February 3, 2012

Interview: Chronicle’s Michael B. Jordan

Michael B. Jordan has certainly kept busy over the years. He had The Wire back in 2002, then it was on to All My Children for nearly four years after which he moved over to The Assistants and then hit Friday Night Lights and Parenthood. When did this guy have time to make two movies? Jordan had a part in the January 20th release Red Tails and now he’s returning to the big screen yet again in Josh Trank’s Chronicle.

Jordan stars as Steve Montgomery, the quintessential big man on campus. He’s a star athlete, running for class president and is a favorite amongst the ladies. However, one night, Steve winds up adding another skill to his resume – superpowers. When Steve and Matt (Alex Russell) stumble upon a bizarrely deep hole in the woods during a party, they recruit Matt’s cousin Andrew (Dane DeHaan) to bring his camera and film what happens when they go inside – but the bigger deal is what they end up filming after.

As a self-proclaimed comic book nerd, playing a super powered teen is a dream come true for Jordan. Sure it wasn’t easy working within the found footage realm, which required him to be on his toes for particularly long takes, but having the ability to fly and move cars with his mind– or at least seem like he could– made it worth it.

In advance of Chronicle’s February 3rd debut, Jordan took the time to run through the whole procedure from landing the role and working with a rising young cast and crew to manning up for his stunts. Check it all out in the interview below.

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January 31, 2012

Interview: The Woman in Black’s Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe playing someone other than Harry Potter is one thing, but Daniel Radcliffe starring in a horror film? Shortly after taking his final bow as Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Radcliffe is back on the big screen in The Woman in Black.

Radcliffe leads as Arthur Kipps, a young father who’s still reeling from his wife’s passing during childbirth. Now a solo parent, Arthur needs to support his son and that means sorting out the legal affairs of the recently deceased owner of the secluded Eel Marsh House. However, upon arriving in town, Arthur comes to learn that this gig is going to be a tough one, not only because the home is overflowing with paperwork, but also because the house isn’t as empty as he was led to believe.

On the occasion of The Woman in Black’s February 3rd release, Radcliffe sat down to talk all about the transition from Potter to horror, his own unease with the genre, the preparation necessary for embodying such a troubled character and much more. Check it all out in the interview below.

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January 30, 2012

Review: Chronicle

If you got superpowers, what would you do with them? Seriously? I’d like to bet most wouldn’t suit up like Spider-Man and clean the streets of crime. Well, not initially at least. High school-aged or not, most of us would probably partake in the shenanigans the leading trio of Chronicle enjoy. But that’s not to say this novel superhero flick is all fun and games. In fact, it boasts a great deal of depth, intertwining the out-of-this-world action with some very real troubling issues.

Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a bit of an outcast and makes himself even more socially awkward by buying a video camera and documenting his entire life. Camera in tow, Andrew tags along with his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) to a big school party out in the middle of nowhere. During a lonesome sulking session, Matt and the big man on campus, Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), convince Andrew to film this crazy thing they found, a massive hole out in the woods. Then, they opt to take it one step further, going down into the hole and through the passage.

Cut to a new day. Andrew, Matt and Steve are together again, but this time, they’re not just partaking in your average after school activities; they’re throwing baseballs at each other – with their minds. Turns out, whatever happened down in that hole left the boys with superhero-like powers. But this isn’t Peter Parker, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne we’re talking about. These are teenagers and they’re looking to have some fun with their new abilities. However, a few harmless pranks later, they come to realize that there’s a breaking point and if they don’t learn to control their growing powers, they could really hurt someone.

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January 29, 2012

Review: The Innkeepers

Sick of all the same old tricks in the horror genre? Well, get ready because The Innkeepers uses them all. Eerie tracking shots, spooky noises and an unoriginal story, but, oddly enough, writer-director Ti West manages to put enough of his authorial expressivity on the piece to deliver something that may not feel fresh, but is still refreshingly nostalgic.

It’s the Yankee Pedlar Inn’s last days in business and Claire and Luke (Sara Paxton and Pat Healy) are the only two employees left, assigned to keep the facility running until closing day. It’s not as tough as it sounds though. The entire third floor of the hotel has already been sealed off and there’s only two guests on the second floor.

Regardless, the duo agrees to bunk down at the hotel for the final weekend and opt to keep themselves busy with Luke’s hobby, a website dedicated to paranormal activity recordings. Convinced the Yankee Pedlar is haunted, they use an EVP recording device to catch the spirit of Madelyn O’Malley in action, a former guest who killed herself when her fiancé split on their wedding day.

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January 29, 2012

Interview: The Dark Knight Rises And Oz: The Great And Powerful’s Joey King

Make way for Joey King. At just 12-years-old, the young actress has already starred in her own feature film, Ramona and Beezus, and tacked on about eight other big screen titles to her resume. But, of course, it’s not just about lengthening your list of screen credits, but lengthening that list with films of quality and boy does King have some potential hits on the way.

Next out of the gate for King will be the third installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises. Then, on March 8th, 2013, King will grace the screen as China Girl in Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful. But wait; there’s more! King also snagged her very first series regular role for NBC’s upcoming romantic comedy Bent.

See what I mean? We’ve got a hefty dose of King on the way! But, even with all this work to get to, King still makes time for her family and a good deal of charitable causes, too. Apparently, there’s near to nothing King can’t do – with her pig Jay Jay by her side, of course. It isn’t time to chat about The Dark Knight Rises or Oz: The Great and Powerful just yet, but check out everything else on King’s plate in the interview below.

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January 23, 2012

Review: The Grey

Liam Neeson and director Joe Carnahan are back together again, but this time around, they’re working with material that’s far less fun than The A-Team. But less fun doesn’t make The Grey a bad movie. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Rather than turn The Grey into an utterly unrealistic survival adventure story, we get something far darker and, while it still has those handful of moments that make you think twice, it completely sells the severity of the situation.

Neeson’s Ottway works for a petroleum company in the icy tundra of Alaska. Amidst the other ex-cons, fugitives and “men unfit for mankind,” Ottway’s job is to keep them safe by shooting down invading wolves. When it’s time to return to society, Ottway and a number of his colleagues board a plane to Anchorage. Along the way, turbulent weather takes hold and the plane comes crashing down in the middle of nowhere – actually, in the middle of wolf territory.

The few survivors are thankful to be alive, but soon come to the harsh realization that they’re being hunted. With no food and few supplies, the group has to band together to keep each other safe from the wolves who look to viciously pick them off one-by-one.

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January 20, 2012

Review: Red Tails

Sure, a January release is never a good sign, but how can you have low expectations for a film about the feats of WWII’s Tuskegee Airmen? Plus, you’d think a script based on such a stirring true story would have enough of a head start not to fall into too many holes. Maybe I don’t know as much as I think about screenwriting, but I know enough to say that Red Tails has a downright terrible script and it’s that bad apple that poisoned the rest of what could have been a really exciting and moving film.

Red Tails tells the story of the pilots in the Tuskegee training program in World War II, specifically Martin “Easy” Julian (Nate Parker), Joe “Lightning” Little (David Oyelowo), Ray “Ray Gun” Gannon (Tristan Wilds) and Samuel “Joker” George (Elijah Kelley). The foursome makes for an excellent team, but thanks to segregation, they’re stuck shooting ground bound targets like trains and trucks while the white pilots fight off the enemy during bomber escorts.

However, their big day finally comes and thanks to some negotiating on behalf of Col. A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard), Easy, Lightning and the rest of the Tuskegee Airmen get to take to the sky and guard the bombers from German attack. While the guys are thrilled with the success of their mission and the opportunity for more chances to fight, the pressure increases as they come to the realization that they really can die out there.

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January 18, 2012

Review: Coriolanus

Back in high school, I always knew I should appreciate Shakespeare, but getting through his work was so tedious, it often took away from the narrative. Then, once I finally understood the text and perhaps should have gone back for a second go-around to appreciate it as a story, it was onto the next book of the semester, forever branding his work a mere school assignment rather than something that was meant to be enjoyed. Thanks to Ralph Fiennes, if Coriolanus ever comes up in a school curriculum, teens might actually be able to enjoy the material when passing on the text for the movie. (But, of course, I never did that.)

The story now takes place in a more modern Rome, but still focuses of Caius Martius (Fiennes), a solider who deplores the common folk. When war erupts between Rome and the Volscians, Martius comes face to face with his adversary, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler). Ultimately, Martius prevails and he’s bestowed the name Coriolanus. When his deeds lead the Senate to make him consul, Martius has no choice but to appease the citizens, as he needs their vote to officially assume the position.

Well, actually he has a choice and when Martius chooses to defy the common folk rather than embrace them for their blessing, they banish him from Rome, sending him right into the arms of his utmost enemy, Aufidius. Together, they seek vengeance by taking Rome.

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January 17, 2012

Interview: Red Tails’ Elijah Kelley

Elijah Kelley made quite the splash as Seaweed in 2007’s Hairspray, but the triple threat opted to put two of his talents aside for the sake of history.

Kelley stars as Samuel ‘Joker’ George in the upcoming film Red Tails. Inspired by true events, the film focuses on the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American pilots segregated to their own airbase during WWII. Despite Joker and his buddies’ ability in the air, the army refuses to let them act as bomber escorts, assigning them to merely pick off ground targets. However, when Col. A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard) steps up on their behalf, the boys get their opportunity to fight and they certainly don’t take it for granted.

Red Tails was quite the undertaking for Kelley on a number of fronts. Having grown up in a town right near Tuskegee, the story really hit home for Kelley and he was absolutely determined to get a role in the film. Even though the actor claims to have bombed his audition, fate intervened and he got the part. However, that was only the beginning. From there it was off to boot camp training and then to the set to bring the Airmen’s story back to life.

Check out what Kelley had to say about the experience in the video interview below and catch Red Tails when it hits theaters on January 20th.

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January 16, 2012

Interview: Red Tails’ Tristan Wilds

90210 keeps Tristan Wilds pretty busy, but there’s no way the actor would pass up a chance to appear on the big screen as one of the iconic Tuskegee Airmen.

Wilds plays Red Tails‘ Ray ‘Ray Gun’ Gannon, one of the first African American aviators in the US Army during World War II. Along with his co-Airmen, specifically Easy (Nate Parker), Lightning (David Oyelowo) and Joker (Elijah Kelley), Ray is stuck shooting ground targets like trains and trucks while the white pilots are honored with the mission of defending US bombers from the Germans. However, when the guys finally get their chance to fly and fight for their country, they go above and beyond the call of duty proving they’re capable of everything the other fighter pilots can do and more.

And that’s exactly what Wilds wanted to do with his role, go above and beyond so to keep the Tuskegee Airmen’s legacy alive. It took an immense amount of research, a rigorous boot camp and then, of course, the actual shoot, but the time has finally come and the Airmen are back in Red Tails. Check out everything Wilds had to say about working on the film as well as his other projects including his brand new EP in the video interview below.

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