“What if there was a place where nothing’s impossible?” Disney took advantage of the gigantic 2015 Super Bowl audience to show off a new :30 second trailer for Tomorrowland, the upcoming sci-fi film named after a ‘land’ at Disneyland. The new trailer doesn’t give away much of the plot but it does show off the cool futuristic world featured in Disney’s latest movie based on a ride/attraction.
Directed by Brad Bird, the cast includes George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Judy Greer, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, and Thomas Robinson. Disney’s releasing Tomorrowland in theaters on May 22, 2015.
The Plot:
From Disney comes two-time Oscar® winner Brad Bird’s riveting, mystery adventure Tomorrowland, starring Academy Award® winner George Clooney. Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as “Tomorrowland.” What they must do there changes the world—and them—forever.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl starring Thomas Mann took home both the dramatic audience award and the dramatic grand jury award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. 123 feature films screened at this year’s festival which took place January 22nd through February 1st in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Winners were announced at a special awards ceremony hosted by Tig Notaro on January 31st.
2015 Sundance Winners:
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Gordon Quinn to: The Wolfpack / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle) — Six bright teenage brothers have spent their entire lives locked away from society in a Manhattan housing project. All they know of the outside is gleaned from the movies they watch obsessively (and re-create meticulously). Yet as adolescence looms, they dream of escape, ever more urgently, into the beckoning world.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Edgar Wright to: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Mark Cousins to: The Russian Woodpecker / United Kingdom (Director: Chad Gracia) — A Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret and must decide whether to risk his life by revealing it, amid growing clouds of revolution and war.
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Col Needham to: Slow West / United Kingdom, New Zealand (Director and screenwriter: John Maclean) — Set at the end of the nineteenth century, 16-year-old Jay Cavendish journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves. He is joined by Silas, a mysterious traveler, and hotly pursued by an outlaw along the way. Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius, Rory McCann.
The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Acura was presented by Adam Scott to: Meru / U.S.A. (Directors: Jimmy Chin, E. Chai Vasarhelyi) — Three elite mountain climbers sacrifice everything but their friendship as they struggle through heartbreaking loss and nature’s harshest elements to attempt the never-before-completed Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru, the most coveted first ascent in the dangerous game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, Presented by Acura was presented by Kevin Pollak to: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl / U.S.A. (Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Screenwriter: Jesse Andrews) — Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia. Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon.
The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented by Patrick Fugit to: Dark Horse / United Kingdom (Director: Louise Osmond) — Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a workingman’s club who decide to take on the elite “sport of kings” and breed themselves a racehorse.
The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented by Patrick Fugit to: Umrika / India (Director and screenwriter: Prashant Nair) — When a young village boy discovers that his brother, long believed to be in America, has actually gone missing, he begins to invent letters on his behalf to save their mother from heartbreak, all the while searching for him. Cast: Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Prateik Babbar.
The Audience Award: NEXT, Presented by Adobe was presented by Kevin Corrigan to: James White / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Mond) — A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges. Cast: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call.
The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented by Roger Ross Williams to:
Matthew Heineman for Cartel Land / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Matthew Heineman) — In this classic western set in the twenty-first century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented by Cary Fukunaga to:
Robert Eggers for The Witch / U.S.A., Canada (Director and screenwriter: Robert Eggers) — New England in the 1630s: William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness. When their newborn son vanishes and crops fail, the family turns on one another. Beyond their worst fears, a supernatural evil lurks in the nearby wood. Cast: Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson, Ellie Grainger.
The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented by Elena Fortes to:
Kim Longinotto for Dreamcatcher / United Kingdom (Director: Kim Longinotto) — Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none.
The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented by Taika Waititi to:
Alanté Kavaïté for The Summer of Sangaile / Lithuania, France, The Netherlands (Director and screenwriter: Alanté Kavaïté) — Seventeen-year-old Sangaile is fascinated by stunt planes. She meets a girl her age at the summer aeronautical show, near her parents’ lakeside villa. Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret and, in the process, finds in her teenage love, the only person that truly encourages her to fly. Cast: Julija Steponaitytė, Aistė Diržiūtė.
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented by Winona Ryder to:
Tim Talbott for The Stanford Prison Experiment / U.S.A. (Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott) — Based on the actual events that took place in 1971, when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.
A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact was presented by Michele Norris to:
Marc Silver for 3½ MINUTES / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Silver) — On November 23, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael David Dunn. 3½ MINUTES explores the aftermath of Jordan’s tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Vérité Filmmaking was presented by Eugene Hernandez to:
Bill Ross and Turner Ross for Western / U.S.A., Mexico (Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross) — For generations, all that distinguished Eagle Pass, Texas, from Piedras Negras, Mexico, was the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends upon these harmonious border towns, a cowboy and lawman face a new reality that threatens their way of life. Western portrays timeless American figures in the grip of unforgiving change.
A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Break Out First Feature was presented by Eugene Hernandez to:
Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe for (T)ERROR / U.S.A. (Directors: Lyric R. Cabral, David Felix Sutcliffe) — With unprecedented access to a covert counterterrorism sting, (T)ERROR develops in real time, documenting the action as it unfolds on the ground. Viewers get an unfettered glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics and the murky justifications behind them through the perspective of *******, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned FBI informant.
A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography was presented by Kristen Johnson to:
Matthew Heineman for Cartel Land / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Matthew Heineman) — In this classic western set in the twenty-first century, vigilantes on both sides of the border fight the vicious Mexican drug cartels. With unprecedented access, this character-driven film provokes deep questions about lawlessness, the breakdown of order, and whether citizens should fight violence with violence.
A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Excellence in Cinematography was presented by Lance Acord to:
Brandon Trost for The Diary of a Teenage Girl / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Marielle Heller) — Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend. Cast: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Christopher Meloni, Kristen Wiig.
A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Excellence in Editing was presented by Sarah Flack to:
Lee Haugen for Dope / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Rick Famuyiwa) — Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself. Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Collaborative Vision was presented by Winona Ryder to: Advantageous / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang) — In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.
A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Unparalleled Access was presented by Elena Fortes to: The Chinese Mayor / China (Director: Hao Zhou) — Mayor Geng Yanbo is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city.
A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact was presented by Mark Cousins to: Pervert Park / Sweden, Denmark (Directors: Frida Barkfors, Lasse Barkfors) — Pervert Park follows the everyday lives of sex offenders in a Florida trailer park as they struggle to reintegrate into society, and try to understand who they are and how to break the cycle of sex crimes being committed.
A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing was presented by Ingrid Kopp to: Jim Scott for How to Change the World / United Kingdom, Canada (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — In 1971, a group of friends sails into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captures the world’s imagination. Using rare, archival footage that brings their extraordinary world to life, How to Change the World is the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement.
A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Cinematography was presented by Taika Waititi to:
Germain McMicking for Partisan / Australia (Director: Ariel Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler) — Alexander is like any other kid: playful, curious and naive. He is also a trained assassin. Raised in a hidden paradise, Alexander has grown up seeing the world filtered through his father, Gregori. As Alexander begins to think for himself, creeping fears take shape, and Gregori’s idyllic world unravels. Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara.
A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting was presented by Col Needham to:
Jack Reynor for Glassland / Ireland (Director and screenwriter: Gerard Barrett) — In a desperate attempt to reunite his broken family, a young taxi driver becomes entangled in the criminal underworld. Cast: Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, Will Poulter, Michael Smiley.
A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting was presented by Mia Hanson-Løve to:
Regina Casé and Camila Márdila for The Second Mother / Brazil (Director and screenwriter: Anna Muylaert) — Having left her daughter, Jessica, to be raised by relatives in the north of Brazil, Val works as a loving nanny in São Paulo. When Jessica arrives for a visit 13 years later, she confronts her mother’s slave-like attitude and everyone in the house is affected by her unexpected behavior. Cast: Regina Casé, Michel Joelsas, Camila Márdila, Karine Teles, Lourenço Mutarelli.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen, Magic City) will be a series regular on the second season of Extant, the CBS drama series starring Oscar winner Halle Berry. Extant season two will air this summer.
Per the official announcement, Morgan will play “JD Richter, a roguish womanizer and a cop of the future who is a mercenary/bounty hunter. He is free-wheeling, hard-drinking, and fearless, bordering on reckless, mostly because he’s got nothing to lose. He is the everyman who thought he had seen everything until Molly Woods (Berry) enters his life.”
Season one’s cast also included Goran Visnjic, Pierce Gagnon, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael O’Neill, Camryn Manheim, and Grace Gummer. Extant is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Greg Walker, Mickey Fisher, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, and Brooklyn Weaver.
Emilia Clarke in ‘Game of Thrones’ season five (Photo: Helen Sloan / courtesy of HBO)
HBO debuted the season five trailer of Game of Thrones during special IMAX screenings and almost immediately poor quality videos of the trailer shot during the screenings made their way online. Fortunately, HBO responded by releasing the official, high quality trailer for everyone to check out.
The trailer features a little bit of everyone: Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, Cersei Lannister, and Arya Stark. Even the Sand Snakes make an appearance in the first official lengthy look at the upcoming season which arrives on Sunday, April 12, 2015.
Open Road Films confirmed Jamie Foxx and Michelle Monaghan have signed on to star in Sleepless Night, an action thriller that’s a “reinvention” of France’s Nuit Blanche. Baran bo Odar is directing from a script by Andrea Berloff (World Trade Center).
“With a sharp script and a first-rate team of talent in front of and behind the camera, we are proud to produce Sleepless Night and to make this project the inaugural film under our international distribution agreement with FilmNation,” stated Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films.
Michelle Monaghan was recently seen in True Detective, Better Living Through Chemistry, Fort Bliss, Playing It Cool, and The Best of Me. Jamie Foxx had Rio 2, Amazing Spider-Man 2, Horrible Bosses 2, and Annie in theaters in 2014.
The Sleepless Night Plot:
Sleepless Night is the story of Vincent Downs (Jamie Foxx), a seemingly corrupt Las Vegas cop. When gangsters kidnap his son as ransom for a shipment of cocaine he stole, Downs races to save his son’s life without getting caught by Internal Affairs and before the mobsters discover that he’s actually lost the goods. Monaghan plays officer Jennifer Bryant, an Internal Affairs agent investigating Downs who ultimately has to decide which side of the law he’s on.
HBO announced they’ve greenlit Lewis and Clark, a miniseries with Casey Affleck and Matthias Schoenaerts in starring roles. The six-hour miniseries is based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s book Undaunted Courage and will be directed by John Curran (The Painted Veil). Curran, Edward Norton, and Michelle Ashford are adapting the book for the miniseries, and filming is expected to begin this summer.
Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Tim Kelly, and Adam Leipzig are executive producing.
“In Lewis and Clark, we can see American idealism and the breathtaking natural beauty of the continent, as well as the complexities and tragedies of what came to be known as America’s ‘manifest destiny’,” said Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “We are tremendously excited to bring together this incredible group of talents to tell a seminal American story.”
The Plot:
Lewis and Clark tells the story of America’s first contact with the land and native tribes of the country west of the Mississippi River. The miniseries follows the epic journey of the Corps of Discovery and its captains, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who traverse uncharted territory on a mission to deliver President Jefferson’s message of sovereignty as they search for his fabled all-water route to the Pacific. Lewis and Clark focuses not just on their incredible achievements, but also on the physical, spiritual and emotional toll the expedition takes on them.
Maisie Williams and Rory McCann in ‘Game of Thrones’ season four episode 10 (Photo: Helen Sloan / Courtesy of HBO)
Co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss discuss Game of Thrones‘ IMAX release and how well the HBO series transitions to the big screen for a special limited theatrical release. Composer Ramin Djawadi also talks about how the score sounds in IMAX theaters in two special behind the scenes IMAX featurettes just released by HBO.
Benioff says it’s a whole new way of seeing the critically acclaimed series, and a whole new experience to be able to sit in a theater with hundreds of other Game of Thrones fans and watch screenings of episodes nine and 10. The limited 200 theatre IMAX run will also feature the worldwide debut of the season five preview.
The IMAX release began on January 29, 2015 and continues through February 5th. For more details, visit www.imax.com/gameofthrones.
Megan Boone in ‘The Blacklist’ (Photo by: David Giesbrecht / NBC)
Season two of NBC’s The Blacklist returns from its mid-season break with the first episode of a two-parter airing in the prime spot immediately following Super Bowl 2015 on February 1st (part two will air on February 5th in The Blacklist‘s new 9pm Thursday timeslot). In support of the show’s season two second-half premiere, star Megan Boone (‘Elizabeth Keen’) and series creator/writer/executive producer Jon Bokenkamp took part in a conference call to discuss what’s coming up on the dramatic series and to talk about guest stars featured in upcoming episodes.
Megan Boone and Jon Bokenkamp Q&A
What can you say about Ron Perlman’s character, Luther Braxton, and why is he so dangerous that he requires two episodes?
Jon Bokenkamp: “Well, Luther Braxton is a thief who goes about stealing things through incredibly complex methods. He sort of disguises his heist in big events, so there might be a massive snowstorm or there might be a political uprising in some corner of the world where he’s looking for something. And so he’s constantly moving amid this sort of chaos and creating chaos wherever he goes.
We thought that it was a great sort of big, fun character that would fit really well with the Super Bowl and be, you know, a little bit of a different sort of blacklister in scope and size, and in terms of what he’s after and how important it is to Red.”
Megan Boone: “I can speak from being on set with Ron Perlman. He brought that imposing presence and just this incredible voice, this deep, gravelly voice to the character. But then in some ways he played a serene calm that seemed almost creepy, like as if he were the eye of the storm. So it was really interesting to watch him come do his thing on our show.”
What’s his entry point into the story?
Jon Bokenkamp: “He is a prisoner in a black site prison which supposedly does not exist and he’s sort of laying in wait when the episode opens. And yet he’s sort of pulled away in an interrogation facility that nobody is supposed to be able to escape from, however, things go awry.”
Elizabeth Keen has been showing darker shades of her character this season. Have you been surprised by the direction she’s going this season?
Megan Boone: “Yes, I certainly have had a reaction to it, but it wasn’t a surprise. I was delighted and intrigued by the new direction, as well as sort of anticipated it as it was coming because there was no way – especially with Liz being sort of the protagonist in the sense that Red is a catalyst for her change – there was no way that she could stagnate and stay where she was, especially with all that was happening with her. Her evolution was essential to the show’s growth and I was definitely glad to see that start to happen toward the end of season one, and really intensely into season two.”
What does it mean to you that this show is getting showcase after the Super Bowl?
Jon Bokenkamp: “Well, it’s a huge opportunity. You know it’s a lot of potential new eyeballs watching the show. I suppose on one hand that can be intimidating. I think we see it as a great opportunity to let people see what the show is. I also think that the episode, you know, it’s a two-parter but it’s a very easy access point. I think somebody who’s never seen the show before will be able to drop in very quickly and get a real sense of what the show is; how it feels, smells, tastes; all of that.”
Megan Boone: “The really fun thing about it happening is that I think that Jon Bokenkamp and his team of writers have really started to understand what works with the show and have started to have a lot of fun with that. Not just what works with the actors on the show and our dynamics but also what are the elements of the show that are indispensable. Like, what kind of villains do you want to write that really work for the show? What is the format? And these things started to really coalesce in season one.
And as they say, we really grow a beard. Now I think that the fact that we’re getting this opportunity to showcase the show to a larger audience is just really exciting at this time in our creative process.”
David Strathairn, Janel Maloney, and Gloria Reuben will be guest staring in the first couple of return episodes. What are they doing and who are some of the other guests we can expect as the season continues?
Megan Boone: “That was an exciting thing. We had a really fun episode together.”
Jon Bokenkamp: “Yes, she’s great. I just saw the cut two days ago for the first time, and it’s great. It’s really going to be a great episode. Yes, Gloria is incredible in the show. And with David Strathairn and Janel, they enter the story in a rather sort of cloak and dagger sort of way. David Strathairn plays a character known as the Director who in real life, the Director of the National Clandestine Services’ identity, as least to the general public is not known. That is who he plays and I suppose [it] may raise a couple of questions.”
Have you always had an ending in mind or has that changed since the first season?
Jon Bokenkamp: “Well yes, there is certainly an ending in mind and one that we’re constantly writing to and around. I mean, at times it makes it quite difficult because it sort of restrains us in the stories that we’re telling in some ways. But I think it’s also working that way – whether that’s the end we arrive at or not. Whether anybody lets us do what I have in mind and what we talk about so often in the writer’s room, it does shape the show and it helps.
It’s like building a house. You know what furniture you like. You know what kind of architecture you like and then you kind of feel what doesn’t fit, what doesn’t belong. And by process of elimination, it sort of starts feeling like its own special thing. And I think that’s helped influence the show.
That said, we always have ideas and things that we think we’re going to land at. Sometimes we get to them sooner. Sometimes we take a different path. It’s a little like knowing our destination and having looked at a map a couple of times and then throwing out the map and sort of using our gut to get there. So it’s quite a process, but we do have a strong sense of direction.”
When we last left The Blacklist, there was a bit of a moment there between Tom and Red. Is that too mythology-heavy to visit in the Super Bowl episode? Is that something we’re exploring in the back half of season two?
Jon Bokenkamp: “Well, it’s definitely something we’re exploring in the back half of the season. We don’t dive right into it in the Super Bowl episode. The Super Bowl two-parter is…I like to think of it was sort of an event movie. You know, it’s large in scope. If it had a movie poster, it would be the summer action movie. Because of that, the timeframe is very compressed and it all happens almost in real-time as you’re watching the episode. And so there is no time to drift away and see that story of Tom.
However, Tom and Red…the nature of their relationship and what Elizabeth Keen does or does not know or is in the process of discovering about that relationship is certainly something that we’re going leaning into in the back half of the season there.”
Is Liz still conflicted about what’s going on and what her feelings are for Tom?
Jon Bokenkamp: “She did let him go.”
Megan Boone: “Strangely enough I think Jon and I might have different opinions on this one. […]I think that it’s an oversimplification to say that she’s in love with him, as has been implicated by some of the other characters like Red and Ressler. I think she’s got really strong feelings for him, but it’s a very complicated dynamic at this point. I think once a relationship goes past the line and becomes abusive or sadistic in any way, there’s just no going back to pure, true love. There just isn’t. It already has violence in it. It already has mistrust. I always felt like it was just an oversimplification to say, ‘Oh, she still loves him,’ you know? What do you think, Jon?”
Jon Bokenkamp: “Oh you’re madly in love with him! No, look, I work with a bunch of writers who are strange and dark and have very complex lives. And I think that Megan’s right. I think it’s probably an oversimplification to say that yes, she’s in love with Tom. I feel this way about the show in general, that I think everything is much more complex than it appears on the show because I think whether it’s the suburban housewife dropping her kids off at school or it’s the guy showing up to punch the clock to work at the steel factory, I don’t think any of those people are really quite what they appear to be on the surface.
I think you never say never and I think anything can change. So that doesn’t mean that’s where that relationship is going, but I do think that like any breakup, like any sort of marriage that falls apart, it’s messy and the feelings I think are really – and by the way, this is speaking from somebody who’s never gone through a divorce – but I think, what I’ve heard, is it is incredibly complex. That feelings and emotions sometimes people who do things that is not in their best interest. Sometimes logic does not prevail. And so I think the best answer I could give to that is that I think it’s incredibly complex and that I would say that the story of the two of them, whether it’s a love story or not, is not over. There’s still a lot of mileage in that story I think.”
Megan Boone: “I think we actually completely agree. We haven’t had a really open discussion about this recently because Tom’s been kind of like on the back burner while we Super Bowl it. But I think that’s what makes me excited about being on this show is that we have writers who believe that about the mom dropping the kid off at the carpool line, that there’s always this very much more layered psyche than you would initially assume to be there. So it’s just exciting. And also the fact that he has a bunch of freaks and weirdos writing for him is cool.”
Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon, and John Krasinski on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ (ABC / Randy Holmes)
So, who is “The Locker Room Guy” and why did he deflate 11 out of 12 of the New England Patriots’ balls? Coach Bill Belichick claims ignorance and Tom Brady has repeatedly denied he has any knowledge of why the footballs his team used were below the NFL’s inflation requirements, but Jimmy Kimmel has explored the question and has put together a video of people claiming responsibility for the under-inflated balls. Among the Patriots fans stepping forward to claim responsibility are Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, John Krasinski, Chris Evans, Steven Tyler, and Eli Roth.
Jude Law (at center) stars as a rogue submarine captain, with a misfit crew, after sunken treasure in Focus Features’ ‘Black Sea’ (Photo Credit: Alex Bailey / Focus Features)
“One hundred eighty two million dollars, equal share for every man,” says Captain Robinson (Jude Law) to his misfit crew aboard their rogue submarine in search of sunken gold treasure in the dramatic film Black Sea.
After being fired from his job as a submarine captain for a salvation company where he worked for 30 years, Robinson hears from an old friend that there might be a Nazi U-boat loaded with gold sitting on the bottom of the ocean in the Black Sea. Desperate and angry, Robinson puts together a crew of British and Russian sailors made up of engineers, cooks, ex-Navy men, divers, and convicts. Partnering up with a shadowy, wealthy backer, Robinson gets hold of a submarine and heads out in search of the sunken treasure.
As Robinson and his crew get farther out and dive deeper into the sea, greed, deception, fear and paranoia begin to spread among the crew. Robinson’s worried as his the rich backer’s representative, Daniels (Scoot McNairy), who asks the Captain, “What happens when one of them starts to figure out that their share gets bigger when there’s less people to share it with?”
Masterfully directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald, Black Sea is an absorbing, suspenseful adventure thriller with a stand-out performance by Jude Law. It’s Treasure of the Sierra Madre meets Das Boot. The claustrophobic feel and look of the submarine is powerful and at times overwhelming, capturing perfectly the tight quarters these men must deal with and work in if they ever hope to find their treasure.
Jude Law gives one of his best performances as Robinson, the angry and determined Captain who truly believes this is both his and the crew’s last chance to make a fortune and never have to work for anyone ever again. Robinson is a crusty, middle-aged, past-his-prime sub captain and Law portrays him wonderfully, in particular when Robinson might be succumbing to gold fever.
Scoot McNairy is effective as Daniels, the overly nervous, manipulative representative of the mysterious wealthy backer who never planned to end up on board the submarine and knows more than he wants to share about their mission. His character is reminiscent of Paul Reiser’s “Carter Burke” in the film Aliens.
The set design is flawless in showing a rundown submarine and all its inner workings. The cinematography is terrific inside and also very impressive outside the submarine. Although some scenes are very dark, the audience will never have any trouble seeing the sub under water and at times it comes across quite ominous.
With superb direction, a solid script, and an outstanding performance by Jude Law, Black Sea is a first-rate adventure thriller not to be missed.
GRADE: B+
Rating: R for language throughout, some graphic images and violence
