Tag: john cleese

First Look Photo From Comedy FATHER CHRISTMAS IS BACK Starring Elizabeth Hurley, John Cleese And Kelsey Grammer

Still courtesy of MSR Media / Featuring (L-R): TALULAH RILEY, JOHN CLEESE, NATHALIE COX, CAROLINE QUENTIN, ELIZABETH HURLEY, RAY FEARON, NAOMI FREDERICK, AND KRIS MARSHALL

Here’s your first look at the new comedy FATHER CHRISTMAS IS BACK starring a star ensemble cast including Elizabeth Hurley, John Cleese, and Kelsey Grammer.

In the feel-good festive comedy, Caroline Christmas is a control freak, who desires nothing more than a perfect Christmas with her sisters at her lavish country manor to atone for the fact that their father abandoned the family on December 25th, many years ago. When on Christmas Eve their long-lost father arrives at their doorstep with his new girlfriend chaos ensues. Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, Caroline uncovers a long-buried family secret… can the family still celebrate Christmas together after all?

Directed by Philippe Martinez (VIKTOR) and Mick Davis (Modigliani). The film is written by David Conolly and Hannah Davis Law (Mothers and Daughters), and Dylanne Corcoran based on an original idea by Martinez who also produces the film.

MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL Screens Midnights This Weekend at The Tivoli

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“I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”

MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL Midnights This Weekend (May 24th and 25th) at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis 63130) as part of the Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight Series

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“We’re knights of the Round Table, we dance whene’er we’re able. We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impec-cable, We dine well here in Camelot, we eat ham and jam and Spam a lot.” This toe-tapping, musical interlude is just one example of the genius that is found in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. It’s the medieval send-up of Arthur “King of the Britons,” along with his Knights of the Round Table, quest for the Holy Grail. All the knights run into various perils such as the Knights Who Say “Ni!,” the 3-headed giant, and Tim the Enchanter. The heroes are lured to the Castle Anthrax by a faux grail beacon, followed by a battle to the death with the Rabbit of Caerbannog with the Holy Hand Grenade. Written by Python alum Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, this cult favorite is a cheeky bookend to 1981’s EXCALIBUR…” On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.”

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Now you can experience the side-splitting hilarity that is in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL when it screens midnights this weekend at The Tivoli Theater. Admission is just $8.

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A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

A FISH CALLED WANDA Available on Blu-ray October 3rd from Arrow Video


“The funniest movie I have seen in a long time” – Roger Ebert


A FISH CALLED WANDA will be available on Blu-ray October 3rd from Arrow Video


In 1988, John Cleese, former Python and the mastermind behind Fawlty Towers, teamed up with the veteran Ealing Comedy director Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob) to produce another classic of British comedy.
Cleese plays Archie Leach, a weak-willed barrister who finds himself embroiled with a quartet of ill-matched jewel thieves – two American con artists played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, Michael Palin’s animal-loving hitman and London gangster Tom Georgeson – when Georgeson is arrested. Only he and Palin know the whereabouts of the diamonds, prompting plenty of farce and in-fighting as well as some embarrassing nudity and the unfortunate demise of some innocent pooches…


Nominated for three Academy Awards and winning one for Kline’s outstanding supporting turn as the psychopathic Otto, A Fish Called Wanda has stood the test of time, earning its rightful place among its creators’ remarkable comedy pedigree.


SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• Brand-new 4K restoration from the original negative, produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original English mono audio (uncompressed LPCM)
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Commentary by writer and star John Cleese
• Brand-new appreciation by Vic Pratt of the BFI National Archive
• Brand-new interviews with composer John Du Prez, production designer Roger Murray-Leach, executive producer Steve Abbott and makeup supervisor Paul Engelen
• John Cleese’s Final Farewell Performance, a 1988 documentary on the making of A Fish Called Wanda featuring interviews with actors Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline and director Charles Crichton
• Something Fishy, a 15th anniversary retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Cleese, Curtis, Kline and Palin, executive producer Steve Abbott and director of photography Alan Hume
• Fish You Were Here, a documentary on the film’s locations hosted by Robert Powell
• 24 deleted/alternative scenes with introductions by Cleese
• A Message from John Cleese, a tongue-in-cheek introduction recorded for the film’s original release
• Gallery
• Trivia track
• Theatrical trailer
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Booklet featuring writing on the film by Sophie Monks Kaufman

Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, James Franco, Omar Sy Featured In Open Road’s ARCTIC JUSTICE: THUNDER SQUAD

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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.

MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL Midnights This Weekend at The Tivoli

holygrail560

MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL Midnights This Weekend (October 16th and 17th) at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis 63130) as part of the Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight Series

holy-grail-591645_800_441

“We’re knights of the Round Table, we dance whene’er we’re able. We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impec-cable, We dine well here in Camelot, we eat ham and jam and Spam a lot.” This toe-tapping, musical interlude is just one example of the genius that is found in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. It’s the medieval send-up of Arthur “King of the Britons,” along with his Knights of the Round Table, quest for the Holy Grail. All the knights run into various perils such as the Knights Who Say “Ni!,” the 3-headed giant, and Tim the Enchanter. The heroes are lured to the Castle Anthrax by a faux grail beacon, followed by a battle to the death with the Rabbit of Caerbannog with the Holy Hand Grenade. Written by Python alum Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, this cult favorite is a cheeky bookend to 1981’s EXCALIBUR…” On second thought, let’s not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.”

Holy-Grail-monty-python-16538969-845-468

Now you can experience the side-splitting hilarity that is in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL when it screens midnights this weekend at The Tivoli Theater. Admission is just $8.

HolyGrail034

A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/166774576999195/

The Tivoli’s website can be found HERE

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/st.louis/tivolitheatre.htm

Here’s the Reel Late at the Tivoli Line-up for the rest of the season:

Oct 23-24 and Oct 31-Nov 1    ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW with live shadow cast with the Samurai Electricians.

Simon Pegg To Star In Terry Jones Directed Comedy ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING

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Bill & Ben Productions announced that Simon Pegg will lead the Terry Jones directed comedy feature ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING.

Pegg will play Neil Clarke, a disillusioned school teacher who suddenly finds he has magical powers, bestowed upon him by some aliens.  The aliens will be voiced by the wonderfully familiar line up of John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.  Robin Williams will also star as the voice of Clarke’s hilarious & faithful dog.  Additional casting is underway.

Pre-Production starts 2 February 2014, with Principal Photography commencing in London on 23rd March.

Commenting on his role, Simon Pegg said ‘As someone whose love of comedy was hugely informed by Monty Python, the chance to work with Terry was a gift. Meeting your heroes is one thing, working with them is something else.’

‘Simon Pegg is the Absolutely Perfect Neil!’ – said Director/Co-Writer – Terry Jones.

The film is being produced by Ben Timlett and Bill Jones at Bill & Ben Productions (Emmy Award® nominated MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH.  Triple Academy Award® winner Jim Acheson (MAN OF STEEL, SPIDERMAN, DANGEROUS LIAISONS) is on board to design the production’s costumes and sets, as well as the eclectic group of aliens.  Mike Medavoy, who previously worked with Terry Jones on LIFE OF BRIAN and ERIC THE VIKING, has been involved with multiple Academy Award nominated films including BLACK SWAN and THE THIN RED LINE and has said he is “thrilled to be reunited,” and will serve as EXECUTIVE PRODUCER with Chris Chesser (THE RUNDOWN, MAJOR LEAGUE).

Producer Ben Timlett added: ‘We are extremely excited that Terry Jones’ and Gavin Scott’s script will soon be brought to life. Their collaboration has created a laugh-out-loud storyline, wonderfully quirky characters and dialogue that not everyone will be expecting.’

Sales, production and finance company GFM Films are handling worldwide sales and the AFM saw them close pre-sales in Australia, Scandinavia and Germany amongst others.  Partner at GFM Films, Fred Hedman, said ‘Distributor reaction to the script and creative elements at the AFM was terrific – a very positive start’.  Production finance has been secured by Absolutely Anything PLC.

Watch 3 New Clips From Disney’s PLANES

PLANES
©2013 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Flying into theaters on August 9, here’s three new clips from Disney’s PLANES.

Disney’s PLANES is an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (voice of Dane Cook), a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing – and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit.

Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.

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Disney’s PLANES takes off in theaters on Aug. 9, 2013.

For more information, check out Disney.com/Planes, like on Facebook: facebook.com/DisneyPlanes and follow on Twitter: twitter.com/DisneyPictures.

Follow Disney’s PLANES El Chupacabra on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PlanesElChu

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Images © 2013 Disney

New WINNIE THE POOH Poster

Have a look at the latest poster for Walt Disney Pictures upcoming animated feature WINNIE THE POOH. Pooh, and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo and Eeyore are sailing on the SS Honeypot through a sea of honey in a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit.

Some fun facts about the movie:

  • Veteran Disney animator/storyman/director Burny Mattinson (a key animator on the 1974 featurette “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!”) serves as senior story artist, with a dynamic young directing duo—Stephen Anderson and Don Hall—at the helm.
  • Director Stephen Anderson helmed animated films “Meet the Robinsons” and “Journey Beneath the Sea,” among others; he worked as a story supervisor on “Brother Bear” and “The Emperor’s New Groove,” and as an additional story artist on 2008’s award-winning “Bolt.”  Director Don Hall is a veteran story artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios with credits including “The Princess and the Frog,” “Meet the Robinsons,” “Brother Bear,” “Home on the Range,” “The Emperor’s New Groove” and “Tarzan.”
  • “Winnie the Pooh” welcomes a few new voices to the Hundred Acre Wood:  Craig Ferguson (“The Late Show with Craig Ferguson”), Tom Kenny (“SpongeBob SquarePants”) and Bud Luckey (director of the Pixar short “Boundin’”).
  • Actress/musician/singer/songwriter Zooey Deschanel (Indie folk band, “She & Him”) provides the vocals for a special rendition of the beloved “Winnie the Pooh” theme song.
  • London-born A.A. Milne (1882-1956), a noted writer and playwright, penned two books and several poems about the beloved Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin (named after Milne’s son). His books are actually collections of stories, three of which inspired the film. 
  • A.A. Milne’s son’s teddy bear inspired the beloved character. The child named his bear after Winnie, a Canadian black bear from London Zoo.  Pooh was the name of a swan they encountered together.
  • Filmmakers visited Ashdown Forest where Milne wrote the books and the real Christopher Robin spent his summer vacations.
  • Tony® Award-winning songwriter Bobby Lopez, and his wife Kristen, wrote the six spirited new songs for Pooh and his pals, including “The Tummy Song,” “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “Everything Is Honey,” “The Winner Song,” “The Backson Song” and “It’s Gonna Be Great.” Lopez is composer on several episodes of “The Wonder Pets,” which earned a Daytime Emmy® in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition.

Synopsis:

Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with WINNIE THE POOH. Featuring the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail.  “Ever have one of those days where you just can’t win, Eeyore?” asks Pooh.  Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some honey.

Inspired by three stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style, WINNIE THE POOH hits theaters in Europe and Latin America in Spring 2011; the U.S. release date is July 15, 2011.

Check out the film’s official site here and like it on Facebook here.

New WINNIE THE POOH Photos!

Check out these 12 newly released photos from WINNIE THE POOH – Look at all that honey! My niece will absolutely love this film. Have a peek at Pooh in his latest adventure, coming to theaters later this year!

Some fun POOH facts:

  • WINNIE THE POOH welcomes a few new voices to the Hundred Acre Wood: Craig Ferguson (The Late Show with Craig Ferguson), Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) and Bud Luckey (director of the Pixar short “Boundin”).
  • Actress/musician/singer/songwriter Zooey Deschanel (Indie folk band, “She & Him”) provides the vocals for a special rendition of the beloved WINNIE THE POOH theme song.
  • Tony® Award-winning songwriter Bobby Lopez, and his wife Kristen, wrote the seven spirited new songs for Pooh and his pals, including “Pooh Bear Takes Care of His Tummy,” “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “Everything Is Honey” and “The Winner Song.” Lopez is composer on several episodes of “The Wonder Pets,” which earned a Daytime Emmy® in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition.

Synopsis:

WINNIE THE POOH is Walt Disney Animation Studios first big-screen Pooh adventure from Disney animation in more than 35 years. With the charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail. “Well a tail is either there or it isn’t there,” said Pooh. “And yours isn’t… there.” Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some hunny.

Inspired by five stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style, WINNIE THE POOH hits theaters July 15, 2011.

Check out the film’s official site here and like it on Facebook here.

Review: PLANET 51

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PLANET 51 would be a good film, if it was an original idea, wasn’t so long, and had a cast that wasn’t just going through the motions with zero confidence. Yes, it other words, PLANET 51 is not a very good movie. It’s your basic fish out of water tale, but from a sci-fi point of view, with the human landing on an alien world where everyone thinks he’s some kind of monster. Captain Charles T. Baker (Dwayne Johnson) lands on Planet 51, a planet that seems to be mirror Earth in the late 1950s early 1960s. It isn’t long before he’s mistaken for a brain sucking, organ eating alien and is chased off, and eventually bumps into Lem (Justin Long), a young alien who works at the local planetarium.

Lem is of course your average teenager, trying to win over the heart of Neera (Jessica Biel), the girl next door, and would have won her heart by now if it weren’t for Captain Baker’s mishap. In other words, Justin Long is playing almost every character he’s ever played, just as a green alien. I guess that’s appropriate. Well of course with an Alien on the loose the entire planet is soon flung into chaos and fear, which is where General Grawl (Gary Oldman) and Professor Kipple (John Cleese) come in to save the day, but end up just driving the chaos even further.  Now Lem and Captain Baker have to find a way to get Baker back onto his ship before it leaves without him, stranding him on this very familiar, but still alien world. A lot of slap stick humor follows and we get an ending that you know is coming by the very nature of the film.

PLANET 51 doesn’t take any real risks and the animation is pretty outdated as far as quality is concerned. But the worst part is easily the acting. You have people like John Cleese giving the most boring performance of his entire career and Gary Oldman in a role so bland, with absolutely no emotion what so ever that you’d be hard pressed to believe it’s actually him. General Grawl doesn’t sound like Gary Oldman at all, which is a real shame since the part could have been so evil, and diabolical, but instead he’s just your average military character.

The humor in Planet 51 was another huge let down, because none of it is funny. The entire film’s comedy is so watered down and safe that it makes Saturday morning cartoons look edgy. I couldn’t believe how dumb some of it was. Kids might enjoy it, but adults will be bored  into a coma. Expect kids to really enjoy the character Rover, who is essentially Captain Baker’s robotic dog, and maybe the most enjoyable part of the film because of how well animated it is.

I can’t get behind this movie in any way or recommend it to anyone. There are so many better animated films out there that would entertain a much wider audience. This is a huge waste of time and money and easily one of the drabbest films of the year. This is what happens when a film is directed by three people. PLANET 51 gets 2 out of 5 stars.