Tag: Gina McIntyre

For someone who hasn’t actually made a film in three years, Guillermo del Toro is one of the busiest guys in Hollywood, writing and producing a slew of upcoming projects and readying his next directorial effort — “Pacific Rim” — now that “At the Mountains of Madness,” his big-budget, R-rated H.P. Lovecraft dream project, appears to be on indefinite hold (or at least until those pesky budget/rating issues can get resolved). But when Hero Complex contributor Gina McIntyre spoke to the filmmaker last week about the upcoming horror movie “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” which he co-wrote and produced, she couldn’t resist asking him about “Maleficent,” the retelling of “Sleeping Beauty” from the vantage point of the sinister green witch who transforms into a majestic black and purple dragon that Disney has in the works. Tim Burton had been ...

Baby vampire Jessica Hamby might not appear in any of Charlaine Harris‘ Sookie Stackhouse mystery novels, but there’s no question the character, as played by actress Deborah Ann Woll on HBO‘s vampire series “True Blood,” fits seamlessly into the multidimensional world show-runner Alan Ball has crafted from the work of the bestselling author. Playing the good Christian girl turned angsty adolescent vamp gives the USC grad (and self-professed horror fan) plenty to explore week to week. Woll recently spoke by phone to Hero Complex contributor Gina McIntyre about the upside of portraying an impulsive young woman struggling to find herself — who just happens to have a taste for human blood — and what fans can expect from the striking redhead in the series’ upcoming fourth season, which begins June 26. GM: What can you reveal about Jessica’s story arc ...

A jet-lagged Tim Burton hit Los Angeles this weekend and Los Angeles hit back — well, more precisely, the art critic for the Los Angeles Times hit back with a brutal review of the huge new exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art  that is titled, simply,”Tim Burton.” Critic Christopher Knight essentially gave the exhibit a review so harsh that it might even have made the ever-optimistic Ed Wood cringe. Knight wrote: “Tim Burton,” the big, poorly organized traveling show from New York’s Museum of Modern Art that surveys the genesis and development of the Hollywood director’s distinctive visual style, opened Sunday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It should be effervescent. Instead, the show is a monotonous plod.” The critic also weighed in on the exhibit’s propensity for props: “In an art museum, do we really need to see ...

“True Blood,” HBO’s sexy, soapy vampire series based on the bestselling novels from mystery writer Charlaine Harris, returns for its fourth season June 26, and while creator Alan Ball is staying mum on details about the twists and turns the story line will take, he did confirm earlier this week that the hit show is experimenting with the stereoscopic technology that’s all the rage at movie theaters these days. “We did a scene in 3-D this season just to take a look at it,” Ball said in an interview. “HBO asked us to do one. It was pretty cool. I don’t think it’s going to air. We just did it as an experiment, because I don’t know if they’re going to want to take the show 3-D at some point, maybe like a season premiere or a season finale or ...

In his new 3-D action film “Priest,” Paul Bettany plays a laconic warrior with a cross tattooed on his face, a man who channels divine power to combat the vampire menace that terrorizes the citizens of a post-apocalyptic realm. But it’s not entirely new territory for the English actor, whose résumé includes “A Knight’s Tale,” “A Beautiful Mind” and “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.” In last year’s “Legion,” Bettany starred as an avenging archangel determined to protect the life of an infant as doomsday dawns, and in the blockbuster “The Da Vinci Code,” he portrayed a murderous albino monk whose extreme faith demands he whip himself bloody to atone for his sins. So what exactly is it that draws Bettany to such dark, religious-themed fare? “It’s entirely coincidental,” Bettany, 39, said on a recent Friday afternoon, ...

“Dead Reckoning,” the 11th installment in author Charlaine Harris‘ Sookie Stackhouse mystery series, is set to arrive this May — not long before the hit TV series inspired by the franchise, HBO’s “True Blood,” returns for a fourth season — but the novelist now is looking ahead to the conclusion of her long-running saga. [FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this post misstated the numeric place of  "Dead Reckoning" in the Harris series.] “Truthfully, the next two books will probably be the last two books in the series,” Harris said last week. “I still love Sookie, but I’m beginning to want to write something else, and Sookie’s kind of taken over my life. I was able to write other things for the first few years I was involved in Sookie, but then after the start of the television show ...

Given Hollywood’s mania for reboots these days and the continuing popularity of all things vampire, it’s sort of surprising that no one has yet come up with a concrete plan to bring Anne Rice‘s original beautiful, brooding bloodsuckers back to the screen. But on the off-chance there’s a producer looking to do just that, Rice already has her eye on a few leading men to play the original emo vamps Louis and Lestat, the same ones portrayed in Neil Jordan‘s visually sumptuous 1994 adaptation of  “Interview with the Vampire” by Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise respectively. Nowadays, Rice says in a lengthy interview with the Vulture blog that Richard Armitage or Matt Bomer would be perfect for Louis — and Robert Downey Jr. for his seductive blond counterpart.  “That would be wonderful,” Rice said of the idea of Downey portraying the role. ...

THE HERO COMPLEX INTERVIEW: DANNY ELFMAN (PART 2) Fans of Tim Burton’s films have come to treasure the scores penned by composer Danny Elfman as an essential part of the viewing experience. For the most die-hard enthusiasts, Warner Bros. has released a special limited edition package, “The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box,” to commemorate the partners’ creative collaboration. Available only through www.elfmanburton.com, the set includes expanded versions of all 13 of Elfman’s scores from Burton’s films — from 1985′s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” through this year’s “Alice in Wonderland” — plus rare and previously unreleased music from their projects, a DVD featuring an hour-long conversation between Burton and Elfman and a 250-page hardcover book with a foreword by Johnny Depp, in addition to other collectibles. Elfman recently sat down with Hero Complex contributor Gina McIntyre to discuss ...

Fans of Tim Burton’s films have come to treasure the scores by composer Danny Elfman as an essential part of the viewing experience. For the most diehard enthusiasts, Warner Bros. has released a special limited-edition package, “The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box,” to commemorate the partners’ creative collaboration. Available only by ordering at ElfmanBurton.com, the set includes expanded versions of all 13 of Elfman’s scores from Burton’s films — from 1985′s “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” through this year’s “Alice in Wonderland” — plus rare and previously unreleased music from their projects, a DVD featuring an hourlong conversation between Burton and Elfman and a 250-page hardcover book with a foreword written by Johnny Depp, in addition to other collectibles. Elfman recently sat down with Hero Complex writer Gina McIntyre to discuss in detail how the collection came together, ...

Most Americans who recognize Ryan Kwanten probably know him as Jason Stackhouse, the gleefully clueless, frequently shirtless womanizer from the hit series “True Blood.” But moviegoers who turn up for the gritty, western-tinged thriller “Red Hill,” which opens Friday in limited release, will not only see a very different side of the actor than the one he displays on the raunchy vampire soap opera, they’ll hear one too. To give voice to the character of Shane Cooper, a young city cop who relocates to a small town with his pregnant wife after being shot in the line of duty, Kwanten speaks with his native Australian accent rather than Jason’s convincing Louisiana drawl. “Americans in general are very surprised,” Kwanten says of the reactions to his real voice. “I’m amazed that they forever think I’m putting on this accent now, that ...