Complete List Of Golden Globe Winners

January 7, 2018

Seth Meyers and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will handle the onstage events of the 75th Edition of the Golden Globes, and Monkeys Fighting Robots will keep track of the winners and losers.

“Harvey Weinstein booed in 20 years during the in memoriam? Wow have things changed in Hollywood,” said Meyers.

As the award show unfolds, this page will be updated with the complete list of winners. What part of the show surprised you the most? Comment below.

WINNER: Best Actress in a Limited Series – Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
WINNER: Best Supporting Actor in a Film – Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards
WINNER: Best Actress TV Series Musical/Comedy – Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
WINNER: Best Actress TV Series Drama – Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
WINNER: Best Actor TV Series Drama – Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
WINNER: Best TV Series Drama – The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
WINNER: Best Supporting Actor TV Series/Limited Series/TV Movie – Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies
WINNER: Best Original Score – Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
WINNER: Best Original Song – “This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman
WINNER: Best Actor Motion Picture Musical/Comedy – James Franco, The Disaster Artist
WINNER: Best Supporting Actress TV Series/Limited Series/TV Movie – Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
WINNER: Best Animated Feature – Coco (Disney)
WINNER: Best Supporting Actress Motion Picture – Allison Janney, I, Tonya
WINNER: Best Motion Picture Screenplay – Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards
WINNER: Best Foreign Language Film – In the Fade (Germany/France)
WINNER: Best Actor Limited Series or Made for TV Movie – Ewan McGregor, Fargo
WINNER: Best TV Series Musical or Comedy – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
WINNER: Best Actor TV Series Musical or Comedy – Aziz Ansari, Master of None
WINNER: Best Director Motion Picture – Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
WINNER: Limited Series/Made for TV Movie – Big Little Lies (HBO)
WINNER: Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy – Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
WINNER: Best Picture Musical or Comedy – Lady Bird (A24)
WINNER: Best Actor Motion Picture Drama – Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
WINNER: Best Actress Motion Picture Drama – Francis McDormand, Three Billboards
WINNER: Best Motion Picture Drama – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight)

Best Picture Musical or Comedy

The Disaster Artist
Get Out
The Greatest Showman
I, Tonya
Lady Bird – WINNER

Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul
Helen Mirren, The Leisure Seeker
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird – WINNER
Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama

Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
Claire Foy, The Crown
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Deuce
Katherine Langford, 13 Reasons Why
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale – WINNER

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes
Ansel Elgort, Baby Driver
James Franco, The Disaster Artist -WINNER
Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name
Richard Jenkins, The Shape Of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards – WINNER

Best TV Series, Drama

The Crown
Game of Thrones
The Handmaid’s Tale – WINNER
Stranger Things
This Is Us

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Mary J Blige, Mudbound
Hong Chau, Downsizing
Allison Janney, I, Tonya – WINNER
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Original Song In A Motion Picture

“Home,” Ferdinand
“Mighty River,” Mudbound
“Remember Me,” Coco
“The Star,” The Star
“This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman – WINNER

Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama

Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us – WINNER
Freddie Highmore, The Good Doctor
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, The Phantom Thread
Tom Hanks, The Post
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour – WINNER
Denzel Washington, Roman J Israel, Esq

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Jessica Chastain, Molly’s Game
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Francis McDormand, Three Billboards – WINNER
Meryl Streep, The Post
Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World

Best Director – Motion Picture

Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water – WINNER
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Ridley Scott, All the Money in the World
Steven Spielberg, The Post

Best Motion Picture, Drama

Call Me By Your Name
Dunkirk
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards – Winner

Best Actor in a Limited-Series or TV Movie

Robert De Niro, Wizard of Lies
Jude Law, The Young Pope
Kyle McLaughlin, Twin Peaks
Ewan McGregor, Fargo – WINNER
Geoffrey Rush, Genius

Best TV Movie or Limited-Series

Big Little Lies – WINNER
Fargo
Feud: Bette and Joan
The Sinner
Top of the Lake: China Girl

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Three Billboards
The Shape of Water – WINNER
Phantom Thread
The Post
Dunkirk

Best TV Series, Comedy

Black-ish
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – WINNER
Master of None
SMILF
Will & Grace

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited-Series, or TV Movie

Laura Dern, Big Little Lies – WINNER
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Michelle Pfeiffer, Wizard of Lies
Shailene Woodley

Best Foreign Language Film

A Fantastic Woman
First They Killed My Father
In the Fade – WINNER
Loveless
The Square

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited-Series or TV Movie

David Harbour, Stranger Things
Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies – WINNER
David Thewlis, Fargo

Best Actress in a Limited-Series or TV Movie

Jessica Biel, The Sinner
Nicole Kidman. Big Little Lies – WINNER
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies

Best Animated Feature Film

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco – WINNER
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy

Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Alison Brie, GLOW
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – WINNER
Issa Rae, Insecure
Frankie Shaw, SMILF

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None – WINNER
Kevin Bacon, I Love Dick
William H. Macy, Shameless
Erik McCormack, Will & Grace

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

The Shape Of Water
Lady Bird
The Post
Three Billboards – WINNER
Molly’s Game

What was the biggest surprise? Comment below.

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Star Wars The Last Jedi On Pace To Fall Far Behind The Force Awakens

Ruben Diaz

January 7, 2018

The Force Awakens (TFA) made more than two billion dollars, but it’s sequel, The Last Jedi (TLJ) will not even come close. Now, let’s be clear, The Last Jedi is a financial hit for Disney, a critical hit, and mostly a hit with general audiences. The film is projected to reach 1.3 billion dollars which more than covers its cost of production and marketing. Oh, and the toys and merchandise will likely triple that number. But, as we know, numbers mean a lot in Hollywood.

It’s still 1.3 billion dollar return on a movie that cost
somewhere around 300 million with marketing.

If The Last Jedi reaches 1.3 billion, it’ll mean a 700 million dollar drop from TFA. That’s the largest drop for a sequel in history according to Forbes. And why is this happening? Well, China isn’t happy, and TLJ is not the hit there that it is in the States. Of course, The Last Jedi still has some time in the theaters to go and will likely reach some slightly higher numbers. However, a 28 million dollar opening in China (less than TFA or Rogue One), has to give Disney pause.

So, what does this mean? Likely nothing. It’s still 1.3 billion dollar return on a movie that cost somewhere around 300 million with marketing. However, Disney being a corporate entity terrified by any dramatic shift like this might overreact. Will Rian Johnson get to make his standalone trilogy? It might be a risk because there is clear evidence of underperformance.

Most importantly, the Mouse will also need to figure out the secrets of what to serve the people of China to get their asses in cinema seats.

JJ Abrams will remix Star Wars back into a mindless juggernaut for the masses. He’s good at that. But will another Star Wars sequel reach or surpass TFA? In the world of mega-companies like Disney, you ALWAYS have to make MORE. Disney will need to consider the future of the franchise and how they want to approach it. Most importantly, the Mouse will also need to figure out the secrets of what to serve the people of China to get their asses in cinema seats.

It’s weird to say this about a reborn franchise that’s three movies in and more than four billion in revenue, but Disney must be scrambling. Consider that the House of Mouse already considers Solo a failure, and we’ll be back-to-back underperforming Star Wars movie. That’s no bueno.

So, what’s the answer? My wildly unpopular answer is to stop making Star Wars movies. Let the franchise age gracefully. Instead of spending 300 million for one movie, make six 50 million dollar movies inspired by Star Wars and create new pop culture legacies. But who are we kidding? Disney is going to ride this Bantha made of money until the legs fall off. Disney will make slight course corrections until they get it right or audiences truly leave this galaxy far, far behind.

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Funko Headed In Two Different Directions With Their Next Big Release

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

January 7, 2018

One the most sought after Funko Pops this holiday season was the 10 inch Hulk in Battle Armor from Thor: Ragnarok. It appears that Funko is now headed in two different directions with their next big release.

One of the biggest rumors was that Funko was going to announce not one but two new 10-inch Funko Pops due to the popularity surrounding their release of the Hulk. It appears those rumors are now fact. Check out this picture.

An Instagrammer by the name of Funkofinderz stumbled upon a listing for Target which not only shows a 10-inch Thanos (which will tie into Avengers: Infinity War) but also one for a 10-inch Porg from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Each of them has the same listing price as The Hulk. What do you guys think? Are you going to be seeking them out when they are released? Are you going to wait until we get an official look at each before their release date? Be sure to leave a comment below.

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Nintendo Switch Sales Surpass Wii U Lifetime Sales In Japan

Nick Battaglia

January 6, 2018

The Nintendo Switch had a monstrous 2017 and looks to build on its success in 2018. In just its 10-month existence, 10 million units have been sold worldwide. Causing Nintendo to move closer to its expected global sales total of 14 million by the end of its fiscal year in March. By reaching that expected total, the Switch would then surpass the Wii U’s total number of global sales (13.56 million). Yep, despite other success like Zelda: Breath of the Wild winning Game of the Year at the 2017 Game Awards, the conversation about the Nintendo Switch always comes back around to one thing.

Its surpassing of sales numbers set by its predecessor the Wii U whose production was ended earlier this month. One week into the new year and its dominance of the Wii U in sales has now reached a new level. According to Famitsu sales data, the Switch has outsold the Wii U in overall sales in Japan. In 10-months 3,407,158 Nintendo Switch units have been sold in Japan, surpassing the 3,301,555 Wii U’s sold in the country during its close to six-year production.

Combine those numbers with the additional 4.8 million units sold in the United States and it’s easy to see why Nintendo is so optimistic about March’s sales goal. But the Switch’s dominance in first-year sales in Japan hasn’t just put it ahead of the Wii U. It’s also led to the console surpassing Sony’s Playstation 2 in first-year sales in Japan as well per Famitsu. However, despite the feat, Sony’s 17-year-old console still holds the worldwide record for units sold with 155 million.

Even though it’s highly unlikely Nintendo’s newest “home console” ever reaches the mark set by the Playstation 2, a few upcoming game releases will more than likely push it further past its in-house predecessor. Most notably Metroid Prime 4, and untitled Fire Emblem, and Pokémon games whose release dates haven’t been announced yet. What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Switch? What games are you most looking forward to? Comment below!

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Review: I, TONYA Is The Most Creative Film Of 2017

Matthew Sardo

I, Tonya is going to surprise a ton of people. The subject matter, the visuals, the acting, and the music make this film a must see heading into awards season.

About the film:
Based on the unbelievable, but true events, I, TONYA is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding, a mustachioed Sebastian Stan as her impetuous ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, and a tour-de-force performance from Allison Janney as her acid-tongued mother, LaVona Golden, Craig Gillespie’s I, TONYA is an absurd, irreverent, and piercing portrayal of Harding’s life and career in all of its unchecked––and checkered––glory.

Writing

Steven Rogers script is brilliant; he makes sure we care about Harding, all while breaking the fourth wall with his characters. After watching I, Tonya, it would be interesting to see what he and director Craig Gillespie could do with something like Deadpool. Rogers’ two-hour movie is basically broken into two parts, each given equal screen time. Then, he mixes in faux reality TV interviews and an occasional splash of violence to keep the film just off balance. It’s a dark comedy, but emotional beats land along the way, which is key in such salacious tabloid fodder as this.

Direction

Gillespie adds a noticeable style to I, Tonya. It’s a mockumentary; it’s a gut-wrenching drama; it has comedy and, yes, it’s even been compared to Godfellas (but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). I, Tonya is all over the place cinematically, but in the best way. Gillespie shows us the domestic violence that painted Harding’s upbringing and eventual marriage in such a way that you feel for Margot Robbie and Harding on a deep, personal level. Sebastian Stan as Jeff Gillooly smashes Robbie’s face into a mirror, one of the few abrupt tonal shifts and an image that’s hard to shake.

Acting

Margot Robbie gets the mannerisms of Harding; there are a few scenes from behind where they look identical. The grit and world-weariness Robbie brings to the table as she does things like give a sideways glance or spit swears at the judges makes you root for this troubled underdog. Allison Janney as Harding’s mother is a scary person that no one will fuck with, and while the razor-sharp language is a credit to Roger’s writing, the delivery is all Janney. Stan can flip the emotional switch from love to hate as Gillooly, and even though the guy was a complete goon in the end, Stan’s performance pulls us in before repelling us.

Music

The music is what ties this movie together and takes it to the next level, cinematically. These are all songs you’ve heard before in other films, but the timing of music and the emotion involved works so well in I, Tonya. Romeo and Juliet by DIRE STRAITS works in movies, but when you pit it against domestic violence, you’ll never hear the song the same way again.

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Review: The Battle For The Fate of The Super Sons Concludes in SUPERMAN #38

Jose "Jody" Cardona

This is the conclusion of a crossover between Super Sons, Teen Titans, and Superman. If you haven’t read the review for part three, click here.

The final battle for Superboy’s life is about to begin. What started seven against one has turned into three groups, each with their own goals. The Future Tim Drake, now dubbed as Savior, leads Beast Boy and Raven to “subdue” Jon. Next, we have the Teen Titans protecting the Super Sons as they head to the Fortress of Solitude. Last, we have the unexpected Titans of Tomorrow, consisting of Superman Conner Kent, Wonder Woman Cassie Sandsmark, and Flash Bart Allen. These heroes know Tim Drake’s actions could cause disruptions to the timestream, so they seek to stop him. Will the heroes stop Savior’s plan to kill the Boy of Steel or will Jon fall?

Story:

After the Teen Titans find Damian and Jon at the secret Super Sons base, they take the duo to the Fortress of Solitude. They hope that Superman will be able to stand against Savior, however, he is still kept in the trap laid for him back at the beginning of the arc. To prepare his son for the coming attack of Savior, Superman has Aqualad break the ice under the trap and fake his own death. This ultimately causes Jon to freak out, activating the Super Solar Flare power from the last issue. This causes all three groups to work together to stop another explosion.

This issue’s biggest problem is only clear when reading through the entire issue: the pacing is way too fast. An entire story that could have been two fantastic issues are condensed into one rushed issue. The Titans reunite with Damien, go to the force of solitude, find Superman, fake Superman‘s death, and stop the Superboy explosion in a matter of a single issue. The pacing of the issue causes the interactions to feel extremely awkward. Three heroes from the future just appear and nobody asks who they are! They just pop in and help contain the solar flare.

It feels as if they had to wrap of the story arc in the span of four issues. It says “to be concluded in Super Sons #12,” but everything that has happened in this issue feels like the actual ending to the arc. The problem is solved and heroes are left wondering “what’s next,” as most crossovers end. If anything, Super Sons #12 is going to be an epilogue, which could possibly redeem this issue. As it stands, however, this was a poor way to end the story.

Art:

While the story has flaws, the art is a nice step up from the previous part. Ed Benes teams up with Sergio Fernandez Davila to pencil the finale, and it looks great. It is able to capture the art styles of all three series and mesh them together to form one fantastic looking book. The colors of Gabe Eltaeb and Dinei Ribeiro go hand-in-hand with the pencils. With the work of both teams, the art just pops off each page beautifully. If there’s any reason to pick up this book, it would be to see this fantastic art first hand.

Conclusion:

This wasn’t a good conclusion. It’s extremely rushed and fails to show the weight of what has happened. If each series had an extra issue to explore the world Savior and the Titans of Tomorrow come from, as well as stretch out this issue, this might have been a passable arc. As it stands, while a pretty story to look at, The Super Sons of Tomorrow has fallen flat.

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GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE Director Is “Bored” With Marvel Movies

Aric Sweeny

January 6, 2018

Brian Taylor, who directed Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, had some interesting things to say about the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Comic Book . The director, for one reason or another, just “doesn’t understand” the films. Down below is his full quote.

The Marvel [Studios] movies, I just don’t understand at all. I have to be honest, they seem very long to me. I’ve got to be careful the way I say this. I just don’t get them. I’m kind of bored with them and I just don’t find them particularly entertaining. I think they’re really well made in terms of craft. The action is really good. They’re technically really great. They have a lot of actors that I love. But I just don’t get it.

Though Taylor shared his distaste for Marvel films, he points out that he has been a comic book fan since childhood.

“I was a comic book kid growing up. I loved superheroes, and I love comic books. If there was an opportunity to do a comic book movie in a way that felt the way it made me feel reading comics, then obviously it would be fun material to do.”

Given Taylor’s background as both a filmmaker and comic book fan, his criticisms confuse me even more. The MCU blends comic book wackiness and storylines with the cohesive structure of a well put-together movie.

Do you agree with Taylor’s comments? Sound off down below, in the comments section.

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Navid Negahban Joins LEGION Season 2 As Shadow King

Jackson Hayes

January 6, 2018

The FX hit superhero show Legion has cast its Season 2 villain for the second time. During the show’s panel at TCA, it was announced that Homeland actor Navid Negahban would be joining the show as Shadow King.

Aubrey Plaza portrayed the iconic comics villain in Season 1 of Legion but as the show moves toward a more traditional portrayal of the character, a new actor was needed to be brought in. It was first announced that Wonder Woman actor Said Taghmaoui would take on the role but he then left the show for what are still unknown reasons.

Before being cast in Legion, Negahban starred on Homeland for its first two seasons and has also made appearances on Arrow, 24 and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

“Legion follows David Haller, a troubled young man who may be more than human. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he’s confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and visions might be real.”

Legion Season 2 will premiere in April.

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Review: INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY Is Dumb Fun

Matthew Sardo

Insidious: The Last Key is the closest I’ve come recently to those memories of my teenage years, and watching USA Up All Night with Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda Shear. So many horror movies were neutered and shoddily cut to fit in the timeframe of the show, but in the end it still worked on a stupid fun level. With that description I present to you The Last Key.

There were just enough scares and dumb dialogue that it’s tough to get mad at the film, and just enjoy the awkward rollercoaster ride; this film has no aspirations. Go out with your friends, have a few drinks and enjoy this marginally funny, scary experience.

The director of the film, Adam Robitel did get me though, a few times. I knew a scare was coming and he delayed it, built it up, and then made me squeal like an eight-year-old. The other movie critics just laughed at me.

How I Would Have Fixed The Film

Including the budget of The Last Key, Blumhouse has made $350 million on the previous three films. First, let’s bump up this budget from $10 million to $20 million. The film started off in 1953, and should have remained there, where the story flourishes. The extra money would have been used for sets and costumes to give the film a gritty, dust bowl feel.

Secondly, none of the original cast would have been in the movie. Lin Shaye is the only one who could have shown up at the end as a cameo to tie the film to the rest of the franchise. Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson should stop acting after The Last Key, which is sad because Sampson was remarkable in season two of Fargo. Whannell gets a token role because he wrote the film. He even writes that he gets the hot girl too! The Blumhouse Human Resources department might want to have a conversation with him.

Thirdly, write a plot and a kick-ass origin for the demon coming after Elise Rainier. There are elements of a good film in The Last Key, but they get bulldozed over by dumb un-original writing. Give the audience answers and an origin to the demon with keys. A great villain can carry an average hero. Focus on the demon.

Elise’s original house was on the same property as a prison that was executing prisoners, yet we never went into the prison. Elise as a child would talk with the recently executed as they passed over from the living. Just writing that sentence, I want to see more of that. It doesn’t get creeper than evil dead people talking to you as a kid. Prisons, electric chairs, and dead prisoners are scary! The writer of the film, Leigh Whannell should have gone this route instead of the very bad comedic venture he went with.

Blumhouse, if you need a horror consultant, you know where to find me.

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Review: MOLLY’S GAME A Perfect Pairing of A Writer And A Actor

Kieran Freemantle

Molly’s Game is the fifth film adaptation of a true story to be written by Aaron Sorkin and marks his first time sitting in the director’s chair.

Molly Bloom was a promising skier who was forced to retire early after a horrific crash at the Olympic Qualifiers. She decides to take a year out in Los Angeles before attending Harvard Law School. In LA she works as a cocktail waitress before working as the assistant for a sleazy real estate agent (Jeremy Strong). This assistance job starts her journey to become the ‘Poker Princess’ and leads to her rubbing shoulders with movie stars, businessmen and gangster and puts her on a collision course with the FBI.

Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain star in *Molly’s Game.*

Ever since his early days as a writer Sorkin has been seen as the master of dialogue, and he often injects academic references and political subject matter. He also attempts to psycho-analysis his subjects: in The Social Network Mark Zuckerberg was dumped by a girl, and he created Facebook out of spite, in Moneyball Billy Beane was failed by the baseball scouting system as a player, so he set out to change the system when he became a general manager, and the focus of Steve Jobs was on the Apple co-founders’ relationship with his illegitimate daughter. Molly’s Game is no different and Sorkin looks at what drives this talented, intelligent yet troubled woman.

In Molly’s case, she is shown to be a intelligent and determined young woman. She was shaped by her overbearing father (Kevin Costner), a psychology professor who demands physical and academic excellence. This leads to Molly’s drive for success – if she is told she can’t do something she’ll do everything in her power to prove them wrong. But Molly is also resentful of her father and she’s the rebel of the family. She had an attitude that she has to prove herself whilst also to say ‘screw you’ to her father. Even after her success as a gambling kingpin she still longs for her life as an athlete and wonders what her life could be as a lawyer. Basically, Molly Bloom was turned into a typical Sorkin character.

Structurally Molly’s Game is similar to The Social Network. Both films focus on the rise of their characters and the people they cross along the way and have a framing storyline about the main character’s legal problems. In Molly’s case, she is broke and pressured by the prosecution to turn into a state witness. Like with The Social Network the two storylines in Molly’s Game slowly converge.

Molly’s Game also has a Goodfellas style narrative, a rise-and-fall story with all the up-and-downs its entails. Molly Bloom was working in a legally gray area, and she could have turned into a gangster if she wanted to. She states she holds a lot of her players’ debt and she could collect if she wanted to and she had access to a lot of powerful people. The film goes to great lengths to show Molly having some morals: she is shown to be unwilling to exploit bad players for too long, and she refuses to use violence to collect debts. Molly’s intelligence means she doesn’t need to.

Also like Goodfellas and other films that have copied the Scorsese formula, Molly’s Game has a heavy reliance on voiceover. This was done to explain the details of freestyle skiing, poker and all its terminology and introducing new characters. It is so dense that’s sometimes hard to keep up with – not helped by Sorkin’s need to show how knowledgeable he is.

Sorkin also goes to certain lengths to justify the changes that were made to Bloom’s story. The film opens with Molly Bloom saying that changes to names were made because of legal reasons. Michael Cera (who I admittedly thought was Jesse Eisenberg at first) plays a Hollywood star only known as Player X because he was a composite character based on real actors – so not a good idea to burn bridges. One scene Molly’s boss uses the term ‘poor person bagels,’ but her lawyer (Idris Elba) believed he used a more offensive term.

Before Sorkin was a screenwriter, he worked as a playwright – hence his love for fast, back-and-forth dialogue. Films like The Social Network and Steve Jobs had excellent directors to make them visually engaging. Sorkin had to compete with David Fincher and Danny Boyle – and he does it. Molly’s Game started with an impressive skiing sequence and Molly getting arrested by the FBI. Sorkin also made the poker sequences compelling due to the various outcomes that could happen – using card graphics to do so.

Molly’s Game had a great cast, but it was Jessica Chastain’s show. Chastain is an obviously talented actress, and she gives the role of Molly Bloom her all. Chastain gave the dialogue the authenticity it needed, and she had the necessary range. She has an impressive filmography, and her performance in Molly’s Game is one of her best.

While Sorkin is a great screenwriter he does have one major issue: he likes to show off how smart he is. There are a lot of character backstories being told, literary and political references abounded. Sorkin is also openly political: his biggest TV show was The West Wing. In Molly’s Game Sorkin uses the film as a well for him to make political points about Molly’s treatment by the authorities and the people Molly’s served instead of her crimes. He makes valid points, but it came across as Sorkin trying to educate the audience rather than coming off as natural exchanges.

Sorkin shows promise as a director and he was blessed Jessica Chastain as his leading lady but Molly’s Game doesn’t quite match the highs of The West Wing, The Social Network and Steve Jobs.

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