What I've Seen...
I was going to write reviews about the movies I’ve seen since my last posting but that would be ridiculously long and boring. Imma make it short and sweet (well, comparatively)
Loved
Wind River
He only has three films under his belt (all terrific) but I’m ready to call Taylor Sheridan one of the new great American screenwriters; a writer who wants to examine that swath of space between New York and Los Angeles and the lives of those people. Riveting film, harrowing film with an important focus : the plight of Native American women in the Wind River reservation who either go missing or are murdered with no justice ever being served (Based on a New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/us/wind-river-indian-reservation-where-brutality-is-banal.html ). My one complaint is that it is a depiction of life on the Native American reservation and the two leads are the decidedly non-Native American actors Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.
Worse yet, the Native American sheriff played by Graham Green is depicted as apathetic to what is going on in his own community making this almost come across as a White Savior film. I think there are so many Native Americans who would love the opportunity to tell their own stories that it’s a bit irritating that Sheridan (who did live for some time on a reservation and did consult with people who live in Wind River) is the one given the opportunity to bring this to life.
Costars Gil Birmingham (Hell or High Water), Julia Jones (Longmire) and Marcus Sensmeier (The Magnificent Seven)
The Limehouse Golem
Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke, Douglas Booth. I’m a big fan of Bill Nighy so I was amazed that Cooke and Booth pretty much stole the movie from him. A take on a Jack the Ripper tale set in the world of pantomime with Booth as a star performer and Cooke as his mentee and Nighy as the detective who is investigating a series of murders amongst the theatre community. Nighy’s role was to be played by Alan Rickman who passed away before production began.
Besides great performances it also features the lovely Booth in drag.
Battle of the Sexes
Great film, great performances. I think if Emma Stone is nominated for an Oscar (and she should) she would deserve this win moreso than for her work in “La La Land”. Hollywood is still trying to make Steve Carrell a character actor and he excels as Bobby Riggs. Great insight on the plight of women in professional tennis and how Billie Jean King and other women were at the forefront of pushing for greater parity. It is also a love story about Billie’s affair with hairdresser, Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough (Birdman) while on tour.
Aging out of tennis opportunity Bobby Riggs (Steve Carrell) is upset at the opportunities (I,e money) female tennis players like up and coming champ Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) is making. The reality is that female tennis players were making less than their male counterparts which led King and other female tennis players to break off and form their own tennis circuit. Firm in his belief that men were stronger than woman and thus better athlete Riggs decides to challenge Margaret Court and Billie Jean King in a Battle of the Sexes.
Carell looks so much like Riggs, it’s amazing to think Paul Giamatti was originally slated to play the role
While I loved the film all the misogyny was killing me. I wasn’t sure how it was supposed to play: for me it was very tough to hear such disrespect but the audience laughed at every turn, so are we supposed to be horrified by this or treat him like AL Bundy or Archie Bunker and laugh at the caveman? The film doesn’t know itself because it leaned more on the take that above all else he was a shameless self-promoter and show boater; almost depicting his actions as performance art in order to gain publicity. They take great cares to show him as a loving husband and father to assuage the sting of the persona. I don’t think they should have let him off so easily. It definitely was of the era for men (and some women) to hold such opinions so to soften it undermines who Riggs was. The film also had the balance of showing supportive men like Larry King (Austin Stowell, “Bridge of Spies”)
and Margaret Courts’ husband, Barry (James Mackay, “Dynasty”)
If you just take what happens in the film at face value, it is a very sweet tale of a unconventional relationship as it depicts that King’s husband Larry King (not THE Larry King) learns about the affair and accepts it because he knows that tennis is her real love and everyone/everything else takes the backseat.
Stone and Riseborough
But I read up to see what became of King and Barnett it definitely wasn’t a Happily Ever After. The two had a terrible breakup with Barnett essentially outing King by suing her for palimony. Despite being in a seven-year relationship with her while still married, King denounced her and wouldn’t cop to being bisexual, only acting as if she was with Barnett to placate her because she was unstable.
Went to the premiere
*The film’s directors Valerie Farris and husband Jonathan Dayton (Little Miss Sunshine, also prolific music video directors most notably The Smashing Pumpkins “Tonight, Tonight”.
They said they were especially happy to have the premiere at the Regency because they were UCLA students (it’s across from UCLA) and the they would go on dates at this theater
Billie Jean completed the introductions by announcing that eight of the Original 9 (herself included) -the women who helped get the Virginia Slims Women Tennis Tournament started were in attendance. She also asked if people waited until the credits completed ended so they can hear the song Sara Bareilles performs for the film.
*Austin Stowell, Bill Pullman (who I kept referring to Bill Paxton. Even Paxton’s death doesn’t quell that confusion for me), Eric Christian Olsen, King, Faris, Dayton, Alan Cumming
Cumming, Elisabeth Shue and Sarah Silverman
Shue, Silverman, Natalie Morales, Andrea Riseborough, Steve Carell and Emma Stone
Bill Paxton Pullman
I think I say this every year but I don’t see how the Academy will get five best picture nominees let alone ten. I can think of one so far which is “Dunkirk”. But the rest?
Really Liked
Goodbye Christopher Robin: (Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie and Will Tiltson)
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women : (Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote)
Stronger: (Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, Clancy Brown)
*Every so often the Black delegation has to swap out our recruits. Over the years we've ditched Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke and Adam Levine due to shenanigans (or in Levine's case just because). I recommend for inclusion in the Black delegation Jake Gyllenhaal.
He's practically ours already. The White delegation can have Ben Carson. We'll throw in Steve Harvey as a bonus.
Breathe : Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville
Knowing the subject matter I figured "Breathe" would be a dramatic, weepy tale with bits of inspiring scenes threaded through as to not completely leave the audience gutted, but amazingly this film is practically a feel-good story : bouncy, ebullient, plucky; a truly life-affirming tale.
In Andy Serkis' feature film directorial debut (he's done 2nd unit directing work for Peter Jackson on "The Hobbit" trilogy) tells the true story of Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield) and wife Diana (Claire Foy, “The Crown”).
Blissfully in love and living carefree in Kenya, the two find even more happiness in the impending birth of their child. But their lives shift when Robin contracts polio. Paralyzed and given three months to live, he falls into despair and wishes for death instead of being a “burden” to his wife and son. Refusing to let him wallow, Diana bucks the advice of the hospital and brings Robin home with the support of their friends and family which includes Diana’s twin brothers Bloggs and David(both played by Tom Hollander, “The Night Manager”), Robin’s best friend Colin (Ed Speelers, “Downton Abbey”) and Teddy (Hugh Bonneville). Not satisfied with just making do, Diana, Robin and Teddy, a tinkerer, devises a wheelchair that affords Robin better mobility…a wheelchair that doesn’t only improve Robin’s life but the lives of other polio sufferers.
The film also features THREE, count them, THREE “Game of Thrones” alums: Dame Diana Riggs as a snarky dowager (what a stretch), Roger Ashton-Griffiths who played Dame Diana’s son Mace Tyrell as the hospital chaplain who counsels the atheistic Cavendish and Dean Charles Chapman who plays the Cavendish’s son Jonathan as an adult.
The real Jonathan Cavendish with Garfield, Foy, Serkis and the real Diana Cavendish. The script, penned by William Nicholson, was based on Jonathan’s story idea. He also served as a consultant
Dean-Charles will next be seen in the Liam Neeson/Vera Farmiga thriller “The Commuter” and is currently hard at work on AMC’s actioner “Into the Badlands” (executive produced by “Smallville”s Alfred Gough and Miles Millar). Chapman plays Castor, a teenager whom Pilgrim Babou Ceesay (FreeFire) loves like his own child and uses his dark abilities to enforce his will.
Stunt training
In character
Showing off his cut eyebrow cos that's still a thing in England for some reason
*A fan account was jazzed because Dean is officially listed on IMDB for the role.
Little do they know that it was *I* who added the credit ::cackles madly::. I’m pretty sure he will be in that 1st episode of the season but I don’t know for sure. IMDB don’t just trust people willy-nilly so they must have proof that he will be in the first episode or they would not have approved it.
Ingrid Goes West : Aubrey Plaza, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Elizabeth Olsen : While I hate movies where characters embarrass themselves, I really came away loving this movie which is a look at a social media obsessed woman (Plaza) who develops an unhealthy fascination with an social media influencer (Olsen). It points a finger at people who are caught up in the façade created by these social media influencers, but points two fingers back at those influencers who create false realities and how shallow that world is.
Also, Aubrey and O’Shea are really cute together.
Only The Brave
Based on the true story of the 2013 Yahnell Hill Fire which saw the deaths of 19 out of 20 fire unit members The Granite Hill Hotshots. Based on GQ's article "No Exit", "Only the Brave" gives us a fuller view of the men who made up the Granite Hill Hotshots from the groups foray from trainees to a fully certified unit to their relationships.
The film stars Miles Teller as Brendan McDonough a drug addict who decides to turn his life around after his daughter is born. He gets sober and applies for a job with the trainees and surprisingly finds support from the unit's leader Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) a stern, no-nonsense man who isn't deterred by Brendan’s drug addled past. Less enthused is Marsh's omni-smirking, yet highly diligent right hand man Jesse (James Badge Dale, “The Walk”, “Iron Man 3”) and the crew’s resident bully Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch)
After Brendan proves his mettle, blinding in with the group - a brotherhood and sense of family he never had- Marsh’s personal life is coming under fire as the emotional toll of his dangerous and increasingly busy job weighs his wife Amanda (Jennifer Connelly).
The film weaves the personal and professional together to give a full picture of the lives that were lost. The film would not have suffered if they had exorcised the personal stories (it definitely would have trimmed down the films practically zaftig 2hrs and 15 minute run-time), but that would've just made the film seem like a movie full of archetypes -- two dimensional cinematic heroes. The filmmakers wants audience to know what a loss this was to the community. And in one of the film's most powerful scenes it shows how much this loss meant for Brendan, the lone survivor of the unit.
As much as it works on an unsung hero level, it works just as well as a relationship drama. The detail that goes into the marriage between Connelly’s Amanda and Brolin’s Eric is exquisite. Andie McDowell gets the thankless role of playing the dutiful wife to Jeff Bridge’s hambone character, but Connolly is given a fully fleshed out character-- a fully actualized person. It is by far the best work Connelly has done that I’ve seen. She and Brolin work beautifully well together, even in their most heated moments you can see the depth of their character's love for each other. I would love to see them work together again.
Teller, as usual, gives a great performance that runs the emotional gamut. He's moving more and more from comedic, jock-ish characters into dramatic roles and it suits him. He's a lot like Shia LaBeouf --which is good and bad--both let their personalities get in the way of their opportunities but it doesn’t look it is hampering Teller too much. He has the military drama “Thank You for Your Service” on deck for a November release.
It was the premiere. My goal of the night was to see James Badge Dale. I have been a fan of his since 2013 when, coming off of AMC's "Rubicon" he was featured in a string of films that had people speculating that he was the next big character actor. After Michael Bay's "13 Hours: The Story of Benghazi" he dropped off my radar.
But I’ll never forget the shorts he rocked in the film
The first cast member I saw when I entered the theater was Miles Teller looking really slim. The last time I saw him was at the premiere of "Let It Bleed" and he was bulkier.
With invited First Responders
I headed to the ladies and stood in the long line but was facing out unto the hall to keep an eye on the mens' bathroom to see if I would see anyone and sure enough, I saw Badge. I decided to wait him out and try to get to him there. After five minutes or so I see Glen Powell ("Scream Queens", "Hidden Figures") and another actor that I thought was the film's costar Ben Hardy (but I didn't see evidence of Hardy being in attendance) and Badge running out of the mens' room to the theater because the movie was starting. So I hightailed it to my seat.
When the film ended I made it out to the lobby and Bridges, Brolin and Kitsch were out there. The man of the hour was definitely Brolin which surprised me because I thought more people would be over Kitsch for some weird reason but as Brolin was the star, it made sense. I just thought a lot of people were fans of "Friday Night Lights" and would be more focused on him than Brolin who I just consider an 80s actor.
Who is having the damnedest career resurgence
*As Cable in the upcoming “Deadpool 2”
Looking to the past
I saw Badge come out and he was standing back near Kitsch. I lost track of him but saw that Kitsch managed to sneak around and exit past the crowd so I thought, "Crap! What if I missed him!!" So I snaked through the crowd and I only made it two or three feet when I saw him talking to someone. I wait his conversation out. Excused myself and told him I was a fan. He shook my hand, thanked me. I asked if I could take a picture of him and he said, "Here. Let's take one together." I said, "Sure, if you don't mind." Someone asked me if I wanted them to take it for them and Badge said, "I can handle it" or something to that effect as he's tapping away on my phone to set the camera up. Me: "You're much better at this than I am. Which is why I didn't ask for a selfie." He ducked to get next to me and angled it up and took the photo.
I thanked him and congratulated him on the film. He held out an arm and did the beckoning motion with his hand so I went in for the hug and it wasn't a quick hug. I just thought, "wow, I'm hugging the son of Grover Dale who was the boyfriend of Tony Perkins so in essence I'M HUGGING TONY PERKINS!"(who I briefly had a weird crush on for some reason). I smoothed a hand up and down his back because I couldn't just cling to him (though I wanted to), then wanting to give him an out I patted his back. He pulled back and said, "I'm sorry; I'm a little emotional, honey." Then I realized that the hug was of comfort.
I was so focused on finding him that I hadn't read the room, so when he said that I took it all in and it was somber. I've been to a Q&A with Brolin and saw him at the premiere of "Grindhouse" and he is an extremely gregarious person and I realized he was more sedate. The studios invited 100 fire personnel from surrounding counties and I can see how emotional they were. Understandably so.
The red carpet. The American Flag was draped from a firetruck
Okay
Marshall: (Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown)
*A movie that doesn't say what it reads on the tin. I presumed it was a biopic about Thurgood Marshall but it's just about one of his cases. They set it up like "Perry Mason meets Highway to Heaven". If they wanted to they could do an entire franchise of Thurgood Marshall going town to town solving cases like Bruce Banner with a law degree.
Daddy’s Home 2 (Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, John Lithgow, Mel Gibson):Plusses: long references to Band Aid's "Do You Know It's Christmas". Minuses: Starring at Mel Gibson's horrific mug throughout.
The Mountain Between Us (Kate Winslet, Idris Elba)
Crash Pad : Domhnall Gleeson, Christina Applegate, Thomas Haden Church, Nina Dobrev
Logan Lucky : (Channing Tatum, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Adam Driver) Directed by Steven Soderbergh and allegedly written by his wife, former E! anchor Jules Asner who used a non-de-plume, it’s “Ocean’s Eleven” meets a Coen Bros. film. Loved sad sacky Adam Driver. Falls short on humor and it says something about the film when the biggest laugh comes from a “Game of Thrones” joke.
American Made: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson
American Assassin : Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Taylor Kitsch
The Hitman’s Bodyguard : Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Gary Oldman
Gerald’s Game: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood
Another Stephen King adaptation. I couldn’t get through the book when it first came out so I was really happy that there was a film version. Excellent work by Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood who has a shockingly rocking body for a 61-year old. Why so fit, Bruce?
Thank You for Your Service (Miles Teller, Beulah Koale, Haley Bennett, Joe Cole) *Unvarnished look at what soldiers endure abroad and once they’ve returned home. A harsh, honest look at the bureaucracy that goes on with veteran’s affairs as well as the disconnect between those women and men who serve in action versus the brass with their cushy desk jobs. The song ends with the military chant “Freedom Cadence” reworked by Bruce Springsteen. Woody Guthrie would’ve been proud.
IT: Wished they would’ve filmed the adult years at the same time and released it a few months after the teen portions. I felt that is where the meat of the story is. Though I know I’ve only watched the original once and only cursory, the casting loomed large and the teens were okay---some better than others-but couldn’t compare with the young cast of the originals. I’m surprised by the box office success of it: wasn’t creepy, scary, entertaining. My favorite thing about the film was seeing Ari Cohen, Lex Luthor’s best henchman Regan Matthews, guiding his son through the Torah in preparation for his Bar Mitzvah.
Wasn’t enamored by Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise either. Bah.
Bill flanked brothers Alexander and Gustaf at the premiere
*Then
*Now
Now I know who Gustaf looks like. He’s his mother’s son all the way
Kingsman: The Golden Circle: (Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal)
This hurt because I am such a fan of the first one and became a fan of Taron Egerton because of it. It feels like writers Matthew Vaugh and Jane Goldsman are looking towards the third outing so this one felt like a jumbled mess whose only purpose was to advance the inclusion of The Statesman, which I have a feeling will be a focus of the third outing. It was a convoluted cartoonish mess.
The good thing is that Mark Strong was heavy on the press tour and publicity
And the film gave me the Orange Velvet Blazer from Mr. Porter so it wasn’t a complete wash.
The cast and others dons the blazer for a charity
UK chat show host Jonathan Ross whose wife Jane Goldsman cowrote the film
Andy Serkis
Claudia Schiffer
*Claudia is married to Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn. She also served as a producer on the film using her married name “Claudia Vaughn” (even though Matthew Vaughn only uses Vaughn for professional reasons. Years ago he began going by Van Dere Drummond after discovering that actor Robert Vaughn wasn’t his father.
*Another good thing is that the film paired Taron with Elton John and Elton has chosen Taron to play him in his biopic, replacing Tom Hardy. Taron is definitely up for the job as he covered Elton’s “I’m Still Standing” for the movie “Sing”.
*The 3rd season of Pascal’s “Narcos” dropped some time ago. He was able to suggest his little brother Lucas Balmaceda Pascal for a small role this season.
Pascal said that when he read the role he knew his brother would be perfect for it. The role? A pretty little thing that catches the eye of Don Pacho Herrera.
Lucas is pretty as himself but even prettier as a girl.
For a theatre role
*During the press tour Colin talked about how he would hope to get a franchise and now suddenly he's doing sequels: the Bridget Jones films, Kingsman, and now "Mamma Mia 2".
Firth, Pierce Brosnan, ABBA's Benny Andersson and Stellan Skarsgard
Skarsgard with Julie Walters
They're letting Dominic Cooper sing again. Por que?
The movie will be a reunion, not only of the original cast, but Meryl Streep and her "Silkwood" costar Cher. Yes, Cherilyn Sarkisian has joined the film.
*"Kingsman: The Golden Circle” saw the return of Edward Holcroft as tosser Charlie Hesketh.
Who was giving life for the dozen Eggsy/Charlie shippers
When the first one came out I wasn’t impressed by him; or rather didn’t give him no mind. Then I saw him in “London Spy” and he gave such a beautiful performance I became a fan. Glad to say it wasn’t a fluke. I’ve enjoyed him in BBC’s “Gunpowder”
(co-executive produced by and starring “Game of Thrones” Kit Harington. Kit(ten) has a personal connection to the story. It’s about the 17th century “The Gunpowder Plot” -the conspiracy to King James 1, now celebrated in the UK as Guy Fawkes Day. Christopher Kit Catesby Harington plays his ancestor Robert Catesby, one of the main conspirators in the plot) and is currently watching him in “Alias Grace” adapted by actress/director Sarah Polley from Margaret Atwood’s novel (based on a true story) starring Sarah Gadon (who is terrific)
, Anna Paquin and Paul Gross who I haven’t seen since his “Due South” days.
with Margaret Atwood
Hated
mother! : Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Barden, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer
Home Again: Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, Pico Alexander, Nat Wolff, Candice Bergen
Suburbicon: (Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe)
Blade Runner 2049 : (Ryan Baby-Goose, Harrison Ford (an hour and 45 minutes into the film), Jared Leto, Ana De Darmas, Robin Wright)
The Snowman (Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Val Kilmer, J.K Simmons)
The movie died a horrific box office death but "Mister Police" memes will live on forever a while until something funnier comes along.
Based on a series of books by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø, "The Snowman" could've been a taut thriller like "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" but because of behind the scenes inefficiencies in the shooting schedule you get a puzzling slapdash endeavor that should've been spared the humiliation of a wide release and instead just ditched on Video On Demand or Netflix or Redbox.
The newlywed Michael Fassbender stars as Harry Hole (which is pronounced exactly the way it looks despite his character being Norwegian which means it's pronounced HOYley; something that would have prevented me from spending much of the movie wondering how hairy Fassbender's hole is.), an alcoholic detective who drinks either out of alcoholism or out of sheer boredom due to the lack of crimes. He gets his wish for excitement when he piggybacks on the case of his new colleague Katrine (Rebecca Ferguson, Mission Impossible 5) who is on the search for a missing woman; just one of many in recent years. Harry quickly realizes that her case ties into the taunting messages he's getting from someone dubbed "The Snowman". Together they piece together clues that goes back years earlier to the investigation of another detective Rafto (Val Kilmer)
The director blamed the disjointed film on not having enough time to shoot what he needed. But what he didnt' mention but is patently obvious is that Val Kilmer could not complete all of his scenes due to complications from throat cancer surgery (Kilmer even stated as much during a reddit AMA). This is where it becomes distractingly bad as his voice is dubbed (terribly so) and they find ridiculous ways to get away with him not speaking opposite his scene partner Toby Jones.
Randomness
*My friend worked the Britannia Awards and brought me some sponsored chocolate.
*Ezra Miller is doing the Justice League press tour in style and glamour wearing Rihanna's Fenty Beauty line.
*Armie Hammer has been on Twitter and Instagram silence because he is currently filing the Ruth Bader-Ginsberg biopic but before he took his break he and his "Call Me By Your Name"(which is out in the UK now) costar Timothee Chalamet provided some fan service during NY Film Festival.
Timothee filming Armie urinating
*I got this time view number beat.
The stuff that foot fetishist dreams are made of
I love this wise arse
Loving these pics of Armie('s chest and arm hair)
I'm grateful I was able to perv on his feet and thighs during a "Free Fire" Q&A
*That moment when your fannish love is reignited because of a tweet. Eames/Arthur shippers felt validated by Joseph Gordon Levitt replying to this tweet.
Roughly twelve minutes of jointed screentime birthed..
*I went to a screening of "Weird Science". My first time seeing it in a theater and first time seeing it in forever. The screening was accompanied by live music from the band Kinky. I assumed the band would play the film's score, but they composed original music to fit the 80s vibe. Loved the music. However, the movie doesn't hold up. At all.
Kinky acting out a scene
I can appreciate how wacky it is now that I know it was based on EC Comics, specifically a short story in it, so it was going for broad, weird humor, as well as having classic comedy beats. Something that went over my head as a kid.
*Ben Whishaw and Sasha Baron Cohen were almost Freddie Mercury, but third time's a charm and finally the Queen biopic is off and running with "Mr. Robot"s Rami Malek as Mercury.
*Wedding bells have rung for former "Arrow" actor Colton Haynes who married celebrity florist Jeff Leatham Friday night.
And my the only Green Arrow I will acknowledge, Justin Hartley who married Chrishell Strause Saturday.
*For every beginning there's an ending. After a photo of Ewan McGregor kissing his "Fargo" costar Mary Elizabeth Winstead was released, reports came out that he and his wife Eve had split back in May.
Unlike when the same thing happened with Gina Torres being caught kissing another man, it was confirmed by both camps that she and Laurence Fishburne had split for some time. But the timing seems a bit off because while "sources" confirmed to People magazine that they split in May, Eve posted a picture of Ewan in June referring to him as her love. If my husband left me for another woman I don't think I'd still refer to him as "my love".
Eve with two of their four daughters
Their eldest, Clara. A photographer.
Happier Times (at the 1:28 mark)
Also over are Robert Pattinson and his long-time fiancée FKA Twigs.
I think she dumped him because of this terrible photoshoot
*Singer/Songwriter Teddy Geiger announced that she is transitioning. Ever since I've read the story I've been playing their song "For You I Will" (Confidence) like mad. I remember when Geiger, Ryan Cabrera and Jesse McCartney were on the airwaves constantly. Geiger has moved behind the scenes and has written songs for One Direction and Shawn Mendes.
~Helena Christensen 3D printed a son. That has to be a reason why she and Norman Reedus' 18-year old son up and coming model Mingus looks just like her.
The exes got together to watch Mingus walk New York's fashion week
*Mister "La La La La La, Always Coca-Cola" Tyrese Gibson is up in his feelings pissed off at Dwayne Johnson because Dwayne Johnson is doing a "Fast and the Furious" spinoff with Jason Statham. This film will take precedence over "Fast and the Furious 9".
You can put a Roomba in Tyrese's place in the film and no one could tell the difference. He is not essential to the film. He should be lucky he's still in a good franchise unlike those wretched "Transformers" films.
I'm glad it's still the Fast and Furious Family for Vin Diesel and Gal Gadot
*Muva Amber Rose held her annual SlutWalk in L.A a few weeks ago.
The superhero L.A needs
I loved that she changed into tennis shoes. A real hero knows about comfort
*Watched some really wild documentaries. "Murder in Belgravia" about John Bingham , Earl Lucan (commonly referred to as Lord Lucan) who was a man who lived beyond his means and when his wife, Veronica,
wanted a divorce he attempted to kill her, but instead mistakenly killed her children's nanny. But the oddity is that everyone turned on the wife, including her kids. Lord Lucan disappeared and rumors ranged from him killing himself to his friends helping him escape to Africa. Another sad remnant of the whole affair is that actor Cary Elwes' father Dominick was in Lucan's circle and made the mistake (in the minds of that set) of speaking to the press about Lucan's disappearance. He also supported Veronica despite their friends not believing her story that Bingham had killed her nanny or attempted to kill her. Elwes was effectively cut out from the circle. Already prone to depression Elwes committed suicide. Even in death a member of Bingham's circle disrespected him by speaking of Elwes' failure as a painter at his own funeral. Elwes' three sons have interestingly gone into the arts: Cassian is a film producer (his latest project "Mudbound" is already stirring up Oscar talk), Damian is a painter and then there's Cary.
The other documentary is "Mommy Dead and Dearest"
and it's crazyballs. If you watch the documentary you must read the original Buzzfeed article https://www.buzzfeed.com/michelledean/dee-dee-wanted-her-daughter-to-be-sick-gypsy-wanted-her-mom?utm_term=.jgEzdnJgQ#.hu7KP89B5 it's based on to get the complete picture. It's the story of a woman with Munchausen by Proxy who is eventually murdered by her "sick" daughter's boyfriend. The level of deceit is astounding and also how she got away with it for so long. It's mindboggling what humans are capable of doing to each other.
*Or what people are capable of doing to themselves like Jensen Ackles' tattoo.
When I read Fergie and Josh Duhamel were splitting I should've known Jensen Ackles' with his thick thighs that he love wrapping around married men had to be involved.
Casting couches aren't always a bad thing, huh Jenny?
Did Misha or his original work wife Jared take this picture?
Good on the Neverending Story for getting EW covers.
Are they going to show the Scooby Doo episode on Jared's 8-head?
*As part of fundraising for Puerto Rico hurricane relief Stephen Colbert started the Twitter campaign "Puber Me" where he would donate 1,000 for every celebrity who tweeted a picture of themselves at 13. There were a lot of great ones but none cuter than "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D"s Clark Gregg
Misha Collins threw his hat in the ring
As did "Game of Thrones" Michiel Huisman
*Little Daario the Lesser
*Maybe I posted this already but I went to Jacob Anderson's (Greyworm) concert a few months back.
If you die next season die in the last episode
The Troub is a great, intimate venue so I am so glad he held it there. He was amazing. He pogos up and down and jumps and twists and at one point he backed into the keyboard, knocking it and the stand over, so with nothing to brace him he fell with it. He bounced right up, picked up the keyboard and began playing it like a key-tar. When the song ended he briefly left the stage I think to just see if he was banged up or not. When he came back he said it was either the most embarrassing thing that he's ever done or the most rockstar. I think it was the latter.
He also danced with the crowd. He jumped off stage as his drummer was playing the beat to Luther Vandross' "Never Too Much" and just took turns dancing with groups of us. Earlier the young woman behind me said she would sh*t herself if she touched him, so I turned to her to see her reaction and she reached out to me and we just grabbed each other hands and fangirled that we had danced (and the ten others in our bunch) danced with Raleigh Ritchie.
*Same, dude. Same.
Loved
Wind River
He only has three films under his belt (all terrific) but I’m ready to call Taylor Sheridan one of the new great American screenwriters; a writer who wants to examine that swath of space between New York and Los Angeles and the lives of those people. Riveting film, harrowing film with an important focus : the plight of Native American women in the Wind River reservation who either go missing or are murdered with no justice ever being served (Based on a New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/us/wind-river-indian-reservation-where-brutality-is-banal.html ). My one complaint is that it is a depiction of life on the Native American reservation and the two leads are the decidedly non-Native American actors Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.
Worse yet, the Native American sheriff played by Graham Green is depicted as apathetic to what is going on in his own community making this almost come across as a White Savior film. I think there are so many Native Americans who would love the opportunity to tell their own stories that it’s a bit irritating that Sheridan (who did live for some time on a reservation and did consult with people who live in Wind River) is the one given the opportunity to bring this to life.
Costars Gil Birmingham (Hell or High Water), Julia Jones (Longmire) and Marcus Sensmeier (The Magnificent Seven)
The Limehouse Golem
Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke, Douglas Booth. I’m a big fan of Bill Nighy so I was amazed that Cooke and Booth pretty much stole the movie from him. A take on a Jack the Ripper tale set in the world of pantomime with Booth as a star performer and Cooke as his mentee and Nighy as the detective who is investigating a series of murders amongst the theatre community. Nighy’s role was to be played by Alan Rickman who passed away before production began.
Besides great performances it also features the lovely Booth in drag.
Battle of the Sexes
Great film, great performances. I think if Emma Stone is nominated for an Oscar (and she should) she would deserve this win moreso than for her work in “La La Land”. Hollywood is still trying to make Steve Carrell a character actor and he excels as Bobby Riggs. Great insight on the plight of women in professional tennis and how Billie Jean King and other women were at the forefront of pushing for greater parity. It is also a love story about Billie’s affair with hairdresser, Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough (Birdman) while on tour.
Aging out of tennis opportunity Bobby Riggs (Steve Carrell) is upset at the opportunities (I,e money) female tennis players like up and coming champ Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) is making. The reality is that female tennis players were making less than their male counterparts which led King and other female tennis players to break off and form their own tennis circuit. Firm in his belief that men were stronger than woman and thus better athlete Riggs decides to challenge Margaret Court and Billie Jean King in a Battle of the Sexes.
Carell looks so much like Riggs, it’s amazing to think Paul Giamatti was originally slated to play the role
While I loved the film all the misogyny was killing me. I wasn’t sure how it was supposed to play: for me it was very tough to hear such disrespect but the audience laughed at every turn, so are we supposed to be horrified by this or treat him like AL Bundy or Archie Bunker and laugh at the caveman? The film doesn’t know itself because it leaned more on the take that above all else he was a shameless self-promoter and show boater; almost depicting his actions as performance art in order to gain publicity. They take great cares to show him as a loving husband and father to assuage the sting of the persona. I don’t think they should have let him off so easily. It definitely was of the era for men (and some women) to hold such opinions so to soften it undermines who Riggs was. The film also had the balance of showing supportive men like Larry King (Austin Stowell, “Bridge of Spies”)
and Margaret Courts’ husband, Barry (James Mackay, “Dynasty”)
If you just take what happens in the film at face value, it is a very sweet tale of a unconventional relationship as it depicts that King’s husband Larry King (not THE Larry King) learns about the affair and accepts it because he knows that tennis is her real love and everyone/everything else takes the backseat.
Stone and Riseborough
But I read up to see what became of King and Barnett it definitely wasn’t a Happily Ever After. The two had a terrible breakup with Barnett essentially outing King by suing her for palimony. Despite being in a seven-year relationship with her while still married, King denounced her and wouldn’t cop to being bisexual, only acting as if she was with Barnett to placate her because she was unstable.
Went to the premiere
*The film’s directors Valerie Farris and husband Jonathan Dayton (Little Miss Sunshine, also prolific music video directors most notably The Smashing Pumpkins “Tonight, Tonight”.
They said they were especially happy to have the premiere at the Regency because they were UCLA students (it’s across from UCLA) and the they would go on dates at this theater
Billie Jean completed the introductions by announcing that eight of the Original 9 (herself included) -the women who helped get the Virginia Slims Women Tennis Tournament started were in attendance. She also asked if people waited until the credits completed ended so they can hear the song Sara Bareilles performs for the film.
*Austin Stowell, Bill Pullman (who I kept referring to Bill Paxton. Even Paxton’s death doesn’t quell that confusion for me), Eric Christian Olsen, King, Faris, Dayton, Alan Cumming
Cumming, Elisabeth Shue and Sarah Silverman
Shue, Silverman, Natalie Morales, Andrea Riseborough, Steve Carell and Emma Stone
Bill Paxton Pullman
I think I say this every year but I don’t see how the Academy will get five best picture nominees let alone ten. I can think of one so far which is “Dunkirk”. But the rest?
Really Liked
Goodbye Christopher Robin: (Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie and Will Tiltson)
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women : (Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote)
Stronger: (Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, Clancy Brown)
*Every so often the Black delegation has to swap out our recruits. Over the years we've ditched Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke and Adam Levine due to shenanigans (or in Levine's case just because). I recommend for inclusion in the Black delegation Jake Gyllenhaal.
He's practically ours already. The White delegation can have Ben Carson. We'll throw in Steve Harvey as a bonus.
Breathe : Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville
Knowing the subject matter I figured "Breathe" would be a dramatic, weepy tale with bits of inspiring scenes threaded through as to not completely leave the audience gutted, but amazingly this film is practically a feel-good story : bouncy, ebullient, plucky; a truly life-affirming tale.
In Andy Serkis' feature film directorial debut (he's done 2nd unit directing work for Peter Jackson on "The Hobbit" trilogy) tells the true story of Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield) and wife Diana (Claire Foy, “The Crown”).
Blissfully in love and living carefree in Kenya, the two find even more happiness in the impending birth of their child. But their lives shift when Robin contracts polio. Paralyzed and given three months to live, he falls into despair and wishes for death instead of being a “burden” to his wife and son. Refusing to let him wallow, Diana bucks the advice of the hospital and brings Robin home with the support of their friends and family which includes Diana’s twin brothers Bloggs and David(both played by Tom Hollander, “The Night Manager”), Robin’s best friend Colin (Ed Speelers, “Downton Abbey”) and Teddy (Hugh Bonneville). Not satisfied with just making do, Diana, Robin and Teddy, a tinkerer, devises a wheelchair that affords Robin better mobility…a wheelchair that doesn’t only improve Robin’s life but the lives of other polio sufferers.
The film also features THREE, count them, THREE “Game of Thrones” alums: Dame Diana Riggs as a snarky dowager (what a stretch), Roger Ashton-Griffiths who played Dame Diana’s son Mace Tyrell as the hospital chaplain who counsels the atheistic Cavendish and Dean Charles Chapman who plays the Cavendish’s son Jonathan as an adult.
The real Jonathan Cavendish with Garfield, Foy, Serkis and the real Diana Cavendish. The script, penned by William Nicholson, was based on Jonathan’s story idea. He also served as a consultant
Dean-Charles will next be seen in the Liam Neeson/Vera Farmiga thriller “The Commuter” and is currently hard at work on AMC’s actioner “Into the Badlands” (executive produced by “Smallville”s Alfred Gough and Miles Millar). Chapman plays Castor, a teenager whom Pilgrim Babou Ceesay (FreeFire) loves like his own child and uses his dark abilities to enforce his will.
Stunt training
In character
Showing off his cut eyebrow cos that's still a thing in England for some reason
*A fan account was jazzed because Dean is officially listed on IMDB for the role.
Little do they know that it was *I* who added the credit ::cackles madly::. I’m pretty sure he will be in that 1st episode of the season but I don’t know for sure. IMDB don’t just trust people willy-nilly so they must have proof that he will be in the first episode or they would not have approved it.
Ingrid Goes West : Aubrey Plaza, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Elizabeth Olsen : While I hate movies where characters embarrass themselves, I really came away loving this movie which is a look at a social media obsessed woman (Plaza) who develops an unhealthy fascination with an social media influencer (Olsen). It points a finger at people who are caught up in the façade created by these social media influencers, but points two fingers back at those influencers who create false realities and how shallow that world is.
Also, Aubrey and O’Shea are really cute together.
Only The Brave
Based on the true story of the 2013 Yahnell Hill Fire which saw the deaths of 19 out of 20 fire unit members The Granite Hill Hotshots. Based on GQ's article "No Exit", "Only the Brave" gives us a fuller view of the men who made up the Granite Hill Hotshots from the groups foray from trainees to a fully certified unit to their relationships.
The film stars Miles Teller as Brendan McDonough a drug addict who decides to turn his life around after his daughter is born. He gets sober and applies for a job with the trainees and surprisingly finds support from the unit's leader Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) a stern, no-nonsense man who isn't deterred by Brendan’s drug addled past. Less enthused is Marsh's omni-smirking, yet highly diligent right hand man Jesse (James Badge Dale, “The Walk”, “Iron Man 3”) and the crew’s resident bully Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch)
After Brendan proves his mettle, blinding in with the group - a brotherhood and sense of family he never had- Marsh’s personal life is coming under fire as the emotional toll of his dangerous and increasingly busy job weighs his wife Amanda (Jennifer Connelly).
The film weaves the personal and professional together to give a full picture of the lives that were lost. The film would not have suffered if they had exorcised the personal stories (it definitely would have trimmed down the films practically zaftig 2hrs and 15 minute run-time), but that would've just made the film seem like a movie full of archetypes -- two dimensional cinematic heroes. The filmmakers wants audience to know what a loss this was to the community. And in one of the film's most powerful scenes it shows how much this loss meant for Brendan, the lone survivor of the unit.
As much as it works on an unsung hero level, it works just as well as a relationship drama. The detail that goes into the marriage between Connelly’s Amanda and Brolin’s Eric is exquisite. Andie McDowell gets the thankless role of playing the dutiful wife to Jeff Bridge’s hambone character, but Connolly is given a fully fleshed out character-- a fully actualized person. It is by far the best work Connelly has done that I’ve seen. She and Brolin work beautifully well together, even in their most heated moments you can see the depth of their character's love for each other. I would love to see them work together again.
Teller, as usual, gives a great performance that runs the emotional gamut. He's moving more and more from comedic, jock-ish characters into dramatic roles and it suits him. He's a lot like Shia LaBeouf --which is good and bad--both let their personalities get in the way of their opportunities but it doesn’t look it is hampering Teller too much. He has the military drama “Thank You for Your Service” on deck for a November release.
It was the premiere. My goal of the night was to see James Badge Dale. I have been a fan of his since 2013 when, coming off of AMC's "Rubicon" he was featured in a string of films that had people speculating that he was the next big character actor. After Michael Bay's "13 Hours: The Story of Benghazi" he dropped off my radar.
But I’ll never forget the shorts he rocked in the film
The first cast member I saw when I entered the theater was Miles Teller looking really slim. The last time I saw him was at the premiere of "Let It Bleed" and he was bulkier.
With invited First Responders
I headed to the ladies and stood in the long line but was facing out unto the hall to keep an eye on the mens' bathroom to see if I would see anyone and sure enough, I saw Badge. I decided to wait him out and try to get to him there. After five minutes or so I see Glen Powell ("Scream Queens", "Hidden Figures") and another actor that I thought was the film's costar Ben Hardy (but I didn't see evidence of Hardy being in attendance) and Badge running out of the mens' room to the theater because the movie was starting. So I hightailed it to my seat.
When the film ended I made it out to the lobby and Bridges, Brolin and Kitsch were out there. The man of the hour was definitely Brolin which surprised me because I thought more people would be over Kitsch for some weird reason but as Brolin was the star, it made sense. I just thought a lot of people were fans of "Friday Night Lights" and would be more focused on him than Brolin who I just consider an 80s actor.
Who is having the damnedest career resurgence
*As Cable in the upcoming “Deadpool 2”
Looking to the past
I saw Badge come out and he was standing back near Kitsch. I lost track of him but saw that Kitsch managed to sneak around and exit past the crowd so I thought, "Crap! What if I missed him!!" So I snaked through the crowd and I only made it two or three feet when I saw him talking to someone. I wait his conversation out. Excused myself and told him I was a fan. He shook my hand, thanked me. I asked if I could take a picture of him and he said, "Here. Let's take one together." I said, "Sure, if you don't mind." Someone asked me if I wanted them to take it for them and Badge said, "I can handle it" or something to that effect as he's tapping away on my phone to set the camera up. Me: "You're much better at this than I am. Which is why I didn't ask for a selfie." He ducked to get next to me and angled it up and took the photo.
I thanked him and congratulated him on the film. He held out an arm and did the beckoning motion with his hand so I went in for the hug and it wasn't a quick hug. I just thought, "wow, I'm hugging the son of Grover Dale who was the boyfriend of Tony Perkins so in essence I'M HUGGING TONY PERKINS!"(who I briefly had a weird crush on for some reason). I smoothed a hand up and down his back because I couldn't just cling to him (though I wanted to), then wanting to give him an out I patted his back. He pulled back and said, "I'm sorry; I'm a little emotional, honey." Then I realized that the hug was of comfort.
I was so focused on finding him that I hadn't read the room, so when he said that I took it all in and it was somber. I've been to a Q&A with Brolin and saw him at the premiere of "Grindhouse" and he is an extremely gregarious person and I realized he was more sedate. The studios invited 100 fire personnel from surrounding counties and I can see how emotional they were. Understandably so.
The red carpet. The American Flag was draped from a firetruck
Okay
Marshall: (Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown)
*A movie that doesn't say what it reads on the tin. I presumed it was a biopic about Thurgood Marshall but it's just about one of his cases. They set it up like "Perry Mason meets Highway to Heaven". If they wanted to they could do an entire franchise of Thurgood Marshall going town to town solving cases like Bruce Banner with a law degree.
Daddy’s Home 2 (Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, John Lithgow, Mel Gibson):Plusses: long references to Band Aid's "Do You Know It's Christmas". Minuses: Starring at Mel Gibson's horrific mug throughout.
The Mountain Between Us (Kate Winslet, Idris Elba)
Crash Pad : Domhnall Gleeson, Christina Applegate, Thomas Haden Church, Nina Dobrev
Logan Lucky : (Channing Tatum, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Adam Driver) Directed by Steven Soderbergh and allegedly written by his wife, former E! anchor Jules Asner who used a non-de-plume, it’s “Ocean’s Eleven” meets a Coen Bros. film. Loved sad sacky Adam Driver. Falls short on humor and it says something about the film when the biggest laugh comes from a “Game of Thrones” joke.
American Made: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson
American Assassin : Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Taylor Kitsch
The Hitman’s Bodyguard : Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Gary Oldman
Gerald’s Game: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood
Another Stephen King adaptation. I couldn’t get through the book when it first came out so I was really happy that there was a film version. Excellent work by Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood who has a shockingly rocking body for a 61-year old. Why so fit, Bruce?
Thank You for Your Service (Miles Teller, Beulah Koale, Haley Bennett, Joe Cole) *Unvarnished look at what soldiers endure abroad and once they’ve returned home. A harsh, honest look at the bureaucracy that goes on with veteran’s affairs as well as the disconnect between those women and men who serve in action versus the brass with their cushy desk jobs. The song ends with the military chant “Freedom Cadence” reworked by Bruce Springsteen. Woody Guthrie would’ve been proud.
IT: Wished they would’ve filmed the adult years at the same time and released it a few months after the teen portions. I felt that is where the meat of the story is. Though I know I’ve only watched the original once and only cursory, the casting loomed large and the teens were okay---some better than others-but couldn’t compare with the young cast of the originals. I’m surprised by the box office success of it: wasn’t creepy, scary, entertaining. My favorite thing about the film was seeing Ari Cohen, Lex Luthor’s best henchman Regan Matthews, guiding his son through the Torah in preparation for his Bar Mitzvah.
Wasn’t enamored by Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise either. Bah.
Bill flanked brothers Alexander and Gustaf at the premiere
*Then
*Now
Now I know who Gustaf looks like. He’s his mother’s son all the way
Kingsman: The Golden Circle: (Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal)
This hurt because I am such a fan of the first one and became a fan of Taron Egerton because of it. It feels like writers Matthew Vaugh and Jane Goldsman are looking towards the third outing so this one felt like a jumbled mess whose only purpose was to advance the inclusion of The Statesman, which I have a feeling will be a focus of the third outing. It was a convoluted cartoonish mess.
The good thing is that Mark Strong was heavy on the press tour and publicity
And the film gave me the Orange Velvet Blazer from Mr. Porter so it wasn’t a complete wash.
The cast and others dons the blazer for a charity
UK chat show host Jonathan Ross whose wife Jane Goldsman cowrote the film
Andy Serkis
Claudia Schiffer
*Claudia is married to Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn. She also served as a producer on the film using her married name “Claudia Vaughn” (even though Matthew Vaughn only uses Vaughn for professional reasons. Years ago he began going by Van Dere Drummond after discovering that actor Robert Vaughn wasn’t his father.
*Another good thing is that the film paired Taron with Elton John and Elton has chosen Taron to play him in his biopic, replacing Tom Hardy. Taron is definitely up for the job as he covered Elton’s “I’m Still Standing” for the movie “Sing”.
*The 3rd season of Pascal’s “Narcos” dropped some time ago. He was able to suggest his little brother Lucas Balmaceda Pascal for a small role this season.
Pascal said that when he read the role he knew his brother would be perfect for it. The role? A pretty little thing that catches the eye of Don Pacho Herrera.
Lucas is pretty as himself but even prettier as a girl.
For a theatre role
*During the press tour Colin talked about how he would hope to get a franchise and now suddenly he's doing sequels: the Bridget Jones films, Kingsman, and now "Mamma Mia 2".
Firth, Pierce Brosnan, ABBA's Benny Andersson and Stellan Skarsgard
Skarsgard with Julie Walters
They're letting Dominic Cooper sing again. Por que?
The movie will be a reunion, not only of the original cast, but Meryl Streep and her "Silkwood" costar Cher. Yes, Cherilyn Sarkisian has joined the film.
*"Kingsman: The Golden Circle” saw the return of Edward Holcroft as tosser Charlie Hesketh.
Who was giving life for the dozen Eggsy/Charlie shippers
When the first one came out I wasn’t impressed by him; or rather didn’t give him no mind. Then I saw him in “London Spy” and he gave such a beautiful performance I became a fan. Glad to say it wasn’t a fluke. I’ve enjoyed him in BBC’s “Gunpowder”
(co-executive produced by and starring “Game of Thrones” Kit Harington. Kit(ten) has a personal connection to the story. It’s about the 17th century “The Gunpowder Plot” -the conspiracy to King James 1, now celebrated in the UK as Guy Fawkes Day. Christopher Kit Catesby Harington plays his ancestor Robert Catesby, one of the main conspirators in the plot) and is currently watching him in “Alias Grace” adapted by actress/director Sarah Polley from Margaret Atwood’s novel (based on a true story) starring Sarah Gadon (who is terrific)
, Anna Paquin and Paul Gross who I haven’t seen since his “Due South” days.
with Margaret Atwood
Hated
mother! : Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Barden, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer
Home Again: Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, Pico Alexander, Nat Wolff, Candice Bergen
Suburbicon: (Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe)
Blade Runner 2049 : (Ryan Baby-Goose, Harrison Ford (an hour and 45 minutes into the film), Jared Leto, Ana De Darmas, Robin Wright)
The Snowman (Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Val Kilmer, J.K Simmons)
The movie died a horrific box office death but "Mister Police" memes will live on forever a while until something funnier comes along.
Based on a series of books by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø, "The Snowman" could've been a taut thriller like "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" but because of behind the scenes inefficiencies in the shooting schedule you get a puzzling slapdash endeavor that should've been spared the humiliation of a wide release and instead just ditched on Video On Demand or Netflix or Redbox.
The newlywed Michael Fassbender stars as Harry Hole (which is pronounced exactly the way it looks despite his character being Norwegian which means it's pronounced HOYley; something that would have prevented me from spending much of the movie wondering how hairy Fassbender's hole is.), an alcoholic detective who drinks either out of alcoholism or out of sheer boredom due to the lack of crimes. He gets his wish for excitement when he piggybacks on the case of his new colleague Katrine (Rebecca Ferguson, Mission Impossible 5) who is on the search for a missing woman; just one of many in recent years. Harry quickly realizes that her case ties into the taunting messages he's getting from someone dubbed "The Snowman". Together they piece together clues that goes back years earlier to the investigation of another detective Rafto (Val Kilmer)
The director blamed the disjointed film on not having enough time to shoot what he needed. But what he didnt' mention but is patently obvious is that Val Kilmer could not complete all of his scenes due to complications from throat cancer surgery (Kilmer even stated as much during a reddit AMA). This is where it becomes distractingly bad as his voice is dubbed (terribly so) and they find ridiculous ways to get away with him not speaking opposite his scene partner Toby Jones.
Randomness
*My friend worked the Britannia Awards and brought me some sponsored chocolate.
*Ezra Miller is doing the Justice League press tour in style and glamour wearing Rihanna's Fenty Beauty line.
*Armie Hammer has been on Twitter and Instagram silence because he is currently filing the Ruth Bader-Ginsberg biopic but before he took his break he and his "Call Me By Your Name"(which is out in the UK now) costar Timothee Chalamet provided some fan service during NY Film Festival.
Timothee filming Armie urinating
*I got this time view number beat.
Click to viewThe stuff that foot fetishist dreams are made of
I love this wise arse
Loving these pics of Armie('s chest and arm hair)
I'm grateful I was able to perv on his feet and thighs during a "Free Fire" Q&A
*That moment when your fannish love is reignited because of a tweet. Eames/Arthur shippers felt validated by Joseph Gordon Levitt replying to this tweet.
Roughly twelve minutes of jointed screentime birthed..
*I went to a screening of "Weird Science". My first time seeing it in a theater and first time seeing it in forever. The screening was accompanied by live music from the band Kinky. I assumed the band would play the film's score, but they composed original music to fit the 80s vibe. Loved the music. However, the movie doesn't hold up. At all.
Kinky acting out a scene
I can appreciate how wacky it is now that I know it was based on EC Comics, specifically a short story in it, so it was going for broad, weird humor, as well as having classic comedy beats. Something that went over my head as a kid.
*Ben Whishaw and Sasha Baron Cohen were almost Freddie Mercury, but third time's a charm and finally the Queen biopic is off and running with "Mr. Robot"s Rami Malek as Mercury.
*Wedding bells have rung for former "Arrow" actor Colton Haynes who married celebrity florist Jeff Leatham Friday night.
And my the only Green Arrow I will acknowledge, Justin Hartley who married Chrishell Strause Saturday.
*For every beginning there's an ending. After a photo of Ewan McGregor kissing his "Fargo" costar Mary Elizabeth Winstead was released, reports came out that he and his wife Eve had split back in May.
Unlike when the same thing happened with Gina Torres being caught kissing another man, it was confirmed by both camps that she and Laurence Fishburne had split for some time. But the timing seems a bit off because while "sources" confirmed to People magazine that they split in May, Eve posted a picture of Ewan in June referring to him as her love. If my husband left me for another woman I don't think I'd still refer to him as "my love".
Eve with two of their four daughters
Their eldest, Clara. A photographer.
Happier Times (at the 1:28 mark)
Also over are Robert Pattinson and his long-time fiancée FKA Twigs.
I think she dumped him because of this terrible photoshoot
*Singer/Songwriter Teddy Geiger announced that she is transitioning. Ever since I've read the story I've been playing their song "For You I Will" (Confidence) like mad. I remember when Geiger, Ryan Cabrera and Jesse McCartney were on the airwaves constantly. Geiger has moved behind the scenes and has written songs for One Direction and Shawn Mendes.
~Helena Christensen 3D printed a son. That has to be a reason why she and Norman Reedus' 18-year old son up and coming model Mingus looks just like her.
The exes got together to watch Mingus walk New York's fashion week
*Mister "La La La La La, Always Coca-Cola" Tyrese Gibson is up in his feelings pissed off at Dwayne Johnson because Dwayne Johnson is doing a "Fast and the Furious" spinoff with Jason Statham. This film will take precedence over "Fast and the Furious 9".
You can put a Roomba in Tyrese's place in the film and no one could tell the difference. He is not essential to the film. He should be lucky he's still in a good franchise unlike those wretched "Transformers" films.
I'm glad it's still the Fast and Furious Family for Vin Diesel and Gal Gadot
*Muva Amber Rose held her annual SlutWalk in L.A a few weeks ago.
The superhero L.A needs
I loved that she changed into tennis shoes. A real hero knows about comfort
*Watched some really wild documentaries. "Murder in Belgravia" about John Bingham , Earl Lucan (commonly referred to as Lord Lucan) who was a man who lived beyond his means and when his wife, Veronica,
wanted a divorce he attempted to kill her, but instead mistakenly killed her children's nanny. But the oddity is that everyone turned on the wife, including her kids. Lord Lucan disappeared and rumors ranged from him killing himself to his friends helping him escape to Africa. Another sad remnant of the whole affair is that actor Cary Elwes' father Dominick was in Lucan's circle and made the mistake (in the minds of that set) of speaking to the press about Lucan's disappearance. He also supported Veronica despite their friends not believing her story that Bingham had killed her nanny or attempted to kill her. Elwes was effectively cut out from the circle. Already prone to depression Elwes committed suicide. Even in death a member of Bingham's circle disrespected him by speaking of Elwes' failure as a painter at his own funeral. Elwes' three sons have interestingly gone into the arts: Cassian is a film producer (his latest project "Mudbound" is already stirring up Oscar talk), Damian is a painter and then there's Cary.
The other documentary is "Mommy Dead and Dearest"
and it's crazyballs. If you watch the documentary you must read the original Buzzfeed article https://www.buzzfeed.com/michelledean/dee-dee-wanted-her-daughter-to-be-sick-gypsy-wanted-her-mom?utm_term=.jgEzdnJgQ#.hu7KP89B5 it's based on to get the complete picture. It's the story of a woman with Munchausen by Proxy who is eventually murdered by her "sick" daughter's boyfriend. The level of deceit is astounding and also how she got away with it for so long. It's mindboggling what humans are capable of doing to each other.
*Or what people are capable of doing to themselves like Jensen Ackles' tattoo.
When I read Fergie and Josh Duhamel were splitting I should've known Jensen Ackles' with his thick thighs that he love wrapping around married men had to be involved.
Casting couches aren't always a bad thing, huh Jenny?
Did Misha or his original work wife Jared take this picture?
Good on the Neverending Story for getting EW covers.
Are they going to show the Scooby Doo episode on Jared's 8-head?
*As part of fundraising for Puerto Rico hurricane relief Stephen Colbert started the Twitter campaign "Puber Me" where he would donate 1,000 for every celebrity who tweeted a picture of themselves at 13. There were a lot of great ones but none cuter than "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D"s Clark Gregg
Misha Collins threw his hat in the ring
As did "Game of Thrones" Michiel Huisman
*Little Daario the Lesser
*Maybe I posted this already but I went to Jacob Anderson's (Greyworm) concert a few months back.
If you die next season die in the last episode
The Troub is a great, intimate venue so I am so glad he held it there. He was amazing. He pogos up and down and jumps and twists and at one point he backed into the keyboard, knocking it and the stand over, so with nothing to brace him he fell with it. He bounced right up, picked up the keyboard and began playing it like a key-tar. When the song ended he briefly left the stage I think to just see if he was banged up or not. When he came back he said it was either the most embarrassing thing that he's ever done or the most rockstar. I think it was the latter.
He also danced with the crowd. He jumped off stage as his drummer was playing the beat to Luther Vandross' "Never Too Much" and just took turns dancing with groups of us. Earlier the young woman behind me said she would sh*t herself if she touched him, so I turned to her to see her reaction and she reached out to me and we just grabbed each other hands and fangirled that we had danced (and the ten others in our bunch) danced with Raleigh Ritchie.
*Same, dude. Same.