Award-winning composer Christophe Beck (The Hangover I & II, Waiting For Superman) scores the action-drama EDGE OF TOMORROW, directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. The film follows a soldier (Cruise) who finds himself caught in a time loop while battling an alien invasion.
Listen to a preview of the soundtrack below.
Want to hear more? Check out 4 tracks from the upcoming EDGE OF TOMORROW soundtrack HERE.
Christophe Beck credits display his ability to find the tone of film in any genre. In 2000, the cheerleading comedy Bring It On launched Beck’s prolific film scoring career. His credits include The Hangover, the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time, Under the Tuscan Sun, Red, Burlesque, What Happens in Vegas, and the heartwarming film, Crazy, Stupid, Love demonstrated Christophe Beck’s ability to convey a spectrum of emotion, with his varying tones throughout the film. The same year, he won the Hollywood Music and Media Award for “Best Original Score” for the powerful documentary Waiting for Superman.
The Montreal native graduated from Yale with a degree in Music. Following Yale, Beck moved to L.A. to attend USC’s Film Scoring program. A personal recommendation from the legendary Buddy Baker, led to his first assignment for the TV series, White Fang. Soon thereafter, Christophe Beck was asked to score a new TV series, Buffy, based on the movie Buffy The Vampire Slayer for which he received an Emmy.
The EDGE OF TOMORROW score album will be released on Watertower records.
Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt star in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ sci-fi thriller EDGE OF TOMORROW. The epic action unfolds in the near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world.
Lt. Col. Bill Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again.
But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.
The international cast also includes Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong, Tony Way, Kick Gurry, Franz Drameh, Dragomir Mrsic and Charlotte Riley.
Doug Liman directs from a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth, based on the novel entitled All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.
EDGE OF TOMORROW will be distributed in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX® by Warner Bros. Pictures on June 6th.
This movie has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material.
Actors Demian Bichir, Adrian Grenier and Nate Parker, along with the writing/directing/producing team of Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck and Peter Del Vecho, who earned Oscars for FROZEN, will present at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 41st Student Academy Awards on Saturday, June 7, at 6 p.m. at the DGA Theater in Hollywood. The awards ceremony caps a week of industry activities for the 15 student filmmakers from the U.S. and abroad who were selected as winners this year.
Lee, Buck and Del Vecho took home Oscars earlier this year for the Animated Feature Film winner FROZEN, the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Along with becoming the first female feature director in the history of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lee also wrote the screenplay for FROZEN and co-wrote the 2012 Oscar nominee WRECK-IT RALPH. Co-director Buck’s other animated feature credits include POCAHONTAS and TARZAN, and he received a 2007 Oscar nomination for SURF’S UP. Del Vecho, who produced FROZEN, also served as a producer on WINNIE THE POOH and the Oscar-nominated THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG.
A complete list of this year’s Student Academy Award winners(listed alphabetically by film title):
Alternative “Oscillate,” Daniel Sierra, School of Visual Arts, New York “Person,” Drew Brown, The Art Institute of Jacksonville, Florida
Animation “Higher Sky,” Teng Cheng, University of Southern California “Owned,” Daniel Clark and Wesley Tippetts, Brigham Young University, Utah “Yamashita,” Hayley Foster, Loyola Marymount University, California
Documentary “The Apothecary,” Helen Hood Scheer, Stanford University “One Child,” Zijian Mu, New York University “White Earth,” J. Christian Jensen, Stanford University
Narrative “Above the Sea,” Keola Racela, Columbia University, New York “Door God,” Yulin Liu, New York University “Interstate,” Camille Stochitch, American Film Institute, California
Foreign Film “Border Patrol,” Peter Baumann, The Northern Film School, United Kingdom “Nocebo,” Lennart Ruff, University of Television and Film Munich, Germany “Paris on the Water,” Hadas Ayalon, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Oscar-nominated for his work in the film A BETTER LIFE, Bichir currently stars in the critically acclaimed television series “The Bridge.” He recently finished shooting his writer-director debut film, “Refugio.” His other feature credits include CHE, SAVAGES and THE HEAT.
Grenier recently wrapped production on the Warner Bros. feature film adaptation of the HBO series “Entourage.” Other acting credits include CECIL B. DEMENTED, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, GOODBYE WORLD, and SEX, DEATH & BOWLING, which is due out in 2015. Founder of Reckless Productions, Grenier has also produced and directed such documentaries as “Shot in the Dark,” “Teenage Paparazzo” and “How to Make Money Selling Drugs,” and is currently in production on the documentary “52,” which will chronicle the search for the loneliest whale in the world.
Parker was most recently seen in the thriller NON-STOP opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. His other feature acting credits include RED TAILS and ARBITRAGE. His next film, BLACKBIRD, is slated for released in November.
Medal placements for each of the five award categories – Alternative, Animation, Documentary, Narrative and Foreign Film – will be announced at the June 7 ceremony. Gold Medal award winners receive cash grants of $5,000, Silver Medal award winners receive $3,000 and Bronze Medal award winners receive $2,000.
The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. They include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.
The 41st Student Academy Awards ceremony on June 7 is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required. Tickets may be obtained online at www.oscars.org or by mail. Any remaining tickets will be made available at the door on the evening of the event. The DGA Theater is located at 7920 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. For more information, call (310) 247-2677.
Lupita Nyong’o is headed to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
The Oscar winning actress has joined the cast of STAR WARS: EPISODE VII. This year, her breakthrough performance in 12 YEARS A SLAVE earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
StarWars.com also announced that Gwendoline Christie, currently starring in the hit television series Game of Thrones as Brienne of Tarth, has also been cast in the production. She can next be seen in THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2.
“I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII,” says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape.”
Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the Saga – Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker – in the new film.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.
MALEFICENT explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic “SLEEPING BEAUTY” and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Recently, I sat down with actor Sam Riley, who plays Diaval, Maleficent’s raven sidekick in the film. Check it out below!
Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficentrealizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville. “Maleficent” is produced by Joe Roth and directed by Robert Stromberg, with Angelina Jolie, Michael Vieira, Don Hahn, Palak Patel, Matt Smith and Sarah Bradshaw serving as executive producers. Linda Woolverton wrote the screenplay.
How did you first become involved with MALEFICENT? Is it true that you were told that you weren’t “Disney” enough?
SAM RILEY : My agent did. Well, I don’t know if they heard that from them, but he said ‘The feeling is that you’re not quite Disney material’ which I completely understand. And then, I didn’t hear anything for a long time after doing the casting. And then, like three weeks later, my American agent rang up, which is always in the evening in Europe. I was very excited!
You live in Germany, right?
SAM RILEY : Yeah. In Berlin. I was in a pub and they said ‘Buy yourself another drink because…’
That’s a good place to be when you get a call like that!
SAM RILEY : Yeah! Although it can be expensive if you buy everyone one. [Laughs]
There is a lot of material from past tales on Maleficent and Sleeping Beauty, but this is a whole new look on the raven. How did you develop your character? Were you given a lot to go off of?
SAM RILEY : Well, yeah! I watched the original. I mean, I remember the raven, but watching it again – he’s, sort of, half asleep the whole time. It was difficult, because I like to do homework and anything I can because that’s part of the bit of doing this job. So, I watched a lot of videos on YouTube about ravens, and worked some on that, and then, when I came to London, the arranged for me to spend time with ravens.
How was that?
SAM RILEY : Intense, because I was completely ignorant of them. This one was [showing about three feet with his hands]…
Really?
SAM RILEY : For real! I though they were like crows! It was this big [again, displaying the size with his hands]. The guy let it out of the cage and it stretched its wings, which were probably not much longer than the width of the table [round 6′ or 7′ table]. I was like ‘Fuck man!’ They’re enormous. Then, it started bouncing around on the table. It could do tricks. They taught the bird tricks which it could do very well, but it had an attitude. [Laughs] Kind of vain. Dismissive. He could tell that he was more intimidating. It was really amazing. I studied him so I could use bits of his movements and things in my character when I’m the man.
Good thing you don’t have a phobia of birds!
SAM RILEY : Or their feathers! [Laughs] It was intimidating. They’re really big. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.
Was he fast?
SAM RILEY : He didn’t really want to do anything unless you were feeding him. It’s kind of like a dog. He’ll only sit if you have a treat. I wouldn’t want him to chase me around the room or something. When they fly…
This film is a bit darker than I anticipated, but your character finds a balance between the good while working for evil. It would be easy to portray a more ‘enslaved’ type of relationship with Maleficent because you were indebted to her. How did you find the balance in your character?
SAM RILEY : It’s kind of the way she [Angelina Jolie]… When we first met she was talking about the fact that it has to start like that, and he has to be afraid of her. Then, if you think about it, we spend every single day with each other for sixteen years… watching her [Sleeping Beauty] grow up. I’m the only person who really talks to her. We thought that it would be more adjusting – developing them like they’re married or something. He realizes over time that she’s not as cold, or wicked as she likes to think of herself, and he gradually grows in confidence, and love, I think. I think he worships her.
When you have a fairytale, or a famous film such as SLEEPING BEAUTY with such a moments, cult-like following is there an added pressure to please the fans?
SAM RILEY : Not for me, no. On Angelina, maybe, but a lot of it’s on her shoulders. I don’t think they could have cast anyone more perfect. I’m kind of used to that. It sounds really strange, but there’s this film that I did – I played a character that had a massive, nice little cult following – Ian Curtis from Joy Division [CONTROL]
You also were in Jack Kerouac’s ON THE ROAD, which has a huge following.
SAM RILEY : I played another literary character too, so I’ve kind of been unfortunate. [Laughs] Fortunate and unfortunate in that department – to incur the wrath of the devotees. [Laughs] Fortunately, the ones that bother to say anything to me have been nice, but I don’t look online. [Laughs]
I bet! Some people are vicious when they can hide behind a computer!
SAM RILEY : Yeah. It’s pathetic. Daytime TV is also terrifying. I was watching it while waiting for my make-up this morning… I’m wearing make-up. [Laughs]
You can’t tell. [Laughs]
SAM RILEY : Thank you! She’s an artist! [Laughs] Two things that are totally terrifying… the internet and daytime television.
What did you see?
SAM RILEY : ‘Kelly and’ something?
Oh, she used to host with Regis. ‘Live With Kelly And Michael’.
SAM RILEY : Oh yeah! I remember him! They had Charlize Theron on, and Josh Hartnett. Oh god. I’d be terrified! [Laughs]
Why?
SAM RILEY : Well, because it’s live. I don’t know. I’ve never done live TV I guess… and a roomful of screaming housewives…
What direction to you see yourself going next? Is going back to music in your future?
SAM RILEY : I’m tempted by it, and there’s a guy in Berlin who works at a record company that every time we have slightly too much to drink with each other I get to thinking ‘I’m gonna do another album!’ [Laughs] There’s unfinished business. Otherwise, with films and things, I don’t really know. I really enjoyed the experience of doing something so different with this film. You never really know what’s going to happen after. I’m always just waiting for something interesting… And there’s always karaoke. Do you sing?
I do. I used to work at a bar where I would jump up and sing Salt-N-Pepa or Joan Jett every night. Oh yeah, I can rap. [Laughs] What is your go to karaoke song?
SAM RILEY : [Laughs] ‘Hammer Time’ [You Can’t Touch This]
“It ate him… bit off his head… like a gingerbread man!”
Gooey fun, crazy creatures, phallic flying tapeworms, third eyes popping out of foreheads, brain snacking, swarms of flesh eating insects, Barbara Crampton in leather (!) …FROM BEYOND delivers the weird bloody goods and you’ll have the chance to see it on the big screen when it plays midnights at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave, St. Louis) this Friday and Saturday nights (June 6th and 7th) – this month’s Late Night Grindhouse feature presented by the folks at Destroy The Brain!
The team behind RE-ANIMATOR (1985 – shown at LNGH last year); director Stuart Gordon, writer Brian Yuzna, composer Richard H. Band and some of the same cast, offered up another grisly science/horror flick based on another HP Lovecraft story the very next year.
FROM BEYOND was as equally depraved (perhaps more so) as RE-ANIMATOR and a bit more serious. Jeffrey Combs (Dr. Herbert West in the previous film) returned as the mild-mannered Crawford Tillinghast, apprentice to the dangerously obsessed Dr. Pretorious (Ted Sorel) and co-inventor of an ominous-looking device known as “The Resonator” — a machine designed to stimulate the sensory apparatus contained within the human pineal gland. Such stimulation allows participants to “see” the slimy creatures which occupy a dimension parallel to our own, but with some chilling side effects — the first of which being that the interdimensional vision works both ways. When a powerful sentient force devours Pretorious and assumes his consciousness, Tillinghast panics and destroys the Resonator — soon to find himself in a padded cell, accused of his mentor’s murder. Called to the case are Dr. McMichaels (Barbara Crampton, another RE-ANIMATOR alum) and amiable cop Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree from DAWN OF THE DEAD), who escort Tillinghast back to the shattered laboratory in an attempt to corroborate his deranged account by re-creating the experiment. Their attempts are all too successful, and the Pretorious-thing emerges to take control of the reactivated Resonator and draw the others into its hideous realm. Also called forth are the participants’ darkest sexual desires — another interesting by-product of pineal stimulation — and, in Tillinghast’s case, an uncontrollable urge to devour human brains. Just when it seems it can’t get any weirder…it does. How much weirder?…Find out for yourself this weekend at The Hi-Pointe.
FROM BEYOND is pure horror delirium from start to finish – don’t miss it!
The pre-show begins at 11:30 and admission is only $7.
The Facebook event page for the Friday night screening can be found HERE
While cleaning out an old barn in New Hampshire recently, a man named Peter Massie discovered an old silent film projector and seven reels of nitrate films hidden in the shadows of a corner of the structure. Among these old reels was a 30-minute 1913 film titled WHEN LINCOLN PAID starring Francis Ford (older brother of director John Ford). It was one of six silent films, all presumed lost, in which Ford played Abraham Lincoln. It is stories like this that give hope to silent film fans. 75 per cent of movies from the silent era have been lost to decay or neglect, but when it comes to the over 200 movies that St. Louis native King Baggot acted in between 1909 and 1921, that number is closer to 100%. Here’s a look at ABSINTHE, a lost film from 100 years ago that I wish someone would find.
Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic (90-148 proof) beverage – a licorice flavored spirit derived from flowers and leaves together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. It’s known for its ever-changing neon green color, its air of danger and seduction, and above all, its allegedly psychoactive properties. Absinthe was romanticized and captured in artwork and writings of many 19th and 20th century notables – mostly ones famous for their bohemian lifestyles. Toulouse Lautrec, Edgar Allen Poe, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and many others were advocates of ‘The Green Fairy’ and featured it prominently in their work. Some even went mad, or at least behaved as if they were – facts that would later be used by prohibitionists as proof of absinthe’s evils. The drink was banned in the U.S. in the United States from 1915 to 2007.
ABSINTHE is also the title of a 1914 movie from Universal studios, the story of one alcoholic’s downward spiral that predates films like LOST WEEKEND and LEAVING LAS VEGAS. King Baggot, the studio’s most popular star at that time, played Jean Dumas, a Parisian artist, who is introduced to absinthe by his materialistic mistress, who also convinces him to rob his well-to-do parents’ house. Jean is discovered and disowned by his parents, then marries one of their maids (played by Leah Baird), who becomes repelled by his poverty and leaves him for a wealthier man. Jean, suffering from drug-induced hallucinations, eventually turns to robbery as a means of supporting his habit and joins an Apache gang. One night, disguised as a cabby, he attempts to rob a passenger who turns out to be his wife. He drives her through Paris to the forest where he strangles her and leaves her for dead. The next morning, he returns to his parents’ home where his father gives him a gun and turns him away. In the streets, Jean is last seen as a ruined man, cast out, and ridiculed by city street urchins. He’s last seen following a company of soldiers, dragging his gun along behind him.
In 1913, producer Carl Laemmle’s Independent Motion Pictures, aka IMP Studios (soon to merge with Universal), sent stars King Baggot and Leah Baird along with their director Herbert Brenon by train to New York, then by ship 3000 miles to Wales. They filmed their epic production IVANHOE at Chepstow Castle there (see my article about the production of IVANHOEHERE). Laemmle wanted to take advantage of the trio’s presence in Europe and had them produce more films while there. These were to marketed as “European IMP Features“. MR. AND MRS. INNOCENCE ABROAD was their first follow-up, a comedy filmed in Paris with Baggot and Baird as a couple who travel to Europe for the first time. Their next undertaking was THE ANARCHIST which featured an otherwise all-French cast in the story of a bomb maker who befriends a small girl. ABSINTHE was their fourth film during this European trip. To prepare for his role, Baggot spent a week living in Paris observing the habits of absinthe drinkers. He paid particular attention to the way the drink was prepared. In the film, Baggot doesn’t just pour the drink into a glass, but dribbles it slowly into water the way French did.
According to King Baggot’s biographer Sally Dumaux, there was a major rift between star and director on the set of ABSINTHE. Baggot suddenly announced he was returning to the U.S. Actor William E. Shay joined the IMP troop in Germany to replace Baggot and finish the European films. In the early 1950s’, Brenon was interviewed by film historian William K. Everson for a proposed biography of the director that was never finished. He said of working with King Baggot on ABSINTHE:
“The impasse between Baggot and me came as a result of rank insubordination. We had a mighty row over the taking of a scene going through the streets of Paris in ABSINTHE. The photographer and I were in one car. Baggot and Baird followed closely in another car. It was an important scene – ending with him manhandling her. We had rehearsed it carefully. There were hardly any retakes in those days. I left the hotel, and when I gave the signal for action from the car ahead, he did just what I told him not to do. It was a difficult scene in Paris traffic, and I hit the ceiling, He was insulting as to my directorial abilities. We had an abusive row, and, then well – it was he or I……We were going to Berlin to make another series there, and I cabled (studio head Carl) Laemmle, that rather than go there with Baggot, I preferred to resign….I asked for my favorite leading man William Shay to take his place. Bear in mind that Baggot was then the biggest drawing card for Universal. He was a six-footer – handsome fellow – but unmanageable”
While waiting for William Shay to arrive by ship, Baggot and Brenon patched things up long enough to make one more film before Baggot’s departure – THE CHILD STEALERS OF PARIS, a fact-based story of a child slavery ring.
ABSINTHE was released in the U.S. in January of 1914. By then, IMP Studio had been totally absorbed by Universal and the film was billed as a ‘Universal Special’ – meaning exhibitors had to pay more for it than the usual Universal film (and up the admission price from the usual nickel to a dime!). The studio even placed a special advertisement for the film in The Moving Picture World requesting theaters to “Book ABSINTHE at any price! It’s a Universal Special! – Don’t quibble over the cost!”
The ad claimed:
“ABSINTHE is an all-star affair. It is the best thing King Baggot ever enacted. It is the best thing Leah Baird ever did. These two stars, supported by a great big French company were directed by star stage director Herbert Brenon. ABSINTHE was made by our own company in Paris, in the very heart of the district infested by absinthe-drinkers. It has the atmosphere, the story, the plot, and the straight-from-the-shoulder punch!”
Of special interest in this ad is how the posters for ABSINTHE are touted as being available in “sensational” and “not sensational” versions , though it’s unclear which poster is which – the one with the woman in peril is likely more sensational.
ABSINTHE opened to huge crowds and was one of Universal’s biggest hits of 1914. Apparently ABSINTHE was so shocking to audiences of the time that on January 24, 1914, the Chicago censor board revoked the license for the film. That didn’t stop Salt Lake City’s Rex Theater from showing the film continuously (on a loop) 100 years ago today. They even placed a special advertisement for the film in the local newspaper:
The caption reads “King Baggot has the greatest role of his career in the four-part Universal film playing at the Rex theater today and tomorrow. It is a powerful story, working [indecipherable] the results of an intimate, personal study of the curse the drink has brought France.”
Two years later, as King Baggot was transitioning into his role at Universal as producer and director, he purchased the negative and rights to ABSINTHE. With most of the Europe at war, there was a renewed interest in all things French and Baggot thought a reissue of the film would be a good way to showcase Paris in its pre-war state. King personally re-edited the film, changing some of the inter titles and adding actual scenes from the war with French army in action for an up-to-date ending. Baggot took this new version of BASINTHE on the road, making personal appearances at screenings across the country.
ABSINTHE was made before prohibition, in a day and age when society was less objective about recreational drugs. One wonders if ABSINTHE (and other films of the era that demonstrated the evils of alcohol) may have swayed public opinion in favor of the ban – and perhaps the prohibition of all alcohol a few years later. Evidence supporting this theory can be found in the January 1914 issue of The Moving Picture World, which reported that one exhibitor–D. M. Hughes of The Majestic in Lockport Illinois– screened ABSINTHE as part of a special “Temperance night” along with a lecture by a local minister.
Like almost all of the silent King Baggot starred in, ABSINTHE is lost. Only a couple of them are extant and there are fragments of a few more (DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE frmo 1913 – starring Baggot in the titles roles, Universal’s first horror film, can be viewed in its entirety on Youtube HERE). It’s a cliché to point out how sad it is that so many early silents will never again be seen but reading about a film such as ABSINTHE, is a reminder of how tragic that loss. Here’s hoping someone cleaning out a barn or an attic someday stumbles across a can of old film labeled ABSINTHE.
Much of the information in this article came from the book ‘King Baggot – A Biography and Filmography of the First King of the Movies’ by Sally A. Dumaux. It is available from McFarland Books
Being a huge fan of Bobcat Goldthwait since his 1987 standup show “Share The Warmth,” I’ve seen him go from actor to comedian to writer-director. Huey Lewis, Barnacle scrapers, and TOP GUN were never thought of the same way again after his concert.
There was nothing like him when he first came on the scene and almost thirty years later, the man is still a genius.
Described by Jimmy Kimmel as “Scary and the Hendersons” and by Bobcat himself as “The Blair-Squatch Project,” found footage movie WILLOW CREEK is a radical departure in Goldthwait’s career after directing a string of black comedies (WORLD’S GREATEST DAD, GOD BLESS AMERICA).
In the great American tradition of people venturing into the woods and encountering absolutely pants-wetting terror, what starts as two dorks with a video camera having a lark in a national park metastasizes into something much deeper, darker, and queasier.
Check out the trailer.
Set in Humboldt County, California, WILLOW CREEK centers on Jim (Bryce Johnson, Pretty Little Liars) a Bigfoot believer whose idea of a romantic getaway is to head deep into Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California, video camera in tow, trying to shoot his own Bigfoot footage at the site of the Patterson-Gimlin film. That 1967 fragment of footage purporting to show Sasquatch striding along a dry riverbed became a key artifact in the cryptozoology community, and Jim dreams of nothing more than setting foot on the actual location where it was shot. His long-suffering girlfriend, Kelly (Alexie Gilmore, World’s Greatest Dad), agrees to tag along for the ride, despite the fact that she thinks Bigfoot has about as much chance of being real as leprechauns.
The two stop off first in Willow Creek, the Bigfoot capital of the world and home to an annual Bigfoot festival, where various locals talk to Jim’s camera, warning them to keep out of the woods, singing ballads about Bigfoot, and generally enjoying their 15 minutes in the spotlight while Jim and Kelly have a blast, cracking wise amidst all the touristy Bigfoot kitsch on display. But when they strap on packs and head into the forest via a two-hour drive down a dirt road, they start to feel like they might be in over their heads. Well, Kelly does, at least. Jim, as he approaches what he considers hallowed ground, is in heaven.
That night they’re awakened by mysterious sounds echoing through the woods, and whooping vocalizations that might be Bigfoot, but that might also be locals screwing with them. Either way, they’re not welcome here and so Jim and Kelly decide to get out come sun-up but, as they quickly discover, it might already be too late, and as the sun goes down for the second time and they find themselves retracing the steps of Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin they discover the truth behind Bigfoot and the disturbing meaning of the term “forest bride.”
From MPI/Dark Sky Films, WILLOW CREEK will be in theaters & On Demand June 6th.
IT’S SO FLUFFY!! Check out the new poster for THE FLUFFY MOVIE.
This July, see one of America’s funniest stand-up comedians in Open Road Film’s upcoming stand-up comedy concert film.
Experience the wild on-stage hilarity of Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias with your whole family, and laugh-out-loud as he brings everyone together with new jokes and fun. Fluffy performs year-round in sold-out concerts across the United States and abroad, but this July 11th you can see him on the big screen.
I love this guy – he’s hilarious! His stand up acts on Comedy Central are a laugh riot.
THE FLUFFY MOVIE captures worldwide comic phenomenon Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias in never-before-seen footage from his sold-out “Unity Through Laughter” tour. Spanning over 23 countries, and more than 400 cities, this is the summer’s must-see big screen comedy event.
Disney has released a set of beautiful vintage posters ahead of the release of PLANES 2: FIRE AND RESCUE.
Dusty and the gang are the focus of the posters – designed by Art Director Toby Wilson early in the production of the movie. The Americana-style concepts for the look of Piston Peak National Park were inspired by vintage 1930s WPA-era prints.
PLANES 2: FIRE AND RESCUE is a new comedy-adventure about second chances, featuring a dynamic crew of elite firefighting aircraft devoted to protecting historic Piston Peak National Park from raging wildfire.
When world-famous air racer Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he must shift gears and is launched into the world of aerial firefighting. Dusty joins forces with veteran fire-and-rescue helicopter Blade Ranger (voice of Ed Harris) and his courageous team, including spirited air tanker Dipper (voice of Julie Bowen), heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter (voice of Wes Studi), ex-military transport Cabbie (voice of Captain Dale Dye) and a lively bunch of brave all-terrain vehicles known as The Smokejumpers. Together, the fearless team battles a massive wildfire and Dusty learns what it takes to become a true hero.
Directed by Bobs Gannaway (“Secret of the Wings”) and produced by Ferrell Barron (“The Fox and the Hound 2”), PLANES 2: FIRE AND RESCUE hits US theaters on July 18 and UK cinemas in 3D on August 8th.
MALEFICENT has opened in theaters today and is poised to have a huge weekend at the box office.
With all the glitz and glamour of a huge Hollywood premiere, Disney pulled out all the stops on Wednesday as they rolled out the Blue Carpet at the El Capitan Theatre.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt autographed posters and took selfies with fans’ cell-phones. Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, and Sam Riley also posed for the mass of paparazzi.
Check out the plethora of images below and for more on the movie, read Melissa Howland’s review HERE.
IMAX released an exclusive featurette for Disney’s MALEFICENT where director Robert Stromberg explains his inspiration for the movie and why it should be seen in IMAX. “The Maleficent character is so iconic…why did she become evil? We find that out in this film. The first time I saw Maleficent in the IMAX format, it just blew me away.”
MALEFICENT, the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic “Sleeping Beauty,” reveals the events that hardened Maleficent’s heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora, only to later realize that the child may hold the key to peace in the land.
The film stars Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville.
Directed by Robert Stromberg, MALEFICENT releases in theaters in 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D May 30th.
