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Dwayne Johnson commands the whole screen in Central Intelligence with his blend of power and navet, purpose and bewilderment. He and Kevin Hart have a bluff comic chemistry. Amy Ryan is quickly resonant in a deadpan role, and the script offers a surprisingly unforced amiability, emotional clarity, and deft espionage entanglements. Yet it isnt enough.
The problem with Central Intelligence is that its an action comedythe story of a C.I.A. agent, named Bob Stone (Johnson), who recruits a former high-school classmate, Calvin Joyner (Hart), a mild-mannered accountant, to help him crack a case that quickly turns violent. And the problem with the action is that its filled with what, in a grim oxymoron, would be called gunplay.
It isnt just the massacre in Orlando last weekend that puts the violence of Central Intelligence in the spotlight. The script is constructed so as to put shoot-outs into the foreground and push the director, Rawson Marshall Thurber (who co-wrote the script with Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen), into strategic terrain that isnt his strength. As a result, the movies authentic comedic energy and emotional connections are dissipated nearly from the start, leaving most of the film to be viewed as if on two parallel tracksone featuring its essential virtues and the other its dully conventional development.
Central Intelligence starts at a commencement assembly in a high-school gym, in 1996. Bobthen known as Robby Wierdich (pronounced weird d**k)was fat, awkward, sentimental, and bullied; Calvin, then nicknamed the Golden Jet, was the exuberant and multitalented class president, named most likely to succeed. At the ceremony, Robby is horrifically humiliated, and Calvin alone comes to his aid.
Twenty years later, Calvin is an unhappy, only modestly successful accountant, married to his high-school sweetheart, Maggie (Danielle Nicolet), a law-firm partner. Its the day before their twenty-year high-school reunion; Maggie plans to go, but Calvin cant face his classmates as the failure he takes himself to be. Out of the blue, hes contacted by Bob, who invites him for a drink. Calvins shocked to see the formerly unathletic and flabby Robby now heavily muscled and a master of martial artsa skill that quickly comes in handy, in a bar fight.
In the course of the evening, Bob discloses that hes a secret agent attempting to thwart a nefarious plot, by the so-called Black Badger, to steal and sell the complete list of U.S. undercover agents, and he needs Calvins forensic-accounting skills to help make sense of a spreadsheet filled with data. But, while Bob is visiting Calvin at the accounting office, a trio of agents, headed by Pamela Harris (Ryan), arrives and, declaring that Bob is actually a rogue agent who himself has stolen the list, tries to arrest both him and Calvin. After some ridiculous gunplay, Bob, with Calvin in tow, makes a dramatic escape, and the rest of the film is devoted to a double chaseBob and Calvin have to elude the C.I.A. while heading off in pursuit of the Black Badger.
The very essence of the story is the comedy of violence, and Central Intelligence offers plenty of it. Theres nothing funny about car crashes, plane crashes, Tasers, torture, or even a punch in the nose, but when theyre done as comedy theyre physical comedy in the literal sense of making a connection between bodies or between objects, to render what would be mirthless events as parodistic through choreography. With guns, its different. Guns present danger at a distance, with little action at hand beside ducking, diving, sliding, pointing, running, and reloading, which are, for the most part, cinematic clichs piled atop one another in a rapid montage. Of course, with some unusual directorial invention, something comedic can be done, but thats rarely achieved. The effect of a bullet is generally so devastating that it allows little for a director to play with (although one of the cleverest scenes in the movie, involving a superficial bullet wound, sends the story careening off into strange directions and the emotional stakes shifting). Even Brian De Palma doesnt do much more with a shoot-out than Thurber does. (It would be worth looking back at the history of cinema to see who does; the first filmmaker who comes to mind is Howard Hawks, in Scarface.)
The films triple backstoryinvolving the high-school reunion, Calvin and Bobs enduring traumas over their high-school identities, and resulting trouble between Maggie and Calvinyields occasional comedic delight, the highlight of which is a marriage-therapy session, in which Bob makes an unexpected appearance. Harts verbal rapidity and sense of timing set even dull lines ricocheting sharply, but Calvin isnt the center of the action. The emotional kick delivered by the elaborate, rickety setup comes mainly from Johnsons remarkable performance. The bold and mighty Bob is still as much of an awkward sentimentalist as he was in high school, and Johnson does deft work balancing both sides of the character with quizzical facial expressions and diction. Despite Bobs achievements (or his audacities), the C.I.A. agent still carries around the impacted pain of his adolescence. The plot point may be a commonplace, but Johnson manages to lend it a spontaneous, nave resonance.
Johnson and Ryan are movie stars, and they give lessons here in what that means: even in a minor movie such as this one, in which the dramatic and comedic foundations give way under the weight of conventions and banalities, their presence radiates far beyond the identity of their characters and their actorly intentions. Its good to see Ryan work in comedy (as she did with Jared Hess, in the extraordinary yet tainted Don Verdean). As for Johnson, theres a dramatic actor waiting to break out of his sometimes comic, sometimes fiercely violent persona. With his ambiguities and hesitations, his irrepressible gift for self-deprecation, hed be a natural for the cinematic worlds of Sofia Coppola or Paul Thomas Anderson.
Ivan Rakitic Goal - Czech Republic vs Croatia 2-2 Euro 17/06/2016
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic on Friday urged parliament to dissolve itself "as soon as possible," which would pave the way for early elections after the government fell in a no-confidence vote.
"I appeal to parliament Speaker Zeljko Suster to schedule a debate on the dissolution as soon as possible," the president said in a televised speech.
Kitarovic said she had met with all of Croatia"s major parties to discuss a path forward from the political impasse, but no party had sufficient support for a coalition government.
"They also said their wish is to have an election in early September, which I will take into account," Kitarovic said.
Earlier this month, technocrat Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic, who was backed by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and reformist Most (Bridge) parties, called on the parties" leaders to step down.
Opposition lawmakers accused HDZ chief Tomislav Karamarko of corruption and misuse of power after his wife received 60,000 euros ($67,500) from a Hungarian lobby group.
Instead, the HDZ and Most launched a no-confidence motion, effectively toppling Oreskovic and his government in a 125-15 vote.
Croatia"s lawmakers are expected to decide on Monday whether to dissolve the government.
The political impasse has stalled much-needed economic reform legislation in the EU"s latest member state, which joined the bloc in 2013.
FINDING DORY GAME! New Disney Movie Based Game Finding Nemo Family Game Night Toy by DisneyCarToys
Ellen DeGeneres gives voice to a memory-challenged fish in search of her parents in Pixar"s follow-up to its 2003 hit Finding Nemo. Critic David Edelstein says Finding Dory is full of laughs.
DAVE DAVIES, HOST:
Thirteen years ago, Pixar had one of its biggest hits with Andrew Stantons Finding Nemo featuring the voices of Albert Brooks as a fish in search of his wayward son and Ellen DeGeneres as his sidekick, Dory. In the sequel, "Finding Dory," DeGeneres memory-challenged fish searches for the parents she barely remembers. Film critic David Edelstein has this review.
DAVID EDELSTEIN, BYLINE: Building a movie on a one-joke sidekick - Dory, the fish with short-term memory loss - is risky. And the first 20 minutes of the fish odyssey "Finding Dory" made me doubt the risk would pay off. Its a formulaic start for the normally unformulaic (ph) Pixar. But then, the studios peculiar genius kicks in, and suddenly all is right under the sea.
It helps if you dont expect this one to be too much like Finding Nemo, which was wonderfully complete. That movie began horribly - a massacre in which the clownfish Marlin lost his family, apart from one son. Predictably, he overprotected that son. And predictably, that son, Nemo, leapt at the chance to be independent. What followed was scary, painful and emotionally knotty but also hilarious thanks to a great script and the vocal pairing of Albert Brooks as the semi-hysterical Marlin and Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, his sweet, befuddled companion.
Dont expect anything like a massacre kicking off "Finding Dory. Its a gentler, cuter opening - too cute for my taste. Dory is a big-eyed little fish. Her eyes are as big as her head. And her doting parents are teaching her to navigate a world in which disorientation for her is the rule. Of course, Dory is fated to lose her parents and much of her identity. But the movie doesnt show you how she became separated from them until later, filling in what happened as she remembers it. That makes for a big payoff down the road but a perfunctory start.
Picking up a year after "Finding Nemo," Dory has a flashback - the remembrance triggered not by a madeleine but a stingray migration.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, FINDING DORY)
ELLEN DEGENERES: (As Dory) My family - I remember my family. Theyre out there somewhere. I have to find them. Guys, you got to help me, guys, guys - hello? Guys, where are you?
ALBERT BROOKS: (As Marlin) Dory.
DEGENERES: (As Dory) Hello?
BROOKS: (As Marlin) Dory.
DEGENERES: (As Dory) Ahh. Where did you go?
BROOKS: (As Marlin) You were the one to go.
DEGENERES: (As Dory) My parents - I remembered them.
HAYDEN ROLENCE: (As Nemo) Wait, what did you remember?
DEGENERES: (As Dory) I remembered them - my mom, my dad. I have a family. They dont know where I am. Lets go. We have to go...
BROOKS: (As Marlin) Dory, no, no - this is crazy. Where exactly are you trying to go?
DEGENERES: (As Dory) To the gem of the - Baltic
HAYDEN: (As Nemo) The Jewel of Morro Bay, Calif.
DEGENERES: (As Dory) Yes.
BROOKS: (As Marlin) No, Dory, Californias all the way across the ocean.
DEGENERES: (As Dory) Then we better get going.
BROOKS: (As Marlin) How come every time were on the edge of this reef one of us is trying to leave? For once, cant we just enjoy the view?
DEGENERES: (As Dory) How can you be talking about the view when I remembered my family?
BROOKS: (As Marlin) No, no - weve done our ocean travels. That part of our lives is over. The only reason to travel in the first place is so you dont have to travel ever again.
DEGENERES: (As Dory) Yeah but I want to...
DAVIES: Albert Brooks Marlin is a party pooper in that scene and Ellen DeGeneres Dory - so scattered that I got a little bored. My mind went to dumb places, like wondering why a fish would know the distance to California or speak English or know how to read.
But directors Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane have a lot up their sleeve - so much Im willing to proclaim it the biggest, busiest and best sleeve in the business. The movie kicks into gear when Dory gets to California, to a rescue-and-rehab aquarium modeled on an actual one in Monterey Bay. As she finds her way around - she can read signs and maps - that aquarium becomes a stage - really, multiple stages - for the kind of slapstick set pieces that reduce audiences to puddles of laughter. By the end, my stomach muscles were aching.
How does a fish travel among the complexs many buildings on land? Courtesy of the most marvelous new character, Hank, voiced by Ed ONeill. Hes an octopus - make that a septopus (ph) - his term - since he lost an arm in an accident hes still sore about. Hank is a selfish loner who doesnt think he can survive if hes returned to the ocean. On land, though, hes super resourceful. He can turn any color, slither anywhere, steer any vehicle. I cant do justice to the joy of watching him zigzag in a baby carriage with Dory balanced in a bowl on his lap. The animation is as witty as the dialogue, and Hank is the most delightfully dexterous creature since Bugs Bunny - with three extra limbs to play with.
Its a little jarring that "Finding Dory" gets a lot of comic mileage out of disability - Dorys, obviously, but also a perpetually disoriented whale shark named Destiny, a Beluga named Bailey with no faith in his radar and a seriously brain-damaged bird. But since everyone triumphs over his or her weakness, you could call "Finding Dory" inspirational. At times, its something deeper. You see the world through Dorys eyes - spinning, objects dissolving along with her memories, a world with nothing to hang onto.
Is it finally as deep as Finding Nemo? Maybe not. But its like the kiddie pool of your childhood dreams. You never want to stop splashing.
DAVIES: David Edelstein is film critic for New York Magazine.
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Central Intelligence Official Trailer #2 (2016) Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart Comedy Movie HD
A look at what"s new in theaters this week.
Finding Dory (PG, Animation, Starring Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O"Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell) - Disney Pixar"s "Finding Dory" welcomes back to the big screen everyone"s favorite forgetful blue tang Dory, who"s living happily in the reef with Marlin and Nemo. When Dory suddenly remembers that she has a family out there who may be looking for her, the trio takes off on a life-changing adventure across the ocean to California"s prestigious Marine Life Institute, a rehabilitation center and aquarium.
In an effort to find her mom and dad, Dory enlists the help of three of the MLI"s most intriguing residents: Hank, a cantankerous octopus who frequently gives employees the slip; Bailey, a beluga whale who is convinced his biological sonar skills are on the fritz; and Destiny, a nearsighted whale shark. Deftly navigating the complex inner workings of the MLI, Dory and her friends discover the magic within their flaws, friendships and family.
Central Intelligence (PG-13, Comedy, Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Amy Ryan, Aaron Paul, Danielle Nicolet) - The story follows a one-time bullied geek, Bob, who grew up to be a lethal CIA agent, coming home for his high school reunion.
Claiming to be on a top-secret case, he enlists the help of former "big man on campus," Calvin, now an accountant who misses his glory days.
But before the staid numbers-cruncher realizes what he"s getting into, it"s too late to get out, as his increasingly unpredictable new friend drags him through a world of shoot-outs, double-crosses and espionage that could get them both killed in more ways than Calvin can count.
Jo Cox MP critically injured amid shooting reports - BBC News Publi le 17/06/16 13:49(AFP)
La dpute travailliste Jo c*x, assassine jeudi dans un village de sa circonscription du nord de l"Angleterre, avait fait l"objet de rcentes menaces, a indiqu la police ce vendredi.
Mais cette affaire est sans lien direct avec le meurtre.
"Les policiers ont reu un signalement de messages malveillants de la part de la dpute Jo c*x, et un homme a t arrt en mars 2016 en lien avec cette affaire", explique la police dans un communiqu.
L"homme arrt n"est pas Thomas Mair, prsent aujourd"hui comme le suspect du meurtre de la dpute.
D"aprs le "Times", la question de mesures de scurit supplmentaires pour Jo c*x ( son domicile - une pniche - et son bureau) taient l"tude.
Le dputStephen Kinnock, qui partageait son bureau avec Jo c*x, explique au "Sun":"On reoit presque chaque jour des mail et des SMS malveillants. On n"y fait pas attention. Mais elle a bien mentionn, il y a un petit moment, ces messages inquitants qu"elle recevait." Il rpte que ces messages sont sans lien avec l"attaque mortelle de jeudi.
A lire aussi >Jo c*x : mort d"une toile montante des anti-Brexit
Wolf of Wall St: coked-out Wild Man broker Matthew McConaughey plying DiCaprio w/ advice & Martinis Photo Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street. Credit Mary Cybulski/Paramount Pictures
Feeling indulgent? Watch The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorseses entertaining and appalling exploration of excess, starring an Oscar-nominated Leonardo DiCaprio. Take some supercars for a spin with Jay Leno and friends. Or binge on the bling in The Art of More.
Whats on TV
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013) 7 p.m. on FX. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Jordan Belfort, a crooked stock trader and despicable human being whose charm makes him almost impossible to despise wallowing in the ecstasies of money in Martin Scorseses bacchanal of drugs, s*x and greed. Matthew McConaughey is the brokerage-firm honcho who teaches Jordan that a brokers only mission is to make money for himself. Jonah Hill is the first of the losers to join Jordans penny-stock outfit with the fake blue-blood name once the 1987 crash flushes him out of Wall Street. And Margot Robbie is the busty trophy wife Jordan eventually upgrades to. The Wolf of Wall Street hums with vulgar, voyeuristic energy, A. O. Scott wrote in The New York Times. It has been a while since Mr. Scorsese has thrown himself into filmmaking with this kind of exuberance. This movie, he added, may tire you out with its hammering, swaggering excess, but it is never less than wide-awake.
Photo Natasha Leggero, left, and Riki Lindhome in Another Period. Credit Danny Feld/Comedy Central
ANOTHER PERIOD 10 p.m. on Comedy Central. Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome return as Lillian and Beatrice, the fame-grubbing sisters from the debauched Bellacourts, that fictional first family of early-20th-century Newport, R.I. In this season premiere they meet Harriet Tubman, who offers advice on how best to create a brand for themselves.
AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO JOHN WILLIAMS 10 p.m. on TNT. Mr. Williams becomes the first composer to receive the American Film Institutes highest honor. Steven Spielberg, with whom he has collaborated on more than 25 films among them Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Schindlers List presented the award Thursday at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
JAY LENOS GARAGE 10 p.m. on CNBC. Mr. Leno, who owns about 130 cars and more than 90 motorcycles, switches things up by cruising in some friends supercars, including Nick Cannons Ferrari California and Robert Herjavecs Lamborghini Countach. Mr. Leno also appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, at 11:35 on NBC.
SKIN WARS: FRESH PAINT 10 p.m. on GSN. RuPaul hosts this Skin Wars spinoff, in which artists new to body painting compete for $10,000.
Whats StreamingPhoto Dennis Quaid and Kate Bosworth in The Art of More. Credit Philippe Bosse/Crackle
THE ART OF MORE on Crackle. Still greedy? Binge on the bling in this drama about the ugly side of pretty things. Dennis Quaid and Cary Elwes star as conspicuous consumers of smuggled art. Christian Cooke is their auction-house enabler. Neil Genzlinger of The Times calls it tasty.
