A long time ago in a distant fairytale countryside, a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil.
From Osgood “Oz” Perkins, the director of The Blackcoat’s Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, the film stars Sophia Lillis (It, HBO’s Sharp Objects), newcomer Sammy Leakey, Alice Krige (Star Trek: First Contact, Netflix’s The OA), Jessica De Gouw (WGN’s Underground, The CW’s Arrow) and Charles Babalola (Netflix’s Black Mirror,The Legend of Tarzan).
Gretel & Hansel is written by Rob Hayes (Netflix’s Chewing Gum), produced by BrianKavanaugh-Jones (Sinister, Upgrade) and Fred Berger (La La Land, Destroyer) on behalf of Automatik and executive produced by Sandra Yee Ling and Macdara Kelleher.
GRETEL & HANSEL
Release: January 31, 2020
Genre: Horror
Starring: Sophia Lillis, Sammy Leakey, Alice Krige
As you know, the competition is heating up in the world of plant-based meat alternatives — Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, Burger King, Subway — but what about other smart alternatives to feed our planet, like pet food?
The mission-driven company, who is utilizing plant and fungi-based proteins to produce clean and sustainable pet food, has been gaining widespread attention from scientists, environmentalist and consumers, and they’ve even gained attention from Dallas Mavericks owner, investor & head “shark” on ABC Shark Tank, Mark Cuban:
“I invested in Wild Earth because they have the potential to transform the pet food industry just like Beyond Meat has transformed the meat industry. The release of their flagship product, a clean, high protein dog food, is a huge milestone for the whole pet food industry.”
We choose to go meat-free for ethical reasons, to improve our health, or for the welfare of the planet, so why not make the same choice for our pets? Many consumers, due to popular advertising campaigns from companies like Blue Buffalo and Crave, believe that dogs need meat. What they actually need is protein, and most are not aware that dogs are omnivores, not carnivores. Requiring a meat-based diet for your pet is a myth, one that Wild Earth of course feels quite strongly about.
Enigmatic electronic producer S+C+A+R+R has revealed a touching music video for “You’re The One”, a taste of the soundtrack and visuals from the Cannes Film Festival-awarded and Oscar-buzzing animated film I Lost My Body (directed by Jérémy Clapin). Dan Levy, the composer of the film’s soundtrack, invited S+C+A+R+R to contribute, as he explains:
“In the summer, I was working in the studio on the soundtrack, while S+C+A+R+R was working the studio next door. It appeared to me that S+C+A+R+R’s voice and melancholic atmosphere would be perfect for a key moment of the movie! I suggested to him to write the most spontaneous love song. He composed ‘You’re The One’ quite simply, at the piano, in front of me, and we all loved it.
I Lost My Body has already won numerous awards (Cannes Critics Week’s Grand Prize, Annecy Animation Festivak’s Cristal Award & Audience Award, LAFCA’s Best Music/Score & Best Animated Film, and Colcoa French Film Festival’s Audience Award & Critics Award”). Out now on Netflix, it’s continuing to generate serious buzz with Oscar award season on the horizon in 2020.
As for S+C+A+R+R, his retrofuturist stylings pay homage to dystopian landscapes with the addition of heart-rending vocals that are impossibly catchy, best seen on his debut double single from September of 2019. Thus, he’s a match made in heaven for I Lost My Body.
Vevo announces the release of Courtney Barnett’s live performances of “Everybody Here Hates You” and “Small Talk.” Courtney Barnett is one of the most distinctive and compelling voices in indie rock, a singer-songwriter who mixes deeply insightful observations with devastating self-assessment. Fueled by the nimble crunch of her guitar and the loose groove of the rhythm section, Courtney Barnett’s songs are wild and shaggy and wordy, her lyrics plainspoken and delivered like she’s making them up on the spot. The music is rooted in the slack jangle of the late 1980s and the early 1990s, which has prompted the adjective “slacker” from journalists and critics around the world. That word is fitting for tunes that sound like they only just roused themselves out of bed. As a description of Barnett’s work ethic and musical influence, however, “slacker” has proven to be all wrong.
With countless awards in her home of Australia as well as Grammy and BRIT nominations, fawning press and an adoring audiences, Barnett’s rise to global prominence feels both unprecedented and important. 2017 saw the release of the wonderful album Lotta Sea Lice, an introspective but beautiful album of duets with Kurt Vile and a gorgeous place-holder until the release of her world-weary-but-fierce sophomore solo album Tell Me How You Really Feel in 2018 and the 2019 single “Everybody Here Hates You.”
Her songs may not sound tightly coiled, but they are carefully and exactingly structured. Her lyrics may ramble, but each word is carefully chosen. She is, however, no perfectionist. In fact, she may be an imperfectionist: Barnett strives to fine-tune her songs as much as possible, but she knows that their flaws-a missed note here, a flubbed line there-can make the music sound more human, more relatable, more sympathetic. “My songs follow me as a normal human with normal emotions,” she explains, “so there are great highs and great lows. They span everything in my life.”
“Everybody Here Hates You” and “Small Talk” are streaming on all platforms.
Keep up with exclusive content from artists all over the world on YouTube.com/Vevo.
Way back in 1995 when this buddy/cop/action flick was released it was considered all that and a bag of chips. This was the film that established Will Smith as a bonafide action star. He had shown previously in his television show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air he could do comedy and in the film Six Degrees of Separation he could do drama, but this bad boy (you knew that particular pun was coming) made him a star of a different level.
Like most action flicks it doesn’t feature a great story, but the chemistry between Smith and Martin Lawrence is good, the comedy is decent and the action is high adrenaline. It is an enjoyable, turn your brain off watch.
Never have two unalike police detectives worked together. Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence – Big Momma’s House, Death at a Funeral) is a family man who does not wear the pants at home. Mike Lowery (Will Smith) is a swinging single. But as partners they work.
These Miami policemen are under the pressure of recovering in 3 days drugs stolen right from the police station. The $100 million in heroin was part of the largest bust these two had ever accomplished, but now it is back in the hands of a criminal. In hot water, if they don’t get it back in 72 hours Internal Affairs will be called in to investigate the case.
Mike and Marcus are after French drug lord Fouchet (Tcheky Karyo – A Very Long Engagement, Taking Lives) for the heroin. At former cop, Eddie Dominguez’s (Emmanuel Xuereb – Natural Born Killers, The Bonfires of the Vanities) house the best friend of a prostitute (Karen Alexander) Mike has asked for help on the case witnesses her being murdered by Fouchet. Julie (Tea Leoni – The Smell of Success, Fun with Dick and Jane) calls the police and will only speak with Mike. Mike is not around and as she has no idea what Mike looks like Marcus pretends to be him. When Mike gets back he has to pretend to be Marcus. To complicate the switching of identities thing, Julie is kidnapped by Fouchet’s men. Time is running out for Mike and Marcus.
Despite the fact that this is basically an action flick the director Michael Bay (Transformers, Pearl Harbor) does a good job weaving comedy into it and having it work. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that you have comedic talents like Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in your film either. They deliver their rude but funny dialogue well and show their sense of timing in the genre while at the same time running away from bullet fire or beating someone up. Not an easy thing to do.
Lawrence and Smith make a good team. That is why they are now in discussions to do Bad Boys III. It has become quite a little franchise this film about two Miami cops. All this can be attributed to the chemistry between the two. They play well off each other with their different styles. Due to that they lift the film above the quality of the script and even what you would expect from it.
As far as the way it looks goes it has that really stylized feel to it that things like Miami Vice boast. Loud explosions, sharp clothes and fast cars don’t really make up your average detective’s day, but, hey, this is a film.
Despite the chemistry and flashiness there are certain points where the film drags. Not a good thing in an action film. You are supposed to be experiencing adrenaline rush throughout. The story is filled with (at times) painful clichés and is so paint-by-number that it might aggravate some of you out there. But if you turn your brain off as I recommend then you should be able to get some enjoyment out of the film.
Bad Boys II directed by Michael Bay:
Jerry Bruckheimer’s blockbuster movie “Bad Boys” starring Martin Laurence & Will Smith was a huge success. They are back for a second round with “Bad Boys II. It brings more of what we got with the first in that there is action, trash talking, car crashes, laughs, and plenty of bullets whizzing by. This time they are pursuing drug dealers and their bosses in Miami and Cuba. A funny subplot is that Mike (Will Smith) is trying to keep it on the down low the fact that he is dating Marcus’ sister, Syd (Gabrielle Union – Bring It On, Breaking In).
You pretty much know what you are getting with a Michael Bay film. It is going to be big and loud without much substance. Don’t criticize a director for doing what he does. This one ups the ante when it comes to the amount of action involved. There is plenty…and then a little more for good measure. There are some really involved and lengthy car chases. Maybe he relies on that a little too much, but….it is a Michael Bay film not a Martin Scorsese.
