News

Exclusive: Halo and Classified filmmaker Roel Reiné is set to direct American Smuggler, the upcoming action-drama starring 24, Major League and Far From Heaven actor Dennis Haysbert.

The film will chart the relentless hunt for Craig Petties, an American drug trafficker best known for the criminal empire he led in Memphis while operating in collaboration with Mexico’s infamous drug cartels. Haysbert will play a prominent CIA agent in the film. Filming is due to get underway this summer in New Mexico.

The project will hone in on the efforts of Seal Team Six, Delta Force and the Mexican Marines, who painstakingly dismantled an international drug network that plagued communities across North America for decades. The story also brings to light the lesser-known tragedy of children forced to labor in El Chapo’s infamous tunnels, often losing their lives in collapses. Petties was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 at age...

Exclusive: 24, Major League and Far From Heaven star Dennis Haysbert is attached to lead cast in action-drama American Smuggler.

The film will chart the relentless hunt for Craig Petties, an American drug trafficker best known for the criminal empire he led in Memphis while operating in collaboration with Mexico’s infamous drug cartels. Haysbert will play a prominent CIA agent in the film.

The project will hone in on the efforts of Seal Team Six, Delta Force and the Mexican Marines, who painstakingly dismantled an international drug network that plagued communities across North America for decades. The story also brings to light the lesser-known tragedy of children forced to labor in El Chapo’s infamous tunnels, often losing their lives in collapses. Petties was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 at age 36 for his trafficking career and connection to multiple homicides.

The film will be written by Koji Steven Sakai...

Fernando Hidalgo, a Cuban-born actor, TV host and comedian, died Tuesday in a Miami hospital of complications from Covid-19. He was 78.

His death was announced by David M. Matthews, who wrote, directed and produced Ernesto’s Manifesto, a 2019 feature comedy that starred Hidalgo as a sweet guy who loses his job, girlfriend and home before his life turns around.

In Miami, Hidalgo worked as a host, producer and/or sketch comedian on such shows as Los Casados Felices and El Show de Fernando Hidalgo. The latter played daily for 15 years and could be seen throughout South Florida, Puerto Rico, New York ...

Fernando Hidalgo, a Cuban-born actor, TV host and comedian, died Tuesday in a Miami hospital of complications from Covid-19. He was 78.

His death was announced by David M. Matthews, who wrote, directed and produced Ernesto’s Manifesto, a 2019 feature comedy that starred Hidalgo as a sweet guy who loses his job, girlfriend and home before his life turns around.

In Miami, Hidalgo worked as a host, producer and/or sketch comedian on such shows as Los Casados Felices and El Show de Fernando Hidalgo. The latter played daily for 15 years and could be seen throughout South Florida, Puerto Rico, New York ...

Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to Elsewhere, a dramedy starring Rectify alum Aden Young. The digital distribution unit of Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios will release the film from writer-director Hernan Jimenez (About Us) day-and-date in select theaters and VOD on January 24.

Here’s the logline: Still mourning the death of his wife (Kathleen Munroe), Bruno (Young) is hopelessly attached to the seaside cottage they built together. When he’s evicted by his soulless in-laws, Bruno vows to get it back at any price. Desperate to escape the gracious but neurotic hosting of his parents, and with the aid of his enabling best friend (Ken Jeong) Bruno sets a risky plan in motion to recover his home. But posing as a handyman for the cottage’s intriguing new tenant (Parker Posey) turns his life – and his intentions – upside down.

Elsewhere is produced by...

In a competitive situation, Hulu has picked up for development Ace of Spades, a half-hour comedy based on author/TV writer David Matthews’ memoir. It hails from Anonymous Content and Paramount Television, with Portlandia and Baskets co-creator, executive producer and director Jonathan Krisel set to direct and executive produce. Matthews is writing the adaptation of his book. When Matthews’ Jewish mother abandoned him as an infant to join the Israeli Army, she left him…...

Though Pippa Middleton didn’t have a royal wedding like her sister Princess Kate, she did earn a title of her own after saying “I do.”

David Matthews, the father of her new husband, financier James Matthews, is the Laird of Glen Affric, a Scottish estate 15 miles from Loch Ness. This means James the heir to said title — and now, Middleton, is the heir to his mother’s corresponding title, Lady of Glen Affric. The Matthews family received the title after purchasing the 10,000-acre estate in the Scottish highlands, complete with a historic castle, in 2008.

Until the day James inherits the official title,...

Pippa Middleton married financier James Matthews in a stunning ceremony in the UK on May 20. While the 33-year-old didn't become a duchess like her older sister, Kate, she did receive a title of her own. Because James is heir to the Scottish title of Laird of Glen Affric (a position his father currently holds), Pippa will now be able to use the courtesy title of Mrs. Matthews of Glen Affric the younger. Once James's dad dies and he becomes the Laird of Glen Affric, Pippa will become Lady Glen Affric. RelatedKate Middleton Gives Princess Charlotte a Flower Girl Pep Talk at Pippa's Wedding Pippa's future father-in-law, David Matthews, owns the 10,000-acre Scottish highlands estate, which features a castle and a deer park. David acquired the title when he bought the property in 2008, and James will inherit it upon his dad's death, though he may choose to not formally use it.

Rehearsal time! With less than 24 hours until the main event, Pippa Middleton and James Matthews got into the wedding spirit a day early with a rehearsal late Friday morning. As is typical of most weddings, the future Mr. and Mrs. walked through the ceremony at St. Mark's Church, which will be underway officially tomorrow morning. It was a rainy morning for the future bride and groom, but the weather didn't dampen the plan. Guests arrived to the church in cars and on foot carrying umbrellas. The rehearsal wrapped up around 12:25 p.m. local time, with Matthew's parents David Matthews and Jane Matthews and his brother Spencer Matthews all in attendance. Despite the drizzle, attendees were dressed...

Following her stylish night out at the Portrait Gala last week, Kate Middleton made yet another glamorous appearance at the opening night of 42nd Street at the Theatre Royal in London on Tuesday. The duchess was on hand to support the East Anglia Children's Hospice, of which she is a patron, and looked radiant in a red Marchesa dress complete with a matching clutch. Before making her way inside the event, Kate greeted a group of guests, including a 12-year-old boy named Ollie Duell, who lives with a complex medical condition that affects his bowel and stomach. His mom, Claire, delivered a speech about how much the organization means to her family, saying, "Having a safe place for Ollie to be cared for is the most valuable gift we could ever have been given . . . Each makes a really hard time just that little easier to deal with." Related:Kate Middleton...

Prince William isn’t the only royal to hit the slopes recently!

While the royal dad enjoyed a guys-only ski trip in Switzerland last month, Princess Kate wasn’t at home with Prince George and Princess Charlotte as was previously thought — she was out enjoying her own ski vacation.

Kate joined her younger sister Pippa Middleton for her bachelorette party — or hen party as it’s known in the U.K. — on the slopes of Meribel in the French Alps. Pippa is set to wed financier James Matthews next month.

The sports-loving Middleton sisters were among a group of pals...

Prince William and Kate Middleton joined Pippa Middleton's fiancé, James Matthews, and her future in-laws, David Matthews and Jane Parker, for an intimate family dinner in London on Thursday night. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were photographed leaving the home that Pippa and James share in Chelsea; William kept things casual in jeans and a button-down shirt, while Kate wore a $128 (!) floral Alice Temperley dress, black heels, and simple ponytail. Also on hand for the low-key get-together was Kate and Pippa's brother, James, as well as James Matthews's brother, Spencer, who starred on the British reality show Made in Chelsea and is reportedly serving as best man in James and Pippa's wedding next month. According to an onlooker, the dinner lasted for a little over three hours and the group "all seemed very happy and relaxed." "William was smiling and chatting to Kate as they walked to their car.

After amassing an array of directing credits on music videos, commercials and documentaries in the vein of Great Wide Open, Into The Wild and Beyond the Horizon, Jared Leto is now poised to take the reins on his first feature film.

It’s called 77, a brutal hostage thriller adapted from James Ellroy’s novel of the same name. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount has appointed screenwriter David Matthews (Narcos) to hash out a script, with Dick Wolf and Tony Ganz of Wolf Films on board to produce. Much like his involvement in the aforementioned doc Into the Wild, Leto will also hold a producing role on the project.

Set against the politically volatile landscape of 1974 Los Angeles, 77 tells the story of “two police officers who team up to recover kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst while simultaneously investigating the brutal murder of a fellow officer. They uncover not only relentless corruption and crime,...

Jared Leto will make his feature directorial debut with “77,” a period drama centered around police officers investigating the kidnapping of Patty Hearst. The project is set up at Paramount, and based on a script by David Matthews from a story by James Ellroy, whose “L.A. Confidential” was also adapted to great success. The project centers around two cops in the 1970s investigating the famed kidnapping of publishing heiress Hearst. As the men search for answers, they simultaneously must solve the brutal murder of a fellow officer. Also Read: Lee Daniels to Direct Oprah Winfrey in 'Terms of Endearment' Remake...

Before he directed smash-hit action films like "The Fugitive," "Under Siege" and "Collateral Damage," director Andrew Davis got his start with something quite different, making his debut with the raw and real 1978 R&B-powered musical drama "Stony Island."

Filmed in a verité style on Chicago's South Side, the film stars Richie Davis playing Richie Bloom, a white kid in a largely black neighborhood who teams up with his best pal Kevin (Edward "Stony" Robinson) to form an R&B supergroup. Getting all the pieces, they are guided by a mentor, the sax legend Percy (Gene "Daddy G" Barge) as they rehearse in a local funeral home, and battle the odds to make their debut. Capturing the city with an almost documentary-like feel, the film is rounded out by an intriguing cast that includes a young Dennis Franz, Susanna Hoffs (who would later become a member of The Bangles), Rae Dawn Chong and many more.

Most of you didn’t seem to care for it, but, that certainly didn’t stop it from performing decently at the box office did it?

It made close to $3 million after 5 weeks in theaters, late last year, on a budget of about $1.6 million.

And now, N-Secure is heading to home video land – specifically DVD and Blu-ray, in a deal with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Bonus features will include a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary titled, Inside N-Secure.

Release date for both is set for June 14th. Costs? $17.99 for the DVD; $26.99 for Blu-ray. You can pre-order right now, via Amazon.com.

N-Secure features an ensemble cast, including Lamman Rucker, Tempestt Bledsoe, Essence Atkins, Elise Neal, Cordell Moore, and others. It was written by Julius Lewis & Christine Taylor; David M. Matthews directed.

The trailer follows again below, if you missed it the first time:...

It is no wonder that Nashville entrepreneur Julius Lewis wrote more than just the checks for N-Secure. You know your seeing a film written by a guy who simply wants to make a movie where the main character talks to themselves, revealing what their face should. Let’s call this a “duh” moment that a test screening might have stopped. This isn’t the only thing wrong with N-Secure, I’m convinced a feature film instantly doomed when it opens with a montage of “happy couple” going out, living and loving. If you a regional film funded by non-professionals who decide to make a film because you like movies – you know further doom is around the corner when the camera lingers on names of local brands and restaurants for too long.

This filmmaking probably exists in every city lurking in the shadows of film artists in the avant-garde. Buffalo is...

Both have been covered previously on this blog. One seemed to appeal to most of you, the other didn’t as much.

Regardless of what you think you know of either, both open in theaters today, in limited releases, and you’re encouraged to go see one, or both of them this weekend to find out if your preconceptions are confirmed or negated.

I’ve seen one – Legacy (my review of it Here). And I’ll be giving N-Secure a look over the weekend, since New York is one of the cities in which it’s opening, with a review of it to follow sometime thereafter.

Legacy stars Idris Elba, and was written and directed by newcomer, Thomas Ikimi; N-Secure features an ensemble cast, including Lamman Rucker, Tempestt Bledsoe, Essence Atkins, Elise Neal, Cordell Moore, and others. It was written by Julius Lewis & Christine Taylor; David M. Matthews directed.

To...

N-Secure the new indie drama opening this weekend will be showing at several Birmingham area theaters. In the film which stars Lamman Rucker (Why Did I Get Married?/Why Did I Get Married Too?), Essence Atkins, Cordell Moore, Tempestt Bledsoe, Denise Boutte and Elise Neal, a successful man's corrupt character leads to his downfall. The movie is directed by David M. Matthews and co-written by Julius Lewis and Christine Taylor and was filmed in the neighboring state of Tennessee. It can be seen at the following theaters: Carmike The Summit 16 Regal 16 Cobb Theaters-Hollywood 16 Cinemas...