Get tickets for Special Sneak Previews of DOG on Valentine’s DayHERE
Hit the road and go behind the scenes of DOG with co-directors Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin in two NEW featurettes.
DOG is a buddy comedy that follows the misadventures of two former Army Rangers paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) and Lulu (a Belgian Malinois dog) buckle into a 1984 Ford Bronco and race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, break a small handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards in order to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.
DraftKings launched the game on Monday, February 7th, and will match $10,000 in prizing with a donation to Tech for Heroes, DraftKings’ flagship corporate social responsibility initiative that teaches technology job skills to veteran communities. Eligible fans nationwide can play TATUM VS. DOG: 50-YARD FETCH for free to guess the results of a field chase between Channing Tatum and his canine co-star Lulu. Find out more information HERE
DOG stars Channing Tatum, Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Q’orianka Kilcher, Ethan Suplee, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Nicole LaLiberté, Luke Forbes, and Ronnie Gene Blevins
CYRANO, the greatest love story ever told is in select cities January 28th and everywhere February 11th.Experience the vivid world of director Joe Wright’s CYRANO with Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett and Kelvin Harrison Jr. in this new featurette:
Award-winning director Joe Wright envelops moviegoers in a symphony of emotions with music, romance, and beauty in Cyrano, re-imagining the timeless tale of a heartbreaking love triangle. A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac (played by Peter Dinklage) dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne (Haley Bennett), Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her — and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.).
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn
Directed by: Joe Wright Screenplay by: Erica Schmidt
Based on: The stage musical adapted and directed by Erica Schmidt, from “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand, with music by Aaron & Bryce Dessner and lyrics by Matt Berninger & Carin
MARTYRS LANE will stream exclusively to Shudder on September 9 in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as via the Shudder offering within the AMC+ bundle where available.
Check out this clip:
In this unsettling ghost story, Leah, 10, lives in a large, old house with her family but can’t quite work out why her mother seems so distant. At night she is visited by a mysterious guest, who might be able to give her some answers. With a new challenge every night, Leah is rewarded with bits of knowledge that, when pieced together, threaten to shine a dangerous light on both the truth in her nightmares and of the world she lives in.
Written and directed by Ruth Platt, and expanded from her 2019 short film by the same name, MARTYRS LANE is a deeply personal film that explores love and grief through a dark and captivating ghost story.
Lead impressively by young actors Kiera Thompson and Sienna Sayer, the main cast is rounded out by Denise Gough (who will be seen in the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series), Steven Cree (OUTLAW/KING, BRAVE), Hannah Rae (Broadchurch, FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY), and Anastasia Hille (THE ABANDONED).
MARTYRS LANE is produced by Christine Alderson and Katie Hodgkin for Ipso Facto Productions and developed and financed by the BFI, Lipsync, and Sharp House.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG is now available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital and for rental On Demand or disc from Paramount Home Entertainment. To celebrate today’s physical release of Sonic the Hedgehog, check out the exciting clips below featuring deleted scenes and behind the scenes with cast commentary from James Marsden (Sheriff Tom Wachowski) and Ben Schwartz (Sonic)!
Powered with incredible speed, Sonic the Hedgehog (voiced by Ben Schwartz), aka The Blue Blur, embraces his new home on Earth. That is, until he accidentally knocks out the power grid and sparks the attention of super-uncool evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey). Now it’s super-villain vs. super-sonic in an all-out race across the globe to stop Robotnik from using his unique power for world domination. Sonic teams up with The Donut Lord, aka Sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden), to save the planet in this action-packed hit that’s fun for the whole family. Here’s another deleted scene: “Baby Sonic”:
Exclusively on DIRECTV NOW and in Theatres July 8 is the film FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS.
The film stars Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul, Diane Kruger, Quvenzhané Wallis, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle Rogers, Janet McTeer, Octavia Spencer, and Jane Fonda.
Written by Brad Desch and directed by Gabriele Muccino, here’s a new clip from the movie.
Jake Davis (Russell Crowe), a Pulitzer-winning novelist, finds himself fighting the world when a fatal car crash leaves him alone to raise his 5-year-old daughter, Katie. Overcome with guilt from the loss of his wife, he struggles with the daily routine of raising his daughter compounded by his overbearing relatives’ intent on taking her from him.
As the narrative sweeps back and forth between the 1980s and present day, we come to learn how 30-year-old Katie (Amanda Seyfried) battles the demons that stem from her troubled childhood while simultaneously watching Jake fight to hold on to the thing he loves most—his daughter—at the cost of his fortune, sanity and ultimately his own life.
Told through beautifully woven narratives set 25 years apart, FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS is a powerful story of love, loss and the tragedies that bring us together and tear us apart.
Rated “R” by the MPAA for some sexual content/references.
TUMBLEDOWN is available now on Blu-ray and DVD on April 5th from Anchor Bay Entertainment. The movie stars Rebecca Hall and Jason Sudeikis.
In his review, Michael Haffner says Sudeikis “really earns his romantic-lead stripes here.”
Pop culture scholar Andrew (Jason Sudeikis) comes to Maine to interview Hannah (Rebecca Hall), the protective widow of an acclaimed singer. When the unlikely pair strike a deal to co-write a biography, Andrew finds himself clashing with a cast of locals, including Hannah’s hunky suitor (Joe Manganiello), and her loving but defensive parents (Blythe Danner, Richard Masur). When Hannah and Andrew’s stormy partnership blossoms into an unexpected connection, they face the possibility that the next chapter in their lives may involve each other. Dianna Argon and Griffin Dunne costar in this startlingly funny and sweetly romantic tale of moving on and finding love in the unlikeliest of places.
TUMBLEDOWN Blu-ray bonus features:
The Making of Tumbledown : A look at the film’s accurate portrayal of small town life, real-life inspirations for the film, core story details and themes, casting and performances, character details, Director Sean Mewshaw’s work, and the movie’s photography.
The Music Behind Tumbledown : A look at Damien Jurado’s work as the voice of Hunter Miles, the music’s emotional resonance and place in the movie, and more.
WAMG brings you this exclusive clip from the film’s Bonus Features section below.
WAMG has this exclusive new, NSFW clip from 7 MINUTES.
After becoming indebted to a psychopathic drug lord, three desperate young men are forced to commit a brazen robbery.
What begins as a simple plan – ‘in and out in seven minutes’ – quickly escalates into a dangerous game of life-or-death. As each minute of the heist ticks by, true motives are revealed and unexpected twists ratchet up the stakes to a thrilling crescendo. (Trailer)
The feature film debut from celebrated music video director Jay Martin, this stylish and fast-paced crime thriller stars Luke Mitchell, Jason Ritter, Leven Rambin, Kris Kristofferson, Zane Holtz and Joel Murray.
Calling it “a remarkable piece of work,” read Sam Moffitt’s review here.
Watch the brand new clip from BIG HERO 6 that debuted during tonight’s ABC special, “The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic.” See the full film in theatres in 3D November 7.
From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind FROZEN and WRECK-IT RALPH, comes BIG HERO 6, an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax (voice of Scott Adsit), a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada (voice of Ryan Potter).
When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago (voice of Jamie Chung), neatnik Wasabi (voice of Damon Wayans Jr.), chemistry whiz Honey Lemon (voice of Genesis Rodriguez) and fanboy Fred (voice of T.J. Miller). Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a band of high-tech heroes called “Big Hero 6.”
Inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, and featuring breathtaking action with all the heart and humor audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, BIG HERO 6 is directed by Don Hall (“Winnie the Pooh”) and Chris Williams (“Bolt”), and produced by Roy Conli (“Tangled”).
Happy New Year! On this first day of 2013, watch the opening 4 minutes of WARM BODIES. From director Jonathan Levine (THE WACKNESS), the film stars Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and John Malkovich. This romantic Zombie apocalypse will be theaters on February 1st.
A funny new twist on a classic love story, WARM BODIES is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human — setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.
The filmmakers of LES MISERABLES set out to find what director Tom Hooper often refers to as “the perfect storm of actors.” Elaborates producer Eric Fellner: “We needed three things from our cast: star power, gifted actors and accomplished singers, and we were blessed to hit a moment in time where that group of actors exists. The cast that we see in the film is pretty much everyone we originally went after.” This was a major attraction for Hooper when he considered an adaptation of a fully through-sung musical. He explains: “I wanted to take a risk and do something very different in a different genre. From the beginning, what excited me was the idea of doing it live. I don’t think I would have done it if it turned out not to be possible to direct the film live, because no matter how good the synchronization is of actors singing to playback, an audience can tell that there’s something unreal about it. It doesn’t feel connected to what is occurring on the screen.” Now you can decide for yourself in these 5 new clips from LES MISERABLES.
Anne Hathaway’s connection with the project began long before the filmmakers approached her to try out for the role of Fantine. When Hathaway was seven years old, Mackintosh had cast her mother in the U.S. national tour of Les Misérables as a factory girl; she also played Fantine a number of times during her time with the company. Truly, Hathaway had grown up with the music and loved it.
Supplies Hooper: “Annie is the female equivalent of Hugh in terms of having that extraordinary facility at knowing how to act through song. And it’s not just acting through song. It’s acting in close-up through song, the demands of which make it quite different from performing on stage.” The actress was in good company with Jackman. Hathaway also spent a three-hour audition with Hooper and waited a month before she learned she had the part of perhaps the most tragic of characters in Hugo’s story. Forced into prostitution after she is thrown out of the factory, her dissent into utter degradation is heartbreaking. “She just wants love and to be free to love,” explains Hathaway, “but the heart she wants to share becomes damaged and disregarded. The depth of Fantine’s suffering gives life to the love you experience in the rest of the film.”
Hathaway’s dedication to the role was by all accounts extraordinary, and her physical journey, as well as the emotional one, was just as intense as Jackman’s. Not only did she choose to have her own hair cut in the scene where Fantine sells her tresses, the already slim actress lost a great deal of weight to make completely believable Fantine’s physical decline from, and ultimately her death because of, consumption. “Over the course of five weeks, I lost 25 pounds,” relays Hathaway. “It was very intense and very extreme and to be honest, if I had stopped and really thought about what I was doing, it probably would have felt too hard. I knew that I had an end moment, and all I needed to do was keep my spirits up and keep my focus on that point. I’m not method, but I was playing a martyr. So any kind of suffering that I was going through I wouldn’t feel it as suffering. I would have felt as she would, which was instant transformation.”
While many musicals have good portions of dialogue, Les Misérables is almost completely through-sung. That would prove an enormous challenge to the cast and crew as production was underway. Hathaway and Hooper discussed that she would be singing live, and she was prepared for the task. “I was supportive of the idea of singing it live,” says the performer. “There are musicals that have a certain sensibility to them, where doing it live wouldn’t make much of a difference. It’s probably easier to have a track and do it that way. But when you have a story this dramatic, where there’s no dialogue to see you through—and where everything is so in the moment—it’s a lot of pressure to have to sing all the time, but it’s still so spontaneous. You’re able to keep that and honor that and explore that. It’s a risk, but the benefits outweigh the potential cost.”
The filmmakers were determined to find a performer powerful enough to act opposite Jackman in the role of Javert. Academy Award®-winning actor Russell Crowe immediately came to mind. Hooper recalls: “I didn’t know Russell was such a commanding singer, or that he had started his career in musical theater. He had this burning passion to do a musical. We could not believe our luck that one of the biggest movie stars on the planet and one of the world’s great actors was a passionate musical man with a background in music.”
Unlike the majority of his co-stars, Crowe did not see the show until after the filmmakers had approached him, but he understood its longevity right away. “There were so many powerful songs and themes with universal appeal,” he says. Very quickly, Crowe became excited about the challenge. “It was something I wanted to do. I wanted to spend that time with music in my life, surrounded by it, which so much of my life has been.” Crowe, like Jackman, had no problem auditioning for Hooper and the producers, and the call was set two months after his initial meeting with the director.
Explains producer Eric Fellner: “The actors understood auditioning was for their sake as much as ours. We wanted to make sure that they were comfortable singing and acting, and confident they could deliver over a 12-week shoot.”
The actor admits he took an unusual approach to the follow-up. Recalls Crowe: “I had this idea on the day of the audition that I should walk there, something I would have done when I was starting out, when the audition was basically the difference between eating and not eating or being able to pay the rent or not. It was 28 blocks from where I was staying and pouring rain. I had the opportunity to jump in a cab, but I knew if I did the audition wouldn’t go right.” To the astonishment of the producers, Crowe arrived at the audition soaked to the skin. “I don’t think I’d been more excited about playing a character since John Nash in A Beautiful Mind.”
Key to Crowe’s portrayal of the legendary antagonist was fleshing out Javert’s motivation for why he doggedly tracks Valjean over the decades…and why he makes the ultimate sacrifice for law and order. Reflects Hayward: “It needed an actor of immense skills to plumb the depths of the character, as Russell has done, to understand why ultimately this man would take his own life.” Crowe offers some insight into the crucial dilemma Hayward mentions: “Javert is a man with a very specific morality and a specific understanding of the way the world works: what is good and what is evil. When he is proved wrong, when a man he believes to be bad turns out to be good, Javert is broken.”
As was true of his Valjean, Hooper’s Javert was fully committed to bringing the character to life. “Russell’s preparation for this role has been extraordinary, and he has been such an amazing person to work with,” compliments Hooper. “He has such fine intellect and such an extraordinary amount to bring to storytelling, which I have so enjoyed and benefitted from.” Echoing Jackman, Crowe recognizes the Herculean challenge Hooper gave himself: “Tom’s put every ounce of his being into this. He worked seven days a week and still managed to keep himself balanced. He’s a tough guy; when he wants something, he wants it and he’s going to have it, but that’s the kind of director you want to work with.”
Hooper required the entire cast to audition, and the director sat with Hugh Jackman approximately nine months before the film was to start principal photography. Of the meeting, Hooper exclaims: “It was the most thrilling audition I’ve ever done. Hugh’s command of acting through the medium of song is completely extraordinary. He can access an emotional life in himself through song almost more profoundly than through conventional dialogue. He is so fluent and so comfortable when he sings that one completely believes it’s his first choice of communication. He was the holy grail for me, a genius at both acting and singing.”
An incredibly charismatic performer of stage and screen, the Tony Award- and Emmy Award-winning Jackman had wanted to do a movie musical for some time. The Australian actor shares Hooper’s memory of his audition: “It lasted three hours. It was Tom’s first working session with the material, and it turned into a workshop. It was undoubtedly the most exhilarating audition of my life, but I eventually had to tell Tom I needed to go home and put my kids to bed.”
Already a fan of the show, Jackman had seen Les Misérables three times and had in fact sung “Stars” during one of his first auditions just out of drama school. “Valjean is one of the greatest literary characters of all time,” he notes. “You follow him for a 20-year span, having been released on parole as an ex-convict, to becoming mayor of a town, to becoming an outcast again. Throughout that time, you see all the ups and downs, the pain and the ecstasy that life brings. He is incredibly human, remarkably stoic and powerful and, ultimately, completely inspiring. His life is truly epic.”
Drawn as well to the universal themes of redemption that Hugo’s story evokes, Jackman says: “Valjean is the recipient of one of the most beautiful and touching moments of grace from the bishop and, in the shame of that moment, he decides to mend his ways and dedicate his life and his soul to God and to being of service to the community. He is constantly striving to be a better person, to live up to what he thinks God wants from him.”
Known as an action star, Jackman has endured grueling training regimens to play James Howlett, better known to legions of fans as Logan/Wolverine. Still, discussing the physicality of the part of Valjean, he says: “I’ve never had a role require more of me or take as much of a physical and emotional commitment. Valjean required everything I’ve done. All the things I’ve done leading up to this, whether it be on the stage or in film, I feel came together in this role. It’s the role of a lifetime.”
Jackman embraced the physical challenges and the changes required of the character as he goes from convict to outcast to mayor over several years. It was decided to shoot the scenes of the convict Valjean at the start of principal photography to allow Jackman to not only lose weight, but also to grow his own beard. “It was important to tell the story that he had been in prison for 19 years,” notes Jackman. “I was surviving on very limited food, but Valjean was also known for his strength, so I was spending three hours in the gym. It was a tough beginning.” So committed was Jackman to the part, for 36 hours before he shot the opening sequences of the film, the performer also decided to go without water. This gave him the hollowness and gauntness befitting a convict of the era.
As the film’s lead, Jackman would go through war with Hooper and his fellow cast and crew, and the actor admits he can’t think of another director with whom he would do so: “Tom’s a perfect match for the material. He’s a slave to detail and history, as was Hugo. He’s incredibly smart, has a complete grasp of the material and total confidence with the musical form. I think he’s a great filmmaker, and he decided to take on the Mount Everest of filmmaking. He’s our fearless leader.”
The filmmakers had specific ideas about the talent who should play Cosette and Marius, and in Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne, the team found their embodiment of the young lovers. “I searched long and hard for my Cosette,” sums Hooper. Known to audiences for her portrayal of Sophie, the young bride-to-be trying to find her real father in the global smash hit Mamma Mia!, and more recently for her starring roles in Dear John and Letters to Juliet, Seyfried delivered astonishing vocals that distinguished her from all others. On Hooper: “Amanda has that amazing ability to command both disciplines, and on top of that she is mesmerizing on screen.”
Seyfried’s exposure to Les Misérables first happened when she encountered the regional tour at age 11 in Philadelphia. Then at 15, she played Cosette at a school recital. “Cosette is the main source of light, hope and love in the story,” says the actress. “There’s a responsibility to bring this positivity to the role because it is so tragic in so many ways. It’s a wonderful character to play. She’s so full of life and possibility.”
Eddie Redmayne has been a colleague of Hooper’s since Hooper directed him in the television series Elizabeth I. Encouraged by Schönberg, who knew Redmayne socially, the actor decided to submit himself on tape to the filmmakers. For his audition, he sang Marius’ signature number, “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables.” Redmayne elaborates: “I’d heard Tom was doing this. I was in a trailer in North Carolina playing a cowboy, and I recorded the song on my iPhone. That was the start of the most intensely rigorous audition process. It was completely terrifying.”
Hooper admits that he was thrilled to hear from his former actor: “That first taped audition got me incredibly excited. Eddie was my dream casting, and to learn he could sing at that level was the most fantastic discovery.”
Like Seyfried, Redmayne had discovered Les Misérables long before Hooper’s film was on his radar. “I saw the show as a child, and I obsessed about being Gavroche,” he laughs. “As a nine-year-old, I wanted to be the street urchin jumping in and out of barricades.” He was beyond thrilled when he landed the part of Marius, the politically engaged student who is passionate about the inequality in France and ready to fight for his cause when he falls in love with Cosette. Redmayne describes the event as “a Romeo and Juliet moment, which sends him spinning. It feels incredibly special to be part of this.”
The beautifully tragic Éponine is played by British actress Samantha Barks, making her feature-film debut in this production. Barks starred as Éponine in the London production of Les Misérables (from June 2010 to June 2011), and was handpicked by producer Cameron Mackintosh to play the role in the 25th anniversary concert of Les Misérables at the O2 arena. After he saw her play the role in her opening night at the Queens Theatre in London’s West End, the producer knew she was perfect to immortalize Éponine at the event. But, in fact, she was on Mackintosh’s radar since she had competed in a reality television series called I’d Do Anything. In the show, she was one of the finalists in the search for an unknown lead to play Nancy in Mackintosh’s Oliver!
Barks came in third, but eventually played Nancy in the U.K. tour of the show that opened in December 2010, and she is currently starring in the U.K. tour of Oliver!, having been given a leave of absence to appear in Les Misérables. It was on stage at the end of a performance in Manchester that Mackintosh announced she’d won the role of Éponine in the filmic version of Les Misérables. She tweeted that it was “the most incredible moment of my life.” Barks shares her connection to the classic figure: “I only have to hear the opening two bars of ‘On My Own,’ and it breaks my heart. I feel so close to Éponine. I’ve traveled so far with her. It makes me so proud to be playing her because she’s such a beautifully written character.” Hooper and Mackintosh’s fellow producers knew Mackintosh had discovered a very special talent. Sums Fellner about Barks’ time on the set of the film: “Samantha is a wonderfully trained theatrical singer, and you could just sit on the stage and listen to her singing ‘On My Own’ all day.”
The Working Title/Cameron Mackintosh production stars Hugh Jackman, Oscar winner Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, with Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption – a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.
In December 2012, the world’s longest-running musical brings its power to the big screen in Tom Hooper’s sweeping and spectacular interpretation of Victor Hugo’s epic tale. With international superstars and beloved songs – including “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More” and “On My Own” – Les Misérables, the show of shows, is now reborn as the cinematic musical experience of a lifetime.
LES MISERABLES is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2012 in the United States and on January 11, 2013 in the United Kingdom.
