Joey King in "Family Weekend"

Joey King puts her personal spin on several iconic movie characters in her upcoming family/comedy farce FAMILY WEEKEND (2012), directed by Benjamin Epps and staring Mathew Modine and Kristen Chenoweth.

     Here's Joey as Iris the twelve-year-old prostitute from Martin Scorsese's psycho/thriller TAXI DRIVER (1976).

 

 

Joey as Malcolm McDowell in Kubrick's art-house masterpiece

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971).

 

 

 

     Looking like a boy, Joey poses as the gun toting hood "Mr. Blonde," from Quentin Tarantino's gangster opus, RESERVOIR DOGS (1992). Girls with guns! Whoo hoo! Here's another screen capture of Joey as the punk from R D, this time a benign butter knife stands in for the more menacing razor.

      Looks like Joey gets lots of screen time and had a blast playing all these quirky characters.



Joey King in BATTLE LOS ANGELES



Joey King, the thirteen-year-old actress and star of RAMONA AND BEEZUS, made her 2013 New Year's resolutions. "Have fun, don't care what other people think and just go get them!"

Dakota Fanning "War of the Worlds"

     I finished watching (if you could call it that), the frenetic action miss-mash thriller BATTLE LOS ANGELES (2012), directed by Jonathan Liebesman. With Joey King playing the Dakota Fanning part, Aaron Eckheart stands in for Tom Cruise, and we swap out a different bunch of xenophobic aliens.  This WAR OF THE WORLDS / BLACK HAWK DOWN wanna be is about as un-entertaining and ridiculous a movie as they come.  It begins with a flurry of lame CNN style news reports about comets striking the earth (where have we heard that one before)? The aliens are attacking they're after our water and Joey King too!  This $70 million stink-fest of a movie is bad on so many levels I don't know where to begin. The cliche cardboard characters, dim-witted dialogue and herky-jerky repetitive "fast-zoom-in-close" reality camera work.  Whereas I can sympathize with the aliens for wanting Joey King, (she is after all unique to the universe), there are lots better places to look for water in the solar system than planet Earth viz. Titan or Enceldus. This isn't even a "B" movie, more like a grade "Zzz," movie and that's being generous. Poor little Joey gets precious little screen time and no dialogue, and she doesn't even get to scream her pretty little head off like Dakota Fanning. Looks  like  Joey King's  hairdresser for BATTLE LOS ANGELES interned on WAR OF THE WORLDS. Don't you just love a girl covered in mud?  Pass on this movie, no better yet run screaming!
 

Joey getting her ears pierced



Joey King method actress? 

 

 

 

 





Joey King as Iris in TAXI DRIVER





If your family doesn't stick together, sometimes you have to use a little duct tape. "Family Weekend" is the story of 16-year-old Emily who in a miss-guided effort to teach her family a lesson for having ignored her, stages an "intervention" of sorts by taking her mother and father hostage. She persuades her older brother Jackson to go along with the hijinks by letting him "document" the goings on to create the next great art-house movie sensation. She incorporates her deluded film-star obsessed little sister (King) into the farce by telling her she has been cast in her brother's new movie. Stockholm syndrome, chaos and  general silliness ensue after one of Emily's friends inadvertently "tweets" about the hostage crisis and the tattle-tale tweet trends world-wide.

 

    Here's a screen shot of Joey King's character from her upcoming family comedy/farce FAMILY WEEKEND (2012), alternatively titled, "Queen              Freaks," and directed by Benjamin Epps.  

Dakota Fanning

Jodie Foster in TAXI DRIVER

    














     Apparently one of the movie legends King's character is obsessed with, is Jodie Foster’s iconic character Iris the twelve-year-old prostitute from the 1976 Martin Scorsese psycho-thriller TAXI DRIVER.  Not to be out done, Dakota Fanning put her own spin on the Iris character. Ooh, looks like our little Joey might be getting a little chubby around the middle . . .  chubby in a cute way.











A Dark "Knight" for Joey King

Poor little Joey King let slip a major spoiler in the upcoming super secret The Dark Knight Rises franchise, and is likely to get read the riot act from Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. after a recent interview with My Entertainment World. King talked a little about The Dark Knight Rises, but she also revealed who she’ll be playing . . .

     EW: Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise is one of the biggest in the world, was it intimidating jumping on board for The Dark Knight Rises?

      JK: It was so cool, I had an amazing time. I got to travel to places I’d never been to before. Christopher Nolan is so nice, so is Christian Bale. I just had the best time.

EW: What’s your role in that film?
 

       JK: I play young Talia al Ghul. I can’t give too much away because I promised Mr. Nolan I wouldn’t say anything. There are too many secrets about the character and the movie.

 

     Oops! Well I guess that settles that then! It's been long rumored that she would be playing Talia in the movie, and now she's confirmed.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together and deduce that Marion Cotillard will be play adult Talia. King also revealed that she has filmed scenes for the third Batman adventure in London and India. Ra’s al Ghul was Bruce Wayne’s former mentor turned nemesis, who was played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins.

     I only hope Mr. Nolan isn’t too hard on the poor girl. Joey we love you! We'll come visit you in Spandau prison.

     The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled for a July 20th release and stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Joey King and Morgan Freeman.

Joey King the Great and Adorable

      Joey King the talented and adorable  thirteen-year-old actress  of “Ramona and Beezus,” has two new movies in the can.  The first, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, is a  2013 Disney fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Raimi of “Spider Man” fame. The film is a loose adaptation from the L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and is a prequel of sorts to both the novel and of the famous 1939 MGM film.

      A hack stage magician finds himself unwittingly carried from Kansas in his now famous balloon to a fantasy world, where he must use his wits and his trickery to stay clear of the clutches of three witches who have various plans for him and suspect he is not quite as “great and powerful” as he claims.  Joey King plays a character named “China Girl,” a life-like  porcelain doll. Oz, (James Franco) a charlatan and snake-oil salesman rescues China girl and glues her back together after her family is smashed by an evil witch Evanora, (Rachel Weisz). The subtext here is clear, even if you’re fragile you can conquer great things.

     Even though Joey is credited as a character, she evidently does not actually appear and her presence in the movie is limited to voice acting with CGI providing her on screen avatar. This amounts to an overall disappointment. Hey, what can I say, we enjoy watching Joey's charming effervescence on the big screen.

 

     Joey is a very much in demand. Becoming the latest Hollywood “IT” girl. Her busy schedule includes the upcoming thriller, WHITE HOUSE DOWN (2013),  directed by Roland Emmerich and staring Channing Tatum.

     Joey plays Emily Cale the daughter of  a Secret Service agent who is tasked with saving the life of the U.S. President after the White House is overtaken by a paramilitary group.  Poor Tatum has the unlikely misfortune of having taken his daughter to work on his first day on the job in an effort to bond with her. King seems to have a natural affinity for playing the “little girl in jeopardy.” A role having reprised in “Battle Los Angeles,” and “Quarantine.” This time around King is taken hostage, and her presence naturally adds an extra strata of artificial drama as the stakes are now even higher. Our hero not only must save the life of the President but rescue his daughter as well.  We can only hope this result in King getting more screen time than her previous outing as little-girl-lost in “Dark Knight Rises.”

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice

    With her flowing frizzy locks of voluminous red hair, Francesca Capaldi looks rather like a pint-size Merida from the movie “Brave.” Cesca is so adorable! The eight-year-old actress is very funny too, and is equally adept at playing the sweet “what-little-ol’-me?” card as she is  the slightly gullible naïve little girl who frequently miss-understand or alternatively gets words wrong to hilarious effect.  

     Francesca Capaldi stars in “Dog with a Blog,” as Chloe James the youngest sibling in the blended James-Jennings’s household. The role marks the series regular debut for the young actress. The James-Jenning family tend to leave her behind by accident a lot, and she can get in a lot of trouble!
   
      The writers of “Dog with a Blog,” have tenancy to play uneven with the Chloe character, in some episodes, she is hilarious with her spoonerisms, as in the “Sock-ologist” episode where she implores her father, “Daddy show them your socks.” And my favorite were when little Chloe miss-interprets Avery’s rousing “I’m Spartacus!” Chloe announces to her parents, “I’m asparagus!” Very funny. Other times the writers squander her comic potential as she sinks into cliché little girl annoying silliness with her repetitious refrain “I want to get my ears pierced!”
 

    Capaldi has previously appeared in episodes of Disney Channel’ “A.N.T. Farm,” and CBS’s comedy “How I met your Mother.” In addition, Capaldi was featured in the pilot for “Goodwin Games,” and Corbin Bernsen’s independent film “3 Day Test.” 

     Capaldi was nominated for Young Artist Award for “Best performance in a TV-series – Guest starring young actress ten and under.”

Crazy cute Joey King

Joey King (b. 07.30.99) is an American actress  born in California and has appeared in numerous television shows including: “CSI”, “Entourage”, “Ghost Whisperer”, “Medium”, “The Suite Life” and “Avenging Angel.” Her movie credits include: “Dark Knight Rises,” “Battle Los Angeles” and the upcoming “White House Down,” where Joey plays the daughter of a secret service agent tasked with saving the president.
 

     Every now and then, it's nice for kids to see a genuine movie without 3D glasses, whiplash inducing scene cuts, car chases and explosions. “Ramona and Beezus,” (2010) directed by Elizabeth Allen from Beverly Cleary’s popular children's book series. The film also stars Selena Gomez and follows the miss-adventures of a third-grade girl and her older sister. A nice little G-rated *gasp* family movie that teaches some important lessons. Joey King is the best  young actress to come along in years. I’m glad someone finally had the courage to make a plesant family movie that embraces decent values for once and avoids the tiresome and overdone potty mouth jokes and ridiculously unrealistic impossible action sequences that have ruined most of the family movies recently.
 

      The most interesting thing about watching child stars is figuring out their potential. They've already made a mark in the entertainment industry as minors, the huge unknown is whether they can survive the storm of puberty and make it as adult actresses. Some are cute but forgettable and mere set decorations. Others are preternaturally precocious but ultimately playing themselves, and some seem great at being the wise-cracking kid but can't seem to evoke any real depth of emotions. I will always remember Jena Boyd in "The Missing."  Now that girl could cry!

      I had the pleasure of watching Miss King on the Tonight Show. The girl packs a wallop of charisma and charm for a child her age. She's smart and intelligent and a very funny little lady. With her short-cropped hair and liquid azure eyes, Joey King, exudes a special silliness more in mannerisms than anything else that is reminiscent of a pint-size Carol Channing. I hope Joey doesn't loose her personality with age.        

     Want see the absolute cutest video ever? I've watched a lot of appearances of child stars on talk shows.   Fanning never failed to disappoint. However, I have to say, I haven't seen a young girl with such charisma and charm as Joey, well, I can't remember when.  The kid just sparkles! You watch and decide if this young girl isn't the most adorable little ol' thang to come down the pike in a long while. She's so cute you just want to squeeze her!         

 

 

 

 

Oh Dakota you a ‘muse’ me

I just compled my third novel HARTFORD 1944, and I'll confess to feeling a bit of post-partum depression. After working on it, living it,  for the past three years, and working quite feverishly these past four months.  I dotted my last 'I' and crossed my last 'T' and I knew the time had come to put  Hartford aside. Now what was I was finished, what was I going to do?  Well, I started a new book.

 

It's funny how things work out. I had scarcely put pen to paper than what should land on my desk, in my weekly Dakota Fanning updates, but this picture of a quite lovely dark-haired  Dakota.  At first, the picture is quite a shock and takes some getting used to after watching this girl grow up since 2001.  Where has my fresh faced little blonde girl gone?  Well, she has grown up and become quite a beautiful woman.  Apparently Dakota is a woman who feels the need to break with the past and strike out on her own.  Make a bold   statement and be her own person.

       I finalized the name of my new protagonist/heroine. I think deciding on the name for my character is one of the most important and catalytic decisions I make. I always try to choose a name that offers numerous flexible plot points. I settled on: DARCY DORA O'DWYER . . . Dwyer means  “black” in ancient Celtic. Darcy is cute and sporty, but counterbalanced with dowdy Dora. To further the coincidence, by an entirely unrelated quirk of happenstance  The protagonist in my new book has dark hair, raven hair, almost black is how I describe it. Here's a what I wrote for the opening paragraphs.

Dorcha hated her hair. The girl sat in front of the mirror with her scissors. She gazed at her face in the glass, the face that looked back at her was not her own.  She raised the scissors, poised to cut the first long hanks of hair. Her arms were scared from where she’d cut herself.

 “Jesus loves you, but I don’t.” The first lengths of lustrous luxurious dark brown, almost black coppery hair cascaded to the dressing table. Dorcha cut and cut, she cut the stranger’s hair with a random fury, a spiteful furious vengeance, until her self-destruction was complete. She looked at her face in the mirror; and cried a dry, tearless cry, less of a cry for help and more a cry for vengeance. She felt powerless to punish those who hurt her most so she lashed out and hurt herself instead.

“Happy birthday Darcy O’Dwyer.” She felt black, even her name meant “black.” A black soul to go with her black hair, sixteen-years-old today and Dorcha couldn’t have felt blacker.

  “Satan is your father.” Dorcha repeated, and she sheared another hank of hair from her head. Satan really was her father.  She thought of her father downstairs; he was back from the pub for sure. She’d heard the cellar door slam. He always came in that way, he thought himself clever, the way he came through the cellar thinking no one would notice.  But he always forgot and tripped on the stairs letting the cellar door slam announcing his return, riotous, belligerent, and drunk as a lord from a night of playing cards. How much did he lose tonight? He was down there no all right, sitting naked, watching telly, plastered, shit-face drunk in his ratty chair.

Oh how she hated him. Not all the bruises on her arms were self-inflicted. Would he come for her tonight? Dorcha continued cutting until her poor shorn locks resembled a dishevel cabbage. Maybe now she was too ugly to be of any interest to father. The lousy lout of her father and her lush of a shrew step-mother they could all rot in hell!

    Darcy what have you done?

 

A KILLING IN ENNISKILLEN

© 2012 by Steven McAllister

All rights reserved

 

The Hanneliator Cometh

Genevieve Hannelius (b. December 22, 1998), is an American child actress and singer born in Boston Massachusetts; Better known professionally as “G” Hannelius.   G is a theatre veteran and began her acting career at the age of seven at the Children’s Theater of Main   with roles in local Maine productions including the starring role as Madeline in “Madeline’s Rescue” and Jenny in “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.”

         Hannelius plays the role of Emily in “Den Brother,” a Disney Channel original movie and Amy Little on “Leo Little’s Big Show.” On ABC’s "Surviving Suburbia" with Bob Saget. Hannelius has plenty of experience with talking dogs, having lent her voice to Disney’s “Treasure Buddies” and “Spooky Buddies” as the fun-loving golden retriever, Rosebud. Hannelius is also provided the voice of Rosebud in “Air Buddies.” G is currently staring  as Avery, the middle step-sister in the new Disney Channel sitcom “Dog with a Blog.” That premiered on October 12, 2012.
         

The series, told from a dog's point of view, follows the newly adopted dog Stan of the blended Jennings family. G. plays Avery Jennings, the smart, responsible and passionate rule follower, along with her step-siblings, Tyler,  and Chloe, and her parents Bennett and Ellen, as they adjust to life as a new family. As Avery Jennings, G Hannelius is the highly intelligent, hard working middle child.  Avery is very straight-forward in following the rules she is very smart, an overachiever and knows what she wants. She wants everything to be handled in an orderly fashion, such as posting sign-up sheets in the living room for the bathroom. Avery is socially responsible and despises boys. 

 

G  seems quite small for her age, and I was very surprised to discover she is thirteen-years-old.  That’s not surprising since Disney has a long track record of employing child actors as old as possible and  who look young as possible. I discovered her through random channel surfing, I stopped immediately and said, “Whoa, who’s that girl!” I was  at once smitten. Lightning doesn't often strike twice as with Dakota Fanning, but we expect to see good things to come from G. I thought G was exceptionally cute, a  funny, bright and a very expressive young actress. She has a quirky little thin mouth that reminds me of a (young) Meg Ryan, that lends itself to adorable expressions. G was especially funny during a scene where she acts out the famous“I'm Spartacus!”  Her fans are affectionately known as Hanneliators, how cute is that?

Beautiful Isabelle Allen

Newcomer Isabelle Allen will play Young Cosette in the upcoming film version of the musical Les Misérables is directed by The King's Speech's Academy Award-winning, Tom Hooper, based on the stage musical by Boublil and Schonberg, and the novel by Victor Hugo.  The movie adaptation of the successful stage musical stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried. 

 

Set in 19th century revolutionary France, Les Misérables tells the story of paroled prisoner 24601, Jean Valjean (Jackman) is released from prison and breaks parole to create a new life for himself while evading the grip of the persistent police inspector Javert (Crowe)—a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. The Universal pictures film is scheduled to open on December 25th.  

 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the movie poster and the original Broadway poster. The photo recreates the iconic Émile Bayard's etching. It's interesting to note the art director chose  NOT to go with the “nude” off the right shoulder look of the original French illustrator.  The movie poster features the prominent  face of beautiful Isabelle Allen as young Cosette in the upcoming movie version of Les Misérables. Little Issy's character is known for her haunting solo Castle in the Cloud.

Little Issy looking adorable at the Les Misérables premiere.

 

 

Here's a cute video of Issy with Dominic Tighe

 

Mommy where's daddy?

AS I SIT HERE  in my writer's garret, finishing my third novel, HARTFORD 1944,  I had an epiphany.  Why is it that a  disproportionate number of young girls depicted in movies are either orphans or come from a dysfunction one parent family?  Often times if the girl does have parents, they are decidedly absent or neglectful. This seems to be a common theme in literature and movies. Good story-telling always involves conflict, and a child without parents is perhaps every child's worst fear. The plot device allows the girl to venture into the dangerous world and  have adventures and develop traits of self-reliance and bravery without the comfort (or hindrance) of parental supervision.

The literary formula seems almost universal and unavoidable and is true for boys as well as girls. However with the boys, the trend less often depicts  them forming a bond with a “mother” figure. The girls by contrast invariably seem to end up befriending some curmudgeonly man whose motives are usually purely altruistic and platonic.  They say there are only seven basic stories you can tell, and the tale of the young girl who comes of age under the wing of a “father” figure appears to be a standard formula. 

          In my first novel TESSA CLAIBORNE, The year is 1878, and Tessa’s father is dead and her mother sells her daughter into indentured servitude. Thirteen-year-old Tessa flees the London textile mills and disguises herself as a boy and joins the army.  She has all sorts of unsupervised adventures in  South Africa.

          In HARTFORD 1944 Janie McConaughey enjoys both parents, not withstanding, she escapes parental authority by running away and joining the circus where she makes friends with a clown Walter who serves as her parental father figure and mentor.

 

Here's my list of young girl orphan movies, I compiled to make my point. The list is intended to be neither comprehensive nor exhaustive.  It's just a short list. I'm sure there are some glaring omissions.

 

PAPER MOON (1973), Tatum O’Neal is Addie Pray an orphan child on the lam with a man who may or may not be her father.

BAD NEWS BEARS (1976), Tatum O’Neal is shepherded by a beer swilling cigar smoking Water Mathau.

ORPHAN (2009), Isabelle Furhman is a homicidal 9 year-old orphan girl who seduces her step-father.

TRUE GRIT (1969, 2010), Mattie Ross is effectively orphaned, her relationship is with an aging gunslinger Rooster Cogburn.
WALKABOUT (1971), Schoolgirl Jenny Agutter and her brother become stranded in the Australian outback when their father shoots himself.  Girl walks around in the wilderness naked . . .   
KICK ASS (2010),  Chloe Moretz plays a pint-size vigilante/assassin and she talks dirty too!  Hit Girl has no mother, only a father.

LAWN DOGS (1997), Ten-year-old Mischa Barton plays Devon, a girl neglected by her parents.  She develops a crush on the lawn mower guy.

THE PROFESSIONAL (1994), Natalie Portman is orphan girl who adopts a hit man as her father figure with a decided Oedipus subtext.

          Jodie Foster frequently put in work as the little girl lost.
 

TAXI DRIVER (1976), Iris is a runaway prostitute who has a relationship with a psychotic taxi driver.

CANDLESHOE (1976), Jodie Foster plays an orphan street urchin.
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974), Jodie is Audrey, a wisecracking, shoplifting, wine-guzzling tomboy who's mother is a prostitute.

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE (1976), Jodie is an orphan with an unsavory relationship with Martin Sheen.



         Dakota Fanning  has played her share of wastrel waifs.

 

I AM SAM (2001) Dakota has no mother, and her father is retarded.

WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005), The Martians are attacking Dakota, and she has Tom Cruise for a father, I don’t know which is worse.

HIDE AND SEEK (2005), Dakota’s mother is murdered, only a father.

MAN ON FIRE (2004), Dakota has two parents, but they are neglectful, she develops a strong parental bond with Denzel Washington her bodyguard.

HOUNDDOG (2007), Dakota has no mother, and she plies the neighbor boy with kisses to show her his winkie.
 

          Shirley Temple was almost always depicted as an orphan or a waif.
 

HEIDI (1937) Heidi is an orphan child sent to live with her grandfather.

SUSANNA OF THE MOUNTIES  (1939)  Shirley is the orphaned survivor of an Indian attack in the Canadian West, she has thing for Mounties.

LITTLE MISS MARKER (1934) Shirley is abandoned by her father and used as collateral to cover a bet on a horse race.

BRIGHT EYES, (1934) Shirley is an orphan, again.

CURLY-TOP (1935) Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan Shirley.

CAPT IAN JANUARY (1936) Shirley lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned.

 

  

Angelica dancing to "The Witch Doctor."

 

     Isn't she just the cutest little ol' thang?  Angelica (age 7) dances to "The Witch Doctor."   I love this video, you can see lots more of Angelica on her own channel.

 

 

 

Here's another super cute Angelica video for your enjoyment. The guy playing the guitar seems just as smitten with Angelica's charms as we are.

Dakota goes au naturel

          “I don't know, twenty-two dollars!”  Jim Paradise wasn’t exactly sure . . . he stood nervously awkwardly in the young misses department at G. Fox’s department store. Three dresses later, he felt less like he was buying a pair of work boots and more like he was playing with paper-dolls.

         Janie put on a pout.

 “Oh, Janie, I didn’t mean it like that. I love it, the dress, I think you’re beautiful. What do you think Frau?”  
        “Ja, Herr Paradise, ze jung mädchen is very attrativ.”
        “There still seems to be something missing, she needs . . . ah, something more.” Jim gestured helplessly; Frau Detweiler came to the rescue. She knew exactly what was missing; the one article of clothing every young girl requires to aspire to feel feminine.
       “Ach, und büstenhalter!”
       The attentive clerk at G. Fox whisked Janie off to the fitting room. When she emerged, she felt very shy but very grown up.  Janie did indeed look pretty; her bright face beamed, never in her whole life had she had so many adults give her such attention. She pirouetted, twirled and struck a pose like Betty Grable. Jim didn’t know quite what to say, he managed a weak, “mein fräulein.”  Jim smiled nodded and added under his breath . . . ach, that was what was missing.

*     *     *

 

HARTFORD 1944

Chapter Thirteen

The Dilly Girl

Steven Mc Allister © 2010 all rights reserved