Maleficent star Angelina Jolie talks about the appeal of the film and her character’s emotional journey in this video interview courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures. Jolie explains why it was the right time for her to transform into this character and to take on this particular project which explores Maleficent’s childhood and why she turned into the evil villain we know her as from the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.
The Oscar winner also explains how she got into the role and what it was like to work with Elle Fanning as Aurora.
The Plot:
Maleficent explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic Sleeping Beauty and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora.
As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever.
The Voice coach/Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine performs the new song “Lost Stars” in the most recent trailer for the comedy film Begin Again. Written and directed by John Carney (Once), the cast includes Levine, Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, Catherine Keener, and James Corden.
The Weinstein Company will open Begin Again in theaters on July 4, 2014.
The Plot:
Begin Again is a soul-stirring comedy about what happens when lost souls meet and make beautiful music together. Gretta (Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan (Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City.
Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) and Elam Ferguson (Common) - Photo Credit: Chris Large/AMC
AMC’s set an August 2, 2014 premiere date for the fourth season of Hell On Wheels starring Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, and Common. The Western drama will air at 9pm on Saturdays through October 4th, take a few weeks off, and then return for the last three episodes on November 8th.
Hell On Wheels‘ season three averaged 3.3 million viewers, impressive enough to earn an expanded 13-episode run for season four.
“We’re thrilled to bring Hell On Wheels back for another season. Its success on Saturday night reflects the strength and broad appeal of the show, and we’re incredibly excited to share the continuation of this story with the millions of loyal Hell On Wheels fans,” said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s executive vice president of original programming, production and digital.
“We’re excited about the stories we’re telling in season four,” said series executive producer and showrunner, John Wirth. “The consequences of the stories we told last year will continue to reverberate throughout the season, and fans can expect to see some shocking events that will not only change the lives of our characters, but the landscape of the series as the railroad continues its relentless march westward.”
Details on Season 4 of Hell On Wheels:
Season Three of Hell On Wheels ended with Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) married to a pregnant Naomi and living in the Mormon fort where the Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl) was impersonating church leader, Bishop Dutson; Thomas “Doc” Durant (Colm Meaney) back in control of the Union Pacific Railroad which had successfully expanded westward to Cheyenne; and Elam (Common), gravely injured by a bear while searching for the missing Cullen.
As Season Four unfolds, civilization makes its way west with the railroad, bringing with it men who attempt to do with their pens what rougher men did in seasons past with their guns. Conflict between government and big business, ranchers, homesteaders and the railroad will continue to define the drama as all of those interests compete with one another for control of Cheyenne, Wyoming, the “Magic City of the Plains,” and the most important railroad hub in the country. The season will also introduce several new characters including John Campbell (Jake Weber).
Best Actress Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Monster) shows she’s fully capable of handling the female lead in a comedy with her starring role in A Million Ways to Die in the West. Starring opposite writer/director Seth MacFarlane, Theron plays a tough-talking, straight-shooting wife of a notorious outlaw (played by Liam Neeson) who falls for a sheep rancher (MacFarlane) when she ends up hiding out in his small town.
In this interview courtesy of Universal Pictures, Theron discusses what it was like to work with MacFarlane and how tough it was to talk mean to Amanda Seyfried. She also talks about how Neil Patrick Harris is in his element in this film and what’s up between her character and MacFarlane’s.
The Plot:
After Albert (MacFarlane) backs out of a gunfight, his fickle girlfriend leaves him for another man. When a mysterious and beautiful woman rides into town, she helps him find his courage and they begin to fall in love. But when her husband, a notorious outlaw, arrives seeking revenge, the farmer must put his newfound courage to the test.
Focus Features has released the first trailer for Kill the Messenger, the dramatic film based on the incredible story of journalist Gary Webb. Directed by Michael Cuesta, the film is based on the books Dark Alliance by Gary Webb and Kill the Messenger by Nick Schou. The cast included Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Liotta, Tim Blake Nelson, Barry Pepper, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Paz Vega, Michael Kenneth Williams, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Andy Garcia.
Focus Features has set an October 10, 2014 theatrical release date.
The Plot:
Two-time Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner leads an all-star cast in a dramatic thriller based on the remarkable true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb. Webb stumbles onto a story which leads to the shady origins of the men who started the crack epidemic on the nation’s streets…and further alleges that the CIA was aware of major dealers who were smuggling cocaine into the U.S., and using the profits to arm rebels fighting in Nicaragua. Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications. His journey takes him from the prisons of California to the villages of Nicaragua to the highest corridors of power in Washington, D.C. – and draws the kind of attention that threatens not just his career, but his family and his life.
Liam Neeson stars in the new trailer for Universal Pictures’ A Walk Among the Tombstones based on the mystery books by Lawrence Block. Written and directed by Scott Frank, the cast also includes Dan Stevens, David Harbour, and Boyd Holbrook. Universal’s releasing the thriller in theaters on September 19, 2014.
The Plot:
A Walk Among the Tombstones stars Liam Neeson as Matt Scudder, an ex-NYPD cop who now works as an unlicensed private investigator operating just outside the law. When Scudder reluctantly agrees to help a heroin trafficker (Dan Stevens) hunt down the men who kidnapped and then brutally murdered his wife, the PI learns that this is not the first time these men have committed this sort of twisted crime…nor will it be the last. Blurring the lines between right and wrong, Scudder races to track the deviants through the backstreets of New York City before they kill again.
The cast of Sons of Anarchy has expanded by one. FX confirms Marilyn Manson has joined the season seven cast of the critically acclaimed series.
FX says musician/writer/performer will be playing Ron Tully, “a white supremacist prison shot-caller who Jax uses to expand his power base.”
“Sons has been such a big part of my life, as well as my father’s,” said Manson. “So I was determined to make him proud by being involved in what will probably be remembered as the most amazing piece of television cinema. After all, the very heart of SOA is about that relationship. So, now all I need is a motorcycle.”
This ain’t yo mama’s Sleeping Beauty. This is Maleficent. Huh. Well, that’s corny. And probably not the marketing team’s idea of a good tagline to put on a poster.
Whatever.
So Disney is back with another live action “update” of a classic fairy tale and this time it’s all about that lady in black with the horns on her head and a fondness for dragons, Maleficent. As you likely know the original tale, one thing to know right off the bat is that they’ve flipped the script slightly with the new film (see, I’m down with the lingo all the kids are using on the street these days).
Helmed by long time visual effects artist but first time director Robert Stromberg, the movie humanizes and focuses squarely on the so-called villain. Played by Angelina Jolie, Maleficent is the protector of the realm where all the magical creatures live; fending off attack after attack brought down upon them by us greedy humans. There are actually quite a number of elements between the 1959 Disney animated film, Sleeping Beauty, and Maleficent which remained the same. I can tell you this because I double-checked the Wiki, seeing as the last time I watched the animated film was about 30 years ago.
In any case, the primary difference is the focus and story of Maleficent herself. Rather than a spiteful fairy that turns into a simple villain, she begins as a sweet, hopeful girl/fairy who falls in love with a human boy. Things go wrong eventually and as the saying goes, H-E-double hockey sticks hath no fury like a U.N. Ambassador scorned. Wait … meh, close enough.
As Stromberg is well acquainted with the visual effects side of things, I will say that the film sports some lovely effects. They tied into some of the classic profiles used in the 1959 film and the landscapes of both the humans’ and magical creatures’ realms were nicely distinct and defined. However, while I appreciated the aesthetics, it would have been nice if someone had spent more time on the script. Like, a lot of time.
I can look past the many clichés. This is a fairy tale after all. However, I don’t understand why Maleficent is the only character in the film to get any real development. Next to her, it’s the crow named Diaval that has the most interesting dynamic (why they changed the name from Diablo I have no idea and it took me until looking things up on IMDb to be sure I had that name right anyway). Casting Elle Fanning as Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) was a good idea, as her exuberant and wide-eyed innocence works well for the role. Still, giving her little more to do than fawn over the beauty of the magical creatures and be put into a light coma seems like a waste.
Then there’s Sharlto Copley’s time sitting on the King’s throne. Now, I’m a big fan of his. Between District 9, The A-Team, and even his scenes in Elysium, he always brings an energy to the production that’s a welcome addition for the audience. Here, he’s lackluster and one-dimensional. I don’t get the point of casting someone like Copley only to shackle him with such blunt and uninteresting emotions. I’d say some of it is his fault but it didn’t appear the script, or apparently the director, asked for anything more from the role than to clumsily shift inner motivations without so much as a “how do you do.”
Perhaps worst of all is the message I had hoped Disney was beginning to understand when it came to these princess tales. With things like Brave (yes I know it’s technically Pixar but it’s so intertwined now that the distinction is harder to make these days), the idea is to highlight female characters that don’t need a Prince to ride in on horseback and make their lives complete. Here, there’s a moment or two where I was hoping they’d stick to just the almost maternal bond between Maleficent and Aurora but by the end of things, as one certainly can see coming and I don’t consider saying this a spoiler in the slightest, that long-haired Prince is back to make sure Aurora isn’t left without the necessity of a future husband.
Overall, I simply found myself a bit bored by the whole affair. Although the runtime was just over an hour and half, this felt closer to two full hours with some very bad pacing throughout; largely the result of aforementioned script that seemed like it wanted to do so much but didn’t know how to economize the plot points. I couldn’t care less about any character aside from a moment or two having to do with Maleficent and there were just too many moments that reminded me of another recent failed attempt to revive an classic tale, Oz the Great and Powerful. Also, no big surprise but the 3D is completely ineffectual so don’t bother if you’re going to go and see this anyway.
Sadly, Maleficent actually made me wish I had just re-watched Snow White and the Huntsman. Same basic idea, with a more interesting journey (despite the inclusion of Bella Swan). Unless you’ve got a small child clamoring for a trip to the theaters to see this, you can safely wait for the home market and even then, you could go your whole life not having seen this and never think twice about it. For a story that has endured over the years, it’s a shame that the one word I think best describes this film adaptation is: Forgettable.
GRADE: C-
Maleficent opens in theaters on May 30, 2014 and is rated PG for sequences of fantasy action and violence, including frightening images.
Sounds like some sort of old-timey, folksy cliché: A Million Ways to Die in the West. Hyperbolic is what comes to my mind. Cholera, dysentery, starvation, drowning while your wagon attempts to ford a river. Now, I could attempt to describe the other ways in which you could die in the video game Oregon Trail but it wouldn’t come close to a million, and I think really, it just means there’s “a lot.”
My cantankerous nature aside, more than a few people do meet their maker in writer/director/actor Seth MacFarlane’s new film, set in the Arizona town of Old Stump circa 1882. MacFarlane plays a smart-ass sheep herder, with all the over-accentuated self-awareness regarding his own mortality one would expect from the creator of Family Guy and Ted. In any case, he’s just been dumped by his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried). Despite the reassurances of his best friends, played by Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman, MacFarlane thinks losing Seyfried is the last straw and thinks a move to San Francisco may be in order – that is, until Charlize Theron shows up in town under false pretenses.
At this point, you cue the predictable romantic subplot of Theron helping MacFarlane make Seyfried jealous only to see this new friendship blossom into something even more lovey dovey. It’s sort of like a really foul-mouthed version of Just One of the Guys … only MacFarlane knows Theron’s a woman the whole time. Of course, complications arise when Theron’s husband, a notorious gunslinger (played by Liam Neeson and his particular set of skills), comes riding into town looking to reclaim his marital property.
As you can tell, plot-wise the movie doesn’t stray far from a generic formula audiences have seen time and time again. However, the people that should be attracted to a movie like this probably don’t care so much about that. It’s all about the over-the-top, often gross, and always raunchy humor for which MacFarlane is so well known. In that respect, A Million Ways to Die in the West delivers in spades. Subsequently, it’s quite easy to identify whether or not this is something you might want to see, either in theaters or once it hits the home market. If you’re a fan of MacFarlane’s previous works, you’ll enjoy the shenanigans on display here. If not, seek your comedy elsewhere.
I like MacFarlane’s sense of humor, so I found the majority of the film enjoyable, aside from a joke or two that tested my intestinal fortitude. While MacFarlane himself isn’t going to be winning any Best Actor Oscars anytime soon, he certainly understands this about himself, and the character is written to play to his strong suits. Theron was a nice casting decision, and she plays well against the almost nebbish nature of MacFarlane. Ribisi and Silverman have a couple’s dynamic that’s delightfully funny in how very screwed up it’s set up to be, and Neeson clearly enjoys playing the man in the black hat, so to speak.
Despite my potshots at the title, A Million Ways to Die in the West is apropos considering the many discussions about mortality MacFarlane and company get into over the course of the film. A few of those ways to die may even come as a bit of a shock when you see them; if only because of the surprisingly graphic manner in which they are depicted. However, the core of the movie is its irreverent humor, and it really is a no-brainer that MacFarlane fans will enjoy this trip back in time to the Wild Wild West. The proceedings could have ended about 10 to 15 minutes sooner as there’s an extra bit or two thrown in at the end that feels tacked on to ensure a few more stereotypical checkboxes are hit, but other than that, this was simply a fun time at the movies.
GRADE: B-
A Million Ways to Die in the West is rated R for strong crude and sexual content, language throughout, some violence and drug material.
Corey Stoll as Ephraim Goodweather in ‘The Strain’ (Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Copyright 2014)
“The end of our world … is the beginning of theirs.”
FX has unveiled new footage from the upcoming thriller The Strain premiering on July 13, 2014. This apocalyptic vampire thriller features creatures that have nothing in common with the sparkingly teen vampires or the sexy, leather-clad vampires from recent films and TV shows. Instead, these are grotesque beasts who’d never pass as human.
The Plot:
The Strain is a high-concept thriller from Academy Award® nominated Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, author Chuck Hogan and writer/producer Carlton Cuse, which is based on the best-selling vampire novel trilogy of the same title written by del Toro and Hogan. It tells the story of “Dr. Ephraim Goodweather,” the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism.
As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers wage war for the fate of humanity itself.
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