There Are Memories with THE CARD COUNTER

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray, Digital and Movies Anywhere from writer/director Paul Schrader and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the deeper story of THE CARD COUNTER.

William (Oscar Isaac) spent a period of time in the military and there he learned an unusual skill – counting cards. He decides to make his living playing cards jumping from casino to casino and plays below the radar to just sustain himself. William also never stays at the casino hotels but instead prefers to stay at motels farther out of the city.

During one casino run he meets La Linda (Tiffany Haddish) who recognizes William and introduces herself. He knows exactly who she is. She explains that a group of investors are backing players and they would want to back him. Of course, some of the money goes back to them and to La Linda and Williams says a polite ‘no thanks’ but he is attracted to her.

During one of his casino trips, he sees a seminar for about security with a speaker named Major John Gordo (Willem Dafoe). Drawn to see for himself, William meets Cirk Baufort (Tye Sheridan) who slips him a number. Later that night, he has bad dreams about his time in the military and that pushes William to call Cirk.

Cirk tells William that his father is Roger Baufort and served with him in the military and at the Abu Ghraib prison. The young man’s father came home violent and addicted leaving behind a wife and son. Now Cirk wants to hold the man responsible for what happened to the men in the prison and the soldiers there – Major John Gordo – and Cirk wants revenge.

William again says ‘no thanks’ but asks Cirk if he wants to come along and see how gambling works to keep the kid safe. He also tells La Linda he is good with becoming part of her stable of players and wants to go to the World Series of Poker and then retire. Now the money starts rolling in but Cirk is not changing his mind so William shows him what will happen if he does not stop.

But everyone has their own path to follow.

Isaac as William is living with a past that is filled with violence and misery. Prison time was equally traumatic causing him to almost punish himself for the things he saw and did. Learning card counting became a way to earn a living without having much contact with people. Isaac has the unique ability to give his character the dark brooding appearance or a tortured soul, yet in his eyes the mind is like a steel trap.

Sheridan as Cirk is a young man who clearly has his own tortures to deal with. Angry at a father who checked out on him, his anger has a duality of the actions when he was alive and seeing his mother’s pain after. Meeting William gives him a chance to find someone to help him, but frustration sets in when Cirk realizes he is not reaching his new friend. Sheridan is taking the gambling life in but it is only a momentary deterrent.   

Haddish as La Linda spends her time collecting players for her stable and making a nice living for herself. Meeting William, she finds herself moving toward a relationship with someone who has more of a past than she could ever imagine. DaFoe as Major Gordo is a character that trained men to do horrible things and when they were held accountable, Gordo slipped away. That is until he met Cirk and William.

Other cast include Alexander Babara as Mr. U.S.A. and Bobby C. King as Slippery Joe.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

Focus Features’ mission is to make a lasting impact on global audiences by creating the home for artists to share diverse, distinctive stories that inspire human connection. Focus Features is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies that brings entertainment and news to a global audience. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.focusfeatures.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

Exclusive Bluray, DVD and Digital Bonus Content includes A High-Stakes World – Paul Schrader discusses developing his signature characters and how the world of poker provided the perfect metaphor for William Tell’s predicament. Feature additional interviews with film’s stars Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish as well as poker consultant, Joe Stapleton.

THE CARD COUNTER is a mixture of a persons past and trying to live in the present with it all. Even though William is the central character of the film, it is also a story of how pain and tragedy affects each character in different ways. The only one who does not seem to see the problem is the Major, he instead believes in what he did.

This is a dark film that goes deep into the memories of William and gives a look into the decisions that he makes. Trying to help Cirk the only way he knows how, it is not enough to want to buy his emotional freedom. The young man tries to tell William how much pain he is in but its hard to hear when you have closed out all emotion.

In the end – reap what you sow!

They are Young VOYAGERS

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from writer/director Neil Burger and Lionsgate is the story of being raised in isolation and being sent into space being the next VOYAGERS.

It is time to look for other places to live in the universe and Richard (Colin Farrell) is part of a space program that is creating children in isolation for a journey across space. The idea is to raise the children into young men and women who will take the ship across the vastness of space to a specified distant planet.

Richard decides that he must go with them in order to monitor them. He has come to care for the young people being sent up and is given permission to go. Christopher (Tye Sheridan) and friend Zac (Fionn Whitehead) are curious about everything and spend their time getting into harmless mischief. That is until they uncover information that had only been known to Richard and they are not happy.

This is the time where the two young men make a decision to either follow the plan or rebel in a way that could be dangerous for them all. Christopher tells Sela (Lily-Rose Depp) what is happening and begins to see a change in Zac who is collecting others to his side. When an accident on the ship makes it clear that it is time to choose a leader, two that were once friends become rivals for good and evil.

If any of them are to survive, each person will have to decide for themselves how they want their confined world to be – working together or total destruction.

Sheridan as Christopher has a grasp on what their mission is and even when he discovers that not everything is as he believed, even then he understood there were serious implications for the entire crew. He could have easily chosen the road of narcissism but instead, when the truth comes slowly forward, it gives him options of survival. Sheridan does a fantastic job playing Christopher and if there were ever such a voyage, I would hope there were many Christopher’s on the ship. Sheridan gives his character a sharpness that kept me silently cheering every move his character makes.

Whitehead as Zac has a friendship with Christopher that one would expect since they were raised together. As their trip gets deeper into space, it is Zac that gets deeper into a place that is dangerous for everyone. There is a rage that just lies underneath the surface and Whitehead’s performance lets you know that every moment his character is on screen is scary because there is no place to run! Whitehead has the unique ability to give a frightening stare that can fill the viewer with anxiety beyond belief.

Depp as Sela of course has the look of her very famous father. In her role as Sela, she is a straightforward ‘we have a job to do’ ship mate. When Christopher fills her in on everything that has been happening and his suspicions, Sela wants to do everything possible to stop the chaos just waiting around every corner. Constantly feeling the very stalker-like behavior of Zac, she is not a young woman to be trifled with either. Depp gives us a look at a strong, intelligent and capable space traveler who knows what it is going to take to survive.

Farrell as Richard decides to take this one-way trip with the young crew to keep an eye on their progress and how they handle space. He is also there to dole out advice should his young wards need it. As Richard, Farrell gives his character a soft spoken but stern leader model yet there is one of the crew that does not take to kindly to anyone telling him what to do. Farrell has given us so many unique characters (one of my latest favorites is from the film THE GENTLEMEN) in films so I expect nothing less from any film he does.

Other cast include Chante Adams as Phoebe, Quintessa Swindell as Julie, Archie Madekwe as Kai, Isaac Wright as Edward, Viveik Kalra as Peter, Madison Hu as Anda, Archie Renaux as Alex, Wern Lee as Tayo, Veronica Falcon as Marianne and April Grace as the Mission Director.

Lionsgate is a global leader in motion picture production and distribution for theatres, television, home entertainment and more. Theatre franchises include THE HUNGER GAMES, and DIVERGENT along with JOHN WICK.

Writer/director Burger says of his film about the 80-year voyage, “It’s about human nature in a vacuum – who we are at our core and about a group of extraordinary young people waking up to sensual desires, to freedom, to power, and the thrilling euphoria that goes with that experience.” He also explains that he wanted everything in the film based in reality, “VOYAGERS is not a fantasy. The spacecraft is purely utilitarian and functional based on actual proposals within NANA studying space travel outside our solar system.”

Because of that, the viewer will feel totally drawn into what is happening knowing full well there is no where to go. These individuals are confined to a place where they either work out their problems or fall but if they fall, they fall totally. The ship is very practical and is very much like those aboard – to frilled and very plain to look at. I believe that is what makes these characters stand out as there is nothing else to distract the viewer.

When there is division among the young voyagers, again, there is no place to hide the rage and emotional turmoil which is frightening in the sense that one wrong move….  Buckle up because this is going to be a bumpy ride into space!

In the end – what does it feel like?

 

READY PLAYER ONE is Fun Spielberg Style!

Jeri Jacquin

This Friday in theatres is the highly anticipated film based on the Ernest Cline novel and director Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainments vision with Warner Bros. presenting READY PLAYER ONE.

Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) is a young man living in the future, far into the future in fact is the year 2045. Living in The Stacks with an Aunt and the one of many boyfriends, Wade seeks escape into the virtual world of the OASIS under the name Parzival. In this imaginary world he can be what ever he wants to be with no judgments and as many adventures as one wants to have.

The Oasis was created by the very unusual James Halliday (Mark Rylance) and encouraged by friend Ogden Morrow (Simon Peg). When Halliday passes away his dying wish was a contest - who ever could find the Easter Egg hidden in the OASIS would gain financial freedom and control of the Oasis. Of course it isn't that easy as there are three keys that need to be located and to find those, someone would have to really know the idiosyncrasies of creator Halliday.

Wade wants to find the keys and joined by friends Aech (Lena Waithe), Sho (Philip Zhao) and Daito (Win Morisaki) they begin with a race that no one can seem to get past. Preparing for the next race, Parzival meets virtual Art3mis aka Samantha (Olivia Cooke) who also wants to find the keys. When neither wins the race, Parzival realizes that he is not looking deeply enough into Halliday's life.

Off to the virtual museum of Halliday's life, he takes it slowly taking in all the information again when it comes to him how to get the first key. Once he does, he shares the information with other. Everyone is thrilled - well, not everyone! In charge of OASIS is Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) and his goal is to make sure that no one ever finds the keys and inside OASIS uses I-Rok (T.J. Miller) to keep an eye on things.

Sorrento is unconcerned on the outside that Parzival obtained the first key but begins to find ways to make sure that he doesn't find another. That means attacking Wade in the real world and hurting those he cares about. When The Stacks are attacked, Wade is grabbed and taken to safety and it is the first time Wade and Samantha meet in person. They both realize that if they are to stop Sorrento, it is going to have to be both in the real world and the virtual one.

Along with Aech, Sho and Daito, they plan to not only find the final keys but where the Easter Egg is hidden. Calling upon all of those who love the OASIS to help protect it and a battle royale begins.

Sheridan as Wade/Parzival is a young man who just wants to escape life in The Stacks. From an Aunt who seems to find the biggest losers to be with to the stacked neighborhood he lives in, the Oasis is a place to forget real life and discover a virtual life that is seen as amazing. Sheridan does a good job as a young man who is smart and willing to do whatever it takes to find the keys but that turns into something larger than himself.

Cooke as Samantha/Art3mis is a young woman who seems to be a thrill seeker and although that may be true, she is also a young woman with a goal - to stop Sorrento from controlling the Oasis. Cooke lends such empowerment to her character and not just because she sees herself as facially defective, instead she has humor and the smarts necessary to prove to Wade that there is more at stake than just a few bucks to be made in the Oasis. That's not a bad character to be!

Mendelsohn as Sorrento is perfectly happy being in charge of everything - literally and virtually. There is so much at stake and Sorrento isn't about to give up any inch of it. Mendelsohn has proven time after time that he is an actor to keep an eye on. If you get the opportunity, see his work as Danny Rayburn in the series BLOODLINE because that will give you more than enough reason to see why his character of Sorrento is so deliciously twisted.

Waithe as Helen/Aech is a supportive friend and has the ability to create amazing works in the Oasis but also happily joins with Samantha to fight Sorrento. Zhao as Sho is 'just an 11 year old' who is a pretty tough 11 year old if you ask me. He believes in the fight and doesn't want anyone telling him that age should stop him from helping. Morisaki as Daito knows a good fight when he sees one and isn't about to let down his companions.

Pegg as Morrow is a character that builds to the very end. His story isn't as big and bright as Halliday or Sorrento, but it is important none-the-less and it's always good to see Pegg. Miller as I-Rok is hilarious and when Sorrento takes his virtual character into the Oasis, these two play off one another.

Now, lets talk about Rylance as Halliday/Anorak - what an amazing performance. Now, there are moments when I capture a bit of the BFG but who cares! This character is smart, funny, sweet, endearing and is the most harmless human being and virtual character I think I've ever seen. Rylance has the amazing ability to draw the viewer into his characters world and invite you to sit for tea (which I gladly would). Of course I would tell you more but that would spoil it and I'm not about that. Just know that Rylance was the perfect choice to play Halliday. and I loved it.

Other cast includes Perdita Weeks as Kira, Susan Lynch as Alice, Clare Higgins as Mrs. Gilmore, Ralph Ineson as Rick, and Hannah John-Kamen as F'Nale Zandor.

I had an absolute blast watching READY PLAYER ONE and there are several reasons why. First, of course it was a thrill to see all the characters that I watched my sons play with their videos games back in the 80's and early 90's. It was such a different time when my boys taught me how to play and it was something we started doing together. So much so that the three of us entered a DONKEY KONG contest at Blockbuster (yes, Blockbuster!) and it was so much fun.

Added to that was the pop culture drops here and there mixed in with music that, to this day is something that I listen to because to me - that's when music was music. When Parzival says that Halliday's favorite song was from A-Ha, it made my heart melt. What a perfect reference if those my age remember the awesome artistry that went into making 'Take On Me'. 

Of course there is video, music, and pop culture references everywhere but then adds film references and oh my what a cherry on top of the cake. THE SHINING makes an appearance and I couldn't have been more thrilled, delighted and I even laughed (which of course I didn't do watching THE SHINING all those years ago!) at how it blended perfectly.

As a bonus, like chocolate shavings on the cake is seeing so many characters in the epic battle scene between Parzival, Art3mis and the gang along with every other virtual person and Sorrento with his own evil crew. There is one character I didn't expect to see but

then again why not? See if you can see the iconic favorite Bugs Bunny friend running across the battlefield and then hit me up when you see who it is.

So, READY PLAYER ONE is going to be a hit for the 80's and 90's crowd most definitely. It has almost everything and the kitchen sink thrown in for a fun time at the movies. I'm not giving anything away by saying that a beloved giant friend makes an appearance in the film which just tugs at my heart. The CGI is amazing and truly fun to watch.

This is the film to gather the family together to see and have such an amazing time. There is nothing, and I mean nothing about this film that I didn't enjoy. Of course I realize there is a book which I have not read but it doesn't take away from the fun I had in the theatre. It was actually quite nice to not take a film so seriously but instead let it take me on a journey to a conclusion that I'm pretty happy with.

Mr. Spielberg, prior to seeing the film I posted a pic and stated, "please don't let me down" and I'm here to say that your track record for entertaining me throughout all these years is still in tact. Well played sir, very well played.

In the end - a better reality awaits!