John Requa

John Requa

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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - Teaser Trailer


Being over 40 and a female journalist in the city means you don't necessarily get the good projects to work on. Kim Barker is just one of those women and she's in need of a new dose of... something. Her relationship is static and her life hasn't exactly become the success story she hoped it would.

When her news organisation is looking for some new field reporters, Kim decides that it might be the chance she's looking for. Sure, the new job might be based in Kabul, but it's got to be better than what she's got. Arriving in the foreign land, she's sent to 'the fun house', a name given to the building where all the foreign journalists live. Learning how to report from two countries and moving back and forth with armed escorts soon becomes the norm for Kim and she develops a an affection for a country most would be wanting to distance themselves from.

As well as reporting - often menial - stories, Kim quickly becomes absorbed in the local way life as well as finding a few new friends also living in the fun house. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is based on Kim Barker's memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

'Focus' Starring Will Smith Teaches The Art Of The Con


Will Smith Margot Robbie Glenn Ficarra John Requa

To follow up their hit comedy Crazy Stupid Love, writer-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa have merged the con-artist heist thriller with the romantic-comedy genre; a move that was Will Smith's first encouragement with getting involved with the movie.

Will Smith and Margot Robbie in Focus
Will Smith and Margot Robbie star in 'Focus'

Will Smith was drawn to the material both because of the filmmakers and the subject matter. "When I read Focus it was so interesting because it's so many different kinds of movie," he said. "Glenn and John completely ignore genre, so it's a heist film but then it will be a bizarre comedy for awhile and then it's really serious and there is great action. And then there's a wonderful love story in the centre of the film. We would be in scenes sometimes and we would be like, 'This is serious right?' and they'd be like, 'Yeah, but have fun with it.'"

Continue reading: 'Focus' Starring Will Smith Teaches The Art Of The Con

Focus Review


Good

A very odd blend of caper action, dark drama and romantic comedy, this slickly made con-artist romp never quite finds its stride. There's a merciful vein of sharp wit in the script, thanks to writer-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy Stupid Love) and a spiky performance from Margot Robbie. But Will Smith's presence leaves everything feeling rather tame, compromising his character by making him a nice-guy crook rather than the unpredictable black-comedy protagonist he really should have been.

It opens as the wide-eyed Jess (Robbie) approaches veteran grifter Nicky (Smith) about learning the art of the con. She follows him to New Orleans for some major pickpocketing and double-crossing in the run-up to a big football championship, but Nicky unceremoniously dumps her afterwards. Three years later, they meet again in Buenos Aires, where both appear to be running scams centred around the Formula One team owned by Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro), who's never far from his right-hand goon (Gerald McRaney). With help from his old pal Farhad (Adrian Martinez), Nicky sets out to run his sting. But Jess is a distraction, and the stakes are too high for him to take his eye off the game.

While it's one of the running gags, Nicky's soft centre is a serious problem here, making the movie feel like a vanity project for Smith, who seems far too determined to be sympathetic. (Ficarra and Requa know how to make an anti-hero likeable: see Bad Santa.) Instead, Smith is a jarring combination of beefy physicality, fast-talking thievery and squidgy emotions. Robbie is able to more effectively merge Jess' gung-ho personality with her gleeful criminality, but when they're both together on-screen it's impossible not to feel like everything about the characters' relationship is a big con. So we wait for the script to reveal its clever twists and turns. But they're surprisingly few and oddly inconsequential.

Continue reading: Focus Review

Focus Trailer


While sitting at the bar of a hotel lobby one night, a man catches a glimpse of an attractive young woman and goes over to introduce himself. That man is Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) and that woman is Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie). When the two go back to Barrett's room for the night, a gunman attacks Spurgeon, demanding all of his money. The problem is, Spurgeon is a seasoned conman, and is able to quickly sniff out a scam when it arises. After imparting both Barrett and her assailant with some lessons in the art of conning, Spurgeon leaves. Three years later, Spurgeon and Barrett will be reunited in a dangerous game of deception and theft.  

Continue: Focus Trailer

Focus - Teaser Trailer


Nicky Spurgeon is a genius when it comes to his work as a con man in the criminal underworld but decides to take on an intern in the form of the beautiful, blonde, aspiring criminal Jess Barrett. However, things soon get a little complicated when a spark ignites between them and Nicky is forced to let her go rather than jeopardise their professional circumstances. They are reunited some years later, however, in Buenos Aires with Jess having gone on to perfect the art of elusive scamming as a grade A femme fatale for another con man and Nicky's interest soon re-awakens when he sees her in action. Unfortunately, this time they are working against each other in their most dangerous operation yet and Nicky is torn between wanting to protect her and wanting to do the right thing.

Continue: Focus - Teaser Trailer

I Love You Phillip Morris Trailer


Watch the trailer for I Love You Phillip Morris

Continue: I Love You Phillip Morris Trailer

Cats & Dogs Review


OK
I have officially reached my quota for the year of talking animal movies. Dr. Dolittle 2 pushed me to the edge, and the animatronic animal flick Cats & Dogs has pushed right over it, into a giddy oblivion where I now firmly believe purple dinosaurs can communicate with humans through song and dance.

Cats & Dogs is ridiculous and harmless, a Mission: Impossible for the animal world. For years, a secret high-tech espionage war has been waged between the feline and canine races, right under the noses of ignorant humans. The spark of this high-tech war came about as the result of the dog race overthrowing the then-dominating cat race during ancient Egyptian times (they even ruled the human race). Man's best friend re-established the humans as the dominant race and has protected that balance for years. And a breakthrough for dogs is approaching, as one human, Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum), is on the verge of discovering an allergy vaccine which will enable all humans and dogs to co-exist in peace. The only problem is that the diabolic Mr. Tinkle (voiced by Sean Hayes), a furry white Persian with the attitude of Richard Grant's character from Hudson Hawk, and his small army of pesky felines have "cat-knapped" the family dog Buddy, who has been guarding the Professor and his family from the tuna-breathed fiends. The bodyguard job then falls on the shoulders of a Beagle pup named Lou (voiced by Toby Maguire) -- who is mistaken as a secret agent dog by an Anatolian Shepard named Butch (voiced by Alec Baldwin).

Continue reading: Cats & Dogs Review

John Requa

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John Requa Movies

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - Teaser Trailer

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - Teaser Trailer

Being over 40 and a female journalist in the city means you don't necessarily get...

Focus Movie Review

Focus Movie Review

A very odd blend of caper action, dark drama and romantic comedy, this slickly made...

Focus Trailer

Focus Trailer

While sitting at the bar of a hotel lobby one night, a man catches a...

Advertisement
Focus Trailer

Focus Trailer

Nicky Spurgeon is a genius when it comes to his work as a con man...

I Love You Phillip Morris Trailer

I Love You Phillip Morris Trailer

Watch the trailer for I Love You Phillip Morris Steven Russell is a stand-up member...

Cats & Dogs Movie Review

Cats & Dogs Movie Review

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