Sixteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored last night (June 8) as winners at the 40th Student Academy Awards ceremony at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The medal placements were announced at the ceremony hosted by writer-director and 1978 Student Academy Award® winner Bob Saget. Writer-director Kimberly Peirce and actors Clark Gregg, Jason Schwartzman and Quvenzhané Wallis presented the awards.
The winners are:
Alternative
Gold Medal: “Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College
Silver Medal: “Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan
Bronze Medal: “The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts
Animation
Gold Medal: “Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design
Silver Medal: “Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts
Bronze Medal: “Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design
Documentary
Gold Medal: “A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California
Silver Medal: “Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts
Bronze Medal: “Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University
Narrative
Gold Medal: “Ol’ Daddy,” Brian Schwarz, University of Texas at Austin
Silver Medal: “Josephine and the Roach,” Jonathan Langager, University of Southern California
Bronze Medal: “Un Mundo para Raúl (A World for Raúl),” Mauro Mueller, Columbia University
Foreign Film
Gold Medal: “Miss Todd,” Kristina Yee, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
Silver Medal: “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
Bronze Medal: “Tweesprong (Crossroads),” Wouter Bouvijn, RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, Belgium
This year saw first-time honors go to Elon University, Occidental College and the University of Michigan in the U.S. competition, as well as to Zurich University of the Arts and RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, in the foreign competition.
The Student Academy Awards were established 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. The roster includes such distinguished filmmakers as John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.
Here’s your first look at the poster for THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG courtesy of the film’s Facebook page.
The new teaser trailer will be unveiled on Tuesday, June 11th, at 10am PT / 1pm ET.
The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG continues the adventures of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG is a production of New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG opens nationwide on Friday December 13, 2013. The final chapter,THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN, will hit theaters on December 17, 2014.
Such handsome blokes! Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley are in dire straits in the latest photos from director Neill Blomkamp‘s new film ELYSIUM.
In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth.
The people of Earth are desperate to escape the planet’s crime and poverty, and they critically need the state-of-the-art medical care available on Elysium – but some in Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens’ luxurious lifestyle.
The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.
Sharlto Copley and Neill Blomkamp are in the pre-production stage for their third sci-fi film together titled CHAPPIE. The two previously worked on the fantastic DISTRICT 9 (nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture) prior to the upcoming ELYSIUM. Blomkamp described the secretive CHAPPIE as “a science-fiction comedy” in an “unusual setting.”
Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, and William Fichtner, ELYSIUM will be in theaters August 09, 2013.
After everything in her life falls to pieces, including her marriage to wealthy businessman Hal (Alec Baldwin), elegant New York socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves into her sister Ginger’s (Sally Hawkins) modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together again.
Jasmine arrives in San Francisco in a fragile mental state, her head reeling from the cocktail of anti-depressants she’s on. While still able to project her aristocratic bearing, Jasmine is emotionally precarious and lacks any practical ability to support herself. She disapproves of Ginger’s boyfriend Chili (Bobby Cannavale), who she considers another “loser” like Ginger’s ex-husband Augie (Andrew Dice Clay).
Ginger, recognizing but not fully understanding her sister’s psychological instability, suggests that she pursue interior design, a career she correctly intuits that Jasmine won’t feel is beneath her. In the meantime, Jasmine begrudgingly accepts work as the receptionist in a dentist’s office, where she attracts the unwanted attentions of her boss, Dr. Flicker (Michael Stuhlbarg).
Feeling that her sister might be right about her poor taste in men, Ginger starts seeing Al (Louis C.K.), a sound engineer whom she considers as a step up from Chili. Jasmine sees a potential lifeline when she meets Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard), a diplomat who is quickly smitten with her beauty, sophistication and style.
Jasmine’s flaw is that she derives her worth from the way she’s perceived by others, while she herself is blind to what is going around her. Delicately portrayed by a regal Cate Blanchett, Jasmine earns our compassion because she is the unwitting instrument of her own downfall.
Woody Allen’s new drama BLUE JASMINE is about the dire consequences that can result when people avert their eyes from reality and the truth they don’t want to see.
Throughout his career, Woody Allen has created many indelible female characters portrayed by some of the world’s greatest actresses, including Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Mariel Hemingway, Charlotte Rampling, Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey, Gena Rowlands, Dianne Wiest, Mira Sorvino, Judy Davis, Samantha Morton, Scarlett Johansson, and Penelope Cruz, to mention only a few.
Whether they appear in light comedies or dark dramas, these complex female characters have always been the focal points of Allen’s movies. Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett is certain to take her place among these multifaceted, complex, and richly observed women.
Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Austin. Four cities in one day! Brad Pitt surprised fans across the US on Thursday at the special screenings of WORLD WAR Z.
Pitt told the excited audiences, “It’s the most intense thing you’ll see all summer.”
Have a look at how the day went.
Wouldn’t it be great if more celebs did this? Pitt stars and produces in what I hope becomes a successful franchise. While I’m not a fan of the Zombie genre, a WORLD WAR Z series of films could be really different and unique.
Wonder where Pitt will be next? You can keep up with advance screenings by checking out fan photos tagged with #WORLDWARZ: WORLDWARZMOVIE.COM/SCREENINGS
Pitt, along with Angelina Jolie, have been all over the globe this week. The two were in London, Paris and Berlin for the world premieres of the movie.
On an ordinary day, Gerry Lane and his family find their quiet drive interrupted by urban gridlock. An ex-UN investigator, Lane senses that this is no ordinary traffic jam. As police helicopters buzz the sky and motorcycle cops careen wildly below, the city erupts into chaos.
Something is causing hordes of people to viciously attack each other – a lethal virus that is spread through a single bite, turning healthy humans into something unrecognizable, unthinking and feral. Neighbor turns on neighbor; a helpful stranger suddenly becomes a dangerous enemy. The origins of the virus are unknown, and the number of infected grows exponentially larger each day, quickly becoming a global pandemic. As the infected overwhelm the world’s armies and rapidly topple its governments, Lane is forced to return to his dangerous former life to insure the safety of his family, leading a desperate worldwide search for the source of the epidemic and a means to stop its relentless spread.
WORLD WAR Z is based on the novel by Max Brooks with the screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard & Damon Lindelof, and screen story by Matthew Michael Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski.
The film stars Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Daniella Kertesz, Matthew Fox, Fana Mokoena, Ludi Boeken and David Morse.
Director Michael Bay unveiled yet another surprise from TRANSFORMERS 4 . . . the extraordinary and exhilarating 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Coupe.
Autobot or Decepticon? Could it be Sunstricker or Sideswipe? We’ll find out for sure in about a year’s time when Paramount Pictures releases the film on June 27th, 2014.
Below are the other vehicles in store for Transformers fans.
The completely upgraded, custom-built Optimus Prime from Western Star (a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America).
A special race-inspired C7 Corvette Stingray, based on Chevrolet’s upcoming 2014 production car.
The classy 1,200-horsepower Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse worth more than $2.4 million.
The always rugged and reliable Hound, one of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles from Oshkosh Defense.
Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz, Li Bingbing and Sophia Myles star in the fourth installment in the hit series of movies based on the best-selling Hasbro toyline.
Shooting this summer in multiple locations in the U.S. and China, the film is directed by Bay and re-unites the filmmaking team from the hit franchise, including producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto and Ian Bryce; and executive producers Steven Spielberg, Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. TRANSFORMERS 4 is written by Ehren Kruger, based on Hasbro’s Transformers™ Action Figures.
Theapocalypse is coming to theaters and on VOD today in the form of RAPTURE-PALOOZA. Only this time, Craig Robinson, Anna Kendrick, John Francis Daley, Rob Corddry, Paul Scheer, and many more are along for the ride.
Recently, I sat down with stars Rob Corddry and Rob Huebel to talk with them about the film, as well as some other random topics. Check out our little chats about clipping your toenails in IHOP, mustaches, and who the better doctor really is below.
When the Apocalypse actually happens and a billion people are raptured up to heaven, Lindsey (Kendrick) and her boyfriend Ben (Daley) are left behind in suburban Seattle. The young couple try their best to lead a normal life surrounded by talking locusts, blood rain showers, and pot-smoking wraiths. But when the Anti-Christ (Robinson) makes his home base in their neighborhood, Lindsey finds herself the object of his affection. With the help of her family, friends, and a lawn-mowing zombie neighbor, the young couple set off to stop the Anti-Christ from taking her as his bride… and just maybe, saving the world in the process.
(We’ll preface this with them asking me where I am from, which is originally St. Louis.)
RH: Isn’t Nelly from St. Louis?
He is.
RH: Come on guys.
RC: We’re big fans.
RH: Huge. Put that in your article.
You have the Anti-Christ, religion, sarcasm…
RH: THERE’S SARCASM IN THIS MOVIE?! (Laughs)
NO WAY!
RH: If there’s sarcasm in this movie, I’m out!
RC: You’re fu- You’re reading into that.
… so what was it that attracted you to this project?
RC: Uh, Rob Huebel.
RH: I heard that he (points to Corddry) was going to be in it.
You guys have never worked together before… ever…
RH: We were actually both really attracted to Craig. We’re like “Oh, Craig’s doing it. Yeah.”
RC: I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I assume because Craig’s a producer – that’s why we’re here. I probably owe him a thanks.
RH: I think Craig was like “I’m producing this movie. Let’s get these guys.”
RC: “Let’s get my buddies in.” (Laughs)
RH: “We’re gonna shoot this in Vancouver? Those guys would be fun to drink beer with.”
Because your both have worked together so many times, what’s the dynamic like on set? Do you know what to expect at this point?
RH: I think it depends. I mean, we know it’s going to be comedy GOLD! (Laughs) Don’t we? We try to leave room to improvise some stuff. I think this script was funny to us. You had more written – I think I had, like, 4 lines written in the script. And then when we got there they were like “Yeah, just say whatever you want.”
RC: (Laughs) So we created a whole relationship.
RH: Yeah, we created a whole relationship between us.
RC: … and Scheer too! Like, I had that whole scene with Scheer too. Same exact thing.
RH: So, if you’re lucky, when you do a movie like this, you can get people who can improvise and try to make it funnier, and develop the characters a little more. But, yeah, we’ve worked together a lot, so we feel pretty comfortable together.
RC: Yeah. It’s also like… being an actor, it’s always kind of your first day. You know, your first day in the office is always uncomfortable. (Laughs) “Where’s the coffee machine? Can I leave for lunch or…?” But, being able to work with people that you’ve worked with before, who you are friends with, it’s just… it rarely feels like the first day anymore because it’s all familiar faces.
RH: Yeah, and I think, comedically, we’ve worked together before, so we’ve kind of developed a shorthand with each other – where I sort of know what he might be going for in something. Like, if he’s going down some weird road and he’s improvising, I sort of know what I can be to help him bounce that off of me.
RC: And, Huebel and I… I think I’ve worked with you the longest of anyone in Children’s [Hospital]. We’ve been improvising together since, like, 97’. So, I think you and I always have the most satisfying improv. (Laughs) At least once a season something that happens
RH: … some sort of banter between us… (Laughs)
RC: … that I just get insanely proud of… (Laughs)
RH: It could also only be funny to us.
RC: Totally.
If “The Rapture” were to take place tomorrow, which of the plagues would you be most afraid of?
RH: Wait… do you know the plagues? Like, there’s locusts…
… there’s blood rain…
RC: That doesn’t sound too bad to me.
RH: Blood rain?
RC: Blood rain.
RH: There’s also famine… there’s a lot of plagues.
A lot of people got killed by fiery meteors in this film.
RC: Pestilence. Pestilence would be tough.
RH: What is that? Is that disease?
RC: I don’t know. I don’t know what that is… (Laughs)
RH: I would say locusts. I would not want locust all over me…
RC: No! That sounds terrible…
RH: … and in my face.
RC: … any sort of bugs…
RH: Yeah, bugs in general. You don’t want mosquitos. You don’t need all that.
[To Rob Corddry] How long does it take you to grow a mustache? You had a pretty great stache in this one…
RC: God… (sigh) … it took me about 10 minutes in makeup.
RH: 10 minutes to success.
Oh… they glued it on? Because that’s comfortable…
RC: I swallowed about 8 or 9 of them during the course of making this.
RH: I will say that you look…
RC: (Laughs…)
RH: … so much like a pedophile with a mustache.
(Laughs)
RC: Seriously… (laughs)
RH: I would say you look exactly like a pedophile… and I know a lot of pedophiles.
RC: Also, it immediately ages me, like, 10-15 years. (Laughs)
RH: I think that’s why they did it. How are you going to be John Francis Daley’s dad… I mean, let’s do the math on that.
RC: I know. I know. I had him when I was like, 13.
Craig Robinson has been known to be very musical on set. I noticed the piano in the film. Was there a lot of music going on behind the scenes?
RH: Oh man. We were always hanging out on set just…
RC: … jammin’…
RH: … just jammin’…
RC: … and man, how we’d get so high…
RH: … so high…
RC: … and just jam…
RH: … and just jam R&B songs…
RC: … and that’s when the good stuff happened..
RH: … Oh, that’s where the magic is
(Laughs)
RH: No. That was someone’s house. What you see in the movie… that belongs to some billionaire guy in Vancouver. That was his house. So we didn’t really loiter around there too much.
RC: Also, every interior is in that house. I don’t even know if they dressed it. It’s like “Oh, this dude had a piano so Craig had a piano.” (Laughs) “We don’t have a lot of money to do the movie, so lets use what we have.”
[To Rob Corddry] You just had a film you worked on by Michael Bay come out. What is it like to work on a Michael Bay set?
RC: Same thing… Lotta improv…
RH: Just magical…
RC: Easy peasy… (Laughs)
RH: Just easy peasy…
RC: It feels like the first day of work. It’s different. Say what you will about his reputation, but what I found was that he’s the hardest working man in the room, and demands that of the people around him by actions. You know what I mean? Like, you immediately just want to please him. You wanna do good. You wanna work hard because he’s working hard. We’re always working on stuff that is low-budget, so it’s always moving fast… but I’ve never been on a set that moves so fast.
RH: Really? Even on a big budget project like that…
RC: It wasn’t even that big budget. I mean, 26 million is big budget to us, right? But to him…
RH: That’s nothing to him…
RC: … that’s nothing.
RH: That’s what that movie was?
RC: 26. Yeah. Nothing.
RH: That’s not a lot. By the way, that’s about 25 million more than what we used to shoot this movie.
RC: Exactly! (Laughs) He was telling us that he shot this one scene where The Rock [Dwayne Johnson] is on his knees in a hotel room really high, and Bar Paly, his girlfriend, is talking nonsense to him, and he can’t understand her. And he goes “Watch that scene. I shot it in 17 minutes. We got in, shot it, and had to get out of the location.” He shot it, and it’s gorgeous. It’s amazing. So, he thrives, I think, in that environment. I think he really likes solving problems, and he’s really good at it. He’s a really good director.
RH: We should get him to direct some Children’s Hospital. Why wouldn’t he ever want to.
I think that’s a great idea!
RC: Why wouldn’t he ever want to? (Laughs) He’s gotta be sick of money at this point!
RH: He’ll do it as a fuck you to himself.
(Laughs)
RC: Fuck you, me!
[To Rob Huebel] You tweeted today that “IHOP is a great place to meet people who like to clip their toenails while you eat your pancakes.”. Does this come from experience? Have you actually ever seen someone do this?
RH: Yeah. I had spent the night in Palm Springs last night, and was driving back this morning, and stopped at an IHOP… and there was someone clipping their toenails in the booth next to us.
RC: Gross.
That is so gross.
RC: I think it’s rude. I think it’s rude when people clip their toenails alone in their own bathroom. That’s disgusting.
RH: Disgusting.
Did you say anything???
RH: No, it’s IHOP. You’re allowed to do that.
RC: No! Because that person is obviously insane! Don’t mess with that person!
RH: That person has…
RC: Don’t talk to that person…
I can’t imagine a sane person doing that…
RH: No, that’s their target market – is people…
RC: You know what I hated too… and not to sidetrack…
No, you’re good!
RC: … we lived in New York forever, and people would clip their fingernails on the subway.
RH: Ohhh..
Oh, no!
RC: All the time! Like, you’re always hearing “tink, tink” and…
RH: Ugh.
RC: … it’s, like, a thing. A lot of people will wait. That’s their time.
RH: Then it’s like their bathrooms.
RC: It’s so fucking disgusting to me. Biological waste is just flying everywhere.
I’m horrified right now.
RC: It’s horrifying!
I half expected that to be a farce. I didn’t expect that tweet to be real.
RH: Everything I tweet is real.
RC: Nothing! He never lies!
Well, that kind of answers my next question. I’ve been surprised lately by how many celebrities have other people tweeting for them. That is actually you guys tweeting.
RH: Yeah. We tweet…
RC: Imagine if you had someone tweeting that – my favorite Huebel tweet ever is something like… and I’m paraphrasing… “Never go running in the park with rapist written on your forehead.” or something, and – can you imagine if you had your publicist doing something like that? (Laughs)
RH: I know a few entities… like I got asked to do the twitter page for a movie that was coming out that I was not involved with at all…
RC: Oh, that’s weird.
RH: I was not involved in the movie. I know the director, so he asked me “Do you mind running the twitter page?” and I politely said “No thank you.”.
RC: (Laughing) It’s like “Yeah, I kinda so mind actually”.
RH: “Yeah, if you put me in the movie!”
RH: It’s kind of strange that an individual would have someone else tweet for them.
RC: You can tell though. Like, Tom Cruise has never typed anything into twitter, and stuff like that… I don’t think he would, but there’s a lot of people like that who probably don’t. But for us, we can tweet anything and it’s just a joke. For guys like that, everything they say is put under a microscope. We just go like “satire” and everything goes away.
RH: You can literally tweet anything…
RC: Anything…
RH: The only time I’ve been burned is – there’ve been a couple of times where I’ve woken up and I didn’t look at the news to see what was going on, and it’s been the day of, like, a major national tragedy, or something like that, and I’ll get on there and be like “Oh man. These tacos gave me diarrhea.” and people are like “How dare you! This plane just crashed!”.
RC: Hahaha! Oh god…
RH: “Oh, I didn’t know.”
[To Rob Corddry] WARM BODIES had a really nice reception. Are we looking forward to a sequel?
RH: Oh. I wanted to see WARM BODIES. I didn’t even get to see it. Where can I see it?
RC: Jesus Christ dude…
RH: I didn’t…
RC: Don’t…
RH: Come on…
RC: I can get a private screening.
He knows a guy…
RC: I know a guy. I just heard today, from a journalist, that Isaac Marion is writing a sequel. Maybe he’s writing the book sequel.
Would you be down for a sequel?
RC: Yeah! Hell yeah! I pretty much don’t say no to a lot of stuff. (Laughs)
RH: Who’s the guy in that? Who’s the kid? Cause he’s big now, right?
RC: Nicholas Holt.
Isn’t he like a superhero now?
RC: Yeah. Nic Holt. He’s in X-Men. He’s the Beast. He’s great, and he’s awesome in it. They’d be silly, probably, not to make another one. I always look at it realistically, like, how is my character going to figure into it… I don’t know. Who knows. I’ll do it. Yes. The answer is yes! (Laughs)
Children’s Hospital has been picked up for a fifth season. What can we look forward to? Also, who do you think is the better doctor?
RH: The best doctor?
RC: That’s a great question!
RH: Well, the fan favorite is me… Dr. Owen Maestro.
RC: I would say a lot of the doctors that aren’t really characters on the show. I mean, it’s a hospital. There has to be a hundred more doctors in that hospital. They’re probably better…
RH: The best doctor, if you mean the most skilled physician is probably…
RC: Josh Weingard. (Laughs) We haven’t seen him yet.
RH: Dr. Rosenberg.
RC: We actually have a scene – we just finished shooting the fifth season, and we’re editing it now. There is a scene where one doctor – you think he gets killed, and you turn him over and it’s somebody that just looks like him, and it’s like “Oh god! It’s Josh Weingard, our best surgeon!”, and then we have an argument over a dead body about “Is he the best?”
Can it really be eight years since Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson teamed up for the comedy smash WEDDING CRASHERS? Yup, when they say time flies sometimes it speeds by like a rocket (or a certain caped Kryptonian). That flick showed that R-rated laugh fests could be profitable once again and paved the way for Judd Apatow and the HANGOVER trilogy. Since then both actors have kept fairly busy with Owen co-starring in the occasional rom-com and Vaughn honing his fast-talking wiseguy character. Now the boys have partnered up once more. They’re not the hard partyin’ “playas” from the last decade. The territory is PG-13 for this outing, because they’re not trying to score babes. These now forty-somethings are trying to score a job, a gig pursued by folks half their age. Such is the plot of their new comic caper THE INTERNSHIP.
Modern technology has broken up tag-team salesmen Billy McMahon (Vaughn) and Nick Campbell (Wilson). While pitching a new line of wrist watches to a department store chain, the guys are told that their company is folding. Their boss (John Goodman) is retiring since nobody wears watches anymore, they just check the time on their cellular devices! While searching for a new job online (or as he says,”On the line”), Billy hatches a plan! He and Nick will apply for an internship to Google that will hopefully lead to a full-time gig! The fellas bluff their way through an online interview and soon head to San Francisco home of the search engine’s high-tech headquarters for the vetting process. Upon entering this wonderland the guys encounter the arrogant, pompous competitor Graham (Max Minghella) and their all-business, hard-nosed supervisor of the intern program Mr. Chetty (Aasif Mandvi). Oh, and Nick spots the lovely harried exec Dana (Rose Byrne). Soon all the hopeful applicants are divided into teams to compete in five challenges that will decide who stays and who goes home. None of the eager twenty year-olds want the two old dudes, so they’re put with the misfits that weren’t quickly snatched up: surly Stuart (Dylan O’Brien), naïve’ Neha (Tiya Sircar) and shy overachiever Yo-Yo (Tobit Raphael), all supervised by nerdy young company man Lyle (Josh Brener). Can this ragtag team rise to these challenges and defeat the bullying Graham and impress Mr. Chetty and score their dream jobs? Do you really wonder?
As you may have guessed we’ve got a modern-day tech-savy version of the old comedy staple plot from the 1980’s: the snobs versus the slobs. Or the misfit underdogs against the privileged poshes. This goes all the way back to ANIMAL HOUSE through CADDYSHACK and THE REVENGE OF THE NERDS. And with the older duo we’ve got the fish-out-of-water idea from LEGALLY BLONDE with a twist of the sage wisdom from BACK TO SCHOOL. The heroes reluctantly team-up, bicker, break up, come together (after a wild night on the town), and finally bond before facing the final obstacles when the kids see that these oldsters really are alright! We can almost see the plot frame-work on screen. Shawn Levy has crafted some of the more entertaining recent comedies of the last few years (NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, DATE NIGHT), but can’t inject any new life into these tired shenanigans. Even a sequence derived from the Harry Potter flicks seems forced and, yes, dated.
The energetic cast can’t kickstart this vintage comedy vehicle. Vaughn is still the motor-mouth with a heart of gold, but in several scenes he seems to be just spinning his wheels, ad-libbing in hopes that some gem will emerge while the cameras roll. For much of the time Wilson is pedalling hard, trying to keep up. Later he’s the more level-headed of the pair, almost the straight man who must engage in flirty banter with Byrne, who’s wasted in the clichéd role of the cold fish jolted into life by free-spirited Nick. The young actors playing Billy and Nick’s team mates are doing their best, but they come off as standard college comedy types rather than real people. Manfi’s doing a fine modern spin on the glowering Professor Kingsfield from THE PAPER CHASE. Minghella is the standard evil grinning mastermind (almost expected to see him rub his hands together as he plotted against our heroes), while we await his inevitable comeuppance. And we wait a very looong time! Can no one pace a comedy these days (I’m looking at you Apatow!)? Two hours are at least 20 minutes too long for such a trifle. These two founding members of the “frat pack” still have their comedy chops. Let’s hope it’s not another eight before they find something that’s much more worthy of their talents.
Check out the brand new trailer and poster for Gravitas Ventures’ APARTMENT 1303 3D, set to be the first indie title to play in 3D in theatres and on Video on Demand simultaneously. The tense supernatural thriller, written and directed by Michael Taverna, starring Mischa Barton (“The O.C.”), Rebecca De Mornay (“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”), and Julianne Michelle (“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”), is based on a novel by Kei Ôishi and is a remake of a Japanese horror title of the same name. The film will have a special VOD release on June 17th, before hitting theaters on July 25th.
Having grown up under the controlling grip of her fame-hungry mother (Rebecca De Mornay), Janet Slate (Julianne Michelle) jumps at the opportunity to move into what looks to be a great high-rise apartment in downtown Detroit. Yet some deals are too good to be true as one night her boyfriend Mark (Corey Sevier) finds her in the middle of the street – having fallen from the balcony thirteen stories above.
When her sister Lara (Mischa Barton) tries to investigate the mystery of what happened, she moves into the same apartment and encounters the odd neighbors in the building, including an eerie nine-year old girl who seems to somehow know the real reason for Janet’s fall. Lara soon realizes that her sister’s death might spell the same fate for her unless she can overcome the strange events that are terrorizing the inhabitants in Apartment 1303.
Using innovative 3D shooting techniques, director Michael Taverna creates a tense supernatural thriller that is adapted from a novel by Kei Ôishi.
DefTone Pictures Studios Inc’s A Grim Becoming started principal photography on June 1 York’s Brandon Williams, Michael Sciabarrasi, Patrick Mallette, Christopher Brechtel, Mike Sarcinelli and Aryn Fitzgerald as well as actors Britt Griffith, Devanny Pinn, Bill Oberst Jr., Jessica Cameron, Melantha Blackthorne, Lynn Lowry, Valerie Lynn Hanna and Melyssa Jade.
A Grim Becoming has a slated release date of June 21, 2014 and is Directed by Adam R Steigert and written for screen by Janeen Avery, Christopher Brechtel, Mark Mendola and Adam R Steigert.
Raphael Brandon Williams is a young, bitter executive who is on the verge of losing a multimillion dollar architectural deal with a large distribution company lead by the awkward Stanford brothers. Raphael suffers a sudden death in his family and has to immediately leave to go to the funeral in his home town of Metzburgh. Seeing this as his big chance to get ahead is Wayne, a jealous co-worker who is in competition with Raphael. Wayne is being played by Syfy’s “Ghost Hunters” and The Black Dahlia Haunting’s (2012) Britt Griffith.
As Raphael returns to Metzburgh, he experiences a life changing event: witnessing a Grim Reaper taking a soul. This sighting results in Raphael becoming a Reaper and having to explore his own conscience and the lengths he will go to get his own life back. But Death, played by Michael Sciabarrasi (Ombis, Black Guy on a Rampage: Homicidal Vengeance), has other plans for the naive young executive.
A Grim Becoming also reunites scream queens Devanny Pinn (Jamie) and Jessica Cameron (Life) with DefTone teaming up with Melantha Blackthorne for the first time. Melantha will play Meryl, sister to lead character Raphael. Film icons Lynn Lowry (Mother), Valerie Lynn Hanna (Charlie Stanford), and Bill Oberst, Jr. (Phil), will have supporting roles in the film.
Check out the terrifying trailer for A GRIM BECOMING
