Hopeful, empowering, and enormously entertaining, Warner Bros. Pictures’ Wonder Woman is the feature film this iconic female superhero deserves. The PG-13 action film is the best DC Comics-inspired movie since Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, and one of the few comic book-based films to get the tone just right. There’s nothing dour about this epic superhero tale that lays out the origin of Princess Diana of Themyscira, also known as Diana Prince.
Wonder Woman begins by introducing audiences to a rebellious young Diana (Lilly Aspell) who sneaks into fight training with her aunt, General Antiope (Robin Wright), a fierce warrior charged with training the Amazonian women who live on the hidden, idyllic island of Themyscira. Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), is against these early training sessions, but ultimately gives in as there’s no denying Diana’s destiny.
The adult Diana (Gal Gadot) is fully committed to the training, excelling at sword fighting, and embracing her destiny to take on the Greek God of War, Ares. The action kicks into high gear after Allied spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes into the ocean off the coast of Themyscira. Diana rescues Steve, learns about the great war raging, and assumes Ares is at the root of the suffering and deaths.
Diana ventures off the island for the first time, accompanying Steve to Europe and then to the front lines where she witnesses the horrors of war firsthand. Unwilling to turn her back on those in need, Diana rushes into battle against overwhelming German forces. Embraced by the people after freeing a town, Diana’s understanding of the forces she’s up against begins to clarify. While Steve conducts his own operation to stop German General Erich Ludendorff (played with exquisite evilness by Danny Huston) from unleashing a chemical weapon on innocent civilians and Allied forces, Diana concentrates her attention on locating and stopping Ares and thus putting an end to World War I.
Director Patty Jenkins’ passion for this project is evident in every frame, and Wonder Woman is a perfect example of what it looks like when material and filmmaker are an exact match. The action scenes are stunning and fresh, with director Jenkins earning high marks for originality and for proving women are just as capable as men when it comes to staging kick-ass fight sequences.
The CG’s smoothly blended in, but it’s the sheer physicality of Gal Gadot in the lead (as well as the work of her stunt double) that elevates the spectacular sequences. Gadot has said training for this role was more difficult than her training in the Israeli army, and the extensive practice sessions paid off in the film’s heart-pounding fight scenes. Gal Gadot initially seemed an unlikely choice to portray the Amazon Princess, however any lingering doubts are cast aside after watching her transform into the titular character in Wonder Woman’s big solo film.
Director Jenkins selected a stellar supporting cast to share the screen with Gal Gadot, led by Chris Pine playing the first man Diana’s ever encountered. Pine and Gadot have amazing chemistry and alternate playing straight man in between badass fight scenes and quieter moments of character development. Pine and Gadot play well off each other, with Pine’s Steve Trevor attempting to teach this badass Amazon princess how to handle life in the real world. They’re joined in their quest to take down General Ludendorff by a ragtag crew made up of con artist Sameer (Said Taghmaoui); Charlie (Ewen Bremner), a sharpshooter suffering from PTSD; and Eugene Brave Rock as Chief, a Native American scout who’s the first to embrace Diana’s mystical beliefs. Fargo’s David Thewlis has a pivotal role as the enigmatic Sir Patrick, with Thewlis playing a character quite different from anything he’s done over his 30+ year career.
A healthy dose of humor, fantastic action sequences, snappy writing, and a lot of heart combine to create a Wonder Woman movie audiences of all ages and both sexes can get into and be entertained watching. More importantly for the under-served audience of girls and young women, Wonder Woman is a comic book-inspired movie worthy of embracing for its important messages of love, honor, and female empowerment.
GRADE: A-
Directed By: Patty Jenkins
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and some suggestive content
Michael Stuhlbarg as Sy Feltz, Ewan McGregor as Emmit Stussy, and Mary McDonnell as Widow Goldfarb in ‘Fargo’ season 3 episode 10 (Photo by Chris Large / FX)
Christmas music greets Fargo fans as season three episode seven begins. Varga (David Thewlis) cuts open gifts while kneeling in front of a gorgeous Christmas tree. He tries out – or on – the contents of each present as a massive taxidermied bear watches over the unwrapping.
Chief Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon) arrives at Ray’s house and finds him dead on the floor, face down in a pool of blood. Officer Winnie Lopez (Olivia Sandoval) looks over her shoulder and Gloria says, appropriately, “Sh*.”
Nikki (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is back in her hotel room, alone and glancing occasionally at the room’s phone. Housekeeping knocks on the door and Nikki tentatively approaches the window when suddenly two officers with guns drawn crash through the door. Chief Moe Dammik (Shea Whigham) hauls Nikki back into the bathroom after finding her attempting to crawl out the window. Nikki’s placed in a squad car as officers gather the contents of her room.
Next, we catch up with Emmit (Ewan McGregor) who’s fresh off of murdering his brother. Following Varga’s instructions, Emmit has kept his dinner date with Sy (Michael Stuhlbarg) and potential investor Ruby Goldfarb (Mary McDonnell). Emmit attempts to act normal as he orders a drink and makes a toast to new friends.
Meanwhile, Chief Dammik has Nikki in an interrogation room and shows her a photo of Ray, dead. He wonders if she has cuts and bruises, and why a girl like her was with a guy like Ray. He goes over her criminal record and he’s sure she was with Ray only because he was her parolee officer. She asks for a lawyer but he advises her to push the “tearjerker” story that Ray was a monster. Nikki doesn’t answer and Moe leaves her alone with the photo of Ray, just in case she wants to admire her handiwork. She picks up the photo and notices something the police probably missed.
Gloria and Winnie are called in to speak with Chief Dammik and St. Cloud’s Police Chief. The St. Cloud Chief tells Winnie and Gloria to go back to their normal assignments as St. Cloud’s homicide unit is taking over. Gloria blows this off, asking to speak to Nikki. She’s not impressed with Dammik when he reveals he’s already spoken with Nikki, and she tells the St. Cloud Police Chief she has a detailed account of the homicides and how they’re connected. He has no idea she’s working on multiple murders, and Dammik again tries to shut her down. She ignores him and lays out the three murder victims. She explains they’ve deduced it all stems from a rivalry between Emmit and the newly deceased Ray Stussy.
The St. Cloud Police Chief is just as dismissive as Chief Dammik, despite Gloria’s quick recap of the three homicides. Gloria and Winnie are sent out of the room and while Dammik and the St. Cloud Police Chief talk, Gloria tells Winnie they have to find Emmit and gauge his reaction to the news Ray’s been murdered. She sends Winnie off as Dammik confronts her with two choices: take time off and grieve until she’s no longer officially a police chief or quit.
Gloria signals she’s taking time off but then sneaks back into a restricted area and asks to see Nikki Swango. Unfortunately, she’s stopped by an officer who needs to see her interview request form before he can allow her to speak with Nikki.
Over in Eden Valley, Officer Donny Mashman (Mark Forward) is called to investigate a case of vandalism and he locks up the station and hangs a sign indicating he’ll be back in 15 minutes. As he’s about to get into his car, he notices he forgot his gun and walks back to the station. The door’s unlocked and at first, he just thinks he forgot to lock it, but as he heads into his office he sees a chair in another room swiveling on its own. He calls out but no one answers. He cautiously looks around the office/library and finds Yuri (Goran Bogdan) leaning against a shelf, reading something.
Donny asks him to leave and Yuri says he’s gone. He claims he’s not really there anymore and Donny’s now completely confused. Donny’s frightened when Yuri approaches him, telling him he’s talking to himself. Yuri instructs Donny to pick up his gun and after he does, Yuri tells him to leave. For some reason, Donny obeys and rushes outside to his car.
After Donny pulls away, Yuri puts the Ennis Stussy file back where he found it.
Returning to Emmit’s story, he’s still at the restaurant with Ruby and Sy. They talk about retirement and Sy’s ready to get their attorney started on the paperwork. Emmit changes the subject to talk about marriages, sex tapes, and deadbeats who want money from rich people. When Ruby concedes that money is a blessing and a curse, Emmit says sore losers are to blame – not the money. Sy’s uncomfortable during all this and then he spots Officer Winnie Lopez in the restaurant lobby.
Sy thinks she’s there to harass them and heads over to confront her before she can make it to their table. She delivers the bad news about Ray and then Sy motions Emmit to meet with Winnie. Emmit walks over as they stare at him, and before Winnie can say anything about Ray, Emmit blurts out that he’s been at the restaurant since 6pm. He’s talking too much and it appears Winnie doesn’t know what to make of it and neither does Sy. Winnie finally tells Emmit Ray is dead and Emmit simply stares at her and says, “Raymond.” He doesn’t ask how or why and instead immediately jumps to blaming it on Nikki, suggesting the cops should bring her in.
Sy tries to cover for Emmit and blames the loose talk on the alcohol they’ve had over dinner, and Emmit calls Nikki a black widow who used his brother. Emmit doesn’t cry and isn’t doing a convincing job of looking upset, and Sy suggests Winnie talk to their lawyer if she needs a statement. When she asks Emmit about the last time he saw Ray, Emmit says he was there all night and Sy repeats that she needs to call their attorney. Sy calls Ray a saint who meant well as Emmit does a horrible job of looking upset.
After Emmit and Sy leave, Winnie asks Ruby if she can ask her a few questions.
Sy and Emmit arrive back at Emmit’s place, and Sy is ready to make funeral arrangements. He also assures Emmit he’ll talk to Ruby and make sure she backs up their story. Sy asks if Emmit thinks Varga killed Ray, but Emmit’s got his own theory. He believes Sy and Ray were working together, citing the odd timing of Ray’s request for money after the company is finally in the black plus Ray’s entry into his safe deposit box.
Sy wonders if Varga is feeding Emmit this conspiracy theory, explaining it makes no sense for him to team up with Ray because that would literally be turning millions of dollars into thousands of dollars which doesn’t make sense. Emmit apologizes, saying he’s under a lot of pressure and doesn’t know who to trust. Sy says he can always trust him and thinks they need to take the money from Ruby Goldfarb and run. It’s their only way out of this horrible situation.
David Thewlis as V.M. Varga and Ewan McGregor as Emmit Stussy in ‘Fargo’ (Photo by Chris Large / FX)
Inside his house, Emmit sits on the stairs leading to the second floor. He’s right next to the Christmas tree and the presents Varga had been going through earlier. Varga takes a seat on the opposite set of stairs and asks Emmit how he feels. His answer: “Free.” Emmit begins crying as Varga recites the “There was a Crooked Man” nursery rhyme.
Sy makes it to his house and as his wife makes small talk, he just stands there as she takes off his jacket. She talks about their kids and butterscotch pudding and only then does he break down, crying. When she asks what’s wrong, he replies, “The world. The world is wrong.” He says everything in his world is now different. She hugs him, holding him close as he cries.
Back at the St. Cloud police station, Gloria hasn’t given up on trying to speak with Nikki. She requests a blue interview form but since she’s not from St. Cloud, she must get her superior officer to sign the form. When she asks to sign it herself because she’s Chief of Eden Valley, the officers tell her that’s not allowed. First, she has to get the St. Cloud Police Chief’s signature, then there are two more forms to fill out.
Stymied, Gloria contemplates her situation while alone in the bathroom.
Nikki, meanwhile, looks around the holding cell for a way to escape. An officer arrives and tells her to turn around and put her hands through the bars because he has to check her cell for contraband. Nikki figures out something’s going on but not until after she’s handcuffed and can’t escape. The officer is about to inject her with a syringe when Gloria arrives and holds him at gunpoint. She tells him to put the syringe on the floor and he makes like he’s going to obey before knocking her down. She gets one shot off before the man flees, and the gunshot brings in cops who restrain her. Chief Dammik also appears and both Gloria and Nikki say the syringe on the floor is a murder weapon.
Dammik picks up the syringe and demands to know why he should believe it’s not Nikki’s. Gloria tells him to check the tape, and they all look at the surveillance cameras.
The St. Cloud Police Chief, Chief Dammik, Gloria, and the officer in charge of surveillance watch the video but it freezes moments before the incident took place. Dammik thinks it’s a glitch but Gloria believes it was going to be the fourth murder of the series she’s investigating. Gloria is frustrated and says they should talk to Nikki, even if this is all one big coincidence. They need to get to the bottom of this murder spree, if possible. Finally, the chiefs agree.
Gloria and Chief Dammik talk to Nikki and she makes it clear she doesn’t want Ray cut open. Gloria asks the identity of the man with the syringe, revealing her theory that Ray hired Maurice LeFay to rob Emmit and it’s just snowballed from there. Gloria also says she thinks Emmit came back at Ray hard, and Nikki finally adds to the conversation, telling her it wasn’t the brother and to follow the money. When Gloria asks what money, Nikki doesn’t answer. Gloria says her son is at home worried someone’s coming for him next since they murdered his grandfather, but Nikki still won’t talk.
Chief Dammik revokes Nikki’s probation and is going to transfer her to the state penitentiary where she’ll be in protective custody. As he’s leaving, he adds that a jury will convict her even if there was a nutbag with a syringe.
Gloria asks if Nikki likes pie and says she’ll visit her after the holidays to talk about Ray. As she’s about to close the door, Nikki says she likes coconut cream pie with chocolate flakes.
Gloria watches as Nikki’s escorted from the station by two officers. She makes it onto the transport bus and is handcuffed into the last seat at the back of the bus. The full bus heads to the state pen, but the trip comes to a sudden halt when a man walks in front of the bus and it swerves to avoid hitting him. The bus crashes and flips onto its side, with the prisoners tossed about inside. Nikki’s knocked out and as the episode ends, Yuri (wearing a bear head), begins cutting through the metal cage to get to the area holding the prisoners.
Charlize Theron stars in Focus Features’ ‘Atomic Blonde.’
Charlize Theron stars in a new two-minute video clip from the action thriller, Atomic Blonde. Backed by George Michael’s “Father Figure,” the clip features Theron taking on nearly a dozen attackers, ultimately using one as an anchor to leap out of a window to escape. Directed by David Leitch (John Wick) from a script by Kurt Johnstad (300), the Atomic Blonde cast includes James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella, and Toby Jones.
Focus Features has set a July 28, 2017 theatrical release date.
The Plot: The crown jewel of Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service, Agent Lorraine Broughton (Theron) is equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery, willing to deploy any of her skills to stay alive on her impossible mission. Sent alone into Berlin to deliver a priceless dossier out of the destabilized city, she partners with embedded station chief David Percival (McAvoy) to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies.
David Warshofsky, Salma Hayek, Jay Duplass, and Connie Britton in ‘Beatriz at Dinner’ (Photo by Lacey Terrell)
A new trailer’s arrived for the comedy film Beatriz at Dinner written by Mike White and directed by Miguel Arteta. White and Arteta reunited for the project after having previously worked together on Chuck & Buck, The Good Girl, and HBO’s Enlightened. The idea for the film sprang from White’s outrage over the killing of Cecil the lion by an American trophy hunter and after the story evolved, White immediately knew he wanted to bring his friend Arteta on board to direct.
“I’m very particular about the people who interpret my writing,” stated White. “Miguel is so respectful of the contribution of the writer. He has a humanistic impulse and comes at things from a heartfelt and hopeful place. My work can be read as satirical and acidic. His empathy enriches stories that in the hands of someone else could fall into a darker hole. I am always confident he’ll get great performances and be protective of the script.”
Beatriz at Dinner stars Salma Hayek, Chloë Sevigny, John Lithgow, Connie Britton, Jay Duplass, Amy Landecker, and David Warshofsky. Roadside Attractions is set to release the film in theaters on June 9, 2017.
The Plot: Beatriz (Hayek), an immigrant from a poor town in Mexico, has drawn on her innate kindness to build a career as a health practitioner in Los Angeles. Doug Strutt (Lithgow) is a cutthroat, self-satisfied billionaire. When these two opposites meet at a dinner party, their worlds collide and neither will ever be the same.
The CW’s The Originals continues season four after a short two-week break with episode 10 directed by Daniel Gillies. Gillies’ Elijah was at the heart of episode nine, with the Hollow in Sofya’s body needing to sacrifice an Original to be reborn and Elijah the unfortunate Original she’s captured for just that purpose. Needless to say the rescue plan Klaus concocts doesn’t work out, Hope and Freya discover Elijah’s only sort of dead, and a tree gives birth to the Hollow.
Up next, season four episode 10 titled ‘Phantomesque’ written by K.C. Perry and Kyle Arrington is set to air on June 2, 2017. The cast of season four includes Joseph Morgan as Klaus, Charles Michael Davis as Marcel, Daniel Gillies as Elijah, Phoebe Tonkin as Hayley, Yusuf Gatewood as Vincent, Riley Voelkel as Freya, Summer Fontana as Hope, Christina Moses as Keelin, and Taylor Cole as Sofya.
The ‘Phantomesque’ Plot: After the devastating events of the previous episode, Klaus (Morgan) requests that his estranged siblings Rebekah (guest star Claire Holt) and Kol (guest star Nathaniel Buzolic) return home to stand by their family against The Hollow. Meanwhile, Freya (Voelkel) recruits Hayley (Tonkin) for a dangerous journey that will put both their lives at risk — but may be the sole means of saving someone they love. Elsewhere, tensions rise when Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) leads a hunt for The Hollow — putting him on a collision course with the person he was least prepared to face. Finally, as Kol continues to mourn the loss of Davina, he is forced to consider the lengths he’d go to see her again.
Matthew Rhys as Philip Jennings and Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings in ‘The Americans’ season 5 (Photo by Patrick Harbron/FX)
FX’s The Americans just finished up its penultimate season on May 30, 2017 with an episode that left questions dangling about the future of KGB Agents Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell). Series creator/executive producer Joe Weisberg and executive producer Joel Fields recognize that the fifth season was a slow burn, but the deliberate pace allowed for more time to explore the Jennings family dynamic.
With only one season left to tie up the story of Philip, Elizabeth and their children Henry (Keidrich Sellati) and Paige (Holly Taylor), Weisberg and Fields took part in a conference call to wrap up season five and provide the broadest of hints at the upcoming sixth and final season.
Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg The Americans Interview:
Is the ultimate ending of the series, the season six finale, vastly different from what you originally envisioned or are you following the same path you initially set out on?
Joel Fields: “To our surprise, it is very similar to what we had set out to do. We have now written all 10 outlines scene-by-scene for the final season and we are in the process of refining them before we start writing scripts. We have certainly found ourselves many, many times over the years writing the show surprised as stories have turned in new and unexpectedly fun directions. We really, I think, in many ways expected that this ending we had in mind would change. But although there have been different iterations of it, it has really been different variations of the same ending. It sure seems that that’s where we are headed.”
This season even more so than previous seasons has shown how much of a family drama The Americans is, and not just a spy show.
Joel Fields: “It’s funny. We got about three episodes into our outlines for this current season and [FX President] John Landgraf called us and said, ‘You know what you have found this season is that rather than story propulsion, you’ve found emotional velocity.’ He said, ‘I think this season is the season of emotional velocity.’ We felt like that seems like an apt description of what we were going for.
It was an active choice. All of those personal decisions, getting to the wedding for them was a big transition. Getting to that decision of Elizabeth thinking that the marriage was more important than the mission and it was time to get the family home was a huge thing. And then having the U-turn of that mission becoming so important that she would have to make a different kind of decision but have to do it in the context of protecting this marriage that had become so important to her… All of those things seem to be escalations and challenges that we wanted to explore with the characters.”
How strong is the pull toward home and is there a possibility they’d stay in the United States if their mission is over?
Joel Fields: “Part of what they want is to go home. I think they both want that, in a sense. You’ve been seeing that over the last season, or even season and a half, you’ve seen it more with Elizabeth but with Phil too, there’s a pull towards home so that this idea to get out from under this, that she has had a yearning to return to the place that she loves.
For him, it’s both about being able to make her happy and give her what she wants, but that he has that inside of him too. He’s been thinking about the past and remembering where he comes from. If they’re not going to be spies anymore, she’s not the one who wants to stay and live here otherwise, that that’s the other place. Even if he becomes very accustomed to this, that other place is where he’s from. It is the logical step. We say all the time that if you were CIA officers and were done with your mission, you’d come back to America. So, it’s going home to them.”
Joe Weisberg: “If I can just add to that for Philip, just as in the end for Elizabeth where she’s got to stay and do this mission, she doesn’t want to do it in a way that’s going to harm him. So, she makes that tough proposal to him about his future. I think for him there’s no world in which Elizabeth Jennings is going to quit being a KGB officer and stay in the United States. If she’s going home, he’s going with her because they’re husband and wife.”
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in ‘The Americans’ (Photo by Patrick Harbron/FX)
How did the idea of the wedding come about?
Joel Fields: “I think that the wedding in episode 10 came about, I’m going to say 80% through the break of the season which meant we had a rough sketch of the ending and it dropped in place afterwards and then everything was refined from there.”
Joe Weisberg: “That’s right. I think we knew that we had the ending and we had to work towards that in a number of different ways.
And this isn’t in answer to this question, but it just popped into my mind about the delicacy of the final scene of the two of them sitting together. You sit there and you watch the depth of those performances between those two actors and the subtleties and the variations that are conveyed on their faces and in their inflections – that is the second to last scene of the season that we shot and was shot when hail started to rain. Keri and Matthew sat there and we had to digitally remove hail from the shot; we had to do sound work to get rid of the hail falling around them, and those two were so committed to that scene. They just kept going and in between takes Matthew was pulling hail out of Keri’s hair. And yet you get that real, deep, nuanced performance.”
How would you describe Martha’s overall journey from the mail robot days to this season?
Joe Weisberg: “Well, one of the things is it’s so interesting to look at the ending in that in the very early days she was this victim and in this terrible place and we’d say, ‘Poor Martha.’ And one of those things you saw in those early days is she wanted more than anything else to have a baby. She asked Clark for that and that was shut down. She was never going to get that. And then sure enough at the end of this crazy, horrendous journey where she’s on the one hand been treated so horribly, on the other hand she’s shown such strength and fortitude – almost more than anyone could have imagined – and then at the end she gets this thing which is what she always wanted most. More than anything else it’s a surprise and it’s moving. You can’t say that it’s any kind of fate or justice or recompense. It’s just what happened to this woman.
It’s a story of how the KGB was able to both do these most awful things to her and then still take care of her in the most loving and kind way. We think that that tells a lot about the people and about the organization that they’re capable of both of those extremes, and in her ability to weather all these storms and still find a source of love in her life. I think it mostly just feels human to us.”
Given the current impact Russia’s having on America, will that in any way affect the story moving forward or make the show even more relevant?
Joel Fields: “It doesn’t affect our story because the story does take place in the ‘80s so we don’t let any of that come in. But in terms of the relevancy of the show, on the one hand we’ll leave that to others. On the other hand, we certainly know that it changes the way the show is experienced by the audience and we hope to the extent the show is about what it means to have an enemy, about the fact that ironically one of the things that connects us all as human beings is the fact we all seem to need to have an ‘other’ and to create an enemy. To the extent that those things are placed thematically, we hope that it’s a good time to have a show on the air that challenges people’s ideas about that and reminds people that even our greatest enemies are human beings.”
Did you always plan to expand the scope of the show to Russia?
Joel Fields: “We did not plan that at all, no. We had the residentura; we always liked doing the storyline of Russians speaking Russian and always thought that was a fundamental part of the show. But we never thought we’d be going back and telling long stories in Russia.
Nina ended up back there for a little bit of a story, but then when Oleg went back suddenly that opportunity presented itself and we thought that was great. We could tell the story of what was taking place in that society and show a lead character of ours living his life there. That got us very excited, both in terms of stories we could tell there and visually what we could show about life in Russia.
The real connection with Philip and Elizabeth was more just a counterpoint than anything else. They were thinking of going back there and they’re remembering their life. It all plays against just a modern reality of what’s taking place there.”
Were you tilting the table a little bit toward Stan’s new girlfriend being in the KGB?
Joe Weisberg: “Our effort is not to tilt. Our effort is to be so ambiguous that nobody knows what the hell is going on.”
Was the idea that Paige and Henry would want to go to Russia more of a wishful thinking kind of thing or something Philip and Elizabeth thought they could actually get away with?
Joel Fields: “I remember looking at every one of those scenes with Joe and asking basically that question which is, ‘Where are they, how firm are they, and to what extent are they deluding themselves?’ What is the story they’re overtly telling themselves? We tried to have as many layers of that in there as possible so that if we were successful, you can look at those scenes and see many of those things simultaneously at play.”
Will the pace accelerate in the final season?
Joel Fields: “What we can promise is that the pace should feel different next season because we want every season to feel different. That’s something we set out to do at the beginning of each of our seasonal creative processes, and this final season is the same. It will definitely have a different feeling and pace than this past season and we hope from all the other seasons.”
Kate Winslet and Idris Elba in ‘The Mountain Between Us’
The first trailer has arrived for The Mountain Between Us, the action adventure film from writer/director Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now). The cast is led by Idris Elba and Kate Winslet and includes Dermot Mulroney and Beau Bridges. 20th Century Fox has set an October 20, 2017 theatrical release date for The Mountain Between Us, based on the book by Charles Martin and adapted for the screen by Chris Weitz and J. Mills Goodloe.
The Plot: Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across hundreds of miles of wilderness, pushing one another to endure and discovering strength they never knew possible.
Vanessa Hudgens will be joining the judging panel on the 14th season of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. Hudgens will be taking a seat alongside returning judge Mary Murphy and judge/executive producer Nigel Lythgoe when the new season kicks off on June 12, 2017. Hudgens recently starred in the network’s Emmy-winning live musical production, Grease: Live. Her credits also include the High School Musical films, the superhero TV comedy Powerless, Gimme Shelter, Spring Breakers, and Sucker Punch.
“I am so excited for Vanessa to join Mary and me on the judging panel for the 14th season of So You Think You Can Dance. There was instant chemistry in the audition rounds, and I know the SYTYCD fans will love her as much as we do. Vanessa is an accomplished artist and brings her own brand of enthusiasm and energy to our panel,” said Lythgoe.
Details on So You Think You Can Dance Season 14: The 14th season of So You Think You Can Dance features highly skilled dancers between the ages of 18-30 who will showcase their talents in various dance styles, including contemporary, tap, hip-hop, ballroom, animation, breaking and more. The Top 10 dancers will be paired up with All-Stars who will guide them throughout the competition as they vie for America’s votes and the title of America’s Favorite Dancer.
During the audition rounds, the most talented dancers compete in front of the judges for a coveted spot at “The Academy” callback rounds in Los Angeles. At the end of “The Academy” callback rounds, each of this season’s 10 All-Stars will choose one dancer to move on to the SYTYCD stage and become part of this season’s Top 10. Once the Top 10 are chosen, the dancers will compete LIVE each week for America’s votes in different dance styles, working with world-renowned choreographers and dancing alongside the All-Stars. Millions of votes will be cast to determine which contestants will be eliminated each week until the winner is named America’s Favorite Dancer on the season finale.
The Little Hours just debuted a new not-safe-for-work trailer for the R-rated comedy film from writer/director Jeff Baena. The raunchy comedy involves nuns acting very unholy and stars Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Kate Mucucci, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Jemima Kirke, Nick Offerman, Adam Pally, Jon Gabrus, and Lauren Weedman.
The Little Hours will open in limited release beginning on June 30, 2017 in New York and Los Angeles.
The Plot: Medieval nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci) lead a simple life in their convent. Their days are spent chafing at monastic routine, spying on one another, and berating the estate’s day laborer. After a particularly vicious insult session drives the peasant away, Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) brings on new hired hand Massetto (Dave Franco), a virile young servant forced into hiding by his angry lord. Introduced to the sisters as a deaf-mute to discourage temptation, Massetto struggles to maintain his cover as the repressed nunnery erupts in a whirlwind of pansexual horniness, substance abuse, and wicked revelry.
A new official trailer’s arrived for Rough Night starring Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, and Zoë Kravitz. The R-rated comedy comes from writers Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs, with Aniello directing. Downs produces and co-stars in the Sony Pictures release heading to theaters on June 16, 2017.
The Plot: In Rough Night, an edgy R-rated comedy, five best friends from college reunite 10 years later for a wild bachelorette weekend in Miami. Their hard partying takes a hilariously dark turn when they accidentally kill a male stripper. Amidst the craziness of trying to cover it up, they’re ultimately brought closer together when it matters most.
