VANITY FAIR MARCH 2011 HOLLYWOOD ISSUE COVER

March 2011 Cover of Vanity Fair

Could this Photo get any hotter?  Norman Jean Roy shot this year's eagerly-anticipated Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue Cover and is it ever a sight to see.  Roy managed to bring together: Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, James Franco, Jennifer Lawrence, Anthony Mackie, Olivia Wilde, Jesse Eisenberg, Mila Kunis, Robert Duvall, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Garfield, Rashida Jones, Garrett Hedlund and Noomi Rapace together in this Keeper of a Cover.

Click here to read more about the Behind-the-Scenes details of this Shoot.

The March issue of Vanity Fair hits newsstands later this month.  Must grab.

(Photo credit: Norman Jean Roy/Vanity Fair)

COUNTRY STRONG - MOVIE REVIEW

Still from Country Strong

In what might more aptly be named Country Weak, Shana Feste-written and directed Musical Drama Country Strong falls short of expectations. Misleadingly advertised as something resembling a heart-warming story of fictitious Country singer Kelly Canter's (Gwyneth Paltrow) return to triumph from a battle with Depression and Alcoholism, the finished product is about as empty as its defeated Heroine's soul. There is little to root for here in Kelly as her character is written so thinly and one-dimensional that Paltrow's best efforts to bring her to life prove futile.

Country Strong follows Kelly after she suffers a Miscarriage from a fall on-stage while performing drunk in Houston, at five months pregnant. Managed by Husband James (Tim McGraw), her marriage is on-the-rocks with her having an obvious affair with hired-hand and aspiring Musician Beau (Garrett Hedlund). All the while, James takes beautiful and talented Beauty Queen Chiles (Leighton Meester) under his wing, threatening Kelly's place as his lover and Country Music's Darling also. Beau and Chiles follow the troubled singer on her ill-fated Tour one year later, realizing their own attraction to one another, as Kelly hopes to make amends for her disgraced Houston performance, all the while trying to overcome her own demons.

REVIEWS COME IN FOR "COUNTRY STRONG"

Still from Country Strong

One of the Films I am most excited to see right now actually won’t be opening over the Holidays in these parts, but it opens today for the lucky people of Los Angeles and Nashville. Country Strong from Director/Screenwriter Shana Feste, stars Gwyneth Paltrow as an unlucky Country Singer with a few vices, on the comeback trail. Believe it or not, Feste has cited Britney Spears’ downward spiral a few years back as being the inspiration behind her Heroine, Kelly Canter (Paltrow).

Previewing its Soundtrack last night for the first time, I was rather impressed by Paltrow’s conviction on the four tracks in which she appears, like the rockin’ swagger of Shake That Thing and the Film’s title track. Garrett Hedlund from TRON: Legacy is convincingly Bluegrass with that lower Baritone register on his sole track Chances Are. Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester does a credible job too on her one track Words I Couldn’t Say, although there is no doubting who the real star is in Paltrow. It appears co-star Tim McGraw might have lent her a pointer or two.

Reviews are starting to come in for the Musical Drama and although mixed unsurprisingly with the most telling sign being its snubbing at last week's Golden Globe nominations in the Acting and Best Motion Picture categories, Variety Magazine’s Justin Chang praised it still.  Chang in a review just published last night says it is a “rare ensemble piece in which all four principals are not only compellingly drawn but handled with an astute sense of dramatic balance.”

WALT DISNEY'S TRON: LEGACY 3-D - FILM REVIEW

Still from TRON: Legacy 3-D

Walt Disney's TRON: Legacy 3-D is a visual spectacle unlike anything you've ever seen. The story picks up in 1989 where Software Engineer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) mysteriously disappears and his young son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) is left trying to understand what has become of his estranged Father.

Expressing discontent with the business affairs of ENCOM, the corporation which his Father and partner Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) helped build and in which he is a Stakeholder, Sam's rebellious spirit drives him to sabotage their massive software launch single-handedly.  Alan who remains an ally of Sam, supplies him with the Keys to an Arcade which his Father owned, where they both shared many a fond memory prior to his sudden disappearance. Sam then uncovers his Father's secret quarters in the basement of the Arcade and finds himself transported to his Father's virtual world of Danger and Fantasy, The Grid.

Certain that he has found his Father in this alternate reality, Sam encounters a virtual clone of Kevin named Clu (Bridges), who was created to help achieve programming perfection in a world divided by Users (Humans) and The Programmed (Virtual Beings). Clu we learn, has become over-ambitious, turning against his creator Kevin and hence some light is shed upon how he disappeared. Sam is led to Kevin by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), a trustworthy sidekick who was rescued by Kevin and now as a result, she is forever indebted to him. Together Sam, Kevin and Quorra are determined to escape The Grid in a race against time to reach The Portal, which would bring them back to reality. Will the three of them be able to escape the destructive Clu before he obliterates them?  Will Kevin have to pay the price for manipulating life's natural order?

GARRETT HEDLUND IN TOKYO FOR "TRON: LEGACY 3-D"

Garrett Hedlund in Japan for Tokyo International Film Festival

You might not fully recognize him yet, but come early next year he'll be on Cell Phone Wallpapers and Screensavers everywhere.  An extremely hot handsome Garrett Hedlund was spotted by our friend MiT, who is out enjoying the Tokyo International Film Festival right now and after seeing him pass by quickly at Disney's TRON: Legacy 3-D Press Conference on Saturday, she by chance ran into him yesterday having a conversation on his Cell Phone.  After he wrapped up the call, he went over to greet MiT who flagged him down.  Hedlund was more than nice about it all and luckily she had a couple photos for him to sign in her Folder and apparently he was extremely generous about it and signed up a storm.

Hedlund not only is appearing in TRON: Legacy 3-D but also Gwyneth Paltrow's much-buzzed Country Strong as a Singer, both to be released this December.  The latter marks the second time the Minnesota-born actor has starred alongside Country Megastar Tim McGraw as they both starred in 2004 Football Drama Friday Night Lights.

What's that?  You want another look?  Okay, why not!  I'll join in on the shameless gawking with you.