Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Twitter contest!

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Denise

MJP1_2x7Promo_50web4C-page-001Alrighty Tributes!  Time for the Baltimore screening of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1!  In case you need a refresher since the Quarter Quell, here’s the synopsis:

The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, from an adaptation by Suzanne Collins and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.

Lionsgate presents, a Color Force / Lionsgate production.

Ready to show your allegiance?  Well, read on….

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: Horrible Bosses 2

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Denise

image

Hey there! More birthday month giveaways – today it’s for passes to the Baltimore area screening of Horrible Bosses 2!  The original was an absolute riot, and after seeing the trailer I’m betting this will be no different.

Here’s the movie deets:

HORRIBLE BOSSES 1
Opens Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Rated: R
Website:  http://horriblebosses2.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/horriblebosses

Synopsis: Dale, Kurt and Nick decide to start their own business but things don’t go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme.

Want passes? Right this way…. Continue reading →

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Baltimore free tix: wanna see Laggies?

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Denise

Laggies PosterOnward with the birthday month freebies!  Today, it’s free passes for the film Laggies, which is now in theaters.  So no screening lines, just going to the theater and sitting yourself down.  You might remember this film from my post this summer, but if you don’t?  Here are the deets:

SYNOPSIS: Megan (Keira Knightley) might be 28 years old but she mostly behaves like an adolescent.  When her boyfriend (Mark Webber) asks her to marry him she remains true to form and pretends to go on a career retreat.  Instead she decides to hang out for a week with her new best friend, the 16-year-old Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz).

Directed by:  Lynn Shelton

Screenplay by: Andrea Seigel

Produced by: Stuart Brown, Peggy Taylor, Zubin Nagpal

Cast: Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell, Mark Webber, Ellie Kemper, Jeff Garlin, Gretchen Mol, and Kaitlyn Dever

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xep7s36qZL0

SITE: http://laggiesthemovie.tumblr.com/

Wanna score ADMIT TWO passes for the theatrical run of Laggies?  Read on…

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Hey everypony — Bronycon 2015 registration now live! (And also, BronyCon on AMC!)

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Denise

BronyCon 2014 Costume Contest (Photo: Yours Truly)

Wellup, it’s that time everypony — BronyCon 2015 registration is now a go!  This is not a drill.

For those of you that are keen on the VIP levels, this is the time to clicky before levels sell out.  And also, grab a hotel room if you’re not like me and can walk to the ‘Con.  (I know, just lucky I guess.)

And for those who missed it last night/this morning at midnight, AMC’s Comic Book Men had a BronyCon ep last night, and You can watch the BronyCon scene here .  Brian Johnson as Derpy.  Enough said y’all.  Awesome.

BTW, for those of you who are FOC (Friends Of Cider), the BronyCon Bar Crawl registration is also live: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-brony-bar-trot-tickets-12594706105  Last year sold out, so hop to it y’all!

Read on for all the official deets from the BronyCon PR ponies!
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The stars came out at DC’s premiere of The Theory of Everything

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Denise

theory wide sheet

I headed down to my ol’ home digs, the Smithsonian Museum of American History — hey, you live your childhood your way; mine was hitting the Mall every chance I got — for the DC premiere of The Theory of Everything.  And it was definitely worth the schlep.  I’ll have a review of the film on opening day (that’d be November 14, 2014), but for now let’s just focus a minute on the red carpet details, shall we?

They even gave us jewelry! Nice!

They even gave us jewelry! Nice!

Actor Eddie Redmayne, producer/screenwriter Anthony McCarten, and MIT’s David Kaiser walked the carpet, answering questions.  And for folks that are most probably in the post-film PR juggernaut, they were amazingly nice and easy to talk to.  (I know I’d be nodding off and looking as if I had perpetual sheet-face, so I was delighted and more than a little amazed…)

Kaiser praised the film’s “Beauty…in this medium” that “captures the essential collaborative nature” of Hawking’s work.  Meanwhile, Redmayne smiled at his meetings with the real Stephen Hawking, noting the professor’s “humor, his Lord of Misrule” and “mischievous sense of humor” that would inevitably pop up.  (I’m totally jealous of that meeting.)

McCarten said that this project drew him because he likes to “write what you want to know”, which is a fantastic tip for anyone considering a writing career.  Take notes, y’all.  Without spoiling much, I have to say that McCarten did a wonderful job creating an engaging story for film from Jane Hawking’s memoirs.  Want more details on the film itself?  Well, that’d be cheating; catch you next week for that one.  ‘Til then, check out the red carpet/premiere discussion shots!

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Keira Knightley Posed Topless to Protest Photoshopping

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Denise

“I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame”

Bravo, Keira. And great article, Eliana Dockterman.

Follow Dockterman on the Twittering @edockterman.

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Movie Review: Big Hero 6

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Denise

Disney_BigHero6_Poster_BaymaxNutshell: I’d give Big Hero 6 an A-.  It’s tough to top Frozen, but BH6 manages to delight with gorgeous animation and a voice cast that’s up for fun.  Drunk Low Battery Baymax is Best Baymax!

It’s no secret that I’ve been crushing on the poofly adorable Beymax from Big Hero 6.  But I worried; would this film be too cutesy?  Would it smash up too much of the Marvel superheroes the film is (barely) based on?  And could it stand beside the mighty juggernaut Frozen?  Well: not too, oh most definitely but not in a bad way, and well, what could?

Hiro is your typical 14-year-old.  As long as typical means a kid that graduated from high school at 13 because he’s flipping brilliant.  So Hiro spends his days at ‘Bot Fights, betting — and winning — money because his robots are way better than anyone else’s.  (And way cuter too, which makes folks lower their guard, and open their wallets.)  But older brother Tadashi is on to Hiro’s tricks, and tries to get Hiro interested in “nerd school”, the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.  (Did I mention this film is in the near/maybe further out future?)  Tadashi’s ploy works, and soon Hiro is planning a show-stopping presentation that will get him admitted.  But dark forces are at work, and they throw a wrench in Hiro’s plans.  Soon Hiro finds Tadashi’s project; a bell-faced “healthcare companion” robot named Baymax (squee!) he’d hoped would do a lot of good in the world.  But good is such a subjective term; can Hiro and his group of friends from SFIT put things right?  Kids movie!  Of course they can!

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Pics from the DC screening of Interstellar: get your starsighting on!

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Denise

interstellarDid you know that movie stars were down the street this week?  Okay, so by “down the street” I mean “down 95”.  Work with me here.

Still, the stars of Interstellar hit town for a special screening of the film at the Air and Space Museum?  Jealous?  I know I am.

Pretend you were there by checking out the pics….

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Missed a panel at BronyCon 2014? Now they’re all up on YouTube!

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Denise

BronyCon Video Release
Hey everypony!  Didn’t get to see all the good stuff at this year’s BronyCon?  Wanted to be there but couldn’t quite make it happen?  I feel ya; though I enjoyed every minute I spent at this year’s BronyCon, I’ve gotta admit there were panels, workshops and Meet-n-Greet sessions I didn’t make it too.

But, now you don’t have to be sad panda anymore — BronyCon staffers videotaped each tidbit and they’re now all on the YouTubes!  Fun?  Fun!

And for folks interested in the two panels I tipped my hat to earlier, here’s the links for Cartoons: Playfully Transgressing Normative Codes and Friendship is Academic.

Off to catch up on FlufflePuff, Mixology, and Midnight MadLibs.  Now where’s my popcorn….

Read on for the full press release!

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Elsewhere Review: Whiplash

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Denise

Nutshell: I’d give Whiplash an A-. Emotionally difficult to watch at times, but worth it. This film grabs you by your collar and drags you into it’s world headfirst, no quarter given. Simmons and Teller give Master Class performances, and director Chazelle paints a picture of musicians butting heads and striving for perfection…perfectly.

As always, clicky on the hyperlink for the original piece!

Movie Review: Whiplash

whiplash

Twitview: A fever dream of a film that sucks you into the lives of those that would do anything for their art.  Riveting performances by Simmons and Teller. A-

Who hasn’t taken some sort of music class?  Whether you shook a tambourine in kindergarten, or headed out for piano classes every Saturday for 13 years (just me?), we all have that moment where we’ve tried to coax beauty out of an instrument.  Most of us walk away, choosing other paths, but those that decide to stick with it and strive for greatness?  Gotta give ‘em credit; talent and dedication is tough to come by.  And it’s tough to live with, if Whiplash is any indication.  Director Damien Chazelle takes his Sundance-award winning short film to full-length and it’s a helluva watch.

Young Andrew (Miles Teller) is a first year drummer at a prestigious NYC conservatory, when he gets tapped for a position in “studio band” in the school. (Think Glee, but with more instruments and less buffoonery.)  But conductor/professor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) isn’t anywhere near the touchy-feely type.  Unless your idea of touchy-feely is a teacher that wings chairs at your head and hurls emotional abuse that would make Joan Crawford blush.  Soon, Andrew must ask himself, is all of the blood, sweat and tears worth it?  Are moments of transcendental bliss on the part of your listeners worth your pain as a musician?  Or is he too far gone to decide?
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