Category Archives: Movies

New Trailer For Takashi Miike’s “Blade Of The Immortal”

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By Creative Media Times

Takashi Miike’s latest film “Blade Of The Immortal” gets a red band treatment, fitting for its bloody content and its not for the squeamish. See trailer below.

For those unaware, keep in mind before watching the trailer that the legendary Japanese director is never one to shy away from blood and extreme violence that is stylistically a major part of his film’s themes which defined his career, and this trailer proves just that.

Based on the eponymous manga series by Hiroaki Samura, Blade of the Immortal is Miike’s 100th film. The film is set to premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas this month of September, and then later nationwide on November 3, 2017.

Here’s the synopsis for the film:

“Samurai Manji has taken a lot of lives, both innocent and guilty, and now lives life in feudal Japan as a criminal. After being cursed with immortality until he kills enough evil men, Manji meets a young girl who enlists him to be her body-guard. Swearing loyalty, protection and vengeance against the group of sword fighters who slaughtered her family, the unlikely duo set on a remarkable quest to make right against those who did them wrong.”

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“Downsizing” Opens Venice Film Festival

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By Creative Media Times

Paramount Pictures


Alexander Payne‘s “Downsizing” opened the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 30 where the film was met with applause, and already there’s strong early buzz on the film’s awards potential.

The sci-fi comedy stars Matt Damon as an occupational therapist shrunken to four inches tall along with his wife, played by Kristen Wiig, as they search for a better life. Christoph Waltz also co-star as their aging partyboy neighbor. Jason Sudeikis, Laura Dern, Alec Baldwin, Neil Patrick Harris and Margo Martindale also star in the film.

Most of the reviews so far have been very positive. It currently have an 84 score on Metacritic.com and an 89% fresh rating from Rottentomatoes.com averaged from 18 reviews. Hollywood Reporter‘s Todd McCarthy called the film “captivating, funny and possessed of a surprise-filled zig-zag structure that makes it impossible to anticipate where it’s headed,” while Owen Gleiberman of Variety describes it as “a ticklish and resonant crowd-pleaser for grown-ups.” The Guardian raves about Payne: “He never puts a foot wrong, rustling up a picture that is as bright as a button and as sharp as a tack. Downsizing contains multitudes. Inside, it’s a giant.”

Many reviews so far praise Hong Chau, with Hollywood Reporter calling her performance “sensational in this unlikely role”, while Variety describes her Ngoc Lan as ” the film’s most surprising character.” Chau plays a Vietnamese activist shrunk against her will by the government.

These past few years, Venice Film Festival has launched award winning films as seen with “La La Land,” which opened last year’s festival, and “Birdman” which did so in 2014. The former went on to win six Oscar trophies, while the latter won Best Picture.

Downsizing will next be playing at the Toronto International Film Festival which should give clearer indication of the film’s critical consensus.

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Cherry Jones, Flea, Xavier Dolan, Troye Sivan Join “Boy Erased”

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By Creative Media Times

Joel Edgerton’s coming-of-age drama “Boy Erased” is getting cast additions. Emmy and Tony Award winner Cherry Jones (“Transparent”, “24”) and Red Hot Chili Peppers’s Grammy Award winner Michael “Flea” Balzary are joining the cast of film.

Also joining the cast are Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother), singer/songwriter and YouTube personality Troye Sivan, Emily Hinkler (Tyler Perry’s Boo 2), Jesse LaTourette (Z Nation), David Joseph Craig (The Gift), Théodore Pellerin (It’s Only the End of the World), and Britton Sear (Unfinished Business, HBO’s “Vice Principals”).

Already part of the film are previously announced cast members Lucas Hedges, fresh from his Manchester by the Sea nomination earlier this year, Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, as well as the Australian actor and filmmaker himself Joel Edgerton.

The film is also being produced by Edgerton and Anonymous Content’s Kerry Kohansky-Roberts and Steve Golin, an Academy Award-winning producer of Best Picture Oscar winner Spotlight. Edgerton last directed 2015’s psychological thriller The Gift, his directorial debut which got him a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for “Outstanding Directing – First-Time Feature Film”.

The film tells the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.

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Disney Commits $1M To Harvey Relief Efforts. Hearst, Amazon, Apple, Walmart, Google and others also donate

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By Creative Media Times

Walt Disney Company and ABC television station KTRK-TV in Houston have committed to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross to help those who are affected by Hurricane Harvey.

“Our hearts go out to everyone in the devastating path of this historic storm,” said Robert A. Iger, chairman and chief executive officer, The Walt Disney Company. “It’s hard to fully appreciate the impact, in part because it isn’t over yet. But we know thousands of people have lost everything and now face the daunting challenge of putting their lives and communities back together, and we’re using our unique resources and reach to help those in need.”

Additionally, Disney will host a “Day of Giving” benefit which kicks off on morning newscasts of ABC local affiliates Thursday, August 31, then continues over to Good Morning America. Throughout the day on ABC, Freeform, Radio Disney as well as across all related social media, there will be a “call to action” to donate to the American Red Cross, with donations going to those affected by the storm.

The Hearst Corporation is donating $1 million to the Greater Houston Red Cross. Hearst also will match employee donations up to an additional $1 million to the Red Cross’s efforts. Here is the full text of the announcement:

PepsiCo is also making commitments, which includes a $1 million grant from the PepsiCo Foundation to the American Red Cross.

As it has done in the past, Apple is promoting donations through a link on iTunes, as well as its website, as do Amazon, Google and Walmart.

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First Trailer for Broken Lizard’s “Super Troopers 2”

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By Creative Media Times

Fox Searchlight Pictures

“Super Troopers 2” won’t be in theaters until next year, but the film already has a new red band trailer, and it looks like the hilarious team is back to their shenanigans on the highways of Vermont.

There is good reason the characters’ antics will please its fans. Though the film was not a massive hit during it’s theatrical run, the film did emerged as a cult classic since it’s release. That fan-base who responded after Broken Lizard started a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, eventually raising $4.4 million, allowing them to film the sequel.

Comedy troupe Broken Lizard consisting of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske, return as writers. The team also stars in the film with Rob Lowe co-starring, while Chandrasekhar is directing.

Fox Searchlight Pictures will release “Super Troopers 2”, slated for April 20, 2018, 17 years after the original film’s release.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

Everyone’s favorite cops are back (by popular demand) with the long anticipated follow up to the cult comedy classic: Super Troopers 2. When the United States and Canada get into a dispute about the location of the actual border, the Super Troopers – Mac, Thorny, Foster, Rabbit and Farva – are called in to set up a new Highway Patrol station in the contested area. Our heroes quickly revert to their own brand of unconventional police work.

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Celebrate 30 Years of Star Trek: The Next Generation with New Book Critiquing Its Alien Lifeforms

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A Field Guide to the Aliens of Star Trek: The Next Generation
By Joshua Chapman, an 11-Year-Old Boy in 1991, Available September 12

Grab a cup of tea (Earl Grey, hot) and enjoy a good read in your command chair. In honor of Star Trek: TNG’s 30th anniversary this September, Devastator Press – the only all-humor press in America – is releasing A Field Guide to the Aliens of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The guide is an informative, exhaustive, and surprisingly personal ranking of every alien lifeform in the series and the TNG films, as written by a boy in the ’90s.

The book collects a series of popular handmade zines attributed to “Joshua Chapman,” thousands of which sold in bookstores across the country. Chapman allegedly began the zines as a class project when he was 11-years-old and the hit sci-fi series was still on the air. He continued rating aliens through his awkward teen years. The book was edited and compiled by Zachary Auburn, author of the bestselling satire How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety.
Continue reading →

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New Blade Runner 2049 Posters Highlight Gosling and Ford’s Characters

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By Creative Media Times

Warner Bros.


The release of Blade Runner 2049 is fast approaching and the Warner Bros’ is ramping up the promo with the release of the highly anticipated film’s new poster. The image highlights LAPD Officer K Ryan Gosling) and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), while Joi (Ana de Armas) and Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) also gets featured. Leto’s manipulative replicant manufacturer is the movie’s main antagonist.

This follows after the cast and filmmaker Denis Villeneuve recently showed up at San Diego Comic-Con and unveiled an exciting new trailer.

From the screenplay by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, the film also stars Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, Barkhad Abdi, Lennie James, Mackenzie Davis, and Sylvia Hoeks.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.

“Blade Runner 2049” opens on October 6th 2017.

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Classic Focus Features On #FocusFridays

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By Creative Media Times

Focus Features is continuing with their 15th anniversary celebrations with #FocusFridays, the free live-streaming of some of their classic features on Friday nights in August and September.

For the next three Friday nights, three film favorites will be steamed on Focus Features Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/FocusFeatures). This will start at 6:00 PM PT.

This is a perfect opportunity for film buffs to revisit some of the best movies from the film company, and if you haven’t seen them this is definitely a great treat.

Here’s the current lineup of classic movies:

Friday, August 25th: The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (“Al Otro Lado del Río”). Following an inspiring journey of self-discovery and tracing the youthful origins of a revolutionary heart, the Latin American continent is unveiled in all its glory as two friends experience life at its fullest.

Friday, September 1st: The Constant Gardener (2005) sweeps audiences along one man’s emotional and global journey to uncover the truth behind a personal loss and a worldwide conspiracy. For her performance opposite Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz won the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Academy Award.

Friday, September 8th: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) earned Golden Globe Award nominations for its stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, in an unforgettable love story, a tumultuous relationship seen through a maze of memories. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

#FocusFridays is part of the initiative commemorating the founding of worldwide film company Focus Features 15 years ago. The effort is called Focus 15 (www.focusfifteen.com). Additionally, there is plenty more to discover through www.focusfeatures.com/subscribe, including retrospective screenings, limited-edition soundtracks and posters giveaways.

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“The Batman” Potentially A Stand-Alone Movie

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By Creative Media Times

WB


Hot on the heels of yesterday’s news regarding a stand-alone Joker origin movie comes another revelation: Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” will also not be a part of DC Extended Universe, this according to his recent interview.

“When they approached me, what they said was: ‘look, it’s a standalone, this isn’t part of the extended universe,” Reeves said during Hollywood Reporters Kim Masters on her podcast, The Business.

Speculation regarding The Batman’s production have been going on for awhile now ever since star Ben Afflect stepped down from directorial duties citing an unmanageable workload early this year.

But that is all it is right now, speculation. It is entirely possible that WB’s DCEU slate could change depending on the performance of this November’s Justice League, especially given Wonder Woman’s recent success. At this point, there is no question that The Batman is moving forward, at least based on WB/DC’s DCEU lineup announced last month at San Diego Comic-Con.

One thing we’re sure of is Reeve’s enthusiasm to make his own Batman film, most likely in the same vein as Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight trilogy.
“I have a vision for a way to do something with that character that feels like it resonates with me personally, and a perspective that can grow out into other things.”

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“Super Troopers 2” Lands Release Date

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By Creative Media Times

Fox Searchlight Pictures


The sequel to the 2001 film Super Troopers will finally arrive in theaters 17 years after the original’s debut. Fox Searchlight has set an April 20, 2018 release date for the film, Variety reports.

Comedy troupe Broken Lizard, which consists of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske, return as writers. The team also stars in the film, with Chandrasekhar helming. Joining the cast this time around is Rob Lowe. The actor plays Guy Le Franc, a former hockey player and the current mayor of a Canadian town near Quebec.

Super Troopers was a hit for Fox Searchlight in 2002, grossing $23 million at the boxoffice off a small budget of $1.2 million.

Already a crowded release date, April 20, 2018 will see Super Troopers competing against Lionsgate’s Overboard, Warner Bros’ Rampage, and Focus Feature’s Tully.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

Everyone’s favorite cops are back (by popular demand) with the long anticipated follow up to the cult comedy classic: Super Troopers 2. When the United States and Canada get into a dispute about the location of the actual border, the Super Troopers – Mac, Thorny, Foster, Rabbit and Farva – are called in to set up a new Highway Patrol station in the contested area. Our heroes quickly revert to their own brand of unconventional police work.

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