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Jake T. Austin was a child actor who initially found success with voice work in the cartoon movies "Everybody's Hero" and "The Ant Bully" before landing two major roles on the biggest kids' networks. He voiced Dora's cousin Diego on Nickelodeon's "Dora the Explorer" and "Go Diego Go!" and played Max Russo, the youngest brother and mischievous practical joker on "Wizards of Waverly Place." The latter quickly became one of the best Disney Channel shows, skyrocketed Selena Gomez into superstardom, and ran from 2007 to 2012. Jake T. Austin also starred in the Disney Channel Original movie "Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board" and did voice work for "Rio," its sequel, and "The Emoji Movie"

The actor also found television success on the Freeform drama "The Fosters" about a lesbian couple raising their biological son and four adopted teenagers. For the first two seasons, Austin played Jesus Adams Foster — a troubled...

The Night Agent season 2 episode 9 ends with Markus (Michael Malarkey) and his men setting up Kx to be released in the Hvac system of the Un. Peter (Gabriel Basso) just told Catherine (Amanda Warren) that it’s enough Kx to wipe out Midtown Manhattan. So, yeah, this is a big, big deal.

But, we start The Night Agent season 2 episode 10, “Buyer’s Remorse,” with another flashback. This time, we’re going back eight years to the unveiling of the Anthony Ming Center for Entrepreneurship where a younger Jacob Monroe (Louis Herthum) and younger Hagan (Ward Horton) meet for the first time. Hagan questions Jacob about why he donates all this money but doesn’t want his name on the building, but Jacob shuts him down. He wants Hagan’s loyalty in exchange for a little bit of help. As it turns out, that is the beginning of a very fruitful...

This post contains spoilers from The Night Agent season 2 episode 3 from this point forward.

The Night Agent season 2 episode 3 opens with a flashback to Rose's AdVerse job interview seven months ago, which reveals she doesn't want to be a CEO; she just wants to write code. It's some insight into her headspace after the events of season 1. In present day, the past juxtaposes her current whereabouts in the mix of Peter's mission.

Still at the warehouse, Peter answers the phone call and Jacob Monroe offers him a lose-lose deal to give him the information Warren shared. This deal puts both his and Rose's lives on the line. Peter rejects Jacob's blackmail and calls Rose to help her evade Solomon and the rest of the enemies chasing her down. He also has his own enemies to run from.

Rose hits a dead end and runs into Solomon, but she's able to stab him and run away.

This post contains spoilers from The Night Agent season 2 episode 2 from this point forward.

The Night Agent loves a good flashback sequence to open an episode, and episode 2 opens with one from nine months before present day. Peter steps out of a helicopter and meets Catherine in Thailand after processing in Germany, which includes getting his tattoos removed (sorry to fans of Peter's tattoos!).

His and Alice's mission in Thailand involves investigating who's behind a leak in the CIA station in Bangkok and their intentions for doing so. Catherine questions Peter's ability to succeed in Night Action and gives him the opportunity to quit before going into the field. Peter being Peter, he doesn't back down from a challenge.

In the flashback, we watch Peter meet Alice, and it's honestly heartbreaking to see her again knowing what her fate is during this mission. Brittany Snow excels in this role and...

The Best Picture Oscar nominees of 1936 contained a few stone-cold classics and a large handful of duds. The Academy nominated 10 films for Best Picture that year, with the top honor going to Robert Z. Leonard's three-hour glitzy musical biopic "The Great Ziegfeld". "The Great Ziegfeld" is visually spectacular but kind of mushy as a melodrama, serving more as a fond farewell to its subject (who died in 1932) than a legitimately great film.

The legit bangers nominated that year included Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," one of the master director's more notable comedies. Also pretty good were William Dieterle's "The Story of Lois Pasteur" starring Paul Muni, and Jack Conway's delightful screwball film "Libeled Lady" with Powell and Myrna Loy. Conway also directed a serviceable adaptation of "A Tale of Two Cities," which many readers may have watched in their junior high school classrooms.

But...

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is the much-anticipated sequel to Disney Channel's hit show Wizards of Waverly Place, which launched the careers of Selena Gomez and Jake T. Austin, who play two of the Russo siblings opposite David Henrie. Austin's character, Max Russo, was the mischievous youngest sibling of the bunch, and the sibling who ultimately lost his powers in the family wizard competition at the original show's conclusion, instead inheriting the family business. Now, Alex is a member of the Wizard World Tribunal, and Justin is a middle school vice principal, husband, and father of two on Staten Island, New York.

The original show followed the Italian-Mexican Russo family living in New York City's East Village and running a sandwich shop modeled after a subway car while living double lives as wizards. While the Wizards of Waverly Place finale saw Alex and Justin manage to strike a unique deal...

Exclusive: Mark Pellegrino, known for series including Supernatural, 13 Reasons Why and American Rust, has been set to star in dramedy series A Motel.

Brian A. Metcalf (Underdeveloped) is behind the show about a group of outcasts working at a seedy motel who find themselves in danger when they accidentally uncover a drug smuggling plot for the mafia. Additional casting is being finalised.

The series is written and executive-produced by Metcalf, who will serve as showrunner, director and actor. Asif Akbar and Kelly Arjen will also executive-produce with Akbar directing some of the episodes. Pellegrino will serve as co-executive producer.

Filming begins next month in Las Vegas on the six-episode project, which doesn’t currently have a network aboard and is being independently financed by the producers. The plan is to sell it after production.

Akbar recently directed the crime-thriller Boneyard starring Mel Gibson and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, which is releasing this July from Lionsgate.

Disney Channel’s upcoming Wizards of Waverly Place sequel will feature the return of two more original cast members who will join David Henrie’s Justin Russo and Selena Gomez’s Alex Russo.

Less than a week since it was revealed that Henrie and Gomez are reuniting for Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place sequel, fans have started speculating on which characters from the original sitcom would also be coming back. Shared on Instagram, original cast member David DeLuise seemingly confirmed the return of Alex, Justin and Max’s parents after sharing a photo of him together with Henrie, Gomez and Maria Canals Barrera. The latter played the Russo siblings’ mortal mom, Theresa, while DeLuise portrayed Jerry Russo, a former wizard who gave up his powers to marry Theresa.

Related Hannah Waddingham Addresses Potential Hocus Pocus 3 Return Ted Lassos Hannah Waddingham shares her reaction to Hocus Pocus fans interest...

Exclusive: Tubi has picked up Underdeveloped, a mockumentary from Brian A. Metcalf, starring Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tom Arnold and Mark Pellegrino. It will premiere globally September 8 on Fox Entertainment’s free streaming service Tubi. As an independent production with no direct ties to members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television, it also is one of the latest projects to receive a waiver from SAG-AFTRA amid the actors strike, so filming can move forward.

Created and executive produced by Metcalf under his Black Jellybeans banner, the comedy series focuses on a group of failed and inexperienced producers working together at a production company.

Samm Levine, Shelley Regner, Kelly Arjen, Charlene Amoia, Nolan River, Jaret Reddick, David Henrie and David Kochner also star.

Nicholas, Arjen, Matthew Helderman and Luke Taylor executive produce.

Nicholas and Metcalf previously collaborated on the Lionsgate film Adverse.

Nicholas is repped by The Green Room and Goodman,...

Exclusive: Jake T. Austin (The Wizards of Waverly Place), Paulo Costanzo (Royal Pains), Iman Karram (Glow) and Ka’ramuu Kush (Five Deep Breaths) have joined the cast of Daft State, the psychological thriller from Chad Bishoff, which just entered production.

The four actors will appear alongside previously announced leads Christopher Backus (Big Little Lies) and Skye P. Marshall (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

The film scripted by Bishoff and Sam Harter charts the mysterious psychological destruction of Easton (Backus), who is driven to the edge of sanity, and possible self-harm, by those that love him most—his wife (Marshall) and daughter. Will Easton succumb to their increasingly traumatizing pressure, or will he conquer the dark forces at play in his addled psyche?

The Syncretic Entertainment production is produced by Bishoff and Erich Hover. Its exec producers include Inny Clemons, Lisa Crnic (Paramount’s Clifford the Big Red Dog...

Feeling as though they’re finally old enough to maturely make their own decisions about what they want to do with the rest of their lives is a powerful coming-of-age journey that many young characters make in films. But the gripping new crime thriller, ‘Adverse,’ showcases how those teenagers and young adults aren’t as in control […]

The post Interview: Thomas Nicholas Talks Adverse (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

When some people aren’t able to fulfill their long-term professional goals, they ultimately change their aspiration to instead earn money in the easiest way possible. That’s certainly the case for Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke‘s crime boss character and his associates, one of whom is played by former teen icon, Andrew Keegan, in their new crime […]

The post Interview: Andrew Keegan Talks Adverse (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

Lou Diamond Phillips is responsible for arguably the greatest scene in cinematic history. When his character Chavez Y Chavez comes around the corner with horses in tow during Young Guns' climactic end gunfight, it is perhaps the most cheer-worthy moment in '80s cinema. Arriving in 1988, it is the culmination of everything that was happening on the big screen at that moment in time, and arrived as a giant release valve for an audience in need of a real-life hero to applaud. While Chavez did return in Young Guns II a few years later, most fans assumed that the Mexican-Indian had taken work on a fruit ranch and disappeared into the dust of the old West never to be seen again. Well, according to Lou Diamond Phillips, we may see Chazev ride yet again sometime in the very near future.

We recently caught up with Lou Diamond Phillips to talk...

Feeling as though they’re finally old enough to maturely make their own decisions about what they want to do with the rest of their lives is a powerful coming-of-age journey that many young characters make in films. But the gripping new crime thriller, ‘Adverse,’ showcases how those teenagers and young adults aren’t as in control […]

The post Interview: Brian A. Metcalf Talks Adverse (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

A quick glance at its supporting cast — a lineup that includes such notables as Mickey Rourke, Lou Diamond Phillips, Penelope Ann Miller and Sean Astin — might lead you to suspect “Adverse” has only recently been retrieved from a time capsule originally sealed in the mid-to-late 1990s. And, indeed, if it weren’t for the occupation of the protagonist — he’s a rideshare driver, not a cabbie — and the abundance of smartphone text messaging, director Brian A. Metcalf’s modestly diverting thriller probably could pass for a direct-to-video concoction from that era. There’s something positively meta going on here, though you may have to be a hard-core B-movie buff to fully appreciate it.

Lead player Thomas Nicholas dials it up to 11 — and, occasionally, 12 — with his intense portrayal of Ethan, a young man who starts out trying to keep his temper in check after a fuzzily defined brush with the law...

"Adverse" is a new crime thriller written and directed by Brian Metcalf, starring Thomas Nicholas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Sean Astin, Kelly Arjen, Penelope Ann Miller and Mickey Rourke, releasing January 23, 2021:

"...struggling to make ends meet, rideshare driver 'Ethan' (Nicholas) learns his sister is deep in debt to a sleazy drug dealer. When she goes missing, Ethan discovers that crime boss 'Kaden' (Rourke) is behind the act, and to get close to him Ethan takes a job as Kaden's driver. One by one Ethan hunts down members of Kaden's crew as he prepares to confront Kaden himself..."

Click the images to enlarge.... ...

Even without a bunch of movies coming to theaters, there are still many trailers to sort through. That’s why every now and then we put a trailer round-up together to call attention to some of the lesser known movies that might be worth seeking out. This time we’ve got a documentary about how difficult it […]

The post Trailer Round-Up: ‘Clapboard Jungle’, ‘Breaking News in Yuba County’, ‘The Sinners’, ‘Adverse’ & More appeared first on /Film.

"You do what you gotta do." Lionsgate has revealed a new official trailer for a gritty L.A. crime drama titled Adverse, from filmmaker Brian A. Metcalf. This originally premiered at the Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal last year before lockdowns began, and has been waiting for a release ever since then. It will not get a direct-to-vod release in March. Thomas Ian Nicholas stars as Ethan, a ride-share driver who discovers his sister is in debt to a dangerous crime syndicate. He ends up in over his head trying to free her. The cast includes Mickey Rourke as the drug lord, with Sean Astin, Penelope Ann Miller, Aaron Schwartz, and Lou Diamond Phillips. Looks like a mash-up of Drive and Collateral with all the usual crime tropes. Here's the two official trailers (+ two posters) for Brian A. Metcalf's Adverse, direct from YouTube: In this drama / suspense film, a...

Cory Hardrict has joined Orange Is The New Black alum Taryn Manning in Karen, the indie suspense thriller from writer and director Coke Daniels. Manning, who is producing the indie, will play Karen White, who believes that races should stick to their “own kind” and carries this belief into her neighborhood. Hardrict will star as Malik, a community activist in Atlanta dedicated to his wife and fighting social injustices. When Malik and his wife, Assata, become Karen’s new neighbor, she makes it her personal mission to remove them from the neighborhood, by any means necessary. However, Assata and Malik don’t have time for this and aren’t going down without a fight.

Manning is producing the pic with Daniels and Craig Chapman. Burke Management Firm founders Vanzil Burke and Victor Burke will serve as executive producers.

Hardrict’s film credits include Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper and Gran Torino...

In today’s film news roundup, a Mickey Rourke crime drama will premiere in Portugal, a film about the Purdue Pharma scandal is in the works and the documentary “After Parkland” will be shown at 100 locations on the second anniversary of the Parkland shootings.

Festival Opener

The world premiere of Mickey Rourke’s crime drama “Adverse” will take place on Feb. 28 as the opening film of the 40th Fantasporto Oporto Film Festival in Portugal — the country’s largest film festival.

Rourke stars as an underworld boss who hires a rideshare driver, porotrayed by Thomas Nicholas, whose younger sister is in debt to a dangerous crime syndicate. “Adverse” also stars Penelope Ann Miller, Lou Diamond Phillips, Sean Astin and Kelly Arjen.

“Adverse” is directed by Brian A. Metcalf from his own script. The film is produced by Metcalf, Nicholas, Arjen and executive produced by Scott Katzman, Lise Romanoff, Sergio Rizzuto and Ben Chan.

Mickey Rourke will produce and star in the independent crime drama “Twilight Into Darkness,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Rourke will portray a detective who becomes obsessed with finding and stopping a child murderer while searching for his own redemption. Rourke and Brian Metcalf are both producing under Rourke’s Ruby Baby Limited production company alongside Metcalf’s Black Jellybeans Productions. Metcalf is directing from his own screenplay.

Principal photography is slated to begin next year. “Twilight Into Darkness” will be the second collaboration for Metcalf and Rourke. Metcalf recently directed Rourke in the drama film “Adverse,” which co-starred Penelope Ann Miller, Sean Astin, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Thomas Ian Nicholas.

“I had a wonderful time working with the innovative, talented director Brian Metcalf,” said Rourke. “The young man has incredible integrity and vision. He has gained my respect.”

Rourke won a Golden Globe and Spirit Award for his role in...

Exclusive: Mickey Rourke, Lou Diamond Phillips, Penelope Ann Miller, Sean Astin, Kelly Arjen (Strange Ones) and Thomas Ian Nicholas (Please Give, Rules of Attraction) will star in Adverse, an indie neo-noir drama written and to be directed by Brian A. Metcalf.

The film hails from Red Compass Media in association with Black Jellybeans Productions. It’s about a man who tries to save his younger sister after he discovers she is addicted to drugs and caught in a seedy underworld. Rourke will star as Kaden, the underworld boss who runs operations and who hires Ethan (Nicholas), a rideshare driver who discovers his younger sister (Arjen) has become entangled in drugs and debt.

Phillips will play Dr. Cruz, a parole officer who tries to prevent Ethan from going back to his old habits.