The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL follows a group of British retirees who decide to “outsource” their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and bolstered with visions of a life of leisure, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self. Though the new environment is less luxurious than imagined, they are forever transformed by their shared experiences, discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past.

Opens in North America Friday, May 4, 2012.

Official Site

The Men of Summer!

July is going to be a big month. We’ve got some blockbuster movies coming out like The Last Airbender (ok, well maybe not), Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Inception. Look for reviews of Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Inception. Plus we’d got the cons of all cons Comic-Con 2010 starting July 22nd. O2W4 of course will be in attendence, tweeting you updates and photos all weekend.

Our featured actors this month are a diverse group of gentlemen all with movies releasing either in July or August. Our thanks to our new contributors RioKitty and Kimmie for their fantastic profiles. And if you want to contribute to O2W4 let us know. We’re always looking to exploit fresh talent!

Don’t forget your sunscreen, or better yet, stay cool inside a dark movie theater! Have a great July everyone!

Dev Patel

If you watched the first two seasons of the UK series “Skins” and then watched Slumdog Millionaire you might not recognize that Anwar and Jamal are portrayed by the same actor. You’ve got to figure it takes a fairly astute person to play the hyper, sexually obsessed Anwar and then turn around and be so convincing as the sensitive and devoted hero of Slumdog Millionaire. Well that’s what Dev Patel is. For someone so young and with relatively little acting experience, he’s making his mark on the big and small screens and impressing directors and audiences alike.

Raised in the London Borough of Harrow, Patel was a kid with tons of energy. Gee, you’d never think it to look at him: all wiry and lanky. So his very intelligent mother put him into tae kwon do classes to channel all that energy. Get this, in 2004 at the AIMAA World Championships our guy here won a bronze. That’s right, he medaled! Turns out that dedication and those martial arts skills will come in handy later.

Throughout his school career Dev was involved in the dramatic arts. He garnered high marks and high praise from his teachers. Once again his very intelligent mother stepped in and suggested he go to open auditions for a new teen drama TV show called “Skins”. Much to his amazement he got the role of “Anwar” a fun-loving Pakistani Muslim. To hear his co-stars tell it, the character was tailor made for Patel. For the first-time professional actor, that had to be a source of comfort. A fan favorite, the series went on to win several BAFTA TV awards during its first two seasons.

This is all prologue to the lucky chance that would thrust Dev into the international spotlight. In the summer of 2007 Director Danny Boyle was frustrated. He was trying to cast the lead in his film Slumdog Millionaire about Jamal Malik, a kid from the slums of Mumbai who unbelievably wins the grand prize on the popular game show by recalling events in his own life to answer all the questions correctly. All the Indian actors Boyle had seen so far were muscular, hero types and not at all the normal, thoughtful guy he was looking for. As it turns out Boyle’s daughter was a big fan of “Skins” and recommended he check out the actor playing Anwar. The rest is history. 5 months of shooting in India and an obscene amount of awards, including 8 Oscars later Dev Patel is one hot commodity.

So how do you follow up such an auspicious start to your career? Well Dev thought long and hard about this very question. The parts Hollywood was offering him were mostly funny side-kick roles and not at all satisfying. He fully expected to find something in the independent film arena. Director M. Night Shyamalan had a better offer. Jesse McCartney, his original choice for Prince Zuko in the big-screen adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” had scheduling conflicts. Shyamalan approached Dev about playing the Fire Nation Prince in the big-budget summer blockbuster. At press time I was hoping to have seen the film so I could gush about how wonderful Dev was but ‘twas not to be, I’m afraid. We’ll have to suppose he was awesome until we each have an opportunity to confirm that ourselves.

If you visit Dev’s IMDB page you’ll see that he has no future projects listed. I can only surmises that he’s being choosy about his next project. When you’ve got the talent and support from home (remember his oh-so-intelligent mom?) to make the best choice for yourself, you won’t stay unemployed long.

Fansites:
Dev Patel Fan

Official Sites:
The Last Airbender
Slumdog Millionaire
Skins

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The Last Airbender

Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aang teams with Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), to restore balance to their war-torn world.

Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film “The Last Airbender” is the opening chapter in Aang’s struggle to survive.

Opens July 2nd.

Official Site
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