"68 Whiskey" Arrives on Paramount Net Wed., Jan. 15th

Paramount Network Releases Official Trailer for 68 Whiskey, a New Scripted Comedic Drama From Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios Premiering on Wednesday, January 15 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT

68 Whiskey is Paramount Network’s First Scripted Follow-up to Smash Hit Yellowstone, Cable’s #1 Original Series for a Second Straight Summer

68 Whiskey Stars Sam Keeley, Jeremy Tardy, Gage Golightly, Cristina Rodlo, Beth Riesgraf, Lamont Thompson, Nicholas Coombe and Derek Theler

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Paramount Network released the official trailer for 68 Whiskey, a new scripted, comedic drama from Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios. 68 Whiskey is the first scripted follow-up to Paramount Network’s smash hit Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner, cable’s #1 original series for the past two summers. 68 Whiskey premieres on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Paramount Network.

Blending intense drama with irreverent humor, 68 Whiskey follows a multicultural band of Army medics stationed in Afghanistan on a base nicknamed “The Orphanage.” Together, the medics navigate a dangerous and sometimes absurd world, relying on comradery, various vices, and, occasionally, a profound sense of purpose to carry them through. 68 Whiskey stars Sam Keeley, Jeremy Tardy, Gage Golightly, Cristina Rodlo, Beth Riesgraf, Lamont Thompson, Nicholas Coombe and Derek Theler. Paramount Network today also released “Inside 68 Whiskey,” an in-depth look at the new series featuring interviews with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and the cast and crew.

“68 Whiskey delivers on Paramount Network’s mission to deliver TV as big as the movies. It’s unlike anything else on television right now, truly exploring modern military life in a way we’ve never seen before. It’s a provocative look at the cultural and social tensions faced by the men and women serving their country,” said Keith Cox, President, Development and Production, Paramount Network and TV Land.

“We couldn’t be more excited to share the first look at 68 Whiskey, our new series with Paramount Network. The series is cinematic, adrenaline-fueled and filled with wit and irreverence to cut the tension of the life and death stakes of war for U.S. medics in present day Afghanistan. It’s unlike anything we’ve done before – and anything else on TV,” said Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.

Emmy® Award-nominated series creator, showrunner and series writer Roberto Benabib (Weeds, The Brink, Ally McBeal) executive produces along with Oscar®-winner Brian Grazer, Oscar®-winner Ron Howard and Imagine Television President Samie Kim Falvey. Zion Rubin, the creator of the Israeli television series Charlie Golf One, from which 68 Whiskey has been adapted, also executive produces, along with Efrat Shmaya Dror (United Studios of Israel), Danna Stern (yes Studios), Francie Calfo, Dave Holstein and Michael Lehmann.

68 Whiskey is the first series to premiere from Paramount Network’s ambitious 2020 scripted slate. The slate is headlined by Yellowstone, co-created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson and starring Costner, which is set to debut its third season later in summer 2020. Joining Yellowstone and 68 Whiskey on Paramount Network’s 2020 scripted slate are Coyote, from Michelle MacLaren and starring Michael Chiklis; Sexy Beast, a series adaptation of the critically acclaimed and award-winning feature film of the same name; the new Darren Star series Emily in Paris starring Lily Collins; as well as Paradise Lost (working title), from Rodes Fishburne, Arika Lisanne Mittman and John Lee Hancock.

Exclusive content from the series will be available on the @68Whiskey social accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and on the Paramount Network YouTube channel and paramountnetwork.com.


About Imagine Television
Imagine Television Group is comprised of Imagine Television and Imagine Television Studios. Imagine Television was founded in 1986 by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and is run by Imagine Television President Samie Kim Falvey. The company’s productions have been honored with 195 Emmy nominations and 30 Golden Globe nominations. Last year, the company formed Imagine Television Studios to produce and finance a slate of projects that currently includes the series Why Women Kill for CBS All Access from Marc Cherry; Swagger for Apple with Kevin Durant and Reggie Rock Bythewood; Wu-Tang: An American Saga for Hulu from The RZA and Alex Tse; and 68 Whiskey. Imagine Television is also producing Filthy Rich with Tate Taylor for Fox. Current programming includes Fox’s award-winning series Empire, Netflix’s Arrested Development and Nat Geo’s Emmy®-winning GENIUS anthology series. Earlier productions include Fox’s Golden Globe- and Emmy®-winning Best Drama Series 24; NBC’s Peabody Award-winning series Friday Night Lights; Fox’s Emmy®-winning Best Comedy Arrested Development; Fox’s Shots Fired and Lie To Me; WB’s Felicity; ABC’s SportsNight; and HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon, which won the Emmy® for Outstanding Mini-Series. Howard and Grazer began their collaboration in 1985 with the hit film comedies Night Shift and Splash, and continue to run Imagine as executive chairmen.

About CBS Television Studios
CBS Television Studios is one of the industry’s leading suppliers of programming with more than 70 series currently in production across broadcast and cable networks, streaming services and other emerging platforms. The Studio’s expansive portfolio spans a diverse slate of commercially successful and critically acclaimed scripted programming, genre-defining franchises including the ever-growing Star Trek universe, award-winning late night and daytime talk shows, and an extensive library of iconic intellectual property. For a list of all CBS Television Studios programming, visit www.CBSPressExpress.com.

About Paramount Network
Paramount Network is a premium entertainment destination that pushes the limits of storytelling with bold original scripted and non-scripted series. Inspired by over a century of cinema, Paramount Network is where today’s brightest stars bring the experience of the big screen to every screen with stories that are immersive, inclusive, and deeply personal. A subsidiary of Viacom Inc., Paramount Network has a global reach of 234 million households across 117 countries. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Paramount Network’s press site at paramountnetwork.com/press and follow us on Twitter at @ParamountNetPR for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

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32nd Annual USC Libraries Scripter Award Nominations Announced

SC Libraries Name Finalists for 32nd-Annual Scripter Awards

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The USC Libraries named the finalists for the 32nd-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s most accomplished film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based.

    USC Libraries name the finalists for the 32nd-annual Scripter Awards, honoring the year's most accomplished film and television adaptations.

The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:

•     Matthew Carnahan and Mario Correa for “Dark Waters” based on the New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich
•     Steven Zaillian for “The Irishman” based on the nonfiction work “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt
•     Taika Waititi for “JoJo Rabbit” based on the novel “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens
•     Author Louisa May Alcott and screenwriter Greta Gerwig for “Little Women”
•     Anthony McCarten for “The Two Popes” based on his play “The Pope”

The finalist writers for television are, in alphabetical order by series title:

•     Phoebe Waller-Bridge, for the first episode of “Fleabag” based on her one-woman play of the same name
•     Joel Fields and Steven Levenson for the episode “Nowadays,” from “Fosse/Verdon,” based on the biography “Fosse” by Sam Wasson
•     Emerald Fennell for the episode “Nice and Neat,” from “Killing Eve,” based on the novel “Codename Villanelle” by Luke Jennings
•     Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman for the first episode of “Unbelievable,” based on the article “An Unbelievable Story of Rape,” by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong
•     Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson for the episode “This Extraordinary Being,” from “Watchmen” based on the comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Chaired by USC professor and past president of the Writers Guild of America, West, Howard Rodman, the 2020 Scripter selection committee selected the finalists from a field of 61 film and 58 television adaptations.

Serving on the selection committee, among many others, are film critics Leonard Maltin, Anne Thompson and Kenneth Turan; authors Lisa Belkin, Steve Erickson and Michael Ondaatje; screenwriters Larry Karaszewski and Erin Cressida Wilson; producers Mike Medavoy and Suzanne Todd; and USC deans Elizabeth Daley of the School of Cinematic Arts and Catherine Quinlan of the USC Libraries.

The studios distributing the finalist films and current publishers of the printed works are:

    “Dark Waters”—Focus Features and New York Times Magazine
    “The Irishman”—Netflix and Steerforth Press
    “JoJo Rabbit”—Fox Searchlight and Harry N. Abrams
    “Little Women”—Sony Pictures and Signet Classics
    “The Two Popes”—Netflix and Flatiron Books

The networks and streaming platforms broadcasting the finalist television series and current publishers of the works are:

    “Fleabag”—Amazon and Nick Hern Books
    “Fosse/Verdon”—FX and Mariner Books
    “Killing Eve”—BBC America and Mulholland Books
    “Unbelievable”—Netflix and ProPublica & The Marshall Project
    “Watchmen”—HBO and DC Comics

The USC Libraries will announce the winning authors and screenwriters at a black-tie ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020 in the historic Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library at the University of Southern California. Since 1988, Scripter has honored the authors of printed works alongside the screenwriters who adapt their stories. In 2016, the USC Libraries inaugurated a new Scripter award, for television adaptation.

For more information about Scripter—including ticket availability, additional sponsorship opportunities, and an up-to-date list of sponsors—please email scripter@usc.edu or visit scripter.usc.edu.

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Celebrities Celebrate New Film, "Just Mercy"

Celebrities, Sports Teams, Athletes, Churches and Major Corporations Champion “Just Mercy,” the Acclaimed Film About Real-Life Hero Bryan Stevenson, Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading up to the Friday, January 10th, 2020 nationwide release of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Just Mercy,” a growing list of luminaries, sports teams, faith leaders and global corporations have come out in support of the film through theatre buyouts. The film, which opened in limited release on Christmas Day, has struck a chord with critics and moviegoers, earning an exceedingly rare A+ CinemaScore in addition to being Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 99% Audience Score. “Just Mercy” has also won seven Audience Awards at film festivals across the country, including the Mill Valley, Chicago, Virginia, New Orleans, Twin Cities and Heartland Film Festivals.

People are inspired by the story of a true hero for our time, attorney Bryan Stevenson, a Black man who courageously took on powerful forces in Alabama to save the life of an innocent Black man on death row. Bryan has since become an indomitable force for change, both in his community and across the nation, tirelessly fighting for justice for people trapped in a system where the cards are often stacked against them.

Stars from the worlds of sports, acting, fashion and music, as well as sports teams, key faith leaders and churches, and multinational corporations, have been motivated to buy out entire theatres and offer free admission, in hopes of making this powerful story accessible to as many people as possible. Some of those on the growing list of those doing theatre buyouts include:

    Kobe Bryant
    Kanye and Kim Kardashian West
    John Legend
    Common
    Lena Waithe
    Garrett Temple from the Brooklyn Nets
    Devin McCourty, New England Patriots Defensive Back #32
    Jason McCourty, New England Patriots Cornerback #30
    Microsoft
    Coach
    Facebook
    Goldhouse
    JPMorgan Chase
    Prudential Financial
    Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group
    Eastdil Secured
    The Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation & Third Point LLC
    The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
    Chris & Crystal Sacca
    Michael & Lydia Kives
    Sheryl Leach
    William McMorrow, Chairman and CEO of Kennedy Wilson
    just keep livin foundation
    Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
    Pastor Jamal Bryant and New Birth Church, Atlanta
    Dr. Irishea Hilliard and New Light Church, Houston
    Bishop Dale Bronner and Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, Atlanta

Sports teams including:
        From the NBA: Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings

        From the NFL: San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons


About “Just Mercy”:
Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther,” the “Creed” films, “Fruitvale Station”) and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx (“Ray,” “Baby Driver,” “Django: Unchained”) and Brie Larson (“Room,” “Short Term 12,” “Captain Marvel”) star in “Just Mercy.” Award-winning filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (“The Glass Castle,” “Short Term 12”) directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote, based on Bryan Stevenson’s bestselling memoir.

The main cast also includes Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe Spall, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Karan Kendrick. The film was produced by two-time Oscar nominee Gil Netter (“Life of Pi,” “The Blind Side”), Asher Goldstein (“Short Term 12”) and Michael B. Jordan. Bryan Stevenson, Mike Drake, Niija Kuykendall, Gabriel Hammond, Daniel Hammond, Scott Budnick, Jeff Skoll and Charles D. King served as executive producers. Cretton co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Lanham, based on Stevenson’s book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, which has spent more than 180 weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers List and counting.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in Association with Endeavor Content/One Community/Participant Media/Macro, a Gil Netter Production, an Outlier Society Production, “Just Mercy.” Distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film has been rated PG-13 for thematic content, including some racial epithets. www.JustMercyFilm.com

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"Frozen II" Becomes All-Time Highest Grossing Animated Film

"Frozen 2" is the Biggest Animated Release of All Time

Frozen 2 has become the highest-grossing animated film ever with a global cumulative box office gross of $1.326 billion, comprised of $450.4 million domestic and $875.8 million international. This weekend, the Walt Disney Animation Studios film broke the record previously set by its predecessor, Frozen, which earned $1.281 billion in its 2013 release. With Incredibles 2’s $1.243 billion worldwide, The Walt Disney Studios has now released the top three animated films of all time.

The film shattered records in its November debut, earning $358.4 million globally in its opening weekend and marking the No. 1 day-and-date global animated debut of all time. Frozen 2’s $130.2 million domestic opening was the biggest ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and around the globe, the film was No. 1 everywhere it opened. It recently set records in its Scandinavian debut over Christmas, including the highest opening weekend of all time in Denmark and Norway.

Frozen 2 has earned eight Annie Award nominations, including Best Feature, as well as two Golden Globe® and two Critics Choice Award nominations.

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Review: "Joker" Ain't No Joke

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Joker (2019)
Running time: 121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)
Rating: MPAA – R for strong bloody violence, disturbing behavior, language and brief sexual images
DIRECTOR:  Todd Phillips
WRITERS:  Todd Phillips and Scott Silver
PRODUCERS:  Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Lawrence Sher
EDITOR:  Jeff Groth
COMPOSER:  Hildur Guðnadóttir

CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham, Bill Camp, Glenn Fleshler, Leigh Gill, Douglas Hodge, Carrie Louise Putrello, Sharon Washington, Brian Tyree Henry, and Dante Pereira-Olson

Joker is a 2019 crime drama from director Todd Phillips.  The movie offers a gritty character study and new origin story of The Joker, the classic Batman villain who first appeared in Batman #1 (cover dated: Spring 1940).

The film opens sometime in the early 1980s.  Gotham City is in a state of chaos because of political and social turmoil and also because of class conflict between the extremely wealthy and powerful and the ordinary citizens.  Gotham is also in the middle of a mayoral election and a strike by the sanitation workers, which means that no one is picking up the garbage.  Trash bags and refuse line the streets, and this has created a rodent problem so bad that people are talking about “super rats.”

One of Gotham's beleaguered citizens is Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man with a history of mental illness, including a stint in a mental institution.  Fleck works as a “party clown,” but he aspires to be a stand-up comedian.  He lives with his ailing, aging mother, Penny Fleck (Frances Conroy), who also has a history of mental illness.

Living in poverty and being mostly a loner, Arthur Fleck feels he has been disregarded by society.  All his life, it seemed to him that no one even noticed that he existed, so he always wondered if he really existed.  Now, two unexpected incidents in a single day will change his life.  One is an accident and mistake that costs Arthur his job.  The other is a violent act of self-defense that will leave an already shocked city aghast.  But not everyone is appalled by the man who will become “Joker.”

After all the controversy and worry that it would inspire lonely, young men (particularly “incels,” the “involuntarily celibate”) to violence, Todd Phillips' Joker, the comic book movie that is not a comic book movie, turns out to be a somewhat more personal film and, on the part of Joaquin Phoenix, a more intimate performance than one would expect from all the hullabaloo.  Joker portrays the descent (or ascent?) of a man from mentally-ill invisible man to psychopathic murder and celebrated figure.

I don't know if Joker is Phoenix's best performance, because as good as the Oscar-nominated actor is here, this millennium has seen him deliver tour-de-force performances in varied roles across a variety of films.  If he deserves to be nominated for an Oscar or even win one for his performance in Joker, this performance is just the latest example of actor-as-artist who has been in full bloom for quite awhile.  Phoenix's performance as Arthur fleck is both gut-wrenching and utterly entertaining.  He manages to be both dark and light, pitiful and deadly in a role and performance that is too complex to describe in a paragraph or two.  I can say that in the annals of films based on comic books, Phoenix as Arthur Fleck is an immortal work of art.

Director Todd Phillips and his co-screenwriter, Scott Silver, have created a movie that is an evolution in the comic book film genre.  However, most comic book movies are meant to be popcorn entertainment, even when they are deeply thoughtful, poignant, and/or dramatic.  I believe that Joker is not meant to change the direction of such films coming from Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe (the MCU) or from Warner Bros. line of DC Comics-inspired films.  Like Christopher Nolan did with his film, The Dark Knight (2008), Phillips points towards a different direction for comic book films with Joker.  I think that The Dark Knight partly inspired Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), so, in the next five years, I expect to see at least one great comic book movie following in the inspired dance steps of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker.

The film has good supporting performances; for me, Robert De Niro as television talk show host, Murray Franklin, and Zazie Beetz as “love interest,” Sophie Dumond, who makes the most of her relatively small role, are standouts.  The crazy, ominous, gorgeous film score by Hildur Guðnadóttir is also one of the film's most special elements.

In Joker, Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips have created something scary, beautiful, fantastic, exhilarating, funny, and dazzling.  I will admit that sometimes it scared me and made me uncomfortable, but I love it all the more because of that.  Joker is a bravura act of cinema.

9 of 10
A+

Saturday, October 5, 2019


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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