We’ve got a new season of Big Brother upon us and as we all know, it’s time to expect the unexpected. But there are some things that are expected. We’ve seen siblings of past contestants before and we have two for sure. We’ve seen competitors from previous seasons return before and we’ve got four in the Big Brother house, and there are some who are not happy about it.
Getting an established composer to score a short film is downright impossible and, if your short is low budget, not financially feasible. Thankfully, Danny Elfman (Batman, Edward Scissorhands,Alice Through the Looking Glass) is going another direction!
Actress Jessica Van (TV’s Rush Hour & The Messengers) stars in Seoul Searching, a comedy that captures the spirit of John Hughes’ films from the 1980s (The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink) and is inspired by director Benson Lee’s experiences at a summer program in Seoul, Korea. The movie, which I reviewed on Hollywood Outbreak, also received a great write-up in the New York Times, and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Van to talk about Seoul Searching.
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (Only God Forgives), The Neon Demon centers on Jesse (Elle Fanning), a 16-year-old who ventures to Los Angeles to pursue a modeling career. Jena Malone is Ruby, a make-up artist who becomes Jesse’s closest friend in the City of Angels, and it’s a union that leads down a nightmarish avenue.
Filmgoers in need of a cinematic fix that doesn’t involve big budgeted blockbusters might want to head out to Hollywood this weekend for the Dances with Films Festival. Those Left Behind, headlined by Daphne Zuniga (The Sure Thing, TV’s Melrose Place) and Michael Hogan (TV’s Battlestar Galactica) makes its West Coast premiere Sunday evening at the fest.
Some would call it ingenuity and others may deem it as necessity, but I’m assuming Michael David Lynch has taken from both worlds as a director/producer/editor. Diversity is a plus with indie filmmaking, and Lynch showcases his versatility with his documentary Victor Walk and the romantic comedy Dependent’s Day. Both features are spotlighted on the Dances With Films Festival.
Thanks to the success of such shows as The Blacklist and Boston Legal, James Spader’s innate charisma can easily travel to fever pitch levels (he was, of course, the voice of Ultron!). But Spader is more of a low key figure in the Los Angeles set thriller Bad Influence, which was recently released on Blu-ray via Shout! Factory. The film also features one of Rob Lowe’s best performances as a violent sociopath.
Fifty-six-year-old TV icon Simon Cowell and his rapier wit (I don’t know if it’s really “rapier,” but I just wanted to use the word) are back stateside with season 11 of America’s Got Talent. Though Howard Stern will be missed, Cowell, who created AGT back in 2006, should bring a different element to the show.
Since JoJo Fletcher had the temerity (or is it the decency?) to give Santa Claus (I refuse to call this bachelor by his real name!) a rose on the first episode of The Bachelorette, it’s safe to assume this season is bound to go sideways sooner than later. But who knew the insanity would start to boil as early as episode two?
Cinema, at its creative best, offers more than a superficial display of a narrative, and though it can be seen as a bright and bubbly comedy, director Frank Tashlin’s “Susan Slept Here” (97 minutes) is a subtly beguiling (and if you love Debbie Reynolds, bewitching) experience.