Check out the Big Game Spot for Michael B. Jordan’s CREED III.
After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.
Creed III is the third installment in the successful franchise and is Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut.
The TV spot that debuted during today’s big game for Lucasfilm’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” starring Harrison Ford as the legendary hero archaeologist and directed by James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Logan”), is here.
The highly anticipated fifth installment of the iconic franchise will open in theaters on June 30, 2023.
Starring along with Ford are Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”), John Rhys-Davies (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Shaunette Renee Wilson (“Black Panther”), Thomas Kretschmann (“Das Boot”), Toby Jones (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”), Boyd Holbrook (“Logan”), Oliver Richters (“Black Widow”), Ethann Isidore (“Mortel”) and Mads Mikkelsen (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”).
Directed by James Mangold, the film is produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Simon Emanuel, with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas serving as executive producers. John Williams, who has scored each Indy adventure since the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1981, is once again composing the score.
Today, during the Big Game, Marvel Studios and James Gunn released a poster and brand-new, action-packed trailer online for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” the final film in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, spearheaded by James Gunn.
In Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life—a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.
The film stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter and Maria Bakalova.
James Gunn is the director and also wrote the screenplay. Kevin Feige produces with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nikolas Korda, Sara Smith, and Simon Hatt serving as executive producers.
The Galaxy’s Favorite Guardians Take One Last Ride May 5.
It’s time to shift into high gear. Mirage makes his debut as a legendary 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new breed of Transformer – the Maximals – to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons. Directed by Steven Caple Jr. and starring Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Tobe Nwigwe, Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Liza Koshy, John DiMaggio, David Sobolov, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Pete Davidson, Cristo Fernández, the film arrives in theatres June 9, 2023.
Directed by Andy Muschietti (the “IT” films, “Mama”), Ezra Miller reprises their role as Barry Allen in the DC Super Hero’s first-ever standalone feature film.
Worlds collide in “The Flash” when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?
The Flash” ensemble also includes rising star Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon (“Bullet Train,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”), Ron Livingston (“Loudermilk,” “The Conjuring”), Maribel Verdú (“Elite,” “Y tu mamá también”), Kiersey Clemons (“Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” “Sweetheart”), Antje Traue (“King of Ravens,” “Man of Steel”) and Michael Keaton (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Batman”).
“The Flash” is produced by Barbara Muschietti (the “IT” films, “Mama”) and Michael Disco (“Rampage,” “San Andreas”). The screenplay is by Christina Hodson (“Birds of Prey,” “Bumblebee”), with a screen story by John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein (“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”) and Joby Harold (“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” “Army of the Dead”), based on characters from DC. The executive producers are Toby Emmerich, Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Marianne Jenkins.
Joining director Muschietti behind the camera are director of photography Henry Braham (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “The Suicide Squad”), production designer Paul Denham Austerberry (“IT Chapter Two,” “The Shape of Water”), editors Jason Ballantine (the “IT” films, “The Great Gatsby”) and Paul Machliss (“The Gentlemen,” “Baby Driver”), and costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Doctor Strange,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”); the score is by Benjamin Wallfisch (“The Invisible Man,” the “IT” films).
Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Double Dream/a Disco Factory production of an Andy Muschietti film, “The Flash.”
It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures and is set to open in theaters in North America on June 16, 2023 and internationally beginning 14 June 2023.
EZRA MILLER as Barry Allen / The Flash, EZRA MILLER as Barry Allen / The Flash and SASHA CALLE as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure “THE FLASH,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood.
Cocaine Bear stars Keri Russell (The Americans), O’Shea Jackson, Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (BlacKkKlansman), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), Hannah Hoekstra (2019’s Charlie’s Angels) and Aaron Holliday (Sharp Objects), with with Emmy winner Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Emmy winner Ray Liotta (The Many Saints of Newark).
Directed by Elizabeth Banks (Charlie’s Angels, Pitch Perfect 2) from a screenplay by Jimmy Warden (The Babysitter: Killer Queen), Cocaine Bear is produced by Oscar® winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. The Machines) for Lord Miller, Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect franchise) and Max Handelman (Pitch Perfect franchise) for Brownstone Productions, Brian Duffield (Spontaneous) for Jurassic Party Productions and Aditya Sood (The Martian) for Lord Miller. The film is executive produced by Robin Mulcahy Fisichella, Alison Small and Nikki Baida.
Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, in TURN EVERY PAGE. Photo credit: Claudia Raschke. Courtesy of Wild Surmise Productions, LLC / Sony Pictures Classics
What a delightful documentary is TURN EVERY PAGE – THE ADVENTURES OF ROBERT CARO AND ROBERT GOTTLIEB. This witty, warm and insightful documentary is like a double biography of two literary giants, legendary author Robert Caro and his long-time editor, the equally legendary Robert Gottlieb.
Robert Caro is the author of “The Power Broker,” an examination of the career of New York power broker Robert Moses, considered one of the most definitive non-fiction books on political power behind the scenes, and the award-winning four volume history of Lyndon B. Johnson. Robert Gottlieb is the editor-in-chief of prestigious publishing house Knopf and heads up the renown New Yorker magazine, and has edited an astonishing list of great authors and great books, including Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 (and Gottlieb came up with that number), John Le Carre, Salmon Rushdie, Toni Morrison, and so many more greats that it looks like a list of the best writers and books of the 20th century.
TURN EVERY PAGE is a delight especially if you are a reader, but even if you have an interest in politics and history or you just like meeting intelligent, charming people who have led interesting lives. The two Bobs are significant literary figures but this winning documentary surprises us with their personal stories and their quirky, appealing personalities.
These two men are among the most influential figures in publishing in the 20th century but TURN EVERY PAGE is filled with wit and affection, the personal side of two people with massive talent. Both are shy and charming, but with their prickly side and quirks. Their professional partnership yielded great writing and insightful history but telling their story also tells the story of publishing in a vanishing era.
The director is Gottlieb’s daughter, Lizzie, realized she was in a unique position to tell this story. Her closeness to both subjects is a big help in many ways, including because she knows both these men so well and therefore knows the right questions to ask, and where to find hidden gold for this documentary.
Robert Caro, 87, and Robert Gottlieb, 91, have worked together for 50 years, as partnership that continues as Caro now is working on his last volume on LBJ (which he describes as “volume 5 of a 3 volume biography”), while Gottlieb waits to edit it. But, as he has always done. Gottlieb does not ask when it will be finished, content to wait until Caro knows it is finished, despite the sense that both men are racing against time.
Not that Gottlieb is doing nothing as he waits. In fact he is impressively busy, as the documentary makes clear. He is editing other works, continues to lead the New Yorker, and helps manage a Miami ballet company! And he reads voraciously – everything.
The two Bobs are brilliant but definitely have their quirks. For one thing, they both had to be cajoled in this project. Secondly, they refused to be interviewed together, to even be in the same room. Rather a strange thing for two men who have worked together for so long. Part of the reason was they both felt what they did together, their discussions while editing a book, was too personal to share.
The title comes from something Caro’s editor at Newsday said to him, as he was just getting started as an investigative reporter -“turn every page,” meaning overlook nothing, do not assume, be diligent – you never know what will be revealed on the next page. It is a good description for both this documentary and the way these men have lived. Thorough, sincere, diligent, they both are deeply committed to achieving the highest level in their work. That goal is something that the many authors and readers featured in this documentary attest they have achieved.
The two men are charming but also very different. Gottlieb seems more sociable and funny, while Caro is more reserved and intensely private. Director Lizzie describes growing up in a house filled with literary figures, frequently gathered around the table for dinners. Everyone except Robert Caro. Caro was the distant enigma, the one who held himself apart, someone Lizzie Gottlieb describes as her “white whale.” One might expect such a figure to be cool, unpleasant, maybe curmudgeonly. Yet Caro is nothing like that. Instead he is polite, personable, smiling, but clearly a quiet, serious person who thinks deeply about his work and strives to make it as perfect as it can be. Still turning every page.
Then there was the debate over semicolons. Caro loves them, Gottlieb not so much. No really, this is serious stuff for these professionals who makes their living on words, but director Lizzie Gottlieb gives this debate a light comic touch, which makes us laugh a little, and uses it to bring out their personalities. Listening to the two of them verbally sparring over punctuation is amusing but surprisingly heartwarming.
The documentary delves into both men’s professional process and recaps some parts of Caro’s “The Power Broker,” on New York mover-and-shaker Robert Moses and his Lyndon Baines Johnson books, which reveal how the books reveal the inner workings of politics through these powerful men’s story. If you have read Caro’s books, the film gives insights on the author’s research, For those that have not, the documentary gives a taste of the kind of shocking revelations the books contain. Another thing the documentary spotlights is Caro’s equal devotion to the quality of the writing, something that makes his books a joy to read in themselves.
As much as the author and editor may battle over punctuation or Caro’s love of the word “loom,” the admiration both men have for each other comes through clearly. The documentary also captures a sense of a passing era, as these long-time collaborators reach the ends of their careers. In the end, the two Bobs finally agree to be filmed together as they work but only with the sound off, keeping what they say private. But that sense of an era gone by is captured poignantly as the two of them scour the Knopf offices in search of a number 2 pencil. It is a perfect moment with which to end this warm and insightful film.
TURN EVERY PAGE – THE ADVENTURES OF ROBERT CARO AND ROBERT GOTTLIEB opens Friday, Feb. 10, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas and other theaters.
(L-r) CHANNING TATUM as Mike Lane and SALMA HAYEK PINAULT as Maxandra Mendoza in Warner Bros. Pictures musical comedy “MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE is the third installment in Channing Tatum’s male stripper-dance series, and appears to be the last, as the story reaches crazy fantasy heights. That is not to say there isn’t some entertainment value – in the vein of the erotic original – and with director Steven Soderbergh back at the helm (as he was for the first one but not the second), it is a more polish production. MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE dials back the seriousness of the second movie, and this third installment describes itself as “musical comedy” as it returns more to male erotic dancing and female titillation mode. But then the sequel overshoots the mark, with a remarkably goofy story that mixes a reverse PRETTY WOMAN – MY FAIR LADY mash-up with the 1940s “let’s put on a show,” sprinkled with a women’s empowerment, anti-ageist message. Exhausted yet? You will be if you think very much about this loopy premise.
The real entertainment is in the dance sequences, a mix of the original’s male stripper-dance but elevated by contemporary and modern dance, even a touch of ballet, by actual professionally trained dancers.
The film starts with Mike (Channing Tatum) back a work as a bartender at a Florida charity fundraiser at the home of a wealthy woman, Maxandra “Max” Mendoza (Salma Hayak Pinault) who is depressed as she is going through a messy divorce. A friend who recognized Mike as a one-time entertainer at a bachelorette party, suggests him to the hostess as a way to cheer her up. After the party, she calls Mike in and tries to engage his services. He tells her he no longer does that (what is not specified) but when pressed, names a price of $60,000. Maxandra counters with $6000, which financially-strapped Mike can’t refuse. A hot lap-dance that makes the most of the furniture follows, just barely short coitus, and then we cut to the two of them in bed in the afterglow.
After that magical experience, Max offers Mike a job, although she in not clear doing what, for $60,000 – if he will come back home to London with her. But she makes one rule: no sex between them. Although that doesn’t keep Max from teasing Mike when she wants.
The job she comes up with is putting on a show. Mike is made director/choreographer ins charge of transforming a long-running costume drama in a historic theater, bearing her soon-to-be ex’s family name, into an elevated version of a male erotic dance show. The goal is to give Mike a job and a chance to transform himself, while irritating her soon-to-be ex. As you surmised, Max is an impulsive, over-the-top character who is perhaps more unpredictable than usual as she struggles emotionally with the divorce. Mike’s real job is to cope with his changeable boss, and maybe win her heart.
Hayek Pinault does fine in her but casting the Mexican-born Salma seems an odd choice to play the Brit. Turns out, she was not the original choice for the role but British-born Thandiwe Newton. However, Newton left the production 11 days in, for unclear reasons but rumored to be following a clash with star/co-producer Tatum. Newton would have made much more sense in the role but with her out, it seems the decision was made for the character even more nutty to distract from any mismatch. That said, Hayek Pinault leans into it, and Tatum’s character trying to be his charming best to cope with this unpredictable employer/love interest has some comic value. Jemelia George is delightful as Max’s precocious daughter Zadie, and Ayub Khan Din as snarky butler/driver Victor (in an ARTHUR reference) adds more entertainment, coaching Mike in how to win over Max.
The real entertainment in this crazy movie are the dance sequences, both the steamy lap dance but also the show’s try-outs, rehearsals and the show itself. Those later sequences are elevated by casting a real dancers and having them do a mix of modern dance and male stripper moves.
Certainly, Steven Soderbergh knows what he is doing as a director, so things move along briskly and the movie does serve up some hot entertainment for a female audience in the dance sequences. The initial lap dance provides sexy entertainment but it isn’t all male stripper dance. When we get to the show in the London theater, there is more a modern dance element – actual dancers doing erotic dance rather than erotic dancers performing, as one character notes. The dance sequences later, featuring more contemporary and modern dance that just male stripper grinds, is the best part of the movie. There is a very nice wet-stage pas de deux sequence with Tatum and ballerina Kylie Shea that is one the best moments. Italian professional dancer Sebastian Melo Taveira delivers a delightful, impressively athletic contemporary performance, a highlight of the film for those who are dance fans.
The story is nonsensical but Soderbergh’s skill takes you past that, letting you enjoy the dance sequences and their entertaining mix of hot moves and impressive athleticism and skill. If you can just ignore that crazy story, there is some eye-candy and sexy fantasy fun in this hot dance sequel. But presumable this truly is Mike’s last dance, as this tale looks as exhausted as a post-show dancer.
MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE opens Friday, Feb. 19, in theaters.
RATING: 1.5 out of 4 stars
MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE opens Friday, Feb. 10, in theaters.
Josephine Park as Maja, David Dencik as Lev the bookseller, and Sofie Grabol as Leah’s mom, Chana, in ATTACHMENT. Photo credit: Soeren Kirkegaard. Courtesy of Shudder
ATTACHMENT is a strange little Danish indie drama that keeps viewers off-balance in several respects for a psychological, and possibly supernatural, suspense tale. It opens with Maja (Josephine Park) and Leah (Ellie Kendrick) having the sort of meet-cute at a Danish bookstore that usually kicks off a rom-com. Maja is a local actress whose career highs may already be behind her. Leah is a student from England who was raised in a Hassidic community. She came to Copenhagen to connect with her mother’s Danish roots. Chemistry kicks in quickly, and the two young women become lovers.
When a leg injury puts Leah on crutches, she stays there a few days longer than planned. That’s enough time for Maja to become so enamored that she accompanies her to London. The two move into Leah’s flat, which is the second floor of her mother’s building. That’s where it starts becoming obvious that this ain’t gonna be no comedy.
Leah’s mom, Chana (Sofie Grabol), is wildly over-protective, secretive and surly towards this outsider. Hassidic communities are always rather self-contained, and this blonde gentile is swimming in strange waters. Leah is mostly bed-ridden, and surprisingly tolerant of her mother’s hovering, which includes all sorts of rituals, amulets and artifacts to ward off evil spirits.
The only one who educates Maja (and the audience) about the culture, including Jewish mysticism, is Lev (David Dencik), the bookseller. Maja hears strange sounds at night, as a sense of danger lurks around the edges of the home and its occupants. Is Chana a nut case? Is Leah pathologically co-dependent? Or is there a valid reason for all the precautions against evil spirits?
That all makes ATTACHMENT a multi-pronged title, covering Maja’s romantic devotion to Leah; the tight mother-daughter bond; and whether some demonic entity is nesting within the home or its occupants. I can’t give you more without spoilers.
Writer/director Gabriel Gier Gislason does well wearing both hats. The script fills in a lot of essential Jewish education without detracting from the unfolding tale. As director, he keeps viewers in suspense and engaged within a rather claustrophobia-inducing set. Very little of the running time occurs outside the abodes of the three women, or in bright light. That accentuates the spooky side of the production. Performances from the three are excellent, which is especially admirable considering the range of moods required to flesh out their personalities and story arcs.
ATTACHMENT, in English and Danish with English subtitles, streams exclusively on Shudder starting Thursday, Feb. 9.
In Select Theatres, On Digital and On Demand February 10, 2023 is DISQUIET.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in the terrifying, edge-of-your-seat thriller. After a near-fatal car accident, Sam (Meyers) wakes to discover he is trapped in an abandoned hospital by mysterious and sinister forces that have no intention of letting him leave…
WAMG is giving away to TEN of our lucky readers a DIGITAL CODE to watchDISQUIET,
The supernatural thriller, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers (“Vikings”, “The Tudors”),Rachelle Goulding (Wifelike, Lethal Weapon), Elyse Levesque (Ready or Not, “Orphan Black”), Lochlyn Munro (“Riverdale”, White Chicks), is written and directed by Michael Winnick (Dark Asset, Malicious). Paramount Pictures and SPMG will release the film in select theatres, on digital, and on demand on February 10, 2023.
EMAIL michelle@wearemoviegeeks.com to enter.
YOU MUST BE A US RESIDENT. PRIZE/BOOK WILL ONLY BE SHIPPED TO US ADDRESSES. NO P.O. BOXES. NO DUPLICATE ADDRESSES.
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