This year’s Oscars may have average nominee ages of 47, 61 and 62 in such categories as Actor, Director and Supporting Actor (respectively), but trust producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer to rope in the youngs where they can. To wit: If the Academy won’t nominate the four-quadrant blockbuster Bridesmaids for Best Picture, then at least the cast can drop by to present an award.
Hence this morning’s news from AMPAS:
Six actresses – Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig – from the hit comedy Bridesmaids will be presenters at the 84th Academy Awards, telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced today. McCarthy received her first Oscar nomination this year for her supporting role in the film, and Wiig also became a first-time nominee for the film’s original screenplay. All six will be making their first Oscar show appearances.
No word yet on which category they’ll present or how Bruce Vilanch will work very relevant and timely sink-defecation jokes into their shtick. Suggestions welcome below.
[AMPAS]
Full Story »
“Only on afternoons when the cinema offers retirees half-price tickets has there been much of a crowd for The Iron Lady, the controversial film about Mrs. Thatcher, who is now 86. [...] A therapist, Lauren Hall, 24, had her own perspective. ‘People who come to Grantham are more interested in Isaac Newton,’ who attended school in the town from 1655 to 1661 and has a statue in the town’s main square, she said. In case the visitor had not grasped Newton’s place in history, she offered a prompt. ‘Did you know he invented the cat flap?’ she said.” Huh. This can only benefit Viola Davis, right? [NYT]
Full Story »
The first American trailer for the sci-fi thriller Lockout makes eminently clear what the hard-boiled European original elided a bit: This is as close to an Escape From New York remake as any of us are likely to get.
Snake Plissken in space! Except now he’s called Snow. And he has two eyes, both belonging to Guy Pearce in full wisecracking action-hero mode. He’s the best! But a loose cannon. And Maggie Grace is the president’s daughter. Held hostage in a prison riot. In a prison orbiting Earth. Before it plunges to Earth. Naturally. Whatever! It looks all right.
“I haven’t seen it yet, which I wouldn’t normally admit to an interview subject, but you are a dog so who cares. But I’ve heard it’s very good!” “Bark bark bark bark bark.” [Videogum]
Full Story »
Joe Carnahan’s thriller The Grey, currently receiving kudos for its blend of red-blooded action and considered existentialism, tells the fictional tale of a group of oilrig workers who survive a plane crash only to be hunted by wolves in the wild. Among the ragtag band of comrades facing off against nature under Liam Neeson’s steady leadership is Dermot Mulroney’s Talget, who, like the others, learns to shed his protective layers and confront his own fears when forced to face off directly with Mother Nature.
For Mulroney, The Grey represents a kind of muscular, male-driven pic that no longer gets made often enough. In a conversation ranging from the film’s throwback sense of masculinity to his reasons for joining Carnahan & Co. on the unusually brutal shoot (the cast and crew filmed in snowy, sub-zero conditions for months in Canada), Mulroney spoke candidly about how much the landscape has changed for him as an actor since he burst on the scene in the ‘80s, why he was happy to be in a film with no women, and how his first time on the other side of the camera (directing last year’s Love, Wedding, Marriage, which he describes as “a badly made movie”) turned him away from directing, at least for the time being.
Liam Neeson aside, you’re probably the most recognizable cast member in The Grey even though you’ve been hidden under layers of clothing and those glasses. How much consideration went into the conception of how your character looks?
I can’t say that wasn’t deliberate but that wasn’t necessarily my idea. It was in conjunction discussing it with the director, Joe [Carnahan], who saw my character as someone who has kind of receded under his protective layers whether it’s the hat…
