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Disney debuts special new look at Hamilton!

Ahead of its highly-anticipated premiere on Disney+, the House of Mouse has debuted a special new look at the filmed production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, which is set to debut on its new streaming service this Friday! The special clip can be viewed in the player below!

RELATED: Disney Unveils New Clip from Opening Number of Hamilton

An unforgettable cinematic stage performance, the filmed version of the original Broadway production of Hamilton combines the best elements of live theater, film and streaming to bring the cultural phenomenon to homes around the world for a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The production is the story of America then, told by America now. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, the hit musical has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre—a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education.

Filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June of 2016, the film transports its audience into the world of the Broadway show in a uniquely intimate way. With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and direction by Thomas Kail, Hamilton is inspired by the book “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow and produced by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeffrey Seller, with Sander Jacobs and Jill Furman serving as executive producers. Filming was produced by RadicalMedia.

RELATED: Warner Bros. Postpones Wonder Woman 1984, In The Heights & More

The 11-time-Tony Award-, GRAMMY Award-, Olivier Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning stage musical stars: Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; Jonathan Groff as King George; Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr; Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton; and Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton.

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CS Score! Reviews The River by John Williams

Hey there, fellow film score lovers! We’re back with an all-new edition of CS Score! This time I’m taking a look at Intrada’s expanded edition of John Williams’ The River and Varese Sarabande’s recently released Deluxe Edition of Harold Faltermeyer’s The Running Man. Plus, a look at La-La Land’s 4-CD release for The Thin Red Line (which came out a while back, but is still worth exploring.)

Let’s do this thing!

RELATED: Junkie XL Set to Score Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs Kong

The River Expanded Edition By John Williams

The River is one of those random mid-80s John Williams soundtracks that came and went without much fanfare partly due to releasing on the heels of the more extravagant Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Williams has long enjoyed the occasional miniscule score — The Accidental Tourist, Born on the Fourth of July, Sleepers, and Stepmom, for example — and while The River features many of his trademark flourishes, the soundtrack never quite reaches the heights of the composer’s greatest work.

Of course, that’s like saying Babe Ruth occasionally hit triples.

Working in collaboration with director Mark Rydell for the fourth and final time following 1969’s The Reivers, 1972’s terrific The Cowboys, and 1973’s Cinderella Liberty, Williams employs a number of themes to tell the story of Tom and Mae Garvey (played in the film by Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek, respectively) and their struggles to maintain their farm amidst turbulent times in the Tennessee valley. The film deals with issues such as labor strikes and floods and works as a mildly interesting character study filled with strong performances but doesn’t require an extravagant soundtrack to tell its story. In point of fact, while Williams’ music is quite good, it often feels too lavish for this production and contrasts with the film on screen.

In actuality, the most interesting aspects about the score are the ideas Williams would later explore for other projects such as Saving Private Ryan, War Horse, JFK, Stepmom and even the latest batch of Star Wars films.

For The River, Williams utilizes three themes. The first, a memorable cheerful melody filled with guitars, drums, piano and light orchestra; the second, a decidedly more downbeat theme comprised of flute and trumpet that sounds like music you’d hear in one of those old detective flicks (curiously, bits of this piece are heard almost note for note in The Rise of Skywalker’s final track, “A New Home”); while the third theme, heard most prominently in the terrific track, “The Ancestral Home,” has Williams employing the same Americana style heard during the Smallville bits in Superman: The Movie.

The original soundtrack ran a scant 37 minutes, and now Intrada has released a fully remastered album comprised of 20 additional minutes of score. This edition probably only serves Williams enthusiasts, as the original soundtrack more or less featured a majority of the score minus a few additional tidbits. I’m happy to add it to my ever-growing CD collection, even if my enthusiasm for the music is mild at best. The presentation is solid; and the linear notes found in the CD casing offers some unique insight into Williams’ process.

You can purchase The River Limited Collector’s Edition by clicking here!

The Running Man: The Deluxe Edition By Harold Faltermeyer

Paul Michael Glaser’s The Running Man is one of those odd action flicks of the 1980s that still manages to charm thanks to its goofy nature and over-the-top violence. No, it hasn’t aged well, mainly due to its reliance on “future” technology, but some of the action scenes still pack a punch; and Arnold Schwarzenegger has a blast dispatching hordes of baddies in gruesome fashion while cracking his trademark one liners.

The score, composed by Harold Faltermeyer (of Top Gun fame), is pure 80s synth and non-stop electronic noise that fits the movie well, but fails to leave much an impression on its own. Fans of the film will balk at such a charge; and indeed, there are elements to the soundtrack that work quite well. The main theme, for example, is pure melodramatic electronic cheese, but lingers in the brain far longer than it has any right to. A majority of the action music follows the same styles and beats Faltermeyer used in his scores for Beverly Hills Cop and Fletch. There are several moments that sound vaguely similar to the noises used by Brad Fiedel during the T-1000 chase scenes in his score Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

There is much to enjoy in The Running Man and diehard fans of the flick will likely flock to Varese Sarabande’s brand new Deluxe Edition of the score, which presents the music as heard in the film along with a number of unused and alternate cues. Each track comprises roughly two minutes of score, so the album is fairly brief, but, again, enjoyable as an long-forgotten 80s relic.

Purchase The Running Man Deluxe Edition soundtrack on CD by clicking here!

Click here to pre-order the same Deluxe Edition on vinyl!

The Thin Red Line – 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition

I finally broke the bank and purchased La-Lan Land Records’ 4-CD 20th Anniversary Edition of Hans Zimmer’s masterwork for The Thin Red Line. (See how much I love this score and where I rank it amongst Zimmer’s other works here.) I’ll do a full breakdown at some point — it’s a lot to take in — but I wanted to show the physical aspects of the release, including the CD presentation and booklet that comes with it.

The album consists of over two hours of Zimmer’s music assembled on the first two CDs as heard in the film (if memory serves). Like a lot of Terrence Malick flicks, a majority of the score composed for the picture was cut, so I’m pretty sure the music presented here is Zimmer’s original intention. Of course, I’ve only seen the movie twice, and have yet to actually hear the album. So, I’ll have to do a comparison and some more research on the matter.

CDs three and four consist of the original soundtrack album and the Melanesian Choirs the figured prominently in the war epic. I’m not sure I needed an hour’s worth of Melanesian chants, but for completionism’s sake, I’ll take it.

You can purchase The Thin Red Line soundtrack album by clicking here!

RELATED: My 10 Favorite Hans Zimmer Scores

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Watch a Sneak Peek From Disney & Pixar’s Soul!

The filmmakers from Disney & Pixar’s animated movie Soul have partnered with American anthropologist/educator Dr. Johnnetta Cole and globally-renowned Jazz pianist Jon Batiste to offer a new sneak peek at the film as part of the Essence of Culture during a virtual panel titled Finding “Soul.” The sneak peek features the song “Parting Ways,” written, produced, and performed by Cody ChesnuTT. Both Dr. Cole and Jon Batiste, who lent his expertise to the jazz arrangements and compositions in Soul, serve as cultural consultants on the film. You can watch the new sneak peek now in the player below!

RELATED: Cannes Lineup Includes Pixar’s Soul and More

What is it that makes you…YOU? This November, Pixar Animation Studios’ all-new feature film Soul introduces Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) – a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks, and interests before they go to Earth.

Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22 (voice of Tina Fey), who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. As Joe desperately tries to show 22 what’s great about living, he may just discover the answers to some of life’s most important questions.

RELATED: Disney Unveils New Clip from Opening Number of Hamilton

Directed by Academy Award winner Pete Docter (Inside Out, Up), co-directed and written by Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami) and produced by Academy Award nominee Dana Murray, p.g.a. (Pixar short Lou), Disney and Pixar’s Soul opens in U.S. theaters on November 20, 2020.

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CS Unboxed: Minions: The Rise of Gru Toys

Mattel, LEGO and Just Play have provided ComingSoon.net with a whole slew of new toys from the forthcoming animated sequel Minions: The Rise of Gru for our latest episode of CS Unboxed. Check out the fun video unboxing below, along with purchase links below that!

Originally set to release on July 3, 2020, Minions: The Rise of Gru will now hit theaters on July 2, 2021.

Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru Jumbo Plush Bob

Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru Jumbo Plush Stuart

LEGO Minions: Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair

LEGO Minions Unstoppable Bike Chase

Minions Fart ‘N Fire Super-Size Blaster

Mattel Minions Loud N’ Rowdy Stuart

Mattel Minions Loud N’ Rowdy Otto

Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru Fart Blastin’ Minions Surprise

Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru Boogie Dancing Bob

RELATED: Colin Trevorrow Shares New Jurassic World: Dominion Image

Written by Brian Lynch, Minions: The Rise of Gru serves as a continuation of the 2015 film Minions, this time focusing on the Minions (Pierre Coffin) during their first encounter with a young Felonious Gru (Steve Carell), a 12-year-old with a dream to become the world’s greatest supervillain.

In the heart of the 1970s, amid a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making backup from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto—a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please—deploy their skills as they and Gru build their first lair, experiment with their first weapons and pull off their first missions.

When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn’t go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles himself, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.

The movie also stars Taraji P. Henson as cool and confident Vicious 6 leader Belle Bottom, Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jean Clawed, Lucy Lawless as Nunchuck, Dolph Lundgren as Svengeance and Danny Trejo as Stronghold.

Minions earned $1.159 billion globally in 2015. In the film, Minions have served (and accidentally eliminated) history’s most despicable villains. After their latest explosive mistake leaves them without an evil leader, the Minions fall into a deep depression. With the tribe on the brink of collapse, three unlikely heroes—Kevin, Stuart, and Bob—embark on a journey to find a new big boss. When their quest leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock), our three heroes must face their biggest challenge yet: saving all of Minionkind… from annihilation.

RELATED: Exclusive Dolittle Clip Highlights Michael Sheen’s Dr. Blair Mudfly

Featuring a soundtrack of hit music from the ’60s, Minions was produced by Illumination’s Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy and was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda. Brian Lynch wrote the screenplay for the 3D-CG comedy adventure, and Chris Renaud served as executive producer of the film.

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Disney’s Mulan release date shifts once again

Walt Disney Pictures has once again shifted the Mulan release date for their highly-anticipated live-action adaptation. Originally slated for March 27, then July 24, the movie will now open on August 21 where it is currently slated to go against Lionsgate’s horror film Antebellum and the Focus Features drama Let Him Go. This is also the same date the Disney+ streaming platform will release the animated movie The One and Only Ivan.

RELATED: Mulan First Reactions Applaud ‘Stunning’ & ‘Epic’ Live-Action Remake

When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation…and a proud father.

Mulan features a celebrated international cast led by Liu Yifei (The Forbidden Kingdom, Once Upon a Time) was cast as Hua Mulan following a year-long global casting search. Joining her are Donnie Yen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Commander Tung; Jason Scott Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny) as Böri Khan; Yoson An (The Meg) as Cheng Honghui; with Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha, Raise the Red Lantern) as Xianniang and Jet Li (Shaolin Temple, Lethal Weapon 4) as the Emperor.

RELATED: The Official Mulan Trailer And Poster Are Here!

The film is directed by Niki Caro from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Elizabeth Martin & Lauren Hynek based on the narrative poem “The Ballad of Mulan.”

Mulan lands in theaters on August 21, 2020.

ComingSoon.net recommends all readers comply with CDC guidelines and remain as isolated as possible during this urgent time.

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Rating:

7.5/10

Cast:

Will Ferrell as Lars Erickssong
Rachel McAdams as Sigrit Ericksdottir
Pierce Brosnan as Erick Erickssong
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Neils Brongus
Melissanthi Mahut as Mita Xenakis
Joi Johannsson as Jorn
Björn Hlynur Haraldsson as Policeman – Arnar
Graham Norton as Graham Norton

Written by Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele
Directed by David Dobkin

Click here to watch the Eurovision movie on Netflix right now!

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga Review

There’s a scene in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga in which Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, who play Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir (probably not related), dressed in angel wings, jump on stage to perform their big musical number in front of the world. Because it’s a comedy, the situation goes awry and ends with Lars toppling to the stage in one of Ferrell’s patented fits.

Your enjoyment of David Dobkin’s new Netflix comedy depends on your reaction to that specific sequence. Either you still get a kick out of watching a scantily clad Ferrell shout hysterically while performing pratfalls, or you’ve moved on.

Personally, I’ve always enjoyed Ferrell’s antics. And so, I enjoyed this goofy adventure even if it felt a little overlong and never reached the heights of the comedian’s best work, namely Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy or Blades of Glory.

Eurovision follows a similar path to the latter in that it begins with a child yearning to perform in a ridiculous competition; and follows his crazy path to stardom. In this case, Lars and Sigrit, two Icelandic friends, long to take center stage and win the Eurovision Song Contest. Of course, neither is very good at singing nor performing as evidenced by an early scene in which the duo performs a ballad on a Casio piano in Lars’ basement, much to the chagrin of Lars’ father Erick (Pierce Brosnan, who never ages). But each is ignorant/innocent enough to believe they have what it takes to really soar.

When a chance opportunity presents itself — a person on the Eurovision committee literally closes his eyes and points at their names — Lars and Sigrit travel to the big show and incur the usual plot beats found in other films of this ilk — i.e., asshole producers, horny groupies, and token villains who want to see the would-be couple fail.

It’s all in good fun, of course, but far too routine. We’ve seen this same song and dance numerous times before in better films. If anything, the production, like a lot of Ferrell’s recent endeavors, feels lazy. As though the producers decided that dropping the actor into another outrageous scenario would naturally produce fireworks, even with a relatively weak script (co-written by Ferrell) that takes zero chances.

Still, there are fun moments scattered about, such as the bit where Lars and Sigrit shout “Shit” so loudly it causes an avalanche. Lars and Sigrit’s second performance on stage also results in some big laughs — again, depending on whether you think this whole situation is funny. And the big musical numbers (of which there are many) that hilariously riff on those stupid “America’s Got Talent” shows are well designed and executed.

I also enjoyed Rachel McAdams, who has long demonstrated her comedic chops in films like Wedding Crashers and Game Night. The actress goes full-on comedy here and fits the material well. Whether someone of her caliber deserves to be dragged around on stage and thrown to the floor in violent fashion is up for debate.

This type of high concept comedy is tricky to pull off. Blades of Glory pulled off the endeavor better than most and managed to take the concept of two male ice skaters and turn it into a consistently hilarious comedy that went far and above its basic premise. Eurovision attempts the same feat, but can’t decided where to go with its topic of choice. As a brief SNL sketch, the concept works. As a two-plus hour film? Eh … it works in droves.

Overall, if you’re a fan of Ferrell, you’ll likely enjoy Eurovision’s outlandish theatrics. It doesn’t rank up there with the actor’s best, but it’s certainly better than the likes of Holmes & Watson.

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Christina Hodson & Margot Robbie reunite for new Pirates of the Caribbean

After months of rumors regarding the future of the blockbuster Disney franchise, The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that Birds of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson and star Margot Robbie are reuniting for a new Pirates of the Caribbean film!

RELATED: New Writing Team Boards Next Pirates of the Caribbean

Though plot details are being kept close to the chest at the moment for the early-in-development project, sources report that the film is not meant to be a spinoff of the Jack Sparrow-led franchise but rather a new original story with new characters under the same titular moniker inspired by the Disneyland ride of the same name.

The film from the Birds of Prey team is also set to be a different project from the long-in-development sixth film of the Sparrow-focused franchise, which has seen a number of directors and writers come and go, currently seeing Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and franchise co-creator Ted Elliott penning the current draft. Reports surfaced last month that Disney was eying to make the sixth film a female-led reboot of the franchise with Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) and Emma Watson (Harry Potter) reportedly being the frontrunners to star while Johnny Depp’s role was in doubt amidst his domestic abuse scandal.

Jerry Bruckheimer, who has been attached to franchise going back to its 2003 inception, will once again produce the Robbie-starring and Hodson-penned project alongside producing the sixth film in the Sparrow-centric series from Elliott and Mazin.

The studio has been looking for a way to keep the franchise alive following the fifth installment in 2017 which, though ranked as the second lowest-grossing entry in the series globally and the lowest grossing domestically, grossed an impressive $794 million worldwide at the box office.

RELATED: The Wildest Animals in Griffith Park: Margot Robbie to Produce Kaitlyn Dever & Joey King-Led Series

The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise began in 2003 with the debut installment, The Curse of the Black Pearl, which received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed almost $700 million at the global box office and earning five Oscar nominations, including Depp for Best Actor. This success spawned four sequels which, though generally declining in critical reception, were still box office hits, with the second and fourth installments grossing over $1 billion each at the global box office.

After penning a few poorly-received thrillers, Hodson broke out in Hollywood with 2018’s Transformers spinoff prequel Bumblebee, which received the highest reviews of the franchise and was a box office success. She would follow it up with Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the Robbie-led Suicide Squad spinoff that hit theaters earlier this year which, though receiving generally positive reviews from critics and audiences, did fall short of its break-even point at the box office, and is currently attached as the writer for DCEU’s The Flash and Batgirl.

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