Movies I've Seen, Movies I Will Want to See...
Book Club
Upon setting eyes on the trailer I assumed it was a Nancy Meyers or Hallie Meyers-Shyer because the casting and the gauzy cinematography that makes it look like the film was shot with a cheese cloth over the lens. Luckily, it’s not! Instead it’s an actual funny film, with relatable characters and obstacles and not terrible writing!
Starring comedy legends (and Mary Steenburgen), this film is a fun film that should appeal to people outside of its demographic.
Written by actress and first time writer Erin Simms and Bill Holderman (A Walk in the Woods), “Book Club” centers on the monthly book club of four friends: the widowed Diane (Diane Keaton), divorcee Sharon (Candice Bergen), marriage in a rut Carol (Mary Steenburgen) and commitment phobic playgirl Vivian (Jane Fonda). Their latest book at Vivian’s urging is “Fifty Shades of Grey”. As the women read the book -some with more interest than others -their personal lives has a reawakening as Sharon decides to jump back into the dating pool, Carol wants to restart her sex life with husband George (Craig T. Nelson),
Diane meets a suave suitor Mitchell (Andy Garcia)
and Vivian reconnects with an old flame Arthur (Don Johnson).
The jokes land where they are supposed to land thanks in part to the dry humor of Bergen and the Jeff Goldblum-iness of Keaton who are the film’s MVP.
It almost makes me want to actually watch the “Murphy Brown” revival. ALMOST.
As it is a rom-com in spirit it lives and dies by how effective the romantic relationships work and Keaton and Garcia are incredible together. Their scenes were the crowd pleasers and when the credits ran Garcia got the biggest applause.
Too bad Fonda and Johnson have all the appeal of Greek yogurt topped with chalk shavings. Each scene of theirs is like they had just met each other right before the camera rolled. No chemistry whatsoever.
And even worse? The film repurposed this iconic photo of Don and Melanie Griffith and photoshopped Fonda’s face onto it
As we are all going to grow older (if we’re lucky) it’s good that there is still an effort to make a film with older actors as that demo will continue to go to the movies. Thankfully it’s a pretty great film.
Overboard
A charming, lighthearted remake of the 1987 Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell film. Other than the genderswitch, it rejiggers much of the original plotline but thankfully keep the memorable moments from the original
Eugenio Derbez (How to Be a Latin Lover) stars as Leonardo Montenegro, the hard partying, Peter Pan complex having playboy scion of a billionaire businessman who lets nothing get in the way of his debauchery even the news from his sister that their father is dying and he's next in line to run the family business.
Leonardo who never had to (nor had to desire to) work a day in his life is thrown into what he considers a nightmare. After stiffing Kate (Anna Faris) on payment for the cleaning service she did on her boat, Leonardo falls overboard (heh) and awakens with amnesia. Seeing him on TV, Anna's boss and best friend Theresa (Eva Longoria-Baston)
convinces Kate to claim Leonardo as her husband so that he could temporarily tend the house and care for her three daughters (Hannah Nordberg, Payton Lepinski, Alyvia Alyn Lind) as Kate studies for her nursing exams.
The film takes the onus of implausibility off the audience by comparing the scenario to the telenovela that Kate's coworker is obsessed with. Leaning into that theme is the film's B-plot which is Leonard's sister plot to get ownership of the family's company in Leonardo's absence. This part is the laggy and most ineffective part of the film but when I think back, I think Cecilia Suárez as Sofia plays the character as cartoony as Edward Hermann played Goldie Hawn's husband in the first one.
What worked wonderfully well with me is the Iyanla Van Zant "Fix My Life" aspect of the film. A petulant, spoilt man-child, Leonardo slowly finding purpose a loving father to Kate's kids and finding fraternity with Theresa's husband Bobby (Mel Rodriguez, The Last Man on Earth) and his construction crew. Yes, there is still a romance between Leonardo and Kate, but the prevailing attitude between them is one of partnership and the comfort of having someone to share and help shoulder the difficult parts of your life with.
Derbez who is a superstar in Mexico, whose film "No Batteries Required" is the highest grossing Spanish language film in the US has been trying to break into the US market for the past fifteen years. He was on the short-lived Rob Schneider series "Rob¡" and was hands-down the best part of the series. He brings that same talent for comedy to this. Though not credited as a writer, I have a feeling he punched up some of the lines especially a lengthy defense of Speedy Gonzalez crediting his wit, bravery, speed and commitment to supporting his community (Derbez has been attached to WB's long gestating Speedy Gonzalez animated feature since 2016).
There is an off-hand shout-out to the original film and I like to think the casting of redhead Swoozie Kurtz as Kate's theatrical mother is a reach back to redhead Katherine Helmond as Goldie Hawn's mom.
Breaking In
In essence it's "Panic Room" but without a cornrowed Jared Leto.
A better than average film that would have been improved by a better lead villain than the stoney Billy Burr who matches Kristen Stewart's "Twilight" level laziness.
Gabrielle Union stars as Shaun Russell who, with her kids Jasmine (Ajiona Alexus) and Seth Carr (Glover) head to Shaun's late estranged father's home in preparation to sell it.
But the Russell's have been beaten to the punch by thieves (Billy Burke, Richard Cabral (American Crime), Levi Meaden (Pacific Rim: Uprising) and Mark Furze (Home and Away) who are there to find her father's safe containing $4 million dollars.
Trapped outside the secured house, Shaun works to find away into the house to rescue her kids who are being held as leverage.
The film tries to not overstay its welcome, coming in at a taunt 88 minutes. But like 95 minute "You Were Never Really There" it seems longer than it was as the film builds tension well, putting various obstacles in front of Shaun and her kids' freedom. The only eye-rolling thing is that the writer put in heavy handed countdown clock where the baddies routinely toss out how many minutes it is until security will arrive (for some nonsense reason when the house's alarm is tripped it will take 30 minutes for security to come which sounds like the worse house security I've ever heard of.)
You Were Never Really There
Within the first few minutes of Lynne Ramsay's follow-up to "We Need to Talk About Kevin", I felt that this was her version of "Drive" (the 2011 Nicolas Winding Refn film starring Ryan Gosling). Moody, sparse dialogue and extremely violent, I thought I would love it just as much as "Drive". But Ramsay (who directed and wrote the film, based on Jonathan Ames novella) took sparse too far. This is barely a film. It's like a teaser trailer for a full film. Actually the cut she showed at Cannes was longer, ridding the film of flashbacks that likely helped the narrative of the film (Ramsay and Phoenix won at Cannes).
Instead, we're left with a film of bullet points and you have to supply your own head canon of what this character's deal is. Or do like I did, search the synopsis of the novella just to get a sense of who this character is.
Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a private eye (I only realized that from the book synopsis. In the film I assumed he was a contract killer) whose cases offer a respite from his caring of his brain addled mother (Judith Roberts) and from the suicidal ideation plaguing him.
His latest case is that of a missing girl --the daughter of state Senator Albert Votto (Alex Manette) who fears his daughter, Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov) was kidnapped by someone she met online.
This search leads Joe to a child prostitution ring and puts him squarely in danger from affluent men who want to silence him.
For a film whose violence largely happens off-screen, the extreme violence still resonates and is disconcerting (aided by a jangling score by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood who backed out of composing "A Wrinkle in Time" in favor of this. With an unkept, salt and pepper Mel Gibson beard, Phoenix is exudes ferocious anger in those scenes, and extreme gentleness in scenes with Roberts and Samsonov. You're frightened by Joe but not frightened of him.
I'm not ashamed to being okay with style over substance (DRIVE, THE NEON DEMON, any Tom Ford film) but usually a lack of dialogue doesn't mean a lack of characterization. I think Ramsay banked on people being too ashamed to question what they've seen as to not feel ignorant. That any film aficionado could piece together Joe's back story without having it presented plainly, but other films have managed to be stylistic and streamline without the sacrifice of character.
Traffik
Starring America’s Sweetheart (at least to me) Paula Patton, this film plays much like a standard cat and mouse thriller but its power and more interesting focus is what the title refers to : trafficking. This case the sex trafficking of women through Sacramento. As I know someone in law enforcement who this is an important issue to, I was really glad to see a film actually tackle it. I even contacted my acquaintance after seeing the film to tell him that now I get it. The abstract is terrible but seeing images that reflect the reality is even more sobering and disturbing.
Newly laid off journalist Brea (Patton) is whisked off for a weekend by her boyfriend John (Omar Epps). The two rendezvous at the luxurious company get-away of John’s friend Darren (Laz Alonzo Harry Ellis-ing from DIE HARD the hell out of the role) who shows up with his girlfriend Malia (Roselyn Sanchez).
After recounting to Darren and Malia their near violent run-in with bikers and a seemingly strung out woman (Dawn Oliveri, Heroes) at a truck stop. When the bikers, fronted by a sleek leader Red (Luke Goss), arrive at the house looking for the phone the woman; their prisoner, slipped to Brea, the group realize the danger they are in and fight to escape their secluded location with their lives and with the proof of Red’s trafficking ring.
So much of the beginning of the film unnecessarily deals with Brea and John’s relationship and whether or not she wants to marry him, mixed in with these music video shots of Patton half naked (not that I’m complaining) that is so off base from the rest of the film. When the film’s intent finally comes into focus, it really spotlight how much time was wasted on the intricacies of Brea and John’s romance instead of more on the trafficking ring.
Sacramento seems really random but I was really glad it was centered there because one of the many things I learned from my law enforcement acquaintance is that trafficking happens a lot in Sacramento because of the many interstate freeways that connect there for less detection. He also taught me that most prostitution happens in the early and evening commute hours because it’s easier for men because they have a cover story (“Oh, hey I’m leaving early for work” “Oh hey, I’m stuck in traffic”, “Oh, I’m stopping by the gym”). Sadly, it’s also the time when teen prostitutes work because they can say they’re meeting up with friends before/after school or they’ll sneak out to meet their pimps and then get dropped off at school or back at home before they are due to leave school.
Tully
Diablo Cody has had a storied career writing about women who struggle with getting themselves together or just embracing their imperfect selves and she once again delves into this with her second venture with Charlize Theron and third with director Jason Reitman with "Tully".
Starring Charlize Theron, the film tackles the motherhood in all of it's beautiful banality and ugly, yet affirming way. Nine-months pregnant with her third child, Marlo (Theron) is sinking under the weight of two kids, one being a six-year old with undefined emotional issues and a loving, but clueless husband Drew (Ron Livingston, Search Party).
She's thrown a lifeline by her wealthy brother Craig (Mark Duplass, ) who offers to pay for a night nurse for Marlo.
Thus comes Tully (Mackenzie Davis, Halt and Catch Fire), a young, vibrant, earth-mother type who helps to unburden Marlo as she struggles with how different her life is versus when she was as young and carefree as Tully.
What I loved about it is that it shows the ugly parts of parenthood which most films and series gloss over as something can be easily resolved within the running time. Parenting is hard! Being a woman and contending with this other person you become once you're a mother is difficult for some and it's a feeling wrapped up in so many emotions as it can feel like a death. When films deal with how hard it is to be a parent, it's usually based on the pressure the parent puts on themselves like in "Bad Moms", but this shows that the reality for many is more about the reflection of themselves and the changes a woman goes through when she makes this decision to become a parent.
There’s a plot device (spoiler) that really brings a special touch to the film that ties the film together in an even deeper way.
It was the premiere. The Tully face mask they were giving away
Kings
Another sub-par film for Halle Berry. I don’t know if she’s just throwing darts at scripts and letting that decide if she wants to do it or if her agent really hates her. An earnest film that is a wildly divergent film with the teenage leads being in a tense drama and Berry and Daniel Craig in the pilot episode of “The Brady Bunch”. You know the one -where the kids and Alice and their pets crash Mike and Carol’s honeymoon. I would love to see a Halle Berry/Daniel Craig rom-com, but maybe not one clashing against a stark tragedy.
Berry stars as Millie, a big-hearted, mama bear of the community who is the guardian of seven foster kids
whose rambunctiousness is the bane of the existence of her neighbor Obie (Craig).
Set in the weeks leading up to the L.A Riots as the Rodney King vs. L.A. PD case is underway Millie’s oldest ward Jesse (Lamar Johnson, The Hate U Give ) falls for the wild at heart, but troubled Nicole (Rachel Hilson). Jesse spends his time trying to keep Nicole from falling in too deep with Millie’s latest child acquisition, William (Kaalan Rashad Walker, Superfly) who wants a show of force against the police for the Rodney King beating.
As the riots unfold the film turns into a sitcom as Millie and Obie run around town trying to find her three cute, but mischievous boys who are out in the mix.
When I say sitcom, I mean Millie does the stage faint. Obie tears his jeans with his bare hands(!) and fashions it into a rope for a scene that is straight out of TV Tropes.com.
It’s a low budgeted outing from director Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Mustang) (The opening credits are slightly hilarious due to the numerous production shingle cards. It’s like this “Family Guy” bit. https://youtu.be/vI7JDTlixb8?t=33s) this is one time where I wished a director was hammered with notes by the studio. There are so many “artistic” flairs that come across like a novice film school director’s project. It’s a shame because both plots work but only in a singular fashion. Give me a film about three teenagers reacting to life in South Central L.A with the specter of violence overhead or give me a film about a single mom who has a burgeoning Sam and Diane type of relationship with her neighbor. It could have worked if the comedic aspects weren’t so hammy. There were funny scenes that were played more down to earth and it worked like a scene where a Burger King employee explained to the neighborhood why they shouldn’t burn down the place touting the great things on BK’s menu.
Disobedience
Powerful, effective, effecting pitch perfect film about transcending hurts and living in the freedom of your being.
When Ronnie (Rachel Weisz) receives a call that her father died, she leaves New York and returns to a place that hasn’t been home in nearly twenty years - the Orthodox Jewish community in the South London where her father was a beloved Rabbi in the community.
Her arrival inspires conflicting emotions in her two former best friends who are now married to each other -Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), a Rabbi who was like a son to Ronnie’s father; and Esti (Rachel McAdams) who Ronnie had a love affair with as a teenager.
As Ronnie deals with her feelings about her estrangement from her father, she and Esti rekindle the relationship leaving Esti torn over risking the loss of her community and her desire for Ronnie.
The film could have been condemning in its depiction of the Orthodox community (and there were some pointed bits about the rigidness) but overall it was respectful and really showed how faith is a comfort for some; a lot of which is attributed to Nivola.
I think I will now only be attracted to Nivola in a rabbi togs
The past friendship of Ronnie, Esti and David isn’t fully explored, but through the chemistry between Weisz, McAdams and Nivola you understand fully their close bond and how time has sent them on different paths but the closeness is easy to fall back on.
Of course when Weisz and McAdams is interviewed, the topic of their love scene is brought up which is a shame because those three minutes shouldn’t overshadow the film. However…
THAT SCENE WAS HOT AS HELL! OMG. OmG. Omg. oMg. And it was artfully and tastefully done. I don’t even think they were nude in that scene (I don’t remember because my brain shorted out at how hot it was) and it was so sexy which is a testament to director Sebastian Lelio (A Fantastic Woman) and Weisz and McAdams who choreographed the love scene.
I would have accepted a threesome as well
The man next to me was playfully trying to cover the eyes of the woman next to him, as she tried to cover his eyes in retaliation and I thought it was his wife, but the figure next to him appeared much shorter so I thought it must have been his daughter. When the movie ended and they were getting up it was his elderly mother whose eyes he was trying to cover. That just shows no matter how old you are it doesn’t get any less weird watching sex scenes in front of the parentals.
~My wish that Rachel Weisz and Mark Strong running off together will have to wait. Weisz is pregnant with her second child, her first with husband Daniel Craig. Craig has an adult daughter, Ella.
Urban Myths
S2 started last month for this SkyTV series. It was only on my radar due to the kerfluffle last season when the network shelved an episode where Joseph Fiennes played Michael Jackson.
As can be discerned from the title, the series is based on Hollywood urban myths such as the reported 9/11 car trip of Michael Jackson (Fiennes), Marlon Brando (Brian Cox) and Elizabeth Taylor (Stockard Channing) or the time Cary Grant (Ben Chaplin) dropped acid with Timothy Leary (Aidan Gillen).
S2 kicked off with "Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder" with Gemma Atherton playing a Monroe who is unable to remember the simplest of lines to the frustration of Wilder (James Purefoy). The ep. featured an okay performance by Alex Pettyfer as Tony Curtis whose Curtis sounded like he just stumbled out of the Bronx. But the standout was Adam Brody as Jack Lemmon.
He was the Lemmon-est of Jack Lemmon. And he really elevated the episode with his comedic timing because each episode is really measured. For a comedy series, it's not very funny because it's like none of the actors want to be hammy, but the scenarios are so ridiculous it needs to be campier.
Maybe the writing staff has changed because "Monroe & Wilder" and the second episode "Backstage at Live Aid" where a harried Bob Geldof (Jonas Armstrong, Troy : Fall of a City) is dealing with faulty sound and diva antics of the performers, with a Sade (Karla Crome, Misfits) trying to understand why everyone thinks she's the spokesperson for Africans and Freddie Mercury (David Avery, Troy : Fall of a City) fantasizing about Bono and "Do They Know It's Christmas Time" co-writer Midge Ure (Martin Compston, LIne of Duty) dressing him down for Geldof not being able to jump-land on beat.
CinemaCon, the annual event for theater owners, was held in Las Vegas over four days two weeks ago. Much like TV's upfronts (which is happening next week), CinemaCon is the time for studios to do their song and pony show and trot out stars to tease their upcoming slate. The event wrapped with an awards ceremony that just so happened to honor actors who have big movies coming out this year. Funny how that works out.
This Year’s Honorees
Breakthrough Producer of the Year - Gabrielle Union (BREAKING IN)
Action Star of the Year - Taron Egerton (ROBIN HOOD)
Breakthrough Performer of the Year - Lil Rel Howery (UNCLE DREW)
Cinema Spotlight Award - Anna Kendrick (A SIMPLE FAVOR)
Director of the Year - Ryan Coogler (BLACK PANTHER)
Award of Excellence in Acting - Felicity Jones (ON THE BASIS OF SEX)
Female Star of Tomorrow - Tiffany Haddish (NIGHT SCHOOL)
CinemaCon Vanguard Award - Jonah Hill
CinemaCon Visionary Award - Jack Black (GOOSEBUMPS 2 : HAUNTED HALLOWEEN)
Cinema Icon Award - Samuel L. Jackson (GLASS)
Comedy Star of the Year - Kate McKinnon (THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME)
Male Star of the Year - Benicio Del Toro (SICARIO 2)
Female Star of the Year - Dakota Johnson (SUSPIRIA)
Lifetime Achievement Award - Jodie Foster (HOTEL ARTEMIS)
A smattering of studios' offerings.
Sony Pictures
The studio that has had a dismal year 2017 has high hopes for 2018. They brought out my boo Tom Hardy to present a new trailer for the "Spiderman" offshoot "Venom".
He was joined by costars Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed.
The trailer definitely brings more to the table than its teaser. I'm not just talking about the fact we actually get to see Venom in this trailer, but we get to hear Eddie Brock's (Hardy) accent.
Maybe he's a Bostonian who moved to San Francisco??
Click to viewWhile Hardy was in the Bay, we were finally able to get a glimpse of his tattoo that was born out of a bet with Leonardo DiCaprio. Leo told Tom that he would be nominated for an Oscar and if he was, Tom would have to get a tattoo that reads "Leo Knows All".
Leo knows that Tom would really do it, too
DiCaprio was also on hand. He joined Quentin Tarantino to talk about their film that hasn't even began rolling film yet : "One Upon a Time in Hollywood" about Charles Manson and his followers which is slated for an August 9, 2019 release. Like...they could have just waited until 2019's CinemaCon but whatever...whatever.
~There are many people who feel that Tarantino shouldn’t exploit the Tate murder, and that sentiment became stronger after Uma Thurman revealed how she almost died while filming “Kill Bill” due to Tarantino forcing her to perform an unsafe stunt. But now people are side-eyeing Thurman because she has said that she would work with Tarantino again if he wrote a great part for her. Stating, “We’ve had our fights over the years. When you know someone for as long as I’ve known him, 25 years of creative collaboration…yes, did we have some tragedies take place? Sure. But you can’t reduce that type of history and legacy. It would have been reduced to my car accident if I died.”
Also teased was the parody "Holmes & Watson" starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Matthew McConaughey's "White Boy Rick" about a "young drug hustler who doubled as a government informant". Denzel Washington's "Equalizer 2". This marks the first sequel Washington has ever done. This year's "Superfly", the sequel to "The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo", this time staring Claire Foy (THE CROWN) as Lisbeth Salander), "Hotel Transylvania 3", "Miss Bala" starring Gina Rodriguez as a beauty queen who witnesses a murder by a drug cartel and must work for them to save her life; and "Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween".
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox took a nostalgic turn reflecting on their 85 years of showbiz. Depending on when the sale of 20th Century to Disney go through, this was likely the last CinemaCon as a single entity.
The montage was kicked off by a pre-recorded bit with Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman who starred in Fox's sleeper hit "The Greatest Showman". Footage from their upcoming slate includes the Amanda Stenberg's "The Hate You Give", Robert Rodriguez's "Alita: Battle Angel""Bad Times at the El Royale" (which reunites Hemsworth with his "Cabin in the Woods" director Drew Goodard, the Viola Davis vehicle "Widows" about a four recent widows who go into the criminal dealings that their husbands left behind (the film also stars Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Debecki and Michelle Rodriguez. Liam Neeson plays Davis' husband) and the Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody".
On hand was Rami Malek and obviously there was no mention of Bryan Singer's departure from the film and being replaced by Dexter Fletcher (Eddie the Eagle).
I hope this shot looks better on-screen. This mapping is so bad. Fake stadium is fake.
Disney
Short on the talent side, Disney relied on product: they teased "Solo", "Ant-Man and the Wasp",
Disney’s marketing has a case of the fcuk-its
"Christopher Robin", "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms", "Mary Poppins Returns" with my girl Emily Blunt as the titular character, live-actions "Dumbo", Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin" (which has been pushed back to 2020, along with the live-action "Mulan") and "The Lion King", and "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2"WB
Where Disney went low (on talent), WB went high and brought out the casts of "Aquaman", "Crazy Rich Asians""Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindlewad", "Ocean's 8",
"A Star is Born" starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga,
the Andy Serkis directed "Mowgli"
, "Life of the Party" and "Tag" which is like "Game Night', hopefully just as funny. "Teased were "Jaws" wannabe "The Meg" starring Jason Statham, "The Nun" from the "Conjuring" universe, animated fare "Teen Titans Go to the Movies", and the Yeti animated film "Small Foot".
STX
STX which had a hit 2 years ago with "Bad Moms" (not so much with its sequel) is betting again on woman power. Jennifer Garner took the stage to promote "Peppermint" about a mom turned vigilante after her husband and daughter are killed. "Second Act" with Jennifer Lopez about a woman who fabricates her resume and unexpectedly lands a high-powered job. Melissa McCarthy in R rated comedy "The HappyTime Murders" in which she plays half of the human/puppet police duo who are trying to find the killers of puppets. "Adrift" about a couple stranded at sea starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin (who replaced Miles Teller)
Universal
The crowd at CinemaCon got a treat when Cher of the upcoming "Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again" performed ABBA.
Also on hand were "Night School" stars Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, Ryan Gosling with his "La La Land" director Damien Chazelle to show footage from their reunion flick "First Man" about Neil Armstrong. Cate Blanchett and Jack Black's Eli Roth film "The House with a Clock in Its Walls", Jamie Lee Curtis for the latest "Halloween",
and M. Night Shaymalan brought out his "Glass" stars James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Sarah Paulson and Samuel L. Jackson.
Taped intros for Peter Jackson's "Mortal Engines", and new father Dwayne Johnson for "Skyscraper"
He loves his babies
Also promoted were the sequels: "How to Train Your Dragon 3: Hidden World", "First Purge" and "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom".
Focus Features
Good word of mouth for the footage from Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" starring David Washington (of "Ballers", son of Denzel) as a police detective who infiltrated the KKK in 1978 led by David Duke(Adam Brody).
Joel Edgerton was on hand with his costar Lucas Hedges for the gay conversion drama and true story "Boy Erased" starring Hedges as the gay son of a preacher (Russell Crowe) and his wife (Nicole Kidman) who is forced to go to conversion therapy.
Felicity Jones and her "On the Basis of Sex" director Mimi Leder (The Leftovers) were on hand to show footage of the film centering on Ruth Bader Ginsberg's road to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile you can catch the Notorious RBG's documentary in theaters now
Another female led pic is "Mary Queen of Scots" starring Margot Robbie as the Queen and Saoirse Ronan.
Paramount
AKA Tom Cruise Hour. The king of Scientology was honored at the fest with a Pioneer of the Year award. He was also there to present "Mission Impossible: Fallout" which should have been titled "Mission Impossible: MI6", and yes, this is the smallest hill I will die on.
MI6 castmates Simon Pegg, Angela Bassett and Hank Cavill
I now want a remake of “Romuald et Juliette” aka “Mama, There’s a Man in Your Bed” with Angela and Henry
If they aren’t banging in this film something is really, really wrong
I’m not alone in this shipping!
the MI6: Fallout jokes
Paramount with kid friendly with "Dora The Explorer", "Are You Afraid of the Dark", "Wonder Park", "Monster on the Hill", "Sonic the Hedgehog", "SpongeBob : It's a Wonderful Sponge" and tapped into action fare like "Gemini Man", the latest Terminator reboot, potentially two "Star Treks", the "Top Gun" reboot, "Pet Semetary" and films from J.J Abram's Bad Robot Productions.
Amazon Studios
It was a "Call Me By Your Name" reunion of sorts as the film's director Luca Guardagnino appeared to present his reimagining of the Dario Argento film "Suspiria".
The film's original star Jessica Harper said that Guardagnino screened the film for her and it's terrifying and wonderful.
Along with Luca was his "A Bigger Splash" (and if it ever happens, CMBYN 2) star Dakota Johnson (who dashed in in between filming the tentatively titled thriller “The Darkest Dark” with Armie Hammer).
Guardagnino's “Suspiria” footage which reportedly horrified and sickened some attendees (Dakota in a recent Elle interview said working on the film "fcked me up. I had to go therapy.") was followed by "Beautiful Boy".
Adapted from the David Sheff autobiography "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction", "Beautiful Boy" stars Timothee Chalamet as Nic, an meth addict whose father David (Steve Carell) and family struggles to help him through his addiction.
On hand was Carell and via a wonky Skype connection was Chalamet who is in England prepping for the Netflix film "The King".
Carell on Chalamet
“Just seeing his face, I smile.”
Damn, Armie. You thought you just had to worry about rappers and R&B stars, now you got Carrell on Tim-o-tay's jock.
Jonah Hill and Jack Black were on hand for their film, the Gus Van Zant directed, "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot" starring Joaquin Phoenix. And a tease of Dan Fogelman's (THIS IS US), "Life Itself" starring Oscar Isaac, Olivia Cooke, Olivia Wilde, Samuel L. Jackson and Antonio Banderas. The film centers on "The lives of people from New York to Spain intersect over the course of different generations."
Lionsgate
The studio had a good mix of low, midrange to upper range films to present. The indie drama "Blindspotting" starring and written by Daveed Diggs and his best friend/co-star Rafale Casal (Hamilton, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) about two men in a rapidly gentrifying Oakland, CA. The film got raves out of Sundance. The atrocious looking comedy "Uncle Drew" starring Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) starring a slew of basketball players as old men; Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon's "The Spy Who Dumped Me" about a woman (Kunis) and her best friend (McKinnon) who get caught up in an international conspiracy when she finds out her ex (Justin Theroux) is actually a spy.
McKinnon's "Ghostbuster" director Paul Fieg was there with Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively to tease their dark comedy "A Simple Favor" in which Lively plays Kendrick's Stephanie friend Emily, who goes missing and leads Stephanie on the search to find her.
The twice pushed back "Robin Hood" will finally shoot its bow into theaters.
No, Robin isn’t a pygmy living in a field of barley.
Starring Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Jamie Dornan, Ben Medelsohn and Eve Hewson, the teaser underwhelmed attendees, who compared it to Guy Ritchie's dud "King Arthur".
*While attending Cinemacon Egerton discussed the upcoming Elton John biopic that he stole from under Tom Hardy! Egerton described it as a musical fantasy rather than a straight forward biopic. Which makes me think of “Tommy” or “Across the Universe” and if that’s the case I’m there. Egerton will do his own singing and John’s husband David Furnish who is co-producing the film praised Egerton’s singing and said that Elton is thrilled with him.
Also teased was the Gerard Butler/Gary Oldman submarine thriller "Hunter Killer (whut??! You know this is going to be basura). The plot? "An untested American submarine captain teams with U.S. Navy Seals to rescue the Russian president, who has been kidnapped by a rogue general." And James Franco/Carrie Coon's "Kin" which is abut "a recently released ex-con and his adopted teenage brother (who)are forced to go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection."