Joan Cusack

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Snatched Review

Very Good

It doesn't really matter that the script for this lively action-comedy is paper thin: teaming up Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn on-screen is a stroke of genius. These two comic actresses have impeccable timing, and throw everything into this madcap jungle adventure. Yes, the dialogue could have been a lot sharper, the story more coherent and the themes more resonant. But as a guilty pleasure, it's a lot of fun.

It opens as Emily (Schumer) decides to continue with her plans to take a luxury holiday in Ecuador, even though she's just split from her boyfriend (Randall Park). Although taking her mother Linda (Hawn) wasn't her first choice. As they settle in at the beach resort, they meet Ruth (Wanda Sykes) and her ex-military friend Barb (Joan Cusack), who warn them about gangs of drug dealers who kidnap tourists. Sure enough, Emily and Linda are grabbed by Colombian criminal Morgado (Oscar Jaenada) and taken to the Amazon, where they escape and go on the run with the help of a rugged but pompous explorer (Christopher Meloni). Meanwhile back in America, Emily's oddball brother (Ike Barinholtz) is pestering a government official (Bashir Salahuddin) to find his missing mother and sister.

Instead of working out a clever story or writing something witty, the filmmakers rely instead on the skills of Schumer and Hawn. This leaves the movie feeling like a series of random set-pieces in which the actresses improvise a lot of goofiness, which is shaped into something vaguely sensible in the edit. The overall narrative is flimsy at best, but there are hilarious moments scattered through every scene, and Schumer and Hawn thankfully underplay most of it.

Continue reading: Snatched Review

Snatched Trailer


Emily is left completely broken-hearted when her musician boyfriend breaks up with her in favour of a life of groupies as his band takes off. They were meant to be vacationing to Ecuador together, and she refuses to give up an excuse for fun at this stage in her 30s so Emily decides to take her slightly reluctant mother instead. She also wants to help her mom revisit some of the fun she had in her youth. Unfortunately, they find themselves kidnapped by a mysterious man they meet in a restaurant and only manage to escape with difficulty. By now they are in the middle of nowhere with no knowledge of their wild surroundings and they're definitely starting to wish they'd never come to South America in the first place.

Continue: Snatched Trailer

Toy Story That Time Forgot Trailer


Buzz & Woody are back! Toy Story That Time Forgot is the latest instalment of the much loved Disney franchise. The toys have survived another Christmas and as usual, their toy family has expanded greatly. When Bonnie visits one of her friends' house for a play date the clan are introduced to a whole new toy menagerie one of a pre-historic nature - Dinosaurs! Up until now, the only dinosaurs they've known are Rex & Trixie. Rex is the loveable yet incredibly insecure Tyrannosaurus Rex, one of Rex's biggest fears is that he'll be replaced. Trixie is the bright and friendly Triceratops.

When Buzz and Woody are taken hostage by this new group of toys (who are unaware that they actually are toys) there future is put in danger as they must face off in gladiatorial combat - Woody armed with nothing more than a red crayon. Convincing this new playroom that they are in fact all toys isn't going to be easy, but Bonnie's toys know their future relies on it.

Since its inception in 1995, Toy Story has remained a family favourite, this was followed by a second and third film released in 1999 & 2010 respectively. There have also been two short movies, Toy Story of Terror! and this, Toy Story That Time Forgot. Toy Story 4 has been slated for release in 2018 and will be directed by John Lasseter and Josh Cooley.

Continue: Toy Story That Time Forgot Trailer

'Game Of Thrones' And Viola Davis Make History At 67th Primetime Emmy Awards


Viola Davis Jon Hamm Peter Dinklage Julia Louis-Dreyfus Jeffrey Tambor Emmy Awards Frances McDormand Joan Cusack Jon Stewart

Last night’s Primetime Emmy Awards saw history being made as HBO drama ‘Game Of Thrones’ took home an unprecedented 12 awards and ‘How To Get Away With Murder's' Viola Davis became the first black actress to win the outstanding lead actress in a drama series award.

Viola DaivsViola Davis was named outstanding lead actress in a drama series.

‘Game of Throne’s’ 12 gongs is more than any other series has won in a single year at the awards show. Among the trophies picked up by the fantasy series were, outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for Peter Dinklage and outstanding directing for a drama series going to David Nutter. The show also beat ‘Mad Men’ to scoop the outstanding drama series award.

Continue reading: 'Game Of Thrones' And Viola Davis Make History At 67th Primetime Emmy Awards

'Game Of Thrones' Dominates At Creative Arts Emmys


Kit Harington Queen Latifah Joan Cusack

‘Game of Thrones’ came out on top at last night’s Creative Arts Emmy awards, taking home eight technical achievement trophies. The awards show, which lasted over three hours and saw nearly 80 technical and behind-the-screen awards handed out, serves as a precursor to the main Emmy awards which will be held on September 20th.

Game of thrones ‘Game of Thrones’ was awarded eight Creative Arts Emmys.

The epic HBO drama took home trophies in categories including, casting for a drama series, best stunts and visual effects. The night’s other big winner was FX’s ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’ which took home five gongs including ones for makeup, special effects and costume designs.

Continue reading: 'Game Of Thrones' Dominates At Creative Arts Emmys

The End Of The Tour Trailer


Sometimes, the biggest life lessons are the ones learned by other people. For someone desperate to earn the fame and recognition they rightly deserve, it can serve as an important revelation to see an ordinary person have fame thrust upon them. So goes the story of David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg), a young novelist and writer for Rolling Stone magazine, who spent five days with David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) over the course of his book tour. Lipsky wanted to have everything that Wallace had, but when Wallace was faced with the news that his novel had become a New York Times bestseller, his life was set to change forever.

Continue: The End Of The Tour Trailer

Welcome To Me Trailer


Oprah obsessed Alice Klieg suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder which causes her to be socially awkward, impulsive and stubborn, and she's about to find out that money truly can buy you anything. After winning an impressive $86 million in the lottery, her first port of call is a major TV station, where she pitches an idea for hosting her own talk show. They offer her a slot at a cool $15 million, and she subsequently decides to stop taking her medication and pursue fame and recognition. The only problem is, she sucks at hosting her own show. The producers know they have to do something to save their embarrassment over this fiasco of a deal, but with Alice stuck in her own world and resolutely ignoring advice from friends and family, there's not a lot they can do to help her.

Continue: Welcome To Me Trailer

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Review


Excellent

Spikier than the average coming-of-age movie, this astute comedy-drama is packed with memorable characters and resonant situations. It's also strikingly intelligent, refusing to accept Hollywood's fake moralising as it grapples with big issues from mental health to bullying. And even better, it's funny and sexy.

Set in the early 1990s, it's the story of the painfully shy Charlie (Lerman), who plans to blend into the background as he starts high school. Scarred by an emotional event in his past, the only new friend he makes is his English teacher (Rudd). Then his sharp wit is spotted by the colourful Patrick (Miller), an anarchic gay teen who doesn't care what people think. Patrick also has a sexy stepsister, Sam (Watson), who takes a liking to Charlie as well, and soon they become inseparable friends. Well, until Charlie loses his nerve to ask Sam out and ends up in a relationship with her friend Mary Elizabeth (Whitman) instead.

After some less-than-thrilling lead roles (such as Percy Jackson or last year's Three Musketeers remake), Lerman finally comes into his own here with a sensitive, intelligent performance that's nicely underplayed. He also has terrific chemistry with Watson and Miller, whose feisty, hilarious love of life fills every scene they're in. They make such a strong trio that we are deeply moved by each rocky shift in their friendship. And Whitman brings a sparky energy to her scenes as the Buddhist punk with a bracingly honest approach to whatever happens.

Continue reading: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower Review

Arthur Christmas Review


Very Good

This lively holiday romp has a steady stream of sharp verbal and visual gags that hold our interest. Even when the plot stalls in the middle, it's difficult to stop chuckling at the filmmakers' deranged sense of humour.

At the North Pole, Santa (Broadbent) is a bit complacent after 70 years on the job, letting his heir-apparent son Steve (Laurie) convert Christmas Eve into a high-tech black-ops style mission executed with military precision. To Steve, missing one child is an insignificant statistic. But Steve's younger brother Arthur (McAvoy) disagrees, and teams up with his feisty Grandsanta (Nighy) to make sure the last gift is delivered the old fashioned way.

Yes, the film is a riot of clashes between tradition and progress, the wisdom of the years and youthful vigour. Fortunately, the serious themes are subverted, hilariously playing with our expectations and never turning into a nostalgic paean to the olden days. That said, this British production does feel eerily co-opted by Hollywood, from the use of the American "Santa Claus" (no one ever calls him "Father Christmas", which might have made sense of the film's odd title) to the somewhat feeble attempts to ramp up the action and suspense. Not to mention a massive wave of sentimentality at the end.

But even this is undermined by Baynham (Borat) and director Smith's script, which maintains a dry British sense of humour and gives the strong vocal cast plenty of snappy material to play with. While most of the characters are a bit unmemorable, Nighy gets the best lines: Grandsanta as an old coot full of surprises, including some terrific rude jokes and an amusingly animated hound-style old reindeer sidekick. Staunton also has some terrific dialog as the underestimated Mrs Santa.

Visually the film is brightly colourful, amusingly designed with small sight gags and continual Christmas imagery. While the characters look a little plasticky, the settings are gorgeously rendered, and the flying sleigh sequences almost make it worth seeing in 3D. The problem is that the film feels stretched out by random antics and underdeveloped plot-threads along the way that add nothing to the overall story. So we get tired of the bumbling chaos, mainly because we know exactly where it's got to end up.

Mars Needs Moms Trailer


Milo is a typical boy, anything that's good for him, he doesn't really like. His mom is always telling him to eat his greens, but he always tries to find ways around eating dreadful things like broccoli. As far as Milo's concerned, what do moms really know? He'll do just fine on his own. But all is about to change when Milo's mom is abducted by aliens.

Continue: Mars Needs Moms Trailer

Joan Cusack Sunday 6th March 2011 at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Mars Needs Moms 3D' at the El Capitan Theatre. Hollywood, California

Joan Cusack

Joan Cusack and Walt Disney - Sunday 13th June 2010 at Disney Hollywood, California

Joan Cusack and Walt Disney

Joan Cusack and John Goodman - Joan Cusack and John Goodman Thursday 5th February 2009 at Ziegfeld Theatre New York City, USA

Joan Cusack and John Goodman
Joan Cusack

Joan Cusack Quick Links

News Pictures Video Film Quotes RSS

Joan Cusack

Date of birth

11th October, 1962

Occupation

Actor

Sex

Female

Height

1.75


Joan Cusack Movies

Snatched Movie Review

Snatched Movie Review

It doesn't really matter that the script for this lively action-comedy is paper thin: teaming...

Snatched Trailer

Snatched Trailer

Emily is left completely broken-hearted when her musician boyfriend breaks up with her in favour...

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Movie Review

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Movie Review

An astute satire of the pop music business, this raucous mock-documentary is consistently hilarious from...

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping - Teaser Trailer

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping - Teaser Trailer

With the passing of each decade, the music industry is constantly set alight by the...

Toy Story That Time Forgot Trailer

Toy Story That Time Forgot Trailer

Buzz & Woody are back! Toy Story That Time Forgot is the latest instalment of...

The End Of The Tour Trailer

The End Of The Tour Trailer

Sometimes, the biggest life lessons are the ones learned by other people. For someone desperate...

Welcome To Me Trailer

Welcome To Me Trailer

Oprah obsessed Alice Klieg suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder which causes her to be socially...

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Movie Review

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Movie Review

Spikier than the average coming-of-age movie, this astute comedy-drama is packed with memorable characters and...

Arthur Christmas Movie Review

Arthur Christmas Movie Review

This lively holiday romp has a steady stream of sharp verbal and visual gags that...

Mars Needs Moms Trailer

Mars Needs Moms Trailer

Milo is a typical boy, anything that's good for him, he doesn't really like. His...

Toy Story 3 Movie Review

Toy Story 3 Movie Review

Pixar's keystone franchise takes on the tone of its more serious recent films (Wall-E and...

Toy Story 3 Trailer

Toy Story 3 Trailer

Watch the teaser trailer for Toy Story 3Woody, Buzz and friends return in Toy Story...

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Trailer

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Trailer

Watch the trailer for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl!Directed by Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park) Kit...

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