Ides of March, Real Steel and Dirty Girl Reviews on Today in LA

Fall Preview Featuring: Ides of March, Warrior, Rum Diary and a Moneyball Mention

Oscar Snubs, Surprises and Smaller Must-Sees

If you notice a hiccup in the piece, it's because they had to edit the part where I said, "The Town blew their wad by coming out too early in the year." It means to spend all your money too quickly or soon, not something dirty as some viewers apparently wanted to misconstrue it. Get your minds out of the gutter, people!

Golden Globes Recap on NBC's 11 O'Clock News

My post-Golden Globes rundown with Colleen Williams and Chuck Henry on KNBC's 11 o'clock news.

My insanely amazing hair and makeup? Done by the oh-so-genius Jose Cantu.

Behind the Scenes of Charlie St. Cloud

Sitting on a sunny stretch of Marina del Rey on a recent Saturday afternoon, sipping a cup of tea while waiting my turn to speak with Burr Steers and Zac Efron, respectively the director and star of the new film, Charlie St. Cloud, I started to notice everyone who passed, joggers with strollers, speed walkers in Shape-Ups, tourists in Bermuda shorts, would look above me and get a bizarrely beatific, stupefied smile on their face as they strolled along the water front.

What’s inspiring those beaming faces?

Efron is sitting in a second story window, brightly lit by television cameras, being interviewed about his latest role. His trademark locks are pushed back to reveal a forehead rarely seen during his meteoric rise in the High School Musical trilogy, making his turquoise blue eyes even more striking, and his relaxed charm is palpable even gazing up at the newly minted movie deity from below. The beach cruisers are being treated to a fleeting glimpse of a movie-star-in-the-making and the mere proximity to glory has them drunk with wonder.

When I speak to Efron a short while later, I ask if he realizes he has that kind of effect on people.
“Ooff,” he grunts, shaking his head. “It’s not really tangible to me. I don’t really notice it. But I know my mom gets pissed off when she hangs out with me. She walks behind me and she says no one says anything until after I’ve walked past. After they look and [freak out]. But they never give it away, they’re always really good, so I never see it. I don’t really notice,” he shrugs.

Even if he doesn’t, Hollywood does, knighting Efron the heir apparent to the leading man throne. Although Charlie St. Cloud is only his third major leading role, Efron is already drawing weighty comparisons from Steers.

“All of our leading guys it seems started out as child stars,” Steers points out. “Ryan Gosling was a Mouseketeer, [Leonardo DiCaprio] did Growing Pains, Johnny Depp was on 21 Jump Street. They get those jobs because they’re charismatic and then build on that and understand that there is someplace to go from there, an evolution that has to happen.”

Part of that evolution is strategically chosen roles and the careful cultivation of working relationships. This most recent project has that in spades. The film, based on Ben Sherwood’s novel about a young man literally and figuratively haunted by the death of his younger brother and unable to move past the pain of that loss, reunites Efron and Steers who previously worked together on 17 Again.

Efron brought Steers into the project, feeling the director, who is perhaps best known for his debut, Igby Goes Down, would be able to help him reach the level of performance necessary for the role and he’s absolutely right. The great revelation of the film is that Zac Efron is quite talented and can handle emotionally demanding material beautifully. So how did the director lead his leading man through the performance?

“I don’t walk anyone through anything,” Steers insists. “I create a situation where actors feel safe.” He says he focused on the emotional stakes of the film and the made “[Zac] find it in himself. I don’t let him avoid anything.” Steers explains that one of the things that attracted the actor to the project was his own extremely close relationship with his younger brother, Dylan. Steers used that emotional bond to help Efron tap into his character’s pain. “I made him go there,” the director says. “This wasn’t an easy process for him.”

Though, according to Efron, one he loved, especially since it reunited him with Steers. “He’s very generous with the actors,” Efron says. “Every take, he’s running over to talk to us and he’s got so much to say; an opinion, a new point of view or something to think about, which is great for me. I enjoy that much attention from the director when they really care about your performance.” It was invaluable guidance the actor craved after deciding to step away from the musical genre that earned him legions of fans, even dropping out of the planned Footloose remake in favor of Charlie St. Cloud.

“There’s a style to High School Musical that I knew I didn’t want to stick with forever,” Efron admits. “It’s incredibly fun, it’s very addicting, those movies, I’m constantly chasing that dragon, so to speak, trying to bring that energy to everything I do, but I definitely want to make films with substance, move on, try new things and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

Charlie St. Cloud opens July 30.

Jesse Eisenberg is a Holy Roller

Despite what you may think, Holy Rollers isn’t about grandmas heading to Pentecostal church bingo, nor does it have anything to do with a virginal roller derby team. It’s the true story of young Hassidic Jews who smuggled Ecstasy from Amsterdam to Brooklyn in the late 1990s.

Jesse Eisenberg stars as Sam Gold, a good Jewish boy studying to be a rabbi and awaiting approval for his arranged marriage. But when he’s rejected by the family of his would-be bride for what he thinks are financial shortcomings, he allows himself to be sucked over to the dark side by his neighbor, Yosef (The Hangover’s Justin Bartha), who has ties to an Israeli drug cartel. Told to “mind your business and act Jewish,” Sam finds his religion is the perfect cover for an unsuspected drug runner in the middle of a major crisis of faith.

Watching the movie, it has shades of The Believer, the film that launched Ryan Gosling’s career. Many people felt Gosling was able to connect with the role of a Neo-Nazi Jew because he was raised Mormon and could understand, not necessarily zealotry, but what an intense religious connection can mean. Similarly, screenwriter Antonio Macia is a converted Mormon who’s gone on lengthy missions. Could it be that his background is one of the reasons he wanted to write this film?

"The other thing about him is he grew up in a Catholic family,” Eisenberg points out. “He chose Mormonism himself, which I think makes it that much more interesting. He’s is very interested in religion. He has, this is something I have trouble relating to, very complicated ties to his faith; conflicts in it, great affection. When he wrote the script, the great conflict for my character of faith and blind faith, how much does he feel invested spiritually in Judaism and does he feel it strongly enough to stray? That was the main interest for Antonio.”