Movie Review: FORD v FERRARI

FORD v FERRARI
Release: November 15, 2019
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: James Mangold
Screenplay by: Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller
Producers: Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, James Mangold
Cast: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone, Ray McKinnon

FORD v FERRARI Official Channels
OFFICIAL SITE: www.FORDvFERRARI.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/FORDvFERRARI
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/FORDvFERRARI
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/FORDvFERRARI
HASHTAG: #FORDvFERRARI

Academy Award-winners Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in FORD v FERRARI, based on the remarkable true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles (Bale), who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

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This late in the year, many movies are clamoring for awards. The names are bigger, the effects are more impressive, the drama is more dramatic and the run times are longer.  No corner is cut in the rally toward award season. It’s the best time of year to be a movie watcher, because there are a so many great films to watch.

Ford v Ferrari is one of those great films. But not like some of the over bloated, award seeking films of the season.  It was a lot of fun.  The whole experience, even the long run time, was entertaining. From the time the first engine roared on until the last car rode into the sunset, there was not a dull moment on the screen.

The cast was stellar.  Christan Bale (as Ken Miles) was at the top of his talent.  He is always great, but in FvF he is so much more likable because of the normalness of his character.  Bale wasn’t larger than life in this one.  He looked and sounded like a regular Joe.  Matt Damon (as Carroll Shelby) also had a very strong performance. Damon isn’t Bale, but still a very good showing by Damon.  It is almost unfair to pair another actor with Bale for as many  scenes as Bale and Damon had together.  Unavoidably, Bale’s star shown brighter, but Damon and Bale had good, watchable chemistry on-screen.  The rest of the cast also made a strong showing, with Jon Bernthal (as Lee Iacocca) and Josh Lucas (as Leo Beebe) providing the most notable performances.

FvF isn’t just a movie for car buffs or sports enthusiasts.  It is for anyone who enjoys original, based on actual events, movies. Except for some language, FvF is mild enough for the whole family. The flow of the action alternated well between the muscle car racing scenes and the human aspects of accomplishing something that had not been accomplished before.  That said, the race car scenes were adrenaline packed and very fun to watch. 

Just don’t go to FvF expecting a biopic.  The movie isn’t about the life of Miles, Shelby, Ford or Ferrari.  It is the almost legend about how two people were able to set their mind on something, then went out and did it.  FvF is about the races.  There isn’t much about what makes any of the characters tick in it, but that wasn’t a detraction.  There was more than enough of everything else on the screen.

Speed to the theaters.  Ford v Ferrari is one of the best movies of the year.  It is fun. It is original. It is brilliantly acted.  And it is playing everywhere now.   

Movie Review: Entertainment Studios' #Hostiles

HOSTILES

Release Date: January 26, 2018
Genre: Drama
Studio: Entertainment Studios

Starring: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Jack Reacher, Wes Studi, Adam Beach, Ben Foster, Q’orianka Kilcher, Tanaya Beatty, Jonathan Majors

Directed By: Scott Cooper

Screenplay By: Scott Cooper and Donald E. Stewart
Produced By: Scott Cooper, Ken Kao, John Lesher

Set in 1892, Hostiles tells the story of a legendary Army Captain (Christian Bale), who after stern resistance, reluctantly agrees to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief (Wes Studi) and his family back to tribal lands. Making the harrowing and perilous journey from Fort Berringer, an isolated Army outpost in New Mexico, to the grasslands of Montana, the former rivals encounter a young widow (Rosamund Pike), whose family was murdered on the plains. Together, they must join forces to overcome the punishing landscape, hostile Comanche and vicious outliers that they encounter along the way.

Hostiles is directed by Scott Cooper (Black Mass, Out of the Furnace, Crazy Heart) and produced by John Lesher (Black Mass, Birdman, Fury) and Ken Kao (The Nice Guys, Knight of Cups).

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Movies with a western genre are few and far between these days.  Westerns are an art that has given way to superheroes, vampires and vampire superheroes. Just when it seemed like there were no good westerns to be made, Hostiles comes along to enlighten skeptics and enchant the non-believers.

Set from far-west New Mexico to the Montana grasslands, and all the territory in between, Hostiles is the story of what comes after the “gun battle” in westerns. It is an epilogue of sorts for most westerns out there.  The “good guys” and the “bad guys” usually shoot it out and there are winners and losers and the audience rarely sees the real fallout.  Hostiles depicts that fallout beautifully, blurring the lines between the good guys and the bad guys, while delivering both a classic story and a timely message.

Hostiles is a success thanks, in part, to the gifted performances of the cast.  Wes Studi (as Chief Yellow Hawk), Christian Bale (as Captain Blocker) and Rosamund Pike (as Mrs. Quaid) all give passionate and strong performances.  Studi was especially impressive in his quiet portrayal of an ailing Cheyenne Chief. With less dialogue and action than Bale and Pike, Studi’s performance creates balance.   

It is that balance which makes the story of Hostiles timely.  This isn’t a typical “cowboys versus Indians” tale.  It is a story of inclusion,  tolerance, forgiveness and atonement.  Hostiles starts like it’s going to be a story about the spoils of war, but the plot peppers-in notions of genuine good and real evil.  It asks the audience to question the stereotypical ideas of heroes and villains.  Hostiles delivers difficult questions about the way that people treat each other, with an almost naïve hope about the future.

Mostly, Hostiles is great because it isn’t like every other western ever made.  There are just enough of the classic western movie tropes to draw-in an audience before redirecting into an original sentiment. It looked beautiful on the big screen.  There are some very moving moments, especially in the third act. Hostiles might be one of the best films of 2017. Go see it. It is in limited release now.   

#Seattle Grab Passes to The Promise @ AMC Pacific Place 4/18 - #KeepThePromise

The Promise
Director: Terry George
Writers: Terry George, Robin Swicord
Starring: Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Official Socials: Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | IMDb
Hashtag: #KeepThePromise

When Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant medical student, meets Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), their shared Armenian heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between michael and Ana’s boyfriend Chris (Christian Bale), a famous American photojournalist dedicated to exposing political truth. As the Ottoman Empire crumbles into war-torn chaos, their conflicting passions must be deffered while they join forces to get their people to safety and survive themselves.

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Grab passes by clicking the poster below: 

These tickets are on a first-come, first-served not guaranteed basis. Arrive early to secure your seats.

#Charlotte Grab Passes to #KeepThePromise @ Regal Phillips Place 4/17

The Promise
Director: Terry George
Writers: Terry George, Robin Swicord
Starring: Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Official Socials: Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | IMDb
Hashtag: #KeepThePromise

Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise follows a love triangle between Michael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated Ana, and Chris - a renowned American journalist based in Paris.

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Grab passes by clicking the poster below: 

These tickets are on a first-come, first-served not guaranteed basis. Arrive early to secure your seats.

#Atlanta Grab Passes to #KeepThePromise @ Atlantic Station 4/17

The Promise
Director: Terry George
Writers: Terry George, Robin Swicord
Starring: Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Official Socials: Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | IMDb
Hashtag: #KeepThePromise

Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise follows a love triangle between Michael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated Ana, and Chris - a renowned American journalist based in Paris.

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Grab passes by clicking the poster below: 

These tickets are on a first-come, first-served not guaranteed basis. Arrive early to secure your seats.

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical - Coming to Movie Theaters‎!

Disney's NEWSIES
Director: Kenny Ortega
Writers: Bob Tzudiker, Noni White
Starring: Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall 
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for mild violence
Official Socials: Site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | IMDb
Hashtag: #NewsiesForever

A musical based on the New York City newsboy strike of 1899. When young newspaper sellers are exploited beyond reason by their bosses they set out to enact change and are met by the ruthlessness of big business.

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Straight from the Broadway stage, Fathom Events and Disney Theatrical Productions are thrilled to bring the Tony Award®-winning musical NEWSIES to cinemas nationwide in an exclusive three-day event on February 16, 18 and 22.

Filmed live on stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA, this not-to-be-missed high energy show stars Original Broadway cast members Jeremy Jordan as “Jack Kelly,” Kara Lindsay as “Katherine,” Ben Fankhauser as “Davey” and Andrew Keenan-Bolger as “Crutchie”. They’re joined by North American Tour stars Steve Blanchard as “Joseph Pulitzer,” and Aisha de Haas as “Medda Larkin,” and Ethan Steiner as “Les” along with members of both the Broadway and North American Tour ensembles, filling the stage with more “newsies” and more dancing than ever before.

Set in New York City at the turn of the century and based on a true story, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged ‘newsies,’ who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike and take a stand for what’s right.

 BUY TICKETS

An Interview with Jeremy Strong from "The Big Short"

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Last week I got the amazing opportunity to meet one of the many talented actors from the movie "The Big Short", out in theaters December 23rd, 2015. The movie, which explains the whole financial crisis that happened in the mid-2000s in a very funny and easy to understand way, stars Jeremy Strong as Steve Carell's (Mark Baum) right hand guy. The actor talked to us about prepping for this role, about (possibly) being star struck, his love for theater, and about meeting Vinny Daniel (whom he portrays in the movie).

It was my very first time getting to interview an actor and it was a great experience actually! Jeremy made it so easy and comfortable that all my nerves flew out the window the moment he sat down to talk to me.

Without further ado, here's my interview with Jeremy Strong:

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Before landing the role in this movie, how much did you know about what brought upon the financial crisis?

Actually, we were on the same boat as you, which is that none of us in the movie knew the first thing about this. So, we had to learn about it. But also, [Director Adam] McKay wanted to make a movie fun and entertaining, but that kind of broke all these concepts down into really simple, understandable terms. Going into the movie, I read the book and I read a whole other books to understand. But, Michael Lewis (author who's book the movie is based on) wrote a very compelling book that is easy to understand and it reads like a thriller. It is really fun to read. Which is really surprising because you wouldn't think that a movie about the subprime mortgage crisis would be this much fun.

Did Michael Lewis have any involvement in the movie?

No, he wasn't around at all. I mean, he's seen so many of his books get turned into movies, he is over it. But I did meet him on Thursday, the night of the premier of the movie, and we all wanted to live up to his book and Adam McKay wanted to do right by it. I think this is one of those cases where the movie almost surpasses the book because it's just bigger than the book, because it's not just about the financial crisis, but about the way we live and our country.

So, how did you get involved in this project?

I had worked on "The Producers" from Plan B (production company owned by Brad Pitt), and so I got to know them doing that and then I was told this book was being turned into a movie, and so I read it and felt very passionately about it. I am very lucky that I got to work on a lot of films that are socially minded films, that are about, for example, moments of history. And for this film I actually auditioned for like four different parts of the movie because from the moment I knew about it, I knew I had to be a part of it.

The socially conscious movies you have been involved with have been very serious, but this one is very different because it juggles almost low ground humor with some very sobering drama. How was it on the set? Was Adam always saying "it's too funny" or "reign it in"?