BREAKING NEWS IN YUBA COUNTY

From director Tate Taylor (“The Help”, “Get On Up”) comes a black comedy about a woman who fabricates a missing person story to get attention. When Sue Buttons (Allison Janney) confronts her husband Carl (Matthew Modine) over an affair, Carl drops dead of a heart attack. Eager for sympathy and affirmation, Sue buries the body, and goes on television with a wild story about her husband being kidnapped. Meanwhile, Detective Cam Harris (Regina Hall) is seemingly the only person in Yuba County who thinks Sue’s story doesn’t add up. Unbeknownst to Harris or Sue, local mob enforcers (Awkwafina and Clifton Collins, Jr.) are also looking for Carl who disappeared with millions of dollars he was supposed to launder for them through his bank. And then there’s Carl’s brother Petey (Jimmi Simpson) who returns to a life of crime in order to raise the ransom for a brother who hasn’t been kidnapped. Rounding out an already impressive ensemble cast are Mila Kunis, Samira Wiley, Bridget Everett, Juliette Lewis, Ellen Barkin, and Wanda Sykes. What follows are a lot of twists and turns and moments of brutal violence, but was that enough to make this satire of media exploitation and celebrity worth tuning in? Our own team of tabloid journalists Jordan, Davey, Frank and Marco discuss why this ‘breaking’ story is fundamentally broken and whether it’s even worth fixing.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Tate Taylor

STARRING: Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Awkwafina, Wanda Sykes, Ellen Barkin, Matthew Modine, Jimmi Simpson, Keong Sim, Juliette Lewis, Clifton Collins Jr., Samira Wiley, Bridget Everett, T.C. Matherne, Dominic Burgess

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Jordan Cobb (Screener Squad)

Born with a comic book in one hand, a camera in the other, and in front of the television as WrestleMania played out, Jordan Worth Cobb was thus birthed into this crazy world. A Digital Filmmaking major from the University of Central Arkansas, Jordan has done it all in film from directing, writing, editing, and producing in addition to skills involved in film and TV criticism, journalism, and years of podcasting experience. On any given day, her ADHD riddled brain bounces focus from film to pro wrestling to TV to superheroes to noir to video games to espionage and yes, even to sports. She played little league you know. For more of this eccentric nerd, you can follow her on Twitter here and read her original writings on Deepest Corners of My Notebook.

 

Davey Peppers (Staff Writer, Audio and Video Editor, Screener Squad, Eye on the Prize)

Many words have been used to describe Davey Peppers. Words like “Eh” and “Please go outside, just once”. He studied film and advertising at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, because two degrees in fields with terrible job placement is better than one, and currently runs the YouTube channel Game Mechanics. He is easily distracted by shiny things and even the most basic passing mention of a movie being sad. He can be found on Twitter as well as staring at a blank wall wondering what the point is, and if his spending so much time staring at walls is the reason he’s not funny.

 

Frank Calvillo (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)

Born and raised in South Texas, Frank currently lives in Austin and has been in love with movies ever since his father showed him some Three Stooges shorts when he was five years old. Today he loves all kinds of film, regardless of era, country, budget or genre.