He made our list of scary-good actors yesterday, but Jeremy Renner is also on my Must List this week for his spectacular performance in Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker, which opens wide on Friday. As Staff Sergeant William James, head of a bomb disposal squad charged with tracking down and defusing explosives, Renner nails his character's cocky bravado while subtly revealing a kind, caring side. His risk-taking maverick complements the squad's other two members, straight-arrow Sgt. Sanborne (Anthony Mackie) and scared-but-resigned Spc. Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). EW's Lisa Schwarzbaum praised the film as ''an intense, action-driven war pic, a muscular, efficient standout that simultaneously conveys the feeling of combat from within as well as what it looks like on the ground.'' While Mackie and Geraghty also turn in skilled performances, the film belongs to Renner.
Hulu is streaming the first eight minutes of the film, and although Renner isn't in the scene, I've embedded it below anyway. What's on your Must List this week, PopWatchers? List up to three items from current TV/movies/music/books/games/online. Don't forget your e-mail address, in case we decide to use your submission in the magazine. Deadline is Thursday, July 9 at noon ET.
My Must List is rejoicing this week with the news that MTV has picked up my favorite new show, 16 and Pregnant, for a second season. The docu-series follows teenagers approaching motherhood as they deal with their new-found responsibilities. Though it could have turned out an exploitative mess, 16 and Pregnant is handled with the same fair touch as my all-time favorite MTV series, True Life. It's more a realistic portrayal of tough issues (well, as realistic as you can get for a pop culture-centric cable channel) than Juno: The Series (despite the cutesy cartoon graphics). At times it can even get a little too real (um, I didn't exactly need to see the labor), but I guess that's the whole point.
In case you haven't seen it, watch the latest episode of the show below, then tell us: What's on your Must List this week, PopWatchers? List up to three items from current TV/movies/music/books/games/online. Don't forget your e-mail address, in case we decide to use your submission in the magazine. Deadline is Thursday, July 2 at noon ET.
If it would possibly stop raining at some point and actually turn into summertime (Mother Nature, I'm talking to you), I'd need some form of material to read on the beach. That's why I'm preparing with this week's Must: Along for the Ride, the latest from Y.A. queen Sarah Dessen.
The book, fresh off the presses as of last Tuesday, is about an 18-year-old insomniac who spends the summer with her dad and step-mom in a quaint beach town (so a synopsis tells me -- I'm saving it for when I actually find a nice day to spend outside). I started reading Dessen's novels as a teenage girl disappointed by the dumbed-down chick-lit-lite offered to my demographic. Now, even though I'm clearly not in the same age group as the protagonists anymore, I still find the books enjoyable and inherently relatable.
On the surface, the plots of the novels are similar: introverted teenage girl dealing with some sort of crisis (parents' divorce, best friend's pregnancy, sexual assault), meets a love interest whom she ignores at first, but when he helps her realize something new about herself, she blossoms into the butterfly she didn't know she was all along. But there's something about the way Dessen addresses the minutiae of teen-dom with out talking down (like how, at 17, every single thing your parents do pisses you off for no reason), that makes me connect. Hollywood agrees:Two of Dessen's novels were combined into the Mandy Moore movie How to Deal in 2003.
What's on your Must List this week? List up to three items from current TV/movies/music/books/games/online. Don't forget your e-mail address, in case we decide to use your submission in the magazine. Deadline is Thursday, June 25 at noon ET.
This is not a video of someone's cat precariously attached to a ceiling fan, like the nonsense we usually post. Rather, it's everyone's Cat, So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley, thriving in her natural environment: a glamorous photo shoot featuring giant props. Ha -- remember Cat's red dress from last night's performance show? It was twice as voluminous and floppy as it needed to be, and that's why I love her. Cat Deeley's featured as the "Must Real Deel" in this year's Must Issue, on stands tomorrow. Press play below to hear Cat dish on Mary Murphy's in-person decibel level, her own dancing ability (She Knows She Can't), and what's on her own Must List for the summer.
Cat Deeley's dress is twice as voluminous and floppy as it needs to be, and that's why I love her. -- AnnieBarrett
The master list of possible Emmy nominees was recently announced, and we at EW were thrilled to see that Josh Holloway, who has played Sawyer on Lost since its first season back in 2004, is among the mix of potential candidates for Best Supporting Actor. Season 5 was a great year for the 39-year-old star, whose wise-cracking, morally ambiguous con man character completed a series-long shift to full-fledged romantic hero as he led the castaways through time travel peril and fell in love with Jughead-banging Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell). His grief as he watched his Dharma lady slip out of his hands and fall to her doom was one of the TV season's most heartbreaking moments. While we hope Emmy remembers Holloway when it winnows its list of Best Supporting Actor players down to a final five, we decided to move ahead and give him an honor of our own by putting Holloway's in this year's Must Issue, EW's annual summertime compendium of essential artists, performers, and assorted coolness.
In my previous trips to the Lost set in Hawaii, I have always found Holloway to be extremely cordial, charming, and curious about the mysteries of his show. He's always demonstrated a deep concern that Sawyer remain emotionally credible and compelling without being melodramatic or over the top. And he takes Sawyer's quips very seriously: When I visited at the end of Season 2, I remember watching him pace through the jungle, rehearsing his lines over and over again to himself, wanting to make sure Sawyer's new Prince-esque nickname for Ben Linus ("The artist formerly known as Henry Gale") tripped easily off his tongue. I encountered a slightly different Holloway at our Must Issue photo shoot in the Hollywood Hills late last month. He was as cool and engaging as always, but greatly enhanced by the glee and marvel (and exhaustion) of new fatherhood. (His daughter, Java, was born last April.) The guy certainly has a certain impact on ladies: At one point during the photo shoot, I spotted a member of our crew discreetly pick up one of Holloway's shirts and give it a good long sniff. Seriously.
I got a chance to chat with Holloway after the pics were snapped, which we present to you in the three parts. In Part 1, embedded below, the actor talks about Sawyer's romance with Juliet and their tragic parting. In Parts 2 and 3, Holloway talks about his bloody confrontation with Matthew Fox's Jack Shephard in the season finale and also discusses some theories with yours truly about where the castaways will finds themselves at the start of Lost's sixth and final season.
Entertainment Weekly's annual Must List issue hits newsstands this Friday. To (ahem) get you in the mood for our action-packed issue (featuring Bradley Cooper, Josh Holloway, Megan Fox, and Cat Deeley) here's a sneak peek at our cover story with Ryan Reynolds, and after the jump, an additional shot of The Proposal star showing off his guns, as well as behind-the-scenes video from his shoot. (And keep checking back at PopWatch all week long for exclusive photo-shoot videos featuring our Must List stars.)
Ryan Reynolds is simply too smart and self-aware to be so
good-looking. The reticent hunk—who kicks off our Must List for 2009,
thanks to his big-screen summer double shot of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Proposal--spent
his EW cover shoot wielding a giant water gun instead of an ego, and
try as he might, he simply cannot muster the arrogance to flaunt what
he's got. When asked if he's comfortable as a sex symbol, Reynolds
sighs. "If you take any of that seriously, you need to be euthanized,
ASAP," he says. "There are moments when you can use that to your
advantage. But it's really embarrassing. I think I fear more than
anything just sounding like a complete a--hole when I have to answer
that question."
So let's skip to the work, where the 32-year-old Canadian is more at
home. Of late, he's certainly done enough of it. In a span of 15 months
Reynolds shot four consecutive films: April's teen comedy Adventureland; Wolverine, soon to spawn a spin-off for Reynolds' sarcastic mercenary-turned-mutant, Deadpool; The Proposal, a romantic comedy (in theaters Friday) that lets him crack wise opposite old friend Sandra Bullock; and Paper Man,
which debuted this month at the L.A. Film Festival, where Reynolds
plays Jeff Daniels' imaginary superhero friend. (He also found time
last September to wed actress Scarlett Johansson, a marriage he prefers
not to talk about beyond calling it "fantastic.")
The more prominent of his two tights-centric roles fit the
actor perfectly, and it's hardly an accident: For the past six years,
Reynolds had been trying to develop a Deadpool franchise on his own.
"At its core, this is a movie about a guy in a red spandex suit who's
in the midst of a shame spiral. That cracks me up," he says, promising
the next film will hew closer to the original Marvel mythology than
Wolverine allowed. Meanwhile, in The Proposal, Reynolds dials
down the bang-bang and dials up the charm, playing the assistant to a
hard-driving book editor with an expired visa (Bullock). The two trade
a sham marriage for a promotion, and high jinks ensue. A much-discussed
naked Bullock scene aside, the real draw of the movie is a chance to
see its charismatic stars go head-to-head. "We had a kind of Abbott and
Costello routine we'd been doing for years anyway," says Reynolds of
the natural partnership. "When I get someone like Sandy to work
with--who's so good at hitting the gas--it's perfect for me."
Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller released his third solo CD last Tuesday, and the self-titled disc's lead single, ''I Need To Know Where I Stand,'' has planted its country-tinged pop rock firmly atop my Must List this week. Miller is one of my favorite live performers, partly because I love his music but also because his stage banter is both hilarious and off-the-cuff (unlike other bands, who you know recite the same ''impromptu'' stories night after night). While you can listen to the song (and the rest of the album) on his MySpace page, check out this adorable video of Miller explaining the song's origins: It's about him making out with a girl at debate camp when he was in high school.
What's on your Must List? Next week's online Must List will be ***all readers' choice*** -- so by all means, fire away with more gusto and/or torque than usual. Hit us with up to three items from current TV/movies/music/books/games/online. Don't forget your e-mail address, in case we decide to use your submission in the magazine. Deadline is Thursday, June 18, at noon ET.
Can't wait much longer for the continuation of some of your favorite movie franchises? Neither can we! 2009 might as well be dubbed "The Year of the Follow-Ups" as some of the most beloved characters are making their way back to the big screen this year. So which sequel are you most psyched for? Did yours already hit theaters like Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation or are you counting down the days for more robots in disguise (and, OK, Megan Fox) in the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? Or is there no contest when it comes to the battle of the beloved book adaptations with the Twilight saga's New Moon and the sixth installment of Daniel Radcliffe and crew's Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince? Vote below and let us know!
Let's all raise our glasses for a new season of Top Chef! (If you don't happen to have a container full of liquid in front of you, raising your eyeglasses works, too.) The culinary reality show's latest incarnation premieres tonight on Bravo, and even though it's a spin-off season (dubbed Masters) with real-life top chefs competing for their favorite charities, I'll take that over pretty much everything else on TV right now.
The best part of tonight's premiere is that it totally snuck up on me. It doesn't feel that long ago Hosea was mackin' on Leah but somehow still managed to knock off Stefan and walk away with the TC title. (Actually, it wasn't. Top Chef: New York ended in February.) Speaking of last season, check out Kate Ward's interview with Fabio, Carla, and Jeff to get an update on their post-reality TV lives. Topping Fabio's hysterical broken English, Carla's kooky life philosophies and Jeff's, well, hair will be a tall order, but here's hoping this new season can provide some personalities as colorful as those.
Your turn, PopWatchers: Top Chef: Masters tops our Must List this week. What's on yours? Kindly list your top three picks for this week in the comments below, and include your e-mail address in case we pick one of your submissions to use in the magazine.
