Tag: Anna Kendrick

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A Sequel To ‘A Simple Favor’ Is Happening, With Blake Lively And Anna Kendrick Returning

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Back in September of 2018, filmmaker Paul Feig released the super cool comedy thriller, A Simple Favor, starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively.

The movie was released by Lionsgate and was praised by critics and the general audience, bringing in a worldwide total close to $100 million against a $20 million budget. It also found a lot of love after releasing inside theaters via streaming platforms.

And now, because of the success, the studio is ready for a sequel. Lionsgate and Amazon Studios are teaming up for the sequel, with both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively returning. Feig will also return to direct, so the band is officially getting back together.

The first film followed a single mother with a parenting vlog who befriends a secretive upper-class woman who has a child at the same elementary school. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate.

It was a clever film in the sense that it played into the “at home detective” trend. People love to investigate disappearances and murders. True crime is super hot right now, which is a weird thing to say.

It’s not exactly clear what the sequel will focus on, but you can bet there will be lots of twists and turns once again.

We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.

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Watch The First Trailer For ‘Stowaway’ Starring Anna Kendrick And Toni Collette

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Are you ready for a new Netflix sci-fi movie? You better be, ’cause ‘Stowaway‘ is coming in hot.

The streaming giant released the first trailer for the film, which stars Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette and Daniel Dae Kim.

In the Joe Penna-directed feature, an unintended stowaway accidentally causes severe damage to a spaceship’s life support systems on a mission headed to Mars. Facing dwindling resources and a potentially fatal outcome, the crew is forced to make an impossible decision.

Penna seems to have a thing for the survivalist genre, as he recently directed Mads Mikkelsen in the adventure/thriller, Arctic. In that movie, a man gets stranded in the Arctic after a plane crash.

By the way, ‘Arctic’ got rave reviews from critics and worked on a budget of just $2 milion.

I’ll be interested to see how he performs with a bigger budget and a larger cast.

The movie is expected to drop on Netflix on April 22. Check out the trailer below…

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Blake Lively And Anna Kendrick Star In First Trailer For Film Based On Bestselling Novel ‘A Simple Favor’

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Do you like a splash of mystery when you watch a movie? If so, ‘A Simple Favor‘ might be the film you’re looking for.

The movie is based on the bestselling novel of the same name, and it stars Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick as a mismatched pair of best friends who don’t know each other as well as they think.

Indiewire explains:

“Kendrick stars as mommy blogger Stephanie, who is quite pleased when her young son becomes best pals with glamorous Emily’s (Lively) own offspring. While the boys enjoy play dates and sleepovers, their moms apparently double down on the martini-drinking and secret-swapping. But Emily has some pretty big secrets, the kind that result in her going missing, leading plucky Stephanie to try to figure out just what the heck happened to her beloved pal. As is so often the case with twisty thrillers like Bell’s, the answer is a surprise wrapped up in a riddle.”

It certainly sounds like it has the potential to be interesting. I am all for a good thriller.

It won’t theaters ’til September 14, 2018, so we still have several months to wait. Check out the trailer below…

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Pitch Perfect 3 Will Happen, And Elizabeth Banks Has Agreed To Return!

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Okay, so the news of Pitch Perfect 3 might not be surprising. After the second film took home $285 million worldwide (against a $29 million budget) it was pretty much a guarantee that a third movie would be following close behind.

But no one knew for sure if director Elizabeth Banks would return. She is the juice that keeps this laugh factory running, so it would have been devastating to lose her. But thankfully, we won’t have to worry about Pitch Perfect life without Banks. Variety is reporting that the 41-year-old actress/director has agreed to direct the third film in the series.

In addition to that good news, we also know screenwriter Kay Cannon will return to write the third installment. She is the writer behind the screenplay for both the original film and its sequel. Of course, Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow and Rebel Wilson have all agreed to take on this next film, so it looks like the dream team will have one more chance to create another money-making hit.

The film is scheduled to be released August 4, 2017. But if you can’t wait that long to see Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson again on the big screen, don’t you worry! Kendrick has several movies she’s working on at the moment, including a huge comedy film with Zac Efron and Aubrey Plaza titled Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. It’ll be released summer of 2016.

You can watch Wilson in the romantic comedy How to be Single on February 12, 2016.

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Movie Review: Pitch Perfect 2 – Almost As Fun As The First

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I’ve never been a big one for musicals. I’m one of the few people that used to fast forward through all of the singing parts in Glee. One thing I like about Pitch Perfect is that despite the fact that it’s about music, it isn’t too heavy on the music. The characters aren’t randomly bursting into song every three minutes, which made this premise tolerable for me. But it’s really the humor that sells it. While I will say the story is there, it’s a bit been there done that.

In this installment, we are again introduced to a perky acapella singing group, after they suffer an embarrassing mishap onstage. They then fight to get into an international acapella competition to redeem themselves and their group. To be honest, this premise was almost exactly the same as the first. If you really need to know it, just go watch Pitch Perfect. The only thing that changed is the venue.

Luckily, the snarky humor was there. It still has the breezy humor of the first, and is a movie that makes you fall in love with it, as it makes fun of itself. The actors brought the same energy they had and when it comes to laughs and dialog, it didn’t fall flat.

One area where it did fail was the failure to use Kendric. While the first movie really centered on her, she’s more of an afterthought in this one. That’s a shame, because I like my heroines with a bit of edge. She’s still edgy in this one, but we just don’t see as much of her.

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This time around, it’s Rebel Wilson who takes center stage. That’s a bit of a problem, as Wilson is and always has been a one note character. She had charm and great comic shtick, but a little of her goes a long way and focusing the film around her felt kind of exhausting. I feel like if they’d toned her down a bit, it would have been more tolerable.

The music is a bit overproduced for something that’s supposed to be acapella. It’s almost too perfect and it causes a bit of a disconnect between the story and the sound. The scenes with the other groups in the international competition were amusing, but they went a bit too far with the stereotypes and turned every other country into a weird cliché.

There are a bit too many storylines going on as well. They really didn’t need to add as much as they did. There were lots of side plots about Beca’s secret internship that really didn’t need to be there. I also wasn’t 100% sure why she was hiding it. I mean, she’s a senior in college. Of course she’s going to secure her future, right? They could have removed that part entirely and the movie wouldn’t have suffered for it. It also would have felt a bit cleaner.

I will say it was worth the watch. It just wasn’t quite as good at the first go-around.

WE GAVE IT: 4 Stars – Watch the Official Trailer and Official Movie Poster below!

4 stars

 

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Movie Review: Into the Woods (2014) – a surprisingly well done film!

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Into the Woods is one of the highest budget fantasy movies of the winter and it’s already grossed about $31 million, while holding the number 2 spot at the box office. In addition to that, it’s also pleasing critics and is certified fresh on the popular movie site Rotten Tomatoes, which is high praise indeed.

Into the Woods is a retelling and modernization of multiple fairy tales. This heartfelt musical follows Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone) and Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy) as they help a baker and his wife fight an evil witch played by Meryl Streep.

I’m not usually one for musicals. In fact, I’m pretty sure the only musical I’ve ever liked is The Book of Mormon and that hardly counts. Regardless, I decided to give this one a shot and I have to say I was more than pleased.

The acting was first-class. There is literally no one in this movie that didn’t pull their weight and really drag watchers into the story. Little Red Riding Hood is precocious, Cinderella is idealistic and Meryl Streep is delightfully evil and quirky. It’s Johnny Depp’s Wolf that’s the real scene stealer in this one though.

As for the music, let’s admit that the majority of this cast is not known for their musical talents. While everyone gets an A for effort, there was clearly a lot of auto tune needed to make a few of the musical numbers work. For the most part, it isn’t the singing that shines, but the delivery of the music that makes it stay with you.

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The score was well done and quirky, though I doubt we’ll be seeing a lot of number 1 hits come out of this. The musical numbers were still foot tapping good though, despite the fact that there really isn’t anything you haven’t heard before in it.

The scenery, costumes and backdrops were all beautiful and stunning to look at. They really did a good job of world building and creating a fairy tale worthy land. Streep’s makeup alone must have taken hours, but was well worth the effort. For much of the movie, she was completely unrecognizable.

It was a well-written film. Despite that fact that there are multiple storylines going on, they are all interwoven seamlessly and you will never find yourself wondering what is going on. It’s a fast paced move and none of the 2 hour run time is wasted. Usually, that’s something I can’t say, as only the most epic movies can take up two hours and not drag at some point. This is clearly an epic movie and despite the fact that it is a musical, did not feel padded with music.

This is a film that is worth the watch. If you’re looking for something unique and interesting to bring the family to this winter, then it might be worth heading Into the Woods.

WE GIVE IT: 4.5 STARS!  Official Movie Trailer and Movie Poster Below.

four and a half stars

 

 

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‘Pitch Perfect 2’ Trailer Hits The Internet, Check Out The Hilariousness Inside!

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The first ‘Pitch Perfect‘ film shocked everyone by taking in over $100 million at the box office and creating some of the most hardcore fans around. And now Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine are ready to delight fans again with the sequel Pitch Perfect 2.

All your favorite characters will be returning, and we will be welcoming new cast members Katey Sagal and Hailee Steinfeld. The trailer down below also gives us our first look at the special appearance by Green Bay Packers linebacker, Clay Matthews.

Director Elizabeth Banks admits that the pressure was higher with this film. She told Entertainment Weekly that everyone is expecting greatness now, which makes her job even harder.

“The first film flew under the radar, and it was a gift. This time around, much higher stakes. Everybody is much more involved. As the saying goes, ‘Success has many fathers.'”

Obviously we don’t know yet if the sequel will deliver as many laughs as the first movie, but we’re feeling optimistic after watching the hilarious trailer down below. Pitch Perfect 2 is set to hit theaters May 15, 2015.

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The New Trailer For ‘Into the Woods’ Shows Off Its Musical Side

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Hardcore fans of the hit Broadway musical were left a little disappointed by the first ‘Into the Woods‘ trailer. Some fans complained that the average viewer might not even realize the film is a musical. It’s hard to argue with them, since the first trailer featured virtually zero singing.

But fans of the 1987 musical will be delighted to know that the new trailer released today does feature more singing. This film adaption of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway hit is Disney’s first theatrical adaption of a Broadway musical. Into the Woods is directed by Rob Marshall, and features an all-star cast.

Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, James Corden, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Lilla Crawford and Christine Baranski star in the film, which will be released Christmas Day. The musical will bring together all your favorite characters, including, Cinderella (Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Crawford), The Wolf (Depp), and The Witch played by Meryl Streep.

The official plot summary and brand new trailer can be seen down below.

“Into the Woods is a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories and exploring the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests. This humorous and heartfelt musical follows the classic tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel—all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife, their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch who has put a curse on them.”