Get tickets for Special Sneak Previews of DOG on Valentine’s DayHERE
Hit the road and go behind the scenes of DOG with co-directors Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin in two NEW featurettes.
DOG is a buddy comedy that follows the misadventures of two former Army Rangers paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) and Lulu (a Belgian Malinois dog) buckle into a 1984 Ford Bronco and race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, break a small handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards in order to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.
DraftKings launched the game on Monday, February 7th, and will match $10,000 in prizing with a donation to Tech for Heroes, DraftKings’ flagship corporate social responsibility initiative that teaches technology job skills to veteran communities. Eligible fans nationwide can play TATUM VS. DOG: 50-YARD FETCH for free to guess the results of a field chase between Channing Tatum and his canine co-star Lulu. Find out more information HERE
DOG stars Channing Tatum, Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Q’orianka Kilcher, Ethan Suplee, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Nicole LaLiberté, Luke Forbes, and Ronnie Gene Blevins
BRIGSBY BEAR is a cute one-joke comedy without the cuteness. It’s weird, odd, and everything the trailers might lead you to expect, but seems to have no loftier goal than being quirky. BRIGSBY BEAR opens with the children’s TV series Brigsby Bear, which features a Paddington-esque bear named Brigsby who battles intergalactic villains including the Sun Scorcher, while spouting childish platitudes. It’s a crude, cheap production with a devoted cult following of one: shaggy-haired 25-year old man-child James Pope (Kyle Mooney) introduced watching the show completely enraptured. We soon discover that James’ obsession with Brigsby Bear isn’t the only reason he stays in his room. His parents April and Ted (Jane Adams and Mark Hamill) have kept him living in an underground bunker since they kidnapped him as a baby and Brigsby Bear has been the secret work of his captors, a show produced by them for his eyes only. He’s had no outside connections for many years and is told that surfacing requires a gas mask. Soon the authorities, led by Detective Vogel (Greg Kinnear ) arrive, rescue James, and return him to his birth parents Greg and Louise (Matt Walsh and Michaela Watkins) and sister Aubrey (Ryan Simpkins). When Aubrey takes him to a party, after telling him to “just be normal and don’t embarrass me”, he makes new friends who are excited to hang with the “Kidnap Kid”. As James is reintegrated into the real world and his real family, he must accept that there are no further Brigsby Bear episodes. He decides to make a movie featuring the show’s characters as a way to give it resolution.
A pretentious, witless disaster that wastes a decent cast, BRIGSBY BEAR is one of the worst films of the year, a 5-minute joke stretched out to 97 of the dullest, most soul-sucking minutes I’ve experienced in quite a while. BRIGSBY BEAR is a movie trying desperately to be profound about the way entertainment and reality interact, but it preciously stretches this theme beyond the breaking point. It lacks any real heart or emotion and Mooney, its charisma-challenged lead, fails to connect on any level. For about the first ten minutes, it’s a cute little movie until it comes out of that bomb shelter, and then it turns distressingly stale right before our eyes, with a terrible script that squanders what might have been an original comedy.
Much of the problem is with Kyle Mooney, who wrote the script but should have let someone with more charisma (any charisma) play the lead. Gaunt and with scruffy facial hair, James is supposed to be 25 but he looks like a creepy 40-year old. BRIGSBY BEAR is likely aimed at the following Mooney has acquired from his Saturday Night Live appearances. I’m told they’re quite amusing but I’ve never seen them and can judge him solely by his work in this film where I found him, with his sappy grin, weak chin and deadpan stoned delivery, utterly charmless. Mark Hamill’s performance is also embarrassing, though fortunately it’s a small role. There is one bright spot in BRIGSBY BEAR and that’s the always-reliable Greg Kinnear. His detective Vogel was once an aspiring actor who sees the Brigsby reboot as a chance to relive his dream, which he does with gusto. Kinnear is so good, and his character has such a happy and charming arc, he seems dropped in from a better movie. BRIGSBY BEAR shines when he’s on screen but it’s not enough to overcome the thudding weight of the premise, which serves as the springboard for so many lame gags. Sometimes a one-joke comedy like BRIGSBY BEAR will surpass all odds and actually work. To achieve that feat requires deft comic writing, superb pacing, and tremendous performances all around. BRIGSBY BEAR scores zero for three. Leave this one in the underground bunker.
1 of 5 Stars
BRIGSBY BEAR opens in St. Louis August 11th exclusively at Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater
Well, the big studios have finally gotten around to another summer cinema staple. Let’s see, for 2015 we’ve had a couple of sequels (AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and PITCH PERFECT 2), a reboot (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD), and a brassy lady-driven comedy (HOT PURSUIT). So now, it’s time for that other, often dreaded, “R-word”: the remake (usually called a “re-imagining” by sneaky PR types). Oh, and this is another 1980’s classic like January 2014’s ROBOCOP. But we’ll go back a few years before that shoot-em-up satire of 1987. It’s 1982, the summer of Spielberg, when he had his biggest (at that time) box office smash with E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. Now Mr. S wrote and directed that one, but a few weeks before that opened, he produced and wrote another huge hit. Now, yet another prominent blockbuster director, Sam Raimi, is the producer of this new scare-fest. To paraphrase the original’s classic poster/ad tagline, “It’s heeere’!” And it’s comin’ at ya’ in 3D! Brace yourself for new scares with POLTERGEIST!
As this fresh take begins, we’re again in Chicagoland suburbia as the Bowens (not the Freelings) are about to meet their real estate agent at their (hopefully) new home. Those nasty ole’ electrical towers loom over the homes, much to the disgust of eldest daughter Kendra (Saxon Sharbino), who as a clichéd teenager seems to be aghast at everything. Grade-schooler Madison (Kennedi Clements) is eager for new adventures while the skittish middle child, pre-teen Griffin (Kyle Catlett) is, as always, apprehensive. All’s not rosy with the family since dad Eric (Sam Rockwell) was laid off (we’re guessing the previous home was foreclosed) and mom Amy (Rosemarie DeWitt) considers jumping back into the workforce. Since the price is right (and it’s the nicest place they’ve seen), they move in. But things are odd right off the bat. Kendra’s cell phone fizzes out. Griffin’s attic room has a squirrel infestation and the creepiest clown doll collection ever. Plus lil’ Maddie is conversing with her invisible friends more than ever before (especially in front of the static buzzing HDTV). One evening the parents decide to attend a neighborhood dinner party (with a bit of job networking) and leave Kendra in charge for the night. This seems to send out a supernatural party invite and an all-out occult assault ensues. When the parents return, the house is in shambles, Kendra and Griffin are hysterical, and Maddie is missing. Amy heads to a local college and enlists the help of paranormal researcher Dr. Powell (Jane Adams) and her two student aides. When the spirits prove too strong, Powell calls in the cavalry, in the form of cable TV ghost-chasing star Carrigan Burke (Jared Harris). But can this flamboyant media showman return the Bowens’ lost little girl?
The very different acting styles of the two adult leads help set this film apart from its predecessor. Rockwell once again exudes laid-back cool as the patriarch under attack. Here, we get the impression that his wise-acre attitude is a mask to hide his anxiety over the future, more to ease the kids than fool himself, but when the “stuff” hits the fan, this papa charges in head first. As does DeWitt, who tries to put a positive spin on their new economic reality. When the unthinkable occurs, she will go to any and all links, including enlisting the college “loons”. Hers is a quiet, formidable strength. These two have an easy-going, flirty chemistry. Sharbino exhibits teen sass and snark, but lets her guard down to reveal the caring eldest sib. Catlett expertly embodies the sensitive middle male child dropped between two sisters, trying to get past a recent trauma (he was separated from mom on a mall trip), and finally finding his courage and embracing his inner hero. Clements is all bright innocence as the audience’s surrogate sweet angel that must be protected and rescued. Adams ably embodies the quirky academic as she balances between easing the Bowens’ fears and her astonishment at the unearthly events. The biggest re-imagining may be Harris talking over the “cleanser” expert role made most memorable by Zelda Rubinstein originally. Burke’s a true “show-boater” (even using a line from 1982 as his TV catchphrase), but is all business when his realizes the very high stakes involved. He’ll stop the dark forces at any cost to himself.
Director Gil Kenan (CITY OF EMBER, THE MONSTER HOUSE) strives to make this a more intimate terror tale than the original. Back then, the major studios wanted to re-establish themselves in the genre after several “indies” had recently dominated (“Hey folks, we gave you THE EXORCIST, ‘member?”). It’s a touch quieter with fewer “epic-style”, big flashy sequences. We get to see much more of the “other dimension” with some twisted, writhing ghouls that seem straight from our nightmares, but there’s not a “let’s top that last scene” feel with multiple false climaxes. Of course, the “child in danger” plot is an easy tension accelerator, but it doesn’t quite veer into seedy exploitation (well, maybe the clown doll stuff is overdone). Marc Streitenfeld’s subtle score riffs on Jerry Goldsmith’s classic music while never overwhelming the film (very few loud “scare’ chords). And, whatta’ you know, the 3D is pretty great, separating the setting into distinct planes and a few terrific “in your face” gags. So, is this another “unnecessary” sequel (since the original is in color and a “talkie”)? Well no, but it’s certainly more entertaining than many recent twice told terror tales (looking at you, EVIL DEAD!) and the new casting is pretty inspired. It won’t erase memories of the 82’ model, but the 2015 POLTERGEIST still delivers a decent a spook show. I’m just grateful they didn’t turn it into another tired “found footage” flick.
British director Gil Kenan proved his atmospheric take on the horror and fantasy genres with his movies Monster House and City of Ember. Now, with legendary filmmaker and producer Sam Raimi (Spiderman, Evil Dead, The Grudge), Kenan directs the remake of the classic 1982 horror movie POLTERGEIST.
POLTERGEIST contemporizes the scary tale about a family – starring Sam Rockwell(Moon, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) and Rosemarie DeWitt (Cinderella Man, Rachel Getting Married) – whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces.
When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and hold the youngest daughter (Kennedi Clements) captive, the family must come together to rescue her before she disappears forever.
The movie also features Nicholas Braun, Kyle Catlett, Saxon Sharbino, Jane Adams and Jared Harris.
POLTERGEIST opens in theaters May 22.
WAMG invites you to enter to win a pass (good for 2) to the advance screening of POLTERGEIST in the St. Louis area.
Thursday, May 21st at 6PM
Answer the following from the original 1982 movie:
What 2 sci-fi film posters were hanging in the children’s bedroom?
What does Carol Anne call the ghosts?
What’s the name of the community where the Freelings live?
TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWERS AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
3. No purchase necessary.
POLTERGEIST is rated PG 13 for Intense Frightening Sequences, Brief Suggestive Material and Some Language.
