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Arsenal Trailer


Mikey and JP Lindel are two brothers who have always been close. They only had each other's support as they were growing up, and now JP has come out of the other side with his own construction company, while Mikey has taken the more dangerous path of violent gang life. JP wants to get Mikey out of his mobster world and get him a respectable job, but he knows that all he can do is be there for him when it comes down to it. It doesn't mean that he's accepting of Mikey's lifestyle, however - when a mutual friend (plain clothes detectice Sal) informs him that Mikey's been dealing cocaine, he's angry and confronts him, but he has no idea just how bad the situation is. When crime boss Eddie King gets him men to kidnap Mikey's teenage daughter Alexis, JP agrees to team up with Mikey to hunt down the people who are tormenting them and kill them all one by one.

Continue: Arsenal Trailer

'Maps To The Stars' May Finally Earn Moore An Oscar


Julianne Moore Mia Wasikowska John Cusack Robert Pattinson

Julianne Moore is one of the greatest actresses never to have won an Oscar, even though she's been nominated four times and has a mantle full of SAG statuettes, Emmys, Golden Globes and critics' group awards.

Julianne Moore appears opposite Mia Wasikowska in 'Maps To The Stars'
Julianne Moore appears opposite Mia Wasikowska in 'Maps To The Stars'

But that could change this year with her Cannes-winning performance in David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars, a viciously astute attack on the myth of the Hollywood dream. Even the critics who hated the film were mesmerised by Moore's performance as a middle-aged actress desperately clinging to her fame.

Continue reading: 'Maps To The Stars' May Finally Earn Moore An Oscar

'The Butler' Gives Competitors The Brush-Off In First Weekend Success


Forest Whitaker Lee Daniels Oprah Winfrey Alan Rickman Jane Fonda John Cusack Robin Williams

The Butler has outperformed all of its rivals upon its first weekend, having been released on 16th August to much nodding from critics and $25 million (£15.9m) earned. The film showcases an all-star cast, who portray a period of dramatic social upheaval in America, set around the life of the not-entirely-fictional butler, Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker).

The Butler Whitehouse
A Shot From The Movie Showing The Kennedys Meeting The Whitehouse's Staff.

Gaines serves as a butler in the White House for 34 years and eight presidents and uses his unique position to witness important presidential discussions of national civil rights issues as the historical events play out. The movie charts such landmark events as Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, the Vietnam war, the Nixon resignation, Obama's presidential campaign and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Gaines' character is based upon the life of Eugene Allen who worked in the White House from 1952 to 1986.

Continue reading: 'The Butler' Gives Competitors The Brush-Off In First Weekend Success

'Lee Daniels' The Butler' Beats 'Kick-Ass 2' And 'Jobs' In US Weekend Box Office


Oprah Winfrey Forest Whitaker Terrence Howard Cuba Gooding Junior Alan Rickman John Cusack James Marsden Chloe Moretz Aaron Johnson Christopher Mintz-Plasse Minka Kelly Robin Williams Jane Fonda Mariah Carey Lee Daniels

Lee Daniels' The Butler has defeated other newcomers Kick-Ass 2 and Jobs in the US Weekend Box Office. The Butler has headed straight to number one whilst Kick-Ass 2 and Jobs have respectively gained 4th and 7th place.

Forest WhitakerForest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey who star in Lee Daniels' The Butler as Cecil and Gloria Gaines at the L.A. premiere.

The Butler has made $25 million in its opening weekend and has gained critical praise. The historical epic is inspired by the true story of Cecil Gaines, a black butler who whilst serving at the White House, saw the offices of eight presidents. His life and family form a touchstone for the audience when addressing such historical events as the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of Black Power in the US. 

Continue reading: 'Lee Daniels' The Butler' Beats 'Kick-Ass 2' And 'Jobs' In US Weekend Box Office

Lee Daniels' The Butler Is "Deeply Affecting And Oscar Bait"


Forest Whitaker Oprah Winfrey Alan Rickman Minka Kelly Jane Fonda John Cusack Robin Williams James Marsden

Lee Daniels' The Butler is released today in US cinemas. Early reviews of the historical drama have been mixed although most suggest the film is definitely worth a watch.

Forest Whitaker and Oprah WinfreyForest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey at the L.A. premiere of The Butler.

The film has been praised by critics for being "both deeply affecting and blatant Oscar bait", according to Claudia Puig of USA Today. Whilst Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal wrote in his review "fiction merges with fact, and finally soars."

Continue reading: Lee Daniels' The Butler Is "Deeply Affecting And Oscar Bait"

A Week In Movies: Ford Joins The Expendables, Thor Strikes Back, And Get Ready For The Biopics


Harrison Ford Sylvester Stallone Bruce Willis Chris Hemsworth Natalie Portman Tom Hiddleston Anthony Hopkins Idris Elba Stellan Skarsgard Naomi Watts Naveen Andrews Ashton Kutcher Lee Daniels Forest Whitaker Jane Fonda Oprah Winfrey John Cusack Terrence Howard Ricky Gervais Ty Burrell Tina Fey

Harrison Ford

The big news this week was that Harrison Ford will join the Expendables for their third film adventure. Sylvester Stallone tweeted the announcement, then went on to mention that Bruce Willis won't be around this time, apparently because he asked for too much money. Stallone was also caught on camera poking fun at Arnold Schwarzenegger's "big ego". Before they re-team for the next Expendables movie, they're costarring in the prison-break thriller Escape Plan. Watch Sly talking about Arnie at Comic Con here.

The next big superhero blockbuster will be Thor: The Dark World, and we got a more detailed look at the film in a new trailer this week. Pretty much everyone is back, including Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba and Stellan Skarsgard. The movie looks like a huge-scale action adventure with a sense of humour about it. It opens in October. Watch the trailer for Thor: The Dark World here.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Ford Joins The Expendables, Thor Strikes Back, And Get Ready For The Biopics

Lee Daniel's 'The Butler' Is A Clear Oscar Contender [Stills + Clips]


Forest Whitaker Oprah Winfrey Lee Daniels Mariah Carey Jane Fonda John Cusack Alan Rickman Robin Williams

Hollywood and the film industry seem more confident in taking on the issue of slavery in a cinematic context. Last year saw Django Unchained and Lincoln prove popular, and this year will see more films of that ilk, including Lee Daniels' The Butler, which enjoyed its premiere last night (Monday, Aug 5) in New York.

Forest WhitakerWhitaker is The Butler

The film follows Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) – an African-American White House butler who, due to his close proximity, was privy to many of the political events that helped shaped contemporary America. The film is based on the real-life account of Eugene Allen.

Continue reading: Lee Daniel's 'The Butler' Is A Clear Oscar Contender [Stills + Clips]

The Butler - Clips


Cecil Gaines is a modest and dedicated butler at the White House who manages to make for himself a respectable career despite his underprivileged upbringing and cotton farm roots. Starting out as a regular kitchen worker, Cecil soon proves himself to be extremely proficient and works his way up to be the head butler for eight different US presidents. Some of them prove to be discriminatory, treating Cecil with little respect and holding massively differing views to him, but he always remains polite and does everything within his power to care for his employers while keeping any top secret information that he might hear firmly to himself. Meanwhile, he struggles at home with his son; a Black Panther with aggressive views on racial equality who is less than grateful to have a father working for the people that he believes are causing racial oppression. 

This story of loyalty and unconditional dedication is based on the true story of Eugene Allen; a butler who similarly lived through years of racial inequality before finally seeing, in his retirement, the election of the first black President, Barack Obama. His story was documented in the article 'A Butler Well Served by This Election' written by Wil Haygood. 'The Butler' has been directed by Lee Daniels ('The Paperboy', 'Precious', 'Shadowboxer') and co-written by Danny Strong ('Game Change', 'Recount') and will be released in the US on August 16th 2013.

Click here to read The Butler Movie Review

The Frozen Ground Trailer


Jack Halcombe is an Alaskan State Trooper who determinedly sets out to find a serial killer after several bodies of young girls show up apparently murdered. When he discovers a frightened young girl hiding away bound with handcuffs, he realises that she is their key to finding the killer being the only one to have managed to escape from his clutches. However, her information is in doubt given the fact that she is a prostitute and refused a polygraph. When he does find the suspect, it is Robert Hansen; an experience hunter and a bakery worker whose respected status leads many investigators to cross him off their list. Halcombe is unwavering in his suspicions, however, and sets out to gather solid evidence that Hansen is their man.

Continue: The Frozen Ground Trailer

'The Frozen Ground': New Nicolas Cage Crime Movie Released To Mixed Reviews [Trailer]


Nicolas Cage Vanessa Hudgens John Cusack Radha Mitchell 50 Cent

Upcoming crime thriller The Frozen Ground is based on true events that culminated in a horrific serial killer being jailed to 461 years in prison in 1984 after the murder of 17 women. An adaptation of a chilling real-life story, the film starts with prostitute Cindy (Vanessa Hudgens) who narrowly escapes the clutches of serial killer and sexual predator Robert Hansen (John Cusack) but her story is disbelieved by the authorities. It is only when State Trooper Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) becomes involved in the investigation that Cindy's account is investigated and Hansen is tracked down.

The Frozen Ground
Nicolas Cage To Star As State Trooper Jack Halcombe Who Tries To Solve The Crimes.

The Telegraph's Tim Robey disparages the film as unentertaining whilst badly and confusingly constructed yet does admit that former Disney teen princess Hudgens makes a "solid contribution" to the narrative, saying "she's tough and committed in ways that often come to the rescue." Cusack's killer is painted as a 2D villain, serving up "a listless banality-of-evil cipher instead of a character." The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw rates the film a little higher however, choosing to praise all three lead actor's performances as "solid" and Digital Spy attests - Cage's performance is "subtly" intense whilst the script is described as "smartly written." However, DS does admit that The Frozen Ground "misses the mark" with unconvincing roles from Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Radha Mitchell, playing Cindy's pimp and Halcombe's wife respectively.

Continue reading: 'The Frozen Ground': New Nicolas Cage Crime Movie Released To Mixed Reviews [Trailer]

The Frozen Ground Review


OK

Even though this crime thriller is based on a true story, it never feels remotely believable. The problem is that writer-director Walker tries far too hard to force the real events into a standard movie structure, which leaves gaping plot holes everywhere we look. Still, it's a solidly made film, with a snappy pace, strong performances and beefy direction that holds our attention.

It's set in 1983 Anchorage, Alaska, where the cops struggle to believe the story told to them by 17-year-old prostitute Cindy (Hudgens): she claims to have been kidnapped, tortured and raped, barely escaping with her life, and she identifies upstanding citizen Robert (Cusack) as her would-be killer. With the police refusing to follow up on her statement, State Trooper Jack (Cage) looks into it and discovers similarities in the cases of several other missing girls. And even though his out-of-hours investigation strains his marriage to Allie (Mitchell), he is doggedly determined to find the proof that will put Robert behind bars.

Right at the beginning we have a nagging question that's never answered: why do the police discount the victim's account, especially as it's accompanied by physical evidence? And the screenplay brushes past other big issues along the way, making us think that this might be the most inept police squad in the world. Although we never doubt for a second that Jack will crack the case, even though the script continually throws in random movie cliches from the characters' pasts in an attempt to ramp up the emotional stakes. It also randomly places Cindy in the middle of an under-developed war between two pimps (Jackson and Henke).

Continue reading: The Frozen Ground Review

Zach Braff To Star In Woody Allen's 'Bullets Over Broadway'


Zach Braff Woody Allen John Cusack Vincent Pastore

Zach Braff has been cast in a Broadway adaptation of Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway. Set in the 1920's, an apparently fashionable time if popular culture's current obsession with The Great Gatsby and the most recent series of Downton Abbey is anything to go by, the plot centres around a struggling playwright's dealing with the mob.

Zach Braff
Zach Braff at the premiere of Ice Man.

The 1994 film of Bullets Over Broadway saw struggling playwright David (played by John Cusack) forced to choose a talentless actress to star in his play. The actress is the girlfriend of a mobster who has offered, in exchange for her opportunity to tread the boards, to finance David's play.

Continue reading: Zach Braff To Star In Woody Allen's 'Bullets Over Broadway'

The Numbers Station Review


Weak

There's an interesting, timely idea in this espionage thriller, as well as adept leading actors who are able to make the most of the script's dry wit. But the film is ultimately sabotaged by a clearly low budget and lacklustre direction that fails to connect the dots of the story. Even with some clever touches, the plot is resolutely fuzzy, and since it never comes into clear focus it's difficult for us to care what happens.

The title refers to radio stations governments have used for decades to broadcast strings of numbers that are decoded by covert field operatives. One of these agents is Emerson (Cusack), whose job is to clean up messes around America. But after a nasty incident he's having second thoughts about his career, so his boss (Cunningham) reassigns him to a numbers station in rural England, where his task is to keep an eye on civilian cryptologist Katherine (Akerman). Then the station is suddenly compromised, leaving Emerson and Katherine locked inside while a gang of baddies tries to break in.

Director Barfoed gives the movie a nicely haunted quality that builds a strong sense of menace. Cusack adds his trademark cynicism to the mix as a man who resorts to brittle humour to mask his torment over the death of a teen girl on an earlier mission, made worse by the fact that Katherine is now a "loose end" here. And so is he, for that matter. Akerman is a superb foil for him, giving Katherine a spiky braininess that catches Emerson off guard: if he's falling for her, he can't kill her. Can he? These themes are thoroughly involving, even if the script never goes anywhere with them.

Continue reading: The Numbers Station Review

Forest Whitaker As 'The Butler' Could Be A Recipe For Success [Trailer]


Forest Whitaker Lee Daniels Robin Williams John Cusack James Marsden Liev Schreiber Alan Rickman Cuba Gooding Junior David Oyelowo Oprah Winfrey

The first trailer for 'Precious' director Lee Daniels' new movie The Butler starring Forest Whitaker has rolled out online. It has always been assumed that Harvey Weinstein believes the film is one of his better chances of tasting Oscars success this season and the trailer certainly appears to confirm that. It stars Whitaker as Eugene Allen, the man who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler. It's over-the-top, patriotic and, well, Oscar bait.

In the mould as The King's Speech and The Iron Lady, the historical biopic is set for release on October 18th - just in time to be wafted under the nose of the Academy. As well as Whitaker returning to a leading role, 'The Butler' boasts one of the more spectacular casts of the year, including Robin Williams (Dwight Eisenhower), John Cusack (Richard Nixon), James Marsden (JFK), Liev Schreiber (Lydon B. Johnson), Alan Rickman (Reagan), Cuba Gooding Jr (Carter Wilson). David Oyelowo (Loius Gaines) and Oprah Winfrey (Gloria Gaines) are among the supporting cast though this one appears to be set up for Whitaker.

Watch 'The Butler' Trailer!

Speaking to Indiewire last year, Daniels hinted that his movie might be a little too focused on awards, "I'm trying to keep it [The Butler] PG13 which is not easy for me. It's very un-Precious and un-Paperboy... I can't go into my bag of tricks on this one [...] I felt like I directed the film in handcuffs and a muzzle," he said.

Continue reading: Forest Whitaker As 'The Butler' Could Be A Recipe For Success [Trailer]

The Butler Trailer


Cecil Gains is a devoted White House butler who grew up on a simple cotton farm where he and other black workers were not treated with any respect by their white counterparts. From a simple kitchen worker, he rises to be top butler to eight different presidents over the course of more than 30 years. Sworn to secrecy over the goings on at the White House, he serves the likes of Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Lyndon B. Johnson with all the care that he has in spite of their differing policies and the suppression of his race across the country. He rejects his freedom fighter son's distaste at Cecil's job and never once wavers in his respect for his government. He merely stands back, silver platter in hand and watches the progression of racial equality until the day the country's first black president is finally inaugurated.  

This is a story about loyalty and commitment based on the article by Wil Haygood, 'A Butler Well Served by This Election', about Eugene Allen; a real butler who showed his devotion to his job over the course of three decades while he and his fellow black civilians went from being the underdogs to top dog as he lives to see the election of President Barack Obama. It has been directed by Lee Daniels ('The Paperboy', 'Precious', 'Shadowboxer') and co-written by Danny Strong ('Game Change', 'Recount'), and has an incredible all-star ensemble cast. 'The Butler' is set to his theatres in the US on August 16th 2013.

Click here to read The Butler Movie Review

Forest Whitaker's 'The Butler' Clearly Has Oscar Glory In Its Sights [Trailer]


Forest Whitaker John Cusack Robin Williams Oprah Winfrey Alan Rickman James Marsden Liev Schreiber David Oyelowo Harvey Weinstein Lee Daniels

The first trailer for 'Precious' director Lee Daniels' new movie The Butler starring Forest Whitaker has rolled out online and Harvey Weinstein's ambitions of taking this film all the way to the Oscars couldn't be more apparent. Whitaker stars as Eugene Allen, the man who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler.

The movie is clearly Oscar bait. Firstly, it's a typical Weinstein movie in the same mould as The King's Speech and The Iron Lady and secondly it's set for release on October 18th - just in time to be wafted under the nose of the Academy. Oh, and there's a pretty strong cast with plenty of Oscar winners and several up-and-coming stars. Robin Williams (Dwight Eisenhower), John Cusack (Richard Nixon), James Marsden (JFK), Liev Schreiber (Lydon B. Johnson), Alan Rickman (Reagan), Cuba Gooding Jr (Carter Wilson), David Oyelowo (Loius Gaines) and Oprah Winfrey (Gloria Gaines) are among the supporting cast though this one appears to be set up for Whitaker.

Continue reading: Forest Whitaker's 'The Butler' Clearly Has Oscar Glory In Its Sights [Trailer]

Has David Cronenberg Found A Muse In Robert Pattinson?


Robert Pattinson David Cronenberg Julianne Moore John Cusack Sarah Gadon

The director David Cronenberg was seemingly so smitten with his Cosmopolis stars Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon, that he’s signed them up to his next movie project, Maps to the Stars. The movie is set in Los Angeles and according to The Hollywood Reporter, focuses on the celebrity culture of the city. Julianne Moore and John Cusack also star in the movie, which will mark another positive step away from the Twilight stereotyping pitfall for Pattinson.

When he spoke to MTV about working with Cronenberg on Cosmopolis, Pattinson said that working with him was one of the first times that he really considered himself to be an actor. “I had to come to terms with that," he added about getting the chance to hit the set. "That was one of my first questions: 'What do you see in me? Why? Why? Why are you hiring me?' Cronenberg is one of those people when you're asked who you want to work with, he doesn't even come into my head. Because that's like saying, 'Want to work with Orson Welles?'"

Maps to the Stars will be Cronenberg’s fourth collaboration with Prospero Pictures and will feature a screenplay written by Bruce Wagner, the man behind Wild Palms. No official release date has been set for the movie yet. 

Continue reading: Has David Cronenberg Found A Muse In Robert Pattinson?

The Paperboy Review


Excellent

Filmmaker Daniels follows up his acclaimed hit Precious with what might be the trashiest movie in recent memory: a swampy thriller packed with desperate characters hiding grisly secrets. Daniels and his cast dive headlong into this garish world, refusing to blink as they take us to the fringes of human behaviour. It's so marvellously audacious that we feel like we need a shower after watching it.

The film takes us into the steamy backwoods of central Florida in 1969, as Miami journalist Ward (McConaughey) returns home with his black colleague Yardley (Oyelowo), who sparks whispers of racism everywhere he goes. Staying with his editor dad (Glenn) and delivery boy brother Jack (Efron), Ward is investigating the case of death row inmate Hillary (Cusack), whose trashy fiancee Charlotte (Kidman) is filing an appeal. The 20-year-old Jack is instantly smitten with the overtly sexual Charlotte, who seems happy to seduce every man she meets. And as Ward, Yardley and Jack dig deeper into the case, they get several startling surprises.

Daniels keeps the film sweaty and snarky as he delves into the story's seriously dark corners. And the actors all go along with him. The always terrific Kidman really goes for broke here, prowling through each scene and oozing raw sexuality. It's no wonder she triggers Jack's lust, and Efron plays him with a delicate balance of intelligence and naivete, underscored of course with relentless horndog desire. None of the characters are as dumb as they look, and McConaughey, Oyelowo and especially Cusack revel in playing against expectations. Each actor packs every line with attitude and insinuation, creating fascinating chemistry along the way.

Continue reading: The Paperboy Review

John Cusack Working On New Rush Limbaugh Biopic


John Cusack Rush Limbaugh

John Cusack. Exasperated John, as we call him round these parts; to quote the possibly-just-made-up-now riddle, if the character John Cusack’s playing isn’t looking completely bewildered at the situation he’s finding himself in, then was it really a John Cusack-starring film?

Anyway, there’s going to be a whole new chance for Cusack to get looking vexed, as the Seattle Times is reporting that he is to star in a film biopic of the controversial conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh. There’ll be plenty of scope for looking surprised and generally out of his depth there, then, with Limbaugh over his 30 year career coming across as a bloody-minded and single-visioned man who must constantly be surprised when discovering that others have a different viewpoint from him. It’s an interesting role to take for Cusack, given that he is an outspoken liberal; he’ll be guided in the role by Betty Thomas who is coming in as director. She has plenty of experience in this genre, having directed the Howard Stern biopic Private Parts, which was released in 1997.

Cusack’s publicist has said that the film – going under the working title Rush – isn’t a straight-up biopic. They never are. “It’s a much broader story, about how he reinvented American talk radio over the last 30 years,” she said. We can see Cusack's frown lines creeping across his forehead already.

Mr Liberal John Cusack To Produce And Star In Film About Conservative Radio Host


John Cusack

John Cusak - a staunch and outspoken liberal - is to produce and star in Rush, the working title for a film that tells the story of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, Fox reports. 

Betty Thomas, the Hollywood director in charge, has confirmed, alongside Cusack's production company, that the Con Air star will feature in the film, as well as fulfilling a production role. She also confirmed that production would start early next year. Limbaugh paints a controversial figure in the world of politics and current affairs; earlier this year, he called a Georgetown law student a "slut" and a "prostitute" on air for arguing to Democrats in Congress that health plans should pay for contraception. And just this week, he poked fun at Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for his "bromance" with Obama after Christie praised the president's response to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

It will be interesting to see how Cusack depicts the larger than life character of Limbaugh; not only are they poles apart morally and politically, they couldn't differ more physically. Cusack cuts a slim figure with dark features, while Limbaugh sports a paunch and is balding. There is no confirmation, however, that Cusack will indeed perform the main role, as his production company offered no other information on the matter. 

Continue reading: Mr Liberal John Cusack To Produce And Star In Film About Conservative Radio Host

John Cusack's Rush Limbaugh Biopic Set To Go Into Production?


John Cusack Rush Limbaugh Betty Thomas

John Cusack's Rush Limbaugh biopic has been given the green-light, according to Deadline.com. Though the project is still in its early stages, Cusack will reportedly play the US conservative talk show host in a movie directed by Betty Thomas (Private Parts).

It is thought the film will focus on the radio host's three-decade rise to prominence. His syndicated show is now the highest rated in America, with a weekly audience of 15 million listeners. The as-yet-untitled biopic won't have a partisan take on the controversial host, despite Cusack's liberal convictions. "The script would explore the rise and reinvention of American talk radio, and Limbaugh's continued influence and impact over the last three decades in that world," said a spokesman for production company True Crimes Productions.

Limbaugh hit the headlines this summer after accusing Christopher Nolan's Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises of using Tom Hardy's Bane to damage Mitt Romney's run for the Presidency. According to The Guardian, he's previously raised eyebrows by proclaiming that African Americans are "left behind" socially because they have been trained to hate the U.S. He also insists that feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to mainstream society.

Continue reading: John Cusack's Rush Limbaugh Biopic Set To Go Into Production?

John Cusack Working On Rush Limbaugh Biopic


John Cusack Rush Limbaugh Barack Obama Betty Thomas

John Cusack's production company, New Crime Productions, is currently developing a biopic about conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, said Friday (Nov 2).

Director Betty Thomas, who's set to work on the film - although it hasn’t been made clear whether she will direct - said the production company are applying the final few touches to the script and that will Cusack will star as Limbaugh. Production for the film, which has the working title of Rush, is set to begin next year, according th The Associated Press.

Although they couldn’t be any more dissimilar, with Cusack a tall, full haired liberal compared with Limbaugh’s overtly right-wing attitude and portly, balding figure being something of a mismatch, we doubt it’ll be too much of a problem once Hollywood’s finest get to work on the project.

Continue reading: John Cusack Working On Rush Limbaugh Biopic

The Paperboy Trailer


Charlotte Bless is a busty, blonde, middle-aged woman who enchants most men she meets with her looks and sexual appeal. She has fallen emphatically in love with Hillary Van Wetter, an inmate on death row accused of murdering a sheriff with whom she is regularly in correspondence with, and plans to marry him once she finds a way of getting him released. She enlists the help of two newspaper reporters to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crime and to gather evidence to prove his innocence. One of their main objections is that the judge who sentenced Wetter did not see the evidence that was presented before him in court. Whilst Charlotte is convinced that Wetter is not a bad person, young Jack Jansen is equally convinced that she doesn't really love Wetter and becomes deeply infatuated with her.

Continue: The Paperboy Trailer

The Raven Trailer


One dark night in 19th century Baltimore, a woman and her young daughter are found brutally murdered. The girl was stuffed into the chimney, while her mother's throat had been slashed. Upon inspecting the crime scene, the police are astonished to discover that the murder is exactly like a murder in a story by an unpopular citizen and struggling author, Edgar Allen Poe.

Continue: The Raven Trailer

The Contract Review


OK
How'd a reasonably-big ($25 million) budget picture starring John Cusack and Morgan Freeman and directed by twice-Oscar-nominated Bruce Beresford go absolutely nowhere? I'd never even heard of The Contract until the DVD showed up at my house. I wager you're the same... and few will even see it on home video, either.

The story begins with decent promise as Freeman is revealed to be a stellar hitman, only his cover is finally blown and the many enemies he's made over the years come after him. He escapes an elaborate assassination and runs into the wilderness, only to be apprehended (because he's in handcuffs) by a camping father (John Cusack) and his son. While the trio attempts to get back to civilization to turn Freeman in, they're pursued by the bad guys and the good guys, and they still have to deal with harsh terrain surrounding them. Beresford's setup starts strong but soon peters out and gets repetitive as Cusack faces down one impossible situation after another, but never with much finesse. It's just running around on a mountain, often in the dark: The final showdown takes place completely and absurdly without lighting and pretty much seals the movie's doom.

Continue reading: The Contract Review

1408 Review


Very Good
You do not have to read the original short story "1408," part of the longer anthology Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales, to know that the central idea comes from author Stephen King. In fact, one must assume that the movie was pitched in production meetings as "The Shining in New York." And while it's true that this cinematic take on "1408" recycles so many narrative strings tied to King's overall body of work, it somehow modifies them into a surprisingly fresh, tight and effective thriller.

Renowned travel writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack), like most characters in King's ouvere, is haunted by his own demons. Hiding behind alcohol and a refined cynicism, Enslin scours the country for legitimate haunted habitats, rating rooms on a "shiver scale." A bed-and-breakfast with good food but moderate mood gets five skulls, in his opinion. This movie, based on Enslin's most terrifying encounter, would receive a solid eight skulls.

Continue reading: 1408 Review

Con Air Review


Excellent
It wasn't necessarily obvious (or even possible to know) at the time of its 1997 release, but Jerry Bruckheimer's Con Air would represent his finest hour. Bruckheimer isn't the director, of course, but rather the rare movie producer who would claim possessive credit on almost any of his projects. Bruckheimer branches into cheesy thrillers, cheesy inspirational dramas, cheesy inspirational sports dramas, and cheesy television procedurals, but Con Air finds the super-producer munching on his bread and butter: a loaf of action movie, with melted cheese on top.

Not only that, but it's assembled using all of Bruckheimer's tried and tested techniques: Mix movie stars and indie heroes into an eclectic, slumming cast and have them act in a ludicrously high-concept scenario. (Here it is: The worst criminals in the country team up to hijack their prison transport plane! And it's up to one man to stop them!) Then spend lots of money but indulge in a cynical jokiness, and hire a director who will shoot the whole thing like it's a music video or a commercial (preferably for itself).

Continue reading: Con Air Review

Fat Man And Little Boy Review


Weak
The trouble with true stories is a subject I like to tackle. I really hit it hard with Patch Adams, which was idiotic enough to use "based on a true story" as its tag line. Likewise, I'm not going easy on Fat Man and Little Boy for the fact that it is based on fact.

Fat Man and Little Boy, for anyone who has been locked up for the past sixty years, are the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan. The movie is basically a humanization of the people who invented in, the team of crackpot physicists on the Manhattan Project (led by Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Dwight Schultz) and the military general in charge (Leslie Groves, played by Paul Newman). John Cusack plays the wunderkid of the physicists, Michael Merriman. Laura Dern plays his girlfriend, a nurse.

Continue reading: Fat Man And Little Boy Review

Breakfast With Hunter Review


Very Good
"Breakfast" for Hunter S. Thompson means a tray full of uneaten food and a large glass of ice filled with Chivas Regal.

With the meal out of the way, we can sit down to the rest of this documentary, a rough and unpolished chronicle of a few years in Thompson's life, roughly 1996-1998, during the planning and making of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Director Wayne Ewing must be great friends with the notorious writer, as he appears to have unhindered access to the minutiae of Hunter's life. In addition to the various meetings (lots of honorary dinners, lots of speeches in his honor, a handful of public appearances), we go behind the scenes -- most notably to bear witness to his squabbles with Repo Man director Alex Cox, the original director of Fear and Loathing, who wants to have a cartoon opening to the movie.

Continue reading: Breakfast With Hunter Review

Cradle Will Rock Review


Very Good

A wonderfully ambitious, old-school ensemble piece, very much in the can-do spirit of the community to which it pays homage, "Cradle Will Rock" is a politically-undertoned dramedy about theater, censorship, ambition, apprehension, oppression, Orson Welles and the Great Depression.

Written and directed by Tim Robbins -- never one to shy away from cause-fueled entertainment -- this passionate labor of love celebrates and fictionalizes a legendary moment in American theater, when the government shut down the performance of a musical produced by the Works Progress Administration -- and the actors, at the risk of losing their jobs during the bleakest economic season in U.S. history, staged it anyway in a show of inspiring solidarity.

The play was entitled "The Cradle Will Rock" and its story of a greedy industrialist taken down by the organized working man made a lot of federal bureaucrats see red -- as in communism.

Continue reading: Cradle Will Rock Review

John Cusack

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John Cusack

Date of birth

28th June, 1966

Occupation

Actor

Sex

Male

Height

1.87




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John Cusack Movies

Arsenal Trailer

Arsenal Trailer

Mikey and JP Lindel are two brothers who have always been close. They only had...

Chi-Raq Trailer

Chi-Raq Trailer

On his latest project, director Spike Lee creates an current day version of Aristophanes' ancient...

Love & Mercy Movie Review

Love & Mercy Movie Review

An unusually inventive approach brings this story to life, as the filmmakers get into the...

Dragon Blade Trailer

Dragon Blade Trailer

Tiberius is the Roman leader who has forced his way to power through corrupt and...

Love And Mercy - Featurettes Trailer

Love And Mercy - Featurettes Trailer

The cast and crew of the forthcoming Brian Wilson biopic 'Love and Mercy' discuss their...

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Love & Mercy - Teaser Trailer

Love & Mercy - Teaser Trailer

In the mid-1960s, The Beach Boys were at the top of their game. Having released...

Maps to the Stars Movie Review

Maps to the Stars Movie Review

As it explores Hollywood's inbred underbelly, this film becomes increasingly deranged and also rather dark...

Grand Piano Movie Review

Grand Piano Movie Review

Spanish director Eugenio Mira combines slick filmmaking with a dark and nasty plot as this...

Maps To The Stars Trailer

Maps To The Stars Trailer

Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) is an actress struggling with her insecurities and desperate to reprise...

Reclaim Trailer

Reclaim Trailer

Steven (Ryan Phillip) and Shannon (Rachelle Lefevre) want nothing more than to have a child...

The Prince Trailer

The Prince Trailer

Paul (Jason Patric) used to be a major figure in the Las Vegas crime world...

The Butler Movie Review

The Butler Movie Review

This is an strangely slushy movie from Lee Daniels, whose last two films (Precious and...

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