The latest, full-length trailer for The Lone Ranger has dropped, shedding new light on how the title character, played by Armie Hammer, teamed up with Johnny Depp’s Tonto. The Lone Ranger Movie Trailer In the trailer, we see a badly beaten Lone Ranger wake up from a nightmare atop a treacherous wooden tower, only to come across Tonto and a white horse. “Why am I alive?” the Ranger asks. “Eight men rode into canyon,” he replies. “I dug seven graves. Horse says you are a spirit walker. A man who has been to the other side and returned.” Profound stuff. After the pair decide to ride together “for justice,” Tonto suggests the Ranger conceal his identity: “People think you are dead. Better to stay that way.” The pair ride into the wild west (and in theaters) July 3, 2013. In other movie news , the full-length Man of Steel trailer was also released this week. Check it out!
The Bachelorette star Ashley Hebert married J.P. Rosenbaum in Pasadena, Calif., earlier this month. For her made-for-TV wedding, the bride wore a custom Randi Rahm gown. Take a look at it below, complete with a 40-pound, hand-beaded train: The couple invited several familiar faces to attend the event, including Emily Maynard, Jason and Molly Mesnick, Trista and Ryan Sutter, Jillian Harris and Sean Lowe. Bachelor host Chris Harrison officiated the Ashley Hebert and JP Rosenbaum wedding. Seriously. JP and Ashley got engaged on the 2011 season of The Bachelorette, and have been together ever since, making for one of the few success stories in show history. “They both got choked up,” says a guest. “The vows were very heartfelt. They’re a great couple.” And a fashionable one, according to the Us Weekly wedding snaps above. Congrats to the duo! For more details on the couple’s big day, you can see Hebert and Rosenbaum say “I do” for yourself – in a two-hour wedding special Sunday, December 16 on ABC. For more on the upcoming season, check out The Bachelor spoilers page on THG!
There’s a question that The Impossible , the new film from Juan Antonio Bayona ( The Orphanage ), demands be asked, and that is — is it easier for audiences to relate to tragedy when it’s filtered through white characters? This is not a new issue. The movies have a long tradition of approaching stories about people of color, both at home and abroad, through the experiences of Caucasian protagonists, a habit that speaks to both (probably not unfounded) ideas about audience preferences and prejudices and the linked reality of what most of our movie stars still look like. The Impossible is set during the 2004 tsunami that hit South East Asia the day after Christmas, killing over 230,000 people and devastating Indonesia, India, Thailand and other countries, but it’s about how one expat family on holiday weathers the tragedy, an uplifting tale of survival and endurance amidst the ruin. On one hand, yes, it feels undeniably strange and selective to approach the worst tsunami in history by way of vacationing foreigners, with representatives of the local Thai population limited to those who come to their aid. The film begins with the family — Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Maria (Naomi Watts), and their sons Lucas (Tom Holland), Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) and Thomas (Samuel Joslin) — arriving on a turbulent flight, and ends with their worse for the wear departure on another one, and the relief that accompanies that trip to safety comes with an awareness that many of the other people left behind do not have a home elsewhere to go back to. On the other hand, The Impossible , which was written by Sergio G. Sánchez, is based on the true story of a Spanish family (transformed here into a British one) who were some of the many visitors to the area whose trip abroad turned into a nightmare. Their experiences aren’t unworthy of being dramatized simply because they’re not representative of the underreported norm, and the film recreates the horrifying saga in ways that are startlingly visceral, including a masterful sequence in which the first wave arrives like a monster in a horror flick. This story being told doesn’t mean that others are silenced, and The Impossible benefits from taking a limited perspective on an awful larger incident rather than try for something more panoramic. What may be a more relevant question for The Impossible is what its aims are as a movie. It’s a thoroughly and effectively sappy effort about a family searching for one another after an incredible catastrophe in the trappings of traumatic gore film — or vice versa, but either way the two halves sit uneasily beside one another on screen. As in The Orphanage , Bayona demonstrates he has a talent for the disturbing or flat out frightening and a taste for the sentimental, and it’s perhaps because this is a film about a real and recent disaster that both feel amplified, the shock and suffering turned up to apologize for or counterbalance the unabashed drippiness that follows. From a pure filmmaking perspective, it’s the first half that really impresses and perturbs, as Henry, Maria and the kids arrive from Japan to spend their holidays in a gorgeous beachside resort in Khao Lak. They film themselves on Christmas morning opening presents on the veranda, they release a paper lantern on the beach at night, and they sit poolside getting sunburns with other Western tourists and talking about their careers while the boys frolic in the water. The tsunami takes them completely by surprise, as it did almost everyone affected, rumbling from the horizon and taking out everything in its path. We stay with Maria as she’s swept away in the chaotic mass of water, the camera sticking with her as she clutches a tree and howls in pain and upset, then cutting over to Lucas as he’s pulled in the current, the two trying to reach each other in a world suddenly upended. It’s a tour de force sequence, and one that manages to outdo a similar one in Hereafter with little effort. But it’s what follows that’s enough to evoke a physical reaction, as Maria trudges through the wreckage, too stunned to notice the tattered muscles exposed in the gaping wound in her leg. The suffering Watts portrays — she climbs, dripping blood and crying in pain, into a tree and in a later scene coughs up what looks like lung tissue — looks all too agonizingly real, and enabling that requires a committed and deeply believable bit of acting. But watching her ordeal is enough to make you feel shaky, and almost as troubling are the sequences that follow in which Henry trudges through the splintered remains of their hotel, looking for the rest of his family, either alive or dead. The Impossible drops you into the experience of living through the tsunami in specific, achingly realized detail, then pulls back to provide a happier ending. After so much anguish, the need to balance it out with something positive is understandable, but it’s difficult not to be aware of just how much Bayona is yanking on heartstrings as he arranges for near misses and hospital misunderstandings, teary phone calls and kindly old women (Geraldine Chaplin!) providing companionship to forlorn children. Any glimpses of good amidst the destruction are welcome, but after that jarring, unforgettably immediate account of the tsunami, the latter half of The Impossible is so disappointingly movie -ish, tying a bow on the events after portraying them too vividly to allow them to be wrapped so neatly. It wrings out tears with an industrious efficiency that leaves you feeling manhandled after the exhilarating, terrifying footage that’s unfolded before. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Taking a momentary hiatus from posting topless photos on Instagram, Rihanna modeled and performed at the 2012 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show last night. Just before the final curtain call, when all the scantily-clad models rush the stage, Rih unleashed her inner fashion model, strutting her stuff a pink lace camisole. While singing her aptly-titled “Phresh Out the Runway,” no less. Synergy, people. Watch Rihanna’s closing performance at the VS Fashion Show below! Rihanna Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Performance
Selena Gomez, have no fear. No models were impregnated during Justin Bieber’s performance of “As Long as You Love Me” from his third studio album Believe, at the 2012 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Justin Bieber Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Performance A lot has happened since the Canadian pop superstar serenaded the audience in all his sleeveless glory during the VS Fashion Show’s taping last month. At the time of the taping, rumors swirled that Justin had become romantically involved with model Barbara Palvin . Shortly thereafter, he split with Selena. Reports that Bieber’s wandering eye was to blame for the breakup – and that he was toying with the idea of sleeping with Victoria’s Secret models (plural) – followed. Despite all of that, and one turbulent dinner date that ended in epic fashion, he and Selena appear to be back together and on good terms a month later. At least until she sees the VS Fashion Show on TV and gets insecure again. Biebs wasn’t the only pop star to take the stage at the event. Follow the link to check out Rihanna’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show performance as well!
George Lucas will take some part in the planned Star Wars: Episode VII planned by new Lucasfilm owner Disney, but it will likely be a minimal role. Speaking at the Governor’s Awards Saturday, he gave some insight on his duties in the next Star Wars installment being guided by Disney. “[If the filmmakers ask],’Who’s this guy?’ I can tell them,” he told Access Hollywood at the event in Los Angeles. “I mean, they have a hundred encyclopedias and things, but I actually know a lot. I can say, ‘This is this and this is that.'” Continuing, Lucas added, “Basically I’m not — I don’t really have much to do.” Lucas recently said in a more official capacity following the sale of Lucasfilm: “… Now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime.” He also said he’d like to do “little personal films” going forward . Speculation has continued to swirl over who will direct the next Episode VII , though Lucas’ longtime friend, Steven Spielberg, nipped any rumors he’s in the running recently saying Star Wars is not his ‘genre.’ “I’m pretty sure he’d never want to do that!” Lucas said when asked if he’d give his approval should Spielberg ever change his mind. “I don’t think he’d want to.” Star Wars: Episode VII is slated to hit theaters in 2015. [ Source: Access Hollywood ]
The Griffins have sung their way through the small screen, making a Broadway-style splash at the start of each program about “Violence in movies and Sex on TV.” And apparently, they’ll have their chance to do just that on the big screen. Family Guy creator – who of course will fete the big screen as this year’s Oscar telecast host – said that a feature length movie about the animated irreverent nuclear family is in the offing, though it is not clear when it will actually happen. During a visit to UCLA for MTV’s series Stand In , MacFarlane said that “it will happen at some point,” he’s quoted as saying via Huffington Post . MacFarlane also announced a new Oscars contest in the surprise visit to the Westwood campus in L.A.’s Westside. He told an undergraduate film and television class that a contest sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will allow college students to appear on the February 24th Oscar telecast. Up to six winners will serve as trophy carriers during the show, replacing models who typically carry in the statuettes. “In re-imagining what we want the Oscar show to be, we wanted everyone appearing on that stage to feel a deep commitment to film and its legacy, and most importantly, its future,” said Oscar telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron in a statement. “That was the impetus in creating this special honor for young film students who will inspire a new generation to create the films that will be honored in the future.” MacFarlane said that Family Guy is based on his own student film. Speaking of Oscars hosts past, MacFarlane offered up his empathy, noting jokingly that the event is a “crazy little variety show,” adding, “all I can do is do what I think is funny and most entertaining.” He noted to the UCLA class: “The Oscars is a tricky venue. The (hosts) who have not done well, I would classify them as a noble failure, an honorable failure, because at least they were trying something new… If I can do it without torpedoing my career and getting drummed out of the business… All I can do is my very best.” [ Source: Huffington Post ]
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is back and “Uh Oh, Somebody’s Crying!” Isn’t that just what you want to hear someone yell out when you’re sobbing in public? We recap all the tears and fears in our THG +/- review. It started off with the summit meeting between Lisa and Adrienne. Plus 12 to Adrienne for calling it although it was about damn time. As usual Lisa looked on the event with her own very British brand of humor. “I don’t mean to make her nervous…that much.” Plus 15. But the wait for Adrienne to get around to saying the actual I’m sorry felt like it took forever and her apology seemed a bit hollow until she uttered those words. Plus 10 for finally getting there, but it still came across a little less than heartfelt. And Lisa’s right. They may move forward but their relationship will never be the same. Kyle takes Alexia for her driver’s permit test. She’s failed it twice. Plus 10 for the third time being the charm. Of course only in Beverly Hills can a kid pass her test, walk outside and jump into a Maserati! Lisa gets Brandi a modeling gig at Beverly Hills Lifestyles magazine. Apparently Brandi could use the self esteem boost. No, seriously! For as knock out gorgeous as Ms. Granville is, her ex-husband’s philandering definitely took its toll. Minus 20. And if you’d like to find out how she dealt with his bed hopping and their subsequent divorce it looks like you’ll be able to read all about it in Brandi’s upcoming tell all. Plus 13 . I think I’d rather read Brandi’s book than Taylor’s. Kim invites all of the ladies to the lovely Casa Elar Spa and Resort in Ojai. She’s in a good place right now. So good that she even invites Brandi. Plus 22 . Even Camille joins them which is nice but I could have done without hearing about Kelsey’s new groin tattoo. Minus 30 . Now I need to burn that image from my brain. Yolanda thinks Ojai is all about nature and hiking…well not if you’re from Beverly Hills. I don’t think these ladies own a pair of hiking boots between them. Minus 9 . Perhaps they’ll drop down from a six inch to a four inch heel instead. With a limited amount of bedrooms some of the ladies will have to double up and Adrienne has only one goal…to get a better bedroom than Lisa. Lisa and Brandi end up sharing which offers some hilarious results when Ms. Vanderpump sees Brandi’s sleeping attire. Plus 15. “You sleep in that frilly knicker thing?” Trust me. If anyone can pull it off, it’s Brandi. Things were even going well between Brandi and Kim. They were talking, not screeching at one another. Plus 19. When the conversation got emotional Kim ended up in tears, which would have been OK if it weren’t for Adrienne. Brandi was right. Adrienne squawking to the table that Kim was crying was just plain rude. Of course telling Ms Maloof to “shut the f**k up” wasn’t exactly the height of propriety either. Brandi admits she has no filter. It’s what makes her so damn entertaining and to be honest, although I never would have said that to Adrienne I probably would have wanted to. We’ll just have to wait until next week to see how this dinner party ends. Episode total = +57! Season total = +112!
In Monday afternoon’s round-up of news stories, Twilight rocketed atop the box office again. Liz & Dick is Lifetime is a ‘moderate’ success despite the hype. Dubai picks an opening film and highlights lineup. Susan Boyle may head to the big screen. And India is set for a Cannes fete. Twilight On Top at the Box Office Again Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 , the final installment of the vampire fantasy films, has topped the US box office for the second week in a row. Early estimates suggest it took $43.1 million between Friday and Sunday, James Bond film Skyfall was second with $36 million, followed by Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln with $25m (£15.6m). Domestic revenues for the year currently stand at $9.75 billion, with a strong December line-up still to come. The current annual domestic record is $10.6 billion, set in 2009, BBC reports . Liz & Dick Pulls In 3.5 Million Viewers The made for Lifetime TV movie about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was the fourth biggest viewed origin movie premiere on ad-supported cable this year. It drew 3 million less viewers than Steel Magnolias which played the network in October, Deadline reports . Life of Pi to Open Dubai International Film Festival The festival running December 9 – 16 will also include Hitchcock , Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away and Cannes Palme d’Or winner Amour . The Sapphires will close out the event. Other highlights include Karzan by Kadar Bekas and Wadjda directed by Haiffa Al Mansour, Saudi’s first-ever female moviemaker to shoot a film on her own in the conservative country THR reports . Fox Searchlight Eyes Susan Boyle Biopic The company has picked up the life rights to Boyle’s story along with rights to the musical I Dreamed a Dream . The idea will be to merge the two to develop a re-imagined film version of the musical. A director and screenwriter are still pending, Deadline reports . Cannes to Fete India in 2013 It’s hard to believe Cannes news is beginning, but event organizers said it will commemorate the 100th anniversary of India’s film industry by making it the festival’s “Guest Country” for 2013. The home of Bollywood will be the third country to be honored by festival organizers following Egypt in 2011 and Brazil last year. The 66th annual Cannes film festival runs from May 15 to 26, The Guardian reports .
Crazy Black Friday Pictures Well it was quite the eventful shopping experience this past weekend as the country showed thanks for what they already owned by trampling other people to get more stuff. It’s the American way. To show just how crazy people get over Black Friday the folks at Uproxx gathered a few of the craziest pics from all the shopping shenanigans. Sidenote: Ever notice how people make it a race issue when Black kids line up for Jordans but people get shanked on aisle six at Wal-Mart over a Stanley Steamer and it’s all good? Just a thought. Anyway, look at the pics and shake your head at the insanity.
