Whatever you do, don't think Peter and Bobby Farrelly are only interested in bodily functions. After all, their films -- from Dumb & Dumber to There's Something About Mary to Stuck on You -- are often built on misguided-but-sweet men that get involved in situations beyond their control. If there's some actual toilet humor involved -- as in the case of their new film Hall Pass -- that just goes with the territory of being misguided.
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Taylor Handley has been acting for exactly half of his life, but thanks to supporting turns in Columbia Pictures' alien invasion pic Battle: Los Angeles and the Texas-set Sundance indie Skateland -- both opening weeks apart in March -- he's in for the biggest month of his career. And with his profile on the rise as he builds on an already-comprehensive filmography, as the 26-year-old Southern California native put it to Movieline, "the heat is on."
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It's fairly standard policy for a publicist to request that the questions stay on topic to whatever is being promoted. In this case, with Craig Ferguson -- best known, of course, as the host of the Late Late Show on CBS -- this pretty much opens up every aspect of his life since his new Epix stand-up special, Does This Need To Be Said?, addresses subjects as diverse as his battle with alcoholism to David Letterman's sex scandal. Indeed, Ferguson admits, casual viewers might be shocked what the "nice man on TV" has to say when he's unfiltered.
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It is an exciting time for Alex Pettyfer. Based on the box office performance of his first big budget film, I Am Number Four -- which premieres tomorrow -- the 20-year-old English model-turned-thesp could join Robert Pattinson in the ranks of hunky, tortured heartthrobs. Like Pattinson's Twilight character, Pettyfer plays a sensitive-yet-inhuman high school student at once trying to fit in, overcome supernatural obstacles, and win the heart of his mortal crush (played by Pettyfer's real-life-girlfriend Dianna Agron). And with the sci-fi thriller's all-star pedigree -- D.J. Caruso directed while Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay produced -- I Am Number Four is indeed poised to carry the handsome Pettyfer from verge to vampire-level popularity.
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As you've no doubt heard by now, a computer named Watson scored a runaway triumph in this week's Jeopardy! IBM Challenge, defeating two of the game show's most legendary champions -- Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter -- en route to a $1 million prize. (IBM will donate the winnings to charity.) But the road to victory was not without a few sizable bumps, and in an exclusive chat this morning with Movieline, Watson discussed some of the difficulties encountered on his way to the finish line -- and how his real challenge begins now.
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This has been a week full of weird interviews. From Charlie Sheen's monstrous call-in segments with Dan Patrick (during which he compared himself to Superman and revealed that crack is perfectly fine if it can be managed socially) to Justin Bieber's comments on abortion to January Jones' awkward hometown bashing session with Jon Stewart -- these publicized conversations have been so uncomfortable that we here at Movieline HQ have no choice but to help. Herewith, 30 pro tips that will improve any question-and-answer session, whether it be television, radio or print. As always, dear readers, feel free to contribute your own advice in the comments section. These celebrities need all the help they can get!
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Though Mr. Sunshine stars Matthew Perry as a San Diego arena manager and Allison Janney as his unpredictable boss, it's James Lesure (as former basketball star Alonzo) who adds a sense of cool to the comic delirium. We caught up with Lesure, the former star of NBC's Las Vegas, just before last week's highly rated premiere to discuss Matthew Perry, Alonzo's stability, and his preferred Friends cast member.
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Anne Heche is happy. Or relatively happy. At least that's how she seems upon first meeting her -- a brimming, enthusiastic counterpoint to her well-documented less happy times that you know will come up at some point in your conversation. Indeed, talking about past choices and decisions, she refers to herself as an "unguided soul" and expresses hope that she's matured over the years. And while it's impossible, over the short time we had discussing the intricacies of her new comedy Cedar Rapids, to make any grand conclusions of maturity, there's definitely an energy level surrounding Heche that would be hard to simulate for a woman who wasn't totally at ease with who she is -- and who she was.
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Liam Neeson continues his second career as a bone-crunching, gravelly-voiced action star in this week's Unknown, a Berlin-set thriller following a scientist (Neeson) who wakes up after a freak accident to find that his wife (January Jones) no longer recognizes him and another man has assumed his identity. Though it begins in a quietly eerie reverie, momentum builds as Neeson reclaims his life in a grand, explosive finale -- kind of like the film's Los Angeles junket, where the cheeky Neeson livened up an otherwise sedate press conference, quipped freely about his sex life, and gamely endured Movieline's own terrible Liam Neeson impression. More revelations after the jump:
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Just eighteen months ago, you'd be hard pressed to pick Dianna Agron out of a line-up of beautiful blond actresses. But now, after the Georgia-born beauty achieved widespread recognition for playing former head Cheerio Quinn Fabray on Fox's hit series Glee, the actress is celebrating her first leading role in a feature film. In D.J. Caruso's I Am Number Four, a teen science fiction film premiering this Friday, Agron plays the shutterbug love interest of a super-powered alien trapped in the body of a hunky high school student (played by Agron's real-life love interest Alex Pettyfer). Although Agron is again playing the graceful, soft-spoken object of someone's affection, I Am Number Four -- which was produced by Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg -- contains explosions, violence and a serious lack of song and dance. Sorry, Gleeks.
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Who knows more about sex, dating, breaking up, and making bad decisions in the name of love than A-listers like Drew Barrymore, Johnny Depp and Charlie Sheen? This Valentine's Day take a trip into the Movieline Vault -- home of over 20 years of revealing, to-the-point celebrity interviews -- for lessons on first dates, inadvisable hook-ups, and more, straight from the mouths of Hollywood's brightest stars. Well, circa 1990.
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The startling beauty of Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-nominated True Grit -- and in most Coen brothers films, for that matter -- owes to frequent collaborator and award-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins, who's lensed all but one of their films since 1991's Barton Fink. But as much as the nostalgic Western serves as a throwback to simpler times, simpler heroes (and heroines), and a yearning to stick to one's principles in the face of obsolescence, True Grit could also mark a wistful point in Deakins career -- his last film shot on film.
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Those not yet familiar with Teresa Palmer -- the up-and-coming Aussie actress (and former Verge subject) who stars in this weekend's I Am Number Four -- may have been a bit confused when they first saw the trailer for the DreamWorks sci-fi film, if only because the 24-year-old bears a striking resemblance to Twilight star Kristen Stewart -- a theory substantiated by the many Internet message boards devoted to this very subject. In a recent conversation with the actress, Movieline discussed the online comparisons with Palmer, who was relieved to finally address her cinematic doppelgänger head-on. Er, face-on.
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It's hard to remember, but there was a time when romantic comedies weren't viewed with the same contempt as torture porn and Adam Sandler. This is a genre that saw the likes of Preston Struges, Billy Wilder and Woody Allen create some of the most iconic films Hollywood history; now it's a genre overrun by Dennis Dugans and Robert Luketics, filmmakers seemingly content to stomp on whatever happy, "boy meets girl" memories you might have. If the Hollywood machine has got you down in this lead-up to Valentine's Day, there is some hope: Resist buying a ticket for No Strings Attached (or, shiver, Just Go With It) and search out Luke Matheny's God of Love instead.
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Having proved his facility bringing pop entertainment to a young, plugged-in audience with successes both theatrical (Step Up 2 & 3) and digital (The LXD), 31-year-old director Jon M. Chu was in many ways the perfect choice to helm a biopic of YouTube sensation-turned-pop phenom Justin Bieber. The resulting film, Never Say Never, is a generation-defining concert doc filled with rare peeks into the life of the 16-year-old performer. It's also got slo-mo hair tosses and shirtless scenes. Bieber Nation, prepare thyself.
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