Monthly Archives: November 2021

“DC League of Super-Pets” Tickles Your Kids’ Funny Bone

Based on characters from DC and directed by Jared Stern, DC League of Super-Pets is about the adventures of crime-fighting pets. The animated movie follows Streaky the Super-Cat, Ace the Bat-Hound and Krypto the Super-Dog.

The cast includes Dwayne Johnson, Keanu Reeves, Kevin Hart, John Krasinski, Kate McKinnon and Diego Luna.

Thank you, IMDB, for the information.

“Jurassic World: Dominion” Continues the Legacy

Co-written and directed by Colin Trevorrow, Jurassic World: Dominion continues the science fiction adventure. Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Lauren Dern are returning.

The first online poster announces the movie. I like the shot of the young boy, making the image ominous.

The plot is no longer under wraps.

The trailer is fun, with chase scenes similar to James Bond. Still, having the original cast back as the conclusion to this franchise is epic. Of course, Goldblum gets his snarky line in at the end of the trailer.

Dern returns from an eclectic career, garnering an Oscar, an Emmy and five Golden Globe awards.

“The Beatles: Get Back” Peter Jackson Delivers Three-Part Series

Directed by Peter Jackson, The Beatles: Get Back follows the intimate recording sessions during a crucial period in music recording history. The documentary features the warmth, friendship, dynamic talent, and genius that define the iconic foursome. Over 60 hours of unseen footage were filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in 1969, with over 150 hours of unheard audio, all gloriously restored.

Jackson was the only person in five decades to have access to the private footage.

The Beatles: Get Back captures John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr while planning their first live show in over two years. Lindsay-Hogg captures them writing and rehearsing 14 new songs expected for release on an accompanying live album.

The movie showcases the entire last live performance as a group for the first time—the memorable London’s Savile Row rooftop concert. The documentary includes other songs and classic works featured on the Beatles’ last two albums, Abbey Road and Let It Be.

Thank you, Collider, for helping with the information.

“Marry Me” Incredible Love Story

Directed by Kat Coiro, Marry Me arrives packed with original songs by Jennifer Lopez and global Latin music star Maluma, making his feature-film debut.

Lopez plays musical superstar Kat Valdez who is half of the sexiest celebrity power couple on Earth with hot new music supernova Bastian, played by Maluma. Together they have a hit song called “Marry Me.” It climbs the charts as they are about to wed before an audience of their fans. The ceremony will stream across multiple platforms.

Enter a divorced high-school math teacher, Charlie Gilbert, played by Owen Wilson. He’s dragged to the concert by his daughter Lou, played by Chloe Coleman and his best friend, played by Sarah Silverman.

Kat learns seconds before the ceremony that Bastian has cheated on her with her assistant. She has a meltdown on stage, questioning love, truth and loyalty. Her life seems insubstantial or delicate as it falls away. She locks eyes with Charlie, a stranger — a face in the crowd.

Kat marries Charlie on stage instead. Sure, it’s a moment inspired by insanity.

The love story begins as an impulsive reaction to an unexpected romance. Of course, living in different worlds, forces conspire against them. Can two such different people bridge the gap and build a place together where they both belong?

The rest of the cast includes John Bradley, Michelle Buteau and Utkarsh Ambudkar.

“The Unforgivable” Stars Bullock and Davis

Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, The Unforgivable follows Ruth Slater, played by Sandra Bullock, who just got out of prison for killing someone.

She re-enters society and tries to connect with your younger sister. Her only chance of redemption is the connection with her sister, who she was forced to leave behind.

Her sister’s adoptive mother, Viola Davis, wants nothing to do with Ruth. But, her husband, played by Vincent D’Onofrio, seems to feel she has redeeming qualities and goes against his wife’s wishes.

It’s based on the story of the Yorkshire award-winning drama Unforgiven, a mini-series about a young woman released from prison for murdering two police officers. Now, she wants to find her younger sister.

The Netflix movie also stars Jon Bernthal, Richard Thomas, Aisling Franciosi, and W. Earl Brown.

“Dog” Road Trip of Misadventures

Co-directed by Reid Carolin and Channing Tatum, Dog is a buddy comedy. Tatum also stars as former Army Ranger Briggs. With Lulu, a Belgian Malinois dog, they follow misadventures as two former Army Rangers. Paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime and buckled into a 1984 Ford Bronco, they race down the Pacific Coast hoping to make it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time.

Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, break a handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.

Also starring in the movie are Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Q’orianka Kilcher, Ethan Suplee, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Nicole LaLiberté, Luke Forbes and Ronnie Gene Blevins.

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“National Champions” Takes Competition off the Field

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, National Champions begins three days before the college football national championship game.

Stephan James as LeMarcus James, J. K. Simmons as Coach James Lazor, and David Koechner as Richard Everly in NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Courtesy of STX Films

The star quarterback LeMarcus James, played by Stephan James, and teammate Emmett Sunday, played by Alexander Ludwig, ignites a player’s strike declaring they won’t compete until all student-athletes are fairly compensated.

J. K. Simmons as Coach James Lazor and Kristin Chenoweth as Bailey Lazor in NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Courtesy of STX Films

With billions of dollars on the line, the stakes could not be higher as their head coach, played by J. K. Simmons.

Andrew Bachelor as Taylor Jackson and Tim Blake Nelson as Rodger Cummings in NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Courtesy of STX Films

Various stakeholders, played by Lil Rel Howery, Tim Blake Nelson, Andrew Bachelor, Jeffrey Donovan, David Koechner, Kristin Chenoweth, Timothy Olyphant and Uzo Aduba, race to protect or destroy the prevailing collegiate athletics system.

“Downton Abbey – A New Era” Trailers, Posters and Images

Directed by Simon Curtis, Downton Abbey – A New Era arrives in March 2022. With the screenplay written by Julian Fellowes, its creator, the movie will be just as good, if not better, than its predecessor.

Harry Hadden-Paton stars as Bertie Pelham, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Tuppence Middleton as Lucy Smith and Allen Leech as Tom Brandon in DOWNTON ABBEY: A New Era, a Focus Features release. Credit: Ben Blackall / © 2021 Focus Features, LLC

It seems the original cast is all together again and this time they are going to the South of France. It also looks like Tom is getting married.

Laura Haddock stars as Myrna Dalgleish and Michael Fox as Andy in DOWNTON ABBEY: A New Era, a Focus Features release. Credit: Ben Blackall / © 2021 Focus Features, LLC

The new cast members include Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Nathalie Baye and Laura Jane Haddock.

Sophie McShera stars as Daisy and Lesley Nicol stars as Mrs. Patmore in DOWNTON ABBEY: A New Era, a Focus Features release. Credit: Ben Blackall / © 2021 Focus Features, LLC

Curtis also directed My Week with Marilyn, which earned seven BAFTA nominations.

Samantha Bond stars as Lady Rosamund, Douglas Reith as Lord Merton, Harry Hadden-Paton as Lord Hexham, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith Hexham, Hugh Bonneville as Lord Grantham, Elizabeth McGovern as Lady Grantham, Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Talbot, Penelope Wilton as Lady Merton, Robert James Collier as Thomas Barrow and Michael Fox as Andy in DOWNTON ABBEY: A New Era, a Focus Features release. Credit: Ben Blackall / © 2021 Focus Features, LLC

“The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” Artist’s Extraordinary Life

This is the extraordinary true story of eccentric British artist Louis Wain, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Wain’s playful, sometimes even psychedelic, pictures helped to transform the public’s perception of cats forever.

CLAIRE FOY and BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH in THE ELECTRIC LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN Photo: Jaap Buitendijk

Moving from the late 1800s through the 1930s, we follow the incredible adventures of this inspiring, unsung hero as he seeks to unlock the “electrical” mysteries of the world and better understand his own life and the profound love he shared with his wife, Emily Richardson, played by Claire Foy.

Co-written and directed by Will Sharpe, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain follows the extraordinary life of Wain, who painted incredible images of cats. These paintings inspired the public to view cats as domestic pets instead of feral animals that eliminate rodents. 

Sharpe describes the challenge of capturing Wain’s inner world as most exciting. “I immediately felt a connection to his pictures, which are full of humor and delightful little details about daily life, but also, sometimes, seemed to have an undercurrent of restlessness and worry, or even sadness.”

“I wanted to take the spirit of those pictures — the wild colors and patterns, the funny tableaux, even the psychedelia — and to fold it into the world of our movie. The more I read about his life, the more I was struck by his courage in facing multiple challenges and how heroically he seemed to face them. It felt like an epic Odyssean life, and I knew there was a story here that could be really uplifting, transporting, and, hopefully, relatable for many people.” 

Sharpe’s primary roadmap through the artist’s life came with the love story between Wain and Emily when developing the script.  

“I thought the way that the love story was structured, in a slightly unusual and on the surface of it in an unfortunate way, left space for a lot of beauty to be mined,” Sharpe says.

Louis met Emily when she was the governess to his sisters. They had quite a controversial relationship and subsequent marriage. “They had to fly in the face of convention, and there would have been a lot of pressure on them not to be together,” says Sharpe

With the death of his wife so early in his life, Louis Wain’s story also deals with grief, another facet of the love he holds for Emily, which acts as a catalyst for realizations he makes during his later years in life. 

“Grief is a theme in this movie, and all of it is tied together under the umbrella of love,” explains Sharpe. “What Louis realizes is that the reason he felt pain is because he loved Emily and that his love for her and Peter (the cat) has inadvertently helped him to appreciate the love that was around him—his friends and family and the people who enjoyed his work.”  

Sharpe wanted to present Emily as the person who helped Wain learn what love is — so that he had something to reconnect with at the end of the story.  

Cumberbatch feels that Wain’s is a moving story, who leaped at the chance to take the leading role. “I was drawn to him because of his artistry. I also found him incredibly persuasive in a very gentle way. And the fact that he was so talented and lived through so much tragedy, I found that whole journey just extraordinary.”

The rest of the cast includes Andrea Riseborough, Toby Jones, Sharon Rooney, Aimee Lou Wood, Hayley Squires, Phoebe Nicholls, Adeel Akhtar, Asim Chaudhry, Richard Ayoade, Julian Barratt, Sophia di Martino, Taika Waititi, Nick Cave and Olivia Colman.