Tag Archives: Ben Whishaw

Review: ‘SURGE’ is a portrait of human implosion and an awards vehicle for Ben Whishaw.

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SURGE

Joseph (Ben Whishaw, PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER, the upcoming James Bond film NO TIME TO DIE) is trapped in a soulless job, living a life devoid of emotion and meaning. After an impulsive act of rebellion, Joseph unleashes a wilder version of himself. He is propelled on a reckless journey through London, ultimately experiencing what it feels like to be alive. Whishaw won the Special Jury Award for his role in the film at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

SURGE feels like watching a powder keg about to explode. For a film that might seem to begin with inane tasks, the simmering tension becomes consuming. Once that fuse is lit, SURGE is a relentless display of emotional pyrotechnics. The handheld camera work is dizzying, placing the audience in Joseph’s physical frenzy. There are entire scenes without cuts. This is what a master class in performance looks like. Director Aneil Karia, cinematographer Stuart Bentley, and Ben Whishaw had to have established absolute trust to pull this off.

There is underlying violence that feels inevitable as Joseph begins to break. There may be a suggestion of hidden trauma. Ben Whishaw plays every beat with his whole body. His minute idiosyncrasies create an entire backstory. Compounding micro-aggressions lead to ticks, and then ultimately, a total breakdown in civilized behavior. He becomes manic. This is the epitome of base instinct. Whishaw will have you teetering on the brink of terror and awe. He is sensational.

Your heart will be your throat, unable to comprehend how this film could get any more intense. And yet, the stakes just keep getting higher. It felt like a panic attack. The end of the film is only cathartic in the physical sense. A mysterious sadness still hangs over Joseph’s fate. It’s such a bold choice. The combination of this script, Ben Whishaw’s performance, and Karia’s direction make SURGE an unstoppable force.

Debuts September 24th In Theaters
On-Demand Everywhere October 25th

Director: Aneil Karia
Written by: Rita Kalnejais, Rupert Jones
Story by: Rita Kalnejais, Aneil Karia, Rupert Jones
Produced by: Julia Godzinskaya, Sophie Vickers
Co-Producer: Scott O’Donnell
Director of Photography: Stuart Bentley, B.S.C.
Editor: Amanda James
Genre: Thriller
TRT: 105 minutes

 

Review: ‘The Danish Girl’

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The Danish Girl-posterThe Danish Girl is a powerful story of the hardships of living a life for which you do not belong. Director Tom Hooper takes on the story, which is based on the 2000 novel of the same name by David Ebershoff which centers around Lili Elbe, a Danish transgender woman and one of the first identifiable recipients of sex reassignment surgery.

The Danish GirlThe story takes place in 1920’s Copenhagen, where artist Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) and her husband and fellow artist Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne) reside. A normal young couple with aspirations of being successful painters and raising a family, until a secret from Einar’s past is awakened. After Gerda asks Einar to to stand in for a female model, the paintings begin to receive a lot of attention which leads Gerda to continue to paint Einar as a woman. Einar begins to enjoy this new found alter ego and begins to live under the name Lili. Feeling that he is not meant to live his life as a man any longer, he begins to become distant from his loving wife, a move which leads to his quest to have sex reassignment surgery. Will a love that once bloomed within Gerda and Einar find a way to evolve as Einar embarks on this life changing quest?

The Danish Girl-7Eddie Redmayne, once again, turns in an Oscar winning performance as Lili. His transformation and heartbreaking portrayal is a marvelous example of the emotional and painstaking journey that transgenders endured in the early 20th century.  Alicia Vikander is outstanding with an emotionally charged performance. Her strong will and loyalty to her husband is what makes this film so beautiful.

The Danish Girl is a highly emotional film that will leave you breathless and emotional drawn, but the journey is well worth it.

Stars:

3 1/2 out of 5

After Credit Scene?

No

Trailer:

Advance Screening: ‘In The Heart of the Sea’ *AMC Stubs Members Only*

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in-the-heart-of-the-sea-posterAMC Stubs has your passes for an advanced screening of Ron Howard’s In The Heart of the Sea. The film stars Chris Hemsworth (“The Avengers,” “Rush”) as the vessel’s veteran first mate Owen Chase; Benjamin Walker (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) as its inexperienced Captain, George Pollard; Cillian Murphy (“The Dark Knight Rises”) as second mate Matthew Joy; and Ben Whishaw (“Skyfall”) as novelist Herman Melville, whose inquiries into the event 30 years later helped bring the story to light.

Tom Holland (“The Impossible”) also stars as young seaman Tom Nickerson, and Brendan Gleeson (“Edge of Tomorrow”) as the same man, 30 years later. Spanish actor Jordi Mollà (“Riddick”) is the captain of another ship, the Archimedes, who tries to warn the Essex of what may lie ahead.

The screenings are on Tuesday November 1st in the following locations:

Lawrenceville, GA

Morrow, GA

Atlanta, GA

Cumming, GA

Kennesaw, GA

Austin, TX

Owings Mills, MD

Columbia, MD

Baltimore, MD

Baton Rouge, LA

Danvers, MA

Methuen, MA

Somerville, MA

Boston, MA

Framingham, MA

Amherst, NY

Dubuque, IA

Springfield, IL

Charlotte, NC

Concord, NC

Chicago, IL

Naperville, IL

South Barrington, IL

Lombard, IL

Vernon Hills, IL

Newport, KY

West Chester, OH

Columbia, SC

Columbus, OH

Dublin, OH

Columbus, OH

Grove City, OH

Mesquite, TX

Frisco, TX

Dallas, TX

Arlington, TX

Garland, TX

Grapevine, TX

Highland Village, TX

Aurora, CO

Westminster, CO

Littleton, CO

Brighton, CO

Broomfield, CO

Highlands Ranch, CO

Livonia, MI

Dearborn, MI

Sterling Heights, MI

Auburn Hills, MI

Evansville, IN

Fayetteville, AR

North Fort Myers, FL

Holland, MI

Plainville, CT

Houston, TX

Humble, TX

Sugar Land, TX

Houston, TX

Indianapolis, IN

Bloomington, IN

Jacksonville, FL

Orange Park, FL

Olathe, KS

Indepence, MO

Kansas City, MO

Las Vegas, NV

Marina del Rey, CA

Woodland Hills, CA

Ontario, CA

Orange, CA

Burbank, CA

Universal City, CA

Torrance, CA

Baraboo, WI

Fitchburg, WI

South Miami, FL

Aventura, FL

Wauwatosa, WI

Roseville, MN

Maple Grove, MN

Destin, FL

Montgomery, AL

Houma, LA

Harahan, LA

Harvey, LA

Middletown, NY

Stony Brook, NY

Eatontown, NJ

Port Chester, NY

New Brunswick, NJ

West Nyack, NY

Paramus, NJ

New York, NY

Danbury, CT

Virginia Beach, VA

Hampton, VA

Oklahoma City, OK

Omaha, NE

Council Bluffs, IA

Ocoee, FL

Carbondale, IL

Pekin, IL

Springfield, PA

Bensalem, PA

Plymouth Meeting, PA

Cherry Hill, NJ

Hamilton, NJ

Glendale, AZ

West Homestead, PA

North Dartmouth, MA

Quincy, IL

Durham, NC

Webster, NY

Rockford, IL

Layton, UT

San Antonio, TX

Chula Vista, CA

San Jose, CA

Emeryville, CA

Brentwood, CA

Cupertino, CA

Kent, WA

Tukwila, WA

Lynnwood, WA

Burlington, WA

Woodinville, WA

South Bend, IN

Spokane, WA

Chesterfield, MO

Creve Coeur, MO

Edwardsville, IL

Creve Coeur, MO

Tallahassee, FL

Sarasota, FL

Brandon, FL

Tampa, FL

Terre Haute, IN

Tucson, AZ

Tulsa, OK

Herndon, VA

Alexandria, VA

Vero Beach, FL

Tickets

Review: ‘Spectre’

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SpectreDaniel Craig has spent much of the past few months answering questions to his future as the iconic super agent 007, and much of what we’ve heard is a tired actor ready to move on from the franchise, and maybe that’s not a bad idea. Coming off the biggest film in this storied franchise’s history, Skyfall, director Sam Mendes returns with star Craig with Spectre, and action packed thrill ride that feels more like a retread of past Bond films rather than it’s skillfully crafted predecessor.

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Spectre begins with Bond (Craig) tracking a group of terrorists lead by an assassin named Marco Sciarra, who are planning to to blow up a stadium full of people during the Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico. The pursuit of Sciarra leads Bond to an ever larger revelation as he comes in possession of a ring with a mysterious octopus symbol on it. On his return to London, Bond is placed on indefinitely leave by M (Ralph Fiennes) after his actions in Mexico. We meet a new player in the Bond universe, C (Andrew Scott), the head of the Joint Intelligence Service, which consists of the recently merged MI5 and MI6. C is intent on disbanding the 00 program and replacing it with “Nine Eyes”, an intelligence co-operation agreement between nine countries set to provide unprecedented surveillance resources to these governments.

Ralph Fiennes in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Ralph Fiennes in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Bond goes dark and continues to investigate the mysterious organization that he comes to know as Spectre, an organization of powerful people headed by Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz), a man that seems all too familiar to Bond. To infiltrate Spectre, Bond must confront one of his previous foes, Mr White (Jesper Christensen), whose daughter, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), can help Bond find the answers he’s searching for. The two must travel the globe to follow the clues they hope will lead them to uncover Spectre’s plan, but an assassin and a high-ranking member of Spectre named Mr Hinx (Dave Bautista) is in hot pursuit.

Dave Bautista in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Dave Bautista in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Overall, Spectre is a bit of a mess and it relies on way too many Bond cliches, but it’s still a Bond movie with a lot of enjoyable action sequences. The fun about Bond is, of course, seeing the character in action, but if you’re expecting something more groundbreaking than Skyfall, you’ll be left disappointed.

Stars:

3 out of 5

After Credit Scene?

No

Trailer:

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Bond (Daniel Craig) runs along the rooftops in pursuit of Sciarra in Mexico City in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions’ action adventure SPECTRE.

Final Trailer for ‘Spectre’ Has Arrived!

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Spectre

EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Sony Pictures Entertainment have released have released the brand new Spectre trailer and we have it for you below!

A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci), the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE.

Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott), the new head of the Centre for National Security, questions Bond’s actions and challenges the relevance of MI6, led by M (Ralph Fiennes). Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) to help him seek out Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), the daughter of his old nemesis Mr White (Jesper Christensen), who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of an assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot.

As Bond ventures towards the heart of SPECTRE, he learns of a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks, played by Christoph Waltz.

Spectre hits theaters and IMAX on November 6, 2015.

007 is Back in the New Trailer for the Upcoming Sequel ‘Spectre’

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spectre_c

EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Sony Pictures Entertainment have released have released the brand new Spectre trailer and we have it for you below!

A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci), the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE.

Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott), the new head of the Centre for National Security, questions Bond’s actions and challenges the relevance of MI6, led by M (Ralph Fiennes). Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) to help him seek out Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), the daughter of his old nemesis Mr White (Jesper Christensen), who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of an assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot.

As Bond ventures towards the heart of SPECTRE, he learns of a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks, played by Christoph Waltz.

Spectre hits theaters and IMAX on November 6, 2015.

Trailer for ‘Suffragette’ Starring Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep Has Arrived

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S_05986_R

Director Sarah Gavron’s film starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, Natalie Press, and three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, will open in limited release on October 23rd and will be in theaters across the country by Thanksgiving. Suffragette is written by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, The Hour) and produced by Alison Owen (Elizabeth, Temple Grandin) and Faye Ward (Jane Eyre, Dancing on the Edge).

Suffragette is a powerful drama about the women who were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality in early-20th-century Britain. The stirring story centers on Maud (played by Carey Mulligan), a working wife and mother whose life is forever changed when she is secretly recruited to join the U.K.’s growing suffragette movement. Galvanized by the outlaw fugitive Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), Maud becomes an activist for the cause alongside women from all walks of life. Inspired by true events, Suffragette is a moving drama exploring the passion and heartbreak of those who risked all they had for women’s right to vote – their jobs, their homes, their children, and even their lives.

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James Bond 24 Cast and Title Announced!

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And there it is..while you were sleeping, Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that the 24th James Bond film will be titled Spectre! This particular name that will no doubt peak the interest of Bond fans everywhere. SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, as well as the films and video games based on those novels.The group is led by evil genius and supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Read More →

Christoph Waltz is Your New Bond Villain

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waltzAccording to The Daily Mail , two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz is set to play opposite Daniel Craig  in Sam Mendes untitled Bond 24. The movie also stars Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Dave Bautista. Read More →