25
Jan
Another day, another layoff. This time, the staff cuts are happening at Microsoft, with IGN reporting that nearly 2,000 employees at the Xbox maker were let go.
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25
Jan
Another day, another layoff. This time, the staff cuts are happening at Microsoft, with IGN reporting that nearly 2,000 employees at the Xbox maker were let go.
25
Jan
The original Road House movie starring Patrick Swayze is a classic, so I’ll admit to being more than a little skeptical of the upcoming remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Well, Amazon MGM Studios has released the first trailer for the new Road House movie and damn if it hasn’t won me over completely.
You’ve got Jake Gyllenhaal slapping the shit out of everyone, a colourful Florida location filled with alligators, hard-hitting action you can actually follow, and Conor McGregor chewing the scenery in his first film role; I love it.
Per the official logline: “In this adrenaline-fueled reimagining of the ’80s cult classic, ex-UFC fighter Dalton (Gyllenhaal) takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.” In addition to Gyllenhaal, Road House stars Daniela Melchior, Billy Magnussen, Jessica Williams, Joaquim De Almeida, and Conor McGregor. The film aims to pay homage to the original while providing its own unique and exhilarating spin to introduce Dalton, the roadhouse, and all its chaos to a new generation.
Now that we’ve got a look at how fun the movie appears to be, it’s all the more disappointing that it won’t be released in theaters. In fact, Doug Liman criticized that choice yesterday, saying he will be boycotting the movie’s premiere at SXSW. Road House reportedly tested higher than any movie in Liman’s career, more than Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity, and Liman feels that it could be a smash hit in theaters if Amazon would allow it. “Contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas,” Liman said. “Amazon will exclusively stream Road House on Amazon Prime. Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas, and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.“
Road House will debut on Prime Video on March 21st in more than 240 territories worldwide.
What did you think of the Road House trailer?
The post Road House: Jake Gyllenhaal stars in impressive first trailer for adrenaline-fueled reimagining appeared first on JoBlo.
25
Jan
Thanks to a growing roster of shows from Marvel (your WandaVisions) and the Star Wars camp (your Andors), along with a cache of beloved series, from Alias to Black-ish, there are plenty of gems on this streamer worth watching beyond classic Disney films. To help figure out where to start, we present the best ones on…
25
Jan
Thanks to a growing roster of shows from Marvel (your WandaVisions) and the Star Wars camp (your Andors), along with a cache of beloved series, from Alias to Black-ish, there are plenty of gems on this streamer worth watching beyond classic Disney films. To help figure out where to start, we present the best ones on…
25
Jan
Death and sacrifice are as fundamental to Final Fantasy as chocobos, moogles, and gruff guys named Cid. With the death of a key character at the end of Final Fantasy VII disc one, the series set a heartbreaking trend for many installments that followed. That’ll likely be the same with the upcoming Final Fantasy VII…
25
Jan
Death and sacrifice are as fundamental to Final Fantasy as chocobos, moogles, and gruff guys named Cid. With the death of a key character at the end of Final Fantasy VII disc one, the series set a heartbreaking trend for many installments that followed. That’ll likely be the same with the upcoming Final Fantasy VII…
25
Jan
It may have taken some people a while, but it looks as if Ryan Gosling has shown that he’s Kenough. While there is much commotion around nomination snubs for Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig for Barbie, Gosling would make a statement that showed his gratitude for the recognition. But mainly, he would also defend and praise his co-star and director in the wake of them receiving no nominations. While Gosling stood by Robbie and Gerwig, Gosling’s better half, Eva Mendes, would show her excitement as his nomination became a catharsis for the backlash he would receive upon first getting cast in the role of Ken. Many had voiced their opinion on social media that Gosling was too old to portray Ken.
According to Variety, Mendes took to her Instagram to post a photo of a Rolling Stone article that featured the headline, “Sorry to be the one to say it, but Ryan Gosling is giving major cringe as Ken in Barbie.” In Mendes’ post, she wrote the caption, “So proud of my man. So much hate when he took on this role. So many people trying to shame him for doing it. Despite all the #NotMyKen ridicule and articles written about him, he created this completely original, hilarious, heartbreaking, now iconic character and took it all the way to Oscars. So beyond proud to be this Ken’s Barbie.”
Last summer, prior to the film’s premiere, Gosling himself responded to online critics who mocked his age as he dryly joked with GQ, “I would say, you know, if people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with. It is funny. This kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?” The humorous star would continue, “Ken’s entire existence has been to just enjoy the beach and not really exist for any sake other than to be Barbie’s guy. And everyone was fine with that, for him to have a job that is nothing. But suddenly, it’s like, ‘No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.’ No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never f*cked with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.”
The post Eva Mendes shows great enthusiasm about Ryan Gosling’s Oscar nomination for Barbie after initially receiving backlash for casting appeared first on JoBlo.
25
Jan
PLOT: Will Ferrell learns that one of his closest friends and collaborators is now trans. Unsure of the ground rules in the next stage of their relationship, the two drive from New York to Los Angeles together and reconnect.
REVIEW: Will & Harper is a gentle, often hilarious documentary about two friends reconnecting after one comes out as trans. The fact that one of the friends is Will Ferrell made it a must-see for me at Sundance. But, it has a lot of resonance beyond its showbiz aspects, with it a nuanced portrait of a life in transition. It starts with essentially being about how the world views Ferrell’s friend, Harper, but eventually, it becomes more about how she views herself.
It’s a complex question because Harper Steele made her transition later in life, with her being sixty-one as the movie starts. She’s interesting, having been the writer on many of Ferrell’s best-loved comedies and SNL skits. As Ferrell mentions in the intro, anything that he did in his career that was unusual, such as Eurovision, his Spanish film Casa de mi Padre, The Spoils of Babylon, or the Lifetime movie A Deadly Adoption, was written by Harper. She also wrote The Ladies Man and worked on Saturday Night Live for twenty years. That she and Ferrell are so funny makes this an uplifting, good-hearted documentary that’s empathetic toward everyone.
One of the best bits in the movie follows Harper as she enters a dive bar in Oklahoma. We learn that she’s always enjoyed visiting seedier places, and she’s not sure how well a trans person will be accepted. As such, when she walks into the bar and sees a Confederate Flag hanging next to a Trump for President and anti-Joe Biden posters, we assume the worst. Instead, the customers are universally kind and accepting, even before Will Ferrell shows up.
Somewhat less uplifting is an episode where the two visit a steakhouse in Texas and receive an awkward reception. Ferrell himself makes an ill-advised decision to make a show of the event, donning a Sherlock Holmes costume and holding court, leading to the two being observed as if they were in a fishbowl.
That makes Will & Harper effective, showing how people across all political and social spectrums react to the trans community. To its credit, no one is especially vicious to Harper’s face outside of a sequence where they read cruel tweets. She’s misgendered a few times, but it’s pretty much always by accident, and she never takes it personally – nor does Ferrell. They don’t go around lecturing people; they’re just honestly interested in how people genuinely feel – and for the most part, everyone they meet face to face is tolerant and means well.
Of course, the fact that Will Ferrell is around for the whole thing skews the experience, as it’s unlikely anyone would disrespect this beloved entertainer to his face. But, as the Oklahoma episode proves, even those Harper herself prejudges as intolerant may not be so. It’s an essential lesson for everyone to remember, as political division often binds us to the fact that people are people.
As such, Will & Harper is a hopeful, uplifting film that feels like a story of our time. Director Josh Greenbaum includes plenty of Will Ferrell schtick (he once again takes his clothes off for comic effect) and starry cameos from their real friends (including Kristen Wiig, Tim Meadows, and Will Fortee, among others). Still, he doesn’t overload the film with comedy. Ultimately, it’s a slice of life that will resonate for many of us.
The post Will & Harper (Sundance) Review appeared first on JoBlo.
25
Jan
Imagine you’re in the middle of watching Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon try to outscore each other in game 5 of the NBA Finals when all of a sudden your broadcasters cut to O.J. Simpson slowly engaging in a police chase. Imagine further that you’re now so invested in the chase that you couldn’t possibly pull yourself from the TV. And who is that you see but Snake Plissken. That’s right, Kurt Russell has direct ties to the O.J. Simpson chase which came a few days after the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman.
As Kate Hudson told Jimmy Kimmel, the family lived near Simpson’s home at the time and Kurt Russell found his opportunity to be part of history. “It was the big chase. And Kurt…O.J. was on the 405 and Kurt all of sudden just went, ‘Oh, he’s going home’ Next thing you know, he gets in the car and he leaves and he goes to O.J.’s house. I don’t know why! Just to see what happened, you know? And we’re all like, ‘Where are you going?’ He’s like, ‘I’ll be right back.’ And then he goes with his friend…Literally, we’re watching the news because we’re watching the NBA Finals, it was interrupted. And we saw our dad on television behind the caution tape.”
That’s wild enough, but as Kurt Russell’s son Oliver added, there were far more infamous figures that his old man encountered. “He had a run-in with Ted Bundy” sometime after his prison escape, with the serial killer allegedly eating Russell’s food while he was camping. Oliver Hudson, too, claimed that “he beat up…Tex Watson, who was Manson’s right-hand guy,” although Kate seemed a little skeptical on that one…Details on that story are even slimmer, but we hope he gave him the what-for à la Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – a movie Kurt Russell acted in. We wonder if he shared that story with Tarantino…
Later that year, Kurt Russell would lead Stargate to a nearly $200 million worldwide gross. So we’ll just go on and assume this was some sort of viral marketing.
But Kurt Russell isn’t the only celebrity with ties to the Manson Family, as fellow Disney Legend Angela Lansbury saw that Charlie and company were having too great of an impact on her daughter and so moved her family to Ireland. There is no evidence that she shared campfire beans with Ted Bundy.
The post Kurt Russell added to the spectacle of the O.J. chase appeared first on JoBlo.