Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Alexander Grayson and Victoria Smurfit as Lady Jayne Wetherby in 'Dracula' (Photo by: Jonathon Hession/NBC)
Jonathan Rhy Meyers and Victoria Smurfit star in NBC’s one-hour horror series Dracula. Season one is set to premiere in time for Halloween on October 25, 2013.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as ‘Dracula/Alexander Grayson,’ Oliver Jackson-Cohen plays ‘Jonathan Harker,’ Victoria Smurfit is ‘Lady Jane,’ and Katie McGrath plays ‘Lucy.’ Nonso Anozie stars as ‘Renfield,’ Thomas Kretschmann is ‘Abraham Van Helsing,’ and Ben Miles plays ‘Browning.’
The Synopsis: Golden Globe winner Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) stars in this provocative new drama as one of the world’s most iconic characters. It’s the late 19th century and the mysterious Dracula (Rhys Meyers) has arrived in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. He’s especially interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night — useful for someone who avoids the sun.
But he has another reason for his travels: He hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan… until he becomes infatuated with a woman who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.
Ashton Kutcher has the difficult task of portraying visionary Steve Jobs during the period in his life when he was creating Apple, battling the board, getting booted from the company he formed, and ultimately returning to help resurrect a dying company in the biopic Jobs. And in this video courtesy of Open Road Films, Kutcher discusses tackling the role, the story, and Steve Jobs’ musical inspirations. He also talks about his co-star Josh Gad and working with director Joshua Michael Stern.
The Plot:
It only takes one person to start a revolution.
The extraordinary story of Steve Jobs, the original innovator and ground-breaking entrepreneur who let nothing stand in the way of greatness. The film tells the epic and turbulent story of Jobs as he blazed a trail that changed technology — and the world – forever.
TV Land’s moving forward on a new series based on the book Younger by Pamela Redmond Satran. The series is from writer, producer, and creator Darren Star, whose credits include Sex and the City and Beverly Hills 90210.
According to TV Land, the new comedy series will follow “a suddenly single New Jersey housewife and mother in her early 40s who, unable to restart her career, decides to lie about her age and successfully passes herself off as a twentysomething. Armed with a makeover and new resume, she wins a coveted position at the city’s hottest publishing company. Pretending to be ‘younger’ doesn’t hurt in the bar scene, either, as guys line up like never before.”
Announcing the series, Keith Cox, Executive Vice President of Development and Original Programming, stated: “Darren has brought to life some of the most dynamic and indelible characters on television today. We are beyond excited to work with him. Between Sex and the City, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place, he has created some of the most iconic and beloved shows in the history of television.”
After dropping out of college and trying to work for Atari but not really being able to find anything he’s really good at that challenges him, Jobs finally finds his calling one day while visiting his best friend Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad) and seeing his hobby of a keyboard hooked up to a television screen which displays what Steve is working on. Fascinated by his friend’s first attempt at making a computer, Jobs – along with Wozniak – set to work in his father’s garage, making calls to get orders for their new computer from their brand new company titled Apple.
Things really begin to take off for Jobs and Wozniak when professional businessman and investor Mike Markkula (Dermot Mulroney) meets with them and offers a $90,000 dollar investment to partner up, a partnership that will change the landscape of technology for all time.
After the massive success of the Mac2, Jobs becomes determined to make only the best and most cutting-edge computers, constantly pushing the limits of what is possible. That creates tension between himself, his employees, and the company’s board who always seems to be looking for an excuse or reason to find a way to push Jobs out of the company he created.
Inspired by the career and accomplishments of Steve Jobs, Jobs is a film that portrays the visionary entrepreneur as both a creative and shrewd businessman and as a cold, self-absorbed, controlling, and self-destructive bastard. Ashton Kutcher delivers the best performance of his career as Jobs, capturing his walk, style and at times, awkwardness. It’s clear he took the role seriously and delivers a solid performance.
Dermot Mulroney is very effective as Markkula, Jobs’ partner at Apple who does as much as he can to protect Jobs from the board who are always looking for a way to strip Jobs of any power. Josh Gad is perfect as Steve Wozniak, Jobs’ best friend who without Jobs would never have been able to build the company Apple and his early computers. Kutcher and Gad have strong chemistry and the best scenes in the film are with these two.
Jobs does have a few problems though. The pacing of the film is uneven, and the entire first 20 minutes with Jobs hanging out at college after he has already dropped out and getting high with his girlfriend and friends is a complete waste of time. It’s unnecessary and boring exposition to the beginning of the real story of how a slacker and his buddy became two of the most influential people in the technical world in the 20th century, and that segment of the movie should have ended up on the cutting room floor.
Jobs is also too repetitive, using again and again scenes of a shot of the back of Steve Jobs’ head following him as he walks through the corridors of the offices of Apple with employees poking their heads out and looking. It’s as though director Joshua Michael Stern wants the audience to get a sense of what it feels like to BE Jobs…and it fails miserably.
Too long and uneven, Jobs is a film that never really delves deep into discovering what drove the visionary businessman towards excellence (other than by having Kutcher as Jobs say,“I want to make Apple cool again”) and delivers a surface and half-empty portrayal of a creative, complex, incredibly original and driven visionary. The 1999 TNT made-for-TV movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley, starring Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs, is superior to this big-screen attempt.
GRADE: C
Jobs opens in theaters on August 16, 2013 and is rated PG-13 for some drug content and brief strong language.
Getting out of high school without a broken heart seems contrary to the norm (especially if you believe all the movies about the subject). Doing that while having an alcoholic father run out on your family and falling for a girl whose own father is out of the picture and whose social circles are far more limited than your own is just the specific situation for Sutter Keely, the main character in The Spectacular Now.
Played by Miles Teller, Sutter is a popular kid at his high school. He’s the life of the party, seen as a bit of a joke by his classmates, but too wrapped up in being Mr. Cool and sipping on hard liquor from his flask to see that living in the now may mean that high school could be the end of that fun ride if he doesn’t start changing things.
Coming off a break-up with Cassidy (Brie Larson), whom he believed was the perfect girl, Sutter finds himself getting to know Aimee (Shailene Woodley). She isn’t on the same social radar as him but is one of those girls who doesn’t realize how beautiful she is; her intelligence, kindness, and naïveté take him by surprise. They create confidence within each other to face up to their respective mothers so they can move forward with life after high school. But at the same time, Sutter’s lingering feelings for Cassidy and inability to understand what he has with Aimee, coupled with her blind acceptance of his antics because he’s her first boyfriend, creates a cacophony of emotions that may be all too relatable for audiences.
I certainly connected with the film and it sparked some soul-searching and reignited emotions and memories I tend to keep buried just below the surface. There were some scenes that felt lifted from my own brain, thanks to screenwriters Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber (adapting Tim Tharp’s novel), complete with dialogue so personal it at times seemed like a dream I would surely wake from shortly – because that’s the thing you do right before you get to the end of an imagined conversation with an important person when you’re snoring up a storm alone in your bed.
Personal identification aside, what director James Ponsoldt has done is take this intimate screenplay, combine it with a well-chosen cast, and create one of the most unexpected and welcome surprises of 2013. There’s been quite a bit of buzz about Woodley’s performance, as critical eyes had been waiting to see what followed after her excellent turn in The Descendants, and it’s deserved attention. While Teller does a great job overall, there are one or two scenes where his performance rings slightly hollow. Woodley, however, absolutely nails this part and remains affectingly vulnerable at all times; it’s an idealized version of a girl many of us fell in love with in high school and refuse to let go of, but I’m willing to stick with the delusion if only to feed my own psyche.
Not to be forgotten in the acting kudos are Brie Larson and Kyle Chandler. Her character has to walk a fine line, and Larson does so with grace and sincerity. A scene between Cassidy and Sutter where she realizes what it was about him that initiated the breakup is handled beautifully by the actors and Ponsoldt’s choice to shoot some of the more difficult elements in a wider shot pays off in spades. Playing Sutter’s father, Chandler brings the character to life superbly, and Sutter is forced to realize the difference between the father as a real person and the rhapsodized image of that man.
All of these kind words aren’t to say the film does everything right. I haven’t read the book yet (just downloaded on my Kindle though) but the ending presented in the film is severely problematic. That’s partially due to heavily borrowing from Good Will Hunting, with a dash of Garden State thrown in, but also because the script takes so much time to develop Sutter and Aimee that wrapping things up so quickly is contrary to the rest of the movie. Some may feel things aren’t completely resolved but it’s pretty clear what the intention is; it’s up to the individual to determine how it will play out over time (a concept I don’t mind but some people don’t prefer).
It also would have been nice if the Sutter being presented on-screen matched up a bit better to the Sutter his mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) describes in a heartfelt scene towards the end. I can see shades of the person she’s talking about, but it’s not quite who the audience had been exposed to for an hour and a half. It may even make some sense that her perspective is skewed, but considering the importance of the moment, it still felt a bit out of sync – despite the tangible emotion.
All that being said, I think you can tell that I would recommend the movie regardless of those flaws … some of which are a by-product of being a cynical film critic. The Spectacular Now hit a raw nerve inside me, and even if the characters don’t do the same for general audiences, the story is so universal that it’s bound to connect with you in some fashion. The performances are excellent and while the overall film isn’t quite as polished as last year’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower or 2009’s (500) Days of Summer (written by the same screenwriters), your enjoyment of either gives you a clear idea if this might also be up your alley.
GRADE: B+
The Spectacular Now is rated R for alcohol use, language and some sexuality – all involving teens.
Phil, Si, Jase and Willie Robertson from A&E's Duck Dynasty - Photo by Zach Dilgard
I don’t know which is more interesting – that Duck Dynasty has set a new record for viewers or that A&E announced the accomplishment with a press release subtitled “The Quackin’ Has Been Released.” The addictive reality show returned for season four on August 14, 2013, and 11.8 million people tuned in to see what’s happening with the Robertson family.
That viewership number broke records and made the Duck Dynasty telecast the #1 nonfiction series in cable history.
The season four premiere also became the most-watched nonfiction episode among adults 25-54 with 6.3 million viewers. Overall, the Duck Dynasty season premiere was up 37% over the season three premiere.
Commenting on the record-breaking numbers, A&E General Manager and Executive Vice President David McKillop said, “Thanks to its authentic and engaging characters Duck Dynasty has become more than just a reality show, it is a cultural phenomenon. We would like to thank the Robertsons for their incredible partnership. We are all Happy, Happy, Happy.”
You may not recognize the name Don LaFontaine, but you would certainly recognize his voice. Up until his passing in 2008, LaFontaine’s vocal stylings made three little words, “In a World,” into perhaps the most imitated phrase used in movie trailers. There was a gravitas in his voice that made even the most obvious pieces of crap look cool somehow.
The voiceover landscape is largely male-dominated (outside of female-centric products, how often do you remember a woman’s voice promoting something?) and writer/director/star Lake Bell thought that this environment would prove fertile ground for exploring a competitive father/daughter relationship. The result is In a World…, with Bell playing an aspiring voiceover artist while her father is one of the most respected in the business and doesn’t think women have any place in the industry.
The film is stacked with supporting actors with comedic backgrounds (many from Children’s Hospital where Bell has also taken up residence). Rob Corddry, Ken Marino, and Michaela Watkins have all been playing doctor with one another, and their chemistry shows on-screen. Demetri Martin, Nick Offerman, Tig Notaro, and Alexandra Holden fill out the ensemble nicely, and the script takes advantage of all these funny people to keep things fairly light.
Considering this is Bell’s feature film directorial debut, she did a decent job. Wearing so many hats and being so close to the production made it hard for her to edit out the excess but that’s not too uncommon on first films. There’s a subplot about Watkins’ marriage to Corddry that simply doesn’t gel with the main story, nor does the attempt at a love story between Martin and Bell. These extra elements detract from the rivalry between the central daughter and her father, though it’s really the final message that doesn’t sit well with me as I think about the entirety of the project.
Fair warning, this paragraph is a bit spoiler-ish. Bell spends the entire movie showing what a boys’ club the voiceover industry is and attempting to mend a damaged family structure and also show that a female voice can compete with the heavy hitters. However, the final resolution of where Bell’s character ends up seems like the character taking her place where Daddy said she belonged. No matter what triumphs were made along the way, what’s the point of it all if the character is just going to settle into the comfortable space she was essentially in when the movie began?
Another rookie filmmaking mistake was having multiple characters that speak with the same voice. This is most evident in the slightly neurotic and insecure rambling that comes from both Bell’s and Martin’s characters. While I can see there’s a significant difference between the two (him-man, she-woman), their dialogue and manner of speech felt too similar. Still, there are a decent number of nice moments, and I tend to enjoy movies where you can tell the actors all enjoyed working on set. While I wouldn’t say this is must-see material, if you like the actors involved and think the idea of peeking into the voiceover world is an interesting idea, I wouldn’t dissuade you from checking out In a World… but I also wouldn’t tell you it had to be seen in a theater.
GRADE: C
In a World… is rated R for language including some sexual references.
The second season of The CW’s Arrow has just added an actress to play ‘Sin’. The Killing‘s Bex Taylor-Klaus has been signed on for the role, with The Hollywood Reporter stating she’ll be introduced in episode three.
The character is described by THR as “a wayward youth who is befriended by the Black Canary and has a connection with fellow street urchin, Roy Harper.”
In addition, the season two cast will feature Kevin Alejandro as Brother Blood and Michael Jai White as Bronze Tiger. Season two debuts on October 9, 2013 at 8pm.
The Plot:
After being marooned on a remote island, billionaire Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) returns home with a mysterious agenda and a lethal set of new skills that he uses in a war on crime in this hard-hitting action series. Reinventing the DC Comics character for a modern audience, the Arrow is not a superhero but a hero — every bit as dangerous as the criminals he’s hunting.
After suffering unimaginable ordeals on the island, the former fun-loving Oliver Queen returns to Starling City a new man. Determined to deliver justice to those who have corrupted his city, Oliver (aka The Hood) – with the help of tech-savvy Felicity Smoak and his iron-fisted right hand, John Diggle – narrowly averts the rich and powerful “The Undertaking” to cleanse the city of its most desperate citizens. But Oliver’s crusade is complicated by his emotional connections to friends and family, as the Queen family still trades on secrets that conflict with the Arrow’s agenda.
Oliver’s return also affects the love of his life, Laurel Lance, and he must find a balance between being there for her as Oliver Queen, and being there for Starling City as the Arrow. A dark and dangerous crime procedural with edge, intrigue and action, Oliver’s story is told through his harrowing trials on the island, his connections to his mother, Moira, and sister, Thea, and the Arrow’s adventures in Starling City.
Showing all facets of the mysterious loner, the drama follows the charismatic Oliver that disappeared, the hardened Oliver that returned and the Oliver that’s been forged into the weapon against injustice known as … the Arrow.
Considering how much I loved Kick-Ass, one might think I’d be excited about a sequel. One would be wrong. The first movie was an expert translation of comic to screen, balancing the dark humor with bloody action in such excellent fashion I had no idea how much I’d come to think of it as a fluke for director Matthew Vaughn after seeing what he’s done to the X-Men (clearly discarding any notion of being true to those comic books).
Well, he’s still on as a producer but it’s director Jeff Wadlow of Never Back Down fame (yeah, that mixed martial arts version of The Karate Kid) that’s calling the shots behind the camera this time around for Kick-Ass 2 … and that’s not a good thing. He continues with Hollywood’s obsession with shaky cam for fight scenes and makes too many quick cuts to establish any sense of rhythm to the action. He also didn’t find a way to balance the tone of the material as well as Vaughn did.
This time around, Dave/Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has joined up with a group of not-so-superheroes called Justice Forever. They’re led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) and feature Donald Faison as Dr. Gravity, the obligatory female lust interest (Lindy Booth) as a character named Night Bitch, Dave’s buddy Marty (Clark Duke) as Battle Guy, and a few other sad sacks.
Unfortunately for them, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is back with an entirely new supervillain persona (one I won’t repeat in case young eyes are reading this), and he wants Kick-Ass’ head on a platter. Along the way, Mindy/Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) hasn’t joined up with the Super Friends Justice Forever, is struggling with being 15, fulfilling her father’s legacy, and finding her place in the world.
While I enjoyed the brutality and inventiveness of some of the action, especially when factoring in a bunch of normal people wearing tights playing superhero, the overall experience left me feeling a little hollow. No matter who gets killed, I never felt any emotional attachment, so it simply didn’t matter. Also, while it’s probably just a sign of my twisted mind, there’s just not the same excitement in watching a 15-year-old girl swear like a sailor or maim and kill a bunch of people as there was in watching the same girl do the exact same thing three years ago.
The film suffers from pacing issues, mostly due to trying to juggle so many plot lines. Nearly every major character (and a few minor ones) has some dramatic arc they have to explore and bouncing from one to the other became tedious by about the halfway mark. The first film developed the characters as the plot unfolded and there was a better-established central thread. Here there are a number of dangling elements that threaten to become important but simply fade out as quickly as they were introduced.
Then there’s the soundtrack. The first film incorporated a number of high-energy songs and smartly chosen tracks to drive the action. Nothing in this sequel has the same level of excitement or interest, and there are a number of selections simply reused from the original without any adaptation at all.
Talking with other critics afterward, they enjoyed the proceedings far more than I did and maybe I’m just holding the franchise up to a higher standard, but I don’t think so. Kick-Ass 2 isn’t a bad action film. I enjoyed it well enough, but it’s far from the spectacle that was the first Kick-Ass, and it falls much more squarely into the home market territory than something that deserves your $58 to see on the big screen.
GRADE: C+
Kick-Ass 2 opens in theaters on August 16, 2013 and is rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, crude and sexual content, and brief nudity.
Justin Timberlake has been chosen as the recipient of the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, following in the footsteps of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Britney Spears. Timberlake will also be taking the VMA stage to perform along with previously announced artists Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke.
The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award will be given to Timberlake in recognition of his “pioneering and innovative impact” on music videos. And in addition to the Vanguard Award, Timberlake’s tied with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for the most nominations this year with six: “Video of the Year,” “Best Male Video,” “Best Pop Video” and “Best Editing,” “Best Collaboration,” and “Best Direction.”
The 2013 Video Music Awards will take place on Sunday, August 25th at 9pm ET/PT.
