Also in Friday’s early round-up of news briefs: Oscar winner Javier Bardem gets a Hollywood Honor ahead of Skyfall release; A Royal Affair , Chasing Ice and Starlet are among this year’s look at new Specialty Releases; And Harold & Kumar writers are eyeing their next gig. Twilight Fans Set Up Tent City for Monday’s Breaking Dawn – Part 2 Premiere Distributor Summit is offering camping spots to 2,200 Twi-hards, making this the franchise’s largest camp to date and almost double last year’s. The final Twilight premiere takes place at LA Live on Monday, Deadline reports. Lindsay Lohan’s Barbara Walters 20/20 Interview Stopped By Lohan’s New PR Team Dissatisfied with “the direction ABC wanted to take the interview,” Lohan’s new PR reps, Rogers & Cowan, have said that the actress will not appear on 20/20 for an interview with Walters on a scheduled slot set to air November 16th, Deadline reports. Specialty Release Preview: Chasing Ice , Citadel , Coming Up Roses , In Another Country , A Royal Affair , Starlet Bernadette Peters and French actress Isabelle Huppert will open their latest respective films Coming Up Roses and In Another Country ,. Starlet with Dree Hemingway has a San Fernando Valley adult film industry bent, while Citadel won SXSW Festival’s Audience Midnight section prize. Film sales outfit Submarine releases the climate-change documentary Chasing Ice via its distribution label Submarine Deluxe, scoring talk show attention as a result of Hurricane Sandy’s devastation, while Magnolia’s A Royal Affair will get a traditional theatrical rollout, Deadline reports. Javier Bardem Nabs a Hollywood Star Academy award-winning actor Javier Bardem has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bardem, who plays villain Silva in the latest Bond movie Skyfall , was joined by his female co-stars Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe. Bardem received a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in the Coen brothers film No Country for Old Men in 2008, BBC reports. Harold & Kumar Writers Set to Direct Cherries The story centers on three dads who come together to stop their daughters from fulfilling their sex pact to lose their virginities on prom night. Cherries would be a reunion of several key Harold & Kumar behind the camera talent, THR reports.
R. Kelly is taking his multi-chapter, possibly never-ending R&B hip-hopera, Trapped in the Closet , so super-seriously; the least we can do is return the deliciously campy favor. Watch R. Kelly transform – via prosthetics and a fat suit – into “Randolph,” a la Tyler Perry , in a new behind-the-scenes look at Trapped in the Closet , which hits the airwaves on November 23 on IFC. R.Kellys’ Midgets, Pimps, Cheating Lovers, etc. Are His Madeas It’s while watching R. Kelly talk seriously about modeling the character of Randolph on the men in his life, while getting fake old man cheeks applied over his stubble in this making-of video, that it hit me: Trapped In The Closet ‘s multitude of ex-cons, down-low lovers, pimps, midgets, and secret twins are his Madeas . “I felt like I wanted to do these characters, because I felt personal, I felt like I know these guys,” he says. “These guys were friends of mine, or uncles of mine, or my grandfather, and I wanted to steal the spirit of those people.” Where & When to Watch the Next Installment of Trapped in the Closet Trapped in the Closet returns to IFC with a Thanksgiving day marathon to catch you up on all 22 previous chapters before Chapter 23 hits on Friday, November 23 at 9pm PT/ET. Created, written by, and starring R. Kelly as multiple cast members, Trapped in the Closet continues its ongoing saga with the return of Sylvester, Rufus, Cathy, Tina, Roxanne, Randolph, Rosie the Nosy Neighbor, Reverend Moseley, Twan and Pimp Lucius. A cast of characters interconnected by sexual exploits, quarreling lovers and a mysterious package. Two new faces join this next installment, both played by R. Kelly: Dr. Perry, a therapist at Rufus and Cathy’s church guiding them through marriage counseling; and Beeno, a powerful underworld kingpin. The new chapters continue to take on a life of their own with more suspense, mystery, drama and unexpected twists. Watch the Trapped in the Closet Behind-the-Scenes Video: NEW Characters in the NEW Trapped in the Closet What’s that? NEW characters are joining the Trapped in the Closet saga? How many personalities are there living within the R&B master crooner? Click here or below on R. Kelly’s new character — a marriage therapist named Dr. Perry — for more new images from Trapped in the Closet . [ IFC ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
As a tough Detroit cop in Rob Cohen’s Alex Cross Rachel Nichols ( G.I. Joe , Conan ) hunts a maniacal serial killer ( Matthew Fox ) alongside Tyler Perry , who attempts to crossover from his niche following to the mainstream with the James Patterson crime thriller. But it’s not the first time the co-stars shared a scene, as Nichols recalled with a laugh: “It took me four days to say, ‘You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!'” Nichols, down to earth and vivacious in person, has built a career of primarily dramatic roles in film and television since making her feature debut in the comedy prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd . Proving herself both game and capable for an array of physical demands has invited an action heroine streak to sneak into her filmography; between the survival horror P2 , 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra , and last year’s sword-and-sandals adventure Conan (not to mention a guest turn on Criminal Minds and her ongoing lead role as a cop from the future in the 12 Monkeys -esque Continuum ), Nichols is a short list of Hollywood actresses with believable action chops. (As if that wasn’t awesome enough: Nichols also stars in and executive produces the upcoming Raze , an indie film also starring Zoe Bell that she describes as ” Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator ,” with women.) Read on for Nichols’ chat with Movieline about her work in Alex Cross , her Tyler Perry- Star Trek connection, and nerding out over the role that kick-started her action career: J.J. Abrams ‘ Alias . Tyler Perry is the big draw and fascination in this film, stepping out of his comfort zone, but how familiar were you with him and his work before working on this movie? I had seen a bunch of the Madea movies and I’ve always contended that anybody that can do comedy, and can do comedy well, can do anything in the entertainment realm. I think comedy is the most demanding and difficult and the most harshly criticized, and Tyler has this presence about him; as soon as I shook his hand the first day on set I knew he could do this. No problem. He’s got this presence, and he’s very approachable, and he’s very kind — he’s got these really expressive eyes, and then we were doing the tactical training and spitballing and laughing and I thought to myself, he could really do this. And I thought it was a really interesting choice, because I do like it when people step out of their comfort zone. And I’m sure that for years people have been saying, “Tyler, do this — or Tyler, do that project,” and I thought it was really cool that he chose this one. The movie opens in the middle of an action sequence, with you, Tyler, and Ed Burns chasing down a perp. Tyler eventually catches him first, but I’ve seen you in enough action roles to second guess that outcome. In real life who would win in a foot race? Hmm. I’ve never been particularly fast. I don’t know! I’ve never seen the man run. That’s a really good question. He got in great shape for the movie. But I bet Matthew [Fox] would beat all of us. His physical transformation was astounding. I know! What he created and what he did… when I saw him on set I didn’t work with him, but I saw him at dinners and out and when I saw the film and really watched what he did, I was blown away. I’ve known Matthew – we have the same manager, I’ve met him a bunch of times, I loved Party of Five like every other woman in America, I loved LOST — and when I saw him in this, I found him incredibly scary, which is a testament to the job that he did because he’s not incredibly scary. Was it scary to see him around on set, living in the skin of Picasso? I saw him around and he seemed very much into it but it wasn’t like he was Method all the time, that guy the entire time day in and day out. But obviously the diet and the fighting and the training, he was so dedicated. It was interesting to watch knowing what he had put into it. I find it interesting that you and Tyler share a Star Trek connection. I know! It’s really funny. I had never met Tyler before, and when I met him, immediately he was so disarming and so easy to be around that it took me four days to say, “You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!” It was this one big scene where they’re at the hearing for the Kobayashi Maru test and I’m the one green girl in this sea of cadets and he’s this high commander. It was really funny — I briefly met him then, I think I shook his hand – and it seems like a lifetime ago. But yeah, Tyler Perry and I share our Star Trek connection. You’ve had a history of unlucky characters who don’t quite make it very far, so to speak, but you’ve also done a number of really big projects. What’s your perspective on how your career’s shaken out so far? [Laughs] I’m lucky [knocks on wood] — I’ve been able to do some really fun things, whether it’s G.I. Joe or Conan , huge movies… And Alias ! Alias ! Alias was awesome. I do a show now called Continuum which is going to come to the States, fingers crossed. It just premiered in the U.K. and it was a big hit in Canada, now we’re going to do season two so that’s super awesome. But Alias was my first taste — I watched Jen [Garner] , pregnant at the time, do this lead role on this show and I just thought, gosh, this job is insane! And now I’m clearly not pregnant but doing the lead on this show, and I love it. I want to try to do anything, though you’ll never see me sing in a movie. I warn people that I’m tone deaf, so that’ll never happen. But I don’t mind when I make an interesting exit from a film, that’s totally fine. [Laughs] My parents would prefer not, but this was such a fun role and I love the twist. I love how this thing that we’re talking about but we’re not talking about right now, it’s such a surprise. You mentioned that your parents would like to see you in a rom-com or something like that, but things don’t quite work out that way. I would love to see myself in a rom-com! I did an edgy little one a couple of years ago called A Bird Of the Air with Jackson Hurst and we had the best time. It was really fun, and it was emotional and it had its sad moments, but it would be great to have a co-star like Jackson who you get along with, which makes it so easy to have fun. How did you find yourself falling into so many action roles? I love the action stuff, and it started with Alias . Alias is the first time I ever had to do a fight scene. Had you trained in that world before? No! It was all very new to me, and I was obsessed with the show. When they hired me I didn’t tell them I was a crazed fan because I thought they might decide not to hire me. I had seen every freaking episode. I lied and said, “Oh, I’ve seen a few — it’s a really good show.” But I was obsessed! You were like, Rambaldi, what? I was like, “Oh my god, is that an artifact? Can I touch it? Can I put it in my purse?” [Laughs] I was madly in love with the show so that’s where it started. Then, you know, I think it’s really cool because Jen Garner has always known she could do action. She could pick up a sword and go do a big action movie and people will say she’s totally believable as a woman and a fighter. When you get to the point where you’re established enough that people link you with something, especially being an action hero babe, it’s awesome. Because then you can fight the battles and have the crossbows and wrestle with swords and ride the horses because you’re already believable, people see you in that genre. Then it’s even more fun to kick ass. There’s also the strong female character aspect that I like about it. And it also keeps me in good shape; if I’m doing an action movie, I’m staying in good shape. Action heroines remind me of that Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire line; she could do everything he could do, only backwards and in high heels. And so often in action roles actresses are also required to be glammed up while kicking ass. It’s one of those things, and learning a fight is like learning a dance. You have the training, you know the moves, and you put it all together. Sienna Miller and I had an epic fight scene in G.I. Joe , and that stuff’s just fun to do. Then when you see it on the screen and you look like such a bad ass you think, “Alright, I’m just going to sit back and rest on my laurels and look awesome!” What else is on the horizon for you beyond returning to Continuum ? I’m going to go back and do Continuum and I did this movie called Mechanic in Philly that a friend of mine directed, with David Morse and Mike Vogel. And I also executive produced and am also acting in this film called Raze , which we’re editing right now. It’s sort of Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator , but it’s all women. That may be the best description of any film, ever. Oh, yeah. Check it out online ! Alex Cross is in theaters now. Read more here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
As a tough Detroit cop in Rob Cohen’s Alex Cross Rachel Nichols ( G.I. Joe , Conan ) hunts a maniacal serial killer ( Matthew Fox ) alongside Tyler Perry , who attempts to crossover from his niche following to the mainstream with the James Patterson crime thriller. But it’s not the first time the co-stars shared a scene, as Nichols recalled with a laugh: “It took me four days to say, ‘You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!'” Nichols, down to earth and vivacious in person, has built a career of primarily dramatic roles in film and television since making her feature debut in the comedy prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd . Proving herself both game and capable for an array of physical demands has invited an action heroine streak to sneak into her filmography; between the survival horror P2 , 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra , and last year’s sword-and-sandals adventure Conan (not to mention a guest turn on Criminal Minds and her ongoing lead role as a cop from the future in the 12 Monkeys -esque Continuum ), Nichols is a short list of Hollywood actresses with believable action chops. (As if that wasn’t awesome enough: Nichols also stars in and executive produces the upcoming Raze , an indie film also starring Zoe Bell that she describes as ” Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator ,” with women.) Read on for Nichols’ chat with Movieline about her work in Alex Cross , her Tyler Perry- Star Trek connection, and nerding out over the role that kick-started her action career: J.J. Abrams ‘ Alias . Tyler Perry is the big draw and fascination in this film, stepping out of his comfort zone, but how familiar were you with him and his work before working on this movie? I had seen a bunch of the Madea movies and I’ve always contended that anybody that can do comedy, and can do comedy well, can do anything in the entertainment realm. I think comedy is the most demanding and difficult and the most harshly criticized, and Tyler has this presence about him; as soon as I shook his hand the first day on set I knew he could do this. No problem. He’s got this presence, and he’s very approachable, and he’s very kind — he’s got these really expressive eyes, and then we were doing the tactical training and spitballing and laughing and I thought to myself, he could really do this. And I thought it was a really interesting choice, because I do like it when people step out of their comfort zone. And I’m sure that for years people have been saying, “Tyler, do this — or Tyler, do that project,” and I thought it was really cool that he chose this one. The movie opens in the middle of an action sequence, with you, Tyler, and Ed Burns chasing down a perp. Tyler eventually catches him first, but I’ve seen you in enough action roles to second guess that outcome. In real life who would win in a foot race? Hmm. I’ve never been particularly fast. I don’t know! I’ve never seen the man run. That’s a really good question. He got in great shape for the movie. But I bet Matthew [Fox] would beat all of us. His physical transformation was astounding. I know! What he created and what he did… when I saw him on set I didn’t work with him, but I saw him at dinners and out and when I saw the film and really watched what he did, I was blown away. I’ve known Matthew – we have the same manager, I’ve met him a bunch of times, I loved Party of Five like every other woman in America, I loved LOST — and when I saw him in this, I found him incredibly scary, which is a testament to the job that he did because he’s not incredibly scary. Was it scary to see him around on set, living in the skin of Picasso? I saw him around and he seemed very much into it but it wasn’t like he was Method all the time, that guy the entire time day in and day out. But obviously the diet and the fighting and the training, he was so dedicated. It was interesting to watch knowing what he had put into it. I find it interesting that you and Tyler share a Star Trek connection. I know! It’s really funny. I had never met Tyler before, and when I met him, immediately he was so disarming and so easy to be around that it took me four days to say, “You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!” It was this one big scene where they’re at the hearing for the Kobayashi Maru test and I’m the one green girl in this sea of cadets and he’s this high commander. It was really funny — I briefly met him then, I think I shook his hand – and it seems like a lifetime ago. But yeah, Tyler Perry and I share our Star Trek connection. You’ve had a history of unlucky characters who don’t quite make it very far, so to speak, but you’ve also done a number of really big projects. What’s your perspective on how your career’s shaken out so far? [Laughs] I’m lucky [knocks on wood] — I’ve been able to do some really fun things, whether it’s G.I. Joe or Conan , huge movies… And Alias ! Alias ! Alias was awesome. I do a show now called Continuum which is going to come to the States, fingers crossed. It just premiered in the U.K. and it was a big hit in Canada, now we’re going to do season two so that’s super awesome. But Alias was my first taste — I watched Jen [Garner] , pregnant at the time, do this lead role on this show and I just thought, gosh, this job is insane! And now I’m clearly not pregnant but doing the lead on this show, and I love it. I want to try to do anything, though you’ll never see me sing in a movie. I warn people that I’m tone deaf, so that’ll never happen. But I don’t mind when I make an interesting exit from a film, that’s totally fine. [Laughs] My parents would prefer not, but this was such a fun role and I love the twist. I love how this thing that we’re talking about but we’re not talking about right now, it’s such a surprise. You mentioned that your parents would like to see you in a rom-com or something like that, but things don’t quite work out that way. I would love to see myself in a rom-com! I did an edgy little one a couple of years ago called A Bird Of the Air with Jackson Hurst and we had the best time. It was really fun, and it was emotional and it had its sad moments, but it would be great to have a co-star like Jackson who you get along with, which makes it so easy to have fun. How did you find yourself falling into so many action roles? I love the action stuff, and it started with Alias . Alias is the first time I ever had to do a fight scene. Had you trained in that world before? No! It was all very new to me, and I was obsessed with the show. When they hired me I didn’t tell them I was a crazed fan because I thought they might decide not to hire me. I had seen every freaking episode. I lied and said, “Oh, I’ve seen a few — it’s a really good show.” But I was obsessed! You were like, Rambaldi, what? I was like, “Oh my god, is that an artifact? Can I touch it? Can I put it in my purse?” [Laughs] I was madly in love with the show so that’s where it started. Then, you know, I think it’s really cool because Jen Garner has always known she could do action. She could pick up a sword and go do a big action movie and people will say she’s totally believable as a woman and a fighter. When you get to the point where you’re established enough that people link you with something, especially being an action hero babe, it’s awesome. Because then you can fight the battles and have the crossbows and wrestle with swords and ride the horses because you’re already believable, people see you in that genre. Then it’s even more fun to kick ass. There’s also the strong female character aspect that I like about it. And it also keeps me in good shape; if I’m doing an action movie, I’m staying in good shape. Action heroines remind me of that Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire line; she could do everything he could do, only backwards and in high heels. And so often in action roles actresses are also required to be glammed up while kicking ass. It’s one of those things, and learning a fight is like learning a dance. You have the training, you know the moves, and you put it all together. Sienna Miller and I had an epic fight scene in G.I. Joe , and that stuff’s just fun to do. Then when you see it on the screen and you look like such a bad ass you think, “Alright, I’m just going to sit back and rest on my laurels and look awesome!” What else is on the horizon for you beyond returning to Continuum ? I’m going to go back and do Continuum and I did this movie called Mechanic in Philly that a friend of mine directed, with David Morse and Mike Vogel. And I also executive produced and am also acting in this film called Raze , which we’re editing right now. It’s sort of Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator , but it’s all women. That may be the best description of any film, ever. Oh, yeah. Check it out online ! Alex Cross is in theaters now. Read more here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Calling Ben Affleck ‘s Argo a “terrific thriller,” one of the six Americans who managed to escape the U.S. embassy just as student radicals took over the compound by fleeing into Tehran’s streets has set a bit of the record straight. Mark Lijek, who’s portrayed by Christopher Denham in Affleck’s awards contender, spoke out after attending the film’s L.A. premiere, giving his detailed version of events. And while there are strong parallels with the film, which began its release last week and has garnered Oscar buzz, the timeline of real-life events had some significant departures from the film, which Affleck starred in and directed. Still, Lijek did learn one thing from the film, which surprised him all these years later. ( Caution, spoilers if you have not seen the movie ). The backbone of the story – namely, the idea of posing the six Americans as movie-makers in order to dupe Iranian officials and sneak them of the country – is in fact true. The movie version of events suggest the six “house guests,” who were holed up in hiding in the Canadian Ambassador’s residence, needed convincing to go the route of posing as Hollywood insiders. But the plan’s CIA mastermind, Tony Mendez (played by Affleck) had in fact presented three ideas, which the group accepted as the best option straight away. “We liked the idea enough, in fact, that we chose it over two other scenarios that Tony also brought to us,” said Lijek in a first-person account of their ordeal in Slate magazine. “In one of them, we would pose as businesspeople, in something petroleum-related, if I remember correctly. In the other, I think we were meant to be teachers looking for employment at an international school. But those two seemed like throwaways, and Tony did not try too hard to sell us on them.” After considering the three options, Lijek noted, the group accepted the plan whereas in Argo it seemed to split the group, with dissenters reluctantly agreeing to go along. “It was clear the organization and energy was focused on the Hollywood option. And they were right to be: While the movie presents myriad dramatic complications and last-minute twists and turns, the plan actually went off without a hitch. Lijek’s account focuses on the drama the group had going from place to place in the lead-up to Mendez’s arrival. The six managed to evade capture, going from one temporary safe space to the next before ending up in the safe hands of the Canadian compound and in the care of Canadian John Sheardown, who was critical in safeguarding them. “When Tony Mendez arrived on Jan. 26, 1980, we were ready to leave,” writes Lijek. “The hostage crisis was no closer to resolution. We had asked [Ambassador] Taylor in early January to tell Washington we wanted out. Each day we stayed in Iran added to the risk of capture.” Continuing, he gives credit to Sheardown, who didn’t make the script in the movie version of events. “It never came to that — and John Sheardown may well be the indispensable reason why. Without his enthusiastic welcome we might have tried to survive on our own a few more days. We would have failed. And so it was hard, sitting at the swanky Los Angeles premiere the other day, not to see John in the movie. I understand, though, why he couldn’t be there. Argo already had more characters than a typical thriller, and adding the Sheardowns would not have enhanced the drama.” But Lijek received a surprise at the film’s screening as the credits rolled when a voice came in talking about the crisis 32 years later. “The film’s biggest shock? The voiceover from Jimmy Carter at the end. In comments about the incident that I had never heard before, Carter says our chance of success was 50 percent. 50?! I thought it was much higher. Another gut check. Would we have gone with Tony at 50 percent? I’ll never know.” [Source: Slate ]
Calling Ben Affleck ‘s Argo a “terrific thriller,” one of the six Americans who managed to escape the U.S. embassy just as student radicals took over the compound by fleeing into Tehran’s streets has set a bit of the record straight. Mark Lijek, who’s portrayed by Christopher Denham in Affleck’s awards contender, spoke out after attending the film’s L.A. premiere, giving his detailed version of events. And while there are strong parallels with the film, which began its release last week and has garnered Oscar buzz, the timeline of real-life events had some significant departures from the film, which Affleck starred in and directed. Still, Lijek did learn one thing from the film, which surprised him all these years later. ( Caution, spoilers if you have not seen the movie ). The backbone of the story – namely, the idea of posing the six Americans as movie-makers in order to dupe Iranian officials and sneak them of the country – is in fact true. The movie version of events suggest the six “house guests,” who were holed up in hiding in the Canadian Ambassador’s residence, needed convincing to go the route of posing as Hollywood insiders. But the plan’s CIA mastermind, Tony Mendez (played by Affleck) had in fact presented three ideas, which the group accepted as the best option straight away. “We liked the idea enough, in fact, that we chose it over two other scenarios that Tony also brought to us,” said Lijek in a first-person account of their ordeal in Slate magazine. “In one of them, we would pose as businesspeople, in something petroleum-related, if I remember correctly. In the other, I think we were meant to be teachers looking for employment at an international school. But those two seemed like throwaways, and Tony did not try too hard to sell us on them.” After considering the three options, Lijek noted, the group accepted the plan whereas in Argo it seemed to split the group, with dissenters reluctantly agreeing to go along. “It was clear the organization and energy was focused on the Hollywood option. And they were right to be: While the movie presents myriad dramatic complications and last-minute twists and turns, the plan actually went off without a hitch. Lijek’s account focuses on the drama the group had going from place to place in the lead-up to Mendez’s arrival. The six managed to evade capture, going from one temporary safe space to the next before ending up in the safe hands of the Canadian compound and in the care of Canadian John Sheardown, who was critical in safeguarding them. “When Tony Mendez arrived on Jan. 26, 1980, we were ready to leave,” writes Lijek. “The hostage crisis was no closer to resolution. We had asked [Ambassador] Taylor in early January to tell Washington we wanted out. Each day we stayed in Iran added to the risk of capture.” Continuing, he gives credit to Sheardown, who didn’t make the script in the movie version of events. “It never came to that — and John Sheardown may well be the indispensable reason why. Without his enthusiastic welcome we might have tried to survive on our own a few more days. We would have failed. And so it was hard, sitting at the swanky Los Angeles premiere the other day, not to see John in the movie. I understand, though, why he couldn’t be there. Argo already had more characters than a typical thriller, and adding the Sheardowns would not have enhanced the drama.” But Lijek received a surprise at the film’s screening as the credits rolled when a voice came in talking about the crisis 32 years later. “The film’s biggest shock? The voiceover from Jimmy Carter at the end. In comments about the incident that I had never heard before, Carter says our chance of success was 50 percent. 50?! I thought it was much higher. Another gut check. Would we have gone with Tony at 50 percent? I’ll never know.” [Source: Slate ]
It’s a curious truth about Tyler Perry that, when not in drag and playing the outsized role of Madea , he’s a recessive screen presence, appearing a little uncomfortable in his own body, awkward and not particularly emotive. When he gives himself a role like the one in Good Deeds, it fits as part of the character, but anchoring a potential action franchise like Alex Cross , he looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. As the title homicide detective, the protagonist of a series of books by James Patterson and one who’s been played in earlier screen incarnations by Morgan Freeman (in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider ), Perry can’t summon the charisma necessary to make a role that’s essentially a melange of police and criminal profiling clichés into something that works either in a serious or schlocky mode. His ungainliness in the action sequences even provoked the odd unintentional laugh at the screening I attended, though he’s hardly the only one involved in this film who’s on the hook for that. Alex Cross is filled with accidental comedy, and while it’s a mess in any traditional movie sense, it’s has its moments of preposterous fun that come in the form of a nonsensical plot and a fabulously competent, scenery-gnawing villain. That villain, who earns the nickname “Picasso” for his habit of leaving charcoal sketches at the scenes of the murders he’s committed, is played by Matthew Fox with a near-Tourette’s style twitchiness. The guy’s a hired gun, we know from the outset, but he’s also completely cray-cray, which Fox indicates by keeping his eyes open wide enough for us to always be able to see the full circle of his sclera. With an array of tattoos and seemingly no body fat, Picasso looks to be somewhere between a meth addict and a Marine. Whatever his background, he’s not getting paid enough for the convoluted acrobatics he goes through to take down his targets. Buying his way into underground fight rings, scuba-diving through pipes, train takeovers — the dude is not one to just run up to someone on the street and shoot them in the head. In addition to his art fetish, he also has a thing for torturing people and compulsively doing pull-ups. He is, in other words, hilarious, and Fox’s over-the-top portrayal provides a curiously fitting counterbalance to Perry’s underplaying, as the two engage in a cat-and-mouse pursuit through Detroit. Picasso is targeting members of an international corporation led by Leon Mercier (Jean Reno) that plans to revitalize the city by making it a center of nanotechnology. The only detail that’s important there is that the high-ranking members of the company are all different varieties of asshole foreigners, from the slinky sadist Fan Yau (Stephanie Jacobsen) to germaphobe German Erich Nunemacher (Werner Daehn) to the smug Frenchman Mercier, with his fancy cognac and dismissive attitude. Keep your hands off our troubled city, damn international investors! Cross lives with his wife, Maria ( Carmen Ejogo , who stole Sparkle away from Jordin Sparks but is in a thankless part here), two kids and sassy mother (Cicely Tyson), and works with his best friend since childhood Tommy (Edward Burns, in a role probably described in its entirety as “Irish-American cop”). His only distinguishing characteristic is his Sherlock Holmes-worthy psychological profiling abilities, which he shows off by listing every detail of his wife’s day based on her appearance. He doesn’t put these skills to impressive use on the case, however, misreading Picasso as someone who’d be uninterested in chasing down the cops pursuing him — a judgment call that causes him a world of grief. Alex Cross was directed by Fast and the Furious and Stealth director Rob Cohen, who approaches the film with a bewildering haphazardness. Whenever Fox’s character gets angry, the picture splinters like he’s the can’t-look-directly-at-him baddie from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. A climactic fight scene gets so chopped up that it’s impossible to place the characters participating in it, while seemingly mundane sequences of a character researching something on a computer are livened up by the camera being shaken as if we’d get bored if something weren’t moving. And boring is something that Alex Cross , for all of its problems, is not. Despite the rebuilding-of-Detroit angle, there’s little specific to the city depicted in Cross and his team’s investigation. And there’s certainly no attempt to tie in how sorely understaffed the actual Detroit Police Department is. The film does finds a few spectacular repurposed locations that it puts to good use — a church-turned-MMA-ring and an old theater that’s been converted into a parking lot both serve as striking backdrops for mostly silly combat sequences. Alex Cross is a misfire, but it’s sometimes an entertaining one — enough to make you curious about who else Perry could go up against in another installment, and just how much overacting would take place. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
It’s a curious truth about Tyler Perry that, when not in drag and playing the outsized role of Madea , he’s a recessive screen presence, appearing a little uncomfortable in his own body, awkward and not particularly emotive. When he gives himself a role like the one in Good Deeds, it fits as part of the character, but anchoring a potential action franchise like Alex Cross , he looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. As the title homicide detective, the protagonist of a series of books by James Patterson and one who’s been played in earlier screen incarnations by Morgan Freeman (in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider ), Perry can’t summon the charisma necessary to make a role that’s essentially a melange of police and criminal profiling clichés into something that works either in a serious or schlocky mode. His ungainliness in the action sequences even provoked the odd unintentional laugh at the screening I attended, though he’s hardly the only one involved in this film who’s on the hook for that. Alex Cross is filled with accidental comedy, and while it’s a mess in any traditional movie sense, it’s has its moments of preposterous fun that come in the form of a nonsensical plot and a fabulously competent, scenery-gnawing villain. That villain, who earns the nickname “Picasso” for his habit of leaving charcoal sketches at the scenes of the murders he’s committed, is played by Matthew Fox with a near-Tourette’s style twitchiness. The guy’s a hired gun, we know from the outset, but he’s also completely cray-cray, which Fox indicates by keeping his eyes open wide enough for us to always be able to see the full circle of his sclera. With an array of tattoos and seemingly no body fat, Picasso looks to be somewhere between a meth addict and a Marine. Whatever his background, he’s not getting paid enough for the convoluted acrobatics he goes through to take down his targets. Buying his way into underground fight rings, scuba-diving through pipes, train takeovers — the dude is not one to just run up to someone on the street and shoot them in the head. In addition to his art fetish, he also has a thing for torturing people and compulsively doing pull-ups. He is, in other words, hilarious, and Fox’s over-the-top portrayal provides a curiously fitting counterbalance to Perry’s underplaying, as the two engage in a cat-and-mouse pursuit through Detroit. Picasso is targeting members of an international corporation led by Leon Mercier (Jean Reno) that plans to revitalize the city by making it a center of nanotechnology. The only detail that’s important there is that the high-ranking members of the company are all different varieties of asshole foreigners, from the slinky sadist Fan Yau (Stephanie Jacobsen) to germaphobe German Erich Nunemacher (Werner Daehn) to the smug Frenchman Mercier, with his fancy cognac and dismissive attitude. Keep your hands off our troubled city, damn international investors! Cross lives with his wife, Maria ( Carmen Ejogo , who stole Sparkle away from Jordin Sparks but is in a thankless part here), two kids and sassy mother (Cicely Tyson), and works with his best friend since childhood Tommy (Edward Burns, in a role probably described in its entirety as “Irish-American cop”). His only distinguishing characteristic is his Sherlock Holmes-worthy psychological profiling abilities, which he shows off by listing every detail of his wife’s day based on her appearance. He doesn’t put these skills to impressive use on the case, however, misreading Picasso as someone who’d be uninterested in chasing down the cops pursuing him — a judgment call that causes him a world of grief. Alex Cross was directed by Fast and the Furious and Stealth director Rob Cohen, who approaches the film with a bewildering haphazardness. Whenever Fox’s character gets angry, the picture splinters like he’s the can’t-look-directly-at-him baddie from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. A climactic fight scene gets so chopped up that it’s impossible to place the characters participating in it, while seemingly mundane sequences of a character researching something on a computer are livened up by the camera being shaken as if we’d get bored if something weren’t moving. And boring is something that Alex Cross , for all of its problems, is not. Despite the rebuilding-of-Detroit angle, there’s little specific to the city depicted in Cross and his team’s investigation. And there’s certainly no attempt to tie in how sorely understaffed the actual Detroit Police Department is. The film does finds a few spectacular repurposed locations that it puts to good use — a church-turned-MMA-ring and an old theater that’s been converted into a parking lot both serve as striking backdrops for mostly silly combat sequences. Alex Cross is a misfire, but it’s sometimes an entertaining one — enough to make you curious about who else Perry could go up against in another installment, and just how much overacting would take place. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
By all indications at the LA press day the principals involved in Alex Cross are happy as plums with the pic director Rob Cohen delivered, which sees Tyler Perry (of Madea fame) making his action hero debut on Friday. So is it any wonder that a deal is underway already with novelist James Patterson to start work on Double Cross , the next in what Summit and QED International hope is another fruitful Perry franchise? Based on Patterson’s popular crime novels, Alex Cross follows a detective/profiler (Perry) as he challenges a serial killer named Picasso (Matthew Fox, in a memorably crazed turn) who kills with perverse pleasure — and has targeted people close to the detective. The two then engages him in a dangerous cat and mouse game against the backdrop of a decayed Detroit. It’s Perry’s first film solely as an actor following a tremendously successful run of niche films, television, and theater projects that have grossed over half a billion dollars to date with Perry producing, directing, writing, and/or starring. Alex Cross is, fittingly enough, his big crossover push as well as his first action role, and given his loyal following it’s not surprising that the studio’s banking on a big enough opening from the modestly-budgeted $25M pic to warrant a sequel. For his part, Patterson voiced his support of Perry’s star turn filling the shoes of the iconic character previously portrayed by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider . He described Perry as a more accurate embodiment of Alex Cross, who’s described in the novels as a 6’3″, 200 lb. family man who’s close to his grandmother. Addressing the idea of writing yet more novels in his 20-book Alex Cross series, the poised, brash Patterson answered, ” Always. Baby needs new shoes .” (No, really. He said that.) So I’m guessing there’s none of that original author hesitation on Patterson’s part to see another one of his novels adapted for the screen, regardless of how Alex Cross opens with audiences or critics this weekend. There’s no indication yet of who will be scripting or directing the sequel, but if I were QED I’d look to upgrade on both counts. [ Deadline ]
Tyler Perry’s on the cover of Essence…again. Opening up about his new role as Alex Cross, Perry praises black women (his number one fan base according to Essence), and takes a serious moment to talk about the late greats Whitney and MJ. Telling the mag, “When Black women are down with you and in your corner, you have an ally that will move heaven and earth…”, you can’t help but realize that even Tyler knows the huge number of female supporters, particularly those with religious backgrounds, have had a lot to do with his successful career. According to The Grio… Essence estimates that Perry’s film enterprise spawned from the beloved stage character Madea — a fierce-talking mother figure — is worth an impressive $1 billion. After parlaying his Madea plays into movies, the actor-producer aims to extend his entertainment brand even further by playing the complete opposite of the grandmotherly mad woman. Yes, get ready for: Tyler Perry, Action Star. Taking over the role of Alex Cross, which was previously played by Morgan Freeman, Perry beat out Idris Elba among others for the role in the coming eponymous film. “Rising past the haters — and the sheer desolation of losing his beloved mother — Tyler Perry has only just begun to soar,” the magazine states about the iconic producer. “Respected as a writer, director and mogul, the man behind the $1 billion-plus Madea franchise is now moving into unchartered territory: Action hero.” Perry’s Alex Cross, in which he plays the butt-kicking lead, is certainly a departure from his female-oriented melodramas. On the heels of the announcement that Tyler Perry will be uniting with Oprah Winfrey to produce original, scripted series for her OWN network, this is shaping up to be quite an exciting week for the performer who is also a seasoned television producer. We’re glad to see Perry moving into a different genre but we wonder if he can finally shake off all the Madea stigmas he’s boxed himself into. Images via Essence
