Zac Efron stars in the music-driven drama We Are Your Friends which has just premiered a new trailer. The Warner Bros Pictures release finds Efron playing a DJ struggling to make a name for himself. Co-written by Max Joseph, who makes his feature film directorial debut with the R-rated film, the We Are Your Friends cast also includes Emily Ratajkowski and Wes Bentley.
We Are Your Friends opens in theaters on August 28, 2015.
The Plot:
We Are Your Friends is about what it takes to find your voice. Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole (Efron) spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the one track that will set the world on fire.
All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James (Bentley), who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James’ much younger girlfriend, Sophie (Ratajkowski). With Cole’s forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is destined for.
Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Once Upon a Time‘s Ginnifer Goodwin was sporting a new hair color at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con and when asked what prompted the major change, Goodwin laughed and said it was for her husband, Josh Dallas. During our roundtable interview, Goodwin said the new look didn’t scare the baby, which is something she thought might have happened.
Dallas commented on how the new hair color is close to their son’s hair color, and Goodwin agreed. “We’re twins already, but now we’re a lot. He’s blonde. He’s like towheaded, so now we’re closer twins.”
Back to the matter at hand, Goodwin and Dallas were part of ABC’s Once Upon a Time cast who once again made the trek to Comic-Con. Always a big draw with viewers and the media, the cast participated in a Q&A with fans and sat down in a slightly quieter environment for interviews.
Asked how Snow and Charming will be handling the fact Emma (Jennifer Morrison) has turned dark this upcoming season, Goodwin replied, “Not well.” Dallas concurred, saying, “Not well because before she was born, they went to great lengths to make sure the darkness that could or could not appear in her, they made sure it wasn’t a possibility.”
“That it couldn’t factor in,” added Goodwin.
“It’s happened, and that’s not a great thing. It’s their fault. I think you’re going to see Snow and Charming go to some great lengths to make sure that she gets back to the savior that she is,” said Dallas.
“But boy, is that going to cause us some trouble,” revealed Goodwin.
“There might be a little strain in this relationship. Maybe,” said Dallas.
Now that Goodwin and Dallas are parents in real life, Goodwin says being a mom has completely changed how she sees the parent-child dynamic. “I mean, there’s no way to explain it. I read every book, asked every question before having Oliver and there’s no preparing me for what was to come. I always thought that when people say there’s no greater love than the love you have for your child, I thought that that was like quantitative. But it’s not that you have more love, it’s that it’s this whole other different kind of love all together that you didn’t know existed.
And so it’s changed how… I mean, I find myself, a) super tired, but also I’m a lot more emotionally raw all the time in these scenes because the stakes are so much higher than I ever could have pretended them to be, imagined them to be. So there’s sort of an automatic having a knee-jerk reaction, like keeping her safe, that I would never have understood before having Oliver, for sure.”
“I also think there’s this thing about Snow and Charming which I’m realizing that in real life, even though Oliver’s only 13 months is that you don’t want him to make the same mistakes that you made,” explained Dallas. “I think Snow and Charming, probably one of their faults is they’ve done wrong in their life, of course, but they’re so steadfast about being right all the time and doing the right thing, purity, that sometimes it can be…”
“Like their standards are too high,” said Goodwin.
“Sometimes they have very, very high standards even though they’ve done some terrible things themselves. I guess that’s human. That’s within you. So, I think you’re going to see them, particularly with Emma going dark this season, you’re going to see Snow and Charming going to some maybe questionable lengths to help Emma be the savior that she was. But, yeah, it definitely informs what we do with our onscreen kids and our offscreen,” said Dallas.
Asked if this will be a difficult season for them as actors playing Snow and Charming because of the dark Emma, Dallas replied, “I think they’re always going through something difficult. There’s never a time where everything’s like, ‘Yeah, this is cool.'”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” asks Goodwin. “Let’s go on vacation to Hawaii!”
“Is it going to be more challenging than any other season? I don’t know. We’ve only seen one script so far so we don’t know exactly where it’s going to go,” said Dallas.
None of the characters in Once Upon a Time are drawn in black and white; each exists in the grey world where they can’t be defined as strictly a hero or a villain. So, is there a moment in real life in which either Goodwin or Dallas went over to the dark side to get what they wanted? “I mean, we’re all actors so we’ve all got crazy, unethical stories, I’m sure,” said Goodwin, laughing. “None that I’m going to share with you, that’s for sure,” replied Dallas.
“We know how he got this part!” joked Goodwin.
Wrapping it up, Dallas said, “It’s going to be an exciting season. Camelot’s going to be great, in particular seeing as how Snow and Charming have a relationship with a couple of those characters back in Camelot. Of course, Lancelot. Lancelot made sure that we got married in the first place at Charming’s mother’s death. You’re going to see a brotherhood and a real friendship with Arthur and Charming. They going to bro out in a big way. I don’t know how it’s going to happen but you’re going to see Charming at his most heroic that we’ve seen him yet. So, there’s a lot to come.”
“I don’t know. Sword fighting with a baby was pretty heroic,” said Goodwin.
“I don’t know how you beat that, but apparently that’s what they keep telling me,” replied Dallas.
20th Century has unveiled a new trailer for the sci-fi action movie Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials directed by Wes Ball. The second film of the Maze Runner series stars Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, and Patricia Clarkson, and is set to open in theaters on September 18, 2015.
The Plot: In this next chapter of the epic Maze Runner saga, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.
Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.
“So, what brings Billy Hope to my gym?” asks Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker). “I’m looking for a job, maybe a place to train,” answers Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), former lightweight champion of the boxing world who has fallen on hard times and has lost his daughter to child protection services in the dramatic movie, Southpaw.
Only a few months earlier, Billy had everything a man could want in life: a beautiful, loyal, smart, and loving wife (Rachel McAdams), an adorable daughter (Oona Laurence), a big fancy house, fast cars, and the title of lightweight champion of the world. Billy always relied on his furious temper to help him defeat his opponents in the ring, but when that same temper causes a deadly, tragic accident, Billy’s life quickly crumbles, and his manager (50 Cent) leaves him behind to pursue other talented boxers.
Not having anywhere or anyone to turn to from his old life and having completely failed his daughter by losing her to child protective services for drinking and having a loaded gun in her presence, Billy turns to Tick Willis, a retired fighter and trainer from the fight game and owner of a local gym. Together, the two men work to train Billy to get him in shape and to get him back into the ring to fight to get his life and his daughter back.
Reminiscent of great boxing films like Rocky, Rocky 3, The Champ, and Raging Bull, Southpaw avoids being a by-the-numbers, cliché boxing film with the help of exceptional performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, and Rachel McAdams. It’s written as a classic redemption story, but the complexity and depth of Gyllenhaal’s performance raises the film to a higher level. As a fighter who came from the streets and had to fight his way out and into the ring, Jake portrays Billy as a not-too-bright, tough hothead who loves his family and loves being champ. After tragedy strikes and Billy is faced with dealing with two-faced friends and raising his daughter alone, he fails miserably, and yet the audience will still be rooting for him to make a comeback because of Gyllenhaal’s portrayal of a loving but uneducated man. The scenes with Billy visiting his daughter while being supervised are heartbreaking.
Forest Whitaker is perfectly cast as Willis, the old, past-his-prime trainer who eventually becomes Billy’s only trustworthy friend as well as his trainer and boss. Gyllenhaal and Whitaker have great chemistry together and, in addition to some traditional training montages, share a few quiet, touching scenes together as two men who realize they only have each other to lean on.
Rachel McAdams shines as Billy’s loving, smart, and sexy wife who knows her husband better than he knows himself and is really the brains of the couple. Once again, McAdams is able to create sizzling chemistry with her leading man as well as a very likable and classy character for the short time she’s on screen. In fact, when her character exits the film, her absence leaves a huge void in the movie that’s never filled.
The direction by Antoine Fuqua (Shooter, Olympus Has Fallen) is strong and best in the quieter moments, giving his actors a few seconds to show a range of emotions that aren’t usually present in films like this. The boxing scenes are impressively shot, similar to watching a boxing match on HBO.
The biggest flaw in the film is the speed of Billy’s downfall from the good life. In a matter of only a few months, he goes from being number one lightweight boxer to broke and homeless. It’s way too fast and not very believable. Also, there’s not much reference and focus on changing Billy’s fighting style from brutal slugger to becoming a Southpaw – the title of the film.
Although unlikely to become a boxing cinema classic like Rocky or Raging Bull, Southpaw is still a crowd-pleasing and emotionally effective film that will have the audience invested in Billy’s life and future. You’ll be rooting for Billy to win both in and out of the ring. In short, it’s a contender.
GRADE: B-
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout and some violence
I try to keep my expectations low when it comes to watching movies. These days, too many things are built for test audiences and foreign markets. But every year, I can always count on at least one movie fully capturing my attention and instilling a need for me to watch it over and over and over again.
Last year, The Fault in Our Stars introduced me to author John Green. The movie floored me and I’m still a bit perturbed that I didn’t buy stock in Kleenex following the press screening. So with his next book-turned-movie, Paper Towns, I was less than cautiously optimistic that the experience would be exactly what I want in a film.
In its favor, aside from Green’s source material which I will be reading very shortly, actor Nat Wolff steps up to a lead role (after playing a supporting role in The Fault in Our Stars), and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber return to adapt Green’s text. Honestly, to some degree, it’s their involvement that buoyed my expectations more than anything, as they also adapted The Spectacular Now and wrote (500) Days of Summer. Hopefully you’ve seen all of those movies and can now appreciate why I had Paper Towns on my radar.
Thankfully, director Jake Schreier and everyone else involved managed to meet those lofty expectations and if you’re wondering why I’m not returning your calls this weekend, I’m probably re-watching Paper Towns.
Now, don’t worry if you think I’ve picked yet another fully melancholy affair and have dropped my life savings into Kleenex stock this time around. The Fault in Our Stars is a full-on tear jerker, and still gets me each time I re-watch it. However, while there were moments that could engender some leakage from my eye sockets with Paper Towns, it’s much more of a reflective and nostalgic affair.
Quentin (Wolff) has been infatuated/”in-love” with Margo (Cara Delevingne) since he first laid eyes on her as a kid when she moved in across the street. As life would have it, their social circles diverged soon after hormones entered the picture but Quentin’s pining never waned. Out of the blue, Margo enlists Quentin’s help with a teenage revenge plot. This sets in a motion the final weeks of high school for Quentin, Margo, and all of their friends; complete with parties, prom, and a road trip.
What this movie does so well, and that credit goes to Green, Neustadter, and Weber, is capture the voice of 18 year-old kids. Much like the other films I’ve mentioned in this review, the ability to present young adults in a much more realistic and sincere manner is in what I might call a Golden Age (especially when you throw The Perks of Being a Wallflower in the mix). Sure, many of us consider John Hughes’ films that kind of touchstone, and the YA novels are … well, they’re really just a romanticized version of what it’s like to be young … but there is so much good material being brought to theaters these days that it’s making my home movie rotations much harder to decide upon.
I will say that the specific events in Paper Towns are idealized and you could definitely make the case that things happen in an all too convenient manner. I’m also interested to find out upon reading the book if Delevingne’s portrayal of Margo is true to the book or if she was missing just the tiniest bit of softness around the edges as it felt at times. However, while I was fully cognizant of all this while watching the movie, I also was flooded with my own experiences from high school and early college that were similar in tone and experience.
Hopefully, we’ve all taken a spontaneous road trip with friends across state lines. Hopefully, we all had an amazing Prom. Hopefully, we’ve all placed our hearts in the hands of someone else. Hopefully, we’ve all had crystallizing moments with close friends. And hopefully, we’re aware of how all of these things have shaped us into who we are today.
That’s what Paper Towns is trying to convey and where I think it succeeds. My only concern is that I’ve talked this movie up so much that you go into it with inflated expectations. If you’ve read my reviews all these years, I hope you know to take all of my exaltations, and some of my rants, with a grain of salt. But if you were at all interested in this movie, please go out and see it. If my review is not enough to get you into a theater, maybe watch the trailer (which tells too much in my opinion but maybe you’re not as perturbed by that phenomena as I am). Either way, I’m now officially on watch for John Green’s next book-turned-movie, Looking for Alaska, which is slated for a 2016 release. I have no idea what it’s about but you can be sure I’ll be seeing it as soon as I can.
GRADE: B+
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some language, drinking, sexuality and partial nudity – all involving teens
Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie Pitt is set to direct First They Killed My Father based on Loung Ung’s memoir First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. Jolie Pitt and Ung adapted Ung’s book, with Jolie Pitt also producing the dramatic film along with Rithy Panh. According to the official announcement, Jolie Pitt’s son Maddox, who was born in Cambodia, will also be involved in the film.
The project is a Netflix Original Film and is expected to air on the streaming service late next year.
“I was deeply affected by Loung’s book,” stated Jolie Pitt. “It deepened forever my understanding of how children experience war and are affected by the emotional memory of it. And it helped me draw closer still to the people of Cambodia, my son’s homeland.”
“Angelina and I met in 2001 in Cambodia, and immediately, I trusted Angelina’s heart,” stated Ung. “Through the years, we have become close friends, and my admiration for Angelina as a woman, a mother, a filmmaker, and a humanitarian has only grown. It is with great honor that I entrust my family’s story to Angelina to adapt into a film.”
Commenting on her partnership with Netflix, Jolie Pitt said, “Films like this are hard to watch but important to see. They are also hard to get made. Netflix is making this possible, and I am looking forward to working with them and excited that the film will reach so many people.”
The First They Killed My Father Story:
Loung Ung was five years old when the Khmer Rouge assumed power over Cambodia in 1975 and began a four-year reign of terror and genocide in which nearly two million Cambodians died. Forced from her family’s home in Phnom Penh, Ung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans while her six siblings were sent to labor camps. Ung survived and wrote First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, which was first published in 2000.
Cody Christian at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Rebecca Murray / Showbiz Junkies)
Teen Wolf series creator Jeff Davis says Cody Christian’s character, Theo, is one of his personal favorite new characters. Why? Because every series needs a character audiences can really hate. Davis even described Theo as the Teen Wolf equivalent of Game of Thrones‘ Joffrey. At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Christian took Davis’ comparison as a compliment.
“Honestly, it’s an honor. Just the opportunity that I’ve gotten already being on the show and the character that I’ve been given is like a meaty character with so much substance,” said Christian during our roundtable interview. “Theo has everywhere to go in this season, and playing a character like that is an incredible experience. Teen Wolf being established in its fifth season, that’s badass to me. I take that with utmost respect.”
Asked how he gets into the darker aspects of the character, Christian replied, “Me, personally, there’s nothing that I pull from my life. I’m a firm believer that every character has its own story and as an actor, as an artist, it’s our job to create that story. I look at every character, every role as an empty canvas. When I first sit down, it’s like I’m taking a paint brush to it for the first time. I get to create everything that supports this character and makes it what it is. So, painting that story of Theo and what he is and what he comes from was so much fun. I can’t wait for the audience to see it.”
Going in, Christian wasn’t completely aware that Theo would be a major antagonist. “There was a concept. When I auditioned for the role, Theo was an idea. And as we started filming, as the season progressed, it then grew to what it is now. That’s compliments to Jeff and our amazing team of writers on Teen Wolf. But, yeah, when I first auditioned I was like, ‘Let me be a badass. I just want to be a badass.’ That’s what I went to them with. Theo, he has his moments.”
Although some fans aren’t sure if Theo is actually a werewolf, Christian said it’s been revealed. “We’ve seen him with fangs and the crinkled forehead,” said Christian. “We saw it and it is what it is. I think he’s full-on werewolf – and also a wolf wolf.”
Derek Waters, Taran Killam, Jeremy Konner and Paget Brewster at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Comedy Central brought Drunk History creators Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner along with actors Taran Killam and Paget Brewster to the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con to discuss the show’s twisted take on history. The comedy series is heading into its third season, which is set to kick off this September, and at Comic-Con Waters and Konner provided a look behind the scenes at how the historic events/figures are chosen and how each episode is shot.
Waters and Konner also discussed what it’s like to work with the narrators as they enjoy their favorite alcoholic beverages.
The Drunk History Plot: “Drunk History presents historical reenactments from A-list talent as told by inebriated storytellers. Based on the award-winning and wildly popular web series, Drunk History provides a unique take on the familiar and less familiar people and events from our country’s great past as great moments in history are reenacted with unforgettable results.”
Taran Killam (SNL) has been involved in the reenactments and explained the process during our roundtable interviews at Comic-Con. “They send you the video and the audio file before you even show up, so if you’re diligent enough – which I think a lot of people who do the show are not – you can do the research ahead of time. I myself am not. So, they’ll start lighting and they’ll play it over and over and over again. You probably get to hear it 10 or 12 times before they’re even rolling. The problem is that you’re also there to hang out with the people you’re shooting with. So, you’re socializing, you’re talking, so hopefully some of it sinks in subconsciously. Because it’s not very long, it’s pretty easy. Normally by the third or fourth time everyone is in sync.”
Watch the full interviews for more on Drunk History, the celebrities who participate, outtakes, and pitching ideas:
Jensen Ackles at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Jensen Ackles didn’t give much away about the upcoming 11th season of The CW’s Supernatural while doing roundtable interviews at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con, but he did catch us up on where the story left off and what he’s looking forward to within the Winchester brother relationship next season. “The mark is gone and so with that comes double trouble,” said Ackles. “We find ourselves now in the wake of what happened last thing in the last season. Something has been released in the world. We have to figure out what that is, how far its reach is, and how we’re going to fix it.”
Ackles said fans of the series can expect more of the brothers working together in season 11. “One of the things I really like about it is it’s kind of going back to the original format of having both brothers unaffected…meaning not drinking demon blood and not having the Mark of Cain on their arm. Just Sam and Dean as Sam and Dean, and fighting a common cause – a common target. I’m anxious to see how it gets back to that and what it means for the show. I think it’s a good show,” explained Ackles.
Ackles is also really looking forward to one episode in particular: “Baby” featuring Dean’s beloved Impala. “I’m excited about that. I’ve watched that movie Locke – a fantastic movie – but then I’ve also seen the movie Buried with Ryan Reynolds, and all I wanted…even with the Ryan Reynolds movie which is great and I think Ryan did a great job…but all I wanted to see was just a shot of the desert. ‘Just get me out of the box for a second! Just give me an establishing shot and then we can go back in the box.’ And, of course it never happens so I felt a little claustrophobic. But with Locke, I never would have imagined an hour and a half movie sitting 90 minutes in a car would have been as interesting as it was. So, if that’s the formula we have to follow I’m very nervous. We might have to call Tom Hardy and have him come over and guest star in that one. ‘Will you just sit in the back seat and say all of our dialogue for us?'”
Dean has a lot of bromances on the show, so in real life who would Ackles like to be involved in a bromance with? “Well I just mentioned Tom Hardy and he’s certainly somebody that I admire and respect, and admire his talent. There’s some other contemporaries that I have. I think [Ryan] Gosling is a very talented, under-used actor, although that might be by his own choice,” replied Ackles. “You talk about the Chrises. What is it, the four Chrises? Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, [Chris Hemsworth]. All of those guys – I admire their careers and what they do. I don’t know if I would necessarily get in a bromance though. I think if I was going to bromance somebody it might be like Bear Grylls.”
Showtime has set an October 2015 premiere date for the new seasons of Homeland and The Affair. Homeland season five will premiere on October 4th at 9pm ET/PT followed by The Affair‘s second season premiere at 10pm ET/PT.
In addition, Showtime also debuted the poster for season five of the drama Homeland starring Claire Danes. The network also revealed details on the upcoming seasons of both shows.
Homeland:
Homeland season five will pick up two years after Carrie Mathison’s (Danes) ill-fated tenure as Islamabad station chief. Struggling to reconcile her guilt and disillusionment with years of working on the front lines in the “war on terror,” Carrie finds herself in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, estranged from the CIA and working as the head of security for a German philanthropist. Homeland is currently in production in Berlin, and is the first American TV series to shoot entirely in Germany. Season five also stars Rupert Friend, F. Murray Abraham, Sebastian Koch, Miranda Otto, Alexander Fehling, Sarah Sokolovic, and Mandy Patinkin.
The Affair:
Season two of The Affair explores the emotional and psychological effects of an affair that destroyed two marriages, and the crime that brings these individuals back together. This season, the provocative drama will be told separately from four different perspectives, revealing four distinct truths. The Affair features Ruth Wilson as Alison, a young woman attempting to move on from tragedy and building a lasting relationship while contending with the judgment of others and her own self-doubt.
Her lover Noah (Dominic West) is a burgeoning writer trying to balance the temptations of success, the family he left behind, and the woman he loves. Noah’s former wife Helen (Maura Tierney) is attempting to piece her life together while navigating divorce proceedings, care for her children, and her parents’ noxious influence. Joshua Jackson plays Cole, Alison’s former husband struggling to overcome past heartbreak and start a promising new life. Yet the long-term ramifications of the affair continue to shape these lives, and will lead to an event that changes everything once again.
