Latest news with #HallmarkChannel
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Movie Review: Rebel Wilson's 'Bride Hard' is a wedding movie that's easy to break up with
Take your average wedding flick, shotgun a hostage situation into it and add some anarchic energy from Rebel Wilson and you get 'Bride Hard,' which is a movie, for better or for worse. In this case, much, much worse. 'Bride Hard' — which combines thrusting male strippers dressed as Vikings as well as deadly automatic weapon fire — isn't funny or thrilling. It has the kind of lazy pacing you'd usually find on the Hallmark Channel and a level of acting not much better than porn. Director Simon West, whose action movie credits include 'Con Air' and 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,' seems to be making a parody until he's not. The whole thing stinks of an '80s low-budget movie that you might find, back in the day, rummaging through a discount bin at Blockbuster. Wilson stars as Sam, a secret government 'Mission Impossible'-type agent who is a loose cannon, lethal with an elbow and as creative as MacGyver, but poor at managing her personal life. 'I will give you all of your flowers on the job, but in your real life, you're kind of dumb,' says her agent friend, played by Sherry Cola, who like everyone here, has been shorn of saying anything amusing. Even the blooper reel at the end of the movie is underwhelming. We start when Sam is reunited with her childhood best friend, bride-to-be Betsy — Wilson's 'Pitch Perfect' co-star Anna Camp — for a bachelorette party in Paris, which goes disastrously bad since Sam is also hunting for a bioweapon at the time. The action then shifts to a mansion on a private island in Savannah, Georgia, the site of a lavish wedding and lots of daytime drinking. That is, until heavily armed goons arrive to steal a pallet of gold bars. (Gold bars, like it's a Looney Tunes cartoon.) It's up to Sam to save the day and prove she's a good friend. Screenwriters Cece Pleasants and Shaina Steinberg seem to be mocking spy thrillers and wedding movies alike until they also kind of stop. There's lots of real blood, fiery explosions, impalings and electrocutions, along with irritable bowel syndrome jokes and plenty of kicks to the groin. Sample dialogue: 'Oh, Sam, you're alone,' the mother of the bride says as she approaches Sam. 'Well, no. I have my emotional support boobs,' Sam responds. There's also needless scene-explaining, like one bad guy yelling, 'She's using the chocolate fountains as cover!' Yeah, we see that. Have the screenwriters been reading the room? Not clear. 'If anybody ever mentions that I'm a secret agent, we will rendition you to one of our many unnamed bases,' warns Sam, as her spy colleague does a throat-slitting gesture. Rendition jokes are really so funny this summer. To be fair, there are some intriguing wedding-themed assaults, like the use of hairspray in the eyes, curling iron burns and a bad guy's chest punctured on an hors d'oeuvres platter. Sam likes to wield champagne bottles as clubs. One of the most cringe moments is when a stressed-out pregnant bridesmaid requests another sing the nasty, freaky 'My Neck, My Back (Lick It)' to her unborn baby, which triggers a sing-a-long with all the captives, mostly white, rich and middle aged. But even here it's neutered: The moviemakers go with the radio edit. The movie co-stars Stephen Dorff as the main bad guy, Justin Hartley as eye candy with a secret, Anna Chlumsky as a high-strung maid of honor and Da'Vine Joy Randolph as an edgy, sassy bridesmaid. They all need to break up with their agents. (So does whoever did the stunts — the body doubles are embarrassing.) 'Bride Hard' hits an insane low in a battle sequence in which the bridesmaids — all in fluffy red gowns — use Revolutionary-era cannons to take on trained mercenaries in tactical gear with rocket-propelled grenades. That, of course, leads to plenty of jokes about 'ramming it in.' If you do decide to pony up real cash to see this historic misfire in the movie theaters instead of waiting until you can hate-watch it for free on a streaming service, we have a word of advice: Bring your emotional support boobs. 'Bride Hard,' a Magenta Light Studios release in theaters Friday, is rated R for 'sexual references and some violence.' Running time: 105 minutes. Zero stars out of four.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Movie Review: Rebel Wilson's ‘Bride Hard' is a wedding movie that's easy to break up with
Take your average wedding flick, shotgun a hostage situation into it and add some anarchic energy from Rebel Wilson and you get 'Bride Hard,' which is a movie, for better or for worse. In this case, much, much worse. 'Bride Hard' — which combines thrusting male strippers dressed as Vikings as well as deadly automatic weapon fire — isn't funny or thrilling. It has the kind of lazy pacing you'd usually find on the Hallmark Channel and a level of acting not much better than porn. Director Simon West, whose action movie credits include 'Con Air' and 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,' seems to be making a parody until he's not. The whole thing stinks of an '80s low-budget movie that you might find, back in the day, rummaging through a discount bin at Blockbuster. Wilson stars as Sam, a secret government 'Mission Impossible'-type agent who is a loose cannon, lethal with an elbow and as creative as MacGyver, but poor at managing her personal life. 'I will give you all of your flowers on the job, but in your real life, you're kind of dumb,' says her agent friend, played by Sherry Cola, who like everyone here, has been shorn of saying anything amusing. Even the blooper reel at the end of the movie is underwhelming. We start when Sam is reunited with her childhood best friend, bride-to-be Betsy — Wilson's 'Pitch Perfect' co-star Anna Camp — for a bachelorette party in Paris, which goes disastrously bad since Sam is also hunting for a bioweapon at the time. The action then shifts to a mansion on a private island in Savannah, Georgia, the site of a lavish wedding and lots of daytime drinking. That is, until heavily armed goons arrive to steal a pallet of gold bars. (Gold bars, like it's a Looney Tunes cartoon.) It's up to Sam to save the day and prove she's a good friend. Screenwriters Cece Pleasants and Shaina Steinberg seem to be mocking spy thrillers and wedding movies alike until they also kind of stop. There's lots of real blood, fiery explosions, impalings and electrocutions, along with irritable bowel syndrome jokes and plenty of kicks to the groin. Sample dialogue: 'Oh, Sam, you're alone,' the mother of the bride says as she approaches Sam. 'Well, no. I have my emotional support boobs,' Sam responds. There's also needless scene-explaining, like one bad guy yelling, 'She's using the chocolate fountains as cover!' Yeah, we see that. Have the screenwriters been reading the room? Not clear. 'If anybody ever mentions that I'm a secret agent, we will rendition you to one of our many unnamed bases,' warns Sam, as her spy colleague does a throat-slitting gesture. Rendition jokes are really so funny this summer. To be fair, there are some intriguing wedding-themed assaults, like the use of hairspray in the eyes, curling iron burns and a bad guy's chest punctured on an hors d'oeuvres platter. Sam likes to wield champagne bottles as clubs. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. One of the most cringe moments is when a stressed-out pregnant bridesmaid requests another sing the nasty, freaky 'My Neck, My Back (Lick It)' to her unborn baby, which triggers a sing-a-long with all the captives, mostly white, rich and middle aged. But even here it's neutered: The moviemakers go with the radio edit. The movie co-stars Stephen Dorff as the main bad guy, Justin Hartley as eye candy with a secret, Anna Chlumsky as a high-strung maid of honor and Da'Vine Joy Randolph as an edgy, sassy bridesmaid. They all need to break up with their agents. (So does whoever did the stunts — the body doubles are embarrassing.) 'Bride Hard' hits an insane low in a battle sequence in which the bridesmaids — all in fluffy red gowns — use Revolutionary-era cannons to take on trained mercenaries in tactical gear with rocket-propelled grenades. That, of course, leads to plenty of jokes about 'ramming it in.' If you do decide to pony up real cash to see this historic misfire in the movie theaters instead of waiting until you can hate-watch it for free on a streaming service, we have a word of advice: Bring your emotional support boobs. 'Bride Hard,' a Magenta Light Studios release in theaters Friday, is rated R for 'sexual references and some violence.' Running time: 105 minutes. Zero stars out of four.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Movie Review: Rebel Wilson's 'Bride Hard' is a wedding movie that's easy to break up with
Take your average wedding flick, shotgun a hostage situation into it and add some anarchic energy from Rebel Wilson and you get 'Bride Hard,' which is a movie, for better or for worse. In this case, much, much worse. 'Bride Hard' — which combines thrusting male strippers dressed as Vikings as well as deadly automatic weapon fire — isn't funny or thrilling. It has the kind of lazy pacing you'd usually find on the Hallmark Channel and a level of acting not much better than porn. Director Simon West, whose action movie credits include 'Con Air' and 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,' seems to be making a parody until he's not. The whole thing stinks of an '80s low-budget movie that you might find, back in the day, rummaging through a discount bin at Blockbuster. Wilson stars as Sam, a secret government 'Mission Impossible'-type agent who is a loose cannon, lethal with an elbow and as creative as MacGyver, but poor at managing her personal life. 'I will give you all of your flowers on the job, but in your real life, you're kind of dumb,' says her agent friend, played by Sherry Cola, who like everyone here, has been shorn of saying anything amusing. Even the blooper reel at the end of the movie is underwhelming. We start when Sam is reunited with her childhood best friend, bride-to-be Betsy — Wilson's 'Pitch Perfect' co-star Anna Camp — for a bachelorette party in Paris, which goes disastrously bad since Sam is also hunting for a bioweapon at the time. The action then shifts to a mansion on a private island in Savannah, Georgia, the site of a lavish wedding and lots of daytime drinking. That is, until heavily armed goons arrive to steal a pallet of gold bars. It's up to Sam to save the day and prove she's a good friend. Screenwriters Cece Pleasants and Shaina Steinberg seem to be mocking spy thrillers and wedding movies alike until they also kind of stop. There's lots of real blood, fiery explosions, impalings and electrocutions, along with irritable bowel syndrome jokes and plenty of kicks to the groin. Sample dialogue: 'Oh, Sam, you're alone,' the mother of the bride says as she approaches Sam. 'Well, no. I have my emotional support boobs,' Sam responds. There's also needless scene-explaining, like one bad guy yelling, 'She's using the chocolate fountains as cover!' Yeah, we see that. Have the screenwriters been reading the room? Not clear. 'If anybody ever mentions that I'm a secret agent, we will rendition you to one of our many unnamed bases,' warns Sam, as her spy colleague does a throat-slitting gesture. Rendition jokes are really so funny this summer. To be fair, there are some intriguing wedding-themed assaults, like the use of hairspray in the eyes, curling iron burns and a bad guy's chest punctured on an hors d'oeuvres platter. Sam likes to wield champagne bottles as clubs. One of the most cringe moments is when a stressed-out pregnant bridesmaid requests another sing the nasty, freaky 'My Neck, My Back ' to her unborn baby, which triggers a sing-a-long with all the captives, mostly white, rich and middle aged. But even here it's neutered: The moviemakers go with the radio edit. The movie co-stars Stephen Dorff as the main bad guy, Justin Hartley as eye candy with a secret, Anna Chlumsky as a high-strung maid of honor and Da'Vine Joy Randolph as an edgy, sassy bridesmaid. They all need to break up with their agents. 'Bride Hard' hits an insane low in a battle sequence in which the bridesmaids — all in fluffy red gowns — use Revolutionary-era cannons to take on trained mercenaries in tactical gear with rocket-propelled grenades. That, of course, leads to plenty of jokes about 'ramming it in.' If you do decide to pony up real cash to see this historic misfire in the movie theaters instead of waiting until you can hate-watch it for free on a streaming service, we have a word of advice: Bring your emotional support boobs. 'Bride Hard,' a Magenta Light Studios release in theaters Friday, is rated R for 'sexual references and some violence.' Running time: 105 minutes. Zero stars out of four.
San Francisco Chronicle
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
One of Napa Valley's oldest winemaking families debuts a major tasting room transformation
It's a story made for Hallmark Channel: Tired of the hustle in Hollywood, a screenwriter returns to his sleepy hometown, realizes the story of his career was right in front of him all along and decides to tell it through the revitalization of his family's historic wine business. It sounds scripted, but that's exactly what Greg Pestoni has spent the past decade doing. Now, the transformation of St. Helena's charming Pestoni Family Estate Winery is ready for its premiere. Pestoni credits famed director and winery owner Francis Ford Coppola for inspiring his move from his native Napa Valley to Hollywood after high school in the 1980s. Since the third grade, he was friends with Coppola's son, Roman, and recalls watching rough cuts of 'Apocalypse Now' on a Betamax before it was released. Napa was a quiet agricultural valley, and he was anxious to get out. 'You didn't idolize (your friends) who worked in the vineyard,' said Pestoni.'It was as sexy as picking walnuts.' But after 27 years in the film industry and two discouraging Guild strikes, the screenwriter, who worked on 'The Godfather' movies, returned to a very different Napa Valley, one that felt a lot more like Hollywood than when he left it. There, he found a story he desperately wanted to tell: His family's 130-year-old wine journey. 'This was an unsung period of winemaking,' Pestoni said. 'When you think of the 1890s and the bunch that was making wine, who is still here doing it? Just a few.' In the 1880s, the Swiss-Italian Pestonis arrived in Napa Valley. In 1892, Greg Pestoni's great-grandfather, Albino Pestoni, planted vineyards and built a winery in the Eastern hills on Howell Mountain. The winery shut down due to Prohibition and was sold in the early 1920s; a few years later, Greg Pestoni's grandfather, Henry Pestoni, purchased a property on Whitehall Lane in the Rutherford wine region, now the home of Pestoni's Sauvignon Blanc vineyard. Like many wine families, the Pestonis picked up other agricultural pursuits during Prohibition. Over the years, the family raised chickens, hogs and dairy cows, but it also grew grapes and made bootleg brandy. Henry Pestoni allegedly sold his brandy to staff at the Napa County courthouse and, in return, they'd tip him off about upcoming federal raids. Greg Pestoni's uncles also owned a Napa Valley winery and bootlegged alcohol; the original stone building is now the home of Ehlers Estate. In the early 1960s, Greg Pestoni's father, composting pioneer Bob Pestoni, founded the Upper Valley Disposal Service, revolutionizing winery waste recycling. He went on to own a second operation, the Clover Flat Landfill just south of Calistoga. (The family sold both companies in 2023; last month, federal prosecutors closed an investigation into environmental crimes and obstruction of justice related to both properties, now owned by a company called Waste Connections.) The family went decades without commercially producing wine, but they continued to grow and sell grapes. Then, in 1994, the winery next door came up for sale. Bob Pestoni bought it, and Greg Pestoni's brother, Andy Pestoni, became the winemaker. They named the winery Rutherford Grove after a eucalyptus grove on the property, but it created confusion with two other local businesses, the Rutherford Grill restaurant and Rutherford Hill Winery. 'Someone would ask if we served the duck burger,' joked Greg Pestoni, adding that he felt the name 'sounded like a big operation,' when the winery only makes a few thousand cases of wine a year. Shortly after Greg Pestoni returned home in 2014, he convinced his father to change the name to Pestoni Family Estate Winery. He called relatives to compile old family photos and wrote up the family's history for the website. 'It helped make it a much more personal experience,' Greg Pestoni said. 'I think what's really missing in Napa these days is the people behind something and the story behind something.' The winery has been one of the last remaining embodiments of a down-home era in Napa Valley, before luxury resorts, Michelin-starred restaurants and multi-million-dollar tasting rooms, like its flashy new neighbor, Bella Union. 'You get the feeling of going to somebody's house or being in somebody's yard,' said Greg Pestoni. 'People would say, 'You're like a Sonoma winery in Napa.' They don't want the secret to get out of this place, they don't want to tell anybody.' But remaining a secret isn't good for business, especially during a global downturn in wine sales. Despite Pestoni's prime positioning off Napa Valley's busy Highway 29, the winery has remained under the radar, and like many of the region's older wineries, the family decided to renovate. 'We're in Napa,' Greg Pestoni said. 'We needed to step up.' They started with the large, grassy picnic area surrounded by eucalyptus and redwood trees, which became a COVID-19 pandemic hot spot. 'Saturdays and Sundays were bananas. We were serving on picnic tables and our staff were crossing the lawn in 100-degree heat,' recalled Aimee Pestoni, Greg Pestoni's wife. 'People wanted to be outside, and they still do.' Pestoni kept its picnic lawn — one of the few kid-friendly spots in Napa Valley — but built a new pavilion for more formal tastings. The striking cedar pavilion, featuring a bar, tables and heaters, was designed by the same architect behind San Francisco's Rolex boutiques. Yet a much more significant transformation took place inside the 1995 tasting room. 'There were no seats, you'd slam (the wine) down and go on your way,' said Aimee Pestoni. While the lawn maintains Pestoni's classic, old Napa feel, the new tasting room interior catapults visitors to the present: It's moody, sophisticated and edgy, designed like a cozy study found within a luxurious mountain escape. The space features dark wood, a stone fireplace, velvet bar stools and leather armchairs with fur throws. Geometric fur rugs look like tile from a distance, while custom wallpaper features layers of burlap, hand-painted and then fringed, by an Alaskan artist. The change is a jarring departure from the family's humble roots, but upon closer observation, visitors will find ties to the Pestoni story in every nook and cranny. There's a wall of black and white family photos, including a 1919 capture of Henry Pestoni at his coming home party from World War I, taken at the William Tell Hotel in St. Helena. Historic documents sit underneath the glass top of a coffee table, including the assessment taxes for the original 1892 winery ($2 for four gallons of wine) and a corn sales ledger. A bookshelf displays an antique winemaking tool and remnants of a wooden backpack, which Albino Pestoni made and used while herding in the Swiss Alps in the 1870s. Noted Napa Valley designer Erin Martin also incorporated eclectic homages to the family's history, like an ornate, hand-carved cuckoo clock that nods to their Swiss-Italian heritage. The centerpiece is a massive chandelier constructed from a round, wooden form, which was used to make wine casks in the 19th century. A black crow sculpture sits on the chandelier, a quirky tribute to Joe, Greg Pestoni's pet crow that the family rescued and fed when he was growing up. Andy Pestoni recently retired, so his brother hired renowned consulting winemaker Aaron Pott to help craft the wines, which include classic Napa grapes like Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and Barbera. Fancier tasting experiences ($50-$125) launched with the renovation, but the winery can still accommodate walk-ins and kids. Those looking for something casual can opt for a self-guided tasting at a picnic table ($45) and bring their own provisions, which most Napa Valley wineries don't allow. 'We want to keep that vibe,' said Aimee Pestoni.
The Sun
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
90s star Rachael Leigh Cook, 45, looks ageless and glowing in strapless blue dress decades after teen fame
90's STAR Rachael Leigh Cook, 45, looked ageless and glowing in a strapless blue dress decades after her teen fame. The television and film star, known for She's All That, was attending the 14th Annual Spring Break Gala at Gallagher Garden in Los Angeles. 6 6 6 Rachel's appearance looked unchanged since her time as a 90s star, with the same brunette hair, and natural makeup allowing her flawless skin to shine through. And with a gorgeous off the shoulder dress, paired with long earrings - she looked absolutely blooming. Rachel posted a few snaps on Instagram and her followers were quick to comment. "You look absolutely beautiful," said one fan. "Just beautiful," added another. A third said: "You're always my favorite. He/She's All that Psyche, and all those Hallmark shows." The film, She's All That, focused on a popular jock, Zack, (Freddie Prinze Jr.) trying to turn "nerdy girl" Laney (Rachael) into the prom queen after being dumped. The teen rom-com, while receiving mixed reviews from critics, quickly became a cult classic and is still beloved today. Rachel also appeared in Josie and the Pussycats and in the television series Into the West and Perception. She has also voiced various characters in Robot Chicken and has appeared in many made-for-TV movies on the Hallmark Channel. And after the success of She's All That, Netflix aired a new version in 2021. In the new film, He's All That, a young man rather than a woman underwent a glow-up makeover. The plot followed: "Teen social media influencer Padgett's humiliating on-camera breakup goes viral, leading her to make a risky bet to save her reputation. "She swears she can turn scruffy antisocial Cameron [Tanner Buchanan] into prom king material. But things get complicated when she finds herself falling for him IRL." The movie starred Addison Rae, with its trailer unveiled on TikTok. Kourtney Kardashian also showed off her acting props, while Rachael herself snagged a starring role. Rachael played Anna, the mom of Addison Rae's main character, Padgett. The actress also appeared in the fifteenth season of Criminal Minds playing the role of Max in the final episodes of the series. Rachel owns her own production company, Ben's Sister Productions which she named after her younger brother. She produced and starred in the film Love, Guaranteed, which debuted on Netflix on September 3, 2020. Sadly, in 2021, Rachael and her ex-husband Daniel Gillies finalized their divorce two years after they split. A Los Angeles-based judge signed off on the divorce on March 10, 2021, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly. The case was resolved in mediation, while the legal document detailed the exes' plans for their children and pets as they moved forward. 6 6 6
