Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: The Choice!

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Denise

the choice onesheetOkay — got your hankies ready?  Because I’ve got passes for the upcoming Nicholas Sparks movie, The Choice.  I’ll admit it; this horror-hound has a soft spot for Sparks films.  They’re surprisingly effective (surprisingly for me; probably not so surprising to fans of the novels).  Synopsis!

When feisty medical student Gabby Holland moves in next door to perennial ladies’ man Travis Shaw, they embark on a surprising romantic journey neither imagined possible. Travis has always believed a serious relationship would cramp his easygoing lifestyle, while Gabby is preparing to settle down with her long-term boyfriend—until an irresistible attraction between the unlikely couple upends both of their well-planned lives. Spanning a decade and tracing the evolution of a love affair that is ultimately tested by life’s most defining events, this story features a memorable ensemble of friends and family in Sparks’s beloved North Carolina setting, culminating with the question that every couple must ask themselves: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

Sounds like some seriously sweet stuff comin’ our way.  You in?

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: The Revenant!

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Denise

revenant-leo

Happy After-The-Holidays!  Get everything you wanted?  Yes?  No?  Either way, want a free pass to a movie folks are buzzing about?  Well, I’ve got passes for the Baltimore area screening of The Revenant!  Synopsis!

Inspired by true events, THE REVENANT is an epic story of survival and transformation on the American frontier.  While on an expedition into the uncharted wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally mauled by a bear, then abandoned by members of his own hunting team. Alone and near death, Glass refuses to succumb.  Driven by sheer will and his love for his Native American wife and son, he undertakes a 200-mile odyssey through the vast and untamed West on the trail of the man who betrayed him: John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy).  What begins as a relentless quest for revenge becomes a heroic saga against all odds towards home and redemption.  THE REVENANT is directed, produced and co-written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

The trailer looks gorgeous, and I hear tell the bear-mauling scene is incredibly realistic (that there’s also an FYI for folks who may be squeamish.)  Iñárritu knocked it out of the park with Birdman, so I’m hoping for good things with The Revenant.  Who’s with me?  Well, right this way… Continue reading →

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“Joy” delivers anything but.

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Denise
What can I say?  I get angry when a film with such promise ends up being a lazy also-ran.  As always, clicky for the original piece!

TwitView: Joy

Joy-Movie-Poster

An interesting premise that stalls upon execution.  Saved from complete dreck by Lawrence’s amazing performance.  Grade: C-

Just when you thought David O. Russell was getting better and better?  He delivers Joy, a film that proves you can take an interesting true story and turn it into a wobbly, scattered  mess.  Based on the real-life entrepreneur  Joy Mangano, the creator of the Miracle Mop, Huggable Hangers, and a slew of stuff you never knew you desperately needed ’til you saw them.  (Note: I am a Mangano gal that has nothing but HSN Huggables in all my closets.  What?  They were a bargain, the one-color look make my closets seem organized, and they’re fuzzy.)

However, Russell takes that real-life story and uses it as a launching pad to create a cast of weirdos that are supposed to be funny, but always seem to come up as one step away from earning their very own off-white jackets with hug-yourself sleeves.    It’s a waste of good talent — Robert De Niro, Virginia Madsen, and Isabella Rossellini are either bipolar, agoraphobic and depressive, or borderline manic.  It’s not fun to watch these characters, its more like the DSM Parade.  Lawrence’s Russell-buddy Bradley Cooper plays QVC honcho Neil, and his performance is so wooden I had to check if his characters name was Pinocchio. Continue reading →

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Elsewhere Review: “Concussion” powerful, but not particularly hard-hitting

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Denise
As always, clicky for the original piece!

“Concussion”: powerful, but not particularly hard-hitting

concussion

Nutshell: If anyone walks away from Concussion without grieving for those who suffered/are suffering from CTE?  They’re dead inside.  Amazing performances by actors playing affected football players (most especially David Morse as Mike Webster) bring this issue straight into the feel center of the brain.  The rest of the movie is too light a touch, possibly because it tries to cover CTE, Omalu’s love story with his now wife, and the Big Bad that is the business of sport.  Still, this film takes the real-life subject matter and makes it easy to understand, and Smith’s performance is genuine, if not a bit too heroic. Grade: B-

“I’m just asking back what I gave….Help me.”

I have to admit I’ve made my share of “bell-rung jock” jokes in my life.  Y’know, the whole “he’s barely coherent, look at him — one too many tackles” kinda jabs.  Ha ha funny, right?  Sure.  When it’s simply a jest at the expense of musclebound moneybags who are laughing all the way to the bank, with not a care in the world beyond a bone or muscle injury that could sideline them. Continue reading →

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The Big Short: the coolest econ class you’ll ever wanna take

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Denise

the big short onesheet

Nutshell: The Big Short deals with the heartbreaking concept of a world financial collapse, and makes it fascinating and at times even funny.  While this film pulls no punches, it also educates as it entertains with scenes that break the fourth wall and cameos that keep dull minutiae understandable.  This isn’t only a must-see for awards season, but for anyone who wants to know more about how our world is run, and the banks that hold all the cards.  Grade: A

“It looks like someone hit a piñata and out fell a bunch of white guys who aren’t very good at golf.”

If, back in the double-aughts, you wondered how folks could be approved for houses two, three, five times more expensive than their salaries could actually swing, The Big Short is gonna be your catnip.  If you’re wondering just what exactly the hell happened in 2008, how exactly our financial system could turn into such a big mess, and why the bubble burst, this movie will lay it all out for you.  And if you’re just someone who enjoys the idea of a smart, intellectual film that doesn’t talk down to you but instead grabs you by the shoulder and says “okay, but you gotta admit, this is funny as hell”?  Run, don’t walk to the theater. Continue reading →

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Elsewhere Review: Sisters – a glory-days good time

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Denise
As always, clicky for the original piece!

Nutshell: Sisters takes the well-worn frat/house party story and winds it up by plopping a bunch of 40-somethings into the booze and drug filled mix. Sounds like a crash-and-burn, but if you’re not gasping for breath from laughing so hard? You need to get out more. Grade: B+

TwitView: Sisters

sisters onsheetIn Sisters, Fey and Poehler show that just because you’ve got a few decades (or more) under your belt, you’re not necessarily a grown-up.  And while that could be a downer of a storyline, they keep it light and focus on the bonds you keep and the ones you’ve broken along the way.

A goofy, borderline tacky, gloriously out-there screenplay by Paula Pell turns Sisters into a glorious mash of The Big Chill, Superbad and every “this one goes to 11” house party you ever went to.  Add the light Pitch Perfect touch of director Jason Moore, and Sisters becomes Generation X slapstick in all its raunchy glory.
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Hey creator types: BronyCon is opening Marketplace applications!

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Denise

BronyCon Marketplace Apps OpenGot something cool you’d like to sell to fellow ponies?  Are you an artist that would like to show your wares (and make some sales while you’re at it)?  Finally decided to bite the bullet and put your stuff out there at BronyCon?  Well, it’s exhibitor application time, so get to tappin’! (On a keyboard.  Sure, everybody loves Morse Code.  But it’s tough to show what you’ve got through dots and dashes over radio waves.)

Everypony knows that I Love BronyCon.  And man, do I love walking around and checking out the merch.  MAKIN’ IT RAIN Y’ALL.  So hook a pony up with your deets if you’re selling this year, and I’ll come by and say hi!  Unless you’re selling Miracle Curative Tonic.  I’ll be getting enough of that at the Brony Bar Trot…

Read on for the full Marketplace application 411.  And don’t forget — registration, hotel room blocks and event submissions are also open.  Hop to it; you don’t want to be the only pony missing your favorite sponsorship level, with no place to crash and a headful of great ideas nobody’ll hear during a weekend of brohoof magnificence!

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First Look: New Ghostbusters character posters!

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Denise

Abby (Melissa McCarthy), Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), Erin (Kristen Wiig) and Patty (Leslie Jones)

Abby (Melissa McCarthy), Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), Erin (Kristen Wiig) and Patty (Leslie Jones) [Image: Sony Pictures]

It’s one thing to get excited when a reboot comes along that sounds like it could actually bring the goods.  It’s another when that reboot casts a bunch of comediennes that are already favorites.  But when the posters come around and they look hilarious and badass?  Yahtzee!

And so it is with the new Ghostbusters.

Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy are the new blood, and theses character posters make ’em look groovy as hell.  And the fact that the ol’ gang is back together (save for Aegon – RIP Harod Ramis *niff*) – even Bill Murray, and I can’t wait to see Bill and Sigourney Weaver banter as as Venkman and Dana.  And it’ll be interesting to see how the storyline passes the torch…

The release date for Ghostbusters is scheduled for July 15, 2016.  Here’s the 411 they’re releasing so far:

Thirty years after the original film took the world by storm, Ghostbusters is back and fully rebooted for a new generation.  Director Paul Feig combines all the paranormal fighting elements that made the original franchise so beloved with a cast of new characters, played by the funniest actors working today.  Get ready to watch them save the world this summer!

Peep the character posters (clicky on them for the full res image), and honey?  Who ya gonna call? Hellz yeah baby.

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The Force & Frozen are coming to Awesome Con – Darth, Ackbar & Elsa!

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Denise
awesome con collage 1

Images: Awesome Con

Yeah I know — you’re still ironing your Jawa robe for Friday’s The Force Awakens happytimes (hint: dont!  Like Jawas had spray starch?)  But here’s the scoop on some seriously cool Star Wars action at next year’s Awesome Con: David Prowse (Darth Vader) and Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar) will be in DC this summer!  Yep, you’ll be able to meet and greet, and chat ’em up about all things Force.  A very cool announcement, and perfect timing.

Want more?  Okay, here’s something for folks who are fans of Once Upon A Time and Frozen: Georgina Haig will be at next year’s Awesome Con too!  Pretty cool…in fact, downright chilly?  Okay, maybe not.  But still cool y’all.

And my fellow Gotham-ites will be happy to hear that Penguin – aka Robin Lord Taylor – will also be making the scene.  I’ve seen interviews with him, and I can’t wait to check out any panel he’ll be a part of.  Hopefully Morena Baccarin will be a part of said panel?  Or maybe it’ll be a full on Bat-fest with Adam West and Burt Ward?  Only time will tell…

Read on for links and the official tidbits from Awesome Con.  Awesome Con will be at the Washington Convention Center June 3-5, 2016.  See you at the ‘Con!

 

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: Norm of the North!

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Denise

Norm of the NorthBaltimore people, tourists can really put a crimp in your city time, amirite? Everybody trying to hit the Aquarium at the same time.  Crowding around the penguin exhibit at the Zoo.  And let’s not forget trying to spend a little one-on-one time with E.A.P.  And my hometown DC peeps, does “walk on the left, stand on the right” mean nothing?

A bear out there feels you.  He just wants a little downtime, but noooooo!  Tourists.  Gentrifying his neighborhood like a buch of glitter-beard hipsters.  Oh, did I mention his ‘hood is the Arctic?  So he’s gonna go get satisfaction…in New York City.  (Speaking of tourist glut… )That’s poor Norm’s story in Norm of the North.  And he’s the cutest grumpy guy since Anger in Inside Out.  Synopsis!

A polar bear of many words, Norm’s greatest gripe is simple: there is no room for tourists in the Arctic.  But when a maniacal developer threatens to build luxury condos in his own backyard, Norm does what all normal polar bears would do…he heads to New York City to stop it.  With a cast of ragtag lemmings at his side, Norm takes on the big apple, big business and a big identity crisis to save the day.

Ready for some chilly fun?  Onward! Continue reading →

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