Elizabeth Olsen, “Godzilla” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Elizabeth Olsen’s independent film work includes 2011’s acclaimed Martha Marcy May Marlene and last year’s Kill Your Darlings. Her segue into studio filmmaking should also be a creatively satisfying experience, as she collaborated with filmmaker Gareth Edwards (Monsters) in the upcoming Godzilla and Joss Whedon in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Ford Brody”) and Elizabeth Olsen (“Elle Brody”) in “Godzilla.” (Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures)
In Godzilla, Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson play husband and wife and they are featured as siblings (she’s Scarlet Witch, he’s Quicksilver) in Avengers: Age of Ultron. For Olsen, working with Taylor-Johnson on both films was an “awesome” experience.
“We only did a few scenes together (for Godzilla),” said Olsen who appeared with Taylor-Johnson in the end credits of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. “But we spent time together in Vancouver and I got to know his family…and to play really tight brother and sister (dynamic) it’s really lucky that it’s not with just some guy I’ve just met. I think we both like the fact that we have this other film in our repertoire.”
Click on the media bar on how she prepared for her roles in Godzilla and Avengers: Age of Ultron:
Godzilla, co-starring Ken Watanabe and Juliette Binoche, opens May 16.
With last week’s news that Sharknado 3 is set for a Summer 2015 release, one must understand that it’s important to not put the cart before the horse (or shark). Sharknado 2: The Second One, which finds returnees Ian Ziering and Tara Reid sharing the screen with Mark McGrath, Judah Friedlander (30 Rock), Kari Wuhrer, Vivica A. Fox, and Judd Hirsch, premieres July 30 on Syfy.
NBCUniversal Summer Press Day, April 2014 — Pictured: (l-r) Mark McGrath, Kari Wuhrer, Judah Friedlander, “Sharknado 2” — (Photo by: Scott Everett White/NBC)
Hopefully the talented and versatile Friedlander doesn’t go on a hugging spree (as seen in the Dave Matthews Band video “Everyday”). Surely, neither Mark McGrath nor Kari Wuhrer can charm their way out of getting caught up in a shark infested New York City.
But if faced with a real life Sharknado, can a former Beverly Hills, 90120 denizentruly save the day, or will the Big Apple continue to swim with the sharks?
During the interviews for Sharknado 2: The Second One, Wuhrer, McGrath, and Friedlander offered up their thoughts on how to survive a Sharknado. Check out the video below, just in case you need a few pointers:
You can “catch” Sharknado 2: The SecondOne, which also features appearances from Perez Hilton and Kelly Osbourne,on Wednesday, July 30 (Syfy, 9 pm et/pt).
With Mother’s Day approaching, Moms’ Night Out’s May 9th release is simply perfect timing. Sarah Drew, who plays the charmingly neurotic April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy, headlines the story as Allyson, a mom takes break from her kids to hang with her friends. Sean Astin is Allyson’s hubby, who is predictably helpless without his wife minding the store.
The six-week shoot for Moms’ Night Out took place in Birmingham, Alabama, and Drew recently chatted about the difference of starring in a feature film and working on Grey’s Anatomy. “It feels like going away to summer camp,” said Drew, who also co-stars in Moms’ Night Out with Patricia Heaton and Trace Adkins. “It’s just this really heightened experience with a ton of adrenaline. Everyone is meeting each other for the first time and excited to get to know each other and bond, and we’re all working for so hard for this tiny, tiny chunk of time. It’s like this moment in time (that’s) frozen.”
Sarah Drew, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, CR: Kelsey McNeal)
Working on Grey’s Anatomy, the series which catapulted the career of producer Shonda Rhimes (Scandal, Private Practice), has been a creative and professional boon for Drew. Although April Kepner started out as a frequently harried and nervous resident during her first years at Seattle Grace Hospital (it’s since been renamed Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital), she has gradually become more confident in her abilities.
To hear the actress talk about the joys she gets from playing April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy (she’s actually my favorite character on the show), click on the media bar below:
Moms’ Night Out, directed by Jon and Andrew Erwin (October Baby), opens Friday. The season finale of Grey’s Anatomy airs May 15 on ABC.
Blowfish Meets Meteor is an iOS block breaker that received a significant upgrade earlier this month. The latest iteration contains enhanced iPad compatibility, an improved physics engine, as well as new sound effects, animations, and music. I didn’t download the game upon its initial release, so I came to this adventure with the freshest of eyes. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed.
The story has players taking on the role of a concerned, underwater living dad whose mermaid daughters are held captives by various creatures under the sea. Armed with dynamite, oysters, and a bouncing red ball, our hero must free his children by destroying surrounding blocks and killing various enemies along the way. After you complete a number of stages, you’ll need to defeat a boss to advance to the next level.
Along with the boss fights, there’s also treasure to be had. Depending on how well you do on each stage, you will earn different colored gems which are used to unlock some deep mystery in an area called the gemstone cavern.
Gemstone Cavern (Left), Boss fight w/ Electric Eel (Right)
Along with the beautiful hand drawn animations, Blowfish Meets Meteor also delivers in the game play. Most of the game deal focuses on the mechanics of the brick breaking aesthetic, as you’ll be moving your diver from side to side as he throws the red ball at his targets. However, getting the chance to actually blow up bricks or kill your enemies with TNT adds an extra dimension to this well worn genre. On my iPad, I used a left finger to aim my dynamite at a target while my right finger slide my diver to keep the ball from passing me by. It’s a multitasking maneuver which took me more than a few tries to master, but in the end all that frustrating work was worth it.
The visual design of each stage also kept the proceedings fresh throughout my two hour experience, as each puzzle has a unique identity of its own. During certain sections, you’ll need to navigate the mermaids past hungry piranhas, and on other stages you’ll need to successfully juggle falling penguins and your red projectile. Currently, my favorite Blowfish Meets Meteor moment is the silhouette portion. I know it’s an oft-used style these days, but playing in the shadows is just my cup of tea.
Blowfish Meets Meteor currently costs $1.99 to download on the App Store, but thankfully once you plunk down the cash you won’t be asked to shell out more cash for in-app purchases. With 60 levels and over 10 hours of gameplay, that’s a pretty good bargain.
I really enjoyed my time with Blowfish Meets Meteor, and it’s a pick up and play experience that is a step above the average brick breaker experience. Saving mermaids isn’t such a bad gig either – especially when you’re swimming with family.
Kiefer Sutherland is back as Jack Bauer for a 12-episode run on 24: Live Another Day. The special event, whose two-hour premiere is slated for Monday, May 5 (Fox, 8 pm et/pt) features Jack Bauer reteaming with Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) in London. Since its November 6, 2001 premieres, 24 has garnered 73 Emmy nominations which eventually led to an Outstanding Drama Series win in 2006. Sutherland has also received Golden Globe and Emmy awards for his work as Bauer.
24: Live Another Day (FOX, CR: Daniel Smith)
During a recent interview, Sutherland explained the secrets to the franchise’s staying power. “Well, the format is interesting ,you know, I mean the format is exciting, but inherently at the root of the character,” said the actor, who also starred in the TV series Touch. “This is a guy who’s trying to do the right thing and in many cases succeeds at the large goal, but invariably loses in smaller ones. And so, I think very much like life you might get the raves and the promotion, but your child isn’t doing as well in school this year for some reason because maybe you’re not at home as much. Nothing’s black and white, nothing’s that clear cut.”
In the clip below, Sutherland talks about the evolution of Jack Bauer and 24 over the years, and he also explains why audiences simply can’t get enough of the series:
Now playing in select theaters, Belle is the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the biracial daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode). Although her aristocratic lineage gives her various privileges, there are still huge challenges Belle must face. Tom Wilkinson co-stars as Lord Mansfield, the great uncle who raises Belle along with his wife (Emily Watson), and Sarah Gadon plays Belle’s cousin Elizabeth.
Directed by Amma Asante, this 18th century England period drama appealed to Mbatha-Raw, who grew up an avid Jane Austin fan.
Belle (Fox Searchlight)
“I certainly grew up watching Colin Firth’s and Jennifer Ehle’s TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice,” said Mbatha-Raw. “That is what I used to watch on Sunday nights with my mum. I read the books as well and in fact Amma recommended to watch again Sense and Sensibility, the Emma Thompson version. And that for me is so inspiring, not only because she wrote it as well but the sisterhood that is between the Dashwood sisters is something I tried to emulate with the relationship with Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) in the film.”
Click on the media bar below to hear the English actress talk about one of the many fascinating aspects of Dido Elizabeth Belle’s life and respective descendants:
Nicolas Cage has received excellent reviews in director David Gordon Green’s evocative drama Joe, a project which features him as the titular ex-convict. Hell bent on staying out of trouble, the kindhearted yet temperamental Joe is pulled back into a life of complication after befriending a 15-year-old boy (Tye Sheridan).
Green wrote Cage a letter expressing his interest in the actor for Joe. Cage then read the script and also perused the novel Larry Brown’s novel. After visiting the filmmaker in Texas for several days and bonding over tacos, it was essentially a done deal.
For Cage, the return to naturalistic acting on Joe was a change of pace from what he describes as a abstract style of Western kabuki acting he applied to his action adventure roles.
Joe (Roadside Attractions, CR: Linda Kallerus)
“I was at this point where I wanted to find a part where I didn’t design the performance,” said the actor, who also did excellent work opposite John Cusack and Vanessa Hudgens in The Frozen Ground. “Whatever mistakes I made in the past, which I won’t go into detail with, I wanted to put them into a character (and give) a portrayal of understanding. Use the mistakes so I wouldn’t have to act so much.”
“When I read the script (for) Joe, I understood why he was in the situations he found himself in,” said Cage. “I understood his need for restraint. I understood the dialogue and so I thought, ‘this is what I’m looking for, I could just be. I could just feel this.”
Nicolas Cage’s first feature film was the 1982 flick Fast Times at Ridgemont High (he is credited as Nicolas Coppola), so one would assume he has tones of great acting advice to offer.
Click on the media bar below to hear Cage explain why putting yourself on video is an important element of the audition process:
Joe is now playing in select theaters and is available on iTunes and VOD.
In anticipation of director Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” my neurotic mind drifts to last year’s “Before Midnight” press conference. The “Before” stories, which detail the lifelong romance between Jessie (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) bears a spiritual kinship to “Boyhood,” a project Linklater shot from 2002 to 2013.
Clocking in at 160 minutes, “Boyhood” gives us a peek into the life of Mason (Ellar Coltrane), the son of divorced parents (Hawke and Patricia Arquette). As the trailer suggests, we see Mason (and Coltrane)grow before our very eyes. Although it’s a one shot film and “Before” may be ongoing series, both narratives deal with our relationship to aging.
My favorite Jackson Browne album moniker is “Time the Conqueror,” and such a concept may be applied to Linklater’s work. For better and worse, the years do have an affect on our collective spirits, and it’s what we do with that time that truly matters.
Boyhood (IFC Films)
Humanity’s ever expanding scope and reach serves as Richard Linklater’s creative canvas, and don’t expect the director to work with anything less, even if his films don’t pack ’em in like some bloated, nonsensical, summer blockbuster.
“We do have this small audience in mind when we get to a crossroads and we think, ‘Oh well, cinema, storytelling language says if this plus this equals an unlikable character then you just don’t do it,'” said Linklater during the ‘Before Midnight’ interviews. “We think, ‘well that’s a construct, that’s not really real. It’s the narrative, storytelling bubble (that) cinema exists in.'”
Click on the media bar below to hear Linklater explain why movie lovers play an important part in the creative drive behind “Before Midnight,” and it’s a conversation that I’m sure can be applied to the aesthetics behind “Boyhood.”
On last night’s “American Idol,” we said goodbye to C.J. Harris, and even though he tried to finish his rendition of “Can’t You See” by the Marshall Tucker Band, his emotions got the better of him as his fellow Idol colleagues took to the stage and hugged him.
“This whole journey has been amazing,” said Harris after the show. “The people that I’ve met. This whole experience has been something I can’t even explain to people. You’ve got to go through it and really figure it out, man. It’s amazing.”
C.J. Harris – American Idol (FOX, CR: Michael Becker)
For judge Keith Urban, watching any of these artists go home is tough to watch. “At this point, I feel close to every one of them,” said Urban. “So yeah it’s a little bit sad to see them go. Particularly C.J., because he’s such a good heart and good spirit. But he’s got a killer voice and he’s going to be fine.”
Don’t expect the Alabama native to fade into the woodwork anytime soon, as Harris is taking part in this summer’s “American Idol” tour. During his post-elimination interview, the singer showed a ton of class and heart by talking about his fellow Idol colleagues. His easygoing and kind demeanor are just a few reasons this talented musician was one of this season’s most likable artists.
Click on the media bar to hear C.J. Harris talk about his love and respect for his fellow “American Idol” competitors:
The top 5 singers continue their “American Idol” run next Wednesday at 8 pm et/pt on FOX.
Last week’s “Salem” pilot was a rather bewitching debut, especially if you love the manipulative tendencies of the show’s main character, Mary Sibley (Janet Montgomery). During the narrative’s opening moments, we’re on Mary’s side as she essentially mortgaged her own humanity to ensure lover John Alden’s (Shane West) return to Salem.
Their reunion, however, is met with its share of compromise, as the town has sunk into a deeper pit of immorality and violence. Mary Sibley, the supposed heroine of the story, has done, in Montgomery’s own words, some pretty “horrific things” during her journey.
“Salem” – Shane West as John Alden, Seth Gabel as Cotton Maher (WGN America)
“Salem’s” second episode, titled “The Stone Child,” has Alden trying to figure out what the heck is really going down in Salem. Although she’s the leader of the true witches of Salem, Mary Sibley still holds deep feelings for Alden. Will human love triumph over witchcraft, or is Salem literally going down in flames. And what the heck is the stone child?
“Salem” airs Sunday, April 27 on WGN America at 10 pm et/ 9 pm ct.
Here’s a clip of Janet Montgomery talking about why she loves playing Mary Sibley:
