You might have heard about The Possession when it was called Dibbuk Box. It is The Exorcist for the new millennium. Instead of Catholicism though, the film deals with Jewish lore. (A Dibbuk is a malevolent, misplaced spirit) The Possession is directed by Ole Bornedal and stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick as a divorced couple whose youngest child becomes strangely attached to an antique wooden box purchased at a yard sale. The girl's behavior becomes erratic and her parents get the carvings on the box deciphered and find the box contains a spirit bent on devouring its human host.  It’s supposedly based on a true story.

A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl's father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.

Watch this. If it doesn’t scare the bejeebus out of you – and it’s only the trailer! – check your pulse. I’m showing you this at 8:30 in the morning because even though I consider myself pretty jaded and cynical when it comes to  horror movies (okay, most things) but  I watched it last night and it stayed with me. See? I’m doing you a service. I’m a giver.

The caveat here is that it was originally set for release last October.  So now, not only has it lost its interesting title but it’s been relegated to August 31, not typically a good time for good flicks. But we’ll see. 

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video source MovieWeb

The obvious joke would be to say “What’s so funny ‘bout Peace Love & Misunderstanding?”, being the avid Elvis Costello fan that I am.  Truth is, I’d like to like this movie. It has a lot going for it, including Elizabeth Olsen, Catherine Keener (who does not do schlock) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, whom I always root for.  The problem is I feel like I’ve seen this movie. It was called Hope Floats. Jane Fonda is the quirky mother/grandmother played previously by Gena Rowlands, who’s hobbies are painting nudes, keeping very free range chickens and practicing a true northern California counterculture lifestyle as opposed to taxidermy.  Of course all of this goes against the grain of her buttoned up daughter (Keener) who has returned home to roost after a divorce.  And JDM gets to be Harry Connick, Jr. (crossed with his own character from P.S. I Love You… which Harry Connick, Jr. was also in…cue scary music…).

Maybe I’m just being cynical and there is more here than meets the eye. There has to be, since it's being put out by IFC Films. Elizabeth Olsen must have her pick of scripts these days. (Of course this was probably made before Martha Marcy May Marlene made her a star.) We’ll see.

Say what you will about the film, Jane Fonda must be loving that poster. They've take at least 2 1/2 decades off of her face (Don't get me wrong, she looks DAMN good for her age, but she does not look like Frances McDormand in Blood Simple.)

Peace Love & Misunderstanding bowed at TIFF last fall and has travelled to some of the smaller film festivals since. It will get a limited US release on June 8.  June 8, June 8, why is that date familiar? Oh yeah! It’s when Prometheus opens in the US. I guess that’s what is known as counter-programming.

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Are you watching Magic City on Starz? If not, you should be! Mobsters and Sin on the Sizzling Sand of Miami Beach! What’s not to like?

 

Miami Beach 1959. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (PS I LoveYou, Watchmen, Texas Killing Fields) is Ike Evans, a luxury hotel owner who, in order to secure his dream, begrudgingly gets into bed with mob boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond (Danny Huston - Children of Men, Robin Hood), while his former showgirl wife, Vera (Olga Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace, Centurion), remains happily clueless. This is "Magic City" coming to Starz in the spring of 2012 which chronicles the collision of mobsters, politicians and entertainers at the first preeminent Miami hotel just as Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba and shuts down Havana as a gambling haven.

Two episodes have aired so far and I have to say, I was hooked after the first one.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan is one of those actors who always seems to be “on the verge”. I really hope this hits for him. His hang-dog expression is perfect for a guy who just wants to be left alone to run the most expensive and exclusive hotel on the beach and with his sleepy-sexy eyes, he is just as darkly charming as you’d imagine him to be. Danny Huston’s Ben Diamond is probably capable of at least the same level of depravity as any baddie you’ll see on the big screen. He’s nuts!

Episode 3 “Castles Made of Sand” airs this Friday April 20. Here’s a preview:

Vera had better not be thinking of straying, that's all I have to say…

The supporting cast includes Seymour Cassel, Kelly Lynch, Michael Rispoli, Steven Strait (10,000 BC) and Yul Vasquez . Check out the pics for Friday’s episode. Magic City airs Fridays at 10pm (and can be found OnDemand thereafter).

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Way back in October we first brought you word of a brand new made-for-cable show called Magic City, starring one of our favorites, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  Last month we brought you a wicked good red-band trailer.  Today we’ve got a new poster and a few new pics to share but mostly it’s just time to get excited because the show will finally debut tomorrow night!

Miami Beach 1959. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (PS I Love You, Watchmen, Texas Killing Fields) is Ike Evans, a luxury hotel owner who, in order to secure his dream, begrudgingly gets into bed with mob boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond (Danny Huston, Children of Men, Robin Hood), while his former showgirl wife, Vera (Olga Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace, Centurion), remains happily clueless. This is "Magic City" coming to Starz in the spring of 2012 which chronicles the collision of mobsters, politicians and entertainers at the first preeminent Miami hotel just as Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba and shuts down Havana as a gambling haven.

The first episode has been playing on Starz for the past couple of weeks and is available with Starz OnDemand, in fact you can catch the first three episodes right now if you want to watch them on the Starz website.  I’ve only seen the first one, but I am hooked!  Jeffrey Dean Morgan, with his sleepy-sexy eyes is just as darkly charming you’d imagine him to be. (One of the biggest things that adds to his appeal is how much his character is in love with his wife.) His hang dog expression is perfect for a guy who just wants to be left alone to run the most expensive and exclusive hotel on the beach. Danny Huston is going to make an incredible villain. His Ben Diamond is probably capable of at least the same level of depravity as any baddie you’ll see on the big screen. With a supporting cast that includes Seymour Cassel, Kelly Lynch, Michael Rispoli, Steven Strait (10,000 BC) and Yul Vasquez (hard working character actor still probably best known for several appearances on Seinfeld), scripts by Mitch Glazer and a pilot directed by Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress, One True Thing, Rome, Falling Skies), this has real potential, hopefully they’ll find an audience.

 Magic City, premieres tomorrow night Friday April 6th on Starz.

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It was way back in October that we first brought you word of a brand new made-for-cable show called Magic City, starring one of our favorites, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  We finally have some news. The stars of the Starz show have hit the beaches of Miami for some pre-premiere press lately and the producers have released a new, red-band trailer.  It’s vaguely NSFW in that inimitable “because it’s pay cable and we can” kind of way.

Miami Beach 1959. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (PS I Love You, Watchmen, Texas Killing Fields) is Ike Evans, a luxury hotel owner who, in order to secure his dream, begrudgingly gets into bed with mob boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond (Danny Huston, Children of Men, Robin Hood), while his former showgirl wife, Vera (Olga Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace, Centurion), remains happily clueless. This is "Magic City" coming to Starz in the spring of 2012 which chronicles the collision of mobsters, politicians and entertainers at the first preeminent Miamihotel just as Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba and shuts down Havana as a gambling haven.

(Just as an aside, I’ve been seeing Danny Huston and Olga Kurylenko together on red carpets all over the place during the awards season that just wrapped. I thought they looked good together. But I had forgotten that they had a new series to promote. I’m really hoping this isn’t a ‘showmance’.)

Sure, the comparisons with Mad Men are inevitable, just like they were for the canceled-too-soon The Playboy Club. In truth that show had more in common with Crime Story than Mad Men and I think Magic City will as well. This is by no means a bad thing. Crime Story was brilliant. Unfortunately no one watched. The only thing these three series have in common, in my opinion, is the era in which they are set. LOTS of things happened in the late 50's-early 60's. They didn't all involve Madison Avenue. With a supporting cast that includes Seymour Cassel, Kelly Lynch, Michael Rispoli, Steven Strait (10,000 BC) and Yul Vasquez (hard working character actor still probably best known for several appearances on Seinfeld), scripts by Mitch Glazer and a pilot directed by Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress, One True Thing, Rome, Falling Skies),  I think that this has real potential. When I saw the first trailer for Magic City I was immediately hooked, but Starz was vague on when we’d get to see it. Now we know.

Magic City, premieres April 6th on Starz.

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This is a pretty big week for new dvd releases. We have a driver who just wants to drive, a man who needs more time, robot wars on the moon, a defrosted alien, dark secrets emerging while Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz fall in love on camera, a ne’er-do-well dad with a talented daughter, cops looking for a serial killer, three bozos bird watching and the CIA and the FBI working together to bring down a Soviet assassin.

Drive: Ryan Gosling stars as a Hollywood stunt driver for movies and mechanic by day who moonlights as a wheelman for criminals by night. Though a loner by nature, “Driver” can’t help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband (Oscar Isaac). After a heist goes wrong, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman). Soon he realizes the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash and is forced to shift gears and go on the offense.

Drive also stars Bryan Cranston and Christina Hendricks.

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

-I Drive

-Under The Hood

-Driver and Irene

-Cut To The Chase

-Drive Without A Driver: Interview With Nicolas Winding Refn

Includes UltraViolet

In Time stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried and takes place in a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year. Time has become currency; having the means to buy “time” is a shot at eternal youth and immortality. Will Salas (Timberlake) finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage (Seyfried) – a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.

In Time also stars Olivia Wilde, Cillian Murphy and Johnny Galecki

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack presents the film in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. This disc also has a number of bonus supplements, such as:
 

• The Minutes behind-the-scenes featurette
• Deleted/extended scenes
• Access to In Time: The Game app

Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third film in the franchise, finds the Autobots (Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Sideswipe led by Optimus Prime) back in action taking on the evil Decepticons, who are eager to avenge their recent defeat. The Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the United States and Russia, to reach a hidden Cybertronian spacecraft on the moon and learn its secrets, and once again Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) has to come to the aid of his robot friends. The new villain, Shockwave, who rules Cybertron, is on the scene while the Autobots and Decepticons continue to battle it out on Earth.

TDotM also stars Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey, Tyrese Gibson and Frances McDormand (?!)

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

-Feature Film — Blu-Ray

-Special Features — Blu-Ray

Above and Beyond: Exploring Dark of the Moon 
- Rising from the Fallen: Development and Design 
- Ready for Prime Time: Filming Across America 
- Battle in the Heartland: Shooting in Chicago 
- Attack of the Birdmen: Aerial Stunts 
- Shadow of the Sentinel: Post-Production and Release 
- Uncharted Territory: NASA's Future Then and Now

Deconstructing Chicago: Multi-Angle Sequences 
- Previsualizations with optional commentary by director Michael Bay and previsualization supervisor Steve Yamamoto 
- Previsualizations/Final Shot Comparison with optional commentary by director Michael Bay and previsualization supervisor Steve Yamamoto 
- Visual Effects with optional commentary by visual effects supervisors Scott Farrar and Matthew Butler 
- Visual Effects/Final Shot Comparison with optional commentary by visual effects supervisors Scott Farrar and Matthew Butler

The Art of Cybertron 
- Autobots 
- Decepticons 
- Environments 
- Weapons and Gear 
- Ships

The Dark of the Moon Archive 
- 3D: A Transforming Visual Art 
- Moscow World Premiere 
- Birdmen Featurette 
- Cody's iPad 
- The Sound of Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The Matrix of Marketing 
- Trailers 
- Marketing Gallery

The Thing is a remake (even though they call it a prequel) of the 1982 John Carpenter classic, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen. From the producers of Dawn of the Dead comes the chilling prelude to John Carpenter's cult classic film.  When paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery.  Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison.  Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller.

The Thing also stars Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ulrich Thomsen and Eric Christian Olsen

Blu-ray highlights (NO special features on the single disc dvd):

-Fire and Ice (5 min.; HD): focuses on the pyrotechnics

-The Thing Evolves (14 min.; HD making-of featurette

-Deleted and Extended Scenes (9 min.; HD

-Audio Commentary. Director Matthijs van Heijningen is joined by producer Eric Newman (and producer Mark Abraham, kind of

The second disc in the set is an anamorphic widescreen DVD. The Thing comes packaged in an embossed slipcase, and a code for an UltraViolet digital copy is tucked inside. 

Dream House stars Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz and despite the fact that director Jim Sheridan was not happy with the finished product (any more than the public was) it will forever be known as the film in which you can watch Craig and Weisz  fall in love.

Some say that all houses have memories. For one man, his home is the place he would kill to forget. A family unknowingly moves into a home where several grisly murders were committed…only to find themselves the killer's next target. Successful publisher Will Atenton (Craig) quit a job in New York City to relocate his wife, Libby (Weisz), and two girls to a quaint New England town. But as they settle into their new life, they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. And the entire city believes it was at the hands of the husband who survived. When Will investigates the tragedy, his only lead comes from Ann Paterson (Naomi Watts), a neighbor who was close to the family that died. As Will and Ann piece together the disturbing puzzle, they discover that the story of the last man to leave Will's dream house will be just as horrifying to the one who came next.

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

-Burning Down The House: is a four minute look at the special effects work

-Building The Dream House:  five minutes with the set designer on how he tried to make the house as much a character in the movie as the humans that populate it.

-Dream Cast: clips showing of the primary cast members

-A Look Inside: a two minute promo spot

-Theatrical Trailer 

All of the extras are in high definition, the disc is Blu-ray Live and D-Box motion control enabled. As this is a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, a DVD disc is also included with the same extras on it.

Janie Jones is a little indie we told you about that never really got much of a theatrical release. It stars Abigail Breslin as a young girl who has been abandoned by her former-groupie mother (Elizabeth Shue), after she informs a fading rock star (Alessandro Nivola) that the girl is his daughter.

Ethan Brand (Alessandro Nivola, Junebug, Face/Off) and his band are on the comeback trail when a former flame (Academy Award® nominee Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas) drops a bomb in his lap: their 13-year-old daughter, Janie Jones (Academy Award® nominee Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine, Nim’s Island). Ethan refuses to believe Janie is his kid, but when her mom suddenly leaves for rehab, the child has no place to go but into the tour bus and on the road with the band. With no inclination toward fatherhood, Ethan continues his hard-living ways, leaving Janie to fend for herself in dive bars and sleazy motels along the way. As Ethan's self-destructive spiral threatens to destroy his band's future, Janie uses her own surprising musical talents to help guide him down the rocky road to redemption. Featuring original music by Gemma Hayes and Eef Barzelay – sung by Nivola and Breslin, who both give impeccably detailed performances. JANIE JONES is a rock-and-roll road movie that can’t be missed.

Worth a look on dvd or VOD for the cast alone, in my opinion.

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

-Interview with JANIE JONES Team, presented by American Express

-Audio Commentary with Director and Producers

Texas Killing Fields is another indie that got lost in the fall shuffle. It played TIFF and then disappeared from the radar. I was looking forward to it, so I’m happy it made it to dvd. It stars Sam Worthington and perpetual “almost star” Jeffrey Dean Morgan, along with one of the eight Jessica Chastain performances of the year.

Inspired by true events, this tense and haunting thriller follows Detective Souder (Sam Worthington), a homicide detective in a small Texan town, and his partner, transplanted New York City cop Detective Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) as they track a sadistic serial killer dumping his victims' mutilated bodies in a nearby marsh locals call ''The Killing Fields.'' 

Though the swampland crime scenes are outside their jurisdiction, Detective Heigh is unable to turn his back on solving the gruesome murders. Despite his partner's warnings, he sets out to investigate the crimes. Before long, the killer changes the game and begins hunting the detectives, teasing them with possible clues at the crime scenes while always remaining one step ahead. When familiar local girl Anne (Chloë Grace Moretz) goes missing, the detectives find themselves racing against time to catch the killer and save the young girl's life. 

Directed by Ami Canaan Mann, Produced by Michael Mann and Michael Jaffe, Texas Killing Fields also stars Jessica Chastain (Coriolanus,The Help), Jason Clarke (Public Enemies, FOX's ''Chicago Code'') and Stephen Graham (Snatch, HBO's ''Boardwalk Empire''). Executive Produced by Bill Block, Paul Hanson and Ethan Smith, with music by Dickon Hinchliffe.

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

-Theatrical Trailer

- commentary track from director Mann and writer Donald F. Ferraone. 

The Big Year stars Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson as three avid bird watchers who compete to spot the rarest birds in North America at a prestigious annual event.

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

-Extended Feature Film

-"The Big Migration" featurette

-12 Deleted Scenes

-Gag Reel           

The Double stars Richard Gere and Topher Grace. It begins with the mysterious murder of a senator bearing the marks of a Soviet assassin, who was long thought to be dead. To hunt down the killer, a retired CIA operative, who spent his career going toe-to-toe with his Soviet nemesis, is teamed with a young FBI agent.

The Double also stars Martin Sheen, Odette Yustman, Stana Katic and Stephen Moyer.

Blu-ray and DVD highlights:

-Producer interviews

-Trailer

-Commentary with Michael Brandt (Director/Writer) and Derek Haas (Writer)

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The delicious Jeffrey Dean Morgan premiered his latest movie The Losers last night in Los Angeles with Hilarie Burton who is his girlfriend I guess.  I thought she was one of his costars until I reviewed the list of actors in the movie and hers wasn`t there.  She is one lucky biotch that girl.  He also brought his mom to the premiere which is so sweet.

Also starring in the movie are Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans and Jason Patric (he  too is quite delicious) who were at the premiere along with:

• LisaRaye McCoy
• Scott Porter
• Kristina Anapau
• Keith Robinson
• Bryce Dallas Howard
• Dania Ramirez

This action/adventure sounds pretty intense:

After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team root out those who targeted them for assassination

Pictures after the break

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