The Skeleton Twins, a drama which received excellent reviews for Saturday Night Livevets Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, hits Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand December 16.
The storyline centers on Maggie (Wiig) and Milo (Hader), estranged twins who reunite after a ten year hiatus from each other. Directed and co-penned by Craig Johnson (Mark Heyman is the other scribe), the picture won Best Screenplay at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Luke Wilson and Modern Family’s Ty Burrell also star in the feature.
Kristen Wiig and Luke Wilson in ‘The Skeleton Twins’ – Lionsgate
Special features on the Blu-ray and DVD include:
Gag Reel
Outtakes
Deleted scenes with optional commentary from filmmaker/co-writer Craig Johnson
Two featurettes: “To Whom It May Concern: Making The Skeleton Twins” and “Sweet Moves”
Commentary with Johnson, Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader
Commentary with Johnson, co-writer Mark Heyman and producer/editor Jennifer Lee
Hopefully I’ll have my hands on a Blu-ray copy of The Skeleton Twins, and I’ll be posting a review of the title shortly.
The Skeleton Twins – LionsgateThe Skeleton Twins – Lionsgate
The Imitation Game, a WWII set feature that centers on code breaker Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), will receive the Ensemble Performance Award at the 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF).
The cast members, along with Cumberbatch, include Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, and Mark Strong. The Awards Gala takes place Saturday, January 3 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
“The Imitation Game is one of the very best ensembles to grace the screen this season,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley lead an outstanding cast in The Imitation Game, a film about Alan Turing as he attempts to crack Germany’s Enigma machine. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present the entire cast of The Imitation Game with the Ensemble Performance Award.”
Other honorees that will receive awards at the event include Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash).
PSIFF runs January 2-12. For more info, please go to its official site.
Bandai Namco Games America Inc. will releaseGodzillaon the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles for summer 2015.
The videogame, developed by Natsume Atari, has players (as the titular character) destroying each area’s Energy Generator and collecting as much G-Energy as possible (the energy is used to power-up Godzilla). A movie-style camera angle system is also inflused into the game, which also has Godzilla taking on Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Mechagodzilla.
With Mission mode, players will cover over 20 stages of gameplay. Diorama mode is available for players who want to capture photos of Godzilla in different environments, and with King of Monsters mode Godzilla fights other creatures to become the true leader of the world beating beasts.
Godzilla – Bandai Namco Games America Inc.
“Godzilla has had a long history and is one of Japan’s most famous pop culture exports that have entertained millions of people for generations in the West.” said Chris Gilbert, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing at BANDAI NAMCO Games America Inc. “We’re excited to continue this great history by bringing the Godzilla videogame for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 to excited fans. Let the countdown to monstrous destruction and epic battles begin!”
Mothra in “Godzilla” – Banda Namco Games America Inc.King Ghidrah in ‘Godzilla’ – (Banda Namco Games America Inc.)MechaGodzilla in ‘Godzilla’ (Bandai Namco Games America, Inc.)Jet Jaguar in ‘Godzilla’ – (Namco Bandai Games America Inc.)
As Lucy Hale accurately states in the new Pretty Little Liarsfeaturette, there’s “twists, and turns, and drama” in the upcoming Christmas episode of the hit show.
In the Tuesday, December 9 episode “How the ‘A’ Stole Christmas” (ABC Family, 8 pm) the four resilient ladies (Aria, Emily, Hanna, Spencer) search for proof that will keep Spencer (Troian Bellisario) from heading to jail. Along with the long running drama behind finding out “A’s” true identity, the episode should hopefully hold a bit of holiday cheer (amidst, of course, all that underlying deceit and darkness).
Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell in ‘Pretty Little Liars’ – ABC Family, Eric McCandless)
The new Pretty Little Liars featurette is below:
In other PLL related news, actress/singer Lucy Hale was interviewed for Yahoo Beauty’s new “Beauty Story” video series. During the chat, Hale talked about what she’s learned from playing Aria on Pretty Little Liars:
“My favorite thing about Aria — she’s very driven. She’s also teaching me how to be a little bit more romantic as well. We’re very similar in a lot of ways, which is why I was drawn to her initially when I read the script.”
Yahoo also asked Hale about what five items she would bring if she was stranded on a desert island. To watch the video, go here.
I had the pleasure of interview director Atom Egoyan(Exotica, Where the Truth Lies, The Sweet Hereafter, Devil’s Knot) this week in Los Angeles, and during the session he was asked about another movie that he recently finished.
Remember stars Christopher Plummer, an actor Egoyan previously worked with on Ararat. In a Daily Variety piece, Plummer described Remember as a story that is “arresting and powerful beyond measure.”
Penned by Benjamin August, the project also stars Martin Landau, Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), and Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire).
Atom Egoyan sums up Remember below:
“Christopher Plummer plays a Holocaust survivor with early stages (of) dementia who thinks he’s found the person responsible for having killed his family in Auschwitz and goes on a mission to execute this person but keeps forgetting why.
What’s remarkable (about) the script is that (they’re) all these themes that are really close to me but it’s a really completely linear story. And yet the complexity of the characters is so fascinating and Plummer is extraordinary . . . It’s a pleasure to work with him again.”
To hear Atom Egoyan’s audio version of his answer, click on the media bar below:
The Captive, which premiered exclusively on DirectTV on November 13, hits theaters December 12. I’ll have more posts on The Captive, a thriller which I really enjoyed, in the coming days.
Mireille Enos & Ryan Reynolds in THE CAPTIVE (A24)
The Captive’s Boilerplate Summary: In this psychological thriller from Academy Award Nominated director Atom Egoyan, Matthew (Ryan Reynolds) steps briefly into a diner and comes out to find that his young daughter Cassandra has vanished without a trace from the back of his truck. Her unsolved abduction destroys Matthew’s once-happy relationship with his wife, Tina (Mireille Enos), who, haunted by mementos of Cassandra that appear mysteriously at her work, suspects her husband of foul play. Years later, when detectives Nicole (Rosario Dawson) and Jeffrey (Scott Speedman) discover recent images of Cassandra online, Matthew risks everything to ensure his daughter’s safe return—and to save himself and Tina from the limbo of unrelenting despair. Kevin Durand, Alexia Fast, and Bruce Greenwood co-star.
I love watching videos on Vimeo, as it’s a streaming service that’s never done me wrong. One of the projects that’s caught my eye is the documentary Beautiful Noise, which is now on sale as a digital download on Video on Demand: vimeo.com/ondemand/beautifulnoise.
The documentary centers on a period of music in which musicians mixed their proverbial wall of sound in a unique fashion, infusing guitar instrumentation into seemingly conventional pop song driven melodies.
The documentary, directed by Eric Green, contains interviews with members of Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Chapterhouse, Swervedriver, Lush, Pale Saints, Curve, AR Kane, and Medicine. Music icons Trent Reznor, Robert Smith, and Billy Corgan are also featred in the doc.
Beautiful Noise premiered May 31, 2014 at the Seattle International Film Festival and globally June 8, 2014 at the Sheffield International Film Festival. Other fests which featured the documentary included the Don’t Knock the Rock Festival in Los Angeles and the Sound + Vision Festival at Lincoln Center.
Remote Area Medicalis a documentary which focuses the universal need for efficient healthcare, but instead of taking a pointed political stance on the issue, filmmaker Jeff Reichertand Farihah Zamantake viewers on a personal journey of RAM’s three day clinic at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway.
Shot in April 2012, the documentary contains extensive interviews with patients of Remote Area Medical (an estimated 2000 people were treated during RAM’s pop-up stop in Tennessee). Since Bristol rests within the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, many of the people reside amidst this scenic environment.
REMOTE AREA MEDICAL – Cinedigm
But a beautiful view and living in open country doesn’t translate into excellent medical care, as many people can’t even afford a doctor or a dental visit. In the documentary, viewers witness a man who gets his blood pressure taken in the nick of time, a woman who undergoes a much needed X-ray, and several more than thankful patients getting several of their teeth extracted (these are the doc’s hardest to watch sequences) . Even obtaining a new pair of glasses and dentures is a luxury these patients can’t afford, but thanks to RAM those needs were met.
“We want the movie to stand as a document of the time that we were there and the people that we met,” said Reichert, who previously directed the 2010 film Gerrymandering. “There’s something kind of wonderful in documentary (filmmaking). You can watch something happen and share it with people who couldn’t actually be there to see it.”
REMOTE AREA MEDICAL – Cinedigm
For the filmmakers, the documentary’s focus came into clearer view during the editing process.
“With most good documentary filmmaking, you have to be surprised,” said Zaman who, along with Jeff Reichert, volunteered at a Remote Area Medical clinic in 2011. “For one thing, it became more about the place itself. The beauty of the landscape – specifically growing up in Appalachia we sort of delved (into it) in a way that we didn’t expect. Also we talked about a film that was completely vérité which the final film is not. We did those interviews in the film that became the structural backbone of the (documentary).”
Remote Area Medical opens today in Los Angeles and other markets. For more info, go to its official site.
Remote Area Medical (MPAA Rating: none. Running time: 80 minutes). Los Angeles venues: Lammle’s Musical Hall 3 in Beverly HIlls and Lammle’s Town Center 5 in Encino.
Guitarist Joe Perry is bringing the holiday cheer with his four song EP Joe Perry’s Merry Christmas, which is out now at the official site for Unison Music Group and on iTunes.
“I have wanted to do a Christmas CD with Aerosmith for years, but it seems we never have the time to record one,” said Perry, who released his bestselling memoir Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith on October 7. “When my Rocks book tour ended, the timing was right – we were in LA with access to a studio with some really talented friends and it all fell together. I was finally able to record some Christmas classics for the fans.”
The songs covered on the album are “White Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “Santa Clause Is Back In Town” and “Run Run Rudolph” (featuring Johnny Depp on rhythm guitar).
Along with being a writer and musician, Perry also has a passion for healthy and organic food. During a recent appearance on Home & Family, he shared a Baked Beans recipe which was created by his son) and incorporates Perry’s own line of BBQ sauces. Check out the video below:
http://youtu.be/CLxnaH44xx4
To check out Joe Perry’s line of sauces, go to Mr. Perry’s official site.
Actor Jai Courtney has been all over the cinematic map in 2014, thanks to his work in the fantasy/action flicks Divergent and I, Frankenstein,the crime drama Felony, and the upcoming WWII feature Unbroken(he plays a cigar chomping soldier and friend to Olympic runner Louis Zamperini).
His most anticipated film is Terminator Genisys, and the trailer was released today. Is Kyle Reese (Courtney) saving a Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) who was actually raised by a grey-haired Terminator (Arnold Schwarzeneger), and does this recent time travel journey forever change the events from The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day?
During our interview with Jai Courtney for Felony, he gave a brief insight on Terminator Genisys:
There’s not a lot I can say – it’s definitely not exactly the same than anything you’ve seen. It’s going to dig up some familiar aspects of the world we know about in Terminator, but there’s certainly kind of (a pushing of) “reset” somewhat if you know what I mean.
To hear Jai Courtney’s full answer, click on the audio bar below (Felony co-star Joel Edgerton is also heard in the clip)
Benedict Cumberbatch(Sherlock Holmes, The Imitation Game) and Jennifer Lawrence(The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I) were the most reblogged actors of 2014, as the pair topped Tumblr’s “Year In Review” list.
With his work on the TV series Sherlock Holmes and his larger than life portrayal of Smaug in The Hobbit films and Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, Cumberbatch’s star has continued to rise in meteoric fashion. Along with The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch reprises his role as Smaug in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Benedict Cumberbatch (to see his Tumblr thank you video, click here).
Tom Hiddleston
Jensen Ackles
Dylan O’Brien
Misha Collins
Jared Padalecki
Chris Evans
Martin Freeman
Sebastian Stan
Leonardo DiCaprio
Robert Downey Jr.
Evan Peters
David Tennant
Ansel Elgort
Matt Smith
Robin Williams
Tyler Hoechlin
Tyler Posey
Jared Leto
Chris Pratt
Along with The Hunger Games franchise, Jennifer Lawrence has accrued Marvel Universe fans thanks to her work in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past. She has also garnered critical acclaim for her work in Winter’s Bone, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle.
– New York, NY – 11/15/14-New York Press Conference For The Hunger Games : Mockingjay Part 1 .The Film will open November 21. PICTURED: Jennifer Lawrence PHOTO by: Dave Allocca/Starpix
Tumblr will hold a Year in Review event December 10in Brooklyn. One of the bands who made Tumblr’s reblogged list will give a surprise performance at the celebration. To check out Tumblr’s “Year In Review” post, please go to http://yearinreview.tumblr.com/2014.
Here are the other artists who topped this year’s “most reblogged” list:
