www.thecurvyfilmcritic.com
In Sleepless, Jamie Foxx plays a cop who gives the impression that he is trying to tag in on a deal to "get rich quick". Unfortunately, for him, that deal goes all kinds of wrong and leads to a "sleepless" night of action mind-games and survival by any means necessary.
Read MoreAs many people have seen in numerous posts over the years, I unequivocably love my mother. She's my sheroe. She taught me that it was never too late in life to accomplish ANYTHING. She is one of the bravest women I know, loves me unconditionally and sometimes behaves as if she doesn't want to ever let me grow up. One day, as we prepared to go out somewhere, she was tugging on my clothes annoying me to no end. Being a smartass I quipped, "You're always going to be my mother aren't you?". She quickly snapped, "Well, what did you expect...of course I am".
Read MoreMusicals are the "it" thing this year and even the anime game is getting in on the action with the release of Funimation Films...One Piece Film: Gold! The opening montage is complete with a Swinging Big Band, showgirls, kick lines and pirates ships. The Gran Tesoro, where most of the action is set, reminds me of a golden version The Venetian Hotel on the Vegas strip. Aboard the Gran Tesoro, where it rains gold upon a golden river, The Straw Hat pirates become enamored with their VIP status and 300 Million dollars line of credit. However, deception is king and the crew soon discovers that all that glitters is NOT gold.
Based on the wildly popular hit anime manga and television series, One Piece Film: Gold follows the Straw Hat pirates to the big screen in an all-new high-flying adventure. The Batman-like graphics, slot machine sound effects and high-octane music keep the energy of this entertaining flick moving and grooving.
Originally a Japanese manga series, One Piece was adapted into a television series by Toei Animation (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon) that has since aired over 760 episodes. As of August 2016, the original manga series has more than 380 million copies printed worldwide – the best-selling manga series in history.
The new film One Piece Film: Gold is a standalone film that does not require new audiences to be familiar with previous content to enjoy the thrill of this new adventure. Do the Straw Hat pirates luck turn them into billionaires? Or, are they turned into gold slaves? You can find out for yourself when On Piece Film: gold begins its North American Release begins TODAY through January 17th. Click Here to Grab Tickets to One Piece Film: Gold
BAFTA nominations were announced today and the love toward American artists in general was a little less than stellar. American Cinema has always outstretched our arms embracing artists from other countries...particularly the Brits. How many times have we nominated Dames Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Emma Thompson or Sir Anthony Hopkins?
Read MoreRecreating their award-winning roles, Davis and Washington are masterful as Rose and Troy. Set in 1950's Pittsburgh, we watch the demise of a family unit for a variety of complex, yet familiar reasons. Troy (Washington) constantly relives his days from the Negro Baseball League with the realization that his life as a sanitation worker are less that what he dreamed for himself and his family.
Read MoreMaya Angelou: And Still I Rise gives a rare glimpse to the world of Angelou that has rarely been seen through the eyes of close friends and her only son.
Read MoreManchester By The Sea is taking this American Cinema award season by storm...literally. With award-winning performances by Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges, the audience is taken on the journey of what it feels like to have to go back home when a tragedy strikes.
Read MoreToo short. Too Black. Too Fat. This is what record execs told Sharon Jones while she pursued a record deal. Man, did she prove everyone wrong...including herself!
Read MoreThis much-anticipated installment takes us back to the humble beginnings of how Princess Leia ends up with the plans for the Death Star, setting up for the epic saga we now know as Star Wars. It is that moment when you realize, "Oh yeah...this is why I love tis franchise"!!!
Read More#LaLaLand brings #hollywood #musical #glamour back to the the silver screen http://wp.me/p2v8yf-2iO #aafca #lionsgate
Read MoreBased on Highsmith's 1960 thriller ("The Blunderer"), A Kind of Murder investigates how quick one is jump to conclusions of guilt or innocence. Architect Walter Stackhouse and his wife Clara have a troubled marriage, but is it troubled enough for Walter to commit murder? On the other side of town Kimmel is accused of murdering his wife and regularly harassed by the cops. Did he or didn't he do it?
Read MoreI have been engaged more than my share in this lifetime. Needless to say, if ANY of those relationships had worked out I wouldn't be writing this. At the end of the day, we either "bounce back" from the hurt, pain and despair left from a failed relationship or we bounce with a pep in our step toward the future.
Read MoreThe IFP Gotham Awards were handed out at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City last night, and A24’s Moonlight was off to a good award-season start, taking home Best Feature and Best Screenplay to go with its previously announced special jury ensemble award. Casey Affleck won Best Actor for Manchester by the Sea, and Isabelle Huppert took Best Actress for Elle besting out award doyens Natalie Portman and Annette Bening. Check out the full list of winners below.
Here is the complete list of winners at the 26th annual Gotham Awards:
BEST FEATURE
Moonlight
Barry Jenkins, director; Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, producers (A24)
BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck
Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)
BEST ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert
Elle (Sony Pictures Classics)
SPECIAL GOTHAM JURY AWARD
Cast Of Moonlight
(A24)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
O.J.: Made in America
Ezra Edelman, director; Caroline Waterlow, Ezra Edelman, Tamara Rosenberg, Nina Krstic, Deirdre Fenton, Erin Leyden, producers (ESPN Films)
BINGHAM RAY BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR AWARD
Trey Edward Shults
Krisha (A24)
BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR
Anya Taylor-Joy
The Witch (A24)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Moonlight
Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Screenplay by Barry Jenkins (A24)
BREAKTHROUGH SERIES – LONGFORM
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Rachel Bloom & Aline Brosh McKenna, creators; Marc Webb, Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna, Erin Ehrlich, executive producers (The CW)
BREAKTHROUGH SERIES – SHORTFORM
Her Story
Jen Richards and Laura Zak, creators (herstoryshow.com)
O.J. Simpson became a product of an environment that revere's and idolizes celebrities making one color blind. No one cares what ethnicity you are when you are a rich, well-known celebrity who is an American hero.
Read MoreWith the topsy-turvy, emotional election Americans have just experience, the release of Miss Sloane is right on time. Not to mention, that this is the performance for which Jessica Chastain will be most remembered for.
As whip-smart, ruthless lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane, Chastain masters and delivers rapid fire dialogue notably associated with celebrated television writer Aaron Sorkin. Sloane’s commitment to taking anyone and everyone down, including herself makes for an extremely interesting roller-coaster ride with an ending that smacks you in the face like a ton of bricks!! It’s all done with such an alarming speed, that if one is not paying attention, you might miss a clue or two.
Director John Madden has outdone himself on this one assembling one of the most fabulous onscreen cast this awards season. The twists and turns are dizzying, yet yummy and fascinating thanks to the brilliant writing skills of John Perera.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw can literally inhabit any type of character in any type of setting with a childlike vulnerability that is beautifully endearing to watch. However, it is layered with a quiet internal strength that took me from having empathy to having admiration
Jessica Chastain as Miss Sloane
Allison Pill , Sam Waterston, John Lithgow and the rest of this cast are stellar! They not only compliment each other, but are the perfect support for Jessica Chastain. Miss Sloane gives you an up close view at just how far a lobbyist will go to get what they want.Now in limited release in select cities, Miss Sloane can be seen nationwide TODAY.
Have you ever wondered what your purpose is on this earth? What your purpose in life? For your family and those that you love?
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I don’t know about you, but one of my greatest fears growing up is that I would somehow become separated from my parents and never see them again.
As a little girl in Hawaiit, on a typical grocery day, my Mom let go of my hand to grab something off a shelf. By the time she turned around to put it in the cart I was gone. As my parents frantically searched throughout the store, my Dad saw a woman in the parking lot with me in tow heading toward her car.
I don’t have to tell you, My Daddy lost his mind. He proceeded to verbally go off on this woman, snatched me away from her and headed back inside the store. Needless to say, my parents were mortified that at the blink of an eye I was almost never to be seen or heard from again.
Little did I know on the other side of the world, Saroo (Dev Patel), out on a night excursion with his brother Guduu (Abhishek Bharate), becomes separated and spends more than 22 years away from his family before reconnecting.
In Lion, five-year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) gets lost on a train traveling away from his home and family ending up thousands of miles away, in chaotic Kolkata, India. Somehow he survives living on the streets before ending up in an orphanage that’s not exactly a safe haven. Adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), Saroo finds love and security growing up in Hobart. As an adult, his emotional need and hope of ever finding his lost mother and brother are becoming nearly flashback memories. But, a chance meeting with some fellow Indians reawakens his buried yearning. Armed with only a handful of memories and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, Saroo sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home in India.
As if I weren’t already a fan of Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, his performance in “Lion” has made me a “superfan”. It’s always a thin line when one portray’s a character based on a real person that is still living and breathing! I can tell you that Patel is crushing his performance so hard you forget he’s sharing a screen with Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman. We will most certainly be hearing alot from him this awards season.
Kudos to Garth Davis for keeping the Indian culture authentic by using actors from this country to communicate this amazing story. At the Q&A following the AFI Film Festival Screening, a few little known facts were revealed by Saroo and Nicole Kidman. First, the actor that plays Young Saroo doesn’t speak English…at all, which is unbelievable. This kid (Sunny Pawar) is adorable and absolutely astonishing. The depths of emotion and vulnerability he displays hasn’t been seen since such child actors like Dakota Fanning and Haley Joel Osment.
Saroo was misprouncing the name of his town, which resulted in his not being found for nearly two years after being separated from his brother, Guduu. Guduu, by the way, didn’t abadon Saroo, but got hit by a train on his way back to scoop him up.
Watiting in the lobby, I ran into Saroo. He is such a charming, put-together young man with manners and respect for others that sorely lack in today’s digital age society.
Lion is the type of film that proves one truly has to pay attention to those “gut feelings” we so often ignore and that as Lin Manuel Miranda says “Love is Love Is Love”. It will make your heart swell and give you faith back in humanity.
Lion can be seen nationwide by The Weinstein Company TODAY.
Disney is on a roll for 2016!! Disney Animated Studios has bragging rights to Frozen (the highest grossest animated film of all time), Zootopia in the #2 spot and Moana is well on its way to melting Frozens's record.
Moana (Auli‘i Cravalho) tells the story of a young Hawaiian girl who is searching for a demigod (Maui played by Dwayne Johnson), who once he is found, the two embark upon a journey to save her island and her people from impending destruction. Auli'l's voice is absolutely amazing and "The Rock" surprised me with his vocal prowess on "Your Welcome".
It was so nice to see Disney add another ethnic Princess to their stable twice in one year (Elena from Avalor was introduced to the Disney Channel earlier). The photography is absolutely stunning and so life-like that one forgets that you are watching an animated feature.
The diverse and dynamic team behind the film’s inspired music includes Tony®- and Grammy®-winning lyricist/composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who’s behind Broadway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and multiple Tony-winning “Hamilton” and the Tony-winning “In the Heights,” and is a 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award recipient. Three-time Grammy®-winning composer Mark Mancina created memorable scores for films like “Speed,” “Tarzan” and the Oscar®-winning “Training Day,” and also co-wrote songs, produced and arranged the score for Broadway’s musical production of “The Lion King.” Opetaia Foa‘i, the founder and lead singer of Te Vaka, is a winner of numerous world music awards, including the Senior Pacific Artist award for his contribution to Pacific music. Miranda is well on his way to becoming an EGOT (Emmy-Grammy-Oscar-Tony) member before the end of 2017!!!
Click HERE for how the cast and crew felt about working with WATER
Kudos Disney and directors Ron Clements & John Musker for really working it out on the diversity front for 2016! Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise since this same team brought us Princess & The Frog and Aladdin. We won't have to guess who all the little girls will want to be for Halloween 2017...lol.
Of course, No Disney film would be complete wthout villains (the Coconuts) and the loyal best friend (The Rooster and the Baby Pig). Of course, my favorite was Grandma Tala (Rachel House). She is sugar and spice with everything naughty and nice:).
Moana is a great film for the adults and the kiddies and an even greater flick to check out during the holiday season!!!
If you are not convinced...maybe these clips will convince you to run to the theatre NOW!
With an election year in full swing, women's issues are at the forefront. Does a woman have the right to say what happens with her body? How does a woman protect herself against being attacked? Well, Isabelle Huppert knows the answers to those questions better than anyone as she tackles these very issues in her latest thriller ELLE.
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I have to admit, didn't know much about Richard Branson other than the fact he owned Virgin America Airlines or how he came to acquire that except for an interview I saw on The Oprah Show some years back. Neither did I recognize he was the dude who signed major rock stars ranging from the Sex Pistols to the Rolling Stones, making Virgin Records the biggest independent labels in the world. To date, there are more than 100 Virgin companies worldwide, employing approximately 60,000 people in over 50 countries. Can you say over-acheiver...lol??
After screening Don't Look Down, I surmised Richard Branson is fascinating. He's a ridiculously rich man, who wants nothing more than to be an explorer and get credit for those accomplishments. To say that he is a daredevil or one who takes great risks is an understatement.
Were his thrilling desires really work the risks? Branson has challenged himself with many record-breaking adventures, including the fastest ever Atlantic Ocean crossing, series of hot air balloon adventures and kite surfing across the English Channel.
Daniel Gordon’s documentary Don’t Look Down, which screened at Tribeca, centered on Branson’s daredevil balloon flights across the Atlantic and the Pacific. In regards to the Atlantic trip, Branson says, “Six tried before us. Five had died,” and what “could go wrong, went wrong on that flight.”
Don't Look Down will give you a bird's-eye view of this dramatic untold story straight from his collaborators, family, never seen archival footage from inside the hot air balloon capsule and the most intimate thoughts on all of this from Branson himself.
The capsule footage is fascinating, as you learn that although being in a hot air balloon may look like a beautiful and etherial it made me personally never want to attempt that adventure ever in life!
What is even more fascinating is the fact that his collaborators on this adventure Don Cameron has a heart of gold and nerves of steel, which made him the perfect dude to be thousands of feet in the air with Richard Branson.
“We shouldn’t be here to tell the tale, but it tells for a gripping film,” says Branson. Submarine Entertainment is handling both U.S. and foreign sales for Don’t Look Down.
