Super Mario Bros Movie stars: ‘Our toughest critic will be some middle-aged man living in his basement’

Published

1 year ago

April 5, 2023

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“Did any child in the ’80s not play Super Mario Brothers?”

It’s a question that’s helped pile on the pressure when it comes to the latest iteration of the classic video game – which is one of the best-selling of all time.

The franchise has already seen numerous games, an animated TV series and animated Japanese film, a live action US movie and even a theme park – all cementing its place in popular culture.

Now, moustachioed plumbers Mario and Luigi are getting the Hollywood treatment in a feature-length animation voiced by Jurassic Park actor Chris Pratt and It’s It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia star Charlie Day.

Both admit that now “screwing up” has been foremost on their mind.

Pratt tells Sky News: “The pressure of these characters, you know, you feel it.

“There’s a built-in expectation… all of this nostalgia, of loving the games as a kid, the score, the characters, little Easter eggs.

“Anyone who played Nintendo growing up or loved these characters, you’re going to go to the movie.

“That same thing that has you thinking: ‘Oh, please don’t screw this up – it’s such a big part of my childhood,’ is the same thing that will be so elated and joyful when you see the film, because we didn’t screw it up thankfully.”

Day adds: “Especially just how passionate everyone is, everyone grew up with the characters. They love them. Look, our job is just do the best acting we can do.”

However, some fans of the game have already been critical of Pratt’s casting, highlighting his lack of Italian ancestry and pouring scorn on his Brooklyn accent.

Day is quick to defend his co-star: “I have as much Italian descent as Robert De Niro, so yeah [I do have Italian heritage], but I’m going to vouch for my buddy Chris here and say, as having seen the movie, his performance is top notch.

“I think everyone, just wait to see the movie and make the decision afterwards because the guy does a fantastic job.”

Despite the backlash, Pratt says it was a part he jumped at.

“For the most part you don’t know much about Mario and Luigi playing the video games or Princess Peach or Wario or Yoshi or any of these characters,” he says.

“[Mario’s] essentially a blue-collar, American worker. And when Illumination [the animation company behind the film] called and thought I would be right for that role, I was just like: ‘Of course I’m going to do this’. I was thrilled.”

Mario first appeared as a character in Donkey Kong in 1981, getting his own arcade game in 1983, which was then turned into a platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985.

Meanwhile, Japanese company Nintendo was founded in 1889, originally producing handmade playing cards, before branching out into consoles in the late 1970s.

Now, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, this the second American feature-length adaptation of the game, following the largely maligned 1993 adaptation starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. Producers will be hoping this version is a bigger success.

A few years ago, video game adaptations for TV and film were synonymous with a flop.

But with adaptations of games like The Last Of Us, The Witcher and Arcane (the first video game adaptation to win a primetime Emmy) achieving both critical and commercial success – many see this as the time for gaming to truly step into the mainstream.

The video game industry is worth hundreds of billions of pounds globally and is one of the fastest growing industries in the UK. With many turning to gaming during lockdown, it’s a hobby that has only increased in popularity over recent years.

Pratt and Day agree this is a boom time for video games.

Day says: “We’ve gotten better at it, right? I think a few years ago, you’re going way back, there’s been a big sort of space between the video game movies.

“Right now, I think now they’re making movies with as much attention as they’re making any other story. I think before [it] was a little bit like: ‘Well, it’s just a one-off for kids’.”

Meanwhile, Pratt, who is married to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daughter Katherine, has received positive feedback from his A-list in-laws.

He says: “I took my brother-in-law, Christopher [Schwarzenegger, 25, Arnold’s youngest son], who’s a big gamer.

“[He] grew up playing all these games, and he said: ‘I think that’s the best video game movie I’ve ever seen’. Pretty high praise.”

Fans of the franchise will be pleased to know there could be more to come.

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Day says: “Illumination [the US studio who teamed up with Nintendo to make film], they really bring a lot of what is in the game, and not just the first game but many of the Mario games – and other Nintendo games too.”

Pratt adds: “It kind of gets you excited about the possibility of like this Nintendo Cinematic Universe, which is pretty cool. Probably you’re going to see more characters over the next 10 years, I hope.”

With both stars having 11-year-old boys, will their reaction to the movie be the real litmus test for audience reception?

Pratt and Day think not.

“I think my toughest critic is probably going to be some middle-aged man living in his basement somewhere,” Day says.

“But I think my boy is going to be fine with it.”

Pratt agrees – and with both boys “beyond excited” to see their dads take on one of the greatest video games of all time, only time will tell what the rest of the world thinks of the Super Mario Brothers’ latest adventure.

The Super Mario Bros Movie is in UK cinemas now.

Entertainment

Tom Brady vows to be ‘better parent’ after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Published

14 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Tom Brady vows to be 'better parent' after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Tom Brady has promised to be “a better parent” after a Netflix comedy special poked fun at his divorce.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion appeared on The Roast Of Tom Brady, where comedians like Kevin Hart tore into his split from Gisele Bundchen in 2022 after 13 years.

While the 46-year-old said he “loved when the jokes were about me,” Brady told The Pivot Podcast that he “didn’t like the way it affected my kids”.

“It’s the hardest part about, like the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realise ‘I wouldn’t do that again’ because of the way that it affected, actually, the people I care about the most in the world,” he said.

“It makes you, in some ways, a better parent going through it ’cause again sometimes you are naive. You don’t know, or you get a little like, ‘oh shit’.”

Brady has two children – Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 – with Bundchen. He also is a father to a third child, 16-year-old John, with actress Bridget Moynahan, who he dated until 2006.

‘Single life is what you deserve’

Hart, who hosted the Netflix special, kicked off proceedings by referencing their split, saying: “Single life is what you deserve because you had no choice.

“Gisele gave you an ultimatum. Gisele said ‘you retire or we’re done’. That’s what she said to you, Tom. ‘You retire, or we’re done’.

“Let me tell you something. When you got a chance to go eight, nine, and all it will cost is your wife and your kids, you gotta do what the f*** you gotta do.”

Nikki Glaser also fired jabs at Brady’s divorce, saying: “Five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns.

“You have seven rings. Well, eight, now that Gisele gave hers back.”

‘Roast taught me a good lesson’

Brady also told the podcast that as a parent, “you just don’t see the full picture all the time,” and added the roast taught him “a good lesson”.

“I’m going to be a better parent as I go forward because of it,” he added. “And at the same time, I’m happy everyone who was there had a lot of fun.”

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, David Beckham shared he texted Brady to check on him after the roast aired, saying: “I know Tom well and I must admit, I did fire him a message just to check if he was okay.

“He’s more than okay, but yeah, it was hard to watch.”

Brady, who is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback ever, played 20 regular seasons with the New England Patriots and three regular seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which he won the Super Bowl seven times and was a three-time runner up.

Entertainment

Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after ‘seven years of exile’

Published

1 day ago

May 16, 2024

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Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after 'seven years of exile'

Hollywood stars have begun campaigning for Kevin Spacey to resume his acting career “after seven years of exile”.

Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and Stephen Fry are among the names speaking up for the Oscar-winner following the release of a Channel 4 documentary levelling fresh allegations against 64-year-old Spacey, which he denies.

The Oscar-winning actor was one of Hollywood’s biggest names when allegations of sexual misconduct were made in 2017, leading Netflix to cut all ties with him at the height of his House of Cards fame.

Despite being acquitted of numerous sexual offences after a trial in London, and winning a US civil lawsuit in which he was accused of making an unwanted sexual advance, Spacey said he still feels ostracised from the industry.

Basic Instinct star Stone told the Telegraph: “I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work. He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault, and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.”

The 66-year-old said it was clear aspiring actors had “wanted and want to be around him”.

She added: “It’s terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn’t get their secret agendas.”

Taken and Star Wars actor Neeson, 71, told the paper: “Kevin is a good man and a man of character. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”

British actor and writer Fry said Spacey had been both “clumsy and inappropriate” on many occasions, but to “devote a whole documentary to accusations that simply do not add up to crimes… how can that be considered proportionate and justified?”

The 66-year-old said Spacey’s reputation had been “wrecked”, adding: “Surely it is wrong to continue to batter a reputation on the strength of assertion and rhetoric rather than evidence and proof?

“Unless I’m missing something, I think he has paid the price.”

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “Spacey Unmasked is an important film exploring the balance of power and inappropriate behaviour in a work environment, aiming to give a voice to those who have previously been unable to speak out.”

Spacey won two Academy Awards as best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects in 1996 and best actor in 2000 for American Beauty, which also scored him a BAFTA for leading actor.

Last year, Spacey was found not guilty by a jury of nine sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013 after a trial in London.

He also won a US civil lawsuit in October 2022, after being accused of an unwanted sexual advance at a party in 1986.

Spacey says he has struggled to get work despite his acquittals, branding his experience a “life sentence”.

Entertainment

Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

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Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

The weapons supervisor for the Western film Rust is appealing against her conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set, according to court documents.

Hannah Gutierrez was jailed in April after being found guilty by jurors following a trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the US.

She was in charge of weapons during the production of the film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died, while director Joel Souza was injured.

A defence lawyer for Gutierrez, who is serving an 18-month sentence at a prison for women in New Mexico, filed a shortly worded appeal notice on Monday.

Her legal team has 30 days to submit detailed arguments. They previously requested a new trial following the verdict.

Gutierrez’s trial was told she unwittingly brought live ammunition to the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.

During her sentencing hearing, she told the court she had tried to do her best while working on the production, despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”.

Alec Baldwin case latest

Baldwin, who was a producer for the film as well as its star, has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

He maintains he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – before it fired, and is set to face trial in July. He denies any wrongdoing.

The 66-year-old was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting, but those charges were dropped a few months later. He was charged again in January this year.

His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped. Prosecutors responded with a 32-page document claiming that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.

Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.

Filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the main character – after an agreement made Ms Hutchins’s widower an executive producer.