A View from the Bridge: Al Pacino has signed on to re-team with director Francis Ford Coppola for the first time since The Godfather series. He will play Alfieri, a neighborhood lawyer, in A View from the Bridge.
The Last of Us: Angus Macfayden (We Bought a Zoo, "Turn: Washington's Spies") and Callum Keith Rennie ("Californication", The X-Files: I Want to Believe) will round out the cast of Rupert Wyatt's adaptation of the hit video game. Macfayden will play a smuggler who owes main character Joel a favor, while Rennie will play an arms dealer who screws over Joel in a deal.
The Job: Joining Guy Ritchie's ensemble hesit film will be Stephan James (Race, Selma), Sean Bean (The Martian, "Game of Thrones") and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Headhunters, "Game of Thrones"). James will play a former Marine, Bean will play a member of the heist who specializes in crowd control and Coster-Waldau will play a cop on the group's trail.
White Jazz: Jessica Biel (Invisible Monsters, "The Sinner"), John Krasinski (13 Hours: The Secret Soliders of Benghazi, Aloha) and Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Choice) have all joined Brad Pitt in the Andrew Dominik-directed 1950s crime film. Biel will play an actress who becomes romantically embroiled with Pitt's character. Krasinski will play detective Ed Exley and Walker will play Pitt's partner.
Hiroshima: Steven Spielberg continues to add to the supporting cast of his historical drama. He has cast Masato Harada (The Last Samurai, Fearless), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, "The Walking Dead"), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Creature from the Black Lagoon) and Jason Patric (The Losers, The Yellow Birds) in supporting roles. Harada will play Japan's civilian prime minister, Serkis will play a nuclear physicist working on the bomb, Rooker will play a general and Patric will play the director of the Manhattan Project.
Skin Tight: Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa, "Goliath") and Kevin Durand (Fruitvale Station, "The Strain") have joined David Dobkin's Skin Tight. Thornton will play the primary villain, a criminally inept plastic surgeon trying to cover up a botched surgery that resulted in a patient's death and Durand will play a deformed 7-foot-tall hitman Thornton hires to kill Vince Vaughn's character when he starts sniffing around.
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Now Showing: XIII
XIII
Genre: Action
Director: DJ Caruso
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Bruce Willis, Mark Strong, January Jones, Michael Douglas, Nicole Beharie, Denis Leary, Colm Feore, Robert Patrick, Lambert Wilson
Plot:
A man (Taylor Kitsch) awakens, finding himself washed ashore and suffering from amnesia. The only links to his past are a tattoo of the Roman numerals "XIII" on his collarbone and a photo of himself with a woman, Kim Rowland (January Jones), widow of U.S. Army captain Steve Rowland. As "XIII" begins trying to figure out who he is, he finds himself hunted by a contract killer, the "Mongoose" (Mark Strong), who works for a mysterious organization known as XX, which aims to mount a coup d'état against the U.S. government. XIII is rescued from XX's assassins by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Colonel Amos (Bruce Willis), who confronts XIII with video evidence that shows XIII assassinating the President.
XIII is captured by General Carrington (Michael Douglas), who confirms that XIII is Steve Rowland. Carrington further explains that Rowland was a member of a special ops unit called SPADS (Special Assault and Destroying Sections). Carrington had been commander of SPADS when Rowland was supposedly killed in a helicopter crash two years earlier. Because XIII's amnesia prevents him from identifying who sponsored the President's assassination, Amos lets him go. XIII escapes the police with Carrington's help and meets Kim, an XX member known as "XVII", who reveals that XIII is not Steve Rowland. XIII is arrested by the police, and Kim disappears. XIII is found guilty for the murder of the Rowlands and sent to a maximum security prison.
Due to his amnesia, XIII ends up being sent to a section of the prison for the criminally insane. Amos, still pursuing his investigation, realizes that XIII was a body double for the real Steve Rowland. Amos requests Carrington's help to identify people who have been trained as top-level special operators and match XIII's physique. Amos' plans to use this information to discover XIII's true identity. Carrington provides the papers of about twenty people. One named Ross Tanner has been missing for two years. Amos decides to leave XIII in prison to have his amnesia treated. The treatment fails, and the Mongoose tries to have XIII killed in the prison, but he fails, and Carrington and Major Lauren Jones (Joy Bryant) help XIII break out.
Amos finds out that Carrington had invented the Tanner identity and suspects him of being part of the conspiracy to kill the President. XIII, under the name of Ross Tanner, has been hidden by Carrington in a SPADS training facility on the island of San Miguel. Amos continues to delve into the files and learns that Steve Rowland was murdered shortly after the assassination. Amos now assumes that Rowland was the real assassin, and is confused about XIII's real role, but he exposes Judge Allenby (Robert Patrick), the head of the investigation, as one of the conspirators. Amos interrogates Allenby, who is killed by Mongoose's assassin. Amos himself is rescued by Kim Rowland.
Kim Rowland takes Amos to intelligence chief Carl Heideger (Colm Feore) and General Carrington, who reveal that, after faking his death in the helicopter crash, Steve Rowland contacted his wife, Kim, and forced her to be a member of the conspiracy. Kim, not sharing the conspiracy's ideology, and herself a former secret agent, secretly alerted her former boss, Heideger. Despite having this information, however, Heideger was unable to prevent the assassination of President Sheridan. Steve Rowland was shot by the Mongoose, but he escaped badly-wounded and died shortly after telling Kim what had happened. Heideger and Carrington then came up with a plan to make the XX organization believe that Steve Rowland had survived, hoping to attract the Mongoose's killers, arrest them, and follow their trail to the conspirators. They sourced a man named Jason Fly who was transformed into a Steve Rowland double, but soon after, Fly disappeared, when he was shot and lost his memory. Kim Rowland is also revealed to be Carrington's daughter.
XIII and Jones kidnap the Marquis de Préseau (Lambert Wilson), a rich French land owner in San Miguel, to steal his jet to fly back to the US. Meanwhile, Carrington and Heideger have been arrested by the conspirators as they prepare to take over the country during a large-scale military exercise. XIII and the women meet with Colonel Amos, who brings them into contact with Walter Sheridan (Denis Leary), brother of the assassinated President William Sheridan and himself a candidate for presidency.
Sheridan helps XIII infiltrate the military center of operations, and they manage to stop the conspiracy at the last moment. The entire conspiracy group, with the exception of the illustrious Number I, has been either killed or captured. Walter Sheridan is elected President, and Kim Rowland remains missing for reasons unknown. XIII believes he has found his old identity as Jason Fly and is prepared to continue his life normally, even if his memories have not yet returned.
Genre: Action
Director: DJ Caruso
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Bruce Willis, Mark Strong, January Jones, Michael Douglas, Nicole Beharie, Denis Leary, Colm Feore, Robert Patrick, Lambert Wilson
Plot:
A man (Taylor Kitsch) awakens, finding himself washed ashore and suffering from amnesia. The only links to his past are a tattoo of the Roman numerals "XIII" on his collarbone and a photo of himself with a woman, Kim Rowland (January Jones), widow of U.S. Army captain Steve Rowland. As "XIII" begins trying to figure out who he is, he finds himself hunted by a contract killer, the "Mongoose" (Mark Strong), who works for a mysterious organization known as XX, which aims to mount a coup d'état against the U.S. government. XIII is rescued from XX's assassins by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Colonel Amos (Bruce Willis), who confronts XIII with video evidence that shows XIII assassinating the President.
XIII is captured by General Carrington (Michael Douglas), who confirms that XIII is Steve Rowland. Carrington further explains that Rowland was a member of a special ops unit called SPADS (Special Assault and Destroying Sections). Carrington had been commander of SPADS when Rowland was supposedly killed in a helicopter crash two years earlier. Because XIII's amnesia prevents him from identifying who sponsored the President's assassination, Amos lets him go. XIII escapes the police with Carrington's help and meets Kim, an XX member known as "XVII", who reveals that XIII is not Steve Rowland. XIII is arrested by the police, and Kim disappears. XIII is found guilty for the murder of the Rowlands and sent to a maximum security prison.
Due to his amnesia, XIII ends up being sent to a section of the prison for the criminally insane. Amos, still pursuing his investigation, realizes that XIII was a body double for the real Steve Rowland. Amos requests Carrington's help to identify people who have been trained as top-level special operators and match XIII's physique. Amos' plans to use this information to discover XIII's true identity. Carrington provides the papers of about twenty people. One named Ross Tanner has been missing for two years. Amos decides to leave XIII in prison to have his amnesia treated. The treatment fails, and the Mongoose tries to have XIII killed in the prison, but he fails, and Carrington and Major Lauren Jones (Joy Bryant) help XIII break out.
Amos finds out that Carrington had invented the Tanner identity and suspects him of being part of the conspiracy to kill the President. XIII, under the name of Ross Tanner, has been hidden by Carrington in a SPADS training facility on the island of San Miguel. Amos continues to delve into the files and learns that Steve Rowland was murdered shortly after the assassination. Amos now assumes that Rowland was the real assassin, and is confused about XIII's real role, but he exposes Judge Allenby (Robert Patrick), the head of the investigation, as one of the conspirators. Amos interrogates Allenby, who is killed by Mongoose's assassin. Amos himself is rescued by Kim Rowland.
Kim Rowland takes Amos to intelligence chief Carl Heideger (Colm Feore) and General Carrington, who reveal that, after faking his death in the helicopter crash, Steve Rowland contacted his wife, Kim, and forced her to be a member of the conspiracy. Kim, not sharing the conspiracy's ideology, and herself a former secret agent, secretly alerted her former boss, Heideger. Despite having this information, however, Heideger was unable to prevent the assassination of President Sheridan. Steve Rowland was shot by the Mongoose, but he escaped badly-wounded and died shortly after telling Kim what had happened. Heideger and Carrington then came up with a plan to make the XX organization believe that Steve Rowland had survived, hoping to attract the Mongoose's killers, arrest them, and follow their trail to the conspirators. They sourced a man named Jason Fly who was transformed into a Steve Rowland double, but soon after, Fly disappeared, when he was shot and lost his memory. Kim Rowland is also revealed to be Carrington's daughter.
XIII and Jones kidnap the Marquis de Préseau (Lambert Wilson), a rich French land owner in San Miguel, to steal his jet to fly back to the US. Meanwhile, Carrington and Heideger have been arrested by the conspirators as they prepare to take over the country during a large-scale military exercise. XIII and the women meet with Colonel Amos, who brings them into contact with Walter Sheridan (Denis Leary), brother of the assassinated President William Sheridan and himself a candidate for presidency.
Sheridan helps XIII infiltrate the military center of operations, and they manage to stop the conspiracy at the last moment. The entire conspiracy group, with the exception of the illustrious Number I, has been either killed or captured. Walter Sheridan is elected President, and Kim Rowland remains missing for reasons unknown. XIII believes he has found his old identity as Jason Fly and is prepared to continue his life normally, even if his memories have not yet returned.
Release: The Mummy
The Mummy
Adventure/Horror
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Rami Malek, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Jamie Dornan, Ian McShane, Thomas Kretschmann, Kristin Scott Thomas, Josh Stewart
Budget: $115,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $159,078,048
Foreign Box Office: $211,118,574
Total Profit: $310,877,432
Reaction: We at Last Resort Films continue to be extremely pleasantly surprised by the success our monster films. This film has already become our second most profitable release. Our four most profitable films have all been monster movies, so clearly there's demand. Expect a few more monsters next season!
"This Mummy movie, unlike the other recent incarnations, strives to take the series back to its horror roots with a charming, charismatic mummy." - George Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Rami Malek truly gives a star turn in this film, as the Mummy finally gets to take center stage in a film called The Mummy." - Ben Bernard, New York Times
"Director Francis Lawrence appears to have felt unsure whether to focus on spectacle or small moments of horror, resulting in an uneven film." - Sean Williamson, Toronto Star
In Development
A View from the Bridge: Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Arthur Miller's classic play has added two to its cast that already boasts Andy Garcia, Marisa Tomei and Selena Gomez. Bobby Cannavale (Blue Jasmine, "Boardwalk Empire") and Steven Strait ("Magic City", "The Expanse") have joined the cast as Tomei's cousins from Italy.
The Last of Us: Joining the Anson Mount and Mackenzie Foy-led video game movie will be Ben Mendelsohn ("Bloodline", Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Kevin Zegers (Transamerica, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones). They will play bandits the heroes encounter on their journey.
The Job: Guy Ritchie continues to assemble his ensemble for the dark heist/action film written by Ann Morrow. Ron Perlman ("Sons of Anarchy", Pacific Rim), Jon Bernthal (Fury, Libra) and Jack O'Connell (Unbroken, Money Monster) have all signed onto the picture. Perlman will play a bank manager, while Bernthal and O'Connell will play participants in the heist.
White Jazz: Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Killing Them Softly) has been hired to direct an adaptation of James Ellroy's acclaimed novel White Jazz. Brad Pitt, re-teaming with Dominik for the third time, will produce the film as well as star as Lt. Dave Klein a detective/lawyer/mob enforcer.
Hiroshima: Steven Spielberg has begun filling up the cast of historical figures to join Tom Hanks' President Harry Truman. Ken Watanabe (Inception, Godzilla), James Cromwell (Secretariat, W.) and David Strathairn (Lincoln, Godzilla) have all signed on to the prestigious project. Watanabe will play a role that is essentially a co-lead with Hanks, Japanese general Korechika Anami. Cromwell and Strathairn will have prominent supporting roles as US Secretary of War Henry Stimson and US Secretary of State James F. Byrne, respectively.
Skin Tight: Last Resort Films has optioned the rights to Carl Hiaasen's comedic crime novel Skin Tight. They have hired David Dobkin (The Judge, Wedding Crashers) to direct and Vince Vaughn will star. This film will mark their fourth collaboration.
The Last of Us: Joining the Anson Mount and Mackenzie Foy-led video game movie will be Ben Mendelsohn ("Bloodline", Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Kevin Zegers (Transamerica, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones). They will play bandits the heroes encounter on their journey.
The Job: Guy Ritchie continues to assemble his ensemble for the dark heist/action film written by Ann Morrow. Ron Perlman ("Sons of Anarchy", Pacific Rim), Jon Bernthal (Fury, Libra) and Jack O'Connell (Unbroken, Money Monster) have all signed onto the picture. Perlman will play a bank manager, while Bernthal and O'Connell will play participants in the heist.
White Jazz: Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Killing Them Softly) has been hired to direct an adaptation of James Ellroy's acclaimed novel White Jazz. Brad Pitt, re-teaming with Dominik for the third time, will produce the film as well as star as Lt. Dave Klein a detective/lawyer/mob enforcer.
Hiroshima: Steven Spielberg has begun filling up the cast of historical figures to join Tom Hanks' President Harry Truman. Ken Watanabe (Inception, Godzilla), James Cromwell (Secretariat, W.) and David Strathairn (Lincoln, Godzilla) have all signed on to the prestigious project. Watanabe will play a role that is essentially a co-lead with Hanks, Japanese general Korechika Anami. Cromwell and Strathairn will have prominent supporting roles as US Secretary of War Henry Stimson and US Secretary of State James F. Byrne, respectively.
Skin Tight: Last Resort Films has optioned the rights to Carl Hiaasen's comedic crime novel Skin Tight. They have hired David Dobkin (The Judge, Wedding Crashers) to direct and Vince Vaughn will star. This film will mark their fourth collaboration.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Now Showing: The Mummy
The Mummy
Adventure/Horror
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Rami Malek, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Jamie Dornan, Ian McShane, Thomas Kretschmann, Kristin Scott Thomas, Josh Stewart
Plot: A archeological expedition led by Joseph Whemple (Ian McShane) finds the mummy of an ancient Egyptian high priest named Imhotep. An inspection of the sarcophagus finds scratches on the inside, while Dr. Muller (Thomas Kretschmann) reveals that the viscera were not removed. Muller deduces that although Imhotep had been wrapped like a traditional mummy, he had been buried alive. Also buried with Imhotep is a casket with a curse engraved on it. Despite warning from Muller, Whemple's assistant Norton (Josh Stewart) begins opens it. He reads aloud from an ancient scroll found inside, the Scroll of Thoth. Imhotep rises and kills the entire expedition.
Ten years later, Imhotep (Rami Malek) is posing as a wealthy modern Egyptian named Ardath Bey, having sold several artifacts from his tomb. He hires Frank Whemple (Jamie Dornan), Joseph's son, and Professor Pearson (Kristin Scott Thomas) to lead an excavation of the tomb of Princess Ankh-esen-amon.
After locating the tomb, the archaeologists present its treasures to the Cairo Museum and thank Bey for making their discovery possible. It is further revealed that Imhotep's horrific death was punishment for sacrilege: attempting to resurrect his forbidden lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon.
Imhotep soon encounters Helen Grosvenor, a half-Egyptian woman who looks a lot like his lost love. He believes her to be Ankh-es-en-amon reincarnated. He attempts to kill her, with the intention of mummifying her, resurrecting her, and finally making her his bride after all these centuries.
Imhotep kidnaps Helen and sweeps her away in a cloud of sand. Frank Whemple witnesses the scene and tells Pearson. Professor Pearson reads a scroll found in the Princess' tomb and hypothesizes the mummy's plan. They head to the tomb of Imhotep where they find Imhotep preparing to mummify Helen. Helen is saved when she remembers her past life and prays to the goddess Isis to save her. The utterance of Isis' name causes a statue to emit a beam of light that sets the Scroll of Thoth on fire. Imhotep crumbles into dust that gets swept away by the wind.
Release: Jack the Ripper
Crime/Drama
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jude Law, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Watts, Sally Hawkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Headey, Claire Foy
Budget: $56,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $94,567,099
Foreign Box Office: $179,859,561
Total Profit: $142,385,892
Reaction: A huge success overseas. In fact, the film made over $79 million in Europe alone. We're very happy with those figures considering the film was not a huge effects-driven release, but rather a period crime film.
"Despite being named after him, Jack the Ripper, the film, offers no real insight into the murderous figure." - Sean Williamson, Toronto Star
"Despite a more than adequate budget and a big name cast, Tom Hooper makes it all look like the low-budget British television his career started in." - Michael Wilmington, Rolling Stone
"Despite the poor directorial choices by Tom Hooper and the paint-by-numbers mystery that masquerades as the plot of the film, the cast alone makes this movie worth watching - barely." - Henry Stewart, Chicago Sun-Times
In Development
The Job: Last Resort Films has recently purchased a dark action/heist pitch from writer Ann Morrow and have already hired Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, Snatch) to direct the project. Scott Eastwood (The Fate of the Furious, The Longest Ride) and Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, The Wolf of Wall Street) have also signed on for two starring roles in the film which will reportedly feature a large ensemble cast.
The Last of Us: Josh Holloway ("Lost", "Colony") and Katheryn Winnick (The Art of the Steal, "Vikings") have joined the cast of Rupert Wyatt's adaptation of the video game The Last of Us. Holloway will play Tommy, Joel's (Anson Mount) brother, while Winnick will play Tommy's wife.
The Associate: Aaron Stanford (The Hills Have Eyes, "12 Monkeys") and Bill Pullman (The Equalizer, "The Sinner") have been hired to fill out the cast of this John Grisham adaptation. Stanford will play a tech expert who works for the villain, while Pullman will play Shia LaBeouf's father.
The Osterman Weekend: Jason Clarke (Terminator: Genisys, Everest), and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor, Bone Tomahawk) are set to join Matt Damon in the cast of this George Nolfi-directed Robert Ludlum adaptation. Jenkins will play the director of the CIA and Clarke will play a CIA agent who informs Damon that his old friends are spies.
Hiroshima: Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are set to re-team once again for this film depicting the events leading up to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II. Hanks will portray US President Harry Truman.
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