Union fights for family in ‘Breaking’
‘Less clever and thrilling’ Hollywood glitters
TBy Lindsey Bahr
here is one perfect moment in “Breaking In “that one goes to see a movie like “Breaking In” for and it comes relatively early on. Gabrielle Union’s character, Shaun, has found herself under attack in the driveway where she’d been attempting to order pizza for her two kids. She’s unaware that her son and daughter have already been grabbed by the home invaders. She’s shoeless, surprised and on interminable hold with the pizza place when the attack happens. But, she also has just accidentally broken her wine glass and, so, as resourceful ladies are wont to do, stabs the guy in the chest with the stem.
Thankfully she’d had the chance to gulp down the contents first considering what comes next, which, might actually not be a bad idea for the audience either. Happy Mother’s Day, folks, your house is under attack and your kids are being held hostage. Are your “mama bear” instincts up to the task?
It’s not a bad idea and Union proves more than capable of nailing her Liam Neeson/Bruce Willis moment of saveyour-family action stardom, but the movie has trouble sustaining interest even over its brisk 88 minutes. Directed by James McTeigue (“V for Vendetta”) and written by Ryan Engle (“Non-Stop”), “Breaking In” is basically “Panic Room” in reverse, but less clever and thrilling than that Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart yarn.
In “Breaking In,” Union, as Shaun and her son Glover (Seth Carr) and teenage daughter Jasmine (Ajiona Alexus) are on a little weekend trip to her late father’s Wisconsin mansion to collect some belongings and meet the real estate agent. “This place is a fortress,” someone actually says as they explore the intense security system that her tech savvy son explains is so easy to use that even mom could do it (hey, perhaps that’ll come in handy later).
Shaun’s father dies in the opening scene in an intentional hit-and-run,
LOS ANGELES:
Berenice Marlohe (“Skyfall”) will star in “Meander,” an upcoming sci-fi horror film to be directed by France’s Mathieu Turi (“Hostile”). LOS ANGELES, May 12, (Agencies): Lucasfilm brought the biggest party in the galaxy to Hollywood on Thursday as hundreds of fans gathered under the Millennium Falcon for the world premiere of the latest “Star Wars” spin-off.
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”, which gets its US release on May 25, tells the coming-of-age story of smuggler Han Solo before he was the galaxy’s most iconic and adored scoundrel.
The glittering array of stars in Hollywood Boulevard included cast members Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton and Paul Bettany.
“I just approached it as another adventure happening at a different time in Chewbacca’s life”, said Joonas Suotamo, the six foot 10 inch (2.08-meter) Finnish basketballer who took over the part from Peter Mayhew, starting with “The Force Awakens” (2015).
“It was interesting to approach this time when Chewbacca doesn’t know Han, he doesn’t know all these people, he’s in a really bad spot and he’s looking for a way out”.
The Lucasfilm grandees in attendance included “Solo” director Ron Howard, studio chief Kathleen Kennedy and long-time “Star Wars”
amid a barely explained DA investigation. But no one seems to care or be too curious about that, plus Shaun’s been estranged from her father for years.
It’s why the four burglars assumed that there won’t be anyone in the house when they pick this night to find a safe that they’ve been told contains $4 million in cash. Why they couldn’t just come back another night instead of getting themselves involved in an escalating hostage crisis isn’t something
The English-language film sees a woman wake up in a strange tube full of deadly traps. Her only option is to keep moving forward. But it is not clear how writer Lawrence Kasdan and composer John Williams.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg as Hollywood’s A-list — “Star Wars” alumni or otherwise — turned out for the second in the “anthology” series of spin-off films that started in 2016 with “Rogue One”.
Among them was Mark Hamill, Ewan McGregor, Sofia Vergara, Alexandra Daddario, Benjamin Bratt and Johnny Knoxville.
The Disney-owned Lucasfilm delighted fans in April with a sneak peak of the first meeting between Alden Ehrenreich’s young Solo and Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian.
Scenes from the movie showed the pair’s encounter in a sleazy dive bar on a snowbound world, watched by a colorful menagerie of new alien characters.
There was also a glimpse of what looked like the pivotal moment in “Star Wars” lore when Han beats Lando in a card game to win the Millennium Falcon starship, a fullsize version of which was contructed for the premiere.
There were no (active) Jedis, but stars nonetheless showed up in full force for the world premiere of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” on Thursday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
the movie is interested in exploring, either. They’d already gone through all the trouble of getting there and cutting the phone lines I guess. So the leader, Eddie (Billy Burke), the frosted-tipped and morally conflicted Sam (Levi Meaden), the psychotic Duncan (Richard Cabral) and the ex-military Peter (Mark Furze) decide that the best course of action is to kidnap the kids, hunt down the mom and play it by ear as to whether or not to kill them. (AP)
far she can get. (RTRS)
LOS ANGELES:
The International Emerging Film Talent Association returns to Cannes with workshops and a new documentary as part of its mandate to help filmmakers from emerging regions, which this year includes Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Egypt and Palestine.
IEFTA, in partnership with the Marché du Film and its Producers Network and Industry Workshops programs, has set up a series of meetings with industry pros to encourage filmmakers who otherwise would have little or no access to cinema resources. (RTRS)
CANNES, France:
Eighty-two women walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival to highlight the limited number of female filmmakers who have been selected for the festival’s competition lineup over its 71 years.
Among those expected were Salma Hayek, Jane Fonda, “Wonder Woman” filmmaker Patty Jenkins and the French director Agnes Varda, a recipient of an honorary Palme d’Or. Also joining in are some Cannes jury members this year: Kristen Stewart, Ava DuVernay and Lea Seydoux. (AP)