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Review: “Batman vs. Superman” Is the Marvel Killing Mega Hit DC Comics Fans Wanted

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There are more Easter eggs in “Batman vs. Superman” than on the front lawn of the White House. Zack Snyder’s ultimate DC Comics movie is also the Marvel killing mega fans have longed for. After years and years of free standing “Batman” or “Superman” movies, the two super heroes finally meet, meet each other’s companions, duke it out, and come up winners.

The good news– it’s all good news– is that Ben Affleck is damn good as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Henry Cavill has improved tremendously as Superman/Clark Kent, and Gal Gadot is a welcome addition as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince.  Jesse Eisenberg is a phenomenal Lex Luthor. Jeremy Irons is a fun Alfred. This little ensemble plays well together, with a humorous pay off line toward the end of the film. (I don’t want to ruin it.)

Did I like this movie? I used to buy these comic books for 12 cents at Dubrow’s in Woodmere, Long Island. I had stacks of them. I never thought they’d amount to much beyond pre-teen entertainment. But I do think this movie is kind of my pay-off for years of devotion. It’s cool to see Lex Luthor introduce Clark Kent to Bruce Wayne. You can’t beat it.

Some of the story is a little convoluted, but that’s okay. Luthor pits the two “red capes” against each other and you’re not quite sure why they take the bait. But Gotham City and Metropolis are exploding, there’s a lot of fear and loathing, and someone has to save Lois Lane (the better than ever Amy Adams) from her latest exploits.

And what a coincidence: Bruce and Clark have something in common. Each of them had mothers named Martha.  It is a total coincidence in comic book history. But screenwriters David S. Goyer and Chris Terrio seized on this, among other things, as a nod to fans. They will approve.

We do get mini versions of the Batman and Superman backstories, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 80 years. They’re handled economically, thank god, because how many times can you see Bruce Wayne’s parents die? Snyder plants two eggs– look for them– in that context. You’ll see a movie poster for “Zorro”– the inspiration for Batman long ago, and a movie marquee for “Excalibur.” You see, in the updated story, the Waynes only died in 1981. “Excalibur,” released that year, about King Arthur’s court, is supposed to show the transition “from despair to glory,” the movie’s set designer tells me. “Zack really liked it.”

These aren’t spoilers because you can find it all on the IMDB and other places: there are tons of cameos– from a bunch of broadcasters including Charlie Rose and Anderson Cooper- to a lot of other DC heroes. Ezra Miller’s “The Flash” — who hasn’t been on screen yet– is shown, as is Jason Momoa’s Aquaman. “BvS” you see is the beginning of a long launch of DC movies a la Marvel. (I’m thriller since I am sick of “X Men” and can’t listen to Peter Parker’s whiny history once more.)

There are also nods to Robin (where is he?), and Clark’s dead father Jonathan Kent, plus a nice little plot for Ma Kent (Diane Lane, who looks way too young and gorgeous to play that part). Lawrence Fishburne is a terrific Perry White in the age of newspapers dying, and Harry Lennix is back from “Man of Steel.” So is Michael Shannon, stiffly.

Basically, “BvS” is a far better movie than Snyder and Cavill’s “Man of Steel.” I can only assume this has a lot to do with Chris Terrio, who wrote “Argo” and seems to have sharpened the character development. In “MoS” I yawned through Superman’s endless fights with General Zod. It was just repetitive. Here, there’s a movie to latch onto. And I think fans will go back and back to look for more surprises. Very entertaining.

 

 

 

Jake Gyllenhaal: Breaking Up (Things) Is Hard to Do in “Demolition”

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Jake Gyllenhaal is very handsome, even with a scraggly beard and wearing an unflattering loose t-shirt that does nothing for his “Southpaw” physique. At the Essex House in midtown Manhattan Sunday afternoon, the actor’s very blue eyes are a little puffy, possibly from too little sleep. Gyllenhaal just got back from the South by Southwest Film Festival the day before where “Demolition” was an audience award winner. (“Demolition” co-stars Naomi Watts, Judah Lewis, Heather Lind, Chris Cooper.)

“Demolition” is a terrific film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (“Dallas Buyers Club,” “Wild”) that’s been bounced around a bit. It opened the Toronto Film Festival in September 2015 in anticipation of release, then was pulled back by Fox Searchlight for release months later. This week there was a stealth premiere party as “Demolition” is set to go up against the mega release “Batman vs. Superman.”

Gyllenhaal almost seems like a superhero in what is a very different part for the actor. He displays almost no emotion on his face for most of the film. He plays a successful Wall Street analyst with seemingly everything going for him until a tragic car accident– in which he was the passenger– results in his wife’s death. He comes out of it as though in a trance and his behavior becomes increasingly bizarre and unhinged. (This is no spoiler since it happens early in the film.)

I asked Jake what it was like to play a guy who displays no emotion though most of the film?

“It’s hard as an actor. As an actor you want to emote, just out of ego,” he said. “You think expression is about emoting but really expression can be internal.”

Gyllenhaal said he loved the film because it showed a guy who made conventional choices up until his wife’s tragedy and because he wasn’t listening to himself he became lost.

“He doesn’t know what he feels because he hasn’t listened to his own feelings and then he spends an entire movie trying to figure out how to get back to himself so he can feel what he wanted to feel about the event in the first place. And so in a way it’s this crazy journey to do that but it’s also, it’s hopefully a little bit of a message like, ‘Yeah take from convention what works for you but fuck the rest and be yourself.”

The movie’s title comes from what the character’s father-in-law (Cooper) tells him about how you have to demolish something and see how it’s made before you can put it back together. Gyllenhaal’s character smashes lots of things, including taking a sledgehammer to his beautiful modernistic glass house.

So what was he thinking during that scene where his anger looked so real?

“Oh I got a lot of that,” he laughed. “That’s the part of me that, you know, is really into the political system right now, but I think there is something, there is an expression, this guy’s searching for how he feels and he doesn’t know how to express himself, so he just does it in the physical world,” he laughed, which is always a mistake,” he laughed. “It’s always a mistake because that’s a really nice house.”

 

Photo c2015 Showbiz411 by Paula Schwartz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exclusive William H. Macy Snags All Star Cast for “Krystal” Including Oscar Nominee Wife Felicity Huffman

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William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman are two of the best actors out there and really nice people, too. So I’m happy to report that Macy will direct Huffman and an all star cast in a new comedy-drama called “Krystal.” The script is by Will Aldis. The Macys start shooting in April during time off from their respective hit TV shows, “Shameless” and “American Crime.”

Macy now has Oscar winner Kathy Bates, plus John Legiuzamo, Rosario Dawson, Joe Manganiello, rapper T.I. and Nick Robinson all set.

Macy, an Oscar nominee for “Fargo,” has certainly gotten into directing. This is his third film in three years following “The Layover” and “Rudderless.” The former hasn’t been released yet. The latter got decent reviews but no marketing or distribution. It’s the tough indie world. Hoping for good things from “Krystal.”

Rupert Murdoch’s New Conservative Website Name Already Taken by Piercings Shop in South Carolina

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It’s very busy on Heat Street these days.

That’s the name of Rupert Murdoch/Fox News/NewsCorp’s new conservative website being set up former right wing British Member of Parliament Louise Mensch. (She’s married to the manager of Metallica, by the way.)

heat street storeWhether or not she is actually a mensch is beside the point. Louise– who questioned Rupert and James Murdoch in Parliament during the hacking scandal, then went to work for them (haha)–has got a bigger problem. The url (website address) for the new site belongs to a piercings and clothing shop in South Carolina.

Heat Street is parked at www.heatstreet.com and is owned by a nice man named Lloyd Mitchell. He told me this was all news to him, and that no one, including Rupert Murdoch, has deigned to call him.

Mitchell sells t shirts, sandals, and offers a variety of skin piercings. Their website proclaims: All our piercing technicians not only meet – yet surpass – the standards for training & experience in the art of body piercing. Our piercers regularly attend training & receive certifications. Our facilities are of the highest calibre & are routinely inspected for safety.

Meanwhile. I’m told about 15 full time staffers are toiling away in the NewsCorp headquarters, practicing making a new HeatStreet.com site every day. It does sound a bit like the failed NewsCorp app The Daily, which has so faded into obscure memory that I had to Google it to remember what it was called.

NewsCorp could try www.heatst.com — which sort of looks like hearst.com– or heat-street.com with a hyphen, or heatstreet.net. But I fear that most of their clicks will go to Mr. Mitchell, and that a lot of conservative right wing readers will wind up with belly button and lip studs.

PS NewsCorp/FoxNews/Murdoch flack James Kennedy writes that HeatStreet is a NewsCorp only project, and that Fox News “has no relationship to Heat Street.” (Okay. It must be fun over there, splitting all those hairs.)

Watch Ariana Grande Sing Her New Hit A Capella and Prove 2 Things: She Has a Great Voice, and It’s a Bad Song

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So here is Ariana Grande singing a capella and proving two things: 1) she has a great voice and 2) “Dangerous Woman” is a bad song, if it’s a song at all. It’s actually nothing. It sounds like Muhammad Ali reciting one of his free form poems. It’s awful. Get this girl some songs. Her voice is being wasted!

First Look: “Batman vs. Superman” Brings Out the A List, Unites Two Biggest Superheroes Ever

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This isn’t a review and there are no spoilers. We are not allowed to say much about “Batman vs. Superman” I think until Tuesday evening. But Sunday night the movie premiered at Radio City Music Hall and that big wide screen in front of lots of interesting people.

I ran into Gayle King, John Leguizamo, Zachary Levi. I saw chef Bobby Flay. It was that kind of range. I know Al Roker was there. So was Will Smith. I actually saw his son, Jaden, wearing a dress and sporting a hair style that might pick up UHF stations. Kerri Kennedy brought her family. Joe Pantoliano brought his, as well as Marcia Gay Harden’s niece, a comic trying her luck in New York.

Most of the cast was present, too: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams and Diane Lane among them. Scoot McNairy is featured in the film and came with his wife. Scoot has taken off like a rocket in “Halt and Catch Fire” and several films. He played one of the Americans escaping from Iran in “Argo,” which was directed by Affleck and written by Chris Terrio– who co-wrote the “BvS” script as well. I met Scoot when he stole “Lawless” from Brad Pitt and a big cast. Keep your eye on him.

I finally met Michael Uslan, who told me it was he who bought the film rights to Batman from DC Comics in 1979. He’s been executive producer of all the movies since then, from Michael Keaton through the new one. He’s very thrilled that for the first time, the real creator of most of the Batman story, Bill Finger, is finally given credit. He brought many from that family with him to walk the red carpet. The Fingers finally have Batman in hand.

“BvS” is full of surprises, cameos, Easter eggs, inside winks to fervent fans and experts. My guess is people will be going back and back to it to get the ones they missed. Seeing Superman meet Batman for the first time on screen, and Clark Kent meet Bruce Wayne, and Bruce meet Lois Lane, etc. For a comic book fan from way back, that’s a treat.

On screen I liked seeing senior US Senator Patrick Leahy playing a senator in a scene with Holly Hunter. (He was also in The Dark Knight Rises.) He’s a huge Batman fan, did you know that? He was also the nicest member of the Anita Hill committee. Here’s a trivia question: who’s the junior Senator from Vermont? Hint: Larry David plays him on “SNL.”

What am I allowed to say? There are two sequels, so to speak, or continuations of “Bvs.” They are each “Justice League of America” movies. There’s a Wonder Woman movie. And there are three more Batman movies with Ben Affleck. So Warner Bros. is fairly committed to this. The idea is to step up their game a la Marvel. Time Warner stockholders will be pleased, that’s all I can say for now.

Box Office: “Allegiant” Series Drops 43% from Last Year, Beaten by “Zootopia” Cartoon Animals

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There’s dysfunction in dystopia. “Allegiant,” part 3 of the “Divergent” series, dropped 43% in its opening weekend. Not good news for Lions Gate Films, which needs a hit and a blessing to go ahead with part 4– “Ascendant.” I can’t make any more jokes or puns about the title– Oh I could, really. But “Allegiant” took in an anemic $29.1 million. The prior film, “Insurgent,” had a $52 million weekend one year ago.

“Allegiant” was beated by the cartoon animals in Disney’s “Zootopia.” That film is up around $200 million domestic and almost $600 million international. It would almost be amusing now for Disney/Pixar to make their own dystopia animated film, although “Zootopia” might count as that.

Remember the story last week of “The Little Prince”? Paramount decided not to release it, even though it’s made $81 million around the world? Well, Netflix announced they’d take it. Meanwhile, the owner of the film, Canada’s EOne, quietly put “The Little Prince” into a few theatres around the country and did very well. No promotion, nothing. If they start running ads, they could have a hit.

Keep refreshing for more box office news…

Michael Jackson’s Father, Joseph, Thanks His Son’s Estate for Selling Sony-Beatles Catalog

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No one asked him, but Joseph Jackson has sent a public Thank You note to Michael Jackson’s executors. The reason? They sold Michael’s part of Sony/ATV Music and the Beatles catalog back to Sony for $750 million. Joe no doubt read that there’s a $733 lump sum payout on March 31st. He’s probably hoping for a taste. I love how he adds “my wife Katherine and myself”– they haven’t lived together for years, he has an illegitimate daughter, she’s had divorce papers drawn up several times.

I missed Joseph Jackson. At 87, he’s been recuperating from strokes and a heart attack he had in Brazil on his birthday last year after taking sex drugs in the hopes of getting some action. Am I being too hard on him? Yeah, he beat those kids, particularly Michael. If Michael were alive, the catalog would still not be sold, and Joe wouldn’t be getting money from him. Remember, this is the man who brought a Michael Jackson imitator with him to the BET Awards four days after Michael died.

Here’s his statement:

On behalf of my wife Katherine and myself, I would like to personally thank the Executors of my Son’s Estate for a Job well done. Selling the Music catalog at the high end of today’s Market value of over 750 Million US Dollars, has secured many times over the financial future of Michael’s children: Prince, Paris and Blanket.

It is every fathers dream to secure the financial well being of his children. That is what drove me to work 2 jobs in my youth while struggling to make it through the Entertainment world.

Today, although my son Michael Joseph Jackson is no longer with us, I know he is looking down on his children from heaven as a proud father would, knowing he has secured a lifetime financial foundation for each of them.

Friday Box Office: “Allegiant” Weekend $20 Mil Lower than Previous Chapters of “Divergent”

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Well, it all came true last night. “Allegiant” debuted with $11.9 million. The weekend projection is $30 million. If they’re lucky.

The last chapter, “Insurgent,” had a $52 million opening weekend. The original film, “Divergent,” came in at $54 million.

Keep this in mind: Last year’s “Insurgent” made $21.1 million on its Friday night. Versus $11.9 million last night. If the audience from last year didn’t come back last night, they ain’t coming back. They’ve moved on. Unless they got a group rate for tonight.

There’s actually another chapter of this stuff coming next year. It’s called “Ascendant.” I’d call it “Fuhgeddaboutit.” Why bother? Put it on Netflix. Who needs this tsuris?

More: “The Brothers Grimsby” will be at least a $100 million write down for Sony/Columbia. It’s just a total disaster. They’ll barely cross $5 million tomorrow. And then slip away into the abyss. Sacha Baron Cohen can do a lot better than this. And he will. But Sony needs a hit.

Gawker Changed Its Corporate Name Two Weeks Ago, Still Hasn’t Updated Site Since Hulk Hogan Decision

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Gawker Media changed its corporate name in the UK on March 4th, very quietly. They’re now known as Greenmount Creek Ltd. The executive directors are not Nick Denton, but his sister Eva Rebecca Denton and Mr Adrian Wilhelm Weinbrecht, a London based photographer.

gawkerAdditionally, as of 8:30am, 1:35pm, since last night’s jury decision of $115 million in the Hulk Hogan case, none of the Gawker sites have updated any news or posted a recap of what’s happened. Only Deadspin reported on NCAA basketball at 1am Eastern. Gawker has actually posted two dull items this morning.

In January, Gawker sold a minority stake in their company to Columbus Nova Technology Partners, a Silicon Valley and New York firm, in anticipation of a rough ride at the Hulk Hogan trial. Among the other entities owned by Columbus Nova are the Rhapsody Music Service and Guitar Hero. They are the US based affiliate of Renova Group, described on Wikipedia as “one of the largest Russian strategic investors in the metallurgical, oil, machine engineering, mining, chemical, construction, housing, utilities and financial sectors.”