WAMG’s Jim Batts says in his review that NIGHTMARE ALLEY is “a truly wild, and wonderful, walk on the “wild side”.
Win tickets to see Guillermo del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY.
In NIGHTMARE ALLEY, an ambitious carny (Bradley Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is. The film also stars Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman and David Strathairn.
“Step right up and behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe! Is he a man or beast? “
The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave in St. Louis), the best place in St. Louis to see movies! The Hi-Pointe has the best popcorn, the biggest screen, and a great beer selection! No reservations required at The Hi-Pointe. Just show up! uillermo del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEYopens this Friday December 17th at The Hi-Pointe. They will be hosting advance screenings of NIGHTMARE ALLEYWednesda ythe 15th and Thursday the 16th at 7pm. The Hi-Pointe’s site can be found HERE
NIGHTMARE ALLEY tells the story of an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is. Guillermo del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a remake of a classic 1947 Film Noir that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.
What if the world did not respond the way it always does in every disaster movie to an impending doomsday invasion, meteor or – comet? What if the real world faced a giant “planet-killer” comet on a collision course with Earth? Would they come together to save the planet, like they always do in the movies? That is the question Oscar-winning director/writer Adam McKay (THE BIG SHORT) asks in his satiric comedy DON’T LOOK UP.
The comedy features a top-tier cast, with Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr. Randall Mindy, an astronomy professor at a Midwestern university, whose graduate student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers the giant comet. When Dr. Mindy figures out the comet’s terrifying trajectory, a deadly collision course with Earth, the pair set out to alert the federal government about the threat. The cast includes Meryl Streep as President Orleans, Jonah Hill as her Chief of Staff/son, Cate Blanchett as the co-host of a TV talk show with Tyler Perry as her co-host, Mark Rylance as a quirky tech billionaire who seems to have Asperger’s, Ron Perlman as a gung-ho former military hero, plus Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande and more.
DON’T LOOK UP is humor in the vein of DR. STRANGELOVE with a side of IDIOCRACY and a modern media slant, but with a bigger cast of idiots and hence more potential for things to go wrong. This satire is an equal opportunity ridiculer, taking swipes at all targets with range, from inarticulate scientists who can’t make a dire situation clear, to politicians wanting to use impending disaster to improve their party’s chances in the mid-term elections, to media talkers more enamored with the “hot” scientist’s good looks than his heated message, to political forces just denying facts and urging people to “don’t look up.” In DR STRANGELOVE, at least they could agree on the problem (well, mostly). In DON’T LOOK UP, as the title implies, denial abounds.
There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in this satiric comedy. Both DiCaprio and Lawrence are excellent as the alarmed scientists, increasingly frustrated that they message is not being taken seriously. The pair find a key ally in their effort to get something done to avert worldwide destruction in Rob Morgan’s Dr. Oglethorpe, a scientist at the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, a real NASA agency tasked with watching out for extra-terrestrial threats like this comet, as the film notes. Oglethorpe quickly arranges a meeting with the President for the two scientists, who are then sworn to secrecy and whisked away on a military transport jet to D.C. But once in the White House, they find themselves stuck waiting in a hallway, while President Orleans (Meryl Streep) deals with “more pressing” problems. After all, the comet isn’t going to hit the Earth for another six months.
Once the astronomers meet with the President and her Chief of Staff, (a very funny Jonah Hill), who also happens to be her son and occasionally slips up by calling her “mom,” things do not go well. Their “sky is falling” message is met with eye-rolling, and pressure to say the chance of a planet-killing direct hit by the enormous comet is less than the 100% the scientist insist on. The President’s focus is more on making the threat look less certain for PR reasons than finding a way to deflect the comet and avoid the planet’s destruction. No action is decided on, the White House will assess, and the scientists are instructed to keep their discovery secret in the meanwhile.
They don’t, thanks to the quick work by their ally Oglethorpe, who gets them on a morning talk show, The Daily Rip. But the happy-talk co-hosts, played marvelously by Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, are focused on finding the lighter side of this impending doom and on the good-looking professor. When Jennifer Lawrence’s the graduate student loses patience with them, her outburst does not play well on social media.
With the information revealed, the White House decides doing something about the comet might play well in the mid-term elections and the whole media/political circus gets rolling. Eventually, the President brings in a retired military hero, played by a blustering Ron Perlman, to head an mission to address the problem, and later a quirky tech billionaire, played with chilling style and the world’s whitest smile by Mark Rylance, who has another, profitable idea. Forces line up on either side of an “issue” that isn’t one.
Rylance’s performance is one of the stand-outs in this comedy, particularly in a tense scene with DiCaprio, where the astronomer tries to persuade the businessman to accept the input of expert scientists in finding a solution, only to be buried in a recital of the chillingly detailed personal information on the scientist that the ego-driven billionaire has collected on him, although it is irrelevant to the situation.
While the laugh-out-loud moments are plentiful, some might find its broad swipes on all sides too obvious, no matter how true they may be. The comedy draws parallels to some issues and takes aim at even more, and it is that broad focus that is a bit of a problem. While DR STRANGELOVE is focused on a single topic, nuclear war, DON’T LOOK UP can’t always maintain a single focus as it takes aim at host of problems that prevent the world coming together to solve a global threat. Bouncing from one example of self-destructive idiocy to another as it lands comic bombs, it diffuses its central focus. It is a flaw that makes this well-intentioned, talent-packed satire less the direct mocking hit it should be, despite its moments of gold and strong comic performances.
DON’T LOOK UP opens Friday, Dec. 10, in theaters, and debuts on Netflix on Dec. 25.
Searchlight Pictures has released the brand-new trailer for director Guillermo del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY.
When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Toni Collette) and her has-been mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn) at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society. With the virtuous Molly (Rooney Mara) loyally by his side, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon (Richard Jenkins) with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) who might be his most formidable opponent yet.
Good night nurse, what a cast Del Toro has put together. The filmmaker is best known for Hellboy, Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak as well as his Academy Award-winning fantasy films Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. He won Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture in 2018 for The Shape of Water at the 90th Academy Awards. The fantasy film received 13 nominations.
The screenplay for NIGHTMARE ALLEY is by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan and based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham. The film’s score is from Nathan Johnson who was recently nominated for an Hollywood Music in Media Award.
DON’T LOOK UP tells the story of two low-level astronomers, who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet earth. In select theaters December 10, on Netflix December 24, watch the brand-new trailer starring
Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate. With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Jonah Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry).
With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media obsessed public before it’s too late proves shockingly comical — what will it take to get the world to just look up?!
DON’T LOOK UP is written and directed by Academy Award winner Adam McKay (The Big Short) and also stars Mark Rylance, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis and Tomer Sisley.
When asked about how each prepared for the film, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam McKay said:
Lawrence: I spoke to a brilliant astronomer named Amy Mainzer. I was mostly curious about what the world for a female astronomer looks like since they’re so outnumbered. That helped shape Kate’s personality, how she dresses, how she carries herself. I tried to learn about astronomy as well, but I don’t know how much of it I retained. Leo, of course, learned all of it.
DiCaprio: Amy Mainzer is our consultant and astronomer whom I had hundreds of conversations with. She helped me incredibly in playing Dr. Randall Mindy just to be able to articulate this science and basically almost gave me a Carl Sagan-like download on what astronomy is, what it means to be an astronomer, what you look for and the importance of what that means for my character. She was probably one of the most helpful elements to my character that I could’ve imagined.
McKay: Amy was incredible. She was really a major ingredient in this movie. She was constantly fact-checking the script. Honestly, I can’t imagine us being able to pull it off without her. And, and on top of it all, she had a great sense of humor. I just heard the other day she saw the movie, and she was so excited by it. And in a way, that may be the reaction I value the most. Because scientists these days have been under such attack. And the idea that she felt heard seeing the movie was really exciting for me.
Guillermo del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY Starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett will arrive in US cinemas on December 17th. Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Clifton Collins Jr., Tim Blake Nelson and Mary Steenburgen all co-star. Here’s the new trailer:
NIGHTMARE ALLEY tells the story of an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is. Guillermo del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a remake of a classic 1947 Film Noir that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.
Look for more coverage of NIGHTMARE ALLEY here at We Are Movie Geeks.
“Never thought I’d die fighting side by side with an Elf.”
Celebrate 20 years of adventure and friendship as Warner Bros. releases the Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition, timed to the 20th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The 31-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga contains new special features along with the theatrical and extended versions of all six films in 4K Ultra HD and on Blu-ray discs remastered from the 4K master. The Ultimate Collector’s Edition will be released on October 26.
Celebrate 20 years of adventure and friendship as Warner Bros. releases the Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition, timed to the 20th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The 31-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga contains new special features along with the theatrical and extended versions of all sic films in 4K Ultra HD and on Blu-ray discs remastered from the 4K master. The Ultimate Collector’s Edition will be released on October 26.
The Ultimate Collector’s Edition includes the theatrical and extended versions of the six films from New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures in 4K UHD with HDR – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Ultimate Collector’s Edition comes in unique “Puzzle Box” collectible packaging and includes a 64-page booklet featuring costumes, photography and production notes from the film, and art cards featuring travel posters and images from iconic locations throughout Middle-earth including The Shire, Lake-Town, Erebor, Anduin, Rohan, Minas Trith, and Rivendell.
Also included are the original Cannes Film Festival presentation reel, and footage from the recent Alamo Drafthouse cast reunion featuring director Peter Jackson along with cast members Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellan, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortenson, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, and Elijah Wood.
4K Ultra HD** showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, and more lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before.
The 4K remastering process was overseen by Peter Jackson.
The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King will feature Dolby VisionTM HDR that dramatically expands the color palette and contrast range and uses dynamic metadata to automatically optimize the picture for every screen, frame by frame. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs will also feature a Dolby Atmos® soundtrack remixed specifically for the home theater environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. To experience Dolby Atmos at home, a Dolby Atmos enabled AV receiver and additional speakers are required, or a Dolby Atmos enabled sound bar. Dolby Atmos soundtracks are also fully backward compatible with traditional audio configurations and legacy home entertainment equipment.
Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition contains the following special features:
Cannes Film Festival Presentation Reel
Alamo Drafthouse Cast Reunion
“The Fellowship of the Ring” – RT: 39:38 (with Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood)
“The Two Towers” – RT: 32:24 (with Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortenson)
“The Return of the King” – RT: 29:48 (with Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, and Peter Jackson)
James Gray shooting The Immigrant with Joaquin Phoenix
Focus Features has finalized their worldwide deal on James Gray’s Armageddon Time. The coming-of-age film is written and set to be directed by Gray, based upon his childhood experiences set in a pre-Reagan era America. The film lines up an acclaimed ensemble cast including four Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro, Oscar Isaac, Donald Sutherland, Anne Hathaway and Cate Blanchett.
Production is set to begin in 2021 in New York. RT Features’ Rodrigo Teixeira will produce along with Gray and Anthony Katagas, with Lourenço Sant’Anna and Rodrigo Gutierrez executive producing.
Says Gray, “It’s really a dream come true for me–to do this kind of personal story, and to do it for such a wonderful partner in Focus Features. I could not ask for a better home for this film.”
Gray has previously helmed Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt, as well as Little Odessa, The Yards, We Own The Night, Two Lovers, The Immigrant and The Lost City of Z
Focus Features will distribute the film in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International will distribute internationally. De Niro, Sutherland, Hathaway, Blanchett, Gray, and RT Features are represented by CAA. Hathaway is also represented by Management 360. Isaac is represented by WME and Inspire Entertainment.
Searchlight Pictures announced that principal photography on NIGHTMARE ALLEY began this week on location in Toronto, Canada. The film stars Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper (A STAR IS BORN, AMERICAN SNIPER), Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett (BLUE JASMINE, ELIZABETH), Academy Award nominee Toni Collette (KNIVES OUT, “Unbelievable”), Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe (THE LIGHTHOUSE, AT ETERNITY’S GATE), Academy Award nominee Richard Jenkins (THE SHAPE OF WATER, THE VISITOR), Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara (CAROL, GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO), Ron Perlman (PACIFIC RIM, HELLBOY), and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn (LINCOLN, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK).
Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro (THE SHAPE OF WATER, PAN’S LABYRINTH) directs and co-writes with Kim Morgan (THE FORBIDDEN ROOM). The film is being produced by del Toro and Academy Award winner J. Miles Dale (ANTLERS, THE SHAPE OF WATER). It is based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham. The film will be overseen by Searchlight Pictures Presidents of Production for Film and Television David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield and Senior Vice President DanTram Nguyen.
Writer/director Guillermo del Toro said “I’m inspired and elated to be joined by this brilliant cast. Kim Morgan and I have worked with great passion to bring the dark, raw world and language of William Gresham to the screen and now we are joined by a superb group of artists and technicians to bring it to life.”
“Given the depth of this incredible cast, I consider it a bucket list privilege to be working alongside them all with the support of our great partners at Searchlight. It’s going to be a joy to watch these world class actors and Guillermo elevate each other’s craft in this new interpretation of Gresham’s seminal novel,” said producer Dale.
In NIGHTMARE ALLEY, an ambitious young carny (Bradley Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is.
The carnival cast includes carnival worker Molly (Rooney Mara), head barker Clem (Willem Dafoe), and Ron Perlman as Bruno the Strongman. Richard Jenkins is part of the high society crowd as wealthy industrialist Ezra Grindle.
“It is an absolute thrill and honor to be collaborating with Guillermo once again. He has assembled what can only be described as a dream team of actors and creative talent to help bring his singular vision of NIGHTMARE ALLEY to the big screen,” said Greenbaum and Greenfield.
Joining del Toro on the film are long time collaborators costume designer Luis Sequeira (THE SHAPE OF WATER, MAMA), director of photography Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF (THE SHAPE OF WATER, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3), and visual effects supervisor Dennis Berardi (THE SHAPE OF WATER, CRIMSON PEAK), production designer Tamara Deverell (“Star Trek: Discovery”, “The Strain”) and editor Cam McLauchlin (THE SHAPE OF WATER, “The Strain”). Searchlight shall distribute the picture worldwide.
Searchlight Pictures is a specialty film company that both finances and acquires motion pictures. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and is part of The Walt Disney Studios.
It’s franchise time (when is it not) at the multiplex this weekend, though it’s not another superhero sequel or an even faster, more furious action series installment. No, this is fairly unique to this new century, this is an animated feature franchise. Back when Walt Disney made the first Hollywood cartoon features, sequels weren’t considered, rather the folks at the “Mouse House’ were well into the next iconic fable. That was still the case for many years after “Uncle Walt” left his kingdom, though THE RESCUERS returned a dozen years later. Sequels were mainly the domain of the “direct to home video” market (mocked in some circles as “cheap-quels”). Pixar changed this in 1999 when they too were making a home video follow-up to their first hit, TOY STORY, and then decided that it was deserving of a theatrical release (brilliant move). One of their main rivals, Dreamworks Animation, followed suit with a SHREK series. Now the studio is instead thinking “trilogy”, as in the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” with their two most visually ambitious (and dramatically mature) properties. 2008’s KUNG FU PANDA was the first such, concluding three years ago. Now comes the last chapter of the story that began with one of 2010’s biggest hits, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD.
Much like action or spy thrillers, this film begins with a big action set piece (almost the “slam-bang” finale of another story). It’s a dragon rescue mission against a band of nefarious “trappers” Leading the charge is Viking chief Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruchel) astride his faithful dragon steed, the Night Fury known as Toothless. At his side are his mother Valka (Cate Blanchett) and paramour Astrid (America Ferrera), along with their pals Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and the twins Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) and Tuffnut (Justin Rupple). The captured dragons (save for a very special one) are released and lead back to the haven known as Berk by the victorious rescuers. But as pointed out by Hiccup’s trusted consel since childhood, Gobbler (Craig Ferguson), the town precariuosly perched on mountain peaks may not have room for this dragon influx. Plus, more trappers could strike. Hiccup then recalls the stories his late father Stoick (Gerard Butler) told of the original dragon homeland, the “hidden world” where they lived in peaceful harmony. As Hiccup tries to piece together an old map showing its location, the trappers are plotting. They recruit the ruthless and cruel Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham) who has a secret weapon: a female Night Fury (Toothless was thought to be the last of his kind). When he leads his forces on a raid against Berk, Hiccup makes a momentous decision to pack up the village and find that “hidden world”. Will Grimmel thwart his quest? And what will happen with Toothless and his possible “mate”? Could Hiccup lose both his kingdom and his best dragon pal?
With nearly a decade voicing these roles, this stellar cast still brings something “new to the table”. The most compelling character arc belongs to Baruchel, who has gone from jittery, uncertain teen to the confident, smart leader of his team and his community (pop Stoick would be beaming). He may face the most challenging decision, one that pushes him into adulthood. Namely, he must choice what’s best for others (mainly Toothless), knowing the loss he will certainly feel. Speaking of feelings, the attraction between Hiccup and Astrid, voiced with great energy by the terrific Ferrera, at last blossoms from teenage infatuation to mutual love and respect. The two make a formidable romantic pair and fighting team that’s put to the test by this story’s very hissable major “meanie”, Grimmel. Abraham oozes arrogance and contempt for nearly all those around him (even his aides), with a slight sneer as his only hint of joy. Full disclodure: during the film, I was certain the voice came from Ciaran Hinds since Grimmel’s features are a superb bald caricature of the actor (I judged a book it’s cover or character desgn). Most of the rest of the cast provide great comic releief, particularly Ferguson as the gregarious and somewhat paranoid Gobbler (he sees bug-eyed beasties everywhere). And Wiig as the grumbling sullen Ruffnut who becomes a blithe grating chatterbox when captured by Grimmel’s forces (her blathering pushes him to the breaking point).
As with the previous two films, the viewer is dazzled by the imaginative character designs and marvelous sets (Berk, the trappers’ ships) from this impressive group of artists headed by the director of all three (teamed with Chris Sanders on the first) Dean DeBlois (who wrote this screenplay based on the book series by Cressida Cowell). Hiccup’s heroes first appear clad in the discarded scales (yes, they shed) of their dragon partners, prompting the trappers to think that they’re demons (Hiccup’s cool flaming sword adds to that belief, no doubt). Much like the Vikings we’ve seen previously, the trappers are lumbering man mountains, somehow able to snatch a rider off their steeds. The teetering towers of Berk are still a child-like toy delight (just keep piling on and on and…), but it’s often too much “eye candy” as the camera swoops in, around, up, and down with increasing velocity. The sight of those winged dragons zipping miles above the Earth still elicits a soaring sense of wonder, while keeping us on the edge of our seats as the riders are often caught in a perilous plummet. The visuals fly rings around the often stodgy, slow moving script. Two prolonged mating dances are in dire need of a trim. And some attempts at edgy humor (Snotlout openly lusts for Hiccup’s Mum Valka, as Tuffnut presses Hiccup to his chest in order to nuzzle his lush “beard”-like ponytales) seem wildly out of tune in an all-ages fantasy. Still, it’s final act is very moving and admirable, when the nearly ten-year-old tale comes full circle, as the film makers offer a real conclusion to the film trilogy, three TV shows, and quartet of shorts. Of course, the dreaded “reboot” is always a possibility (going on right now with that big green ogre), but lets hope that Hiccup and Toothless can enjoy the last trek through the skies in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD. Nighty night lil’ Furies.
