Jude Law’s second project with director Steven Soderbergh didn’t come with too many surprises.

Like 2011’s Contagion, Law’s character in Side Effects is a complicated one, with a possible evil side only reserved for the audience.

“What was intriguing to me about this piece is that the characters in it are all very whole. They’re all flawed, and real,” the British actor recently told Celebuzz.

“And those to me offer the opportunity both as a viewer and an actor — really curious characters. To me, they’re the closest to the kind of people that we all are.”

Law, 40, plays Dr. Jonathan Banks, a psychiatrist assigned to Rooney Mara’s character Emily as she battles depression.

“[Soderbergh] likes the honesty of all of it . . . for me, I’ve always enjoyed the idea that sort of everyone has secrets, and everyone has dark sides, and characters are only interesting when they’re three-dimensional,” he said.

When it came to production, Law knew from experience that he would be working at lightning speed.

“I knew that Steven filmed real quick and that we would whip through this, so my preparation was really . . . I kind of grafted it, the journey. This level of isolation and obsession, and had it almost color coded in my head so I could hit it at any given time.”

Side Effects, also starring Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones, is playing in theaters everywhere.

For more of our exclusive chat with Jude Law, check out the video, above. Then tell us: what’s your favorite Jude Law film?

Since making her breakthrough in 1998 in The Mask of Zorro, Catherine Zeta-Jones has enjoyed a remarkable variety of acting opportunities: cat burglar, pregnant drug lord, a vaudevillian inmate, a hard-edged chef, and in her new film, Side Effects, a mysterious psychiatrist.

But after working with director Steven Soderbergh for the third time, Zeta-Jones says she immediately recognizes the difference between a project that will offer her real challenges and one that challenges her only to find something – anything – to do with a lackluster role.

“Moviemaking has got to be on the page,” Zeta-Jones tells Celebuzz. “When it jumps out at you on the page, it’s going to jump out at you on the screen. And to find a good script is like finding gold.”

“It’s when you have the script that’s not so good, an you’re going, ‘okay, what I going to do to make this anything kind of interesting?’” she continues. “And the work I’ve done with Steven has always been on the page.”

In Side Effects, Zeta-Jones plays a doctor who offers a second opinion to a psychiatrist (played by Jude Law) trying to find the right prescription for a patient’s depression. What soon unfolds is a complex web of murder and deception where nothing is as it initially seemed.

Zeta-Jones credits Soderbergh for offering her opportunities that she might not otherwise enjoy – opportunities which buoy her continuing enthusiasm for acting.

“The characters he seems to cast me in are certainly not one-dimensional,” she says. “And as an actor, to be able to read a script and find those nuances and surprise an audience with the twists and turns of the character is terrific.”

What do you think of Catherine Zeta-Jones as an actress? Watch Celebuzz’ exclusive video interview with her above, and then let us know in the comments section below.

Steven Soderbergh reteamed with his Contagion crew for the thriller Side Effects, which follows a doctor whose prescription of anti-anxiety medication proves to have tragic consequences.

A serious dramatic thriller that launches a debate about the ubiquitousness and so-called normalcy of incorporating prescription drugs into our everyday lives, Side Effects is the latest, but certainly not the only film featuring a drug that has some, well, alarming side effects.

Consequently, Celebuzz assembled a list of our favorite movie medications — or at the very least, the ones that left a serious impressionlong after the film was finished.

Click here to launch Celebuzz gallery of the 7 Scariest Made-Up Movie Drugs

Admittedly, a handful of these serve as plot devices, while others offered filmmakers an opportunity to fill their projects with cool visual flourishes or even approximate a trip-out on the silver screen.

But regardless of their cinematic purpose, these are smart, pseudo-insane psychogenics — intriguing enough, in fact, that we wouldn’t mind sampling one or two were it not for all those potentially fatal side effects.

Which movie drug is the one you want to try the most? Or conversely, which is the one you definitely don’t want to dabble in? Let us know in the comments section below.

Zombie love ruled at the box-office last week, but can the heartfelt undead defend themselves against fighter jets, poison pills and identity theft? Taking in nearly $21 million, Warm Bodies will have to hold up against the Jason Bateman-Melissa McCarthy comedy Identity Thief, the pharmacological thriller Side Effects from director Steven Soderbergh and the IMAX 3D re-release of Top Gun.

With the last few months being fairly top-heavy will horror/thriller releases, we’re willing to bet that Identity Thief will steal itself the top slot with a much needed dose of comedy. Despite being the critical darling of the group, however, it’s difficult to say whether Side Effects will find its audience.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Identity Thief

Side Effects

Top Gun (IMAX) 3D

Warm Bodies

What will you go see this weekend? Drop us a line and let us know!

This weekend at the movies, Magic Mike himself challenges one of the stars of Bridesmaids to Box Office Thunderdome.

Channing Tatum and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Rooney Mara headline Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller, Side Effects, while Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman play it for laughs in Identity Thief.

Two movies enter, but only one movie leaves. Which new release will win No. 1 bragging rights?

Following his crazy successful 2012 at the box office, Tatum reunites with his Magic Mike director for Side Effects, a complicated thriller about murder, paranoia and prescription drugs.

Because Effects is director Soderbergh’s supposed last theatrical feature film before retiring, anticipation is higher-than-normal for a February release, despite the film’s mixed reviews.

Anticipation is also high for the high-concept comedy Identity Thief, starring McCarthy as the titular cyber criminal responsible for making life a very fresh hell for Bateman’s character.

Comedy tends to draw in some serous crowds at the box office, but so does C-Tates. And with last week’s champ, the zombie rom-com Warm Bodies, garnering very good word-of-mouth, this Box Office Battle is too close to call.

Which movie will you see this weekend? Watch the trailers for both above and then drop your predictions for box office champ in the comments section!

The less you know about Side Effects, the better.

At least that’s what the critics recommend for the twisted new film from director Steven Soderbergh, starring Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Rooney Mara.

Effects centers on Mara’s character, Emily, who finds herself suffering from depression when her husband (Tatum) is released from prison. The closer Emily’s marriage gets to normalcy, the more depressed and unpredictable she becomes – resulting in some truly surprising and violent consequences, especially for the young doctor (Law) assigned to her treatment.

On the eve of his pending retirement from Hollywood filmmaking, Soderbergh has been on quite the tear, crossing off one genre after another on his “To-Do” list. With Side Effects, the director can check off “psychological thriller,” but was the effort worth tackling at all?

Here’s what the critics have to say:

Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

“[Side Effects] is terrific, and it’s entertaining, but a great deal of the pleasure of watching it comes from having the rug pulled out from under you. If Soderbergh makes good on his threat to retire, Side Effects reminds us of what we’ll be missing…”

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“Soderbergh came, he saw, he conquered, and now he’s moving on. Rooney Mara’s performance is instrumental… [But] some people, ambushed by the last 10 minutes, will be thinking, ‘What a load of crap’.”

Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

“Jude Law, who stood out in [Steven Soderbergh’s] Contagion, also commands attention here, but it’s sometimes hard to watch his character so selflessly digging himself deeper into a hole from which it will be very hard to emerge… The filmmakers throw at least one plot-twist sucker-punch too many, leaving the viewer with an ‘Oh, come on’ reaction to the entire film.”

James Rocchi, MSN Movies

“The director who came into the field with Sex, Lies, and Videotape leaves it with sex and lies shot on video, still surprising us with both the stories he tells and the stories hidden inside them.”

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

“The movie respects a viewer’s intelligence, which should also serve as a warning; don’t be lulled into a stupor. Keeping sharp will allow all the fun and menace in this terrific thriller to seep into your head.”

Have you seen Side Effects? Do you give it thumbs up or thumbs down? Watch the film’s trailer then give Celebuzz your review in the comments section.

This Friday’s release of Side Effects, the new thriller starring Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara, marks director Steven Soderbergh‘s last film. On the big screen at least.

The prolific director, who broke onto the scene more than 20 years ago with the provocative indie drama Sex, Lies and Videotape, plans to retire from Hollywood filmmaking. (His last “official” film, the Liberace bio-pic Behind the Candelabra starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, premieres on HBO later this year.) Soderbergh’s effortless ability to tell stories in a variety of genres – from drama to comedy to killer virus thriller – as well as his auteur-like sensibilities behind the camera means that his presence will be sorely missed on the silver screen.

Celebuzz celebrates the director’s last theatrical film with a look back at his best.

A cursory glance at Soderbergh’s resume tells us one thing: He’s done it all. Literally.

He assembled George Clooney and Brad Pitt to pull off some of the most fun – and funny – from Ocean’s 11 to 13. He chronicled the game of inches that is the war on drugs in the Oscar-winning Traffic. And, most recently, turned Magic Mike into one of the biggest surprise hits in the history of ever.

As we wait to see just how permanent this whole retirement thing is, check out our gallery of his best films above.

Did we leave your favorite film off the list? Watch the trailer for Side Effects then tell us what your top picks are in the comments below!

“[She] has that innate quality. It’s called watchability.”

Steven Soderbergh is talking about Rooney Mara, the leading lady in his new thriller, Side Effects. And Hollywood has been watching the 27-year-old actress very closely, ever since she caught the town’s eye in David Fincher‘s The Social Network. Mara went from the founder of Facebook’s ex-girlfriend to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, scoring an Oscar-nomination for the latter in the process.

To celebrate Mara’s new role as Channing Tatum‘s psychologically-damaged wife in this weekend’s Side Effects, Celebuzz went digging to find 5 things you need to know about this rising young star.

Click here to launch Celebuzz’ gallery of the 5 things you don’t know about Side Effects star Rooney Mara

Like most young starlets, Mara found early success in the horror genre. In 2009, she headlined the critically-panned remake of Nightmare on Elm Street - an experience that almost turned her away from acting.

“I hated it,” Mara told Vogue Magazine. “It left me thinking, If this is what is available to me, then I don’t necessarily want to be an actress. And then I got the script for The Social Network.”

Thankfully, not even Freddy Kruger could detour Mara from becoming one of the most watchable talents working today.

Get to know Mara in the gallery above, then check out Celebuzz‘ exclusive interview with the Side Effects star below.  

Since 2010, Rooney Mara has worked with David Fincher twice and Steven Soderbergh once – not bad for an actress whose “breakthrough” role also came that same year when she starred in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

But the actress tells Celebuzz that even with the abundance of great opportunities she’s enjoyed recently, there’s still a depressing dearth of real acting challenges for women.

“It’s hard,” Mara says. “There aren’t that many roles out there that are great for females, that are dynamic and complex.”

In Side Effects, Mara plays Emily, a young wife struggling to deal with depression who eventually turns to prescription medication that has dangerous side effects. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the roles that have distinguished her – her lead in Nightmare, and the title character in Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – have all been not just meaty, but dark, featuring a complexity, and a certain kind of melancholy which she’s really mastered.

Despite the acclaim she’s received, however, Mara insists that she’s interested in taking on different kinds of characters, and has tried to do so as much as possible. “Hopefully I’m succeeding, but I try and make sure everything I choose is very different from the last,” she says.

“I am more drawn to the darker stuff, but I think that’s because those are normally the more complex, interesting characters.”

Side Effects opens in theaters nationwide on February 8. Watch Celebuzz’ exclusive interview with Mara, and a TV spot, and then let us know in the comments section below: what do you think of her as an actress?

Side Effects is a new psychological thriller from director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, Magic Mike) and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Bourne Ultimatum).

For what he claims is his “final feature film,” Soderbergh lined up an all-star cast including Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rooney Mara.

This will be Mara’s first major role since her breakthrough performance as the title character in David Fincher‘s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Meanwhile, Tatum, Law and Zeta-Jones all previously worked with Soderbergh — Tatum most recently on his epic 2012 stripper story Magic Mike.

In the film, Emily (Mara) and Martin (Tatum) are a successful New York wife and husband whose attempts to rebuild their life together are derailed when a prescription medication Emily is taking has some alarming and even dangerous side effects.

Take a look at a collection of images from the film, which opens in theaters nationwide on February 8.

What are your thoughts about Side Effects — are you excited to see the film, or is there another Tatum title you’d prefer to watch? Check out Celebuzz’ exclusive TV spot, and then let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara play a young married couple torn apart by her use of prescription medicine in director Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects.

Although it remains a mystery precisely what sort of pills Mara’s character takes in the film, an exclusive new TV spot reveals that her usage leads to some potentially deadly consequences – albeit not for her.

Mara’s physician, played by Jude Law, is determined to get to the bottom of what happened – and how responsible he might be.

“I want to know what happened,” Law’s character says.

Another person questions Mara’s character’s culpability. “Did the person do it?” she asks. “Are they guilty?”

Law’s character responds. “Those are two very different things.”

Watch Celebuzz’ exclusive TV spot from Side Effects, and then view the theatrical trailer below. And then let us know in the comments section below: how eager are you to see this new thriller? And what do you think happens when Mara starts taking her meds?

Be prepared, ladies: Channing Tatum is already planning Magic Mike’s big sequel.

Though a Broadway play of the Steven Soderbergh-helmed movie is already in the works, the 32-year-old actor says he wants to see his stripper persona grace the silver screen one more time.

“You know, we are talking a lot about it. We have a story, and it is really ridiculous and fun,” he told German site Filmstarts (as reprinted by IndieWire) of the follow-up flick. “It’s a road movie sort of thing, where a bunch of strippers get back together.”

“It’s more of a broad comedy,” he continued.

So who is Tatum eying for Magic Mike 2?

One thing is for sure: Tatum desperately wants Soderbergh to return — though the director’s plans for an indefinite hiatus may axe Tatum’s chance to re-enlist the Oscar winner.

“We really want to, but Steven Soderbergh really want to retire,” Tatum said. “We will undoubtedly make the Broadway version first.”

Magic Mike, which grossed $113 million since its June premiere, is a semi-biographical depiction of Tatum’s past as a male stripper. The actor was also a producer on the film.

Since Soderbergh may not return for the sequel, Tatum is looking elsewhere — including himself.

“Gregory Jacobs [Soderbergh's assistant director] can make the film,” he suggested. “[Or producers] Reid Carolin and me.”

What do you think of a potential Magic Mike sequel? Sound off in the comments.