Jack the Giant Slayer

An ancient war is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants.

Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack (Nicholas Hoult), into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom and its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend… and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

In theaters in Real D and Imax 3D Friday March 1, 2013.

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X-MEN First Class

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS unveils the epic beginning of the X-Men saga – and a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe.

Opens Friday, June 3rd.

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Official Trailer

Review – A Single Man

A Single Man is a movie that I have a serious love/hate relationship with. But before I continue, I must warn you that this will be a spoiler-filled review, as it is impossible to detail my major complaint with the film without discussing the scene in question.

A Single Man is a beautiful film about grief and moving on. It centers on George (Colin Firth), who plays a British-born English professor living and working in Los Angeles in the 1960’s. His long-term partner (Matthew Goode) dies a sudden tragic death and he is forced to move on. That’s pretty much it, as plot goes. It’s basically a day in his life…how he deals with his grief and how the various interactions he has with people that day shape and change his outlook.

The film is directed by Tom Ford, who was already a famous fashion designer before he decided to get behind the camera and make this movie. As first-time filmmakers go, this is quite a debut. The film is exquisitely painted and gorgeously photographed. He uses various recurring motifs such as clocks and close-ups of people’s eyes. (But don’t ask me to explain the reasoning behind that!) The costumes and set design are impeccable, re-creating the 1960’s to great detail. All of the performances are amazing in this movie, starting with the best: Colin Firth. I believe this is by far the best performance he has given to date and I would be quite pleased if it led him to an Academy Award. Julianne Moore gives a rollicking fun yet brief performance as George’s next-door-neighbor, best friend and fellow expatriate. Also wonderful is Nicholas Hoult as a student who enters George’s life at the right place and time.

This is one of the best films I have ever seen in regards to showing how people deal with grief. It is impossible to watch the film without your heart breaking for George. To see him left alone, unable to see his lover again or even attend the funeral. To watch as he so resolutely tries to go on with his life and retain his composure. To see the profound loss and loneliness he feels that leads him towards suicide. And it fills your heart with joy to watch him fill that hole in his heart, even if only a little bit…enough to keep him from pulling that trigger. You watch him discover that even in the darkest pit of despair, there is hope and see him find new love, wherever it may lead him. And then, after this glorious rebirth, he dies. THIS is my problem with the movie.

I have many problems with this ending. First, I think it does a major disservice to everything that comes before it in the movie. The story was told and a beautiful story it was. So to tack on a “kill the puppy” ending is just ridiculous. Some people may argue that this is the way the story ended in the book by Christopher Isherwood, which this film is based on. But I’ve never read the book so I have no idea if the ending is the same, and I feel the movie should stand on its own merits anyway. Killing off George after seeing his epiphanic transformation is just insulting…especially for someone like me. As a gay man I have spent my whole life needing positive gay male images in my life (as anyone in a minority group would need). Mostly I’ve been stuck with the funny sidekick or, sadly, tortured souls and lecherous villains. I think that’s why this movie hit me so hard. It’s a masterfully crafted piece about a very realistic gay character dealing with grief and overcoming it. To kill him off just adds to the age-old trend of gay characters never achieving happiness.

Out with the Old, In with the New!

Welcome to December! It’s hard to believe that 2009 is over and that 2010 is breathing down our necks. I’m very excited about this month’s poll.  We have 4 true up-and-comers to tell you about. All four started acting very young and are on the cusp of breaking into some adult roles.  Hopefully we’re bringing to your attention some new talent to look out for in your local theaters. Don’t forget to vote.

Speaking of voting, starting January 1st you’ll be able to pick our 2009 Actor of the Year.  We’ll pull out all of the past month’s winner and set them head to head against each other.  It should be a battle royal of epic portions!

It’s been a great year here at Ones2Watch4.  Our heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to the site.  We hope you had some fun while you were imparting your wisdom to the rest of us. The site is always looking for new contributors and new actors and (finally) actresses to profile.  So if you’ve got the attitude, we’ve got the job for you.

Happy and safe holidays to you all!

Nicholas Hoult

I know you’re looking at this guy and trying to place where you know him from. No, not high school, he’s not your best friend’s cousin from Peoria. This is going to blow your mind: Nicholas Hoult was the kid in 2002’s About A Boy. Oh yeah, I know! Milk does a body good, right? Well this young actor is turning heads on both side of the Atlantic and it’s not too difficult to see why.

Nicholas Hoult has been acting since he was 5. So at the ripe old age of 20 he’s got a sizable body of work behind him. After a myriad of one and two episode stints on television shows Nick landed some nice film roles. In Wah Wah (2005), Nick plays Ralph, (the fictionalization of writer/director Richard E. Grant) who narrates about his youth in Swaziland. Hoult got to star opposite some heavyweights in this one: Gabriel Byrne, Julie Walters and Emily Watson. That’s the first time I’d seen him, post-About a Boy and wow! It’s amazing what a few years will do to someone. Next up he had to perfect an American accent for Weather Man (2005) with Nick Cage and Michael Caine. (Again with the big-name actors.) Nick often talks about the pleasure he had working on those two films and the impact it made on his skills as an actor. But it was Nick’s work on the British hard hitting, sexy drama about teens “Skins” that garnered him some real attention.

2010 was a great year for Nicholas Hoult. First up was Tom Ford’s breathtaking directorial debut A Single Man, starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Nick has a pivotal role as Kenny, a university student who more or less brings Colin Firth’s distraught professor back to life. All that work Nick did on his American accent in Weather Man paid off. (Trivia – Single Man producer and About a Boy co-director, Chris Weitz recommended Nick for the role after the actor hired decided not to show up to set, the first day of production. That’s loyalty for ya!) And I can’t even express in words how excited I was to see Nicholas in the manflesh-fest, blood and sandals epic Clash of the Titans when that’s in theaters that March. I’m sure that now that’s released we will all be revisiting this profile again. This guy is worth a second and third look, trust me.

Official Sites:
Jack the Giant Slayer
Warm Bodies
Skins on Facebook
Nicholas on Twitter

Fansites:
Nicholas Hoult dot Org

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A Single Man

From the Weinstein Company site: A SINGLE MAN is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, it is the story of a British college professor (Colin Firth) who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner. The story is a romantic tale of love interrupted, the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition, and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life.

A SINGLE MAN is produced by Tom Ford through his Los Angeles based production company, Fade to Black, in association with Chris Weitz and Andrew Miano of Depth of Field, and Robert Salerno of Artina Films. The screenplay is written by Tom Ford and David Scearce.

Open limited release December 11th.