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‘Unfriended’ Movie Review – A Twisted Cautionary Tale

Unfriended Movie Review
Blaire (SHELLEY HENNIG), Mitch (MOSES STORM), Jess (RENEE OLSTEAD), Adam (WILL PELTZ) and Ken (JACOB WYSOCKI) in Universal Pictures’ ‘Unfriended’ (Photo © 2015 Universal Studios)

You may never respond to a Skype call the same way again after watching Unfriended, a twisted take on the found footage genre that consists entirely of footage of five teens communicating online. Shot in an 85-minute-long take according to the film’s writer, Nelson Greaves, Unfriended may not be the scariest movie you’ll see this year, but at least it forges a new path in telling an anti-bullying story aimed at today’s computer-addicted, social media-using teens.

The film kicks off with Blaire (Shelley Hennig) and Mitch (Moses Jacob Storm) getting hot and bothered during a sex chat. Why there’s a kitchen knife involved in this sex play is never explained, but that’s not important…yet. They’re interrupted by their BFFs who interrupt their Skype session, making Blaire and Mitch scramble for their clothing.

Joining the chat are Ken (Jacob Wysocki), the stoner who serves as the computer programming expert of the group; Adam (Will Peltz), the hunky drunk one of the bunch who just happens to have a gun nearby; and Jess (Renee Olstead), the party girl who has a rep for sleeping around. When their private Skype session is invaded by an uninvited person, all their attempts to disconnect the unknown presence fail. Soon, the mystery guest reveals herself to be Laura (Heather Sossaman), their dead friend who is apparently not resting in peace.

After a disgusting video of Laura at a party was posted to YouTube, the embarrassment and humiliation were too much, and she took a gun to school and killed herself. The video of her death also exists online at LiveLeak, and this Skype chat is taking place on the one-year anniversary of her suicide. At first, the friends believe someone has hacked Laura’s account and is screwing with them. But when they find they have no control over their computer screens (photos are posted to Facebook pages by someone other than the owner of the page), and when the online threats turn into actual acts of violence (remember that knife from the sex chat?), they begin to turn on each and confess to deep, dark secrets.

Never once does the movie cheat and show footage not shot from the perspective of a computer screen, and every application used during the film is easily recognizable (Skype, Facebook, Google, Chat Roulette, etc). And while the premise of being a voyeur to a private chat session sounds gimmicky, Unfriended actually smartly uses an innovative method to connect with a generation who’ve grown up online. The premise of a dead bullied girl haunting her supposed friends one year after her death and taking out her vengeance via the use of their keyboards isn’t (hopefully) relatable, the fact teens are victims of cyberbullying and the ability to post the most embarrassingly personal moments of a person’s life online with just a few clicks of a keyboard most definitely is all too real.

Although the story unfolds from Blaire’s point of view and the film focuses on her computer screen to play out the story, the supporting characters are surprisingly well developed, considering we only see them in little boxes as they chat online.

Unfriended effectively uses the instant ability to speak without first filtering your thoughts on social media and the lasting damage caused by one senseless statement or reputation-killing video, upping the ante and spinning it into a horror film that could be this generation’s Blair Witch Project. If so, we’ll soon see a flood of copycats that use the same gimmick. Maybe not necessarily in the horror genre, but if Unfriended succeeds at the box office, you can bet there will be multiple films hitting theaters, OnDemand or straight-to-DVD that mimic the format.

Fortunately for Unfriended, Nelson Greaves, director Levan Gabriadze, and producer Timur Bekmambetov (who came up with the original idea for the film) got there first and did so while creating a film that is refreshingly original, smartly written and shot, and features a talented group of young actors completely committed to this cyber tale. It may lack many real scares, but it is a solid thriller that’s timely and well-told.

GRADE: B

MPAA rating: R for violent content, pervasive language, some sexuality, and drug and alcohol use – all involving teens.

Running time: 85 minutes

Release date: April 17, 2015




Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jordan Gavaris ‘Orphan Black’ Season 3 Interview

Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jordan Gavaris Orphan Black Season 3 Interview
Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jordan Gavaris from ‘Orphan Black’ at WonderCon (Photos © Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)

Even for viewers addicted to Orphan Black the series is a difficult one to talk about but add into that the fact that no one wants to give away spoilers for the upcoming third season of the critically acclaimed BBC America series making it extremely difficult for cast members to discuss the show. Maria Doyle Kennedy (‘Mrs. S’) and Jordan Gavaris (‘Felix’) made the trip to WonderCon in Anaheim to try and do just that – talk about season three without accidentally revealing any spoilers.

Season three kicks off on April 18, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT on BBC America, and what Doyle Kennedy and Gavaris were able to tell us is that there is a season three and they’re both in it. Kidding aside, this upcoming season promises to be action-packed and darker in tone than either seasons one or two.

Over the course of the first two seasons, there’s been the possibility that audiences are being set up and that Felix is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Asked about that possibility, Gavaris replied, “If it is something to worry about, I’m not aware of it. But, at the same time, we’ve also had many conversations where if one of us does turn out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, we wouldn’t want to know. I wouldn’t want to know because then it would end up affecting how I’m… I would love having that revelation come later and getting to go back and say, ‘Oh my god, he was pretending this entire time.’ I don’t want to say that’s happening; I have no idea. As far as I know it’s not happening. But, it’s Orphan Black. I didn’t think we were going to have male clones at the end of season two, either.”

“I think that she always makes decisions from a really strong point,” said Doyle Kennedy, responding to a question about Mrs. S’ allegiances. “She doesn’t make them without really thinking them through. She does feel that sometimes the end does justify the means. She’s always done it from a place of protecting her family, initially. But the family itself has changed so much and some of the decisions maybe were not the best ones. I think you get to see another side of her which is that you get to see her be a bit vulnerable. You haven’t seen that before.

You get to see her nurturing or she’s tough, or she’s certainly bad-ass, she’s certainly able to wield a weapon and protect people. But I think you get to see her doubt herself, or question herself is a better thing. And I think that’s really interesting. It’s another interesting part to a complicated person. It’s not all a lighter shade or action. There’s doubt as well, so yeah, it was great.”

“I love that theme too of her, the idea that it’s not always what she does and how she operates isn’t always necessarily moral but she’s always trying to do the right thing,” added Gavaris. “The right thing for who we’re not entirely sure.”

Will we find out more about Mr. S and whether the couple ever had children? “I can tell you that you will learn more about Mr. S in season three, yeah, some more parts of how they got to where they are. More parts of the backstory are explained and looked at a little bit. I think that’s really interesting as well,” said Doyle Kennedy. “Sometimes it’s hard to understand why a person is or acts the way they are, but if you can have a look at where they’ve come from or some of the things that have been around, the way that they’re formed, their behavior becomes so much more understandable, doesn’t it? Immediately you can relate to those things. We do get to see some more of that. It’s great.”

So, given all the different aspects of Mrs. S’ personality, does Doyle Kennedy have a characteristic she really likes to play. Is it the bad-ass or this new vulnerability?

“I just like that she seems like she’s a real person. She seems like she’s complicated. She seems like she doesn’t always get it right. I think that’s one of her great strengths that she will try. She will take on anything and she’s not…it’s not that she’s not afraid but she’s most certainly not a quitter. She’s a survivor. I find that just really interesting. That’s probably our greatest quality as human beings that we can survive because we adapt and react to what’s around us so quickly, and so instinctively.

So, I think it’s amazing just to see it that she gets through. You’re not sure whether you love her or you hate her sometimes because what she does is not always good, you know? It’s not always bad either, but it’s not always good. I also think it’s good to see that she’s not always right. Even the bad stuff can actually be bad sometimes. It’s interesting.”

As for Mrs. S and Felix’s relationship, Gavaris says that in season three the relationship deepens. “I don’t know if better or worse. It’s an entirely new shade we haven’t seen yet,” explained Gavaris. “The complexities of the world I think have grown beyond any singular management. Like, Sarah can’t handle what’s happening with Leda and Castor and Dyad and everything. She can’t handle that on her own. I think there’s a lot more reliance on each other. No one is really taking care of everyone, everyone’s sort of taking care of each other. That was so great, so great to explore. To have scenes, like you’ve been talking about, there’s been growth in Felix, growth in Mrs. S in that she’s seeing her kids not really as children anymore but as autonomous adults.”

“I think that’s part of also doubting herself…not doubting herself but realizing that it’s not just her making decisions for small children who were really unable to contribute to those decisions because they’re so huge and so enormous, and their lives depend on those decisions. Now she has to recognize – and does, I think – that there are two adults and they need to be part of making the decisions upon which all of their lives depend,” said Doyle Kennedy. “I think she’s trying to adjust to that and trust them.

But also I think because we know each other better. I mean, it’s just a very small example but in terms of our physicality, we had one kind of tender moment in a scene and without even thinking about it I reached out and I grabbed Jordan’s face. I kind of grabbed his nose and touched his face, and just because we know each other so well now I’d be very comfortable to do that without saying to him beforehand, ‘Do you mind?'”

“There’s more play,” added Gavaris.

“More play,” confirmed Doyle Kennedy. “And more natural things like that have come just because we all know each other better as real people as well as the characters.”

– More Orphan Black interviews: Graeme Manson / Evelyne Brochu, Dylan Bruce, and Kristian Bruun

Watch the full interview with Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jordan Gavaris:





‘The Gallows’ Teaser Trailer Leaves Us Hanging

The Gallows Movie Teaser Trailer
PFEIFER BROWN as Pfeifer and REESE MISHLER as Reese in New Line Cinema’s horror film ‘THE GALLOWS’ (Photo © 2015 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

Tease, it is… The Gallows‘ first teaser trailer gives away nothing from the plot but is creepy nonetheless. The horror film was written and directed by Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff and stars Cassidy Gifford, Ryan Shoos, Reese Mishler, and Pfeifer Brown.

New Line’s releasing The Gallows in theaters on July 10, 2015.

The Plot:

Twenty years after an accident caused the death of the lead actor during a high school play, students at the same small town school resurrect the failed stage production in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of the tragedy—but ultimately find out that some things are better left alone.

Watch the trailer:


-By Rebecca Murray

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Starz’ ‘Survivor’s Remorse’ Starts Shooting Season Two

Survivor's Remorse Starts Shooting Season 2
Cam (Jessie Usher), Reggie (RonReaco Lee), and Uncle Julius (Mike Epps) in ‘Survivor’s Remorse’ (Photo ©2014 Starz Entertainment)

Starz’ Survivor’s Remorse has begun filming its second season with Jessie T. Usher, RonReaco Lee, Erica Ash, Teyonah Parris, Tichina Arnold, and Mike Epps back in starring roles. The second season has an expanded episode order of 10, an increase by four from season one. Season two will air this summer.

The series was created by NBA superstar LeBron James along with Tom Werner, Mike O’Malley, Maverick Carter, Victor Levin, Paul Wachter and Hilton Smith.

The Plot:

Survivor’s Remorse follows Cam Calloway, played by Jessie T. Usher, a basketball phenom in his early 20’s who is suddenly thrust into the limelight after signing a multi-million dollar contract with a professional basketball team in Atlanta. Cam moves to Georgia with his cousin and confidant Reggie Vaughn, played by RonReaco Lee, to begin the journey to superstardom. The two confront the challenges of carrying needy family members who are along for the ride and their strong ties to the impoverished community where they were raised. Cam, Reggie and an unforgettable group of characters wrestle with the rewards and pitfalls of stardom, love and loyalty.


-By Rebecca Murray

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Fox’s ‘Grease: Live’ Finds Its Directors

Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski Direct Grease Live

Fox’s tapped Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski to direct the live musical event, Grease: Live, airing on Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 7pm ET/PT (live on the East Coast, tape-delayed on the West Coast). Kail will handle the stage direction while Rudzinski will direct the live broadcast.

Dancing with the Stars‘ Julianne Hough is confirmed as Sandy and Vanessa Hudgens will be playing Rizzo.

“Thomas Kail’s brilliant directing work on the explosive Hamilton and the cutting-edge In The Heights showcase his groundbreaking talent for merging classic Broadway musical storytelling with contemporary song styles and narratives. His productions resonate profoundly with today’s audience and his sharp instincts make him the perfect director to bring Grease to a new generation,” said executive producer Marc Platt.

“Alex Rudzinski brings a wealth of experience in live television directing and has a modern sensibility and vision in creating entertainment that captivates his audiences,” added Platt. “We are enormously proud to have Thomas and Alex at the helm of re-imagining one of the most beloved musicals of all time.”

Kail, currently busy directing Hamilton off-Broadway, earned a Tony Award nomination for directing In the Heights. Rudzinski is a veteran television director who’s worked on every season of Dancing with the Stars. He’s also directed The X Factor, iHeart Radio Jingle Ball Concert, and The BAFTA Britannia Awards.

‘The Walking Dead’ Cast on What’s Coming in Season Six

The Walking Dead Cast on What's Coming in Season 6
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in ‘The Walking Dead’ (Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC)

AMC’s unveiled a teaser for season six of The Walking Dead, with executive producer Scott Gimple proclaiming the series turns into a new show every eight episodes. “The next eight episodes are going to be very different than these last eight episodes,” said Gimple in the just-released teaser for season six. And executive producer Greg Nicotero says season six will find the Wolves not far away from our favorite zombie apocalypse survivors. Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Sonequa Martin-Green, Lauren Cohan, and Michael Cudlitz also chimed in on what they think will be happening in the new season, with Cudlitz guessing that the threat from the Wolves will become “very real and very aggressive.”

In the video Andrew Lincoln explained what he’s looking forward to seeing in season six with the return of Lennie James as Morgan. “What I’m excited about is potentially a reunion between those two great men, but also a splintering in ideologies. It seems like this is a man that is about peace now, and Rick is the polar opposite. I think that that’s going to cause a lot of conflict and confusion,” said Lincoln. “I’ve got a feeling there’s a storm coming. There are bad, bad people out there.

Watch the video:


-By Rebecca Murray

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Newcomer Herizen Guardiola to Star in ‘The Get Down’

Herizen Guardiola Cast in The Get Down
Herizen Guardiola (Photo Credit: Baz Luhrmann)

Baz Luhrmann announced he’s found his female lead in the upcoming Netflix series The Get Down. 18 year old Herizen Guardiola will be making her acting debut with the original series which is set to premiere in 2016. Guardiola joins previously announced cast members Justice Smith, Shameik Moore, Skylan Brooks, and Tremaine Brown, Jr. in the 13 episode music-driven series.

According to Netflix and Luhrmann, Guardiola will play “Mylene Cruz,” a shining, tenacious girl with a voice from God who dreams of disco stardom from the confines of her family’s fiercely religious church walls.”

Commenting on Guardiola’s casting, director/executive producer Luhrmann said, “So many really talented actors were seen to play the lead female role of Mylene Cruz, daughter of Reverend Ramon Cruz and niece of Papa Filipe Fuerte Cruz in The Get Down. It’s always thrilling to find a fresh unknown talent, particularly one who is not only a terrific actor but a magnificent vocalist. The entire The Get Down team welcome Herizen Guardiola into our story.”

The Plot:

The Get Down will focus on 1970s New York City – broken down and beaten up, violent, cash strapped — dying. Consigned to rubble, a rag-tag crew of South Bronx teenagers are nothings and nobodies with no one to shelter them – except each other, armed only with verbal games, improvised dance steps, some magic markers and spray cans. From Bronx tenements, to the SoHo art scene; from CBGBs to Studio 54 and even the glass towers of the just-built World Trade Center, The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco — told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world…forever.


-By Rebecca Murray

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‘The Messengers’ – Shantel VanSanten and Craig Frank Interview

Shantel VanSanten and Craig Frank The Messengers Interview
Shantel VanSanten and Craig Frank in ‘The Messengers’ (Photo by Ursula Coyote © 2014 The CW Network, LLC)

After joking that they didn’t have chemistry shooting the pilot – and that they still don’t have chemistry to this day – The Messengers stars Shantel VanSanten and Craig Frank teamed up to talk about the new The CW series premiering on April 17, 2015. The CW’s provided this brief synopsis of the sci-fi show which will air on Friday nights at 9pm ET/PT:

“In the New Mexico desert, scientist Vera Buckley (VanSanten) watches in fascination as a mysterious object plummets to Earth and explodes, sending out a shock wave that briefly stops her heart. But Vera isn’t the only one affected: she’s instantly connected to four other strangers, who also collapse, only to miraculously come back to life hours later. These strangers will soon discover they have one thing in common; destiny has been thrust upon their shoulders.  And as the Angels of the Apocalypse, with an impressive array of supernatural gifts, they must now work together to rewrite prophecy and prevent the Beginning of the End.”

Sitting down to chat at the 2015 WonderCon in Anaheim, VanSanten revealed that initially she had no idea what the relationship would be between her character, Vera, and Craig Frank’s character, Alan. “When we were shooting the pilot, we’d already started shooting and they still didn’t have an Alan. And I kept telling them, ‘Who’s Alan? Who is he going to be?’ And they kept changing their relationship whether it was they used to be lovers, co-workers, they’re in a relationship,” explained VanSanten. And I feel like I love where our characters are, that we have this kind of banter where we work together. As scientists researching, you do get really close. You spend hours and hours together, but working on a project that you have full faith in and so much belief in.”

“When I got cast, I went in. I got a call at 4:30 – on St. Patrick’s Day, by the way – to go in and be someplace at 5, and I was way on the other side of town and I wasn’t going to make. Originally I said no,” said Frank. “I was like, ‘No, I’m not going in.’ And then I was like, ‘Fine, whatever. I’ll go.’ So I get in my car, drive across town, I audition, and then to find out, ‘Oh, you’re going to have to leave tomorrow.'”

Frank had a dilemma because he was already committed to taking a trip to Miami for his parent’s 40th anniversary. So, as he explained during our interview, getting cast as Alan in The Messengers involved a quick trip to Miami, a flight back to Albuquerque, and a meeting with VanSanten and the director, all on no sleep, followed by a shoot the next day.

“We had never met; we had never talked. She didn’t know who was being cast, and I had no idea who was in it. I show up and this is when I met her. She starts babbling all this science stuff and I’m like, ‘Hey, listen lady. I just showed up because they told me to be here. I don’t know anything.’ She just gave me a science lesson,” said Frank, laughing.

VanSanten says that was because she already felt like she was in the role. “I’d been there and I’d been shooting, and I’d been anticipating that missing piece for me in the pilot. So much of the pilot is us and our job, and Vera is so passionate about what she does and being a scientist and the project that they’re working on. So, that missing piece I was so excited to find out. I love the banter and I love the chemistry, and I think that it adds a little bit of lightness in between, especially what’s to come. But it also allows you a little bit of an aspect into her personal life, whereas normally she has her guard up very much so.”

“I think we got along very, very quickly,” added Frank. “And then, of course, we went through some stuff.”

Discussing what drew her to the character of Vera, VanSanten explained that it was the fact no one knows about Vera’s personal life which is something viewers find out in the pilot. “I understood why she went into science. I understood why she’s so passionate and doesn’t take no for an answer. If someone you loved is kidnapped and you never got any answers for years and years, it makes sense to me why she went into science, why there is no not figuring this out. It’s interesting to have such a big story and to be a messenger, to have an impending apocalypse, but also to have a personal life.”

– More The Messengers interviews: Joel Courtney and Jon Fletcher interview / JD Pardo and Anna Diop / Diogo Morgado / Sofia Black D’Elia

Watch the video for more of Shantel VanSanten and Craig Frank’s interview:





‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Official Teaser Trailer #2

Star Wars The Force Awakens Teaser Trailer 2

Director JJ Abrams introduced the second teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens during the Star Wars Celebration The Force Awakens panel. The panel featured Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Antony Daniels, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, R2D2, new droid BB8, and the redesigned Stormtroopers, with the reveal of the trailer coming at the conclusion of the Q&A and The Force Awakens lovefest.

During the panel, Fisher said she’s happy to see more females involved in the new Star Wars film and she won’t be rocking either the buns or metal bikini. Daniels talked about being the only main cast member to appear in all of the Star Wars movies, and Hamill thanked the fans for their decades of support.

Episode VII in the Star Wars saga will arrive in theaters on December 18, 2015.

Watch the trailer:


-By Rebecca Murray

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‘Outlander’s Tobias Menzies Joins ‘The Night Manager’

Tobias Menzies Joins The Night Manager Cast
Tobias Menzies at PaleyFest 2015 (Photo © Richard Chavez)

AMC just announced Outlander‘s Tobias Menzies, as well as David Harewood, Neil Morrissey, and Katherine Kelly, have joined the cast of The Night Manager. Based on John le Carré’s novel, the new cast members join Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander, and Elizabeth Debicki for the production which is now shooting.

The ensemble also includes Adeel Akhtar, Natasha Little, Jonathan Aris, and Hannah Steele.

David Farr adapted the book and Susanne Bier is directing the AMC, BBC One, and The Ink Factory co-production. Stephen Cornwell, Simon Cornwell, Stephen Garrett, David Farr, and Polly Hill are executive producing the mini-series, which will air in 2016.

The Plot: A contemporary interpretation of le Carré’s 1993 novel – and the first television adaptation of a le Carré novel in more than 20 years – The Night Manager mini-series will bring together love, loss, and revenge in a complex story of modern criminality. The eagerly anticipated series follows former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston), who is recruited by an intelligence operative named Burr (Colman) to navigate the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington, where an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade.

To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Laurie), which includes girlfriend Jed (Debicki) and an associate named Corcoran (Hollander), Pine must himself become a criminal.

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