Finally, A Prison Film Finds Hope As Well As Brutality Behind Bars
Former Skins star Jack O’Connell is totally compelling in the new British prison drama Starred Up .
Jack O'Connell in Starred Up
Tribeca Film
We follow Eric Love (Jack O'Connell) into prison, and we never leave.
That's how Starred Up, which is now playing in select theaters, a scrapper of a British movie with a split lip and a tear in its eye, begins — with the process by which someone is turned from a regular person into an inmate. 19-year-old Eric, who's been transferred from juvie to a grown-up facility two years ahead of schedule thanks to his violent tendencies (the meaning of the title), strips and is searched, gets his uniform, and is walked through a series of gates and hallways to his cell, where, alone, he promptly makes and hides a shiv. Out on the yard, an older man walks up to him and tell him to get over himself and join the rest of the cons in their slow circuit. The guy, we soon learn, is Neville Love (Ben Mendelsohn), Eric's father, and that brusque advice is his attempt at parenting.
Starred Up is directed by David Mackenzie (Young Adam) and written by Jonathan Asser, who drew from his experiences working as a prison therapist. Like most jailhouse dramas, it can be suddenly and shockingly violent, with wounds doled out with fists and makeshift weapons, but its focus is getting past those impulses in men who have to struggle to act any other way. It's a cautiously, haltingly hopeful story under the bruises, and in the least easy way possible. It's a father and son story that also uses its young protagonist as a soldier in the war between two opposing forces defining prison — is it a place where criminals are rehabilitated, or one where they're kept away from the rest of the world for as long as possible?
Jack O'Connell and Rupert Friend
Tribeca Film
Jack O'Connell, a scene-stealer as James Cook in Skins who's the star of Angelina Jolie's upcoming directorial effort Unbroken, shows flickers of boyishness underneath a brawny, foul-mouthed hard man exterior. Eric isn't faking toughness, but despite his claims that, like a "dead person," "I don't fucking feel anything," he's all wells of resentfulness, anger, and vulnerability. Bouncing with restless energy, he almost can't help but lash out, channeling everything into aggression until he's taken into therapist Oliver Baumer's (Rupert Friend) group, where in the company of fellow prisoners like Hassan (Anthony Welsh) and Tyrone (David Ajala), he begins to work on controlling his rage.
Starred Up swerves past a lot of possible clichés — Oliver's good at what he does, but he's no saintly savior. Neville may genuinely want to do right by his son, but sabotages and tears him down as often as he comes to his aid. Shot caller Dennis (Peter Ferdinando) is willing to have Eric killed in order to preserve peace on the wing, but tells him with paternal friendliness that he sees himself in the newcomer. The more we learn about Eric's past and the more we see of the hotbed of betrayal, brutality, and posturing that is the prison, the more his trust issues seem utterly understandable, if also a frequent cause of problems. Starred Up puts you in the precarious position of feeling for Eric while believing him to be absolutely capable of impulsively killing someone.
15 Goofy Cameron Diaz Moments To Remind You Why You Love Her
Never change, Cameron Diaz, never change.
In one of her more recent films, she got hit in the face with a dodgeball. She is a fearless comedy warrior, and she deserves a salute. The goofiest of the goofy:
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
Alicia And Kalinda Haven't Shared A Scene In 30 Episodes
The two characters on CBS’ The Good Wife — once inseparable — haven’t appeared together in a season and a half. Kalicia ‘shippers, this is a crisis!
This is Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies). When fans of The Good Wife first met her in the pilot episode, she was starting as an associate lawyer at the law firm Stern, Lockhart & Gardner.
CBS / Via giphy.com
And this is Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi). She is an investigator whose work is invaluable to Stern, Lockhart & Gardner.
CBS / Via acrowdedstreet.tumblr.com
They're friends.
CBS / Via discardedtracesoflove.tumblr.com
Exclusive: NYPD Is Investigating Hollywood Director Bryan Singer For Alleged Sex Crime
The Special Victims Squad of the New York Police Department is investigating a complaint that Singer forcibly sexually assaulted a man in his twenties — but Singer has not been charged with a crime.
Bryan Singer in March 2014. Alberto E. Rodriguez / WireImage
The New York Police Department is investigating embattled Hollywood director Bryan Singer for a forcible sexual assault that was allegedly committed last year against a man in his twenties, an NYPD spokesperson has told BuzzFeed News.
The 48-year-old Singer, known for directing the X-Men movies, has not been charged with a crime. Whether he ever will be depends largely on what the investigation turns up. Two civil lawsuits accusing Singer of sexual abuse of underage boys have recently been dropped.
Singer's lawyer, Martin Singer (no relation), wrote in an email, "Neither my client nor any of his representatives have been contacted by the NYPD, or anyone else about an alleged criminal investigation of my client. My client did not engage in any criminal or inappropriate behavior with anyone in New York or elsewhere." He added, "False investigations are filed all the time and no action is taken by the authorities."
Martin Singer also accused BuzzFeed of conducting "a witch hunt against my client because he is gay" and warned that publishing the story would expose Buzzfeed "to tens of millions of dollars in damages."
After a tip from a confidential source, BuzzFeed asked the NYPD if it was investigating Bryan Singer over a complaint about sexual assault. "We have a formal compliant [sic] on file for criminal sexual act," NYPD Deputy Chief Kim Royster replied in an email Wednesday. "The complaint was filed on May 9th of this year, however the incident occurred on March 23, 2013. The case is open and being investigated by our Special Victims Squad."
In a follow-up interview Thursday, Royster said the case involved a male in his twenties who was allegedly forcibly sexually assaulted. She said the suspect is Bryan Singer. She said she could give no more information about the victim because it's a sexual assault case.
Asked if it is unusual for Singer not to have been contacted, she replied, "I'm not sure of that," adding "not necessarily if you're building a case."
Told of what Royster said in the follow-up interview, another attorney for Singer, Andrew Brettler, wrote to BuzzFeed, "Your source is obviously not reliable. Less than 12 hours ago, you claimed that our client was being investigated for a criminal sexual act under the statute that covers sex with underage minors. Now you are claiming that the alleged complaining witness is a male in his 20s. Are you going to identify your alleged NYPD source by name in the defamatory story you intend to publish?"
Deputy Chief Royster is the commanding officer of the NYPD's public information division.
Under New York law, a criminal sexual act applies to an adult having sex with someone who is underage. The statute also covers sexual acts between adults when, for example, the sex is by "forcible compulsion" or when the victim is incapable of giving consent because he is "physically helpless" or "mentally incapacitated."
Singer's Twitter feed appears to indicate that he was in the New York City area on March 23, the date of the alleged incident.
Bryan Singer eating ice cream with a friend who is not known to have a connection to the case.
How Matthew Lillard Learned To Grow Up Without Leaving The '90s Behind
Though he’s earning recognition as a serious actor on FX’s The Bridge , to many, Matthew Lillard is still Stu from Scream or Stevo from SLC Punk! — and that’s fine with him.
Matthew Lillard as Daniel Frye on FX's The Bridge.
Jordin Althaus/FX
Whether it was imbuing a teenage murderer with comic timing and wit in Scream, or waxing poetic to the camera as blue-haired punk rocker Stevo in SLC Punk!, Matthew Lillard has always helped transform his characters into vibrant, fully developed people. His impassioned, spazzed-out performances were a hallmark of the '90s, even in films that haven't stood the test of time.
There were hints of dramatic potential scattered throughout his roles, but only in recent years — in 2011's The Descendants and now on FX's The Bridge — has Lillard been given a platform to fully explore his acting range. Still, Lillard, now also a screenwriter and director, regrets nothing about his trajectory. At 44, he knows that who you have been shapes who you are now.
"My career has never been a career of, 'We need Matthew Lillard,'" the actor said, seated in a small neighborhood market in Pasadena, Calif., near where he lives with his wife and kids. He suggested the meeting place, an intimate locale where he is a daily fixture. "My career is, 'We can't find the guy. I guess bring in Lillard,'" he said. "I'm not the guy people go looking for. I'm the guy that ends up getting the job and makes the part good."
Throughout Lillard's career, he has rarely been directly offered roles but has always proven himself in the audition room. Until the past few years, when he got the gig of alcoholic journalist Daniel Frye on The Bridge and began actively pursing screenwriting and directing, Lillard has been the "best friend," the joke-cracking second gun to the leading man. But Lillard's ability to passionately embrace any opportunity presented to him resonates throughout his entire filmography, even in the films he can now say weren't any good.
"There's nothing in my past that's too terrible," he said almost proudly, his lanky body curled into a chair by the market's counter. As he spoke, he chewed his way through a pulled pork sandwich with added bacon (despite the waitress's insistence that he was going to die). "Look, I did In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. It's the worst movie I ever made. But I turned in one of my favorite performances. My wife is like, 'I can't even watch it,' but it's one of my favorite things I've ever done."
As Stu in the gruesome but darkly comedic climax of Scream.
Dimension Films
Acting wasn't a childhood dream for Lillard, who grew up in Orange County, Calif. It was something he fell into at age 13, primarily because he wasn't good at anything else, but it became an overwhelming passion. He acted throughout high school and after a short time at a junior college called up his parents and told them he needed to quit school. "I distinctly remember saying to my mom, 'Look, I can always go back and get my degree,'" he said. "But I never want to look back at my life when I'm old and say I wish I'd given it a shot.'"
Lillard was so intent on pursing acting that he took the advice of a photographer in the Valley and changed his name. "I'll never forget," he laughed. "When I got my first headshots, they were like, 'You should change your name. What's your middle name?' My first three credits on IMDb are 'As Matthew Lyn.' It's more a porn star name than anything else."
Lillard's first ever onscreen appearance was a commercial for now-defunct clothing store Miller's Outpost, but his big break came in 1990 when a 20-year-old Lillard scored a gig as the host of a Nickelodeon skateboarding show called SK8 TV.
"I remember saying to my mom and dad, 'We should go to Disneyland because when this hits I'm going to be so famous that I'm going to be swamped and my safety is going to be an issue,'" Lillard said. "I took them out to breakfast at Denny's as a celebratory gesture. I was like, 'I'm going to be super famous after this.' They looked dumbfounded, like, Really?"
Fame didn't arrive until later, despite Lillard's eagerness for recognition. He scored his first movie role in John Waters' 1994 film Serial Mom. When it was released Lillard would walk around outside movie theaters hoping to be identified as its star. He didn't realize at the time that success as an actor comes gradually rather than all at once, ideally building up to longevity rather than transient celebrity.
"You think if you're famous then you can do another movie," he noted. "The reality is that no matter if you get a job, that job will never satisfy you. Because the minute you get that job, you need the next job. It's really about the endurance of a lifetime of being an artist."
The Stages Of Viewing TV While Black, As Told By The Fresh Prince
This is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down.
The Hollywood Reporter scrubbed five decades of television history to produce a spread last week entitled "53 Years of Trailblazing TV."
"Trailblazing," for the article's purposes, included only producers who have won Emmys for Best Comedy or Best Drama — which no black showrunners apparently have. (That trend continued Monday at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards.) For the sake of conversation (not just because it's a factual statement), can we agree these parameters are a bit limited?
If this is agreeable, let me move on. An article celebrating lily-whiteness as an aspect of "legendary" television only serves to sadden me as a black viewer because it punctuates just how much things have changed during my lifetime.
To help me illustrate these changes, I've solicited some help from one of the most enduring figures of my television-viewing adolescence: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. You ready, Will?
Stage One: A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey
NBC Productions / Via Warner Bros. Television Distribution
When I was a kid in the early '90s, my family went to church on Thursday nights. This meant my father set the VCR (!) to record Fox's primetime lineup: Martin, Living Single, and New York Undercover.
In one night, I could look forward to a sitcom set in my hometown of Detroit, another comedy about four female friends and their romantic hits and misses (long pre-dating Sex and the City), and a drama about a pair of detectives who were Latino and black.
It never occurred to me that one day these images would range from scarce to non-existent.
In third grade, my class had to fill out some kind of self-profile, in which I distinctly remember writing that Frasier was my favorite TV show. I'm sure my teacher, Mrs. Adelstein, found this amusing.
The point here is that we didn't go out of our way to only watch black television shows. We didn't have to: At one point in time, L.A. Law followed Cheers, which followed A Different World, which followed The Cosby Show on NBC — but then shows like Seinfeld and Friends took the place of the former two, shows that were hugely successful and unapologetically non-diverse.
So, while television viewing wasn't necessarily segregated in my house... the television landscape began doing the shifting for us.
Stage Two: Forced Exile
NBC Productions / Via Warner Bros. Television Distribution
The First Same-Sex Romantic "SYTYCD" Routine Is A Long Overdue Work Of Art
FINALLY!
Fox
Fox
There are a million wonderful things all So You Think You Can Dance fans know to be true (the routines will make you cry, Cat Deeley is a national treasure, Christina Applegate's perfect and hilarious judging stints, etc.), but it's a sad fact that the show — which couldn't exist without LGBT dancers, choreographers, and viewers — has historically stuck to portraying heterosexual relationships on-screen.
So, that makes the routine that opened the Aug. 27 Season 11 episode all the more remarkable as the final four (Valerie Rockey, Ricky Ubeda, Jessica Richens, and Zack Everhart Jr.) not only danced in same-sex pairings, but Travis Wall's choreography was speaking to the fight for marriage equality.
The "Friends" Ladies Reunited On "Kimmel" And It Was Perfect
In an exact replica of Monica’s kitchen, no less! Watch!
ABC
Many have tried and failed to organize an official Friends reunion in the decade since NBC's beloved show went off the air — but Jimmy Kimmel came as close as anyone likely ever will on Jimmy Kimmel Live when he asked Jennifer Aniston to perform some fan fiction in an impressively recreated version of the show's kitchen.
Halfway through the sketch, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow joined in the fun and the audience — rightly — lost their minds.
It's enough to make you wish the cast would just cave already and give us the reunion we want/need/deserve.
What Went Wrong (And Right) At The Movies This Summer
It was a terrible summer at the U.S. box office, but does that mean the movies were also terrible?
Jenny Chang for BuzzFeed / IFC Films; Marvel; Columbia Pictures; Radius-TWC; A24; Warner Bros.; Universal Pictures; 20th Century Fox
Adam B. Vary: Now that the dust has settled on this year's summer movie season, Alison, we can see plainly what we've suspected since at least June — this was a terrible summer at the domestic box office. Like, really, really, really bad. Collectively, Hollywood hasn't grossed this little at the box office since 2006 — and when adjusting for ticket price inflation, it appears this was the worst summer since 1992.
Breaking things down even further, it wasn't until August that a summer movie became the top-grossing film of the year so far — that would be Guardians of the Galaxy , which supplanted Marvel Studios' other movie this year, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which was released in April), for the No. 1 spot atop the U.S. box office. As far as I can tell, before this year, an August movie hadn't won the summer domestic box office since at least 1980, and possibly ever. And Guardians did it with just $251.5 million (and counting) in domestic receipts. If current projections for the movie to top out around $290 million are correct, it will be the lowest-grossing summer movie champion since Shrek in 2001 (and adjusting for inflation, since Ghost in 1990 — there are BuzzFeed staffers who weren't even born in 1990).
Put simply: This year's summer movies just were not popular with American audiences. Are the movies themselves to blame? Do you think they were that bad?
Alison Willmore: No. Not at all. When it comes to shiny summer entertainment, I thought this year's crop was pretty good, from the supergroup pleasures of X-Men: Days of Future Past to the unexpectedly dark dramas of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to the glorious weirdness of Guardians of the Galaxy . Not everything worked — ahem, Sex Tape — but in a season that's mainly about uncomplicated good times, uncomplicated good times were frequently had.
But now it's late August, and I do feel a little queasy, like I've been gorging on junk food for months. Here's what I do wonder, Adam: Does the idea of a summer blockbuster season make sense anymore? One thing that this job of seeing so many of these movies in a row emphasizes is a certain sameness. Many of them are about saving the world, many of them are heavy on explosions and destruction, and many of them are continuations of a franchise, brand, or series, meaning they have an obligation to be bigger than and to up the stakes from whatever came before. Marvel and DC have both staked out dates years in advance for their upcoming releases, mostly for prime summer territory, plenty of those opening weekends reserved for projects that don't yet have announced titles. So, the clutter isn't going to change anytime soon. Do you think these movies are drowning each other out?
Columbia Pictures
ABV: I think you hit the nail on the head: There was a feeling of homogenized sameness creeping into so many of the big summer movies this year — both within the individual franchises, and across the grand Hollywood VFX-blockbuster industrial complex. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 felt like the most disappointing example to me — a franchise reboot that tried so hard to find a kind of winsome indie rom-com sensibility, yet was utterly drowned out by its obligations to cover so much of the same visual and storytelling territory as other superhero movies (and, especially, earlier Spider-Man movies). Transformers: Age of Extinction, meanwhile, was exactly the same numbing visual onslaught as every other Transformers movie, despite the Mark Wahlberg and dinobots of it all — and it was almost three hours long. Maleficent was a weird mash-up of Snow White and the Huntsman, Oz the Great and Powerful, and the various Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies, with its only genuine special effect being Angelina Jolie's unmatched star power (and enhanced cheek bones).
But this problem wasn't restricted just to bad movies. X-Men: Days of Future Past and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes were highly competent and entertaining experiences that nonetheless held very little by way of genuine surprise for me. Even the insanely fun and often surprising Guardians of the Galaxy leaned heavily on a bare-bones basic plot that felt virtually the same as several previous Marvel Studios movies.
And yet, all of these movies were far more successful in the U.S. than my favorite big effects movie of the summer, Edge of Tomorrow . Despite its obvious sci-fi invasion meets Groundhog Day structure, it most consistently surprised and delighted me. And no one saw it — or, rather, not nearly enough people saw it for anyone in Hollywood to consider it a success.
I'm depressed, Alison. Cheer me up!
Black Women Make Over White Women To Be More Like Black Women In A New Reality Show
Lifetime’s Girlfriend Intervention premieres tonight, and the internet is already buzzing with criticism.
Lifetime is set to debut a new show called Girlfriend Intervention on Aug. 27. It's a makeover show similar to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, only this time, a group of black women makeover white women.
The cast is described in the show's intro as "four black women taught to always have it together and tell you like it is."
Lifetime
The makeover team consists of (from left to right) "beauty pro" Tracy Balan, "fashion maven" Tiffiny Dixon, "home/sanctuary guru" Nikki Chu, and "soul coach" Tanisha Thomas of Bad Girls Club fame.
The show is the brainchild of the production team World of Wonder, also credited with the creation of RuPaul's Drag Race and Million Dollar Listing.
Lifetime
Many black women carry themselves with a great deal of pride, style and, most importantly, self-confidence. Where does it come from and how can it be obtained? Who better to teach a woman how to get that sparkle in her eye and spring back in her step? Each week, Girlfriend Intervention follows a woman whose personal space and self-esteem are in desperate need of a major makeover and a life-giving dose of diva inspiration.
A teaser for the show opens with "soul coach" Tanisha Thomas saying: "Trapped inside of every white girl is a strong black woman waiting to bust out."
In the opening of the first episode, Thomas proclaims that their goal is to help their makeover subject "reclaim her inner strong black woman."
Lifetime / Via youtube.com
Behind The Scenes With Uzo Aduba At Her First Emmys
The Orange Is the New Black actress and Emmy winner photo-documented her first Primetime Emmy Awards, exclusively for BuzzFeed.
Uzo Aduba for BuzzFeed
Uzo Aduba for BuzzFeed
Sandra Bullock And Jennifer Aniston Staged An Intervention On The "Chelsea Lately" Finale
“‘Netflix’ is a wonderful facility where you’ll be able to get all the help you need.”
Before they sang her goodbye, Chelsea Handler's friends Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Aniston, and Mary McCormack sat down with her on the Chelsea Lately finale.
E! Network
Unbeknownst to Chelsea, the women, who were all there for her first show seven years prior, staged an intervention, taking turns confronting the comedian and late-night host about certain issues.
E! Network
Mary went first, focusing on Chelsea's binge drinking.
E! Network
13 Things That Simply Must Be In Lifetime's "Saved By The Bell" Movie
“Time-out!”
NBC
Lifetime
Twenty years of lingering rumors will — hopefully — be put to rest once and for all with the Sept. 1 premiere of Lifetime's The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story — a new behind-the-scenes TV movie that aims to expose the seedier side of Tiger Beat's most popular poster children.
From alleged drug use to reported threesomes, there is a lot of scandalous ground the film needs to cover in order to be everything Saved by the Bell fans are hoping for. But let's not overlook the iconic onscreen moments that also deserve to be included. Here are the 13 things we're so excited (so excited) to see in the movie:
Eva Green Is The Queen Of Sexy-Scary
How the Sin City: A Dame to Kill For actress walked away with the year’s most macho sequels.
Josh Brolin and Eva Green in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
Dimension Films
Most of the thrill of the original Sin City is gone in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's follow-up to their innovative 2005 graphic-novel adaptation, set in a stylized, digitally engineered world of black and white with splashes of color. The movie, which floundered at the box office when it debuted this past weekend, is just as intensely violent, lurid, and nihilistic as the first one, and this time, it's in 3D, which lends an added oomph to its sometimes beautiful compositions. But Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is also stupefyingly — 100-plus minutes of just the climax of a story, everything turned up to 11, the characters so interchangeably hard-boiled that it can take a while to realize Josh Brolin is actually playing the same character Clive Owen did in the previous film.
It's disappointing, except for the one thing Sin City: A Dame to Kill For does have that the first installment didn't: a scene-stealing Eva Green, who, as Ava Lord, burns a giant hole in the center of the screen. In a movie in which Jessica Alba humps a stage and Mickey Rourke plucks out someone's eyeball like he's picking a particularly stubborn daisy, it's not easy to be the center of attention, but Green easily dominates the gritty, gory affair. Her Ava is less femme fatale than dark deity, a goddess of self-destruction who men can't help but cower in front of.
And Sin City: A Dame to Kill For isn't the first hyper-macho Frank Miller sequel this year that Green's walked away with — as Artemisia, the bloodthirsty villain in March's 300: Rise of an Empire, she totally bowled over the indistinguishable muscly male lead (Sullivan Stapleton, if you'd forgotten). Ever since her 2003 debut alongside Michael Pitt and Louis Garrel in Bernardo Bertolucci's racy The Dreamers and her 2006 stint as proto-Bond girl Vesper Lynd, Green's proven to be a little too much for Hollywood — too formidable for happily-ever-afters, too much presence to be a character actor, too beautiful to be ignored, and too...goth-y? But in 2014, Green's been carving out a distinctive career for herself as the scariest and most intimidating of sex symbols, and it's been awesome to watch.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Dimension Films
What Sofia Vergara's Emmys Sketch Means For Latinas
You spin me right ‘round. And I’m not liking it.
By now, you've probably seen some of the chatter surrounding Sofia Vergara's sketch at the Emmys.
It involved Vergara posing on a giant spinning platform, the joke being that her Latina-brand hotness would provide a welcome distraction from a boring speech (which mentioned diversity) by Television Academy CEO and chairman Bruce Rosenblum. But for many on Twitter, the stunt was more cringe-worthy than funny.
NBC
Vergara has responded to the backlash, telling her critics to "lighten up."
"I think its absolutely the opposite," she said. "It means that somebody can be hot and also be funny and make fun of herself. I think it's ridiculous that somebody started this — I know who she was — who has no sense of humor [and should] lighten up a little bit."
And some agree. At Mediaite, Cathy Reisenwitz wrote, "Vergara stepped up on that pedestal because she had something to say about her industry. If you can’t hear it over the sound of her beautiful body, that is your malfunction."
Fox / Via whatculture.com
No word on who Vergara thinks "started this."
Who invites you to tea and then won't serve it? Come on, Sofia.
Paramount Pictures / Via soletstalkabout.com
But pop culture events that play out in front of a large audience aren't just about one person at one moment.
Vergara's participation in that sketch — and the fact that it was pitched, written, and approved — makes this moment bigger than Sofia Vergara. This moment is about Latina representation in general.
Columbia Pictures / Via reactiongifs.us