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Sports have been a big part of human life. Most people worldwide watch sports events and wager on different aspects of the games. Technological innovations have also made the fan experience more immersive. For instance, digital media has brought players closer to the fans as they can interact on social media platforms like Instagram. Additionally, fans can play sports simulation games like FIFA, Fantasy Football, and Football Manager.

However, nothing beats the thrill of watching a sports movie. Sports movies offer everything a sports fan would dream of; for example, they showcase teamwork, offer inspirational examples, or other aspects of sports such as betting. Therefore, there is a sports movie for everyone, including those eager to place a Sportsbet on top platforms like Betway. Here are the top sports movies we bet you’ll love!

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

This sports movie inspired an entire generation. The movie tells the...

Al Brown, best known for his role on HBO’s The Wire as Baltimore Police Commissioner Stanislaus “Stan” Valchek, has died after a battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 83.

Brown’s daughter confirmed the news to TMZ.

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His character recurred in all five seasons of The Wire, which aired from 2002-2008 on HBO. The critically acclaimed crime drama explored the relationship between various Baltimore institutions and city law enforcement.

Joshua Jackson has a thrilling new TV role.

Paramount+ today announced Joshua Jackson has been cast opposite Lizzy Caplan in the Original Series Fatal Attraction.

Jackson will star as Dan Gallagher, the object of his lover’s (Caplan) obsession after a brief affair.

"A deep-dive reimagining of the classic psychosexual thriller and ‘80s cultural touchstone, the new series will explore fatal attraction and the timeless themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes towards strong women, personality disorders and coercive control," according to the streamer's official description.

“Joshua is an incredible talent who creates beautifully complicated characters on both the screen and stage,” said Nicole Clemens, President, Paramount+ Original Scripted Series.

“He and Lizzy are perfectly matched to tell a nuanced and modern narrative about the complexities of the human psyche. We’re thrilled to partner with them to bring this provocative and captivating story to a new generation.

You must come across several movies on football or sports betting. Since football betting is a popular passion worldwide, it automatically becomes an appealing subject for filmmakers. You can find the link to movies based on football on the internet.

This hobby of football betting is not only addicting to bettors, but it has also influenced movies. But how do filmmakers depict football betting? This is exactly what we will be talking about in this post.

Football Betting & Movies

Football betting has existed for decades. No wonder, it is a popular subject for movie makers. Over the years, we have received many movies based on football betting and other sports. Some of these movies are even inspired by real-life incidents.

Since sports betting is a controversial topic, many of you would expect movies to depict it negatively. However, that is not the case, at least, not always.

The movie Lay the Favorite,...

When it released Wonder Woman 1984 to its HBO Max servers in December, WarnerMedia made it abundantly clear that it was ready for a new era of movie distribution. Now, in its list of new releases for February 2021, Warner is attempting another grand experiment for HBO Max.

Judas and the Black Messiah premieres on HBO Max this Feb. 12 and is by every indication the kind of film that awards shows go gaga over. Both Daniel Kaluuya and and Lakeith Stanfield look to be at the top of their respective games in this story about Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton and the FBI that wants to take him down. Will this have the same rhetorical oomph on the small screen? Guess we’ll find out!

Read more Movies How Wonder Woman 1984’s Practical Effects Set it Apart By Delia Harrington Movies Why It’s Important that Themyscira Is Back...

Lay the Favorite, the 2012 Bruce Willis-led film about sports betting that grossed less than $21,000 at the domestic box office, has sparked a lawsuit against Amazon and Netflix from an Austin-based mapmaker who says his copyrighted work was shown in the background without permission.

Victor Baker creates and sells "antique-style, watercolor maps" of locations around the globe that are typically sold to tourists who visit those areas, according to the complaint filed Thursday in Texas federal court. He is suing the streamers and Random House Films because his map of the Caribbean island of Curacao was shown on ...

Lay the Favorite, the 2012 Bruce Willis-led film about sports betting that grossed less than $21,000 at the domestic box office, has sparked a lawsuit against Amazon and Netflix from an Austin-based mapmaker who says his copyrighted work was shown in the background without permission.

Victor Baker creates and sells "antique-style, watercolor maps" of locations around the globe that are typically sold to tourists who visit those areas, according to the complaint filed Thursday in Texas federal court. He is suing the streamers and Random House Films because his map of the Caribbean island of Curacao was shown on ...

Exclusive: Bruce Willis has made a three-picture deal with MoviePass Films. MoviePass Films CEOs and Co-founders Randall Emmett, George Furla, and Ted Farnsworth set the deal.

It solidified a long relationship that Willis has had with Emmett/Furla/Oasis. He has made 14 films with them, with 10 Minutes Gone in post-production and past efforts that include the Richard Donner-directed 16 Blocks and the Stephen Frears-helmed Lay the Favorite.

The first in the new three-pic pact will be Trauma Center, written by Paul da Silva. It will begin shooting in February in Miami. Additional casting is underway on the film. Emmett, Furla and Lydia Hull will produce Trauma Center, while Ted Farnsworth, Tim Sullivan and Alex Eckert will executive produce.

Speaking on the relationship between the company and Willis, Emmett said: “We consider Bruce a part of the MoviePass family at this point. Bruce is not only one of the biggest...

Executive has served as Topic, Warrior Poets, Wild Bunch.

Agc Studios has hired Rachel Traub as vice-president of non-fiction content to oversee development and production of non-fiction content for film and television.

Traub will work closely with Agc Studio’s head of film Greg Shapiro and Agc Television president Lourdes Diaz to build a slate of feature documentaries and non-fiction series. She will also work with David Schulhof, who runs the company’s music division, on music-focused documentaries and series.

Traub has worked for close to a decade as a producer and creative executive in the film industry and previously...

Exclusive: Agc Studios has hired Warrior Poets vet Rachel Traub as VP, Non-Fiction Content to oversee the company’s theatrical-television development and production of non-fiction content. Agc Studios Chairman and CEO Stuart Ford made the announcement today.

Traub will work closely with Agc Studio’s Head of Film Greg Shapiro and Agc Television’s President Lourdes Diaz to produce a slate of feature documentaries and non-fiction series. She will also work with David Schulhof who runs the company’s music division on music focused documentaries and series.

Traub has worked in the film industry as a producer and creative executive for close to a decade and oversaw feature film development and co-productions at Morgan Spurlock’s Warrior Poets. While there she ushered numerous feature documentaries and non-fiction series into the marketplace, including The Devil We Know (Sundance Film Festival 2018), Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (Toronto Film Festival 2017) and No...

The allegations haven’t stopped against Harvey Weinstein, and neither have the denouncements. In the wake of new reports of alleged sexual abuse and harassment at the hands of the recently fired Weinstein Company head — including stories from actresses like Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosanna Arquette, Mira Sorvino, and Asia Argento — yet another one of the producer and distributor’s former stars has spoken out against him and made it clear that she stands with his victims. Moreover, she opened up about her own tricky history with Weinstein, and the pervasive sense that he was someone to avoid as a woman in the industry.

Rebecca Hall, who starred in films produced and distributed by The Weinstein Company, including Woody Allen’s 2008’s romantic comedy “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and Stephen Frears’ 2012 gambling dramedy “Lay the Favorite,” spoke to IndieWire this afternoon about the current allegations. “Of course I have something to say about it,...

The stars of yesterday now are making three films a year you never knew existed until they show up on Netflix.^ Real Movie ^

In my prior life as a script reader, I certainly read a lot of bad scripts, but at times, an even more common occurrence was a script that seemed to do a great many things right, but somehow fell just short of being something you wanted to champion as a movie. As draining as the terrible scripts were, there’s something pure about clear-cut bad. It takes little effort to explain why they’re unfit.

The real challenges were the scripts that had kind of a decent premise, kind of an okay twist or two, and a lead character who wasn’t bad so much as he or she was just… there. The raw materials are there for what Could be a script. They just happen to be assembled in the least compelling way...

British director’s latest film, Florence Foster Jenkins, to screen at the festival’s open air theatre.

Stephen Frears, the British director of The Queen and Philomena, is to receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20).

Frears, who was previously the subject of the festival’s tribute programme in 2002, will have his latest film - Florence Foster Jenkins starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant - screened as part of Sarajevo’s Open Air programme.

Previous recipients of the honorary award have included Angelina Jolie, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mike Leigh and last year Benicio del Toro.

Frears breakthrough as a feature film director came with the low budget hit My Beautiful Laundrette in 1985 and made his Hollywood debut with Dangerous Liaisons in 1989, which received six Oscar nominations.

His first Oscar nomination as best director can in 1991 for The Grifters, produced by Martin Scorsese, while his 1998 western...

Murtada here. Stephen Frears recent output has been uneven. This month, his Lance Armstrong biopic The Program was met with lukewarm reviews and a VOD purgatory release, while Lay the Favorite (2012) and Tamara Drewe (2010) were both immediately forgotten. However he does well when teamed with grand actresses in intimate dramas (The Queen, Philomena). So we are cautiously optimistic about his collaboration with Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins. The story, of an amateur opera singer, known and ridiculed for her very bad singing and her complete delusion about her abilities, is intriguing.

Let's break down the newly released trailer..... after the jump.

Well aren't these two looking adorable? Pathé and BBC Films have debuted a first look photo at the film Florence Foster Jenkins, the latest from director Stephen Frears following Philomena, Lay the Favorite and Tamara Drewe. In Florence Foster Jenkins, Meryl Streep plays the legendary New York heiress who became an opera singer. Hugh Grant plays her partner St Clair Bayfield. The two can be seen riding in the back of a car, heading home from (what seems like) a night at Carnegie Hall. No release date is set yet, and the film just barely started shooting, so this is a very early first look and we likely won't see this until 2016. Anyway, take a look at the two in full below. Photo sent out directly from Pathé and BBC Films' publicity. Florence Foster Jenkins is the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite who obsessively...

Just when you thought that Stephen Frears’ latest film, Philomena, would be yet another questionable exercise from the once generally revered auteur, (judging from a recent string of misfires that resulted in his career worst with 2012’s unfathomably awful Lay the Favorite), he switches it up with his best work since The Queen. Presented at the Toronto Int. FIlm Festival, the Academy Award and BAFTA award-nominated crowd pleaser, to be sure, but despite its unavoidable pretense as an awards darling (of which there are bound to be several), a disavowal to wallow in chintzy schmaltz at least makes it deserving of praise in that it’s intelligently written (and based on a true story! Oh my!) and genuinely performed, even if the film is rather visually banal.

The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, a 2009 book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, here portrayed by Steve Coogan, provides the basis for Stephen Frears’ treatment,...

Director: Stephen Frears

Writer: John Hodge

Producers: Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, Tracey Seaward, Kate Solomon

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Lee Pace, Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Guillaume Canet, Jesse Plemons, Dustin Hoffman

He has to be one of the most fascinating real-life, hero and villain protagonists in this media age, and might just make for a great duality character on screen. This picture could be “dope” if Ben Foster delivers like we know he can — and though we’ve beaten up on Philomena helmer Stephen Frears for recent efforts such as Lay the Favorite and Cheri, he nonetheless delivers the goods when bio-elements are concerned.

Gist: This follows the rise of Armstrong, his cancer battle, retirement and exposure by journalist David Walsh.

Release Date: Filming took place midway last year and seeing that Frears has a good rapport with Cannes (having shown Tamara Drewe...

Catholic Kisses: Frears’ Returns with a Loveable Crowd Pleaser

Just when you thought that Stephen Frears’ latest film, Philomena, would be yet another questionable exercise from the once generally revered auteur, (judging from a recent string of misfires that resulted in his career worst with 2012’s unfathomably awful Lay the Favorite), he switches it up with his best work since The Queen. A crowd pleaser, to be sure, but despite its unavoidable pretense as an awards darling (of which there are bound to be several), a disavowal to wallow in chintzy schmaltz at least makes it deserving of praise in that it’s intelligently written (and based on a true story! Oh my!) and genuinely performed, even if the film is rather visually banal.

The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, a 2009 book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, here portrayed by Steve Coogan, provides the basis for Stephen Frears’ treatment, scripted by Coogan and Jeff Pope.

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 26, 2013; Digital Release Date: Nov. 12, 2013

Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.99

Studio: Lionsgate

The case in in the hands of Bruce Willis (l.), Hun Lee and John Malkovich in Red 2.

Bruce Willis (Looper), Helen Mirren (The Debt), John Malkovich (Secretariat) and Mary Louise Parker (TV’s Weeds) return in Red 2, the inevitable follow-up to the popular, similarly-crimson 2010 action-comedy crime movie Red.

On, and this time around, Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Lay the Favorite) come along for the ride.

retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses (Willis) is trying to chill out with his lady (Parker) when he called back into action and reunites his unlikely team of operatives for a global quest to track down a missing, next-generation nuclear device that can change the balance of world power. To get the job done, Moses and co. must their wits and old-school skills to smash an assortment of assassins,...

If the real Philomena Lee is anything like the character written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope and portrayed by Judi Dench in Stephen Frears' Philomena it instantly makes the world a better place. Her very nature makes this film as uplifting, moving, funny and heartfelt as it is. Based on the 2009 book written by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, Philomena traces the story of an aging Irish woman as she's aided by Sixsmith to track down the son she had to give up 50 years earlier when she was only a teenager at the convent in Roscrea, County Tipperary. The search follows a path you won't soon expect and as each page of the story is written you find yourself increasingly invested in what they find. Coogan stars as Martin, bringing his particular dry sense of humor and wit to a character that may in fact be over-matched by Judi Dench in the title role.

Studio: HBO Video | Director: Susanna White | Cast: Rebecca Hall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Graham, Rupert Everett, Rufus Sewell, Janet McTeer, Miranda Richardson

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: 9/10/2013 | Price: DVD $39.98, Blu-ray $49.99

Bonuses: interview with writer Tom Stoppard

Specs: Nr | 300 min. | Period drama | widescreen | Dolby Digital 5.1 | English, French and Spanish subtitles

Ratings (out of 5 dishes): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall

The 2012 HBO/BBC co-production Parade’s End is probably best enjoyed by those who’ve read enough Victorian literature to intuitively appreciate the plight of the generation of British gentlemen who had to reckon their nineteenth-century sensibilities with twentieth-century realities. These were the men who were utterly sincere in their noblesse oblige—who truly believed that the fate of the world would rise or fall on the conscience and character of the landed British gentry.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall star in Parade's End.

Parade’s End—based on the Ford Maddox Ford tetralogy—explores the life,...

When the awards season rolls around, you can't count out Judi Dench. She's a seven time Oscar nominee (winning in 1999 for "Shakespeare In Love"), a beloved legend and simply a damn good actress. So even though this new poster for her upcoming "Philomena" has caused our blood sugar level to rise, again, she's not one to dismiss no matter how treacly the material might look like. Directed by Stephen Frears and co-starring Steve Coogan, the movie is based on Martin Sixsmith's book "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son and a 50 Year Search," and tells the true of an Irish woman who searches for the illegimate son she was forced to give up when she was in a convent. Cue hankies. While this might be slam dunk, the wildcard here is Frears, whose last few movies — "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight," "Lay The Favorite," and "Tamara Drewe" — don't inspire much confidence.

Fringe star Joshua Jackson is rounding out the quartet of leads of Showtime‘s drama pilot The Affair. From playwright and writer/producer Sarah Treem and co-creator Hagai Levi, The Affair is an intense and intimate exploration of two marriages and an affair that disrupts them — with all of the complex consequences that result. It centers on Noah (Dominic West), a good husband and devoted father of four whose settled, comfortable world is about to implode when he meets Allison (Ruth Wilson) who he he thinks is his soul mate. Jackson will play Cole, a hard-edged cowboy married to Allison. Their emotionally charged marriage becomes even more complicated when Allison begins an affair with Noah. Maura Tirney plays Noah’s long-time wife. The Affair marks Jackson’s followup to Fox’s praised sci-fi drama Fringe, which ended its five-season run earlier this year. On the feature side, the former Dawson...

Every Labor Day weekend, cinephiles journey out to a small town nestled in a remote corner of southwest Colorado’s San Juan mountain range for the Telluride Film Festival. Production staff are hard at work building state-of-the-art theaters for more than a month before the event and readying for a sudden influx of dedicated filmgoers. Veteran pass holders, staff, and volunteers make the trip largely out of faith in the festival’s superb programming that’s famously kept completely secret up until the day before it begins. The shroud of mystery, the breathtaking scenery of a box canyon and the fact that there are no press lines, competitions, or paparazzi lend a sanctified awe to this complete cinematic immersion. Venturing deep into uncharted storytelling territory with old or new friends make the cost of getting out here and the intensive labor involved with putting it all together worth it each and every time.

Having finally given Alan Partridge his big screen debut this year in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Steve Coogan will soon be returning to cinemas in altogether different kind of movie, starring opposite Judi Dench in Philomena.

Stephen Frears’ adaptation is set to have its world debut in Venice in a few short weeks, before its North American premiere out in Toronto. And ahead of its festival appearances, Pathé have launched the film’s first trailer.

Falling pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to the convent of Roscrea to be looked after as a “fallen woman”. When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America. Philomena spent the next fifty years searching for him but with no success.

Then she met Martin Sixsmith, a world-weary political journalist who happened to be intrigued by her story. Together they set...

He's been behind some greatness over the years ("The Grifters," "High Fidelity"), but since his award-winning success with "The Queen" in 2006, Stephen Frears has had a rotten run—no one's been particularly keen on "Cheri," "Tamara Drewe" or "Lay The Favorite," while HBO movie "Muhammed Ali's Greatest Fight" won few over at Cannes. But in a few weeks, he's returning to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs, and going back to the Venice Film Festival, where "The Queen" was unveiled, for new film "Philomena." Like the earlier film, it's a film designed as a hopefully awards-grabbing vehicle for an older British actress, in this case Dame Judi Dench. And the first trailer for the picture, unveiled this morning by UK distributors Pathe, suggest she might well be in with a shout when Oscar season nears. The based-in-fact film stars Steve Coogan (who also co-wrote the script) as disgraced journalist/spin-doctor Martin Sixsmith,...

Stephen Frears, the Oscar-nominated director behind one of my favourite films of all time*, returns behind the camera this year to reunite with Judi Dench for the bittersweet comedy, Philomena.

Due to be released towards the end of the year, the film stars Dench in the titular role, with Steve Coogan starring opposite as Martin Sixsmith, a journalist who helps Dench track down her long-lost son. With its release inching closer on the horizon, we’ve now got our first look at the leading duo, and here’s to hoping that the trailer will be following shortly.

Philomena is the true story of one mother’s search for her lost son.

Falling pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena was sent to the convent of Roscrea to be looked after as a “fallen woman”. When her baby was only a toddler, he was taken away by the nuns for adoption in America.

Described as "a bitter-sweet comedy", Stephen Frears directs Judi Dench and Steve Coogan in Philomena, a film based on the true story of an Irish woman (Dench) seeking the illegitimate son she was forced to put up for adoption in the U.S. in 1952. Today the first official picture of Dench and Coogan, who plays journalist Martin Sixsmith, has arrived (via Bleeding Cool), to give us a peek at Dench in character. Frears has fallen a bit on the side of "miss" lately as opposed to "hit" with films such as Lay the Favorite and Tamara Drewe, but perhaps Oscar-winner and seven-time nominee Judi Dench is just what the director needed to pull himself up and back into the limelight. As of now, The Weinstein Co. hasn't set a domestic release date for the film, but it arrives in the UK on November 1. I'm hoping for a Toronto premiere. Now...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: July 2, 2013

Price: DVD $24.98, Blu-ray $29.98

Studio: IFC/Mpi

Alexander Siddig goes to the gun for his family in Inescapable.

A successful and respected businessman sees his world turned upside down in the mystery-thriller Inescapable.

Twenty-five years ago Adib (Alexander Siddig, The Nativity Story), a promising young officer in the Syrian military police, suddenly left Damascus under suspicious circumstances. Abandoning the love of his life, Fatima (Marisa Tomei, (The Lincoln Lawyer), he made his way to Canada and wiped the slate clean. Years later, with a beautiful family and a great job in Toronto, Adib is happy and content in the successful life he has built from scratch. But when Adib’s journalist daughter (Jay Anstey) suddenly disappears during a visit to Damascus, his past threatens to violently catch up to him…

Directed by Ruba Nadda, Inescapable also stars Oded Fehr (Resident Evil: Retribution) and Joshua Jackson (Lay the Favorite...

Joshua Jackson has signed with Anonymous Content for representation. The Canadian-born actor is coming off a five-season stint starring in Fox’s cult hit series Fringe where he played Peter Bishop in the show created by J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. On the movie front, Jackson appeared in last year's Lay the Favorite, the Stephen Frears comedy in which he starred with Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones, as well as Inescapable, a drama with Alexander Siddig and Marisa Tomei. Jackson continues to be repped by CAA, Abi Harris of Ken McReddie Associates

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Bruce Willis makes a lot of movies. Let's get that out of the way right now. And some of them do better than others, as he bounces between drama, comedy and action movies. The production company Emmett/Furla Films has made quite a mark with their action dramas over the years with the upcoming 2 Guns , starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, being one many are looking forward to. Willis has made three previous films with Emmett/Furla--the action-thriller 16 Blocks , the Stephen Frears-directed Vegas comedy Lay the Favorite and the straight to video Fire with Fire --but now he's going to go for a fourth by starring in their new action-thriller Expiration . This may sound more Willis' speed going by his past movies, as he'll play a hitman who is looking for an antidote...

It's the little things, they say, that count. The details, one might even posit.

If that's the case, then this giveaway counts bigtime: To celebrate the DVD release of "The Details," starring Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks and Ray Liotta, we're happy to present a very "Detail"-oriented DVD bundle giveaway.

One lucky grand prize winner will receive:

-"The Details" DVD

-"Lay the Favorite" DVD

-"Bachelorette" DVD

-"Sunshine Cleaning" DVD

-"Butter" DVD

-"Silver Linings Playbook" DVD

To enter for your chance to win, just shoot us an email at NextMovie@MTV.com and include your name, address, and birthdate and be sure to copy and paste the following statement:

"By sending this email, I accept and agree to: (1) the Official Rules of the Celebrate 'The Details' DVD Bundle Giveaway and (2) MTV Networks’, a division of Viacom International Inc., Nextmovie.com Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

I.m not sure anyone has been standing around going, .Dammit, it.s 2013! We need three, possibly four Vince Vaughn movies with mid-to-high concepts. Stat!. But that.s just what happens in 2013, it looks like. Vaughn apparently took the critical lambasting of his last two films . The Watch and Lay the Favorite, if you.ll recall . to mind and is kind of on a roll here lately, possibly reclaiming the comedic legitimacy he one juggled. There isn.t anything in the world funnier than travel mishaps, right? Well, just pretend there isn.t. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Vaughn is in negotiations to star in New Regency.s Business Trip. The film doesn.t yet have a director, but the hunt will begin once Vaughn is signed, and he.ll assist Regency and production company Escape Artists Productions. founded by Todd Black, Steve Tisch and Jason Blumenthal . to secure one.

DVD Release Date: April 9, 2013

Price: DVD $26.95

Studio: Monterey

Laura Prepon (r.) and Dreama Walker talk it over in The Kitchen.

Likable ladies Laura Prepon (Lay the Favorite) and Dreama Walker (Compliance) star in the 2012 independent comedy The Kitchen.

Okay, here’s what we’re looking at: Jennifer (Prepon) just left her job; her boyfriend Paul (Bryan Greenberg, Friends With Benefits) has been cheating; and her cynical sister Penny (Walker) has an inappropriate announcement. And then there’s Stan (Matt Bush, Margaret), who’s in love with Jennifer, and Kenny (Tate Ellington), who’s in love with Penny. Throw in a party to celebrate Jennifer’s 30th birthday, a couple of dueling bands in the back yard and a manic depressive party photographer who may have forgotten to take his meds, and you’ve got a fairly madcap scenario in the making.

Directed Ishai Setton, written by Jim Beggarly, and featuring...

The participation of director Stephen Frears and a cast that includes Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall, Vince Vaughn, and Catherine Zeta-Jones should guarantee a theatrical release, right? Sorry, but no – Lay The Favorite is the movie and it’s gone straight to Redbox (and other home-viewing options) which is a shame because it’s a fun, if lightweight comedy set in the world of Las Vegas grifters and gamblers.

Hall plays Beth Raymer, who leaves her dancing job at a Florida strip club to become a Las Vegas cocktail waitress. Not exactly an ideal career choice, but her borderline-ditzy personality doesn’t give her many options. In walks Dink (Willis), a professional sports bettor who sees through her bubbly exterior and offers her a job placing wagers all over town to gain an advantage over the casinos. Her surprisingly impeccable mind for numbers soon cements her status as Dink’s good-luck charm,...

The sordid intoxication of Dangerous Liaisons. An Oscar nod for The Grifters and yet another for helming Helen Mirren’s statue-winning turn in The Queen. Mix that up with a little High Fidelity and you’ve got the accolade magnet director Stephen Frears over almost three decades of filmmaking. Why then, in this, his continuing journey from such impressive roots, would he make what is a truly abhorrent film conceived from the malaise of narrative blandness and riddled with desperately poor acting from screen stars as distinguished as Frears himself? As 2012’s flop Lay the Favorite drags on and annoys, prepare to ask yourself this question more than once.

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Stephen Frears is something of an odd fellow as a director, and a rundown of his films offers little clue as to the method of his madness. Even considering diverse genres, most directors have some catch about them. Some have a certain visual style, others stick to things that let them play with multi-layered thematic content, and some simply become known for delivering characters through brilliant conversation. Frears is a little trickier, though fans can tell they are watching one of his films. He might well seem close to someone like Altman, focusing on the reality and delivery of theme possible in conversations, but Frears is actually more focused on the connections these conversations relate.

Whether it’s Dangerous Liasions, High Fidelity, or even the recent, woefully unknown gem Tamara Drewe, it isn’t the characters specifically that we’re after, it’s the multi-faceted combinations. It’s a difficult concept to relay simply,...

Chicago – Every once in a Hollywood while, a true head-scratcher comes along. How on Earth did this movie, with this many talented people involved, end up so boring? If you told me that Stephen Frears (“The Grifters,” “The Queen”) was re-teaming with his “High Fidelity” scribe D.V. DeVincentis on a dramedy with the great Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis, I would probably put that flick on a highly-anticipated list. Minutes into “Lay the Favorite,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, one knows there’s nothing to anticipate. Unless you anticipate boredom.

Rating: 1.5/5.0

Poor Rebecca Hall (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Parade’s End”) gives it her absolute all as the naive, sweet Beth Raymer, a girl who becomes a good luck charm to the horribly named Dink Heimowitz (Bruce Willis), disrupting his business and marriage to the high-maintenance Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones). An incredible number of talented people flirt around the fringe of this oddball romance,...

The Intouchables I'm not sure you need to buy it, but I would say you should most definitely see it. The Intouchables is a great movie, that for a while almost made my top ten list of 2012. The film is based on a true story of a wealthy quadriplegic (Fran?ois Cluzet) who hires a young man from the projects (Omar Sy) to be his caretaker. Their relationship becomes the center of the story and it's extraordinarily well done. It's also France's highest grossing film of all-time, pulling in over $420 million worldwide.

 

Wreck-It Ralph If you want to get into "should haves", Wreck-It Ralph probably should have won the Best Animated Oscar over Brave, but that's just my opinion and in the end it doesn't really matter, it doesn't change the quality of the film and this is a rather good film. I can't say I would consider it a must buy,...

Cinelinx takes a gamble on the Lay the Favorite Blu-ray!

The Set-up

A stripper named Beth (Rebecca Hall) leaves her small Florida town to find a better life in Las Vegas, but things get complicated when she forms a relationship with a bookie (Bruce Willis). Based on the book by Beth Raymer. Also stars Catherine Zeta Jones, Vince Vaughn and Joshua Jackson.

Directed by Stephen Frears 

The Delivery

What in the world happened, Stephen Frears? The director of The Queen, High Fidelity, and The Grifters managed to take an interesting, real-life story (by the real Beth Raymer) and a great cast (Willis, Jones Hall, etc.) and somehow made a completely average film. Lay the Favorite isn't bad, but for all the pedigree involved, you expect much better.

Lay the Favorite should have been a quirky character drama, but fails to provide an interesting story or engaging characters. Somehow, the screenplay made gambling seem boring,...

Moviefone's New Release Pick of the Week "Wreck-It Ralph" What It's About? Ralph, the bad-guy from a "Donkey Kong"-esque arcade game, grows tired of his villainous routine and escapes through the world of video games to prove that he can be a hero. See It Because: With cameos ranging from "Pac-Man" to "Street Fighter," this inventive comedy may do for video games what "Toy Story" did for toys. It was also nice to see one of our most gifted character actors, John C. Reilly, anchoring a film on his own. New on DVD & Blu-ray "The Bay" What It's About? Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson dips his toes into the "found footage" horror market with the genuinely terrifying tale of a coastal town that is slaughtered by ecological nightmares from the water. This mash-up of "Jaws" and "Contagion" features some of the most ingenious use of the "fake documentary" techniques and...

There’s something for everyone in next week’s Blu-Ray releases: Wreck-It Ralph will tickle your gaming bone, The Intouchables brings a bit of comedy to its drama, and one my favorite films of the nineties finally gets a Blu-Ray release.

Ready for the latest Blu-Ray releases? Then read on.

Wreck-It Ralph

Starring: John C. Reilly, Alan Tudyk, Jane Lynch, Ed O’Neill, Jack McBrayer, and Sarah Silverman.

Director: Rich Moore

A 3D computer-animated family film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film was well-received by critics and viewers alike, and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Plot: Wreck-It Ralph longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix. Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun,...

To celebrate the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray release of Lay The Favorite, starring Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hall, we’ve put together a little prize pack to giveaway to three lucky readers.

For those unfamiliar with the film, it follows an ”adventurous young woman gets involved with a group of geeky older men who have found a way to work the sportsbook system in Las Vegas to their advantage.”

The above mentioned prize pack consists of a copy of the film on DVD and a copy of the book Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling.

To enter, you must do the following:

1. Like us on Facebook.

2. Follow us on Twitter.

3. Rt our contest message.

The winner will be chosen on March 5th at 11:59pm Est. Good luck!

Thanks for reading We Got This Covered...

Title: Lay the Favorite Directed by: Stephen Frears Starring: Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joshua Jackson Running time: 94 minutes, Rated R, Available on DVD Special Features: Deleted Scenes Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a 20-something former stripper who moves to Las Vegas in search of a cocktail waitress job. She befriends a few people who have been employed with Dink (Bruce Willis), an older man who runs a sports gambling enterprise. Dink takes Beth under his wing and soon she becomes his good luck charm while his business flourishes. His wife Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones) on the other hand becomes jealous on how close the two have become  [ Read More ]

The post Lay the Favorite Blu-ray Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Plot: In late 1800's New Mexico, a young bride's husband is murdered by a fanatical religious leader. She cuts a swath of vengeance across the territory. Review: Well, they can't all be winners, can they? Even a great festival like Sundance is not immune from a flop or two, especially late in the festival. Last year, it was probably Lay The Favorite, while this year, that questionable .honor. goes to Sweetwater. Usually a good, pulpy revenge tale set in the Old West would...

End of Watch End of Watch made my Top Ten Movies of 2012 so of course I'm going to recommend it. I haven't yet listened to writer/director David Ayer's audio commentary, but I'm looking forward to it as Blu-ray.com's review makes it sound incredibly informative: Writer/director David Ayer offers a scene by scene breakdown of End of Watch, discussing the authenticity of the film at great length, touching on the decision to avoid including a single corrupt cop, providing insight into development and implementation of the multi-camera narrative, and spending plenty of time on everything from the script to the performances to the Pov shifts between the police officers and the gangsters.

 

Ivan's Childhood (Criterion Collection) I have a review of this one in the works and it should be finished by this afternoon. That said, I will tell you I really liked this film and liked...

Bruce Willis had a pretty great 2012, all things considered. There were disappointments, to be sure: ill-conceived Henry Cavill vehicle "The Cold Light Of Day," Stephen Frears' tone-deaf "Lay The Favorite," a brief role in "The Expendables 2" and a straight-to-video picture called "Fire With Fire" alongside Josh Duhamel. But those weaknesses were certainly overshadowed by his far more visible strengths, with the actor giving two of his best performances in years, in Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" and Rian Johnson's "Looper," the latter of which Willis has described as the best film he's ever been in. To some degree, his 2013 is looking far less promising, with three not-especially-exciting action movie sequels in "A Good Day To Die Hard," "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" and "Red 2." But Willis has managed to squeeze out some room in his schedule for a fourth picture, and...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 5, 2013

Price: DVD $24.98, Blu-ray $29.99

Studio: Anchor Bay

Rebecca Hall (r.) and Catherine Zeta-Jones are so money in Lay the Favorite.

Bruce Willis (Looper), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Rock of Ages), Rebecca Hall (The Town) and Joshua Jackson (TV’s Dawson’s Creek) star in the little-seen 2012 comedy Lay the Favorite.

Professional odds-maker Dink (Willis) is running a small-time sports gambling enterprise when a former stripper named Beth (Hall) promises to help him score big — and turns his world upside down. With his connections and her knack for numbers, the lucrative business of sports betting will never be the same.

Directed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) and also featuring Laura Prepon (TV’s Are You There, Chelsea…?), Vince Vaughn (The Dilemma), Wendell Pierce (TV’s Treme) and Corbin Bernsen (Bad Actress) in the ensemble cast, Lay the Favorite is based on Beth Raymer’s 2012 memoir-styled exposé of the world...

RADiUS-twc has partnered with Anchor Bay Entertainment in a multi-year deal for the latter to distribute the RADiUS slate of titles on DVD and Blu-ray in the U.S., including the black comedy “Butter,” which hits stores this week. “We have found the ideal partner to handle the DVD and Blu-ray distribution to our films,” said RADiUS-twc co-presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego. “As exemplified by the stellar job Bill Clark and his team have done with the Weinstein Company titles, we know we are in the best possible hands.” In addition to “Butter,” which stars Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman and Olivia Wilde, the RADiUS-twc slate includes “Bachelorette,” “Pusher,” “The Details,” “Dragon” and “Lay the Favorite.”...

Ahh, the year in skin.

It's not the golden "Deep Throat" years of the '70s anymore, it's the age of the Internet and no one really goes to the movies to see nudity, but women proved they were hungry for some beefcake with the wild success of "Magic Mike." Meanwhile, A-list actresses bared it all for some compelling reasons that were absolutely integral to the script… hehe.

Here's our comprehensive list of major celebs who got in the buff so perverts could post screengrabs on Internet forums.

Ladies

Kristen Stewart, 'On the Road'

She may be a trampire in real-life, but Stewart's also got a polyamorous streak in the movie version of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," a.k.a. "This Seemed Cooler When I Was in High School English Class." As free spirit Marylou, Stewart gets to have a go with both Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund...