What is JJ Abrams's favorite moment in Super 8?

From Quora:

I love Joel's performance -- one of my favorite moments is when he's being held by this huge alien and is terrified but also brave and hopeful.  It's especially amazing to me, since he was actually just standing on the ground and I was just off camera waving a huge piece of cardboard at him to make his hair move as if the creature was breathing on him. He did such an amazing job.  Also, the train crash was really fun to film. But my favorite moment is such a small thing: Joel telling Elle's character about what happened to his mother -- and how it was bad when she died, but that his dad got the necklace she wore back, and gave it to him. He's just so sweet there, so hopeful, and then his heart sinks, all on camera.

CW ‘Messengers’ Episode 3 Spoilers: Peter Joel Courtney Talks New Series

From Classicalite:

Recently, Peter actor Joel Courtney opened up to Buddy TV about how his characters fits in with the others on the show:

“When the meteor crashes, it definitely is the beginning of a new start for Peter. Whether good things are on that path or bad things, it'll eventually set him in a good place. So he gets his strength, and then there's the incident (in the pilot) at the party. That was definitely not good. But throughout season one of The Messengers, he really finds a family with the group. Which is something he's never really had. So he's definitely set on a different path, whether good things or bad things come of that, he doesn't know. But through season one, it's definitely a good arc”.

Be sure to tune into the all new episode of The Messengers, tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on The CW.

J-14 EXCLUSIVE: Katherine McNamara and Joel Courtney Talk About the Movie That Started Their Friendship

From J-14:

Katherine McNamara and Joel Courtney have been friends for over four years, and it all started with their movie Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, which recently came out on DVD! The actors met during their audition for the film – Kat plays Becky Thatcher and Joel plays Tom Sawyer – and have pretty much been inseparable ever since.

When we chatted with the besties about their new movie, they agreed that filming on location in Bulgaria really kick started their long lasting friendship.

"When you end up in a foreign country where everyone speaks Bulgarian..." Kat started. "That's when you become friends," Joel finished.

CLICK HERE FOR 10 CELEBRITY BESTIES WE CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF!

Over the past few years Joel and Kat have pretty much achieved the ultimate friendship goals.

"We've [stayed] really close friends. It's nice to have somebody you can always text no matter what time it is and talk to about whatever," Kat EXCLUSIVELY told us.

Since the movie wrapped in 2011, both stars' careers have taken off. Kat recently finished filming the second movie in the Maze Runner franchise, The Scorch Trials, and is working on The Fosters, and Joel's new CW show The Messengers premiered earlier this month.

"You always want your friends to do well, and you always want the people you really care about to be successful and do what they really love," Kat said about Joel's success. "It's really nice to be able to watch someone grow, and be successful, and do great things."

And while both actors are incredibly supportive of each other, their busy schedules have definitely limited the time they've been able to spend together.

"It's impossible to hang out with Kat [now] because she's always working on something," Joel told us.

"We have to coordinate our schedules because when one of us is in LA, the other's gone shooting something," Kat adds. "And that's why Facetime is a beautiful thing."

When their schedules do work out, Kat told us that they like to plan "crazy vacations" or do "something spontaneous." Talk about the cutest BFFs ever!

Click through the gallery to see their most adorable bestie photos, then let us know which pics you love the most in the comments below. Are you glad that Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn brought them together? Are you excited to see the movie?

BuddyTV Exclusive Interview: Joel Courtney on What Makes CW's 'The Messengers' Different

Via BuddyTV

The CW's new apocalypse-based series premieres on Friday, April 17. We spoke with Joel Courtney, who plays Peter, to discuss how he thought the show stood out from others as well as what to expect from his character throughout the first season.

How do you think The Messengers can separate itself from the other apocalyptic shows that we've seen?

The Messengers is very character based. Even within the pilot, you just love each of the characters. It really revolves around their relationships, their backstories, them coming to terms with them, facing them and with some people fixing them. It's just very character driven. 

Your character Peter is sort of the relatable teenager when we first meet him. He's going through bullying, he doesn't fit in and he's depressed. Does the meteor crash set him on a straight path? 

When the meteor crashes, it definitely is the beginning of a new start for Peter. Whether good things are on that path or bad things, it'll eventually set him in a good place. So he gets his strength, and then there's the incident (in the pilot) at the party. That was definitely not good. But throughout season one of The Messengers, he really finds a family with the group. Which is something he's never really had. So he's definitely set on a different path, whether good things or bad things come of that, he doesn't know. But through season one, it's definitely a good arc. 

When he killed the bully at the party, do you think he did that intentionally from his built up anger, or was it really a case of not knowing his strength? 

So, when I met with the executive producer Trey Calloway, he explained to me that the strength that Peter receives is more of a Hulk-type strength from Avengers as opposed to Superman from [Justice League]. It's a rage instead of an anger that can be controlled, overcome and eventually resolved. This just explodes from him. So, definitely when he kills Dan, it's something that he has no control of. He, himself is surprised by that. 

So the wings that we see you guys have in the television screens and reflections, is that something that normal people can also see in those reflections?

I think it's more for the audience, because you see them later, and nobody notices them from the background. To me, they're more of a projection of what we've been given the opportunity to do. We're the angels of the apocalypse and we've been set on this path. We never fly, because when you see them, they're kind of blue and electric. They're not for flying or anything like that. It's always to me been more of a projection.

The end of the pilot episode heads most of the characters to Houston for different reasons. Is there a higher power calling them there?

In season one, most of the setting is supposed to be Houston. So we're all drawn there by fate. None of us know each other, except for Raul and Erin who are in the same car riding together. It's much more of a higher powered fate leading us there, I'd say. None of us specifically knows Houston.

The pilot left Peter pretty heartbroken. He's done something really dark that most kids will never experience. How can he move forward and recover?

For Peter, that's something that will be with him for the rest of his life. You know, he took a life. A kid's life. Whether it was an accident or not, that's kinda just in the details. He killed a guy. So, it's something that he has to face and come to terms with. It's something that will always be with him that he has to carry around. 

The Man, the one who's going around to the Messengers will obviously be important this season. What do you think his character is meant to represent? 

At the end of the pilot, we realize he is Lucifer, he's the Devil. He's trying to throw the Messengers off of our path. He's got his own plan, so he's trying to throw us off of our's. So you'll see him interact with some of us. He tricks us, lies to us, basically gets us to get what he wants done. Until we can figure out what he's doing and try and stop him. Later on this season, you'll actually see something interesting come up with him. 

Given that we have a Devil representation, are we going to have a God representation as well?

It's much more angels versus the Devil. I don't see God coming into the show. I mean, he could. I don't know what the writers are thinking for future seasons, I'm not really sure. But to me, I just don't see that coming, I can't see it happening.

The Messengers airs Fridays at 9pm on The CW.

Geeked Out Nation: The Messengers Season 1 Episode 1 Review

From Geeked Out Nation: 

The CW is filled with shows of superheroes,zombies, hunters,vampires of course some royal drama and now it has added angels to the mix. The Messengers Season 1 Episode 1  titled ‘The Awakening’ begins with a man who shoots a young man stated that his name is Death and that Hell will follow. It then pans to seven years later where we are introduced to several different people: Vera (the radio astronomer), Raul (the agent on the run), Erin (the devoted mother), Peter (the teenager), and Joshua (the TV preacher).  As we can see in just the first couple of minutes of the show that the show will have some religious and spiritual  overtones, yet still be entertaining to the masses.

Vera and her partner witness what they believe to be a meteor fall from the sky and some sort of invisible shield pass through Vera and the other five and there are unconscious for a few minutes only to awaken with new-found abilities. The meteor is then reveled to be a man who has fallen from the sky,now we can interpret the fallen man is Lucifer and that this is the beginning of the end of days as stated in the Book of Revelation. The preacher Joshua makes a broadcast about what is to come before his father cuts the live signal.

Each character has their own individual problems that they are dealing with such as Erin trying to protect her daughter from her father who threatens her in the hospital stating he will write that Erin was drinking which caused the crash. As the show moves on three of the five chosen ones show abilities and at times their angelic wings can be seen in mirrors. The man who had fallen from the sky shows up in Vera’s home and makes a deal with her, if she can do something for him then she can have her child returned to her.  Meanwhile in Houston, Joshua the preacher discovers his wife has been unfaithful and that children growing inside of her mostly likely belong to his father. He then gets a vision of a hospital, the meteor crash site and what seems to be some sort of explosion. He heads to the hospital while the others are heading to Houston. The man (from the meteor) is seen at a hospital where the young woman from earlier in the show who was shot is seen in the bed unconscious but on life support and his eyes is shown turning black with red as his pupils while the voice over of the preacher can be heard speaking of Lucifer.

I think this show has much potential,it has me hooked and waiting for the next episode. The show is filled with biblical overtones but it adds a nice twist to the current CW primetime lineup.