New Poster For "Mission Park"

In MISSION PARK, the ambitions of four childhood friends land them on opposite sides of the law. Rookie FBI agents Bobby (Valdez) and Julian (Rothhaar) must go undercover and face their hidden pasts in an attempt to bring down their best friends' (Perez, Soria) criminal organization.  The film picked up wins for Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, and Best Acting Performance (Walter Perez) at this year’s Boston International Film Festival, as well as the Special Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.  More info available on their website and Facebook page.

"Herb & Dorothy 50x50" Poster

Developed as the follow-up film to Megumi Sasaki’s award-winning documentary HERB & DOROTHY (2008) that moved millions of art-lovers worldwide, HERB & DOROTHY 50X50 captures the last chapter of the Vogel’s extraordinary life and their gift to the nation, raising various questions on art, and what it takes to support art in today’s society.

IMP AWARDS

"The Motivation" Trailer

In The Motivation (premiering next Thursday, April 25, at 9:30 p.m. EST), Lough provides an all-access look into the world of professional skateboarding; more specifically, the ways in which eight of the scene's best skaters—including Paul Rodriguez, Ryan Sheckler, and Nyjah Huston—prepare to compete in Street League, the annual NYC skating competition founded by Rob Dyrdek. Backed by original music from Hot Sugar, The Motivation goes behind the ramps to show how, before any tricks are performed, the skaters must contend against domestic stresses, financial issues, and other complications caused by a life in the spotlight.

"Captain Phillips" Official Trailer

Captain Phillips is director Paul Greengrass’s multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates.  It is – through Greengrass’s distinctive lens – simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization.  The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks), and his Somali counterpart, Muse (Barkhad Abdi).  Set on an incontrovertible collision course off the coast of Somalia, both men will find themselves paying the human toll for economic forces outside of their control.  The film is directed by Academy Award® nominee Paul Greengrass, from a screenplay by Billy Ray based upon the book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty.  The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca.

Rhonda Rousey In Negotiations To Get Fast & Furious

Only a week or so after signing on for a role in The Expendables 3, Ultimate Fighting Champion Ronda Rousey is gearing up for a possible turn in Fast & Furious 7. Rousey will be following in the footsteps of Gina Carano who went from the UFC to whooping some ass in Fast & Furious 6. The actress is joining Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham

Filming is expected to commence this Autumn in Atlanta and if Rousey officially signs on she will have to move her training over to that location for the duration of the shoot. Hopefully the UFC fighter turned actress Miesha Tate. Do yourself a favor and Google Miesha Tate, I think it's worth it.

VARIETY

Mark Wahlberg Says "Too Much Scrutiny" On BIG Films like LONE RANGER; But Bay Knows His Shit.

 

Marky Mark Wahlberg took to analyzing why critics are so all-over big-budget films lately, while working with every nerd's personal punching bag, Michael Bay, on Transformers 4.

Wahlberg spoke with the L.A Times saying studios are to blame with the excessive cost on marketing; and then praises Bay because let's face it, love him or hate him, the man knows the game, and always churns out a high-grossing fim on-time and under-budget. He's like a more respectable, less greasy, more patriotic Brett Ratner.

“First and foremost, the media is targeting all these movies,” the actor said in an interview. “There’s intense scrutiny on us, way more than before.”

But Wahlberg also spread the responsibility for the flops to the studios, who he said have concentrated too much on marketing and not enough on distinguishing their summer stories. “They are spending so much money to pull the wool over the audience’s eyes with these effects-driven movies,” he said. “It’s not like ‘Jurassic Park,’ where you saw something groundbreaking and innovative and said ‘Holy … I gotta see that. Every end-of-the-Earth movie kind of feels the same.”

Marky Mark goes on about Bay, and why Transformers 4 will be a tad different.

"'Transformers' is a different thing. What Michael's been able to do is elevate the material and take the human element to a whole other place," he said. "Having the father-daughter relationship [that Wahlberg’s character figures into] is so much more interesting."

Wahlberg said the action director also keeps a much tighter rein on costs than other tent-pole directors. "Michael Bay isn't going to be in a situation where a movie is $100 million over budget. I've never seen anyone that can manage the entire thing so single-handedly and seamlessly,” he added.

Wahlberg is right. He also goes on to make a statement directly about Disney's action-adventure western, The Lone Ranger:

"They’re spending $250 million for two dudes on a horse?" he said incredulously. "Where’s the money going?'

Boston Statues Get Masked For Horror Film "You're Next"

An example of very smart viral marketing is taking place in my city. Various statues around Boston are being adorned with the unsettling masks from the various killers found in the upcoming horror film You're Next. From Bobby Orr to Make Way For Ducklings, no statue in the Boston area is safe.

Check out the photos below and You're Next in theaters August 23rd.

One of the smartest and most terrifying films in years, YOU'RE NEXT reinvents the genre by putting a fresh twist on home-invasion horror. When a gang of masked, ax-wielding murderers descend upon the Davison family reunion, the hapless victims seem trapped...until an unlikely guest of the family proves to be the most talented killer of all.

Disney/Bruckheimer Marriage Tipping Closer to Divorce

"The nature of the film business is that success is a rarity. Failure is the norm. And if you want to be in the movie business, you have to be able to overcome the occasional flop."

That was the late producer David Brown in the terrific documentary Final Cut: The Making & Unmaking of Heaven's Gate (You can watch it here). Thirty-three years on, the after-effects of Michael Cimino's western are still felt. In the face of an overwhelming financial disaster, the studio executives responsible for their own flop-in-the-making no doubt think to themselves, "Oh God, this can't be another Heaven's Gate." Translation: a flop so big it brings down their company along with their jobs and, worst of all, their reputations.

Disney is going through similar woes right now. While the results are nowhere in the stratosphere as United Artists (Their pockets are too deep and their asses are covered thanks to their ownership of Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm), a major casualty is coming from the commercial catastrophe of The Lone Ranger. The Wrap reports the studio is reassessing their current-standing deal (and working relationship as a whole) with producer Jerry Bruckheimer for Pirates of the Caribbean 5.

How severe? Enough for Disney to relinquish final cut authority from their longtime hit-maker and trimming the budget on the Pirates sequel (set for release July 2015) from a reported $250 million closer to $200 million. A task they tried to avoid a few years upon initially pulling the plug on The Lone Ranger. A problem they thought they avoided upon agreeing to a tighter budget under the supervision of Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski. Only to see it all go up in smoke once production got underway.

Disney took a bath here to the tune of nearly $200 million as revealed yesterday, and someone has to pay. It won't be Johnny Depp (Too deep with the studio with not just Pirates 5 but Alice in Wonderland 2 and Into the Woods) and director Verbinski is already damaged. Bruckheimer is taking the hit here. And while nobody is saying it, the writing is on the wall. If Disney is making their one-time biggest asset hand over final cut, it's the beginning of the end. They're going to split up.

Leonardo DiCaprio Might Be Your Viking King; Will Probably Have Awful Accent

Leonardo DiCaprio, fresh off of the success of The Great Gatsby, and currently trying really hard to win that Oscar with The Wolf of Wall Street, might not only be making you a weaboo robot movie (and producing ANOTHER weaboo film, AKIRA) but he might also put on a fake beard and yell things in Nordic/Boston for your viewing pleasure.

Deadline with the scoop on King Harald:

Warner Bros has made a preemptive acquisition of King Harald, a pitch that Mark L. Smith is writing as a potential vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio. The subject: Harald Hardrada, the 11th Century conqueror who has been called the last great Viking king.

Can Leo pull it off? Yeah of course he can.

More on the story:

King Harald will be produced by DiCaprio and his Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson Killoran. King Harald was King of Norway for two decades, but his quest for power and thirst for battle led to his being exiled for a time to Russia and then returning in triumph. The film envisioned is a Braveheart-style story.

The article notes that DiCaprio also circled a Viking picture for Mel Gibson before he got booted out of Hollywood. Now you'll never get to see how awesome Gibson's Viking film would be. Life sucks.

Poster For "Her" Or As I Call It "Electric Dreams" Reboot

Set in Los Angeles, slightly in the future, Her follows Theodore Twombly, a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet "Samantha," a bright, female voice, who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other. From the unique perspective of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Spike Jonze comes an original love story that explores the evolving nature—and the risks—of intimacy in the modern world.