Zachary Levi is suiting up again in “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” this time taking on a trio of villains played by Dame Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler.
“Extra’s” Terri Seymour spoke with Levi about going head-to-head with Mirren and an injury she suffered during filming.
Of their fight sequence, Zachary noted that it “doesn’t really get cooler than that,” adding, “We beat the crap out of each other and she was so about it.”
That massive brawl lead to Helen injuring her pinky — but nobody knew about it until recently!
Zachary commented, “I found out with the rest of the world when she was on ‘Graham Norton,’ so I had no idea this was even happening. But she’s such a trouper. She just kept pushing right through it.”
Zachary praised Helen, saying, “She’s everything you want her to be, she’s everything you think, everything you think she could be and what you, you hope that she’s gonna be. And then some, really… She’s a dame, but doesn’t throw that around, she’s just super chill and cool and grounded and humble and collaborative and brings such a grace and a calming presence wherever she goes… You just feel like you’re in really safe, good hands with her.”
As for returning to the “Shazam” world as Shazam aka Billy Batson, Levi commented, “It’s so great. I was so grateful and so blessed that I got the job to begin with in the first one. We had so much fun making the first one and are so grateful for everyone who went out and saw the movie both in the theaters and then later, and supported us and have continued to support me… The fact that we got a sequel is just such a huge win, and I’m really grateful that we get to run this back, that I get to play this character more because it’s so fun.”
In the new movie, Levi’s Shazam is feeling like a fraud, which he said was fun for him to play. He said, “It doesn’t take much to tap into one’s own imposter syndrome… As an actor, I don’t know, you’re always kind of wondering, ‘Is this good, Am I not? Do people enjoy this?’ I go and try and find that and recognize that Billy, like everybody else, is trying to find his place in the world and wants to be the best brother and the best son and the best leader and all these things that he can be… It’s fun being able to kind of tap into more human moments like that.”
If there is a third “Shazam!” movie, where would he like it to go?
Zachary answered, “I would like to see the Shazamily taking on the undead, like hordes of the undead that are just coming at them. I think that would be fun.”He went on, “With these movies, you gotta have a villain… It’s tough,, though because you don’t want to make it, you know, regular human beings, you don’t wanna be going and killing a bunch of human beings, or whatever. Like, who can you lay waste to that as the audience, you’re not totally, like, you know, alienating everybody? And that’s why oftentimes you have aliens or you have robots or you have things like that, but I’ve never seen the undead. I really want to see that.”
As for who could play the next baddie, Levi suggested a British actor. He pointed out, “The Brits always play good foils. You know, it’s ‘Star Wars,’ you guys are always the bad guys, so I don’t know. I haven’t really got so far as to who that character who would play that character would be but I think in a general premise, I think zombies would be a lot of fun to kill.”
Levi isn’t sure when a third movie could come out, noting, “We gotta go tell people to watch this one.” He added that it’s up to the bosses to determine the future of the franchise.
Could Shazam appear in any other upcoming movies? Zachary played coy, saying, “I don’t know. Way above my pay grade.”
Regardless of who he is killing, Zachary has to be in Shazam shape. Of his workout routine for the second movie, he dished, “I mean, the first time was a little more intense because I had to put on weight that I had never really had before. I was always about 200 lbs. most of my life… and I put on about 20 more lbs. for the first film. Then I just tried to maintain that as best I could, but that still requires, you know, 45 days in the gym and 4,000, 5,000 calories a day, which is really the worst part of the whole deal.”Along with working out, Levi ate “boring calories,” like chicken and broccoli.
Zachary loves to challenge himself, so what was the most challenging part of the movie? He answered, “The most challenging part of this movie was the harness work. Every time you’re flying, you have to wear these incredibly tight harnesses that might as well just be diapers that are torture diapers, basically. That’s what they are and, so, those suck and they hurt a lot and they chafe and they bruise and they cut and they do all these things.”
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is in theaters March 17.
YouTube link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVAS5-HelDY
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Category: Film
Categories
HUDSON, AMERICA
By Miv Evans
The stories of the teenagers featured in this documentary are all compelling but, unfortunately, the power of their material is never fully ignited. What could have been a ‘docbuster’ is instead an interesting ride, but interesting enough to pique audience curiosity to make them want more. As this is more than most films achieve, it makes HUDSON, AMERICA a movie to watch.
The filmmakers follow six first-generation Gen-Z Bangladeshi immigrant students over a six-year period. The first interviews take place in 2016, just after the teenagers have graduated from high school and before they leave the safety of their insular Muslim community.
The filmmakers continue interviewing the students until 2022, but it seems however far these youngsters travel, they can never escape from the constraints of their heritage.
One of the first people we meet is a teenager who’s in a serious relationship with an all- American girl. In his 2016 interview, he has no doubts as to where his life is heading, so it’s possibly as much of a surprise to him as it is to us that he U-turned of his own volition.
It’s an intriguing switch but, unfortunately, the details of his metamorphosis are never shared. This is not only a loss for the film, but also a lost opportunity for this charismatic young man to open a million pairs of eyes.
Another fascinating character is a self-appointed mentor who presents herself as mundane but, behind that silky hijab, loiters America’s very own Joan of Arc. We meet her briefly and then the story fast forwards to a societal tsunami of this young lady’s making.
Unfortunately, the audience never learns how this quiet revolutionary caused the furor that turned her into a persona non grata. If she’d been encouraged to share her story, a layer of her mysterious culture would have undoubted been laid bare.
A lot of themes are covered in this film. Religion and family pressures have clear connections to the subjects’ ethnicity, but when the story strays into #MeToo territory, politics and even 9/11, it becomes confusing.
Perhaps if Joan of Arc had been our narrator, she could have stitched all those threads together and given us a tantalizing look into a world to which she is inextricably bound.
Fortunately, the subjects of this film are on the cusp of their lives, so there’s time for more interviews that will hopefully include the fallout from Hudson, America – Part 1.
Watch the trailer here –
Produced by 18 Street Productions
Directors
Producer
Composers
Cinematographer
Categories
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE
Warp into the new official trailer for THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE.
#SuperMarioMovie is in theaters April 7.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Only In Theaters April 7, 2023
Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | #SuperMarioMovie
From Nintendo and Illumination comes a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros.
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
The film is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. The film will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo and released worldwide by Universal Pictures.
Genre: Action-Comedy
Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Sebastian Maniscalco
Screenplay: Matthew Fogel
Directors: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic
Producers: Chris Meledandri, Shigeru Miyamoto
Young Actor Jahleel Kamara Set to Star in “Shadow Force”
Appearing Alongside Kerry Washington, Omar Sy and Others in Upcoming Lionsgate Action-Thriller Now Filming
(Photo Rowena Husbands)
(New York, NY) It was recently announced that impressive young actor Jahleel Kamara, of Adunni Rose Talent Agency, will be starring in Lionsgate’s upcoming action-thriller Shadow Force, which has commenced production in Colombia. The studio further announced that Mark Strong, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III, Natalia Reyes, Yoson An, Ed Quinn, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Cliff “Method Man” Smith will also star, alongside Kerry Washington and Omar Sy in the film, which is being directed by Joe Carnahan.
In Shadow Force, Kyrah (Washington) and Isaac (Sy) were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group, called Shadow Force. They broke the rules by falling in love, and in order to protect their son, they went underground. With a large bounty on their heads, and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, one family’s fight becomes all-out war.
Jahleel, age 6, has been acting for two years. His credits include Disney+’s “Rise,” a recurring role on ABC’s “Manifest,” the Sundance feature film Nanny, BET+’s B Boy Blues, ABC/Hulu’s “Bammas,” and Amazon Prime’s “Harlem.”
Categories
The Fabelmans
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The Fabelmans – In Select Theaters November 11, everywhere November 23
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Directed by Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans is written by Spielberg and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America, Caroline, or Change), who has earned Oscar® nominations for his screenplays for Spielberg’s Lincoln and Munich. The film is produced by three-time Oscar® nominee Kristie Macosko Krieger p.g.a. (West Side Story, The Post), Steven Spielberg p.g.a. and Tony Kushner p.g.a. The film is executive produced by Carla Raij (Maestro, co-producer West Side Story) and Josh McLaglen (Free Guy, Logan).
The film stars Gabriel LaBelle (The Predator, American Gigolo series) as 16-year-old aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman; four-time Academy Award® nominee Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn) as his artistic mother, Mitzi; Paul Dano (The Batman, There Will Be Blood) as his successful, scientific father, Burt; Seth Rogen (Steve Jobs, An American Pickle) as Bennie Loewy, Burt’s best friend and honorary “uncle” to the Fabelman children, and Academy Award® nominee Judd Hirsch (Uncut Gems, Ordinary People) as Mitzi’s Uncle Boris.
The ensemble cast includes Oscar® nominee Jeannie Berlin (The Heartbreak Kid, Inherent Vice) as Sammy’s paternal grandmother, Hadassah Fabelman; Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, 13 Hours) as Sammy’s sister Reggie; Robin Bartlett (Moonstruck, Lean on Me) as Sammy’s maternal grandmother Tina Schildkraut and Keeley Karsten (Hunters, Evil Lives Here) as Sammy’s sister Natalie.
The music is by five-time Academy Award® winner John Williams (Schindler’s List, Jaws), the costume designer is two-time Oscar® winner Mark Bridges (The Artist, Phantom Thread) and the production designer is two-time Oscar® winner Rick Carter (Lincoln, Avatar). The Fabelmans is edited by three-time Academy Award® winner Michael Kahn ace (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List) and Sarah Broshar (West Side Story, The Post). The film’s director of photography is two-time Academy Award® winner Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan).
Genre: Drama
Cast: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Gabriel LaBelle, Jeannie Berlin, Julia Butters, Robin Bartlett, Keeley Karsten and Judd Hirsch
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by: Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
Produced by: Kristie Macosko Krieger p.g.a., Steven Spielberg p.g.a., Tony Kushner p.g.a.
Executive Producers: Carla Raij, Josh McLaglen
Posted by Entertainment Magazine
By Miv Evans
Downfall is a documentary about the two Boeing airplanes that crashed out of the sky four months apart. There was an investigation, but Big Air has Big Pockets and the cover-up was slick, or so they thought. Enter Rory Kennedy, veteran documentarian, looking for human injustice. Enter any US corporation. This time it’s Boeing.
The airline giant began life in 1916 Seattle. Over the next five decades, it became the gold standard for flying. Its unerring commitment to passengers’ safety paid off. A spectacular success story. That is, until 1997, when the airline was purchased by McDonnel Douglas. They decided to take their new acquisition in a different direction, promptly transferring Boeing’s commitment to the shareholders. Everyone and everything got swept up in the change.
Prototypes are expensive, so innovation no longer featured on Boeing’s To Do List. Execs preferred to spend their days in the Board Room, finding ways to cut staff benefits. Whilst they were preoccupied, Europe’s Airbus quietly doubled its order book, supplying the world with bigger, better and faster, at Boeing’s expense. Open-mouthed execs looked on in disbelief. But far from realizing the error of their ways, they doubled down.
THE DO-OVER
Try to imagine installing the engine from a 12-carriage train into a Honda hatchback. Adjustments would have to be made to, well, everything, including the actual body size, but it would still be a Honda hatchback. This means its launch wouldn’t be delayed by expensive testing and, God forbid, teaching people how to drive it. Boeing’s hatchback was the same model that made its debut in the 60s. They ‘redesigned’ it and called it the 737 Max.
THE TRAGEDY
A total of 346 people died in the Indonesian and Ethiopian crashes. With such a horrific body count, not even the lobbyists could bribe their way out of an inquiry. When the time came, some of the ‘crash families’ travelled to Washington, seeking answers. But when they got there, not only were answers sparse, but they got told they couldn’t bring their placards into the Hearing. The placards were photographs of their dead loved ones.
THE TABLEAUX
Clearly, Washington has no respect for the bereaved and doesn’t care who knows it. Why would they? People turning up in droves might have an effect in Europe, where governments fear the people, but in the US, the people fear the government. And that’s why the stench emanating from the Boeing execs drifted over to the Federal Aviation Administration staff, who certified the plane. Big Government and Big Air make quite a team.
Don’t get on a Boeing without watching this film!
Streaming on Netflix Feb. 18, 2022
Watch the trailer
Directed by Rory Kennedy
Produced by Moxie Films
Premiered at Sundance Film Festival Jan. 2022
Posted by Entertainment Magazine
Categories
Free Chol Soo Lee
By Miv Evans
This documentary tells the story of a young Korean immigrant who is plucked off the lawless streets of Chinatown by a justice system that shows no justice. It’s a David and Goliath tale but this time, David has no sling until the battle is over. As well as shining a painful spotlight on the plight of child immigrants, it also highlights the searing inequities of life in America in general. It’s definitely not pretty.
Chol Soo is born in the crossfire of the Korean war to a single mother. When she marries an American, she abandons both her land and her child. 12 years later, and newly divorced, she swoops back in and takes Chol Soo to live in a country he’s never even heard of. He’s isolated both in school and in his neighborhood. His mother beats him daily, simply because she can. Chol Soo often runs away and, as time goes by, he stops going back home at all, and drifts onto the streets that are ruled by violent gangs.
By association and a minor rap sheet, he comes to the attention of the local police. And when they need a fall guy for a major crime, he’s their victim of choice. Despite evidence to the contrary, 20 year-old Chol Soo is convicted of murder and handed a life sentence. He undoubtedly would have stayed there had it not been for the fortitude of an intrepid investigate journalist.
K.W. Lee was a Korean reporter when he came across Chol Soo’s case. He realized a grave injustice had been done, and in an attempt to highlight the young man’s plight, Lee turned to the Korean community for support. And support him they did. Not only did they fight for justice, but they inspired a whole generation of Pan Asian American activists. They even wrote a song, ‘The Ballad of Chol Soo Lee’ that filled the airwaves for months. The charismatic young Korean became the symbol of their cause.
With so much publicity, Chol Soo’s murder conviction was eventually revisited. It could be assumed that the result of this retrial is where the story ends but, in fact, this is not the case.
Chol Soo’s saviors had done such a great job of alerting Chicago to his plight, by the time he returned to court, he had reached the status of an icon. That’s a high bar for anyone to balance on, but if you’re a street urchin who’s only known hardship, it’s difficult to know where to start. In other words, when Chol Soo finally got handed a sling, he had absolutely no idea what to do with it.
Premiered at Sundance 2022.
Released August 19, 2022 in UK and Ireland.
DIRECTED BY
Julie Ha & Eugene Yi
PRODUCED BY
XTR
[email protected]
www.xtr.com
DISTRIBUTED BY
MUBI
546 Bryant St
San Francisco
CA 94107
[email protected]
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Posted by Entertainment Magazine
Categories
“My Policeman”
My Policeman Opens in Theaters on October 21, 2022
and Globally on Prime Video Starting November 4, 2022**World premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11**
**European premiere at the 2022 London Film Festival on October 15**
A beautifully crafted storyof forbidden love and changing social conventions, My Policeman follows three young people—policeman Tom (Harry Styles), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin), and museum curator Patrick (David Dawson)—as they embark on an emotional journey in 1950s Britain.
Flashing forward to the 1990s, Tom (Linus Roache), Marion (Gina McKee), and Patrick (Rupert Everett) are still reeling with longing and regret, but now they have one last chance to repair the damage of the past.
Based on the book by Bethan Roberts, director Michael Grandage carves a visually transporting, heart-stopping portrait of three people caught up in the shifting tides of history, liberty, and forgiveness.
Directed by Michael Grandage
Written by Ron Nyswaner
Based on the book by Bethan Roberts
Produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Robbie Rogers, Cora Palfrey, Philip Herd
Executive Produced by Michael Grandage, Michael Riley McGrath, Caroline Levy
Starring Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson, and Rupert Everett
113 Minutes | Rated R
Posted by Entertainment Magazine
Categories
Americanish
By Miv Evans
Americanish is about three Muslim women negotiating the dating scene. This is a rich vein to tap but, unfortunately, the film is so packed with clichés, and so bereft of conflict, predictability lurks on every corner. The acting is superb but that’s never enough.
Two sisters, Sameen (Aizzah Fatima) and Maryam (Salena Qureshi) live with their mother, Khala (Lillete Dubey) in Queens, New York. Maryam is still in high school and has a crush on one of the other students. Sameen works for a marketing company and is planning to get her own place to live. Their cousin, Ameera (Shenaz Treasury), arrives from Pakistan in pursuit of a rich husband and Khala assists her niece with her quest. She makes it clear to her two daughters that it’s time for them to start similar endeavors of their own.
The first stumbling block this film crashes into is that, whenever one of the girls meet their ‘Mr. Right’, a neon light flashes This Is the One! It really is that obvious. It doesn’t help that all the ‘Mr. Rights’ are woefully undeveloped and they all simply go along with whatever is convenient for the plot. This is particularly irritating when a hot American business owner agrees to marry a woman he’s never even been on a date with. All things are possible, of course, but if the audience doesn’t get an explanation for something unlikely, it just seems silly.
While Maryam and Ameera’s storylines stick to romance, Sameen’s goes off at a tangent. New themes about race, careers and ethics emerge that have nothing to do with her own love interest or, in fact, anything else in the film. This disconnect is a signature of the writing and the reason there are three separate endings. Sitting the characters around the same table for the final scene is clunky and doesn’t solve anything.
This movie is being promoted as the ‘First Muslim RomCom Directed by an American Muslim Woman.’ With so many prolific American Muslim female directors around, this is a sweeping claim. But what can’t be disputed is that RomComs, by definition, have to be about a romance between two main characters. As Americanish is definitely not that, perhaps the filmmakers should redefine its genre as ‘RomCom-ish.’
Directed by Iman Zawahry.
Written by Iman Zawahry and Aizzah Fatima.
Produced by Roy Wol, Studio Autonomous
http://www.autonomouspictures.com
New York, NY 10001
Posted by Entertainment Magazine
Idris Elba has a lot to celebrate — his new survival thriller “Beast” opens on Friday, and he has a milestone birthday next month.
“Extra’s” Terri Seymour caught up with the star, asking him about his upcoming 50th birthday in September.
“Yeah, that’s me. On my way,” he said, adding he doesn’t have plans for a huge party.
“I’m going to chill this year,” Idris said. “I’ve done parties. My wife, I know my wife threw a massive surprise birthday party for me, it was massive. So this year, I just feel like I might just relax, have some friends and family, my kids, just chill.”
Elba insisted, “I’ve done a lot of partying. I’m really just thankful, you know, that if I, you know, turned 50, I’m… just thankful for it, you know what I mean?”
Terri asked, “Now that you’re turning 50, Idris, what’s next?”
The actor said, “I just want to do more of the same. I’m sort of really having fun being able to spread my wings, if you like… I’ve done some directing, but I’d like to do more. I love making music and, you know, I’m playing a few more instruments now and I think I’m just going to just make albums for the fun of doing it. I love to write songs and listen.”
He went on, “Just live. You know, just try and live, and I think the last three years for all of us, just [made us] realize how precious life is.”
Being the next James Bond apparently is not on his bucket list. Idris reportedly walked away from years of talks with movies bosses to take over the 007 role, but is busier than ever with several movies and business projects.
First up is “Beast,” the new thriller about a father hell-bent on saving his two teenage daughters from a massive rogue lion stalking them on a South African reserve.
Idris said, “It really is a bit of an old-school thriller… What would you do to save your children? You would do anything, right?”
He added, “We really designed it to be seen in the theater… We want people to… be immersed in the whole thing. It’s terrifying what happens, but at the same time, you know, there’s a real sort of sense of triumph at the end, because of what the family has gone through with their lives and what they’ve gone through in this, you know, incredibly scary scenario.”
He told Terri about shooting the scenes in which he battles the lion, saying, “It was this poor guy and his name is Owen, but he’s great. He’s an incredible sort of animal impersonator and stunt man, and he wore this, like, quite silly-looking gray suit with a big lion’s head… I mean, he was anything but scary but, you know, he was there to provide an eyeline. And actually, in the fight sequences with me, you know, there’s a real veracity to how the human body will, you know, sort of react to a lion striking it… And so we really paid a lot of attention to that, but it was, you know, it was it was hard work — there’s lots of physicality, lots of attention to detail.”
Idris is also busy working on the “Coupledom” podcast and the S’able Labs skin care line with his wife Sabrina.
He said, “We talked about partnerships in our ‘Coupledom’ podcasts, which isn’t just about marriages or relationships, it’s about just partners — you know, your family, your mom, your dad. We had some really incredible guests on, but then that sort of leaked us into what we’re doing with skincare.”
Idris added, “We’ve been sort of developing skincare for a long time, but it’s based on being unisex, it’s based on you and your partner sharing it, natural ingredients and starch… I know there’s a massive trend around, you know, celebrities doing things like this, but actually for us, it’s really just part of an extension of who we are as people.”
“Beast” is in theaters Friday.
For more, visit: https://extratv.com/2022/08/17/idris-elba-on-turning-50-and-what-s-next-for-his-career/
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Posted by Entertainment Magazine