Directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® winner Tony Kushner, “West Side Story” tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1957 New York City. Here’s your first look at the trailer released during Sunday’s Oscars telecast.
This reimagining of the beloved musical stars Ansel Elgort (Tony); Rachel Zegler (María); Ariana DeBose (Anita); David Alvarez (Bernardo); Mike Faist (Riff); Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino); Ana Isabelle (Rosalía); Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank); Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke); and Rita Moreno (as Valentina, who owns the corner store in which Tony works). Moreno – one of only three artists to be honored with Academy®, Emmy®, GRAMMY®, Tony® and Peabody Awards – also serves as one of the film’s executive producers.
Bringing together the best of both Broadway and Hollywood, the film’s creative team includes Kushner, who also serves as an executive producer; Tony Award® winner Justin Peck, who choreographed the musical numbers in the film; renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor and GRAMMY Award® winner Gustavo Dudamel, who helmed the recording of the iconic score; Academy Award®-nominated composer and conductor David Newman (“Anastasia”), who arranged the score; Tony Award®-winning composer Jeanine Tesori (“Fun Home,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie”), who supervised the cast on vocals; and Grammy®-nominated music supervisor Matt Sullivan (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Chicago”), who served as executive music producer for the film.
The film is produced by Spielberg, Academy Award®-nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger and Tony Award®-winning producer Kevin McCollum. “West Side Story” has been adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway show, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins.
From 20th Century Studios, The Walt Disney Company will release “West Side Story” in U.S. theaters on December 10, 2021.
(Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal Media, LLC via Getty Images)
If adventure has a name…it must be Indiana Jones! Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Solo: A Star Wars Story) will star alongside Harrison Ford, who is returning to the role of the legendary hero archaeologist, for the fifth installment of the iconic franchise.
In addition, the inimitable John Williams will return to score the film, continuing a musical journey which began 40 years ago with Raiders of the Lost Ark. Williams’ unforgettable Indy soundtracks, packed with all the epic thrills, suspense, romance and excitement that fans have come to expect from an Indiana Jones movie, have become as beloved and familiar as the adventurer-hero’s signature hat and whip.
“I’m thrilled to be starting a new adventure, collaborating with a dream team of all-time great filmmakers,” said the film’s director James Mangold (Cop Land, Girl, Interrupted, Walk the Line, The Wolverine and Logan). “Steven, Harrison, Kathy, Frank, and John are all artistic heroes of mine. When you add Phoebe, a dazzling actor, brilliant creative voice and the chemistry she will undoubtedly bring to our set, I can’t help but feel as lucky as Indiana Jones himself.”
Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel will serve as producers. Indy swings into theaters July 29, 2022.
THE GOONIES (1985)screens Sunday Night April 11th at the Sky View Drive-in in Lichtfield, Il. (1500 Historic Old Route 66) This is part of the Sky View’s ‘Throwback Sundays’. The second Sunday of the month, they screen a classic movie. Admission is only $7 (free for kids under 5). This is a double feature! GOONIES will be followed by GODZILLA VS KONG. Gates will open at 6pm for all showings.Movie Start time: 7:35pm. The Sky View’s site can be found HERE.
Four kids – Mikey (Sean Astin), Chunk (Jeff Cohen), Mouth (Corey Feldman) and Data (Ke Huy Quan) who call themselves “The Goonies” finds a map in the attic of Mikey’s house. Their beloved neighborhood is about to become a golf course, so they go out on an adventure to find lost buried treasure. Unfortunately, three crooks Mama Fratelli (Anne Ramsey) with her sons Jake (Robert Davi) and Francis (Joe Pantoliano) are also seeking the treasure.
One of the most beloved movies of the 80’s, THE GOONIES is a timeless adventure from director Richard Donner and producer Steven Spielberg that has stood the test of time.
THE GOONIES has youth, fun, and excitement by the truckload but also that perfect “Boy’s Adventure” element that’s often hard to capture on film (think KING KONG, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, and LIFE OF PI). THE GOONIES also captured the 80’s so well with its fashion, hairstyles and music, so even now it feels not so much dated, as a charming look back. Many of the film’s young actors went on to bigger things (Sean Astin in LOTR and Oscar-nominee Josh Brolin). They show quite a lot of star quality and manage to give performances beyond their years under the assured direction of Richard (THE OMEN, SUPERMAN) Donner. In many ways, the film plays like a juvenile variation of the Indiana Jones movies, and is a very competent and fast-moving yarn. Don’t miss THE GOONIES when it screens April 11th at The Sky View
The Skyview Drive-in in Belleville (5700 N Belt W, Belleville, IL 62226)will present an all Steven Spielberg program beginning My 29th with ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind on screen 1 and Jaws and Jurassic Park on screen 2. The Skyviewis open 7 nights a week. For more information, check out their website HERE
Meanwhile, The Starlite Drive-in in Cadet, MO (15605 N State Highway 21, Cadet MO 63630 about an hour southwest of St. Louis)ET and DESPICABLE ME on screen 1 and Jaws and Jurassic Park on screen 2. The Starlite sells tickets online in advance and is only open Fri-Sun. For more information, check out their website HERE
In honor of the film’s 35th anniversary, The Color Purple returns to movie theaters nationwide during Black History Month, its first nationwide release in more than three decades. Prior to and after the film, TCM Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz will provide new commentary and insight into the making and legacy of this unforgettable movie.
The unforgettable characters of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel brighten the screen in this rhapsodically cinematic adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg. At the center of the tale is Celie (Whoopi Goldberg, in her Oscar®-nominated movie debut), whose search for fulfillment in a world closed to her becomes a triumph of cruelty overcome by love, of pain eclipsed by joy. Acting and filmmaking honors all came to The Color Purple upon its initial release in 1985, with an outstanding supporting cast including Danny Glover, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey. It is a timeless film that remains a powerful and unforgettable cinematic masterpiece.
Goldberg, Winfrey and Avery each were nominated for an Oscar, among the film’s 11 nominations, which also included Best Picture, Writing (Menno Meyjes, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) and Original Score. The Color Purplereceived NAACP Image Awards for Best Picture and Best Actress, and was named Best Film of 1985 by the National Board of Review.
Presented by Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies and Warner Bros.
Sunday, February 23, 2020 – 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (local time)
Tickets for The Color Purple can be purchased at www.FathomEvents.com or participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 600 select movie theaters through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network (DBN). For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).
The ‘Movies on Art Hill’ Series in St. Louis continues this Friday, August 2nd with THE GOONIES. Admission is FREE and the movie will start about 9pm.A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE
The We Are Movie Geeks gang always goes to these, so if you wanna hang with the cool kids, you should go too. It’s free and they set up a big screen at the bottom of the hill. There are food trucks and beer and wine for sale. You can even go dine in the museum’s restaurant before the show if you got money to burn. If you’re a museum member, you can show your membership card and get free popcorn and ice cream (I did that last year even though my card was expired!). Of course, you can bring a cooler with your own food and drinks as well. It’s a lot of fun! Bring your dog! The movies start at 9 but get there early! Thousands of people show up, especially if the weather is nice, and close parking is scarce. There’s live pre-show music and the people-watching can be entertaining.
What’s a film series without the food
Bring your own picnic.
Food Truck Fest, presented by Sauce Magazine, will run from 6 to 8:30 pm in the parking lot to the west of the Louis IX statue on Art Hill. Food trucks vary each week and lines will close at 8:30 pm sharp each night. Cash, credit, and debit cards accepted. An ATM will be on Art Hill Plaza.
The Museum’s Cafe will be open and serving casual fare including freshly prepared soups, sandwiches, and salads until 9 pm.
Concession stands with snacks and soda will be located at the top of Art Hill. Show your Saint Louis Art Museum membership card and get a free bag of popcorn!
Adult beverages will be available for purchase at the Panorama booth.
In THE GOONIES, four kids – Mikey (Sean Astin), Chunk (Jeff Cohen), Mouth (Corey Feldman) and Data (Ke Huy Quan) who call themselves “The Goonies” finds a map in the attic of Mikey’s house. Their beloved neighborhood is about to become a golf course, so they go out on an adventure to find lost buried treasure. Unfortunately, three crooks Mama Fratelli (Anne Ramsey) with her sons Jake (Robert Davi) and Francis (Joe Pantoliano) are also seeking the treasure. One of the most beloved movies of the 80’s, THE GOONIES is a timeless adventure from director Richard Donner and producer Steven Spielberg that has stood the test of time. THE GOONIES has youth, fun, and excitement by the truckload but also that perfect “Boy’s Adventure” element that’s often hard to capture on film (think KING KONG, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, and LIFE OF PI). THE GOONIES also captured the 80’s so well with its fashion, hairstyles and music, so even now it feels not so much dated, as a charming look back. Many of the film’s young actors went on to bigger things (Sean Astin in LOTR and Oscar-nominee Josh Brolin). They show quite a lot of star quality and manage to give performances beyond their years under the assured direction of Richard (THE OMEN, SUPERMAN) Donner. In many ways, the film plays like a juvenile variation of the Indiana Jones movies, and is a very competent and fast-moving yarn. Don’t miss THE GOONIES when it screens Friday night on Art Hill
On the heels of their successful collaboration on “Ready Player One,” Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment are again teaming with Warner Bros. Pictures to produce the action adventure “Blackhawk,” with an eye to Spielberg directing the film.
Based on the classic DC property, the project will mark the filmmaker’s first feature centered around characters from DC. The announcement was made today by Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.
In making the announcement, Emmerich stated, “We are so proud to be the studio behind Steven Spielberg’s latest hit, and are thrilled to be working with him again on this new action adventure. We can’t wait to see what new ground he will break in introducing ‘Blackhawk’ to movie audiences worldwide.”
The screenplay for “Blackhawk” is being written by David Koepp, who has collaborated with Spielberg as a screenwriter on the blockbusters “Jurassic Park,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “War of the Worlds” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Spielberg will produce the film together with Kristie Macosko Krieger, under the Amblin Entertainment banner, while Sue Kroll will executive produce, under her Kroll & Co. Entertainment shingle.
Spielberg noted, “It was wonderful working with the team at Warner Bros. to bring ‘Ready Player One’ to the screen. They bring a blend of passion and professionalism to everything they do and have a tremendous history in this genre. I am excited to reunite with them on ‘Blackhawk.’”
Spielberg’s next two films are the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise and “West Side Story.”
“Blackhawk” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Well, if ya’ can’t beat em’, join em’. Or exploit em’. And “piggy-back” on em’. An old adage, but that’s been the thinking of the movie studios whenever they’re threatened by other forms of entertainment. Too many folks are staying at home, listening to the radio, rather than filling the movie houses? Turn some of the big radio stars into movie stars (as with Jack Benny and Bob Hope) and make some films based on the popular radio series (as Columbia did with BLONDIE, which was based on the still-running newspaper comic strip). And what supplanted the radio as the preferred home-based entertainment? Television, adding visuals to keep the “bijou” neighborhood theatres empty. This time the studios offered gimmicks and enhancements that the then tiny screens couldn’t match: 3D, stereophonic sound, and Cinemascope, which lead to Cinerama, not to mention the tricks and tools spearheaded by producers like William Castle (“Emergo”). And later Hollywood raided the tube for stars and subject matter (“Star Trek” started as a TV show, became a movie franchise before returning to its roots). In the early 1980’s the big movie menace were the advent of the video games, first at the arcades, then seeping into homes via popular gaming systems. Disney was the first to try to reach this new market with the ground-breaking 1982 smash TRON (which was given a sequel 28 years later). THE LAST STARFIGHTER made another fictional game part of its plot. And eventually the studios based movies on games, such as STREET FIGHTER, MORTAL COMBAT and countless others. But the movies weren’t alone in their romance of “gamers”. In 2011 Ernest Cline wrote a popular novel set in a virtual world immersed in recent pop culture icons. And who is tapped to helm the film adaptation of this hit book? None other than the famous film maker who was the force behind so much of the pop culture of the last five decades, Steven Spielberg himself. Yes, he guides the controls for READY PLAYER ONE.
The story’s hero Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) fills us in on the dystopian future world of 20145 as the film begins. After the “Corn Syrup Wars” and the band-width battles, the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” has grown much wider. The orphaned Wade is in the latter group, living with his aunt in Columbus, Ohio’s “stacks” (literally trailers and mobile homes stacked on top of each other, reaching into the skies like rickety towers). But all classes have the same obsession, the virtual reality world of the game known as OASIS. Playing has grown more intense since the recent death of its creator, the eccentric genius James Halliday (Mark Rylance). Upon his passing, the company released a message from him explaining that the game has three hidden keys that will unlock three “Easter eggs”. The first person to solve the game will get a multi-billion prize, along with the company. In addition to the individuals competing, a rival gaming corporation as entered the fray. IOI headed by the ruthless Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) has an army of always hooked-up players, the “sixers” to find the prize and unlock Halliday’s tech secrets. Luckily, Wade (who adopts the persona of Parzival within OASIS) has a group of buddies he’s never met in the real world: master mechanic Aech (Lena Waithe) and the warriors Sho (Philip Zhao) and Daito (Win Morisaki). Oh, and Wade’s got a major crush on the mysterious video vixen Art3mis (Olivia Cooke). When his research at the Halliday Archives pays off with the first key, the group attracts the attention of Sorrento who sends out his henchman, the game’s I-Rok (T.J. Miller) and reality’s F’Nale (Hannah John-Kamen) to eliminate them permanently (online and on-ground). Can Wade AKA Parzival and company locate those keys and win the prize before Sorrento’s crew locates them?
Sheridan, after braking into big studio flicks as the new teenage Cyclops in the X-Men series, takes on the plucky hero role with confident energy. His Wade doesn’t mope over the hard life he’s been given, using his brain more than brawn to escape his circumstances. But Wade really comes alive when he assumes the Parzival avatar, a cocky blend of surfer dude and Bowie charismatic cool. He’s the perfect romantic sparing partner for Art3mis, a spike-haired sprite whose charms aid her in outscoring all her opponents. When we meet her in the real world, Cooke as Samantha still has the street smarts along with a sweet vulnerability and a reluctance to opening up to anyone. The entertaining Waithe is pure bravado as Helen and her alias Aech. As for the baddies, Mendelsohn is a seedy unfiltered corporate creep, crushing all in his way. The same is true of his avatar, a smirking beefy cross of Gordon Gecko and HEAVY METAL’s Captain Stern (miss you Berni Wrightson), nearly bursting out of his three-piece suit. John-Kamen is a crisp, fearsome “dragon lady” as Sorrento’s “cleaner”, while Miller is hysterical as the hulking hitman always complaining of a new ailment or minor malady. Simon Pegg has several great moments as sympathetic software guru Ogden Morrow. But the movie’s real scene-stealer is Rylance as his former partner, now “Obi-Wan”-like OASIS mastermind Halliday. He’s a parody riff on real life icons Jobs and Gates blended with the Wizard of OZ and Willy Wonka (no wonder the trailers used the song “Pure Imagination”). Halliday, even in flashbacks, seems otherworldly, gliding above the ground as he reaches for the cosmos, his eyes always at half-mast while distracted and painfully awkward socially. This is another triumph for the talented and versatile Rylance.
After the intimate historical drama of last December’s THE POST, Spielberg lets his imagination run wild in his most spirited high-octane action romp since the his TINTIN CGI flick of 2011, but to somewhat mixed results. Fans may scurry off to a second viewing to drink in all the pop culture cameos (there’s the 66′ Batmobile) rather than any emotional connections to the human characters. Mind you, a second act game sequence set inside a meticulously recreated tribute to an 80’s fright flick classic is lots of giddy geek fun (as is the major role given to the cult classic cartoon hero, THE IRON GIANT), but the film quickly devolves from there into a mind (and backside) numbing “battle of thousands”, though really just millions of pixel on pixel exercises that are too reminiscent of some of the more mediocre computer game-based flicks (the interminable WARCRAFT springs to mind). Plus, it feels as though Spielberg has just rewatched the original MATRIX from 1999, so that the OASIS world is shot with a camera constantly spinning around each avatar (vertigo-time), which makes it difficult for the viewer to focus in on the dimly lit game world (triple the light flares of a J.J. Abrams flick). Back in the real world, we’re not given a real chance to truly bond with Wade, Sam, and the gang before they’re logging in once more. They’re the poor nice kids (The Goonies in VR) against the black-hatted. mustache-twirling Sorrento and his minions. But as I mentioned before, we’ve got the delightful Rylance to bring some much need humanity to the near-endless mayhem. Oh, for a spin-off prequel about the complex Halliday (this shy, introvert builds a digital museum with his every minute of life documented and cataloged). But for the current flick, I felt like a kid out of tokens at the big slick arcade, The gamers look to be having fun, but the twirling flashing screens never reach out and grab me by the brain or heart. READY PLAYER ONE razzles and dazzles the eyes , but does little else.
Opening on Friday, March 29 is Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s READY PLAYER ONE. In the Vanity Fair review, Joanna Robinson says Steven Spielberg’s latest film, “is in every way a spiritual ode to the boy’s adventure genre he made so popular in the 80s. There is a heart beating at the center of The Goonies, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, and more—but in Ready Player One, audiences will instead find a gleaming, digital, golden Easter egg.”
From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the action adventure READY PLAYER ONE, based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name, which has become a worldwide phenomenon. In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels alive is when he escapes to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spend their days. In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone—the only limits are your own imagination. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his immense fortune and total control of the OASIS to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends—known as the High Five—are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS and their world.
The movie stars stars Tye Sheridan (“X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Mud”), Olivia Cooke (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” “Bates Motel”), Ben Mendelsohn (“Rogue One – A Star Wars Story,” “Bloodline”), Lena Waithe (“Master of None”), T.J. Miller (“Deadpool”), Philip Zhao, Win Morisaki, Hannah John-Kamen (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”), with Simon Pegg (the “Star Trek” and “Mission: Impossible” movies) and Oscar winner Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies,” “Dunkirk”). The score is by Oscar-nominated composer Alan Silvestri (the “Back to the Future” films, “Forrest Gump”).
READY PLAYER ONE opens on March 29, 2018, in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX.
Enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of READY PLAYER ONE on Monday, March 26 at 7pm in the St. Louis area.
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(Left to right) Tom Hanks (Ben Bradlee), David Cross (Howard Simons), John Rue (Gene Patterson), Bob Odenkirk (Ben Bagdikian), Jessie Mueller (Judith Martin), and Philip Casnoff (Chalmers Roberts) in Twentieth Century Fox’s THE POST. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise.
In THE POST, director Steven Spielberg delivers a remarkable and timely film about freedom of the press, a story set in 1971 that has striking echoes for the present. President Nixon, who disdains the press, seeks to prevent publication of embarrassing secret government documents that expose decades of deceit of the American people on the Vietnam War.
Spielberg structures THE POST like a thriller, racing a ticking-clock and filled with intrigue. The director has put together a stellar cast for this top-notch thriller, led by Tom Hanks as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee and Meryl Streep as the paper’s publisher Katharine Graham, the first women publisher of a major daily newspaper. Known as the Pentagon Papers, a portion of this trove of documents has already been published by the New York Times, but that paper has been stopped by a court order. When the documents come to Graham and Bradlee, they are faced with the choice: publish and risk the paper, maybe even jail, or let the President silence the free press and conceal the facts from the American people.
Comparisons to ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN is inevitable, and this is a worthy film to pair with that classic, but this is the story that preceded Watergate, and without which Watergate would not have happened. But this gripping fast-paced thriller also has elements in common with THE FRONT PAGE and other classic newspaper tales.
The First Amendment is not the only focus on this excellent, intelligent drama, which is one of the year’s best, but spotlights the challenges faced by publisher Katherine Graham, in the patriarchal 1970s, after she inherited the newspaper once owned by her father and then run by her late husband.
Streep is wonderful as Graham, who is determined to keep the paper her father built going and vital. She is always determined to do that but her demeanor seems to say otherwise, typical of a woman of her era. She starts out hesitant to challenge the condescension often shown by men who are supposed to advise her but increasingly finds steel to do so, in one scene reminding Robert McNamara that she is seeking his advice, not his permission.
The one exception is Bradlee. Hanks’ Bradlee is gruff and blunt in his dealings with everyone, including his boss Graham, and a sharp contrast to her diplomatic style of speech. But in the end, he always recognizes that it is her decision to publish or not. Bradlee is the bulldog pursing this story, a scoop that could put the paper on the map nationally, and clearly enjoys the fray. His scenes are built around this pursuit, which unfold with the urgency and excitement of a spy or political thriller.
The film is packed with the giant figures, good and bad, of this historic moment, when the press stood up for the people’s right to know in the face of a hostile government, eager to keep embarrassing truths hidden. The clip of Nixon speaking about the Pentagon Papers is Nixon’s actual voice, which adds to the drama and realism. Scenes of the running press add both a sense of the time period and twinge of nostalgia for an era of paper and ink.
The whole ensemble cast is wonderful, as is the pacing and photography, particularly the evocative images of rolling presses. Modern audiences may be taken aback at the easy sexism that Streep’s Graham faces in nearly every scene, and impressed with the easy grace with which she handles it. The scenes between Streep as the elegant Graham and Hanks as the hard-nosed Bradlee as pure acting gold, but the whole film is sprinkled with such gems.
THE POST is one of the best films of the past year, an essential must-see, and a worthy companion piece to ALL THE KINGS MEN on the free press, but this gripping thriller has as much to say about present days as the historical moment in which it is set.
