"Ocean's Eight" Awaits

Chris here. While the world is continually bad, one of our sustaining mantras has been the promise of female ensemble heisting with Ocean's 8. The main refrain of this meditation / mindfulness exercise is obviously its stars - say their names with me and feel renewed: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, and Awkwafina.

Well done.

We've got a new poster and a photo of the assembled crew to distract ourselves, but even this is just a hint of the fun to come (you can expect a trailer to come very soon, impatient readers). Bullock will be playing Danny Ocean's equally conning sister Debbie, so the opportunity remains for some fun crossover with Steven Soderbergh's trilogy. The film's big heist will take place during the Met Gala and juicy cameos should be expected. Ocean's 12 already made a "Julia Roberts pretending to be Julia Roberts" gag, but it would be amusing to revamp the bit here. Rihanna is queen of the Met Gala, after all.

But our new looks are decidedly less fussy than that red carpet extravaganza, with the poster giving us coats and shades mystique and the image below has the team mid-planning. What is Debbie Ocean's octad looking at in their projector? The endless news cycle? Something from the screener pile? The trailer they're keeping from us? Hmmmm.

A "Four Weddings & A Funeral" Revamp!

Chris here. As Mindy Kaling wraps up the final season of The Mindy Project, she is probably about to be on our minds more than ever before. In the next year, she will be in two of our most anticipated movies: Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time and gay oasis Ocean's Eight. But she is currently lining up another project to fawn over: a television series revisit of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Kaling will executive produce with the film's Oscar-nominated screenwriter Richard Curtis for Hulu, and the idea is to craft each season around a different group of friends. While it may seem like yet another revisit for the offing, Kaling has exactly the point of view to make something very special out of this particular reboot. And a rotating cast allows for all different kinds of possibilities for romantic pairings - not to mention Andie MacDowell as different wedding guests / white wine connoisseurs.

Is it maybe time for a reassessment of the original? I admittedly haven't seen it in some time, but it's worthwhile to remember that it ushered in the era of 90s romantic comedies and also was a rare contemporary Best Picture nominee for the genre. And let's not forget the hats! Have you any fond Four Weddings memories?

8 Things To Do While We W8 for Ocean's 8

Chris here, with more of Ocean's Eight (or Ocho? Which is it?). 

After poring vociferously over every single set photo we come across, the studio has finally given us an official first look. With the horribleness going on in the world, this shot of the assembled gang makes us yearn for its sweet relief nownownow. But the wait will be longer than your early morning train ride - can you believe we still have to wait until June 2018 to actually see this thing? Here are eight things to do while we wait for Ocean's Eight...

Click to read more ...

A Wrinkle In Time's Casting Is A+

Manuel here catching us up with some casting news about an upcoming Disney tentpole film we should all be getting more and more excited about. Earlier this year it was announced that Ava DuVernay would direct the big screen adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. That the beloved children's book would be a Disney film surprised no one but DuVernay's involvement piqued our interests...

Click to read more ...

Small Screen MVPs: The Leftovers, Transparent, Black-ish and more...

Each week or so we're asking member of Team Experience to share the MVP of whatever they've been watching on TV lately. The MVP may be a prop, a theme, a person, or a collective. In past episodes we've talked The Flash and Bob's Burgers, The Walking Dead and The Knick and a handful of others. Now five more shows hit our collective eyeballs. Maybe you're watching them?

The Leftovers' Showrunners
The first season of The Leftovers made for difficult but extremely rewarding viewing. But nothing could have prepared us for the show's second season, which has been more daring, more ambitious, and yes, even more difficult than the first. Take the season premiere, which spent its first nine minutes telling a prehistoric tale of a cavewoman and her infant child, before shifting to present-day Jarden, TX - thousands of miles away from the show's previous setting of Mapleton, NY. When characters we finally knew appeared, they were treated as supporting characters. And it wasn't until the fourth episode of the season that we finally came back to the opening scene's lake in the aftermath of the premiere-ending earthquake during which that entire lake and at least three girls disappeared. 

The sixth episode "Lens" was a killer dual showcase for the Emmy-worthy Carrie Coon and Regina King... More plus Transparent, The Mindy Project, and Black-ish after the jump...

Click to read more ...