When one mentions an "Olsen," people immediately assume it's either Mary-Kate or Ashley. But it's the famous twins' younger sister, Elizabeth Olsen, who's making headlines now.
Olsen, 21, is currently taking time off from her studies at NYU, and is promoting not one, but two films at the Sundance Film Festival, according to the Huffington Post.
She gets her first glimpse of the spotlight in 'Martha Marcy May Marlene,' where she plays a young woman trying to reclaim her identity after escaping a cult. And Olsen, who, according to the Internet Movie Database, hasn't had a film role since 'The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley,' understands the importance of her new role.
"It's hard for independent films when they want to get money," Olsen told the Huffington Post. "And to have a lead be an unknown -- it's kind of a risk for people to take. And so the fact that they took that risk was like made my year, my life ... It was really exciting."
Her other film, 'Silent House,' is a unique one, especially for someone with a theater background. It's one continous shot following Olsen's character as she begins to suspect her house is haunted.
"When I was auditioning, I was like, 'Just so you know I'm used to the medium of theater, so like I can stand on my feet for this long,'" she said.
Olsen may come from a theater background, but she's no stranger to movie sets -- or paparazzi. The lenses, however, are usually focused on her 24-year-old sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley, who have been on camera since they were infants on 'Full House.'
"I just think it's crazy in general, but I want to be an actor –- and I have since I was a little girl –- and if that happens, then you figure out how to deal with it where it doesn't completely infringe upon your life," Olsen said. "I haven't experienced that personally yet. Hopefully I don't have to but I think it's a really weird part of this business."
Showing posts with label Makes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Makes. Show all posts
Monday, January 24, 2011
Hollywood’s Newest Olsen Makes Sundance Debut
The younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen is breaking into showbiz with two buzzed-about films at the Sundance Film Festival.
Elizabeth Olsen, 21, stars in “Silent House,” directed by the filmmakers who made the 2004 indy hit “Open Water.” When it debuted at Sundance, it was sold to Lionsgate for more than $2 million.
Based on a film from Uruguay called “La Casa Muda,” '‘Silent House” is one continuous take as Olsen’s character begins to suspect her summer house may be haunted. Olsen compares shooting the film to theater, which she started doing as a child.
“When I was auditioning, I was like, ‘Just so you know I’m used to the medium of theater, so like I can stand on my feet for this long,’” she laughs.
Olsen’s other film at Sundance is “Martha Macy May Marlene,” where she plays a young women trying to readjust to life after escaping from a cult.
“It’s hard for independent films when they want to get money,” said Olsen. “And to have a lead be an unknown — it’s kind of a risk for people to take. And so the fact that they took that risk was like made my year, my life, I don’t know! It was really exciting.”
The actress may be enthusiastic about her career but turns serious when it comes to the idea of being a tabloid target like her big sisters, now 24, who are chased constantly by paparazzi. The Olsen twins have been in the spotlight since they were hired as infants to share a role in the TV comedy “Full House.”
“When I would go shopping with my sisters when I was younger, it would be dangerous. People would almost get us into car accidents. I just think it’s crazy in general but I want to be an actor — and I have since I was a little girl — and if that happens, then you figure out how to deal with it where it doesn’t completely infringe upon your life,” said Olsen. “I haven’t experienced that personally yet. Hopefully I don’t have to but I think it’s a really weird part of this business.”
Elizabeth Olsen, 21, stars in “Silent House,” directed by the filmmakers who made the 2004 indy hit “Open Water.” When it debuted at Sundance, it was sold to Lionsgate for more than $2 million.
Based on a film from Uruguay called “La Casa Muda,” '‘Silent House” is one continuous take as Olsen’s character begins to suspect her summer house may be haunted. Olsen compares shooting the film to theater, which she started doing as a child.
“When I was auditioning, I was like, ‘Just so you know I’m used to the medium of theater, so like I can stand on my feet for this long,’” she laughs.
Olsen’s other film at Sundance is “Martha Macy May Marlene,” where she plays a young women trying to readjust to life after escaping from a cult.
“It’s hard for independent films when they want to get money,” said Olsen. “And to have a lead be an unknown — it’s kind of a risk for people to take. And so the fact that they took that risk was like made my year, my life, I don’t know! It was really exciting.”
The actress may be enthusiastic about her career but turns serious when it comes to the idea of being a tabloid target like her big sisters, now 24, who are chased constantly by paparazzi. The Olsen twins have been in the spotlight since they were hired as infants to share a role in the TV comedy “Full House.”
“When I would go shopping with my sisters when I was younger, it would be dangerous. People would almost get us into car accidents. I just think it’s crazy in general but I want to be an actor — and I have since I was a little girl — and if that happens, then you figure out how to deal with it where it doesn’t completely infringe upon your life,” said Olsen. “I haven’t experienced that personally yet. Hopefully I don’t have to but I think it’s a really weird part of this business.”
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Joan Rivers on Tommy Lee Jones: 'He Makes Hitler Look Warm and Fuzzy'
Joan Rivers is just a friend-making machine this week, right? She got herself dumped from FOX News after saying critics were right to blame Sarah Palin for the Tucson tragedy, and then she announced to me that she regretted ever voting for Sarah's "terrible daughter" Bristol on 'Dancing With the Stars.' "I should've voted for David Hasselhoff. They both sucked as dancers."
The comedy icon didn't stop there on my HDNet show, 'Naughty But Nice With Rob,' and she entertained us with her thoughts on the nicest and nastiest celebs out there. Nice? Tom Hanks and Nicole Kidman, surprisingly. Meanest? Without hesitation, Tommy Lee Jones, whom Joan and Melissa had nothing but H-bomb-throwing scorn for.
"He makes Hitler look warm and fuzzy," Joan said. "The man is a nightmare," Melissa agreed.
Joan and Melissa sat down with me to promote their brilliant new show, 'Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?' which premieres Jan. 25 at 9PM on WE TV. On the show, cameras follow the ultimate New Yorker when she decides to move to California to be with Melissa and grandson Cooper. She has no idea that Melissa has a live-in boyfriend, Jason, and that's not even the biggest surprise when this mother and daughter move in together!
For more dish with Joan and Melissa, tune into 'Naughty But Nice With Rob' on Saturday at 1PM and again at 7PM only on HDNet.
The comedy icon didn't stop there on my HDNet show, 'Naughty But Nice With Rob,' and she entertained us with her thoughts on the nicest and nastiest celebs out there. Nice? Tom Hanks and Nicole Kidman, surprisingly. Meanest? Without hesitation, Tommy Lee Jones, whom Joan and Melissa had nothing but H-bomb-throwing scorn for.
"He makes Hitler look warm and fuzzy," Joan said. "The man is a nightmare," Melissa agreed.
Joan and Melissa sat down with me to promote their brilliant new show, 'Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?' which premieres Jan. 25 at 9PM on WE TV. On the show, cameras follow the ultimate New Yorker when she decides to move to California to be with Melissa and grandson Cooper. She has no idea that Melissa has a live-in boyfriend, Jason, and that's not even the biggest surprise when this mother and daughter move in together!
For more dish with Joan and Melissa, tune into 'Naughty But Nice With Rob' on Saturday at 1PM and again at 7PM only on HDNet.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
NBA's Substantial Home Court Advantage: What Makes Players Worse On The Road?
SBNation.com's awesome Jon Bois put together a comprehensive and intriguing look at home court advantage in pro sports. As it turns out, among NBA teams over the last three full seasons, the Utah Jazz have the largest spread between home and road performance, with the Denver Nuggets and (for some bizarre reason) Indiana Pacers just behind.
But perhaps most interesting is that NBA teams have a collective home court advantage much stronger than those of their NFL, Major League Baseball and NHL counterparts. From 2007-08 through 2009-10, NBA teams, had they played all 82 games at home, would have won an addition 10.1 percent of matches. The figure for the NFL was just 6.4 percent, baseball was at 5.4 percent and the NHL at 5.2 percent.
That's pretty odd, considering weather isn't a factor in the NBA (as it is in baseball and football) and every NBA court is spacially the same (as opposed to baseball's unique parks). So why do NBA teams win so much more frequently at home? Because of the inherent nature of the NBA schedule.
NBA teams play 41 games at home and 41 games on the road. But many of those NBA games come under duress, because the league always tries to shrink road trips in terms of total days spent travelling (and as such, in team-commissioned hotels and riding team-commissioned planes). As such, nearly all back-to-backs occur on the road. There's really no reason to schedule those episodes during home stands -- even though there are equal games on the road and at home, there is no financial or humanist rationale for keeping homestands as short as possible, as there is for road trips.
Ed Kupfer, currently a Rockets analyst, did a study on the APBRmetrics forum in early 2005 looking at factors in win probability. The language is technical, but in summary, after opponent quality and a home court advantage, days since a team's last game was the biggest factor in determining who wins a game. As teams on the road are typically (not always, but usually) on shorter rest, this serves as an added home court advantage (or more accurately, a road disadvantage).
They say one of the hardest things to do in the NBA is to play a fourth game in five nights -- basically the back end of a back-to-back right after a back-to-back. The fact that at least three and likely all four of those games came on the road dovetails right into Bois' findings that home court means a lot more in the NBA than anywhere else.
But perhaps most interesting is that NBA teams have a collective home court advantage much stronger than those of their NFL, Major League Baseball and NHL counterparts. From 2007-08 through 2009-10, NBA teams, had they played all 82 games at home, would have won an addition 10.1 percent of matches. The figure for the NFL was just 6.4 percent, baseball was at 5.4 percent and the NHL at 5.2 percent.
That's pretty odd, considering weather isn't a factor in the NBA (as it is in baseball and football) and every NBA court is spacially the same (as opposed to baseball's unique parks). So why do NBA teams win so much more frequently at home? Because of the inherent nature of the NBA schedule.
NBA teams play 41 games at home and 41 games on the road. But many of those NBA games come under duress, because the league always tries to shrink road trips in terms of total days spent travelling (and as such, in team-commissioned hotels and riding team-commissioned planes). As such, nearly all back-to-backs occur on the road. There's really no reason to schedule those episodes during home stands -- even though there are equal games on the road and at home, there is no financial or humanist rationale for keeping homestands as short as possible, as there is for road trips.
Ed Kupfer, currently a Rockets analyst, did a study on the APBRmetrics forum in early 2005 looking at factors in win probability. The language is technical, but in summary, after opponent quality and a home court advantage, days since a team's last game was the biggest factor in determining who wins a game. As teams on the road are typically (not always, but usually) on shorter rest, this serves as an added home court advantage (or more accurately, a road disadvantage).
They say one of the hardest things to do in the NBA is to play a fourth game in five nights -- basically the back end of a back-to-back right after a back-to-back. The fact that at least three and likely all four of those games came on the road dovetails right into Bois' findings that home court means a lot more in the NBA than anywhere else.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Film Critic Insults Award-Winning Actors, Makes Annette Bening Cry
New York Press film critic Armond White isn't exactly beloved in Hollywood -- in fact, he's quite the opposite -- and things came to a head last night during the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, with 'Black Swan' director Darren Aronofsky chastising White from the stage and a teary-eyed Annette Bening pleading for everyone to "just get along."
According to the Village Voice, things were tense from the get-go after White, chairman of the Critics Circle, brought Aronofsky onstage to present an award to his 'Swan' cinematographer, Matthew Libatique. In an obvious wink to White's negative 'Swan' review, the director said, "Keep it up, because you give us all another reason not to read New York Press."
"Aronofsky was saying this stuff with a smile," Gawker reports. "He was riffing." White, however, wasn't laughing, and took his next turn at the mic to stir the pot, saying, "That's all right. Darren reads me. That's all I want. And because he reads me, he knows the truth."
White is notorious for, well, being deliberately antagonistic. Gawker perhaps puts it best: "[White] is a very angry critic who feels very passionately about movies and tends to hate what everyone else likes and like what everyone else hates." To wit: White wrote a favorable review of Jonah Hex, last summer's 80-minute debacle currently ranked 13 percent fresh on RottenTomatoes, and he gave 'Toy Story 3,' 2010's best-reviewed film at 99 percent, one of only three negative reviews.
The atmosphere at last night's event appears to have been volatile, to say the least. "Armond broke the bank on insulting award winners he didn't agree with," an attendee told Gawker.
When 'Blue Valentine' actress Michelle Williams was presented with a prize, White introduced her by praising her performance in the 2004 film 'Land of Plenty,' leading the Oscar-nominated actress (for 'Brokeback Mountain') to say, "I made that movie almost 10 years ago. I can't imagine what you've said about me since then if you had to go back that far to say something nice."
Later, when White brought 'Angels in America' playwright Tony Kushner to the stage to award director David Fincher's universally acclaimed 'The Social Network' with the Best Picture prize, he said, "Maybe he can explain why it won best picture."
White also made sure to thank his peers for not awarding any honors to director Noah Baumbach's well-reviewed indie hit 'Greenberg.' Baumbach's continued success has long been a thorn in the critic's side; in his review of Baumbach's 1997 film 'Mr. Jealousy,' White said the director's mother should have had a "retroactive abortion." How tasteful and professional of him.
The tone of the evening, however, was apparently set in stone when Annette Bening took to the stage to accept the Best Actress prize for her turn in 'The Kids Are Alright.' "Bening, tearfully, came close to lecturing critics for being mean little s**ts," an attendee told Gawker, while another reported, "She said something like, 'Can't we all just get along?'"
According to the Village Voice, things were tense from the get-go after White, chairman of the Critics Circle, brought Aronofsky onstage to present an award to his 'Swan' cinematographer, Matthew Libatique. In an obvious wink to White's negative 'Swan' review, the director said, "Keep it up, because you give us all another reason not to read New York Press."
"Aronofsky was saying this stuff with a smile," Gawker reports. "He was riffing." White, however, wasn't laughing, and took his next turn at the mic to stir the pot, saying, "That's all right. Darren reads me. That's all I want. And because he reads me, he knows the truth."
White is notorious for, well, being deliberately antagonistic. Gawker perhaps puts it best: "[White] is a very angry critic who feels very passionately about movies and tends to hate what everyone else likes and like what everyone else hates." To wit: White wrote a favorable review of Jonah Hex, last summer's 80-minute debacle currently ranked 13 percent fresh on RottenTomatoes, and he gave 'Toy Story 3,' 2010's best-reviewed film at 99 percent, one of only three negative reviews.
The atmosphere at last night's event appears to have been volatile, to say the least. "Armond broke the bank on insulting award winners he didn't agree with," an attendee told Gawker.
When 'Blue Valentine' actress Michelle Williams was presented with a prize, White introduced her by praising her performance in the 2004 film 'Land of Plenty,' leading the Oscar-nominated actress (for 'Brokeback Mountain') to say, "I made that movie almost 10 years ago. I can't imagine what you've said about me since then if you had to go back that far to say something nice."
Later, when White brought 'Angels in America' playwright Tony Kushner to the stage to award director David Fincher's universally acclaimed 'The Social Network' with the Best Picture prize, he said, "Maybe he can explain why it won best picture."
White also made sure to thank his peers for not awarding any honors to director Noah Baumbach's well-reviewed indie hit 'Greenberg.' Baumbach's continued success has long been a thorn in the critic's side; in his review of Baumbach's 1997 film 'Mr. Jealousy,' White said the director's mother should have had a "retroactive abortion." How tasteful and professional of him.
The tone of the evening, however, was apparently set in stone when Annette Bening took to the stage to accept the Best Actress prize for her turn in 'The Kids Are Alright.' "Bening, tearfully, came close to lecturing critics for being mean little s**ts," an attendee told Gawker, while another reported, "She said something like, 'Can't we all just get along?'"
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