Disney Parks is showing its commitment to help develop the talent of tomorrow! 21 members (from 13 countries) from their GIRL UP Program, including twin sisters Maryam and Nivaal Rehman from Whitby, Ontario will have their Short Films featured in their #DREAMBIGPRINCESS Video Series. The Sisters are the only Canadians chosen. The GIRL UP Program is designed to empower the next generation by spotlighting young female trailblazers!

Every like or share these videos get, garners a $1 US donation from Disney Worldwide Services to GIRL UP, a United Nations Foundation program, in support of girls’ leadership and empowerment.

Some of the influencial women who are part of the #DREAMBIGPRINCESS Series:

· Asmaa Boujibar – Research scientist and the first Moroccan woman in history to join NASA Johnson Space Center.
· Ashima Narain – Photographer, filmmaker and former photo editor for National Geographic Traveler India.
· Blanca Treviño – President and CEO of Softtek, the leading IT services company in Latin America, champion for entrepreneurialism, IT and the role of women in business.
· Emily Blunt – Golden Globe Award-winning actress and star of upcoming Disney movies Mary Poppins Returns and Jungle Cruise.
· Celina Caesar-Chavannes – Canadian member of Parliament who served as Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister of Canada.
· Jennifer Lee – Chief creative officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, writer and co-director of Disney’s Frozen for which she won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
· Jo Malone CBE – Founder and creative director of Jo Loves, responsible for creating some of the world’s most-loved fragrances, awarded a CBE in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honors List for her services to the British Economy and the GREAT Britain campaign.
· Karen Jonz – Brazilian skateboarder, designer and musician who won the 2008 X Games women’s vertical and the World Cup Skateboarding Championship four times, first Brazilian to win the title of World Champion.
· Karen Walker – Designer with a global, multimillion-dollar eponymous fashion label, awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to fashion design in 2014.
· Kathleen Kennedy – Film producer and president of Lucasfilm, has produced more than 60 films, including three of the highest-grossing movies in motion picture history.
· Leia Mi – Art director for Shanghai Disneyland who creates concept designs and provides art direction for Shanghai Disney Resort, was a creative designer at Walt Disney Imagineering.
· Maria Teresa Ruiz – Chilean astronomer, the first woman to study astronomy at the University of Chile, the first female scientist to receive a PhD in astrophysics from Princeton University and the first woman to receive Chile’s National Prize for Exact Sciences.
· Martina Stoessel – Actress and singer who played the leading role on the internationally successful Disney Channel telenovela Violetta, first Argentine singer to reach one million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours for her single “Te Quiero Mas.”
· Monica Lopez Hidalgo – Accomplished professor and researcher of neuroscience, one of the winners of the L’Oréal Unesco Conacyt AMC 2017 Scholarships for Women in Science for her research on the deterioration of cognitive functions related to age.
· Dr. Ndifanji Namacha – Medical doctor and assistant lecturer of public health, Malaria No More UK youth ambassador, delivered a keynote speech at the 2018 Malaria Summit in London.
· Paola Carosella – Award-winning chef and restaurateur, opened her first restaurant in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2001, has appeared as a judge on MasterChef Brazil since 2014.
· Robin Roberts – Award-winning broadcaster and co-anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America.
· Susan Prescott – Vice president of product marketing at Apple with more than 25 years of experience in the computing industry.
· Virginie Delalande – Founder of Handicapower, first deaf person to become a lawyer in France.
· Victoria Arlen – Accomplished motivational speaker, actress, model and swimmer, won three Silver medals and a Gold medal from the London 2012 Paralympic Games, joined ESPN as one of the company’s youngest on-air talents.

International Day of the Girl is October 11, 2018.

More here on the campaign and also some of the selected videos!

(Photo credit: Disney)

By George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong

For the first time ever in Canada, Sony Centre for the Performing Arts will be the home to CASINO ROYALE IN CONCERT on October 11 and 12, 2018. The audience will be able to experience the James Bond experience accompanied by the power of a full symphony Orchestra performing live and in-sync with the Film. Best known as Daniel Craig’s debut as the heroic and dashing 007, this promises to be an exciting, not-to-be-missed opportunity. I had the great fortune to meet and chat with the Conductor, Evan Mitchell, who comes to the project with an impressive resume and credentials. Not only was he the Musical Director of the Kingston Symphony Association for three years, he also led orchestral collaborations with the Barenaked Ladies, Judy Collins and Pink Martini. Needless to say, my first question was how daunting it was to conduct an Orchestra as the Movie screens and how many times he’s watched CASINO ROYALE.

“You don’t want to know how many times I watched the Movie!”, Mitchell answered with a smile and went on to explain that it is the most time-consuming of the projects he takes-on and it took him a while to realize that he must “lose control” and “let the musicians play themselves”. He added, “The upside is that conducting a pre-established Score is consistent, but the downside is that it is relentless.”. He enjoyed the work and effort it took to ensure everything is in-sync. The more he watched the Movie, the more he saw when and where the live music goes “off-track”.

As to putting his own stamp on the Score, Mitchell explained that Action Movies are harder to work with as there is a constant drive and energy that must be addressed appropriately when compared to the more emotional, quieter sequences and narratives where the Music “can lag second or two behind.”. The many “smash cuts” in CASINO ROYALE made the experience daunting and rewarding. He loved the portions of the Movie that featured actress Eva Greene as the Music was more lyrical and she even had her own theme. “I had a little more room to play”, he explained.

When asked how different this Project was as opposed to his musical collaborations with artists, Mitchell explained, “With Artists like Judy Collins, Pink Martini and the Barenaked Ladies, you are there to support their visions and they are leading the charge. That said, there are adjustments all over the place. With Film, there are no adjustments. The inflexibility is more of a challenge, but also more rewarding.”.

I asked Mitchell what the audience should be expecting from this Concert. He says, “First of all, CASINO ROYALE is a great Film. It’s my favourite Bond movie starring Daniel Craig. They will see an excellent Film with an excellent Score and they will be drawn into the Music. It will heighten all of the action. You will also forget that there is a live Orchestra playing and that is the magic too.”.

I could not end our chat without asking what his favourite Bond movie. We talked about what a huge fan is he of Daniel Craig in all of his Movies and especially how “you can see in his eyes the turmoil he is going through” and how beautifully the relationship between Bond and M (played by Judi Dench) is portrayed. Whereas Mitchell confessed to not seeing all the Bond movies in the Series, he has a soft spot for GOLDENEYE (“It’s Brosnan’s best!”). He added that he believes that “Eva Greene is the best Actress to play a Bond girl, next to Rosamund Pike.”.

Mitchell’s enthusiasm for CASINO ROYALE IN CONCERT was infectious and I personally cannot wait to experience what promises to be an exciting and invigorating night at the theatre.

More on this and how to get tickets here.

Still recovering from seeing the first Adaptation when we were young. Check-out the new Poster for PET SEMATARY.

SYNOPSIS:

Based on the seminal horror novel by Stephen King, Pet Sematary follows Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), who, after relocating with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two young children from Boston to rural Maine, discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near the family’s new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his unusual neighbor, Jud Crandall (John Lithgow), setting off a perilous chain reaction that unleashes an unfathomable evil with horrific consequences.

See the Artwork:

Trailer below:

PET SEMATARY is in theatres on Friday, April 5, 2019.

(Photo credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

Two-time Academy Award winner and Film/Television icon Sally Field made a rare visit to Toronto tonight. While she undisputedly is a star of the screen having starred in classics like Steel Magnolias, Mrs. Doubtfire, Matters of the Heart and Norma Jean, she visits to promote her Memoir, IN PIECES. The Book is a culmination of seven years’ worth of writing without the intention of her words ever been seen. Field appeared before an intimate audience at Indigo Manulife Centre  in a conversation moderated by Indigo Chapters Chair & CEO Heather Reisman.

She reveals that following the passing of her mother Margaret Field back in 2011, something had been bothering her and the writings that would become this Book, were an opportunity for her finally to understand her mother. “I had do find out what was gnawing on me, so I pulled out all the pieces and put them on the table to see if I could put together something I couldn’t see before. I didn’t even know the question I was asking.”. Fields adds, “It was something terribly unsettling. Where am I going and the whole time never thinking it was a book that would be accomplished or anyone else looking at it but me. In those seven years, I focused and it became an obsession to learn a new craft.  To learn through some of the tools and techniques I had learned to be an actor that I applied in trying to learn this extraordinary world of words that I’ve always been in profound awe of.”.  She compiled letters and unread reviews as long as 40 years ago and putting her story together. “Don’t throw it away”, she told herself, “Some day you’ll want to piece yourself together and you’ll need this piece to do it.”.

The Book touches upon candidly, her talent and drive always to be better as an Actress. At 72 years of age, she still is mastering her craft, set to take the stage at London’s Old Vic in the new year. Courageously she talks about having endured abusive relationships with partners and her stepfather. Field says, “I wrote this seven years ago, long before #METOO. I think it’s spectacular and I hope that we keep going on to see what happens on the other side of rage and outage. My attempt was to look how at these childhood patterns that get so ingrained in you that they lead you for the rest of your life.”. “All of us as adults, our task is to understand what those childhood patterns were, whether we came from an abusive, traumatic childhood or what we thought was a nice childhood. We have to try to to detanglize, get it out of the way and leave it there so that we can move on as adults.”.

On her stepfather, she recalls “I was terrified to be swept off the ground by a man I didn’t know. He was loud and boisterous. And laughed at my face in a jovial way. As a tiny child even then I could hear the unspoken dialogue. Mom would be, ‘Don’t you cry. I need you to like him. I need this to work out well’. And he needed me to be in his arms. Everyone was looking at me and paying attention to me, especially when my own dad treated me like I didn’t exist.”. “Even as a tiny child, I was taught conflicting emotions at the same time. Danger and love – they get wired together so that the only way I could identify being loved was feeling threatened.”.

See some Snaps below. Tap left and right arrows to navigate slideshow:

Only about 200 fans were lucky enough to meet Field who in addition to signing copies of her Book, took her time graciously chatting with every single one of her fans and taking photos with them.

More on the Memoir here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

D Films x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to see SHARKWATER: EXTINCTION! Screenings are as follows:

Toronto 15-Oct 7PM Scotiabank
Winnipeg 15-Oct 7PM Scotiabank
Victoria 17-Oct 7PM SilverCity
Edmonton 17-Oct 7PM Scotiabank

Synopsis:
Sharkwater: Extinction (2018) is a thrilling and inspiring action packed journey that follows filmmaker Rob Stewart as he exposes the massive illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it — a conspiracy that is leading to the extinction of sharks. From West Africa, Spain, Panama, Costa Rica, France, and even in our own backyard, Stewart’s third film dives into the often violent underworld of the pirate fishing trade to expose a multi-billion dollar industry. Shark finning is still rampant, shark fin soup is still being consumed on an enormous scale, and endangered sharks are now also being used to make products for human consumption.

See the Trailer:

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK and indicate your City there!

D Films release SHARKWATER: EXTINCTION Friday, October 19, 2018.

(Photo/video credit: D Films)

Presenting a new Trailer for OVERLORD, from mega-producer J. J. Abrams!

SYNOPSIS:
With only hours until D-Day, a team of American paratroopers drop into Nazi-occupied France to carry out a mission that’s crucial to the invasion’s success. Tasked with destroying a radio transmitter atop a fortified church, the desperate soldiers join forces with a young French villager to penetrate the walls and take down the tower. But, in a mysterious Nazi lab beneath the church, the outnumbered G.I.s come face-to-face with enemies unlike any the world has ever seen. From producer J.J. Abrams, Overlord is a thrilling, pulse-pounding action adventure with a twist.

See the Trailer:

OVERLORD is in theatres and IMAX on November 9, 2018.

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

We remember spending our New Year’s Day going hardcore on this and we cannot wait to do it all again! A release date has been set for long-awaited MAKING A MURDERER: PART 2.

Synopsis:
“Steven and Brendan, their families and their legal and investigative teams have once again graciously granted us access, giving us a window into the complex web of American criminal justice,” said executive producers, writers and directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos. “Building on Part 1, which documented the experience of the accused, in Part 2, we have chronicled the experience of the convicted and imprisoned, two men each serving life sentences for crimes they maintain they did not commit. We are thrilled to be able to share this new phase of the journey with viewers.”

Part 2 introduces viewers to Kathleen Zellner, Avery’s hard-charging postconviction lawyer, in her fight to prove that Avery was wrongly convicted and win his freedom. Ricciardi and Demos follow Zellner, who has righted more wrongful convictions than any private attorney in America, as she tirelessly works the case and uncovers unexpected evidence about what may have happened to Teresa Halbach and about how and why the jury convicted Steven of her murder.

See the new Trailer:

Artwork:

Netflix Canada stream MAKING OF A MURDERER: PART 2 Friday, October 18, 2018.

(Photo credit: Netflix)

At the height of her popularity, opinionated Funnywoman Chelsea Handler stepped away from her popular eponymous Netflix Series to focus on activism and understanding how it is that Americans elected Donald Trump. She even professed on Twitter she would become a Canadian had he been elected and Canadians still are waiting.

The Liberal Feminist herself has teamed with modern Cannabis culture publication CIVILIZED in a series of conversations moderated by Founder Derek Riedle where audience members are encouraged to ask questions in a Town Hall format. The Tour has taken her from Calgary to Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa and tonight, Toronto’s Elgin Theatre.

Handler, who is a self-professed Cannabis connoisseur, having experimented with it more particularly in this Trump era. She reveals that she consumes just enough for that lift to help her be at her most productive. She since has found inspiration to pen an upcoming book and Documentary and attributes this to incorporating Cannabis consumption.

After saddening news today of Brett Kavanaugh being sworn-in today as Supreme Court Justice, she tells the audience, “This is an embarrassing time for America. It is important for us to keep saying it as it is a normalization of the conversation. America is run by a minority not a majority. In fact, a majority think what’s going on is bullshit. It’s better to be histrionic and freaking-out than be surprised.” . She notes voter engagement is at an all-time high right now in advance of Midterm Elections, meaning all this rabble-rousing isn’t in vain.

Riedle asks Handler what she thinks Canadians think about Trump. She asks the room, “Don’t you guys have a couple Ford brothers?. They are the pinnacle of White Privilege – a former crackhead getting elected. Only a white man could get away with it because a coloured person wouldn’t!” .

Handler‘s burning need to know how America could elect Trump has taken her on the road to places like Ohio and she found often people want things the way they were before. She has observed, “It is a lot of people who lose something they’ve had all their lives. For example, coal jobs which are destroying the environment. These people are not thinking of the future of their daughters and granddaughters. They feel something is being taken away rather than picking-up new skills. We are dealing with idiocy.” .

She recalls at age 19 wanting nothing more than to be as far away from her family as possible. While success came finally after about seven years of hard work as a Comedian, she recalled never being hungry. She says, “I was thinking about myself all the time. I am an Elitist and had the luxury of success. Many people in our country are not afforded that. I am so embarrassed that finally I got it at age 40.”.

During the Q&A portion of the Talk, she was propositioned by one fan to go to a gay bar with him and his friends and even seduced by one lesbian fan to meet her in an alley way. One fan asked how she justifies Canadians wanting to visit the U.S. in this era of Trump. Handler who has visited Canada multiple times over the past while including Banff, gave a surprising response not come to the U.S. right now in order to make a statement.

See some Snaps:

See who we spotted later that night heading into WESLODGE! Some of their famous Southern Fried Chicken, perhaps?

Handler next is Halifax-bound.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

A smear campaign, nor critical panning could stop Marvel’s VENOM from taking the top of the Box Office this weekend. The Blockbuster starring Tom Hardy opens on-top with a stellar $80 million for Sony Pictures from 4,250 theatres across North America. It also gets 31% on the Tomatometer and much better B+ CinemaScore from Audiences.

By no means disgraced, A STAR IS BORN opens in second spot with an excellent $42.2 million from 3,686 theatres for Warner Bros.  The directorial debut from Star and Writer Bradley Cooper gets unanimous praise out of the Festival circuit with 91% on the Tomatometer and an A CinemaScore from Audiences. It is seen as an Oscar Frontrunner at this point, getting a head start on Awards Season.

SMALLFOOT earns $14.5 million in its second week out for Warner Bros., a total $42.2 million gross over two weeks domestically.

NIGHT SCHOOL, last week’s #1 Movie, slips to fourth with $11.9 million for Universal Pictures, a total $39.1 million in two weeks.

THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS is in fifth this weekend with $7 million, bringing it to $54.7 million in its third week for Universal Pictures.

CRAZY RICH ASIANS shows incredibly longevity in eighth with $2.1 million for Warner Bros., now in its eighth week out. It is just shy of $170 million to date in these parts.

THE PREDATOR rounds-out the Top Ten with $900k for 20th Century Fox, a total $49 million over four weeks.

This looks incredible! Introducing Christian Bale as Dick Cheney! Check-out this Trailer for VICE from Adam McKay.

Synopsis:
VICE explores the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice-President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.

VICE stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Tyler Perry, Bill Pullman, Alison Pill and Lisa Gay Hamilton, directed by Adam McKay.

See the Trailer:

eOne Films release VICE, in theatres this Christmas.

(Photo/video credit: eOne Films)