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.
I’ve seen several seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette in sum, so I’m far from an expert on the reality series. My last time checking in on this universe hosted by Chris Harrison was during Ashley Hebert’s season, so my knowledge of JoJo Fletcher is marginal at best.
And here we are. It’s the finals performance night on The Voice and all four vocalists have plenty of chances to help you decide who to vote for (or who not to vote for if they slip up). But as we’ve seen throughout the season, there is some serious talent here and after the performances, you’ll find very few slips. All four competitors brought their A games, which should make Tuesday’s revealing of the winner at least interesting.
Now available for pre-order on iTunes and Vudu, My Father’s Vietnam centers on the experiences of three men who served in the Vietnam War. Director Soren Sorensen initially started the project to learn more about his own father’s (Peter Sorensen) experiences in the military, and what evolved over last decade turned into something much larger than originally intended. Hollywood Outbreak talked to Soren Sorensen about his experiences in making My Father’s Vietnam, a subtly crafted documentary which gives voice to three brave and honorable men who served their country.
Skyler Gisondo (Vacation, The Amazing Spider-Man) gets his first shot as a leading man with Hard Sell, a coming of age story about Hardy, a high school senior who’s trying to take care of his mentally unstable mother (Kristin Chenoweth) and raise a bit of money to pay for the family dog’s impending medical bills. When a beautiful woman named Bo (Katrina Bowden) walks into Hardy’s life claiming to be an ex-stripper, the pair hatch a mutually beneficial plan to alleviate their problems.