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News Roundup: Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Gosling, Titanic 3D, and More

Laura Aguirre — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:22:35 +0000

Several high-profile films are heading to theaters and The Muppets are leading the way! Disney has released their latest parody posters, which feature Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog channeling their inner Twilight. We’ve also snagged the first one-sheet for the revamped, 3D release of Titanic, and we’ve discovered Scarlett Johansson’s new behind the scenes film role!

Catch up below…

Fight for 35mm: If you’re a fan of 35 mm films, beware — they’re in danger! It’s no secret that they’re being pushed out by digital, but soon you won’t be able to watch them. There’s a petition going around called ‘Fight for 35mm’ which aims to keep 35mm films available to screen. As movie lovers, it is our duty to keep that part of film history and production alive. Go over to The Petition Site to sign ‘Fight for 35mm.’
Ashley Greene Interview: The Twilight Saga offers a lot more than just Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner. This week, Ashley Greene, who plays Alice in the series, appeared in an interview with MovieLine where she talked about her character’s relationship with Bella and the details of planning her wedding. Check it out at MovieLine.
Bradley Cooper vs. Ryan Gosling: New Yorkers are really in a protesting mood. This week a group of 15 people, in Ryan Gosling masks, showed up outside Manhattan’s Time-Life Building to protest their choice for 2011′s Sexiest Man Alive (Bradley Cooper). The protesters do have some grounds, this was a big year for Gosling. He proved that romantic comedies can still rock, he’s fighting crime on the streets of NYC, and he’s really, really good-looking. Cooper’s great, but as far as 2011 goes — it’s all Gosling.
Titanic Returns: Titanic is returning to theaters 14 years after its debut. Come April 6, you’ll be able to experience the love story that made us cry our eyes out — in 3D. We’ve got a look at the first Titanic 3D poster below. Check it out.

Director Scarlett Johansson: Woody Allen’s muse is switching gears from actress to director. Scarlett Johansson will helm the feature: Summer Crossing. In 2009 she directed the short These Vagabond Shoes (for New York, I Love You), but Crossing will be her feature debut. The plot details are currently being kept under wraps.
The Muppet Saga: The Muppets are coming to theaters next week, are you excited? Before their big screen return, they decided to pay homage to this week’s vampire release: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. Check out their Twilight-inspired posters below:

That’s the end of our round-up. Keep checking back at ScreenCrave for more entertainment news.

What are you excited for?

Terrence Malick is Making Two Films With Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett

Damon Houx — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:18:14 +0000

Sometimes that gift horse should not have his mouth inspected. Today FilmNation has announced that Terrence Malick will be shooting two films next year, on top of the two films he supposedly shot this year (maybe one was footage for one of these), both starring Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett and 2011 poster boy Ryan Gosling. For a director who took nearly two decades to return to cinema, this is unprecedented.

The film film is called Lawless and will star Gosling, Bale, Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and Haley Bennett. The second film is called Knight of Cups, and features Bale, Blanchett, and Isabella Lucas. This is on top of the untitled project he directed that stars Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz and Javier Bardem.
The first thought is that a fire got lit under Malick’s hindquarters something fierce. There’s also still talk of of IMAX documentary type thing that involves the history of the earth (an extension of some of the footage in Tree of Life), though perhaps it’s that he’s got the financing he needs, and between vaulted reputation and a behind the scenes crew he’s been working with for a couple years now, perhaps the machine is so well oiled that he feels he can just keep working. Or perhaps Malick wants to try to be prodigious and see how that reflects on his art. It’s nothing he’s tried before, that’s for sure.

What do you think changed Malick’s approach?

Box Office Predictions: Real Steel to Win in the End

Damon Houx — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:57:26 +0000

And that’s not a spoiler (or is it?) After a couple of weekends of older pictures, either in days (Dolphin Tale took the #1 slot a week after release) or years (the reissue of The Lion King), the first week of October promises to deliver new movies can top the box office. Shawn Levy‘s Real Steel is a genuine crowd pleaser, while George Clooney‘s The Ides of March is a smart political thriller. Both use star power (Hugh Jackman, Ryan Gosling) to their advantage. But both also have strikes against them.

I wrote the review of Real Steel, and I think there are people who are going to embrace the movie, but I think it’s hard for the critical community to give a film like this a pass. It’s derivative, it’s directed by someone who’s made a career of crappy (and successfully crappy) films. It’s an easy film to dismiss, partly because with a concept as out there as they have with the fil, they didn’t want to put it in the summer or winter big money seasons. And yet that may have hurt perceptions on the film. Timing is everything.

I once got into an argument with Drew McWeeny about the placement of movies and how people received Thor versus The Green Lantern. As they are basically similar origin tales, with similar problems (unnecessary love interest, interesting supporting characters with little to do) and strengths (the villian, the special effects), I felt if they had switched release dates, The Green Lantern might not have gotten such a thumping critically, because Thor had the first “official” weekend of summer (the first week of May), while The Green Lantern came out in June after a number of loud and not that great genre efforts. I mention this not because I think I’m right or wrong, but to a certain extent the number of movies made in a certain genre or lack thereof can really be beneficial to it’s relative “goodness.”

I don’t know if Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator is one of the best of the sword and sandals films (it probably is, the genre’s not that great to begin with), but when it was released it was the only one made with a decent budget since the 1960′s. Just as 30 Minutes or Less came in the unfortunate position of being the last R-rated “raunchy” comedy in a summer with Bridesmaids, Horrible Bosses, and Bad Teacher - all of which passed the hundred million dollar mark. That’s not to say that people didn’t respond to the movies themselves, but you may not want to have a pizza every night you go out to eat.

What may drive Real Steel is that there hasn’t been a good underdog story in cinema since the last Rocky movie. The problem that DreamWorks and Disneyare going to run into with the film is that they need a respectable opening weekend, and that’s $30 Million-ish. That means they will make it to $100 million, and possibly $150. Word of mouth could play with this film, and tracking shows it a little above $20 for the weekend- so the big question is “how are the ads playing to kids?” That could drive this film more than adults, and it works as a family picture in a way we haven’t seen in a while. Though perhaps the key to this film is international. Jackman established himself with the X-men franchise, but outside of that his biggest film is the disaster Van Helsing (which did $120 domestic). Which then makes this film itself an underdog.

The Ides of March runs into that pizza problem by being the third movie in as many months to top-line Ryan Gosling. And though he’s a well respected actor, he’s never driven the box office. Drive is nearing a $30 Million dollar total, after being critically respected and winning big at Cannes. Gosling is working, but there’s no sense that he’s made an indelible impression on audiences outside of The Notebook, where he was one of the leads. The only films of his that have outperformed it are Remember the Titans and Crazy, Stupid, Love. The latter reecently passed those numbers, though it could also be called Steve Carrell’s picture. That doesn’t change the fact that Gosling has been giving interviews and has been on magazine covers, etc. for three months straight.

What’s going to help the picture is the presence of George Clooney, but as a director he’s made some very respected films that haven’t managed to do much more than $30 Million at the box office. Another problem is that it looks like a failed Oscar-bait picture – no one’s saying that the picture has much of a shot at anything, so there’s no building interest in that side of the critical community. This looks to be his strongest performer, but that’s not saying much.

So let’s do the numbers:

Real Steel - $29.5 Million

The Ides of March - $13.7 Million

Dolphin Tale – $9.9 Million

Moneyball – $8 Million

Courageous – $6 Million

We could see 50/50 or The Lion King sneak into the top five. I may be going high on Real Steel, but it’s tracking the best to have the top slot and I think it plays. Everything else seems about right.

The Ides of March: Review

Damon Houx — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:00:32 +0000

George Clooney is some kind of machine. He’s in two movies this year, including The Ides of March, which he also co-wrote, directed and produced. And like everything he’s directed it’s good, but falls short of greatness. Ryan Gosling stars as Stephens Myers, a wunderkind political analyst who’s one of the most important men behind Governor Morris (Clooney), but as the campaign comes it’s most contested primary, political and personal drama shows what these men are made of.

The Players:

Director: George Clooney
Written by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, George Clooney, Jeffery Wright
Original Music by: Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by: Phedon Papamichael

The Plot:

Stephen Myers (Gosling) is the man behind the man behind the throne, working on Governor Morris’s campaign to be president. Paul Zara (Hoffman) is in charge of the campaign, but everyone sees Myers as the rising star, even the interns, including Molly Stearns (Wood), who is indelicate in her advances. Myers gets a call from Tom Duffy (Giamatti), who’s running the opposition’s campaign, and delivers a blow – he says they have Senator Thompson (Wright) and his votes in their pocket, and without Thompson’s support, their candidate may be dead in the water. But then it’s revealed that Myers isn’t the only one who’s slept with Molly.

The Good:

This cast: Seriously, every single major actor in the film is great, and they all get a scene or two to shine (and/or yell). And when you’ve got titans of acting like Hoffman and Giamatti, you want them to have some good red meat scenes to eat. They do, and they deliver.
Not Preachy: Though Morris is a true-blue democrat, that’s the setting, the machinations of the plot aren’t really about that, and politics never drive the story so much as the machinations and backstabbing that come from a heated political campaign.
Pacing: For a film about the behind the scenes, Clooney and company were smart to keep this thing moving, and it’s a brisk 101 minutes that never dawdles.
The Machinations: In the film there are schemes and plans within plans that work either for or against the characters. From dropping information to a reporter (Tomei), to who people talk to, there’s some good plotting in the film.

The Bad

In summation: This movie is trying to call a shot, it’s trying to show the corruption of a character, but the pieces don’t add up. The idea of a character like Gosling’s losing his innocence while in the midst of a huge political campaign suggests he wasn’t wet enough behind the ears, or that the moment itself doesn’t matter. You wonder why someone would sleep with two characters in the order they do and few things seem like isolated incidents. I left the film with a lot of questions about what happened, and not in a good way.
Myers/Gosling: Fine in the part, Gosling doesn’t have a great facility to show the wheels turning in his head, though that works (in some ways) for the character. But when the film moves into its final machinations, his moves to regain control aren’t based on his political skill. And for a film that spends a lot of time suggesting he’s one of the great minds of his generation, and a born political animal, it would have been good to see him use those skills – at least once. That’s partly why the end doesn’t hit as hard as it’s trying to.

Overall:

There’s enough here to enjoy what’s going on, but it’s reach exceeds its grasp.The Ides of March is an intelligent, thoughtful thriller, but it’s missing profundity. That would be an unfair complaint if it didn’t think it was saying something deeper than it does.

Rating: 7/10

Stills:

Interview: Ryan Gosling on Ides of March

Damon Houx — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:00:24 +0000

If it feels like Ryan Gosling has descended on Hollywood, it’s because he has – Gosling has had no less than three leading roles in films over the last three months. Each showed different sides of his talent. In Crazy, Stupid Love he proved his comedic and romantic chops, in Drive he exhibited his action coolness, and now in Ides of March he plays lead in an ensemble stacked with some of the greatest actors working today. We talked about working with George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti and more in our interview. Check it out…

You recently described your character in Drive as a guy who’d watched one too many action movies. What do you think your character in this film has watched too much of?

Monster movies. This is kind of like, I thought, a monster movie set in the political world about the Two Faced Man. I feel like I’m always trying to make a movie about the Two Faced Man in some way. Then when I saw this poster I thought that I’d finally done it.

It’s hard to define this character because you never know which way he’s going to go. How was that for you as an actor, to have a character like that and have to make choices to make him real?

I thought that his dilemma was a very strong one to play because I think he’s someone who wants to be effective and make change and change people’s lives, had good intentions. But he can only be effective if he gets into the White House and if his candidate is going to lose then he’s not going to be able to make change. So, he’s faced with this moral dilemma of whether he should jump ship or dance with the one that brung him.

How political are you or were you before you did this film? George Clooney is obviously a very politically minded person. Did he influence you in that respect at all?

Well, I was not as informed as I would liked to have been and part of the reason for doing the film is that it would force me to do the research and become informed. I’m Canadian and so American politics aren’t really in my wheelhouse. But at the end of the day it’s not a political film and it doesn’t have any kind of message. It’s meant to be a good time at the movies. It happens to be set in a political forum, but I guess it could be set on Wall Street or in Hollywood.

How similar are the worlds of show business and politics, from your experience?

I don’t know enough about either one to comment, but I do think that there’s a similarity in my character’s job and my own in that it’s very difficult to be honest. You’d like to be, but it’s very hard to tell the truth because everything you say gets taken out of context and chopped up for news in parts. So you have to be very careful.

During your research what took you by surprise?

Well, there’s so much that I don’t know. I feel like one of the things that I watched that I felt was really helpful, in some way, but more than anything is worth mentioning was this film Boogie Man. It’s a documentary about Lee Atwater. I recommend it.

When you looked at Morris (George Clooney’s character) did you associate him to a particular president, a reference point in terms of a presidential candidate that you were thinking of?

There’s not really anyone like George, and so he is in some ways he seems like America’s dream for president, in some way. A dreamboat president. I thought that it was very courageous of him to take that role because he’s shattering that dream and kind of shattering people’s ideas of him. So, I thought that was a pretty interesting choice for him to take considering that he’s so involved in the political world. People often confuse you for your characters and so there could’ve been some risk involved there, but he took it.

How hard is it to keep in shape?

Muscles. We’re talking about muscles? They’re like pets, basically and they’re not worth it. They’re just not worth it. You have to feed them all the time and take care of them and if you don’t they just go away. They run away. I don’t know how to answer the question.

Evan Rachel Wood told us earlier that Clooney sprayed your crotch with water. Was there anything else that he did to you on set?

Well, he doesn’t want me to tell them. He said, “Could you cut it out with telling my practical jokes,” because he thinks that people are going to be looking for them now and he won’t be able to use them.

You’re in virtually every frame of this film and spend a lot of time working with Paul Giamatti and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Can you compare working with the two of them?

They’re two of my heroes, so it was terrifying just on a base level. They have very different styles. I wouldn’t want to comment on them because I don’t want to cheapen it with my opinion of it. They’re incredible to watch and I learned a lot from working with them.

There’s a theory that if you run against someone faster than you then you run faster, working with those guys has to up your game, I’d imagine.

I don’t know about that, but I know that watching Phil work was something that I needed to see. I feel like I didn’t realize that I was getting as lazy as I was getting until I watched Phil work because he puts it all on the line every single take. There’s not a take that he lets slide. I needed to see that.

Is your own perceived laziness then a part of having made several movies and having stardom invading on all the prep that you might’ve done as a hungrier actor?

A lot of people say about Phil that he’s good in everything, in every movie. But I don’t think that people realize how much an actor has to fight to create enough space for themselves in order to do that kind of work. That can be perceived as difficult, but it’s the reason why they’re able to be so effective every time, because they know the conditions that they need to work in order to be at their best. So, I think as an actor there’s a struggle between how much…you heard things about Val Kilmer, for instance, who’s like one of the best actors around, but then I heard that he was difficult. Now, as I work more I realize that “difficult” is just a word that people with money give you, a label that to tell other people with money that you won’t just do what you’re told.

What did you take from working with Clooney and how he dealt with being in front of and behind the camera and how he directs himself?

He’s a mystery to me. He’s so busy all the time. He’s doing so much that it’s hard to understand how he’s doing it, but he’s doing it pretty effortlessly. He’s directing, producing, writing, starring in. He’s got the satellites of Darfur project. He’s got all these practical jokes. I don’t know how he does it. I have no idea.

Did he inspire you to generate your own projects either as a writer or producer?

Yeah, that’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and part of the reason that I wanted to work with him was just to see exactly how that works up close.

How hands on was he with your performance?

He’s very hands on. This was something that I just kind of allowed myself to be directed in because he knew this movie like it was a song in his head that he was trying to explain to you. This whole world is in his wheelhouse and I just really followed his lead.

Your character’s age isn’t revealed in the film, but is around thirty –

A gym question is coming, isn’t it? So, how at thirty does he keep his abs? That’s what I want to be asked. Call it ‘The Abs of March.’ (laughs)

Out of all the great actors in this film, which one made you the most nervous to work with?

Phil.

Why him?

Have you met Phil Hoffman?

SPOILER TERRITORY

I saw this character with the storyline losing his innocence, his virginity, if you will –

All right, interesting (laughs).

But there are others that argue that these might have been his true colors the whole time. Do you think it was one way or the other way?

I think you can take whatever you want from it. I have my feelings, I think that he made a decision to sever his mind from his heart. I don’t know if that’s something that you can ever reconnect, and whether it was already severed or not, I guess that’s up to the audience.

What is it that’s the most disappointing about the experience of the campaign? On one hand they take the secretary because they want his delegates, but your character seems to be more disappointed about Morris sleeping with the intern.

Well, I think it’s that he has a crush on her. So, it’s personal and not necessarily political. I mean, I think it’s both, but I do think that you can’t eliminate the personal reaction to that.

It’s like finding out your dad slept with your girlfriend –

Ouch. Why even say that? It just makes me mad thinking about that.

Ides of March opens October 7. Check it out.

Interview: Evan Rachel Wood on Ides of March

Damon Houx — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:55:03 +0000

Evan Rachel Wood started playing a rebellious young girl in Thirteen, and that role has lingered over her for much of her career. Wood talks about having some “crazy” years, but now she’s in George Clooney’s Ides of March, and she feels like she’s on track again. We talked about her work in the movie, Clooney and Ryan Gosling, her work on True Blood and Justin Bieber. Check it out…

How much back story did you create for this character? You’re obviously the daughter of the Chair of the DNC. Was she sleeping around before with people of power? Do you think that was her thing?

I think, you know, her father’s a politician. I’m sure she’s been raised in this world with a very male dominated arena so I think she’s not phased by it. She’s not intimidated at all. I think that’s what’s cool is she’s throwing all these guys off their game. I’m sure this isn’t anything new. But I don’t think she’s in it to gain anything. I think she’s really just having fun. She’s pretty innocent about it and she’s very honest about it.

Maybe getting back at Daddy a little bit?

I’m sure. She’s got a lot. She was raised Catholic with a political father. I’m sure she’s got a lot of stuff to work out.

Can you talk a little bit about working with George Clooney, director?

He’s wonderful. We had some rehearsal time blocked out beforehand. We used that to – it was mainly him, Ryan and I – just getting to know each other and hanging out more than going over the script. We were very comfortable. And then, on the day, George really let us play and improvise and it made it easier that he’s an actor, I think, because he knows what to say to get what he wants out of you. He just took care of his cast and crew.

Is it easier working with a director who’s done some acting than someone who hasn’t?

It is because sometimes it’s hard to communicate the same way and to speak the same language, so you have to run around trying to figure out what the other person is trying to say. It’s hard with artists. They have such crazy minds and a very certain way of seeing things and then communicating it is something totally different. So it really helps.

You described your character as a little naïve at times. Do you feel like there’s any active manipulation on her part? Do you ever feel like she’s being an idealist or an opportunist?

I don’t think so. I think she’s savvy to the way that world works. I think that’s why, if she was an opportunist, then she would have used her situation to her advantage completely. But, she’s terrified because she knows what that means for everyone involved and I think she really didn’t mean to or expect to be put there. She was naïve because she was just having fun. She was living in the moment and now she’s screwed and she’s scared to death, literally scared to death. It’s sad.

What was it about this character that initially drew you into the project?

Everything. I loved her. I loved her confidence. I loved how subtle she was, how direct she was and I kind of based her on George in a weird way.

How so?

He was explaining the character to me and just his kind of vibe. In a lot of roles that he’s played, he’s always been very subtle and very cool and collected and he doesn’t need a big show to get across his point. He just is so I just based her off of him.

Do you pay a lot of attention to politics or did you do some research on the political system?

George gave us some great documentaries to watch about the behind the scenes and the campaign trails and the press.

The War Room?

Yeah, I’d never seem that side of it. For the most part, I try to stay informed and involved about politics but it’s really hard. I get frustrated and emotionally worked up so I have to disengage. It’s a weird world.

Can you talk a bit more about working with Ryan Gosling because you spend most of your screen time alongside him?

You can’t ask for a better leading man right now. He’s extremely talented but he’s also a cool, interesting guy and he’s fun to hang out with. It makes your job easier when you’re doing those scenes and when you have to play opposite somebody like that. There’s just a comfortability there that really helps. I think we both knew that we could go toe to toe with each other and try to intimidate one another and see who was going to crack first.

Were you guys trying to make each other laugh on set?

All the time. I think that’s how that whole tie thing came about. It was improvised. I was just trying to screw with Ryan and make his tie look as bad as possible.

With this film you have a powerhouse cast but it seems like you almost entirely worked with Ryan.

I know. I just now got to know Paul (Giamatti) and Phillip (Seymour Hoffman).

It’s a shame you weren’t around for them.

It could be worse. It was not a bad day at work.

So they shot you for two weeks and then…?

It was a couple of months actually. It was pretty spread out. When we filmed in Cincinnati and Detroit in winter, we still had a great time so that’s saying a lot.

Was it a challenge to play a character with smaller parts spread out that way?

No, it was great actually. It was nice to not have the movie rest on me. Poor Ryan, he was in every single scene.

Did you give him hell for that?

Of course, I’m always giving Ryan hell.

George Clooney is known as a prankster on set, did he pull anything on you?

I don’t know. I feel like he’s always pulling something. That’s the thing. I think one of the greatest pranks of all time is just establishing that you’re a prankster so every day on set you’re looking over your shoulder. Everyone was on their toes just waiting for something to happen. I think the only thing he did to me was catch me and Max (Minghella) dancing and singing and he rolled the camera, but that was about it. I think Ryan was the one that got water squirt bottles in his crotch and things like that but I was spared.

What were you guys dancing to?

Justin Bieber…which is why he knew it would be embarrassing.

Yes, that is embarrassing.

But I am a firm Belieber and I’ve embraced it. I used to be a closeted one who was really embarrassed about it but there’s nothing I can do so it’s best to be honest.

Have you met him?

I haven’t. Before I was a fan, I was in the same room. Now I’m like “Gahhhhh!” No, I haven’t met him.

Do you admire him from afar?

At this point, with everything that’s been in the press, now I’m sure he’s like “I don’t want to meet that person. She’s nuts. She’s going to attack me.” But it’s not a crush. That’s the weird thing. I don’t have a crush on the guy, and that’s the thing. God, I hope he knows that. I was a kid performer. Anytime someone that young is born with that incredible of a talent and has gone as far so quickly, I mean, that’s amazing. I can’t imagine what that does to a person so the journey ahead for him must be crazy.

When you were a child actor was there a point where you thought “Maybe I’ll stop”?

I’ve had those moments. Because when you’ve been doing something your whole life, you really want to make sure that it’s what you want to do and not just what you’re used to or good at. I think the only other thing that I would do is be a psychologist because that’s what I do in a weird way. I analyze people and characters and motives and I’m picking apart human beings constantly. It’s just something I’m passionate about. But, I took a step back and looked and now I really know that this is what I am extremely passionate about and what I want to do. It’s just an amazing platform to reach people and I think that’s one of the most rewarding parts about it.

You were talking about analyzing people and picking out a part, are you writing anything?

I write a lot. I’ve always written actually. I feel like one day I need to write an autobiography though because – Jesus – it’s been so crazy. I’d love to do that one of these days. Julie Taymor wants me to make a movie about the years between 18 and 24. She said “This whole time you just need to put on film immediately.” I don’t know. I would love to keep writing though and maybe direct one of these days. That’s what everyone keeps telling me I need to be doing but I don’t know if I’m there yet.

You talk about the craziness of those particular years. Did they feel crazy when they were happening?

I think the point of having those years was to be as crazy as possible because I didn’t really have a childhood or an adolescence. I didn’t have that time so it was like “alright, I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to get to know myself and know what’s out there and have my fun so that I can really focus and commit to this life and this career and get serious.” But I knew before I was going to do that that I was going to be very unserious.

Are the scales balanced now or should we expect more? I mean, between 18 and 24, you’ve probably got a few more years left.

I think things have definitely calmed down a lot for the better but I’m really glad I had that time because it just teaches you so much about yourself. I feel like you can’t be an actor without life experience and without things to draw from. It was all an amazing learning experience. I gained many tools.

Can you talk about what you learned from the True Blood experience, the fans, and working on the TV show for such a long time?

What did I learn? It was cool because I was such a huge fan of the show that getting a chance to be on it and in that world and be a part of it was pretty amazing. I was so nervous though. The first episode that I did was terrifying because I had seen every episode and all of a sudden I was there and the characters were there and I was just like “Oh!” And Stephen Moyer comes over to me and he’s teaching me how to pop the fangs out and I’m like “This is happening!” I think Alan Ball is amazing and I thought the character was hilarious and over the top, so I miss it.

Do you still watch every episode?

I haven’t seen the new season yet – I haven’t had time. I didn’t want to get into it and then miss it so don’t tell me anything because I’m behind. But yeah, I’m still definitely into the show. People have already done it and I’m like “Gah! Why?!”

Was there something about just that show or was it that genre? Do you read or watch other things in that sort of territory?

I’ve always wanted to play a vampire. I don’t know an actor that doesn’t want to do that. I do like that genre, but it’s hard to find ones that I really like. I loved the first season and I loved the chemistry between Stephen and Anna (Paquin) which makes perfect sense now. It was dark but it was really funny which is what Alan Ball is so great at.

What’s next for you on the horizon that we should be watching out for?

There’s things in the works but I don’t think I can talk about any of them yet. I just have to wait and see. I really want to do a comedy next. That’s just a side of me that no one’s really got a chance to see.

Do you mean dark comedy?

Light, like a stoner comedy.

Is this your call out to everyone right now? “Hey, I want to do a stoner comedy.”

That’s exactly what I’m doing. Absolutely.

SPOILER TERRITORY

Your character makes this very dramatic choice. Did you guys talk about layering in moments that would lead us to believe that you would head in that direction at a certain point?

What do you mean?

You kill yourself, right? And so….?

I think it’s open to interpretation actually. I think it could have been an accident. It could have not been. It’s like you make that decision, I think. George and I talked about it. We didn’t really think…I mean, we wanted it to be an accident, but you don’t know.

So then it wasn’t necessarily a choice that you had killed yourself?

Yeah.

Ides of March Opens October 7. Check it out.

Drive: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:15:06 +0000

Get ready for Drive. The modern 80′s-esq, dramatic, action film about a driver who knows how to do one thing damn well. From the unique characters, to the stellar performances across the board, this risky film sets its unique tone from the start and carries it through to the bitter end. With its risky style of shooting, to the willfully strong perspective of the director, this film is one to see and one that will surely win awards in the coming months. There’s no doubt that this is your best pick for the weekend, possibly the year…

Video Review:

The Players:

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn (Watch Interview)
Writers: Hossein Amini (screenplay), James Sallis (book)
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman
Cinematography By: Newton Thomas Sigel
Original Music By: Cliff Martinez

The Plot:

A Hollywood stunt performer moonlights as a wheelman with a few simple rules. He attempts to live a simple life until a girl gets in the way, and sets him up for a heist gone wrong.

The Good:

Hand Acting: Many actors today act for the close up, they perform with their eyes and leave it at that. Ryan Gosling acts through his entire body. You can feel his sadness, happiness, rage, everywhere from his head to his toes, but most memorably, his hands. Despite the fact that Winding Refn told us in an interview that he intentionally played up the sound of Goslings gloves to help the effect, Gosling literally puts his emotions through his body which shows in his brilliant limb acting abilities,
Bryan Cranston: Though numerous members of the supporting cast deserve award nods (Ron Pearlson, Albert Brooks, Carey Mulligan), for me Bryan Cranston steals the show. He plays his character like the best of them and literally was able to manipulate the audience like they were putty in his hands. Majestic performance, truly.
The 80′s Are Back: Though it’s completely unrealistic and sometimes distracting (seeing as the film is set in present day), I absolutely loved that almost everything in this film had a sprinkle, dash, or was flat out drenched in 80′s. It bleeds the era from it’s hot pink title-card, to Goslings white jacket, to the soundtrack, you’ll be running out of the theaters to buy the music. It’s a brave choice and one I questioned, but in the end, it was a great move made by a brave director.

The Bad:

The Women: This is not a great film for women. They never really get a chance to stand up for themselves, they work mainly as reasons for the plot to progress. Though the performances were great, it would have been nice to see the ladies being given a little bit more to do.
Few Bad Connections: There are some scenes that don’t really add up, aren’t really needed, were obviously shot because they looked cool, action scenes that probably couldn’t happen — I can see the problems and have heard peoples complaints, but honestly, who really gives a fuck? I forgave the film or rather didn’t even care enough to give the faults the time of day to distract me from enjoying every moment. I can’t deny that these things were there, but chances are, that unless you’re a filmmaker, you’ll hardly notice anything and really won’t care.

Overall:

I can easily recommend this film to anyone who loves cars, 80′s music, an innovative story, fascinating characters and/or Ryan Gosling — which should cover a lot of ground. Though it’s a critic-favorite and getting a ton of buzz (and rightly so) there are some aspects to the film that people will have issues with. The film does have some holes and problems that don’t really add up — but what can I say, I had such a goddamn fun time getting from A-to B-both times I watched the film that I can’t fault it for the small things. It’s packed with great performances and is not like any other film you will see this year, or possibly this decade. Take a chance on this bad-boy, it’s more than worth your trip to the theater and even if you don’t like it, you won’t be bored.

Rating: 8.5/10

Drive hits theaters September 15, 2011.

Photo Gallery:

What did you think of the film?

Video review produced by Mali Elfman and Michael May and edited by Mike Small.

Video: Ryan Gosling Is Breaking Up Fights On The Streets Of N.Y.C.

traviswoods — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:19:32 +0000

Hear that weird cooing noise? It’s the sound of woman of the world going “ooohhhhhhh” in low, hushed tones as a video of movie star Ryan Gosling basically patrolling the streets of New York City like a superhero and breaking up fights now makes the rounds.

Turns out Ryan Gosling was walking around New York City recently, and saw that “two men were grappling over a painting in the middle of an intersection by St. Marks’ Place in the East Village as passersby looked on,” according to E! Online. And then, well, he went all do-gooder on the situation, and broke the fight up in the middle of a high traffic New York City street.

Listen for the collective squeals of the pedestrians who quickly realize the impressively muscled Good Samaritan is actually “the guy from the movie…The Notebook“!

Oh, lord.

Freelance photographer Valerie Alvea is the one who shot this video (thanks, girl!) and explained to us exactly how Ryan resolved the situation.

“He took them to the corner and asked them what was going on.,” she tells E! News. “The gentleman was like ‘He stole my painting’. So he [Gosling] gave the guy a $20 and asked if it was settled. He took the money out of his pocket and said ‘If that’s what you’re fighting for, here you go’.”

On behalf of all men throughout the universe, I’d like to thank you, Ryan. You’ve made our attempts at looking cool about a billion times harder.

What do you think of Gosling’s NYC actions?

Crazy, Stupid, Love: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 02:32:51 +0000

Crazy, Stupid, Love, is another simple, funny, easy to swallow and in no way challenging comedy that was made for everyone. It’s got some fine actors, giving good performances (though none of their best) with some solid comedic lines and quite a bit of heart. My only problem is that it really wasn’t anything that new or different. That’s not to say that this is a bad film, it’s just not great, it’s perfectly mediocre…

The Players:

Directed By: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Written By: Dan Fogelman
Actors: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon, Jonah Bobo, Marisa Tomei and Julianne Moore
Original Music by: Christophe Beck and Nick Urata
Cinematography by: Andrew Dunn

The Plot:

A father’s life unravels while he deals with a marital crisis and tries to manage his relationship with his children.

The Good:

Embracing the Title: Love is crazy, love is stupid, and love is lovely when it works — this film does an extroniadry job at showing the ridiculousness that is love and what all us stupid humans are willing to do to try and achieve it.
Acting: Gosling is charming enough to give this otherwise blank and mindless character enough intrigue to keep us watching, and perhaps now he’ll go from indie darling to A-list hottie. Possible career move? Could be, but it was fun to watch, especially if you want something extra with your average comedy. Stone is once again extremely funny and I appreciated her embodying the spirit of a woman taking what she wants and having both a mind and body. Carell is as funny as he always is, but also shows us his acting which gives him more of that Little Miss Sunshine-edge. Moore, Tomei and the rest of the gang all did a solid job at delivering both solid performances and some memorable one-liners.
Sense of Self: There were some solid one liners and great moments that had the whole audience laughing while mixed into the tried and true rom-com format. There are a number of cliches, which normally would have driven me mad if not for the line “this is so cliche” from within the film. The film knows what it is and plays with the idea, which gives it some unique moment, but more importantly, it knows who its target audience is and what they want, and for the most part it delivers without a hitch.
The ‘Dirty Dancing’ Moment: It’s so cheesy and yet it somehow has power… There’s something to be said for Stone and Goslings performances in that scene that take your from ridiculous comedy to sudden romance.

The Bad:

The Average-ness: The film breaks almost no new ground, it didn’t leave me loving it, it left me feeling quite tepid, which for me is a major pet peeve because I enjoy watching filmmakers take risks. There is nothing challenging about this film. That being said, Crazy, Stupid, Love is not about breaking new ground, and if you’re going for a sweet, easy-to-watch romantic comedy, this film has what you’re looking for.

Overall:

It won’t blow you away but if you’re looking to turn your brain off for 90 minutes and have a few good laughs with some fine actors, this is a great pick for you.

Rating: 6/10

Ryan Gosling Up For Lone Ranger?

Damon Houx — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:08:34 +0000

The Wrap is reporting that Ryan Gosling is in the room for the Gore Verbinski/Johnny Depp version of The Lone Ranger. Depp would play Tonto to Gosling’s white knight of a cowboy. At the same time they are noting that Gosling’s schedule as of now is in conflict with doing the picture. Which makes the likelihood of him doing it all the more questionable.

Gosling is currently attached to Logan’s Run, with his Drive Director Nicolas Winding Refn. Since the two just did a picture together, it seems unlikely, though – if nothing else – fairly mercinary for Gosling to abandon the project, which would probably collapse without him. The Lone Ranger is a bigger production, and with Depp and Verbinski an A title where he would get to basically play a goof (it seems) as the focus is more likely to be on Tonto because it’s Depp. Ten years ago it would be a Brendan Fraser role.

Ryan Gosling is similar to James Franco in that they’re both getting thrust into a lot of huge budgeted productions but without having warmed themselves to audiences. Hopefully for studios the films themselves should sell audiences, but neither come across as people necessarily go to movies to see. But that may just be the dwindling class of A-list actors in the new generation.

The Lone Ranger is currently a 2014 tentpole release.that gosling has serious scheduling conflicts makes this seem like a bullshit piece, but you never know.

Do you want to see Gosling say “Hi-yo Silver away”?

Crazy, Stupid, Love Trailer Offers Laughs, Entire Plot

Damon Houx — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:38:05 +0000

Crazy, Stupid, Love, the new film from Glenn Ficarra and John Requa opens July 29 this year, and a trailer has just been released. The film stars Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei. The trailer promises a lot of heart, a couple of laughs, and seems to lay out everything that happens in the movie from start to finish. Take a look…

Though the trailer is clever, this trailer seems to spell out every act of the movie. First act: Steve Carell gets dumped by his wife, who cheated on him. Then he meets Ryan Gosling’s character who seems part-ladies man, part-”Jersey Shore” cast member. Second Act: Carell gets his life together, Gosling falls in love. Third act, they see if they can make it work.

That said, the narrative of a romantic comedy is usually predicated on the leads – if a movie stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Mathew McCaunghey, it’s not as if they won’t end up together in the end. And the jokes in the film look pretty funny.

It’s also a good role for Gosling, who’s the super-serious actor of the moment, and doing something goofy and light could make for a nice respite from his actor’s studio performances. And it’ll be good for those who are suffering from Carell withdrawal after he leaves “The Office.”

Crazy, Stupid, Love… Are you in or out?

Photos: George Clooney, Ryan Gosling on Ides of March Set

Krystal Clark — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:03:32 +0000

Production has finally begun on George Clooney’s upcoming film The Ides of March. Clooney both stars and directs the feature that centers on the hardcore world of politics. Besides himself, the cast also includes Ryan Gosling, who appears in several of the set photos we found on KYpost. Check them out…

The scenes were shot at the Stockyard Bank and Trust in downtown Cincinnati. As you can see Clooney was busy directing the majority of the time with Gosling taking said direction. The Ides of March is based on the play Farragut North, which is set in Des Moines, Iowa, just weeks before the state’s Democratic caucuses officially commence; it follows the exploits of a twenty something presidential campaign spinmeister/wunderkind named Stephen Myers, and the dirty pool he plays to get his candidate the nomination against a rival senator.

As you may have noticed, Gosling stars as the “spinmeister” in question. The role was previously played Chris Pine in the 2009 stage production. Pine was also courted to reprise the part but couldn’t because of scheduling. Other stars of the film include Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.

What do you think of the first photos from The Ides of March?

ScreenCrave.com » Ryan Gosling

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