Off the screen magazine september 2014

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Contents On the Cover: 28 SEEING THE WORLD FOR WHAT IT IS It’s a colourless, emotionless world in the new young adult book adaption, The Giver.

Brenton Thwaites tells us about this world, and his attempts to save it

Features: 22 GOING, GOING, NOT YET GONE Comedy actress legend Diane Keaton sees through Michael Douglas’ mean old man exterior in the light hearted comedy, And So It Goes

36 THE MONTH ACCORDING TO CHLOE GRACE MORETZ We have a look at the films coming, not only this month, but also this year and into next, starring one of our favourite teen stars, Chloe Grace Moretz

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Brenton Thwaites sees colour in a colourless world in The Giver

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We look at the films coming this year and next starring one of our favourite young actresses, Chloe Grace Moretz

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Comedy legend Diane Keaton talks to us about her latest film, And So It Goes

Pierce Brosnan gets his action on in the CIA thriller, The November Man

74 FIRE HOPPING

50 RELEASED AUGUST

Our favourite crop duster turned racing plane, Dusty Crophopper, returns to the screen this month, but this time he’s not battling racers, he’s battling fires in Planes 2: Fire and Rescue. Dane Cook, the voice behind the rotor, tells us about returning to the sky

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80 NOVEMBER MAN Former Bond actor Pierce Brosnan tells us about his latest foray into the espionage genre, but not as the suave British spy, as a CIA assassin, in The November Man

Regulars: 12 WHAT TO SEE IN SEPTEMBER Dracula Untold The Maze Runner The Giver If I Stay 86 DSTV THROWBACK Pay it Forward

Reviews: 46 RELEASED AUGUST 15TH Jersey Boys Venus in Fur Between Friends

The Hundred-Foot Journey The Purge: Anarchy Sin City: A Dame to Kill For 56 RELEASED AUGUST 29TH Hard to Get Lucy Tammy Lovelace Die Spook van Uniondale 66 RELEASED SEPTEMBER 5TH Into the Storm Mom’s Night Out As Above, So Below

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Editor

Editors Letter

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Jon Broeke

here are two young adult novel film adaptions coming to our screens this month, with The Giver, starring Benton Thwaites and Jeff Bridges and The Maze Runner, starring Dylan O'Brien.

We sat down with Thwaites to discuss his post-apocalyptic world, with no colour in it, and have a preview look at The Maze Runner in our What To See in September article.

We also talk to Pierce Brosnan for The November Man, his latest foray into espionage, Dane Cook, the voice of Dusty Crophopper in Planes 2: Fire and Rescue, comedy legend Diane Keaton for And So It Goes and Brendan Gleeson for Calvary.

We also have a closer look at the films starring our favourite young star Chloe Grace Moretz coming this year and into next.

Don’t forget to look at our regular content, reviews of some of the films that released in August, as well as the films to look out for in the month of September.

We love to hear from our readers, so please, take five minutes to drop us line at – offthescreenmagazine@gmail.com – Whether it’s a comment, a complaint or just to shoot the breeze, we’d love to know your thoughts. We also love to receive reader reviews, so if you’ve seen a movie and want to tell us about it, please do.

Also remember to visit us at our website: www.offthescreenmagazine.com for other interviews, and content.

Thanks for reading our magazine, and, as always, we’ll see you at the movies.

jon.broeke@gmail.com

Photo Credits Nu Metro, Ster Kinekor, Getty Images, UPI.com, Google Images, imdb.com

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Or www.offthescreenmagazine. com

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Best Wishes Jon Broeke Editor Off The Screen Magazine ___________________________________________________________________

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Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Samantha Barks DIRECTOR: Gary Shore A medieval prince, Vlad Tepes (Luke Evans), faces unbelievable odds

when a sultan from a far off place, Mehmed (Dominic Cooper), seeks to destroy his kingdom. To save his kingdom, his wife, Mirena (Sarah Gadon) and his son

What to see in September

(Art Parkinson), the prince turns to the forces of darkness, a monster living in the mountains who gives him the power to save his kingdom and his people by

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turning him into the creature we know as Dracula. With this incredible power the prince turns the tide of the battle and protects those he loves, but the darkness inside him becomes too strong, leading to the true danger being himself, and those he gave his very soul to protect, turning on him.

This is not the first time we’ve seen the origin story of Dracula, the oldest and most powerful of the vampires. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) we saw Gary Oldman as the prince turn from the church after the death of his love and become the monster, but that’s only in the first ten minutes of the movie. This is the first time, that I’m aware of, that an entire film is focused on the creation of this monster, and what

turned him into the creature we know today. It looks awesome, a great combination of effects and drama and horror to create a moving period piece. The first thing you notice from the trailer is the costumes and the sets, which both look incredible, add to that the bat effects, prevalent in the trailer, and you’ve got what looks like an epic film.

It should also be well acted with stars the likes of Evans, Cooper and Gadon all carrying their roles well in the trailer. If you like horrors with an air of medieval knight film thrown in for good measure, this is one you shouldn’t miss.

What to see in September

Dracula Untold opens in South African cinemas October 3rd

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What to see in September

Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas BrodieSangster, Will Poulter, Thomas Brodie-Sangster DIRECTOR: Wes Ball Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) wakes up in a wire frame elevator moving rapidly to the surface. When it stops he finds himself in a clearing, called the Glades, surrounded by a bunch of boys, with no memories of who he is, or why he’s there.

The only other thing there is a mysterious maze that opens every morning, allowing a group of the boys, called runners, into it, but closing again at night, and none of the runners being heard from again. Thomas is desperate for a way out of the Glades, but the others won’t let him, unti the elevator comes up again, with the only girl, Theresa (Kaya Scodelario), who know who he is, and more than what they know. Now the maze won’t close at night, and the monster within, called grievers, are coming out for all of them, and Thomas might be the only one that can get them all home.

Young adult fiction films are really popular at the moment, from The Hunger Games, to Twilight, to Harry Potter, they are fan favourites. This film looks to be no different, with an interesting story, a bunch of twists and turns to keep the Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________

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What to see in September

viewers interested and a helpful dose of special effects, this looks to be a great offering for September. I will be honest and say that it looks a little too alien oriented, which could go really bad really fast, but I’m willing to keep an open mind and see it before making up my mind. I will say that with O’Brien, Will Poulter, formerly from one of the Narnia films, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster, from Nanny McPhee and Nowhere Boy, this looks to have the cast to make these character believable and sympathetic, so even if the reasons for their plight is completely ridiculous at the end, you may want them to survive anyway, just because of these actors. Let’s hope so, but either way, it should be a good watch.

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What to see in September

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___________________________________________ Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Odeya Rush DIRECTOR: Phillip Noyce In a futuristic world everyone is happy, everyone lives in peace and contentment, but they also have no real emotions or free will, of course no one really know this until a young man, Jonas (Brenton Thwaite), stumbles on the old home of a man known as The Giver (Jeff Bridges), the only person in the whole world who remembers what it was like before things changed. He shows Jonas the way things were introducing him to emotions, feelings, and even colours, something else that we’ve lost. He also opens up Jonas’ eyes to other truths, like the truth of what the elders, those in control of this new world, and led by the Chief Elder (Meryl Streep), are willing to do to maintain the peace and stability that they control. It falls to Jonas and the girl he loves, Fiona (Odeya Rush), to save the world, and put things back the way they should be.

This film looks very interesting, especially the way it’s shot. It casts my mind back to The Wizard of Oz, and Oz: The Great and Powerful where the world as they see it, and we see it as well, is black and white, until something happens to bring out the colour. This is a great

What to see in September

tool in relating to the audience that things have changed in such a way that they simply can’t go back to the way they were, and that is simply awesome. The injections to rid emotions were done in Equilibrium 2002, but it’s still a good concept, and seems to work very well in this film. It has everything we’re looking for, a good compelling story, interesting characters and plot twists and a fair amount of action, if the trailer is anything to go by. I also like the space age looking vehicles and homes. This is one that all fans of teen fiction, as well as the sci0fi genre, should go and see. It looks to be really wonderful.

The Giver opens in South African cinemas September 12th

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Chloë Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Jamie Blackley DIRECTOR: R.J. Cutler Mia (Chloe Grace Moretz) has her whole life ahead of her. A wonderful cellist, she’s on the short list to get into Julliard, she has loving parents who want what’s best for her, and she’s just met someone that she’s falling madly in love with, Adam (Jamie Blackley).

He is also a musician and is opening her eyes to things she’s never dreamed of, even though her parents

aren’t sure he’s the best thing for her. It seems she has everything she could possibly want, but when a tragic accident leads to the death of her parents and her falling into a coma, hovering between life and death, she has to make the toughest decision she’s ever had to make in her young life. Does she move on to be with her parents, or does she risk everything and stay with the man she loves, regardless of what that means for her?

We love Moretz at Off The Screen. She’s pretty and smart and an amazing

What to see in September

actress, so we’re really keen on this film. She has the ability to take something mediocre and make it great, and because this film is anything but mediocre, it should be completely wonderful. This is the first time she’s going to be facing such extreme emotions, and it’ll be interesting to see how she handles that on the screen, though we are 100% absolutely sure she will be able to do it without so much as breaking a sweat.

The film itself looks like a tear jerker from beginning to end. I think its shot in a

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What to see in September

series of flashbacks, that would make the most sense, the car accident happening in the beginning and then Mia remembering her times with Adam and her family in flashbacks while she tries to make her decision, but that is just conjecture at this point. Either way it looks to be a tear jerking, emotional rollercoaster along the vein of The Fault in our Stars, which we completely adored. So if you like you films with a healthy dose of tissues on hand, then this is one you should see.

If I Stay opens in South African cinemas September 19th Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________

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Diane Keaton

GOING, GOING, NOT YET GONE THIS MONTH SEES THREE COMEDY ICONS COMING TOGETHER ON THE SCREEN AS DIANE KEATON AND MICHAEL DOUGLAS STAR TOGETHER IN ROB REINER’S AND SO IT

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cting legend Diane Keaton really broke onto the world stage with the role that made her career, that in 1977’s Annie Hall, but she had been working for almost ten years at that point in her career. Now, with a career spanning 44 years and more than 60 credits to her name, she is sharing the screen with another legend to the screen, Michael Douglas.

In And So It Goes, Douglas plays an old, stuck in his rather rude ways, real estate agent who suddenly finds his life thrown into turmoil when his estranged

son drops his young granddaughter, Sarah, played by Sterling Jerins, on his doorstep. The old man has no idea what to do with the kid, so he ropes in Keaton, his next door neighbour, to help him take care of this little girl.

Together they open up each other’s eyes, not only about the importance of family, but also about each other at the same time.

We sat down to talk to Keaton about her working with Douglas, why she wanted to take this role, and working with another icon, Rob Reiner, who directed this film, for the first time in both of their long careers…

What was the reason you decided to take this role?

Everything was feeling to me with this project. Number 1: I got to play opposite Michael Douglas, that’s number one, because I’ve got a list of men that I want to act with before it’s over, you know what I mean, and he’s one of them, so this was really important to me.

Number 2: was, of course, the script, and that really is great. Number 3 is the singing, the chance to sing, because when I was young I had that fantasy that I wanted to be a singer, and I thought that I was going to try, try, to be in musical comedies, and try, but to

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Diane Keaton

“She’s stimulated by Michael Douglas’ schmucky attitude so that she stands up and gives it back.”

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Oren (Michael Douglas) and Leah (Diane Keaton) in And So It Goes ____________________________________________________

Diane Keaton

him. I liked teasing him a lot, it really made the set fun for me, and he can take a joke, but he can also dish it out too, so it was just really a great warring effort between the two of us.

Tells us about working with Rob Reiner.

have this given to me, the opportunity to sing four songs in the movie is incredible, and number 4 is just to be 68 years old, or is that 65, I don’t even know where I am anymore, but to be 68 years old and to be in a romantic comedy, where I get to kiss the guy. To me that’s beautiful.

What is the driving force for your character?

him know what the truth is.

And make no mistakes about it, she provokes him, and I think that he provokes her, and it’s a great match.

How was Michael Douglas to work with?

Well, he’s a pro, he’s a complete pro, and I’m a complete slob, so it was really a nice mix. I really liked playing around with

Rob loosens that set up. He’s a guy who makes you feel relaxed so you can do your job, and he likes improvisation, not that I improvise, but he likes it loose, so you make it yours.

He hired me because he must have seen that, I mean, it’s his choice. I was happy that I was chosen, and I think that he thought I was kind of sloppy and kind of a mess, but he kind of liked me anyway, because he hired me. He decided to give me that chance, and that Heavens that he did, right?

What is this film really about, in your eyes?

Second chances. People get a second chance, or a third

I think that what happens is that she’s stimulated by Michael Douglas’ schmucky attitude so that she stands up and gives it back, gives a little dish of what he’s dishing out, and that’s what I like about what happens to her, is that she’s provoked by his behaviour to become a stand up woman, who lets Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________

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Diane Keaton

Oren (Michael Douglas), Sarah (Sterling Jerins) and Leah (Diane Keaton) spend the day at the park in And So It Goes chance, or a fourth chance, or a fifth chance, if you’re just willing to open up and take it, if you’re willing to just plunge in. That’s what I love about the movie, it’s what I wish I could apply to my own life, that I could have a lot of chance if I could just be more courageous in life, and just step out there, but we wall

ourselves off sometimes, when we get older, and it’s really important to try and take those baby steps and keep confronting life and people and opportunities with people, because, really, you need to experience love as much as you can, as much as you can in any way, shape or form.

And So It Goes opens in South African cinemas September th 19

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Cover Story: Brenton Thwaites

SEEING THE WORLD FOR WHAT IT IS WE FIND OURSELVES IN AN EMOTIONLESS, COLOURLESS WORLD IN THE GIVER THIS MONTH. WE CHATTED TO BRENTON THWAITES, THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN SAVE US FROM THIS FUTURE, TO SEE IF HE HAS WHAT IT TAKES

Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) with Fiona Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________ (Odeya Rush) in a scene from The Giver

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Cover Story: Brenton Thwaites

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here is no doubting the popularity of young adult novels that are being turned into films. From the mystery and magic of Harry Potter, to the dangerous love of Twilight, to the love and heartbreak of The Fault in our Stars, these are bankable products at the cinemas, but none more so than the post-apocalyptic worlds that are created in the novels of Suzanne Collins, the Hunger Games, and Veronica Roth, the Divergent Series, both of which have new films coming out at the end of this year. Moving into that same slot this month is the film The Giver, based on the novel by Lois Lowry. It’s also based in a post-apocalyptic world, but the difference is, the characters have no idea they’re living in a postapocalyptic world.

Brenton Thwaites, the star of the film, sat down with us recently to explain exactly what is going on in this crazy world.

“Basically Jonas is a normal kid inside this community,” he told us about his character in the film. “Who discovers that he’s living a lie. Everything is designed to protect these people, and he finds out the truth from the Giver, and Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________

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Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) with Fiona (Odeya Rush) in a scene from The Giver _______________________________________

decides to escape to find out the whole truth, and in order to release all the memories and the people inside, his loved ones, his family his friends, to discover the truth also, he has to escape and release the memories.”

That doesn’t explain very much, so we pushed him to uncover his character even further.

Cover Story: Brenton Thwaites

“Jonas starts off as just a normal kid,” he continued. “Inside this community called Sameness, where people can’t see colour, they can’t feel all of human emotions, it’s controlled by an injection that they receive every morning, and basically throughout the story Jonas discovers his gift, and learns that he can see colour, and

feel things that others can’t.

So he’s chosen to receive all the history of the world by The Giver.”

Things obviously go wrong from there, as they so often do, but how does this connect with the audience, the people who are watching the film and not knowing what’s going on.

“The lessons that Jonas learns throughout the book,” he said “Every human finds and goes through. I think that everyone gets something from that book.

Also the metaphors are very clear for kids. It’s not hard to see what Lois is talking about, I mean, she’s talking about sameness, and when Jonas wants to escape, and to find freedom and find love and all these things he’s experiencing, he wants more of that.”

Let’s hope the film connects as well as the book does, and part of the connection will come from the man playing The Giver himself, Jeff Bridges.

“I love working with Jeff,” Thwaites told us. “I love that he gives his ideas, constantly, no matter if we’re halfway, or three quarters of the way through a scene or on the final shot, he’ll give his ideas, and it’s encouraged me to speak up about my ideas and be fearless in the way he expresses them.”

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“Inside this

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Cover Story: Brenton Thwaites

face to come in, close to the end of the shoot, and give us all this

community called Sameness. People can’t see colour, they can’t feel all of human renewed energy.” emotions.” was an It It was a great environment for Thwaites to work with the veteran actor.

“It was such a creative environment,” he continued. “And Jeff’s so willing to improvise, and do little like quirky things before the shot to kind of help me out, and it taught me to try and do the same for him. I learnt a lot in those couple of weeks, I’m still learning a lot as we finish shooting, but I loved working with Jeff.”

Another major heavyweight making her debut in youth fiction is Academy Award winning actress Meryl Streep.

“The Chief Elder, Meryl Streep,” Thwaites told us her role. “I’m very excited that she’s on board. She just brought a really fresh, kind of excitement to the film. It was great to get such a fresh

interesting experience for Thwaites to play a character that’s never felt before, or seen colour, for that matter.

Could he really see himself in that kind of a world?

“To be honest,” he said. “I read the script and found a real opportunity to find such simple things in a new way. I have been in love before, so I know what love feels like, and I’ve seen colours, all my life, so I know what colour looks like, but I

thought it was interesting to play around with the different ways of how that would affect me now, you know, Brenton, twenty four years old, seeing colour for the first time, what would I feel? How would I feel? As I read it I ask myself all these questions, how would I feel if I was falling into this sled memory. What I used to imagine that was skydiving. I tried to feel the same kind of butterflies in my stomach and the same fear and adrenalin, but I thought that was so interesting.”

The film also asks a lot of questions, such as what are we willing to give up to safe? When is control acceptable? These are things the audience has to learn along with Jonas in the film.

“The audience learns as Jonas learns,” Thwaites told us. “And Phil’s [Noyce, the director] shooting a lot of it from Jonas’ POV, and so we see what Jonas sees as he discovers love, pain, war,

Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) with The Giver (Jeff Bridges) in a scene from The Giver

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Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) and Fiona (Odeya Rush) kiss for _______________________________________ the first time in a scene from The Giver

hate, murder, all these great, as well as, horrible memories, but the question is asked, half way, or three quarters, through the film, what’s the point of having such love without such hate, or such hate without such love? Is it better to experience both those things, or neither.”

Thwaites really thinks that this film is about facing up to your fears, and overcoming them, something he feels firmly that every person in the

Cover Story: Brenton Thwaites

world should do.

“I think it’s important for teens to know that fear is relevant to growing up,” he told us. “And it’s important to face those fears, and be challenged by them, and be challenged yourself to overcome them.”

But it’s not just about fear, because it touches on all the huge range of human emotions.

“It touches on every main emotion that we all go through,” Thwaites said.

“Love, pain, betrayal and a

willingness to get out and see more, adventure, a hunger for life. I think, me as a kid, I really wanted that, to travel and get out there and experience things, and I think Jonas does exactly that. I think that’s inspiring for kids.”

He hopes his performance will touch the children who watch the film.

“I hope that me, portraying Jonas, encourages younger people to feel, in a way,” he said.

“To emote and to not be embarrassed to voice their opinions or their emotions.

To let them out. There’s a lot of our life that seems like we’re in a little egg, and that’s the great metaphor about the Giver, is that it is kind of teaching people to break out of that egg, and to do things they want to do, to follow their dreams, to face their fears, and chase their loves and all these things. So I hope that it inspires people to do that.”

Be inspired and let your emotions out when you see The Giver,

Opening in South African cinemas, nationwide,

September 12th.

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Chloe Grace Moretz Feature

The Month according to

Chloe Grace Moretz We have a look at the slew of films that Chloe Grace Moretz has starred in, and is starring in, in 2014 and into 2015.

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Chloe Grace Moretz Feature

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E

_________________________________________ very year a child pops up in a starring role in a film that really catches the attention of audiences and critics alike. Annasophia Robb did it in Bridge to Terrabithia, Dakota Fanning did it in I am Sam, Christina Ricci did it in The Addams Family. These child stars seem destined for incredible careers, but very few of them stand the test of time, moving from child star, to teen star, to adult actor.

Fanning has managed it, moving from cute roles into more adult parts, her latest film, Very Good Girls, has rumours of nudity even.

Ricci managed to move from child star into adult star, but struggled with the teen part, seemingly disappearing from the world of film until she was fully grown and doing aerial tricks on top of Peter McNicol in Ally McBeal.

Robb is currently moving through her teen star phase with such movies as Soul Surfer and the TV show, The Carrie Diaries, keeping her in the public light while she grows up. I’m sure she’ll make a great adult star.

Another young actress, one that burst onto the scenes as a foul mouth vigilante when she was only 13 in the hit cult film, Kick-

Chloe Grace Moretz Feature

Chloe on Good Morning America in New York Ass, was someone we at Off The Screen are a huge fan of.

Chloe Grace Moretz has moved from strength to strength since her role as Hit Girl, playing a young vampire in Let Me In, a hitch hiker in Hick, a serial killer’s would-be victim in Texas Killing Fields, and even a werewolf in Dark Shadows.

This sees her releasing no more than five features,

including some of her most adult roles to date, and she has two very impressive releases coming out soon, one set for next year, and one showing at the Toronto Film Festival that is sure to cause a lot of stirs.

This year started, in January, with Moretz playing an iconic horror character, made famous by Sissy Spacek, in 1976. Moretz played a young girl who is

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Chloe getting her Carrie on _________________________________________

Chloe Grace Moretz Feature

Chloe with Gulliver McGrath who plays her cousin in Dark Shadows Chloe with Denzel Washington in a scene from The Equaliser

teased and traumatised at school by bullies, but also at home by an insanely religious mother who thinks she’s the devil, played by Julianne Moore. Though Moretz had started growing up in her other roles, KickAss 2 saw her having her first one screen kiss, this was the first time we saw her taking on such an iconic role, and she handled it beautifully.

“Why wouldn’t you want to play Carrie, you know what I mean?” Moretz said of the role in an interview we did with her in January. “Carrie is such a diverse and multi-layered character, and there’s so many ways you can go with her. You can show her

vulnerability, her astrocisation, the manipulation, and the loss, and the convoluted sense of happiness. There are just so many things for an actor to portray in that, and also to do homage to a Stephen King character. That is honestly the ultimate character.”

After Carrie she featured as a cameo, along with most of Hollywood, in the latest Muppet film, Muppet’s, Most Wanted, cementing her place as a respected, and sought after Hollywood star, along with Tina Fey, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, just to name a few of the faces seen in the film.

That leads us to this month and two of her most adult films to date, namely If I Stay and The Equaliser.

In The Equaliser Moretz plays a prostitute that compels Denzel Washington’s retired assassin back into action

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Chloe in full HitGirl uniform for KickAss 2

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Chloe Grace Moretz Feature

Chloe playing the cello in If I Stay. She learnt to play the instrument for the role

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“I am a

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prostitute in the movie, so I’d say provocative is a little nice.” – Moretz on her character in The Equaliser when he sees her almost killed. It’s a small role, per se, since the film is an actioner with Washington filling most of the screen time, but it is an important role. She laughs hysterically when asked about the provocativeness of the role in an Access Hollywood interview.

“I am a prostitute in the movie,” she laughs. “So I’d say provocative is a little nice. She’s a prostitute, but you never see her prostitute,” she continues laughing, thinking of the best way to explain the role.

“You only see the girl, and emotional vulnerability and lost moments of who she is.”

The second role she has this month is even more about the emotion and vulnerability when she splays a cellist who falls in love, but then dies in a car accident and has to decide

whether to stay with her guy,

played

by Jamie Blackley, when her parents are both gone. This is the first time that Moretz is really acting alongside a love interest, the most she’d done to this

Chloe Grace Moretz Feature point was the kiss between her and Aaron TaylorJohnson in Kick-Ass 2. During an interview with Hitfix.com the interviewer asked about the most demanding moment in the film for both young actors.

“For me,” answered Moretz. “There were two. I can’t say one really, because it’s a big plot twist, but there’s one scene where I lose someone really close to me in the movie and it was really hard, it was a really difficult scene to do, and when it happened I had to walk off set. I just had to leave. I couldn’t be there, I couldn’t do it again, I couldn’t have another

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Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________ Chloe on Good Morning America in New York with her If I Stay co-star Jamie Blackley

Chloe at the If I Stay premiere in _________________________________________ Los Angeles

Chloe in If I Stay

person die around me.” Both she and Blackley laugh, but you can tell that it had a profound effect on Moretz, who is border line laughing and crying in the interview, so this is a real emotional rollercoaster ride of the actress, and something we, at Off The Screen, are dying to see her in.

Next on her list of film, coming sometime next year is Dark Places, with our very own Charlize Theron, where she is also put through the emotional ringer, but in another way.

This time around Moretz plays a young woman who

has to relive the day her family was brutally killed, leaving her the only survivor, by a group of amateur sleuths who want to solve the mystery, including Theron’s character. It’s another emotionally taut character that we can’t wait to see.

The last film on our list is currently showing at the Toronto Film Festival and looks to grow Moretz’s career the way The Runaway’s did Fanning’s, so it should come as no surprise that it has the same co-star in Kristin Stewart. In Clouds of Sils Maria Moretz plays a young, very popular Hollywood actress, much like she is now, except not as down to Earth and a lot more out of control, who takes on a role made famous by another actress years ago, played by Juliette Binoche. It’s an introspective look at aging in this industry and looks to be an incredible film.

“Playing Jo-Ann,” Moretz said at a press panel at the Cannes Film Festival.

Chloe Grace Moretz Feature

“She’s such a specific character. She’s kind of a compilation of so many actresses we’ve all seen, and some of the actors I’ve worked with have been like that. I pulled from all these woman we’ve seen and what people expect me to become, and I was able to play this part that I will never be, which was super dark and terrifying, but also interesting and fun. It was fun to also show the side of her where she really wanted that project so she puts on this act where she’s good and clean and sober, and then it all kind of falls apart.”

It sounds like an amazing role for an amazing actress. With her body of work, her down to Earth attitude, and her amazing abilities to become anyone she wants we’re sure that Off The Screen Magazine will be featuring a lot more of Chloe Grace Moretz in the future, but for now you can catch her in If I Stay and The Equalizer, both opening at cinemas nationwide this month.

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RELEASE DATE: August 15th CAST: John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood

THE STORY From prolific director Clint Eastwood comes the story of four guys that came together to create one of the most influential bands of their day, the Four Seasons.

In Jersey in the 1950’s there’s only two ways out, either you end up in prison or you become famous.

Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) is trying to be the latter, but keeps up ending in the former. He has a music band and discovers a young Frankie Castelluccio (John Lloyd Young), a young man with an amazing voice.

Tommy and band mate Nick Massi (Michael Lomeda), take Frankie under their wings and try and teach him to sing better and be the best he can be, but it’s not until they include Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen), a successful song writer, in the group that they hit it big.

Jersey Boys

Together they become the Four Seasons, Castelluccio changing his name to Frankie Valli, and have a slew of number one hits, but their personal lives begin to interfere in their professional lives, threatening to destroy everything they’ve worked for.

THE VERDICT I saw this production as a stage production, which the film is based on, back in May of last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a little concerned about the film considering what made the stage production so good was the incredibly smart way they staged it, and wasn’t sure that smartness would translate onto the screen. To be completely honest, my concern was warranted. There are aspects that are lacking in the film, just the cleverness of the staging and the production, is missing a little for me. That being said, if you haven’t seen the stage production this is an amazing film. The music is

what it’s all about and Young has one of the most incredible voices I’ve ever heard. The Valli voice is about the hardest to emulate, but he does a remarkable job, and he sounds great. The rest of the cast are just as good, giving solid performances the whole way through and carrying the songs well. I especially liked Christopher Walken, who plays Gyp DeCarlo, a gangster friend of the band, but he’s basically Christopher Walken on screen, and we love him for that. He is just so great.

What’s nice about the film, as opposed to the stage production, is the size of it.

The sets, the cars, the props, the locations, everything is bigger and, not better, but different. I especially liked the aging they did for the leads, considering the film takes place over about 30 or so years. It’s very well done and believable. If you love the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, or like Eastwood’s work, or like a good bio pic, then you’ll find something in the film to enjoy. It’s a great piece of filmmaking.

9/10 46

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Venus in Fur RELEASE DATE: August 15th CAST: Emmanuelle Seigner, Mathieu Amalric DIRECTOR: Roman Polanski

THE STORY After a long day of auditioning actresses writer and debut director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) is packing up his things to go home when Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner), a foul mouthed, aspiring actress, comes into the theatre and wants to audition. He has no interest in hearing the girl, who he is convinced from the start is not right for the role, but after some doing she convinces him to at least hear her. She blows his socks off in the first few moments as she transforms herself into the character from the play, a noble aristocratic woman in the 1800’s, and they start running through the play, moving further and further in the script, and into the night. As they go through the play things are revealed about Vanda and Thomas as they discuss their lives and

the play, but things are not all they appear, which becomes apparent the closer they get to the climax of the play, and the evening.

THE VERDICT Based on the Tony award winning play Polanski’s version is completely in French, which gives a very different feel from the English version, but beyond that, it is the same as the play, virtually word for word.

It’s an interesting piece, a play on sexuality and sensuality as well as the conflict between the senses.

Man versus woman comes up a lot in this film, as is domination, whether by the man or the female. It’s an interesting topic, though one I don’t completely understand. I don’t know why you would want to be

dominated by someone else, to have no thoughts of your own, to simply follow orders. In the same breath, I don’t know why you would want someone following your every whim, to have no thoughts of their own, to look to you for everything in their lives. Love is supposed to be a partnership, and equal one, at least in my opinion it is, but different strokes for different folks.

Moving back to the film, the visuals are stunning. The whole thing takes place in one room, the theatre for the auditions, but the exterior is very cool, and the use of the limited space works really well. The performances are amazing too. This is a really intense piece, with some really intense scenes and both Almaric and Seigner carry out the performances beautifully. This isn’t a film for everyone, not only because it’s foreign language, but also because it’s pretty raunchy material.

This is strictly for the art house crowd, but I really think they will get something out of it.

8/10 47

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Between Friends IN C INEM AS RELEASE DATE: August 15th CAST: Siyabonga Radebe, Thapelo Mokoena, Mandisa Nduna, Dumisani Mbebe, Lihle Dhlomo, Amanda du Pont, Morné du Toit DIRECTOR: Zuko Nodada

He knows what happened at the lodge seven years ago, which caused Linda to run away to Canada, and he decides that this weekend is the time to bring everything to the surface.

THE STORY

THE VERDICT

After leading separate lives for seven years, five college friends, Njabulo (Siyabonga Radebe), Nkanyiso (Thapelo Mokoena), Portia (Mandisa Nduna), Winston (Dumisani Mbebe) and Linda (Lihle Dhlomo) all come together at the safari resort owned by Njabulo and Nkanyiso’s father, Lawrence (Siyabonga Thwala), and managed by Njabulo, to reunite and reconnect. Their lives have happened around them, Portia and Winston are married with a little girl, but she doesn’t seem to like him very much, and he just takes her abuse. Nkanyisa is working in Jo’burg and dating the beautiful Nisha (Amanda du Pont) while Njabulo is trying to pass himself off as successful, but in truth is running the lodge into the ground, and is incredibly jealous of his brother’s success, but Njabulo has a trump card.

In an interview I read with the director/writer of this film, Zuko Nodada, he said that this was a South African film in the vein of The Best Man, and while I can say this is true, this film has definitely got the feel of The Best Man, but is nowhere near as good. Now, I know that you shouldn’t compare movies, but when there are such glaring similarities, one can do nothing but compare the two. Yes, The Best Man is American and has more money, but that’s not the

major problem, I didn’t even like The Best Man, the problem is that this film is so badly written, directed and acted that it is a poor imitation, making The Best Man look like an Oscar winner. There is very little about this film that I enjoyed. There are one or two funny moments, but they are so few and far between that they seem like aberrations. As it plods along it becomes more tedious, more predictable and more annoying. The acting is subpar as well, even from Mokoena, who I really liked in Nothing for Mahala.

Everything in the film seems forced and hard, and nothing is natural or organic.

In terms of South African films we have had a couple of real lemons, but also a couple of good ones, unfortunately this film is firmly a lemon and you really shouldn’t waste the money on a ticket.

2/10

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The HundredFoot Journey RELEASE DATE: August 22nd CAST: Helen Mirren, Manish Dayal, Om Puri, Charlotte Le Bon DIRECTOR: Lasse Hallstrom

THE STORY When their restaurant burns down in a political riot and they lose everything, the Haji family move from India out into Europe. Led by their father, Kadam (Om Puri), they break down just outside a small picturesque French village and he decides to re-open their restaurant. Problem is, he decides to do it right across the street, one hundred feet away, from a one Michelin starred French restaurant run by the pompous Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). The two immediately rub each other the wrong way, filing grievance after grievance

with the town council about each other, but after some events that neither side wanted they settle down.

Meanwhile the eldest son, Hassan (Manish Dayal), the chef at his father’s restaurant, starts to see the world a little differently. He falls in love with one of the chefs (Charlotte Le Bon) at Madame Mallory’s restaurant, and even goes to work for the French woman in the restaurant. This leads to the families coming together, but when Hassan leaves for Paris, everything changes again, and he has to decide what he really wants.

THE VERDICT In the vein of Chocolat, Hallstrom’s other food related film, The HundredFoot Journey is a beautiful comparison to the way we look at food, compared to

the way we look at each other. The conflict between the two restaurants is cultural, when you come down to it. She believes that French is best and nothing else compares, whereas they believe that everything deserves a chance to compete, something they’ve learnt coming from a complicated back story. Of course cooler heads prevail in the end, after some hot heads make Madame Mallory see the error of her ways, and they come together. That may be the end of the trailer, but not the end of this film. After that a whole new story begins where the Indian head cook, the eldest son, actually goes to work in the French restaurant, growing and learning and gaining her a second Michelin star,

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leading to him being poached to Paris. It’s at this point that we come to the other major theme of the film, that of success not necessarily leading to happiness, and being careful what you wish for, because you might get it, but then not want it. This is shown by the young man becoming as famous and respected as he wanted, but losing himself along the way. This is something I think we all need to learn in life, and it is done beautifully in this film,

much thanks to Dayal, who comes across as honest and true as a young man trying to find himself in this crazy world, only to realise he knew where he belonged all along. Add to that great supporting roles by Mirren, which we always expect from her at this point, and she never disappoints, and Puri, as the young man’s father, a man stuck in his ways who has to change with the times, no matter how hard that may be, and you’ve got an absolutely

wonderful film. Of course, the stunning French countryside doesn’t hurt either.

9/10

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The Purge: Anarchy RELEASE DATE: August 22nd CAST: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez, Zoe Soul DIRECTOR: James DeMonaco

THE STORY It’s time for the annual purge again, the one night a year when all emergency services, including the police and ambulances, are suspended and all crime is completely legal. People barricade themselves off in their houses to avoid those that are purging their souls, doing bad on this one night so they won’t do it for the rest of the year. Several people meet, a mystery man (Frank Grillo), who is outside on this night with a particular crime in mind, and armed to the teeth to pull it

off, Liz (Kiele Sanchez) and her husband, Shane (Zach Gilford), who’s car is messed with right before the whole thing starts, causing them to be stuck outside on this night, and Eva (Carmen Ejogo) and her daughter, Cali (Zoe Soul) who’s house is attacked by a group of men in military outfits. When the stranger stumbles on Eva and Cali about to get killed he steps up and saves them, leading to him having to save Liz and Shane too, but then he’s stuck with these civilians, whether he wants to help them or not, moving from one point in the city to another, trying to keep himself, and them, alive, all the while trying to get to his ultimate target.

THE VERDICT

The original Purge film was really good because of the original concept. America is now run by the founding fathers, a political group that gives the citizens one night a year where they can kill and maim and rape and do whatever their evil little hearts’ desire. This had never been done before, so it was interesting, but very often a really good concept does not translate into a good sequel. I’m glad to say that this time that is not the case. This is a really clever, exciting continuation of the clever ideas that were started in the first film. This time we’re looking at a bigger area, last time it was one house, as well as seeing how those without the money to survive manage to, the last one was rich

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people. We also see a further exploration of the founding fathers. Who they are, what they stand for, and what they’re willing to do to get what they want, which is a lot on this particular night.

It’s interesting and compelling. The performances are good too, especially from Grillo as a man who is looking for revenge on the one night he’s allowed to get it, but is still a good policeman down deep. The rest of his supporting cast are good too, but mostly they simply react to the situations they are put into, which is not a bad thing. It leads to the film being frightening in the right places, but moving in others.

If you like smart horrors then you should enjoy this one.

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Sin City: A Dame to Kill For RELEASE DATE: August 22nd CAST: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, Powers Boothe DIRECTOR: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez

THE STORY We’re back in Sin City and things are just going from bad to worse. Nancy (Jessica Alba) is racked with guilt over what happened to

Hartigan (Bruce Willis). She dreams of killing Senator Roark (Powers Boothe), the father of the man that took her when she was a child and eventually killed Hartigan, but she can’t go through with it. Marv (Mickey Rourke) is looking out for her, and he can see something is wrong, then when she shows up with her face cut up it’s time to jump into action. Meanwhile a

mysterious young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) arrives in town and beats the Senator at poker, putting him in his cross hairs, and Dwight (Josh Brolin) gets involved with a woman from his past, Ava (Eva Green), leading him down a path that could lead to his demise. This all leads them to cross roads, the kind of bloody cross roads you only find in Sin City.

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THE VERDICT The original Sin City was a marvel to behold. It was edgy and different and the style was like a moving graphic novel on the screen in front of you. It really took your breath away. This time around it looks the same, the visual aspect of the film is stunning, with amazing use of dark and light, black and white mixed with strategically placed sections of colour and shadows. It, again, takes your breath away, but you really get the feeling you’ve seen it all before. There’s only so much that prettiness can hide, and while this film is still good, I found myself getting bored about half way through, since it’s like a continuation for the first film, a continuation that is not

necessary. I also got a little confused as to the time line of the film. The Nancy section is obviously after the first film, she sees Hartigan’s ghost all over the place, but the Dwight section, a character played by Clive Owen in the first film, seems to take place before the events in the first film that the characters involved in.

Which makes the whole thing seem disjointed. The performances are good, or as good as they can be in this type of film, let’s face it, it’s not Shakespeare, but

also seem disjointed somehow. Not as crisp or precise or interesting as the first film. I think the biggest problem this film has is that it is compared to the first one, and when something is as revolutionary as Sin City was, the sequel is just never going to match up. I think fans of the first film will find something to enjoy here, but they may be disappointed that it’s not as good as its predecessor.

7/10

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Hard to Get

RELEASE DATE: August 29th CAST: Pallance Dladla, Israel Makoe, Jerry Mofokeng, Thishiwe Ziqubu, Paka Zwedala DIRECTOR: Zee Ntuli

THE STORY When we first meet Skiets (Thishiwe Ziqubu) she’s tied up in the back of a car being escorted somewhere by a couple of men. After a dramatic escape she finds herself in a small shebeen and catches the eye of TK (Pallance Dladla), the local hot, womaniser, who immediately is smitten with the pretty, obviously dangerous woman, but she won’t give him the time of day. He convinces her to go out with him and they have a great night together, but the next day she shows up with Mugza (Israel Makoe), the local gangster, and after a scuffle she steals his car, dragging TK along for the ride. Next thing he knows he’s in Joburg with a crazy woman, involved with one of the most sadistic gangsters in the city, who only wants to get in Skiets’ pants as well, and knocking over pawn shops. Could things get any worse?

THE VERDICT This starts out as a really good film. The opening scene of her tied up in the back of the car is riveting and really gets the audience interested in what’s going to happen next, but then it Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________

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IN C INEM AS goes a little wrong. It’s not that it’s a bad film, it really isn’t. It’s interesting, with enough twists and turns to keep and audience interested, though some of them seem a little too coincidental. The acting is good enough, especially from Dladla as a womaniser who meets his match in this tough cookie, and Ziqubu as a selfish, insane woman who has a heart deep down, but so far deep down that it rarely gets any light in the day. Both characters have good arcs and develop as the film goes on. The supporting cast isn’t bad.

Jerry Mofokeng, who is a staple in SA screens, is fun as TK’s mentor and father figure, though he doesn’t have much of a role, Paka Zwedala is sadistic and creepy as the crime boss Gumede, though he also doesn’t have much of a character, and Makoe is also good as the small town gangster, though the true deal with character is only revealed at the end of the film. It’s a pity about all these characters, since the writer obviously didn’t spend much time thinking about them, but they’re still okay. The action is tight and visually great throughout, but that brings me to the issue I had with this film. I really got the feeling that the filmmakers were trying too hard. It starts off great, but after the tenth slow

motion body flip, and yet another car crash, that really makes no sense, it just seems a bit too much.

Filmmaking should be subtle, luring a viewer into a world and showing them awesome things, not ramming them down the viewer’s throat to such an extent that the viewer begins to choke on it. This film is going in the right direction, but maybe the filmmakers should slow down a bit and not try so hard.

7/10

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RELEASE DATE: August 29th CAST: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked, Pilou Asbæk DIRECTOR: Luc Besson

THE STORY Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is a fun loving student living in Thailand who worries about nothing but her next party, and maybe trying to pass an exam, if she has the time, but when she gets tricked into dropping off a briefcase for her boyfriend of like a week, Richard (Pilou Asbæk), she finds herself abducted and drugs implanted in her abdomen. Then a run in with a guy who’s supposed to be watching her leads to the bag rupturing and the drug getting into her system, but this is no ordinary drug. This drug opens up channels in

Lucy

the mind, awakening parts of the brain that normally don’t work. This leads to Lucy getting incredible abilities and knowledge, but also to her eventual death.

She enlists the help of Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman) to help her avoid dying, but the man (Min-sik Choi) who put the drug in her, wants it back, and he’s willing to kill anyone to that end.

THE VERDICT I had high hopes for this film especially considering how great the trailer looked, but I’m kind of on the fence about the whole thing. It starts off pretty good, even with the obvious metaphor shots that the director decided to put in, obviously thinking the audience wouldn’t get what was going

on otherwise, but once the drug gets into her system, everything changes. It is interesting and exciting, but makes very little sense. The special powers she gains seem unlikely, even with all that brain power, then there’s the existential stroll through cloud coo-coo land at the end that made even less sense, leading the viewer to just simply scratching their head. In short, what should be a great action film turns into an exploration into confusion that, I’m fairly certain, even Besson himself, didn’t really understand. It is a pity because the action is good, the effects are great and even the acting is good, especially from Johansson, who shows a normal girl,

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IN C INEM AS then a cold blooded killer, to a god like figure cutting a swath through the world.

She pulls off each range of the character well, even if it makes no sense. Freeman is, well, Freeman. He is funny and smart and what we expect, but not a great character for him to work with. If you like action and special effect mutant film, then you might enjoy this one, but be warned that you’ll probably need a hat afterwards from all the head scratching.

7/10

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Tammy

RELEASE DATE: August 29th CAST: Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Nat Faxon, Allison Janney DIRECTOR: Ben Falcone

THE STORY After she’s late for her fast food job again, Tammy (Melissa

McCarthy) gets fired, only to go home early and find her husband, Greg (Nat Faxon) in the arms of their next door neighbour, Missi (Toni Collette). She runs to her mother, Deb (Allison Janney), for support, but doesn’t find much, so instead hits the road with her grandmother (Susan

Sarandon), taking her car and her money on a crazy road trip to Niagara Falls, but with her grandmother’s hard drinking, and her insane behaviour and attitude, getting there might be a feat in and of itself.

THE VERDICT I’m really not the person to write a review for this film. The problem is that I fell in love with McCarthy in Mike and Molly. I loved her as the sweet and, somewhat, innocent Molly. She was charming and funny and kind and everything you could want from a girl. Then she did Bridesmaids and completely blew my mind. Gone was the sweet Molly and in her place was a foul mouthed, gross-out comedy loving monster of a female, and it just didn’t work for me. Then it was Identity Thief, then it was The Hangover III and then it was The Heat, and I found McCarthy type cast as this gross person that I just didn’t know her to be. So I have to say that I haven’t really liked anything she’s done on the big screen. So I’m not the best to review this, but that being said, I’m going to anyway, and that’s because her performance in this film is not the worst thing. It really is an exploration

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IN C INEM AS into what is really wrong with American society.

Horrible people, doing horrible things. I really found very little redeeming about this movie, even with such incredible actors as Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Sandra Oh, and even McCarthy herself, because she really can act and she’s lovely, when she does a decent role. I really wanted to laugh, but instead found myself sickened by what I saw on the screen. This one is really best forgotten.

3/10

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Lovelace RELEASE DATE: August 29th CAST: Amanda Seyfried, James Franco, Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone DIRECTOR: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

THE STORY Based on the true life events around the actress Linda Lovelace who became insanely famous when she starred in the porn film Deep Throat back in the fifties, Lovelace is a portrait of a girl who gets involved with the wrong type of man and ends up paying the price for it.

When Linda (Amanda Seyfried) meets Chuck (Peter

Sarsgaard) she thinks he’s a great guy. He’s nice, he has money and a nice car and she sees in him a chance to get away from her domineering mother (Sharon Stone) and start a new life, but no sooner have they got married things change. He runs out of money, and owes some really horrible people, what he simply doesn’t have, so he turns Linda into the porn star that we know, even if she didn’t want to do it, sending them both over the deep end and headed straight for a fall.

This is an interesting film. I didn’t know much about Linda Lovelace’s story, besides the fact that she starred in Deep Throat, so it was interesting to see who she was before the fame of that film, and how she got involved in it in the first place. I will say that I didn’t love the way they shot it though. They start off telling the story like it’s all wine and roses, like she was happy, even pleased, to be part of the whole thing, but then rewind to show that she was forced into it. Not only that, she was forced into prostitution before that by her husband, a completely dirt bag. The timeline bothered me, wishing that they had just told the true story from the start, rather than doing a back in time trick. That was annoying, but the rest was good. It was interesting to see her development from good little girl, who wouldn’t even tan topless, to one of the most famous porn stars in the world. It was also interesting to see her collapse from there. The reason she never made another film, even though there was call for her too.

The performances were good too, from Seyfried, Sarsgaard and Stone especially. I especially liked the scene between Stone and Seyfried when she’s just left her husband, and for

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IN C INEM AS good reason, and Stone tells her to go back, be a good wife and obey his orders. It was a different world back then, and who knows, if Lovelace had been a 90’s girl there probably never would have been a Lovelace. It’s a really great moment carried by two great actresses. If you’re interested in interesting autobiography films, then you should get something out of this.

6/10

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RELEASE DATE: August 29th CAST: Tanya van Graan, Tobie Cronje, Adam Tas, Ivan Zimmermann, Nelda Janse van Rensburg DIRECTOR: Pierre Smith

THE STORY Stefan (Adam Tas) finds himself stranded in the small town of Uniondale when he has a blow out after seeing a woman on the side of the road. After finding a Victorian locket on the side of the road, and having his car towed, he finds a small pub and settles down for a beer, while being regaled of the story of the Spook van Uniondale. A tale of Johan (Ivan Zimmermann), and his love Mari (Tanya van Graan) who died tragically in a car

Die Spook van Uniondale

accident after getting married. She appears on the side of the road, trying to get back in town and find her love, but disappearing before she can get there.

She aided by the master ghost, Cornelius (Tobie Cronje) who tries to teach her about being a ghost and get her to move on, but she simply can’t. Meanwhile Stefan meets Sonya (Nelda Janse van Rensburg), a pretty farm girl in town, and sparks fly between them.

Will they have a happier story than Mari and Johan, or is history going to repeat itself?

THE VERDICT This seemed like a great story when it started, and it

does, indeed, start very well.

I liked the idea of the ghost, something that people have actually seen outside the small town of Uniondale. I loved the story of Johan and Mari, I even didn’t mind the way it was done, in a tall tale feel, which actually kind of works, but about 45 minutes into the film the filmmakers seemed to have lost the plot. They add other ghosts, which have no back story, so there’s no way of knowing what they’re doing there.

Then there’s the locket, which is explained, but not so far as the affect it has on Stefan, which, if you watch the film, is obvious, but not understood. The whole thing gets really convoluted and

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frustrating, which is really too bad, because there was real promise here to start off with. I liked van Graan, though I would have liked more from her, in terms of character for her to work with, I liked Zimmermann, but the same thing, his character should have been developed more. This is the case for all the characters in the film. It’s the same story,

they start off good, but then are kind of left in the lurch.

A real pity. I did like the ghost effects, I will say. It is very cool and effective. I really wish they’d done more with this film because it really had promise, but I will say that it may be worth the watch just to see Christina Storm transform into a crazy land lady complete with curlers in the

hair. She is wonderful.

6/10

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Into the Storm RELEASE DATE: September 5th CAST: Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, Alycia Debnam Carey, Jeremy Sumpter, Arlen Escarpeta DIRECTOR: Steven Quale

including Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies), Daryl (Arlen Escarpeta) and young camera man, Jacob (Jeremy Sumpter) as they try and get footage from inside the eye of the tornado using their cutting edge vehicle, the Titus.

THE STORY

THE VERDICT

On the day of the high school graduation a massive storm over Silverton, Oklahoma leads to live changing completely for several characters, including deputy principal Gary (Richard Armitage) and his two sons, Donnie (Max Deacon) and Trey (Nathan Kress), while Donnie is helping out his high school crush, Kaitlyn (Alycia Debnam Carey), and a team of tornado hunters led by Pete (Matt Walsh), and

Okay, to start off with this is a found footage film, which is a personal hate for me. I don’t see the point of found footage anymore. At first they were made because they were really cheap, a la Blair Witch Project, but now these found footage films cost just as much as a regularly film movie, and they use even more cameras, so what is the point? Are they trying to prove something? Are they trying to give us something they assume we’re not

getting when watching a regularly filmed movie?

Whatever the reasons are, I really wish they would just stop and film them normally.

That being said, I actually really enjoyed this film. It has everything I expected it to have, the tornados ripping up the countryside, the interesting characters, some hell bent on getting to the tornados, and others just trying to survive the madness. I expected really good effects, and was not let down. The tornado, especially when you are inside the tornado with the characters, are really frightening, and you really feel that you’re inside, something that could have been accomplished without the found footage, but I digress, it is really impressive and gives the film an edge I

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haven’t seen since Twister.

What really impressed me though, and what I didn’t expect, was to be so moved by the actors. Yes, they are good actors who have had serious roles before, Armitage (The Hobbit Trilogy), Callies (Prison Break), Kress (iCarly), but normally in this type of film, especially in found footage formats, the characters are forgotten in favour of the effects. Not the case here.

The characters are well developed and really compelling. I really got emotionally connected to them and losing them throughout the film, as you invariably do, affected me more than I thought it would. I really got into the movie and cheered the successes, while feeling the setbacks even more. Even though this is a found footage film, and you know

how I feel about those, I would actually recommend this one, especially to fans of Twister. It has a lot of the same elements that made that film so good, and could be just as much of a cult classic in years to come.

9/10

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As Above, So Below RELEASE DATE: September 5th CAST: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar DIRECTOR: John Erick Dowdle

THE STORY Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) is a crazy, obsessive archaeologist looking for the fabled Sorcerer Stone. After finding a statue in Iran, moments before the whole cavern is bombed and collapsed, she decides it is hidden under the tomb of Nicholas Flammel, the only person rumoured to have made the substance, deep inside the catacombs in Paris. She enlists the help of an old friend, George (Ben

Feldman), who she got arrested in Turkey, and they find a group of spelunkers, including Souxie (Marion Lambert), Zed (Ali Marhyar) and led by Papillon (François Civil), who agree to take them and a cameraman, Benji (Edwin Hodge), who’s shooting a documentary about Scarlett’s search, into the catacombs, but no sooner have the entered the restricted section of the catacomb, then a cave in traps them. Now they need to find another way out, but there is something down there, in the dark, that’s hunting them, and they may already be out of time.

THE VERDICT This is really not my week, with the second of two found footage films. Again, I

really don’t like found footage. I don’t see the point, but let’s just talk about this film. It starts off really good, giving off vibes of Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones. I love the character of Scarlett, who risks her very life to get into a secret chamber to find a statue, which is destroyed moments later. It’s a heart racing opener to any movie, even if it is found footage. Then we discover what Scarlett is actually after, the sorcerer stone and we realise just how nuts she actually is, but she’s awesome, and a lot of that is thanks to Weeks’ performance. She is spunky and interesting and obsessive and the kind of girl I could totally marry. Adding to her appeal is Feldman,

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IN C INEM AS who is obviously in love with her, but hates her a little as well. This love/hate relationship is great, and very well portrayed by the actors. The rest of the cast are very supporting, but they pull off their roles well and aid in the plot moving on, but that’s where the film falls on its face. It starts off like Raiders of the Lost Arc and turns into Blair Witch, which is a real pity. It’s like the film makers had a very definite idea of what they were doing, until about half way through, at which point they decided as long as they had monsters climbing out of the walls, and scary-ass monks in black robes wondering around the catacombs, then the story didn’t matter anymore. We got to a point where it makes no sense, and gets rather annoying, because all this action is happening, with no explanations, so it means very little to the viewer. It’s a real pity,

because this could have been a really good action adventure film, with a good dollop of horror thrown in to spice it up, but instead it turns into an incomprehensible mess that you just don’t understand, or care about. Shame on you film makers, I really wish you’d stayed the course, and not fizzled out. A real pity.

7/10

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Mom’s Night Out THE VERDICT

RELEASE DATE: September 5th CAST: Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton, Andrea Logan White, Harry Shum Jr., Abbie Cobb, Robert Amaya, Kevin Downes, Sammi Hanratty DIRECTOR: Andrew Erwin, Jon Erwin

THE STORY Feeling totally overwhelmed, young mother of two, Allyson (Sarah Drew), decides she needs a night out to relax and get her bearings back.

She invites her two friends, Sondra (Patricia Heaton), who’s having trouble with her teenage daughter, Zoe (Sammi Hanratty), and Izzy (Andrea Logan White), who

is struggling after recently having twins. They leave their respective husbands, Sean (Sean Astin), Sarah’s, and Marco (Robert Amaya), Izzy’s, who, along with Sean’s childish best friend, Kevin (Kevin Downes) agree to watch the children, but after a mix up with the girls reservations, Sarah taking away their cell phones so they will be relaxed, and slight emergencies happening at the house with the kids, added to the fact that Sean’s sister, Bridget (Abbie Cobb) loses her baby, and the girls have to go in search of him, everything that can go wrong pretty much does.

I really wanted to like this film. I like Drew, someone I fell in love with in Grey’s Anatomy, Heaton from her many comedic roles, Astin, who was great in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and even Hanratty, who I’ve followed since she was a child actress, but there is just so much wrong with it. It starts off wrong by putting writing on the screen while Sarah is trying to write her blog, yes, she’s a blogger. Instead of being endearing, it is actually annoying. Then the characters are annoying and the plot becomes annoying, and in short the whole thing is just annoying. There are a couple of funny moment, the bird is especially entertaining, you’ll understand if you watch it, but they are just too few and far between for it to make a consistently funny film. I tis sweet enough, a little heavy on the religion for me, but probably fine for some people, and I’m sure some will enjoy it, but it was just a bit of a let-down to be honest. Maybe I expected too much from the start. If you’re looking for a sweet enough, good hearted comedy, then you may enjoy this one.

5/10

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Dane Cook

FIRE HOPPING FROM ABOVE THE WORLD OF CARS COMES PLANES 2: FIRE AND RESCUE. DANE COOK, WHO GIVES LIFE TO OUR HERO DUSTY CROPHOPPER, TELLS US ABOUT THE LATEST FILM IN THE CARS FRANCHISE. hen Cars was releas ed back in 2006 it was a raging success. When the sequel, Cars 2, was released in 2011, it was just as big as the first one. Kids and adults alike loved the cars come to life and really lapped up the concept, spurring on a series of Disney Channel short cartoons, emphasising the car part, which are really funny.

When the spin off for the film, marketed as coming from the skies above Cars, Planes, was released in 2013 it was met with mediocre success. It wasn’t a failure by any means, but it just didn’t capture the audience’s attention the

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way Cars had. Now this month sees the sequel to the high flying world of Planes, Planes 2: Fire and Rescue, hitting our screens, hoping to rekindle, if you pardon the pun, a little of that Cars magic that the original had.

This time we find Dusty Crophopper, our hero from the first film, and voiced once again by Dane Cook, discovering that damage to his engine means he can no longer race, moving on to the next best thing, firefighting. He joins a team of fire fighters at a local national park and trains to be one of the best, albeit, also one of the smallest. He is joined by newcomers to the series Lil’ Dipper, voiced

by Julie Bowen, who is madly in love with him, among others, as he tries to

move forward with his life and find a new purpose now that the old one’s been taken from him.

We sat down with Cook to talk about returning to the world of Planes, what’s happening with Dusty now, the secret of the little crop dusters success and what we can expect from this new Disney film…

Who is Dusty Crophopper?

Who is Dusty Crophopper?

Well, I’m Dusty Crophopper, which is kind of exciting, you know, that the soul of Dusty Crophopper is what I’ve brought to him. That gets me kind of emotional because I was a kid that allowed myself to get lost in these characters growing up, watching Disney animation, and I was inspired by them,

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“Anyone who has succeeded at a higher level, there’s more fear when you have to start over.”

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Dane Cook

succeed, and I think that anyone who knows that, who has succeeded at a higher level, there’s more fear coming into play when you have to start over. The message there is that when we reveal our true selves, when we reveal that we’re frightened, that’s a hard thing to do, especially when you already feel established in something in your life, but once he does that, look to where it finally takes him.

The positive places he goes.

as well, I think that it’s part of what makes up why I decided to become an entertainer for a living, how I was moved by these creations, so now, with Dusty, I get to live vicariously again, but through the character, in the interim we get to tell wonderful stories. We get to shine a spot light on brave men and woman who are fighting fires, so we get to show them off in a way that is honouring them, and we get to have some fun, we get to laugh a lot.

What happens to Dusty in this film?

Well, I think that there’s going to be that moment when we all look in the mirror and realise that there are the things that we want for ourselves, there are the things we’ve accomplished,

but where have I missed the mark? It’s a hard look that we all take once in a while, and Dusty actually has to take that look right in the very beginning on the film, with his own health and realising that he’s not able to sustain what he hoped would take him through the rest of his life. He has to find out what his greater calling is, what the bigger picture is.

So, you can’t avoid it in life.

We’re all going to have a moment in life where we have to ask ourselves if we want to sit back or take the bull by the horns and embrace our second chances, and really find our new voices.

What is the secret to Dusty’s success?

Dusty’s secret? I think that Dusty now has had a sense of what it feels like to

What can we expect from the new film?

Great new characters. I think my favourite new character is Dipper. Julie Bowen is a tour de force, comediclly, but her voice here comes through Dipper. She steals scenes, she’s really hilarious.

What’s your favourite scene in the film?

My favourite scene in the film, I always love the training scenes. I love seeing Dusty kind of figuring it out, but I would say there is a pretty epic fire towards the end of the movie that just is aesthetically unbelievable. It just looks like nothing you’ve ever seen before, and watching it in the theatre, I felt that fear, I felt that excitement and feeling overwhelmed because it was just animated so wonderfully.

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Any others?

I think any scenes when they’re in their dive bar, when they’re kind of hanging out, the dialogue there was always really quippy and cool. It’s really clever. So, I like the group animation. I like seeing the whole team together and jawing at each other.

What do you hope this film accomplishes?

Well, I think that when you can tell a story that’s entertaining, and it moves you in a way that you want to understand more about what somebody does and what sacrifices people make.

I think when kids leave here and they see something on the news about a firefighter,

Dane Cook

they’re going to have more connection to that, and more respect for that. We all could use a little more of that, especially as a young age, that’s something that’s instilled, so if we can instil something like that, even just a nugget of that in some way for these brave men and woman who do this day in and day out, I think we’ve done a pretty good job.

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Pierce Brosnan

NOVEMBER MAN THIS MONTH SEES PIERCE BROSNAN RETURNING TO SPYING, BUT THIS TIME NOT AS THE IRREPRESSIBLE BOND, BUT AS A CIA ASSASSIN IN THE ACTION DRIVEN FILM, THE NOVEMBER MAN

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ome people think that Sean Connery was the best Bond, some think it was Rodger Moore, but some people think that Pierce Brosnan was the best Bond. After taking over the reins he made a series of four films in which he portrayed a funny, handsome, but also quite serious version of the Bond character. This month sees him back in the spy genre, not as the famous Martini drinking Bond, but as a far more ruthless CIA assassin,

Devereaux, in The November Man. Devereaux is a retired assassin who used to work for the CIA when his old boss and friend, Hanley, played by Bill Smitrovich, calls him back to action to extract a woman that is working for the next Russian president, Arkady Federov, played by Lazar Ristovski.

This woman, Natalia Ulanova, played by Mediha Musliovic, was turned by Devereaux to work for the CIA in the 80’s and had a relationship with him as well, but when he goes in to extract her, she gets killed

by his former protégé, David Mason, played by Luke Bracey, but not before she can give him a name, Mira.

Now Devereaux has to discover what the name means, how it connects to Federov, and dodge the guy he taught everything to at the same time, and his only lead is a social worker named Alice, played by Olga Kurylenko.

Brosnan told us what it was about this project that got him to, not only star, but also produce, working with the beautiful Olga Kurylenko and the director Rodger Donaldson, and why people

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“Bill Granger’s work is really solid, his character of Devereaux is well defined, the writer’s really gave of themselves to the material.”

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Pierce Brosnan

wonderful storyteller, he then picked it up and really moulded it into a cinematic piece of tapestry, and that was exhilarating to see. I’m an actor, first and foremost, so I really don’t have the clear decisiveness of a producer that Beau has, or a director, like Rodger, so they really stitched it together in such a fashion that it had to be made.

Why did you decide to go with Rodger Donaldson to direct?

should go and see him killing people in the name of America in The November Man…

movies and then came along with this beautiful script here, like three months ago.

Tell us about the director.

Why did you decide, not only to star in the film, but also to produce it?

Rodger Donaldson, an old friend, a great filmmaker, a

I’d worked with Rodger on Dante’s Peak and had such a wonderful time, I mean he’s a mate, he’s a good friend, and somebody that I deeply admire and respect. He’s a great technician, he loves the machine, he knows story. He knows how to keep

It was a great idea. You go on gut and intuition, most of the time. Bill Granger’s work is really solid. His character of Devereaux is well defined.

The writer’s we found to be part of this, Mr. [Michael] Finch and Karl [Gajdusek], they really gave of themselves to the material and invested in every kind of nuance of the books, and the Bible of this was really extensive, and Beau St. Clair, I mean Beau really did all of the heavy lifting along with Keith [Arnold], our partner, and they allowed me to go off and make my own Off The Screen Magazine ________________________________________________________________ Alice, played by Olga Kurylenko.

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“[THE FILM HAS]

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GREAT VIOLENCE, THE STORY TELLING, CAR CHASES, ALL OF THOSE EMBLEMS THAT AUDIENCES audiences thrive on, THRIVE ON.” then you hope the drama of a scene and how to keep the logic of a narrative.

Why should people watch this film?

People love this genre. And when it has heart and it has a sense of human drama to it and intrigue, mixed in with the great violence and the story telling and car chases and all of those emblems

Pierce Brosnan

you have a good story, you hope you have something that will have meaning.

Tell us about working with Olga Kurylenko.

She’s easy to fall in love with, within the piece, and that’s essential. We get on really well together, and it’s been a joy watching her on screen. She holds the camera with a lovely inner life of vulnerability and

sensuality and humour, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, but she extremely committed to the work at hand every day. Shows up on time, knows her lines, doesn’t bump into the furniture, that’s what you really want to do, you really want to be able to work with people who respect the day’s work and the dramas at hand, and then you go and play.

THE NOVEMBER MAN OPENS IN SOUTH AFRICAN CINEMAS OCTOBER 3RD

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throwback CAST: Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, Jim Caviezel, Jay Mohr DIRECTOR: Mimi Leder

Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) explains Pay it Forward to his teacher and class

THE STORY When Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) is given an assignment at school by his teacher, Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey) he comes up with a concept called Pay It Forward. The idea is very simple: you help three people. You can help them with anything they need, but then they need to help three people themselves, and then they need to help three people and so on. Trevor tries this himself, first helping a homeless man,

Jerry (Jim Caviezel), giving him food, but he doesn’t seem to pay it forward. He tries to his mom (Helen Hunt) as well, and his teacher, by setting them up, which kind of works, and wants to help his friend at school with bullies, but is too frightened. He eventually gives up on the idea, thinking it’s failed, but little does he know that while crossing a bridge Jerry sees a woman attempting suicide and steps up. He saves her life, talking her off

the ledge, and telling her to pay it forward, which she does, then another and another, until the whole thing is country wide. Trevor only discovers this when a reporter (Jay Mohr) comes to interview the creator of this country wide movement, leading Trevor to try again, but this time, with devastating results.

THE VERDICT This was the film that Osment did after his huge success in The Sixth Sense, so it got quite a lot of coverage in the press, and with good reason. It is a touching testament about how one person can make a difference if they try hard enough, and they’re not scared. Osment has since pretty much moved off the film circuit, his last film that got any kind of coverage

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Eugene (Kevin Spacey) and Arlene (Helen Hunt) try to get past themselves to be happy

being Secondhand Lions back in 2003. He is still working actively, but not really having any real success as of yet as an adult actor. Spacey, Hunt and Caviezel have all moved on to great careers, not they didn’t already have incredible careers at this point. They are all wonderful in this movie. Spacey delivers such raw emotion that I still get goose bumps when I watch him explaining his characters scars to Hunt’s character. She is motherly and sweet and amazing in this role too, and Caviezel is the lost man who wants to just walk away and not care, but finds himself

anyone see you cry, even when you stub your tow, or cut off a finger with one of the knives in your collection, then do not, I repeat, do not watch this film, because you will cry, regardless of how tough you think you are. If you don’t you need to check your heart beat, because it may be missing. not being able to, and saving the day after all. This was one of my favourite films for a long time, and still is, but be warned, if you haven’t seen it yet, you are going to need tissues. This film has an incredibly sad ending, which is made far worse by incredibly heart breaking performances by the actors involved. I’m actually getting misty eyed just thinking about it writing this review.

If you love movies with sad, but at the same time incredibly fulfilling and happy endings, then this is for you. If you are a macho man who refuses to let

Pay It Forward is on Thursday, September 11th at 20:00 on Studio Universal Haley Joel Osment (Trevor) all grown up

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