Proof that sports and movies can co-exist in the same galaxy, a brand new trailer for STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI will debut on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” on Monday, October 9, during halftime of the National Football League (NFL) game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears in Chicago. The game starts at 5:15 p.m. PDT/8:15 p.m. EDT.
Lucasfilm also announced today that following the trailer launch, tickets to the highly anticipated cinematic event will be on sale everywhere movie tickets are sold.
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI opens in U.S. theaters on December 15.
In Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
The film stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro.
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman. J.J. Abrams, Tom Karnowski and Jason McGatlin are the executive producers.
Left to right: Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson in ANNIHILATION, from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.
Paramoutnt Pictures has released this first preview of Alex Garland’s (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) highly anticipated ANNIHILATION.
Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s best-selling Southern Reach Trilogy, Annihilation stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny and Oscar Isaac. Written and directed by Garland, ANNIHILATION is in theaters February 23, 2018.
In February of 1989 a fantastic gem from director Joe Dante was released into theaters called THE BURBS.
Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern and Rick Ducommun starred in what has become a Saturday night, cult classic where suburbanites at the end of a culdesac in Everywhere, U.S.A. went a little nuts when they began suspecting their neighbors of nefarious activities.
“Remember what you were saying about people in the ‘burbs, Art, people like Skip, people who mow their lawn for the 800th time, and then SNAP? WELL, THAT’S US. IT’S NOT THEM, THAT’S US. WE’RE the ones who are vaulting over the fences, and peeking in through people’s windows. We’re the ones who are THROWING GARBAGE IN THE STREET, AND LIGHTING FIRES. WE’RE THE ONES WHO ARE ACTING SUSPICIOUS AND PARANOID, ART. WE’RE THE LUNATICS. US. IT’S NOT THEM. It’s us.”
Watch the trailer now for director George Clooney’s SUBURBICON, starring Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe and Oscar Isaac.
This trailer is genius, especially the final scene, and makes us want to see it even more! The epitome of 1950-1960’s Americana, the movie is written by George Clooney, Joel & Ethan Coen and Grant Heslov.
Suburbicon is a peaceful, idyllic suburban community with affordable homes and manicured lawns…the perfect place to raise a family, and in the summer of 1959, the Lodge family is doing just that. But the tranquil surface masks a disturbing reality, as husband and father Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) must navigate the town’s dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit, and violence.
This is a tale of very flawed people making very bad choices. This is Suburbicon.
Left to right: Matt Damon as Gardner and Noah Jupe as Nicky in SUBURBICON, from Paramount Pictures and Black Bear Pictures.
See the first images from George Clooney’s highly anticipated SUBURBICON starring Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe and Oscar Isaac.
Suburbicon is a peaceful, idyllic suburban community with affordable homes and manicured lawns…the perfect place to raise a family, and in the summer of 1959, the Lodge family is doing just that.
But the tranquil surface masks a disturbing reality, as husband and father Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) must navigate the town’s dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit, and violence.
Left to right: Julianne Moore as Margaret and Matt Damon as Gardner in SUBURBICON, from Paramount Pictures and Black Bear Pictures.
This is a tale of very flawed people making very bad choices. This is Suburbicon.
The Armenian genocide during World War I is the backdrop for THE PROMISE, tale of war and love starring Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale.
A hundred years on, many people still know little about this early 20th century genocide in the waning days of Turkey’s Ottoman Empire, an event the Turkish government still refuses to acknowledge. It has been said that the world has so thoroughly forgotten the Armenian genocide only a few years afterward, that it encouraged Hitler to undertake his own genocide. But some Armenians did survive and the genocide is getting renewed attention after a century.
In director Terry George’s lush historical drama, Oscar Isaac plays Michael, a young Armenian man, the son of the local pharmacist, from a small village who travels to Constantinople to fulfill his life-long ambition to attend medical school. His pharmacist father is respected but poor, and the son becomes engaged to the daughter of a wealthy villager, using the dowry to pay for his education. The young couple barely know each other but the young man is confident they will learn to love each other.
Leaving his fiancée behind, the young Armenian arrives in the big, cosmopolitan city of Constantinople, where he stays with a wealthy uncle and his family. Michael meets another medical student who is the son of a powerful Turkish official. His new friend introduces him to American journalist Chris (Welsh actor Christian Bale, once again sporting an American accent) and Chris’ Paris-raised Armenian girlfriend, a beauty named Ana (Charlotte Le Bon). Michael is smitten immediately, and while he grapples with his promise to the girl back home, war breaks out, disrupting all their lives.
Like in Germany a few decades later or Rwanda more recently, what seems to be a peaceful integration of different peoples suddenly gives way to a government persecution and open prejudice. In this case, the Muslim Turks who rule the Ottoman Empire turn on the Christian Armenian minority, subjecting them to a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” by removing them villages, followed by secret mass killings.
It is an appalling historical moment, the first genocide of the 20th century, and an event that needs to be better known. One of the most chilling scenes in the film is when an Ottoman official denies that fighting is taking place between Turkish troops and Armenian resisters. “There is no war,” he coolly claims.
The acting is strong in this historical drama but the personal story has a familiar feel. This romantic triangle, or maybe that should be a square or double triangle since four people are involved, for the provides the dramatic arc for a little history lesson in what happened to the Armenian people, in the style of HOTEL RWANDA. The film is beautifully shot, packed with period details and sweeping vistas, with Spain and Malta standing in for Turkey. It is a worthy subject, one that deserves the careful attention is gets in this historical drama, but the personal dramatic arc sometimes loses focus as the director concentrates on fitting in as many historical touch points as possible.
THE PROMISE is not a perfect drama but certainly is a worthwhile film for shining a spotlight on a too long forgotten shameful chapter in history.
This fall, Star Wars fans around the world, will experience a galaxy far, far away—up close and in eye-popping 3D—through the highly anticipated “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” 3D Collector’s Edition, rolling out beginning Oct. 31 and arriving in the United States and Canada on Nov 15.
For the first time—and just in time for the holidays—viewers can bring home Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 3D, encased in stunning, collectible packaging. The exclusive four-disc 3D Collector’s Edition contains the original theatrical release on Blu-ray 3D™, Blu-ray™,Digital HD and DVD, along with originally released bonus features and brand-new bonus material, including additional deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes conversations with cast and crew and revealing, never-before released audio commentary by director J.J. Abrams.
Upon its debut last December, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” received rave reviews from both critics and audiences, and shattered box office records with over $936 million domestic and $2 billion worldwide. The film has since been nominated for five Academy Awards® and took home the BAFTA Award for Special Visual Effects. “The Force Awakens” re-ignited the Star Wars franchise and fans eagerly await the next installment, arriving in theaters Dec. 2017, as well as the first in a series of standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” premiering on Dec. 16, 2016.
Bonus features include*:
3D COLLECTOR’S EDITION BONUS FEATURES:
Audio Commentary with J.J. Abrams – Enter the mind of visionary director J.J. Abrams as he reveals the creative and complex choices made while developing the first film in the new Star Wars trilogy.
Foley: A Sonic Tale – Foley artists, consisting of old pros and new talent, unite to bring the world of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” alive through the matching of sound to action.
Sounds of the Resistance – Hear how the epic sound design of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” moves the Star Wars legacy forward.
Deleted Scenes – View never-before-shared scenes that didn’t make the film’s final cut.
Dressing the Galaxy – Costume Designer Michael Kaplan reveals how the costumes of the original Star Wars movies were re-envisioned for a new generation.
The Scavenger and the Stormtrooper: A Conversation with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega – The two new stars share the thrill of working together on the adventure of a lifetime and becoming part of the Star Wars legacy.
Inside the Armory – Take a fascinating tour through the design and creation of the weaponry in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Classic Bonus Features– These offerings from the April release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” include the complete story behind the making of the film, an unforgettable cast table read, insights from legendary composer John Williams and deleted scenes, as well as features that dig deeper into the creation of new characters such as BB-8, the design of the climactic lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren, the film’s remarkable digital artistry and the Star Wars: Force for Change global aid initiative.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” saw the eagerly anticipated reteaming of original Star Wars stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill, along with Anthony Daniels, the only actor to have been in all seven Star Wars films, and Peter Mayhew. The returning cast was joined by newcomer Daisy Ridley, who beat out fierce competition to take the principal role of Rey; BAFTA Rising Star Award winner John Boyega (“Attack the Block,” “Imperial Dreams”) as reluctant stormtrooper Finn; Emmy® nominee Adam Driver (“Lincoln,” “Girls”) as the villainous Kylo Ren, and Golden Globe® winner Oscar Isaac (“Inside Llewyn Davis,” “The Bourne Legacy”) as Resistance pilot Poe Dameron.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”wasdirected by J.J. Abrams and written by Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt. Lucasfilm president and eight-time Academy Award® nominee Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams, along with his longtime producing partner Bryan Burk, are the film’s producers.
Having established a musical legacy with his iconic scores for the previous six films in the Star Wars saga, acclaimed composer John Williams returned to score “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,”ultimately garnering his 50th Oscar® nomination for it.
DISC SPECIFICATIONS:
FEATURE RUN TIME: Approximately 136 min.
RATING: PG-13 in U.S.; PG in CE; G in CF
ASPECT RATIO: Blu-ray Feature Film = 2.40:1
DVD Feature Film = 2.40:1
AUDIO: Blu-ray = English 7.1 DTS-HDMA, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio,
French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Language Tracks
DVD = English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital,
Climate change is a topic many documentaries have covered and it is easy to feel hopeless or frustrated about it. Oscar-winning filmmaker Charles Ferguson, whose previous documentaries include INSIDE JOB and NO END IN SIGHT, takes a different approach with TIME TO CHOOSE, tying the problem to other global issues, ranging from jobs, poverty, war, pollution, and mass extinction, and pointing to solutions to all through individual choice and market forces.
Beautifully photographed, with polished production values and narrated by actor Oscar Isaac, TIME TO CHOOSE is a different kind of climate change documentary. It does the near-impossible, crisply summarizing the problem and rationally presenting practical solutions that focus on the power of individual choice to move corporations, and wrapping all that up in a visually lush film that is as compelling to watch as any winning nature documentary.
This handsome, compelling documentary features intelligent, persuasive arguments for action, beautiful aerial photography and an appealing musical sound track. Director Ferguson does not waste the viewer’s time, and gets straight to the point, by summarizing the major contributors to climate change: burning coal, oil and natural gas, urban sprawl, and deforestation and industrial agriculture. It then notes that we already have practical solutions or alternatives to all of them, if we choose to use them. The film is organized into three parts examining each of those topics, which is done in a visual, effective way that smoothly blends images, voice-over, text and expert interviews.
The director wisely skips any attempt to persuade remaining climate change skeptics, as the science has been covered in previous documentaries. Instead, this film merely points out that politicians who deny climate change generally have oil and coal companies as major donors. The film also notes that the fossil fuel industry is in a fight for its life, as a change to renewable energy and decentralized energy disrupts its business model of endless supply, and is using the same tactics employed by the tobacco industry in denying the link between cigarettes and lung cancer. As the documentary notes, the fossil fuel industry represents the richest companies and individuals the world has ever seen. They will not just give up – the only way to change the game is through consumer choice.
The clever part of this film is how Ferguson focuses on the big picture, tying all these topics to climate change, and wraps it all up in a rational, even pleasant film experience – no small feat for such a heated subject. Rather than repeat what has been covered in detail in other documentaries on topics such as food production, endangered species, clean water, electric cars and even other climate change docs, Ferguson summaries those facts, and points us to those other documentaries through the people he chooses for on-screen interviews.
The documentary relies more on rational arguments with expert interviews than heart-tugging emotional appeal with testimony from ordinary people. The experts are stellar, including notables such as Jane Goodall, former U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, climatologist James Hanson, and food writer Michael Pollan. A few ordinary people are interviewed – a woman in West Virginia whose water well was contaminated by coal mining waste and whose brother died of brain tumor linked to pollutants from mountain-top removal, and woman in Kenya who installed a solar panel on her shack, thru a company that lets people buy them by selling back some of electricity, because it was cheaper than paraffin or kerosene, the common fuel in this area without a central electric grid.
The result is a film that is at once pleasant to watch, informative and even hopeful. It is hopeful, because it presents a way to influence climate change without waiting for government action, through the market place. Just as consumer demand is driving companies to label GMO foods, offer more organic choices or more hybrid and electric cars, consumer choice can drive the move to renewable energy, the film suggests. TIME TO CHOOSE is as easy to watch as a nature film but with its clearly-made points and a view of tackling climate change that puts into the larger picture of the world’s problems, it shows how rather those challenges can all be addressed to together, by the power of ordinary people and the choices they make.
The Uncanny X-Men – as they were once and sometimes called – have returned to show off their special abilities, remind us that being different is a gift not a curse, and of course, to save the world. However, the newest entry avoids the uncanny description even more by delivering a story that feels too normal or comfortable. Even for X-fans, this is a tedious page turner that’s rarely intriguing enough to make you want to see what happens in the next panel.
This time around the threat is one that feels all too familiar. In the opening prologue, a ritual in an Egyptian temple is performed to transform fresh-faced Oscar Isaac into the big blue baddie that the film is named after. But the transferring of powers or souls (or what have you) doesn’t go according to plan, burying the all-powerful mutant deep within the crumbling tomb and placing him in a coma-like state. In comes Moira (Rose Byre) from the previous installment X-MEN: FIRST CLASS to stumble upon the tomb centuries later in 1983. She witnesses his resurrection which in turns awakens something in our wheelchair bound professor (James McAvoy) to seek out the CIA agent to find out what she witnessed and knows. In the meantime, Xavier’s school begins to fill up with the classic characters like Cyclops (the emotionless and stilted Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner faring slightly better), and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee trying his best to not look like he’s about to cry at any moment). As school gets back into session, Apocalypse goes on a quest to pick out his own army consisting of Storm (Alexandra Shipp – the only newcomer of the bunch that makes an impact), Psyclocke (Olivia Munn), Angel (Ben Hardy), and the real hero and heart of this trilogy of films, Magneto (Michael Fassbender). And guess what? He and his army want to destroy the world.
The script gets heavily bogged down by introducing so many of these new characters, and then is made worse by a by-the-book villain motivation that fuels the plot. More so than Simon Kinberg’s previous script for X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, the dialogue feels rote with the same comic book clichés we’ve heard in so many films before; rants about great power and warnings of letting go of anger. It would sound even more pedestrian if it wasn’t for the talented cast that sells it.
Fassbender and McAvoy have proven they can handle the great powers and great responsibility – Jennifer Lawrence, however, still seems like her energy and interest in the franchise changes scene to scene. Fassbender, in particular, makes his scenes in the first half of the film somewhat memorable through a side-story involving a wife and child. As is the case with the tortured character, things never end up well for Maggy and his anger is pushed to new limits, which leads him down a sullen and (dare I say) somewhat emotional path to Apocalypse. However, I guess director Bryan Singer felt the need for both him personally and the character to have a self-healing therapy session, as the destruction of a tragically historical location is completely destroyed in one of the most weirdly uncomfortable moments I’ve felt in a theater in a long, long while.
Who is new this time around and is given the most weight to bear is Oscar Isaac as the title villain. Given all the controversy over his look, voice, and size, I half-expected Singer to end up hiding him for most of the film to appease the fanboys ready with their torches and pitchforks. Nevertheless, Apocalypse is in the film quite a bit and never really shuts up. It’s the same sort of stuff we’ve heard from villains before about tearing down the old world to rebuild a new one, but Oscar Isaac at least doesn’t look or come across as silly like many have come to expect.
The main thing that holds back the film is the lack of intrigue. With X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, we were introduced to essentially new characters since they were younger versions of what we’ve seen before. And the cool swinging 60s vibe combined with the Cold War timeline added a nice dash of reality into the fantasy. With DAYS OF FUTURE PAST there is a sense of urgency with the film as it bounces back and forth between the future and the 70s. It also kept up on our toes as we watched Wolverine having to work with Magneto and others, not knowing if he can trust his accomplices. APOCALYPSE is missing a hook. Gone is the sense of intrigue. Aside from the new characters that you don’t really care as much about as the main ones, the only thing that we’re left to hang onto is the 80s setting and a villain who’s motivations we’ve seen before. Sure, hearing Eurhythmics is fun and cute, but the real life ideas and paranoia of the time are simply a quick mention on television as the story has to rush to introduce another character. “Here’s Psylocke! A character that looks really cool and speaks a total of five sentences!”
Subtlety and nuance are out the window in favor of broad strokes, all leading to a battle of the minds between the superheroes. With all the brainy talk about erasing the past for a brighter future, it feels almost ironic that so many fans (myself included) will be looking at the past films for relief as opposed to looking ahead at what the next films could offer. The new characters and costumes in X-MEN: APOCALYPSE may look as if they jumped right out of the comic panel, but new ideas are lost somewhere else in time.
OVERALL RATING: 2.5 out of 5
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE is now playing in theaters everywhere
Following the critically acclaimed global smash hit X-Men: Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer returns with X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.
Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshipped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign.
As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.
The cast includes Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Lucas Till, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alexandra Shipp, Josh Helman, Lana Condor, Ben Hardy.
Jennifer Lawrence as Raven / Mystique, Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, James McAvoy as Charles / Professor X, Lucas Till as Alex Summers / Havok and Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy / Beast, in X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.
20th Century Fox has released terrific new posters and trailer for X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.
Check out the trailer below, and get another look at Director Bryan Singer’s new X-Men film starring, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Lucas Till, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alexandra Shipp, Josh Helman, Lana Condor, and Ben Hardy.
Following the critically acclaimed global smash hit X-Men: Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer returns with X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.
Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshipped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible.
Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign.
As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.
