Although Rocket Raccoon’s origins have been discussed and hinted at in both Guardians of the Galaxy movies, we still don’t know too much about his past — and given what we do know, that seems okay. It’s not as if fans need a Marvel movie with an entire sequence devoted to the torturous circumstances that led to Rocket’s creation. This isn’t the DCEU, after all. But according to James Gunn, that’s about to change.
Now that Bradley Cooper’s cat is out of the bag, there’s no reason to delay welcoming Adam Scott to the Wet Hot American Summer cast. Enjoy a Parks and Recreation reunion, as our first Ten Years Later clip highlights some very visible changes for the Camp Firewood characters.
Among the review quotes on the Amazon page for Guy Lawson’s Arms and the Dudes about a pair of stoners from Miami who became international arms dealers, is one from the magazine Mother Jones. “It sounds like a comedy flick.” It does, and now it is; War Dogs from director Todd Phillips. As the man who made Old School and The Hangover series, Phillips is a specialist in stories about men of limited intelligence and limitless ability to get into trouble. Finding the story of Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, two ambitious bros who smooth-talked their way into a massive deal with the Pentagon supplying millions of rounds of ammunition to the Afghan military, must have felt like a gift from God. If Phillips and his screenwriters had simply invented these guys and their improbable rise to the top of the American military supply chain, no one would have believed it. But a look at the Rolling Stone article Lawson later expanded into his book confirms that a shocking amount of the events in this movie really happened.
Jennifer Lawrence was 24 when she shot Joy. Her character, Joy Mangano, was 34 when she invented the Miracle Mop and became one of the first stars of the QVC network. This fact remains inescapable throughout Joy. Lawrence remains watchable in Joy because, as one of our best young actors, she can’t help but be watchable. But she’s totally miscast as a divorced mother of two who’s been repeatedly beaten down by life’s disappointments. This part was meant for the Jennifer Lawrence of a 2025, not the one of 2015.