in her mind. Despite her best efforts, Kelli’s emotional dislocation begins to sabotage her relationships and threaten her marriage as she grasps to keep control of it all. It’s an unusual perspective on war and its tragic effects, and one that Cardellini eagerly poured herself into. And it’s a performance that’s garnered new acclaim and attention for the actress, who also added roles in Kill the Irishman and Super to her post-break resume. Cardellini rang Movieline last week – expecting her first baby any day, she joked that both of her big projects could debut at once – to discuss Return , her career moves, and more. The director, Liza Johnson, workshopped this film for a while – how did it come to you and why do you think you tapped into it? After I finished ER I went to New York and I was thinking about doing a play, I sort of took a step back and thought I wanted to do something different than what I had been doing for so long. While I was in New York I was sent this script, I read it that night, and the next day I met with Liza. Really, I just sort of fell in love with the role because even though it’s a giant undertaking it’s a fantastic role for an actress, and I just thought it was an unusual way to take a look at a soldier returning, especially from a woman’s perspective. What kind of impression did Liza and her vision for the film make on you? When I met with Liza I thought she really had an interesting voice; she had a lot of ideas about the silences and the small details that have caused the unraveling in this person’s life, rather than the one big traumatic and catastrophic event, which was a really interesting way to play it and hopefully for people to relate to this type of character. She had things written in the script about the way things smelled, and the way things felt on her feet, and it was different than other scripts that I had read. Liza’s idea of how to shoot it and who this person was, we really just fell in sync close to immediately. I was very lucky that she chose me! We had the luxury of time because it’s so hard to put together a truly independent film – we had a little over a year together, talking about the film, obsessing over the film. For me and for Liza, we really enjoyed educating ourselves as much as we could about people returning and their stories, and people’s stories surrounding them. I’m onscreen the entire time – I’ve never had such great trust between myself and a director, and that was a wonderful feeling. We very rarely hear about, let alone see depicted, the experience of a female soldier. How did you learn about that world and that unique point of view, through talking to real life servicemen and women? We tried to find as many people as we could that would talk to us, and people were very generous in speaking to us. People’s experiences were very different. There was one woman who was happily returning to her third or fourth deployment, and I spoke with another girl who, after one deployment, her life had been turned completely upside-down. The differences between those stories, and also the common threads – and I spoke with men as well, to get the generalized version of the story and to understand things that weren’t necessarily gender-specific, things that were common threads for men and women, so that the story could be accessible to many people since it wasn’t based on one person’s actual story. We spoke with psychologists and vets from other wars, people who had family members returning – and what it was like to be shut out from that – and went to places where we thought she’d have grown up. We went to places she’d have visited with her family; we did things she would have done in basic training even though you never saw them in the film. We just tried to fill her life as much as possible, especially because there are so many silences and so many small details and there’s so much restraint in her character, I wanted to be able to seed those silences with all the details I had learned. There are many instances where we realize, after the fact, that she’s felt off despite being back home and in her “normal” routine – and many small details that are not verbalized, but come through in quiet, subtle cues. Yeah. And the script didn’t tell me what to think, or how to think, but also as Kelli I don’t know how to say the things that I’m feeling, which is what I think happens in life. I don’t think that we’re always the most articulate we can be when we’re going through something traumatic or life-changing. Hindsight is 20/20 – you don’t realize for years to come that you’re going through and how they affected you. I imagine that Kelli, in the years to come, will understand more about herself than she does at the moment. Things are very jarring for her from the moment we meet her; she’s just come home from a tour of duty and trying to readjust to her old life, not quite sure why things feel different. How would you describe her headspace? She frequently explains, when people ask her what happened “over there,” that “other people had it a lot worse.” She’s in denial, for sure… I think she’s in denial, I think there’s some guilt, I think there’s some sadness…loss at her perspective of the world right now, I think there’s an innocence lost. I think she’s going through a lot of things that she doesn’t quite know how to put into words, but she certainly didn’t lose a limb like people that she saw, she didn’t lose her life, she didn’t get raped – she’s forced to count her blessings based on some of the things she’s seen but still does not feel her old self, and still feels changed by everything that’s happened, so it’s confusing. We spoke to this psychologist and she said sometimes people don’t have one specific trauma, but the idea of being in a broken and war-torn world where you see things that change your opinion of what mankind can be like is enough to cause trauma in your life. I think that’s an interesting thing; a lot of returning soldier stories have one big catastrophic event where someone gets hurt or there’s an outburst of violence, and I think those things do, of course as we’ve seen, really happen. And I think there’s another version of that, with people returning with stories that aren’t quite as explosive but that can be life-changing for them as well. I think that’s something that people come home with and can be healed from, but also some people are healed from it and some people are not. The idea of “returning” is made exponentially stressful given the possibility of redeployment for many soldiers like Kelli, and that constant feeling of being torn between two worlds seems even worse than having to adjust even once back to normal life. Absolutely. And what do you do with that commitment that you’ve made and the duty that you have – and the duty you have to your family? And what are your alternatives? Not to mention that in focusing on a female soldier’s perspective you get the added element of maternal demands – Kelli’s husband at one point asks her to try to be a mother to her children. The idea of these two potentially conflicting duties, service and motherhood, pulling a woman in two different directions is even more complex. Yeah, and I think it’s maybe just as difficult for men to do the same but we’re used to it. The idea of a woman leaving her children [to serve in the military] is a newer concept for people, so dealing with the fallout of that is something I think she has to deal with as well. Because the expectations of her returning home are different than they would be if she were a man. And the expectations of the man staying home are different as well, and Michael [Shannon]’s character is really interesting in that way too, in that he’s been holding things together waiting for her to come back and be normal and that just can’t happen. It’s really, really sad. Did Michael come to the project after you were attached? No, I think he was first! I don’t know if Liza knew him before or what, but he was attached first and very, very early on – it took at least a year after that, if not two, for the movie to be made. Then I came on and everybody else after that. What was it like playing opposite Michael and, by contrast, John Slattery, who plays an interesting character in that he and Kelli seem to get each other through their similar military experiences even if it doesn’t exactly work out… No, and I think he’s a surprise to her, too. I think she feels that she’s finally found somebody that maybe she can trust, and you get a glimpse of Kelli when she’s a little more carefree. She’s laughing, she’s having a good time, she’s talking, and she actually opens herself up a bit more before you realize how quickly that is an illusion, and how quickly she shuts down. Things are still not as she hopes them to be. I think it’s interesting, too, how he deals with his return – he’s a returning vet from a different war, versus her coming home from a more recent war, and it’s a common thread yet they have very different approaches to dealing with it. But John’s great; it was really fun to be able to play on set. It was very fun to have a different version of Kelli come out in those scenes, and I wanted people to understand what she was like when she could smile easier, and laugh, and relate to people a little bit better. With Michael, I had been on set a long time shooting by myself and when he showed up there was this whole family dynamic that came with him. For all the crazy parts he plays he’s a really wonderful, good person. Such a dynamic and amazing actor, it was a thrill to work with him and we had such a good time. We had this chemistry that just worked in terms of the opposition and the affection we had towards each other. How has your process evolved over the years in terms of the projects and characters that you choose? You know, it’s hard to say. It’s a good question. I’ve always tried to choose things where I could be different than what I have been doing, and I really like to be able to surprise people with what I’m able to do. I sometimes can shy away from the limelight a little, and I took a break after ER . I could have done several things but I just waited until I found a role… I wanted to step back and reevaluate myself as an actress and find out what I was capable of, and this was sort of the perfect role for that. I’m lucky that Liza trusted me with such a giant undertaking. It’s the first time someone’s been able to hand me a role like that, and it felt so good to sink my teeth into that and really understand myself again as an actress. But I love to do comedy too! I like to choose things that excite me and challenge me, and this was definitely one of them. [Laughs] It was very fast and furious shooting, too. And also I wanted to know more about that subject matter, so it was an education as well. You mentioned those few years that you took off to re-assess your career direction and the kind of projects you wanted to take on. When you look back on Freaks and Geeks , it has such an enduring legacy and even Paul Feig, for example, has had huge recent success. Yeah! It’s so great. When you look back on that time, how do you feel about the fact that many people still associate you with Freaks and Geeks and have such a love for the series, even now? It’s amazing. It really speaks to the power of the DVD because while we were on network television we got very much ignored, like the freaks and geeks of the industry. [Laughs] But I love it. I’m so proud of the show, I’m so proud of everybody who went on to do all the different things that they’ve done. It was such an interesting and unique group of people. Our [2011Paleyfest celebration] was like a high school reunion. We drove up and I said, ‘God, what are these people waiting for?’ And we realized they were here for Freaks and Geeks , to be part of the event, and I thought, wow – what a change, from being cancelled and not even getting to a full season! A line around the block a decade later. And I run into people who are still discovering the show. I think we’re all pretty proud of it. You followed Freaks and Geeks with a number of roles in big mainstream films – the Scooby-Doo movies, for instance. Considering this more recent career refocus, are there any earlier roles that you might reconsider doing if you had to do them over again? You know, everything I’ve done has brought me to where I am. Some people wonder where that is, but to me it’s the story of my life and I’ve had a pretty good life, so I’m pretty happy. And this latest role, if I would have stepped in a different direction I wouldn’t be in this film now, and to me it’s one of my greatest accomplishments so far. Return is in select theaters this Friday. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
‘It’s personal, sweet and really sad at the same time,’ actress Jasika Nicole tells MTV News of her upcoming ‘Fringe’ episode. By Josh Wigler Jasika Nicole on “Fringe” Photo: FOX There’s a running gag on ” Fringe ” about good-natured FBI agent Astrid Farnsworth: Even though she spends almost all her screen time assisting and taking care of the delightfully delirious Walter Bishop, the kooky scientist can never quite remember her name. “Aspirin,” he’s called her, or “Asteroid” or any other number of “A” names. Sadly, fans can relate to Walter’s repeated mistake. Sweet and mysterious though she may be, the alluring Astrid is relegated to supporting status so often that it’s far too easy to forget her name. But that all changes with “Making Angels,” the new episode of “Fringe” airing Friday (February 3). Forget Olivia, Walter and Peter — this one is all about Astrid. Actress Jasika Nicole, who plays Astrid on “Fringe,” spoke with MTV News about both versions of her character taking center stage in “Making Angels,” the challenges of merging two versions of the same person for the first time and much more. MTV : We’ve been waiting forever for the Astrid episode of “Fringe.” What took so long? Jasika Nicole : I’ve been waiting so hard and long, just like the fans have! [ Laughs. ] I don’t know why it took so long. It would be one thing if it seemed like Astrid didn’t have a lot of fan support and people aren’t interested, but I feel like fans have been begging to learn and see more of this character. I don’t know for the life of me why it took so long. At the beginning of the season, I called [“Fringe” show-runners Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman] and said, “I want you guys to know that I’m so happy on this show, but I would really, really love to know if there’s an Astrid episode coming up. It would really give me something to look forward to.” They were super vague about it. And I assumed that whenever she did get her episode, it would be a situation where Astrid figures out [the episode’s mystery] at the last minute, or everyone’s on LSD and she has to go out and save the day. That would be an easy way out. But I’ll tell you, I was really surprised with the episode. It’s so beautiful. It’s personal, it’s sweet, and it’s really sad at the same time. I don’t know why it took so long. But I think all the support the episode has been getting is going to make them feel really crappy that they didn’t do this sooner. [ Laughs. ] MTV : You’ve always been vocal about who Astrid is and what she’s about. For the audience, though, we’ve had to piece things together: You get a bit of Astrid here and there, but she’s not at the forefront the way Olivia and Peter are. When you got your episode, did Astrid measure up to your vision of her? How did the episode change your perspective on the character? Nicole : I think [the writers and I] were on the same page. But before with Astrid, we just got the CliffsNotes version of her. She’s kind, thoughtful and a great caretaker. The other Astrid is very smart and she’s a little bit vacant in terms of emotional relationships and isn’t the best communicator. That was kind of it. You didn’t know anything about her family, what it’s like when she got home … it was just overviews of these two characters. But this episode delves into them much more. You see to what extent this Astrid is a caretaker. She does something that’s just really beautiful. She’s such a sweet, caring, sincere woman. It made Astrid seem like a real person. Before, you see her taking care of Walter. She laugh at his jokes and there’s this weird husband-wife, father-daughter thing going on. [ Laughs. ] But now we get to see her in relation to someone who is not Walter. It’s the first time in the four seasons we’ve really seen her interact with another person and putting herself out there so much. The alternate Astrid has been a little one-note because you’ve only seen her at work, very focused on her job. She delivers her information and that’s pretty much it. But the truth is, she has a life and she has a family. Something traumatic happens where she comes from in that universe, and she’s so distraught and incapable of handling what’s going on by herself, that she comes to this universe to seek out our Astrid. That’s definitely a side of her you’ve never seen before. I always wanted to know what she’s like in personal situations instead of professional ones. You get to see that. This episode is really about alt-Astrid. MTV : One of the beauties of “Fringe” is that we get multiple versions of the same character — even though they’re literally the same person, they’re very different in many ways. With the two Astrids coming face to face in this episode, how do those differences and similarities come into play? Nicole : What’s interesting about having an alternate universe is trying to figure out where your paths went differently. What went on here that didn’t go on there? Why aren’t we the exact same person? With the Astrids, it’s a little different because they’re fundamentally different to the core — possibly at a genetic level, if you’re of the theory [that alt-Astrid is on the autism spectrum]. That changes your relationships with your family members, which is something that’s essential to the story of this episode. Not only are the two Astrids different, they’re so different that they have different relationships with the people in their lives. They’re the only constant. Everybody around them is different, but this connection that they have is the only solid thing that they have between them. That’s going to help the alternate Astrid to figure out what’s going on in her life in this crazy, tumultuous time. MTV : “Making Angels” isn’t just the first Astrid-centric episode of “Fringe,” it’s also your first chance to get in on some of the fun your co-stars have been having: acting opposite yourself for pretty much the entire episode. On one hand, that’s got to be pretty cool. On the other, it has to be pretty tricky, right? Nicole : You’re right, it was a double-whammy. It’s like you’re sticking two days into one. You have to know exactly what you’re going to do, you have to know so well how you’re going to play those characters in the beginning of those scenes. It takes a lot of foresight. The emotional part is really tough, but then there’s the technical stuff. You have to stand and make sure your outline is the same every time. There’s a point where [the two Astrids] shake hands, and I could not for the life of me figure out how they were going to make it work. It’s too big of a concept for me to grasp. But what was really cool is that they were able to merge the split screens on the monitors in video village, so they were watching it in real time. I’m doing it with my stand-in, but they’re watching both Jasikas on the screen. At one point, we’d been doing this one scene for like eight hours or something. We were tired. It was a big scene with two Olivias in it, two Astrids, Walter and Peter. There’s all this stuff going on. We ended up not being able to finish the green screen that night. We had to come back and finish the next day. But they only needed to stick me in the scene. There are four or five other characters in the scene, but they’re just filming me in front of the green screen playing off of dialogue that we had recorded the day before. Because we had done it for eight hours, I knew it like the back of my hand. I smiled at imaginary jokes being pulled, I watched imaginary people walking in — it was just so surreal. It’s like you’re playing a pretend game while you’re drunk by yourself, but there are people watching you do it! [ Laughs. ] Nothing about it makes sense, but the end result is phenomenal. The new episode of “Fringe,” “Making Angels,” airs Friday (February 3) at 9 p.m. ET. Check out everything we’ve got on “Fringe.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Every performer must pay their dues, but with this week’s old school-flavored ghost pic The Innkeepers character actor Pat Healy cashes in over a decade of memorable supporting turns and guest spots for the spotlight at an auspicious moment in his career. Having popped up in a number of great films over the years ( Magnolia ! Ghost World ! Rescue Dawn !) Healy stars with Sara Paxton in the Ti West film as a sardonic desk clerk at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, where spooky happenings are afoot; meanwhile, Healy also earned writing credits on the award-winning In Treatment and recently took Sundance by storm with Craig Zobel’s controversial Compliance . And to think: It all began with the one-two punch of My Best Friend’s Wedding and Home Alone 3 … I want to start out by asking you something of great importance: Why is there no Wikipedia page for Pat Healy the actor? I don’t know! There’s one for Pat Healy – The MMA fighter? Yes, do you know of him? Pat “Bam Bam” Healy! There’s a competitive hurler with your name as well. I didn’t know that – that sounds like a vomiter. There’s a local newsman, there’s a New York Times… Are you acutely aware of these other Pat Healys in the world? I had become, since There’s Something About Mary in 1998, with Matt Dillon’s character. I was like, ‘I thought I was the only one!’ And for a long time, this might still be true because a lot of those guys are Patricks, I was the first Google one. Bam Bam might be surpassing me now, MMA is very popular. Did you somehow cross the Farrelly Brothers, years ago? No, the guy who works for them who was like a line producer guy and I think is a writer or director now too, in some way, because I remember he was making a movie at one point and I started getting calls from people like, ‘Hey, comin’ in to see you next week!’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about…’ But yeah, no one started one. I guess I am maybe not the greatest self-promoter, I’m getting more comfortable with it now. I’m not a reluctant star or anything like that, but maybe I was naïve early on about how all this stuff works, with publicists and all that kind of stuff. And you’re not anymore? I feel like now I’m doing the things I want to do because my career as a screenwriter is affording me to not have to just be a guest star on every dumb crime procedural show on TV. I can do the things I want to do which are the more interesting things, like working with Ti [West] or working with Craig Zobel again. Those are more significant roles in better films. I might make more money in the short term having a few scenes in Pearl Harbor and the residuals are good, but nobody’s offering me other jobs off of that, whereas this community of people, we all know each other or know of each other and know each other’s work. How did you get together with Ti for this film? Innkeepers came about because Ti and I were at the LA Film Festival in 2007, met briefly – he was there with Trigger Man , I was there with Great World of Sound , Craig’s movie. He saw it, and I was a huge fan of House of the Devil ; I’d just seen it and I got a call from Amy Seimetz, our mutual friend, and she said ‘He wants to use you in a movie.’ I was ready to say yes without ever reading it, but then I read it and it was great, it was a great part and everything. So it works out that way. It’s just better for me now, I can afford to do these films and I enjoy the work – and people end up seeing what I can actually do, as opposed to saying ‘He was in that.’ If it leads to more jobs in the long term, it’s a better living for me. What was your plan in the beginning when you started acting? When I was a kid, when I was a real little kid, my family were always into movies and one of my older brothers, Jim – he’s two years older than me – he and I were just into movies and seeing everything we could see, watching everything on television, getting all the books and all that kind of stuff. Interestingly enough, we both have the jobs we wanted as little kids: I’m making films and he’s in film restoration. He ran the George Eastman Archive for a long time in Rochester, New York and now runs the Cinematheque at UW Madison. He loves watching them and showing them and talking about them and I love making them. So I came into this loving movies, and acting was something I knew how to do from an early age, just being a ham and being a performer, doing theater; that was sort of my way in. Doing some professional theater opened the door in Chicago, where I’m from, to commercials, and movies came through town, TV shows… Speaking of which, can we talk about Home Alone 3 ? [Laughs] Home Alone 3 is my first real movie! I was hired on My Best Friend’s Wedding , that Julia Roberts movie, and I was actually hired to be in the opening scene of that movie as this waiter and I was in make-up and costume and everything, and they just rewrote the scene as we did it and never shot me. But I got my SAG card and I think maybe six months later I got [ Home Alone 3 ], which if you haven’t seen it… all the little kids have seen that one on video a million times and it’s a perennial residual earner because kids like it and it’s on at the holidays. I played the FBI agent who was behind the guy who had all the lines, but I think they kind of forgot about me for a while because I was on hold, which they never do now because they watch the budget so tightly, but I made a lot of money off of it because I was on hold for about five weeks even though I only shot five days on it. And residuals are based on the time you worked on it, so the residuals have stayed really good. You mentioned the creative community that brought you in touch with Ti, and in recent years maybe more than ever I’ve noticed all these ties between indie filmmakers in this community. Yeah, it’s really different now. I think the movement in a way sort of started in this current incarnation through David Gordon Green , who I met through my brother in 2000 after George Washington had premiered in Berlin; he fostered a real sort of community spirit. Certainly all those people he went to school with, like Danny McBride , Jody Hill, Paul Schneider and now Jeff Nichols – all these people are doing great things, and encouraged people like Joe Swanberg. And all the satellite people from Joe, who is somebody who’s just going out there and making this stuff on his own, doing a lot… Joe and Ti and Sophia Takal and Larry Levine, Andrew Bujalski, Bob Byington, there’s a whole Austin contingent – we all know each other, too, and even people like Michael Shannon , who is my friend, who I started in theater with in Chicago with, is working with Jeff a lot. Craig [Zobel] also went to school at North Carolina School of the Arts. In my mind, as someone who was around a little bit before that, it seemed to spur a new DIY movement and a sense of community because David is an extremely loyal person and all of those people have gotten opportunities, including myself, because of him. I think that his films as well as his spirit and his generosity have inspired this new generation. People bring up mumblecore and I think a lot of people can point to George Washington as the first movie in that genre, if you can include it – it’s certainly bigger and more ambitious. But there’s a real sense of community, especially at the festivals when you’re there and seeing each other. That’s frankly where a lot of the work comes from, too. People meet and decide to work on something together, or somebody sees someone in something… It’s intriguing to watch those connections interweave from the outside, watching this community grow with each project. Yeah – and somebody like Robert Longstreet, who David Green saw in a small movie called Ding-a-ling-Less many years ago, and David put Robert in a movie and he met all these people, and then last year Robert was in like 10 movies at Sundance! So it is great, and it’s also not just real young people, either. It’s people of all ages, like some of the actors in Compliance like Ann Dowd, a woman in her fifties who’s done a lot of theater work and she’s just staggeringly brilliant in the movie. I know a lot of people are going to see that and want to work with her. You saw that thing sort of happen with Melissa Leo a few years ago, and those are all people who are working but they go to these independent movies because they get to show what they can do, really, and really spread their wings. Then all of a sudden Hollywood comes calling once they either do a television series or do a good part in an independent movie. In this, in Innkeepers , and in Compliance and Great World of Sound , I get to show what I can do and people can see it and it comes back to me. So I love what’s going on now. It’s cool and I think it’s coming out of both social and economic factors, but it’s fostering a lot of great activity and a lot of production. With Innkeepers , it seems like the entire process of making this was very condensed. Why did you initially respond to the material? I loved House of the Devil and was just ready to do whatever. [ The Innkeepers ] was a horror movie but it had a really good central relationship in it, and there were some different colors to get to play – certainly a lightness in the character, I like that dry sense of humor and sensibility. You’re exceptionally good at that, actually. I think it’s my natural rhythm and I think maybe Ti saw that as much personally as he did in any work that I’ve done, with the exception of Great World of Sound which is heavier and more serious. But that comes naturally to me. I certainly liked the heartbreak of that character, the unrequited love aspect. Even the tragedy in his failings is utterly amusing. And the fact that it is very tragic and heartbreaking to play, and to sit in the audience and it’s very funny… because it’s that comedy of uncomfortability, like Albert Brooks or Ricky Gervais – that really reality-based ‘I’m so uncomfortable I have to laugh…’ I like that about it a lot, and I like that the scares and the tension came from the building of the relationships so that you actually care about these people. There are so many movies where in the third act it’s like where everything’s flying this way and that and you’re like, ‘Okay, that happened.’ Filming Innkeepers you all actually lived in the hotel, on top of which you and Sara Paxton only met right before shooting, yet you managed to strike a really great chemistry together. It was taking a big risk – it was like a 17-day shoot, living, working, and eating in the hotel, a weird place, and we met the day before. I knew very little about her, I think I saw Last House on the Left and that’s a much different part so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. She’s just a really buoyant, funny, fun, lovely person so my guard went down pretty quickly. Luckily the two of us really liked each other, and the movie’s pretty much shot in sequence so we just developed that relationship. But I think a lot of credit can go to Ti for creating that environment; it was cool to be in that weird environment in the hotel itself, and to be in the camp-like atmosphere of all living together, screwing around and joking and all that stuff. Ti recently wrote an open letter imploring people to pay to see and support small indie films, which made a lot of sense. Yeah, some people were surprised that that is the reality of things. Somebody I know had recently pirated an indie movie… Did you shame them? I did, and they gave me crap because it wasn’t playing anywhere near them and they really wanted to see it. I just thought, well, it didn’t make any money — maybe you couldn’t have seen it when it came out, but you can see it on Netflix or rent it or whatever. It’s not like I get a dollar if you watch it; I don’t get anything, really, though I might in the long run if it makes a lot of money on DVD. But like [Ti] said, the reason they keep making dumb movies is because we keep paying to see them, and then we don’t pay for the other ones. I feel like people know you even if they don’t realize they know you because of some of those bigger movies you were in, like Magnolia , Rescue Dawn , Ghost World . How do you look back on those films now? Even though I wasn’t in a position to choose what I wanted to do, I was fortunate enough to be working with people like Paul Thomas Anderson in Magnolia . That was something that was really exciting to me, I’d loved Boogie Nights and all that stuff. At that time – and I didn’t know what I had because I was 26 years old or something, and the sad thing is when I think about it he’s only a year older than me – but I think that I just naturally ended up in those things. I was a fan of Dan Clowes’s comics and Terry Zwigoff, who made Crumb , so I think I ended up in Ghost World because unconsciously my drive to be in those things made me work hard to get them. Or working with Herzog on Rescue Dawn … Did you just put a little something extra into those auditions? I guess I just really cared about those things, and there are so many that I don’t, and I get some of those too. But something like a Western with Andrew Dominik and Brad Pitt and all those people in Jesse James , I really want to do that. But I’m not conscious of it so there must be something that gets me into those rather than the other ones. There are actors’ careers that are built on parts I didn’t get. Now I think I’m a little older, and I’m writing and certainly making a living at that, and I can be a little pickier to a certain degree – though I can always use more money. But now I’m being cast in things I would choose to do, you know? Now that you’re screenwriting and directing, do you feel like you’ve picked up advice or lessons from the various auteurs you’ve worked with? All of them. Without a doubt. The main thing that I would say about all these people – Anderson, or Herzog, or Zwigoff, or Zobel, or Ti West – is a sense of leadership, a real devotion by their cast and crew, because of the kind of people they are. They’re not only masters who know what they’re doing, but they’re really great at revving you up. You like them and they really like and respect you and you feel support and freedom to do your best. That’s such a great quality in a director; you are the captain of a ship. You have to do your homework like you do as an actor, be prepared and show up and know what you’re going to do, but that’s the commonality among the people that I’ve worked with that do great things – they really know how to be leaders and to rally the troops. Were you not surprised, then, when Werner Herzog saved Joaquin Phoenix from that car crash? Nothing Werner does shocks me! He’s a really remarkable guy, and I think some of his life is cinema. He crafts these moments and certainly makes sure people know about them. But I just saw his most recent documentary, Into the Abyss , which is great, and he introduced it. Even the way he came out and framed the movie for the audience, sort of directing how people see the movie, really enhanced my enjoyment of that movie so much, so he’s even a master in that way. As is Paul Anderson too; he controls every aspect of it through the publicity and marketing and everything. So by this token, would you say Ti West has something in common with, say, Michael Bay? I mean, he might tell you that. [Smiles] But as with these guys, or with Kubrick or Polanski or Hitchcock – Ti’s really exacting, he writes and meticulously casts it, he shoots it and knows exactly how he wants it to look, and then he spends so much time in the editing, which he does himself. He’s meticulous and exacting in post with Jeff Grace, the composer, and Graham Reznick, the sound designer – and then going to the theater and making sure the specs are right, going through the poster design and all that stuff. That’s him. I think if you really want to see your vision through to the end… Terry Malick does that too, you’re sending note to the theater telling them how loud it should be played and all that stuff. It’s tiring, thankless work – but it matters to them, you know? Given all of this, what sort of writer/director do you want to be – what kind of projects do you see yourself creating? The things that I’ve written are dramatic but they all have an inherently bent sensibility to them, an offbeat humor that’s not broad but is sort of unusual. It’s sort of the way that I see things, I think. If I were to compare myself to someone, contemporary people like Alexander Payne comes to mind, or Hal Ashby or Michael Ritchie – those sort of satirical looks at everyday life. But I’m a kid of the ‘80s and ‘90s too, and I love the big action movies too. So those strange conventions find their way into some of the things I write, too. I just hope that whatever it is, and I know that whatever it is, I will be an auteur. I can’t do anything – I can’t do a performance on a crappy TV show, or write a script, or write a Tweet, that isn’t inherently me. I couldn’t if I tried, and if I did it’s like cardboard, it stinks, it’s bland. I’ve tried. It’s trusting what’s there, and whatever I end up making, good or bad, it’ll be a true expression of who I am. It’s taken me a long time to get to that place, but I feel like I’m in that place. For more with the makers of The Innkeepers check out the Movieline Interviews with Ti West and Sara Paxton . The Innkeepers is in select theaters this Friday. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
‘It’s a movie about what would actually happen if teenagers got superpowers,’ Dane DeHaan tells MTV News. By Kara Warner Dane DeHaan in “Chronicle” Photo: Alan Markfield/ 20th Century Fox In the buzzworthy action/drama hybrid “Chronicle,” out Friday, three friends’ lives are forever changed when they encounter an otherworldly substance and structure that somehow gives them extraordinary abilities. The movie is shot mostly via the “found footage” or “POV” format and revolves around high school students Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan). When MTV News caught up with the three stars of the film recently, we asked them to explain how “Chronicle” is different from every other superpower and found-footage film out there. “It’s a movie about what would actually happen if teenagers got superpowers,” DeHaan said. “And I think that, for the first time, it deals with that issue in modern day in complete reality, which is the person who gets the superpowers probably won’t be the best person in the world and only want to save other people in the world from their problems.” “From the beginning, you’re invested in Andrew and Steve and Matt,” Jordan added. “It’s not just, ‘What monster is going to be popping out of this building?’ You really follow the characters throughout the movie and care what happens to them.” Because the audience spends so much time getting to know the three main characters, Russell said it makes for an especially intense thrill ride when the boys discover just how powerful they are and things start to spiral out of control. “It’s action-packed, it’s incredible in that way, but it in no way relies on that,” Russell said of the film’s impressive effects and aerial stunt work. “The characters are very layered, the relationships are complex and beautiful, and something you get really invested in it, and I think that makes it hit home so much harder when things start to go awry.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Chronicle.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
Are you a man or woman who has difficulty chatting up the opposite sex? A new service called “The Professional Wingman” may be for you. The Wall Street Journal reports that while Internet dating sites are attracting fewer visitors these days, services like “The Professional Wingman” are gaining traction. For a starting fee of $130, “The Professional Wingman” will link you up with someone to act as your wingman when you’re out on the town mingling. The service’s slogan? “We’re better at hitting on women than you are.” Would you ever enlist the help of “The Professional Wingman?” Let us know in the comments box! RELATED: BET’s 106 & Park Host Rocsi: Black Men She’s Allegedly Dated Michael Jordan Puts A Ring On It
Dear Bossip , I dated a man off and on for almost 10 years. Our relationship was long distance and it was more off than on. In February, he moved to my city for our relationship and a month later I discovered I was pregnant. He freaked out and told me I had to choose between him and the baby I was carrying. I chose the baby. It wasn’t a hard choice. He began to tell me all the lies and things he had done in the past to get me to see that I did not want to raise a child with him. For example, he was 19 years old when we met, not 21 like he told me. And, he had even married someone during one of the times when we were not together. When I still refused to have an abortion he said he would not be a part of the child’s life and would only do what child support made him. When my daughter was born I didn’t invite him to the hospital. I let him know later and he demanded a blood test. After she was proven his, he wanted to work out child support payments between us, but did not want to see his daughter. I had already started the process of child support when we went to court. The judge ripped him a new on and thoroughly embarrassed him. He left in tears, but I think that it had more to do with the amount that he is required to pay. The judge gave me full custody of our daughter and gave him one supervised visitation day per week. The judge encouraged me to be open to supervised visits if he wanted them. I was given full custody because he sent me several emails begging me to, “kill ‘it’ so we could be together.” And, “This ‘thing’ was ruining our plans.” And, even after she was born he still referred to her as ‘it’ and ‘thing,’ and nothing more than a financial obligation, and the sooner he starts paying the sooner he’ll get done. So, the judge said, “Okay, you just want to pay and have no say, so be it.” That was 3 weeks ago and yesterday he called for his first visit. This visit is in my orders, and it says as long as it does not inconvenience me. So, I am not breaking the law if I don’t allow him a supervised visit. I can supervise him myself or allow him to use a court appointed supervision service. I am completely revolted by this person and I don’t trust him around me or our daughter. I feel like I’d need to be strapped, but I don’t want to have that on around my daughter. The judge only urged me to allow visitation, but said she understood if I had concerns and stopped just short of taking away his rights. I love our daughter so much words can’t describe it, and the selfish part of me is happy that she is legally all mine and that I have complete say so over her life, but I also know that children need both parents. Do you think it is possible that he could change enough to where I could allow him to visit our daughter or be around her alone? Concerned Mommie Dear Ms. Concerned Mommie , This is what I want you to do: I want you to start waking up extra early and watch the morning news shows like the Today Show , and Good Morning America . I want you to notice the current news stories about little children who are with one parent while on visitation and then all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, someone comes into the home and takes the child from their crib. Then, the next day the police are searching high and low looking for a mysterious child abductor who came into the home while everyone was sleeping and took the child, with no visible signs of forced entry, and the police, the community, and the parent who had the child are stumped of why and who would come into the home and take the child. And, you know what happens next? Fingers and evidence start pointing toward the parent who the child was left with, who is crying and acting all hysterical on the news talking about, “Please bring my baby back home. I love my child.” And, the child is found buried or in some lake or river not too far from the house. Then, we learn that the couple was in a bitter custody battle and case, and the only way to get rid of their financial problem, or to hurt and make the other parent angry they harm the child. Now, I ask you, he told you when you were pregnant that you had to choose between him and the baby, and when you chose the baby he told you that he wants no part of the child’s life, and that he would only do what child support made him. Then when the child was born he wanted a blood test, and when she was proven to be his he still didn’t want to see her, and he only refers to your child as ‘it,’ ‘thing,’ and nothing more than a financial obligation; now, I want to know if you think it’s okay to leave your daughter alone with this man? (I’m perched in front of the computer screen in my chair with my hand under my chin waiting for you to respond) You see, this is exactly why I don’t believe in long distance relationships. Especially being with someone for 10 years, and you don’t live in the same state, and he doesn’t put a ring on your finger or ask you to marry him in all that time. You don’t know what MoFo’s are doing while you’re not there. They can tell you anything at night when they do their routine check-in call. Girl, puhlease. Y’all better get out of these long distance relationships in 2012. Besides, who sits around and waits for someone for 10 years, and you live in two different states!?! Where they do that at???? You got to be a ditzy broad to sit and believe that your man was faithful and monogamous all that time while you were in another state. And, then this fool moves to where you are because all-of-a-sudden he decides that he wants to be in a fully committed relationship with you, but soon after you become pregnant and this knee-grow shows his ass. But, hold up, it gets better. He then proceeds to become Mr. Confessional and shares all the lies he’s told you over the past 10 years. My gosh, that must have taken a few days. And, then this fool tells you that he married someone else when you two were supposedly not together at one point. Uhm, ma’am, this was your “Player Free” card to get Angela Bassett on his ass and do a Waiting To Exhale on him. I don’t believe that you can be that oblivious and naïve and be with someone for 10 years, and then they all of a sudden they show you their ass for you to kiss, and you happily oblige. There had to been some clues, signs, hand signals, gestures, smoke signals, Morse Code, Braille inscriptions, or something. But, Ms. Honey, I’m sorry and I have to stress this over again, he revealed to you all of the lies he ever told you over the course of your relationship, and he admitted to being married while you two were on the outs at one point. SMDH! I can’t! I can’t! I can’t! That’s some MF’ing –ish right there! Does he still have two balls? You should have grabbed them and snatched them off!!! And, let me be clear, you are writing me and asking if you can leave your child with him for his visitations? The same man who refers to your child as “it” and “thing” and a “financial obligation.” The same man who asked you to choose between him and your child? The same man who has told you that he wants nothing to do with the child? Again, you’re asking me if you can leave your child with him for his visitations? (Does anyone know how to do a brain cleanse of nut juice?) You see ladies, this is what happens to your brain on d**k. You live in a fog of contentment and so-called love. You’re disillusioned about your relationship, and you’ll keep holding out faith and hope that the man you spent time and energy on will one day, some day, be the man you want him to be. You’ll even consider leaving your child alone with him even after he’s told you that he doesn’t want any parts of her life, or to be acknowledged as the father. You will push and push and push him to be in the child’s life, and then I’ll be watching the morning shows with you on the screen falling out and screaming because someone took your child in the middle of the night while they were at their father’s house. Ms. Lady, don’t you leave your child alone with that man. Don’t force him to be in the child’s life if he doesn’t want to. And, if you need to carry your .45; Magnum; or pistol while you’re supervising the visit with him, then so be it. And, for extra precautionary measure you should have someone from the courts to accompany you. Therefore, both of you can put caps in his ass if he should decide to do something stupid or reckless. I would be watching him like a hawk. He better not make any sudden moves or slight gestures. POW! A bullet in his ass! – Terrance Dean Hey Bossip Fam, what do you think? Share your opinions and thoughts below! Also, e-mail all your questions Terrance Dean : loveandrelationships@bossip.com Follow Terrance Dean on Twitter : @terrancedean “LIKE” Terrance Dean on Facebook , click HERE! Make sure to order my books Mogul: A Novel (Atria Books – June 2011; $15), and Straight From Your Gay Best Friend – The Straight Up Truth About Relationships, Love, And Having A Fabulous Life (Agate/Bolden Books – November 2010; $15). They are available in bookstores everywhere, and on Amazon, click HERE!
Dear Bossip , I dated a man off and on for almost 10 years. Our relationship was long distance and it was more off than on. In February, he moved to my city for our relationship and a month later I discovered I was pregnant. He freaked out and told me I had to choose between him and the baby I was carrying. I chose the baby. It wasn’t a hard choice. He began to tell me all the lies and things he had done in the past to get me to see that I did not want to raise a child with him. For example, he was 19 years old when we met, not 21 like he told me. And, he had even married someone during one of the times when we were not together. When I still refused to have an abortion he said he would not be a part of the child’s life and would only do what child support made him. When my daughter was born I didn’t invite him to the hospital. I let him know later and he demanded a blood test. After she was proven his, he wanted to work out child support payments between us, but did not want to see his daughter. I had already started the process of child support when we went to court. The judge ripped him a new on and thoroughly embarrassed him. He left in tears, but I think that it had more to do with the amount that he is required to pay. The judge gave me full custody of our daughter and gave him one supervised visitation day per week. The judge encouraged me to be open to supervised visits if he wanted them. I was given full custody because he sent me several emails begging me to, “kill ‘it’ so we could be together.” And, “This ‘thing’ was ruining our plans.” And, even after she was born he still referred to her as ‘it’ and ‘thing,’ and nothing more than a financial obligation, and the sooner he starts paying the sooner he’ll get done. So, the judge said, “Okay, you just want to pay and have no say, so be it.” That was 3 weeks ago and yesterday he called for his first visit. This visit is in my orders, and it says as long as it does not inconvenience me. So, I am not breaking the law if I don’t allow him a supervised visit. I can supervise him myself or allow him to use a court appointed supervision service. I am completely revolted by this person and I don’t trust him around me or our daughter. I feel like I’d need to be strapped, but I don’t want to have that on around my daughter. The judge only urged me to allow visitation, but said she understood if I had concerns and stopped just short of taking away his rights. I love our daughter so much words can’t describe it, and the selfish part of me is happy that she is legally all mine and that I have complete say so over her life, but I also know that children need both parents. Do you think it is possible that he could change enough to where I could allow him to visit our daughter or be around her alone? Concerned Mommie Dear Ms. Concerned Mommie , This is what I want you to do: I want you to start waking up extra early and watch the morning news shows like the Today Show , and Good Morning America . I want you to notice the current news stories about little children who are with one parent while on visitation and then all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, someone comes into the home and takes the child from their crib. Then, the next day the police are searching high and low looking for a mysterious child abductor who came into the home while everyone was sleeping and took the child, with no visible signs of forced entry, and the police, the community, and the parent who had the child are stumped of why and who would come into the home and take the child. And, you know what happens next? Fingers and evidence start pointing toward the parent who the child was left with, who is crying and acting all hysterical on the news talking about, “Please bring my baby back home. I love my child.” And, the child is found buried or in some lake or river not too far from the house. Then, we learn that the couple was in a bitter custody battle and case, and the only way to get rid of their financial problem, or to hurt and make the other parent angry they harm the child. Now, I ask you, he told you when you were pregnant that you had to choose between him and the baby, and when you chose the baby he told you that he wants no part of the child’s life, and that he would only do what child support made him. Then when the child was born he wanted a blood test, and when she was proven to be his he still didn’t want to see her, and he only refers to your child as ‘it,’ ‘thing,’ and nothing more than a financial obligation; now, I want to know if you think it’s okay to leave your daughter alone with this man? (I’m perched in front of the computer screen in my chair with my hand under my chin waiting for you to respond) You see, this is exactly why I don’t believe in long distance relationships. Especially being with someone for 10 years, and you don’t live in the same state, and he doesn’t put a ring on your finger or ask you to marry him in all that time. You don’t know what MoFo’s are doing while you’re not there. They can tell you anything at night when they do their routine check-in call. Girl, puhlease. Y’all better get out of these long distance relationships in 2012. Besides, who sits around and waits for someone for 10 years, and you live in two different states!?! Where they do that at???? You got to be a ditzy broad to sit and believe that your man was faithful and monogamous all that time while you were in another state. And, then this fool moves to where you are because all-of-a-sudden he decides that he wants to be in a fully committed relationship with you, but soon after you become pregnant and this knee-grow shows his ass. But, hold up, it gets better. He then proceeds to become Mr. Confessional and shares all the lies he’s told you over the past 10 years. My gosh, that must have taken a few days. And, then this fool tells you that he married someone else when you two were supposedly not together at one point. Uhm, ma’am, this was your “Player Free” card to get Angela Bassett on his ass and do a Waiting To Exhale on him. I don’t believe that you can be that oblivious and naïve and be with someone for 10 years, and then they all of a sudden they show you their ass for you to kiss, and you happily oblige. There had to been some clues, signs, hand signals, gestures, smoke signals, Morse Code, Braille inscriptions, or something. But, Ms. Honey, I’m sorry and I have to stress this over again, he revealed to you all of the lies he ever told you over the course of your relationship, and he admitted to being married while you two were on the outs at one point. SMDH! I can’t! I can’t! I can’t! That’s some MF’ing –ish right there! Does he still have two balls? You should have grabbed them and snatched them off!!! And, let me be clear, you are writing me and asking if you can leave your child with him for his visitations? The same man who refers to your child as “it” and “thing” and a “financial obligation.” The same man who asked you to choose between him and your child? The same man who has told you that he wants nothing to do with the child? Again, you’re asking me if you can leave your child with him for his visitations? (Does anyone know how to do a brain cleanse of nut juice?) You see ladies, this is what happens to your brain on d**k. You live in a fog of contentment and so-called love. You’re disillusioned about your relationship, and you’ll keep holding out faith and hope that the man you spent time and energy on will one day, some day, be the man you want him to be. You’ll even consider leaving your child alone with him even after he’s told you that he doesn’t want any parts of her life, or to be acknowledged as the father. You will push and push and push him to be in the child’s life, and then I’ll be watching the morning shows with you on the screen falling out and screaming because someone took your child in the middle of the night while they were at their father’s house. Ms. Lady, don’t you leave your child alone with that man. Don’t force him to be in the child’s life if he doesn’t want to. And, if you need to carry your .45; Magnum; or pistol while you’re supervising the visit with him, then so be it. And, for extra precautionary measure you should have someone from the courts to accompany you. Therefore, both of you can put caps in his ass if he should decide to do something stupid or reckless. I would be watching him like a hawk. He better not make any sudden moves or slight gestures. POW! A bullet in his ass! – Terrance Dean Hey Bossip Fam, what do you think? Share your opinions and thoughts below! Also, e-mail all your questions Terrance Dean : loveandrelationships@bossip.com Follow Terrance Dean on Twitter : @terrancedean “LIKE” Terrance Dean on Facebook , click HERE! Make sure to order my books Mogul: A Novel (Atria Books – June 2011; $15), and Straight From Your Gay Best Friend – The Straight Up Truth About Relationships, Love, And Having A Fabulous Life (Agate/Bolden Books – November 2010; $15). They are available in bookstores everywhere, and on Amazon, click HERE!
