Tag: J. J. Abrams

If the title character of television’s “Sherlock” ever went looking for Hollywood’s Holmes, it would be the quickest case in the history of scenery-chewing sleuths. That’s because Benedict Cumberbatch — who plays a modern-day version of fiction’s greatest detective on the British import now airing Sundays on PBS’ “Masterpiece Mystery!” — lives in a vintage Venice wood-frame house that sits less than two blocks from the sleek offices of Robert Downey Jr., the American movie star who keeps it Victorian on the big screen. “It’s just right over there,” Cumberbatch said with a nod of his chin as he sat at his dining-room table. “I should go throw eggs or do something. I’ve never met him. I think he got a few [press] questions and then after a few more he was like ‘Who is this kid Cumberbatch?’ “ You ...

Jay West is a guest writer on Hero Complex with a focus on toys, collectibles and fan culture. While being caught up with work at my computer last week, a friend accepted a Fed Ex package for me at my door. My friend, knowing that I’m a collector of movie-related collectibles, asked if I’d ordered some kind of vintage, movie tie-in lunchbox. I understood the question when I saw the battered metal box with the creaking hinged top. There was a letter inside with this message: Dear Jay West, We invite you to inspect these artifacts from Alcatraz. Over the next few months, we will be looking to you, and your audience, to help us uncover the mysteries of the island. Should your careful examination of the contents of this box lead you to any new discoveries, we urge you to share with ...

The “Star Trek” sequel is still way off in deep space – it won’t reach theaters until May 2013 — but  there was a cosmic cast reunion Monday on the stretch of sidewalk in front of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf over at the Sony lot in Culver City. Throughout the morning, the crew members of the Starship Enterprise were scheduled for fittings with the wardrobe department and the atmosphere was a bit like the first day of school with big grins, backslaps, hugs and handshakes. There was Simon Pegg (Scotty) and John Cho (Mr. Sulu) ducking into the coffee shop just before lunchtime and, on the patio out front, Bruce Greenwood (Capt. Christopher Pike) and cast newcomer Peter Weller discussing their golf swings and the enduring allure of John Le Carre novels. Pegg, with a toothy grin, stopped by Greenwood’s table to pay his respects: ...

The week before Christmas was a big one for J.J. Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot, with the wide release of “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.” which quickly gave Bad Robot the bragging rights to the biggest hit of the holiday season. But the week was also notable for another landmark: Bad Robot is now in the iPhone app business. The app is called Action Movie FX and it gives users the ability to insert special effects into any video they take with Apple’s smartphone. The two effects included with the app are a missile attack and car smash, allowing anyone to get all Michael Bay on unsuspecting family members, sleeping pets or the guy who cut them off on the 405 Freeway. In an e-mail interview, Abrams called Action Movie FX the first of a “slew” of “cool projects” that his ...

As rumors about which villainous character Benedict Cumberbatch will play in J.J. Abrams’ 2013 “Star Trek” sequel go into warp speed, we bring you a look back at the career of the English actor best known for portraying Sherlock Holmes. Before Cumberbatch made a name for himself playing literature’s most famous sleuth on “Sherlock” (with “The Hobbit” star Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson), the 35-year-old appeared in several Masterpiece Theatre productions, acted alongside “House” star Hugh Laurie in the sitcom “Fortysomething,” and won awards for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in the 2004 TV movie “Hawking.” Flip through the gallery above for a look at some more highlights from his stage and screen career, including recent performances in Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” and opposite “The Dark Knight Rises” star Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” The as-yet-untitled sequel is ...

There’s no 2011 movie that was covered more here at Hero Complex than “Super 8″ (well, maybe that “Harry Potter” movie)  and we’re not quite done yet — on Jan. 7 our Geoff Boucher will do an on-stage interview with writer-director J.J. Abrams  and some of the stars of the film at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. The Q&A session will follow a  7:30 p.m. screening of the retro-spirited sci-fi film by American Cinematheque, the nonprofit, viewer-supported cultural organization  that celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Tickets on sale through the American Cinematheque website. RECENT AND RELATED Spielberg: This is the first true Abrams film A tour of ‘Super 8′ pop-culture artifacts J.J. Abrams on the big lessons of smaller budgets J.J. Abrams speaks: The secrets of ‘Super 8′ Elle Fanning puts the pedal down on career ‘Super 8′ star: ‘J.J. was the seventh kid’ J.J. ...

J.J. Abrams grew up in the entertainment industry and he’s a father himself but during the filming of “Super 8″ — which arrives this week on home video — the director discovered early on that working with young stars created a special brand of filmmaker anxiety. Our Geoff Boucher caught up with Abrams last week to chat about that and the overall experience of making the film that earned $259 million worldwide despite a lean production budget of $55 million — which may sound like a lot until you consider the fact that “Green Lantern” cost north of $200 million and took in $219 million in global box office. (Note: This interview took place before Abrams spoke to the Los Angeles Times for an article about the criminal background of Jason James Murphy, a casting consultant on “Super 8.”) J.J. Abrams directs his ...

J.J. Abrams’ “Lost” and Eric Kripke’s “Supernatural” were once competitors on Thursday night prime time. Now the geek gurus behind the popular series are joining forces for a new show, “Revolution.” Written by Kripke, the “Revolution” pilot is being produced by Abrams’ company, Bad Robot, and likely will begin shooting in early spring with Kripke and Abrams serving as executive producers, along with Bryan Burk. Perhaps not surprisingly, the secretive Abrams is staying tight-lipped about the concept of “Revolution” (all we know is it’s an “epic adventure thriller”), but he opened up about working with the creator of “Supernatural” when Hero Complex’s Emily Rome caught up with him backstage at the Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards. E.R.: What made you interested in collaborating with Kripke? J.J.A.: I’ve been a fan of “Supernatural.” I like him a lot. He’s a really ...

In his first project since co-writing “The Dark Knight Rises” with his brother Christopher Nolan, screenwriter Jonathan “Jonah” Nolan is tackling the real Gotham in “Person of Interest.” The CBS drama, set in New York City, follows a pair of vigilantes who tap into a Big Brother-style government surveillance system to prevent violent crimes from happening. “Person of Interest” has enjoyed a solid opening, drawing 13.2 million viewers in its 9 p.m. Thursday slot, and CBS announced its full-season order Tuesday. The show, produced by “Lost” creator J.J. Abrams, stars Jim Caviezel as a former CIA agent recruited by a mysterious billionaire, played by “Lost” star Michael Emerson, to track down people about to be involved in violent crimes. Hero Complex writer Noelene Clark sat down with Nolan and cast members Caviezel, Emerson and Taraji P. Henson this summer to ...

“Alcatraz” is happy to be a little bit “Lost.” At Comic-Con International, show-runner Elizabeth Sarnoff said the new drama’s creators “totally embrace” its similarity to “Lost.”  It’s not that surprising, considering she was a producer on that show, and both series are from J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot. “Certainly there’s no better show” than “Lost,” Sarnoff said after screening the “Alcatraz” pilot episode Saturday evening in Ballroom 20. But “we’re our own show. We want to do our own thing…. We’re thrilled to be doing something else that will hopefully be somewhere near as entertaining.” “Alcatraz” tells the story of 256 of the country’s most notorious murderers, rapists and thieves who vanish from Alcatraz in 1963, only to turn up one by one in present-day San Francisco — unaged and ready to commit more crimes. A detective (played by ...