Fresh off its multiple CANADIAN SCREEN AWARD nominations, including Rossif Sutherland for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Elevation Pictures + Mr. Will want you to see TIFF ’15 and Whistler Film Festival Selection RIVER first! Screenings will take place Monday, March 7, 2016 (Vancouver) and Wednesday, March 9, 2016 (Toronto) at 7 PM.

Toronto guests will get a chance to see Rossif Sutherland and Director Jamie Dagg in-person at a special screening of the Film.

RIVER hits theatres Friday, March 11, 2016.

Synopsis:

In the south of Laos, an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant’s body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control.

Rossif Sutherland, Sara Botsford, Douangmany Soliphanh, Vithaya Pansringarm and Ted Atherton, while Jamie Dagg (Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best First Feature) directs.

Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, simply click “like” on this Post at Mr. Will on Facebook and indicate your City.

Elevation Pictures releases RIVER in theatres in select markets on Friday, March 11, 2016. Subject to

classification.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

By George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that I love soups. Every nationality and every culture has their own speciality, their own “heaven in a bowl”. Whether it be Borscht, Matzo Ball, Wonton, Billi Bi, Minestrone, Tom Yum, Avgolemeno, Gazpacho or, my favourite, Flaczki (Polish tripe soup).  Soups nourish the soul. And is there anything more comforting than hot soup on a cold winter’s day?

Using a suite of Campbell’s products tweaked with fresh ingredients and spices, charismatic celebrity Chef Matt Dean Pettit, the founder of the Rock Lobster restaurants in Toronto, has created 4 tantalizing soups which will be served at a pop-up restaurant located at 501 Queen Street West.

THE CANTINA by Campbell’s will be opened from February 2nd to February 21st (11-8 weekdays, 11-7 weekends) and it is THE place to go to savour Pettit’s innovative menu. I sampled 2 soups on the menu. The Thai Chicken & Rice Khao Soi was robust and rich, enhanced with coconut milk, yellow curry and egg noodles. The Creamy Tomato Black Bean Taco soup was a symphony of tomatoes, lime juice, black beans and a spicy crema that would go well with a grilled cheese and lobster sandwich.

The collaboration of Chef Pettit and Campbell’s Canada is a gastronomical dream. And everyone who goes to eat at THE CANTINA by Campbell’s will be given a sticker to place on a wall. For each sticker placed, Campbell’s Canada will give a can of soup to the Daily Bread Food Bank where the goal is to provide 15,000 cans of soup.

Some Pics:

Our George Kozera had the pleasure of previewing some of the tasty soups offered at @CampbellCanada’s Soup Pop-Up Shop, THE CANTINA. 🍲 Scintillating creations were created by celebrity @RockLobsterFoodCo chef, Matt Dean Pettit! George tells us his faves were Thai Chicken and Rice Khao Soi and the Tomato Black Bean Taco Soup! The shop is at 501 Queen Street West in #Toronto and opens February 2-21, 2016 11 AM – 8 PM  Monday to Friday and 11 AM – & PM Saturday and Sunday. #The6ix #Toronto

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong ⛄ (@mrwillwong) on Feb 1, 2016 at 8:20pm PST

Great food and a great cause! I plan to be back often; you will find me back slobbering and schlurping away!!!

(Photo credit: George Kozera)

eOne Films + Mr. Will want to take Readers to see a piece of history at the Canadian Premiere of RACE, to take place in Toronto on Thursday, February 11, 2016.

Synopsis:
The true story of Jesse Owens, the African American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

It follows Jesse’s (Stephan James) and his coach’s (Jason Sudeikis) fight to win gold, while up against growing racial tension in America and Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany.

Race stars also Jeremy Irons and William Hurt.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, simply click “like” on this Post at Mr. Will on Facebook. Click “share” from there for an extra chance or Tweet out the below:

http://www.mrwillwong.com/race @MRWILLW wants us to #win Advance Passes to see #RACEMovie! Out 2/19!

G’luck, Willionaire$!

eOne Films release RACE on Friday, February 19, 2016.

(Photo/video credit: eOne Films)

Vanity Fair‘s annual Hollywood Issue is something we look forward. Once again Photographer Annie Leibovitz doesn’t disappointing, bringing together for a group portrait 13 of Hollywood’s most influencial women right now.  We get also individual portraits which refreshingly aren’t overly-touched-up and we see women like Helen Mirren, Jane Fonda, Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, Alicia Vikander, Brie Larson, Jennifer Lawrence and Viola Davis as they really are.  Missing interestingly is Amy Schumer?  And where is Rooney Mara?

Click here to see the portraits.

(Photo credit: Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair)

On their Press Tour for HOW TO BE SINGLE, Dakota Johnson and Leslie Mann make the most of it in this new interview which quickly is going viral. Poor Chris Van Vliet of WSVN in Miami doesn’t quite get around to the actual interview with Johnson and Mann, but the interaction is out-of-this-world amazing! Imagine being told to unbutton your shirt and teased the entire time as they giggle and tear-up! Awkward, but but Van Vliet was a good sport about it right??

See the interview:

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release HOW TO BE SINGLE Friday, February 12, 2016.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Canada)

Debuting on Thursday, February 18, 2016, David Beckham’s Modern Essentials Collection Spring 2016 has the Fashion Icon in another innovative TV Spot. Shot in Lisbon, the comical Ad has men allover the City dressed identically to Beckham, leader of a new movement in Men’s Fashion.

See it here:

For those of us in Toronto, the new Eaton Centre Flagship H&M store launches Thursday, February 25, 2016 complete with H&M’s Home Collection and new LED screens throughout the store!

(Photo/video credit: H&M)

We literally are just under two weeks away from the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The Cast of ZOOLANDER 2 were in Paris this weekend doing Press and it literally was all WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK! as Supermodel Cara Delevingne joined Ben Stiller in a walk-off by the Eiffel Tower.

You must see this!!

As if this weren’t amazing enough, Stiller and Owen Wilson dressed as their Zoolander 2 characters Derek and Hansel, modelling through the windows of the Valentino storefront in Rome also! People went crazy with tons of Instagram footage to be found!

See below:

#BenStiller & #OwenWilson for Valentino and Zoolander 🎬🎥 •

A video posted by Francesca De Virgilio (@francesca8___) on Jan 31, 2016 at 8:10am PST

Also, if you haven’t had a chance to #BLUESTEELSELFIE yourself like I have, you can do that RIGHT HERE!

You ready for a #BlueSteelSelfie? Get yours at BlueSteelSelfie.com. 📷 #Zoolander2

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong ⛄ (@mrwillwong) on Jan 29, 2016 at 12:28pm PST

Paramount Pictures Canada release ZOOLANDER 2 on Friday, February 12, 2016.

(Photo/video credit: Francesca De Gilio/Mr. Will Wong/Paramount Pictures Canada)

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada + Mr. Will know you need a Girls’ Night Out! HOW TO BE SINGLE has been on our minds since we saw its Trailer over the Holidays and we want to give you a chance to see it first! We’ve got Advance Passes for you in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal (English and French), Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Halifax for Wednesday, February 10, 2016!

Synopsis:
There’s a right way to be single, a wrong way to be single, and then…there’s Alice. And Robin. Lucy. Meg. Tom. David. New York City is full of lonely hearts seeking the right match, be it a love connection, a hook-up, or something in the middle. And somewhere between the teasing texts and one-night stands, what these unmarrieds all have in common is the need to learn how to be single in a world filled with ever-evolving definitions of love. Sleeping around in the city that never sleeps was never so much fun.

“How to Be Single” stars Dakota Johnson (“Fifty Shades of Grey”), Rebel Wilson (“Pitch Perfect”), Damon Wayans, Jr. (“Let’s Be Cops”), Anders Holm (“Neighbors,” upcoming “The Intern”), Alison Brie (“Get Hard”), Nicholas Braun (“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), Jake Lacy (HBO’s “Girls”), with Jason Mantzoukas (“Neighbors,” TV’s “The League”) and Leslie Mann (“This is 40,”).

Il y a une bonne façon de vivre son célibat, une mauvaise façon… et puis il y a Alice, Robin, Lucy, Meg, Tom, David. New York regorge d’âmes esseulées en quête d’un partenaire, que ce soit pour l’amour, un flirt ou quelque chose entre les deux. Et entre les textos enjôleurs et les aventures d’un soir, ces personnes ont tous en commun le besoin de comprendre comment vivre leur célibat dans un monde où les définitions de l’amour abondent et évoluent sans cesse. Passer de folles nuits dans la ville qui ne dort jamais n’a jamais été aussi amusant.

« Célibataire : mode d’emploi » met en vedette Dakota Johnson (« Cinquante nuances de Grey »), Rebel Wilson (« La Note parfaite »), Damon Wayans, Jr. (« Soyons flics »), Anders Holm (« Les Voisins » et « Le Stagiaire »), Alison Brie (« Prison 101 »), Nicholas Braun (« Le Monde de Charlie »), Jake Lacy (« Girls » de HBO), avec Jason Mantzoukas (« Les Voisins », l’émission « The League ») et Leslie Mann (« 40 ans : Mode d’emploi »).

See the hilarious Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, simply click “like” on this Post at Mr. Will on Facebook. Please indicate your City and tell us how you survive(d) being single!  You may click “share” from there for an extra chance or Tweet out the below:

http://www.mrwillwong.com/howtobesingle @MRWILLW wants us to #win Advance Passes to see #HOWTOBESINGLE! Out 2/12!

G’luck Willionaire$!

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release HOW TO BE SINGLE on Friday, February 12, 2016.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Canada)

Admit it! You didn’t think GREASE LIVE! was gonna be any good, did you??! I mean, how is it possible to top a Masterpiece?  We tried erasing the less-than-stellar GREASE 2 right out of our memories, but have failed time and time again.

Little did we know sitting on our couches at 7:00 PM – an unassuming Sunday night – that Television forever would be transformed for us!  What made Alex Rudzinski (Dancing with the Stars) and Thomas Kail (2 Broke Girls)‘s Live TV Adaptation of one of the greatest Films ever made wonderful, was that it captured precisely the charm and energy that made us fall in love with the 1978 Original. This we remind you, is not an easy feat.  We’ve seen so many Remakes on the Big Screen in recent years disappointingly fall flat.

Everything from a  sophisticated stage design which brought us back to Rydell High right down to the almost identical frame-for-frame replication of the original Film had us in awe.  As we cut in and out of commercial break, we got quick flashes of the pandemonium behind-the-scenes, the Actors getting transported in trollies from stage to stage at a frenetic pace, keeping us engaged and rooting for them  a la Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.  Most important of all, the casting was phenomenal.  Actors like Vanessa Hudgens, Keke Palmer, Carly Rae Jepsen, Julianne Hough and Aaron Tveit didn’t exactly have us jumping for excitement initially, but were we ever off the mark!

Hudgens although a little shaky in her rendition of Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee, got it together in the Second Act wowing us in full force as a sassy, no-nonsense Rizzo, just mesmerizing in her delivery of There Are Worse Things. What is even more heartbreaking is that Hudgens just yesterday lost her father Greg, channeling her emotions completely tonight on-stage for her biggest Audience yet.

Keke Palmer whom often has been relegated to supporting roles on the likes of Scream Queens and 90210, really shined as flirty Marty, giving Freddy My Love an injection of soul.  Promising and underrated describe only the tip of the iceberg for this burgeoning star, who actually is already a veteran.

Broadway star Aaron Tveit was excellent as our Danny Zuko, embodying exactly the endearing unpredictability of being a hormonal teenager.  Although making a few modifications to the melodies we loved vocally early, he saved it all for late, stealing our hearts in his powerful performance of ballad Sandy.  We only knew him prior from 2012’s Les Misérables, but we now are obsessed.

Julianne Hough perhaps carries the greatest weight of all in the beloved role of Sandy and she did not disappoint at any step, although a bit of fatigue could be heard late after a demanding First and Second Act.  She was the perfect Sandy, capturing her naiveté and level-headedness.  Vocally, she possessed the strength to deliver for the three-hour show and physically, she was spot-on in her choreography which had her cheerleading and dancing her way beginning to end. It didn’t take us long into the broadcast to realize that we’ve long under-estimated Hough.

What also was amazing is that one of our favourites from the Original surfaced as a Cameo – Didi Conn (originally Frenchy) as waitress Vi and above that, appearances from The Brady Bunch‘s Eve Plumb as Shop Teacher Mrs. Murdock and even Boys II Men as our Teen Angels performing Beauty School Drop-Out. Joe Jonas and his new band DNCE also appeared as Johnny Casino and The Gamblers, while vocal powerhouse Jessie J kicked it all off singing the show’s theme, Grease is the Word.

Although we enjoyed the Broadcast greatly, we knew we were “hopelessly devoted” by the Final Act – the end-of-year Carnival scene to be exact.  We didn’t want to say goodbye – which is exactly the same way we felt when he first saw the Original.  Truly magical.

Learn more about GREASE LIVE! here and how to stream it.

Download the complete Soundtrack from GREASE LIVE! here.

My instant reaction to GREASE LIVE!:

#GREASELive had me simultaneously shaking, singing, laughing, dancing, crying, sh*tting… So damn good!! You need to on-demand that sh*t if you missed it!!! I would die to be an extra in that final carnival scene!!! 🚗

A video posted by Mr. Will Wong ⛄ (@mrwillwong) on Jan 31, 2016 at 6:53pm PST

(Photo/video credit: FOX)

KUNG FU PANDA 3 continues its winning legacy, topping the Box Office in its debut this weekend across theatres in North America. It earns $41 million from 3,955 theatres for 20th Century Fox. Despite being the Franchise’s lowest debut to date with a $47 million opening 2012 and a $60 million opening in 2008, it continues to be a highly-bankable venture with Critics praising it with a 79% on the Tomatometer and Audiences feeling the same with an A CinemaScore.

THE REVENANT after topping the Box Office last weekend slips to second spot with $11 million also for 20th Century Fox. It has made $137 million domestically thus far in six weeks.

THE FINEST HOURS opens in third for Disney with $9.7 million from 3,143 theatres.  Critics gave the Craig Gillespie (Lars & The Real Girl) Film 59% on the Tomatometer, while Audiences gave it a decent A- CinemaScore giving it some hope for success in coming weeks as word of mouth spreads.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS is in fourth this weekend with $9 million, now in its seventh week out. By this time next week it will have surpassed the $900-million-mark for Disney.

DIRTY GRANDPA is in seventh in its second week out with $6.8 million for VVS Films/Lionsgate Films, surpassing the $20-million-mark.

FIFTY SHADES OF BLACK, a parody of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, opens in ninth for Open Road Films/D Films, with $5.9 million from 2,075 theatres.  Critics gave it 13% on the Tomatometer, while Audiences gave it a CinemaScore.

13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI rounds-out the Top Ten with $5.8 million for Paramount Pictures, from 2,803 theatres. It is nearing the $50-million-mark.