Tom Cruise, Andrea Riseborough, Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo
Joseph Kosinski
He rides a sweet motorcycle, flies a badass futuristic stealth bomber, wears a cool NASCAR-like uniform, does a scene in zero gravity, and kisses two beautiful women. Needless to say, Tom Cruise had several reasons to sign up for “Oblivion,” and as an added bonus, writer/director Joseph Kosinski assembled a slick, compelling story around which to frame the riding and the flying and the floating and the kissing. Sci-fi fans will likely cry foul with regard to how much “Oblivion” borrows from a smaller film released a few years back (to say its name would give away too much), and rightfully so. Indeed, “Oblivion” is in many ways a souped-up, big-budget remake of the smaller film. The original is better, as is often the case, but “Oblivion” is quite good as well. It’s beautifully shot, it carries a palpable sense of unease, and it keeps its cards close to the vest. The poker face approach gets frustrating at times, but in the end it was nice to see a science fiction film that doesn’t patronize its audience.
In the years following a war that devastated Earth and killed the population, technician Jack Harper (Cruise) and his work/life partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) literally live in a penthouse in the clouds. Jack and Victoria take instructions from Sally (Melissa Leo) at Mission Control to keep a group of spherical drones functioning so the good guys can defend themselves against a group of alien scavengers who seek to undermine their efforts even though the war is long over. Jack has strange memories, though, of a woman he’s never met and a life he’s never lived. When the scavengers set up a beacon that attracts a ship, Jack investigates the landing site and is stunned to discover that the woman in his dreams is one of the passengers. Soon after, Jack receives a visit from the scavengers, and is forced to rethink everything he has ever known.
We love tall models in high heels, especially when the only other thing they’re wearing is a lacy black thong! Here’s a killer implied shot of Susana who we shot in Prague on our World Tour.
Famke Janssen made both her film and television debuts in 1992, but it wasn’t until a few years later, when she became a Bond girl by the unforgettable name of Xenia Onatopp in “GoldenEye,” that everything started to come up roses for her. In the intervening years, Janssen has made multiple films, most notably starring as Jean Gray in the “X-Men” franchise, but 2013 marks her inaugural foray into a full-time TV series gig…and by “TV series,” what I really mean is a Netflix series. “Hemlock Grove,” produced by Eli Roth, kicks off its first season on Friday, April 19, but Bullz-Eye was fortunate enough to chat with Janssen way back in January, at the Television Critics Association press tour, about her new series as well as a few of her past films.
Bullz-Eye: “Hemlock Grove” marks the first time you’ve ever taken on a series-regular role for television. Did you have any trepidation about taking that kind of a plunge for a show that’s being delivered to viewers in a non-traditional manner, or was that part of what drew you to it?
Famke Janssen: Trepidation about that element? No. Doing a series, period? Yes. [Laughs.] But to me, I think the fact that it was for Netflix and not your traditional network or cable show was one of the deciding factors—or certainly an added bonus, anyway—because it felt like we were kind of in the wild west, with new territory to explore. It wasn’t this whole weight of a specific way of working that we had to carry through in some way. So with that, I was hoping that there would be less control coming from above, and not so much like a big studio standing there with a whip, making you feel like you’re more of a puppet than anything else. Also, the whole 13-episode part was attractive as well, because I’m designed my life in such a way now that I’m trying to go back and forth between writing and directing and acting, and signing up for something that would’ve taken an entire year, as a network show would’ve…I hadn’t considered that at all, just because I don’t have the time for it. I don’t want to tie myself down. So in that regard, it was a perfect set-up, because I can make money and then I can pursue my passion of writing and directing in my free time.
BE: So what can you tell us about Olivia Godfrey without divulging anything too spoiler-y?
FJ: Olivia’s still mysterious even to me, and I’ve lived with her now for 13 hours onscreen, not to mention many more hours shooting the series, of course. She’s married into this Godfrey family, a family with a lot of money, but she comes from a lot of money as well…or she seems to, anyway. But whether she does come from a lot of money or where she really comes from or what her deal really is, nobody really knows, and maybe nobody will ever find out. [Laughs.] She’s highly manipulative. She loves her children, but she’s also somebody who just has an agenda most of the time. And she’s in love with her husband’s brother, and…there are all sorts of integral relationships with bizarre things going on within this small town as well as with these family members. [Shrugs.] It feels like “Twin Peaks” to me. That’s what it felt like. That’s the reason why I really liked it: because it is, in a good way, nonsensical. It’s not linear. You’re not gonna…not everything is going to be explained. There are going to be a lot of mysteries surrounding it all. Nothing is going to be wrapped up with a neat bow.
After totally redesigning the Mazda 3 in 2010, their engineers kept pushing the envelope to see how far they could take this design. Well, here we are in 2013, driving the 2013 MAZDASPEED3 Touring, and we have to say, Mazda has done quite well. When you drive a car for a week, you can get a really good feel about the soul of the car, and this car has rock ‘n roll in her soul.
EXTERIOR
The 2013 MAZDASPEED3 Touring is an aggressive looking car, and with velocity red bicolor as tested along with 18-inch gunmetal painted alloy wheels, there is some serious testosterone happening here. Our test model included the Technology package, which adds automatic and adaptive bi-xenon headlights, LED taillights. Other exterior notables were foglights, keyless entry, sport type front and rear bumpers and hood, grille insert and trim, sport-tuned dual exhaust outlet with bright tips, two toned dual power mirrors with turn signal lamps and unique MAZDASPEED3 two-tone rear-lift gate spoiler. The car just screams speed, but also incorporates a clean and stylish appearance.
INTERIOR
The cabin space looks sleek and refined compared to past Mazda models and was loaded with options. Our media car boasted 5-passenger seating, tilt and telescopic steering column, audio cruise and Bluetooth steering controls, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob with contrast stitching, power windows with auto and power door locks, cloth and leather seats, very cool and unique MAZDASPEED3 sillplates and rear armrest with cup holders. Additional optional equipment included interior lighting kit, mirror comp homelink with rain sensor, blind spot monitoring system, full color touch screen navigation system, Sirius satellite radio, HD and Pandora radio, SMS text message delivery and reply, E911 auto emergency notification, alarm system and rain sensing windshield wipers. Yes, this car is loaded and quite comfortable for the driver, as the 2013 MAZDASPEED3 Touring is a work of art for the price.
