On Thursday Tom Cruise launched his official Instagram @tomcruise to reveal the title and first look photo of the latest installment of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film is MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT.
The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, and Vanessa Kirby also join the cast.
From Paramount Pictures, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT is in theaters July 27, 2018.
In 1996, Moore and Baldwin starred in THE JUROR. Demi Moore played a single mother picked for jury duty for a mafia trial and Alec Baldwin was a mobster sent to intimidate her.
Twenty years later, the two are in another movie together BLIND.
Catch the trailer now.
A novelist blinded in a car crash (Alec Baldwin) which killed his wife rediscovers his passion for both life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife (Demi Moore) of an indicted businessman (Dylan McDermott).
Directed by Michael Mailer, BLIND is written by John Buffalo Mailer from a story by Diane Fisher.
The Vertical Entertainment film opens in theaters July 14th.
Can’t afford to pack your bags and embark on a vacation adventure in an exotic foreign land? No problem, just travel vicariously at the multiplex. Many different genre films have more than a bit of “travelogue” in them (one of the staples of “golden age” moviegoing was the double feature with several short subjects: cartoons, newsreels, comedy “two-reelers”, and the travelogue, sandwiched between the main films). One type of story often set in “faraway places’ is the “rom-com”. Oh, and a frequent star of such flicks is this film’s leading lady, Diane Lane (UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, NIGHTS IN RODANTHE). Yes, we’re talking about Superman’s Earth mum (we’ll see her again in the role soon in JUSTICE LEAGUE). These stories and many other recent Lane films concern her character re-discovering love and desire, usually after a long-standing relationship has gone “phhfft”. Now she’s on the road to romance once more, this time directed by a member of a lauded cinema dynasty in her narrative film debut. Here, the “city of lights” is the final destination, but we must take our time, since PARIS CAN WAIT.
The story begins in another French destination, Cannes, at the height of the famed annual film festival. High profile American movie producer Michael Lockwood (Alec Baldwin) frantically tries to pack for a quick business flight to Budapest. Since he’s constantly barking into his cell phone, most of the work is done by his faithful wife Anne (Lane), despite a painful ear infection. Outside the hotel, past the buxom starlets, is Michael’s producing partner, native son Jacques Clement (Arnaud Viard). Jumping into his driver’s vehicle, the group heads to the airport, but not without some detours for ear medicine (for Anne), along with fresh fruits and cheeses. When they reach the private jet hangar, the pilot advises Anne that the pressure could be quite painful for her condition. Anne says that she’ll beg off the work flight to Budapest and take the train to Paris, where Michael will join her in a couple of days. Nonsense, Jacques interjects. He has business in Paris, so she can join him as he motors there in his vintage (barely functioning) Peugeot. She hesitantly agrees as Michael flies away. But this “free spirit” is in no hurry as the usual seven hour ride turns into a multi-day adventure/ tour of the French countryside, complete with gourmet meals and expensive local wines. As they drive, eat, drink, and chat the two very different personalities (she’s pragmatic, he’s impulsive) begin to form a bond. Is it friendship or something deeper?
So who wouldn’t want to take a leisurely drive with the radiant Ms. Lane? Now in her fifth (!) decade as a film actress, she exudes a relaxed charm with a “down to Earth” attitude. There’s no movie star gloss about her. When the camera goes in tight for a reaction shot, there’s no fuzzy distortion or hazing. She’s comfortable with her maturity, flashing a smile that seems “earned’ by time. She shows us that Anne doesn’t quite know what to think of her “travel buddy”, but we see her slowly warm to him. Anne may be at a crossroads, but Lane’s confident performance is the film’s greatest strength. But talk about charm, Viard has tons (or barrels like wine) to spare. This Gaillec”smoothie” has an infectious appreciation of everything. Jacques denies himself no pleasure, even munching on plants pulled right from the forest (“A little salt, pepper, and a dash of oil…”). Though he frustrates Anne with his delays (“Ah, but it is truffle season!”), he really listens to her, and by the last miles (thanks to her detour) they form an emotional connection. It’s no wonder Michael is a touch worried (he’s only half-joking). Baldwin’s quite believable as the driven movie “big wig”, still smitten with Anne, but more than a bit distracted (almost neglectful). While Jacques is his “work partner”, she’s his “home partner”, their ardor now a tad cooled. It’s hoped he slows down and takes a lesson or two from Jacques.
Oh, that cinema dynasty I referred to? This is written and directed by Eleanor Coppola (wife of Francis Ford), making her narrative debut at age 80 (guess it’s never too late to try something new, another one of the story’s themes). Like her male lead, Coppola lets the film glide along with an unhurried pace. She allows us to drink in the gorgeous setting (expertly shot by cinematographer Crystel Fournier) from ancient architecture to opulent museums, the green flowing hills to the swankiest hotel rooms and restaurants. The meals are presented so lushly we almost expect the camera to pan over to another table occupied by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, the stars of the cinematic cuisine “crawls”, THE TRIP, THE TRIP TO ITALY, and the upcoming (hooray!) THE TRIP TO SPAIN. This breezy flick takes a turn into some dark dramatic territory in its final act, but its last moments are full of whimsy (the “fourth wall” is chipped, but not really broken). Everything’s not quite wrapped up with a dainty bow which may frustrate some, while giving some hope for a follow-up (where could they go next?). Sure it’s somewhat slight, but for those wanting a charming road trip without hitting the highway (or dealing with the airport), relax for a neat 90 minutes because PARIS CAN WAIT.
Sibling rivalry can really put a family through the ole’ ringer, really it can be “H-E-double hockey sticks. But for writers it’s heaven sent, a ready to order formula for drama with a conflict going way, way back to Cain and Abel. It certainly works for all movie genres and formats, even the animated feature films. While a great majority of cartoon heroes and heroines are solo offspring from single parent homes (like Belle and Jasmine) and others are orphans (Aladdin and Mowgli), there have been some siblings mixed in there. There were 99 dalmatians, Ariel had several sisters, and both Wendy Darling and Princess Merida had rambunctious brothers. Oh, and we can’t forget the sister superstars, Elsa and Anna of FROZEN (although many parents may want to after hearing “Let it Go” on a near continuous loop). Now comes an animated tale of two brothers with the rivalry ramped to a fever pitch, mainly because the new arrival is “running the show” because he is THE BOSS BABY.
The older brother Tim narrates the film as an adult (voice of Tobey Maguire), wistfully recalling the golden days of “only child-dom”, or is it “only child-hood”? Well, however you wish to phrase it, five year-old Tim (Miles Christopher Bakshi) “rules the roost”. His Mom (Lisa Kudrow) and Dad (Jimmy Kimmel) absolutely dote on their ‘golden boy”. Before bedtime he’s treated to a multitude of songs, stories, and kisses. But the party must end some time, and the festivities screech to a halt with the arrival of Tim’s baby brother. But this is not your normal infant, since he isn’t brought by the stork, rather he steps out of a taxi. And he’s dressed in a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. All of the attention goes to the Boss Baby (Alec Baldwin). Then, when the parents are out of the room, Tim discovers that his lil’ brother can talk! After confronting “B.B.’, Tim makes him fess up. Via a magic pacifier, the truth is revealed. BB has been sent there on mission assigned to him by his own bosses at “Babycorp.” to spy on his folks. They’re working for a big rival to Babycorp, and their new project must be stopped. BB tells Tim that if he helps him complete the mission he’ll return to his company, never to return (all memory of the BB will be erased). Can these arch enemies possibly work together, and return things to normal?
The marketing folks are pushing Baldwin’s voice work as the film’s title character (probably due to his sky-high profile via an invigorated Saturday Night Live), and he really carries the script. This baby’s a great mixture of that SNL role and his other big TV role, Jack, the cut-throat network exec on “30 Rock”. In one glorious bit, Baldwin pokes fun at one of his iconic movies. We know he can be funny, but somehow he manages to pluck at our heartstrings when BB’s tough exterior begins to soften as he finds that there’s more to life than that plush office. Maguire exudes a folksy charm as the teller of the tale, while his younger counterpart Bakshi is all youthful energy and exasperation. Kudrow and Kimmel hit all the right notes as the loving, but fairly clueless parents, putting a zany spin on “June and Ward” cliches. Saved for the film’s second half, the terrific Steve Buscemi steals several scenes as their boss, the daffy deranged Francis Francis, with a wacky sing-song line delivery. The “adult boss” turns on a dime from affable to sinister with Buscemi as a great partner/nemesis to Baldwin.
Escaping the jungle of MADAGASCAR and its sequels, director Tom McGrath finds just the proper pace for the film’s opening act, establishing an off-kilter setting for the slapstick. There is that late second half lull that plagues many comedies, but he wisely switches gears, aiming for the heart rather than the “funny bone”. Sure, they’re playing up the pathos, but the last few scenes are more moving than manipulative, especially for anyone dealing with sibling conflict. The design elements really mesh well. The backgrounds have a smooth retro look, evoking the suburbia of the late 50’s. That’s until the action shifts to a neon bedazzled Vegas right out of that 60’s Elvis classic (complete with lots of “king” gags). I really enjoyed the look of Tim’s fantasy daydreams, looking like a florescent, thick brushline homage to the Ralph Phillips shorts from the great Chuck Jones. Babies are difficult to cartoon (either lil’ pink blobs or odd Churchill/Hitchcock hybrids), but the artists achieved the perfect mix in BB with his large expressive eyes and inflated upper cranium. My favorite of the infants may be BB’s “muscle” Jimbo, a “no-necked” baby behemoth only clad in a diaper who could be a distant cousin of MOANA’s Maui. As for the adults, I enjoyed the look of another henchman, Francis’s dimwitted aide Eugene, a CG riff on Mugsy, a gangster who was no match for Bugs Bunny. The script from Austin Powers scribe Michael McCullers (from the book by Marla Frazee) sneaks in just the right amount of adult humor that will zip over the wee one’s heads, while still providing plenty of “gross-out’ diaper gags for them. As for the film’s soundtrack, like many Dreamworks efforts it’s a tad overloaded with pop tunes (did I hear the old Banana Splits theme song?), but they’re not relying on them and pop culture references for easy chuckles. Though the film doesn’t approach the wonders of their HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON or KUNG FU PANDA series, there are loads of laughs to be had by hanging out with THE BOSS BABY. 3.5 out 5
Sony Pictures Classics has released the new trailer and poster for PARIS CAN WAIT, written and directed by Eleanor Coppola, and starring Diane Lane, Araud Viard, and Alec Baldwin. The film opens in select theaters May 12th.
Eleanor Coppola’s feature film directorial and screenwriting debut at the age of 81 stars Academy Award nominee Diane Lane as a Hollywood producer’s wife who unexpectedly takes a trip through France, which reawakens her sense of self and her joie de vivre.
Anne (Lane) is at a crossroads in her life. Long married to a successfully driven but inattentive movie producer (Alec Baldwin), she finds herself taking a car trip from Cannes to Paris with a business associate of her husband (Arnaud Viard).
What should be a seven-hour drive turns into a journey of discovery involving fine food and wine, humor, wisdom, and picturesque sights.
Open Road Films has acquired all U.S. rights to ARCTIC JUSTICE: THUNDER SQUAD – the epic 3D CGI animated family film from Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s AMBI Media Group. The movie features the voices of Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, John Cleese, James Franco, Anjelica Huston and Omar Sy, and is directed by Aaron Woodley. The announcement was made today by Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films.
Open Road will release ARCTIC JUSTICE wide in 2018. Animation work for the film is currently being done out of AMBI’s Toronto based studio, AIC Studios. The movie is fully financed and being produced by AMBI and its principals, Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi.
Swifty (Jeremy Renner), an arctic fox, dreams of becoming one the famous Top Dogs, a team of huskies that deliver packages for the Arctic Blast Delivery Service. In the Arctic, every day trips can quickly turn into epic journeys, which make the Top Dogs the Arctic’s every day heroes.
In an effort to prove himself, Swifty secretly commandeers a delivery sled to takes a mysterious package to a secret, icy, fortress where he comes face to face with Doc Walrus (John Cleese), a blubbery evil genius who walks around on robotic legs, and commands a loyal army of oddly polite puffins. Swifty stumbles upon Doc Walrus’ evil plan to drill to the center of the Earth to unleash enough lava to melt the polar ice caps in order to flood the planet and become be king of the world.
Now, Swifty has to enlist the help of his friends: PB (Alec Baldwin), an introverted polar bear, Lemmy (James Franco), a scatter-brained rock and roll albatross, Sal (Omar Sy) and Weez (Heidi Klum), two conspiracy theorist otters, and Jade, a red fox, who’s a tough as nails mechanic that Swifty has a secret crush on. This ragtag team has to band together and overcome their differences if they’re going to stop Doc Walrus and his army of Puffins from destroying the world.
Tom Ortenberg stated, “The family film audience is hungry for quality product and we are very happy to serve up something fresh and topical with ARCTIC JUSTICE.”
Said Andrea Iervolino, “Tom and the Open Road team have a keen understanding of the audience that will love this film and are astute at reaching them in unique ways, resulting in great connectivity with viewers and a mutually beneficial relationship for our companies. They have been down this road before, and hit home runs with films like ‘The Nut Job’ so we’re excited that ‘Arctic Justice’ is in their expert and very skilled hands. It really is the perfect home for this movie.”
The deal was negotiated on behalf of Open Road Films by CEO Tom Ortenberg, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, Elliott Kleinberg and SVP Acquisitions, Lejo Pet and by Andrea Iervolino on behalf of AMBI Media Group.
In celebration of National Boss’s Day, DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox have released the new trailer for THE BOSS BABY.
Check out the trailer below and share with the BOSS’s in your life.
DreamWorks Animation and the director of Madagascar invite you to meet a most unusual baby. He wears a suit, speaks with the voice and wit of Alec Baldwin, and stars in the animated comedy, DreamWorks’ THE BOSS BABY.
THE BOSS BABY is a hilariously universal story about how a new baby’s arrival impacts a family, told from the point of view of a delightfully unreliable narrator, a wildly imaginative 7 year old named Tim. With a sly, heart-filled message about the importance of family, DreamWorks’ THE BOSS BABY is an authentic and broadly appealing original comedy for all ages. Also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, and Lisa Kudrow.
Directed by Tom McGrath, THE BOSS BABY hits theaters everywhere on March 31, 2017.
Regency Enterprises and 20th Century Fox have released a new trailer for the Romantic Dramedy RULES DON’T APPLY, written, directed and produced by 15 time Academy Award nominee Warren Beatty.
An aspiring young actress (Lily Collins) and her ambitious young driver (Alden Ehrenreich) struggle hopefully with the absurd eccentricities of the wildly unpredictable billionaire (Warren Beatty), who they work for.
It’s Hollywood, 1958. Small town beauty queen and devout Baptist virgin Marla Mabrey (Collins), under contract to the infamous Howard Hughes (Beatty), arrives in Los Angeles. At the airport, she meets her driver Frank Forbes (Ehrenreich), who is engaged to be married to his 7th grade sweetheart and is a deeply religious Methodist. Their instant attraction not only puts their religious convictions to the test, but also defies Hughes’ #1 rule: no employee is allowed to have any relationship whatsoever with a contract actress. Hughes’ behavior intersects with Marla and Frank in very separate and unexpected ways, and as they are drawn deeper into his bizarre world, their values are challenged and their lives are changed.
Watch the trailer now then tune in at 11:30amPT/2:30pmET for a Reddit AMA with Director Warren Beatty.
The film stars Alec Baldwin, Annette Bening, Haley Bennett, Candice Bergen, Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, Lily Collins, Steve Coogan, Alden Ehrenreich, Taissa Farmiga, Ed Harris, Megan Hilty, Oliver Platt and Martin Sheen.
RULES DON’T APPLY opens in theaters everywhere November 23, 2016.
Legendary filmmaker Warren Beatty stars as Howard Hughes in RULES DON’T APPLY, which Beatty wrote, directed and produced. Photo Credit: Francois Duhamel.
Regency Enterprises and 20th Century Fox have released the trailer for the upcoming dramedy RULES DON’T APPLY, written, directed and produced by 15 time Academy Award nominee Warren Beatty (HEAVEN CAN WAIT, REDS).
Opening in theaters on November 23rd, the movie stars Alec Baldwin, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Haley Bennett, Candice Bergen, Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, Lily Collins, Steve Coogan, Alden Ehrenreich, Taissa Farmiga, Ed Harris, Megan Hilty, Oliver Platt and Martin Sheen.
An aspiring young actress (Lily Collins) and her ambitious young driver (Alden Ehrenreich) struggle hopefully with the absurd eccentricities of the wildly unpredictable billionaire (Warren Beatty), who they work for.
It’s Hollywood, 1958. Small town beauty queen and devout Baptist virgin Marla Mabrey (Collins), under contract to the infamous Howard Hughes (Beatty), arrives in Los Angeles. At the airport, she meets her driver Frank Forbes (Ehrenreich), who is engaged to be married to his 7th grade sweetheart and is a deeply religious Methodist. Their instant attraction not only puts their religious convictions to the test, but also defies Hughes’ #1 rule: no employee is allowed to have any relationship whatsoever with a contract actress.
Hughes’ behavior intersects with Marla and Frank in very separate and unexpected ways, and as they are drawn deeper into his bizarre world, their values are challenged and their lives are changed.
CONCUSSION is the film that the NFL won’t want you to see. Not because it has new information about the link between football and a serious form of dementia called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) but because it serves as a reminder, particularly to young players and their parents, of the risk in playing the nation’s most popular sport. The film dramatizes the NFL’s hostile response to the news and its rough handling of the doctor who discovered the problem. The NFL does not look good in this film, and that is bound to trouble some fans.
Will Smith plays that doctor, Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist originally from Nigeria who discovered CTE. A brilliant man with a string of degrees, Dr. Omalu was working for the Allegheny County Coroner’s office in Pittsburgh when he did an autopsy on former NFL star Mike Webster (David Morse), whose life had unraveled a decade after retirement amid erratic behavior. Omalu knew next to nothing about football but was unsatisfied with a pat explanation about cause of death of a man only in his 50s. The thorough Omalu decided to take a microscopic look at the ex-player’s brain. What he saw shocked him, and led to his discovery of a new disease.
CONCUSSION focuses on Omalu’s story and especially on how poorly the NFL treated him. The film’s title is a bit of a misnomer, as not just concussions but cumulative smaller shocks to the brain can cause CTE as well, although concussions are the most obvious indicator of brain trauma. However, the film is rather light on medical details and it leaves out the work of other researchers who took up the topic following Omalu’s discovery. Instead, the film focuses more on Omalu’s own story, his discovery, his immediate circle of supporters and their attempts to bring the risks to the attention of the NFL.
As Smith plays him, Omalu is a sweet, idealistic workaholic who does not allow himself much of a personal life in his pursuit of the classic immigrant’s American Dream. His boss, Dr. Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks), is both his mentor and role-model for how to be an American. The one social outlet he allows himself is attending church, where his pastor asks him to help another new immigrant, a beautiful former nurse from Kenya named Prema (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Inevitably, romance blooms.
This is one of Smith’s best roles in years, and the actor does a nice job with Omalu’s accent. It is a rare chance for Smith to play a heroic character but in a more subdued, even slightly nerdy way, which he pulls off with a great deal of charm.
In his quest to bring CTE to the attention of NFL officials, Omalu is joined by former league physician, Dr. Julian Bailes, played well by Alec Baldwin apart from a Southern accent that tends to come and go. The cast also includes Eddie Marsan as Dr. Steven DeKosky, a top neurologist who co-authored Omalu’s paper on CTE, Paul Reiser as Dr. Elliot Pellman, an NFL doctor who was a central figure in the concussion crisis, and Luke Wilson as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Not only is the NFL not interested in hearing that players are at risk of a serious brain syndrome, much less that potentially all or most players face that risk, the organization is actively hostile to that message. With a multimillion-dollar entertainment empire called into question, the NFL immediately seek to discredit and then silence Omalu. As it is presented in the film, this is done in an iron-fisted, chilling manner, more expected from organized crime than a respected sports organization. The film alludes to the fact that NFL may have been aware of brain-injury issues, and parallels are drawn with the way the tobacco industry tried to deny the health effects of smoking.
The film’s major flaw is that it cannot quite make up its mind what kind of film it wants to be – a medical procedural, corporate misbehavior expose, or an inspirational immigrant tale. It is mostly Omalu’s story, leaving out researchers who built on his discovery and how the NFL treated him. It is light on medical details of CTE and also on what the NFL might have known about players’ brain injuries. Omalu’s personal story is a classic immigrant tale, with a sweet romance to add to that appeal, but the immigrant love story doesn’t develop the emotional pull it should.
CONCUSSION does not make the NFL look good, but it also raises questions about the safety of football at any level, which might give parents pause about letting their kids participate. The film does not present any new information, but serves as a reminder of the headline revelations in a dramatic way. While it is not a perfect film, it is worth seeing for its potential to spark curiosity to dig further into the facts of CTE.
CONCUSSION opens in St. Louis on December 25th, 2015.
