When the X-Men saga continues next summer, it will focus on Sophie Turner’s character, Jean Grey, and her alter ego, Phoenix. Dark Phoenix finds the team having to make some difficult decisions when Jean Grey starts to acquire dangerous dark powers. Turner told us about the meeting with director Simon Kinberg when she found out she’d be at the center of the new movie’s storyline. (Click on the media bar below to hear Sophie Turner)
Michael Doneger makes his feature writing and directing debut with Brampton’s Own, an indie film centering on Dustin (Alex Russell), a tunnel vision minor league baseball player who moves back to his hometown after striking out on his dreams to make the big leagues. Shot in just 15 days, the feature is an ambitious undertaking that, along with Russell, features a first rate ensemble cast (iZombie’sRose McIver is Dustin’s ex-girlfriend, and Jean Smart, recently seen in Life Itself, plays his mother).
First impressions will lead moviegoers to believe that Brampton’s Own is a straight up baseball movie about reconnecting with one’s past, but the narrative takes a refreshingly different approach.
“From the get go, the goal was just to tell an honest story of what happens to someone when he sets out and chases a dream and that dream doesn’t come to fruition,” said Doneger. “I just wanted to unravel the aftermath of that and how does one move on? How does one return to this hometown that he was once a celebrated athlete in and everyone else seems to have passed him by – yet he is still stuck in the same mind and body.”
Click on the media bar to hear Michael Doneger discuss why baseball served as the perfect backdrop for Brampton’s Own and how this tale came from a personal place.
Brampton’s Own, co-starring Spencer Grammer (Greek) and John Getz (Blood Simple), opens in theaters and various digital platforms on October 19.
Thanks to Pretty Little Liarsand more recently Lifetime’s freshman series You, Shay Mitchell has carved out a successful career on television. With The Possession of Hannah Grace, Mitchell is front and center as Megan Reed, a woman who works at a morgue.
In the trailer, Megan believes that “when you die, you die,” but what happens when a dead lady (Kirby Johnson) was the subject of an exorcism? Apparently, some corpses still have a little life in them, and Megan will soon find out that working the graveyard shift may eventually put you six feet under!! Stana Katic (Bones) and Grey Damon (Aquarius) round out the ensemble. The trailer suggests the tale may have its share of jump scares, but the final moments of the clip show that the film also has the chance of being absolutely terrifying!
The Possession of Hannah Grace opens nationwide November 30.
Ansel Elgort’s charismatic performance in Baby Driver was one of 2017’s cinematic highlights, and this time out he’s delving into the psychological thriller genre in Jonathan. Elgort plays two brothers who live completely separate existences all within the same body (one person spends his waking hours during the day and the other is conscious during the evening). Their unique dynamic takes a turn for the worse after they become involved with the same woman (The Bad Batch’sSuki Waterhouse). With its blend of sci-fi and suspense elements, Jonathanhas the makings of a solid and compelling tale.
The picture, which co-stars Patricia Clarkson (The Bookshop), marks the feature writing and directing debut of Bill Oliver. Check out the trailer below and tell us what you think!
Melissa McCarthy trades in the humor for drama in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, as she plays late author Lee Israel (the picture is based on her memoir). Israel carved out a successful career as a writer, but when her career started to wane and the proverbial writing jobs started to dry up, she became a literary forger. The project is directed by Marielle Heller, who received acclaim back in 2015 for her debut feature The Diary of a Teenage Girl.
McCarthy hopes Israel’s story will have a resounding effect on moviegoers. “I hope (we) are reminded that the people that we pass all the time on the street that we don’t notice and that seem invisible maybe (we) should look up and actually see them,” said McCarthy. “You don’t know when they’re amazingly talented or just needs someone to see them. I think everybody needs to be seen by someone.”
Click on the media bar to hear the actress talk about Israel’s career as a writer and her friendship with Jack Hock (played by Richard E. Grant):
Can You Ever Forgive Me? opens in select theaters October 19.
Sara Paxton (The Innkeepers, Aquamarine) co-stars with Hugh Jackman in director Jason Reitman’sThe Front Runner. The political drama centers on Senator Gary Hart (Jackman), a rising politician who was favored to receive the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until his affair with Donna Rice (Paxton) was exposed. Reitman received acclaim earlier this year with Tully(both Mackenzie Davis and Charlize Theron delivered excellent work), and releasing two first rate films in a year would definitely be a feather in his cap.
For Paxton, her road to The Front Runner began in synchronistic fashion. “A year before I got the script, I had been listening to this podcast in my car while I was driving and the story was about Gary Hart and Donna Rice and the whole scandal,” said Paxton. “I was like ‘this is a fascinating story, why didn’t I know about this? Why aren’t more people talking about this?’ And then when I got the script a year later, I was so excited.”
Click on the media bar to hear Paxton talk about the relevance behind The Front Runner:
When the X-Men saga continues next summer, it will focus on Sophie Turner’s character, Jean Grey, and her alter ego, Phoenix. Dark Phoenix finds the team having to make some difficult decisions when Jean Grey starts to acquire dangerous dark powers. Turner told us about the meeting with director Simon Kinberg when she found out she’d be at the center of the new movie’s storyline. (Click on the media bar below to hear Sophie Turner)
