'New Moon' rises above first 'Twilight' movie
The Twilight sequel New Moon finally arrives in theaters at midnight tonight, which is apropos considering all the vampires and werewolves running around. Of course, a few monsters won’t keep the Twilight faithful who adore the romance in Stephenie Meyer’s book series from storming cineplexes this weekend. Our Brian Truitt (who wrote our recent vampires cover story featuring an interview with star Robert Pattinson) went to a packed screening last night for the sequel, and came back suitably impressed. Read below for his review, and check out a clip from New Moon featuring Pattinson.
Photos courtesy of Summit Entertainment
October 27, 2009
Dean Stockwell talks about his new 'Battlestar' movie, 'The Plan'
Dean Stockwell has starred in a lot of great movies and TV shows in the 66 years he has been acting — including 1962’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night with Katharine Hepburn and Jason Robards; two David Lynch films, Dune and Blue Velvet; 1988’s Married to the Mob (he was nominated for an Oscar) and the early-’90s series Quantum Leap (he won a Golden Globe). Most recently, he starred as a Cylon, a model named Cavil, on Battlestar Galactica, which ended in March. Now, the formidable 73-year-old actor stars in Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, a new DVD film on sale today that explores the Cylons’ back story (check out a clip below). Our BSG expert, copy chief Jill Golden, recently spoke with Stockwell about the new DVD and his evil character as well as his own burgeoning art career. SPOILER WARNING: If you want to avoid Plan spoilers, then read this after you’ve watched the DVD.
Photos courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment
October 23, 2009
Check out our special 'Twilight' cover, featuring Robert Pattinson
You can’t read a book, watch a movie, hunt for a Halloween costume or tune into TV these days without running into vampires, and our cover story this weekend takes a look at why bloodsuckers — with franchises such as Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries — are so hot in pop culture right now. In addition to interviewing True Blood book author Charlaine Harris and Dacre Stoker, Dracula author Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew, our Brian Truitt had the chance to talk with cover boy Robert Pattinson, the popular star of Twilight and the upcoming sequel New Moon (in theaters Nov. 20). Pattinson, who plays the vampire Edward Cullen, was up in Vancouver filming Eclipse, the third adaptation from Stephenie Meyer’s book series coming out next year. “Almost every scene is a fight scene at the moment — for the last couple of weeks anyway,” he reports. “We’ve been doing splits for the past week and a half.” Read below for some of Pattinson’s thoughts on Eclipse and making the Twilight movies, and check out this new clip from New Moon featuring his co-stars, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner. (Also, to find a newspaper near you that carries USA WEEKEND, click here.)
October 22, 2009
'Amelia' stays grounded
Reviews of Hilary Swank's Amelia, opening Friday, are mixed so far, and after seeing it last night, I, too, must say that it fails to soar to the heights I'd hoped it would. I learned much about the famous female flyer Amelia Earhart and her passion for the skies but even with Richard Gere playing her husband (that's them in character, right) and Ewan McGregor playing her lover there was remarkably little passion on the ground. I left the theater with a lot of questions: Was it really just a series of mistakes — no Morse code receiver on the plane, for example — that lead to Amelia Earhart's disappearance? How in the 1920s did she become a woman so determined to go her own way? And what about those freckles on Hilary Swank's face? In real life she has none, so did they spray them on? OK. I know that last bit seems superficial but it nagged at me the whole movie and that tells me that, her considerable acting chops notwithstanding, Swank did not become Amelia for me.
Kristen Bell talks 'Astro Boy,' 'Burlesque' and being an 'It girl'
Kristen Bell will be much seen and heard in the next few months, with her new romantic comedy Couple’s Retreat in theaters now, When in Rome beginning in January and the new cartoon Astro Boy, out tomorrow. The former Veronica Mars actress (and voice of the unseen narrator in Gossip Girl) stars in the animated family adventure with Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Charlize Theron and Freddie Highmore, who voices the pint-sized title hero. Our Brian Truitt caught up with Bell on the day after she signed on for the new movie Burlesque, co-starring Christina Aguilera, so read below for their conversation and check out this clip from Astro Boy.
Photos courtesy of USA Today, Summit Entertainment
October 21, 2009
Hilary Swank loves her job — and more
When I met Hilary Swank for lunch in Malibu last month, I had not seen the movie we were meant to discuss, the biopic Amelia opening Friday. It was still undergoing director Mira Nair's finishing touches and, as deadlines go in the film business, Nair was cutting hers awfully close. (I'm seeing it tonight.) Of course, Swank and I talked about the movie anyway, particularly why she was drawn to portray American icon Amelia Earhart — she'd even passed on a script about the 1930s female flyer some years ago. But we talked just as much about Hilary, an actress who has grown from plucky ingenue to a seriously talented woman, and the things she's discovered about herself. Read below for some outtakes from my notebook:
October 20, 2009
'Amelia' star Hilary Swank says acting is a continuing education
My Hilary Swank cover story of Oct. 11 fueled some angry email in the past week from readers who saw the headlines as glorifying the idea of dropping out of high school. Swank, 35, whose new movie about Amelia Earhart opens on Friday, did indeed drop out to pursue acting, but she later earned her GED and, believe me, she is not an advocate of dropping out of school! Rather, she says she is lucky to have her life's work be a continuing education. "I am blessed that I get to go around passing as a boy and seeing what it's like to be a transgender person (for Boys Don't Cry), or learning to box like a professional boxer (for Million Dollar Baby), or learning how to fly for Amelia. My life is so full of experiences that you wouldn’t get if you weren’t telling stories for a living."
To tell the story of Amelia Earhart, Swank studied her subject inside out. Before that, "I knew what most people know, that she was a famous aviatrix; that she wanted to go around the world." But Swank learned that Earhart — along with being among the first modern celebrities (she was married to a PR guy) — was a feminist before anyone coined the term, "encouraging woman to follow their dreams and follow their hearts even if that was out of the home, out of having children, out of getting married. She didn’t discourage anybody from having a family if that’s what they wanted but she also really tried to encourage them to see the world a little first."
Come back to the blog tomorrow for more of my interview with Swank and, on Thursday, a look at the movie itself, which also stars Ewan McGregor and Richard Gere. For now, though, see the trailer below.
Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight
October 19, 2009
Alicia Silverstone touts her new vegan diet book
Alicia Silverstone, who rose to fame in the 1995 teen movie Clueless, was making the media circuit last week promoting her new vegan diet and cookbook, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. She's quite the ad for her kind of eating, beautiful at 33. She's been vegan for 11 years and she says she wanted to share her experience with others. I will feature Silverstone in a print Who's News column next month, but in the meantime she had plenty to say, so see her chatting in the video here and read below for a quick Q and A,
October 15, 2009
'Twilight: New Moon' soundtrack gets release tomorrow
Not only do Twilight fans love their vampire romances, they also like their tunes. Due to demand, the soundtrack for The Twilight Saga: New Moon will be released tomorrow online and in stores, four days prior to its originally scheduled date. The first single from the album, Death Cab for Cutie’s Meet Me on the Equinox, is already a hit on rock radio (check out the music video below), and the record also features tracks by the Killers, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Muse (one of Twilight author Stephenie Meyer’s faves) and Grizzly Bear. For those needing a test run before buying the album, MySpace Music is streaming the soundtrack in its entirety though the end of today.
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records
October 13, 2009
No vacation from celebrities
I'm back to work after a trip to the West but no matter how far any of us go anymore we can't escape celebrity news, right? The morning I departed was the morning that David Letterman's sex-with-staffers scandal was the talk of the airport; I returned the day Michael Jackson's new single This Is It — officially released just yesterday — was leaking. (You can listen to it here.) The documentary This Is It will hit theaters on Oct. 28. Check out the trailer on the movie site and I bet you'll want to see it regardless of your opinion of Jackson, who died in June.
Speaking of documentaries, mark your calendars for Nov. 2. That's when Poliwood — Barry Levinson's look at the connection between politics and Hollywood — will air on Showtime. I wrote about it last spring when I interviewed, Tim Daly, and it was in limited release. Tim's not the only celebrity featured in this movie, much of which was shot during the 2008 presidential campaign. Quite an array of others are too, including Annette Bening, Sting, Susan Sarandon, Elvis Costello, Kerry Washington, Angela Bassett, Will.i.am and more.
Because I was in Colorado last week I got caught up in baseball's National League Division playoffs and I was sorry to see the fun of rooting for the Rockies ending last night. It's good to be home
