The Company You Keep – Movie Trailer

Apr 28th

Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Movie Trailers

Jim Grant (Robert Redford) is a public interest lawyer and single father raising his daughter in the tranquil suburbs of Albany, New York. Grant’s world is turned upside down,when a brash young reporter named Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) exposes his true identity as a former 1970s antiwar radical fugitive wanted for murder. After living for more than 30 years underground, Grant must now go on the run. With the FBI in hot pursuit, he sets off on a cross-country journey to track down the one person that can clear his name.

Shepard knows the significance of the national news story he has exposed and, for a journalist, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Hell-bent on making a name for himself, he is willing to stop at nothing to capitalize on it. He digs deep into Grant’s past. Despite warnings from his editor and threats from the FBI, Shepard relentlessly tracks Grant across the country.

As Grant reopens old wounds and reconnects with former members of his antiwar group, the Weather Underground, Shepard realizes something about this man is just not adding up. With the FBI closing in, Shepard uncovers the shocking secrets Grant has been keeping for the past three decades. As Grant and Shepard come face to face in the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, they each must come to terms with who they really are.

One of Hollywood’s most acclaimed filmmakers and actors, Oscar®- winning director Robert Redford (Ordinary People; Quiz Show; The Sting) directs and heads an all-star ensemble that includes Shia LaBeouf (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) as determined reporter Ben Shepard, and Academy Award®-winner Julie Christie (Red Riding Hood) as Mimi Lurie, the woman inescapably linked to Grant’s past and his future. The cast also includes various figures tied to Grant’s previous life as an antiwar radical: Sam Elliot (Up In The Air) as Mimi Lurie’s current partner, Mac McLeod; Oscar®-nominee Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) as respected history professor Jed Lewis; Oscar®-nominee, Nick Nolte (Warrior) as the ever-loyal Donal; and Oscar®-winner Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise; Dead Man Walking) as housewife-cum-fugitive, Sharon Solarz, whose dramatic arrest sets the story in motion.

Additional cast members include: Oscar® winner,Chris Cooper (Adaptation) as Grant’s brother, Daniel Sloan; Jackie Evancho (America’s Got Talent) as Grant’s daughter, Isabel; Golden Globe nominee Brendan Gleeson (The Guard; In Bruges) as Henry Osborne, a retired police chief harboring secrets of his own; Brit Marling (Another Earth; Sound of My Voice) as Osborne’s daughter, Rebecca; Oscar® nominee Anna Kendrick (50/50; Up in the Air) as Diana, a junior FBI agent; Oscar® nominee Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games) as Shepard’s editor, Ray Fuller; and Oscar® nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) as Cornelius, a senior FBI agent determined to bring Grant to justice.

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP is based on the novel by Neil Gordon and adapted for the screen by Lem Dobbs (Haywire). The film is directed by Robert Redford. It is produced by Academy Award® winner Nicolas Chartier (The Hurt Locker), Robert Redford and Bill Holderman (The Conspirator; Lions for Lambs). The executive producers are Craig J. Flores (Immortals) and Shawn Williamson (50/50).

“Disconnect” a Heavy-Handed Look at Serious Problems

Apr 27th

Posted by Dan Culberson in Hotshots Movie Reviews

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“Heavy-Handed Look at Serious Problems”

“Hotshots” looks at a movie!

Disconnect has three separate, but connected stories about the serious problems that can be the result of today’s activities with the Internet, computers, and smart phones.

One of the stories ends in a tragedy.

The first story is about a lonely teenage boy who is tricked into thinking that he is communicating with a girl who is interested in him when in fact two other boys in his school are behind the deception.

The second story is about a television reporter who is researching a story about teenage runaways, but ends up interviewing a teenager who performs on an Internet porn site.

And the third story is about a couple who are having marital problems to begin with, and then they discover that they are the victims of identity theft, and all of their credit cards are maxed out.

Some of the characters are connected to only one story, some of the characters are connected to two stories, and at least one of the characters is connected to all three stories.

So, in essence, the three stories are disjointed, but interconnected.

And a key point in solving one of the mysteries in one of the stories is when a character texts, “We didn’t mean for this to happen.”

The only actors of note in the movie are Jason Bateman, wearing an uncharacteristic beard, and Hope Davis, who plays his wife.

Now, although an ad for the movie claims that one critic calls it “The Best Film of the Year,” you might think differently when you see how the serious subjects of the film are handled.

In other words, the filmmakers would have done well to have remembered “A little discretion goes a long way.”

Also, be aware that the movie contains nudity and violence, but neither one is exploited.

However, the movie does point out how extensive social media is being used in today’s society, how it can get out of hand, and how destructive some of those results can be to innocent, unsuspecting victims.

Although the movie does single out one person as being a villain in the circumstances making up one of the stories, most of the characters are victims of the situations, either because of intent or accident.

Disconnect is a heavy-handed look at serious problems that can lead to coincidental, interesting, and devastating results.

I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”