The wild success of the Transformers franchise can basically be boiled down to one basic truth: Watching a semi-truck cab, or sports car, or fighter jet turn into a giant robot is really, really cool. I mean, it’s not like the first two movies pulled in $1.5 billion worldwide based on their penetrating insight into the human condition. So as Transformers: Dark of the Moon stampedes ever-closer to the multiplex, we were wondering, who is the coolest Transformer? READ FULL STORY »
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He sang, he danced, he rapped — but did Neil Patrick Harris do enough to steal your hearts at the Tonys? Beginning the ceremony, quite charmingly, with the line, “Good evening. I’m teen heartthrob Neil Patrick Harris,” the How I Met Your Mother star kicked off a night full of standing ovation-worthy musical performances — and even broke away from his duties as host to perform a number from Stephen Sondheim’s Company. (In April, Harris, Stephen Colbert, Christina Hendricks, and Jon Cryer performed a reading of the musical in New York City.) Some other highlights: A splashy opening number insisting Broadway “is not just for gays anymore,” an impressive rap recap at the end of the ceremony, and a musical duel with former Tonys emcee Hugh Jackman. (Bonus points to Harris for working in a dig about Viva Laughlin, which Huck Jackman produced. Still funny four years later!) Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark cast and crew might not have dug his 30-second segment dedicated purely to jokes about the embattled production (ex. “Julie Taymor found out it was over when she woke up and found the head of War Horse in her bed.”), but what did you think of Harris’ hosting? Was it legen — wait for it — dary? Vote in our poll after the jump! READ FULL STORY »
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Okay, just finished watching The Glee Project for the second time. Anyone else with me thinking that was so much better than you thought it would be? Loved the homework, the guest appearances (J’adore: Darren Criss in glasses. Je deteste: Ryan Murphy’s hat), and especially the cast. Which brings me to my conundrum of the night. Who is going to win The 7-month part on Glee? Who do I want to win? I think I’ve narrowed it down to three, so before you rant about my choices, hear me out. READ FULL STORY »
Surprising exactly no one, Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s The Book of Mormon took home Best Musical tonight at the Beacon Theatre, as well as eight other Tony Awards. Other multiple winners included The Normal Heart and War Horse, which galloped its way to snagging Best Play and a slew of technical awards. See what other productions will be able to augment their marquees tomorrow morning with the full list of winners below.
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We all know that Aaron Paul plays a convincing meth maker/addict on the AMC drama Breaking Bad. But as it turns out, the 31-year-old Emmy winner also has a craving for the stuff when the cameras aren’t rolling. “Whenever the blue meth is on set, I am constantly eating it,” he tells EW. “It’s cotton candy-flavored rock candy. They dye it a little bit, but I don’t care — I just eat through the dye. I get everyone to try it. I literally try to hand out our drugs to new [actors] on the show. They’re like, ‘No, I don’t want to try.’ ‘Here just have one. You’re on Breaking Bad! Eat some of the meth!’ And they do and they’re like, ‘Wow, that’s actually really good.’ And then I always see them go to the big bins of meth, grab out a few and eat it…. I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re liking my product.’” Breaking Bad returns for a fourth season on July 17, which is exactly five weeks from tonight, for those obsessively keeping track of such things.
To read what Paul has to say about season 4, pick up a copy of this week’s EW and click here.
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Will The Book of Mormon tie (or even surpass) 2001′s hit The Producers as the winningest Broadway musical in the history of the Tony Awards? Will an all-American work like Good People or the provocatively titled The Motherf—er With the Hat manage to upset the British juggernaut War Horse for Best Play? And will Neil Patrick Harris shine as he returns to host the theater world’s biggest awards show — or follow the unfortunate Lion King-to-Spider-Man trajectory of Julie Taymor? Join Mandi Bierly and me this Sunday for EW.com’s annual live blog of the Tonys, beginning at 8 p.m. EST. We’ll have reports from EW’s stage gurus Aubry D’Arminio and Melissa Rose Bernardo on the red carpet, in the press room, and around the auditorium of the Beacon Theatre. READ FULL STORY »
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In 1975, Steven Spielberg invented the summer blockbuster with Jaws. Only two years later, George Lucas perfected it with Star Wars. And then, the two filmmakers combined their forces and beards to come up with an idea they thought would change movies forever: giant sharks in space. Then they quickly scrapped that idea in favor of Raiders of the Lost Ark, an action-adventure film that would resurrect the spectacle of early film serials combined with enough action and humor to melt the audience’s faces off.
Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Raiders. That’s three decades since Harrison Ford first dodged that rolling boulder, and I’m going to celebrate by watching the whole trilogy-plus-one on DVD. That’s right, even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That’s just how dedicated I am. It’s an especially good weekend for it since the Indy movies are really the only Spielberg films not referenced in Super 8. Well, also Amistad, I’m guessing.
There’s almost no franchise I can think of that is as much unadulterated fun. Whereas the Pirates of the Caribbean movies—which owe a clear debt to Indiana Jones’ mix of rousing action and roguish humor—get bogged down and bloated in extraneous plotlines and nonsensical character motivations, the first three Indy films are great examples of wonderfully simple, instantly memorable storytelling. From Alfred Molina dying straight through to the iconic, strangely ominous final shot of the government warehouse, the original Raiders is essentially a perfect work of pure pulp entertainment, a type of movie even rarer than those considered “cinematic masterpieces.” In fact, it’s so rare that it belongs in a museum.
And that’s true even if you think they nuked the fridge with the fourth film and if news that a fifth one may be on the way makes you want to let out a Wilhelm scream. So how are you going to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Raiders? Don’t choose…poorly.
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Talking with EW about J.J. Abrams’ Super 8, producer Steven Spielberg said, “The thing that impressed me more than anything is this troupe of kids, who have such an original voice and are so unique in their passions for making movies…. I root for these kids from the beginning, right to the very end.” Having kids who are fully-formed characters is what makes movies like E.T., The Goonies, and now Super 8 so special. The six at the center of Super 8 receive different amounts of screen time, but because of their distinct personalities, I’m betting they’re each someone’s favorite. Let’s put it to a vote below. READ FULL STORY »
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Perhaps it’s my affection for his now-documented relationship with his wife. Perhaps it’s my love for the way his character is the rare comic relief on Law & Order: SVU. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s confident enough to sport a ponytail that looks all too similar to a rat tail. But I can’t help but wonder why, when Chris Meloni leaves Law & Order: SVU, Ice-T’s Det. Fin can’t replace Det. Stabler.
As a huge fan of Meloni’s departing Det. Stabler, I’ll admit whoever replaces him has big shoes to fill. He (or, heck, she) needs to have a commanding presence on the small screen, prove he could master the procedural, and be an interesting enough character to encourage viewers to tune into SVU every week. But Ice-T — who has signed on for two more seasons on the series — has all those traits: READ FULL STORY »
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, ex-wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, has harsh words for the biopic Winnie starring Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard awaiting release. “I have absolutely nothing against Jennifer, but I have everything against the movie itself,” she recently told CNN. “I was not consulted. I am still alive. And I think that it is total disrespect to come to South Africa, make a movie about my struggle, and call that movie some translation of ‘The Romantic Life of Winnie Mandela.’ I think it is an insult. I don’t know what would be romantic in our bitter struggle.” Watch the interview below. READ FULL STORY »
