The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Naomi Watts pulls off 'The Impossible' to critical acclaim Posted: 18 Dec 2012 06:58 PM PST LOS ANGELES: Days after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, actress Naomi Watts took part in a fundraising telethon spearheaded by George Clooney to help the millions of people from Indonesia to the east coast of Africa whose lives were shattered. Little did Watts know that eight years later she would be starring in "The Impossible," out in the U.S. movie theaters on Friday, about a real family's experience in Thailand. The earthquake and tsunami killed more than 5,000 people, left more than 2,800 missing and displacing 7,000 more in Thailand alone. She hesitated to star in the film when she was first approached by Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona. "I thought, how do you make a movie about a tsunami without it becoming some sort of spectacular disaster movie?" Watts, 44, told Reuters. "That would be so wrong." But once Watts read the script, she said was moved by the story based on the real-life Spanish family of Maria Belon, her husband, Enrique Alvarez, portrayed by Ewan McGregor, and their three sons. Belon's family was spending their Christmas holiday in Thailand when the tsunami hit. Injured and separated, the film follows their struggle to survive in the aftermath and their perseverance in finding each other amidst the chaos. "I felt a huge amount of pressure because of the responsibility to Maria's story," said Watts. "And on her back, she carries the stories of everybody else, because hers is connected to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. I felt a sense of responsibility." PLAUDITS FOR WATTS' PERFORMANCE The British-born, Australian actress delivered, despite her fears. So far, her performance has earned Watts best actress nominations from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The weekly newspaper, The New York Observer, wrote in its review that "Watts seems almost spiritually committed to her role" while The Hollywood Reporter trade paper said she "packs a huge charge of emotion as the battered, ever-weakening Maria whose tears of pain and fear never appear fake or idealized." Watts credits the real Maria Belon, a doctor, for being "an open book" when it came to recalling the experience. The two met before shooting began, and Belon was on the film set. Belon also wrote detailed letters chronicling her experience, including taking refuge in a tree and and being found by Thai villagers. One of the more challenging aspects of the shoot was recreating the tsunami, a 10-minute sequence in the film that Watts said took six weeks to shoot on location in Spain. Rather than creating the tidal wave digitally, actors were anchored in water tanks with the current pushing at them and "debris being chucked at you." Though incomparable to the suffering of those who went through the ordeal in 2004, Watts said shooting the sequence was "physically the most demanding thing I've ever done." There was much more dialogue scripted during that sequence but "you were struggling to breathe and we quickly learned that once you open your mouth, water is going in and nothing is coming out. "Though it was difficult, I'm grateful we got that kind of level of fear and intensity," she added. What offset the intensity during the shoot was having her sons Sasha, 5, and Sammy, 4, visiting Watts on the set. "We had them paint stuff on themselves like scars and wounds, then rub them off so they could see it wasn't real," recalled Watts. It's a far cry from the way she used to approach her work before having kids, such as her Oscar-nominated performance as a grief-stricken mother the 2003 film "21 Grams." "I was taking everything home with me, staying up all hours, writing, thinking, researching ... just living with torment," Watts recalled of that time. "I can't live like that at this point in my life with little ones. I am a mom of two small kids and once I put the key in the door, it's my duty to be totally present." -Reuters |
| Jackie Chan: The romantic hero Posted: 18 Dec 2012 05:30 PM PST After his latest action movie CZ12, Jackie Chan is game for dramatic and romantic roles. WHAT is all this talk about Jackie Chan retiring soon? Of course, he is not. He may be pushing 60, but the mega action star is not about to hang up his kung fu shoes yet. In fact, there is a lot more in the works: a couple of movies, a new album and even a musical. With so much going on, he cannot afford to endanger his life with any more of his signature death-defying stunts. After all, the Hong Kong filmmaker admits he is not getting any younger and all his past injuries and broken bones are coming back to haunt him. "Sometimes, when it hurts somewhere on my body, I'm never sure whether it's due to injuries I sustained today or yesterday or last week, or last month or even last year. In fact, there are days when it seems to hurt everywhere, all over my body," said Chan, who celebrated his 58th birthday in April this year. "I have to take better care of my health because there is so much more for me to do. There is no point risking my life doing those stunts, now that special effects and editing can make everything look just as convincing." He may be starring in his last major action movie but he is not giving up moviemaking or even action films. Chan expressed his desire to play dramatic and even romantic roles. "Instead of being an action star, I want to show that I'm an actor who can fight. Although the characters I've played have all had love interests, I never get to do any kissing scenes. I would like to make some love stories, the ones where there will be kissing scenes with a pretty lady as well as long, leisurely strolls on the beach," Chan mused, naming our very own action queen Datuk Seri Michelle Yeoh as the belle he would love to have as a romantic leading lady. In Kuala Lumpur last week to promote his latest movie CZ12 (also known as Chinese Zodiac), Chan was accompanied by stunning mainland Chinese starlets Yao Xintong and Zhang Lanxin, who is also a national taekwondo champion. After spending seven years writing the script, Chan took another one-and-a-half years to shoot CZ12. Told in the vein of Armour Of God (1987), the infamous film with the stunt that nearly took his life, CZ12 tells of a treasure hunter on a mission to retrieve the missing bronze heads of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac that were looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace during the Opium Wars in 1860. Earlier this month, the action maestro had been awarded with two Guinness World Records: The Most Stunts Performed By A Living Actor and Most Credits in One Movie. The latter award refers to the 15 credits Chan has to his name in the action adventure CZ12, among them being lead actor, film director, producer, scriptwriter, stunt choreographer, theme song vocalist and even catering co-ordinator. "I was born in the studio, and I have been working on the set since I was a kid. Making movies comes naturally to me," said the Hong Kong superstar who told the media at the opening of the China Movie Channel Media Awards in June this year that he had made over 250 movies. CZ12 was filmed in several countries, in both urban and rural settings, with Chan braving the various elements of fire, water and wind. He rolled downhill in a stunt filmed at the Yasur Volcano on Tanna Island in Vanuatu. He took on an airborne fighting sequence in the vertical wind tunnel in Jelgava, Latvia. Other stunts included manoeuvring down roads as a "human buggy" while wearing a special 31-wheel roller suit, and diving into the ocean without a diving licence. Other members of CZ12's multi-national cast include South Korean actors Kwon Sang Woo and Steve Yoo, Taiwanese actors Jonathan Lee and Chen Bo Lin, mainland Chinese actor Liao Fan, French actress Laura Weissbecker, US judo champion Caitlin Dechelle, French Moroccan actor Alaa Safi and American actor Oliver Platt. With all the speculation about another sequel to the Rush Hour franchise, Chan confirmed that there were talks for a possible movie collaboration with American actor Chris Tucker, but it would not be Rush Hour 4. Of all the movies he has made, Chan says his favourite is the Police Story series. He has been named Best Actor for both Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992) at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards 1992 and New Police Story (2004) at China's Golden Rooster Awards 2005. Police Story (1985) and Police Story 2 (1988) have both won for Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards. So it is no surprise that he is super-excited to have commenced production of his next movie Police Story 2013. Not intended as a sequel, the plot of the 2013 movie is said to revolve around a hostage drama with Chan portraying a mainland Chinese cop. Filming in Beijing is expected to wrap up next March. > CZ12 opens in local cinemas nationwide tomorrow. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan