Ben Roethlisberger, Samuel L. Jackson team for our ESPYs cover
The 2009 ESPY Awards air on ESPN this Sunday at 9 pm. EST, and to preview the annual gathering of sports and entertainment elite, we paired Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback and recent Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger and movie legend (and ESPYs host) Samuel L. Jackson for a special look at why jocks love stars and stars love jocks. For his cover story in this weekend's magazine, senior staff writer Dennis McCafferty talked with the twosome at great length during the photo shoot and found out some interesting tidbits. For example, did you know Jackson was serious about swimming and track and field growing up? These days, the Pulp Fiction star is more at home on the golf course, an affinity he shares with Roethlisberger. "I’m pretty determined," the Steeler QB says. "I got caught up in some pretty rough stuff recently, and I wasn’t going to leave there until I got the ball back on the green. It was ‘Whack! whack! whack!’ But I got it out." Of course, golf is a truly big deal for Jackson. "The biggest. I try to play every day, or at least get on a driving range and hit some long balls before I have to go out and earn my money on a movie set."
Comic-Con 2009 preview: Megan Fox, 'Iron Man' and a host of blockbuster movies
She’s in the biggest movie of the year so far, so it makes sense that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen star Megan Fox will be a major deal at this year’s Comic-Con. However, when it comes to blockbuster movies, it’s not a one-woman show. The films everyone will talk about for the next year are going to be at the con next week. In 2008, fans clogged the 6,500-seat Hall H for standing-room-only panels for Twilight and Watchmen. In 2009, our Brian Truitt is betting on a trio of movies: New Moon, the Twilight sequel; Iron Man 2, the next cinematic chapter for Robert Downey Jr.’s high-tech hero; and James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar. Those are just the tip of the iceberg (no Titanic pun intended), so click read more for Brian’s preview of the must-see movies of Comic-Con and exclusive photos of the animated hero of Astro Boy, Taylor Lautner's Jacob from New Moon, and Fox in Jennifer’s Body (check out that trailer below).
Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox, Summit, Paramount and Disney
July 15, 2009
A 'Summer' interview with Zooey Deschanel
In (500) Days of Summer – opening in select theaters Friday – audiences see both sides of Zooey Deschanel – the actress and the musician. Deschanel, 29, plays a woman who doesn’t believe in true love –a departure from her real life engagement to musician Ben Gibbard of the band Death Cab for Cutie. And although Deschanel briefly sings in the film, off screen she is part of the music duo, She & Him. Our Lauren Cohen talked with Deschanel about her new film, her music and what she finds sexy. Click read more to get the scoop.
Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight
July 13, 2009
'Half-Blood Prince' is more grown-up
Harry mania returns this week with the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Wednesday. It’s been two years since the chosen one and his potion-brewing, spell-casting crew have been on screen, so I sent intern Steve Thompson to get the scoop on the movie. Read on for his report:
Despite its PG rating, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince delves into the darker side of J.K. Rowling’s book series, and will definitely satisfy any fan’s craving for life outside the muggle world. While the best thing about these movies is the sense of escapism, the two and a half hour flick has elements of romance and death that make it more realistic and mature. Some things stay the same such as the enchanting Hogwarts campus and the familiar faces of Professor McGonagall and Hagrid, but the school-boy rivalry of Draco Malfoy and Harry turns more gruesome and innocent friendships turn into romantic relationships (or at least some snogging). But for those of you turned off by the PG-rating, don’t worry; there were definitely some scenes (mainly those with Helena Bonham Carter’s character Bellatrix Lestrange) that had me scared like a little schoolgirl. The movie is also rife with awkward teenage love moments, but (spoiler alert!) I’m looking forward to a little more Ron and Hermione action in part one of Deathly Hallows due out November 2010. Both Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have expressed discomfort about kissing in the film, but there's something fun about watching these characters grow up before our eyes.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
July 09, 2009
Michael Moore says new work is a 'date movie'
Michael Moore today revealed the title of his next movie, which I feel compelled to share — Capitalism: A Love Story. Due Oct. 2, Moore's film will look at the impact of corporations and their profit motives on the lives of Americans and others. Doesn't sound like much of a love story? Moore says it's a relationship movie and "It will be the perfect date movie. It's got it all — lust, passion, romance, and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day.”
July 08, 2009
Cohen increases the X-factor with 'Bruno'
Sacha Baron Cohen’s newest movie, Bruno, in theaters Friday, is expected to do big numbers at the box office. So I sent intern Steve Thompson to a screening Tuesday just to get an idea of what this movie, from the creator of the mega-successful but silly Borat, which made more than $125 million in the U.S. alone, is like.
Steve says Cohen likes to push limits, but in Bruno, no amount of full-frontal nudity, prankster antics (a couple of them with Paula Abdul and Ron Paul) and offensive comments is enough for the comic’s gay Austrian fashionista character. And much of the time those questionable actions don't come from his Bruno character but from those around him. Sometimes it's hard to decide which is worse, what Bruno is doing or the violent reactions of the people around him. (For example, there's a scene in Arkansas where Bruno is at a WWE-type wrestling show and ends up making out with another guy in front of some drunk fans.)
In Bruno and Borat, it’s usually what the apparently normal people say or do that is the most shocking and funny. But Cohen was on The Late Show with David Letterman last night saying the reactions are unscripted (and he’s got the lawsuits to prove it). Check out part of his interview below, which is for once the real Sacha Baron Cohen, not Borat or Bruno.
Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures
July 06, 2009
Check out our exclusive clip from 'I Love You, Beth Cooper'
Before Chris Columbus was directing big-budget movies like the first two Harry Potter movies and producing the Fantastic Four and Night at the Museum franchises, the filmmaker got his start in Hollywood writing the 1980s classics Gremlins and The Goonies. It’s this era he harks back to in his new comedy, I Love You, Beth Cooper, in theaters on Friday. In the movie based on the Larry Doyle book, a nerdy high school valedictorian named Denis Cooverman (newcomer Paul Rust) confesses his feelings for the most popular girl in school, head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere), in front of the student body on their graduation day. From there, they and their friends are thrown into the wildest night of their lives. We have an exclusive clip from the film, and our Brian Truitt caught up with Columbus last week on the set of his next directorial effort, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Adapted from the popular book series by Rick Riordan and boasting an A-list cast including Rosario Dawson, Uma Thurman and Pierce Brosnan, it’s a modern-day family adventure interspersed with Greek mythology that opens in February. Click read more for Brian’s exclusive Q&A with Columbus, and check out our Beth Cooper clip below.
Photos by Joe Lederer
June 26, 2009
Bay makes way to 'Transformers' screening in his jet
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen director Michael Bay was in his element Thursday night. He was the main attraction at a special IMAX screening of his new movie at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Northern Virginia, and not just because he was there to show the film to museum and military folks who had worked on it. (Several scenes involving the new Transformers character Jetfire, based on the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird plane, were filmed at the museum.) Our T.J. Walter reports Bay also cruised to the venue (near Dulles International Airport) in his own jet, parking it — loudly — right outside the hangar where the press was waiting.
Transformer 2: Revenge of the Fallen may have gotten mixed reviews, but with the sequel pulling $60 million in box office on opening day Wednesday (and another $28 million and change yesterday), Bay could gloat. “Second biggest opening day of all time, I guess the critics didn’t know what they were talking about.”
Bay talked about the multiple opportunities (Pearl Harbor, Armageddon) that he has had to work the U.S. military. “I have met so many amazing soldiers over the years and I try to portray them in the most realistic way,” Bay said. Also: "In no other job would I ever get to the meet the guy that loads fuel into the space shuttle.”
Photo by Jaimie Trueblood
Cameron Diaz mothers her 'My Sister's Keeper' daughters
My Sister's Keeper, the movie based on Jodi Picoult's bestseller, opens today and seeing it is definitely on my weekend agenda. At the urging of other women friends, I read the book a few years ago, so I am eager to see how it is played on screen. Cameron Diaz plays the mother and reporters who saw her at an L.A. press conference for the movie got a taste of what her real-life mothering skills might someday be like. On a panel with two of her young co-stars, Abigail Breslin and Sofia Vassilieva, Diaz joked with the girls but also kept them in line. Our Nancy Mills was there to see how it all played out. Click on read more for Nancy's full report.
Photos by Sidney Baldwin
Check out our exclusive clip from 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'
The animated family comedy Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs opens Wednesday, and in this weekend’s magazine, I have a feature on Denis Leary, who gives voice to the sabretooth tiger Diego. We also have an an exclusive clip from the movie, third in the Ice Age series, below. Director Carlos Saldanha says, it’s one of the funniest scenes, which is saying a lot given this movie. Diego and the married woolly mammoth couple Manny (voiced by Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) — who are expecting a baby — journey to rescue their sloth pal Sid (John Leguizamo) after he gets trapped in a world full of dangerous dinosaurs. They run into the dreaded Chasm of Death, where they have to zip-line across with the help of the swashbuckling, one-eyed weasel Buck (British actor Simon Pegg) and avoid the “poison gas” — which doesn’t hurt them as much as it cracks them up. “They’re talking about maybe dying going through this dangerous journey and about all the issues that they have, but in a funny way laughing uncontrollably,” says Saldanha. Watch the clip below, then click read more for Brian Truitt’s three questions with the director.
Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
