Walt Disney Studios Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win Advance Passes for 4 to see Disney’s ENCANTO! Screenings take place in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa on Wednesday, November 17 at 7:00pm.

Synopsis:

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Encanto” tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal—every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family’s last hope. The film features all-new songs by Emmy®, GRAMMY® and Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”) and is directed by Byron Howard (“Zootopia,” “Tangled”) and Jared Bush (co-director “Zootopia”), co-directed by Charise Castro Smith (writer “The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez”) and produced by Clark Spencer and Yvett Merino. “Encanto” opens in theatres November 24, 2021. 

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK and indicate on the comments there, your City. Re-Tweet the Contest Tweet below for an extra chance.

Rules and regulations here.

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Disney’s ENCANTO is in theatres November 24, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Disney)

Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are back with the latest single from their upcoming Disc AN EVENING WITH SILK SONIC. This nostalgic new Track, “Smokin’ Out the Window” is a cut from the same sensual cloth as their lead single “Leave the Door Open“.

Stream the Single here.

Warner Music Canada release AN EVENING WITH SILK SONIC November 12, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Music Canada)

We know you loved SING! Here’s a new look at SING 2 which sees several stars from the first film return!

Synopsis:

This holiday season, the new chapter in Illumination’s smash animated franchise arrives with big dreams and spectacular hit songs as the ever-optimistic Buster Moon and his all-star cast of performers prepare to launch their most dazzling stage extravaganza yet …all in the glittering entertainment capital of the world. There’s just one hitch: They first have to persuade the world’s most reclusive rock star—played by global music icon Bono, in his animated film debut—to join them.

Buster (Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey) has turned the New Moon Theater into a local hit, but Buster has his eyes on a bigger prize: Debuting a new show at the Crystal Tower Theater in glamorous Redshore City.

But with no connections, Buster and his cast—including harried mother Rosita (Oscar® winner Reese Witherspoon), rocker Ash (Scarlett Johansson), earnest Johnny (Taron Egerton), shy Meena (Tori Kelly) and, of course, provocateur Gunter (Nick Kroll)—have to sneak their way into the world-famous Crystal Entertainment offices, run by ruthless mogul Jimmy Crystal (Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale).

In a desperate attempt to get Mr. Crystal’s attention, Gunter spontaneously pitches an outrageous idea that Buster quickly runs with, promising that their new show will star rock legend Clay Calloway (Bono). Problem is, Buster has never met Clay, an artist who shut himself away from the world more than a decade ago after the loss of his wife. Even worse, Buster has failed to realize that Mr. Crystal is an egocentric gangster who would rather drop somebody off the roof of a building than be lied to.

As Gunter helps Buster dream up an out-of-this-world theatrical masterpiece, and the pressure (and sinister threats) from Mr. Crystal mount, Rosita’s leading role in the show gets ripped away and handed to Mr. Crystal’s spoiled daughter, Porsha, played by Grammy-nominated artist Halsey. Desperate to save the show, and his life, Buster embarks on a quest to find Clay and persuade him to return to the stage.

What begins as a dream of big-time success becomes an emotional reminder of the power of music to heal even the most broken heart.

Universal Pictures Canada release SING 2 December 22, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

Hot off its momentum-building Festival Circuit run, Jane Campion‘s THE POWER OF THE DOG surfaces with a brand-new Trailer.

Synopsis:

Severe, pale-eyed, handsome, Phil Burbank is brutally beguiling. All of Phil’s romance, power and fragility is trapped in the past and in the land: He can castrate a bull calf with two swift slashes of his knife; he swims naked in the river, smearing his body with mud. He is a cowboy as raw as his hides.The year is 1925. The Burbank brothers are wealthy ranchers in Montana. At the Red Mill restaurant on their way to market, the brothers meet Rose, the widowed proprietress, and her impressionable son Peter. Phil behaves so cruelly he drives them both to tears, reveling in their hurt and rousing his fellow cowhands to laughter – all except his brother George, who comforts Rose then returns to marry her.
As Phil swings between fury and cunning, his taunting of Rose takes an eerie form – he hovers at the edges of her vision, whistling a tune she can no longer play. His mockery of her son is more overt, amplified by the cheering of Phil’s cowhand disciples. Then Phil appears to take the boy under his wing. Is this latest gesture a softening that leaves Phil exposed, or a plot twisting further into menace?

THE POWER OF THE DOG is in select theatres on November 17, 2021 and on Netflix December 1, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

This brand-new Featurette from eagerly-awaited SCREAM, introducing us to the returning and new generation of characters tormented by Ghostface!

Synopsis:

Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past. Neve Campbell (“Sidney Prescott”), Courteney Cox (“Gale Weathers”) and David Arquette (“Dewey Riley”) return to their iconic roles in Scream alongside Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar.

SCREAM is in theatres via Paramount Pictures Canada January 14, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

Starbucks Canada have just unveiled their 2021 Holiday Menu! While some of our favourites won’t be returning this year, we’re excited about these new festive Red Cups and Sugar Cookie Oat Latte!

NEW HOLIDAY BEVERAGE

Sugar Cookie Oat Latte

This non-dairy beverage features blonde espresso, sugar cookie syrup and oat beverage, topped with red and green sprinkles for a modern twist on a holiday classic. Available hot or iced.

NEW HOLIDAY CUPS

• Wrapping Paper: With a festive geometric pattern, this design harkens back to opening a perfectly wrapped gift with every sip.
• Ribbon: Lavender and white ribbons playfully dance around the cup, reminiscent of tying a bow on gifts for friends and family.
• Lights: This bold red cup features a string of lights swirling around the cup as the Starbucks wordmark stands out in all its holiday cheer.
• Candy Cane: Starbucks wordmark wraps around the cup in rows of green, lavender and white, evocative of the favourite striped seasonal candy.

RETURNING BEVERAGES AND FOOD

Caramel Brûlé Latte

Espresso, steamed milk and Caramel Brûlé sauce, topped with whipped cream and Caramel Brûlé topping. Available hot, iced, and as a Frappuccino® blended beverage.

Chestnut Praline Latte

Espresso, steamed milk and Chestnut Praline syrup, topped with whipped cream and Chestnut Praline topping. Available hot, iced, and as a Frappuccino® blended beverage.

Peppermint Mocha

Back for its 19th year, a holiday classic made with our signature espresso, steamed milk, sweet mocha sauce and peppermint flavoured syrup, topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate curls. Available hot, iced, and as a Frappuccino® blended beverage.

Irish Cream Cold Brew

Starbucks® Cold Brew topped with Irish Cream Cold Foam and a strike of cocoa powder topping

Irish Cream Americano

The bold Americano begins with our rich, caramelly espresso and Irish Cream syrup, topped with hot water and steamed milk, and a subtle sprinkle of cocoa

Peppermint Brownie Cake Pop

A delightful treat with peppermint chocolate cake, white chocolaty coating and festive bits of crunchy candy cane pieces.

Gingerbread Loaf

Gently spiced gingerbread cake, topped with icing and a hint of orange.

Snowman Cookie

There might be a little magic in this buttery shortbread snowman cookie dressed up in white chocolatey icing.

Cranberry Bliss® Bar

A blondie cake base, topped with sweet cream cheese icing and tart dried cranberries, garnished with white orange drizzle. Also available for purchase by the tray.

We know you know how much we love our Starbucks and we want you to partake in the celebrations! We’re giving away $10 Starbucks Canada Gift Cards for you to enjoy some of these new Holiday offerings!

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet this Contest Tweet below or “like” this Post on our Instagram for an extra chance! Tell us in the comments on these channels, which item you’d like to try most! You should be following.

Rules and regulations here.

NOTE: Winners will only be contacted from our official account. Do not accept friend requests from others asking for your personal information.

The 2021 Starbucks Canada Holiday Menu is in stores Thursday, November 4, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Starbucks Canada)

Glenn Close and two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali star in SWAN SONG, coming soon to Apple TV+. Something truly affecting for the Holidays.

Synopsis:

Set in the near future, “Swan Song” is a powerful, emotional journey told through the eyes of Cameron (Mahershala Ali), a loving husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Glenn Close) to shield his family from grief. As Cam grapples with whether or not to alter his family’s fate, he learns more about life and love than he ever imagined. “Swan Song” explores how far we will go, and how much we’re willing to sacrifice, to make a happier life for the people we love. 

SWAN SONG arrives on Apple TV+ December 17, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Apple TV+)

“Encanto” translates in Spanish to “charmed”, and Disney’s latest Animated Feature is set to do exactly that to audiences. Set in colourful Colombia, the Film co-directed by Byron Howard, Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith. The former two partnered on Zootopia to raves, and ENCANTO features the Music of Hamilton mastermind, Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Film centers on an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live in a magical house. Children in the town of Encanto each possess the power to heal, except Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) who must find her own strength to be her family’s only hope, when she learns that the magic of the town might be in danger.

We had the joy of sitting in on the Press Junket with the Cast and Creators of ENCANTO, including:

We learned that Byron Howard, Jared Bush and Lin-Manuel Miranda had travelled together to Colombia in preparation for the Film. Howard talks about the inspiring experience.

Howard: “Lin has been with us on this journey from the beginning. It’s so rare to have your Songwriter with you for this experience. So when we went to Colombia with Lin and his dad Luis – whom we love – which was an amazing experience, I think we were just blown away learning about Colombia from people who we loved, people who are of Colombian heritage and sharing their families and that warmth and diversity. Colombia being this crossroads of music, of culture, of dance, of food, of tradition and this was an incredible moment for us. We were allover the place, we were in tiny little towns and huge cities, all of which have a different vibe. And we love that people from these places celebrate those specifics of their personalities and we looked at any way we could get that into the family. ”

“Playing-up those great contrasts, we came back really charged-up to get as much of Colombia as we could into this Film… and I almost fell off a cliff! But I lived!”.

Abuela Alma is one of the Film’s most integral characters and she’s played by Maria Cecilia Botero. Lin-Manuel Miranda talks about the inspiration behind her.

Miranda: “I don’t know if my dad was invited by Disney, or just sorta showed-up on the trip, it still remains a mystery. His experience and what he brought to the table actually wound up being invaluable. I remember him telling us a story about his grandmother in Puerto Rico and she had lots of kids, those kids got married and all stayed under the same roof. She ruled with such certainty that people would give their paycheques to her and she would re-allocate the wealth amongst the kids and the married couples and her children and grandchildren, and that was the kind of rule that wound-up informing Abuela Alma, who really loves her family dearly, but holds it super-tight. And that’s just where our story begins.”.

Botero: “She’s like the one whose strength is family, the one that keeps the family together, she’s like the force of the family. And I think I am too in my own family.”.

One of the centerpiece songs of ENCANTO is “Dos Oruguitas” (Two Caterpillars). The song happens to be the first song ever written entirely in Spanish by Miranda.

Miranda: “I think that being there from the beginning really allowed for more of a give and take than I’ve ever experienced on an Animated Film. There were songs where I put points on the board and said ‘Here’s our opening number!’, ‘Here’s how everyone’s related and what they can do!’, and I wrote that opening number before we had a Second or a Third Act to our Film, because we needed it for ourselves to keep track of everyone. Their names my change and their powers may change, but we know the audience is gonna need a guide and Mirabel is going to be our guide.”.

“Dos Oruguitas was inspired by some of the visuals coming-out of the Animation Department. And I loved the way they embodied the Miracle by having a flame from a candle turn into a butterfly, turn into a cascade of butterflies. Approaching this moment without spoilers, it’s a moment where we reveal a really personal part of the Madrigal family history and it didn’t feel right to have a character sing in real time, which is what all the other characters are doing over the course of the Movie. I thought we needed a Folk song, a song that feels like it’s always existed. Riffing-off the butterfly imagery I thought, butterflies have to go through a miracle to even become butterflies, and so I wrote this song about two caterpillars who are in love and are scared of letting each other go, but have to let each other go to become their next selves. It was a nature metaphor that already was baked-into the visuals of the Film, but speak so specifically to what this family is going through to see each other more fully in terms of you have to change to see each other get to the next level, and you have to allow yourselves to change.”.

“It isn’t harder to rhyme in Spanish, I just have a more limited vocab in Spanish, so I really had to reach for my Thesaurus and go outside my comfort zone to really try to write a song that feels like it’s always existed and I hope we accomplished this.”.

Colombian Author Gabriel García Márquez’s 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE serves as a great inspiration for ENCANTO and Co-Director/Writer Charise Castro Smith talks about this.

Smith: “We were definitely inspired by magical realism, by Gabriel García Márquez. I was reading 100 Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera and The House of Spirits, a lot of different magical realism, when I was starting to work on this Movie. The butterflies absolutely are an homage to him.”.

Stephanie Beatriz stars as Mirabel, and was eight months when working on the Film, singing some of the Film’s demanding musical numbers. As Miranda says, she was “carrying a miracle” in a Film about a miracle. She talks about what she brought to the role from her own personality.

Beatriz: “Awkwardness, my anxiety, and honestly my use of Comedy. When I’m uncomfortable and don’t know what to do, I often turn to making a joke out of it to make myself more comfortable, to make everyone else more comfortable. I think Comedy is really useful because it takes the air out of stuff. Everyone can be really tense and then you make a joke and then everyone relaxes. You can’t really laugh if you’re tense. Does that make sense? I think I tried to bring that to Mirabel. I like to improvise and I like jokes and I like making other people laugh. One of the highlights of my life was when Byron, Jared or Charise would laugh at something I would do!”.

“Once Mirabel starts to take-off on the adventure, there’s some funny stuff when she’s by herself when she’s trying to entertain herself. ‘Cause really what’s kinda crazy is in this huge family is that Mirabel is often alone and depending on herself. She kinda becomes her own sidekick and talks to herself a lot. I think a lot of that Improv wound-up making it into the Film.”.

Colombian-born John Leguizamo has been very vocal about inclusion and representation of the Latinx community in Film.

Leguizamo: “There’s a couple moments that hit me hard as a grown-ass man. It was when I saw all the colours, ’cause that’s how my family is in Colombia. Everyone can be really mad dark or light, with straight and super-curly hair. It looked like the way I grew-up and to see that, you just feel like ‘Oh my God, we’ve arrived!’. We as Latinx people have really arrived when there’s a Disney movie about you. And then to hear music from Colombia on-top of that, I can’t do this, it’s too much for me!”.

Some stills from the Press Junket:

Check back soon for our Review of Disney’s ENCANTO. ENCANTO is in theatres November 24, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Disney)

Netflix Canada and Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win Passes to see RED NOTICE starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot! The Film opens November 4, 2021 at Paradise Theatre in Toronto. You can see the Movie any time during its run here. You and your guest also will receive complimentary popcorn!

Synopsis:

When an Interpol-issued Red Notice — the highest level warrant to hunt and capture the world’s most wanted— goes out, the FBI’s top profiler John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) is on the case. His global pursuit finds him smack dab in the middle of a daring heist where he’s forced to partner with the world’s greatest art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds) in order to catch the world’s most wanted art thief, “The Bishop” (Gal Gadot). The high-flying adventure that ensues takes the trio around the world, across the dance floor, trapped in a secluded prison, into the jungle and, worst of all for them, constantly into each other’s company. The all star cast is joined by Ritu Arya and Chris Diamantopoulos. Directed and written by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence, Skyscraper) and produced by Hiram Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions, Beau Flynn’s Flynn Picture Co. and Thurber’s Bad Version, Inc., Red Notice is a stylish globe-trotting game of cat-and-mouse (and cat).

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK! Re-Tweet this Contest Tweet below for another chance.

Rules and regulations here.

NOTE: Winners will be reached only from our official Facebook account. Do not accept friend requests from others asking you to provide them personal information.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

A new THE SIMPSONS Short is coming to Disney+ in honour of Disney+ Day!

Synopsis:

From Creator Matt Groening and Developed by James L. Brooks and Sam Simon the longest-running primetime scripted show in television history, THE SIMPSONS exploded into a cultural phenomenon in 1990 and has remained one of the most groundbreaking and innovative entertainment franchises, recognizable throughout the world. Currently airing its record-annihilating 32^nd season, THE SIMPSONS has won 35 Emmy Awards, 34 Annie Awards, 9 Environmental Media Awards, 7 People’s Choice Awards and 13 Writers Guild of America Awards. THE SIMPSONS was the first animated series to win a Peabody Award, and in 2019 received the Institutional Peabody Award.  It was nominated for an Academy Award in 2012 for the theatrical short “The Longest Daycare.” This was followed by the theatrical short “Playdate with Destiny”(2020) and the Disney+ exclusive “The Force Awakens From Its Nap”(2021). The Simpsons Movie was a hit feature film, their mega-attraction The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios has received historic expansion updates with the addition of ‘Springfield’—winning a Thea Award in both 2009 and 2017. The show was honoured with a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000. The Simpsons ongoing Tapped Out mobile game which launched in 2012 was a recipient of a Webby Award in 2018.   It has been named the “Best Show of the 20^th Century” by Time Magazine, called the “Greatest American Sitcom” by Entertainment Weekly in 2013, and declared “The Best TV Show Ever” in 2016 by vulture.com. On 10/2/21 a 10 minute Simpsons / Balenciega animated collaboration was the sensation of Paris fashion week. 

THE SIMPSONS’ PLUSAVERSARY arrives November 12, 2021 on Disney+.

(Photo/video credit: Disney+)