NYGossipGirl Exclusive Interview: Tilda Swinton

NYGossipGirl.com recently chatted with Tilda Swinton about her new film We Need to Talk About Kevin.

The film follows a mother (Swinton) of a teenage boy (Ezra Miller) who went on a high-school killing spree as she tries to deal with her grief and feelings of responsibility for her child’s actions.

NYGG: What attracted you to this project?

Swinton: Well Lynne Ramsay and I kind of wanted to work together and I would have made anything with her, but this film is about something really compelling and there’s something very tragic I think. It’s about something that people don’t really talk about, which is the difficulty of having a baby that you find hard to love.

NYGG: How did you prepare for the role?

Swinton: Imagination. There is no preparation for this. It’s a fantasy, it’s not a real story and there was nothing really I could do to prepare for it beyond put together some sort of convincing disguise as this woman and imagine. Because it’s not anything close to my experience, I’m happy to say.

NYGG: What was it like working with Ezra?

Swinton: Oh Ezra, we’re a family. All of us. We’re a very tight group. You can’t make a film like this about being a family. We’re a kin.

NYGG: What do you have coming up?

Swinton: A big rest. Big sleep and probably some endless child-centric activity.

Edited: December 7th, 2011

Blu-ray DVD Review: Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits is a smart and honest portrayal of a no-strings attached relationship.

Although the film has its shares of clichés – but what romantic comedy doesn’t? – they fit right in as does the chemistry between lead actors Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.

Friends with Benefits centers around a young female headhunter, Jamie (Kunis), who convinces Dylan (Timberlake), a potential recruit  to accept a job in New York.

Despite an attraction to each other, they decide to see what happens if they leave emotion out of it and keep the relationship strictly physical.

Both Jamie and Dylan are, in some sorts, polar opposites. She is a risk-taker who enjoys adventure, while he tends to be more laid back. Both Timberlake and Kunis play their characters with such ease you would think that there is chemistry between them.

Unlike similar films – insert Natalie Portman’s and Ashton Kutcher’s No Strings Attached here – Friends with Benefits pokes fun of the current romantic comedies out there with a fake film-within-the-film starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones – another comedy within itself.

Also, look out for Woody Harrelson, who stars alongside Timberlake as his office colleague, Patricia Clarkson who plays Kunis’ “hip” mom, Jenna Elfman who stars as Timberlake’s older sister and Richard Jenkins shines as Timberlake’s father.

Where many romantic comedies have failed in the past and featured to many clichés to count, Friends with Benefits succeeds.

Edited: December 7th, 2011

Ryan Kwanten: New Girl Guest Star

True Blood actor Ryan Kwanten will guest star in the Valentine’s Day episode of New Girl.

According to E!, Jess (Zooey Deschanel) will be celebrating her first Valentine’s Day in six years as a single girl. So she drags Schmidt (Max Greenfield) out to a bar to be her wingman, and that is when she meets Oliver (Kwanten). Jess quickly finds out that she has nothing in common with him, which is really the last thing you should care about when it comes to someone who looks that hot.

New Girl’s Valentine’s Day episode will air in February 2012.

Edited: December 5th, 2011

Sofia Coppola’s Next Project: The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola is set to develop a film based on “The Burglar Bunch,” the group of teenagers from Calabasas, California who robbed the homes of celebrities, including Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom and Lindsay Lohan.

The Bling Ring currently does not have a start date or script. Coppola’s father, Francis Ford’s will also help in the movie’s development.

Additionally, some of delinquents’ surrounding family members to work as consultants.

Bling Ring member Nick Prugo declined to consult on the movie, but Tess Taylor, sister of Buncher/former reality-TV star Alexis Neiers, has signed on.

Edited: December 5th, 2011

NYGossipGirl Exclusive Interview: Gary Oldman

NYGossipGirl.com recently had the pleasure of chatting with Gary Oldman at the New York premiere of his new film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

The film centers around an espionage veteran George Smiley (Oldman) who is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within M16’s echelons.

NYGG: Can you talk about your character and what attracted you to the role?

Oldman: Well Smiley is a very well known literary figure. He’s part of the trilogy – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Honorable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People. Smiley is an iconic figure that is like one of those figures like Sherlock Holmes where people go to Baker Street and they believe that Sherlock Holmes existed. You know what I mean? I’m sure there are people who think that there is a real Smiley out there and of course he was the face of Alec Guinness for many years. But it was too delicious to not be a part of this film.

NYGG: Do you prefer doing these iconic roles?

Oldman: Well occasionally you play a character that becomes iconic like Stansfield in the Professional or Drexl in True Romance. And it’s interesting coming at it from the other side where that character is already, for many, established. But, it depends. I mean I’ve played a few of them now – Dracula, Beethoven, Lee Oswald, Sid Vicious, Joe Orton. I’m the icon guy. They come to me [Laughs].

Continue reading NYGG’s exclusive interview with Gary Oldman after the jump! (more…)

Edited: December 3rd, 2011