Film Review: “tick, tick BOOM!

 

  • tick, tick…BOOM!
  • Starring:  Andrew Garfield and Vanessa Hudgens
  • Directed by:  Lin-Manuel Miranda
  • Rated:  PG 13
  • Running time: 1 hr 55 mins
  • NETFLIX

 

It’s sad when you don’t see your hard work come to fruition…to not see the impact it had on the world around you.  One example is Steve Gordon, the writer and director of the film “Arthur.”  He passed away shortly after the film came out and, though he had a chance to see how his work was embraced, he never lived to see “Arthur” become a true classic film.  Then there’s Jonathan Larson. 

 

Larson created one of the most beloved musicals of all time, RENT, which won pretty much every award possible.  Sadly, Larson never got to see how his work was embraced, passing away the night before RENT had its first public performance.  But there was more to Larson’s life, and “tick, tick…BOOM!” gives us a musical look at the man behind the music. 

 

Jonathan Larson (an AMAZING Andrew Garfield), is about to workshop the new musical he’s written.  He’s gotten good feedback from everyone whose heard it, from his friends to the great Stephen Sondheim (Bradley Whitford), But Larson feels he needs one more song to, in the words of the late, great Mr. Sondheim, “Put it all together.” 

 

What do you do after you’ve written two Tony-award winning musicals, including the brilliant “Hamilton?”  If you’re Lin-Manuel Miranda you make your feature film directing debut with a musical about one of your peers.  Miranda is a true genius and I can’t think of another modern  director who could bring all of their knowledge of musical theater and translate it to the silver screen.  I say modern because this film would have been right up Bob Fosse’s alley.  The musical numbers are brilliantly staged while the more quiet moments are framed to convey the most powerful of emotions.

Miranda is aided by a top-notch cast, including the aforementioned Mr. Garfield who, besides being one of the best young actors working today, displays a strong singing voice.  The cast is peppered with a who’s who of theater talents, including Joel Grey, Judith Light,  Judy Kuhn and Roger Bart.  I think I even caught Lin-Manuel Miranda as a singing kitchen worker. 

 

As the film progresses, we follow Larson though his daily routine, and as he deals with his daily struggles and those of his friends, we begin to see the first sparks of what will one day become RENT. 

 

“West Side Story” has garnered most of the attention this year as THE movie musical to see.  And that attention is well deserved.  However, as the Jets and the Sharks learn, there is always room for one more.  BOOM!

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Filed Under: Film Reviews Tagged With: boom, film, review, tick

Enter to Win a DVD of Sonic Boom: Go Team Sonic! and Team Sonic Racing Video Game!

To celebrate the release of the DVD “Sonic Boom: Go Team Sonic!” and the new “Team Sonic Racing” Video Game, Media Mikes would like to give our our fans a chance to win these. If you want to win this great prize, please leave a comment below your favorite Sonic game or character to date This giveaway will remain open until June 15th at Noon, Eastern Time. This is open to our readers in US only. One entry per person, per household. All other entries will be considered invalid. Media Mikes will randomly select winners. Winners will be alerted via email.

It’s a Sonic you haven’t seen before – an ensemble comedy that pokes fun at action-adventure storytelling, but still manages to deliver plenty of adrenaline! Wherever he goes and whatever he’s up against, Sonic the Hedgehog is aided by his sidekick, Tails, and his friends Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks and, of course, attacked by his arch nemesis, Dr. Eggman.

On this action-packed DVD, join Sonic and the gang as they accept a dare from Dr. Eggman. Tag along with Sonic and Knuckles as they enter a game show. And find out what happens when Sonic’s status as the town’s biggest hero is threatened. And so much more!

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5 Cool Jobs Created By the Cannabis Boom


You may be a marijuana critic, but one undeniable fact is that the substance does have several benefits. Whether it is the medicinal or recreational marijuana, the benefits are clear, and it should be a debate based on the risk-benefit ratio. Several states have realized the importance of marijuana leading to its legalization. Such countries now enjoy economic benefits associated with the industry projected to hit $13.3 billion in the US in 2020. Pot can be a source of employment as well as revenue. Here are the lucrative job created by the marijuana boom

  • Cultivation director

Marijuana is one cash crop with handsome returns that should be commercialized. Even though it is called weed, hemp requires specific conditions to grow optimally and give good produce. You have to carry out tillage practices and proper harvesting to ensure you get a bumper harvest. As such, large scale farming of cannabis will need a horticulturist to provide direction on the appropriate farming techniques. Besides, the director of cultivation should have managerial qualities since this is an intensive investment. The head grower will be responsible for planting, harvesting and monitoring the farm. This is a well-paying job in the states where medical marijuana is legal. Several companies are hiring qualified persons to take up this position.

  • Marketing jobs

Marketing is a crucial strategy in any business. You have to get your products in the market and make people believe that they are the best. The development of legal status in marijuana use has created a job for marijuana marketing agencies that seek to publicize the products. With the services of a good agency, you can be assured of better returns.

  • Cannabis extraction technician

The required person for this job should be knowledgeable in botany and chemistry extraction methods. High level of expertise is required to ensure the extraction of high-quality marijuana. The individual should be able to distinguish the different species of cannabis from the look. They use solvent extraction techniques to obtain the active ingredient in Cannabis; THC. After extraction, the specialist will do quality control by determining potency and concentrations. An extraction scientist working in the marijuana industry can earn up to $125,000 annually.

  • Consultant

There is much information that is still unclear about marijuana use both for recreation and medical purposes. You can take up this opportunity by specializing in the field and delivering valid information about the product. Answering peoples questions about using marijuana will earn you employment in hospitals or a private clinic. Knowing the state laws coupled with marijuana knowledge will make you a six-figure salary without many struggles.  Business owners will also form part of your client base if you work in private practice.

The legality of cannabis is a complex topic, and laws are changing every day. Knowing the law is key, and many people who use or sell cannabis may need legal aid. 

For example, you may have been pulled over for driving under the influence of marijuana. A drugged driving charge can impact your license or your business if you plan to run your own dispensary or other related business. A Chicago DUI lawyer or other legal adviser in your area may be more popular than ever when it comes to sorting out up-to-date laws. 

Cannabis users may also find themselves struggling to deal with state laws if they’re injured in a car wreck. A car accident attorney in Columbia, for example, may be vital for a cannabis user who’s accused of driving impaired and causing part or all of the accident.

  • Dispensary manager/Budtender

Marijuana shops are mushrooming all over in states that have legalized its use. One of the regulations requires that they have an officer in charge of the operations. You can take up a job as a chief operating officer or a chief financial officer in the shop and get fortunes overturned with a retirement benefit at the end of your tenure. The dispensary manager is responsible for overseeing cultivation processes, accounting services as well as other managerial roles in the company. Certified public accountants are preferred candidates in the business.

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Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: 5, boom, cannabis, cool, created, jobs, ...

Ron Perlman talks about “3,2,1…Frankie Goes Boom”, “Sons of Anarchy” and Guillermo del Toro

Ron Perlman is known for his many unique roles like Hellboy or Vincent in “Beauty and the Beast”. He also plays bad-ass biker, Clay Morrow, in “Sons of Anarchy”, which just started it’s fifth season on FX. Ron tackles a completely different role in the new comedy “3,2,1…Frankie Goes Boom”.  He is playing the role of the transsexual ex-con, Phyllis. This film is a absolute riot and Perlman really steals the show. Media Mikes had the honor to chat with Ron about this new role, his recently “reset” character on “Sons of Anarchy” and his continuously growing resume working with  Guillermo del Toro.

Mike Gencarelli: What drew you to the role of Phyllis, the transsexual ex-con in “3,2,1…Frankie Goes Boom”?
Ron Perlman: It was not a childhood aspiration let me tell you [laughs]. However life its strange way of taking twists and turns that you never see coming. It turns out that Charlie Hunnam, my co-star on “Sons of Anarchy”, was going to to this film as his summer school pet-project. I get a call from him that the filmmaker would consider reading this script and play the role of Jack (this ended up being played by Chris Noth). I started reading it and I got to page 2 or 3 and I just said “Holy shit, this is really funny and I need to be in this movie. I started reading Jack’s part and I really loved Jack…but then I got to Phyllis. I get this mental image

of Jax Teller from “SOA” coming in and seeing Clay Morrow in a house dress, red nail polish, lipstick and being asked to kiss his hand. I said “Well, if that doesn’t get these fuckers nothing will” [laughs]. The more I read of Phyllis, the most I realized that this will be a really fun character to explore and unlike anything I have ever done before. I really admired the comedy in the writing. I called up and told them what I wanted to do and they said “It just so happens that you are the only person with the balls enough to ask to play Phyllis and by default you got the part”.

MG: Where did you get inspiration for the character?
RP: There was really no real inspiration from her that came from my life personally. Everything I used as a jumping off point as with what Jordon (Roberts) wrote. I just love the notion that Phyllis starts off as Phil, a guy who is an outlaw and is this computer hacker. He has this amazing ability to rip off Bank of America for $2 million bucks and that is how he ends up being Bruce’s (Chris O’Dowd) cellmate. He always had this notion of being a woman born in a man’s body and feels compelled to fix that. I said to myself “Jesus, if I can’t figure some interesting idiosyncrasies for the planning of this guy, then I should really turn in my Screen Actor’s Guild card.” [laughs]

MG: How was it going from working with Charlie Hunnam on “Sons of Anarchy” to this film?
RP: Some of the scenes that could have been very uncomfortable, and if fact where very uncomfortable, it helps that I had a bro on the set. I could say “Dude, it behooves us both to never get into the press as to how the filming of this actually looked and smelled like”. That fact that it was my bro that I was doing this with really helped a lot.

MG: Do you find that comedy comes natural for you?
Comedy was what started me off as an actor. I did some stand-up when I was really young, growing up in New York. Then I joined a troupe with a group of friends doing sketch comedy. So that was my first love. Hollywood does afford me to do a lot of comedy. So in order to find these opportunities, I have to go underground and find projects like “Frankie Goes Boom”. But when I am able to do it, it is a real pleasure.

MG: After five seasons, do you feel that that Clay Morrow has changed within your portrayal?
RP: In the first four years, he has this station in life and this stability and marriage with Gemme (played by Katey Sagal). Now in season five he has lost everything. He is on a reset now. No one knows where he ends up at the end of season five, including yours truly. But he is definitely on a journey where the sand is shifting under his feet and he is re-adapting himself. What an amazing opportunity that is

for me as an actor. You sign on to do a TV show, the conditions of which are highly well articulated and then all of the sudden five seasons in you are almost playing a new character. It is the same character but under completely new circumstances. Yeah, it is awesome and you don’t get to do that often on television. We all feel very blessed that this show is such an un-obvious exercise in storytelling. It sets a completely unpredictable set of circumstances and also while continuing to be very dynamic and violital. It is flood with very explosive violence and it is like a bad car accident…you can’t take your eyes off it.

MG: Are you and Charlie planning to work together on every project, after this you have “Pacific Rim” coming out?
RP: Yeah, for life man. This is it. Charlie Hunnam and I. We are the new Laurel and Hardy or Martin and Lewis or Abbott and Costello or probably Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen. But I am not sure which one is the dummy.

MG: How was it working with Guillermo del Toro yet again on this film?
RP: Oh my God, this is number five for me and GDT! We felt like family members from the very first project, “Cronos” and on. We became really good friends. So to get to go through life together celebrating this friendship and doing it in such a way that we add-in these wonderful creative opportunities into the mix is great. I am watching him evolve as a filmmaker and he is watching me grow old as an actor. We are getting to do it in each other’s presence. That is in a category that I can only label as “Undescribable”. There are no words to describe how phenomenal that reality is. Now that we hit the number five [laughs], it is pretty clear to me that it is not a fluke. It is probably something we will continue to do until one of us drops, and I got a really good feeling I am going first.

MG: You got to get him to do another “Hellboy” film man!
RP: I am working on it. Trust me I am working on it.

MG: You’ve been successful in both film and television, do you have a preference?
RP: I really love working for the camera. I really love working on interesting material. I would have to say the opportunity I have on this particular television show is probably 500 percent better than any other television exercise that one could hope to be on. There are some really great TV shows out there now like “Newsroom”, “Breaking Bad” and “Boardwalk Empire”. There is a lot of great stuff now being done on television. But for the most part those are the exceptions to the rule. And I am on one of the most exciting shows to be a part of. It is almost like doing a movie since it is such a charged and intelligent setting. So yeah, I don’t have a preference as long as it answers to those edicts.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: 321frankie, anarchy, boom, chats, del, guillermo, ...

Film Review “3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom”

Directed by: Jordan Roberts
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Chris O’Dowd, Lizzy Caplan, Nora Dunn, Whitney Cummings, Ron Perlman, Chris Noth
Distributed by: Variance Films
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running time: 89 minutes

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

“3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom” is one of the most zany, over-the-top, dysfunctional comedies of the year. It includes also one of the most unique and fantastic collection of actors. Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman, who have co-starred in “Sons of Anarchy” and Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming “Pacific Rim”, get a chance to team up again on this project. I have a feeling they should just together on every project. They are simple hysterical together. Lizzy Caplan is fantastic and perfectly neurotic. Also playing her father is Chris Noth, who really delivers a riot of a role and changes the way I will look at a treadmill again.

Now back to Ron Perlman because he deserves his own paragraph. He doesn’t show up till about 57 minutes in but easily makes the whole film. He has been known for his roles like Vincent in “Beauty and the Beast”, the devil child Hellboy and most recently Clay Morrow in “Sons of Anarchy”. Now in “3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom”, he is able to add the role of Phyllis, the transsexual ex-criminal. When he comes on the screen you can’t help but say to yourself…”Wow, only Ron Perlman can pull this off”. The man nails the role and steals the show.

Now let’s get to what this film is actually about. When Frank Bartlett (Hunnam) comes home to support his brothers, Frank (O’Dowd), release from rehab, who has tourterd him all his life. When Frank meets Lassie (Caplan) and finds out that his brother secretly shot sex tape of them and uploaded to the internet, they need to find a way to get it down. To make it worse they find out that Lassie is the daughter of a washed-up unstable movie star, Jack (Noth). They turn to Phyllis, the transsexual ex-criminal (Perlman), in order to take the video down before it goes viral. Let’s just say that nothing goes right.

Overall great casting and smart script lead up to this fun little film. If you are looking for a new definition to dysfunctional family, then be sure to check out “3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom”. Be sure to stay until the screen goes black for more Perlman/Noth! Totally worth it!

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Filed Under: Film Reviews Tagged With: 321frankie, boom, film, review

Complimentary Passes to the Orlando, FL Screening for “Here Comes the Boom” [ENDED]

 For your chance to receive event passes, log on to www.GOFOBO.com/RSVP
Enter RSVP code: MEDIAM95P3
Thursday October 12, 2012,
Orlando, FL
Passes are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Release: October 12, 2012
Director: Frank Coraci
Written by: Allan Loeb, Kevin James
Producer: Todd Garner, Kevin James
Cast: Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler

Former collegiate wrestler Scott Voss is a 42-year-old bored biology teacher at the failing Wilkinson High School. When budget cutbacks look like they might force the cancellation of the music program, which would result in its teacher, Marty, being laid off, Scott begins to raise the needed $48,000 by becoming a mixed martial arts fighter to keep the program around.

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