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A Monster Calls: A film NOT of lighthearted whimsy.

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Release date:December 23, 2016
(limited; wide: Jan. 6)

Studio:Focus Features

Director:Juan Antonio Bayona

MPAA Rating:PG-13 (for thematic content and some scary images)

Screenwriter:Patrick Ness

Starring:Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver

Genre:Drama, Fantasy

Official website:FocusFeatures.com| Facebook| Twitter| Instagram

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To start things off this is not a lighthearted, whimsical, romp through some fantasy world of elves and magic. This is a film that, right from the start, jumps into some very serious subject matter.

We are introduced to a young boy named Conor, who is brought to us admirably by Lewis MacDougall. This is a young man tormented by bullies, an absent father, an overbearing grandmother, and worst of all an extremely ill mother (Like I said NOT a lighthearted film).

In the beginning it seems as though Conor is running the house due his mother having to work a lot of shifts, but it is quickly revealed that she is deathly ill and he is the one mostly maintaining the house. She does what she can, but her illness greatly limits her abilities.

Conor is is shown to be tortured at school by a band of ruffians, who make it their propose to take out their own insecurities on him, by mocking him and beating him on the regular. In addition to this Conor is plagued by a recurring dream of him standing outside of an old dilapidated church when all of a sudden the earth splits open and begins to swallow up his mother! He rushes to save her, but in the dream, he is unable to. She slips from his grasp into the pit never to be seen again, and he then he awakens. He awakens at the same time every night: 12:07 am (this become relevent later on in the film).

Conor attempts to cope with all of this by drawing. He is shown several times drawing late at night. In fact it is during one of these late night sessions when the “Monster” first appears. Now, of course the Monster is a CGI creation, but I will say that it is well done.

The creature grabs hold of Conor and informs him that he will told 3 stories all of which are designed to help him through this ordeal. Conor, however, (and for obvious reasons) does not care about any “stories”. The Monster, however, is insistent and with each story Conor is given insight to new and different perceptions. There is, however, no “magic” moment of revelation when everything falls into place and they live happily ever after. Every lesson is a hard one, every learning moment comes through pain, and this is something that I greatly appreciated!

This film is definitely one of heavy emotions, dismal situations, firebrand discoveries, as well as pockets of brightlight hope partnered with great warmth and tenderness. I found myself hardpressed not to weep in the theater even though I could hear many others who succumbed.

I highly recommend this film especially because in this era of everything being handed to characters on a silver platter of right now, this film shows the road of stuggle that leads to discovery.

 

 

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Paramount+ Reveals Official Main Title Sequence for the Upcoming Series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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During the TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES panel earlier today at San Diego Comic Con, Paramount+ revealed the official main title sequence for the series. The sequence is composed by EMMY® nominee, Matt Mahaffey, known for his work on Sanjay and Craig, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie and much more. 

From the studios of the Mutant Mayhem film, the all-new Paramount+ original series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES explores the adventures of everyone’s favorite pizza-loving heroes as they emerge from the sewers onto the streets of NYC. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey are faced with new threats and team up with old allies to survive both teenage life and villains lurking in the shadows of the Big Apple. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures.

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok) and Alan Wan (Blue Eye Samurai, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2012 Series]). Production is overseen for Nickelodeon by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, TV Series Animation, Nickelodeon, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.

In addition to the upcoming new series, stream all things Turtles on Paramount+.

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Comic-Con 2024: Those About to Die Activation

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DISNEY+ CASTS DANIEL DIEMER AS FAN-FAVORITE ‘TYSON’IN SEASON TWO OF “PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS”

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 in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, Rick Riordan and Disney+ revealed that Daniel Diemer (“Under the Bridge”) will star as fan-favorite cyclops “Tyson” in the epic adventure series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Diemer joins Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase) and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) as a series regular. The Disney+ Original series from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television will start filming its second season next week in Vancouver.

Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is based on the second installment of Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series titled “The Sea of Monsters” by award-winning author Rick Riordan. In the new season, Percy Jackson returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon.

Diemer stars as Tyson – a young Cyclops who grew up all alone on the streets, and finds it difficult to survive in the human world.  Shy and awkward, with a heart almost as big as he is, Tyson soon discovers that Poseidon is his father, which means Percy Jackson is his half-brother… and that Tyson may have finally found a home. 

Diemer recently starred in the Hulu limited series “Under the Bridge” based off the critically acclaimed book of the same name and a tragic true story of a missing teen girl in Vancouver in 1997. He will next star in the indie “Thug” opposite Liam Neeson and Ron Perlman for director Hans Petter Moland. Daniel was recently seen as the lead in the indie “Supercell” opposite Alec Baldwin and Skeet Ulrich and the lead in the film “Little Brother” opposite Phil Ettinger and JK Simmons. Daniel can also be seen in the Netflix series “The Midnight Club” and recently starred as the male lead in the breakout hit Netflix feature “The Half Of It” from producer Anthony Bregman and director Alice Wu. He is a graduate of Victoria Academy of Dramatic Arts in Vancouver.

Created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is executive produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz alongside Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Albert Kim, Jason Ensler and Sarah Watson.

The first season of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is available on Disney+

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