Mary Elizabeth Winstead needed to prove herself.
After years of hopping from genre to genre, she wanted to shed her Scott Pilgrim vs. the World dye job and bloody Final Destination 3 history and find a complex role that would be a game-changer for her career.
Luckily, the stars aligned and landed her in front of Smashed director James Ponsoldt, where she not only impressed him enough that he didn’t audition anyone else for the role, but she also helped him cast her leading man, Aaron Paul.
Mary Elizabeth sat down with Movieline ahead of the film’s Oct. 12 release to talk about crafting her recovering alcoholic character, Kate Hannah, preparing for the role without meeting anyone first — except for one wild night with Aaron — and sharing her modest, yet poignant, reaction to all of the well-deserved Oscar buzz.
And as for all of those big blockbuster roles she’s been “passed over for” throughout the years? She spills about that, too, opening up about the truth behind failed negotiations and what she wants her career path to look like after Smashed.
Smashed is a departure from your previous roles, including comedies like Scott Pilgrim and bloody gore like Final Destination 3. Was it refreshing to play such a dynamic, dramatic character?
Yeah, I mean it was such a change of pace. It was almost like changing careers because it was so different. It was great, and it was what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’ve needed to sort of prove myself in this capacity for a long time — I needed to show, at least to myself, that I could carry a really complex role, so I knew that I needed to do it for me. The fact that…
Not afraid to show off his political side, Ben Affleck is giving his take on the current U.S. Presidential campaign. Hitting the road promoting his political thriller Argo, the director and star of the film compared Republican nominee to past hopefuls who did not make it to the White House. A past ardent supporter of liberal causes and a full-fledged Obama fan four years ago, Affleck only offered tepid support for the incumbent.
“I think Republicans really had a chance to win,” Affleck told A.P. during an interview about Argo. And they kind of ended up with like a sort of Mike Dukakis, Al Gore, Bob Dole type – who just couldn’t get people to see him as a real person somehow. Romney just had such trouble coming off as just like the kind of person you see at the grocery store. And I truly believe that has cost him the election.”
Affleck went on to add that it looks “quite unlikely” that the Republican hopeful will unseat Obama, saying “negative momentum” can at some point cause a downward spiral for a campaign.
“You start making mistakes and then all your advisers tell you, ‘You’ve got to raise your arms more!’ ‘You’ve got to talk deeper.’ So people just get into becoming robotic.”
Still, if Affleck shares the same enthusiasm for Obama as in the first go-around, he is clearly holding back, saying that with hindsight his opinions have changed.
“”I voted for Obama last time although he got to be all things to all people then,” Affleck said. ”And now he’s got a record which makes it really different … I obviously have more complicated feelings.”
Affleck has often thrown his hat in the political sphere, doing lobbying in Washington and…
Full Story »The genre/action/foreign film spectacular that is Fantastic Fest is my favorite festival of the year, and not just because you might catch a Hobbit-on-Hobbit boxing match or impromptu celebrity karaoke or see the lady next to you faint from shock inside the theater in the span of a few glorious days at the annual Austin, TX event. Take a look at the latest wave of programming for next month’s Fantastic Fest (September 20-27), including screenings of Rian Johnson’s Looper, the horror omnibus The ABCs of Death, Jean-Claude Van Damme (in 3-D!) in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, and more gloriously insane-sounding films from around the globe. Tree boobs, anyone?
THE ABCs OF DEATH (2012)
US Premiere with multiple directors in person
Director – Various, 110 min
Twenty-six directors. Twenty-six ways to die. Co-produced by Drafthouse Films, and finally ready to be unleashed-see what happens when you give more than two dozen of the most brilliant filmmakers from around the world free reign to indulge their creative impulses and black humor. From A to Z, it’s got something for every genre fan and is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
THE AMERICAN SCREAM (2012)
World Premiere with director Michael Paul Stephenson and stars Manny Souza and Victor Bariteauin person
Director – Michael Paul Stephenson, 81min
In a small Massachusetts community, three Halloween-obsessed households transform into neighbor-terrifying supernatural wonderlands in this surprisingly touching documentary from the director of BEST WORST MOVIE.
COLD BLOODED (2012)
Regional Premiere with director Jason LaPeyre in person
Director – Jason LaPeyre, 86min
Things quickly spiral out of control when a policewoman must protect her recently comatose suspect from a violent crime boss who has cornered them…
Yikes, this is not good: “Law enforcement officials confirm … Stahl’s wife filed a missing person’s report with the L.A.P.D. on Monday … saying she last saw the 32-year-old actor on May 9. [... I]t is believed Stahl had been frequenting the Skid Row area of Downtown Los Angeles recently … and there are concerns he may have gotten himself involved in some bad stuff. Back in February, Nick’s wife had filed court papers, expressing serious concerns that Nick may be using drugs … and sources say she fears drugs may have something to do with his disappearance.” [TMZ]
Remember back in 2010 when Melissa Etheridge’s ex-wife Tammy Lynn Michaels brought the melodramatic starving street urchin theatrics in a blog post where she said that she’s barely surviving on the $2,000 child support she gets every month and that she’s nourishing herself with tap water from a neighbor’s garden hose and dirt pies? That poem was one of my favorite things from 2010, because every time I read it that Sarah McLachlan song started playing in my head as I pictured Tammy Lynn staring up at me with weak, hungry eyes. Well, that “SCREW THE STARVING CHILDREN OF THE WORLD, WHAT ABOUT ME?!” rant must’ve paid off, because sometime between now and then a judge upped her child support to $23,000 a month! But guess what? It’s still not good enough for Tammy Lynn.
TMZ says that Tammy Lynn filed papers in court claiming that it’s not fair that she’s getting ONLY twenty three Gs a month while Melissa is making over $177,000 every 30 days. Tammy’s savings is all dried up, she’ll need “extensive retraining” if she joins the workforce again and she says she’s used to the luxurious lifestyle she lived while with Melissa. Tammy also accused Melissa of brainwashing their children to hate her and now the kids won’t even give her a hug (Tammy says that like it’s a bad thing).
Melissa is fighting back
…
Full Story »“Ralph McQuarrie was the first person I hired to help me envision Star Wars. His genial contribution, in the form of unequaled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original Star Wars trilogy. When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph’s fabulous illustrations and say, ‘Do it like this.’” [via WSJ]
Full Story »I’m thrilled and honored to welcome you to the first of several virtual roundtables featuring Oscar’s nominee class of 2012 — commencing today with those behind the five films nominated for Best Documentary Feature. They are (in alphabetical order):
· Joe Berlinger, co-director (with Bruce Sinofsky) of Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
· Marshall Curry, co-director (with Sam Cullman) of If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
· Mike Lerner, co-producer (with Martin Herring and director Danfung Dennis) of Hell and Back Again
· Daniel Lindsay and TJ Martin, co-directors of Undefeated
· Wim Wenders, director of Pina
Congrats to them! But now we have some questions. Take a moment to get to know them, their stories, their takes on the race, and, of course, their respective Oscar-night dates.
So in a matter of days, you’re taking your film to the Academy Awards. Has it sunk in? How are you feeling about it right now?
BERLINGER: Before awards season began, my wife put her hands on my shoulders, looked into my eyes, and very wisely said to me that there can be no bigger prize than having helped get three innocent men get released from prison after 18 plus years of wrongful imprisonment and therefore I should to ignore the hoopla of the upcoming awards season. It was great advice that I have been trying to keep in my heart and not get caught up in the anxiety of wondering if we will win. In short, I am trying to not think about it. That may change next week when I board the plane for Los Angeles.
CURRY: It’s a huge surprise. There were a lot of really great docs…
Full Story »
Human vodka bag Chelsea Handler has spit out a lot of shit about the Falcor/Lamb Chop hybrid that is LeAnn Rimes, but the latter decided to be the bigger person by going on the former’s show. And by “bigger person” I mean that LeAnn is a fame whore in the truest sense of the phrase and will gladly look past someone’s obvious hate for her if there’s a TV camera involved.
LeAnn said that all the shit Chelsea talked about her actually helped her through her divorce, because she was able to laugh at Chelsea laughing at her. Uh huh. There’s dick pull #1 from LeAnn. Dick pull #2 came when LeAnn said her skinny ass body happened naturally. LeAnn was a fat kid and as she grew up the fat magically melted off revealing the grown up skeleton of a War Hose underneath. Uh huh. Finally, dick pull #3 came when LeAnn admitted to calling the paps once in a while, but says that they mostly just show up by themselves and it’s a thorn in her bony side:
LR: They just follow us everywhere. It’s quite annoying. Yes. I get annoyed with myself, to be honest.
CH: That’s good to hear. That’s refreshing. People want to know that. Now do you know when you’re getting your photograph taken. Some people would say that you set the photographs up. Some girls do that. Have you ever
…
Full Story »He’s certainly no stranger to the world of entertainment, but Grammy-winning musician Common only recently began channeling his energies into acting. (His first film: Joe Carnahan’s Smokin’ Aces). And yet, relative newbie status be damned! The hip-hop veteran, currently seen on AMC’s Hell on Wheels, sat down last week with Movieline to discuss his Sundance pic LUV, a Baltimore-set family/gangster tale from director Sheldon Candis, and his goals for future greatness: “God willing, I’ll become one of the great actors of our day.”
It was the first visit to Park City with a film for the self-professed “Sundance virgin,” marking a maturity in his developing acting career: Not only does Common lead the cast of LUV as Vincent, an ex-con shepherding his young nephew (standout newcomer Michael Rainey, Jr.) on a tour along the underbelly of Baltimore, he also earned his first producing credit on the indie production.
Movieline queried Common on his filmmaking interests, how his acting career might affect his music, why the media fuss over Maya Angelou and his new record The Dreamer, The Believer was “disappointing,” and how he came to beef with rap upstart (and fellow Sundancer) Drake.
How did you become involved with LUV in the first place?
It came to me through my agent at the time, and he said it was a cool script, story was great, and he thought this character would be great for me. I read it and was like, I like the story and I know I could really do some things with this character – he’s a human being who’s just trying to do something in life, be somebody in life. I feel like that was a good thing for me to chase after as an…
Brandi Glanville is known as everything from Eddie Cibrian’s ex-wife to the trick who called Kim Richards a meth whore on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to LeAnn Rimes’ body snatching victim, but to Gerard Butler she’s known as “WHO?!” And that burns more than the sores that will rise from your genitals a day after wet humping on Gerard.
Brandi recently bragged to Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she spent an entire week diving down into Gerry’s greasy crotch bush and she rated his sex skills an 11 out of 10. While Gerry was walking around L.A. yesterday, TMZ asked him about what Brandi said and he rated her a solid ?. Gerry broke a ho down when he said, “Who’s Brandi Glanville?”
Don’t you hate it when that happens? It’s worse when you run into one of your one nighters at a bar or a party and they seriously ask you if you’ve met before. You crack your glass with your teeth to keep yourself from telling him that it would probably jog his memory if he stuck his nuts in your mouth. I mean, can’t a slut get some respect? Anyway….
Brandi is sticking by her story and told Rumor Fix that Gerry even called her up to tell her that he pretended like he doesn’t know her, because he’s such a private person.
“He called
…
Full Story »
