Get into the Christmas spirit with Daddy’s Home! Watch Mark & Will duke it out in this epic Christmas lights battle and also check out two new clips below:
Dueling Christmas Lights Video:
“DADDY’S HOME” follows a mild-mannered radio executive (Ferrell) who strives to become the best stepdad to his wife’s two children, but complications ensue when their freewheeling and freeloading real father (Wahlberg) arrives, forcing him to compete for the affection of the kids.
David O. Russell delivers again with his raw realistic approach in his latest film, JOY. His three favorite actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper; return with such triumph and repeated powerful performances we’ve come to expect. Following recent success with SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and AMERICAN HUSTLE, Russell has found a formula that seems to be working. JOY continues the reputation of being perhaps a little tough to watch for some, containing believable dialogue, and troubled characters in a dynamic that seems more true to real life. JOY, however, is able to bring so much more with a sense of hope and determination with a brighter, more inspirational story than the others.
While most are trying to overcome their Star Wars fandom hangover, and will surely be wanting to test out their new Hoverboards, the others will have to duke it out in a Christmas weekend box office brawl. While JOY comes in with plenty of star power and tested success with an A-list cast from two previous films, several other large movies will be competing for your business.
Christian Bale and Steve Carell’s indy THE BIG SHORT (with some help from Brad Pitt) is spreading to more theaters, Will Smith’s controversial film CONCUSSION, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlbergs comedy DADDY’S HOME, a POINT BREAK remake, alongside Leonardo’s campaign for an Oscar in THE REVENANT and Quentin Tarantino’s THE HATEFUL EIGHT are all coming out this week too! While the latter two both have better critic scores than JOY, I’m here to tell you that Russell’s latest film is far more deserving than the near rotten rating you may find elsewhere.
JOY is a loosely based on American entrepreneur and inventor Joy Mangano. While the screenplay follows the struggles that Joy, Jennifer Lawrence, faced through life to become the matriarch she has become, it’s truly an overly sensational story that probably bares only little resemblance to what really happened. This isn’t a bad thing, and that’s because the film never pretends to be a true story!
Instead, JOY is a slow build that focuses around Joys unforgiving, relentless, near nonsupporting life at home. There is plenty here that becomes perhaps obviously added for emotional effect, but I didn’t mind. It pulled the right cords and had me filled with… ahem… that one word that I refuse to use to not be overly cliche.
Jennifer Lawrence is once again the shining light and highlight of the cast. While she may have been the breakout performance in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, it was more a Bradley Cooper movie. AMERICAN HUSTLE saw only a tad of Lawrence, but boy was she was fantastic in it. Well, JOY sees a reverse screen time with a fair warning that you wont see Bradley Cooper until two thirds of the way in. STOP! This is not to spoiler you, but rather for you to enjoy the film more. I kept finding myself thinking, “Oh, this must be the part with Cooper comes in.”
It benefits from less screen time from Cooper and an added major player, Joy’s ex Tony, Edgar Ramirez. No one is tired of Mr. Bradley Cooper, but another story focuses between Cooper and Lawrence may have been too much. Cooper remains believable and as strong as ever, but his role may be smaller, it’s still vital.
The stories power comes again from the Lawrence and her onscreen father Robert De Niro along with another incredible supporting cast playing her family. The film starts right in the mixed of what appears to be another typical day in the life of Joy Mangano. What seems to be like a typical morning getting ready for work becomes a disaster of a comedy of events. It quickly becomes clear Joy has been putting up with what is the burden of her family.
Not only does she practically take care of her soap-loving, near bed-ridden hermit of a mother, but also her two children, Grandmother, and even provides living quarters for her ex-husband only to be dropped a bombshell of her father needing to crash there as well. Clearly this lends itself to some great comical antics, but also get to see some thick tension between her divorced parents and her sister that thinks as herself as more capable of success.
The beginning quickly begins to feel far too familiar to the high tension and squeamish scenes that Russel is known for shooting. An early fight reminds me of many of the loud and violent scenes from Cooper in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. However, as the movie takes quite awhile to gain its speed, once it gets going it REALLY gets going.
JOY is a movie with several acts of entirely different emotions with an added proper climatic build to bring a satisfying rewarding moment that one could find in the likes of THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. This film sparks motivation for anyone that still has any drive left in them. It’s the classic story of a small town girl trying to get out and make something of herself but always ends up farther from her dreams the more time goes by. Her failures and losses only drives her more to persevere past all of the challenges her family puts in front of her.
I could go into detail of the inventions and life Joy has, but I myself wasn’t savvy to her QVC and HSN history. I’ll leave this empty for any of those that may not know her life such as I, which helped this movie stay unbelievably intriguing and strong. It’s powerful acting and so uplifting that can it should give anyone a glimmer of hope.
JOY is not the best of David O. Russell’s portfolio, but it still remains as engaging as ever. It has a lot to live up to, but looking at it for what it is, it gets high remarks from me. My vagueness throughout this review was purposeful as I found my ignorance to the character helped the movies intrigue. The only way to understand would be to watch the movie. So I’ll leave you with this, if you’re a fan of this cast, Russell, or just not in the mood for the entirely differently line-up of movies coming out this Christmas, then JOY fits the bill.
Lucasfilm and visionary director J.J. Abrams join forces to take you back again to a galaxy far, far away as “Star Wars” returns to the big screen with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
The film stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow.
During the recent Global Press conference, we had the opportunity to hear from the film makers and cast. The Press conference which was hosted by Mindy Kaling had the audience engaged with some funny questions and comments from the cast on stage.
One of the questions asked to Director J.J. Abrams by Kaling was why he wanted to make this movie. Abrams responded by saying that “this is a project that I felt incredibly lucky to be asked to be a part of, and I think I speak for all of us, when I say, this was not a job. It was something that felt like a true passion and something that every single person brought much more than any of could have expected, and so I do honestly feel honored to be part of this group.”
“Who was the most difficult actor to work with?” added Kaling? “Definitely Oscar. No, no. everyone was shockingly and wonderful to work with, and to get to work with people like Carrie and Harrison and Mark and people who I was a fan of since I was 11 years old, and also actors like Lupita and Daisy and Adam and John, it was so much fun to see them work together” added Abrams.
Check-out this short video clip below to learn more about the filmmakers and cast.
After a few funny comments, Ridley was asked if she had a walk-up song like athletes do when they’re entering an arena, a song that they have chosen that like pumps them up and expresses who they are. “I actually have one” commented Ridley. “It’s from Mulan, I’ll Make A Man Out of You” she added. “I used to play it in the trailer before I went on the set to film.”
The next question was for Abrams and what was the most important thing to bring to The Force Awakens from the original trilogy, to you? “When Kathy Kennedy and Larry and I started talking about what this was at the very beginning, the fundamental question was what did we want to feel, and what did we want people to feel when they came to this movie. And that was really the beginning of the discussion, and the answer was the kind of sense of discovery, exhilaration, surprise. We had to go backwards in order to go forwards. And if you look at 4, 5, and 6 those are stories that continue. This is 7, so the history of 7 will be what we’ve seen before. So the fabric needed to be that that we are familiar with, in order to tell a brand new story.”
The names of the characters have always been really unique in Star Wars. What’s the process that you guys use to come up with new ones, and did you use any that were left over from Mr. George Lucas? “I don’t know if there were any left over. I think the criteria was: did we like it? That was it. Really tough criteria. Did it sound good to say it? Did it feel good to type it?” stated Kasdan.
Questions about costumes came up next to find out which was the most difficult costume to put together. Abrams added “So the costume that was the most challenging I think for us to arrive at, and Michael Kaplan, the costume designer, I cannot wait for you to see what he’s done in this movie.” The cast responded with how long it took them to get into their costumes. The answers were between twenty minutes to around 2 hours from others.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is now playing in theaters.
Continuing the Epic Storytelling of “The Lion King,” Join Simba and Nala’s Second-Born Cub, Kion, and His Lion Guard Team as They Embark on Adventures Together throughout the Pride Lands!
Meet Kion, second-born cub of Simba and Nala, as he assumes the role of leader of “The Lion Guard,” an elite team of animals tasked with preserving the Pride Lands. Follow him as he assembles a group of unlikely heroes: Bunga the honey badger, Fuli the cheetah, Beshte the hippo and Ono the egret. Join them on a thrilling adventure as they use their unique abilities to defend the Pride Lands from predators and maintain balance within the Circle of Life. Bursting with humor, music, beloved characters and heart, The Lion Guard: Return Of The Roar is a must-own for the entire family!
James Earl Jones and Ernie Sabella reprise their roles from “The Lion King” as Mufasa and Pumbaa, respectively, alongside Rob Lowe (“The Grinder”) as Simba and Gabrielle Union (“Being Mary Jane”) as Nala; Max Charles (“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”) stars as Kion; Joshua Rush (“The Adventures of Puss in Boots”) as Bunga; Atticus Shaffer (“The Middle”) as Ono; Diamond White (“Sofia the First”) as Fuli; and Dusan Brown (“Blaze and the Monster Machines”) as Beshte.
Additional cast members include: Eden Riegel (“All My Children”) as Kiara; Sarah Hyland (“Modern Family”) as Tiifu; Madison Pettis (“Jake and the Never Land Pirates”) as Zuri; Khary Payton (“Teen Titans”) as Rafiki; Jeff Bennett as Zazu (“Jake and the Never Land Pirates”); Jonny Rees (“Star Wars Rebels”) as Mzingo; Andrew Kishino (“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”) as Janja; Vargus Mason (“Sofia the First”) as Cheezi; and Kevin Schon (“The Lion King 1 1/2”) as Chungu and Timon.
We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
Action-Adventure
Release: June 24, 2016
Director: Roland Emmerich
Producers: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser
Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Angelababy, William Fichtner, Sela Ward
Snowflakes hit the floor as a young Prince reaches for the hand of young Clara. When their hands meet to ensue to dance, the once innocent young girl and boy transform into the passionate Prince and Princess that magnetize the audience. The Nutcracker at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa was a show to entice the entire family. Mischievous mice wreaked havoc as cotton candy tutus twirled and dazzled guests. Orange County brought forth the winter wonderland that everyone this holiday season dreamed for.
Choreographed by American Ballet Theatre’s Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, set to a score by Peter IIyitch Tchaikovsky, scenery and costumes by Richard Hudson, lighting by Jennifer Tipton, and performed live by Pacific Symphony, The Nutcracker has 14 performances at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, December 10-20, 2015. The Center’s commitment to supporting artistic excellence engages the entire community through its powerful performances. Their unique and innovative approach to their programs attracts audiences of all ages.
“We are so pleased to introduce a new Orange County holiday tradition by presenting American Ballet Theatre’s prestigious and acclaimed production of The Nutcracker. This ballet bolds a very special place in the hearts and memories of audiences and will continue to inspire a new generation of dance fans. And we are especially thrilled that students from our ABT William J. Gillespie School will share the stage with the celebrated ABT dancers.” stated Center President Terrence W. Dwyer.
Expanding their 27-year relationship, Segerstrom Center of the Arts and American Ballet Theatre created the American Ballet Theatre Gillespie School, which opened September 2015 for ages 3-14. The holiday classic premiered 35 young dancers from the school. The children’s innocent candor in The Nutcracker brought a sense of humor to the elegance on stage. Chase Rogers, age 11, played the role of the renowned Little Mouse. ACT 1, Scene 1, The Kitchen, opens with the Stahlbaum family, chefs, and housekeepers on Christmas Eve preparing for the family’s annual holiday party. Once the room is empty, naughty mice appear looking for scraps. The center of attention was Little Mouse with his booty shakes at the audience and ruckus demeanor. Rogers’ praise was collective with the other talented children of the show, including the Little Fairies, Party Children, and Toy Soldiers. Talent came of all different sizes for these dedicated and gifted dancers.
The Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Act II, was the highlight of the performance. When the Sugar Plum Fairy learns of Clara’s bravery in killing the King Mouse, the Fairy orders a festival to honor her, featuring dances from around the world. The beautiful array of culturally influenced dances awed and enthralled the spectators. From Russian to Spanish enthused choreography, each number was visually fascinating. The celebration came to an end and young Clara was granted her greatest Christmas wish of becoming an exquisite Princess to dance in the arms of her Nutcracker Prince. Gillian Murphy (Princess) and Marcelo Gomes (Nutcracker Prince) were the perfect ballet duet. As the crowd roared with applause, they also rubbed their eyes due to the lack of blinking. This was truly a breathtaking routine and attendees did not want to miss a thing from the pair’s whimsical movements.
Orange County just got a lot more magical this Christmas season and locals should flock to Segerstrom Center for the Arts to witness the enchantment unfold before their own eyes. Tickets start at $29 and are available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. Christmas just came early.
While I’m excited to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, my daughter, Teagan, is increasingly drifting into the force as well. In honor of Computer Science Education Week (December 7-13, 2015), Disney held an Hour of Code global campaign with the non-profit Code.org (code.org). The event was held on Monday, December 7, at the Disney Interactive HQ (headquarters). Teagan was thrilled to work on a “build-your-own-game” tutorial, where she learned to code with the help of a few Code.org engineers, Disney executives, and tech employees. Sixty-five kids from the local Boys & Girls Clubs, Girls Inc., and TXT: Teens Exploring Technology were invited to explore the world of game programming and technology.
There’s been a push to incorporate curriculum devoted to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and STEAM (enhanced by art) within our educational system, as well as, local clubs. I think that’s a fabulous idea especially, considering I may have a future scientist on my hands. I was thrilled watching all of the kids, including with my 8 year-old Teagan learn how to write code and build their own video game, using Code.org’s Star Wars coding tutorial. During the fun Star Wars tutorial, kids “officially” join the force, assisting Rey on a mastermind space mission to guide BB-8 (from the upcoming film Star Wars: The ForceAwakens).
Although she’s young, Teagan tried the coding and was able to figure out prior to watching the Star Wars tutorial. Throughout the tutorial, Disney techs and Code.org engineers offered tips to all of the young programmers. Teagan surprised me and a few others by completing the tutorial well before the hour was up! In fact, Teagan received a Certificate of Completion. Did we have fun? Of course, Disney invited a few special guests to the Hour of Code event. From Star Wars, R2-D2 and Chewbacca, attended, along with Disney Channel’s Karan Brar (“Ravi” on Disney Channel’s Bunk’d and Jessie) and Disney XD’s Sophie Reynolds (“Ashley” on Disney XD’s Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything). We also heard inspiring stories of how different Disney executives landed in the tech world of coding. Much like the “force awakens” millions, this Hour of Code awakened and introduced a new generation to the technology world. I’m happy Teagan and I were there to celebrate this occasion.
About Hour of Code: The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can organize an Hour of Code event. One-hour tutorials are available in over 40 languages. No experience needed. Ages 4 to 104.
