Losers and Proud and On the Way Back for More

Cute and fun-looking.

Perfectly calibrated in tone.

And still very Guardians of the Galaxy.

I’m talking, of course, about the first teaser for next summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 starring Chris Pratt, Zoë Saldana, David Bautista, Elizabeth Debicki (AMC’s The Night Manager), Kurt Russell, and Sylvester Stallone, among others.

Check it out:



Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – directed by returning helmer James Gunn and featuring once again Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel (Baby Groot Alert!) – is due out on May 5.

A New Star’s Officially About to Be Born

Lady GaGa’s Hollywood takeover is now beyond-cemented.

Let us me all deal with it.

Indeed, the singer-cum-Golden Globe-winning-actress is going to share the screen with Bradley Cooper in a long-in-the-works remake of A Star Is Born, which the War Dogs supporting player will direct in his feature-film debut in that capacity.

Clint Eastwood and Beyoncé previously had been attached to the project, which, one must admit and/or presume, will be super-different now that Cooper and Mother Monster are involved.

For one, the Academy Award-nominated Hunting Ground-song co-writer and performer is – of course – going to be quite involved. Her deal includes a composing and performing new music for the story of a rising ingenue and her declining lover/mentor. And for two, all eyes will be on Cooper, as folks – including yours truly – will look to see what kind of energy he has a big-time, yet untested helmer.

Production on this one is expected to kick off in California early in 2017.

Christmas 2017. How is that schedule looking for a potential release?

Photo: PopCrush.com.

Beefy Crow Alert!

Get it, boy.

Justice League’s Jason Momoa may soon have something new to crow about, kids.

Evidently, a remake of 1994s The Crow is back on the table, and the powers that be are keen to have Momoa star in it.

Bradley Cooper and Ben-Hur’s Jack Huston both were once attached to the endeavor.

Photo: Zimbio.com.

The Star Will Be GaGa?

Wait. What?

Lady GaGa is joining Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake?

Going for a bike ride together – that’s how her involvement in the Cooper-produced-and-led project got cemented-ish earlier this month.

Guess Beyoncé is no longer involved.

Well this has Annie remake written all over it now.

Photo: E! Online.

A Most Magical Night

The first Monday in May in New York City: It offers something most of us mere plebes will never experience: glitz and glamour on a level that’s beyond next, for that is when the world-famous Met Gala takes place.

Andrew (Page One: Inside the New York Times) Rossi’s absorbing new doc, The First Monday in May, chronicles the months-long painstaking thought and effort that went into producing last year’s first Monday in May, a.k.a. the massive and successful “China: Through the Looking Glass” exhibit curated by Andrew Bolton (pictured here), the (new) head curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Its release last weekend was timed perfectly, not only to help the Tribeca Film Festival open its 2016 program but to get you all excited about the upcoming affair co-chaired by Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Apple’s Jonathan Ive, Idris Elba, and Taylor Swift, which in just under two weeks from now shall celebrate the opening of a new spring show titled “Manux X Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.”

The film is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the politics of the show. A constellation of stars like Rihanna, the Clooneys, Madonna, Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, Beyoncé, Kimye, Bradley Cooper, J. Lo, and exhibit co-chair J. Law, not to leave out myriad leading designers and socialites – all guests of the fashion-meets-art fête – are, of course, featured, but they are not a focus. Wintour, needless to say, is one.

She is (figuratively, literally) front and center during the bulk of the production, given her commanding post at the fashion bible, but so is Bolton. Much has been said about Wintour’s editrix ways, thanks to The Devil Wears Prada, yet the fascination with the most powerful woman in fashion ought to extend and include her passion for fashion as a part, if not as a driving force of culture. Wintour, Rossi makes clear, is a facilitator. In this case, she’s more than just the Met’s champion (the Met Gala raises millions for the museum’s Costume Institute; $12.5 million in 2015 alone): She is Bolton’s champion.

It is mostly through his studious eyes that we learn about the rigors of mounting a relevant, cutting-edge exhibition of all that art and fashion and film can unite to create – a massive showcase of, indeed, culture. The question of whether fashion is art is raised more than once, peppered here and there among talk of how much Rihanna is a$king for to perform at the gala and who is sitting where.

Were it not for this oh-so-intelligent, intriguing, involving documentary, most of us probably wouldn’t have realized that filmmaker Wong Kar Wai played a key role as the artistic director of the show, advising on its narrative and, say, the wisdom of courting a little controversy by featuring a bust, if memory serves, of Mao among statues of the Buddha. We also wouldn’t have become privy to the politics of producing the show among the museum’s players, the star-studded soirée that introduces it, and the symbiosis among ’em; Wintour, in particular, comes off as a pragmatical maker of decisions...as a leader with – gasp! – a well-disguised sense of humor.

The First Monday in May is not about celebrity. Yes, you will see Jessica Chastain cutting a rug with Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, but, more importantly, you will get to meet and, really (fingers crossed), understand what goes into creating one of the most magical nights of the years. Rossi never quite answers his central question (whether fashion is art), but, to be fair, it is not actually for him to decide or for his film to serve as the end-all of the conversation on the topic.

That is why we go to museums. Why we watch films (and TV). Why listen to music. Why we dress ourselves. Why we are, and why we ask why.

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: Magnolia Pictures.

Deeper Than All Else

Four-time Oscar nominee (thrice as an actor, once as an American Sniper producer – but you knew that) Bradley Cooper will fall from grace in his new movie, Deeper.

But he will redeem himself.

See, Cooper is gonna play an astronaut who, for whatever reason, journeys into – get this – the bottom of a newly discovered oceanic trench that is believed the lowest point on Earth. There he comes across lots of exciting and new dangers, which create physical and psychological challenges for the guy.

Max Landis, the writer of American Ultra and Chronicle, is behind this one, and Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó (White God) is already on board to helm.

Photo: Time.com.

A Life Re-invented

Third time’s not the charmed...est for David O. Russell and Jennifer Lawrence.

See, their Joy – the purported early ’90s-set biopic of Joy Mangano, the inventor the Miracle Mop – is not the commercial and critical hit that their previous efforts, American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook, were, and here’s the reason: Those films felt cohesive, and this comes off as a puzzle.

Written and directed by Russell (who shares a story by credit with Annie Mumolo, the Academy Award-nominated co-writer of Bridesmaids), the production opens with the disclaiming dedication that it is inspired by the true stories of daring women. One in particular: Mangano – although her last name never factors into the plot.

That revelation took me out of the film almost immediately because it suggested that, much like Steve Jobs, Joy wasn’t going to be strict about relating Mangano’s story, an incredible rags-to-riches yarn about a single mom from Long Island who, in a way, revolutionized the world. Why Russell would choose to pepper in details about the lives of other women, to skimp on Mangano’s story, completely escapes me. After all, she sounds like she was more than enough.

Alas, the Joy in Joy is, perhaps, a bit too much. Those surrounding her definitely are.

J. Law’s heroine is a divorced mother of three (her ex, played by Point Break’s Édgar Ramírez, lives in her basement and has become her best friend) who bears the brunt of having to support her loving grandmother (hello, screen legend Diane Ladd!), shut-in mother (Virginia Madsen), and look-out-he’s-moving-in father (played as a discounting ne’er-do-well by Robert De Niro) on an airline-clerk salary (aww...Eastern).

Life’s not ideal for the woman, and it’s not working out.

Nearing the end of her already tenuous rope, Joy, ever the inventive one, comes up with a self-ringing mop while out sailing with her dad’s new gf’s (Isabella Rossellini, chewing on scenery som’in’ fierce). She mortgages her entire life in the hope that a gamble on her novelty will pay off big.

Obviously, it did.

What Joy aims to do is chronicle the familial and societal struggle Joy endured on the road to success. The struggle was beyond-real, given that she was surrounded by emotional vampires (including a jealous half-sister portrayed by Elisabeth Röhm, an American Hustle alumna) and shady characters that wanted to steal from her. Except her fight comes off cartoonish because the drama of it all is so heightened.

Joy feels forced. It meanders. Bradley Cooper pops up for a cameo/supporting role as a QVC kingmaker (the real Joy became a sensation for the then-fledgling network) that is ultimately pointless since his character’s professional relationship with Joy is underdeveloped. I guess he serves his purpose, though: He is there to show us that Joy probably would have made it regardless of whether she’d ever met him. That she did only set her on a path toward a multi-million dollar empire.

Lawrence acquits herself nicely playing far older than she is at the end there because she’s a movie star. Her performance is that charismatic, that magnetic and effective, and yet, Russell fails to give her Joy much of any, and worse, he doesn’t provide his partner in moviemaking a showy moment of like, I won’t take it anymore!

Joy’s big moment is subdued. Lawrence can do subdued, but it’s like watching a declawed lioness tear into an attacker.

It’s mesmerizing stuff, not amazing. And I was expecting to be blown away by this one.

My Rating **

Photo: 20th Century Fox.

So Hungry

Sienna Miller. Omar Sy (X-Men: Days of Future Past). Daniel Brühl. Matthew Rhys (FX’s The Americans). Fifty Shades of Grey’s Jamie Dornan. Ex Machina’s Alicia Vikander. Uma Thurman. And Emma Thompson.

They are all going to be there in one way or another for Bradley Cooper when he gets Burnt this fall.

Originally titled Chef then Adam Jones, Burnt will tell the story of a fast-living and disgraced two-star Michelin chef Paris-based chef attempting a comeback in London.

The first trailer for the movie made its grand debut today, so check that out and then mark your calendars for Oct. 23, OKRRR.

Photo: ScreenRant.com.

Joy Be a Lady

And we have us a first teaser for Jennifer Lawrence’s next serving of Oscar bait.

Directed by American Hustle’s David O. Russell, here comes Joy, the story of Joy Mangano, the Long Island single mom who invented the Miracle Mop.

The film – which chronicles Mangano’s life from the ages of 10 to 40 – co-stars Édgar Ramírez as Joy’s cheatin’ (first?) husband, Robert De Niro as her father, and Bradley Cooper as a later-in-life love interest, plus Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, and Isabella Rossellini in supporting roles, one whom (if not all), I’ll bet, will be instrumental in her rise to entrepreneurial glory.

Joy will open, appropriately-ish enough, on Christmas Day. But don’t be fooled: This won’t be all mops and roses. A shotgun will be involved.

Photo: EW.com.

A Hawaiian Indulgence

Aloha.

Sad but true, it isn’t what you should be saying to welcome Cameron Crowe’s Aloha. It’s what you should be screaming its way as you don’t buy a ticket for it or as you request a refund for it within the allowed 20 minutes to do so. Emphatically.

It’s not that Aloha is a terrible movie, although it is pretty bad wondering its a C2 joint starring Bradley Copper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski, and Bill Murray, for cryin’ out loud. It’s just that there’s an even better one, an acceptable one, hiding behind the surface. Behind what we’ve actually gotten.

That is to say a mess of a story.

Seriously, I got sooo tired of trying to wrap my head around it I actually fell asleep a little there in the middle. I did that, so now you don’t have to.

Cooper stars as Brian Gilcrest, a self-described f----up of an erstwhile Top Gun – OK, at least I think that’s how he described himself at one point (I could have dreamt it, I guess...) – with a background so hazy and a mission so confusing it’s not worth it getting into it too much, trust. Suffice it to say that he arrives in Hawaii in his new defense-contractor role (for Murray’s character, his new old still-shady boss) to do som’in’ under the guise of doing som’in’ else, which is why he goes and meets with the Hawaiian nationalist elder Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele (who plays himself), to assure him he’s not doing the first thing he’s doing.

See? So silly and convoluted. And jackass-y, which is why there’s more to Brian, and that more comes in the shape of complicated past and new romantic entanglements.

Brian, don’t you know, used to date McAdams’ Tracy, but for whatever reason he called it quits on their relationship 13 years ago. She never saw him again (until now), and she picked up the pieces and moved on with Krasinski’s oh-so-stoic manly man, another pilot who adores her silently (’cause he’s so stoic). Now that he’s back on the island (yes, he used to be based in Hawaii...I think), though, Brian is forced unto the company of Allison Ng, the hot-shot Air Force pilot that Stone was asked to portray. That Allison’s heritage is as complicated a sell as the movie’s plot – if memory serves she’s a Hawaii daughter whose background includes a quarter Chinese and Swedish (clearly lots of Swedish) – shouldn’t come as a surprise or without controversy. Worse, that the character’s boundless manic-puppy peppiness will make you reconsider your fondness of the actress is inexcusable.

Anyway, as Brian is pulled into doing whatever the f--- it is that he’s in Hawaii to do (satellites and sacred lands are involved), he also must grapple with his heart’s old drama as he maybe opens it up to some of a fresher variety.

Except there’s very little drama in Aloha.

Brian and Tracy have the most civilized, cool conversations about their shared history (does Cameron Crowe not believe in messy confrontation?) and Brian and Allison, they are so milquetoast together that I just don’t even know, you know.

No, the drama in this one comes from a complete lack of focus and direction. It’s a shame that we will never really get what Crowe was trying to do with this one because I tell ya, there was something there. Alas, just not enough for the combined charisma of Cooper & Co.

And here I thought Mortdecai had come outta the gate the worst movie of the year....

My Rating *1/2

Photo: Sony Pictures.

Still Limitless

Jake McDorman may be headlining the TV version of Limitless this fall, but the OG NZT taker, Bradley Cooper, will be on hand to ensure that the series is a success.

Yes, the three-time Oscar nominee and current Tony nominee, has signed on to recur on the adaptation of the 2011 sleeper hit that CBS is mounting for our enjoyment (Cooper is also executive producing the show).

The actor will return to TV (remember, he got his big break on Alias!), to reprise his role as struggling writer-cum-man wonder/senator/presidential hopeful Edward Mora for the tube.

Limitless, the show, will revolve around Brian Finch (McDorman), a (handsome) man who discovers the power of NZT, a mysterious drug with some pretty incredible side effects (it allows ya to tap into all of your brain’s potential) and who is, obviously, invited by the FBI to use his newfound abilities to help the bureau solve some cases on the weekly. Of course, Finch and Mora will become entangled, and something tells me Cooper may now be playing the Robert De Niro part on the show. Meaning, the nefarious one.

Jennifer Carpenter (Showtime’s Dexter) and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are set to co-star, btw.

Your move, Abbie Cornish.

Photo: TheFilmStage.com.

Kristin and Alan to Do the Tonys!

So this is why – to the chagrin of many – neither Kristin Chenoweth nor Alan Cumming was on hand for the 2015 Tony Award nominations this morning....

They’re hosting the big show!

Indeed, it was Bruce Willis and Mary Louise Parker who announced who is up for what this June, and who confirmed that the stars of Broadway’s On the Twentieth Century and Cabaret will lord over theater’s biggest night.

So there you have it.

Now, as to which plays and musicals and talent were singled out.... An American in Paris and Fun Home are, apparently, the ones to beat, with 12 nods apiece. They’ll face off against Something Rotten! and The Visit in the Best Musical category. Meanwhile, for Best Play, the nominees are The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Disgraced, Hand to God, and Wolf Hall Parts One & Two.

On the acting front, the cast of The Elephant Man (itself up for Best Revival of a Play) – Bradley Cooper, Alessandro Nivola, and Patricia Clarkson – is up for Tonys in their respective leading and featured categories. Helen Mirren earned a nod for her work as Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, and both Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan were singled out for Skylight, as were Ken Watanabe and Kelli O’Hara for The King and I.

Click here for a complete list of nominees, and be sure to tune in and watch the Tonys on June 7, on CBS.

A Director Wants to Be Born

So...looks like Bradley Cooper be flexin’.

Not content with owning his craft as an actor (last December’s American Sniper did net him his third consecutive Academy Award nomination, after all), Cooper is setting his sights on a director’s chair.

His first director’s chair. (Maybe his second, if his previously announced project, Honeymoon with Harry, gets going first.)

Indeed, the Serena man is fixin’ to pop his cherry as a director by helming the heating-up-again A Star Is Born remake, which he hopes will serve as a starring vehicle for himself and one Ms. Beyoncé, who has long been attached to the project (since 2011, at least, which is when Clint Eastwood was set to call the shots).

Photo: AXS.com.

The New Limitless

Did you know that Bradley Cooper’s 2011 hit Limitless is becoming a TV show?

Well, ya do now. shall rise again.

Jake McDorman (he of TV’s short-lived Manhattan Love Story) will be headlining the darn thing, which Cooper will executive produce for CBS.

McDorman will play a man who discovers the power of the mysterious NZT drug and who is, ahem, invited by the FBI to use his newfound abilities to help the bureau solve some cases on the weekly.

Photo: ZapGossip.com.

A Hawaiian Love Story

Cameron Crowe’s next film finally has a film, so say aloha to Aloha.

The May 29 release is a bit of a love story, a complicated one (in typical C2 fashion), starring Bradley Cooper as a military contractor who reconnects with an ex (Rachel McAdams) at the same time that he’s starting to fall for an Air Force watchdog played by Emma Stone.

This one’s been in the works since the summer of 2012, so let’s trust that it was worth the wait.

Here’s the trailer.

Photo: Variety.com.