If Hollywood filmmakers are seeking hefty discounts and insider tax incentives to shoot projects in Hawaii – vs. other tropical sites such as Mexico or the Caribbean – shouldn’t state regulators consider new mandatory requirements to ensure mutually beneficial perks?
One consideration might be to require, when possible, at least a secondary role for union actors from Hawaii to gain an edge to audition for a part on camera. Instead of a Maori from New Zealand to play someone local, why not a genuine local?
So often, shows are cast before setting shop on our shores, while we have a stable of eager performers hungry for work. Local behind-the-scenes techies are regularly hired; why not on camera participants, too? Then, it might be a win-win situation. The attitude that we don’t have talent here is so untrue.
The last and only TV show to hire fresh island faces for secondary leads was the original “Hawaii Five-0,” giving Al Harrington and Zulu a huge opportunity to strut their stuff. The only current islander (though now a Los Angeles resident) is Anthony Ruivivar, who plays the husband of lead agent Vanessa Lachery in “NCIS: Hawaii.” His role is recurring, but limited. Technically, Amy Hill of the rebooted “Magnum P.I.” (she plays Tutui) is not a local, but now sorta is, since she has bought a condo, which makes her a part-time resident but she lives and talks like one us anyway.
The query: Don’t you think Hawaii-based shows, notably TV, should hire more resident actors? …
It’s official: Summer officially has begun, with all the right elements: a stellar story, hypnotic air flights and fights, and the key ingredient named Tom Cruise.
The fact that “Top Gun: Maverick” is a sequel of a film from 30 years ago, when Cruise first took on Pete “Maverick” Mitchell … somewhat astonishing. And then the pandemic stalled the release of “Maverick” for nearly three years … something frustrating.
But the delay heightened anticipation and expanded expectation and the Memorial Day weekend turned out to be the perfect moment to welcome “Top Gun,” which raked in a $100 million three-day gross, which, if international box office is added, meant a $248 million global tally. With today’s Memorial Day (May 30) holiday, another $50 million could be added to the explosive total.
Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”
The alignment of the delay, the performance of Cruise as the cocky but dependable fighter pilot-turned-mentor, and the public’s eagerness to see the aerial dynamics in movie theaters (which has struggled to fill seats till now) meant the stars were aligned in filmland.
Wow. The plot was somewhat predictable, but there are surprises: generals make mistakes, mavericks take chances, a few original characters return, old wounds are resolved, a romantic bond is sealed, and Lady Gaga seals the deal with her end-titles ballad, “Hold My Hand,” uplifting the soundtrack as folks exit the theaters. Gage’s composing collaborators are Harold Faltermeyer and Hans Zimmer. Clearly, it’s headed to No. 1 and will be an Oscar song contender next year.
It’s fun to know and hear the “handles” of the military mights: Maverick, Iceman, Rooster, Cyclone, Fanboy, Hangman, Coyote, etc.
And here’s a rarity just might increase: Cruise welcomes fans prior to the film, in a tack-on video akin to a handshake (Benedict Cumberbatch did a similar clip prior to his “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness “sequel earlier). Could more actors and films adopt this policy? …
Elton John doc due on Disney+
A documentary on superstar Elton John is due from Disney Original Documentary and Disney+.
Deadline reports that the doc, entitled “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years. That Made His Legend.”
Elton John will be featured in a new documentary with a mouthful of a title.
Yes, it’s a mouthful. But John has been a musical figure not wholly represented in films. The thrust of the doc will be John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,” when he spent months on tour, culminating in a November gig at Dodger Stadium that will cap his final North American show.
Unseen footage of his 50-year global success will provide essential videos of John earlier in his career, when his shows included lavish costumes and spectacles that reflected his charismatic flamboyancy.
“Rocketman,” the 2019 biography with Taron Egerton as John, explored his life but lacked theatrical vigor since the performance factor fell short; there was no soaring climactic fervor like the “We Will Rock You” finale with Rami Malek as Freddy Mercury in the Queen biopic, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” …
Memorial Day weekend formally is the start of the summer film season. We’re talking movie theater flicks, titles you watch in a bona fide theater, not streaming stuff on TV.
Some thoughts:
* Sequels prevail. Studios know one hit deserves another.
* Animated films will find their niche. Turns out adults like cartoons as much as kids.
* Action-adventure titles soar. Add a famous name, you’re likely to get a blockbuster, especially if Marvel is in the mix.
The bottom-line wonderment: With a lot of potential movie faves on the screens, will the seats in the theaters finally get filled like those pre-pandemic days, to break the inevitable COVID-era habit of staying home and watching streamed titles on TV, and resume the practice of buying tickets at the box office, pay absurd snack bar prices, and actually return to the habit of watching movies where they were made to be seen, on those large screen and mega-loud sound system?
Here are 10 summer films I won’t miss, and you shouldn’t either.
Tom Cruise as Maverick in “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Here’s what I’m eager to see, with my soda and kaki mochi combined with popcorn:
1 –‘Top Gun: Maverick’
It’s been more than 30 years, when a young actor named Tom Cruise, portrayed a cocky, ace pilot named Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, in “Top Gun,” and became a Hollywood hottie and hotshot. This flick was supposed to premiere two years ago, but has been delayed – yeah, COVID – till this summer, so Maverick may rule the year…if lightning strikes again. MilesTeller, Jennifer Connelly, and John Hamm co-star. Opens today (May 27).
Dinosaurs will roam the world in “Jurassic World Dominion.”
2 –‘Jurassic World Dominion’
Dino-mite. Can’t deny it; The roaring historic dinosaurs always scare up the audiences, and this time dinos are everywhere, not just in the forests. No fretting, familiar actors are back – Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, Lauren Dern, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt. Colin Trevorrow directs the Steven Spielberg franchise… The dinos steal the show, lurching, sneering, roaring, and. boy, speed-racing all over the place, with humans trying to find the perfect balance on Earth. Opens June 10.
Buzz Lightyear in “Lightyear.”
3 –‘Lightyear’
Pixar-Disney’s most famous space traveler, Buzz Lightyear, jumps into sci-fi heavens, and has a kinda a leap in time-traveling, in this prequel that supposedly leads into his “Toy Story” turf. Could be the summer’s biggest family-aimed animation adventure. Voices matter, so for the record, Chris Evans has replaced Tim Allen. Also voicing: Taika Waititi, James Brolin, and Keke Palmer. Opens June 17.
Austin
4 –‘Elvis’
A newcomer, Austin Butler, portrays America’s favorite “Hound Dog,” Elvis Presley, and yes, he has moments where there’s a whole lotta shakin’ going on. Butler’s not a proven box office figure, and the trailers show he can do the Presley gyrations and lip-curling in those beaded and sequined jumpsuits. The heavyweights who can make this a hit are huge entertainment names: Oscar-winner Tom Hanks plays a chubby Col. Tom Parker, whose viewpoint on the Elvis phenom is the thrust of the movie, directed by Baz Luhrmann, of “Moulin Rouge” and “The Great Gatsby” fame. Opens June 24.
5 –‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’
Who doesn’t like the Minions, those quirky yellow figures oozing with individual charm? This project, from 2020, also was a victim of the pandemic, finally seeing screen life. This sequel marks the return of voicer Steve Carell, as the young Gru from “Despicable Me,” who gets help from his Minion to learn to become the franchise’s top villain. Other voices: Taraji P. Hansen and Michelle Yeoh.Opens July 1.
6 –‘Thor: Love and Thunder’
Chris Hemsworth in “Thor: Love and Thunder”
Because of its success from 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings back the giddy and funny superhero (Chris Hemsworth) in “Thor: Love and Thunder.” When he was in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” Hemsworth was overweight. He’s trim again…and cannot peacefully retire. Taika Waititi directs, with Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman aboard. Opens July 8.
7 –‘Where the Crawdads Sing’
This drama might be a sleeper, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, set in the marshlands of North Carolina. Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kya, a self-raised girl who becomes a prime suspect in a murder case. Directed by Olivia Newman. Opens July 15.
8 – ‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’
Lesley Manville is a widowed cleaning woman in 1950s London, who falls for the haute couture of Paree – notably a particular Dior dress she sorely wants – and makes an impact on the House of Dior. Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, and Rose Williams co-star. Opens July 15.
Brad Pitt in “Bullet Train.”
9 —‘Bullet Train’
One of the stars of this action comedy, based on a Japanese novel, is the titular Bullet Train of Japan, the immaculate and dependable people-mover, including Brad Pitt, playing a likeable hit man on his pre-retirement assignment, who boards this train, only to discover four other assassins are aboard with their own assignments. Awkward. This looks to be an entertaining action comedy. Director David Leitch’s earlier credits include “Deadpool 2” and “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.” Opens Aug. 5.
10 – ‘Samaritan’
Described as a superhero thriller adventure, “Samaritan” stars Sylvester Stallone as Stanley Kominski. The film is based on Mythos Comics characters, about a youth, portrayed by Javon Walton, who understands that a famous superhero who went missing 20 years ago, following an epic battle, who supposedly now leads a different life and living next door to him. Opens Aug. 26.
Surely, many other summer movies are awaiting crowds; I don’t particularly enjoy horror pics or mushy rom-coms, so obviously, these titles weren’t considered here. …
Nothing is simple or sane, and nowhere does it say it has to be.
So “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a stew of incredibility and imagination, perhaps everything and anything you might not expect in a film.
It’s maniacal, but magical; it’s whimsical, yet wonderful; it’s delightful yet disastrous; and it seemingly doesn’t end, so it offers twin endings. Like, “The End” twice.
Basically, it’s an original oddity, starring an agile and admirable Michelle Yeoh, as an operator of a laundromat who doesn’t quite know how to pay her bills so has ills with the IRS. She is the essence of a wreck-a-holic on steroids, in a grand way.
As directed by a pair of Daniels, who like to be known as the Daniels (last names, Kwan and Sheinert), this is an action film disguised as a comedy yet plays like a superheroine adventure complete with matters of the universe. It’s like a video game run amok, a family sit-com with kicks and kinks leading to a cosmic explosion of emotions and antics, a vision or version of apocalyptic end-of-the-world with more domestic ripples anchored to getting along with grandpa and a gay daughter, etc.
Whew!
Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan
It’s a longish journey (running time, 2:20, but seems endlessly longer) that dodges the finish line with extended gags, which results in lags, and it certainly is overwhelming and overpowering in the constant conflicts of relationships between leading and secondary characters.
Yeoh is remarkably athletic in stamina as Evelyn Wang, who ditched the family while she was young, who now owns a laundromat with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, the once-young lad in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” now converted into a modern-day comedic Jackie Chan), who unite with patriarch Gong Gong (James Hong), the aging but able great-grandfather of the Chinese elderly dude), to celebrate Chinese New Year. But life is complex; the washing machines are below the parental residence, Waymond is seeking a divorce from Evelyn, who has to face the music and madness of an IRS audit; the couple’s daughter (Stephanie Hsu), has admitted she’s gay and brings home “good friend” partner Becky (Tallie Medel) for the family shebang.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Evelyn’s nemesis here includes Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis), the irrepressible IRS investigator who threatens the demise of the laundromat unless its owner can settle its questionable tax debt. Curtis is recognizable in face, but is padded with body prosthetics, and turns in a wacky, wicked performance as an IRS-er you don’t want to mess with.
The themes of filial love and respect, parental patience, spousal connections, and a heavy dose of metaverse threats and invasions where nothing is as it seems, everything and everywhere is blended into a toxic brew as if thrown into a food processor. Time is bent, twisted, flashing backward and forward, blurring reality.
And there are some icky, sticky, even sickly mess of elements, like a discomforting anal moment with a trophy substituting for a sexual device. And silly, recurring instances of googly eyes; you know, the kind of stick-on fake eyes.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are frequent unexpected sci-fi gems: hotdogs posing as fingers, toes playing the piano, for starters.
Because of its original, fresh storytelling, unfolded in bursts of clever visual and aural trickery, the Daniels have created a logical Gen Z product with word-of-mouth assist in making this a buzzed-about hit.
However, “Everything” is not for everyone, since mostly everything is unconventional and stuff keeps popping up everywhere without expectation. But you will be awed and astonished at everything you understand and even astonished by everything you didn’t quite get.
However, everything considered, you’ll have a roar of a great time.
Diamond Head Theatre ‘s revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” opening April 1, boasts a cast that should bring vigor and vitality in the lead roles.
Aleks Pevec will portray Jesus of Nazareth and Bailey Barnes will enact Mary Magdalene. The powerful rock opera includes break-out titles such as “Superstar,” “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Gethsemane” and “What’s the Buzz.”
Aleks Pevec
The score by Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice should resonate with a new generation of spectators encountering the rock opera with its biblical template.
Directed and choreographed by John Rampage, “Superstar” will run April 1 through 20; but already, two extension matinees have been added for 3 p.m. April 23 and 4 p.m. April 24. Tickets will be scarce, so order prior to opening.
Bailey Barnes
Pevecs previously co-starred in DHT’s “Something Rotten” and Barnes will be remembered for her breakout role as Dorothy in the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation’s “The Wiz.”
Others in the cast include Taj Guttierez as Judas Iscariot, Aiko Schick as King Herod, Corin Medeiros as Caiaphas, Jay Flores as Annas, Jody Bill as Simon Zealots, Michael Abdo as Peter, and Laurence Paxton as Pontius Pilate.
The origin of the 1970s musical includes island singer-actress Yvonne Elliman, who created the Magdalene role and performed a pair of signature tunes, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and “Everything’s Alright,” in the concept album, stage vehicle and the resulting film. She earned a Golden Globe nomination in 1974 for her movie performance.
Manoa Valley Theatre’s “The 39 Steps” opens tonight (March 17). It’s a mixture of farce blending Hitchcockian mystery with Monty Python mirth. The playwrights are Patrick Barlow and John Buchan, whose spy novel whodunnit includes a murder and a mysterious group called “The 39 Steps” which tracks a manhunt to a hilarious finale.
Rob Duval directed the cast that includes Garrett Hols as Richard Hannay, Rachel League as Annabella/Pamela, Matthew Miller as Clown 1 and Andrew Baker as Clown 2.
Performances are Thursdays through Sundays, through March 27.
Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chief’s all-star quarterback, and his sweetheart Brittany Matthews, tied the knot at the Four Seasons resort on Maui on March 13.
Both groom and bride are 26 and they’ve been a couple for a decade.
TMZ noted that Mahomes was attired in a gray suit, with Matthews in a traditional white bridal gown.
The couple’s daughter Sterling, 1, was flower girl and the quarterback’s younger brother, Jackson, was best man. Travis Kelce, a teammate, was groomsman and Kayla Nicole, his girlfriend, was one of several bridesmaids. …
