Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 2015 Film

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (also known as Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens) is an upcoming American epic space opera film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lucasfilm, and Bad Robot Productions and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the seventh film in the Star Wars saga, and is scheduled for release on December 18, 2015.

J. J. Abrams directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Abrams and Kasdan rewrote the initial script by Michael Arndt, who also wrote the story treatment. The film stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong'o, and Gwendoline Christie, with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker reprising their roles from previous films. The Force Awakens is set approximately 30 years after Return of the Jedi.

After The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, plans for a third Star Wars trilogy were announced. The Force Awakens will be the first film to be made since the acquisition, with Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams, and Abrams' long-time collaborator Bryan Burk producing. Star Wars creator George Lucas serves as creative consultant on The Force Awakens and other new Star Wars films. Second-unit filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with principal photography taking place between May and November 2014 in Abu Dhabi, and Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England.

George Lucas turned over the story treatment for Episode VII (as well as for VIII and IX) to Disney chairman Bob Iger around the time Lucasfilm was sold to Disney in October 2012. The treatment was written by Michael Arndt, who was also hired to write the screenplay. David Fincher and Brad Bird were considered as directors and both had even been approached, but Bird was already committed to Tomorrowland. Guillermo del Toro was also considered, stating "We got one phone call to my agent saying, 'Is Guillermo interested?' And basically I have so much stuff already of my own, and I'm pursuing stuff that I'm generating already." J. J. Abrams was announced in January 2013 as the director of Star Wars Episode VII, with Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg as project consultants. The production announced the exit of Arndt from the project on October 24, 2013, and script duties were taken over by Kasdan and Abrams. Abrams cited time concerns over the change of writers. Abrams expressed relief that the release date was announced for December 2015 instead of the earlier spoken about summer release time period. He said that the key to moving forward with the film would be for it to return to the roots of the first film and be based more on emotion than in explanation.

As creative consultant on the film, Lucas' involvement includes attending story meetings. "I mostly say, 'You can't do this. You can do that,'" he told Bloomberg Businessweek. "You know, 'The cars don't have wheels. They fly with antigravity.' There's a million little pieces. Or I can say, 'He doesn’t have the power to do that, or he has to do this.' I know all that stuff."

In January 2014, Abrams confirmed that the script was complete.
In April 2014, Lucasfilm clarified that Episodes VII–IX will not feature any of the storylines from the Expanded Universe, though other elements could be included as with Star Wars Rebels.

Watch Star Wars The Force Awakens 2015 Film Trailer

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is a 2014 American science fiction adventure directed by Francis Lawrence with a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. It is the first of two films based on the novel Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins, and the third installment in The Hunger Games film series, produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik and distributed by Lionsgate. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland. It is the sequel to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and will be followed by the concluding entry, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

The story continues to follow Katniss Everdeen; having twice survived the Hunger Games, Katniss finds herself in District 13. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss reluctantly becomes the symbol of a mass rebellion against the Capitol and fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by her courage. Principal photography for both parts of the film began on September 23, 2013 in Atlanta, before moving to Paris for two weeks of filming and officially concluding on June 20, 2014 in Berlin.

Part 1 was released on November 19, 2014 in Brazil, November 20, 2014 in Malaysia, United Kingdom, Greece and Indonesia, November 21, 2014 in the United States, and is scheduled to be released on November 28, 2014 in India, with an unconfirmed date in January 2015 in China. It landed atop Fandango's list of most-anticipated films of 2014. Like its predecessors, the film was a box-office success grossing $55 million on its opening day, making it the largest opening day of 2014 and the sixth-largest in November. The film went to the No. 1 spot during its opening weekend with a $121.9 million gross, becoming the biggest opening of 2014 and marking The Hunger Games film series as the only franchise to have three films earn over $100 million in a weekend.

After being rescued from the destroyed arena in the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, along with fellow Victors Beetee and Finnick Odair, are taken to District 13, an underground rebel facility hidden beneath the ruins of the old District 13, where she is reunited with her mother and sister Prim. While recuperating, she is introduced to President Alma Coin, the rebel leader, and is told that her actions in the arena sparked riots and strikes against the Capitol. Coin asks her if she will become the "Mockingjay"—the symbol of the rebellion— as part of their "hearts and minds" strategy. Katniss flatly declines, angrily reminding her that they left Peeta Mellark, her portrayed lover and fellow District 12 tribute, behind in the arena. At the suggestion of Plutarch Heavensbee, the former Gamemaker, she is taken to see the ruins of District 12, which was completely leveled by a Capitol bombing campaign (with the exception of the houses in the Victor's Village). After seeing that Peeta is being used by Capitol state television to try and quell the rebellion, Katniss reluctantly changes her mind and agrees to become Coin's Mockingjay, on the condition that Peeta and the other victors will be rescued, and pardoned, at the earliest opportunity.

After Haymitch notes that Katniss thrives on spontaneity, she is introduced to her film team (led by Capitol escapee Cressida), is dressed up in a specially-designed outfit, and given Effie Trinket as a stylist and close friend Gale as a bodyguard. They go out to District 8 to visit a hospital, but as the visit concludes, a Capitol bombing squadron arrives and bombs the hospital, killing everyone inside. In her rage, Katniss gives a rousing speech to the camera, which is broadcast when Beetee hijacks the Capitol's news feed. The team then go back to District 12, where Gale tells the story of its destruction, and Katniss is filmed singing "The Hanging Tree." After both are broadcast, strikers in District 7 kill an entire team of Peacekeepers with hidden land mines, and a rebel demolition team destroys the dam providing the Capitol with electricity, forcing them to use power generators and weakening their ability to broadcast their propaganda.

That night, Katniss is watching Peeta being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman, the Games' former presenter, when, in an apparent defiance of his captors, he suddenly shouts a warning to the camera that the Capitol is about to attack District 13. Coin orders a mass evacuation into the underground shelters. While Prim is nearly locked out when she goes back to get her cat, everyone manages to get inside safely, and the facility survives the attack unharmed. Upon emerging, Katniss discovers that the area is littered with white roses, and realizes that President Snow has sent them to taunt her, and presumes that he is about to kill Peeta. As Peeta's warning gave the District an additional eight minutes evacuation time, Coin dispatches an elite special forces team, which includes Gale, to rescue him, along with Johanna Mason, and Annie Cresta, the remaining Victors, from their prison in the Capitol's Tribute center. The rescue is successful. However, when Katniss goes to greet Peeta, he unexpectedly attacks and strangles her into unconsciousness, before being knocked unconscious himself by Boggs.

Katniss wakes up in the medical facility, and is informed that Peeta has been "hijacked"—brainwashed into wanting to kill Katniss through aversion therapy and tracker jacker venom - explaining why the Capitol allowed Gale's team to escape. A process to undo the therapy begins, with Peeta kept in isolation. Meanwhile, Coin announces the successful rescue of the Victors, and that the fight may now be taken to the Capitol.
Watch The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Trailer

Thanksgiving Day 2014

Thanksgiving Day in the United States is a holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. It precedes Black Friday.

What do people do?

Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal. The meal often includes a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and vegetables. Thanksgiving Day is a time for many people to give thanks for what they have.

Thanksgiving Day parades are held in some cities and towns on or around Thanksgiving Day. Some parades or festivities also mark the opening of the Christmas shopping season. Some people have a four-day weekend so it is a popular time for trips and to visit family and friends.

Public life
Most government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many offices and businesses allow staff to have a four-day weekend so these offices and businesses are also closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Public transit systems do not usually operate on their regular timetables.

Thanksgiving Day it is one of the busiest periods for travel in the USA. This can cause congestion and overcrowding. Seasonal parades and busy football games can cause disruption to local traffic.

Background
Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United States since 1863. Not everyone sees Thanksgiving Day as a cause for celebration. Each year since 1970, a group of Native Americans and their supporters have staged a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day. American Indian Heritage Day is also observed at this time of the year.

There are claims that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in the city of El Paso, Texas in 1598. Another early event was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. Many people trace the origins of the modern Thanksgiving Day to the harvest celebration that the Pilgrims held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. However, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings took the form of a special church service, rather than a feast.

In the second half of the 1600s, thanksgivings after the harvest became more common and started to become annual events. However, it was celebrated on different days in different communities and in some places there were more than one thanksgiving each year. George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.

Night At The Museum 3 Secret Of The Tomb

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is an upcoming 2014 American comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant, David Guion, Michael Handelman and Thomas Lennon. It is the sequel to the 2009 film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. The film stars Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Dan Stevens and Ben Kingsley. The film is scheduled to be released on December 19, 2014, by 20th Century Fox. It is the third and final installment of the trilogy. It will be Mickey Rooney's final film and one of Robin Williams's final films, as both of them died before the film was released.

On January 21, 2010, co-writer Thomas Lennon said to Access Hollywood, "I think it's a really outstanding idea to do Night at the Museum 3, in fact. I wonder if someone's not even already working on a script for that. I cannot confirm that for a fact, but I cannot deny it for a fact either... It might be in the works." In an October 2011, interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stiller confirmed the sequel, however, he said that it was only in the "ideas stage". It was announced in February 2013 that the film, directed by Shawn Levy, would be released on December 25, 2014. On September 10, 2013, it was announced that shooting would start in February 2014.

On November 8, 2013, English actor Dan Stevens was cast as Lancelot. On November 15, 2013, it was announced Skyler Gisondo would be replacing Jake Cherry for the role of Nicky Daley. On December 18, 2013 it was announced that Robin Williams, Stiller, and Ricky Gervais would be returning for the sequel. On January 9, 2014, it was announced that Rebel Wilson would play a security guard in the British Museum. On January 14, 2014, the film's release date was moved up from December 25, 2014, to December 19, 2014. On January 23, 2014, it was announced Ben Kingsley would play an Egyptian Pharaoh at the British Museum. Principal photography and production began on January 27, 2014. On May 6, 2014, it was announced that the film would be titled Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In May 2014, principal photography ended.

Jai Courtney Eyed for Batman Villain Deadshot in ‘Suicide Squad’

“Terminator: Genesys” star Jai Courtney is in talks for a major role in Warner Bros.’ “Suicide Squad” that could prove to be Batman villain Deadshot, sources tell Variety.

Tom Hardy, Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto are also in various stages of discussions to join the super-villainous movie, which is being written and directed by “Fury” filmmaker David Ayer.

“Suicide Squad,” produced by Charles Roven, will be released in summer 2016.

Warner Bros. had no comment on this story.

Based on the DC comic book, the story centers on the team of super villains who are given a chance at redemption by the government. The catch: Their mission will probably kill them all.

Warner Bros. is courting Leto to play the Joker in the film, Robbie for Harley Quinn and Hardy for Rick Flag, a founding member of the Suicide Squad. As for Smith, it’s uncertain which character he will play, but sources say it’s likely the Flash nemesis Digger Harkness a.k.a. Captain Boomerang.

Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, who co-stars in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” may also join the film.

Though the character of Deadshot isn’t as well known as Lex Luthor or the Joker, he’s a key villain in the “Batman” comic book universe. Also known as Floyd Lawton, Deadshot has a major death wish and a strong bond with Catwoman, although there’s been no confirmation yet that Catwoman will make an appearance in the pic.

WB could obviously give Deadshot and other “Suicide Squad” members their own standalone films should the super-villain movie prove a success.

As for Courtney, “Suicide Squad” would mark yet another major Hollywood franchise the Australian has landed in a short amount of time. He broke out as John McClane’s son in “A Good Day to Die Hard” and followed that up as a villain in “Divergent,” with plans to reprise the role in “Insurgent,” which bows next year.

He also plays Kyle Reese in the next “Terminator” pic, “Terminator: Genisys,” which opens next summer and co-stars Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor and Jason Clarke as her son, John.

Taylor Swift Sold 1.287 Million Copies Of Her New Album

Tuesday night, Nielsen SoundScan announced that Taylor Swift sold 1.287 million copies of her new album, 1989 in its first week of release. This would be impressive in any year, but in a year like this, you could call it a miracle. So far in 2014, only one album has sold more than a million copies: the soundtrack to the movie Frozen, which actually came out in 2013. No other album released in 2014 has sold one million copies, all year long. So it's not just that Taylor Swift is doing big numbers. She's doing big numbers at a time when no one else is doing big numbers. Taylor Swift is more than just a pop music anomaly. Music writer and former Billboard Magazine editor Bill Werde says she is "defying retail gravity at this point."

Sales of physical albums have been in decline since 2001 and this year, digital downloads, which had been on the rise since 2004, finally followed. So far, sales at Apple's iTunes store have decreased by 13 percent over 2013. Listeners have moved toward streaming music services like Spotify, but so far, these services don't make artists or labels nearly as much money as album sales.

In this environment most musicians in the rarefied air Swift occupies have turned the album release into something like a stunt — Jay-Z through a smartphone app; U2 by just dumping their new album in your iTunes library; and Beyonce by releasing an album and 17 music videos digitally, and by surprise, with no traditional promotion at all.

Swift, though, is following the old industry playbook and besting everyone. Here's how she did it.

BE EVERYWHERE

Taylor Swift's promotional run for 1989 is a case study on what a full court blitz looks like in 2014. Before 1989's release, she coached and performed on NBC's The Voice. She made an appearance on The View. She shut down Hollywood Boulevard for a performance broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel Live. She sat down with David Letterman, who called her "Mother Teresa." Swift made an appearance on Good Morning America to announce that she'd become the global ambassador of New York City, even though she just moved there. She spent time on Ryan Seacrest's morning radio show, and he played big chunks of the album on his program the day of its release. And it didn't just begin a few weeks ago. Earlier in the year, Taylor Swift wrote an optimistic op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on the future of the industry (more on that later). And the announcement of her album and its first single, "Shake It Off," were also social media events.

Of course, plenty of artists do massive amounts of press for their new album releases. (And some don't. Just look at Beyonce.) But Swift is on another level. "I don't think that there's a lot of artists out today who are at the success level of Taylor Swift who are dedicated to and willing to work the way Taylor Swift works," Bill Werde says. "Taylor Swift is a promoting fantasy. She wants to be everywhere. She wants to get up early in the morning, go to bed late at night and work, work, work. And that is not coincidental to the fact that she is the only artist who's selling a million albums [in her] first week these days." These days date back to 2012, when the last album to sell a million copies in a week came out. That album was Red, by Taylor Swift.

But is she setting a new template, or is she just an exception to all the rules? Taylor Swift's promotional tactics work in part because of who she is: an immensely famous young woman who is extremely likeable and relatable to young fans. People care about who she's dating. She stars in movies. Most everything she does is an event. "A lot of what Taylor Swift is doing works great if you're Taylor Swift," says Werde.

#TAYLURKING

Current Billboard Magazine editor Joe Levy says Swift has been at the forefront of fan outreach throughout her entire career. "You go back to when she was 15 years old," Levy says. "She was the one lecturing her record company about MySpace. Well it isn't MySpace anymore. Now it's Twitter and Tumblr." And when it comes to Twitter, maybe no artist uses the platform better than Swift. She's got over 46 million followers on the site, and Levy says she goes out of her way to talk directly to them.

"Taylor Swift is spending her evenings on social media looking for her fans, and connecting with them. The hashtag is [#taylurking]. It could be #TaylorStalking." She responds personally to fans' tweets to and about her all the time. She'll retweet their tweets about her, or photos of them buying her albums, which only makes other fans go out and buy more of her albums, just for her Twitter recognition. She even used Twitter to invite a small number of fans to her house for a private 1989 listening party. And of course, they all tweeted about it, further increasing the hype around 1989.

And Taylor Swift has written about the need for these intense connections with fans. In that Wall Street Journal essay earlier this year, she wrote, "There are always going to be those artists who break through on an emotional level and end up in people's lives forever. The way I see it, fans view music the way they view their relationships."

MAKE THEM BUY IT

And once she hooks them, Swift goes out of her way to get those devoted fans of hers to buy 1989, and if possible, to buy a physical copy.

She understands that this isn't the norm any more. In an interview last week, she explained the process of selling physical media in a digital world to NPR's Melissa Block. "There has to be an incentive to go to a store, buy a CD. We've done an exclusive at Target that has three extra songs. It has three songwriting voice memos from my cell phone," she said. "I have five sets of thirteen Polaroids from the album photo shoot that are in an envelope in the CD. So it's very much an experience that's different than downloading the music itself. It's almost like this kind of collector's edition, the physical copy." (Swift's interview with Block was conducted on Halloween, and she arrived at NPR's studios in New York in costume, dressed as a pegacorn — half-pegasus, half-unicorn. Something mythical, magical and exceptional, kind of like Swift's career.)

In a more aggressive move, Swift recently removed her entire catalog from the streaming service Spotify. She and other big artists were already keeping new releases from Spotify for weeks or months after their initial release to boost sales, but Swift's move this week is bigger than that. Nearly all of her music is off Spotify now (one song, her contribution to the Hunger Games soundtrack, is still there). So, why did everything else disappear? The Wall Street Journal reports:

Ms. Swift's catalog withdrawal comes several months after the pop star's record label asked Spotify to make her new album, "1989," available on the streaming service only outside the U.S. While Ms. Swift is a giant star in her home country, she is still trying to expand her fan base abroad, according to a person familiar with the matter. Spotify denied that request, this person said.
The Journal also says that Swift's label might have a special reason for the Spotify move:

Big Machine is seeking a buyer, according to people familiar with the matter, and is looking more than $200 million, the New York Post reported over the weekend. Big Machine's records are distributed by Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group. Lofty sales of "1989" could make the label more attractive to bidders against a backdrop of shrinking sales across the industry.
But Swift's Spotify news may only be good for her. Streaming is the one of very few growth areas for the ailing music industry. iTunes Store sales are down this year and physical sales have been dropping precipitously for years. Of course, many debate just how good Spotify is for artists: Spotify claims 70 percent of their revenue goes to labels, but artists say the cut of that percentage they see is often insignificant, a fraction of a penny per stream. In that WSJ op-ed Swift put out earlier this year, she said, " Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for."

But the idea that someone as big as Swift would remove herself from streaming is a concern to Bill Werde. He thinks big artists need to support streaming: "You're talking about undercutting one of the few growing revenue streams in the recorded music business, and that's streaming music. With downloads falling, and with CDs falling, if streaming music isn't the answer, it's not really clear what the answer is," Werde says. (In a Tumblr post this week, Werde wrote that he was canceling his subscription to Spotify because the service didn't carry big artists like Beyonce and Swift.)

Maybe, of all the lessons from Swift's amazing first week of sales, that's the biggest takeaway: What's good for Swift is not automatically good for the entire industry. Swift has proven that she is an artist that lives in a world far away from other artists. "Her good week is not a sign of an upward trend for the industry," says Joe Levy of Billboard. "Her good week is weird. Her good week is out of the ordinary. Her good week is some Twilight Zone stuff." Some very, very lucrative Twilight Zone stuff.

Marc Anthony and Shannon De Lima Are Engaged, Getting Married Soon

Jennifer Lopez may be reveling in her singularity right now, but it looks like her ex-husband and father of her Twinz is going in the exact opposite direction, into the arms of another. According to US Weekly, Marc Anthony is ready to embark on his third marriage, this go-round to his "on-again, off-again" Venezuelan model girlfriend Shannon De Lima. They are supposedly getting hitched this month in the Dominican Republic, according to "a source." Guess that means they're on!



This comes as a huge blow to those of us who harbored some secret fantasy of one day going on a single date with this guy. (JUST ONE SINGLE DATE, though. We've heard the rumors. Just tryna get it in and out rill quick, feel me?) Do not judge. You folks have your Cumberbatch re: relatively odd-looking famous man over whom you lust, I have my Anthony. Dammit.) Sure, sure, maybe he looks like Skeletor, as coined so long ago by Crunk & Disorderly creator and brilliant humorist Fresh (among others). But dammit, he is my Skeletor. Have you seen him live? If you see him live, you'll get it. ANIMAL MAGNETISM. And one of the greatest performers of our time, of course.

Ariana Grande, Little Big Town perform ‘Bang Bang’ together at the CMA Awards

No one knew exactly what to expect when it was announced that pop star Ariana Grande would join country quartet Little Big Town for a performance at the CMA Awards in Nashville. While the CMAs have had cross-genre performances in the past, this seemed especially weird.

First, members of Little Big Town (Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook) got the stage to themselves with glow-in-the-dark band uniforms and a drumline as they performed their latest hit, the groovy “Day Drinking.” Not a Grande in sight.

Then, suddenly appearing at the back of the stage and looking wildly out of place, Grande emerged wearing her signature sky-high ponytail and a matching light-up outfit. She segued into “Bang Bang,” her collaboration with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj.

Grande strolled over and continued singing as the quartet joined her on the song. She stood in the middle of the group, somewhat awkwardly dancing between Schlapman and Fairchild, and they all stood in a row as they belted out the song together. It was impossible to stop thinking the obvious as you watched: “What is Ariana Grande doing at the CMAs?”

Vocally? It sounded impressive, as Grande has a great voice and LBT’s harmonies are heavenly. But as much as it got the audience members on their feet in the middle of the show, the performance felt especially random.

Rose McGowan Apologizes For Calling Gays More Misogynistic Than Straights

Rose McGowan has taken to Twitter to apologize for saying that gay men are more misogynistic than straight men.

However, she said she stood by her point that the gay community did not 'pay it forward' by fighting for the human rights of others, specifically women.

The Charmed actress made the comments in a recent podcast with gay writer Bret Easton Ellis.

She said, 'I see now people who have basically fought for the right to stand on top of a float wearing an orange Speedo and take molly.'

McGowan hosted a party over the summer at the Beverly Hills Hotel owned by anti-gay Brunei amid a boycott called by LGBTI activists, whom she dismissed as 'delusional idiots.'

After a backlash from the gay community, she apologized in a series of tweets.

'I was pissed off when I said that, obvs a gross over generalization, for which I apologize. But my point stands,' she wrote.

'Could I have articulated my frustration in a better fashion? Undoubtedly. For that I apologize, but I stand by the overall point.'

She said, 'Where does it say that because of a man's sexual preference, I don't get to point out a group's character defects? It's a human rights issue.

'Misogyny endangers me as a human. It also endangers the LGBT community.'

McGowan then tweeted a more light-hearted apology:

'I'm speaking about MY experience as a disenfranchised activist. I apologize because I like speedos (they're funny,) I like floats and I'd probably like Molly if I tried it.'

All About That Base: No Rebels” STAR WARS Parody, Starring Team Unicorn!

Meghan Trainor’s sassy “All About That Bass” has taken a trip to the galaxy far, far away in our latest Nerdist Presents: a new Team Unicorn music video! The Unicorns have dressed in Empire attire, brought in dancing stormtroopers and astromechs, added some Darth Sidious, and made the popular song an Imperial anthem. My inner Rebel is crying, but I can’t blame anyone for liking the Empire. They do have much better costumes… and Sith.

Team Unicorn channeled some of Trainor’s dance moves from the “All About That Bass” video and added their own unique touches. Plus, come on, Darth Vader-inspired outfits automatically make any choreography better. The lyrics are peppy and will likely get stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

The galactic parody was written by Blake Rodgers and stars Clare Grant, Rileah Vanderbilt, Milynn Sarley, and Alison Haislip, with a cameo from LeeAnna Vamp.

Wayne Brady Opens Up About His Depression: 'I Had a Complete Breakdown'

Though we all know Wayne Brady as the upbeat comedian-turned-TV star of shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Let's Make a Deal, the 42-year-old Emmy-award winner is now opening up to ET's Nischelle Turner about his debilitating depression.

Brady admits he has secretly battled with depression for years and describes the harrowing emotions he's experienced. "People are like, 'Wayne Brady's always happy!'" he says. "No I'm not. Because I'm human."

"Having a bad day is one thing, having a bad week is another, having a bad life … You don't want to move, you can't move in the darkness," he explains. "You're like, 'I am just going to sit right here and I want to wallow in this. As much as it hurts, I am going to sit right here because this is what I deserve. This is what I deserve, so I am going to sit here because I am that horrible of a person.'"

The constant self-doubt turned into a vicious cycle.

"It starts this cycle where you tell yourself these lies ... and those lies become true to you," he says. "So, you stick to your own truth you've set up. 'If I am this bad, then why should any of this matter?' I feel at that point, you end up wanting to stop the pain."

Brady reveals he hit rock bottom last June on his 42nd birthday, recalling, "I was there by myself, in my bedroom and I had a complete breakdown … Just go ahead and imagine for yourself a brother in his underwear, in his room, you got snot … and that birthday was the beginning of, 'OK, I've got to make a change.'"

An event that especially hit him hard was the tragic passing of Robin Williams in August, who took his own life after a longtime struggle with depression.

Brady, who knew Williams from the comedian's appearance on Whose Line, tweeted on the day news broke of Williams' death.

Happy Valley

The town of State College, the home of Penn State University, has long been known as Happy Valley, and its iconic figure for more than 40 years was Joe Paterno, the head coach of the school’s storied football team. His program was lauded for not only its success on the field but also its students’ achievements in the classroom. And Paterno took on mythic national stature as “Saint Joe.”

But then, in November 2011, everything came crashing down. Longtime Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, setting off a firestorm of accusations about who failed to protect the children of Happy Valley. Was Sandusky’s abuse an “open secret” in the town? Did Coach Paterno and the Penn State administration value their football program more than the lives of Sandusky’s victims?

Filmed over the course of the year after Sandusky’s arrest as key players in the scandal agreed to share their stories, Happy Valley deconstructs the story we think we know to uncover a much more complicated and tragic tale. Director Amir Bar-Lev creates a parable of guilt, redemption, and identity crisis for a small town caught in the glare of the national spotlight.

Cast:

John Battsek 
Robert DeBitetto  
Ken Dornstein
Jonathan Koch
David McKillop
Steven Michaels
Ezekiel Morgan 
Molly Thompson

Dumb and Dumber To 2014 Film

Dumb and Dumber To is an upcoming 2014 American buddy comedy film co-written and directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly. It is a sequel to the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber. The film stars Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Laurie Holden, and Kathleen Turner. The film is scheduled to be released on November 14, 2014.

Twenty years after their last adventure, and after Lloyd reveals his long-lasting prank, good-hearted, yet dimwitted best friends, Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas head out in search for Harry's long lost daughter, and Lloyd is in love again (with Harry's Daughter).

On September 4, 2013, it was announced that filming for the sequel would begin on September 24, 2013. On September 8, 2013, Jim Carrey posted a picture of his iconic chipped front tooth, along with the caption, "GESS HUUZ BAK BICHEZ?" On September 22, 2013, shooting of the film began in Atlanta. On September 24, 2013, Daniels and Carrey posted a photo of themselves on set dressed as Harry and Lloyd.

On November 25, 2013, Daniels announced that principal photography on the film had been completed.

On April 18, 2013, the Farrellys tweeted that Australian band Empire of the Sun would compose the score for the film. On June 10, 2013, Warner Bros. decided not to move forward with the sequel but allowed the film to be pitched to other studios. The following week, an independent company, Red Granite, agreed to finance the sequel with a $35 million budget. Universal Pictures will distribute the film in North America. Even though Warner Bros. had no involvement in making the sequel, its New Line Cinema division, which produced the first film, and its prequel, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, was given studio credit from Universal.

On June 18, 2013, Peter Farrelly confirmed that the sequel would move forward in an interview with The Nerdist Podcast In July 2013, a lawsuit filed by Red Granite Pictures sought a declaration that Red Granite owes no contractual obligation to Dumb and Dumber producers Steve Stabler and Brad Krevoy and that the duo are not entitled to any producer fees or credits they claim they're contractually owed on the sequel. In a counter claim, the producers of Dumb and Dumber accused the producers and Red Granite Pictures of racketeering. On July 18, 2014, a request for dismissal was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and the case was officially settled. The announcement of the settlement lists the plaintiffs as executive producers, and all claims against Red Granite, Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland of racketeering were withdrawn. The plaintiffs said in a statement, "We apologize for naming Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland as individual defendants rather than just Red Granite."

On July 9, 2013, while on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Daniels confirmed the involvement of Jim Carrey, and stated that shooting would start in September 2013 for a 2014 release. On August 30, 2013, Kathleen Turner was confirmed to play the role of Fraida Felcher. On August 31, 2013, it was announced that Brady Bluhm would reprise his role as Billy in 4C for the sequel and that Farrelly brothers frequent collaborators Bennett Yellin and Mike Cerrone co-wrote the script. Screenwriting duo Sean Anders and John Morris did work on the script as well.

Rosewater 2014 Film

Rosewater is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Jon Stewart, based on the memoir Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy. Bahari's imprisonment is connected to an interview he conducted on The Daily Show in 2009; the authorities presented the interview as evidence that he was in communication with an American spy. Due to the content of the film, Stewart has been accused by Iran's State TV of being funded by Zionists and working with the CIA. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 14, 2014.

In 2009, London-based journalist Maziar Bahari (Gael García Bernal) was detained in Iran for more than 100 days because of an interview regarding the country's presidential election. Bahari was arrested and, while his pregnant fiancée waited for him, spent four months at Evin Prison, being brutally interrogated.

Bahari was usually blindfolded when being interrogated, and the sole distinguishing feature of his interrogator was that the interrogator smelled of rosewater.

On July 31, 2014, it was announced that the film would be released on November 7, 2014. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 29, 2014. It is scheduled to be screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014.

Rosewater has received mostly positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 78%, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".

Writing for Uproxx, Vince Mancini said Rosewater is a "decently directed movie" that "could've been better", and gave the film a grade of a B-.

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Jurassic World 2015 Film

Jurassic World is an upcoming American science fiction adventure film. It is the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park film series. The film was in "development hell" for over a decade since the release of Jurassic Park III in 2001. The film was initially scheduled to be released on June 13, 2014, but production was temporarily halted due to a disagreement between writers and Universal Studios regarding the film's script and direction. The film is scheduled to be released on June 12, 2015. Colin Trevorrow is directing the film, with Patrick Crowley and Frank Marshall producing. Derek Connolly and Trevorrow teamed up to write the script.

Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. This new park is owned by the Masrani Corporation. Owen (Chris Pratt), a member of Jurassic World's on-site staff, conducts behavioral research on the Velociraptors. After many years, Jurassic World's attendance rates begin to decline and a new attraction, created to re-spark visitor interest, gravely backfires.

In March 2001, Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston denied recent rumors of a fourth film. Late in Jurassic Park III's production, executive producer Steven Spielberg came up with a story idea for a fourth film. He wished the idea would have been used for the third film instead. In June 2001, Johnston said he would not direct the film, and that Spielberg had a story idea that would take the mythology of the series to a new level. Johnston later said the film would feel like a departure from previous films, implying it would not be set on an island. In July 2001, actor Sam Neill, who portrayed Dr. Alan Grant in previous films, said he couldn't think of a way for his character to get involved in another film. Later that month, Johnston denied, then later hinted, that the film would involve the pteranodons from the ending of Jurassic Park III.

In September 2003, Richard Attenborough said he would be reprising his role as John Hammond. In October 2003, paleontologist Jack Horner said he would return as technical adviser for the fourth film as he had done for previous Jurassic Park films. Horner hinted that velociraptors would be an integral part of the film. Keira Knightley's character was written out in late 2003. In March 2004, Joe Johnston said he had not been asked to direct the film, and hoped that Steven Spielberg would direct it. Johnston said a story was being written that would take the series in a completely different direction "away from the island and away from the T-Rex and all this. In April 2004, the script was being retooled to script doctors, with the current story being about the government training dinosaurs to carry weapons for battle purposes. In May 2004, it was reported that screenwriter John Sayles was writing the script. Sayles was hired to finish earlier work done by Monahan, who had left the project to work on Kingdom of Heaven. By June 2004, Frank Marshall had joined the project as a producer.

In June 2004, it was reported that Alex Proyas was in discussions to direct, with filming expected to begin in March 2005 for a re-scheduled winter 2005 release. Filming would have started at Pinewood Studios, where a massive tank was to be constructed for scenes involving marine reptiles. In July 2004, the script was being rewritten, with Jeremy Piven and Emmy Rossum being considered for two of the lead roles and Richard Attenborough reprising his character. Later that month, Proyas said he was not interested in directing the film.

In August 2004, Aint It Cool News published a review of a leaked draft of the film's script. The story would have involved a new character, a mercenary named Nick Harris, who is hired by a Swiss corporation and put in charge of training a team of five genetically-modified deinonychus for use in rescue missions. John Hammond would be the only returning character in this draft. In 2005, John Sayles confirmed this to be an early draft of the script, intercepted through Steven Spielberg's email by a hacker.

In late August 2004, David Boreanaz was rumored and later reported to have the lead role. Boreanaz was actually in consideration for Fantastic Four. Sayles was still re-writing the script in September 2004, with the film on track for a winter 2005 release.

In April 2005, Stan Winston confirmed the film was on hold due to repeated revisions of the film's script, none of which satisfied Spielberg. According to Winston, "He felt neither of [the drafts] balanced the science and adventure elements effectively. It's a tough compromise to reach, as too much science will make the movie too talky, but too much adventure will make it seem hollow."

In January 2006, Joe Johnston and Jack Horner were working on a new screenplay, with more work on it expected to begin immediately after the 2008 release of Indiana Jones IV. In February 2006, Frank Marshall said the film now had a good script, with filming expected to begin in 2007 for a 2008 release. In March 2006, Marshall said the film had a script and was getting a director, with Johnston as a possible candidate. In April 2006, Marshall said there was an idea for the film, but not a script. Marshall went on to deny that Michael Crichton would write the script, or that Steven Spielberg would direct it. The script was still being worked on in June 2006.

In July 2006, Spielberg denied an Internet rumor that Breck Eisner would direct, saying Johnston was standing by for the job. In December 2006, Laura Dern said she was open to the possibility of reprising her role as Ellie Sattler, but had not been contacted about appearing in the film. In March 2007, Sam Neill said he knew nothing about the project. In April 2007, Laura Dern said she had been contacted about appearing in the movie, with filming expected to begin within the year for release in 2008. It was also reported that Joe Johnston would not be directing the film. In December 2007, Frank Marshall said further work on the script couldn't be done until the end of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, with filming potentially starting in 2008 for a release in the summer of 2009. Jack Horner's 2009 book, How to Build a Dinosaur, was originally meant to come out at the same time as the film as a scientific companion volume.

Richard Attenborough, before his death, was contacted about reprising the role of John Hammond. Jeff Goldblum had expressed some interest in reprising his role of Ian Malcolm for the fourth film.
In December 2008, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy were asked if there was any development on the sequel. Kennedy responded, "No... I don't know. You know, when Michael Crichton passed away, I sorta felt maybe that's it. Maybe that's a sign that we don't mess with it." While Marshall and Kennedy were no longer signed with Universal Pictures in a production capacity, it was said that the two would remain involved with the studio and its plans for Jurassic Park 4. In November 2009, Joe Johnston discussed the possibility of Jurassic Park 4, stating that the story for the film is completely different from that of its predecessors and would take the franchise into a whole other trilogy. In a January 2010 interview, Johnston reiterated that Jurassic Park 4 was set to be the beginning of a second Jurassic Park trilogy. He also added, "Jurassic Park 4" is going to be unlike anything you've seen."

By June 16, 2011, Spielberg had met twice with writer Mark Protosevich to work on a story for a potential fourth Jurassic Park film. During a new interview with Joe Johnston in July 2011, he stated that Jurassic Park 4 was being discussed and would be a spin-off of the history of the first trilogy.

Benedict Cumberbatch Sophie Hunter Engagement!

Benedict Cumberbatch has become engaged to girlfriend Sophie Hunter - as revealed in a newspaper announcement.

The Sherlock actor's parents chose a traditional way of breaking the news by taking out an ad in the Forthcoming Marriages section of The Times.

The announcement reads: "Mr BT. Cumberbatch and Miss S.I. Hunter: The engagement is announced between Benedict, son of Wanda and Timothy Cumberbatch of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katharine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London."

His rep confirmed the news to Mirror Online, saying: "I am delighted to confirm this morning’s announcement that Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter are engaged."

The 38-year-old actor was spotted with his partner at a tennis match this summer but they have kept their relationship out of the limelight.

Sophie is a 36-year-old Oxford-educated theater director, and the pair have been spotted out together more regularly recently.

There were reports last month that the star had headed to Edinburgh to seek the blessing of Sophie's mother for the marriage.



When asked about the relationship, Sophie’s mum Anna said cryptically at her home: “Watch this space. You never know.”
Fans have reacted with complete shock to the news, with many hearts no doubt breaking across the globe.
One Twitter user wrote: "Okay he's really gonna be engaged with someone.
"Congrats to Benedict Cumberbatch for your upcoming engagement," while another added: "BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IS ENGAGED IM CRYING."



“It’s like playing a tennis doubles match. You need to work well together if you are to stay partners for a long time.”
His disappearance from the eligible bachelor lists comes just a matter of weeks after the Hollywood star George Clooney married the lawyer Amal Alamuddin.
Cumberbatch, 38, is enjoying a golden period in his career as one of Britain's most popular actors and he has been lauded for his role as codebreaker Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, with suggestions he could make it onto the Oscars shortlist for the role.

Annabelle Movie

Annabelle is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by John R. Leonetti, produced by James Wan, and written by Gary Dauberman. It is both a prequel to and spin-off of The Conjuring. The film stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard. The film was released worldwide on October 3, 2014.

Annabelle premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on September 29, 2014.

The film starts with the same opening scene from The Conjuring, in 1968, in which two young women and a young man are telling Ed and Lorraine Warren about their experiences with a doll called Annabelle which, they believe, is haunted.

In 1969, John and Mia Form live in Santa Monica and are expecting their first child. John gives her a doll that she has been trying to find. Mia loves it and puts it with the rest of her doll collection, saying that she "fits right in". At night, Mia hears a murder occurring at their neighbors, the Higgins'. When Mia returns home and call the police as her husband told her to do, she is attacked by a woman holding the doll and a male accomplice. John and the police arrive and kill the man while the woman kills herself. She leaves a bloody symbol drawn on the wall and a drop of her blood falls on the face of the doll in her arms. A news report shows that the assailants were Annabelle Higgins and her boyfriend. They had murdered her parents and are said to have been part of a satanic cult.

Since Annabelle was holding the doll while dying, Mia asks John to throw it away. Later, after a fire caused by the doll, Mia trips over escaping from the fire and goes into labor, Mia gives birth to a healthy baby girl named Leah. The family moves into a new apartment, in Pasadena. Mia unpacks her dolls and finds the one which they had thought discarded. More strange activity plagues Mia and her new baby. She contacts the detective, who informs her of Annabelle and her boyfriend's history in a cult that seeks to summon a demon by claiming a soul. Mia goes to a bookstore run by a woman named Evelyn and determines from a book that the presence haunting her wants Leah's soul. The couple contacts their church's priest, Father Perez, who tries to take the doll with him to church. The ghost of Annabelle attacks him with a demonic-looking creature, and the doll disappears. Evelyn tells Mia that she had a daughter named Ruby that was around Mia's age when she died in a car accident caused by Evelyn. She was so distraught and guilt-ridden that she attempted suicide. However, she claims to have heard Ruby's voice telling her it wasn't her time.

Perez warns John that it was indeed Annabelle's spirit that caused his injuries, and that he felt how much the demon wanted Mia's soul. John rushes to warn Mia. During another attack, Annabelle appears to levitate but, Mia sees the demon holding Annabelle in the air, implying that the doll itself has no power but is being exclusively manipulated and moved by the demon. Meanwhile, the demonic presence pushes Evelyn out of the apartment and taunts Mia while taking her baby. Mia attempts to kill Annabelle and Mia asks him if there is another way, and it says that she can offer him her soul. John and Evelyn break open the door to find Mia ready to jump out the window with Annabelle in her hands. John saves Mia; Evelyn takes hold of Annabelle and decides to make the sacrifice, knowing this is the way she can atone for Ruby's death. She jumps out of the window and is shown at the bottom of the apartment building, dead next to Annabelle. Leah is then found safe and sound in her crib.

Six months later, the Forms have moved on and have not seen Annabelle since then. Elsewhere, the mother of one of the girls in the opening scene purchases Annabelle as a gift for her child. The ending text states that the real Annabelle doll resides in a case in Ed and Lorraine Warren's museum and that it is blessed by a priest twice a month to keep the public safe from the evil that still resides in the doll.

The final shot shows the camera linger on Annabelle, as if she'll make a move before the screen cuts out into black.

John Wick 2014 Film

John Wick is a 2014 American action thriller film directed by David Leitch and Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad. The film stars Keanu Reeves in the eponymous role.

John Wick (Reeves), who just lost his wife Helen (Moynahan) to cancer, receives a gift from her posthumously in the form of a puppy named Daisy, along with a letter from her saying she arranged for him to have Daisy to help him cope with her demise. Initially indifferent to Daisy, he eventually connects to the puppy as they spend the day driving around in his vintage '69 Mustang. He encounters a trio of Russian gang members at a gas station and their leader Iosef (Allen) insists on buying his car, but John refuses to sell and makes a snide remark at Iosef before leaving. The three follow John to his home, break in at night, and attack John, who watches defenselessly as they kill Daisy before stealing his car. The following day, Iosef attempts to have the car modified by Aureilo (Leguizamo), the owner of a chop shop who refuses to take it and hits Iosef when realizing who it belonged to and what Iosef did to steal it. John subsequently visits Aureilo, who tells him Iosef is the son of Viggo Tarasov (Nyqvist), head of the Russian crime syndicate in New York and John's former employer, before lending him another car. Aureilo, who works with Viggo, is forced to explain what happened to Viggo, who berates Iosef and explains who John Wick is: his best assassin, nicknamed the "Boogeyman", who, before retiring to care for his dying wife five years prior, helped Viggo gain control of his syndicate by single-handedly eliminating the competition.

Viggo, wanting to protect his son, attempts to talk John out of seeking retribution. When John refuses to talk, Viggo sends a hit squad to John's house to execute him, but John swiftly kills the entire squad. Viggo then puts a $2 million bounty on John and first gives the offer to Marcus (Dafoe), a veteran assassin and John's mentor, who begrudgingly accepts. John subsequently seeks refuge at the Continental, a hotel that exclusively caters to assassins with the rule that no business can be conducted on premises. When Viggo learns of this, he doubles the bounty. John learns from Winston (McShane), the owner of the Continental, that Viggo has Iosef protected at his night club the Red Circle. John goes to the club and kills Iosef's friend Victor (Moore) before dispatching most of the security staff, but Iosef escapes after John is subdued by Viggo's henchman Kirill (Bernhardt). John escapes back to the Continental to treat his wounds before being attacked by Ms. Perkins (Palicki), an assassin former acquaintance of John's who had taken the contract to kill him. John eventually subdues Perkins and forces her to reveal the location of Viggo's cash stash before leaving her with a neighbor and friend Harry (Peters) to await her punishment for breaking the hotel rules. Perkins eventually breaks free and kills Harry.

John goes to a church which is a front for the cash stash, eliminates all the guards, and burns Viggo's money as well as hard drives and recordings containing evidence against government officials that Viggo uses as leverage over the city. When Viggo arrives at the church, John ambushes them, eliminating more henchmen before being subdued by Kirill. John is tied up and Viggo taunts him for causing trouble over a dog and thinking he could leave his old life behind. He leaves John to be tortured and killed by Kirill and another henchman, but Marcus, having chosen to protect John, kills the other henchman, allowing John to break free and kill Kirill. John then intercepts Viggo's car and forces him to reveal Iosef's location and pull the bounty, which Viggo begrudgingly does. John goes to the safe house where Iosef is hiding and kills all of the guards before killing Iosef.

Perkins sees that John and Marcus have been in contact and tells Viggo, who has Marcus tortured and killed in his home over his betrayal. Viggo contacts John about Marcus's death, luring John to his home where Perkins is waiting to ambush him. Before she can, she gets called to a secret meeting with Winston, who revokes her membership to the Continental for breaking the rules and has her executed. Winston calls John to inform him of a helicopter coming to the harbor to transport Viggo away. John races to the harbor and executes Viggo's remaining henchmen, he then gets into a fistfight with Viggo on the dock. Viggo pulls out a knife on John and tries to stab him, but John makes Viggo stab him, wounding him and John is able to gain the upper hand by taking Viggo's knife & stabbing him in the side of the neck, Viggo tells John that he'll be seeing him, John also tells Viggo he'll be seeing him too and Viggo slumps over & dies, John ends up at a veterinary hospital to treat his wound before taking a pit-bull out of one of the cages for a walk on the boardwalk where he had his last date with his wife.

A Most Violent Year 2014 Movie

A Most Violent Year is an upcoming American crime drama film directed and written by J. C. Chandor. The film stars Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, Alessandro Nivola, David Oyelowo, Albert Brooks and Catalina Sandino Moreno. It will make its world premiere as the opening film of the AFI Fest on November 6, 2014 and be released theatrically on December 31, 2014.

A crime drama set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city's history, and centered on a the lives of an immigrant and his family trying to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.

On June 5, 2013 Javier Bardem joined the film to play the lead. On July 16, 2013 Jessica Chastain joined the cast to play the lead role along with Bardem. On December 3, 2013, Oscar Isaac joined the lead cast of the film replacing Bardem. On January 27, 2014 Albert Brooks joined the film, playing Isaac's character's attorney, and actress Catalina Sandino Moreno also joined the film in a supporting role. On January 29, 2014, while the film's shooting was underway, David Oyelowo joined the cast of the film. Other cast members include Ashley Williams, Elyes Gabel, Harris Yulin, Giselle Eisenberg, and Elizabeth Marvel. On February 21, 2014 Alessandro Nivola joined the cast of the film, he'll play Peter Forente, a heating oil distributor who is a competitor to Isaac’s character.

The filming of the film A Most Violent Year began on January 29, 2014 in New York City. The shooting of the film was underway on February 18th in Manhattan, where Chastain was spotted. On February 22, 2014 the filming was underway on Queens Plaza South on Queens Boulevard in Long Island City, NY. Filming resumed in the Maspeth section of Queens on March 2, 2014.