This week’s episode of our podcast WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS The Show is up! Hear WAMG’s Jim Batts, Michelle McCue, and Tom Stockman discuss the weekend box office, and next weekend’s releases. We’ll review A WALK IN THE WOODS, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS and NO ESCAPE. We’ll also preview TRANSPORTER 3, LISTEN TO ME MARLON, and STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE. We’ll discuss the 1922 horror classic NOSFERATU and pay tribute to the late horror maestro Wes Craven
WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS The Show is a weekly podcast and we will soon be streaming at ONStl.com Online Radio.
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS presents a world populated by sex-and-cash-and-booze-crazed twenty-somethings who live to hear electronic music and dance the night away. Zach Effron stars as Cole, an aspiring “laptop DJ” in the San Fernando Valley. Cole has a soulless day job working for a sleazy predatory loan outfit headed by John Bernthal. Along with his three pals – aspiring actor/drug dealer Ollie (Shiloh Fernandez), loudmouth Mason (Jonny Weston), and thoughtful Squirrel (Alex Shaffer) – Cole spends his evenings promoting parties, spinning music, and ingesting drugs. A friendship develops between Cole and bigshot DJ James Reed (Wes Bentley), a fallen former ‘superstar’ of laptop DJ-ing, who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated when Cole falls for James’ bored younger girlfriend/assistant Sophie (Emily Rataikowski). Along the way, there are more drugs, tragedies, and romances that sizzle and fizzle.
On the surface, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS has an authentic feel. The early club scenes are vibrant and electric, with flashing lights and throbbing beats and fine bikinied bottoms. You get the idea director/writer Max Joseph knows the world he is exploring, and he knows what can make it so attractive. Other sequences, including Cole’s PCP-induced hallucinations at an art gallery, are nicely shaped, but after about 30 minutes of sexy people writhing to music and masculine bro-bonding with Cole and his Entourage-inspired homies, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS completely runs out of steam. Its 96 minutes seem longer – the excess is especially felt in a couple of tiresome music/drug/romance montages that do nothing to advance the story. The club scenes, initially exciting, are ultimately wearying, and the movie meanders about much of the time. Even visually, the sight of Cole shrugging his shoulders to the beats isn’t terribly compelling.
It’s a shame the filmmakers didn’t take a harder look at this material as it seems like there may be a decent film trapped in here somewhere. The script offers cliché after cliché (“You used to be great…but now you’re a sell-out!” Cole yells at James). The movie’s most interesting character is the older DJ, well-played by Wes Bently (or at least he has the fewest false moments). If the film had been told from his point of view, it would have been a lot more interesting. It doesn’t help that Cole is essentially a cipher, and Effron lacks the chops to make him more than that. We’re watching a man devote himself to music and figure out what his life is going to be about, but Effron doesn’t act so much as he twinkles and wiggles and stares intently at his laptop. The star has turned in decent performances in other films but here he makes it hard to get too worked up about Cole’s dreams. The film raises interesting questions about chasing that dream and living the life of an artist, but really, how much art is involved in spinning records (or today’s digital equivalent)? Is this a skill that can make one rich and famous? Do tens of thousands of people really crowd around a stage watching someone pound on their laptop? WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS made me feel old.
Emily Rataikowski brings a heavenly presence to WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS as Sophie. Her job is to look good, something she excels at, but Sophie’s actions are dictated by the artificial demands of the plot and by the two men at the center of it so she’s little more than a pawn. Perhaps with some script polishing and better-developed characters, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS could have been worthwhile, but what’s on the screen is tedious and uninspired. Despite an unconvincing coda involving one of Bernthal’s swindled victims, the more you think about what really happens in WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS the more you realize how empty and fabricated it really is. Not recommended.
This week’s episode of our podcast WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS The Show is up! Hear WAMG’s Jim Batts, Michelle McCue, and Tom Stockman discuss the weekend box office, and next weekend’s releases. We’ll review SINISTER 2, HITMAN AGENT 47, AMERICAN ULTRA, and LEARNING TO DRIVE. We’ll also preview NO ESCAPE, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS, and MISTRESS AMERICA, discuss movies based on video games and pay tribute to the late Bat Beauty Yvonne Craig
WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS The Show is a weekly podcast and we will soon be streaming at ONStl.com Online Radio.
From Warner Bros. Pictures and Studiocanal comes the romantic drama WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS.
The film marks Max Joseph’s (MTV’s “Catfish: The TV Show”) feature film directorial debut, and stars Zac Efron (“Neighbors”), Emily Ratajkowski (“Entourage,” “Gone Girl”), and Wes Bentley (“Interstellar,” “The Hunger Games”).
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS is about what it takes to find your voice. Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole (Efron) spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the one track that will set the world on fire. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James (Bentley), who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James’ much younger girlfriend, Sophie (Ratajkowski). With Cole’s forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is destined for.
The film also stars Jonny Weston (“Insurgent,” “Taken 3”), Shiloh Fernandez (“Evil Dead”) and Alex Shaffer (“Win Win”).
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS opens on Friday, August 28.
WAMG invites you to enter for a chance to win passes (Good for 2) to the advance screening of WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS on AUGUST 25 at 7pm in the St. Louis area.
We will contact the winners by email.
Answer the following:
Zac Efron is reportedly co-starring with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in what upcoming film?
TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
3. No purchase necessary.
This film has been rated R by the MPAA for language throughout, drug use, sexual content and some nudity.
From writer/director Max Joseph, here’s a first look at the trailer for WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS starring Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski and Wes Bentley.
The film marks Max Joseph’s (MTV’s “Catfish: The TV Show”) feature film directorial debut.
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS is about what it takes to find your voice. Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole (Efron) spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the one track that will set the world on fire. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James (Bentley), who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James’ much younger girlfriend, Sophie (Ratajkowski). With Cole’s forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is destined for.
Joseph directs from a screenplay he wrote with Meaghan Oppenheimer, from a story by Richard Silverman. The producers are Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Liza Chasin, with Silverman executive producing and Johanna Byer serving as co-producer. Randall Poster (“The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Divergent” and “Insurgent,” “Spring Breakers”) is the film’s music supervisor.
Joseph’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Brett Pawlak (“The Wannabe,” “Hellion”), production designer Maya Sigel (“TiMER” “Gun Hill Road”), editor Terel Gibson (“Phantom,” “The D Train”), and costume designer Christie Wittenborn (“30 Minutes or Less,” “Me and You and Everyone We Know”).
Set for release on August 28, 2015, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS is a Working Title Films production.
Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that it has obtained the domestic distribution rights for Max Joseph’s (MTV’s “Catfish: The TV Show”) feature film directorial debut, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS.
The film, from Working Title Films and Studiocanal, stars Zac Efron (“Neighbors”), Emily Ratajkowski (“Gone Girl”) and Wes Bentley (“Interstellar,” “The Hunger Games”).
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS is about what it takes to find your voice. Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole (Efron) spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the one track that will set the world on fire. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James (Bentley), who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James’ much younger girlfriend, Sophie (Ratajkowski). With Cole’s forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is destined for.
“I couldn’t be happier to have Warner Bros releasing my first feature film,” director Joseph said. “Having their passion and expertise behind ‘We Are Your Friends’ is a dream come true.”
Joseph directs from a screenplay he wrote with Meaghan Oppenheimer, from a story by Richard Silverman. The producers are Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Liza Chasin, with Silverman executive producing and Johanna Byer serving as co-producer. Randall Poster (“The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Divergent,” “Spring Breakers”) is the film’s music supervisor.
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS will be distributed in North America by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Studiocanal, who financed the film, is handling international sales and will be distributing in France, UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
