Lionsgate released a ‘For Prim’ trailer to emotionally charge fans for the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 on November 20.
Be careful if you watch this trailer on YouTube as the comment section has become a warzone as some fans are posting spoilers from the book.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 s directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Natalie Dormer, with Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland.
Calling all Johnny Depp fans, especially those who might have been worried about their favorite star and his relatively poor track record at the box office lately: your boy is as good as ever in Black Mass, delivering a chilling performance as real-life South Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in a film that’s every bit as no-holds-barred as it looks in its marketing. Depp and Joel Edgerton lead an all-star cast in this bloody and brutal depiction of Bulger and his decades-long “alliance” with FBI Agent John Connolly, an arrangement that benefited the agency by helping them put away major Italian Mafia figures attempting to muscle in on Bulger’s territory, but also in effect gave Bulger free rein to become of the most feared crime lords in the history of the city.
In 1975, James Bulger was just another cog in the criminal machine that was known in the area thanks to a Boston Herald story as “the Winter Hill Gang.” Recently released from a prison stay in Alcatraz, Bulger, whose younger brother Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch) had kept his nose clean and risen from their Southie projects origins to the post of state senator, had ambitions of his own, most of which had a great deal to do with keeping local racketeering under Winter Hill control and out of the hands of Cosa Nostra family members moving into the area looking to take over the action.
Enter rising FBI star Connolly (Joel Edgerton, The Gift), who grew up in the same South Boston neighborhood with James and Billy, where family and loyalty mean more than any laws or rules made by those outside “Southie”, and who now looks to further his career by taking down Mafia operations in his hometown. What he proposes to James seems unthinkable: that Bulger serve as an informant for the Bureau, serving up actionable intel on the Angiulo branch of the Mafia making life difficult for Winter Hill. In exchange for said intel, Connolly and his supervisor, Agent Morris (David Harbour) would allow Bulger and his associates to keep doing business within certain limits. “You can’t kill anybody, Jimmy,” Connolly says as the two men come to their accord.
Yeah. As if that’s really going to happen.
What follows this pact is almost twenty years of unchecked criminal business activity by Bulger and his associates as their revenue streams branch out into gambling and the drug trade, while FBI investigations led by Connolly and Morris slowly but surely dismantle the Angiulo operation in Boston. That time isn’t without personal setbacks for Bulger and Connolly both — they suffer losses both professional and deeply personal in the course of their “alliance” — but for the most part Bulger seems virtually untouchable despite committing almost every sort of violent crime thanks to his “FBI connection.”
That is, until the day when more scrupulous men in the Justice Department, men not connected to Southie in any way and led by a new federal prosecutor (Corey Stoll), begin to question how and why Bulger has remained in operation all this time and never been investigated. Those inquiring eyes turn to Connolly, and from then on it’s only a matter of time before everything starts to crash down around them both.
As violent and bloody as Black Mass gets, and it’s certainly not for the feint of heart, what’s perhaps most compelling about the film is the tremendously complex characterization of Bulger that’s at the film’s heart. Director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart), working from a script by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth (Get on Up, Fair Game), keeps the narrative lens focused tightly on Johnny Depp as the performer strives to bring to life all of Bulger’s many sides, from ruthless murdering mob boss to devoted son and doting father to loyal friend and brother. As notorious as Bulger was and as heinous as his crimes turned out to be, the film takes extra care to allow screen time for moments that illustrate an undeniable truth: that Bulger was beloved by many in Southie, likely at least as many as those that feared him. It’s arguably in these moments that Depp is at his finest in this role, as the gentility and genuine affection he shows toward those he loves stands in stark contrast to the cold blooded, vicious murderer he shows himself to be just minutes later. For Depp, whose recent work includes such forgettable films as Mortdecai, Transcendence, and Dark Shadows, Black Mass is the return to the acting form we all know he’s capable of when he’s not out to specifically be “quirky.”
Outside of Depp and his performance here, Black Mass certainly does have its flaws, the most glaring of which is the woeful under-use of the talent pooled in the film’s ensemble cast. Joel Edgerton is the sole member of the group whose screen time even comes close to that of Depp’s; beyond him, every other performer here is relegated to the equivalent of a bit part. Now, to be sure, had each of these performers been given their due in terms of meaningful scenes and screen time, the film might have stretched to four hours in length, rather than the just over two hours where it currently stands. But the fine work turned in by Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson as Bulger’s girlfriend and the mother of his young son Doug, and Peter Sarsgaard as Bulger associate Brian Halloran will certainly make you wish they’d been in the final cut of the film even just a little bit more.
Another legitimate criticism longtime mob/gangster film fans might make about Black Mass might be the relative lack of on-screen representation of just how Bulger built his criminal power base in Southie as the power of the Angiulos waned. A lot of “telling” and not “showing” goes on in the film in this regard, and a great deal seems to happen during the rather large time jumps the script makes in order to stay focused on the more character drama oriented narrative beats. We’re told Bulger introduced drugs to every teenager in Southie, for example, but we never see it, not even in a montage. For more casual film goers and fans buying tickets just to watch Depp chew scenery, this probably won’t be an issue. But for those gangster/crime drama devotees out there, those who relish the scenes in films like Goodfellas, Casino, and last year’s The Drop where the nuts and bolts of everyday underworld operations are broken down and translated into compelling film, the absence of such insight into the work of one of America’s most infamous real-life gangsters might feel like a glaring oversight.
So really, just how much you enjoy Black Mass may just depend on your expectations going into the film. If you’re there to enjoy the performance of one of the most versatile actors of our age finally taking on a role worthy of his talents after years of hamming it up as the Once and Future Capt. Jack Sparrow and other caricature roles (Oh, didn’t you know? There’s another Pirates of the Caribbean coming! :: groan ::), then you’re in for a fun, creepy treat. But if you’re there expecting the next truly great gangster epic, one to hold up alongside The Departed, for example, then you may come away slightly disappointed. Make no mistake: Black Mass is a fine film that’s worthy of your box office buck and should be in the conversation when awards season rolls around in a few months.
Just don’t expect to see it on anyone’s “Top 10 Gangster Films of All Time” lists anytime soon.
Black Mass
Starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Kevin Bacon. Directed by Scott Cooper.
Running Time: 122 minutes
Rated R for brutal violence, language throughout, some sexual references and brief drug use.
In the Heart of The Sea, Ron Howard’s new nautical epic starring Chris Hemsworth, has a new full-length trailer loaded with tension, CGI, and the promise of high-seas adventure.
In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. “In the Heart of the Sea” reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.
Howard and Hemsworth most recently worked together on Driven, the race-car biopic. I wonder if Howard has, perhaps, found a muse for his projects moving forward. Regardless, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow must have supreme faith in the film, as they moved it from the spring to a December 11 release date, in the heart of Awards Season.
Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar talked with Monkeys Fighting Robots about his new book Yes, My Accent Is Real; the conversation led to a dialogue about how celebrity culture has changed, and how Nayyar hopes to inspire one person to quit his or her job and follow their dream.
Nayyar talked about being socially awkward and that the TMZ culture doesn’t help.
“I feel that movie actors or TV actors used to be celebrated, and now everyone is waiting for us to make a mistake so they can pounce on us. So they can write some funny piece in TMZ or watch us say something stupid on YouTube a hundred times,” said Nayyar.
Nayyar hopes that people realize that everyone’s journey is human.
“There is no one way to get what you want to get. I really hope that someone reads this book and is sitting and their office and has always dreamt about doing something and quits (their job) and does it,” said Nayyar.
Listen to the complete Kunal Nayyar interview below.
Yes, My Accent Is Real is available now in your local book store and online.
YES, MY ACCENT IS REAL unfurls as an intercontinental journey replete with nostalgia by way of familiar cultural references and lighthearted musings on the origins of Indian holidays and traditions. Chapters romp through standard-issue coming-of-age tropes in a fashion that is anything but standard. Strange juxtapositions of the utterly embarrassing and the ultra-smooth abound—for instance, Nayyar grabs your heart in the book’s first pages by detailing the defining occasion of his very first kiss. He deftly muddled through the occasion, with only Kevin and Winnie from TV’s The Wonder Years as inspiration, only to be paired with the one and only Danica McKellar (a.k.a. Winnie Cooper herself) in a Big Bang Theory kissing scene years later. After bluffing his way into his first “real job” writing a manual for computer software, he spent his shifts masquerading as a tennis star in chatrooms and got a promotion anyway. He found himself auditioning for plays as a college business administration major at the University of Portland—not because he fancied himself a star or envisioned a luxurious future in the biz, but because he saw it as a way to make friends and get girls.
Nayyar illustrates poignant relationships in his uniquely droll style, tempered by tenderness and respect. We meet his French expat college roommate, Diaby, a 6′ 8″, 250-pound power forward who defines the term “gentle giant” and lends Nayyar an assist with both losing his virginity and nearly becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg, among other more typical collegiate exploits. Nayyar expertly recounts some of his father’s advice—including “Use a spreadsheet” (“Dad was an accountant, so I knew how to use Excel before I knew how to unhook a bra”) and “Treat a king and a beggar the same” (“This says it all”). When he first meets his first true love, Sarah, she’s wearing intoxicating Egyptian Musk perfume, a smell that haunts him to this day. She also makes him lick her eyeball, and then introduces him to Radiohead—all in the same night.
Throughout YES, MY ACCENT IS REAL, Nayyar’s quirkiness and self-deprecation imbue even the most commonplace scenarios with levity and intrigue. We learn that Nayyar’s sport isn’t cricket or track, but badminton—and that a birdie is technically named a shuttlecock. We come to understand that the holiday tradition of Dessehra (a Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil) also closely resembles a real life Game of Thrones. Nayyar teaches himself guitar by learning Poison’s seminal hair-rock hit “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” ultimately parlaying his talents into a two-man emo band called the Prince and the Pauper (he’s the Prince). They play their first gig at the Java Bean—a gig you can reenact by following the lyrics included to the Prince and the Pauper original “So I’m Lonely Again,” (sample lyric: “I note I was barely breathing / Did you feel the same?”). As far as his first big break as an actor goes, it was for the play Huck and Holden, for which he auditioned not on a stage or via video, but in a New York City Apple Store, via iChat with the play’s L.A.-based director. Nayyar insists on the spelling aeroplane; he is addicted to mints, estimating he’s consumed over 19,000 Altoids since The Big Bang Theory began taping; and his wife, Neha, is an actual beauty queen. (Their meeting is touchingly described in the chapter “And Then I Fell in Love” and their “Big Fat Indian Wedding” recollected in a dizzying blur of one thousand guests, a band of friendly neighborhood eunuchs, Prince of Persia outfits, and time honored traditions, including riding a bejeweled horse into the wedding ceremony.)
YES, MY ACCENT IS REAL will embolden anyone whose name has been mispronounced countless times, whose background has been constantly misunderstood, or whose social awkwardness has been a consistent barrier. The ultimate achievement of the book is in collecting all of these happenings, which add up to the meaningful life that Nayyar enjoys today—convincing us to believe in a sliver of advice from his father: “If it happens, good. If it doesn’t happen, very good.” Accidental miracles and relationships forged in inexplicable circumstances give Nayyar’s life story its own patently believable Big Bang Theory. You will be inspired, amused, and mildly appalled—at least as much as you are when you watch Raj fumbling through life as an astrophysicist on TV. And at the book’s completion, you’ll be compelled to follow a bit of Nayyar’s own advice, jotted on a reliable aeroplane cocktail napkin: “Keep pushing forward. You’re stronger and more resilient than you can imagine. We are incredible creatures.”
Actor Steve Rannazzisi who is most famous for his roll as Kevin on FX’s The League, and is the current spokesman for Buffalo Wild Wings admitted Wednesday morning via Facebook that he lied about his involvement during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Rannazzisi stated that his was on the 54th floor of the south tower as an employee of Merrill Lynch when the planes struck the north tower. He gave accounts of this during an appearance on Marc Maron’s podcast in 2009.
“As a young man, I made a mistake that I deeply regret and for which apologies may still not be enough. After I moved with my wife to Los Angeles from New York City in 2001 shortly after 9/11, I told people that I was in one of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. It wasn’t true. I was in Manhattan but working in a building in midtown and I was not at the Trade Center on that day. I don’t know why I said this. This was inexcusable. I am truly, truly sorry,” said Rannazzisi.
“For many years, more than anything, I have wished that, with silence, I could somehow erase a story told by an immature young man. It only made me more ashamed. How could I tell my children to be honest when I hadn’t come clean about this? It is to the victims of 9/11 and to the people that love them–and the people that love me–that I ask for forgiveness,” said Rannazzisi.
Do you think that Rannazzisi should be fired from The League?
As a young man, I made a mistake that I deeply regret and for which apologies may still not be enough.After I moved…
Elizabeth Banks is on a new career path as a director. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that she’s in talks to direct a Charlie’s Angels reboot, led by Sony.
The franchise was born in 1976 with a show that became a success as Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson were catapulted to fame. Cheryl Ladd and Tanya Roberts joined the show later on and it ran until 1981.
In 2000, the formula was rebooted into a movie, with Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz playing the trio of female detectives who worked for faceless Charlie. They had the help of their sidekick Bosley, portrayed by Bill Murray. It was a fairly well-received film, while the 2003 sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, wasn’t.
More recently, in 2011, there was an attempt to bring the show back, but it was cancelled mid-season after four episodes due to a mix of low ratings and negative reviews.
Now, it seems that Elizabeth Banks could be the person in charge to revive the franchise, not only directing but also producing, along with her husband Max Handelman. They did the same with Pitch Perfect 2, and although it wasn’t at the same level as the first one… “pitch-wise”, Banks deserves props for adequately helming the much bigger scale follow-up.
While Sony is looking for a screenwriter, who do you think should star in the new Charlie’s Angels reboot?
Thanks to the success of 2014’s Godzilla, a new generation of moviegoers were shown why the giant lizard is the King of the Monsters. The cerebral adventure remake was an international box office smash and scored a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. Legendary Studios announced a sequel for 2018, but many more releases surrounding Godzilla have been announced, or at least hinted at.
The success of Gareth Edwards’ version spurred Godzilla’s birthplace, Toho Studios, to get the band back together and make a new Godzilla film of their own. Tentatively titled Shin Godzilla (New Godzilla) the new movie will be released next year. To top it off, the announcement it would be directed by Hideaki Anno – known for the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion – has fans of Japanese cinema even more fired up.
The internet is abuzz with other rumors of Godzilla making crossovers into other film series. The first involves Pacific Rim, where writer/director Guillermo Del Toro stated, “I would love to see a Jaeger and Godzilla duke it out.” Perhaps one of Godzilla’s old adversaries with a new design – maybe King Ghidorah or Space Godzilla – could make an appearance. The possibility of the crossover hinges on the success of Pacific Rim‘s first sequel, Maelstrom.
The second and most recent rumor involves Godzilla crossing over into another franchise, facing off against an old foe. Depending on the success of King Kong: Skull Island, Legendary could remake King Kong vs. Godzilla, which would be a fun ride for anyone who enjoys the characters, and grew up having fun with the campy Japanese version from 1962. Legendary sounds incredibly eager to make this happen.
The news surrounding Godzilla keeps growing, seemingly by the day. Unfortunately, many future film appearances hinge on initials films being successful. This means that fans will have to support these other properties to ensure that we see more of The King will be on the horizon.
The Pokémon Company is truly impressive when to comes to marketing campaigns. At the end of their latest movie; Hoopa and the Clash of Ages they teased the introduction of a new Pokémon. This as you might have guessed sent fans across the world into full speculation mode. Was it the reveal of the first Generation VII Pokémon or rather a new form set to play a role in the long-rumoured Pokémon Z.
On Monday, the Pokémon Company finally put fans out of their misery by revealing five different forms of Zygarde. Instead of being linked to Mega-Evolution, the forms are dependent on the number of cells that Zygarde has absorbed. That’s right, Pokémon has taken a page from the Dragon Ball school of character design.
While this reveal, in and of itself, was enough to make headlines. It seems that the Pokémon Company were not satiated. Today they revealed the latest season in the long-running Pokémon anime; Pokémon X,Y and Z. The trailer shows Zygarde and Team Flare will take a more active role in the plot, potentially excluding them from headlining the next feature film. It also heavily hints at a meeting between Ash and Alain (star of the Pokémon: Mega-Evolution Specials).
While a new game in the series has yet to be officially revealed, one can only assume that an announcement is forthcoming if this trailer is anything to go by. In news that got less traction, the Pokémon Company also revealed that Ash’s Greninja would be getting a new form. The new season will see Greninja take on some of his trainer’s characteristic features as a result of their strong bond. While the specifics remain a mystery, we can assume that friendship and Mega-Evolution are sure to play a factor.
Pokémon X,Y and Z is set to premiere on Japanese TV on October 29 and will be coming to English speaking audiences in the near future.
Monster Girls is able to deliver its signature blend of strangely sexy and creepy funny this week. And since it accomplishes this more than a couple of times, I’d say overall this episode was a success.
Episode Summary
Its time for dates with the MON squad now, since another more ominous letter from D has appeared. But after a set of three dates it’s revealed that Doppel-chan was behind the letter all along, the first one at least. Kimihito is left alone and nearly killed by a headless girl with a scythe. He brings her back after finding her in duress over her missing head. They all go out and find her head. And now that she’s whole again it’s revealed that she sent the second letter, is a Dullahan and thinks that Kimihito is going to die soon.
Episode Thoughts
This episode has many things that remind me what I love about Monster Girls. One of those is the pacing, and the fact that they know when to move on from a joke. And considering that every date with the MON squad is one big joke, its nice that their dates take altogether no more than seven minutes. They just get the jokes, get the fan service and then move on.
But while the jokes are brief, there are some monster exclusive jokes that I can highly appreciate. Like the part where Kimihito has to sew on Zombina’s breast. This is just like the Miia shedding scene but kicked up a notch. It hits on both the sexy and funny level perfectly while making a lot of sense at the same time to where I’m like, “Yeah I bet if I could detach my body parts, I would mess with people too.”
The jokes with Tio seem just like jokes they would do with Cerea, but with Tio’s personality it somehow seems fresh. But I’m sure if they had continued with it, things would have got real boring, real fast. The same can be said for Manako’s date. She really only has one joke, and it involves her stumbling over her shyness about being a cyclops. This mixes funny and cute but falling on the cute side more than anything. But they don’t really have anywhere else to go with that joke without it getting mean-spirited. I just hope that if they incorporate these girls in future episodes that they will freshen it up by mixing them with the cast. Because on their own, there literally is nothing more to show, without it getting boring and repetitive.
One complaint I probably should have had earlier is the fact that these girls constantly want to be treated normally. I think it’s popped up a number of times, but when the MON squad says it, something clicked in my head. Having them say they want to be treated like normal girls makes it sound like their monster-ness is a bad thing. That’s a weird way to phrase it. The message should be about embracing the monster part of them and learning that people can love that part of them too. Something about a girl wanting to be treated like something they’re not is gross and seems counterproductive from the whole point of the show, even if that’s the way human society treats them as a whole. Cereas pride as a centaur is a good example at what the goal should be for all these girls.
And while the dates were, for the most part free of waste, there is one thing that I found annoying. How many times do we need to hear an inner monologue from a girl about how nice Kimihito is. It’s always the same thing about how the world sees her versus how he sees her. I don’t need to hear that for the seventh, eight, and ninth time. If you show them blush I can interpret that from the situation, I don’t need the inner monologue. This is a show about getting hot and bothered over monster girls, lets keep it short and to the point, shall we.
The parts with Lala the dullahan are pretty funny all around. But one thing I find odd is that they don’t say her name at all in this episode; I had to look it up. Not damning of the episode or anything, but you would think they’d squeeze it somewhere in the episode. As for Lala as a character, she’s alright. At first I thought she would be somewhat of a scary ominous character sort of like Rachenra but without the devious side, but her occasional slip ups and total shift in personality make me think otherwise. It almost feels like she’s putting on an act at being all dark and creepy. Only next episode will we find out for sure, but I’m pretty sure that’s the case. I’m also confident that her saying Kimihito will die is just another game she’s playing at. Mostly because of her seemingly fake persona and the fact that Monster Girls wouldn’t go in that direction.
I do like how they incorporate all the other girls in the introduction of Lala. From Miia being scared to death by the headless factor, to Rachnera preying on her headless body. It felt like a normal episode of hijinks but with added headless hijinks being introduced in a natural way. Plus we get more monster exclusive jokes and fan service with Lala’s headless body being strung up by Rachnera’s bondage games. And it also reminds us that sometimes the most arousing things are a girl moaning while sucking on a finger. But the fact that it’s just a head and nothing else is what makes Monster Girls, Monster Girls. And with two episodes left, I’m hoping that Monster Girls can keep doing all these things that make it great, right up until the end.
