Den Of Geek Nov 18, 2016
11 people playing football... how different can they be?
Two football games released at the same time. What are the odds, eh? Pretty high, obviously. Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 vs FIFA 17 may be the latest battle, but it’s a war that goes back decades.
Most people won’t want to spend £80 on two football games, which means it’s decision time. Should Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 get your money, or is FIFA 17 the winner? Let’s find out.
Buy Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 for the PS4 now from Amazon
Buy FIFA 17 for the PS4 now from Amazon
Buy FIFA 17 Xbox One now from Amazon
Buy Pro Evolution Soccer Xbox One now from Amazon
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 vs FIFA 17: Authenticity and graphics
Let’s start with how they look. Superficial, I know, but it’s important in its own way. While both FIFA 17 and Pes 2017 are good looking games,...
11 people playing football... how different can they be?
Two football games released at the same time. What are the odds, eh? Pretty high, obviously. Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 vs FIFA 17 may be the latest battle, but it’s a war that goes back decades.
Most people won’t want to spend £80 on two football games, which means it’s decision time. Should Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 get your money, or is FIFA 17 the winner? Let’s find out.
Buy Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 for the PS4 now from Amazon
Buy FIFA 17 for the PS4 now from Amazon
Buy FIFA 17 Xbox One now from Amazon
Buy Pro Evolution Soccer Xbox One now from Amazon
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 vs FIFA 17: Authenticity and graphics
Let’s start with how they look. Superficial, I know, but it’s important in its own way. While both FIFA 17 and Pes 2017 are good looking games,...
- 11/14/2016
- Den of Geek
I have been collecting toys for a long time. Of all the various action figure lines I’ve collected throughout the years, I have very few female figures. Why, you may ask? Simply put, I was just never that into them. Of my two favorite childhood toy lines, G.I. Joe and Star Wars, the only consistent female figure in my collection(s) was Princess Leia. You couldn’t have Han and Chewie flying around the backyard in the Falcon and not have Leia there to make sure Han doesn’t get them all killed. This by no means was a sexist agenda, just my childhood action figure preferences.
Fast forward more years than I’d like to remember and the trend continues, but for a few different reasons. The first being that my action figure tastes have gotten far more refined and expensive than they were in the 1980s and 90s,...
Fast forward more years than I’d like to remember and the trend continues, but for a few different reasons. The first being that my action figure tastes have gotten far more refined and expensive than they were in the 1980s and 90s,...
- 5/4/2016
- by Dominic F
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Update with more news: Scott Mann (Heist) has been attached to direct Final Score, an action thriller set during a major sporting event when the stadium is seized by a group of heavily armed criminals demanding ransom. An ex-soldier must save the 35,000 in the crowd — one of which is the daughter of his fallen comrade. The script is from the Brothers Lynch. Highland Film Group will executive producer and handle international sales rights at the upcoming European Film…...
- 2/5/2016
- Deadline
Scott Mann will direct the action-thriller Final Score, which is based on a script by The Brothers Lynch. The story is set at a major sporting event, during which the stadium is seized by a group of heavily armed criminals demanding ransom. An ex-soldier must use all his military skills to save the 35,000 capacity crowd, one of which is the daughter of his fallen comrade. Highland Film Group (Hfg) is handling international sales, and will introduce the film at Efm in Berlin. Casting is currently underway for a summer/fall start date, and the film will shoot
read more...
read more...
- 2/4/2016
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Bond title sequences are an important tradition for the franchise. Join us as we count them down from worst to best.
The title sequence is a trademark of the Bond franchise. It sets the tone for the film while using artistry to bring important themes and ideas to audience’s periphery. It’s more than just guns and girls, it’s a calling card that gives the Bond films a sophistication and uniqueness that its competitors and impostors lack. Through the years, these sequences have become more complicated and sophisticated, but the goal is the same: wow the audience.
Below we've listed the title sequences of all of the Eon Productions/MGM Studios films from worst to best based on the following criteria:
Song Rating = How good/memorable is the song?
Creativity = Have we seen it before?
Wow-Factor = The impact on the viewer.
Execution = How well made is it...
The title sequence is a trademark of the Bond franchise. It sets the tone for the film while using artistry to bring important themes and ideas to audience’s periphery. It’s more than just guns and girls, it’s a calling card that gives the Bond films a sophistication and uniqueness that its competitors and impostors lack. Through the years, these sequences have become more complicated and sophisticated, but the goal is the same: wow the audience.
Below we've listed the title sequences of all of the Eon Productions/MGM Studios films from worst to best based on the following criteria:
Song Rating = How good/memorable is the song?
Creativity = Have we seen it before?
Wow-Factor = The impact on the viewer.
Execution = How well made is it...
- 11/9/2015
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (G.S. Perno)
- Cinelinx
From Under Mountains #1
Art and colors by Sloane Leong, 34-35 by Brandon Graham
Story and script by Claire Gibson
Cover and story by Marian Churchland
Letters by Ariana Maher
Published by Image Comics
From Under Mountains #1 has magic, demons, familial struggles, murder, mystery, and a whole lot “Um, so what’s it about?” Gorgeous art meets minimalist storytelling in this new series from Brandon Graham’s 8House imprint.
From the cover to the interior artwork by Sloane Leong, and the final world map by Brandon Graham, From Under Mountains delivers the amazing artwork characteristic of 8House. Sloane Leong’s simplistic pencils and layouts are bolstered by lush coloring. The most impressive example would have to be the first ten pages. In the desert, an old woman conjures a shadow creature from the skeleton of a small animal. Her shadow fuses with the skeleton, and the creature slowly takes form, seeming...
Art and colors by Sloane Leong, 34-35 by Brandon Graham
Story and script by Claire Gibson
Cover and story by Marian Churchland
Letters by Ariana Maher
Published by Image Comics
From Under Mountains #1 has magic, demons, familial struggles, murder, mystery, and a whole lot “Um, so what’s it about?” Gorgeous art meets minimalist storytelling in this new series from Brandon Graham’s 8House imprint.
From the cover to the interior artwork by Sloane Leong, and the final world map by Brandon Graham, From Under Mountains delivers the amazing artwork characteristic of 8House. Sloane Leong’s simplistic pencils and layouts are bolstered by lush coloring. The most impressive example would have to be the first ten pages. In the desert, an old woman conjures a shadow creature from the skeleton of a small animal. Her shadow fuses with the skeleton, and the creature slowly takes form, seeming...
- 10/5/2015
- by Ben Howard
- SoundOnSight
There is a saying in Baltimore that crabs may be prepared in fifty ways and that all of them are good. • H.L. Mencken
“There is only so far that you can push people into a corner… We’re frustrated and that’s why we’re out there in the streets.” • Charles, Member of the Crips gang
“I would never want to live anywhere but Baltimore. You can look far and wide, but you’ll never discover a stranger city with such extreme style. It’s as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay.” • John Waters, Filmmaker and Writer
“This is a skewed portrayal of the protests; it is what the media chose to portray – the media that consumers bewilderingly seem to want. The real revolution is thousands of people across America standing in solidarity against police brutality.
“There is only so far that you can push people into a corner… We’re frustrated and that’s why we’re out there in the streets.” • Charles, Member of the Crips gang
“I would never want to live anywhere but Baltimore. You can look far and wide, but you’ll never discover a stranger city with such extreme style. It’s as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay.” • John Waters, Filmmaker and Writer
“This is a skewed portrayal of the protests; it is what the media chose to portray – the media that consumers bewilderingly seem to want. The real revolution is thousands of people across America standing in solidarity against police brutality.
- 10/5/2015
- by Mindy Newell
- Comicmix.com
SXSW 2015 Film Review
complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015
The Overnight
Director/Screenwriter: Patrick Brice
Two families meet at the park and set up a playdate that has unexpected outcomes for all. Cast: Adam Scott, Jason Schwartzman, Taylor Schilling, Judith Godrèche. (film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
It’s hilarious. The boundaries of bromance, marriage, friendship and even penis comedy are pushed to a very funny limit with this film. It’s great to see Schilling doing great work outside of “Orange is the New Black.”
Final Score: 8/10
Manglehorn
Director: David Gordon Green, Screenwriter: Paul Logan
Reclusive small town locksmith, A.J. Manglehorn, who has never recovered from his losing his true love embarks on a new tenuous relationship with a local woman he meets at the bank. Cast: Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine, Chris Messina. (U.S. Premiere)
(film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
You probably...
complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015
The Overnight
Director/Screenwriter: Patrick Brice
Two families meet at the park and set up a playdate that has unexpected outcomes for all. Cast: Adam Scott, Jason Schwartzman, Taylor Schilling, Judith Godrèche. (film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
It’s hilarious. The boundaries of bromance, marriage, friendship and even penis comedy are pushed to a very funny limit with this film. It’s great to see Schilling doing great work outside of “Orange is the New Black.”
Final Score: 8/10
Manglehorn
Director: David Gordon Green, Screenwriter: Paul Logan
Reclusive small town locksmith, A.J. Manglehorn, who has never recovered from his losing his true love embarks on a new tenuous relationship with a local woman he meets at the bank. Cast: Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine, Chris Messina. (U.S. Premiere)
(film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
You probably...
- 3/19/2015
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
SXSW 2015 Film Review
complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015
7 Chinese Brothers
Director/Screenwriter: Bob Byington
A man unaccustomed to telling the truth learns to at least describe it. Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Tunde Adebimpe, Eleanore Pienta, Olympia Dukakis, Stephen Root. (World Premiere) (film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
The film is almost about nothing, just like the title of the film. Most of the time this doesn’t matter because we get to watch Schwartzman do many Schwartzman things, including acting opposite his real-life dog. There is a very sweet and surprisingly authentic death involving a key character. Besides that moment, when the film ends, you’ll quickly forget about it and move on.
Final Score: 6/10
Adult Beginners
Director: Ross Katz, Screenwriters: Jeff Cox, Elizabeth Flahive
Out of a job after a disastrous product launch, a big-city yuppie retreats to his suburban childhood home, in this heart-warming and hilarious film about crashing hard,...
complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015
7 Chinese Brothers
Director/Screenwriter: Bob Byington
A man unaccustomed to telling the truth learns to at least describe it. Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Tunde Adebimpe, Eleanore Pienta, Olympia Dukakis, Stephen Root. (World Premiere) (film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
The film is almost about nothing, just like the title of the film. Most of the time this doesn’t matter because we get to watch Schwartzman do many Schwartzman things, including acting opposite his real-life dog. There is a very sweet and surprisingly authentic death involving a key character. Besides that moment, when the film ends, you’ll quickly forget about it and move on.
Final Score: 6/10
Adult Beginners
Director: Ross Katz, Screenwriters: Jeff Cox, Elizabeth Flahive
Out of a job after a disastrous product launch, a big-city yuppie retreats to his suburban childhood home, in this heart-warming and hilarious film about crashing hard,...
- 3/19/2015
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
SXSW 2015 Film Review
complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015
The Nymphets
Director/Screenwriter: Gary Gardner
A well-to-do 30-something man invites two rowdy young girls to party in his loft, leading to a night of provocation and cruelty, all in the name of getting laid. Cast: Kip Pardue, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Jordan Lane Price, Paulina Singer. (World Premiere) (film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
I consisted felt like I was stuck with oddly aggressive teenagers who spent the majority of time looking at each other and giggling. Add to that a guy who really makes ignorant, frustrating decisions, and it just feels like I’m stuck. The interesting thing is, I think that’s what Gardner is going for. There are moments of curiosity here, but they never last long enough for me. Dexter-Jones is someone I will definitely keep an eye on. She does good work. And because Gardner does create the vision he wants,...
complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015
The Nymphets
Director/Screenwriter: Gary Gardner
A well-to-do 30-something man invites two rowdy young girls to party in his loft, leading to a night of provocation and cruelty, all in the name of getting laid. Cast: Kip Pardue, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Jordan Lane Price, Paulina Singer. (World Premiere) (film synopsis from sxsw.com)
Overall
I consisted felt like I was stuck with oddly aggressive teenagers who spent the majority of time looking at each other and giggling. Add to that a guy who really makes ignorant, frustrating decisions, and it just feels like I’m stuck. The interesting thing is, I think that’s what Gardner is going for. There are moments of curiosity here, but they never last long enough for me. Dexter-Jones is someone I will definitely keep an eye on. She does good work. And because Gardner does create the vision he wants,...
- 3/19/2015
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
As Tara on The Walking Dead, Alanna Masterson is the kind of person to whom people want to reveal things (well, at least Eugene). But we got Masterson to do the talking when she stopped by EW to take our Pop Culture Personality Test. Watch the video and read the transcript below to find out about her intense binge-watching habits, the movie her older brothers (including actors Danny, Christopher, and Jordan Masterson) encouraged her to watch too young, and when she plans to upgrade from a Hermione wand. Entertainment Weekly: How serious are you when you binge watch? Masterson: I...
- 11/11/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Nightcrawler
Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
Running Time: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: October 31, 2014
Plot: A driven individual (Gyllenhaal) begins to freelance as a news cameraman.
Who’S It For? Those who support news that treats human beings like characters to a horror story.
Overall
In Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal plays what Jay-z would call “not a business man, I’m a business, man.” His character Lou is a red-blooded go-getter, a motivated individual that would rather work than sleep or eat. When it comes to his passion, he doesn’t just study his craft, but learn how to apply it to a business sense. He steers himself with an open-heart credence that he has witnessed sending others to the top. In a world where 99% of Americans are taking part in a hustle to make money, Lou takes initiative on his own,...
Directed by: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
Running Time: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: October 31, 2014
Plot: A driven individual (Gyllenhaal) begins to freelance as a news cameraman.
Who’S It For? Those who support news that treats human beings like characters to a horror story.
Overall
In Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal plays what Jay-z would call “not a business man, I’m a business, man.” His character Lou is a red-blooded go-getter, a motivated individual that would rather work than sleep or eat. When it comes to his passion, he doesn’t just study his craft, but learn how to apply it to a business sense. He steers himself with an open-heart credence that he has witnessed sending others to the top. In a world where 99% of Americans are taking part in a hustle to make money, Lou takes initiative on his own,...
- 10/31/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
The premiere of Constantine (Oct. 24 at 10 p.m. Et on NBC) will introduce many viewers to Welsh-born actor Matt Ryan, who stars as the titular demon hunter and master of the occult made famous in DC Comics' Hellblazer series. But when Ryan stopped by EW, we got a head start. We learned he uses classical music to get into character (Schoenberg is great for getting into those dark places, he says). He had been reading the Hellblazer comic books before he went to bed, but he found himself having strange dreams, so now he unwinds by putting on nature...
- 10/24/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Whiplash
Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: October 17, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A jazz drummer (Teller) encounters an abusive conductor (Simmons) on his path to becoming the best.
Who’S It For? Movie fans who like exhilarating films.
Read Nick’s interview with ‘Whiplash’ writer/director Damien Chazelle
Overall
The enemy of our potential is the fear of failure. It lingers on the blank papers or canvases that stare back at us, and restrains us to the what ifs of our goals. In Damien Chazelle’s jazz drumming thriller Whiplash, this horror is personified in the fortissimo presence of conductor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), who invests his entire being into mercilessly challenging the ambition of his students. Chazelle’s previous work as screenwriter, Grand Piano, featured John Cusack as a sniper who threatened to kill a pianist if he played one false...
Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: October 17, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A jazz drummer (Teller) encounters an abusive conductor (Simmons) on his path to becoming the best.
Who’S It For? Movie fans who like exhilarating films.
Read Nick’s interview with ‘Whiplash’ writer/director Damien Chazelle
Overall
The enemy of our potential is the fear of failure. It lingers on the blank papers or canvases that stare back at us, and restrains us to the what ifs of our goals. In Damien Chazelle’s jazz drumming thriller Whiplash, this horror is personified in the fortissimo presence of conductor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), who invests his entire being into mercilessly challenging the ambition of his students. Chazelle’s previous work as screenwriter, Grand Piano, featured John Cusack as a sniper who threatened to kill a pianist if he played one false...
- 10/17/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
You know Dan Bucatinsky from Scandal, The Comeback, and, starting Tuesday, NBC's hilarious new comedy Marry Me in which he plays one of Casey Wilson's characters dads. But thanks to our EW Pop Culture Personality Test, you will also know him as a man contemplating selling his prized pop culture possessions. Watch the video and read the transcript below for that story and more. Viewers marathoning Scandal who do not know Bucatinsky's character's fate, proceed with caution: He spoils it when naming the TV character he'd date in real life. Marry Me airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. Et on NBC.
- 10/14/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
In Whiplash, Miles Teller plays a high-school drum prodigy traumatized by his bullying music teacher (J.K. Simmons). What films frightened Teller when he was young? We found out when he took our EW Pop Culture Personality Test. Watch the video and read a transcript below. EW: Who was your first celebrity crush? Teller: My first celebrity crush was Reese Witherspoon, in Pleasantville, I think, was the first thing I saw her in. Yeah. Yeah. I saw her once at Central Park. That's creepy. Scariest movie you saw as a child? Scariest movie I ever saw was Event Horizon when I was,...
- 10/13/2014
- by EW staff
- EW.com - PopWatch
Gone Girl
Directed by: David Fincher
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens
Running Time: 2 hrs 29 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: October 3, 2014
Plot: Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing. The media thinks he did it.
Who’S It For? Filmgoers looking for a new take on relationships and media craziness, at the same time.
Overall
Mystery solved – the gawker-ing hubbub of Ben Affleck’s penis appearing in Gone Girl is probably the manipulation of director David Fincher. With the director known for personally pioneering his films’ marketing (he once made Sony cut up a ton of super useless and expensive metal posters for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), this new fascination with a fleeting moment of nudity serves as meta-marketing to the point of Gone Girl, a bizarre, hyper-realistic take on why people are so excited about clickbait topics like...
Directed by: David Fincher
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens
Running Time: 2 hrs 29 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: October 3, 2014
Plot: Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing. The media thinks he did it.
Who’S It For? Filmgoers looking for a new take on relationships and media craziness, at the same time.
Overall
Mystery solved – the gawker-ing hubbub of Ben Affleck’s penis appearing in Gone Girl is probably the manipulation of director David Fincher. With the director known for personally pioneering his films’ marketing (he once made Sony cut up a ton of super useless and expensive metal posters for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), this new fascination with a fleeting moment of nudity serves as meta-marketing to the point of Gone Girl, a bizarre, hyper-realistic take on why people are so excited about clickbait topics like...
- 10/3/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Theo Rossi will admit he was competitive playing Scene It? with his friends when they first moved from New York to La, so it's no surprise that he's an entertainment junkie. To prove it, the man who plays Juice on FX's Sons of Anarchy sat down to take one of our Pop Culture Personality Tests. Watch the video and read the transcript the below—then feel guilty for thinking Juice must die this season. EW: Who was your first celebrity crush? Rossi: My first celebrity crush was actually Alyssa Milano. I remember. Who's the Boss? I remember. Not aging and dating myself,...
- 9/30/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
The Boxtrolls
Directed by: Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
Cast: Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Jared Hess, Simon Pegg
Running Time: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: PG
Release Date: September 26, 2014
Plot: Underground inventors known as boxtrolls are wrongfully feared by a town that loves cheese.
Who’S It For? Those who like inventive, ambitious films.
Overall
As computer animation becomes keyboard-mashing wizardry that awes with the amount of hair follicles but remains a mystery to the public eye, stop-motion like in The Boxtrolls provides a wholly different wonder, that of watching an entire set of figures come to life through precision and extreme dedication. The work of Laika Animation Studios, as reminded in The Boxtrolls, provides filmgoers quite a visual treat for those looking to witness marvelous handmade ambition.
The Boxtrolls are short inventive creatures who scour in the night and fix things within the town of Cheesebridge, whilst, indeed, wearing boxes. They...
Directed by: Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
Cast: Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Jared Hess, Simon Pegg
Running Time: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: PG
Release Date: September 26, 2014
Plot: Underground inventors known as boxtrolls are wrongfully feared by a town that loves cheese.
Who’S It For? Those who like inventive, ambitious films.
Overall
As computer animation becomes keyboard-mashing wizardry that awes with the amount of hair follicles but remains a mystery to the public eye, stop-motion like in The Boxtrolls provides a wholly different wonder, that of watching an entire set of figures come to life through precision and extreme dedication. The work of Laika Animation Studios, as reminded in The Boxtrolls, provides filmgoers quite a visual treat for those looking to witness marvelous handmade ambition.
The Boxtrolls are short inventive creatures who scour in the night and fix things within the town of Cheesebridge, whilst, indeed, wearing boxes. They...
- 9/26/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
A Walk Among the Tombstones
Directed by: Scott Frank
Cast: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Eric Nielsen, David Harbour, Brian Astro Bradley
Running Time: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 19, 2014
Plot: An ex-cop (Neeson) investigates the kidnap and murder of a drug dealer’s (Stevens) wife.
Who’S It For? Even Neeson fans will wish they had skipped this one.
Overall
It is uncertain who or what sliced up and scattered the potential of A Walk Among the Tombstones. Was it writer/director Scott Frank, who’s written some good scripts in his time (Out of Sight, for one), but also has a slim and shabby directorial filmography? Or maybe it was one or some of the higher powers that be, the slew of producers (including Danny DeVito) that steered Frank’s passion project too much towards the inherited conceits of casting Liam Neeson? The mystery, however, is unimportant. Whoever did not do it,...
Directed by: Scott Frank
Cast: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Eric Nielsen, David Harbour, Brian Astro Bradley
Running Time: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 19, 2014
Plot: An ex-cop (Neeson) investigates the kidnap and murder of a drug dealer’s (Stevens) wife.
Who’S It For? Even Neeson fans will wish they had skipped this one.
Overall
It is uncertain who or what sliced up and scattered the potential of A Walk Among the Tombstones. Was it writer/director Scott Frank, who’s written some good scripts in his time (Out of Sight, for one), but also has a slim and shabby directorial filmography? Or maybe it was one or some of the higher powers that be, the slew of producers (including Danny DeVito) that steered Frank’s passion project too much towards the inherited conceits of casting Liam Neeson? The mystery, however, is unimportant. Whoever did not do it,...
- 9/19/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Tusk
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Cast: Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, Guy Lapointe
Running Time: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 19, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A podcaster (Long) is turned into a walrus when he meets a strange Canadian (Parks).
Who’S It For? Fans of Kevin Smith, and those who wish Quentin Tarantino made more talky Grindhouse movies.
Overall
Just as Tusk was brought into our world, so does the film itself begins with a podcast. Wallace (Justin Long) and Teddy (Haley Joel Osment) are two toking jokesters who have a big following with their Not-See Party podcast, a petty Third Reich pun that stands for their shtick in which Wallace meets eclectic people, and then tells Teddy about his experience on-air. Wallace travels to Canada to meet an internet sensation named “The Kill Bill Kid,” who infamously filmed himself accidentally cutting off his leg while practicing sword moves.
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Cast: Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, Guy Lapointe
Running Time: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 19, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A podcaster (Long) is turned into a walrus when he meets a strange Canadian (Parks).
Who’S It For? Fans of Kevin Smith, and those who wish Quentin Tarantino made more talky Grindhouse movies.
Overall
Just as Tusk was brought into our world, so does the film itself begins with a podcast. Wallace (Justin Long) and Teddy (Haley Joel Osment) are two toking jokesters who have a big following with their Not-See Party podcast, a petty Third Reich pun that stands for their shtick in which Wallace meets eclectic people, and then tells Teddy about his experience on-air. Wallace travels to Canada to meet an internet sensation named “The Kill Bill Kid,” who infamously filmed himself accidentally cutting off his leg while practicing sword moves.
- 9/19/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
The Guest
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser
Running Time: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 17, 2014
Plot: A man (Stevens) shows up at a family’s house and claims to know their deceased son.
Who’S It For? Tired of soggy nostalgia action, or of firework display superhero flimflam? Enjoy The Guest.
Read Nick Allen’s interview for ‘The Guest’ with director Adam Wingard, writer Simon Barrett, and star Dan Stevens
Overall
As the classification of “cult hit” becomes a progressively mainstream notion considering the multitude of The Room screenings across our great nation every weekend or the universal quotability of Troll 2, The Guest arrives. It is a movie made with the degree of madness often found only at midnight, usually at film festivals, or during special events at indie movie houses like Chicago’s The Music Box Theater.
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser
Running Time: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 17, 2014
Plot: A man (Stevens) shows up at a family’s house and claims to know their deceased son.
Who’S It For? Tired of soggy nostalgia action, or of firework display superhero flimflam? Enjoy The Guest.
Read Nick Allen’s interview for ‘The Guest’ with director Adam Wingard, writer Simon Barrett, and star Dan Stevens
Overall
As the classification of “cult hit” becomes a progressively mainstream notion considering the multitude of The Room screenings across our great nation every weekend or the universal quotability of Troll 2, The Guest arrives. It is a movie made with the degree of madness often found only at midnight, usually at film festivals, or during special events at indie movie houses like Chicago’s The Music Box Theater.
- 9/17/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Former Saturday Night Live costars Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig reunite to play suicidal estranged siblings in the new movie The Skeleton Twins—which is and isn’t a comedy, according to EW’s favorable review. What is 100 percent pure comedy: Hader taking EW’s Pop Culture Personality Test.
Watch the video and read the transcript below to hear about his first celebrity crush, his first line of dialogue in a high school production, how he could tell if a writer was new to SNL, and what music failed to impress girls when he was young.
EW: Who was your first celebrity crush?...
Watch the video and read the transcript below to hear about his first celebrity crush, his first line of dialogue in a high school production, how he could tell if a writer was new to SNL, and what music failed to impress girls when he was young.
EW: Who was your first celebrity crush?...
- 9/15/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Code Black
Directed by: Ryan McGarry
Documentary
Running Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Rating: Ur
Release Date: September 12, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A look into the lives of doctors-in-training working the emergency room at the new Los Angeles County Hospital, where their speedy work is impeded by recent regulations.
Who’S It For? Code Black is crucial viewing for anyone looking to take a stance on American health care.
Overall
The front lines of the American health care debate have finally spoken. This critical documentary comes from the perspective of the medical professionals who are trying to best do the jobs that relentlessly motivate them, who are now in danger of having their true purpose in the emergency room jeopardized. The vigorous Code Black is made by someone with first-hand experience, a former doctor-in-training at Los Angeles County Hospital, one of the very few places in this country that people can hope to receive uncompensated care.
Directed by: Ryan McGarry
Documentary
Running Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Rating: Ur
Release Date: September 12, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A look into the lives of doctors-in-training working the emergency room at the new Los Angeles County Hospital, where their speedy work is impeded by recent regulations.
Who’S It For? Code Black is crucial viewing for anyone looking to take a stance on American health care.
Overall
The front lines of the American health care debate have finally spoken. This critical documentary comes from the perspective of the medical professionals who are trying to best do the jobs that relentlessly motivate them, who are now in danger of having their true purpose in the emergency room jeopardized. The vigorous Code Black is made by someone with first-hand experience, a former doctor-in-training at Los Angeles County Hospital, one of the very few places in this country that people can hope to receive uncompensated care.
- 9/12/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
The Skeleton Twins
Directed by: Craig Johnson
Cast: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Ty Burrell, Luke Wilson
Running Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 12, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: After trying to commit suicide, failed actor Milo (Hader) moves in with his sister Maggie (Wiig), who has her own personal problems.
Who’S It For? Those who like Hader & Wiig, even when they aren’t working with the strongest of material.
Overall
Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins is a humdrum dramedy that never comes to life, despite the talents that have been united for its existence. Featuring two evolving “Saturday Night Live” alums and executive produced by Mark & Jay Duplass, the film prods along with its character study into fictional beings whose dimensions are greatly reduced when they are seen as more than just sad people. At its most valuable, The Skeleton Twins is an observation on various experiences of depression,...
Directed by: Craig Johnson
Cast: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Ty Burrell, Luke Wilson
Running Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 12, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: After trying to commit suicide, failed actor Milo (Hader) moves in with his sister Maggie (Wiig), who has her own personal problems.
Who’S It For? Those who like Hader & Wiig, even when they aren’t working with the strongest of material.
Overall
Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins is a humdrum dramedy that never comes to life, despite the talents that have been united for its existence. Featuring two evolving “Saturday Night Live” alums and executive produced by Mark & Jay Duplass, the film prods along with its character study into fictional beings whose dimensions are greatly reduced when they are seen as more than just sad people. At its most valuable, The Skeleton Twins is an observation on various experiences of depression,...
- 9/12/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Seth Green wants you to know that his new movie, The Identical, isn’t about Elvis Presley. It just uses the fact that Elvis had a stillborn twin brother as inspiration for a nature vs. nurture story revolving around musically gifted twins (both played by Blake Rayne) who are unknowingly separated at birth. “It’s a story about what you’re told your life is meant to be versus what you feel in your heart you want to be,” Green says. “It’s about the identity that you choose, not the one that’s projected on you from the teachings...
- 9/6/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Life After Beth
Directed by: Jeff Baena
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Anna Kendrick
Running Time: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 5, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: Zach’s (DeHaan) girlfriend Beth (Plaza) somehow leaves her grave days after she is pronounced dead from a snakebite.
Who’S It For? People who watch quirky, dark comedies with low expectations.
Overall
Released almost two months before teenagers lug around pillow cases to amass the same candy they did as costumed children, Life After Beth is a goth young love comedy with a statically adolescent mindset on a young relationship’s promise of forever. As much as its Halloween-y takes on first relationships might suggest, writer/director Jeff Baena’s film is not sharp enough to suggest a second level of awareness beyond a simple joke; instead it must play out as a wacky tale of a weird girlfriend,...
Directed by: Jeff Baena
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Anna Kendrick
Running Time: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: September 5, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: Zach’s (DeHaan) girlfriend Beth (Plaza) somehow leaves her grave days after she is pronounced dead from a snakebite.
Who’S It For? People who watch quirky, dark comedies with low expectations.
Overall
Released almost two months before teenagers lug around pillow cases to amass the same candy they did as costumed children, Life After Beth is a goth young love comedy with a statically adolescent mindset on a young relationship’s promise of forever. As much as its Halloween-y takes on first relationships might suggest, writer/director Jeff Baena’s film is not sharp enough to suggest a second level of awareness beyond a simple joke; instead it must play out as a wacky tale of a weird girlfriend,...
- 9/5/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Frank
Directed by: Lenny Abrahamson
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Domnhall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy
Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 29, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A songwriter (Gleeson) meets a bandleader who always wears a giant head (Fassbender).
Who’S It For? Those who cherish unabashed creativity.
Overall
Frank begins inside the head of scruffy yokel Jon (Domnhall Gleeson), a musician living with his parents who just wants to compose the hit song that will bestow him on his big break. By freak timing, the struggling pop-inclined keyboardist is randomly brought on board an enigmatic band called The Soronprfbs. Within this noise rock band (start by thinking of freakier Flaming Lips tracks) is acidic synth player Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal), bassist and drummer Baraque and Nana (François Civil and Carla Azar), and their manager Don (Scoot McNairy). Their lead singer is also their chief songwriter, a man named Frank (Michael Fassbender...
Directed by: Lenny Abrahamson
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Domnhall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy
Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 29, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A songwriter (Gleeson) meets a bandleader who always wears a giant head (Fassbender).
Who’S It For? Those who cherish unabashed creativity.
Overall
Frank begins inside the head of scruffy yokel Jon (Domnhall Gleeson), a musician living with his parents who just wants to compose the hit song that will bestow him on his big break. By freak timing, the struggling pop-inclined keyboardist is randomly brought on board an enigmatic band called The Soronprfbs. Within this noise rock band (start by thinking of freakier Flaming Lips tracks) is acidic synth player Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal), bassist and drummer Baraque and Nana (François Civil and Carla Azar), and their manager Don (Scoot McNairy). Their lead singer is also their chief songwriter, a man named Frank (Michael Fassbender...
- 9/2/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
You know Gene Simmons from Kiss, currently celebrating their 40th anniversary, and as a co-owner of the La Kiss, Los Angeles’ Arena Football League team whose first season is chronicled in the new AMC docuseries 4th and Loud (airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. Et). But did you know he won a Twist contest in school and still locks himself in his home any time there’s a Twilight Zone marathon on TV? You do now, thanks to our Pop Culture Personality Test.
Watch the video and read the transcript below.
EW: What song changed your life?
Simmons: So “The Twist” really impacted me,...
Watch the video and read the transcript below.
EW: What song changed your life?
Simmons: So “The Twist” really impacted me,...
- 9/2/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Things are always heating up on TNT’s Dallas, but with Elena sleeping with John Ross to get her hands on the letter that details J.R.’s plan for the Ewings to frame Cliff for his murder, they’re about to reach a boil. One man who always keeps his cool is Patrick Duffy (Bobby), which he proves taking our Pop Culture Personality Test. Watch the video and read the transcript below. Dallas airs Mondays at 9 p.m. Et on TNT.
EW: Who was your first celebrity crush?
Duffy: Lynda Carter. I did a talk show with my wife,...
EW: Who was your first celebrity crush?
Duffy: Lynda Carter. I did a talk show with my wife,...
- 9/1/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Andie MacDowell, who currently stars on Hallmark Channel’s sun-soaked series Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove, may have grown up watching Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons, but there was definitely a wild streak. After explaining that she still doesn’t sit down long enough to watch a lot of TV—unless it’s binge-watching the first season of Girls with one of her daughters —the subject turns to daughter Margaret Qualley working with Liv Tyler on The Leftovers.
“She went to see Aerosmith. And I did go see Aerosmith when I was in high school,” MacDowell says.
“She went to see Aerosmith. And I did go see Aerosmith when I was in high school,” MacDowell says.
- 8/30/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Yves Saint Laurent
Directed by: Jalil Lespert
Cast: Pierre Niney, Guillaume Gallienne, Charlotte Le Bon
Running Time: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 29, 2014
Plot: The life story of Yves Saint Laurent (Niney), the business he started, and the relationship he had with Pierre Berge (Gallienne).
Who’S It For? Those who watch period movies for the fashion.
Overall
Yet another confirmation of the biopic’s turgid storytelling DNA is found with Yves Saint Laurent, an empty re-telling of the haute couture mega icon’s life. It includes the usual list of foibles that human beings are defined by when treated as characters in a non-fictional movie, which of course means love, drugs, and haircut fads. Only personal details about the love life of Saint Laurent contend to be revelations within this biopic. There is little intrigue about the art created by the icon, even though that’s … um … why...
Directed by: Jalil Lespert
Cast: Pierre Niney, Guillaume Gallienne, Charlotte Le Bon
Running Time: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 29, 2014
Plot: The life story of Yves Saint Laurent (Niney), the business he started, and the relationship he had with Pierre Berge (Gallienne).
Who’S It For? Those who watch period movies for the fashion.
Overall
Yet another confirmation of the biopic’s turgid storytelling DNA is found with Yves Saint Laurent, an empty re-telling of the haute couture mega icon’s life. It includes the usual list of foibles that human beings are defined by when treated as characters in a non-fictional movie, which of course means love, drugs, and haircut fads. Only personal details about the love life of Saint Laurent contend to be revelations within this biopic. There is little intrigue about the art created by the icon, even though that’s … um … why...
- 8/30/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
The November Man
Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko, Bill Smitrovich
Running Time: 1 hr 48 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 27, 2014
Plot: A former CIA agent (Brosnan) who is nicknamed after a month of the year is rehired for one last bizarre mission.
Who’S It For? Nothing else to see and like action standards? Maybe you’ll like a matinee showing of The November Man.
Overall
Pierce Brosnan was a good James Bond. Regardless of what may be said about the films within his stint as the famous secret agent, he wore the uniform well, spoke the lines, and did it with finesse. In a business sense: he was a good employee, but he was not a part of any big movements within the series, aside from starring in an action movie about the news (Tomorrow Never Dies) or that one time he surfed a...
Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko, Bill Smitrovich
Running Time: 1 hr 48 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 27, 2014
Plot: A former CIA agent (Brosnan) who is nicknamed after a month of the year is rehired for one last bizarre mission.
Who’S It For? Nothing else to see and like action standards? Maybe you’ll like a matinee showing of The November Man.
Overall
Pierce Brosnan was a good James Bond. Regardless of what may be said about the films within his stint as the famous secret agent, he wore the uniform well, spoke the lines, and did it with finesse. In a business sense: he was a good employee, but he was not a part of any big movements within the series, aside from starring in an action movie about the news (Tomorrow Never Dies) or that one time he surfed a...
- 8/30/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
He’s no womanizer like his Masters of Sex character Dr. Austin Langham, but Teddy Sears has had an appreciation for the female form for some time now—as long as there’s no food involved.
Sears admits he didn’t get what all the fuss over 9 1/2 Weeks’ iconic refrigerator scene was about: “That scene when all the foodstuffs come out? You lost me. That’s when I turned it off.” Then again, he was only 9 or 10 years old at the time.
It’s unlikely the same could be said of Langham if he had come of age during Kim Basinger’s controversy-stirring prime.
Sears admits he didn’t get what all the fuss over 9 1/2 Weeks’ iconic refrigerator scene was about: “That scene when all the foodstuffs come out? You lost me. That’s when I turned it off.” Then again, he was only 9 or 10 years old at the time.
It’s unlikely the same could be said of Langham if he had come of age during Kim Basinger’s controversy-stirring prime.
- 8/22/2014
- by Lanford Beard
- EW.com - PopWatch
Match of the Day celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, after launching back in August 1964 with a game between Arsenal and Liverpool.
Half a century later, after five decades of triumph and tragedy for football fans across the country, the UK's flagship football programme is still going strong and remains as iconic as ever.
To celebrate this, Digital Spy has collated its own Premier League table of Motd icons from past and present. Using a (likely contentious) points system based around football knowledge, longevity on the show and a certain 'magic factor' that makes them a warm presence on our screens, this is our just-for-fun chart of the biggest names in its history.
Key: K=Knowledge L=Longevity M=Magic Factor (out of 10)
20. Robbie Savage – 14 points
K: 4, L: 4, M: 6
Love him or hate him, Robbie has grown to become one of Motd's most regular pundits over the past couple of...
Half a century later, after five decades of triumph and tragedy for football fans across the country, the UK's flagship football programme is still going strong and remains as iconic as ever.
To celebrate this, Digital Spy has collated its own Premier League table of Motd icons from past and present. Using a (likely contentious) points system based around football knowledge, longevity on the show and a certain 'magic factor' that makes them a warm presence on our screens, this is our just-for-fun chart of the biggest names in its history.
Key: K=Knowledge L=Longevity M=Magic Factor (out of 10)
20. Robbie Savage – 14 points
K: 4, L: 4, M: 6
Love him or hate him, Robbie has grown to become one of Motd's most regular pundits over the past couple of...
- 8/22/2014
- Digital Spy
The Possession of Michael King
Directed by: David Jung
Cast: Shane Johnson, Ella Anderson, Julie McNiven
Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 22, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: After his wife is killed, a husband and father (Johnson) films himself trying to summon a demon to prove whether spirits are or aren’t real.
Who’S It For? Those who like bad horror movies, or are interested in seeing the latest horror movie with the word “possession” in its title.
Overall
The Possession of Michael King begins with a dead-horse stance, raging against the scam of fortune tellers. This thesis is simultaneously groan-worthy and emblematic foreshadowing of this juvenile horror film’s whiny angst, in which a man deduces that the fulfillment of his late wife’s tarot reading means that he must investigate the existence of spirits.
But instead of venturing as to whether heaven is fo’ real, or seeing...
Directed by: David Jung
Cast: Shane Johnson, Ella Anderson, Julie McNiven
Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 22, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: After his wife is killed, a husband and father (Johnson) films himself trying to summon a demon to prove whether spirits are or aren’t real.
Who’S It For? Those who like bad horror movies, or are interested in seeing the latest horror movie with the word “possession” in its title.
Overall
The Possession of Michael King begins with a dead-horse stance, raging against the scam of fortune tellers. This thesis is simultaneously groan-worthy and emblematic foreshadowing of this juvenile horror film’s whiny angst, in which a man deduces that the fulfillment of his late wife’s tarot reading means that he must investigate the existence of spirits.
But instead of venturing as to whether heaven is fo’ real, or seeing...
- 8/22/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
The One I Love
Directed by: Charlie McDowell
Cast: Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss
Running Time: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 22, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A husband (Duplass) and wife (Moss) evaluate their marriage during a strange vacation.
Who’S It For? Those looking for a different kind of insightful romantic comedy.
Overall
One of the most precious pieces of going to movies in the summer of 2014 is the twist waiting at the art house within The One I Love. To call it a twist is unconventional regarding its earlier time within the movie; it arrives within 15 minutes of the plot, but it affects the entire course. The movie completely changes, and what seems standard becomes something more different. And this twist is so good, so clever, and so well-executed, that it deserves to be protected for those who are not aware of it. To be clear, the film has worth beyond its surprising concept.
Directed by: Charlie McDowell
Cast: Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss
Running Time: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 22, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A husband (Duplass) and wife (Moss) evaluate their marriage during a strange vacation.
Who’S It For? Those looking for a different kind of insightful romantic comedy.
Overall
One of the most precious pieces of going to movies in the summer of 2014 is the twist waiting at the art house within The One I Love. To call it a twist is unconventional regarding its earlier time within the movie; it arrives within 15 minutes of the plot, but it affects the entire course. The movie completely changes, and what seems standard becomes something more different. And this twist is so good, so clever, and so well-executed, that it deserves to be protected for those who are not aware of it. To be clear, the film has worth beyond its surprising concept.
- 8/22/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
George Takei’s laugh is as recognizable as his voice, and you’ll hear a lot of both in the new documentary To Be Takei, which covers the 77-year-old Star Trek star’s life from his childhood in a Japanese American internment camp, to his journey from closeted actor to activist alongside his husband/business partner Brad Takei.
You also hear a lot of laughter when Takei takes our Pop Culture Personality Test. Watch the video and read a full transcript below. To Be Takei opens in select theaters and hits On Demand and iTunes Aug. 22.
EW: What movie did you see too young?...
You also hear a lot of laughter when Takei takes our Pop Culture Personality Test. Watch the video and read a full transcript below. To Be Takei opens in select theaters and hits On Demand and iTunes Aug. 22.
EW: What movie did you see too young?...
- 8/21/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
The Giver
Directed by: Philip Noyce
Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Odeya Rush, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgaard, Katie Holmes
Running Time: 1 hr 34 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: August 15, 2014
Plot: A young man (Thwaites) living in a black-and-white future is shown colors by a piano-playing sage named The Giver (Bridges).
Who’S It For? Like your dystopias young and broody? Sure you do.
Overall
The proverbial ship, its path pushed by the passage of time, filled with passengers fighting for a seat during such a voyage, has sailed. In terms of The Giver, the old wooden vessel in this brilliant metaphor is the tale of the young chosen one rebelling against a messed up future, as one may call it. Though its source novel was written long before the films like The Hunger Games, Divergent, or even The Lego Movie, The Giver remains in the young adult sci-fi dystopic shadows of...
Directed by: Philip Noyce
Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Odeya Rush, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgaard, Katie Holmes
Running Time: 1 hr 34 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: August 15, 2014
Plot: A young man (Thwaites) living in a black-and-white future is shown colors by a piano-playing sage named The Giver (Bridges).
Who’S It For? Like your dystopias young and broody? Sure you do.
Overall
The proverbial ship, its path pushed by the passage of time, filled with passengers fighting for a seat during such a voyage, has sailed. In terms of The Giver, the old wooden vessel in this brilliant metaphor is the tale of the young chosen one rebelling against a messed up future, as one may call it. Though its source novel was written long before the films like The Hunger Games, Divergent, or even The Lego Movie, The Giver remains in the young adult sci-fi dystopic shadows of...
- 8/16/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
The season finale of Fox’s Gang Related (airing Aug. 14 at 9 p.m. Et) is going to be a dramatic one, as Ryan Lopez (Ramon Rodriguez) and Sam Chapel (Terry O’Quinn) seek vengeance for the murder of Jessica (Shantel VanSanten), Ryan’s girlfriend and Sam’s daughter. But Rodriguez’s mood was considerably lighter when he stopped by EW to reveal his first celebrity crush, what he used to act out as a child, his junior high jams, and his prized pop culture possession.
Watch the video and read a full transcript below.
EW: Who was your first celebrity crush?...
Watch the video and read a full transcript below.
EW: Who was your first celebrity crush?...
- 8/14/2014
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
Calvary
Directed by: John Michael McDonagh
Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aiden Gillen
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 8, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A priest of a small town (Gleeson) has a week to live after being threatened by a random man during confession.
Who’S It For? Those who like dialogue-based films where the energy is in the ideas, and even its editing.
Overall
In Christopher Guest’s 1989 satire The Big Picture, Kevin Bacon plays Nick Chapman, nubile filmmaker who dreams of splashing into the world of directing by creating a rapturous black and white tome on life and death a la Ingmar Bergman for his first feature. Cherry-picked right from film school after making a hot short film, he attempts to create this supposed opus before the rest of The Big Picture’s narrative takes hold, in which Bacon loses creative control of his...
Directed by: John Michael McDonagh
Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aiden Gillen
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 8, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A priest of a small town (Gleeson) has a week to live after being threatened by a random man during confession.
Who’S It For? Those who like dialogue-based films where the energy is in the ideas, and even its editing.
Overall
In Christopher Guest’s 1989 satire The Big Picture, Kevin Bacon plays Nick Chapman, nubile filmmaker who dreams of splashing into the world of directing by creating a rapturous black and white tome on life and death a la Ingmar Bergman for his first feature. Cherry-picked right from film school after making a hot short film, he attempts to create this supposed opus before the rest of The Big Picture’s narrative takes hold, in which Bacon loses creative control of his...
- 8/11/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
What If
Directed by: Michael Dowse
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Megan Park
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 8, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A young man (Radcliffe) begins to fall for a young woman (Kazan) who has a boyfriend.
Who’S It For? Those who watch romantic comedies so that they can have something on while cleaning the house.
Overall
With respect to its desire for both romance and comedy What If tries too hard. As in, character-falls-out-of-an-open-window-after-getting-pepper-in-his-eye-and-someone-trying-to-help-accidentally-opens-a-door-on-his-face-and-sends-him-to-the-pavement-two-stories-below trying too hard. This is also the same type of film that genuinely uses impulsive international travel, where characters are given certain ideas of financial constraints, but nonetheless travel back and forth because of the need to have a face-to-face confrontation.
What If is this year’s most misguided romantic comedy and is gravely in need of a punchline; it could be the indie comedy’s They Came Together...
Directed by: Michael Dowse
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Megan Park
Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: August 8, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A young man (Radcliffe) begins to fall for a young woman (Kazan) who has a boyfriend.
Who’S It For? Those who watch romantic comedies so that they can have something on while cleaning the house.
Overall
With respect to its desire for both romance and comedy What If tries too hard. As in, character-falls-out-of-an-open-window-after-getting-pepper-in-his-eye-and-someone-trying-to-help-accidentally-opens-a-door-on-his-face-and-sends-him-to-the-pavement-two-stories-below trying too hard. This is also the same type of film that genuinely uses impulsive international travel, where characters are given certain ideas of financial constraints, but nonetheless travel back and forth because of the need to have a face-to-face confrontation.
What If is this year’s most misguided romantic comedy and is gravely in need of a punchline; it could be the indie comedy’s They Came Together...
- 8/11/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Blu-ray Review
Grace Kelly Collection
Due Out: July 28, 2014
Who’S It For? Not just Grace Kelly fans, but those looking to own some of the best suspense movies ever made (To Catch a Thief and Dial M for Murder), along with other Hollywood classics.
Synopsis:
The Grace Kelly biopic starring Nicole Kidman awaits release after its presentation at the past Cannes Film Festival, but now a DVD boxset has been released to allow movie lovers to remember the actress for her past work, including the directors she worked for (John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock), and the stars she worked with.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment remembers one of Hollywood’s most glamorous film stars with the debut of the “Grace Kelly Collection.” Included in the set are six films which have never all been in the same box set before. The set also includes one particularly special feature, a rarely seen TV...
Grace Kelly Collection
Due Out: July 28, 2014
Who’S It For? Not just Grace Kelly fans, but those looking to own some of the best suspense movies ever made (To Catch a Thief and Dial M for Murder), along with other Hollywood classics.
Synopsis:
The Grace Kelly biopic starring Nicole Kidman awaits release after its presentation at the past Cannes Film Festival, but now a DVD boxset has been released to allow movie lovers to remember the actress for her past work, including the directors she worked for (John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock), and the stars she worked with.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment remembers one of Hollywood’s most glamorous film stars with the debut of the “Grace Kelly Collection.” Included in the set are six films which have never all been in the same box set before. The set also includes one particularly special feature, a rarely seen TV...
- 8/11/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Guardians of the Galaxy
Directed by: James Gunn
Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, David Batuista
Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: August 1, 2014
Plot: A group of dysfunctional ruffians fight over the same orb, and then end up trying to save a planet.
Who’S It For? People who go see comic book movies, which is all of us now, I guess.
Overall
These title accidental heroes may be “a-holes” or “losers,” but their story’s sense of their outsider quality is delusional; the same way that to be a geek before the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s character crusade seven years ago has a completely different definition now, not to mention a lack of stigma. The story of these galaxy guardians is not packaged to be one that is different from those of which they are meant to be underdogs from; the most...
Directed by: James Gunn
Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, David Batuista
Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: August 1, 2014
Plot: A group of dysfunctional ruffians fight over the same orb, and then end up trying to save a planet.
Who’S It For? People who go see comic book movies, which is all of us now, I guess.
Overall
These title accidental heroes may be “a-holes” or “losers,” but their story’s sense of their outsider quality is delusional; the same way that to be a geek before the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s character crusade seven years ago has a completely different definition now, not to mention a lack of stigma. The story of these galaxy guardians is not packaged to be one that is different from those of which they are meant to be underdogs from; the most...
- 8/1/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Lucy
Directed by: Luc Besson
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Waked
Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 25, 2014
Plot: Accidental high dosages of a mental drug cause an accidental mule (Johansson) to embark on achieving 100% full brain usage.
Who’S It For? Those who like their action movies to be trippy.
Overall
Lucy is unmistakably a product of writer/director/producer Luc Besson simply by its structure. It applies the same type of ticking-clock storytelling that has motivated the tension of his projects like The Transporter, Taken, and 3 Days to Kill; movies that he helped create as a writer and/or producer, but did not direct. In Besson’s own take on the structure he helped fortify for others, Lucy begins with the tensity of these movies, but then it warps.
This film’s transporter is Johansson’s Lucy, an American living in China who is tricked...
Directed by: Luc Besson
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Amr Waked
Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 25, 2014
Plot: Accidental high dosages of a mental drug cause an accidental mule (Johansson) to embark on achieving 100% full brain usage.
Who’S It For? Those who like their action movies to be trippy.
Overall
Lucy is unmistakably a product of writer/director/producer Luc Besson simply by its structure. It applies the same type of ticking-clock storytelling that has motivated the tension of his projects like The Transporter, Taken, and 3 Days to Kill; movies that he helped create as a writer and/or producer, but did not direct. In Besson’s own take on the structure he helped fortify for others, Lucy begins with the tensity of these movies, but then it warps.
This film’s transporter is Johansson’s Lucy, an American living in China who is tricked...
- 7/25/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
I Origins
Directed by: Mike Cahill
Cast: Michael Pitt, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Brit Marling
Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 25, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A scientist (Pitt) tries to find the cure for blindness while he falls for a person (Berges-Frisbey) with really captivating eyes.
Who’S It For? People who like the science scenes of Lucy, but with more question marks by the end.
Overall
“The eyes are the windows to the soul” is an aphorism that has degenerated to groan-worthy cliche throughout its billion casual usages. It is also an unfortunate piece of dialogue within I Origins, and by no coincidence the film’s thesis statement, of which writer/director Mike Cahill then attempts to restore profundity to this once poetic phrasing. With the eyes pondered as a means to identify souls, I Origins often keeps its exploration into the debate of science and spirituality at a dangerous whimsy.
Directed by: Mike Cahill
Cast: Michael Pitt, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Brit Marling
Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 25, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A scientist (Pitt) tries to find the cure for blindness while he falls for a person (Berges-Frisbey) with really captivating eyes.
Who’S It For? People who like the science scenes of Lucy, but with more question marks by the end.
Overall
“The eyes are the windows to the soul” is an aphorism that has degenerated to groan-worthy cliche throughout its billion casual usages. It is also an unfortunate piece of dialogue within I Origins, and by no coincidence the film’s thesis statement, of which writer/director Mike Cahill then attempts to restore profundity to this once poetic phrasing. With the eyes pondered as a means to identify souls, I Origins often keeps its exploration into the debate of science and spirituality at a dangerous whimsy.
- 7/25/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Boyhood
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke
Running Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 18, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: The story of a boy’s maturation, shown over the course of twelve years.
Who’S It For? Fans of films about life (yeah, I said it).
Overall
Filming the development of a boy’s life over the course of twelve years, Boyhood uniquely captures the wonder of how a person blossoms from the origins of a simple human being. The life of young non-actor Ellar Coltrane, and the character he plays, vividly expresses the way in which we are influenced by the lives of people around us through the gradual passage of time.
Divided into year-long chapters that start its main character at the age of six and leave him when he goes to college, Boyhood follows Coltrane’s character Mason as he, his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater,...
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke
Running Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 18, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: The story of a boy’s maturation, shown over the course of twelve years.
Who’S It For? Fans of films about life (yeah, I said it).
Overall
Filming the development of a boy’s life over the course of twelve years, Boyhood uniquely captures the wonder of how a person blossoms from the origins of a simple human being. The life of young non-actor Ellar Coltrane, and the character he plays, vividly expresses the way in which we are influenced by the lives of people around us through the gradual passage of time.
Divided into year-long chapters that start its main character at the age of six and leave him when he goes to college, Boyhood follows Coltrane’s character Mason as he, his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater,...
- 7/19/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Life Itself
Directed by: Steve James
Documentary
Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 4, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: The life story of Roger Ebert, Film Critic.
Who’S It For? Anyone who has ever loved a movie.
Overall
In terms of what’s out there that is worth checking out, Life Itself is the movie of the summer. Its experience is a direct recognition of a quality that Ebert has said is most important regarding a film, before considering it for either “Great Movies” or “Your Movie Sucks” levels — to engage with it emotionally. Warmed by the embrace of this moving documentary from director Steve James, I filled Ebert’s last screening room with my big dumb laugh more than a few times, and tried to cry quietly while watching passages about the true loves in his life. To watch footage of Ebert in his twilight time, and to listen...
Directed by: Steve James
Documentary
Running Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: July 4, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: The life story of Roger Ebert, Film Critic.
Who’S It For? Anyone who has ever loved a movie.
Overall
In terms of what’s out there that is worth checking out, Life Itself is the movie of the summer. Its experience is a direct recognition of a quality that Ebert has said is most important regarding a film, before considering it for either “Great Movies” or “Your Movie Sucks” levels — to engage with it emotionally. Warmed by the embrace of this moving documentary from director Steve James, I filled Ebert’s last screening room with my big dumb laugh more than a few times, and tried to cry quietly while watching passages about the true loves in his life. To watch footage of Ebert in his twilight time, and to listen...
- 7/4/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Happy Christmas
Directed by: Joe Swanberg
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Joe Swanberg, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham
Running Time: 1 hr 18 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: June 26, 2014 (VOD)/July 25, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A woman (Kendrick) tries to pull herself together after a big break up while she crashes at the Chicago abode of her brother (Swanberg) and his wife (Lynskey).
Who’S It For? People who liked Swanberg’s previous Drinking Buddies for its naturalism, not necessarily those who liked it for its story.
Overall
One thing that struck me about Drinking Buddies, and made it one of my more celebrated from 2013 despite not really loving it as a film, was its importance to those good ol’ independent movies. Here were big flashy stars like Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick, not just acting in a movie of a lower budget, but creating a wider appeal out of a previously very niche aspect,...
Directed by: Joe Swanberg
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Joe Swanberg, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham
Running Time: 1 hr 18 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: June 26, 2014 (VOD)/July 25, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: A woman (Kendrick) tries to pull herself together after a big break up while she crashes at the Chicago abode of her brother (Swanberg) and his wife (Lynskey).
Who’S It For? People who liked Swanberg’s previous Drinking Buddies for its naturalism, not necessarily those who liked it for its story.
Overall
One thing that struck me about Drinking Buddies, and made it one of my more celebrated from 2013 despite not really loving it as a film, was its importance to those good ol’ independent movies. Here were big flashy stars like Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick, not just acting in a movie of a lower budget, but creating a wider appeal out of a previously very niche aspect,...
- 7/1/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
They Came Together
Directed by: David Wain Cast: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Ed Helms, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Ian Black, Ken Marino, Cobie Smulders, Chris Meloni
Running Time: 1 hr 23 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: June 27, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: Two New Yorkers (Rudd and Poehler) recount the unexpected tale of how they met.
Who’S It For? If you watch romantic comedies, see this film. If you like Paul Rudd and/or Amy Poehler, this is not a film that can be missed.
Overall
The formula of the romantic comedy remains one of the most unchanged in all of Earth’s science; the gravity of characters within a film of this type can feel more guaranteed than gravity in real life itself. Thus, there is a grandiose amount of catharsis, and stupidly loud baboon-like laughter, to be experienced with David Wain’s They Came Together, a mad man’s giddy concoction that is spirited by its bold,...
Directed by: David Wain Cast: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Ed Helms, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Ian Black, Ken Marino, Cobie Smulders, Chris Meloni
Running Time: 1 hr 23 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: June 27, 2014 (Chicago)
Plot: Two New Yorkers (Rudd and Poehler) recount the unexpected tale of how they met.
Who’S It For? If you watch romantic comedies, see this film. If you like Paul Rudd and/or Amy Poehler, this is not a film that can be missed.
Overall
The formula of the romantic comedy remains one of the most unchanged in all of Earth’s science; the gravity of characters within a film of this type can feel more guaranteed than gravity in real life itself. Thus, there is a grandiose amount of catharsis, and stupidly loud baboon-like laughter, to be experienced with David Wain’s They Came Together, a mad man’s giddy concoction that is spirited by its bold,...
- 7/1/2014
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
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