Big movie moments in 2018 with local connections
The Lehigh Valley plays a significant role in the lives of many successful actors, including Amanda Seyfried and Dwayne Johnson, who anchored major movies in 2018. There’s also no shortage of behind-the-scenes talent with Valley ties, including producers Heather Parry and Chris Renaud, who supervised two of the year’s biggest hits.
But 2018 was also the year in which the Valley got its close-up in a number of movies. Through the years, there have been a handful of movies which filmed a scene or two in the area, including such big hits as the original “Hairspray” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” But 2018 saw the release of three pictures by local directors — “Getting Grace,” “Billboard” and “Malevolence 3: Killer” — which were set and shot almost entirely in the Valley. You could say that it’s a preview to a big Lehigh Valley movie moment coming in 2019 — M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Glass,” due out Jan. 18, was shot at the Allentown State Hospital.
Below is a look at the Top 10 local movies stories of the year:
Amanda Seyfried back on top: It was a busy year for the Allentown native who popped up in four feature films, two of which made an enormous impact on audiences and critics. “First Reformed,” a harrowing spiritual drama that featured Seyfried in a rare dramatic turn, was among the best-reviewed movies of the year and is likely to be remembered when for the Oscar nominations are handed out in January. Then there was
“Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again,” in which Seyfried reprised the role that turned her into an A-lister a decade ago. The film picked up $400 million at the box office, and finished 2018 as one of the Top 20 highest-grossing features of the year.
Producing powerhouses: Two of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood have ties to the Valley. Parkland High School graduate Chris Renaud has overseen, as director and producer at Illumination Entertainment, a handful of megahits including “The Minions” and the “Despicable Me'” movies. This year, he executiveproduced “The Grinch, ”an adaptation of the beloved Dr. Seuss book “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” which grossed more than $325 million at the box-office.
At Live Nation, Macungie native Heather Parry executive-produced “A Star Is Born,” the critically acclaimed musical remake starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. So far, the film has picked up $370 million while generating heaps of Oscar buzz.
A “Grace”-ful directing debut: For his debut behind the camera, Bethlehem native Daniel Roebuck, best known as a character actor in television shows such as “Matlock” and “Lost,” created “Getting Grace,” an oddball story about a fatally ill teenager changing the lives of those around her. The unpredictable charmer written, directed and featuring Roebuck netted four prizes at the Northeast Film Festival and scored a distribution deal with Random Media.
There's a lot to like about “Getting Grace,” from the accomplished way Roebuck handles the shifts in tone from comedy to drama to the central performance by Bethlehem native Madelyn Dundon and the supporting turns by Roebuck, Marsha Dietlein Bennett and Dana Ashbrook. Best of all, Roebuck makes Bethlehem look like heaven on earth.
Zeke Zelker returns: Nearly 10 years in the making, “Billboard” marks the latest shot-inAllentown extravaganza by the Macungie-raised filmmaker. The movie, a fictionalized look at a radio station manager (John Robinson) who attempts to save his family's business by staging an endurance contest involving billboard sitters, was inspired by a similar contest in Whitehall in 1982-83. The picture, which co-stars Eric Roberts, Heather Matarazzo and Leo Fitzpatrick, sold out several screenings when it premiered at Civic Theater in November. In 2019, it will get a wider release courtesy of Paladin, which picked up the movie for nationwide distribution.
Dwayne Johnson saves the world: While the Freedom High School graduate didn't break box-office records this year, he starred in two solid action flicks: “Rampage,” a video-game transfer that grossed $425 million, and “Skyscraper,” a “Die Hard”-esque flick that picked up $300 million. Neither film was quite as good a showcase for Johnson's talents as last year's “Jumanji” update but the actor is still showing the star power that keeps him among the highest paid movie stars in Hollywood.
Ann Roth threads the needle: At 87, the Bangor-area Oscar winner is showing no signs of slowing down. Last year, she designed the threads for Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated “The Post” and this year, she oversaw the costumes for two movies: “The Yellow Birds,” an underrated look at Iraq War soldiers coming home to suburbia starring Alden Ehrenreich and Jennifer Anniston, and “The Seagull,” an inspired adaptation of the Chekhov classic starring Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan, Corey Stoll and Brian Dennehy. In October,
Roth was celebrated at the Directors Guild of America Honors for her trailblazing career.
Lending their voices: Allentown native Dane DeHaan and Kate Micucci of Nazareth weren't on the big screen this year, but both actors contributed their distinctive voices to animated features. DeHaan, who most recently starred in Luc Besson's “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” played a major role in “The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island,” an entertaining comedy adventure co-starring Martin Sheen.
Micucci, best known for her
Garfunkel and Oates comedy duo and film roles, was the voice of a pigeon in “Show Dogs.” For the record, Micucci also popped up in “Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through the Gateway Chosen By the Holy Storsh,” a liveaction comedy that played the festival circuit. Terrific Taylor: Raised in
Phillipsburg, Amy Taylor is a big shot in the world of special effects. The former DreamWorks animator is credited as the “senior creature technical director” on four of 2018's biggest movies. Her artistry helped sprinkle magic dust on “A Wrinkle In Time,” “A Quiet Place,” “Ready Player One”
and “Bumblebee.” Together those movies grossed more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office.
The Horror, the Horror: What do an abandoned slaughterhouse in Ironton, Shankweiler's Drive-In, Parkland High School, Schnecksville Elementary School and the Charcoal Drive-In in Wescosville have in common? They all are locations used in Long Island native Stevan Mena’s “Malevolence” trilogy. Mena shot the finale to the trilogy — “Malevolence 3: Killer” — four years ago in the Valley but, because of production woes, was unable to release it. This year, the chiller finally saw the light of day when it debuted on VOD, DVD and Blu-ray.
Local actors leave their mark on the big and small screens: Not every actor can anchor big budget extravaganzas. But many other Valleyconnected performers keep turning in one good performance after another. Big screen performers who wowed this year include Bangor resident Faust Checho (“Strange Nature,” “Between Waves”), Easton native Omar Doom (“Higher Power”), Northampton native Jenn Gotzon Chandler (“Saving Faith,” “Sinking Sand”), Bethlehem native Jonathan Frakes (“Devil's Gate”), Allentown native Tim Heidecker
(“Flower,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp”), Bethlehem's
Emily Mest (“The Malibu Tapes”), Reading's Jillian Murray (“The Downside of Bliss”), DeSales grad Billy Tangradi
(“Desolate”) and the Eastonraised Madeline Zima (“Painkillers”).
Small screen, standouts include Allentown native
Michaela Conlin (“Yellowstone,” “Here and Now”), DeSales graduate Alexie Gilmore
(“Bobcat Goldthwait's Misfits & Monsters”), Bloomsburg native
Krysten Ritter (“Jessica Jones”), Allentown native Dana
Snyder (“Adventure Time,” “Venture Bros.”) Allentown native Christine Taylor (“Arrested Development”), Allentown-raised Holland Taylor
(“Mr. Mercedes”) and one-time Bethlehem resident Tanya
Wright (“Orange Is The New Black.”)
Amy Longsdorf is a freelance writer. jodi.duckett@mcall.com Twitter @goguidelv 610-820-6704