Posts Tagged ‘Jeremy Renner’

Three weeks into PMC’s relaunch of Variety, two articles of note have involved actors from opposite ends of the film-TV spectrum.

For Issue No. 1 (April 2), Steve Challogan visited a massive $25 million residential property in Holmby Hills flip-renovated by Jeremy Renner and business partner Kristoffer Winters. Actually, make that just Winters. It’s only at the very end of the piece that readers are clearly told that “Renner, it should be noted, doesn’t have a financial stake in this property, but was present during the remodeling when he wasn’t busy shooting the latest Bourne movie.” Nevertheless, the piece is a great glimpse past the usually forbidding hedges of westside mega-manses.

In this week’s April 16 issue, TV critic Brian Lowry takes stock of the resurgent guest star careers of familiar faces like former Simon & Simon star Gerald McRaney:

McRaney describes himself as “sort of a gypsy at heart” who is having the time of his life flitting from playing a Warren Buffett-like billionaire to a drunken ex-cop to a seedy criminal. When asked about down time between roles, he says, “I consider anything after two weeks not to be a vacation, but unemployment.”

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Taking advantage of a rare bit of geographical synchronicity, HFPA member Ruben Nepales was able to make his native country the focus of a dispatch about the upcoming sequel The Bourne Legacy (Universal Pictures/August 10).

The final 40 minutes of the film takes place in Manila and other parts of the Philippines. Writer-director Tony Gilroy explains that it took ten weeks of first and second unit work to film a motorcycle chase involving the characters played by Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz. He also acknowledges the value of a versatile local acting community:

“I wish we had more for both of them to do.,” he said. “I really do. We take a great deal of pride in casting great actors in small parts. In the Philippines, it was just an embarrassment of riches… You’re taking these stars and saying, ‘Will you come and do bit parts in our film?’ But for us, it was a big advantage because everybody was so talented…”

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We know Hollywood is the place for dreamers and the high aspirational. But ten nominations for best picture seems greedy and self-congratulatory. “There’s just so much WONDERFUL, QUALITY work we just couldn’t chose.”

As we’ve seen with politics, twice the candidates doesn’t make them better choices. Just more.

The complete list of the noms:

Best picture

“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9″
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

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