Zoe Saldana, the next big action star?

After Avatar, it was only a matter of time before Zoe Salanda got to headline her own movie. Little did we know she would be playing a stone-cold and, might I add, smoking hot, assassin out for revenge.

Ever since I saw her in Center Stage, I knew there was something special about her. Granted, that movie is a total C-level film, but a total cult-classic that anyone who has seen the movie can attest to.

Today, Sony Pictures released the first trailer (embedded below) for the Zoe's new film, Columbiana, and all things considered it looks absolutely ridiculous. The intensity and pacing for the film is exactly what you expect from this type of film, and I'm hoping it delivers. The film could go either way though--it will either be absolutely ridiculous in the most amazing way possible, or it will just be a total snoozefest. I'm clearly hoping for the former, and no doubt it could do wonders for Saldana's career. We've seen her do comedy (Guess Who, Death at a Funeral), Sci-Fi (Star Trek), and Drama (The Terminal), and it will be interesting to see what Saldana does with her newfound rise to the next level.

Hollywood surely won't be complaining if the film is a hit. There aren't too many female actresses these days that can carry an action film, besides Angelina Jolie and.....ummm....ughhhhhh.....yea. Shall we add Zoe Saldana to that list?

The film comes from the creators behind Taken, and is directed by Olivier Megaton, best known for helming Transporter 3 (and reportedly directing Taken 2, with Liam Neeson). The trailer has a very distinctive feel that elicits memory of past Luc Besson films, a la The Professional, as well as the first Taken.

Colombiana comes out on September 2, 2011 in the United States, the same weekend as another film that I am excited for, the much-delayed The Debt (more about that in a later post).

[Side note: Where on earth has Michael Vartan been? I feel like he hasn't done a film sinceNever Been Kissed. (OK fine- he made Monster-in-Law, but even that was 6 years ago.)]

"The Book of Mormon" leads Tony Award nominees

The Tony Award nominees were announced this morning via past winners Anika Noni Rose and Matthew Broderick. Not too many surprises, "The Book of Mormon" leads the pack with 14 nominations, followed by "The Scottsboro Boys," with 12 (which was quite the surprise, considering it closed months ago).

I was shocked, however, to find that Daniel Radcliffe was NOT nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (do you think Voldermort is on the nominating committee? he..he....he). I assumed everyone would eat him up on Broadway, in addition to the fact that he actually got positive reviews for his performance. Better luck next time, Harry Potter.

Anyways, I got to blog about this morning's announcement for CNN.com's Marquee Blog. Check it out!

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/03/book-of-mormon-leads-tony-award-nominations/

(Photo above is of Radcliffe and my BFF, Anderson Cooper, who actually does the narration for the musical. For an interesting write of how Andy got the Broadway gig, check out Dave Itzkoff's article for the New York Times here.)

Can friends fall in love for "One Day?"

So it's already May? Wow, that sure came out of nowhere. Well, with the summer creeping up on us, we also welcome the start of the summer movie season (YAY for some people, NAY for others). With a lot of films coming up, I will be looking at the ones that I am most excited about.

And just released today was the trailer (or see below) for the film One Day, starring Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway. They star as a would be couple who sleep together on the night of their college graduation. Their relationship is then revisited once a year for the next twenty years. To me it sounds like When Harry Met Sally meets A Lot Like Love- pretty much any film that deals with people in love pretending that they can just be "friends," which we all know as not being true.

The trailer looks cute, although nothing too extraordinary. Jim Sturgess has always been on my radar, ever since Across the Universe, and he made quite the impression after the "just okay" 21. I see him as a lower grade James McAvoy, and it seems like Hollywood has been treating him quite the same.

It will also be interesting to see whether Anne can truly pull off the accent. She supposedly handled it well in Becoming Jane, which I never got around seeing (and probably never will), but that film lost all the buzz it ever had soon after its release. Will audiences buy it this time around?

One Day is Lone Scherfig's follow up to the amazing An Education, which brought us the beginning of what looks like a great career from current "It" girl Carey Mulligan.

Speaking of "it" girls, Anne Hathaway has already had her "it" girl moment (many times over it feels), and with her role as Selina Kyle coming up in the near future (who knows when the new Batman will actually be ready, though I am already peeing my pants excited about what Nolan will do with this one), she seems to have some exciting projects coming up.

Sturgess, on the other hand, already had the epic The Way Back released last year (which I loved), and has another film with Kirsten Dunst called Upside Down that has already been completed (though I know nothing about it, only having first learned about it after taking a look at his IMDB page.)

The truth is, these type of films are usually cute, and usually one that women always fall in love with. And with Lone Scherfig at the helm, I definitely am eager to see if she can pull it off.

PS--Anne Hathaway as butch? Not quite sure how I feel about that. But I do think these two looks good together--anyone smell off-camera romance?

Is the Arnold still a movie star?

Back in the day, many male and even some female actors and actresses were able to command $20 million +, and no one batted an eyelash. Some even got some major back-end percentages added on to their deals. For the most part, though those days are over.

Some stars, like Johnny Depp, who got a reported $35 million upfront for starring in the latest in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, according to Vanity Fair, might still be able to command that. Even Tom Cruise, once the biggest and most reliable star in the world, only got $12.5 million for writing, producing AND starring in Mission Impossible 4 (boy have things changed).

So when Deadline reported yesterday that Arnold Scharzenegger was negotiating for a new film role, I had no idea what kind of deal it would be. Turns out, it's not bad for an actor who hasn't

starred in a film since 2003, especially that disappointed both critically and financially.

According to Nikki Finke, Schwarzenegger will be getting $10 million upfront, plus 25% first dollar gross on the back end, which is quite paltry compared to the $25M/25% he used to get

in his heyday, but still an amazing deal for actors in this market.

In the film, titled Cry Macho, "the story revolves around a horse breeder (Schwarzenegger) who won the Kentucky Derby but whose wife and child get killed. He sinks into an alcoholic depression and winds up working for a hedge fund jerk who offers him a choice of getting fired or bringing back the rich guy's son living with the ex-wife in Mexico."

Sounds very similar to another film he starred in back in 2002, Collateral Damage, but I would like to think that Arnold wouldn't pick his first starring vehicle since leaving the Governor's mansion to be eerily similar to one he has done in the past.

It will be interesting to see how audiences will respond. I can assure that international box-office will be robust, as his films tend to do better worldwide than they do domestically. But, if given the right role in a film to which audiences will respond well, it could end up being a huge payday for the Arnold.

I will always have a special place in my heart for Arnold, who starred in one of my favorite childhood films, Kindergarden Cop. Now that's a film that can be on television whenever, wherever, and I will be forced to watch it. Like a fine wine, it only gets better with age.

Turns out, he was right along, just as he said he would. He's back.

First look at Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin

She may not have been everyone’s first choice to play Sarah Palin, but Julianne Moore
sure seems to have the look down pat.

In the first photo release from the set of HBO’s telefilm Game Change, Moore is seen sporting Palin’s trademark red suit, patriotic pin, and updo hair style. Gone also is Moore’s trademark red hair, instead opting for Palin’s brown, and it looks like she even has Palin’s mannerisms down to her trademark smile.And how does Palin feel about the film?

“I think I’ll just grit my teeth and bear whatever comes my way with that movie,” Palin told Fox News late last month, instead ridiculously suggesting that whoever “capitalizes on pretending to be” her should chip in for her children’s braces.

The film, which began production today (Wedneday), is based on Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s 2010 book about the 2008 presidential election. The story follows Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign, beginning with his selection of then Alaska governor Sarah Palin to his defeat at the hands of Barack Obama in November of that year.

Along with Moore, the already stellar cast includes Ed Harris as John McCain, Woody Harrelson as Steven Schmidt, McCain’s senior advisor, and the recently announced Ron Livingston as senior campaign adviser Mark Wallace, who had the daunting task of prepping Palin for her now famous debate with then Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Director Jay Roach, best known for his work on comedies such as Meet the Parents and the Austin Powers franchise, will be helming the film. He will be reuniting with writer Danny Strong, whom he worked with on another HBO political film, 2008’s Recount.

If released before the Emmy deadline, everyone will be wondering whether Moore can actually challenge HBO’s recent Mildred Pierce-star Kate Winslet for the Best Actress statue. From what we can tell from this photo, as well as Moore past excellence in almost every role she plays, it could end up being quite a race.

The real questions remains: who will be remembered as making for a better Sarah Palin, Tina Fey or Julianne Moore? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Vera Farmiga's career "up in the air?" Not anymore

A few years ago you might not have recognized her name. She starred alongside heavyweights Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in Martin Scorcese's The Departed, and got major buzz for her award-winning turn as a drug-addicted mother and wife in Down to the Bone, directed by Winter's Bone scribe Debra Granik.

But it now seems that Vera Farmiga is a name you won't ever forget. As Deadline first reported, the Oscar-nominated actress has just joined the Universal Pictures’ thriller Safe House.

Farmiga will be joining Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in the Daniel Espinosa-directed drama. In the film, Reynolds plays young CIA operative assigned to escorting a dangerous criminal (Washington) to safety after their safe house is attacked. Farmiga “will play a CIA operative supervising Reynolds' character.” The film, which is already in production, is set to be released on February 10, 2012.

I have always been extremely interested in Farmiga's film choices, and this upcoming role in Safe House seems like a nice transition for her. Every actress has to have that somewhat thankless role as the beaut in an action film at some point in her career. See Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Penelope Cruz, Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, and the list goes on.

I thought Farmiga was great in Departed, if not spectacular, and it definitely brought her career to the next level. Personally though, I will always remember Farmiga for her turn in 15 Minutes, a 2001 thriller starring Ed Burns and Robert DeNiro, in which is witness to an arson attack they are investigating. I recognized her beauty right from the get-go, and hoped she would have a bright future in the business.

Though it was really her Oscar-nominated role as a sexy business executive in Up in the Air, opposite George Clooney, that brought her to the level she is at now. She was able to play beautiful and damged so seemlessly well, that in the end you felt for a character that we weren't supposed to feel for.

And now Farmiga is currently co-starring in the extremely-well reviewed “Source Code, opposite Jake Gylenhaall, and had her directorial debut, Higher Ground, debut at Sundance earlier in the year.

With the news of her role in Safe House, plus a reported role in an adaptation of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, I'm excited for what she has coming up in the future. Plus, I will always have a "guilty pleasure" spot in my "film loving heart" for Orphan, whose ending I don't think anyone saw coming.

Why there will never be another Joan Crawford

With the first two parts of Mildred Pierce airing last Sunday, it got me thinking about both Kate Winslet and Joan Crawford (well duh, that makes sense!). Obviously, any comparison of the two is totally unfair, as many generations between them and a different Hollywood system would make it almost impossible. That being said, and with Kate taking on a role that won Crawford her first and only Oscar, I still can't help but wonder what Crawford's legacy will be.

I didn't know that much about Joan Crawford until I first saw Mommie Dearest when I was about 12 years old or so. Crawford will forever be known more for her distaste for wire hangers and axing down trees in her garden than for her acting, which is quite unfortunate. I wasn't old enough to truly understand most of the films I watched as a youngster, but I knew it was something special. When I finally got around to watching the original Mildred Pierce about a year or so ago, Crawford's performance was nothing short of extraordinary. My first thought was that it's hard to imagine that someone as glamorous as Crawford would be this stay-at-home frumpy housewife. However, she plays it off pretty well given the circumstances. [It's interesting to note that Angelina Jolie was claimed to have been miscast by many critics, commenting that no one would believe Angie has a neglected housewife. I don't necessarily agree with that, however]. Crawford was one of few actresses who made the successful transition from silent films, and even continued to prove her worth after being labeled "box office poison" in the late 1930s.


The best part about Crawford, however, was the fact that you couldn't take your eyes off her. I re-watch Mildred Pierce to this day, and I'm still mesmerized in the same way that I will always bow down to Bette Davis after watching All About Eve. There are only a few actresses throughout the modern era, in my opinion, that this can be said about. Crawford, Davis, Katherine Hepburns, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, and Marilyn Monroe. (Though Monroe's acting accomplishments are much less than the rest of that list). They were all great actresses who were able to mix their beauty with their talent. It's hard to think that the same can be said of actresses right now.


Meryl? Not particularly. Cate Blanchett? Meh. The only ones that come close, in my opinion, are Angie and Kate Winslet. Angie more for her looks, Winslet more for her ability to just light up the screen whenever she's on it. I watched the trailer to Winslet's last three big films- Little Children, Revolutionary Road, and The Reader, and I begin to remember why Winslet is one of the greatest actresses of our time. But it's not her beauty that catches us (though she is quite stunning). Its the way she is able to become the character. She was Hanna Schmitz- you felt for her, you believed her, and sympathized with her. Any actress who can make you sympathize with a character that is not written with that intention is doing something right.
Actresses unfortunately have to work harder now than ever before to win over critics and audiences a like. Looking at what Winslet is doing now on HBO, it's hard to imagine that the critics won't absolutely fawn over her performance. Reviews have proven most already are, and an almost certain Emmy win will solidify that. But she is no Joan Crawford. Then again, no one is. No one ever will be. Just like people are saying that there will never be another Elizabeth Taylor, I think, even more so, there will never be another Joan Crawford.


*just as a side note and rant, Faye Dunaway has been totally crucified for her role in Mommie Dearest, and her career would never recover. In my opinion, she has been so unjustly criticized for that role. THe performance may have been camp at its best, but that was Joan Crawford. Her life was camp, and she was a true force of nature. Why critics would punish Dunaway is beyond me, especially after her unmatched filmography at the time. But at least we can still revel in the fact that we have Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, and Network to keep us satisfied.

And for some fun, re-watch this amazing trailer for the 1981 film.