#FIRSTLOOK: “LA MAQUINA” COMING TO DISNEY+ THIS OCTOBER

Today, Disney+ announced that Original limited series “La Máquina” starring Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Eiza González will premiere with all six episodes on October 9, 2024 exclusively on Disney+ in Canada.

After a devastating loss, Esteban “La Máquina” Osuna (Gael García Bernal) is at a low point in his boxing career. Lucky for him, his manager and best friend Andy Lujan (Diego Luna) is determined to get him back on top. But when a nefarious organization rears its head, the stakes of this rematch become life or death. While struggling to mount a comeback, Esteban must also juggle his own personal demons and protect his family, including his ex-wife Irasema (Eiza González), a journalist who finds herself on a collision course with the dark side of the boxing world.

The series stars Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Eiza González, Jorge Perugorría, Andrés Delgado, Karina Gidi, Dariam Coco, and Lucía Méndez.

“La Máquina” is produced by Searchlight Television, and Gael García Bernal (“Y tu mamá también,” “Coco”) and Diego Luna’s (“Y tu mamá también,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Pan y Circo,” “Andor”) banner La Corriente del Golfo, and will stream on Disney’s DTC platforms. Marco Ramirez (“Daredevil”) serves as executive producer and showrunner, with Bernal, Luna, Gerardo Gatica, Leandro Halperín, Adam Fishbach, and Kyzza Terrazas onboard as executive producers. Gabriel Ripstein (“600 Miles,” “An Unknown Enemy”) will direct.

Robust parental controls ensure that Disney+ remains a suitable viewing experience for everyone in the family. Subscribers can set access limits on mature content and create PIN-protected profiles alongside the already existing Junior Mode profiles to give parents and guardians peace of mind.

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW TRAILER FOR “SPIRIT UNTAMED”

Check-out the new Trailer for SPIRIT UNTAMED!

Synopsis:

An epic adventure about a headstrong girl longing for a place to belong who discovers a kindred spirit when her life intersects with a wild horse, Spirit Untamed is the next chapter in the beloved story from DreamWorks Animation. 

Lucky Prescott (Isabela Merced, Dora and the Lost City of Gold) never really knew her late mother, Milagro Navarro (Eiza González, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), a fearless horse-riding stunt performer from Miradero, a small town on the edge of the wide-open frontier. 

Like her mother, Lucky isn’t exactly a fan of rules and restrictions, which has caused her Aunt Cora (Academy Award® winner Julianne Moore) no small amount of worry. Lucky has grown up in an East Coast city under Cora’s watchful eye, but when Lucky presses her own luck with one too many risky escapades, Cora picks up stakes and moves them both back with Lucky’s father, Jim (Oscar® nominee Jake Gyllenhaal), in Miradero.

Lucky is decidedly unimpressed with the sleepy little town. She has a change of heart when she meets Spirit, a wild Mustang who shares her independent streak, and befriends two local horseback riders, Abigail Stone (Mckenna Grace, Captain Marvel) and Pru Granger (Marsai Martin, Little). Pru’s father, stable owner Al Granger (Emmy winner Andre Braugher, Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine), is the best friend of Lucky’s father. 

When a heartless horse wrangler (Emmy nominee Walton Goggins, FX’s Justified) and his team plan to capture Spirit and his herd and auction them off to a life of captivity and hard labor, Lucky enlists her new friends and bravely embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse who has given her freedom and a sense of purpose, and has helped Lucky discover a connection to her mother’s legacy and to her Mexican heritage that she never expected. 

Spirit Untamed is the next chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s beloved franchise that began with the 2002 Oscar-nominated film Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron and includes an Emmy-winning TV series. The film is directed by Elaine Bogan (Netflix and DreamWorks Animation Television’s Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia) and is produced by Karen Foster (co-producer, How to Train Your Dragon). The film’s co-director is Ennio Torresan (head of story, The Boss Baby), and the film’s score is by composer Amie Doherty (Amazon’s Undone, DreamWorks Animation’s Marooned).

See the Trailer:

SPIRIT UNTAMED arrives in theatres June 4, 2021 via Universal Pictures Canada.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

#TIFF20: “I CARE A LOT”

By Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

J Blakeson’s dark Thriller follows a legal Conservator with insidious intentions. Marla (Rosamund Pike), along with her life and work partner Fran (Eiza González), have created a despicable business of defrauding their elderly clients. Their newest target is the rich and unassuming  Jennifer (Dianne Wiest). After lying to a judge in an emergency hearing, claiming Jennifer has Dementia, Marla gains guardianship of her. However, Jennifer isn’t who she appears to be. Marla and Fran quickly realize they are messing with the wrong woman.

This could have been a Drama about seniors being taken advantage of by the state and appointed guardians. But thankfully, it’s a lot more than that. Blakeson adds a mafia storyline which turns this Drama into a Thriller.

At the forefront is Pike  who delivers her best work since Gone Girl.  She excels as the icy Marla. Being an Antagonist, she finds herself battling against an Antagonist of her own, that being Crime Lord (Peter Dinklage) who has close ties with Jennifer. Dinklage is outstanding as a Gangster who will stop at nothing to get his mother back and away from Marla‘s control. The Film’s shining moment is when Pike and Dinklage come face-to-face and we witness their shifts in power.

I Care A Lot is a cautionary tale about the corrupt web of elderly abuse. We don’t get to see these feminist characters as this in leading roles nearly enough, but we sure wish we did.

I Care A Lot screens at TIFF ’20 as follows:

Sat, Sep 12 9:30pm
RBC Lakeside Drive-In at Ontario Place

Sun, Sep 13 6:00pm
Online at Bell Digital Cinema