Month: June 2015 (Page 8 of 8)

Movie Review: “Entourage”

June 2, 2015 / Jason Zingale

Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Jeremy Piven, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Haley Joel Osment, Billy Bob Thorton

Doug Ellin

It’s been four years since “Entourage” ended its incredible run on HBO, and in that time, there’s been a lot of talk about a potential big screen revival from series creator Doug Ellin, producer Mark Wahlberg and the cast. But now that it’s finally a reality, does anyone still care? That seems to be the biggest question surrounding the film, although if the success of “Sex and the City” (which had a similar hiatus between its series finale and the first movie) is any indication, the studio has absolutely nothing to worry about. And why should it? “Entourage” has a built-in fanbase that’s getting bigger every day thanks to the cultural phenomenon of TV binge-watching, and while you don’t necessarily need to be a fan of the series to enjoy the film, it definitely helps.

For those who’ve never watched a single episode of the show, “Entourage” opens with a Piers Morgan-hosted puff piece on movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his friends that serves as a very basic cheat sheet on where the characters are in their lives to get you up to speed. The story itself picks up a few weeks after the series finale, with Vince freshly divorced following his impulsive (nine-day) marriage to Vanity Fair journalist Sophia and ready to get back to work. Recently retired super-agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) has also returned to Hollywood after accepting a position as the new studio head at Warner Brothers, and he wants former client Vince to star in his first movie: a modern day, big-budget adaptation of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The only problem is that Vince will only agree to do it if he can also direct, something he’s never done before.

Fast-forward eight months and the film is almost finished, but Vince needs more money, despite having already gone over budget several times. But before the film’s financier, Texas billionaire Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thorton), will release more funds, he sends his son Travis (Haley Joel Osment) out to L.A. to watch an early cut of the film. Ari isn’t concerned because he knows the movie is great, but when Travis tries to meddle with the production for unknown reasons, Ari is pushed to the breaking point as he tries to protect Vince’s vision and his job. Meanwhile, Eric (Kevin Connolly) and Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui) hit another snag in their on-again-off-again relationship as the latter prepares to give birth to their child, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) tries to woo UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, and Drama (Kevin Dillon) has his livelihood threatened just as he’s about to get his big break.

Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies

Adrian Grenier Entourage Entourage review Jeremy Piven Jerry Ferrara Kevin Connolly Kevin Dillon

5 Great Summertime Ideas for College Seniors

June 2, 2015 / Bullz-Eye Staff

As you near the end of your college career, the question starts to come up “what next?” Well before you get on with the rest of your life, you should take some time to celebrate and have some fun. Once you get started with your career, you’ll find that you have a lot less time to go out and do fun things. We recommend making this summer the best yet by following some of the suggestions below.

Lifestyle

travel ideas

Blu Tuesday: Jupiter Ascending, Focus and McFarland, USA

June 2, 2015 / Jason Zingale

Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.

“Jupiter Ascending”

WHAT: When Russian immigrant Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) discovers that she’s the reincarnation of intergalactic royalty, she becomes the target of a power play between her former self’s three feuding siblings, who all want her for their own selfish reasons. Saved by a disgraced solider named Caine (Channing Tatum), Jupiter must take control of her destiny if she hopes to save Earth from its terrible fate.

WHY: It’s been 16 years since “The Matrix,” but you wouldn’t know it from the amount of money Warner Bros. continues to flush down the toilet with Andy and Lana Wachowski’s string of commercial and critical failures. “Cloud Atlas” should have been the final straw, but instead, the studio took yet another chance on the directing duo with “Jupiter Ascending,” and although the Wachowskis’ commitment to creating original sci-fi stories is commendable, it’s their worst movie to date. A garbled mess of half-baked ideas (some good, some bad) that never have the chance to fully develop due to an overwhelming mythology that delivers too much information, too quickly over the course of its 127-minute runtime, “Jupiter Ascending” was a disaster waiting to happen. It wouldn’t surprise me if a much longer cut of this movie existed, because the current version feels like it’s been chopped up and pieced back together to include all the essential material without any consideration for how it works as a whole. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The film is also plagued by poor attempts at humor and some truly awful performances, none more so than Eddie Redmayne as the eldest of the royal siblings. Despite some impressive visual effects, “Jupiter Ascending” is groan-inducingly bad – a massive swing-and-miss that could spell the end of the Wachowskis’ charmed partnership with Warner Bros.

EXTRAS: The Blu-ray release contains seven featurettes covering a variety of topics, including production and creature design, filming the action sequences, as well profiles on the Wachowskis and the movie’s lead characters.

FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

“Focus”

WHAT: Veteran conman Nicky (Will Smith) agrees to help coach a promising grifter named Jess (Margot Robbie) when he brings her in on his large-scale operation. After Jess gets burned by Nicky at the end of the job, the two go their separate ways until they cross paths again three years later when Nicky is hired by a wealthy racing team owner (Rodrigo Santoro) to help ruin his competitors. But while Nicky wants to make amends after the way he left things, Jess is unable to trust him, convinced that he must be working some kind of angle. The real question is whether Jess is too.

WHY: Films about con artists are almost as difficult to pull off as an actual con. They need to be clever enough to outsmart and entertain the audience without being overly complex or resorting to narrative cheats. “Focus” is definitely entertaining at times, a flashy crime drama highlighted by a pair of movie star performances from Will Smith and Margot Robbie, but it also commits the aforementioned offenses in order to arrive at its twist ending. However, that’s not the film’s biggest problem, but rather the fact that “Focus” is basically two movie stitched together by the same connective tissue, and only one of the halves is any good. While the first half is a fun and fizzy con movie that’s capped off by a terrifically tense sequence featuring BD Wong as a high-stakes gambler, the second half isn’t nearly as engaging, partly because Smith and Robbie don’t have strong enough chemistry to sell the romance at the center of the story. The script’s playful tone remains intact throughout, but it never quite clicks the same way, bogged down by scene after scene of exposition that’s all setup for the big payoff. Although it’s refreshing to see a major studio take a gamble on a modestly budgeted film targeted towards adults, “Focus” is so passively mediocre that you can understand why other studios have been afraid to pull the trigger.

EXTRAS: In addition to a featurette about the art of misdirection, there are profiles on Will Smith and Margot Robbie, as well deleted scenes and an alternate opening.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

Entertainment, Movies

Blu Tuesday Focus Jupiter Ascending McFarland USA new Blu-rays