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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2019)
hollywood q&a By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Why do I recognize the guy who plays Daniel in “Fear the Walking Dead”? I’m almost certain I’ve seen him before. A: I’m also certain that you’ve seen Rubén Blades at some point over his 36-year act- ing career. He’s mostly known as a go-to supporting man — the guy to call to play a Latino character with gravitas and, occasionally, desert-dry wit. Among his best-known roles are Sheriff Montoya in the criti- cally acclaimed 1988 picture “The Milagro Beanfield War,” Det. Danny Archuleta in 1990’s “Predator 2,” and retired FBI man Jorge in the 2003 action thriller “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” However acting is only part of Blades’s stardom. He first found fame as a salsa musician — indeed, his first film credit is as a song composer for a 1983 short film. His music and acting oc- casionally came together, such as in the 2016 boxing biopic “Hands of Stone,” in which sev- eral of his songs appeared, and he played boxer Robert Duran’s manager. Blades’s musical and acting fame also boosted his third career, as a political activist and politician. He even ran for the presidency of his native Panama in 1994, and served as minister of tourism in the mid-2000s. Q: I heard Daniel Craig is going to be in a new Agatha Christie movie. Which story are they doing? A: Rian Johnson can be a confusing guy to fans of classic literature. With his breakout de- but, “Brick” (2005), he proved that he can make a tribute to a genre so faithfully you forget what you’re watching isn’t a classic itself. He seems poised to do that again with “Knives Out,” which is a tribute to Ag- atha Christie, not a rendition of Agatha Christie. “I’ve been a diehard Ag- atha Christie fan since I was a teenager,” Johnson said at this year’s CinemaCon, the official convention of the U.S. National 12 | Screentime Association of Theatre Owners. “’Knives Out’ was my attempt to take everything I love about a good Agatha Christie whodun- nit, jam it into a movie with an all-star cast, give it a Hitchcock- thriller-like twist, and set it in modern-day America.” Among those things he loves about a Christie story — and therefore reproduced in “Knives Out,” which he wrote and di- rected — are a claustrophobic, lock-in setting, a group of sus- pects who are all blood-related to the victim, and a seemingly indifferent detective who is not taken seriously by the suspects he’s investigating. Craig plays Benoit Blanc, who despite his French name is not a displaced European, like Christie’s beloved Hercule Poirot, but rather a displaced Southern Gentleman. He’s there to examine a star-studded cast of suspects including Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans. Q: I’m a huge fan of the movie “The Transporter,” particularly for the visuals — the look of it. Where was it filmed? A: “The Transporter” (2002) is probably the best-known film from director/producer Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp produc- tion house, which is beloved by fans over here for producing American-style action films with a European sensibility. Part of that European feel has come from the clever decision to shoot them in Europe. This is certainly true of “The Transporter,” about a former British special-forces tough guy living in France as a driver for hire to the high-end criminal community. And he’s living well, as shown by the scenes at his house/villa/miniature castle, the externals of which were filmed on location in the small town of Cassis on the French Riviera. The opening car chase was shot in Nice. The highway car chase through mountainous terrain was shot in the D9 mo- torway west of Marseille, and parts of yet another car chase were shot in Paris. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. July 31, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald STREAMING THIS WEEK as he revolutionizes the industry and builds an empire. Starting out as a rather bumbling and unfortunate door-to-door salesman, Muranishi transforms himself into a titan of his, ahem, industry, after getting fired from his job and catching his wife with another man. The show provides an interesting look at the repressive culture of Japan in the 1980s, and chronicles Muranishi’s numerous legal problems due to government restrictions. Directed by Masaharu Take (“100 Yen Love” 2014), “The Naked Director” delivers a lot of laughs along with all the, you know, other stuff. “Sintonia” Betty Gilpin and Alison Brie in “GLOW” By Jessica Gosse TV Media WHAT’S NEW ON NETFLIX: “GLOW” Season 3 An all new season of “GLOW” comes to Netflix on Friday, Aug. 9. In the the last season, we saw Debbie (Betty Gilpin, “Nurse Jackie”) step up to produce the show, and Ruth (Alison Brie, “Community”) take on more of a creative role. Season 3 finds the ladies prepping to headline at a casino in Las Vegas, but they quickly realize there’s more to Las Vegas than just glitter and glam. Ruth’s ever-complicated personal life starts to overshadow her love of the show, and while Debbie be- comes a more successful producer, being so far from her son begins to cause her overwhelming guilt. On the lighter side, MelRose (Jackie Tohn, “Jem and the Holograms,” 2015) playfully threatens to get kicked out of every casino in Las Vegas. This season, Academy Award winner Geena Davis (“Thelma and Louise,” 1991) appears in a recur- ring role, playing Sandy Devereaux St. Clair, a former showgirl and the entertainment director of Las Vegas’s Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino. Season 3 promises to deliver a lot of emotional turmoil and tons of shenanigans, so if you’re not caught up on this dynamic series, now is a good time to dive in. “The Naked Director” Netflix has long been invested in creating quality TV series in numer- ous countries and languages across the globe, and on Thursday, Aug. 8, the latest foreign series premieres on the streamer. Japanese series “The Naked Director” stars Takayuki Yamada (“13 Assassins,” 2010), and is inspired by real-life events, though it may be hard to believe since the story is kind of bananas. Fair warning — this series is defi- nitely R-rated, not for the prudish, and certainly not for children. The comedy-drama follows the life of 1980s porn director Toru Muranishi Takayuki Yamada in “The Naked Director” Brazilian YouTube sensation KondZilla teams up with Netflix and production company Losbragas to create the new series “Sintonia.” A dark coming-of-age story set in São Paulo, Brazil, “Sintonia” fol- lows Nando (Christian Malheiros, “Socrates,” 2018), Doni (musician M.C. Jottape) and Rita (newcomer Bruna Mascarenhas). The friends are in their late teens, and are on very different and difficult paths as they try to distance themselves from where they grew up. Each is being drawn into a different world — religion, funk music and drug trading, respectively. “Sintonia” provides an illuminating social com- mentary on Brazil and its culture, and viewers are given a glimpse of the struggles faced by teens like Nando, Doni and Rita. As they travel down seemingly different paths, we’re shown that there are some unexpected connections, and the three childhood friends soon learn that they must rely on each other in order to get through their youth and pursue their dreams. This emotional new series premieres Friday, Aug. 9, on Netflix. WHAT’S NEW ON HULU: “Free Meek” Rappers Jay-Z and Meek Mill have teamed up to create the new docuseries “Free Meek,” which premieres Friday, Aug. 9, on Hulu. The five-episode investigative series follows Mill and his supporters as they attempt to expose the flaws and corruption of the criminal justice system that has dogged Mill for over a decade. Mill was ar- rested in 2008 on drug and gun charges, and received an eight-month sentence plus five years of probation. Various low-level violations extended that probation, and in 2017, Mill was handed yet another two to four years in prison for non-violent offenses. This documentary series includes exclusive footage of Mill’s 2018 release from prison, and chronicles his fight for exoneration. It also argues that Mill’s case was mishandled from the start, and re-investigates aspects that have been distorted by dirty cops who may have even gone so far as to plant evidence. The series also explores the birth of the #FREEMEEK movement, and shows viewers how Mill’s case is an example of the double standard within the justice system. Mill’s story is one that hits home for far too many families, and he has become a symbol for criminal justice reform.
