Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham lead the cast of the action thriller The Expendables 3 Directed by Patrick Hughes and based on characters created by David Callaham, the third entry in the franchise is set to open in theaters on August 15, 2014.
Stallone co-wrote the screenplay with Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt.
Sylvester Stallone stars as Barney Ross, Jason Statham is Lee Christmas, Antonio Banderas is Galgo, Jet Li is Yin Yang, Wesley Snipes is Doc, and Dolph Lundgren is Gunnar Jensen. Kelsey Grammer plays Bonaparte, Terry Crews is Hale Caesar, Randy Couture is Toll Road, and Kellan Lutz is John Smilee.
Additional cast members include Ronda Rousey as Luna, Glen Powell as Thorn, Victor Ortiz as Mars, Robert Davi as Vata, Mel Gibson as Conrad Stonebanks, Harrison Ford as Drummer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench.
Official Synopsis: In The Expendables 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables — but Barney has other plans.
Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster, and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
Gwendoline Christie will be taking over the role of Commander Lyme in the fourth film of the Hunger Games franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Christie will be replacing Lily Rabe in the role due to a scheduling conflict (Rabe will be doing Shakespeare in the Park’s “Much Ado About Nothing” at the time of shooting).
For those who haven’t read Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games books, Commander Lyme is an important player as she’s a past Hunger Games victor, one of the first people from District 2 to support the rebellion, and one of the key leaders of District 13.
Christie, who plays the tough-as-nails warrior Brienne of Tarth in HBO’s Game of Thrones, definitely fits the description of the character (over 6′ tall and very muscular) and will make for a believable Hunger Games victor.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 opens in theaters on November 21, 2014 and Part 2 will open on November 20, 2015.
“Most of the intelligence community doesn’t believe he exists. Those who do call him ‘The Winter Soldier’. He’s a ghost…you’ll never find him,” says Natasha a.k.a Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America (Chris Evans) concerning an assassin who’s targeted a member of the S.H.I.E.L.D team – its director, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) – in the superhero action film Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Rogers is a member of the “Greatest Generation” who fought against the Nazis in WWII and not long ago was thawed out of a frozen deep-sleep to join the secret agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. In this Captain America sequel, he’s still trying to adapt to present day life in America and familiarize himself with its culture and new technology while going on secret undercover missions with Black Widow and a small squad of special grunts. But when Fury shows up wounded at Roger’s apartment, handing him a flash drive and telling him that S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromised and to trust no one (right before the Winter Soldier takes a few more shots at Fury), Rogers realizes he’s on his own to discover who’s behind this attack. Well, almost alone, that is. Loyal to Fury and knowing she can trust Rogers because, after all, he’s Captain America and doesn’t lie or least not very well, Natasha teams up with Rogers and together with Roger’s new running buddy, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the three work to try to decode the information on the flash drive while trying to stay one step ahead of the S.H.I.E.L.D grunts hunting them down because they believe Captain America and Black Widow are now a threat to the organization.
Action-packed and with some tongue and cheek dialogue, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is sure to be the first big movie blockbuster of the year. It surpasses the original film (Captain America: The First Avenger) in action, pacing, and humor. Chris Evans is solid as Steve Rogers, conveying the young idealistic and heroic soldier from an era long since vanished. He still loves his country and is always willing to do whatever it costs to protect it and to protect the freedom of Americans.
Scarlett Johansson is perfect as Black Widow, the ex-KGB agent who is every bit as capable and even more lethal than her male partner. It’s really impossible to imagine anyone else playing Natasha Romanoff. She’s made the role her own. Evans and Johansson also have great chemistry in the film, teasing each and playing off each other well. Their witty banter is extremely well-scripted as Natasha keeps urging Steve to find a nice girl to date while they’re in the middle of a firefight with some enemy agents and Rogers responding uncomfortably by trying to move off the topic. These little exchanges are funny little crowd-pleasing scenes that ease the tension built up during the fight sequences.
One big drawback to the fast-paced film is that although it has plenty of explosions, chases, and fight scenes, none of them actually stand out as original and one or two are out-and-out rip-offs of what some other truly great actions films did first and better. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is missing what great action films have: some unforgettable, thrilling chases, fights, and jaw-dropping explosions (think back to the truck chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark or the helicopter rescue scene in the original 1978 film Superman). In fact, near the end of the film all the missiles, gunfire, and explosions are so fast and chaotic it’s hard for the audience to follow the action on screen.
But, overall, this Marvel outing is exciting and entertaining. Captain America: The Winter Soldier will undoubtedly appeal to die-hard Marvel and superhero fans and deliver just what they expect from their favorite soldier.
GRADE: B-
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, gunplay and action throughout.
Disney’s new dark fairy tale action-adventure film Maleficent gets the award for having the most gorgeous marketing material of any 2014 release. Every photo, clip, poster, etc., from the upcoming release is simply visually stunning, and this new banner is no exception. Directed by Robert Stromberg, Maleficent stars Angelina Jolie, Dakota Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Brenton Thwaites, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville.
Disney’s releasing Maleficent in theaters on May 30, 2014.
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.
Director/producer Chris Columbus (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) steps back behind the camera for the first time since directing 2010’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief with Sony Picture Entertainment’s Pixels, an action comedy inspired by old-school video games. The cast is led by Adam Sandler and features Kevin James, Josh Gad, Michelle Monaghan, and Game of Thrones‘ Peter Dinklage, with Sony targeting a summer 2015 release date.
According to the studio, filming will take place this June.
Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling wrote the script (Pixel‘s based on Patrick Jean’s short film – watch it below) and Sandler, Columbus, Allen Covert, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe are producing. Herlihy, Barry Bernardi, Jack Giarraputo, Heather Parry and Seth Gordon are on board as executive producers.
“By combining the visceral power of 80’s arcade games with state-of-the-art visual effects, Pixels will take the audience to a place they’ve never been before,” explained Columbus.
“Working together, Adam Sandler and Chris Columbus have created a story that will deliver truly unique action, comedy and special effects, and bring back beloved arcade game characters in a delightfully original manner. Pixels is the perfect showcase for Adam’s brand of all-audience comedy,” stated Columbia Pictures President Doug Belgrad.
The Plot:
In the film, when aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war against them, they attack the Earth, using the games as models for their various assaults. President Will Cooper has to call on his childhood best friend, ’80s video game champion Jules Brenner, now a home theater installer, to lead a team of old-school arcaders to defeat the aliens and save the planet.
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s popular, groundbreaking rock musical will make its way across the U.S. during the largest North American arena tour ever scheduled for Jesus Christ Superstar. Kicking off on June 9, 2014 in New Orleans, the tour will stop in 50 cities, concluding its arena run on August 17th in Philadelphia.
The cast of Jesus Christ Superstar is led by Ben Forster who took on the role of Jesus Christ during the show’s UK and Australian arena tours. The cast also includes Incubus lead vocalist Brandon Boyd as Judas Iscariot, NSYNC’s JC Chasez as Pontius Pilate, Destiny’s Child’s Michelle Williams as Mary Magdalene, and the Sex Pistols’ John Rotten Lydon as King Herod.
Tickets go on sale on April 11th at jesuschristsuperstar.com.
“Jesus Christ Superstar began life as a rock album…probably because nobody believed back in 1969 that you could present a stage musical about the last days of the life of Jesus Christ. I shall never forget its first live performance in the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh on July 12th 1971. Of course, JCS subsequently became a legit theatre stalwart, but I, personally, have always hankered after seeing it again in the arenas where it started,” said Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Comments about the tour from the Jesus Christ Superstar cast:
“In 1971 Andrew and I were thrilled by the first-ever Jesus Christ Superstar tour of the United States,” said Tim Rice. “We certainly did not imagine then that 43 years later we would be witnessing another America-wide tour of our first big hit show. We are delighted and grateful that enthusiasm for Superstar has been maintained over the years and this new production presents the work in its most powerful format – as a true rock experience.”
“I am so thrilled to be a part of this amazing production!” said Brandon Boyd. “I grew up on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classics and never imagined I would be playing a role in one, let alone with such an incredibly diverse cast of players. Truly an honor!”
“When I heard Jesus Christ Superstar was coming to the States, I was excited at the idea to be a part of telling one of the most influential stories in history through the scope of such a talented composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber,” said JC Chasez. “I’m excited to work with such a dynamic cast, and to bring Jesus Christ Superstar back to its roots as a rock arena experience.”
“I am so excited to be part of such a legendary production alongside an amazing cast!,” said Michelle Williams. “I am truly looking forward to this experience!”
“I’m here to sing with the King of the Jews, who could ask for anything more?” said John Rotten Lydon.
“I feel so excited to bring this production to North America,” said Ben Forster. “America has to experience this rock arena spectacular as Andrew Lloyd Webber envisaged it. I am the real life Billy Elliot, from a coal mining city in the north of England to touring huge arenas across North America! You are about to witness my dream come true!”
Jesus Christ Superstar Tour Dates:
6/9/14 – New Orleans, LA at Lakefront Arena
6/10/14 – Birmingham, AL at BJCC Arena
6/11/14 – Charlotte, NC at Time Warner Cable Arena
6/13/14 – Fort Lauderdale, FL at BB&T Center
6/14/14 – Orlando, FL at Amway Center
6/15/14 – Tampa, FL at Tampa Bay Times Forum
6/16/14 – Atlanta, GA at Philips Arena
6/17/14 – Nashville, TN at Bridgestone Arena
6/19/14 – San Antonio, TX at Freeman Coliseum
6/20/14 – Austin, TX at Frank Erwin Center
6/21/14 – Houston, TX at Toyota Center
6/22/14 – Dallas, TX at American Airlines Center
6/23/14 – Oklahoma City, OK at Chesapeake Energy Arena
6/24/14 – Tulsa, OK at BOK Center
6/26/14 – Toronto, ON at Air Canada Centre
6/28/14 – Detroit, MI at Joe Louis Arena
6/29/14 – Chicago, IL at United Center
7/1/14 – St. Louis, MO at Scottrade Center
7/2/14 – Kansas City, MO at Sprint Center
7/4/14 – Winnipeg, MB at MTS Centre
7/5/14 – Regina, SK at Brandt Centre
7/6/14 – Edmonton, AB at Rexall Place
7/8/14 – Boise, ID at Taco Bell Arena
7/9/14 – Spokane, WA at Spokane Arena
7/10/14 – Seattle, WA at KeyArena At Seattle Center
7/12/14 – Vancouver, BC at Rogers Arena
7/13/14 – Portland, OR at Moda Center
7/15/14 – Sacramento, CA at Sleep Train Arena
7/16/14 – Fresno, CA at Save Mart Center
7/17/14 – Bakersfield, CA at Rabobank Arena
7/18/14 – San Jose, CA at SAP Center at San Jose
7/20/14 – Anaheim, CA at Honda Center
7/22/14 – El Paso, TX at UTEP Don Haskins Center
7/23/14 – Phoenix, AZ at US Airways Center
7/24/14 – San Diego, CA at Valley View Casino Center
7/25/14 – Las Vegas, NV at Mandalay Bay Events Center
7/26/14 – Los Angeles, CA at STAPLES Center
7/29/14 – Denver, CO at Pepsi Center
7/30/14 – Lincoln, NE at Pinnacle Bank Arena
7/31/14 – St. Paul, MN at Xcel Energy Center
8/1/14 – Milwaukee, WI at BMO Bradley Harris Center
8/2/14 – Indianapolis, IN at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
8/3/14 – Cincinnati, OH at U.S. Bank Arena
8/5/14 – New York, NY at Madison Square Garden
8/7/14 – Washington, DC at Verizon Center
8/9/14 – Columbus, OH at Schottenstein Center
8/10/14 – Cleveland, OH at Quicken Loans Arena
8/12/14 – Pittsburgh, PA at Consol Energy Center
8/13/14 – Buffalo, NY at First Niagara Center
8/14/14 – Boston, MA at TD Garden
8/16/14 – Philadelphia, PA at Wells Fargo Center
The 7D, Disney’s new take on the classic tale of the Seven Dwarfs, has signed Kelly Osbourne to provide the voice of Hildy in the animated series debuting this summer on Disney XD, Disney Channel, and Disney Junior. Osbourne’s fellow The 7D voice cast members include Jess Harnell (as Grim), Leigh-Allyn Baker (as Queen Delightful), Bill Farmer (as Doc), Maurice LaMarche (as Grumpy), Kevin Michael Richardson (as Happy), Dee Bradley Baker (as Dopey), Scott Menville (as Sneezy), Stephen Stanton (as Sleepy), Billy West (as Bashful), and Paul Rugg (as Lord Starchbottom).
YouTube’s Parry Gripp is handling the soundtrack for the animated comedy series.
“It may surprise some to learn that I grew up watching Disney Channel, so playing a character in a Disney cartoon is beyond exciting for me,” said Osbourne. “I’m having a blast voicing Hildy, who I’ve now come to think of as my alter ego – she is my Sasha Fierce. The role has taught me so much about acting – and Hildy’s a tough one to keep up with, so I wear workout clothes to recording sessions because I jump and move around to really bring her to life.”
The Plot:
Set in the contemporary and whimsical world of Jollywood, “The 7D” story finds the 7D – Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy and Doc – hard at work helping the quirky Queen Delightful keep her kingdom in order. Osbourne will voice the role of Hildy Gloom, a novice witch who, together with her warlock husband Grim, haplessly plot to overthrow the kingdom.
Alfred Gimeno, Jeff Gordon, and Charles Visser are directing the series, with Tom Ruegger executive producing and Tom Warburton co-executive producing.
With 45 seconds on the clock and very specific rules – including no playing with your balls once they’ve stuck to your suit – Jimmy Fallon and Daniel Radcliffe participated in a rowdy game of sticky balls. Wearing velcro suits, The Tonight Show host and the star of the Harry Potter franchise threw as many balls at each other as they could.
However, when the timer ran out and the balls were counted, it was obvious that one man was much, much better at avoiding sticky balls.
Anton Yelchin and Billy Crudup in 'Rudderless' (Photo Credit: J.R. Cooke)William H Macy’s first feature film as a director, Rudderless, has found a home with Paramount Home Media Distribution and Samuel Goldwyn Films. The two studios have teamed up to distribute it in theaters and on home video. Rudderless stars Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Huffman (his wife), Jamie Chung, Selena Gomez, and Laurence Fishburne and made its debut as the 2014 Sundance Film Festival’s closing night film.
“After seeing such a fabulous response at Sundance, we are thrilled to be partnering with two of the most prestigious distributors in our business on my directing debut,” said director William H. Macy. “When I first moved to LA, many years ago, I lived just off of Melrose, and I passed those beautiful gates to Paramount almost every day. Seeing them become our partner on Rudderless and adding the storied Goldwyn Company into the mix excites me to no end.”
“William H. Macy has always been a true talent in front of the cameras and now also proves to be a major force behind the scenes. Billy Crudup, Felicity Huffman and the rest of the cast deliver stellar performances. We are excited to again partner with Paramount Home Media Distribution in bringing Macy’s remarkable first feature to theaters,” said Peter Goldwyn, Senior Vice President, Samuel Goldwyn Films.
“Rudderless is an incredibly powerful and moving film and we are extremely excited to bring it to audiences around the world,” said Syrinthia Studer, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Acquisitions, Paramount Home Media Distribution. “William H. Macy has delivered a terrific first feature with extraordinary performances by his stellar cast, a compelling story and wonderful original music. We feel confident that it will be embraced by audiences both in the U.S. and internationally.”
The Plot:
After a man has his life torn apart when he loses his son, he is content wasting the rest of his days until he discovers a box of unpublished music. Coming from such an unexpected source, the music is a revelation. He begins obsessively learning the songs, until one day he decides to play one of them at a local bar. The song captivates a young musician in the audience and the two unlikely friends decide to form a local band that gains sudden popularity and changes both of their lives.
Sources: Paramount Home Media Distribution and Samuel Goldwyn Films
After a disastrous blind date, single parents Lauren (Barrymore) and Jim (Sandler) agree on only one thing: they never want to see each other again. But when they each sign up separately for a fabulous family vacation with their kids, they are all stuck sharing a suite at a luxurious African safari resort for a week.
Stumble It! 
