w/ BRADLEY COOPER

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

The Words Philly Movie Premiere with Bradley Cooper was the first red carpet event that I got to cover solely for Tinsel & Tine. In the past, I’ve been invited as either a contributor for Cinedelphia or Philadelphia Film Society, and I’ve always been grateful for those opportunities; but now that I’ve been inducted as official Philly Media – more & more exclusive, on the scene, type invites will be forthcoming!!! Or so I hope.

When I arrived, after getting my media press pass 😉 I just went to the end of the line of press people and photographers to wait.  Then someone official yelled out “Where’s Tinsel & Tine?” and I called out “Here!” Turns out I had a place saved for me on the red carpet with “my” name on it!

While waiting for the arrivals to begin, there’s a fantastic hum of electricity in the air.  I kept checking my camera to make sure it was working correctly and practicing my interview question. I said hi to a few people I knew, tweeted, facebooked and instagramed my arrival on the red carpet and then waited some more.  Eventually, I decided to strike up a conversation with the spokes-model/journalist next to me. She was young, cute and blond so I wasn’t sure she would be approachable, but decided to give it a go.

To my surprise, she responded with friendly ease, and didn’t hide her excitement over the impeding arrival of Bradley Cooper. Which I liked, I hate jaded journalists. We chatted for a bit and then…

she said, ” I better start looking over my questions again to prepare.”

I volunteered,  “I’ve decided to keep it very brief, I’m going to ask him – What’s your favorite restaurant when you’re back home in Philly?”

She said, “I thought about asking him something like that if I get stuck.”

I responded, “Well, do me a favor and don’t since it’s my only question.”

Now mind you, she’s standing to the left of me, so she’s going to be given the chance to interview before me, because the red carpet entrance is left to right.

She seemed to give her assent, although in hindsight,

I don’t think she ever verbally said OK.

You know were this is leading –  the bi*&% totally took my question!

Leaving me to scramble as I wanted a food and film tie-in for my sound bite.
Luckily, I was quick on my feet and instead asked him…

“What do you like for a woman to cook for you or

what do you cook for a woman?”

He seemed slightly bashful about answering,

which made him look all the more adorable.

Here’s the video (also on youtube) which includes not only Cooper’s response, but also one from The Words co-writer/director Brian Klugman:

Side note: In the video, I know I say “really?” way too many times. I’ve got to come up with better responses next time.  However, this is a one man operation, so I’ll give myself a break.

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview THE WORDS

I’m not going to go into the synopsis, if you don’t know it, please click HERE for trailer.

As with Limitless (click for T&T review), which although I liked the movie’s premise and most of it’s execution; many others did not, and it’s understandable why. Yet most would agreed Bradley Cooper played that role of an elevated, super brain with believable perfection. Same holds true with The Words. Cooper struggling with the moral and ethical dilemma of plagiarism is good cinema, but the execution of the movie is a little weak.

The old man’s (Jeremy Irons) backstory is not very compelling.  We are made to believe his banal tale of love and lost became more enthralling when written down in black and white, but I can’t imagine how.

The Dennis Quaid character, who we assume is an older version of Cooper’s character in the future, tells the story, in another book, of what Cooper’s character is going through in the present, or is that the past?  At any rate, it’s confusing and involves an annoying cat and mouse seduction of Olivia Wilde’s character, who has no meaning to any story.

I love the non-traditional casting of Zoe Saldana as Bradley Cooper’s wife in the movie; I love that they dated briefly in real life; I love that the writer/producers said they expanded her character because Zoe brought such passion to the role. Unfortunately, I don’t love the movie’s portrayal of this couple’s relationship and romance, it’s lukewarm at best, when it should have been the glue of the film.

Here’s the video of the post film Q & A.  (Unfortunately, my camera phone was set to polarize- why? I have no idea. So the film is a bit grainy, but good audio).

I have the opportunity to see The Words again this week, perhaps upon a second viewing I’ll see more positives.

Philly Film Blog