Ed Helms is heading back to TV – sort of. His new comedy Rutherford Falls, about the politics between an Northeastern small town and a nearby Native American reservation, is coming to Peacock.
The new show marks groundbreaking Native and Indigenous representation in comedic television with Jana Schmieding and Michael Greyeyes starring in the show and five Native writers on staff. Deadline describes Rutherford Falls as:
A comedy about two lifelong best friends, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who find themselves at a crossroads – quite literally – when their sleepy town gets an unexpected wakeup call.
Ed Helms, of course starred in The Office and Hangover franchise, will lead the series as a descendent of the town’s founder who’s world is turned upside down when the town statue is set to be taken down. Playing his best friend since childhood is Jana Schmieding, who is also a writer on the show and host of the Woman of Size podcast. Her Reagan Wells works in her indigenous tribe’s cultural center, located in a casino outside Rutherford Falls.
Everyone’s favorite Schitt’s Creek vet is also set to star in the series. Dustin Milligan plays Josh Cogan, a reporter and podcaster looking into the “goings-on” in Rutherford Falls.
Michael Schur is no stranger to small town politics having created Parks and Recreation and The Good Place. He will executive produce the series and serve as co-creator along with Helms and Sierra Teller Ornelas.
Rutherford Falls will premiered on Peacock April 22.
He may have struck success in Knives Out, but Rian Johnson is still keeping his Poker Face. The Oscar-nominated writer-director is teaming up with NBC streaming service Peacock to create a new 10 episode mystery series starring Natasha Lyonne called Poker Face.
Plot details are being kept under wraps but Johnson has mentioned that the show will be structured as a “case-of-the-week” mystery series, reminiscent of older tv mysteries. “I’m very excited to dig into the type of fun, character driven, case-of-the-week mystery goodness I grew up watching. It’s my happy place. Having Natasha as a partner in crime is a dream, and we’ve found the perfect home at Peacock,” Johnson said in a statement.
Lyonne, who just appeared in The United States vs. Billie Holiday as film star Tallulah Bankhead, has had a long history on television playing the “tough broad” stereotype. From Orange Is The New Black to the critically acclaimed series Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne has found steady work outside her work as a child/teen actor. We can definitely see Lyonne playing a Columbo/Miss Marple/Magnum P.I type of detective, with a comedic twist of course.
Johnson will serve as Poker Face’s creator, writer and director. Besides Knives Out, Johnson has gained notoriety for his past projects including Brick, Looper, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Poker Face‘s release date has yet to be announced.
Vampire movies have long been passe but the 2008 horror Let the Right One was something altogether new. The Swedish adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s book served as a heartfelt coming-of-age story, a buddy story of friendship, and a freakishly scary horror. It was so good that even Matt Reeves’ 2010 English remake couldn’t diminish it, and you know what? Some could say the American version was even better. There was even a stageplay and an attempted TNT series pilot. This story just resonates with people. And now it’s coming back to television, with an Oscar-nominated actor already on board.
Showtime has ordered a pilot for a Let the Right One In television series, with Demian Bichir set to star and written by showrunner Andrew Hinderaker. The show will be just like the book and the previous adaptations, with Bichir starring as Mark, father to 12-year-old Eleanor who may look like a young girl but is actually a vampire stuck in that form since she was transformed a decade earlier. Now she lives a lonely, nocturnal existence with Mark given the responsibility of finding blood for her.
Bichir was most recently seen in Robin Wright’s directorial debut, Land. Just because a pilot for Let the Right One In has been ordered doesn’t mean it’s got a full-season order yet. Whether his attempt fares better than the previous series we’ll just have to wait and see. [Variety]
Wow! It’s been 10 years since Joe Cornish’s surprisingly awesome low-budget invasion flick Attack the Block came out. We sat down at the time with the film’s little known lead, a guy named John Boyega to chat about the movie, a name that we all know well these days. Attack the Block almost instantly became a “cult” classic blending genre’s and making their low-budget appear large in the most creative ways, hell they even threw in Nick Frost! So, obviously, fans have been asking about a sequel for years. For those who haven’t seen it Attack the Block follows a teen gang in South London as they defend their neighborhood from an alien invasion.
Joe Cornish recently talked with EW in honor of the film’s 10th anniversary and revealed that a sequel was not just something he would like to do but something he was actively working on AND that Boyega was game for a second round:
“John Boyega was round at my place a few weeks ago and we sat in the garden — socially distanced — talking about story ideas until it was so dark we couldn’t see each other”
For the naysayers that will point out the fact that Cornish has said a sequel was in the works before, you’re not wrong…BUT they do seem to be making progress and c’mon COVID has delayed everything talked about over the last two years. It’s coming, i can feel it!
I don’t know if we’re supposed to take seriously Neil Burger’s latest sci-fi film, Voyagers, but I found myself chuckling at how ridiculous it is. The sight of Colin Farrell escorting a bunch of stone-faced kids into space, then raising them into emotionless, drugged-out teens only to have it devolve into chaotic debauchery is just so rich that I can’t wait to see it for myself.
The film also stars Tye Sheridan and the only publicly acceptable Depp right now, Lily-Rose Depp. Burger is the director behind other average sci-fi projects such as Divergent and Limitless. Hopefully, this one is better than those. Certainly it will have more brawls, orgies (??), and wild animal attacks. What the shit?
Also starring Fionn Whitehead, Chanté Adams, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Viveik Kalra, Archie Madekwe, Quintessa Swindell, and Madison Hu, Voyagers opens on April 9th.
With the future of the human race at stake, a group of young men and women, bred for intelligence and obedience, embark on an expedition to colonize a distant planet. But when they uncover disturbing secrets about the mission, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive natures. As life on the ship descends into chaos, they’re consumed by fear, lust, and the insatiable hunger for power.
I think for a time there was buzz for Ricky Staub’s Concrete Cowboy to be a potential Oscars contender for star Idris Elba. The father/son drama debuted at TIFF last September, and has made its way through the festival circuit, including Middleburg where I reviewed it, but has been fairly quiet for a while. Netflix is changing that now with the release of a new trailer ahead of the film’s release next month.
Elba stars as Harp, an urban cowboy who helps manage the real-life Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club stables in Philadelphia. Stranger Things actor Caleb plays his son, Cole, who is literally dropped off on his doorstep so the boy can spend the summer learning to be a man. While the move from Detroit to Philly has its struggles, it’s also where Cole learns the what it means to live like a modern-day cowboy.
And that really is the draw for this film, learning about this subculture of black urban cowboys that most of us never knew existed. For so long our entire perception of the cowboy has been white men and to see that idea expanded is truly fascinating. I was less interested in Cole’s teenage mischief, to be honest, and just wanted to hang out with Harp and his crew at the stables.
Also in the cast are Jharrel Jerrome, Lorraine Toussaint, Byron Bowers, and Method Man.
Chances are if you’re checking out SAS: Red Notice it’s for the promise of a showdown between Outlander heartthrob (and maybe the future Wolverine? Or future 007?) Sam Heughan and former Batwoman Ruby Rose. Well, this is one film that knows what its viewers are eager for, as the Under Siege-esque thriller delivers on the anticipated battle while also drawing some interesting parallels between their characters.
Those eager to see what Heughan could do as James Bond will want to peep his performance as the cool, collected Tom Buckingham, a special forces agent in the British SAS. He’s tasked with bringing down the Black Swans, a mercenary group led by the Lewis family; William (Tom Wilkinson), lunkhead son Oliver (Owain Yeoman) and favored daughter Grace (Rose). A Red Notice has been issued by Interpol following the Swans’ indiscriminate slaughter of an entire village was caught on tape and made public.
There’s more to it than that, however, and the Swans have legit beef to strike back at the British government who have been more than willing to use their lethal services. Grace and her squad take hostage the passengers on an underground train to Paris, one that happens to carry Tom and the woman he loves, pacifist doctor Sophie (Hannah John-Kamen of Ant-Man 2), who he hopes to propose to in the City of Lights.
Coincidence? Who cares? It puts Heughan and Rose in frequent orbit to one another as Tom fights off the Black Swans’ soldiers in hopes of saving as many people as possible. Grace, true to the terrorist leader playbook, has demanded a ransom and admissions of guilt from the British government, otherwise, the passengers will meet a grisly fate.
While the direction by Magnus Martens is standard for this sort of action film, it’s the script adapted from ex-SAS officer-turned-author Andy McNab’s book that is surprisingly character-driven. Exploring the relative psychopathy of killers like Tom and Grace, it theorizes that there are good psychopaths who use their coldness to fight for the right causes, while the flipside operate within a system that values, even rewards, cruelty. McNab, a diagnosed functioning psychopath himself, has clearly given the issue some thought, making for some interesting dialogue between the two rivals.
Having never seen an episode of Outlander, I can’t speak to Heughan on that show, however I do know after SAS: Red Notice that he’s a capable action star. I’d say he even fits into a similar space as Daniel Craig, someone who can be both smooth and a physical force of nature. He pairs up perfectly with Rose, who carries with her a dangerous edge that makes her fascinating to watch in roles like this. The surprisingly starry cast also includes Oscar-winner Wilkinson in a disappointingly small role, as well as Andy Serkis and The Umbrella Academy‘s Tom Hopper, the latter looking jacked as Tom’s best friend and fellow agent who is harboring secrets of his own.
The exploration of Tom as a psychopath works as a mirror to his enemy, but it makes the love story he shares with Sophie a bit muddled. While it’s good that Sophie is written as a strong enough character to fight against being a damsel-in-distress, much of the love story centers around her grappling with Tom as a hardened killer. The seeming purpose to get her brain wrapped around being okay with this, even though it flies in the face of chosen profession to save people, not kill them. Her evolution is the one aspect of the film that feels forced, like the writer had an endpoint in mind for her then wrote a story to try and justify it.
Without giving away the final showdown between Tom and Grace, SAS: Red Notice gives fans of the two leads the bloody, savage fight they were hoping for. It’s a film that will largely be remembered for that, as well as its look at personality disorder that the action genre rarely touches on.
Move over Stranger Things. There’s a new gang of supernatural teens heading to Netflix. Referencing the group of misfit kids who helped Sherlock Holmes in a few of his books (like A Study in Scarlet), The Irregulars brings a supernatural approach to 221B Baker street.
In the new trailer, Sherlock Holmes (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) is missing and John Watson (Royce Pierreson) looks to a rag tag street gang (Thaddea Graham, Darci Shaw, Jojo Macari, McKell David, Harrison Osterfield) to help pick up the peices. With killer birds, mysterious seances, magical powers, and gouged-out eyes, there’s a lot to be fearful of in this new Sherlockean world. There’s even literal face masks ala the many face god from Game of Thrones.
Not seen in the trailer but joining the cast are Shelia Atim, Aidan McArdle, and Da 5 Bloods‘ Clarke Peters. Helming the project is Tom Bidwell, known for the 2018 Netflix adaption of Watership Down. From 2013-2015 Bidwell ran the British teen-dramedy My Mad Fat Diary, which handled topics like eating disorders, fatphobia, self-harm, and LGBTQ issues. The show was nominated for multiple BAFTAs and was praised for its delicate yet real portrayal of tough topics teenagers actually deal with. If Bidwell can bring that kind of energy to The Irregulars, it could be the next Netflix sensation.
TheIrregulars is not the only supernatural show coming out that’s based in the Victorian era. Carnival Row, starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne as a human and a fairy, premiered on Amazon Prime in 2019. It’s second season has already been shot, though a release date has not been given. HBO’s new Victorian series The Nevers is set to air on April 11 and follows “a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, restless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.”
All eight episodes of The Irregulars is available on Netflix March 26th.
At this rate, the cast of Eli Roth’s upcoming Borderlandsmovie might be the best a video game adaptation has ever had. With Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis already on board, the latest addition is Swallow and The Girl On the Train actress Haley Bennett.
IGN has the news of Bennett’s joining the Borderlands cast in an undisclosed role. However, she’s said to be a new character very close to Lilith, the magical siren played by Blanchett. Hart is set to play the soldier Roland, with Black as the voice of Claptrap, and Curtis as archaeologist Tannis. Also in the cast are Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina and Creed II bruiser Florian Munteanu as Krieg.
Borderlands is a space western first-person-shooter action/RPG set on the planet Pandora, where a cast of colorful characters known as Vault Hunters try to track down a treasure trove of alien riches.
Bennett was most recently seen in in a pair of Netflix films, The Devil All the Time and Hillbilly Elegy.
Despite the fact it was basically dismissed at today’s Oscar nominations, Regina King’s One Night in Miami was a goddamn master class in acting from all involved. And one of those who really broke out from the pack was Kingsley Ben-Adir, who played the charismatic, forceful Malcolm X. And now that performance has helped the actor into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he’ll take a role in the upcoming Secret Invasion series.
Variety reports Kingsley Ben-Adir has joined Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn in Secret Invasion, taking on a “main villain” role. Who that villain might be we’re probably not going to know for a while, but I’ll bet geeks everywhere are hoping for it to be someone like Super-Skrull, a frequent Fantastic Four villain and sometimes antihero.
Based on the events of WandaVision there’s a good chance we’ll see Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau in the show, as well. Jackson reprises his role as Nick Fury, with Mendelsohn as Talos, one of the shape-shifting Skrulls who isn’t such a bad guy.
Secret Invasion doesn’t have an official release date yet but 2022 seems like a sure bet.
