Who Should Play Augustus Waters in “The Fault In Our Stars” Opposite Shailene Woodley?

March 20, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting, Features 11 Comments

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It’s the question on everyone’s minds now that we have our Hazel Grace in “The Descendants” star Shailene Woodley: Who will play her sparring partner, love interest and fellow cancer survivor Augustus Waters in “The Fault in Our Stars”?

Josh Boone is directing the adaptation of the best-selling John Green YA novel, and the casting for Augustus will likely be even more scrutinized than Woodley as Hazel. Gus, described as long and lean with dark hair and blue eyes who’s witty and spouts off romantic soliloquies in his wooing of Hazel, is the ideal fictional boyfriend for many a teenage reader and no matter who is cast, he will undoubtedly meet with a fair share of resistance. Sure, there is no perfect Gus for everyone, but we did our best to come up with just a few suggestions of guys who can be trusted to bring this beloved character to the big screen and not screw it up for his legion of fans.

It should be noted that Boone has been pretty vocal that an actor who is 25 is “far too old” for the role, which immediately takes a few of our guys out of the running (and which frankly makes us think someone has already been chosen, but that’s another story). Clearly, we disagree with the director on this point, and this is just our wishful thinking, just let us have this. Okay? Okay.

Click below to see our choices for Augustus Waters and leave us yours!

Oscar Spotlight: Bradley Cooper Loses The Hangover

February 23, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Features 1 Comment

In our Oscar Spotlight series we take a look at rising stars who have this year gained the biggest accolade in Hollywood, an Academy Award nomination. In a year filled with incredible performances, none of our chosen actors were considered a shoo-in. Taken from three of the acting categories, we present …

Bradley Cooper Loses The Hangover

Nearly four years after its release, Bradley Cooper‘s name is still synonymous with “The Hangover“. In the years that followed Cooper tried but never quite managed to prove he had something to offer beyond playing the handsome jerk. In 2013, however, it might be fair to say the American actor has finally broken through, with his first Oscar nomination for a captivating performance in “Silver Linings Playbook.“

Oscar Spotlight: Jennifer Lawrence Conquers Hollywood

February 22, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Features 1 Comment

Jennifer Lawrence Conquers Hollywood

In 2010 Jennifer Lawrence burst onto the scene with indie film “Winter’s Bone“, giving one of the best leading actress performances in recent memory and cementing her status with an Oscar nomination. Two years later, Lawrence once again finds herself a Best Actress nominee – for the equally challenging role of Tiffany in “Silver Linings Playbook” – but this time, she is no longer a fresh face on the indie scene, but a worldwide star.

Oscar Spotlight: The Unstoppable Momentum of Quvenzhané Wallis

February 21, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Features 1 Comment

The Unstoppable Momentum of Quvenzhané Wallis

When a film premieres at Sundance Film Festival, it wants buzz. Sundance has the ability to make or break a film or a performance, often ushering in the beginning of an awards run that won’t finish until thirteen months later at the Academy Awards. And no one showcased this more perfectly in 2013 than Quvenzhané Wallis, for whom her first Oscar night will bring to a close a four year journey of her very young life.

The Young Lovers of Nicholas Sparks Adaptations: A Retrospective

February 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Features Leave a comment

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As Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel prepare to embark upon being star-crossed lovers in a film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel – “Safe Haven”, opening on Valentine’s Day – we look back at the tragic lovebirds who came before them. Sparks movies are critical flops and box office successes but seem to be hit and miss when it comes to creating stars. For the purpose of this study, we’ll omit the two Sparks adaptations which starred established stars. Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Richard Gere and Diane Lane are doing just fine, thank you very much.

Are Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams still the most iconic of Sparks couples? How have Sparks adaptations helped or hurt the careers of the likes of Mandy Moore, Shane West, Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried? Hough and Duhamel are two actors whose careers could certainly use a breakout-style boost, but as we will show here, leading a Sparks adaptation is no guarantee of movie stardom. We’ll see how they fare when “Safe Haven” is released tomorrow, but for now, let’s take a look back at the couples who came before them.

Start Here: A Walk to Remember, 2002 >>

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Jennifer Lawrence charms, squirms under the spotlight at SBIFF’s Performer of the Year Tribute [w/ Exclusive Images]

February 4, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards, Features, Images Leave a comment

Jennifer Lawrence is not very good at taking compliments, which must have made Saturday night rather torturous for the newly minted two-time Oscar nominee. The compliments kept piling on at Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Outstanding Performer of the Year Award Tribute dedicated to her incredible 2012 run, and after more than an hour of enduring words of praise from moderator Roger Durling, Lawrence joked, “I’m not going to say thank you anymore, I’m just going to say shut up.”

Lawrence joined festival director Durling onstage as they painstakingly went through her still short but already impressive acting resume, from her feature film debut in Lori Petty’s “The Poker House” to her newest, David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook”, in which she plays the vibrant, explosive and complex Tiffany and for which she just received her second Best Actress Oscar nomination, making her the youngest two-time nominee ever in the category. Lawrence charmed the audience and made them laugh out loud, perhaps none louder than Russell, who would later present Lawrence her trophy and who would call her talent “kissed by angels.”

The newest YA heroine needs a co-star. Who should play Four in “Divergent”?

January 31, 2013 | Posted by Lindsey Young in Casting, Features 1 Comment

With the announcement that Shaliene Woodley has been cast in the lead role in the upcoming dystopian “Divergent“, as well as Kate Winslet being in talks for an unknown role, this adaptation of the YA novel just got a little more real. Naturally, the next course of action will be to seek out other young individuals (well-known or perhaps not) to fill out the rest of the roles of Tris’ friends and foes alike. It’s no surprise that among Tris’ circle of friends is a love interest, and yes, it’s time to play the casting game again.

After Woodley’s negotiations became public knowledge last year, names were thrown into the casting mix for the pivotal role of “Four”, Tris’ mentor-turned-love interest. Alexander Ludwig (Cato of “The Hunger Games“) tweeted that he had a meeting with Lionsgate about the role. Not too long after, “Teen Wolf” star Colton Haynes caused much speculation among fans when he announced his departure from the MTV show and soon after followed Veronica Roth, author of “Divergent” on twitter while tweeting that he had some “news” to share soon. Related instances? Who knows. They were, however, perhaps meaningless ones as earlier this month, Alex Pettyfer, Lucas Till and Jeremy Irvine were reported to have auditioned for the role. The search is definitely on, but nothing and no one has been confirmed as of yet.

Of the names who have been thrown into the pool, there are some that we at Up and Comers could see as Four – but then there are also some that we think should stay far, far away from this adaptation lest they just turn him into another lacking portrayal of a character with so much to work with. In the words of our Tris Prior herself, “This character needs to be extremely masculine, and his eyes need to scream vulnerability and sensitivity.” We agree, Shailene. And so here are five actors that we think would be great as Tris’ mentor and eventual love interest.

Up and Comers Presents: 20 Faces to Watch in 2013

January 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Features 17 Comments

After a somewhat unpredictable year in which the stars we expected to break out largely didn’t but fresh faces came out of nowhere to surprise us all, we are ready to look ahead to the new talent waiting to be discovered in 2013. It’s looking like a strong year with plenty of hopeful action stars ready to debut to the world for the first time and some who have been quietly working hard finally seeing their films released. As always, there’s a mix of names you’ve never heard of with some who are ready to hit another level in their rising career, so without further ado, here are 20 names and faces we will be watching this year.

Faces to Watch: The Girls | Faces to Watch: The Guys

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Sundance 2013 Preview: 13 Films We’re Excited For

January 15, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Features 4 Comments

We are just about 48 hours away from the kick-off of a brand new edition of the Sundance Film Festival, where many rising stars begin their year and perhaps their career. Exhibit A: newly minted Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis, whose “Beasts of the Southern Wild” performance was first given its stamp of approval by the Sundance audience last year. Exhibits B & C: her Best Actress category competitors, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chatain. Both of them got their big break via Sundance in recent years too – Lawrence in 2010 with “Winter’s Bone” and Chastain in 2011 with “Take Shelter” – and have clearly leveraged those moments into successful and promising careers with longevity.

This looks to be another strong year filled with potential breakouts and we can’t wait to be introduced to them. Here are 13 films playing at the festival beginning next week that we are very excited for.

Start Here: The Spectacular Now >>

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Up And Comers Presents: 13 Films To Look Forward To In 2013

January 3, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Features, Lists 2 Comments

It’s always difficult to determine which of the upcoming slate of films to get excited for. It may star your favourite actor or actress, and an award-winning director may be attached, but that can never guarantee a good film. And you’re also often woefully underinformed. There may have been early festival reviews or a teaser trailer but a lot of 2013 releases – and a lot of the films on this list – have given nothing away yet, and may even still be filming.

But that’s what makes it exciting. Can your favourite actor pull off a new genre? Will the intriguing plot and acclaimed director come together to actually give you a great film? In a year’s time we may be raving about some of these films, or we may have forgotten about them completely, but that’s what makes film journalism so fun.

So in no particular order, click below to discover which films we think could light up the big screen in 2013.

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