Rych McCain Hollyhood Notes : 2013-01-13

Monday, January 14, 2013

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Movie

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Arnold Schwarzenegger

He’s Back And He’s Still Bad!

Photos Courtesy of Lionsgate Films

He has basically been there and done it all from being a professional body building world champion that includes an amazing seven “Mr. Olympia” titles that is still the record to being a successful businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, best-selling author, the highest paid action hero in Hollywood and California’s 38^th Governor.

Schwarzenegger as Sheriff Ray Owens

Love him or hate him, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back on the big silver screen with a new action flick “The Last Stand.” This movie may be one of his best yet in terms of the plot, action and of course the famous comedic one-liners. Schwarzenegger does not disappoint and appears to have not lost one step with his acting chops while serving a seven year stint as California Governor. In short – he’s back and well on his way to another block buster hit.

Johnny Knoxville and Schwarzenegger

When asked the obvious question of his comeback, Schwarzenegger is all smiles to explain saying, “First of all, it’s great to be back. As you remember, that when I got into the Governorship in 2003, I said I only would go and run the State for the seven years that were remaining then I would be back into the movie business. So it was just sort of kind of stepping out of the movie business rather than now I’m going back to the movie business. I was a public servant for seven years working for the State of California; now I’m back again.

The only thing is; that when you have left the movie business for seven years, it’s kind of like a scary thing to come back because you don’t know if you are accepted or not. There could be a whole new generation of action heroes who come up in the meantime. Things change very quickly in our business but I was very pleasantly surprised when I was doing the cameo in “The Expendables” that there was such a great positive reaction towards my appearance that Sly asked me then to do the second “Expendables” and there was even a bigger reaction. So this is now my first starring role and I’m very happy that I chose a movie to work with very talented people and a producer that I had full trust in because we have worked

Jaimie Alexander and Schwarzenegger

together on several projects before and we kept our relationship alive throughout the seven years. So Lorenzo(Lorenzo di Bonaventura the film’s producer), came to me and said I want to have your first movie. So it’s really great to be back and watch the reaction of the people. Acting wise I felt comfortable being back again. It’s kind of like riding a bike or skiing, you click right back into it again.”

The crack team

While he was away in Sacramento, did he miss Hollywood and now that he is back, does he miss anything about Sacramento? Schwarzenegger chuckles, “I really didn’t miss anything. I think that you get so engrossed in what you are doing and it is such a huge responsibility to run a State. California is the number one State in the union and this is the number one country so you really have a huge responsibility especially when you have legislators that are somewhat out of control. And to bring republicans and democrats together is always a miracle because everybody is so stuck into their ideological corners that they can’t kind of free themselves from that. So it takes a lot of effort to get things done. But because you are so into it and passionate about serving your State, you really don’t have time to miss things in the movie business.

Forest Whitaker and Schwarzenegger

I was very happy to do that. It was the most gratifying and the most challenging thing that I’ve ever done. It was an honor for me to serve the people and after the seven years were done, I didn’t look for another public servant job because I didn’t want to be a career politician. I didn’t see myself as that and I went back to the movie business. It’s great now to be back again and I can turn it off. There’s not much I miss about being Governor. I’m on with my USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. I’m working on policy and environmental issues on an ongoing basis and at the same time I will be doing movies.”

(You DID Hear It From Me!)

Twitter@rychmccain

Jessica Chastain - Movie

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Jessica Chastain

Recreates The Biggest Man Hunt In History!

Photos Courtesy Sony/Columbia Pictures

The hunt for Osama bin Laden stretched for more than a decade between two Presidential administrations and came to a bloody and deadly conclusion when a small band of CIA operatives tracked him to a fortified, 38,000 square foot compound, tucked into a well-to-do suburban area of Abbottabad, Pakistan, just 100 miles from the Afghanistan border and less than a mile from the Pakistani Military academy. After verifying bin Laden’s presence, the CIA deployed a special squad of U.S. Navy Seals to take him and a few of his cronies and guards out via a top secret operation titled “Zero Dark Thirty” which is military jargon for the dark of night, as well as the moment 12:30 a.m., when the Seals first stepped foot on the compound.

Kathryn Bigelow (Director) Mark Boal (writer)

“Zero Dark Thirty” is the project child of the Oscar®-winning duo of director Kathryn Bigelow and writer/producer Mark Boal who brought us “The Hurt Locker.” The film’s story is told through the eyes of a little-known participant in the intel hunt: Maya, a young CIA officer and targeter whose job is finding terrorist. This character was based on the real life female CIA operative that led the bin Laden manhunt.

Jessica Chastain as CIA Agent Maya

Maya is played by Academy Award®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain. Since this is a military story based on actual events, how did Chastain prepare for this role? She reflects, “I had three months before we started shooting that I went to school for it I guess. I nick named Mark (the film’s writer/producer) the professor. I would sit with him and go through the screenplay and ask a lot of questions about the character I was playing, about the CIA.

I did some reading. Two books I found particularly helpful were “The Leaning Towers” and Michael Shure’s book on Osama bin Laden. But I was never able to meet the real woman face to face because she’s and undercover agent. I had to use my imagination to fill in the blanks where the research couldn’t answer the questions.”

Did Chastain have an opinion about the fact that the search for bin Laden was led by a female? She smiles, “I’m very excited that people are now seeing this film and they realize that it is not a propaganda film. It doesn’t have an agenda. It just tries to show this woman in history as effortlessly as possible. In regard to the difficult scenes that these people found themselves in, I just put so much compassion in for this woman who really sacrificed so much for this mission. In our film, she becomes a stranger to herself at the end. I just loved her from the moment I read her from what Mark created from the dry facts, this greatest manhunt in history and what he was able to do with the dry facts to create this amazing arc and put the light on the people who worked so hard that never get the acknowledgment for that. So I have an enormous amount of compassion for it.”

© 2013 Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm
(You DID Hear It From Me!)
Twitter@rychmccain

Brooke Valentine - Music

By Rych McCain Internationally/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Brooke Valentine

Doesn’t Want To Be In Love!

Photos Courtesy of Subliminal Ent/Universal

Having a hit album with singles and then dropping off of the scene for four years can make coming back a tricky proposition. Houston native and singer Brook Valentine has beaten the odds by returning with a hit single “Don’t Wanna Be In Love” from her fourth coming sophomore album “Forever” on the subliminal Ent/Universal label. The album was mixed and engineered by superstar rapper DJ Quik. Over the last four years, Valentine has had a major learning experience journey.

After her first single “Girlfight” ft. Lil Jon and Big Boi became a smash hit and the album it was on “Chain Letter,” went platinum her record label Virgin Records was sold and things became complicated and follow up cuts were either not released or put on the shelf. Valentine then became engaged in a legal battle to free herself from her Virgin Records contract which she eventually won. In the meantime she gave birth to a special needs son who is now two years-old.

In spite of it all, Valentine has emerged stronger than ever and focused on achieving her goals. When asked about her new single “Don’t Want To Be In Love,” Valentine lights up, “My new album “Forever” is coming out really soon; early 2013. My new single is out doing very, very well. I feel so blessed. The video is out doing amazing. What more can a girl ask for?”

What kind of message is she sending with that single? Valentine explains, “Well, we’re not talking about fighting if that’s what you’re asking me. Don’t want to be in love is just more about a woman that is choosing. She knows what she wants and she knows who she wants to be in love with and she doesn’t want to be in love with anyone but that person.” Who wrote the song? Valentine says, “I can’t take credit for it. It was written by an amazing writer Deja the great and I’ve been working with him a long time. So he knows me best. I mean what can I say? He wrote a song that I couldn’t even touch, didn’t even have to alter it. I’m like that’s it right there.”

2012 Mirror Mirror Award recipient

This album is going to make a statement. So what direction is Valentine going with it? She reflexes and says, “I’m more mature now than I was before I took my break when I was in the industry before. I get that. You just have to show maturity, growth, some positivity and share your truth with the world. Because what are you doing music for if you’re not sending a message or trying to change somebody’s life for the better or make them feel better or something like that?”

With all that has transpired in her young life so far is there a book in Valentine’s future? She laughs, “Its amazing that you’re the first person that asked me that. There is definitely a book in the future. In fact, it has already been written. It’s on my laptop. So I haven’t even explored the option of going out to shop it. Some of my girlfriends have read it and think it’s amazing so that’s my next step. I’m kind of nervous about it because when I say it’s my truth, it’s my truth!”

Will we be seeing Valentine on stage this year? She gets excited, “Definitely! You’ve got to find that right connection when you go out on tour. What ever artists you go on tour with, I feel like you have to have that connection and feel like you are part of a movement that you want to be a part of verses just accepting money.” Valentine always looks great when she is out in public, what is her beauty secret? She cuts a cute smile and says, “Drink plenty of water.” She is also a big fan of Juice Plus.

Bellamy Young - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

Bellamy Young

Spot Lighting D.C. Politics Scandal Style!
Photos ABC-TV

Bellamy Young

Network Television has had her share of dramas with a Washington, D.C. political theme and backdrop but few have cut to the core like the ABC-TV drama series “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington as PR crisis manager and attorney Olivia Pope whose job it is to protect the public images of the nation’s elite and making sure their secrets never get out. The show is in its second season with ratings that are shooting through the roof. Portraying the role of First Lady Mellie Grant is Yale graduate and Asheville, NC. Native Bellamy Young. Like most of her peers, Young has made the rounds of episodic TV, movies and Broadway. She brings a unique brand of fire to her role as the nation’s first lady in a political thriller drama that pulls no punches.

Bellamy as First Lady Mellie Grant

When asked how her view of Washington politics has changed, if any, Young laughs, “Ooh, blinders off a little bit. I’m sure that with any part of our government like NASA etc., there are many, many layers that we don’t even pretend to know but I empathize more and I am more in awe because it is just difficult. It is all kinds of difficult because your heart is in it and the politics of it all is so complicated and so nuanced. It’s a hard business.” The strategy meetings in the show are so intense when they are dealing with each case situation that it is surreal to watch. What does Young look forward to in up coming episodes now that she knows the basic premise of what they do? She reacts, “You know what, I’m not smart like that. I don’t have a writers mind. And the sheer joy of getting that script handed to me and literally it has clutched the peril’s moment. I mean we text each other and e-mail each other – what page are you on? Oh my God look at page 45. Anything I could think of would be flat compared to what they will do just in the next episode.”

The show is particularly intense because it is based off of the real life exploits of Judy Smith, an African American attorney with a legal and public relations background. Smith has served as an Assistant United States Attorney and Special Counsel to the US Attorney of The District of Columbia as well as being appointed as Special Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary to President George H.W. Bush. Her distinguished professional track record and experience in both the legal and PR field equipped her to hone her God given talent to “fix” sticky political situations. She started Smith & Company, a Strategic and Crisis Communications Firm and has handled major clients, corporations and foreign governments who had messy situations that

needed cleaning up. In “Scandal,” Smith is portrayed as Olivia Pope played by sexy, sassy and classy Kerry Washington. The show was created by another African American super writer/producer Shonda Rhimes who also wrote and created “Gray’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice.”

The cast is superb with the best of writers. In regard to the dangers that the real life crisis team had to deal with, the cast is quick to make sure that their character is still alive with each new script. Young jokes, “The conversation in the make-up trailer is often like, well they can kill me, and someone else would say hey they could kill me. Then we all come up with intricate ways for then to kill us.

Even Kerry, she said to Shonda the other day, ‘Columbus is really running the room in this episode, are you going to kill me off?’ Of course nothing is going to happen to Kerry but it is Shonda Rhimes and it could be a blood bath.” The new season airs on ABC-TV on Thursday nights 10PM/9PM CT.

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Twitter@rychmccain