Toronto’s renewed winter wallop has a super fan in Canadian superstar Justin Bieber.
“Are you sure it’s gonna be a snow day?” the 16-year-old pop phenomenon from Stratford, Ont., asked excitedly Tuesday, when a fan gave him a weather report during a combo news conference and love-in at the Fairmont Royal York hotel.
“All the kids aren’t going to have school? That’s so awesome! Maybe I’ll be stuck here. That’ll be cool!”
But not even a “Snowpocalypse” could stop the Bieber Blitzkrieg, which moved through Toronto Tuesday with awesome force and to the squeal of screaming tweens, also making stops at MuchMusic and the AMC Yonge-Dundas theatres.
Bieber was in town to talk up his new 3-D movie, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which opens Feb. 11. He also chatted about his four Juno nominations, announced Tuesday, and the mostly ups and occasional downs of a skyrocketing professional singing career that is less than two years old.
Dressed in a grey hoodie, jeans and colour-coordinated high-top sneakers, Bieber claimed to be a rookie at press conferences. But he worked the room like a pro, handling questions that were lobbed at him like marshmallows and insisting that his fans get equal time with the press.
“Hey, where are my fans at? . . . What’s the point if my fans aren’t in here?”
Bieber told emcee Richard Crouse the impact of sudden fame still hasn’t hit him, even though he’s sold million of records, with hit singles that include “Baby” and “One Time.” He has 6.3 million Twitter followers, 16.5 million Facebook friends and has been viewed one billion times on YouTube, where his rise to the top began.
Bieber is estimated to have earned $100 million, according to Vanity Fair, whose cover he graces this month (with a Rolling Stone front to come). “I still don’t really notice it,” Bieber said.
“I’m still just a regular teenage boy, living my dream, having a lot of fun.”
He’s delighted about his Juno noms, but said he’ll be unable to attend the March 27 awards ceremony due to tour commitments overseas.
He knows that not everybody is a true “Belieber” or succumbing to Bieber Fever: “There’s gonna be haters, no matter what. People want to see you succeed, and then once you’re there, they want to bring you down. It’s a weird world, but that’s how it is. There are people who aren’t gonna like me.”
He’s hoping that Never Say Never, a combo biopic and concert movie that culminates with his sold-out performance last autumn at New York’s Madison Square Garden, will win over any doubters.
“If they watch this movie, and they really get to see that I’m just a nice person . . . a lot of people think I’m just like some factory machine and people just put me together like a product. But I worked really hard to get here, and there are so many people who have helped me.”
He was flanked by some of them on the podium: Never Say Never director Jon M. Chu, and Bieber entourage members Ryan Good, Kenny Hamilton and Allison Kaye, who treated him like an adored kid brother.
And what’s not to love about a charmer who makes “adorable” sound like faint praise, and who candidly admits that the scene in the movie where his granny tells him to clean his room is true?
“Yeah, I clean my room. That day I was kinda just rushed out, and I forgot. but I do clean my room. Especially when I’m home at my grandma’s house. When she tells me to do something I’m like, ‘Okay, grandma!’”
At a fan’s request, Bieber rhymed off his favourite junk food with the seriousness of a courtroom brief.
“A year ago, I was all about Sour Patch Kids. Those are the greatest things. But then my fans kept bringing them to every show. Now, if I eat another Sour Patch kid, I’m probably going to throw up.”
His sweet tooth craves a new treat:
“In Canada, they’re Bigfoots, in America, they’re Swedish Fish. But you know, Canada is better, obviously. Ketchup chips are good. I love them.”
He’s been travelling so much, he hasn’t been home to Stratford as much as he would like. Here’s what he misses about home:
“I miss Tim Horton’s. I miss Timmy’s. I miss my ice caps. I miss my friends and family. I miss my dog Sam.”
He obviously doesn’t miss Gordon Pinsent, the Canadian acting icon who had his own YouTube hit a few weeks back, doing a spoof reading from Bieber’s autobiography, First Step 2 Forever: My Story. Bieber said he hadn’t seen the video, and apparently didn’t even know who Pinsent is.
Getting serious for a second, he denied a fan’s gush that he’s flawless (“I’m not perfect”) and he knows his career isn’t going to always be this wonderful.
But he refuses to dwell on negative thoughts.
“You can’t just think that someone is going to do something wrong, because if you think like that, you’re not going to be happy in your life.
“You have to always expect people to do the right thing, but at the same time, you have to guard yourself and make sure you’re letting the right people in.”
Bieber also doesn’t have time to think about marriage, although star-struck fans constantly pop the question — as one young girl did on Tuesday.
“Will you marry me?” she shyly asked.
“We get that question at least once a day!” Bieber replied.
Justin Bieber during a press conference for his documentary film “Never Say Never” in Toronto on February 1. (CP Images)
Justin Bieber kept the crowd waiting at the Royal York Hotel on Tuesday afternoon, but when he did show up – well, the afternoon wasn’t just for the reporters in the room, anyway.
“Whassup?” calls out the 16-year-old Canadian pop sensation – his hair a little looser than constantly photographed; his face starting to firm toward adulthood – as he appears from the wings and takes his seat 45 minutes later than scheduled for about 50 reporters and photographers. “Hey! Where are my fans at? Are those fans out there? There’s a lot of fans out there, right? But there’s, like, so much room in here.”
“Should we bring ’em in here?” someone calls out.
“You should bring ’em in,” Bieber – keeping the wardrobe simple today with a modest grey hoodie – concurs. “Yeah, yeah, yeah – that makes more sense. I love you guys behind the cameras and stuff. That’s cool, right? But what’s the point if my fans aren’t here.”
Playing up the “Rocky” theme while a score of teenage girls comes in through a lobby door, Bieber points out toward them: “Everyone give it up for my faaaaans!”
The small and tidy phenom from equally small and tidy Stratford, Ontario, is making a home-ground whistle stop on the promotional push before his 3D half-concert/half-documentary feature, “Never Say Never”, hits the cinemas big-time on February 11. Flanked on a Royal York ballroom stage riser by the closest-knit of his team – stylist Ryan Good and strapping security chief Kenny Hamilton to his right; general manager Allison Kaye and Toronto journalist and moderator Richard Crouse to his left – Bieber had been setting off squeals since just before his press conference was scheduled to begin, at 2 p.m.
Reporters looking to bookend their TV reports take turns before Bieber’s arrival by occupying the space marked for him and giddily running through intros. “Have a great Bieber day!” gushes one talking head; another pumps up the adrenaline for his thought-to-be-imminent arrival with rapid-fire effusion before being prompted, in a stunt, to get out of the chair.
“…Awkward…!” she zings. Um… yeah. But, in its own sidelong way, gleefully par for the course.
“I’m not really good at press conferences,” Bieber says at the outset. “I haven’t really done a lot of them. So, I don’t really know how this works. You guys can inform me about how this works. That would be great.”
Crouse leads into an upbeat and fast-moving 25 minutes that feature a few questions about the making of “Never Say Never” – which not only chronicles the 10 days before a long-anticipated (and somewhat nerve-racking) sellout show at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden, but fills in the details of Bieber’s less grandiose background – and a lot of questions of a more “16” magazine variety.
The answers pretty much tell the level of the questions:
– “I think that Twitter’s such a good thing because I’m able to just be, like, interactive with my fans. I’m able to talk to them. They feel like they’re a part of me, which is really important.”
– “I’ve gotta say at first, like, a year ago, I was, like, all about Sour Patch Kids, right? They were the greatest things. But then my fans – they started bringing them to every show. Everything I was at. So, I kept eating them. Now, it’s like if I eat another Sour Patch Kid, I’m probably gonna just throw up. Now, I really like – well, in Canada, they’re Bigfoots. In America, they’re Swedish Fish. Canada’s better, obviously. Ketchup chips are good. I love them.”
– “I never wore long johns. Just sweatpants or something.”
– “I miss Tim Horton’s. I miss Timmy’s. I miss my Ice Cap. I miss seeing my friends and family. I miss my dog, Sam.”
– “Shout out to YouTube!”
The whole world of Bieber’s though, with his adoptive entertainment family keeping him company on stage and keeping him moving throughout “Never Say Never”… it can’t help but bring up the big question: Who does he trust?
“For sure,” he answers. “There’s so many people that are just new in my life. You can’t just think that someone’s going to do something wrong – because if you think like that, you’re not going to be happy in your life. You always have to expect people to do the right thing, but at the same thing you have to guard yourself and make sure you’re letting the right people in.
“All these past two years, these people have become like my family – just travelling with them every day. We’re going to fight like family and we’re going to have good times like family. Overall, at the end of the day, they’re here to make sure that I just become a good person, overall.”
“Never Say Never”, beyond showing singing and dancing sequences from last year’s My World tour, fills in the legendary blanks of Bieber’s seeming rise from nowhere. The famed YouTube clips of Bieber busking outside the Avon Theatre in Stratford and sweetly singing Ne-Yo songs as a wee neophyte on a local stage are included, but there are a few more digs deeper from the home vaults: Bieber bundled up to shovel snow, Bieber entering the Stratford Star talent contest (and finishing second), and some astounding footage of eight-year-old Bieber holding his own as a jazz drummer in a band with full-grown musicians.
There are the expected appearances by celebrities, mentors and peers. Producer LA Reid speaks of how he knew he’d heard “the Macaulay Culkin of music” when he was alerted by Scooter Braun, the aspiring (and relatively inexperienced) Atlanta manager who nabbed Bieber on YouTube faith alone. Usher, who famously took Bieber under his wing, is on-stage and off-, duetting live while also admonishing the young star for balking at health drinks designed to preserve his vocal cords.
“You’re not gonna be 16 forever,” Usher warns, like an older brother, as Bieber holds his nose backstage and downs a special concoction that he complains “tastes like dinosaur pee.”
There is talk of the famed hair, and of his allegiance to his mother Pattie Mallette and the rest of his Canadian family. But, mostly, “Never Say Never” is about the fans – be they the screaming girls in braces outside Toronto’s Air Canada Centre and Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place, or even the 40-somethings at the Royal York press conference who can’t keep their crazed enthusiasm dimmed.
“There’s gonna be haters, no matter what,” Bieber admits at the conference. “People wanna see you succeed, and then once you’re there, they want to bring you down. It’s a weird world. But that’s how it is.
“There’s people who aren’t gonna like me, and that’s just – if they watch this movie and they really get to see that I’m just a nice person, and I’m not like… A lot of people think I’m just a factory machine, and people just put me together out of recycled product. Well, I really worked hard to get here. There’s so many people that helped me.”
And, with that in mind, Bieber invites one of the fans at the press conference to ask him a question. A young girl in a purple hoodie can’t get it out fast enough.
“Will you marry me?” she asks.
“We get that question at least once a day, too,” Bieber responds. “The answer is – you know – never say never, right?”
The nominees for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday and as far as nominations go, The King’s Speech reigned supreme.
Oscar Nominees Colin Firth And Helena Bonham Carter is “The King’s Speech”
The film, which chronicles King George VI’s struggle to overcome a speech impediment, scored 12 nominations including Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture.
The Coen Brothers’ western remake True Grit scored 10 nominations, while the mind-bending thriller Inception and the Facebook biopic The Social Network garnered eight nominations each.
Other films nominees in the Best Picture category are The Kids Are All Right, Toy Story 3, Black Swan, 127 Hours, The Fighter and Winter’s Bone.
Canadian filmakers will also be in the mix in the Best Foreign Language Film category as Quebecois director Denis Veilleneuve’s film Incendies was one of five films chosen for the prize.
Film critic Richard Crouse of CTV’s Canada A.M. said while he’s pleased with the Academy’s choice of nominees overall, there were a few glaring omissions, particularly in the Best Director category.
“I wonder how movies like Inception and 127 Hours get made because apparently they’re not made by the best director of the year,” Crouse told thedailyplanet.com.
“Danny Boyle and Christopher Nolan, although their movies were nominated, didn’t get a Best Director nomination and I think that’s kind of an oversight,” Crouse said.
“I know it’s a narrow field; they’re only five nominees in each category except for Best Picture, but I would’ve expected those names to appear somewhere.”
But Crouse said he was glad that one particular film was surprisingly, and rightfully, recognized by the Academy.
“I was very pleased to see Winter’s Bone was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence,” Crouse said.
“It’s a breakout role for her. Not a lot of people saw the movie but she was fantastic in the film, and I’m just pleased that people were paying attention enough to get that one nominated,” Crouse said.
Crouse made his choice on who will take the Oscar for Best Picture.
“I think Best Picture is very likely going to be The Social Network; Best Director would be David Fincher,” Crouse said.
Crouse also predicted that the chances of Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, and Melissa Leo taking home Oscar gold are very high and he has already predicted a lock for the Best Supporting Actor category.
“Frankly, in the Best Supporting Actor category, if your name isn’t Christian Bale this year, you’re not going to win,” Crouse said.
“The King’s Speech,” the tale of King George VI’s struggle with a stammer, leads this year’s Academy Award nominations with 12 nods, including best picture and acting honours for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.
The British drama has already won the prestigious Producers Guild of America Award – a good omen since the Producers Guild have correctly forecast the Oscar best picture 13 times in the past two decades. But it will have serious competition from “The Social Network,” which tells the story of the early days of Facebook and which dominated the Golden Globe awards and Critics Choice awards.
The Western remake “True Grit” is next in line in nominations with 10, yet its prospects for nabbing a coveted Best Picture trophy on Feb. 27 seem smaller. The film has largely been ignored in awards so far this season, and was completely snubbed by the Golden Globes earlier this month.
Also on the ballot for best picture are the boxing drama “The Fighter,” science fiction thriller “Inception,” the lesbian family tale “The Kids Are All Right,” the stranded hiker drama “127 Hours,” the independent film “Winter’s Bone,” and the animated feature “Toy Story 3.”
“The King’s Speech” star Colin Firth, seen by many as the front-runner for the Best Actor trophy, may have some competition from Javier Bardem, whose performance in the Spanish-language “Biutiful” has been celebrated by critics. Also in the running are Jeff Bridges for “True Grit,” Jesse Eisenberg for “The Social Network” and James Franco for “127 Hours.”
Natalie Portman, currently pregnant with her first child, is seen as a favourite for Best Actress, after picking up a Best Actress Golden Globe earlier this month. But also vying for the trophy is Annette Bening for her performance in the lesbian family drama “The Kids Are All Right.” Also in contention are Nicole Kidman for “Rabbit Hole”; Jennifer Lawrence for “Winter’s Bone”; and Michelle Williams for “Blue Valentine.”
Up for best director are Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”; David Fincher for “The Social Network”; Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”; David O. Russell for “The Fighter”; and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit.”
Notably absent from that list are “127 Hours” director Danny Boyle and “Inception” director Christopher Nolan — a snub that is already generating buzz, given that the movie is up for eight other awards.
Canadian film “Incendies”, from Quebec director Denis Villeneuve, is up for Best Foreign Language Film. The film has already been named best Canadian film by Toronto and Vancouver film critics and has collected several awards on the festival circuit.
Canada hasn’t had a film nominated for a foreign-language film Oscar since 2007, when Deepa Mehta’s “Water” was in contention. And the last time a Canadian film won the category was in 2004 for Denys Arcand’s “The Barbarian Invasions.”
Yet “Barney’s Version,” based on the novel of the same name by Canadian legend Mordechai Richler, was snubbed from any big awards. The film did earn a nomination for best makeup.
Movie critic Richard Crouse says he was surprised to see both Christopher Nolan and Danny Boyle omitted from the best directors list. But he wasn’t surprised to see “The King’s Speech” earn so many nods.
“It will win a whole bunch of those,” Crouse told CTV’s Canada AM shortly after the nominations were announced.
“I mean, it is the kind of movie that the Academy likes. We always used to talk about how the Academy is old and out of touch and that’s changed a great deal. But still, this is the kind of prestige movie that the Academy likes and it’s the kind of biography that they like.”
This year’s 83rd Academy Awards will air live on CTV from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre.
The show will break with recent traditions of using comedians as hosts. Instead, big-screen stars James Franco, a best-actor nominee for “127 Hours,” and Anne Hathaway will be co-hosts.
With just one day before the 82nd Academy Award nominations are announced, another organization is gearing up to “honour” cinema’s worst.
Sandra Bullock accepts the Golden Raspberry Award for worst actress at the 2010 Razzies.
The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation announced on their website their nominations for the 31st Annual Razzies, with sequels, adaptations and remakes taking centre stage.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Last Airbender, both of which are contenders for worst picture, were tied for the most nominations with nine each.
Others films that earned the dubious honour of being nominated for worst picture are the Twilight spoof Vampires Suck, the Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler action comedy The Bounty Hunter and Sex and the City 2.
Film critic Peter Howell of the Toronto Star, said that while the nominations were spot-on for the most part, they were a few glaring snubs.
“I agree with the Razzies although this year I have to say they missed a couple big ones,” Howell said.
“I would’ve put in Kevin Smith’s Cop Out for sure and Little Fockers; I can’t believe Little Fockers didn’t make the worst picture’s list,” Howell said.
Howell also gave his thoughts on a new category of the awards, “Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3D.”
“Clash of the Titans would certainly be high on that list. As long as they have Clash of the Titans in there, they got it covered,” Howell said.
Fellow film critic Richard Crouse of CTV’s Canada A.M. said the Razzies really put an emphasis on films and actors who made the headlines as opposed to who really deserves the Razzie for 2010.
“The Razzies really are more about making a splash than they are about truly celebrating the worst performances of the year,” Crouse said.
“Cher, Liza Minnelli and Barbara Streisand, sort of the battling divas who are vying for worst supporting actress, they all deserve a little slap on the wrist for doing awful work in movies this year,” Crouse said.
“But I kind of find it hard to believe they are the absolute bottom of the barrel,” Crouse said.
The Razzies will be handed out at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre on February 26, just one day before the Oscars.
For the full list of nominees, visit www.razzies.com, and be sure to check out www.thedailyplanet.com tomorrow for coverage of the 83nd Annual Academy Award Nominations.
Four-time Oscar nominated Director and Screenwriter Peter Weir graced Toronto with his presence today, doing Press for his already well-received new Film The Way Back. Known for acclaimed titles like Green Card, Dead Poets Society, The Witness, The Truman Show and more recently, Master and Commander, Weir is still at the top of his game with this latest effort.
Although I am unable to post my Review of The Way Back due to a Press Embargo which ends on Release Day, January 21, 2011, I can say for now that the journey for these Siberian Gulag Prisoners is grueling, and in effect cathartic. This fantastic Ensemble Cast including the likes of Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan and Colin Farrell put on some tour-de-force performances in an all-out fight for survival across Siberia.
As you might recall, Alliance Films was generous enough to give away passes here last week to a few lucky readers for tonight’s Screening at gorgeous Bell Lightbox and it was a pleasure for me to see some familiar faces tonight!
After visiting CBC for a taping of George Stroumboulopoulous Tonight (airing Thursday) earlier in the day, Weir was kind enough to do a Q&A for the Film, hosted by Canada AM’s Richard Crouse. Fielding questions from the Audience, Weir expressed that he has absolutely no regrets focusing attentions now on relatively more-Commercial releases, compared to some of his earlier work. Like Crouse, Weir is wowed by 16 year-old Atonement Star Saoirse Ronan’s professionalism and drive for perfection. The Australian Director concluded that Ronan who plays Irena, simply is an “Old Soul”. On the Film’s Lead Character Janusz played by Jim Sturgess, who delivers a career-best here, Weir acted jokingly insulted about a statement Sturgess made recently on how making this Film was like “making a Movie in the olden days”. In reality, Weir has adapted to the Digital Technology of this era, although he has no interest in making a 3-D Film at this time.
On Filmmaking, Weir feels that his own works are more emotionally rather than intellectually-driven and he gave a practical tip to aspiring Directors to at least try dabbling in Acting and Writing too seeing that they all go hand-in-hand. Equating the process to Working Out, he feels it is important always to remain in-form even if it is per say “writing a 50-word story”.
One longtime Fan in the Audience presented Weir with Roses, which he accepted graciously. When given the microphone, she went on to tell him that she has been a great Admirer since the ’70s and even wrote her Thesis about him. Not quite getting enough, she rushed-up again afterward with her Husband who snapped a Photo of her interacting with Weir, before he personalized a File Folder containing her Thesis. “You captured the sentiments of the Polish so accurately”, she proclaimed multiple times.
Finally getting a moment to speak to Weir, he was kind enough to pose for a Photo together and I kept it short and sweet, seeing how many others were hoping for a moment with him. An honour, indeed.
According to movieweb.com, 648 movies were released in 2010. Here are some of 2010’s releases you may have missed but are worth a look.
Scott Pilgirm vs. The World
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World stars Michael Cera as a 22-year-old Torontonian who must defeat his girlfriend’s Seven Evil Exes if he wants to be with her. It’s a wild ride that nails the pop culture zeitgeist but also tells a universal human story.
Cyrus
Cyrus is an odd movie. It’s about a lonely guy, the woman of his dreams … and her quirky son played by Jonah Hill. Not quite a comedy, not quite a drama, it falls somewhere in between. Just like real life.
Splice
In Splice, a creature goes from newborn to troubled teen in just a matter of weeks. Starring Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody, it’s giddy good fun; the rare sci-fi flick that revels in its B-movie roots while also offering up something to think about.
Harry Brown
Michael Caine has rarely been better than he is in Harry Brown, a gritty Teabag Western about an old man in the Elephant and Castle section of London who strikes back after a gang kills his best mate.
Flipped
Rob Reiner’s Flipped is coming-of-age Rashômon filtered through Leave it to Beaver with a dash of The Wonder Years thrown in for good measure. In other words, it’s a touching, but idiosyncratic film about growing up.
Get Low
Get Low, the unlikely story of a man arranging his own funeral, took on three hankie status as Robert Duvall played an old man looking back on his wasted life.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
This kidnapping drama features three characters, three, maybe four sets and one hundred minutes of unrelenting tension. It’s a nasty little piece of work, remorselessly bleak but carefully crafted enough to be intriguing.
Winter’s Bone
Winter’s Bone should be seen not only for its uncompromising story of an Ozark girl who will do anything to keep her family together, but also for the breakout performance of its star, Jennifer Lawrence.
Defendor
In Defendor, Woody Harrelson plays a man whose rich inner life spills out into his real life. By day he’s dead-end-job-Arthur but at night he’s superhero Defendor. Gritty and funny, Harrelson breathes life into a role that could easily have fallen into cliché.
Marwencol
Marwencol, a documentary about a man with a severe brain injury who creates his own world as therapy is one of the funniest, most touching and inspirational films of the year.
Toronto was lucky enough to get an official Premiere for Sofia Coppola’s highly-anticipated new Film Somewhere, winner of the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival this September. The festivities took place at Varsity Cinema where its star Stephen Dorff came by to greet an intimate audience, which included many close friends made over the years in his many visits to the City. In fact, Dorff filmed his first Movie ever, The Gate, in Toronto back in 1986 and since then the Los Angeles native’s career has seen many highs including starring roles in important Films like Backbeat, Blade and Cecil B. Demented. He completes two full days of Press in the City tomorrow.
Dropping by quickly the introduce what he called “the most important film of his career”, Dorff was presented by CTV’s Canada AM Film Critic Richard Crouse and returned post-Screening for a Q&A. Dressed in a well-cut Suit, Dorff arrived exactly as expected – ruggedly handsome. The Actor who surprisingly is diminutive compared to his on-screen presence, undoubtedly is proud of his work here.
Somewhere is a story about a lonely Film Star perhaps past his prime, Johnny Marco, who calls the famed Château Marmont home. He is a Playboy – bedding many adoring Women – drinking and partying heavily, or as one anonymous spiteful ex-Lover succinctly calls him in a Text Message, “an Asshole”. One day his twelve year-old Daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning, younger sister of Dakota) shows up unexpectedly for an undetermined period as her Mother must sort out some personal issues. Although interfering with his structure-free lifestyle, Johnny soon finds the experience rewarding, ultimately forcing him to re-evaluate his priorities in life in having been spoiled by Hollywood as an eternal adolescent.
Dorff admitted to Crouse and the audience, “I couldn’t have played this role ten years ago” and only after his Mother Nancy had fallen ill, subsequently passing away, did he acquire the maturity and depth required in the quiet role of Johnny. Coppola wrote the Screenplay for Somewhere specifically with Dorff in mind and his admiration for her was mutual, praising her unique vision. “She (Coppola) wants us to observe her characters like a fly on the wall” says Dorff, indicating that he felt really challenged by his role – despite having much screen-time, he has little to say; he felt stripped of all his tricks.
In preparation for the Film, Dorff was given bonding assignments by Coppola to get him better acquainted with his on-screen Daughter. “I’d have to pick Elle up from school, realizing that my car stank of Cigarettes and this helped put me into the role Johnny that much easier”, he recalled. Dorff also took her out for Ice Cream, only to realize that Fanning much prefers Frozen Yogurt. Before he knew it, they had transformed convincingly into Father and Daughter.
Although I was hoping v. much for it to have premiered this September at TIFF, I am thrilled to have been able to review this fourth effort from superlative Coppola. Due to a Press Embargo though, I won’t be able to post my Review until Wednesday, so please remember to check back. Somewhere will open in select cities December 22, 2010 and everywhere on January 7, 2011 via Focus Features/Alliance Films.
Most Canadians know actor Bruce Greenwood for his work in big-budget American films like Star Trek. But long before he played JFK in Thirteen Days the affable Canuck got his start playing a scuba diver with two lines on the locally shot show, The Beachcombers, and often returns home to work with directors such as Atom Egoyan.
“The Beachcombers was a great lesson in how not to pad your resume,” he told an intimate crowd gathered at the Whistler Conference Centre before relaying a funny tale about fudging his diving experience. A comedy of errors ensued resulting in crushing head pain and a dropped mask, which forced a grip to strap on a tank, jump in the water and retrieve it from the ocean floor.
It was a casual conversation about his experiences with plenty of humorous anecdotes about autographs, interviews, acting and even Sly Stallone freaking out on the set of First Blood after missing his mark. (Greenwood played Guardsman #5). “Is this being recorded?” he asked afterwards.
There was also a funny moment when interviewer and film critic Richard Crouse asked Greenwood if he remembered any negative reviews. “Greenwood’s choppy acting style lends nothing to the production,” he deadpanned, before sarcastically adding, “No, I don’t.”
Another funny yarn involved a friend calling Greenwood up to ask if he’d seen the Today show following the release of the film Double Jeopardy. The friend told him that film critic Gene Shalit had ripped him on the show, claiming Greenwood “ruined the movie”. Greenwood was crushed and, after he hung up the phone, had a lengthy conversation with his wife before deciding he had to just let it go. After many painfully silent hours the friend called him back and said, “I got ya!”
Toronto’s renewed winter wallop has a super fan in Canadian superstar Justin Bieber.
