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Anna Kendrick on Failing Clooney Trivia and Nailing 'Up in the Air' Role

By Mike Harvkey (Subscribe to Mike Harvkey's posts), Posted Dec 3rd 2009 5:30PM
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Fall Movies
At only 24, Anna Kendrick is already an old pro. When she was barely 10 her parents were putting her on Greyhounds (with her older brother) bound for New York so she could audition on Broadway. At 12, she landed her first play. And at 14, she became the second youngest person ever to be nominated for a Tony award.

She didn't win, but nominations haven't stopped coming her way. There was the Independent Spirit Award nomination for 2004's 'Camp,' and then another, four years later, for 'Rocket Science.' And now her work in 'Up in the Air,' the latest film from Jason Reitman ('Juno,' 'Thank You For Smoking'), is generating Oscar buzz.

Did we mention (do we have to?) that Kendrick plays Jessica, pal to Kristin Stewart's Bella in the 'Twilight' saga? (One of the year's most popular movies? Check. Oscar nomination? A very likely check.)
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Is Michael Cera Trying to Be a Bad Boy?

By Mike Harvkey (Subscribe to Mike Harvkey's posts), Posted Nov 24th 2009 12:00PM
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Hot Topic
Michael Cera may not be the sweet young man you think he is.

Since the cult TV series 'Arrested Development,' Cera's pale, frail, and lovably droll anti-hero status has remained pretty consistent. How different, really, was his Evan in 'Superbad' than his George-Michael in 'Development?' Compared to Johah Hill's Seth and Christopher Mintz-Plasse's McLovin', not to mention the cops played by Seth Rogen and Bill Hader, Evan was really the only mature one around.
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Peter Jackson Added More 'Violence and Suffering' to 'Lovely Bones' After Early Screenings

By Mike Harvkey (Subscribe to Mike Harvkey's posts), Posted Nov 17th 2009 12:30PM
Filed under: Movie News
Filmmaker Peter Jackson has never been shy about putting gore and violence into his movies. Before becoming one of the best-known directors working today, the New Zealander was famous, or infamous, for a string of wacky, and very gory, horror comedies. They called the genre "splatstick."

But after he received an Oscar nod for 'Heavenly Creatures,' the film that introduced Kate Winslet to the world (thank you, Peter), Jackson backed off of the gore and embraced the big-time. His 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy grossed nearly $3 billion dollars internationally and won dozens of Oscars, including Best Picture. But at its heart, 'Lord of the Rings' was a redemptive tale, the hero's journey. The films had their share of violence and suffering (poor Frodo), but violence and suffering wasn't the point.

But at a recent screening of his new film, 'The Lovely Bones' (based on Alice Sebold's best-selling novel), Jackson was taken aback when a character's death scene received a lackluster reception. "They were simply not satisfied," Jackson said. "They wanted far more violence." Suddenly, the violence and the suffering were the point, and Jackson was quick to oblige. The filmmaker went back into the editing room "to basically add more violence and suffering ... to give people the satisfaction they needed."
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How George Clooney and Matt Damon Films Are Really Political Actions

By Mike Harvkey (Subscribe to Mike Harvkey's posts), Posted Nov 11th 2009 4:00PM
Filed under: Hot Topic
In his new comedy, 'The Men Who Stare at Goats,' George Clooney assumes another role in which he plays a man associated with the covert operations of the U.S. Government (however silly they may be in this case). And Clooney fans are laughing. A CIA agent with the power to kill a goat simply by staring at it? Hilarious!

But some moviegoers may, once the laughter dies down, look at the choices Clooney's been making since he found himself on the Hollywood A list, and wonder if they don't reveal a man using the power of his celebrity to push a specific political agenda across the globe.
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Bruno Sits Down With Pete Rose in Deleted Scene from DVD (Video)

By Mike Harvkey (Subscribe to Mike Harvkey's posts), Posted Nov 10th 2009 5:15PM
Filed under: DVDs, Video
Sacha Baron Cohen recently announced that he's "done" with the characters from Da Ali G show. No more G, no more Borat and his cultural learnings, and no more Bruno.

Which makes the arrival on DVD of his latest, and last, cringe-comedy, 'Bruno', on Nov. 17, all the more precious to fans. And with many never-before-seen deleted scenes, we'll all soon get even more opportunities to groan. (Yesterday we showed you the infamous LaToya Jackson clip being restored for the DVD release.)
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Worst Movie Biopics: Real-Life Catastrophes

By Mike Harvkey (Subscribe to Mike Harvkey's posts), Posted Nov 5th 2009 5:35PM
Filed under: Features
Hollywood loves the Biopic. Since 1933, not a year has passed without at least one life story burned into celluloid. And as the years went on, the more of them they made. In '47 there were 2. In '67 there was only one. In '87 there were four and the genre was starting to feel pretty tired. In '07 there were a whopping 24, including Todd Haynes' ode to Dylan, 'I'm Not There.' Some said his creative take on a life was a wake-up call to Hollywood.

We'll see if anyone picks up the phone (probably not -- just this fall we've already gotten the biographical films 'Bright Star,' 'Coco Before Chanel,' 'The Damned United' and most recently, 'Amelia'). In the meantime, here's a look at some of the worst offenders of the form.
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