Jesse Hassenger

1 week ago | decider.com | Jesse Hassenger

Is the Karate Kid gaining on his spiritual predecessor? The 1984 movie The Karate Kid was essentially a junior-level version of the underdog sports drama Rocky, even sharing director John G. Avildsen and composer Bill Conti, with a New Jersey teenager swapped in for a Philly-bred soulful bruiser.

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Jesse Hassenger

Now that Christopher McQuarrie has been promoted from Jack Reacher writer-director to full-time Tom Cruise Whisperer, Scott Frank has lost his competition as premier screenwriter and sometime director in the field of adapting literary pulp.

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Jesse Hassenger

There’s a fine melodramatic dilemma at the heart of the limited series The Better Sister:Adam (Corey Stoll) is married to Nicky (Elizabeth Banks), an unstable addict. When Adam starts to see Nicky as a potential danger to the life of their young son Ethan, he cuts familial ties with her—and eventually Nicky’s more responsible sister Chloe (Jessica Biel) steps in. Years later, Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan) is a teenager, having grown up with Chloe as his mother figure.

1 week ago | thedailybeast.com | Jesse Hassenger

There’s a fine melodramatic dilemma at the heart of the limited series The Better Sister:Adam (Corey Stoll) is married to Nicky (Elizabeth Banks), an unstable addict. When Adam starts to see Nicky as a potential danger to the life of their young son Ethan, he cuts familial ties with her—and eventually Nicky’s more responsible sister Chloe (Jessica Biel) steps in. Years later, Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan) is a teenager, having grown up with Chloe as his mother figure.

1 week ago | pastemagazine.com | Jesse Hassenger

Listen to this article Your browser does not support the audio element. You kinda have to hand it to Karate Kid: Legends for deploying a tremendous generational bait-and-switch. Anyone catching this multi-purpose sequel out of nostalgic desire to see original Karate Kid Ralph Macchio on the big screen again, now teamed up with Jackie Chan’s character from the 2010 Karate Kid remake, may be surprised to find a different former teen idol taking center stage, at least at first.