THE BOSS (2/4)

Melissa McCarthy is definitely one of the funniest, boldest and smartest woman in Hollywood. And she proves that again, in her new movie THE BOSS. The movie is about a self made billionaire businesswoman (47th richest woman) who hits a bump, and goes into slump. But she pulls herself out, with help of her newly made "family", and in the process, helps the not-so-rich family, friends and many-many young girls as well. Sounds like an emotional dramatic motivational film, right? But oh well, this is Melissa we are talking about!

***spoilers***
Michelle Darnell (Melissa) is not just rich, but also a "bitch". Under pays her hard working assistant Claire (the wonderful Kristen Bell). Cheats, steals and destroys other's career and her own love. And does a little inside trading (like everyone in the so called rich world does), which lands her in jail. She also ends up losing everything she has made, and literally ends up on street. Since she has no family or friends, but a lot of haters, she ends up at Claire's doorstep, where she finds a shelter, on Claire's young daughter's insistence. But the snobby, condescending and anti-family/love Melissa is a nightmare guest. That's where the real fun begins!

To recover and redeem herself, she decides to sell Claire's delicious home recipe brownies. The inspiration for Darnell's brownies business are the Girl Scout cookies, but business-oriented, where everyone makes real money. This is where the next level of hilarious-ness ensues. Struggle, success, family, love, revenge, and even real action. Empires get made, sold and fought for. And is all quite funny & fun!
***spoilers end***

Even though it's a hilarious joy ride to watch, some jokes do seem to fall flat. There's many cliches, and slap-stick jokes, that everyone may not find funny. The dialogues are not as comical genius as you may want. The editing is tight, but direction seems to get lost at times. But overall, the film finds its direction, and does a fine job to entertain.

The movie is heavily reliant on Melissa's shoulders, and she takes that load very well. She's funny, she's crass, she's gross, she's everything. She falls, jumps, fights, exposes, swears and everything an R rated film needs. Even though there's lot of kids in the film, t's quite R rated, aka not really a family film? Peter Dinklage is not very well used, but he's brilliant in his part. Hopefully, some day, some film can use his real talents. Or we can just rely on 'Game of Thrones' for that. Kristen Bell goes all in, in the role. She's one of the most under rated actress of today.  Tyler Labine is just hilarious in his short role, a great catch for this film, rather than some hollywood hunk. Ella Anderson (as the young daughter) and rest of the cast is great too. Another thing to point out as the casting, which is quite well balanced, with lots of woman, people of color/ethnicities and a good diverse mix. And it all works great!

So, if you like Melissa or you like female lead/oriented (if you don't, you should!), you'll like this film. If you're expecting a Bridesmaid or SPY, you need to slightly lower your expectation and just go and enjoy this funny movie and the wonderful Melissa McCarthy!

The Boss - In Theaters April 8, 2016 www.thebossfilm.com Academy Award®-nominated star Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids, The Heat, Tammy) headlines The Boss as a titan of industry who is sent to prison after she's caught for insider trading. When she emerges ready to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart, not everyone she screwed over is so quick to forgive and forget.

10 Cloverfield Lane (3/4) | Why John Goodman is one of the best actors in Hollywood

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) Image Source: IMDb

As per JJ Abrams, the producer, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a spiritual successor to the mega hit, experimental film, Cloverfield. And for the most part, it does not relate to the other film. No handheld footage, no running around, not much explosions or falling buildings etc etc. But it does remind you of the unexpected panic, the fear of unknown, the craziness of the situation, without seeing much. 

This is a regular 3rd person narrative, sci-fi thriller/horror movie. But that's where the "regularness" ends. It's irregular and special in many other ways. Unlike some other captive horror movies (SAW, for example), this one is not over the top gory or freaky. It's not like stranded/stuck movies (like ROOM), but shows you the emotional turmoil of being stuck. It's a sci-fi movie with Aliens too. It's many movies in one, and they're all good movies.

Michelle has an accident and ends up in a bunker with Howard. He claims the world has come to an end, with nothing left outside. And he's saved her inside, with Emmett. Michele is not convinced, and keeps searching for truth. What is the truth? Has the world ended? Are they kidnapped and being held by a psycho? Is there an alien attack? The questions get answered, and it's not bad!

Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Like us on FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/1QyRMsE Follow us on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/1ghOWmt 10 Cloverfield Lane Official Trailer #1 (2016) - Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, Movie HD Waking up from a car accident, a young woman finds herself in the basement of a man who says he's saved her life from a chemical attack that has left the outside uninhabitable.

One of the best thing about this movie is John Goodman. He truly carries the movie on his shoulders, with his brilliant performance. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is good as the scream queen and damsel in distress. It's repetitive but good performance. John Gallagher, Jr. is kinda bum. Dan Trachtenberg direction is spot on and keeps the movie tight and moving. Lot of unseen terror, until you see it.

If you're into psychological thrillers or sci-fi horror movies, this one would be a good watch. If you like lot of ongoing action, this may not be it.

Phil Saviano is a story to be told by itself ~ a conversation with Neal Huff

Synopsis: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core. Genre: Biography, Drama, History Release Dates: January 2016 Director: Tom McCarthy Writers: Tom McCarthy (screenplay), Josh Singer (screenplay) Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams ★ Subscribe to YouTube Movies Trailers → http://bit.ly/1s3Cxue ★ More Trailers + Reviews!

Neal Huff is a wonderful actor who has been active in Hollywood for years and has played many pivotal and wonderful roles, both on big and small screen. He’s also a personal friend of Art Shrian, from myNewYorkeye. Art and Neal had a chance to have a conversation about his role in the Oscar frontrunner film SPOTLIGHT. He plays the impactful character of Phil Saviano.

Here are the excepts from that conversation…

Art Shrian: Congratulations on this amazing film. I saw the movie and was very excited to see you in the film. It’s a very impactful and moving story, and you play a very important character in this film. It’s a very difficult and complex character, and you do a wonderful job of bringing it alive. So, how did this part come to you?

Neal Huff:  I’ve known Tom (the director) for years, but I auditioned. He was incredibly nice, and luckily it went very well. Most people in the film are based on real life characters, and bear a striking resemblance to their characters. And that’s definitely the case with Phil Saviano, and me, which was a great help in me getting the role. And yes, it was a great experience, being part of the film and knowing who Phil Savaino was. I knew that it was based on something real, but didn’t know who Phil was. So I asked Tom, that it seems like a real guy, and he said yes.  Then I started doing my research on him and there’s tons of footage and information on him. And over time, I got to know Phil personally, and even became really close friends with him.

Art Shrian: How was the audition process?

Neal Huff: It was just that one scene, actually an earlier version of that scene. I hadn’t read the whole script then. I knew about the subject, but didn’t know Phil’s story. But it went great.

Art Shrian: Talking about that scene, it’s an amazing scene. Talk about an actor’s dream. To be in front of such amazing actors such as Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Brian Darcy James and Mark Ruffalo; and it is one of the best scenes of the movie. You bring so much truth and power into the scene.  How was that experience?

Neal Huff: Honestly, that was one thing I knew, I”ll have in my favor, making scene as truthful as possible. I’ll be talking to these 4 wonderful actors. The energy of that event alone is going to reflect lot of what Phil went through when that happened. When spotlight team called Phil, he felt that star-chamber were calling him. He worked in Public relations for year’s prior, and he knew that spotlight team was a big deal. He felt a real sense of importance there. So I knew, that me going in as an actor, in front of these people, would reflect to some extent what Phil was going through that day.

Art Shrian: Wow, so the dynamic was real in some way.

Neal Huff: Yeah, I was like - if I was nervous, it’ll play well!

Art Shrian: How was the rehearsal process for that scene?

Neal Huff: We rehearsed for few days in New York, before the filming started. We went through the scene with actors, Tom and other writers. But when we were actually doing it, I’m not sure if we did rehearse it. I think we pretty much started filming. As an actor, you want to bring a lot to such scenes. Tom gave me a wonderful direction, that I was really blown away by, when I was on set. As an actor, you feel that with so much information there, you want to relive it. But Tom suggested that I want to feel this man is not doing this for the first time. He’s been trying to share this story for a long time, he has been doing it and telling the people this for years. Which was a completely different direction than I expected it to be. I was blown away by it. So, with this direction, the scene took a completely different light than what I expected it to be. And the greatest affirmation of how it went, when we were shooting the scene in Toronto, when these 2 gentlemen came to me after the scene was done, and shook my hand. I didn’t know who they were. And they said, "that is exactly how it went". And they were Michael Rezendes and Walter Robinson (the 2 journalists who were on scene in real life, played by Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton). I was utterly floored and moved.

Art Shrian: That’s just amazing. It’s a very complex character, who’s part of an important event. How did you prepare for the character, and work on researching and developing it? Did Phil share a lot of personal information? And how did you absorb it and prepare yourself?

Neal Huff: At first, when I got to meet him, I had gone through an interview that Josh Singer did with him in 2012. Then I went up to Boston to meet him. It was a treasure of really complex details. And I had my own perspective on this important issue, which was very close to my own experiences.  I wanted to advocate for this issue. I was brought up catholic, went to catholic school. So I had my own kind of stake. But the more I got to know Phil, I realized that he’s alive for a very strong specific reason. He’s unlike anybody I have ever met.  It’s not that he got lucky, that he’s around, and be able to do what he did. He’s a remarkable character. So I felt a real responsibility to convey who Phil was.

He’s very open about talking about this abuse he suffered. He’s never repressed it, and been an advocate his entire life. His story is just extraordinary. His priest abused him at age 11. He was diagnosed with HIV positive in 1984. In 1992, he almost wanted to take his own life. But he bounced back. And then he decided to spread his story and be an advocate for this issue. He wasn’t sure how long will he live, but he wanted to use this time at its best. He read this small article in Boston Globe, about this priest, Father Holly, molesting kids in 70s in New Mexico, same priest who molested him in 60s. And no one had talked about this priest or others in a negative way, in his hometown or around in public. Phil got in touch with Globe to connect with these folks who were abused. And he started SNAP. He found a path and destiny, to do what he did. His generosity and spirit was really the furnace for what I was doing.

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Art Shrian: Wow, it seems like a story to be told by itself.

Neal Huff: Yes. Who knows what would have happened if spotlight wouldn’t have called him in. They used lot of his help in the beginning to reach out to people. He was key to it all. If you really told Phil Saviano story, that could be a film in itself.

Art Shrian: So what are your thoughts on this important and sensitive subject? It’s unfortunate that it happened, and still happens out there. How has this impacted you and what has been response of your family and friends, and other practicing Catholics, to this film?

Neal Huff: Two examples. My mother goes to church every day. And she’s huge supporter of this film. She was upset that Kim Davis, the court clerk, got an audience with Pope. She was very disappointed. She loves the pope, but her biggest disappointment with him is that why not Phil Saviano get an audience with the Pope. She still goes to church, but also is very hopeful that a story like this will be a good thing for church. It’s the hiding of truth that is the problem. It’s devastating for my mother to see such suffering and pain of people. But still is very hopeful that things will change for good.

I have a close friend, who’s a priest. He married us. I spoke to him last week, and he loved the film. He was concerned how the film will portray the community in certain way. But he liked the film. And he feels that things will move in positive direction. I was really encouraged to hear that he feels that movie is a good thing moving forward.

Art Shrian: Agreed. It’s important that truth is not hidden and right action is taken to fix this kind of corruption. And hopefully things will change for good, and a movie like this definitely helps people understand the issue better and give it more spotlight!

Art Shrian: So, what else are you working on right now?

Neal Huff: There’s another film that came out this fall, Nasty Baby, with Kristen Wiig. I just adore the film. It’s almost a weird look of new definition of family. And cross-reference of gentrification of Brooklyn. Sebastian (the director) is a remarkable genius and does great job with this film. Also working on bunch of things on TV. I have a part in Billions. Also I have an interesting part in Person of Interest, probably airing in summer. Deadbeat is a really fun show, which I’m on. I had a great time on Blacklist. Had great time working with amazing Tim Hunter.

Art Shrian: It’s an amazing time for TV in America with so much good stuff going on. What are your favorite shows right now?

Neal Huff: I’m about to watch River on Netflix, with Stellan Skarsgard. I’m very excited about Portlandia. I loved Master of None.

Art Shrian: There’s so much film and TV stuff going in New York now. How is it to be a working actor in New York City?

Neal Huff: It’s always been my dream. I watched actors like Christopher Walken and William Dafoe, or if you go back in 60s & 50s, like Brando, Dean, DeNiro and many others. The idea of working actor in New York City has always been amazing.  I’m lucky that I have been hanging around here.

Art Shrian: It’s truly a wonderful time to be an actor in New York City. What’s your favorite representation of New York city on screen

Neal Huff: Taxi Driver. I love the film, and I still watch it regularly. It’s like a moving painting of the city. It’s just amazing!

Art Shrian: Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, definitely do a great job of bringing New York City on screen.  Right now on TV, I relaly like what Louis CK does with his show Louis. It’s very honest representation of the city.

Neal Huff: Yes, I love Louis. I can’t wait until the next season comes back. I watch the same episode many times over. I adore the show.

Art Shrian: So last question, what’s your most favorite thing about New York City?

Neal Huff: My most favorite thing about New York, is that you can see anyone from any part of the world. And you can get authentic food from any part of the world here. You go down Roosevelt Av, every block is a completely different ethnicity, completely different cuisine. And that to me is the most favorite part of New York. It’s amazing to see the diversity and authenticity of food and people from around the world, I love it!

Art Shrian: Cannot agree more. New York City is a little worked in itself. That’s one of the reasons why I love New York City… Thanks a lot for taking time to talk to us, and share all this wonderful information and thoughts. Congratulations again on this wonderful movie and All the best!

A conversation with Jay Dockendorf, from Naz and Maalik #myNewYorkeye

Naz and Maalik is a multiple award winning movie by writer/director Jay Dockendorf, with lead actors Curtiss Cook Jr and Kerwin Johnson Jr. A relevant look at two closeted gay teenage African-American Muslims in Brooklyn who are under surveillance by FBI, this narrative film was inspired by real life stories of LGBT Muslims, as told to Jay.

Art Shrian from myNewYorkeye had a conversation with the wonderful filmmaker. Here are the excerpts.

Art Shrian: How are you doing Jay?

Jay Dockendorf: I’m great Art. How are you?

Art Shrian: I’m great, thanks. So, you’re based in New York?

Jay Dockendorf: I live in Brooklyn. I used to live in Bedstuy, and I moved here. I’m currently staying here, and I think next project will be here.

Art Shrian: So what do you think of the weather here?

Jay Dockendorf: I actually enjoy it more than I Thought. I’ve been here 4 years, I grew up in LA, went to school in CT, and now I’m here.

Art Shrian: So congratulations on wonderful movie. It’s very captivating. The subject of the movie is very interesting, but also the visuals of New York City are great. Like a New Yorker sees it. SO how did you shoot it?

Jay Dockendorf: We shot Guerilla style. We shot on location. I acted as location scout, and most film was shot on real locations, except the mosque scene. The style of the film has a lot to do with camera work, and cinematographer Jake Mickey and Production designer who worked together to create a look, of seeing New York that’s reflected in the shots, but also matches what’s happening with the characters. I have to give them full credit for the look of the film.

We shot with a lightweight camera Canon C300, which let us spend long days hand held. That was good for the guerilla style filmmaking.

Art Shrian: New York City itself plays a character and you guys have done a great job of it. About the story, its very complex. It has various layers, like subject of sexuality, subject of religion, subject of racial profiling. It brings multiple layers of emotions and journey of the characters through this story. So how did you come up with this story?

Jay Dockendorf: This is not a story of myself. It’s a story of many people how I thought deserve their story to be told. The sources are events that I saw on street, on subway, in homes where I have stayed in. Particularly, a gay couple I lived with inspires the main character.  It’s not a documentary, but things gave me lot of inspiration. I started writing this 2012, and I had my experience in Bedstuy with the African American community, which inspired me and became source of some of the story.

Art Shrian: As a filmmaker and writer, what was the most difficult thing or biggest challenge? And what was the most rewarding outcome of this project?

Jay Dockendorf: Most rewarding was creation of this film. We rehearsed the film together, walking through the city, for 3 weeks. The actors were so giving and committed, was great help. It allowed building characters in a way, which would not have been possible otherwise. The various challenging aspects were also very rewarding. Like shooting in subway was hard. To get right angles, right sound, everything was tough. Our sound recorder, Joe, was wonderful. Getting the camera to not shake much. And for actors to perform in front of live audience and strangers, it was all very challenging, but truly rewarding.

Art Shrian: The scenes on the street, with the guys selling things, were very cool. We see these folks in subway or street, selling stuff. But we usually don’t think of there backstory. This was cool to see. Were the others all actors, or real people?

Jay Dockendorf: It was a combination. We cast some people on the street. Some people reached out to us. Or actor’s improvised. People were very supportive.

Art Shrian: I really enjoyed the positivity and optimism of the film. Lot of dramatic stuff could have happened, but movie keeps a positive direction, avoiding the drama.

Jay Dockendorf: Thanks; I’m glad to hear that. It’s controversial aspect of the movie. Some people feel it could have been exploited more with potential conflict and drama, or thriller.

Art Shrian: So what’s your overall message for your audience, from this film and in general from your work?

Jay Dockendorf: I would want the film to speak for itself, and let people decide. It might be limiting, if I blurted it out, in few words. I would like to hear the audience’s interpretation of the film. I think it’s more powerful that way.

Art Shrian: That’s wonderful, I completely agree. The movie does speak for itself and shows your care and concern for the wonderful characters, the subject and everything else around it. Thanks a lot for talking to us, and making this beautiful film. Congratulations!

Naz & Maalik opened in select cinemas on Jan 22, 2016. It’s also be available from Jan 26, 2016 on DVD via Wolfe Video and many major retailers. And also on VOD via www.WolfeOnDemand.com and additional digital platforms.