Lester's April 2016 / Movie - TV News
MOVIE:
·
A trailer was shown for Director Robert
Zemeckis’ (Castaway and Forrest Gump) latest, now officially titled “Allied”. The
World War II thriller is set for a November 23 release and stars Brad Pitt
opposite Marion Cotillard. Although an official synopsis has not been fully released,
the plot appears to follow Pitt an American as an Intelligence Officer and
Cotillard as a French Resistance Fighter who become lovers against the backdrop
of German occupied France during the height of the war.
· Director
Spielberg and Recent Academy Award Winner Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) will work
together again in the film titled “The
Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara”. Rylance will play Pope Pius
IX in the adaptation of the David Kertzer novel that tells the story in, June
1858 a Jewish merchant Momolo Mortara who had two officers of the Catholic Inquisition
bust inside and seize Mortara's six-year-old son, Edgardo. As the boy is
wrenched from his father's arms, his mother collapses. The reason for his abduction: the boy had
been secretly "baptized" by a family servant. According to papal law, the child is
therefore a Catholic who can be taken from his family and delivered to a
special monastery where his conversion will be completed. With this begins the
true story of how one boy's kidnapping became a pivotal event in the collapse
of the Vatican as a secular power.
· Some early
Oscar acting buzz for 90 year old comic legend and humanitarian Jerry Lewis who
apparently wowed a movie premiere audience receiving two standing ovations in the
2013 delayed release of the low budget film called 'Max
Rose'. Lewis plays a retired jazz pianist who makes a discovery
days before the death of his wife of 65 years Eva (Claire Bloom) that causes
him to believe his marriage was a total lie. Rose begins to question the
strength of his marriage and starts looking for clues to identify Eva’s past as
he embarks on an exploration of her past as well as his own past that brings
him face to face with a menagerie of characters from a bygone era.
· The independent
foreign language effort called 'A
Monster With A Thousand Heads' which had very successful
performance reviews at several key festivals including Venice, AFI, and BFI
London, this Mexican indie film was recently picked up by the production company
Music Box Films for a 2016 release nationwide. The film is directed by
Mexico-based Uruguayan Rodrigo Plá ("La Zana," "Desierto
Adentro," "The Delay"), and stars stage actress Jana Raluy in
her screen debut. It's written by Laura Santullo who adapted it from her own
novel. The official synopsis of the film “Monster” takes place in Mexico involving
the medical insurance industry. Sonia (Jana Raluy)’s critically ill husband
requires an expensive medication their insurance company refuses to approve. What
begins as a frustrating call to a bureaucratic phone tree, escalates into a
confrontation with her husband’s doctor as he luxuriates in a steam bath, and
finally a violent hostage-taking standoff. Sonia does battle with the insurance
industry; its obfuscation and pettiness, its callous disregard for suffering
and ultimately corruption." The
trailer is currently available on Youtube.
TV:
· Suddenly Atlanta is now 2 HOT – HOT: Two
of the biggest cable networks are each premiering comedy shows set in the music
world in Atlanta. First HBO’s effort is called “Brothers in Atlanta”. The HBO effort is about struggling
entertainers and best friends Langston (Riddle) and Moose (Salahuddin) trying
to navigate relationships and life in the black Mecca of Atlanta. An Atlanta
native, Langston is an aspiring DJ whose career has stalled due to his lack of
focus and his get-rich schemes. New to Atlanta, Moose is a perennial backup
singer with dreams of the spotlight, who keep his foot in his mouth. The pilot
also features Maya Rudolph as Moose’s demanding boss, Shirley, an R&B diva
whose heyday was in the 90s; and Jaden Smith as Curtis, a “New Atlanta”
teenager and Langston’s rowdy neighbor with unpredictable interests and
suspicious income.
· The FX
network effort will embark on the release of a weekly 30 minute show called “Atlanta” sometime in the summer of
2016. “Atlanta” synopsis
involves two cousins who are making their way up through the Atlanta’s rap
scene. Created and stars Donald Glover, who will play a character named Earnest
"Earn" Marks, a loner who left Atlanta only to return; now working an
unglamorous job and barely getting by when his cousin Alfred becomes Atlanta’s
hot rapper, Earn sees an opportunity to manage Alfred’s career. Actor Brian
Tyree Henry who will play the cousin Alfred Miles, wants to capitalize on his
sudden fame as quickly as possible.
· AMC
offers up a new drama called “Preacher”. Based
on a comic book, the synopsis entails with a story of a conflicted preacher living
in a Texas town that is possessed by a powerful supernatural force, and sets
out on a trip with his “hit-woman” ex-girlfriend and an Irish vampire, to find
God who has gone missing.
· HBO is
still working on the modern adaptation of the 1970’s Yul Brenner movie called “Westworld”. The synopsis
is the story of a wild western theme park using state of the art robot
technology to give its clients everything they ever dreamt of. The cast is
spectacular Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton,
Jeffrey Wright, Rodrigo Santoro, Ben Barnes, Jimmi Simpson, “Creed” star Tessa
Thompson, “The Duke Of Burgundy”, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Clifton Collins Jr and,
stepping into Yul Brynner’s shoes, Ed Harris.
· FX
brings acclaimed British Actor Tom Hardy to the TV screen in a miniseries he
wrote and acts in called “Taboo”.
The
synopsis is in 1813, where roguish adventurer James Delaney (Hardy) returns to
Britain from America with 14 stolen diamonds in tow, determined to avenge the
death of his father. An 8 episode miniseries is penned by both Hardy and his "Locke"
writer/director Steven Knight.
· HBO offers
up “Codes of Conduct” with
a synopsis of a man named Beverly Snow, a talented, self-confident young
African-American man works his way into the upper echelons of New York society,
despite his ambiguous background, testing the limits of access and social mobility.
This series won't arrive till 2017; a deeply intriguing six-part miniseries produced
by Russell Simmons for HBO and co-written by Steve McQueen (Director of “12
Years A Slave”) and "World War Z" writer Matthew Michael Carnahan.
Actor Paul Dano last seen brilliantly performing as Beach Boy Brian Wilson in “Love
and Mercy” ‘will play a young entrepreneur who takes Snow under his wing and
grants him access to the social elite. Helena Bonham Carter appears as a
wealthy socialite and Rebecca Hall will play the privileged eldest child of a
New York billionaire and Snow's possible nemesis.
