The sixth annual edition of SUMMER OF SONY is currently taking place in Cancun, Mexico, where Media get exciting first dibs on announcements and upcoming Films on Sony Pictures‘ exciting slate!

So far, Photo Calls have taken place for Hotel Transylvania 2, Goosebumps, XMAS and The 5th Wave. You too can have front-row access to these Junkets here too. Watch them below!

Hotel Transylvannia 2:

Goosebumps:

XMAS:

Ricki & The Flash:

The 5th Wave:

Pixels

Set for a worldwide release on March 31, 2017, GET SMURFY officially has been scheduled-in and it was announced Demi Lovato, Mandy Patinkin and Rainn Wilson will be lending their voices to the latest installment of the $800-million-grossing Franchise!

(Photo/video credit: Sony Pictures)

The Micro-Budget Production Program from Telefilm Canada serves to assist promising emerging Filmmakers an opportunity at funding their first Feature Films, not to exceed a budget of $250k.  Now in its third year, 15 Finalists across Canada were selected based on recommendations from 40 educational institutions and film cooperatives. Thus far, 37 full-length Films – many which have won awards on the Festival circuits nationally – have been funded through the Program which it was announced, is to be funded by the Talent Fund.  The Fund over the years collected over $15 million from companies, individuals and  foundations. Technicolor also generously is offering free digital distribution encoding services to cater to an ever-changing demand for viewing films digitally and online.

This morning, Finalists were unveiled at TIFF Bell Lightbox Bell Blue Room and headlining the names was a familiar face in Amy Jo Johnson for her Film, The Space Between. Johnson, known to many for her role as Pink Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, will direct and write.

New faces like upcoming Director Aidan Shipley, were present too as he works on his debut Feature, Cardinal.  While he might be busy starring in Toronto-filmed Blockbuster Suicide Squad, Adam Beach through his Institute, is responsible for partnering with Filmmaker Benjamin Ross Hayden in The Edict, which will be a part of the Micro-Budget Production Program‘s Aboriginal Component. A new Official-Language Minority Communities Component also has been added this year.

For more, visit http://www.telefilm.ca.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

The rain certainly came and never did cease, but this would not deter Racing Fans old and new from coming-out to celebrate Budweiser Woodbine Oaks Day!  The atmosphere was alive with free Corona hats to be snagged, Sundaes to be served, an awesome Budweiser Prize Pack (including a mini fridge!) up for grabs, free first bets, Bud Girls and more in attendance. Earlier on the card, Edmonton-based jockey Quincy Welch was honoured with the Avelino Gomez Award, given to jockeys who have made significant contributions to the Sport. Today also marked the first day new Announcer Robert Geller took the reins from recently-retired Dan Loiselle and a credible job he did with his distinct Tenor and Australian flare.

The $500k Budweiser Woodbine Oaks is known definitively as the top race for three-year-old fillies born in Canada, dating all the way back to 1956. Some fillies like Superstars Dance Smartly and Lexie Lou who were victorious in the race, even went-on to win the Country’s most prestigious affair, the Queen’s Plate – up next on the first Sunday of July.

Few saw it coming, but 60-to-1 Longshot ACADEMIC thrust herself straight to the lead and never looked back, paying her supporters dividends with a payout of $135.30 to a $2 bet.  Not only did she win with authority under jockey Justin Stein, for Bear Stables and Trainer Reade Baker, but she smashed the existing Track Record for 1 1/8 miles in a time of 1:48.86. Race Favourite LONDON TOWER ran a game second, besting SEASON TICKET who placed third.

ACADEMIC:

Academic had our jaws dropping in the #WoodbineOaks today! Flying over that finish line! #Horse #Racetrack #Thoroughbred #Woodbine #HorseRacing #GetintheGame

A photo posted by Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Jun 14, 2015 at 3:56pm PDT

On the Undercard also was the Plate Trial, the official prep race for the $1-million Queen’s Plate, known as North America’s most historic race, now in its 156th year.  DANISH DYNAFORMER would peak right in-time for the $150k race, winning decisively and holding-off a late charge from the much-buzzed CONQUEST CURLINATE, who ran a couple bang-up races in the U.S. this winter. Finishing third was the latter’s stablemate, CONQUEST BOOGALOO who also is improving with experience.  Owned by Charles Fipke and trained by Hall of Famer, Roger Attfield, the Winner was ridden by multi-champion Luis Contreras, paying $9.90 to a $2 bet.

DANISH DYNAFORMER:

#DanishDynaformer stamps himself our #QueensPlate (7/5) favourite with a decisive win in the Plate Trial today! #QP15 #Woodbine #Racetrack #HorseRacing #Thoroughbred #Horse #GetintheGame A photo posted by Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Jun 14, 2015 at 4:07pm PDT

Like last year, the Girls ran considerably faster than the Boys, with DANISH DYNAFORMER completing 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.81, translating to about five horse lengths slower than ACADEMIC.   Trainer Baker has expressed his intent to have ACADEMIC ready to face-off her male opponents in the Queen’s Plate despite not being nominated initially. As a result, a supplementary fee will be paid to have her eligible.

Although there was much cause for celebration, the Plate Trial was marred by the fatal injury of Race Favourite DANZIG MOON, who was making his first start ever at Woodbine after a successful winter, which saw him place a solid fifth in the prestigious Kentucky Derby to subsequent Triple Crown Hero, AMERICAN PHAROAH.  Mishaps as this are rare in the Sport and many Fans are grieving the loss of what could well have been this year’s Queen’s Plate Champion.

I too am one of several Fans devastated by his loss, although grateful I had a chance to see him in-person once:

In loving memory of #DanzigMoon, whom we lost tragically today. This is for the Grooms and Trainers who work closely with these animals to ensure they are at their best. You will be sadly missed buddy, and all of us racing fans at Woodbine are proud of what you accomplished for us in your brief and celebrated time here. And we are honoured we got to see you once.

A photo posted by Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Jun 14, 2015 at 4:53pm PDT

The Queen’s Plate is just around the corner and we look forward to seeing you there as we soon will crown a new Victor/Victress.

More details here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

What a pleasure it was getting at last to party at Cabana Pool Bar – the only Club in Toronto that authentically takes you away on a luxurious beachside escape. #DAYLIFE, they call it.  Why be of the mindset that fun only begins after dark? Beach balls were flying, balloons afloat, the sunshine cooperative and beautiful people (skewing 20ish) of all physiques and dispositions rocked their best swimwear.  Everyone was welcome and everyone wanted to have a good time.  And did I mention bottles of Veuve Cliquot were poppin’ non-stop?

To ring-in the occasion Grammy-winning DJ/Producer Tiesto flaunted a Canadian flag loud and proud arriving right on-time for his 5 PM set, which had hands in the air and bodies moving.

Cabana Pool Bar however isn’t only a place to drink, dance and get a tan.  The food is unbelievable. Oliver & Bonacini  delivered the temptation.  We saw gigantic Fish Taco, Burger Slider, Spring Roll, Potsticker, French Fry, Sushi and Deep Fried Mac ‘n’ Cheese platters floating our way throughout the afternoon and it was glorious!  Although our faves were the former two!

And guess what? Millionaire Playboy Dan Bilzerian, joining the likes of deadmau5 and Justin Bieber to have partied at the Venue, will be hosting a Party next weekend!

Cabana is bringing that starpower!

Learn more here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Just wow!  JURASSIC WORLD blew away the competition this weekend with a stunning $200-million opening for Universal Pictures.  Opening in 3,274 theatres, the Blockbuster bests its three Predecessors in the beloved Franchise in terms of opening.  By comparison Jurassic Park 3 managed to make $181 million in its lifetime at the Box Office in 2001.  This latest Installment eclipsed that Film already in its opening weekend. Audiences gave it a firm A at CinemaScore, although Critics were a bit shakier on it with a 70% on the Tomatometer.

SPY after a strong debut last weekend for 20th Century Fox, slips to second this week with $15 million.  In its run so far domestically it has made $56 million.

SAN ANDREAS lands in third in its third week out with $10 million for Warner Bros.  It has grossed $118 million thus far.

INSIDIOUS 3 is in fourth in its second week out with $8 million for Focus Features/eOne Films.

PITCH PERFECT 2 is in fifth with $5.7 million for Universal Pictures, tallying $170 million in five weeks.

LOVE & MERCY plays in only 572 theatres but rounds-out the Top Ten with $1.5 million for Roadside Attractions/eOne Films.

The term “Megastar” oftens gets thrown around but few actually are it in the truest sense of the word.  Miley,  is that. A brand new Track from the Cyrus surfaced earlier today and although nobody is quite sure whether the Song is a new Single or just an unreleased Track recorded prior, the Internet quickly is responding favourably to the uptempo break-up Tune, which appears to be a Dr. Luke Production.

Listen:

Knowing Miley, we have no doubt that this is cleverly-executed stunt to get her back to the summit (not that she ever left it).  If you noticed, scandalous/artsy Photos from her Paper Magazine (read here) Interview surfaced today, where she talks about her sexuality and her own Parents’ tumultuous relationship, among other things. And ever since, all we’ve been thinking about is Miley.

Oddly enough though, the release of this Single sorta derailed the publicity behind these shocking Photos…

(Photo/audio credit: Sony Music/Paper Magazine)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Canada and Mr. Will want to give Canadian Readers a chance to win a copy of Neill Blomkamp’s CHAPPIE, starring Dev Patel and Hugh Jackman, on DVD!

Official Synopsis:

In the near future, the streets are patrolled by police robots. One such robot is captured and reprogrammed to be the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. Named Chappie, his programmer Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) tries to teach the childlike robot about books and art.

However, Australian engineer Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) is very opposed to the idea of artificial intelligence and wants to destroy Chappie.

Official Artwork:

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Canada release CHAPPIE on DVD and Blu-Ray on Tuesday, June 16, 2015.

(Photo/video credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Canada)

By David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong

Alfonso Gomez-Rejon started his Film career as a Production Assistant in 1990. Twenty-five years later he is being showered with unanimous praise for his second feature as a Director, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. “The response is so beautiful because it’s recognition for everyone who worked on the Film,” he says when asked about the critical and audience reaction to the Film. “It feels great.”

The Film tells the story of high school student Greg (Thomas Mann), who befriends Rachel (Olivia Cooke) after he learns of her being diagnosed with Leukemia. In his spare time, he likes making short Parody Films based on mainstream hits and obscure Foreign Films. He makes these shorts with his friend and “co-worker” Earl (RJ Cyler), and realizes that he needs to make a Film for Rachel.

While Mann and Cooke are industry veterans despite their youth, Cyler is making his Feature debut in Me and Earl. Gomez-Rejon tells us, “I’ve always loved discovering talent. I like when you have the opportunity to find new talent. People take chances on me all the time.”

It is no wonder people are taking chances on him; his credentials more than speak for themselves. He acted as a Casting Director on Babel, Eat Pray Love and an unrealized Terrence Malick Film, as a Second Unit Director on The Eagle and Best Picture Oscar-winner Argo, and has directed multiple episodes of Glee and American Horror Story. His Feature debut, last year’s Remake/Sequel The Town That Dreaded Sundown, only came to fruition when pre-production on Me and Earl fell apart. “Ryan [Murphy, the Creator of Glee and American Horror Story] said ‘You keep trying to make your Citizen Kane, why don’t you make your Boxcar Bertha?’ And so I did,” Gomez-Rejon explains. “Luckily this movie came back together and I jumped right into this.”

Me and Earl is Gomez-Rejon’s first “personal” Film and he found its intimacy to be “so refreshing” to work on. Drawing on the style of Classics like Harold and Maude and The Graduate, he says he wanted this Film “to be kind of like Greg: very playful, and big and exciting and energetic at the beginning, and then it calms down and becomes more intimate and still and quiet, quiet, quiet.” Despite the drama and emotion that comes later in the Film, he intended to “always [have] a little joke in there somewhere, to lighten it up until the very end.”

In discussing a pivotal scene late in the Film between Mann and Cooke, Gomez-Rejon notes that the shot “was going to be the master and then I was going to do two close-ups. But after [the first take] it just felt so good that I walked away from it. It only works because they’re brilliant in it.” He is even more enthusiastic talking about Cyler: “It was quite a beautiful process to see pure emotion come out of him as Earl. This is his first Movie, and you’re watching him and he doesn’t even know that he had this in him.”

While he is coy about his next project, Gomez-Rejon hopes to continue his work in feature Films: “I love the beginning, middle and end of it – it’s a journey you go through and it finishes, and you put it aside, and that’s who you were at that point. Scorsese has a body of work that reveals who he is. And I’d like in the next fifty years, if I’m still making Movies, being able to leave behind more and more of Films that I think will show who I am at that particular time.”

Echoing the sentiments of his Cast, Gomez-Rejon’s feels that Me and Earl is “not a Movie about dying. It’s a Movie about living.” But the Film was summed up even more eloquently for him by a high school student from Seattle. They had been grieving from the loss of a friend in a car accident and told him at a screening of Me and Earl that “When people leave their lives, they’re like a stained glass window. Their definition is not as clear but the beauty of their life is evermore present.”

Gomez-Rejon was so touched by the words of this student that he made sure to write them down, and take them with him everywhere he goes. “There’s an infinity of layers in all of us, and just because one of them is gone doesn’t mean that others remain,” he says. “We just have to pay attention and find them, and listen to them.”.

Fox Searchlight release ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL on Friday, June 12, 2015.

By David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong

Thomas Mann and Olivia Cooke may not be household names, but they will be this June after Fox Searchlight  unspools Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. The Film rocked Sundance this past January, picking-up the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize. But on a sunny Toronto afternoon, they are just two courteous young adults apprehensive of how the howling wind is going to affect our interview.

“I just don’t want it to mess with the sound because the air is bad for microphones,” Mann says as we hurry inside, dodging unsecure patio furniture.

At the suggestion of his mother, Greg (Mann) befriends Rachel (Cooke), who has just been diagnosed with leukemia. The Film chronicles their friendship, and the way they grow into adulthood when faced with this debilitating disease. RJ Cyler plays Earl, Greg’s friend and “co-worker” who helps him make short Parody Films based on their favourite Films.

Cooke was no stranger to ill characters before taking on the role of Rachel – her character on the TV Series Bates Motel struggles with Cystic Fibrosis: “I’m always drawn to the [roles] that are going to challenge me. I never approached it as ‘Oh my God I’m playing another dying girl again!’” Cooke shaved her head for the Film and worked on-set with Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon to track the five stages of Chemotherapy.

Mann was very cautious not to interfere with any of this. He says, “I purposely kept myself distant from her process. Greg has no idea about the stages of Cancer, and so I would just arrive on-set and see her in these different stages. It was just a very subtle, physical thing I would notice and it affects you.”

Despite what she goes through, Cooke was very precise on how she wanted to play Rachel, “You don’t ever want to see Rachel as a victim or as a tragic character, or anyone with Cancer as a tragic character. Because they’re still themselves.” She has nothing but praise for costume designer Jennifer Eve for helping her achieve this: “As Rachel got sicker, her clothes and her wigs and her hats became more vibrant and brighter because she’s like ‘I’m still me, I’m not completely vanished and disappeared because I’m deteriorating’.”

In discussing the content of the Film, Mann and Cooke were very strongly opposed to lumping the Film into the sick-fiction genre shared with Films like The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay. “Cancer is more of a backdrop,” Mann says, “It’s so complex and I feel so many things about it, that talking about it is often really frustrating.” Cooke elaborates that “I feel like people like to pigeonhole, and it’s so annoying. You can’t compartmentalize it because it’s so many things at once. I feel like you can take the Cancer or the illness aspect out of it, and you’ll still have a really wonderful movie about friendship and discovery.”

And that friendship is what Mann really likes about the Film: “When you see a romantic couple on screen, you’re not taking a part in it. The fact that we’re friends, you feel like you could be one of us. If you like spending time with these kids then anything tragic that happens to them is so much more resonant.”

While the Film is emotional, there is a lot of humour and comedy scattered throughout. Mann had a lot of fun working on the Short Films Greg and Earl make in their spare time. His favourite was ‘Burden of Screams’, based on Les Blank’s 1982 Documentary Burden of Dreams, “That was the first day of shooting, and they’re like ‘You can do a German accent right?’ It’s just so ridiculous. I’m wearing this all-White suit with a straw hat. And there’s kids walking by, and I’m cursing at the top of my lungs.”

In the end, both Actors took something away from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Mann learned “to trust myself and trust Alfonso, and really just [learnt] to let myself go. I’m a more emotional person now. I cry when I watch movies, and I never used to do that before. I’ve grown as an actor, and hopefully as a person.” Cooke was just as emotional. When discussing romanticizing death, she says “It’s so stupid to waste your time on thinking like that. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.” Instead, she now wants to “just be more present and live.”.

Fox Searchlight release ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL on Friday, June 12, 2015.

Once voted TV Guide‘s number two (out of 25) Top Television Star and three-time Golden Globe Award Winner, pretty much everybody knows his name. Ted Danson‘s acting career has spanned 30 years, many of us growing-up watching him as Sam Malone on beloved Series, Cheers.  We have nothing but fond memories of him in Toronto-filmed Comedy Three Men and a Baby, and subsequent Sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady.  Even if you are a post-Millennial, you’d still recognize him from Curb Your Enthusiasm, Damages or CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Danson arrived in Toronto last night, stopping for a group photo with Fans who happened to share a flight with him, upon arrival. The Vegan, married to Actress Mary Steenburgen, is in town promoting one of his favourite causes, Ocean preservation. He appeared on CP24 Breakfast and Breakfast Television  in the 6 o’clock hour, to discuss the issue and will speak later today in Financial District on the matter at an event organized by the Economic Club of Canada, named Save the Oceans, Feed the World, while also launching the Canadian branch of Oceana.  He is here to challenge us to think about sustainable fishing and where we’re getting the fish from that we eat.

See his Interview on Breakfast Television with Kevin Frankish by clicking here.

Danson despite running late, was kind enough to stop for a minute for Fans who made it through despite rain and subway closure. He was happy to pose with Billy and I!

Our Snap:

With #TedDanson, here for #SavetheOceansFeedtheWorld.

A photo posted by Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Jun 8, 2015 at 6:55am PDT

Learn more at Oceana Canada.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong/Oceana)