Git ready for the “backcountry feud that became a legend!”
Beginning on Memorial Day, the History Channel will debut the original series Hatfields & McCoys, a three-parter starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton. Lots of good-ol-boy garb in this here clip, but them thar men are used to playing rough and ready dudes. (Remember how Costner portrayed the title role in Wyatt Earp and Paxton played an Earp brother in Tombstone?).
Image Credit: Michael Courtney/The CWIt’s girls’ night on The Secret Circle, and they’re ready for some fun. Read: Trouble.
“It’s your average young girl slumber party except for the fact that we’re witches, so it’s not average at all,” jokes Jessica Parker Kennedy, who plays Melissa on the CW drama. “We get some pretty exciting visitors, and we conjure up this extremely attractive pizza boy to deliver us some pizza and Diana (Shelley Hennig) gets a little frisky…we get into a lot of trouble but good trouble.”
But it hasn’t been all fun and games for Melissa in recent weeks. The loss of Nick, a member of the Circle with whom Melissa shared a romantic connection, earlier this season continues to weigh on her teenage shoulders, and she’s recently taken a liking to the effects of Devil’s Spirit — that’s CW/Witch talk for drugs — which Callum (Michael Graziadei) supplied for her, touting it as an all-natural, mellow substance. “In reality, it’s not necessarily that,” says Kennedy. “It’s a drug and it’s serious business. Unfortunately, Melissa doesn’t know that now. But it’s like anything, it has the potential to cause some serious [effects].”
Be sketchy as he may be, Kennedy says Callum, as displayed in one of the last scenes of last week’s episode, doesn’t necessarily have bad intentions when it comes to Melissa. And fans will see that as the two begin spending more time together. “They obviously have a connection and the connection they have is really real. I always say he’s almost like a ‘good drug dealer’ — that’s how Melissa is [approaching] it,” she says. “[He] comes from a really genuine place.”
But as the two continue to cross paths, Kennedy is quick to point out that Melissa is far from over the loss of Nick. “That’s why she’s doing the drugs,” says Kennedy. “That’s why she reaches out to Callum. I think Melissa is very much drawn to the bad boys — like Fey as well….There’s a comfort there and a connection that’s undeniable.”
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Image Credit: Steffan HillOn March 17, Hallmark Channel will premiere the original film Chasing Leprechauns starring Adrian Pasdar and Amy Huberman. With that title, it’s already legendary, but now read the synopsis:
Michael Garrett (Pasdar), a New York corporate troubleshooter, is ready for a well-deserved vacation from his stressful job. But his demanding boss has other ideas and sends Michael on an unusual assignment — to travel to a small town in Ireland to close a deal on a smelting plant construction site that is believed to be inhabited by leprechauns. Needing to find a way around the antiquated law considered legend in the town, Michael sets out to get the approval of the town’s resident leprechaun expert, local pub owner Sarah Cavanaugh (Huberman), and soon finds that is easier said than done. Sarah believes the land is inhabited by leprechauns, and won’t sign Michael’s building permit. With a little help from the locals, Michael tries to win over Sarah by acquainting himself with the town’s customs, but when he unexpectedly falls in love, he must get luck on his side and his boss off his back. Can Michael find a way to win Sarah’s heart and still close the deal, or will the local leprechaun legend leave him with nothing?
Obviously, I’m watching this. Who’s with me?
P.S. It does get points for casting a man, instead of the stereotypical workaholic woman, who travels from the city to the country to find balance and love and leprechauns.
Image Credit: Merrick MortonYou’ve never met a character quite like the one Demián Bichir plays in his Oscar-nominated turn in A Better Life, a little-seen but must-watch film for anyone who wants to have a real conversation about immigration in America. Playing a Mexican gardener caring for his American-born teenage son, Bichir illuminates a largely invisible, if not downright untouchable, character in contemporary American life: an undocumented immigrant.
I should know. Born in the Philippines and sent by my mother to America at age 12 — “I wanted to give you a better life,” she told me a few years later — I arrived here wrapped in everything Filipino, including a thick Tagalog accent.
The quickest and most efficient way to assimilate and speak “American,” as any newcomer to America will tell you, is to watch movies and television. To that end, my American education was largely courtesy of the films I borrowed from the local library (Do the Right Thing, Working Girl, GoodFellas) and old and new TV shows, from Frasier to The Golden Girls. Most everything I learned about my new home, I learned from pop culture. And with the help of American citizens who mentored me even though I don’t have the right papers, I managed to remain visible and invisible at the same time, writing for The Washington Post and the Huffington Post while hiding my secret as an undocumented worker. But after years of lying and living in fear, I decided to tell my own story in an essay for TheNew York Times Magazine last summer. That was around the same time A Better Life hit theaters, building buzz in the growing immigrant-rights movement. On email, Facebook, and Twitter, undocumented people and their allies — especially young people who’ve been educated in America but are not legally allowed to work — have taken ownership of the film. They’ve asked me, “Hey, have you seen our movie?”
There are moments in A Better Life of such heartbreaking truth — the conversations between father and son, the fear, anguish, and shame on Bichir’s face as he encounters a cop on the street — that the film transcends language and race. Here’s a film from a mainstream Hollywood director (Chris Weitz) tackling a controversial issue our officials in Washington don’t know quite how to address. In its quietly affecting way, it’s a groundbreaking piece of cinema.
Indeed, it’s rare to watch an undocumented immigrant portrayed with such complexity. It’s rarer still to experience a film about an undocumented immigrant told from the immigrant’s perspective. In an awards season that has lauded The Help, about black maids and the white families they serve in 1960s Mississippi, Bichir represents the help — gardeners, farmhands, and other undocumented workers — at the mercy of present-day laws in Georgia and Alabama. But A Better Life is not a political movie in the same way that illegal immigration is not a political issue. It’s a nuanced human story.
I’ve seen Bichir before, as Fidel Castro in Steven Soderbergh’s Che and as a drug-running mayor in Showtime’s Weeds. To call his performance in A Better Life a “transformation,” as critics have done, does not do him justice. His performance gives dignity and voice to the 11 million undocumented human beings—gardeners and babysitters, would-be engineers, doctors, and writers — whom he inevitably represents. He is doing something more than acting. At a time when undocumented people are referred to as “illegals” — when common sense and empathy escape many of our politicians — his performance is an act of salvation.
Bichir, an American citizen, has dedicated his surprise Oscar nod to people like me. In our eyes, he’s already won Best Actor.
Vargas is a journalist and the founder of Define American, a multimedia campaign for immigration reform.
Read more:
EW Special Coverage: Oscars 2012
Photo Gallery: Oscars: How EW Critics Rated the 2012 Nominees
Photo Gallery: 25 Movies You Need to See Before Oscar Night
Tomorrow, audiences can head to theaters to see the re-release of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 3-D. Regardless of how you feel about the much-maligned prequel, there’s no denying the Star Wars franchise made more than an impression on millions of moviegoers who experienced the magic of the first three films in theaters or on their TV screens. This week, EW‘s writers will be celebrating their complicated relationship with George Lucas’ beloved, yet contested, franchise with a series we call “How Star Wars changed my life.” And for those of you headed to the theaters this Friday… may the force be with you.
There are those who are content to be merely delighted and dazzled by an entertaining magic trick, and there are those who become obsessed with needing to know how they were so persuasively, thrillingly fooled. When it comes to the sort of magic that we routinely see on movie screens, I have long been the second kind of fan, and the film that got me hooked on such enchantment – and put the “How did they do that?!” bug into me – was Star Wars. Like a lot of people my age, George Lucas’ hyper-kinetic space opera was a cultural event that seized my imagination and seeded a desire for transporting escapism that has never left me; in some ways, I think my interest in the movies is all about chasing after the same ecstatic WOW! that I felt when I first saw Star Wars at the grand (and now demolished) UA 150 in downtown Seattle in the summer of ’77, and then over and over and over again when it reached the more modest (and still in business) neighborhood movie palace, the Admiral Twin. It wasn’t enough to have the memory of that far-out yarn running on a constant loop in my mind, or to reenact the story each night with my brother for parents, or to recall and recite (sometimes with peculiar competitive intensity) favorite scenes and memorable lines with my Star Wars-loving friends during recess. And during class. And during the dawdling walk home…
No, I also had to have the action figures, the comics, the novelizations, the soundtrack album, the posters, the Wonder Bread and Topps trading cards, the Burger King collectible glasses, plus a yellow plastic toy lightsaber, a lunchbox, and a T-shirt or two. I also had to consume every shred of media – all the movie magazines, any kind of Art of Star Wars book, anything like The Making of Star Wars documentary that aired on Sept. 16, 1977 on ABC that I totally remember watching — that explained (or purported to explain) the secrets of the movie’s creation. How George Lucas synthesized a wide swath of mythological and pop culture influences into an epic franchise vision. How he developed the story and wrote the script, fought the naysayers, and secured the financing. How he cast the parts and chose the locations and all that behind-the-scenes jazz. But more than anything, I wanted to know how George did his tricks – how he produced all those incredible yet oh-so-credible special effects. The ‘droids and the blasters, the land speeders and the Imperial Star Destroyers, the Cantina bar aliens and the holographic board game, the light saber battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader and the fighter ship dog fights above and through the canyons of The Death Star – everything. Thanks to Star Wars, I learned a whole new language. I’m not talking jargon like “jedi” and “wookie” and “Koona t’chuta, Solo?” I’m talking terms like “miniatures” and “blue screen” and “matte painting” – the conjuring words of a certain class of Hollywood wizardry, one whose ancient spellbinding art had just taken a major leap forward, and more, was about to transform the medium.
NEXT: “I became a harsh, snooty judge, and worse, I enjoyed being so severe.”
A fiery Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) graces the cover of The Hunger Games soundtrack, which comes out March 20 ahead of the movie opening on March 23. It claims to have music “from District 12 and beyond,” but we already know the beyond, since the track list includes songs from Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars, the Decembrists, and Arcade Fire.
Check out the full size image of the cover and listen to Taylor Swift’s cut ‘Safe and Sound’ from the album after the jump.
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss on The Hunger Games soundtrack cover.
Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars new cut, ‘Safe and Sound’
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Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars debut their ‘Hunger Games’ song live at the Ryman — VIDEO
Taylor Swift’s ‘Hunger Games’ song: What do you think of ‘Safe and Sound’?
Soundtrack to ‘The Hunger Games’ includes Taylor Swift, Decemberists, members of Arcade Fire
Naomi Watts and Princess DianaAlberto E. Rodriguez/Getty; Tim Graham/CorbisNaomi Watts is about to become royalty – at least on screen. The actress, 43, is set to star in Caught in Flight, a film described as "a compelling portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales during the last two years of her life," according to BBC News.
"It is such an honor to be able to play this iconic role," British-born Watts said in a statement. "Princess Diana was loved across the world, and I look forward to rising to the challenge of playing her on screen."
The film – which was previously rumored to feature Jessica Chastain in the lead role – is expected to focus on Diana's romance with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.
Image Credit: Richard TermineSinger-songwriter-actress Alicia Keys’ first gig as a Broadway producer is ending early. Lydia R. Diamond’s Stick Fly will play its final show on Feb. 26, following 24 previews and 92 regular performances. The dramatic comedy—which stars Psych’s Dulé Hill and Torchwood: Miracle Day’s Mekhi Pfeffer as brothers returning to their family’s ritzy Cape Cod vacation home for a weekend of big fights and bigger secrets—opened to mix reviews on Dec. 8. Its producers had only recently announced that the show was adding special Wednesday matinees througout March (to accommodate spring-breakers) and would be selling tickets through Apr. 8. On the flip side, the controversial Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess, starring Audra McDonald and David Alan Grier, announced today that it was extending through Sept. 30.
Now, the only question left is: What show will take Stick Fly‘s place at the Cort Theatre? Share your suggestions below.
Ready for some gorgeous new Game of Thrones season 2 photos? Here’s the first season 2 profile pics of nearly the entire cast of major characters. There’s 17 new images: Brienne, Tyrion, Balon Greyjoy, Arya, Daenerys (twice), Sansa, Joffrey, Renly, Melisandre, Stannis, Bran, Robb, Cersei, Catelyn, Jon Snow, Theon, and Davos — whew! Why are you still even reading text at this point? They are all here:
NEXT: Arya has grown up a bit…
John P. Filo/CBSIt’s safe to say that most musicians on reality show competitions don’t hope to get eliminated during their season. But after seeing how things are going for nixed 15-year-old X Factor contestant Astro, some may just change their outlook. In addition to his recent deal with Epic Records, Astro (real name Brian Bradley) is also making his way into the acting world: The rising star is appearing on tonight’s brand-new episode of Person of Interest. Check out EW’s exclusive clip, in which Astro plays a young man seeking justice for his murdered brother, who asks John Reese (Jim Caviezel) for help in his quest. Watch the two match wits here:
Person of Interest airs at 9 p.m. on CBS.
Read more:
'The X Factor' recap: Astro and Drew eliminated
Astro becomes second 'X Factor' contestant to sign with L.A. Reid's Epic Records
'X Factor,' 'Person of Interest' top Thursday ratings
Image Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert/The CWWhen Original vampire mama Esther (Alice Evans) returned to Mystic Falls after spending the last millennium six feet under, we knew she’d have some deeply hidden tricks up her sleeve. But could anyone have possibly seen tonight’s twist coming?
We learned tonight that Esther is not one for subtlety, as she marked her arrival with the grandest ball our Mystic Falls gang has ever seen. This elegant affair was the perfect setting for the sex, violence, and deceit that occurred before the night was through. EW screened the episode with exec producer Julie Plec in Los Angeles yesterday, who gave reporters the scoop on what’s next. Talk about the episode below, and read ahead for some MAJOR SPOILERS!
Tonight’s biggest reveal was that the outwardly loving and maternal Esther is actually hellbent on killing all of her children — including Mystic Falls’ number one bad boy, Klaus. Plec was mum when asked if this “mass Original annihilation” would actually occur, but she did say that we’ll find out some of the answers very soon, when our favorite witches join in on her devious plot. “The next episode, the one that follows this, takes place on a full moon,” she said. “We’ll learn that, like most of the heavy-duty witch spells, there needs to be some sort of recurring celestial event or recurring element to [the spell].”
Esther showed signs of wavering when she interacted with her favorite son, Elijah, and Plec said that her uncertainty will be further explored. “I think that the fact that [the murder spell] isn’t a done deal by minute 42 of this episode definitely leaves a lot of potential for how it could all go very right, or very wrong, in the next episode,” she teased. “But some major, major stuff goes down that will be interesting and surprising for the audience.”
Audiences were probably very interested and surprised when Elena’s lovesick puppy, Damon, made a sharp turn by hooking up with Rebekah (Claire Holt). Plec assured reporters that Elena would definitely “be pissed,” but she also said that Damon’s decision was a sign of growth for the formerly murderous vampire. “This is the most cruel way he could have lashed out, but also shows a peculiar evolution in him as a character,” Plec said. “Rather than take [his anger at Elena] out on an innocent human in the middle of the road, he’s striking where it hurts most. That by no means is a gentlemanly behavior, but it certainly was fun to watch.”
Of course, Damon and Rebekah weren’t the only vampiric duo to have a moment tonight. Caroline may have accepted Klaus’ invitation (and that fabulous dress), yet she shunned his advances in favor of the still-absent Tyler. Klaus probably earned some points with that adorable (and very quickly sketched) “Caroline and a horse” drawing, but don’t start planning that romantic trek through Europe just yet. “I can’t really say where it’s heading, or if it’s heading,” she teased. “For us, it’s fun to explore that side of Klaus — seeing a romantic vulnerability there, because it is giving us a window into him a little bit. We certainly find Klaus to be irresistible on a lot of levels, so it’s going to be interesting to see how that moves forward.”
What did you think of tonight’s episode, viewers? Do you think that Esther, who totally killed her son on Lost, will successfully commit mass-filicide? Were you surprised by Damon and Rebekah’s scandalous hookup? Were you sad to learn that Matt doesn’t have health insurance? Let us know in the comments!Donald Trump wants the American Chopper team to build him a bike.
On back-to-back episodes of the Discovery hit airing this Monday, Trump stops by and meets Paul Senior and the crew. Senior talks to Trump about how his legendarily estranged relationship with Junior. Trump, naturally, thinks about the split in financial terms.
“Don’t leave him anything,” Trump advises. “Don’t leave him 10 cents.” See the exclusive video clip below.
This will air about a week before NBC's Celebrity Apprentice returns. Say... you don't think manicured business tycoon would suddenly develop an interest in motorcycles just to promote the return of his NBC show, do you? Why, that's crazy, that would be like saying he wanted to run for president or something...
LAS VEGAS | Thu Feb 9, 2012 8:02pm EST
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight was jailed briefly in Las Vegas on three outstanding traffic warrants and suspicion of marijuana possession, after being pulled over for a driving infraction, police said on Thursday.
The onetime rap music mogul was stopped near the Vegas Strip shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday when police saw him changing lanes and making a turn without a proper signal, Metro police officer Jay Rivera said.
A records check turned up three outstanding Nevada traffic warrants for Knight, including one for a driving on a suspended out-of-state license, Rivera said.
Police said Knight, 46, also was found in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, a misdemeanor offense. He was later released on about $2,600 bail, according to Rivera.
Knight, who helped launch the careers of such rap stars as Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur in the 1990s, has seen his own career overshadowed in recent years by various run-ins with the law.
In May 2010, he was arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. In February 2009, he was treated for facial injuries he suffered in a fight at a hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.
He was arrested in August 2008 in Las Vegas on drug and assault charges after he was accused of punching his girlfriend and pulling a knife on her during an argument outside a strip club.
(Reporting by Timothy Pratt; Editing by Steve Gorman and Bob Tourtellotte)
My initial impression of this week’s episode of Fringe, “Welcome to Westfield,” was that it looked like a disaster movie. You know, a Day After Tomorrow-type of film that would gross $500 million-plus internationally — except this is Fringe, so I knew the episode would also have a real plot.
And upon further inspection, provided by the exclusive clip below, it’s going to deliver tenfold.
The episode finds Olivia, Peter, and Walter caught in the grips of a terrifying Fringe event when they find themselves unable to escape a mysterious — and dangerous — town. Check out the clip below and come back on Saturday morning for Jeff Jensen’s Fringe recap.
Follow @EWSandraG
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EW’s ‘Fringe’ recaps
Once Martin Scorsese successfully lobbied to get Blackie, the Doberman from Hugo, on the ballot for the clearly prestigious Golden Collar Award, you knew it was just a matter of time before other press-hounds instituted their own publicity campaigns. No surprise then that Triumph the Insult Comic Dog has mounted a “No Justice! No Poop!” effort to get on the ballot. In a video, the wise-cracking pooch says, “While I understand that awards shows are trivial, and there are more important things we should be focusing on — like whether Gisele is a crazy b—h — it is a tragedy that my work on the Conan O’Donnell show has been overlooked. Like many of the nominees, these awards have clearly been fixed.”
Watch his mildly NSFW plea and takedown of the competition below.
Does Triumph get your vote? And does Bert know about Ernie?
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Conan brings back Triumph
Triumph visits Occupy Wall Street
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Uggie, the dog from ‘The Artist,’ retires
Image Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.comSomething witchy this way comes…
As our intrigue about Adalind (Claire Coffee) continues to grow, viewers are about to discover another piece of her puzzle. EW has learned exclusively that True Blood‘s Jessica Tuck is set to play Adalind’s fellow Hexenbiest mother, Catherine, in an upcoming episode titled “Love Sick,” set to air later this season.
Tuck, best known for her years on One Life To Live, also appeared on True Blood as the head of the American Vampire League.
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‘Grimm’: Nick’s grizzly, ‘organ’ic discovery — EXCLUSIVE CLIP
Meet the foxy new ‘Grimm’ hire
‘Spy Kids’ star coming to ‘Grimm’ for Hansel & Gretel episode — EXCLUSIVE
Arnold Schwarzeneger and Sylvester Stallone are officially completing their transformation into Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. Shortly after announcing plans to team up together on the new film The Tomb, Arnold posted the above photo of the two aging beefcake superstars hanging out at the local shoulder-resetting joint. “After all the action, stunts & physical abuse shooting The Expendables 2 and The Last Stand,” explained Schwarzenegger, “It was time for a little tune up on my shoulder. Look who was coincidentally waiting in line behind me for his shoulder surgery. Now we’re ready for another round of great times and action when we shoot The Tomb. #greattobeback” Yep, just a couple dudes, hangin’ out, gettin’ surgery. What do you think they’re talking about? Post your best guess below. I’m betting that Schwarzenegger just told a joke, and the joke was: “Jeremy Renner.” And Stallone is just laughing and laughing and pressing the morphine button and laughing…
Follow Darren on Twitter: @EWDarrenFranich
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Arnold Schwarzenegger re-teams with Stallone for ‘Tomb’
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‘Expendables 2': Schwarzenegger tweets pic with Stallone and Willis
Updated: February 9, 2012 7:48PM
While the divorce agreement between Katy Perry and Russell Brand appeared to be quick and amicable, I hear there was a bit of tension until Brand gave in and agreed to everything Perry wanted. The big deal: The singer gets to keep all of the estimated $44 million she made during the couple’s marriage — half of which Brand could have claimed under California’s community property laws. Apparently, there was some bad Brand behavior — which I hear included both financial and personal issues — that he didn’t want to surface if there had been a protracted divorce battle.In the end, that all went away as Perry signed the document with a big “happy face” after her name.† Separate from all this, but a factor in the couple’s problems, were Brand’s frequent less-than-kind cracks about Perry’s parents and their deep evangelical Christian faith. ROYAL RUN: Though Naomi Watts grew up in Australia, she is a British native, and that may have played a part in the actress snaring the chance to portray Princess Diana in the last two years of her life. Originally, the buzz had California native Jessica Chastain as the leading contender for the Diana role in “Caught in Flight.” SPORTS SHORT: Former broadcast teammates Mike North and Dan Jiggetts will reunite for a one-night only gig at Arlington Racetrack. The March 8 event will be available on pay-for-view (go to northtonorth.com for all the outlets) or may be seen in person at the racetrack. GRAMMY GAB: There’s buzz that Lady Gaga may be opening the Grammys — could a payback to those recent Madonna disses be in the works?Sunday’s ceremony has the potential to be far better than recent shows, with performances scheduled by Paul McCartney, Adele and Maroon 5; the return of Chris Brown; a Carrie Underwood-Tony Bennett duet, and the long-awaited Beach Boys reunion of Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Brian Wilson. There are rumors of Van Halen hitting the stage, and Bruce Springsteen is slated to perform with his E Street Band. † Speaking of the Boss, he’s found a nice way to replace the late saxman Clarence Clemons, by including the Miami Horns — which included Clarence’s nephew, Jake Clemons — on his upcoming tour. MODEL MOMENT: Apparently, the reason supermodel Kate Moss has been seldom seen in the U.S. lately stems from that 2005 incident where she was photographed snorting what appeared to be cocaine. That combined with her long associations with well-known drug addicts led the U.S. immigration authorities to make it difficult for Moss to get a work permit. She was here in 2009 as part of a big Vogue-sponsored New York event, but that reportedly required editorAnna Wintour to use her clout with the Obama adminstration to cut the red tape for Moss. COUPLING: Though there are reports Justin Theroux wants to marry lady love Jennifer Aniston, I’m hearing the actress is happy to keep things just as they are — seeing she’s totally blissful in the relationship she’s carved out with her “Wanderlust” co-star.Aniston also has once again attempted to bury that rumor — that neither she nor Brad Pitt seemingly can kill — about her still carrying a grudge against Angelina Jolie for stealing her man. In InStyle, Aniston addresses the “most annoying misconception” the public has about her life. That is the alleged “triangle with my ex-husband — and that there’s a feud there. . . . It’s a story headline that won’t go away . . . a story that has nothing to do with reality.”BOOK IT : Ex-Chicagoan Charlotte Beers, the brilliant advertising world honcho, formerly CEO of Ogilvy & Mather and chairman of J. Walter Thompson — who also served as Under Secretary of State — has penned I’d Rather Be in Charge. It’s Beers’ memoir and guide to how she successfully smashed that proverbial “glass ceiling” for women in the workplace, leading the way for many others. SEEN ON THE SCENE: While in town for Black History Month events, director Spike Lee was spied dining at Wave at the W Lake Shore. . . . CSO maestro Riccardo Muti enjoyed a night off from conducting, hanging out at the rustic Italian eatery Tocco in Wicker Park — joined by the symphony’s Mead composers-in-residence Mason Bates and Anna Clyne. © 2011 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit http://www.suntimesreprints.com/. To order a reprint of this article, click here. Image Credit: Merrick MortonYou’ve never met a character quite like the one Demián Bichir plays in his Oscar-nominated turn in A Better Life, a little-seen but must-watch film for anyone who wants to have a real conversation about immigration in America. Playing a Mexican gardener caring for his American-born teenage son, Bichir illuminates a largely invisible, if not downright untouchable, character in contemporary American life: an undocumented immigrant.
I should know. Born in the Philippines and sent by my mother to America at age 12 — “I wanted to give you a better life,” she told me a few years later — I arrived here wrapped in everything Filipino, including a thick Tagalog accent.
The quickest and most efficient way to assimilate and speak “American,” as any newcomer to America will tell you, is to watch movies and television. To that end, my American education was largely courtesy of the films I borrowed from the local library (Do the Right Thing, Working Girl, GoodFellas) and old and new TV shows, from Frasier to The Golden Girls. Most everything I learned about my new home, I learned from pop culture. And with the help of American citizens who mentored me even though I don’t have the right papers, I managed to remain visible and invisible at the same time, writing for The Washington Post and the Huffington Post while hiding my secret as an undocumented worker. But after years of lying and living in fear, I decided to tell my own story in an essay for TheNew York Times Magazine last summer. That was around the same time A Better Life hit theaters, building buzz in the growing immigrant-rights movement. On email, Facebook, and Twitter, undocumented people and their allies — especially young people who’ve been educated in America but are not legally allowed to work — have taken ownership of the film. They’ve asked me, “Hey, have you seen our movie?”
There are moments in A Better Life of such heartbreaking truth — the conversations between father and son, the fear, anguish, and shame on Bichir’s face as he encounters a cop on the street — that the film transcends language and race. Here’s a film from a mainstream Hollywood director (Chris Weitz) tackling a controversial issue our officials in Washington don’t know quite how to address. In its quietly affecting way, it’s a groundbreaking piece of cinema.
Indeed, it’s rare to watch an undocumented immigrant portrayed with such complexity. It’s rarer still to experience a film about an undocumented immigrant told from the immigrant’s perspective. In an awards season that has lauded The Help, about black maids and the white families they serve in 1960s Mississippi, Bichir represents the help — gardeners, farmhands, and other undocumented workers — at the mercy of present-day laws in Georgia and Alabama. But A Better Life is not a political movie in the same way that illegal immigration is not a political issue. It’s a nuanced human story.
I’ve seen Bichir before, as Fidel Castro in Steven Soderbergh’s Che and as a drug-running mayor in Showtime’s Weeds. To call his performance in A Better Life a “transformation,” as critics have done, does not do him justice. His performance gives dignity and voice to the 11 million undocumented human beings—gardeners and babysitters, would-be engineers, doctors, and writers — whom he inevitably represents. He is doing something more than acting. At a time when undocumented people are referred to as “illegals” — when common sense and empathy escape many of our politicians — his performance is an act of salvation.
Bichir, an American citizen, has dedicated his surprise Oscar nod to people like me. In our eyes, he’s already won Best Actor.
Vargas is a journalist and the founder of Define American, a multimedia campaign for immigration reform.
Read more:
EW Special Coverage: Oscars 2012
Photo Gallery: Oscars: How EW Critics Rated the 2012 Nominees
Photo Gallery: 25 Movies You Need to See Before Oscar Night
The races for the live-action and animated short film Oscar tend to operate blessedly outside the Academy Awards hype machine; assembled here into two separate programs, this year's nominees — a stronger batch than last year's — offer thought-provoking contrasts in storytelling and style.
On the live-action side, many of the entries are marked by worlds in collision. Max Z¿hle's suspenseful drama "Raju," breathlessly filmed in Calcutta, depicts the seesawing emotions and ethical quandaries a German couple go through trying to adopt a 4-year-old orphan boy in a teeming Indian metropolis of overt poverty and hidden agency.
Peter McDonald's "Pentecost," meanwhile, finds buoyant Irish humor in the ways sports and church overlap, when a soccer-obsessed altar boy is given an important role in an upcoming Mass.
Belfast is the setting for Terry George's gently poignant "The Shore," in which an expat Irishman (Ciarán Hinds) returns from America with his grown daughter (Kerry Condon) after 25 years, only to be pushed into resolving things with a forgotten buddy and the fiancee he left behind.
Seaside reconciliation also animates Norwegian Hallvar Witzø's quirky but forced "Tuba Atlantic," about an old coot who lives out his last days machine-gunning seagulls, befriending a church-appointed teenage caretaker and trying to patch things up with his long-lost brother via transoceanic wind horn.
Much more effortlessly amusing is Andrew Bowler's neurotic comedy "Time Freak," in which the possibilities inherent in mastering time travel hilariously bump up against its inventor's crushing addiction to the do-overs daily life presents.
Humor is typically prevalent in the animated features that dominate the multiplex, but in shorts, filmmakers often try for more nuanced emotions. Even Pixar's excellent entry "La Luna," from Enrico Casarosa and inspired by an Italo Calvino story, aims for evocative magical realism over gags in its depiction of the moon-sweeping journey a young boy embarks on for the first time with his father and grandfather.
A child's point of view characterizes Patrick Doyon's "Dimanche/Sunday" as well, wherein a boy's day with his extended family — whose unintelligible chattering is equated with the cawing of birds — encompasses boredom, imagination and the fragility of life.
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" is William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg's movie version of their successful iPad app for kids, whimsically combining visual storytelling flourishes from the silent era (the titular hero resembles Buster Keaton), inventive digital animation and a touching metaphor for the soaring joys of reading.
More offbeat in tone are the entries "A Morning Stroll" and "Wild Life." The former, from director Grant Orchard, is a bracingly loony triptych set in three years (1959, 2009, 2059) and using dimensionally progressive animation each time — from monochromatic line drawing to color-burnished photorealist CGI — to dramatize an encounter between a man on the street and a chicken with a purpose.
The latter is an impressionistic, painterly rendering of an Englishman's migration to the Canadian hinterlands in 1909, which in the hands of Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby proves to be a quietly resonant tale of quixotic, opaque individualism. It also serves as a fitting reminder that the short form allows for a wide variety of artistic temperaments, which this collection of Oscar-nominated films admirably showcases.
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Jon Voight and Elliott Gould will join the cast of the drama pilot Ray Donovan, the Liev Schreiber starrer that’s in development for Showtime. It’s about a “professional trouble shooter” in Los Angeles named Ray (Schreiber) who’s replied upon to solve the complicated, confidential and controversial problems of the city’s elite.
Voight will play Ray’s father Mickey Donovan, a “newly freed ex-convict who heads to Los Angeles with suspicious intentions to reconnect with his estranged family.” Gould will portray a recurring guest star named Ezra Goodman, a senior partner at a law firm who also serves as Ray’s mentor and confidante.
The drama pilot is from Ann Biderman (Southland). Production is set to begin soon in Los Angeles.
Image Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert/The CWWhen Original vampire mama Esther (Alice Evans) returned to Mystic Falls after spending the last millennium six feet under, we knew she’d have some deeply hidden tricks up her sleeve. But could anyone have possibly seen tonight’s twist coming?
We learned tonight that Esther is not one for subtlety, as she marked her arrival with the grandest ball our Mystic Falls gang has ever seen. This elegant affair was the perfect setting for the sex, violence, and deceit that occurred before the night was through. EW screened the episode with exec producer Julie Plec in Los Angeles yesterday, who gave reporters the scoop on what’s next. Talk about the episode below, and read ahead for some MAJOR SPOILERS!
Tonight’s biggest reveal was that the outwardly loving and maternal Esther is actually hellbent on killing all of her children — including Mystic Falls’ number one bad boy, Klaus. Plec was mum when asked if this “mass Original annihilation” would actually occur, but she did say that we’ll find out some of the answers very soon, when our favorite witches join in on her devious plot. “The next episode, the one that follows this, takes place on a full moon,” she said. “We’ll learn that, like most of the heavy-duty witch spells, there needs to be some sort of recurring celestial event or recurring element to [the spell].”
Esther showed signs of wavering when she interacted with her favorite son, Elijah, and Plec said that her uncertainty will be further explored. “I think that the fact that [the murder spell] isn’t a done deal by minute 42 of this episode definitely leaves a lot of potential for how it could all go very right, or very wrong, in the next episode,” she teased. “But some major, major stuff goes down that will be interesting and surprising for the audience.”
Audiences were probably very interested and surprised when Elena’s lovesick puppy, Damon, made a sharp turn by hooking up with Rebekah (Claire Holt). Plec assured reporters that Elena would definitely “be pissed,” but she also said that Damon’s decision was a sign of growth for the formerly murderous vampire. “This is the most cruel way he could have lashed out, but also shows a peculiar evolution in him as a character,” Plec said. “Rather than take [his anger at Elena] out on an innocent human in the middle of the road, he’s striking where it hurts most. That by no means is a gentlemanly behavior, but it certainly was fun to watch.”
Of course, Damon and Rebekah weren’t the only vampiric duo to have a moment tonight. Caroline may have accepted Klaus’ invitation (and that fabulous dress), yet she shunned his advances in favor of the still-absent Tyler. Klaus probably earned some points with that adorable (and very quickly sketched) “Caroline and a horse” drawing, but don’t start planning that romantic trek through Europe just yet. “I can’t really say where it’s heading, or if it’s heading,” she teased. “For us, it’s fun to explore that side of Klaus — seeing a romantic vulnerability there, because it is giving us a window into him a little bit. We certainly find Klaus to be irresistible on a lot of levels, so it’s going to be interesting to see how that moves forward.”
What did you think of tonight’s episode, viewers? Do you think that Esther, who totally killed her son on Lost, will successfully commit mass-filicide? Were you surprised by Damon and Rebekah’s scandalous hookup? Were you sad to learn that Matt doesn’t have health insurance? Let us know in the comments!Apparently, it takes two saxophonists to fill the shoes of "the big man," Clarence Clemons.
And one of them is Clemons' blood relative.
Bruce Springsteen announced that a pair of horn men - Clemons' nephew Jake and Eddie Manion - will stand in for the late saxist in the E Street band's upcoming live events.
In 1992, Jake Clemons played sax alongside his uncle at the Clinton presidential inauguration. He has also played with The Swell Season and has guested with the E Street Band in the past.
Manion served as an original player with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and has worked with Springsteen on various projects, including "The Seeger Sessions."
Springsteen's newly augmented E Streeters will make their live debut this Sunday on The Grammys. They'll also make their first appearance at the historic Apollo Theater, in a promotion for Sirius XM satellite radio, on March 9.
The official Springsteen tour kicks off March 19 in Atlanta. It comes to our area beginning April 3 at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands. The tour backs Springsteen's new album, "Wrecking Ball," which comes out March 6.
The full live band will also include two trumpet players, Curt Ramm and Bary Danielian.
Image Credit: Andy Kropa/Getty ImagesAfter inking a science-fiction role in Wake the Dead last year and popping up in the preview for Sassy Pants this January, Haley Joel Osment has pulled a kid star comeback hat trick, landing the lead role in I’ll Follow You Down. The formerly Muppet-faced Oscar nominee (for 1999's The Sixth Sense) will star as Erol, the son of a scientist who mysteriously disappeared on a business trip. Years later, Erol makes an unsettling discovers about his father’s whereabouts.
Richie Mehta wrote and will direct Down. Lee Kim, who is producing the film under Resolute Films and Entertainment said, “Our main challenge was to find the right actor [with] the perfect balance of innocence, honesty and intelligence; Haley provides just that.”
Osment finds himself in an interesting position with this new slew of roles. Clearly, he’s having to pay his dues and re-establish himself, but it says a lot that these indie projects are getting noticed at all. Young actors from Kirsten Dunst to Shailene Woodley and Abigail Breslin are proving these days that starting out as a child actor isn’t necessarily a career-killer.
I’m not saying Osment is going to be competing with Shia LaBeouf or Taylor Lautner for tentpole popcorn flicks any time soon — their transitions from kiddie cuties to leading men proved seamless while Osment struggled with a failed Broadway debut and brushes with the law. But, on the spectrum of Daniel Radcliffe to Taran Noah Smith, it looks like there may just be some hope for Haley Joel Osment after all.
What do you think, PopWatchers? Are you hankering for more Haley? Has he gotten enough distance from his Sixth Sense days to establish himself as a legitimate adult actor? Are you intrigued by his upcoming roster of sci-fi indies and Sassy coming-of-age films?
Read more:
‘Sassy Pants’ trailer: Why yes, that is Haley Joel Osment
Grown-up Haley Joel Osment returns, creates monsters in ‘Wake the Dead’
Haley Joel Osment to star in coming-of-age comedy. But can the child star come of age himself?
