Matthew McConaughey in ‘Free State of Jones’ (Courtesy of STX Entertainment)
“Last time I checked, a gun don’t care who is pulling the trigger,” says Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey), a farmer and deserter from the Confederate Army who’s protecting his neighbor’s wife and daughters from a raid by a local squad of Confederate men in the dramatic Civil War film, Free State of Jones.
While serving in the Confederate Army as a medic during the Civil War, Knight is sickened by all the death and waste of life on the battlefield. When he discovers that his young nephew, Daniel (Jacob Lofland), has been drafted into the army, he sets out to protect him from the battlefield as best he can. Unfortunately, Knight can’t save his nephew from the carnage that is war and he ends up dying in his arms. Disgusted with what the Confederate Army will do to their own people and wanting to take his nephew’s body back home, Newton leaves the army and travels back to Jones County.
Once home it’s not long before Knight hears about how the Confederate Army keeps stealing the crops and livestock from the struggling local farmers for the war effort, leaving them to starve. After helping his neighbor chase off a small band of Confederate thieves, Knight must go on the run and hides out in the swamp where the Confederate soldiers with their horses can’t go. It’s not long before Knight bands together with other small farmers, who have been oppressed by the Confederates, as well as local slaves to launch an uprising against the Confederacy.
As his small army of 200-300 men fights against the local soldiers and eventually a regiment of troops, Knight’s rebellion leads Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating the Free State of Jones.
Based on a true story, Free State of Jones is a ponderous, overly ambitious, and melodramatic film that tries to cover too much history and fails as a result. It’s a slow-moving and uneven film that works best when it focuses on Knight being a wanted deserter and becoming the Southern “Robin Hood” of Jones County, rising up against the Confederacy and creating a rebellion. Once the war is over, and the film continues on trying to cover the struggle of blacks in the South fighting for their right to vote and against the KKK, the film becomes a dull, lifeless, and meandering mess.
Almost all the characters are one-dimensional, except for Knight played by Matthew McConaughey who is shown as a smart, determined, and ahead of his time if not his Century rebel and leader. McConaughey delivers a solid performance as Knight but what’s lacking is the usual intensity and charisma that the Oscar-winning actor always brings to his roles. Keri Russell, best known for her strong performance on the FX television series The Americans, is wasted in the film as Serena Knight’s nagging wife who doesn’t support her husband’s actions. The character disappears for half the film only to return to fuel a pointless and uninteresting subplot about Knight’s son. It’s a true crime to waste the talents of such an outstanding actress.
Free State of Jones strives to tell a unique and intriguing story about a little-known part of America’s history, but ends up delivering a boring, painfully slow, and unengaging film.
GRADE: C-
Directed By: Gary Ross
MPAA Rating: R for brutal battle scenes and disturbing graphic images
Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick represent ‘Trolls’ at the Cannes Film Festival (Photo: DreamWorks Animation)
Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick provide the voices of trolls in the new DreamWorks Animation movie Trolls. Based on the Troll dolls which were a craze throughout the decades, Kendrick plays Poppy, a happy troll thriving on hugs and songs. Timberlake plays Branch, a more practical troll who doesn’t like to sing and hug, but likes to be prepared for emergencies.
Kendrick and Timberlake attended a presentation of footage from Trolls at DreamWorks’ offices on Thursday, June 23, 2016 and participated in a Q&A. Timberlake also serves as the film’s Executive Music Producer, both for original songs and covers of classics like “Sounds of Silence” and “True Colors.” Trolls opens in theaters on November 4.
How does the process of music producing work?
Justin Timberlake: “This is my first time to do it on this level. I’ve never been the music producer for a film. For a musical like this, which I think to stay with the theme of DreamWorks, what’s made them so reverent, to take these classic toys and mythological creatures from so long ago and really modernize them, that was our M.O. with the music as well. I think it fits with the humor. Some seven-year-old’s gonna walk away knowing ‘The Sound of Silence’ which is very cool. And a song like ‘True Colors.’ Now, I came on a little after some of the songs were sought after and cleared. I don’t know if you know about the clearance process but that can be mind-numbing. So I think that once the songs were cleared and I came in, ‘True Colors’ was definitely already picked out for this moment in the movie. ‘Sound of Silence’ was already picked out too so my job for that was just hopefully to put our own spin on it, make it sound unique, make it sound like it belonged in the scene, much like musical theater almost. Then as well, wrote four original songs, one of them that you may or may not have heard which is in the movie as well and specifically written for the movie. I’ve never done anything like that as well. So to write it specifically for the movie and to have a little bit of a hack code into the fact that some of the music does sound very ‘70s if I may. I think overall you’ll feel that a lot of the music definitely has a little bit of ‘70s funk to it, so that was definitely an inspiration for ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ as well. I think you treat each moment, you get to see some of the animation they’re working on, so you get to see how big a moment is. The Gorillaz, you know you’re getting to see where the Bergens live. You just want to sonically complement that. It’s been fun too to work specifically with Anna because she’s such a good singer. She doesn’t fancy herself that, but…”
Anna Kendrick: “It’s a lie. I’m wonderful.”
Justin Timberlake: “I’m pretty snobby anyway and it’s been so much fun to work with her. All the work that we actually did together was just me sitting at the board and us talking about her singing and her vocal performance. ‘Get Back Up Again,’ it’s her singing but she’s also acting. So there’s a lot that goes into that.”
Anna Kendrick: “‘Get Back Up Again,’ we wanted something that felt like the ‘I want’ song. That’s one of those Broadway things, the ‘I want’ song. It’s her ‘I want song.’ We had a take when they were coaching me on Skype and stuff. We had a take that was good, and after working with Justin for a while, I was like, ‘I feel like we should go back.’ Everyone was like, ‘Why? It’s fine.’ We went back and I would bet that 95% of what’s in the movie is from my session with Justin because as someone who’s a singer, he gives such specific notes that are so helpful that it just tightened it so much and I feel like we got so much more heart and mischief and sass from her.”
Justin Timberlake: “I’m a big fan of musicals. The first one that comes to mind is The Music Man or Singin in the Rain where you’re getting a piece from the character that’s moving the story along and you’re getting a piece from the story that’s moving the story along. The music services that. I feel like it’s a lot more challenging probably for young people, the type of musicals where the music starts and time stops. Then it’s like they end the music and everyone goes back to what they were. We wanted to definitely modernize our movie and make everything service the movie and move it along.”
How long was the process of narrowing down the songs?
Justin Timberlake: “There were four different versions of ‘Get Back Up Again’ I feel like. There were songs that we cleared or tried out for different scenes and are still trying out for different scenes. Every once in a while too you come across some irony like Gorillaz’ ‘Clint Eastwood’ that literally the line is ‘I’m happy, I’m feeling glad, I’ve got sunshine in my bag.’ We’re using it for the Bergens in complete irony because there’s nothing happy about that scene.”
What other trolls will we see in the film?
Anna Kendrick: “Satin and Chenille are connected by their hair. They’re the fashionistas.”
Did you ever have trolls? Do you have a favorite song in the film?
Anna Kendrick: “I had trolls.”
Justin Timberlake: “Careful how you answer that.”
Anna Kendrick: “I had trolls growing up. My first question to them after they finished pitching me the movie was, ‘Does Poppy have a diamond belly button?’ because the jeweled belly button trolls are the best trolls. They said, ‘No, but she has glitter freckles,’ so I was like okay, that’s fine. And I had the pencil toppers which made it seem like homework was fun even when homework wasn’t fun. But they are that kind of ugly cute. It’s hard to say what draws kids to them but I think it’s like pug dogs. They’re so ugly that they’re cute. And my favorite song is ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling.'”
Justin Timberlake: “Your check is in the mail. I think they become disarming because, not to speak ill of things like Barbies, but I think they disarm especially young females probably. I remember when I was a young female, no. I mean, I can imagine that it’s very disarming.”
Anna Kendrick: “Yeah, I had a confusing relationship with my Barbies. But I love trolls. I tortured my Barbies.”
Justin Timberlake: “I’m sure growing up, it’s easy to go through some sort of body dysmorphia thing. I feel like they probably are very disarming. I remember in second and third grade, I didn’t have them but every girl in school had one. And they had the treasure trolls, the ones with the jewels in the belly and I remember the pencil toppers. Girls would brush the hair. They were every bit as big as any other doll that came out geared towards young females.”
What adversity did you have to overcome in making the movie?
Justin Timberlake: “That’s probably more of a question for the filmmakers or our producer.”
Anna Kendrick: “We have a really easy time of it.”
Justin Timberlake: “We didn’t have to film a scene in the freezing cold.”
Anna Kendrick: “You don’t have to worry about your body mic and where it’s supposed to go on your weird futuristic costume.”
Justin Timberlake: “I had fun working on this movie. There were challenges. There’s challenges with the music because it’s not easy to come up with a full arrangement for a song, especially one that’s so classic and popular. We’ve gone through different iterations of the different musical performances, cutting them down, extending them, cutting them down, extending them. That can become a little time consuming but it’s still fun work. It’s still fun to try to crack the code of trying to not linger on with music but still not cut any of what’s very important to the characters and story. But that sounds like the most trivial thing compared to probably the adversity [the filmmakers] faced.”
It looks like three years of work paid off.
Justin Timberlake: “Well, I didn’t start three years ago, let me be very clear. That arrangement for that [‘True Colors’] was a group of people that all worked on it. I can’t take credit for that.”
Do you get nervous taking on a classic like that?
Justin Timberlake: I was very nervous, to be honest. I remember the whole time I was doing the recording session, I was like, ‘What is Cyndi gonna think?’ I still don’t know and I guess it’s too late to worry about it because it’s already in the movie. Absolutely, I’m sure you felt the same.”
Anna Kendrick: “Yeah, I do think though that having an acting objective makes it easier for me. When we sang it at Cannes, I was totally terrified but when I’m singing it in the movie and I’m listening to Justin, I’m thinking about what we have to accomplish for the story, it sort of distracts from that and it gives me a simpler intention.”
Here’s a brief summary of the conversation in the press rows prior to The Shallows screening in San Diego:
– A spirited debate is held over whether Blake Lively will die in the film. 2003’s Open Water is repeatedly referenced.
– Much discussion takes place concerning the fact the trailers have seemingly given away far too much of the actual film. That’s followed by talk of how difficult it is to avoid all trailers.
– We question whether the shark will be seen often or if it will only be brief flashes to keep the CG to a minimum.
– The CG talk is followed by the voiced hope of a silent shark (if it growls, we’re out of there).
– One critic reminds us the director is the guy behind Non-Stop and Run All Night so we cling to the hope that the action, if not the story, will be first-rate.
– Surprisingly little is mentioned about the opportunity we’re about to have to watch Blake Lively in a bikini for 80 minutes.
– And, finally, we all agree we’re surprised so many of our local critics have chosen to sit through The Shallows screening as opposed to taking in the only screening of Free State of Jones which is happening simultaneously at a different local theater. Screening conflicts happen, and normally, it’s the ‘serious’ film that gets our attention. In this case, we’re all apparently hoping for a fun time at the theater. And, you know, San Diegans surf.
The reason for the recap of this particular movie’s pre-screening talk is that I can’t recall a recent film that’s generated so much discussion in the minutes leading up to the actual screening. We all had high hopes for, well, maybe not another Jaws but at least something less campy than a Sharknado. Fingers were crossed that The Shallows wouldn’t jump the shark. (Sorry, but you had to know that was coming.) And for 65 minutes of its running time, the only jumping going on was done by a pod of dolphins that sailed over Blake Lively’s lovely head. Unfortunately, the film did not end at 65 minutes. Instead, what up to that point had been a fairly intense thriller turned into Jaws 3-D minus the third dimension.
The film follows Lively as Nancy, a Texas native who makes the trek to Mexico to visit a secluded beach her mother raved about while she was growing up. Nancy’s mom recently passed away and Nancy’s dad and little sis aren’t happy she’s taken off on this mission to reconnect with her mother by following in her footsteps. We learn of their displeasure via phone conversations while Nancy, feet in the sand, looks wistfully out to sea at the breaking waves.
The secret surfing spot has only two other surfers riding the waves when Nancy paddles out. They exchange some friendly, sort of flirty on the men’s part, banter before taking a final ride and leaving Nancy out alone a couple of hundred yards from the shore. Of course, it’s just as the guys are driving off in their Jeep that the shark makes his presence known. Badly injured, Nancy makes her way to a small group of rocks as the shark circles menacingly not far away, obviously hoping for an arm or a leg to accidentally slip into the water. Fortunately, she has an injured seagull (substituting for Wilson the Volleyball of Cast Away fame) to keep her company and talk to so that the audience knows what she’s got planned. Also working in her favor is the fact she left med school to take this particular journey down memory lane.
The setup is simple, however, director Jaume Collet-Serra, working from a script by Anthony Jaswinski, does an impressive job of taking the story deeper than you’d expect. Nancy’s motivations are explained and, in most respects, are plausible. The reason the shark remains nearby, the reason she’s alone when this happens, and her ability to treat her wounds all are explained and make sense.
Also working in The Shallows’ favor is a gutsy performance by Blake Lively. She carries the entire film and is in 99% of the scenes, and she’s completely convincing as a surfer who finds herself in a life-or-death struggle with a Great White. You root for Nancy and, unlike most action films, seldom do you want to yell at her for the choices she’s making while trying to stay alive.
The Shallows features incredible cinematography including fantastic surfing footage and stunning underwater shots. Without spoiling anything, there’s a scene involving jellyfish that is simply breathtaking. The first few shots of the ocean clue you in on the fact this isn’t a throw-away summer popcorn thriller, and the script’s theme of persevering against all odds is much heavier than you’d expect from the shark vs. gorgeous blonde surfer setup. If not for the final 15 minutes, The Shallows would be one of the best shark films to date. Even with the dreadful ending, it’s still worth checking out. It definitely renewed my fear of swimming more than a few dozen feet from the shore.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: PG – 13 for bloody images, intense sequences of peril, and brief strong language.
Melanie Scrofono as Wynonna Earp (Photo by: Michelle Faye/Syfy)
Wynonna Earp finishes up season one on June 24, 2016 with what’s guaranteed to be a game-changing episode for the comic book-inspired series. With the action/comedy/drama/Western wrapping up its first season, showrunner Emily Andras joined Melanie Scrofano (‘Wynonna’) and Natalie Krill (‘Willa’) for a conference call to discuss the popular Syfy series which also stars Tim Rozon as Doc Holliday, Shamier Anderson as Agent Dolls, Dominique Provost-Chalkley as Waverly Earp, and Michael Eklund as Bobo Del Rey.
Can you talk about the Wynonna and Dolls kiss from a character’s perspective and an actor’s perspective?
Melanie Scrofano: “I just feel the whole season, I, Melanie, was going like, ‘When?’ Like, ‘It’s got to come, right? When is it coming? I know it’s coming.’ Otherwise, I don’t know how to tell stories. I was sort of really getting excited for it. And I think probably Wynonna would have been the same, like, ‘I think he wants to kiss me but maybe he doesn’t. Maybe I’m disgusting. Maybe he wants to kiss me now. No, not now. Cool.’ It was like a parallel journey of going, ‘Holy crap.’ And then in the moment that it happens, it’s just one of those things that didn’t feel forced. It just felt like, ‘Yes, this makes sense right now.’ It didn’t feel like popped in by formula. It just like, ‘Yes, this would make perfect sense right now given what’s going on.'”
Emily, you’ve described the series as your baby and that people might see it as ugly but you think it’s beautiful. How are you feeling now about the positive reception your baby has received?
Emily Andras: “I honestly…I know people say this all the time but I am completely blown away by the response. And, so delighted. I wanted people to like it. You know, you just want people to like it. You just want to make people feel something and then to enjoy it. But I feel like the fact that people have just fallen in love and really understood how talented this cast is and how once in a lifetime this cast is, has made me so happy. The fact that people are sometimes looking at it through a lens of it’s a really strong feminist show or it has really good representation or we’re trying to talk about themes that are kind of interesting even though it’s the demon cowgirl show, I think that little piece of it that people think it’s kind of – for lack of a better term – sometimes it’s smart is something I wouldn’t have even dared to let myself think. So it’s like we put glasses on the smushed baby face to make it look smart and people are like, ‘Hey, this is good.’ So I honestly could not be more thrilled. I feel like just completely delighted and proud. So proud. I’m so proud of these guys on the line. I just think they’re so exceptional and we were so lucky to have them.”
The dresses in the party scene were gorgeous. Is there a story behind the dress that you picked and when did Wynonna have time to shop?
Melanie Scrofano: “You know what? She traveled a lot before she came back to Purgatory. I think maybe she stole it. Emily, she stole it, right?”
Emily Andras: “This is amazing. Yes, this is amazing. Keep going.”
Melanie Scrofano: “She definitely stole it. But the story behind it is that Jennifer Haffenden our costume designer was incredible, and she came to my room with a bunch of beautiful options. There was just this red one that really stood out, but it had a really high neck actually and it was a bit looser. I think Emily may have asked for it to be slightly more revealing so I have you to blame.”
Emily Andras: “Plungy.”
Melanie Scrofano: “Yes, it was very plungy. I think we did five fittings where they just like suctioned me into it and basically I had to take it home because I couldn’t get it off. So, that’s the story behind my dress.”
And Natalie?
Natalie Krill: “Jennifer came to my trailer and I tried on, I think, four or five dresses and I was like, ‘Yes, any of them.’ They were all stunning dresses. I could have easily been happy with any of them, but the blue one with the gold just seemed really to suit Willa and where she was at in that point in the story and a little bit darker, a little bit sexier.”
Emily Andras: “Yes, there was another one that looked beautiful on you. It was gorgeous. It was like couture.”
Natalie Krill: “It was beautiful. I wanted it. Nobody gave it to me.”
Melanie Scrofano: “I loved the navy. And I was wearing sweatpants that day on set, but you can just use your imagination.”
Natalie Krill as Willa Earp and Melanie Scrofano as Wynonna Earp (Photo by: Michelle Faye/Syfy)
How would you describe Willa’s relationship with Bobo? Is it completely a Stockholm syndrome-type thing or do you think she actually has legitimate feelings?
Natalie Krill: “Well, Emily can help me out with this but I’ll say my perspective on it. I think that it starts out as a Stockholm syndrome-type of relationship, falling in love with your captor. But then I think as their relationship grows on, it actually kind of reverses dynamic and Bobo is more at the mercy of Willa towards the end of it, I would say. What do you think, Emily?”
Emily Andras: “Oh, yes, I think that’s perfect. I think she definitely is the power player by the end. It’s kind of a good question and I’m actually a little loath to commit. I think that’s one of the things that makes Willa such a delicious character and Natalie did such an amazing job portraying her. She remains a mystery. There are hints that when she was younger, she wasn’t necessarily the nicest kid. She was kind of a bully to Waverly. But at the same time, we’ve also seen that she was kind of, you know, subject to her own kind of psychological trials vis-à-vis her dad, who was training her to basically be a killer and he’s kind of a mean drunk. So it’s kind of a question we ask ourselves a lot about villains, is like, were they born or were they made?”
People say that your show sets an example as far as being able to treat your gay women with the respect that is not afforded them in some other shows, especially since the death toll for fictional queer women is up to 20 so far this year. How would you say that your show differentiates itself from other shows, because most shows use the excuse that it’s just the plot? What is your response to that and how does that influence your show?
Emily Andras: “Well, first of all, I would never speak to the thought process of another show or another showrunner or another writing room. I don’t know what excuse is given there. I just would never know. And as a showrunner, I always am careful to say there are a thousand, thousand things that go into any decision on a show, especially when you’re killing off a character.
I’m incredibly aware of the Bury Your Gays trope and was quite astonished at what happened in 2016 where we were basically losing lesbians left, right, and center. To be completely honest, it was pretty crazy. I’m hoping it was just a terrible, terrible coincidence and if nothing else, I think that there’s one good thing that came out of the destruction so to speak is that the Bury Your Gays trope really became front and center in the media. It became something that we were talking about as a group and that is a good way to start making change. One thing I’m really proud about and that I really want to emphasize is that our show was written in its entirety and shot before any of this went down. We’ve been finished since January 2015, so what may or may not have happened on other shows had no bearing on our shows. That being said, I’m lucky enough that I am a woman writing a genre who was involved with another show called Lost Girl which did amazing things with LGBT representation. We were really proud that we had a bisexual lead who ultimately ended up with her female love interest and that was really important to us. [We are] well-versed in the representation of the LGBT community on screen and also how passionate and dedicated and lovely that community is as fan base and how, dare I say, desperate to see themselves represented on screen in a way that feels fully fleshed out. They want to see themselves as three dimensional characters. They want to see them as different characters. Not every lesbian is the same. It’s the same way not every straight guy is the same, although sometimes it feels like it as far as portrayal on screen.
I just feel like that I am lucky enough or I know what I want and I what I really like is to write three-dimensional female characters. That is very much, I think, what makes Wynonna Earp work. We have a variety of women on the show from villains to straights, to lesbians, what have you, to cops, to sisters. I think if you are just writing a variety of women on the screen, no one woman has to represent all women. And part of that is just wanting to give satisfying storylines that don’t necessarily end in destruction, because of who they are or who they love. So yes, I’m very aware of the trope. I know it’s a trope that’s very dangerous and needs to be addressed on television so it’s something that I’m very conscious of when I’m writing. I hope more people are aware of it after this year. I really truly think you would have to be crazy not to know that this is something that we maybe should discuss and maybe do better at.”
As the season’s gone on it seems the people of the town really view Wynonna as the bad-ass of the sisters and the one who can really make the hard decisions. But Waverly really tends to make some really gutsy decisions, like when she was going up against the Stone Witch. Wynonna seems to take things to heart a lot more. Can you talk about her emotions as she’s going through what she’s been going through this entire season?
Melanie Scrofano: “Absolutely. I think first of all, Waverly…it’s that thing of, yes, you look at her and she looks a certain way but it’s like Emily says not every girl is one thing. Waverly looks like she would be sweet and meek and she’s f**king not; she’s bad ass. And that’s one of the things I love about the writing. Wynonna was never supposed to do this. She didn’t want this. So every day, every morning, she wakes up and has to go, ‘F**k, am I brave enough to do this today?’ And the answer has to be yes, buut that takes a toll. I think part of Wynonna’s strength and part of her weakness is the same thing, which is that she just doesn’t over think. She just sort of does things a bit blindly because I think if she thinks too much about it, it’ll topple her. So, she drinks and she makes jokes. She doesn’t really think hard about what it is that she has to do.
Waverly, on the other hand – and then Willa, when she comes back – they both are primed and ready. They’re like chomping at the bit and Wynonna is facing something that she has been working her whole life to not only avoid but to convince herself wasn’t real. I think this little lifetime she’s lived in this season it’s just heavy. It weighs heavily upon her for those reasons and just the fact that she is just a human who probably doesn’t get enough sleep and who just wants to be loved. You know, I don’t know. She’s just a girl, a woman, a person, a human who goes up against something she’s scared of and tries to win every day. And some days, she wins better. And some days, things knock her on her ass. And the fun in playing is to see her get back up.”
Emily, what was your favorite storyline or scene to write throughout the season?
Emily Andras: “I have so many and like I’m honestly that fan girl nerd when I’m writing one scene. I’m like, ‘Well, this is the best ever.’ I’m writing Doc Holiday and I’m like, ‘Well, this is the best.’ And then I’ll write the scene with Dolls and Wynonna kissing and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, well, this is my favorite.’ I have so many favorites and I have so many favorites that my writers have written for me. I am always almost more impressed when someone else kind of like delivers something that I’m like, ‘Oh, I just got chills.'”
Seoul Searching was my favorite movie of Sundance 2015 and it’s finally coming out in theaters this month. It’s already out in New York, and it opens this weekend in Los Angeles. Check local listings for appearances by the cast and an ‘80s prom on Friday night.
Jessika Van plays Grace Park, a punk rock girl who goes to a camp in Seoul, Korea in the mid ‘80s to join other Korean expats in learning about their heritage. It is based on a real camp writer/director Benson Lee attended, but he turned it into a John Hughes-style ‘80s comedy. Grace has a romance with Sid (Justin Chon), another American punk, full of ‘80s style shenanigans.
Have you found yourself nostalgic for your youth like Benson was for his time in the ‘80s?
Jessika Van: “Absolutely. I think about it all the time. I’m like, ‘It was really nice when I was young and my parents did everything for me.’ You hated it then but now you start to miss it.”
Was being on the set of Seoul Searching like stepping into a time machine?
Jessika Van: “You know what? In some ways maybe, but to tell you the truth it was more a new experience in general because it’s a different country, it’s a different place. I think that took the forefront more than anything, but the school was very run down. It was a very old school looking building.”
Did you ever drink too much when you were young?
Jessika Van: “That’s a secret.”
How was it playing the drunk scene?
Jessika Van: “It was kinda fun, actually. What wasn’t fun was all that gross stuff they had to put on me. They literally took Korean rice pudding, basically porridge and they would put it on my face mixed with lipstick. Then they would take out a hot blow dryer and cake it in so that it would stay.”
I’m surprised that didn’t make you really throw up.
Jessika Van: “I guess not. I have a high tolerance.”
Did you try a lot of different looks in developing the wardrobe?
Jessika Van: “That’s interesting. For me, I came up with my own outfit when I was auditioning. I got really excited after Benson told me what the character was and who she was. I took out black lace gloves and a crazy black lace tight skirt with rose patterns on it, and a short black miniskirt and jean vests and stuff. I did a lot for myself, but when it came time to actually shoot the movie, Benson brought on Shirley [Kurata] who’s amazing. She had all these options that she pulled from different places. Benson I think, between him and Shirley, they came in and fine-tuned that look.”
Did you keep any of it after?
Jessika Van: “I did. You bet I did. At one point Grace has this long tight black skirt that I still wear sometimes. That white T-shirt I still wear. A few different things. Oh, the shoes. I had these really cool shoes that I’m always wearing, the flat ones, not the boots. They were really uncomfortable so I didn’t want them but the flat shoes are really cool. They kind of have almost like a cowboy look to them. Those I kept for sure.”
How special was it to make a movie with all Asian actors, both established and new?
Jessika Van: “It was very special. It’s hard to get these kinds of things made. So oftentimes, I love to work on independent projects. I really believe in new voices and new ideas. So I work with a lot of short films. I work with a lot of really small projects with Asian filmmakers and Asian actors that you would never hear about and would never see the light of day. So for Seoul Searching to actually make it this far and premiere at Sundance and be interviewed by you and be seen by all these people is so special. It’s very unique. I think it’s more rare than people realize.”
We’re talking more about diversity now, but has that included the Asian sector enough? What will it take for diversity to really include everyone?
Jessika Van: “We have a long way to go and I think you’re absolutely right. There’s finally a lot of voices speaking out about this and I think that hopefully the more we create our own content and the more we get it out there, and the more people are aware because I think a lot of times people just don’t think outside the box about what it means for people of different cultures to be in the spotlight, to be the main character. They kind of look at us as supporting roles whether female or Asian or Indian or whatever. They kind of think, ‘Oh, I know this one guy not that well so they’re kind of the special character that I’m going to throw into this story on the side that I run into once, but I don’t really know what he’s thinking or what he’s going through.’ I think a lot of times, everyone’s stories are so much more universal than people realize. The truth is he’s not thinking anything that different than you. She’s not thinking anything that different than you. So if you put her in that main character’s voice, there’s absolutely no change that needs to be made. There’s not some exotic crazy different thing that you have to do because now she’s female, now she’s Asian, now she’s Middle Eastern. She can just be a normal American person because she probably grew up here. She can have the same thoughts as you.”
Have you kept in touch with the cast of Seoul Searching?
Jessika Van: “I have. I have. A few of them come to visit quite often. Crystal Kay has come in a few times and we hang out here. She was here for the Grammys and Justin of course I see, and Kang Byul I see. She came to visit us in L.A. once. I think we’ve all stayed pretty tight to tell you the truth. It was a special experience.”
What are you doing next?
Jessika Van: “I’m definitely auditioning again. It’s been a little crazy and I’ve also worked on a couple independent projects in the meantime that are still in the works and I’m also trying to develop my own, because I think that’s an important part of what we all do.”
Are you writing?
Jessika Van: “I am. I’m writing and I’m also writing music.”
What kind of music?
Jessika Van: “It’s like indie pop I would say. It’s cool. I was a classically trained pianist growing up when I was young before I ever started acting. I started writing songs so in the last year I started playing more with beats and electronic stuff and figuring out how to produce on top of all the classical training. So that’s really exciting for me.”
Have you incorporated piano into the music?
Jessika Van: “I do but what I do a lot of times is, it’s funny because people want to do loops. A lot of producers are just like, ‘Oh, I’ll just do a loop because I can’t really play it.’ For me, I’m like, ‘I can play this all the way through. It’s no problem.’ But what I can do is switch out the actual sound of the piano for a cool synth sound or a cool weird guitar mix synth sound. You still have the idea of the piano backing but it no longer sounds like traditional piano.”
Aimee Garcia (Rush Hour) has signed on as a series regular for season two of Fox’s Lucifer. According to the network, Garcia will be playing a forensic scientist named Ella Lopez. Garcia’s joining a cast led by Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar and Lauren German as LAPD Detective Chloe Decker and featuring Lesley-Ann Brandt, Kevin Alejandro, D.B. Woodside, and Rachael Harris.
Lucifer‘s based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, and is executive produced by director Len Wiseman, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson.
Details on Ella: Ella Lopez is the department’s new forensic scientist… and she sure does love her job. Ella is a bit of a walking contradiction. She’s brainy but spiritual. Warm but tough. She grew up in a pretty rough neighborhood in Detroit, but also in a strong Catholic family, under the watchful and protective eye of her five brothers… which might explain some of her opposing personality traits. It also explains why she’s always felt comfortable in the tough, male-dominated world of law enforcement. Her mutual belief in both faith and science proves a point of interest to Lucifer (and the rest of the department) as they get to know and love her quirky ways.
Lucifer will kick off season two on September 19, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT. The series centers around Lucifer (the Lord of Hell) who’s decided to leave his job ruling the underworld behind to move to LA. There, he runs a nightclub and teams up with Detective Decker to solve murders.
DreamWorks Animation just previewed some footage from their upcoming animated movie Trolls, based on the toy phenomenon that was perhaps most popular in the ’90s. At least that’s when I remember Trolls growing up. Directors Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn explained the footage we were about to see and said they didn’t want to use CGI to create realistic environments. Instead, they textured their landscapes out of felt, to match the materials with which original Troll dolls were made. That was apparent with all the fuzz sticking off trees, insects and fruits in the footage screened.
Trolls is set in a world where the Trolls are all about love. They have hourly hugs and sing songs about being happy. In their past, giant creatures called Bergens came to eat trolls, but they’ve been gone for decades. So Poppy (Anna Kendrick) is the happy pink troll. Branch (Justin Timberlake) is the grayer troll who doesn’t partake in hugs or singing. He’s anticipating a new Bergen attack so he prepares in his bunker.
We saw a troll poop cupcakes, so if that doesn’t sell tickets right there, I don’t know what does. Troll hair is big, as trolls wake up in hair pods that unfurl, and they can also turn their own hair into staircases.
The major sequence we saw comes when Poppy visits Branch to convince him to attend a big party. Branch thinks the party will attract Bergens and plans to stay in his bunker, which has supplies for 10-11 years. This bunker also includes about 1000 mousetraps, Branch’s Beautiful Mind yarn board charting suspected Bergen sightings (I presume), and an elevator down below to his vast troll cave.
Branch was right though and some of Poppy’s friends get captured by Bergens. When Poppy invites all the trolls to the bunker, they go through all of Branch’s supplies and force him to join Poppy in her quest to rescue them. It’s the classic buddy adventure where Poppy can teach Branch to have fun and Branch can teach Poppy to take a little more responsibility. Poppy isn’t oblivious to the problems in the world, but she’d rather be happy about things than not.
Poppy sings an original song “Get Back Up Again” which is sure to be a Top 40 hit. She also sings “Sounds of Silence” and later Branch sings a heartbreaking rendition of “True Colors.” A weather montage shows snow, wind, and desert in Troll world. Floating eyeballs, spiders with four eyes, and a cloud with socks are some of the magical creatures they encounter. The cloud rains when he gets scared.
When Poppy and Branch get to the Bergen town, we see what their lives are like. They’re all gray and they mumble their way through a “happy” song that sounds more like “Sixteen Tons.” The trolls can lose their color too if they don’t stay happy. Even Poppy can get down, but Branch’s “True Colors” brings her true colors back.
Kendrick and Timberlake joined the directors for a Q&A following the footage presentation. Trolls opens in theaters on November 4, 2016.
Howie Mandel, Mel B, Nick Cannon, Reba McEntire, Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell (Photo by Trae Patton / NBC)
NBC announced the celebrities who will be guest judging on season 11 of America’s Got Talent, and among the celebs voicing their opinions on the talent will be One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson. Also guest judging this season are Ne-Yo, Reba McEntire, and George Lopez, joining AGT‘s judging panel for ‘The Judge Cuts’ which begin on July 12, 2016 at 8pm ET/PT. The July 12th episode also signals the start of America’s Got Talent‘s twice weekly episodes which will air on Tuesdays and Wednesday for the rest of the season.
Season 11’s judges are Howie Mandel, Mel. B., Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell.
Lopez is currently busy with a standup comedy tour and starring in TV Land’s comedy series, Lopez. Country Music Hall of Famer Reba McEntire, along with Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, are entertaining fans with their “Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas” show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Singer, composer, producer and actor Ne-Yo was recently seen as the Tin Man in The Wiz Live! and is involved with Empire as the show’s music writer as well as a cast member.
AGT Description: With the search open to acts of all ages and talents, America’s Got Talent has brought the variety format back to the forefront of American culture by showcasing unique performers from across the country. The series is a true celebration of creativity and talent, featuring a colorful array of singers, dancers, comedians, contortionists, impressionists, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists and hopeful stars, all vying to win America’s hearts and the $1 million prize.
J.K. Rowling explains her definition of hero in this new video promoting Warner Bros Pictures’ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Author-turned-screenwriter Rowling also talks about why she chose to focus on Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne. The cast also includes Katherine Waterston, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Carmen Ejogo, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jenn Murray, and Faith Wood-Blagrove. Fantastic Beasts opens in theaters on November 18, 2016.
The Plot:Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne stars in the central role of wizarding world magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter blockbusters. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a NoMaj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Watch the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them video:
Lautner will be a series regular and is set to play a character named Dr. Cassidy Cascade. Lautner joins fellow Scream Queens newbie John Stamos as well as returning cast members Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin, Keke Palmer, Glen Powell, and Niecy Nash for the second season set to premiere on September 20, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT.
The second season moves from high school to a hospital where “fascinating and bizarre medical cases are under observation.” Lautner’s Dr. Cassidy Cascade is described as a MD who has a strange medical condition and turns into a suspect when deaths begin occurring at the hospital.
Scream Queens season one earned high ratings for Fox, snagging the title of the #1 new comedy series. The series was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, and the trio also serves as writers, directors, and executive producers of the horror comedy. Alexis Martin Woodall (American Horror Story: Hotel) is also on board as an executive producer.
In addition to playing a hunky werewolf in the Twilight film series, Lautner’s credits include Cuckoo, The Ridiculous 6, Tracers, Grown Ups 2, and Abduction.
