#NEWMUSIC: “OH SANTA!” – MARIAH CAREY FT. ARIANA GRANDE & JENNIFER HUDSON

Christmas came early! Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson team-up with Mariah Carey on this new version of Holiday hit, OH SANTA! Grab that #1, ladies! Could this be a worthy chart successor to All I Want is Christmas is You? The Track can be heard on Mariah’s brand-new Holiday Special, out now.

MARIAH CAREY’S MAGICAL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL streams now only on Apple TV+!

(Photo/video credit: Sony Music Entertainment/Apple TV+)

#FIRSTLOOK: “AMERICAN GODS” SEASON 3 TRAILER

AMERICAN GODS is back for a third season! Check-out this brand-new Trailer for the upcoming season, arriving next month!

Synopsis:

American Gods is the epic story of an inevitable war building between the Old Gods of mythology and our New Gods of technology. Ricky Whittle stars as ex-con Shadow Moon, a man pulled into the service of the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, played by Ian McShane— only to discover that not only is his charismatic but un-trustable boss actually the Norse All-Father god Odin, he’s also…Shadow’s father. In Season Three, Shadow angrily pushes this apparent destiny away, and settles in the idyllic snowy town of Lakeside, Wisconsin — to make his own path, guided by the gods of his black ancestors, the Orishas. However, he’ll soon discover that this town’s still waters run deep, and dark, and bloody, and that you don’t get to simply reject being a god. The only choice — and a choice you have to make — is what kind of god you’re going to be.

See the Trailer:

AMERICAN GODS arrives on Amazon Prime Video January 11, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Amazon Prime Video)

#GIVEAWAY: ENTER OF A CHANCE TO WIN A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF “SOUND OF METAL” OR “BLACK BEAR”

Pacific Northwest Pictures x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win a Digital Download of SOUND OF METAL or BLACK BEAR! Both Films are “certified fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes!

BLACK BEAR

A filmmaker at a creative impasse seeks solace from her tumultuous past at a rural retreat, only to find that the woods summon her inner demons in intense and surprising ways.

SOUND OF METAL

Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) live together, two nomads traveling gig to gig on an endless American tour. Their music is loud, frenzied and passionate, until one day Ruben is overwhelmed by a severe ringing in his ears, which quickly gives way to deafness. Ruben is suddenly overcome by anxiety, depression, and soon enough his past addictions begin to surface. Ruben checks himself into a home for deaf addicts run by an eccentric deaf veteran, Joe. In this world of silence and under Joe’s tough, observant care, Ruben must confront himself more honestly than ever before. But the love and sound of his old life echoes in Ruben’s mind, calling for him to return…

Read our Chat with Riz Ahmed here.

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. In the comments indicate which title you’d like to enter to win. You can indicate both! Re-Tweet this Contest Tweet below for an extra chance!

Enter for a chance to #win a Digital Download of BLACK BEAR or SOUND OF METAL! Both are "certified fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes!

How: https://t.co/zZuT8zVTPq pic.twitter.com/XgVOB5aXFN

— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) December 3, 2020

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Pacific Northwest Pictures release both BLACK BEAR and SOUND OF METAL digitally and on-demand Friday, December 4, 2020.

(Photo/video credit: Pacific Northwest Pictures)

#INTERVIEW: “GODMOTHERED”

By Mr. Will Wong

One of this Holiday’s most pleasant surprises comes from the same Director as Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones’s Baby, Sharon Maguire. GODMOTHERED centers on Eleanor (Jillian Bell), a Fairy Godmother-in-training who fears that her job will become extinct, setting-out to prove that the world still needs Fairy Godmothers. She finds a letter from a 10 year-old-girl named Mackenzie (Isla Fisher), who now happens to be a 40-year-old single mother who has been down on her luck at her job at a news station and also having lost her husband. Can Eleanor prove that a “happily ever after” exists in this world when Mackenzie has lost the faith and also doesn’t want Eleanor meddling in her life? GODMOTHERED also stars Santiago Cabrera, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Jane Curtin, June Squibb, Jillian Shea Spaeder, Willa Skye, Artemis Pebdani, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Stephnie Weir.

We had the joy of chatting with the Cast of GODMOTHERED in a virtual press conference featuring Bell, Fisher, Curtin, Spaeder, Skye, Pebdani, Ambudkar and Cabrera.

At the center of GODMOTHERED is a message of hope, challenging us to expand our idea of love and the “happily ever after”. The Cast is asked about the importance of this today.

Fisher: “For younger girls watching, happily ever after doesn’t have to include a castle, a prince and a dress. It can be things you have in your life, your work.”.

Curtin: “I think it represents the world today and that it’s not 1860 anymore. Happily ever after is what you want, what you believe and it’s a goal that you can achieve on your own if you want it and you believe that you can get it. It’s not reliant on magic. It’s reliant on you and your spirit. We are capable of such amazing and positive things for ourselves and others.”.

The Film hints at a message of inclusion, challenging the gender norms of a Fairy Godmother, particularly in an animated sequence at the end.

Bell: “I teared-up and actually got to see a one-sheet of all the Fairy Godmothers. I wrote back and and asked ‘Is that a boy or non-binary person?’. Either way I’m excited. This is progressive and inclusive and will make someone feel seen. And if we can do that in a big Disney movie, that’s a beautiful thing.”.

Santiago Cabrera plays Hugh, a co-worker of Mackenzie‘s and also a potential love interest. He normally plays more serious roles with a body of work that includes Heroes, Big Little Lies, Dexter and Merlin. He’s asked why he chose this more light-hearted role.

Cabrera: “I loved it wasn’t your typical prince. It was like Prince Charming in quotes, the underdog. I loved the part where he was the guy who wanted to be a serious journalist who wanted to report on important stories and news but was last in the ratings. Instead, he’s on a sensationalist morning show being abused by his boss and that kind of stuff. It had a lot of fun elements to it. You always want to change things up – opportunities come to do something different, go for it!”.

We asked the Cast about the experience of working with Sharon Maguire who manages to sprinkle some of that heartfeltness and whimsicality we saw in the Bridget Jones films, also in GODMOTHERED.

Curtin: “I’d never worked with Sharon before and I had a lovely time working with her. She’s very exact and she likes to do many takes, but she gets interesting things out of people. I thought it was fun working with Sharon.”.

Spaeder: “It was cool working with a female Director!”.

Bell: “I was such a fan of Bridget Jones and I was so excited to work with her. One of the first things she did was which I loved was get Isla and I together alone – and this is going to sound creepy (Fisher laughs) – in a hotel room. We got together and just started improvising, playing around and that set the tone for Isla and I to be playful with each other and go in knowing each other because I already knew Utkarsh because we’ve now done two movies together, but I didn’t know Isla or anyone else. But that was really nice. I really appreciated that.”.

Fisher despite having had much experience in her catalog of work, admits that she still feels some insecurities going to set.

Fisher: “It’s nerve-wrecking. I feel like everyone’s gonna realize I’m miscast. I sometimes show up with an idea and it gets thrown out the window. It’s like being new at school. You just want to do a really good job and try your best. You also have a lot of new people to meet and names to forget.”.

The Film is set in Boston, known affectionately as “Beantown“, which was a homecoming of sorts for Curtin.

Curtin: “I grew-up there. It was like going home. I loved riding to work every morning with those guys. It was like being home.”.

We also casually mentioned that our new puppy’s name is beanie, fitting since the Film is set in Beantown and there were plenty of smiles to be had!

The Cast is asked what wishes they’d want a Fairy Godmother to grant them right now.

Curtin: “I’d love for us to have a vaccine and go back to normal living. Or should we answer in fun ways?”.

Bell: “I want to be able to hug these lovely people. Isla was talking about getting all together and having a Cast party. We wrapped a couple days earlier that we were supposed to and never got to do that!”

One scene-stealer in the Movie is Gary the magical raccoon. Spaeder and Skye whom play Mackenzie‘s daughters Jane and Mia respectively, are asked what they would ask him to do if they had him in real life. Ambudkar, who plays Mackenzie’s boss also gets asked the question.

Skye: “I’d get him to make me a Smore because that’s my favourite dessert. He would clean my room for me defintely. And do my homework.”.

Spaeder: “I’d have him do my laundry. I’m 18 and I’m gonna pass myself off as an adult and do my own laundry but here I am passing it off to a magical raccoon.”.

Ambudkar: “Oh yeah, just started feeding our son solids so it’s harrowing. I know this is a Disney movie, but if you want to watch a Horror movie, just come to my house at 3 AM every night. I have a screaming banshee of a son who’s dropping bombs. Gary if you’re listening, help me out. I’m sleep-deprived!”.

Another scene-stealer in GODMOTHERED is the adorable pig whom we believe Eleanor had turned the family dog into.

Fisher: “It would go over the top of our dialogue. A screaming pig ruining our lines, right Jillian?”

Skye: “She had one temper tantrum in the middle of the scene!”.

Bell: “I feel like she had a different Script than the rest of us. She had different cues and exits.”.

Spaeder: “They’d yell ‘action!’ and she’d squeal until they yelled ‘cut!'”.

Watch the entire Press Conference here:

GODMOTHERED arrives on Disney+ Friday, December 4, 2020.

(Photo/video credit: Disney)

#FIRSTLOOK: “THE DIG” NEW TRAILER

Check-out these brand-new stills from THE DIG, coming soon to Netflix!

Synopsis:

As WWII looms, a wealthy widow hires an amateur archaeologist to excavate the burial mounds on her estate. When they make a historic discovery, the echoes of Britain’s past resonate in the face of its uncertain future‎.

Cast: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin, Ken Stott, Archie Barnes, Monica Dolan

See the Trailer:

THE DIG is coming soon to Netflix January 29, 2021.

(Photo credit: Netflix)

#FIRSTOOK: NEW CBC GEM SERIES “FOR THE RECORD”

A new six episode series is coming to CBC GEM called FOR THE RECORD. Each episode centers around one centerpiece song from Universal Music‘s catalog of hits, including a track by Canadian YouTube sensation Johnny Orlando!

Synopsis:

Ray and Angela just broke up. What if the iconic songs we all know and love had the power to bring them back together? Follow the interconnected people, stories & music that mend their broken hearts.

See the Trailer here.

Episode 1

Title: Splitsville
Centrepiece song: Wouldn’t It Be Nice By The Beach Boys
Synopsis: Ray and Angela just broke up. They’ve just got one thing left to do together: divvy up their prized record collection. One album, Pet Sounds, proves to be non-negotiable, leading the couple to unearth the pain and bitterness that drove them apart.
Director: Lisa Baylin (Guidestones, Save Me) & Julian De Zotti (Suits, Transplant)
Actors: Anna Hopkins (The Expanse, Shadowhunters, Bad Blood), Julian De Zotti

Episode 2

Title: The Broken Hearts Tour
Centrepiece song: Phobias by Johnny Orlando
Synopsis: Angela spends Christmas with her niece Madison, who is desperate to meet her “soulmate”: the real-life pop star Johnny Orlando. But cynical Angela is hellbent on teaching this tween “stan” that love is a lie. Only Johnny Orlando himself can prove her wrong.
Director: Dane Clark & Linsey Stewart (Mr D, Bickford Park)
Actors: guest starring Johnny Orlando, Anna Hopkins, Alexandra Beaton (The Next Step, Hardy Boys), Moni Ogunsuyi, Julian De Zotti, Callum Maudsley

Episode 3

Title: Dinner Music
Centrepiece song: Redemption Song by Bob Marley
Synopsis: Ray’s new girlfriend Sara wants him to meet her parents. Over a dinner of traditional oxtail stew cooked by the “woke” Ray, they all get into a battle royale about cultural appropriation in music when he plays a Bob Marley protest song during the meal.
Director: Sudz Sutherland (Ginny & Georgia, Batwoman)
Actors: Julian De Zotti, Moni Ogunsuyi, Maurice Dean Wint (Lead in new Syfy series The Surrealtor), Karen LeBlanc (Guest Star of Lovecraft Country).

Episode 4

Title: Climax
Centrepiece song: I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd
Synopsis: Stefan is a charismatic pastor, eligible bachelor and devoted disciple of The Weeknd who goes through a crisis of faith when he engages in a passionate affair.
Director: Sudz Sutherland 
Actors: Lyriq Bent (Power, The Affair), Kira Clavell, Phil Borg, Maurice Dean Wint, Karen LeBlanc.

Episode 5

Title: That Twilight Queer Love Affair
Centrepiece song: I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone
Synopsis: Recent widow Joy is about to turn 70. On the eve of her birthday she meets Fiona, a Nerds 4 Hire employee, and they strike up an unlikely friendship thanks to Nina Simone.
Director: Theresa Rebeck (The 355, Smash)
Actors: Alannah Ong, Theresa Tova, Uni Park, Kira Clavell, Phil Borg, Neil Lu 

Episode 6

Title: The Drop
Centrepiece song: Stars Tonight by Zeds Dead
Synopsis: Rain is attending her annual Zeds Dead EDM festival pilgrimage. She’s also 8 months pregnant. Don’t judge! When she goes into labour, there’s only one person there to assist her: Ray, itching to get back together with his first love, Angela.
Director: Matt Eastman (Ming’s Dynasty, Whatever Linda)
Actors: Justine Nelson, Julian De Zotti, Theresa Tova, Anna Hopkins, Olivia Mata, Martha Lucia Rodriguez, Melissa McNerney, Brynn Chamblee, Manuel Bonilla, Miguel Bonilla, Vicki Perry, Tashi Simmons, Alice Forsanari, Mason Tanner Hassenplug

FOR THE RECORD streams on CBC GEM December 11, 2020.

(Photo/video credit: CBC Gem)

#GIVEAWAY: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT HOLIDAY MOVIE PRIZE PACK!

Paramount Home Enterainment x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win this amazing Holiday Blu-ray Prize Pack!

The amazingu Prize Pack includes:

1. It’s A Wonderful Life 4K UHD/Blu-ray
2. Scrooged Blu-ray
3. Planes, Trains & Automobiles Blu-ray
4. Sonic The Hedgehog Collector’s Edition Blu-ray
5. Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone Blu-ray
6. Trading Places Blu-ray
7. Office Christmas Party Blu-ray         

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. You can share this Post on Facebook from there or Re-Tweet this Contest below for another chance:

Enter for a chance to #win this amazing @paramountmovies Holiday Movie Prize Pack including:

How: https://t.co/PYnyjrFRGO! pic.twitter.com/dvVPzSIjQz

— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) December 2, 2020

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(Photo/video credit: Paramount Home Entertainment)

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW TRAILER FOR “THE MAURITANIAN”

Coming to theatres next February, here is the brand-new Trailer for Kevin Macdonald’s THE MAURITANIAN.

Synopsis:

Captured by the U.S. Government, Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim) languishes in prison for years without charge or trial. Losing all hope, Slahi finds allies in defense attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley). Together they face countless obstacles in a desperate pursuit for justice. Their controversial advocacy, along with evidence uncovered by formidable military prosecutor, Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch), eventually reveals a shocking and far reaching conspiracy. Based on the New York Times best-selling memoir, this is the explosive true story of a fight for survival against all odds.

See the Trailer:

Elevation Pictures release THE MAURITANIAN February 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

#GIVEAWAY: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN DIGITAL DOWNLOAD OF ELEVATION PICTURES RELEASES “STARDUST”, “THE NEW CORPORATION” AND “AMMONITE”

Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win digital downloads of some exciting new releases, available this week digitally!

STARDUST (AVAILABLE ON-DEMAND AND IN SELECT THEATRES)

Singer David Bowie reinvents himself as Ziggy Stardust while touring America to promote his new album “The Man Who Sold the World.”

THE NEW CORPORATION (AVAILABLE DECEMBER 1, 2020)

A documentary that exposes how companies are desperately rebranding as socially responsible – and how that threatens democratic freedoms.

AMMONITE (AVAILABLE DECEMBER 4, 2020)

1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) and a young woman (Saoirse Ronan) sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.

Read our chat with Director Francis Lee here.

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. In the comments, please advise which titles you are interested in entering for. Re-Tweet this Tweet below also for an extra chance. You must be following.

Enter for a chance to #win Digital Downloads of new @Elevation_Pics releases STARDUST, THE NEW CORPORATION and AMMONITE, all out this week digitally!

Details: https://t.co/XOfxz929iS pic.twitter.com/6XYAh7uEF8

— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) November 30, 2020

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(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

Ammonite stardust The New Corporation