Aaron Paul stars as “Weird Al” Yankovic, with guest-stars Patton Oswalt, Paul Scheer, Gary Cole, Mary Steenburgen, Olivia Wilde, and Al Yankovic himself.
Posts tagged as “Movies”
Lordy is a big fan of the “tween-sucking vampire franchise that made Summit tens of millions” as he calls it, and asked me to write a special article about his favorite part: Taylor Lautner.
That guy is kind of the Neil Patrick Harris to his How I Met Your Mother (yeah, I went there). He’s the one you didn’t think was going to break out from the pack when it first started, but now it seems oh so obvious that he’s the star emerging.
So, besides starring in “Sparkle Sparkle“, what is he doing these days anyway?
Simply put: the guy is fast becoming the real action star out of his Sparkle Pack.
Pattinson is too busy doing romcoms and Stewart is too busy making indies.
Taylor had expressed hopes to lead a few action movies once he’s done sparkling.
And honestly, if you want to see what kind of talent an actor wants to showcase, don’t go far.
Just look at their own little Saturday Night Live monologue.
Zach Galifianakis showed he was funny.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt showed he was awesome (more on that at a later date).
Taylor Lautner showed he could kick your ass.
He’s doing that thanks to his new pecs.
Indeed, the 18-year old (yes, he was born in 1992) actor (who already has his own production company) has bulked up pretty intensely these last few months.
Why so you’re asking?
In case you didn’t know, Robert Pattinson not being New Moon‘s lead (surprised?), the movie had to rest solely on Jacob Black’s shoulders (Lautner’s character for you newbies).
Taylor Lautner was going to be replaced because of the massive physical change the character had to endure between the first two films.
So as to keep the role, Lautner gained almost thirty pounds of muscle.
Now that he’s all grown bulked up, he did the one thing every action man dreams to do: become a Toys “R” Us salesman (albeit with a much higher paycheck).
Remember the toy-to-movie craze from a few months ago?
Well Taylor represents one of these toy franchises.
The first job Lautner took outside of his werewolf gig was one that got him to stretch his newfound muscles.
Please, let’s avoid any sexual innuendos as the people reading us are tweens (yes I also hate that word).
I am here of course referring to the famous Hasbro Stretch Armstrong 1970s action figure.
Indeed, Universal Studios is making a 3-D movie aimed for a 2012 release with muscle-man as the lead. Not much more yet to talk about, although it is produced by Brian Grazer and the script is written by Steve Oedekerk (a writer for a bunch of Jim Carrey comedy, such as Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty). There are rumors floating around that Monsters vs. Aliens director Rob Letterman could potentially helm the movie.
And if you’re wondering, it was his SNL backflips that got him the job.
Really.
Brian Goldner (Hasbro’s CEO) watched in mid-December his monologue and was so impressed he called WME to cast Lautner.
So next time you say you kicked ass at your job interview, think again.
Taylor was also about to take on another toy-role as Mattel’s Max Steel but ultimately dropped out.
Apparently, Mattel didn’t push the project fast enough for our young entrepreneur.
Summit isn’t ready either to let those muscles loose.
Cancun, a spec script by Eric Champnella and Grant Thompson, was last December acquired by the company with guess-who attached to star.
Side-note, this is the first project of the aforementioned Lautner prodco he has with his dad Dan.
As the name implies, it takes place during spring break in Cancun.
The plot sounds like Taken, only with Lautner’s girlfriend, and with more martial arts involved (duh).
Last but far from being least, Taylor is going to star in the thriller Abduction.
Lautner will play Nathan, a guy that finds out he’s considered missing and then goes all Bourne on everyone.
Here is an actual extract from Shawn Christensen’s script:
Karen takes out a First Aid Kit and grabs some cotton balls and begins dabbing some of Nathan’s facial scars.KAREN (CONT’D)
You’ve got glass stuck all over
you. Take off your shirt.
Nathan reluctantly takes off his shirt.
See, the Twilight fans won’t be that homesick.
I can already hear the lame puns about Abduction being renamed Ab-duction.
So, yeah, bottom line is: Lautner is apparently angling to become the next major action star.
Who could blame him after spending years flexing those abs only to be sparkling?
He is also now the highest-paid teenage actor (more so than Zac Efron or Miley Cyrus) thanks to $7.5 mils from John Moore’s Northern Lights.
Taylor Lautner is definitely going to sparkle for some time.
And yes, I’m aware that it’s the vampires that sparkle, not the werewolves.
Well, that surely was riveting (not).
Sure, The Hurt Locker probably wasn’t the best 2009 movie, but nowadays I’m happy if good work is even recognized.
So, yay.
I was pleasantly surprised by Neil Patrick Harris’ opening number.
At least they know who to call for these sorta things.
On the other hand, this didn’t really show much confidence in Alec Baldwin/Steve Martin’s duo (not even seen on stage until the fifth minute).
Twice the host, half the screentime.
The banter following their arrival felt tame at best.
It almost seemed as if they were listing a bunch of famous celebrities in hopes that fangirls all around would “squee”. Alas that wasn’t the case.
Clooney certainly didn’t seem to care about the ceremony.
The jokes themselves didn’t feel much inspired.
Case in point with James Cameron’s “micro-roast” that revolved around, you guessed it, 3-D glasses.
Did anyone else notice that, right after Steve Martin made his joke about Christoph “Jew Hunter” Waltz having hit “the motherload”, they cut to…Ethan Coen?!
Bad taste much?
I was surprisingly surprised at one win: Best Foreign Language Film.
Seemed as if Das Weisse Band was going to get it. Ended up going to El Secreto de Sus Ojos.
Yes, I’m happy about that.
Another shock came when Michael Giacchino was given the Oscar for Best Original Music.
No, I wasn’t shocked because he had won, rather because he hadn’t won before that.
Indeed, this was his first Academy Award ever.
What a shame it didn’t happen sooner. Though great speech.
Incidentally, I’m actually listening to one of the Lost soundtracks as I’m writing this.
And a note to Jennifer Lopez: it’s pronounced Ja-Key-No.
Continuing on the Lost-related talk:
If you were thinking that J.J. Abrams, or, hell, even Terry O’Quinn/Michael Emerson, were going to win an Oscar way before the guy playing Minkowski, think again.
If you’re wondering about that “Kanye West” moment, as people are calling it now, check this out.
Up winning best animated film was a disappointment.
I wish Coraline or Fantastic Mr. Fox had the award.
What’s up with Colin Farell being Jeremy Renner’s actor-buddy on stage and talking about SWAT?!
Weren’t TPTB able to get, I don’t know, any co-star from The Hurt Locker?
Seriously, who thought we would hear about that SWAT movie ever again, let alone at the Academy Awards?
Anyhow, the horror tribute was a bit weird since it included a bunch of movies I’d describe as belonging to the “fantasy” genre (Edward Scissorhands to name just one).
Speaking of, the award for the scariest moment of the evening goes to:
Who knew a comedian painted in blue was going to be a highlight.
Haven’t seen that on TV since a guy named Tobias.
Notice my total lack of thought regarding the major categories.
That’s because I don’t have any.
I’m obviously happy for Bigelow (they took their sweet time to make the historic kudos).
Big “duh” for all the other wins.
And that’s about it.
To finish us off, here’s the genius Modern Family promo they made especially for the Oscars: