'The Laundromat' Trailer: Meryl Streep Takes On A Corrupt Gary Oldman And Antonio Banderas

The combination of director Steven Soderbergh, a cast that includes Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, and Antonio Banderas on a weighty subject as the Panama Papers has to promise a truly heavyweight drama, right? Well, maybe, but the trailer for The Laundromat looks closer to Soderbergh's recent comedic efforts such as The Informant! This isn't at all what was expected, which is, ironically, exactly what we should come to expect from Soderbergh at this point.

The Laundromat is penned by Scott Z. Burns, who has his own awards season contender coming up with The Report. Burns has adapted the 2017 book by Jake Bernstein on the Panama Papers leak, which exposed an offshore tax scheme for the world's wealthy and elite. Meryl Streep plays a widow who begins to unravel the corruption after her vacation is ruined, while Oldman and Banderas are the charismatic Mossack Fonseca lawyers laughing all the way to the bank. The film also stars Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, David Schwimmer, Robert Patrick, Will Forte, Melissa Raunch, and more.

The Laundromat hits Netflix on November 29th.

Read More

'Tone-Deaf' Trailer: Robert Patrick Is Out To Terminate Amanda Crew

With a new Terminator on the way it's good to remember that Robert Patrick played one Hell of a cybernetic killer, too. Kinda wish he could've made it back for the new film. Patrick's storied career has found him taking on a number of varied roles, but for me he's best when his natural intensity is put to nefarious pursuits. Such is the case with Tone-Deaf, a thriller that finds him in a game of cat-and-mouse with Amanda Crew.

Written and directed by Richard Bates Jr., Tone-Deaf looks to be keeping a lot under wraps, which is definitely a good thing. What we get from the trailer is that Crew plays a woman who looks to break her slump by leaving the city for a weekend getaway in the country, only to be targeted by the homicidal owner of the house she's renting. He just wants to "scratch that itch" of killing someone, then presumably he can retire in peace.

There's a clash of cultures and generations going on here which, I hope, suggests something deeper than just another stalker flick. Patrick looks to be in fine psychotic form here, while Crew looks exactly like the type of clueless Millennial you want to see made an example of. They're joined by quite the impressive cast including Kim Delaney, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Ray Wise.

Tone-Deaf hits theaters and VOD on August 23rd and I really hope to check this one out for myself.

Read More

'Back Roads' Trailer: Alex Pettyfer's Directorial Debut Adapts The Oprah Book Club Selection

Once a part of Hollywood's young class of rising stars, Alex Pettyfer has mostly been persona non grata after developing a bad reputation. But he seems to be trying to turn things around now, and part of that movement is embarking on his directorial debut, Back Roads, an adaptation of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick authored by Tawni O'Dell.  It's an ambitious effort which finds Pettyfer also stepping in front of the camera, joined by a talented cast.

Pettyfer is actually picking up the reins of a film that has been in the works since 2011, when Adrian Lyne (Unfaithful) was on track to direct it. However, that changed and Lyne sticks around as co-writer along with O'Dell. The story follows Harley, a young man living in a Pennsylvania coal town who must take care of his three sisters while their mother is in jail for murdering their abusive father. Harley must not only deal with being stuck where he is, but he also becomes with the sexy but depressed mother of two who lives down the road.  The object of Harley's desire is played by Jennifer Morrison, joined in the cast by Nicola Peltz, Robert Patrick, and Juliette Lewis.

Back Roads hits theaters on December 7th.

Read More

Review: 'Last Rampage', The Bloody True Story Of Gary Tison's Final Weeks

There is a certain aura around movies that tell true stories. I’m not talking about films that are ‘inspired by true events’ – whatever that means – or movies based on true events. I’m talking about true stories. Last Rampage is one of those films that tells the story of real events, and when you remember that, it sends a chill through your body.

Last Rampage depicts the prison escape of Gary Tison (Robert Patrick) and Randy Greenwalt (Chris Browning) from an Arizona State Penitentiary in 1978 with the help from Gary’s three sons, and the harrowing few weeks that follow. As you may garner from the title, the film is not one happy-go-lucky tale of family bonding – it is a disturbing account of lunatics on the run, and the destruction they leave behind. The film does not go into much detail about Gary Tison or Randy Greenwalt’s pasts other than mentioning murder a few times. These men are clearly deranged and dangerous.

The film begins by showing Tison and Greenwalt’s prison escape. One may wonder how two prisoners who were both serving life sentences would even be in a position to break out of prison. Tison and Greenwalt had been transferred to a low security area of the Arizona State Penitentiary due to excellent behavior. This terrible mistake by the prison and their staff allowed for Tison’s three sons Donnie (Alex MacNicoll), Ricky (Skyy Moore), and Ray (Casey Thomas Brown) to break their father and his fellow prisoner out of the penitentiary in broad daylight. Their plan works perfectly and before word of the prison break gets out, the group is miles away hiding out in a cabin.

While all of this is happening, Gary’s wife Dorothy (Heather Graham) is being hounded by reporters and the police who are all trying to get some information about Gary and the boys. Dorothy wholeheartedly believes that Gary is not a monster and is just misunderstood. Gary has his whole family brainwashed as Donnie, Ricky, and Ray also seemingly worship their father and follow his orders without question. Everything is going according to plan until one flat tire leads to a spiral of death and destruction and the Tison boys get a glimpse of the monster that their father really is.

Last Rampage is a tense drama that does a fantastic job of telling the story of Gary Tison’s escape from prison and the weeks to follow. Director Dwight H. Little manages to capture the vile nature of Tison and Greenwalt as they make their way down south to Mexico. The relationship between Gary and his sons is a vital piece to the story and the maturation of this relationship is incredibly interesting to watch unfold. Last Rampage portrays a chilling story perfectly and is an enjoyable watch, regardless of how unsettling its source material may be.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Read More

New Trailer for Billy Bob Thornton's 'Jayne Mansfield's Car'

Billy Bob Thornton has had a tough time getting studios to care about his latest directorial effort, Jayne Mansfield's Car. Part it probably has to do with that title, which absolutely screams "dull indie drama", and that Thornton simply isn't quite the draw he used to be. The film premiered in Berlin last year and has been making the festival rounds ever since with very little buzz, but we'll see if this latest trailer can do the trick.

Read More

Review: 'Identity Thief' starring Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman

On paper, Identity Thief should be a no-brainer comedy hit, right? Everybody loves Melissa McCarthy all of a sudden, thanks to her riotous breakout in Bridesmaids, catapulting her to the top of everyone's "It" list. Her style of physical comedy should make for a nice contrast to co-star Jason Bateman, re-teaming with his Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon, and featuring a script by The Hangover 2's Craig Mazin, there's no reason why this film should bomb. And yet it does. Spectacularly. It's about as woeful and incompetent as possible, and screws up one of the most reliable genres of all: the road trip movie.

Read More

Review: 'Gangster Squad' starring Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn

There was a time when Gangster Squad was one of the hottest tickets of 2012, and how could it not be? Featuring a stone cold awesome cast of superstars like Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, and Emma Stone paired up with other recognizable stars in a gritty 1940s mobster shoot 'em up, the film looked like a lock for Oscar consideration. And then the tragedy struck in Aurora, CO, and the studio took measures to bump the film back to January to remove a scene that was a little too similar.

Read More

1st trailer for 'Identity Thief' starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy

Just a day after releasing a pair of new character posters, the full trailer for the Melissa McCarthy/Jason Bateman comedy Identity Thief has been released. The film marks McCarthy's first starring role post-Bridesmaids, and while she looks to be hitting on many of the same bizarre notes as she did then, the rest of the trailer falls a little short.

Looking like a refugee from the set of Roseanne, McCarthy plays Diana, a con artist who has stolen the identity of Sandy Bigelow Patterson(Bateman), and is now living it up down in Miami at his expense. With his life on the verge of imploding, the real Sandy heads to Miami to do whatever it takes to track down and bring Diana to Denver, discovering just how tough it is to get your name back. "Tough" includes getting chopped in the throat repeatedly, shot at by gangsters played by Genesis Rodriguez and T.I. Harris, and nearly getting his car rolled over a cliff. Fun times.

Physical comedy is what McCarthy excels at, and fortunately this trailer has a lot of it. There just isn't much else to make this look like anything other than a passable early year comedy. Still, I like everyone involved so maybe it'll be more surprising than the trailer indicates.  Identity Thief is directed by Seth Gordon and opens on February 8th 2013.....

Read More

Trailer Time: 'Gangster Squad', starring Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn

Let's start that Oscar race now, shall we? While there was some justifiable worry over Warner Brothers snatching away Gangster Squad's October release date, it's clear that the studio has the utmost faith in the star-studded mob flick to do some serious damage at the end of the year. As proof, they've presented us with one powerful, bullet-filled trailer.

Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Nick Nolte, Michael Pena, and Robert Patrick make up a phenomenal cast, in a story based on a series of LA Times articles about a specialized LAPD unit designed in the 1940s to take down east coast mobsters as they try to take control in the west coast. As Nolte's character makes perfectly clear, this operation is totally "off the books" and the violence spills out into the streets and the newspaper headlines. Ruben Fleischer(Zombieland) directed, based on a script by ex-cop, Will Beall. Penn's heavy prosthetics don't look quite right, but otherwise this looks to be exactly the type of muscular crime piece many were hoping for. There still isn't a new release date nailed, but you can expect that to change soon....

Read More

*UPDATE* James Franco may play Hugh Hefner in Linda Lovelace biopic

 *UPDATE* THR(via Blackfilm.com) notes that Romeo Brown has joined the cast.

There are two competing biopics on pornstar and Deep Throat icon, Linda Lovelace. The one with the most potential is simply titled 'Lovelace', and comes from directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. When the film was first put forth, the hope was to have James Franco, who starred in their Allen Ginsberg biopic, Howl, star as Lovelace's abusive husband, Chuck Traynor. That eventually fell through, but Variety notes now that Franco may be returning in a possible cameo that would have him play Mr. Playboy himself, Hugh Hefner.

Looking like a truly star-studded affair, Lovelace features Amanda Seyfried as the adult film star, whose troubled life ended abuptly in 2002 after a automobile accident. Peter Sarsgaard will play Traynor, with Sharon Stone, Juno Temple, and Wes Bentley set for key roles as well. If Franco does return, he'll be part of a group that includes the newly signed Hank Azaria, Bobby Cannavale(Win Win), Chris Noth(Sex and the City), and Robert Patrick(Terminator 2). Azaria will play writer Jerry Damiano, who came up with the "script" for Deep Throat; Cannavale and Noth will play the film's financiers who get involved with Traynor after seeing a home made tape of Lovelace in action. Patrick will be Lovelace's father, who comes to regret her newfound celebrity. The film will be told through the eyes of three interviewers, questioning Lovelace at various stages of her life.

Wow. They aren't kiddin' around, are they? That level of talent puts this film squarely ahead of the Malin Akerman/Matt Dillon flick, which I think is probably going to disappear at some point.  Call it a hunch. [Variety]

Read More

Gangster Squad loses a Cranston, gains a Patrick

A few days  ago we learned that Bryan Cranston's ultra busy schedule(dude is in everything now) had finally found it's first victim, and unfortunately that was his role as a Texas law man in Gangster Squad. Whoever was going to replace him would have to be able to bring that same grit he would have. No easy task, but I think Ruben Fleischer(Zombieland) has made a decision most will be more than happy to live with.

The T-1000...er, I mean Robert Patrick, has joined the mobster film, which follows a special team of LAPD officers tasked with stemming the influence of the east coast mafia on the west coast. Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Emma Stone, Michael Pena, Josh Brolin, Giovanni Ribisi, and Holt McCallany star. Ex-cop turned writer Will Beall wrote the script. [Variety]

Read More

Review: Alien Trespass

Remaking old sci-fi films has become kinda common place. More often than not, these films lack the heart of the original work, mainly because there's no real love for the material and the director/writer rarely can match the sensibilities of the time period. A way around this is simply spoof some of those old classics, like in the 1996 film, Mars Attacks. While it was fun, I always thought the attempt to transfer the 1950's style cheesiness into a more modern setting didn't quite work out. Better to just set the film during a time when it makes sense for people to be so....simple. Alien Trespass, which draws it's inspiration from those old 50's classics, decides neither to spoof or modernize. It's spaceboots are firmly planted in the days of poodle skirts and Ford Fairlanes(not the Andrew Dice Clay movie!), and it's all the better for it.

Read More