Written and directed by Paul Schrader, The Card Counter follows William Tell, played by Oscar Isaac. He’s a gambler and former serviceman who sets out to reform a young man seeking revenge on a mutual enemy from their past.
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Oscar Isaac stars as William Tell and Tiffany Haddish as La Linda in THE CARD COUNTER, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features
Tell just wants to play cards, and his spartan existence on the casino trail shatters when he is Cirk, played by Tye Sheridan, approaches him. Cirk is a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel.
05856_FP_CARDCOUNTER Oscar Isaac stars as William Tell in THE CARD COUNTER, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features
Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk. He tries to gain backing from mysterious gambling financier La Linda, played by Tiffany Haddish.
“La Linda’s game is like pimping without the sex; she has a lot of personality and her job is to make money for her investors,” says Haddish. “I felt as a comedian — since my job is to tickle people’s souls and convince them to go on a journey with me as I tell them a story — that I could bring the necessary charisma and personality to get audiences aboard for this ride.”
“La Linda is vibrant, she has vitality, and she has a life of purpose. William sees all this and finds himself drawn to this strange little trio, including Cirk,” says Isaac. “They become a lifeline or surrogate family for him.”
Tell takes Cirk with him on the road, going from casino to casino until the unlikely trio set their sights on winning the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. But keeping Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves impossible, dragging Tell back into the darkness of his past.
“My aim is to create a crack in the viewer’s skull, opening up a rift between what they desire and expect of my characters and what they feel after spending time with them,” says Schrader. “How they make that adjustment is up to them, but to get the viewer engaged in this kind of conflict is what every artist seeks. It’s not so important what my viewers think, but that they do think.”
Directed by veteran Soprano’s director, Alan Taylor, The Many Saints of Newark is not about saints. The meaning centers on Dickie Moltisanti, Christopher Moltisanti’s father. In English, Molti Santi translates as “many saints,” according to IMDB trivia.
The trailer pretty much says it all. Rumors it’s a look at the formative years of New Jersey gangster Tony Soprano. Written by Lawrence Konner and David Chase, Chase created the storyline and characters for the famous series.
Also, according to IMDB, Michael Gandolfini will play a young Tony Soprano. His late father, James Gandolfini, played the original Tony Soprano. Another tidbit from the same source, Ray Liotta appears in the movie. He was the first actor approached to play Tony Soprano before they cast James Gandolfini for the popular series that change how we view cable TV.
Co-written and co-directed by Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein, How It Ends follows freewheeling Liza, played by Zoe Lister-Jones. She scores an invitation to one last wild party before the world ends.
The catch is she takes her younger self, played by Cailee Spaeny, with her. This is a feel-good apocalyptic comedy, and making it to the party won’t be easy after her car gets stolen, and the clock is ticking on her plan to tie up loose ends with friends and family. Liza embarks on a hilarious journey across Los Angeles, running into an eclectic cast of characters.
The sizeable stellar cast includes Whitney Cummings, Tawny Newsome, Finn Wolfard, Nick Kroll, Logan Marshall Green, Bobby Lee, Fred Armisen, Glenn Howerton, Bradley Whitford, Ayo Edebiri, Sharon Van Etten, Olivia Wilde, Paul W. Downs, Raymond Cham Jr., Lamorne Morris, Angelique Cabral, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Helen Hunt, Colin Hanks, Charlie Day, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Pauly Shore.
Written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, The Ice Road is intense as you watch the film clips. The Netflix trailer is available on the streaming channel. Still, these two clips are nerve-wracking as they attempt their rescue mission.
When a remote diamond mine collapses in the far northern regions of Canada, an ice driver, played by Liam Neeson, orchestrates a rescue mission. The catch is they have to drive their 18-wheelers over a frozen ocean to save the miner’s lives. The waters were thawing, and they confronted threats they didn’t see coming.
Also starring are Marcus Thomas, Laurence Fishburne, Benjamin Walker, and Amber Midthunder.
Directed by Michael Showalter, The Eyes of Tammy Faye takes an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, played by Jessica Chastain.
In the 1970s and 80s, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker, played by Andrew Garfield, rose from humble beginnings to create the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park. The public revered their message of love, acceptance and prosperity.
Tammy Faye was legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, it wasn’t long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire.
With these two powerhouse actors, we are going to see some fine acting, but we already know the storyline.
Jessica Chastain does meticulous preparation and research when developing characters, and becoming Tammy Faye was no different. She studied Tammy Faye Bakker for seven years, memorizing all of her mannerisms and vocal inflections from the hours of tape she watched.
Impressed, Michael Showalter says, “Her bar is very high, her level of dedication, perfectionism and preparedness. The level of the performance, the depths that she’s willing to go to. It’s amazing to work with an actor like that because they give so much.”
Building a character based on a well-known public figure is always a challenge, but Chastain’s biggest hurdle was overcoming how other people perceived Tammy Faye. “I spent years looking at footage of her and never once saw mascara running down her face,” said Chastain. “Tammy Faye was nothing like the caricature the media fed off of. She was the ordained minister Jim wasn’t. She preached acceptance and compassion and meant it, and that’s what we wanted people to see in this film. When everyone turned their backs on people with HIV and AIDS, she invited a high-profile gay pastor who had AIDS to be on her show. She also hosted Praise The Lord network shows all day long, wrote four books and released twenty-four albums. She never got paid for any of it. She gave her money back to the church.”
Chastain had been in close touch with Tammy Faye’s children before and during production. Tammy Faye’s daughter, Tammy Sue, and her two children traveled to set for the pivotal interview scene with HIV/AIDS activist Steve Pieters, played by actor Randy Havens, a gay minister who candidly spoke with Tammy about his illness, coming out and losing his partner. By the end of the shoot, family members were in tears, stunned and moved by the emotion the scene evoked. Bailey and Barbato also recognized the significance of her contribution to the LGBTQIA community, saying, “Homosexuality has often been demonized by the Christian community. At a time when people shrank from HIV and AIDS, Tammy was having none of it. She didn’t believe in labeling people. She understood the power of the camera to look into the eyes of people far and wide and share the truth.”
Playing a singer was another test for Chastain, whose previous musical experience only included college experience. Drawing inspiration from Tammy Faye, she dove right into an area outside of her comfort zone. “She was never embarrassed,” the actress added. “People were drawn to her because she was unique. She used her platform to advocate for a celebration of our differences and knowing that made it easier for me to perform.” It inspired Andrew Garfield in his role as Jim as well. “Tammy is so rooted into Jessica’s heart, and that’s an amazing place to come from. You follow her into the fray because of that; because she’s so passionate and devoted.”
“I won’t go forward looking in the rearview mirror of my life.” – Tammy Faye Bakker
Chastain and Garfield connected before shooting and began sending each other articles and videos about the Bakkers, but their commitment to building the characters’ relationship didn’t stop there. “Once we got to Charlotte, North Carolina, we would go to church every Sunday at Heritage USA,” Chastain recalled. “It became a weekly thing. We saw people that we recognized from watching the documentaries who had worked with Jim and Tammy. They were generous in giving us their insight. It was an incredible and inspiring way to start the work week.”
Being from the UK, Garfield wasn’t initially familiar with Bakker’s story, so he had a fresh perspective on the couple. “I knew that Tammy Faye was an icon in the LGBTQ community, but I didn’t know anything else,” said Garfield. “It’s a very American story, even the evangelical movement is a very American movement.”
Spirituality had always captivated Garfield and how ego and money can bastardize nearly every spiritual movement. Jim initially met Tammy Faye at North Central Bible College after leaving behind a “sinful” life as a rock’n’roll-loving DJ and devoted himself to serving Christ. Later on, when he and Tammy Faye founded Praise The Lord (PTL), the world’s largest religious broadcasting network, their success and wealth twisted Jim’s perception of his own faith. While researching Jim’s decline, it struck Garfield how many preachers equated God’s love with material wealth instead of redemption in the afterlife.
“Jim’s actually a very complicated person,” says Garfield. “I found it easy to fall in love with him. What he and Tammy did was really radical. They created a wild alternative to other Christian broadcasting of the time. They had a longing to heal people. Instead of waiting for joy in heaven, they advocated for happiness in the here and now. His downfall was that he lost sight of all of that, and I found his fallibility fascinating.”
Showalter also recognized the importance of portraying Jim Bakker in a more nuanced way. “Andrew really found humanity to Jim Bakker and… really forced us all to see Jim, not just as a two-dimensional character… we could have gone down that path, and I’m so glad we didn’t. Andrew has created this incredibly complicated, deeply flawed but also compelling character in Jim.”
Co-written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns and Edgar Wright, Last Night in Soho is Wright’s story, and he also directs. The film follows Thomasin McKenzie, who plays a young girl named Eloise, and she’s passionate about fashion design. But London is overwhelming for her.
McKenzie had a similar experience of London, which she barely knew before taking the role as her character. “It makes an incredible setting for this film because, like Eloise, I think the whole world looks at London as being very shiny, a big city full of opportunities. Like Eloise, when I first got off the plane and started driving around, I was kind of star-struck trying to take everything in. It’s been amazing working in London because although there is a bad side, it is a magical city, and there are really incredible people.”
She can go into the past and enter the 1960s. There, she encounters her idol, Sandie, a dazzling up-and-coming singer played by Anya Taylor-Joy.
Taylor-Joy was initially “a tiny bit anxious” because she didn’t want to be pigeonholed as a horror actress because she had just finished The Witch. But she quickly realized that this was no stereotypical effort. “As he kept telling me more and more about the story, I realized that I was going to have a lot of fun with it.”
At first, both the star and director thought she might play Eloise. But by the time the script materialized, Wright had another idea, and he sent the script with a note asking the star to consider the Sandie role. “Seeing her in other roles over the years and watching her grow up in public, I thought, maybe she’s the other part,” says Wright. “I sent her an email and said, ‘I have two surprises. One, the Soho script exists. Two, I want you to look at Sandie’. She was 100% onboard.”
Anne Taylor-Joy as Sandie
That’s no exaggeration to hear Taylor-Joy describe her immediate reaction to Sandie. “I enjoyed the fact that she scared me. I’ve played a lot of outsider-y type roles, and Sandie is so confident and so sure of herself as this kind of sexy kitten. When I first read it, I was like, ‘How on earth am I going to pull this off?'” Sandie is outgoing, vivacious and confident: she comes to London determined to become a star. “I think she wants to do it all!” says Taylor-Joy. “She’s an aspiring singer and actress, and dancer. She just wants to see her name up in lights. I call her ‘Brass Balls Sandie’ because she really just throws herself into every situation. I wish I had a bit more of her in me, in that respect.”
Wright is best known for directing Baby Driver, and the large cast includes Matt Smith, Jessie Mei Li, Terence Stamp and Diana Rigg.
“I would love the audience to go on that journey too when the film opens on October 29th. We purposely pushed the film back to this autumn date, not just so that it can hopefully be enjoyed on the biggest screen possible, but also so the nights would be longer and the audience could go in cold… literally.”
In the Final Production Notes, Wright also asked that anyone who sees the film doesn’t spoil it for others by telling them what happens.
Directed by Tom McCarthy, Stillwater follows Bill, played by Matt Damon, an American oil-rig roughneck from Oklahoma. He travels to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter, played by Abigail Breslin. She’s in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit.
(L to R) Camille Cottin as “Virginie”, Matt Damon as “Bill” and Lilou Siauvaud as “Maya” in director Tom McCarthy’s STILLWATER, a Focus Features release. Credit Jessica Forde / Focus Features
Confronted with language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system, Bill builds a new life for himself in France as he makes it his mission to clear his daughter of any alleged wrongdoing.
McCarthy won an Oscar for Spotlight. Stillwater seems just as powerful and suspenseful. With a father dealing with his estranged daughter imprisoned in Marseille for a murder she insists she did not commit, unemployed oil-rig worker Bill Baker, her father, visits deliver supplies and news. But when Allison presents her father with a new lead, he takes matters into his own hands and attempts to exonerate his daughter. Confronted with a foreign land he does not understand nor belong in, and Bill struggles in his mission until he meets a local woman and her young daughter who help him uncover the truth and, along the way, discover a life that he thought was beyond his grasp.
Actor Matt Damon (left) and director Tom McCarthy (right) on the set of STILLWATER, a Focus Features release.
Credit Jessica Forde / Focus Features
“I began working on Stillwater about ten years ago. I set out with the intention to make a thriller set in a European port city. I was inspired by a number of Mediterranean Noir writers like Andrea Camilleri, Massimo Carlotto, and Jean-Claude Izzo, whose brilliant Marseille Trilogy led me to the French city. One visit to Marseille and I knew that I found my port. The layers and textures of the city were undeniably cinematic, and the confluence of cultures and the pace of the seaside metropolis felt like the perfect canvas for the film.”
As he combs the streets of Marseille, searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack, Bill finds himself on an unexpected path, growing ever closer to Virginie and Maya. It’s a journey of self-discovery and liberation from a life that long seemed preordained. Yet when his need to prove his daughter’s innocence collides with his commitment to Virginie and Maya, with only tough choices left that not only threaten to destroy his new life but also his last shot at redemption.
Directed by Martin Campbell, The Protege follows Anna, played by Maggie Q, rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and trained in the family business. Anna is the world’s most skilled contract killer.
But when Moody — the man who was like a father to her and taught her everything she needs to know about trust and survival — someone brutally kills him, Anna vows revenge.
As she becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer, played by Michael Keaton, whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse, their confrontation turns deadly, and the loose ends of a life spent killing will weave themselves even tighter.
The film has strong and bloody violence, language, some sexual references, and brief nudity with an R rating.
Michael Keaton as Rembrandt in The Protege. Photo Credit: Simon Varsano/Lionsgate
Campbell brought us 007’s Casino Royale, resurrecting the franchise. Also staring is Robert Patrick, known best for The Terminator franchise.
Enjoy a couple of TV spots that are short and sweet.
Directed by Michael Lembeck, Queen Bees follows fiercely independent senior Helen, played by Ellen Burstyn. While her house undergoes repairs, she moves into a nearby retirement community ― just temporarily.
Once behind Pine Grove Senior Community doors, she encounters lusty widows, played by Anna Margaret, Loretta Devine and Jane Curtin. Their cutthroat bridge tournaments and a hotbed of bullying “mean girls,” the likes of which she hasn’t experienced since high school, all of which leave her yearning for the solitude of home.
But somewhere between flower arranging and water aerobics, Helen discovers that it’s never too late to make new friends and perhaps even find new love, played by James Caan.
The rest of the cast includes Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Mitchell, Matthew Barnes, French Stewart and Alec Mapa.
Produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, West Side Story follows the original 1961 film version from the original 1957 Broadway musical penned by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and concept, direction, and choreography by Jerome Robbins.
Tony winner Justin Peck choreographed the musical numbers in the film. The music team includes conductor Gustavo Dudamel, and composer and conductor David Newman arranged the score.
The cast includes Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Ana Isabelle, Corey Stoll, Brian d’Arcy James, Curtiss Cook, and Rita Moreno.
Elgort and Zegler play the lead roles — Tony and Maria, as young lovers of forbidden love and the clash between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
Moreno starred in the 1961 film as Anita. In the current version, she plays Valentina.
Listen to the Director’s Cut interview with Steven Spielberg. He talks about using his iPhone to film the rehearsals. That way, he practiced, practiced and practiced until he felt he go the shot right.
