Audiences, for whatever reason, missed out on Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey when it opened earlier this year. That’s fine. Whatever. You’re why we can’t have nice things. However, a chance to rectify this egregious oversight arrives on March 24th with the film’s early release on digital. Warner Bros. made the move in light of the coronavirus pandemic that has closed theaters nationwide, and now a new trailer hypes Harley Quinn’s fantabulous emancipation.
A big cheerleader for this move before it ever happened was director Cathy Yan. With Warner Bros.’ decision, she was first to thank the fans and to encourage people to give the Suicide Squad spinoff a shot. I would wholeheartedly agree. Birds of Prey is a must-watch deserving of finding a new audience in the home release market.
Woohoo! Birds of Prey will in fact be available for digital rental on March 24! Thanks to all the fans and supporters out there. I’m just happy people will be able to enjoy new and fun movies right now.
At this point we should probably just do a blanket “Everything’s Canceled!” post. But for now, you can add Lionsgate as the latest studio to shelve its upcoming releases due to the coronavirus pandemic. Those would include three anticipated thrillers: Antebellum, Spiral and Run.
Antebellum was set to be a huge release for Lionsgate on April 24th. The film boasts the producers of Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us, with Janelle Monae starring as an author trapped in a nightmarish past in the antebellum south.
There is a lot riding on the release of Spiral, which has been moved from its May 15th date. The unexpected Saw rebirth finds Chris Rock in the lead role, based on a story he came up with, so there are plenty of eyes looking towards this one.
The May 8th release, Run, didn’t have the high profile of the others, but it does star American Horror Story’s Sarah Paulson so can’t be ignored. Paulson plays a mother who keeps her wheelchair-bound daughter locked in their house, and may be hiding dark, sinister secrets.
Lionsgate has yet to confirm new dates for any of these films, and makes no hint about the future in their statement.
With theaters across the country closed, Lionsgate will be postponing the releases of ANTEBELLUM, RUN and SPIRAL. We can’t wait to share these films with the world when this challenging moment is behind us. pic.twitter.com/pLcX4F27jN
The world pretty much sucks right now. A pandemic is sweeping the globe, people are sick, we’re all stuck inside, and our most anticipated movies are on the shelf. But in this time of crisis, fans of trash cinema have found solace in the digital release of Tom Hooper’s Razzie Award-winning Cats. And as if making fun of the ridiculous Jellicles one more time wasn’t enough reason to get excited, a new rumor suggests another version, a perhaps even lamer version, is out there waiting to be unearthed.
If you’ve seen the #ReleaseTheButtholeCut tweets out there today, just know that, yes, they do indeed have to do with Cats. It all started with writer Ben Mekler’s tweet about wanting a tell-all book about the much-ridiculed musical. A response by Jack Waz blew up the Internet by teasing the possibility of an even weirder cut of the movie in which the felines have one more orifice than the theatrical cut offers…
A VFX producer friend of a friend was hired in November to finish some of the 400 effects shots in @catsmovie. His entire job was to remove CGI buttholes that had been inserted a few months before. Which means that, somewhere out there, there exists a butthole cut of Cats
The only thing that could make Cats even more of a hallucinogenic mind fuck? CGI buttholes, that’s what. All I’m saying is that I hope this puts to rest the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut demands in favor of #ReleaseTheButtholeCut, because that’s what the world really needs right now. And hopefully, there will be an interview with the guy whose job it was to remove said feline buttholes. Most. Views. Ever.
Jamie Foxx’s appropriately-named directorial debut All-Star Weekend is supposed to hit theaters later this year, but clearly he loved the experiences and wants to do more. Foxx has already set his eyes on his next feature to direct, When We Pray, and as the title suggests it will be a faith-based offering.
Foxx has teamed up with will direct and co-write the script for When We Pray, joined by co-writer Donald Ray “Speedy” Caldwell. The story centers on two brothers, both pastors, who take different paths with their respective churches. One finds success with a modern, high-tech congregation while the other takes a humbler path only to face financial decline.
It’s unclear if Foxx will also take a role. He’s coming off his acclaimed dramatic performance in Just Mercy and will be the leading voice in Pixar’s upcoming film, Soul.
When we first meet Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) in Eliza Hittman’s stirring, intimate, and infuriating Never Rarely Sometimes Always, she’s singing a melancholy tune at a high school talent show. The song, seemingly about a boy (man?) who has made her do something she doesn’t want to, is broken up by teenage heckler. “Slut”, he shouts, to the amusement of his male friends. Meanwhile, Autumn’s family pretends not to hear. She stumbles momentarily, then forges ahead, more determined than ever to get these feelings out.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always is the latest stunning film from Hittman. Her previous two films, Beach Rats and It Felt Like Love explored with raw sensitivity the confusion that comes with teenage sexuality. She continues that trend, albeit with commentary on the pathetic state of women’s reproductive rights and the unnecessary hurdles one must face to exercise them. These roadblocks inordinately impact women of lesser means, especially those living in conservative states. But there’s little respite to be found in the big cities, as well, just different obstacles to be overcome.
Hittman doesn’t bother to spell everything out for us. Trusting us to get it ourselves, we can already tell that Autumn has it pretty rough. Her father is a dick, her mother wants to pretend nothing is wrong, and it’s only about to get worse. A doctor visit confirms the terrible news; Autumn is pregnant. The woman at the clinic fills her head with words like “beautiful” and “magic”, but to a 17-year-old girl it doesn’t feel that way. Autumn goes home and gives herself an impromptu nose piercing, the pain a distraction as much as a desperate bid for physical control.
Autumn lives in a small, blue-collar Pennsylvania town. There’s not a lot of help out there for a girl like her, especially one seeking an abortion. The nurses at the clinic definitely aren’t any help, in fact, they’re an active opponent, although veiled in flowery, seemingly helpful language. When Autumn starts punching herself in the stomach, things are already starting to look bleak. Fortunately, Autumn has one champion in her corner, her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder), who agrees to make the bus trip to New York City to visit an abortion clinic. There, she can get the procedure and nobody back home need to be the wiser.
Hittman contrasts the stifling nature of Autumn’s conservative home with the freedom of the big city. New York is like another world for Autumn and Skylar, a place of opportunity and dreams. But is it so for people like them? Their troubles don’t cease because they crossed state lines. The abortion procedure still seems designed to be as troublesome as possible. It takes days to complete, meaning one must be able to afford the trip there, as well as find days of lodging. The actual abortion becomes secondary to basic needs of survival, and soon New York becomes a daunting, gigantic place full of dangers. When you finally learn where the movie’s title comes from, it hits you out of nowhere like a kick to the gut.
All of this is presented in sobering, unsentimental fashion by Hittman, but that’s not to say the film is free of judgment. On the contrary, it’s clear exactly where Hittman stands on the issue of abortion rights. Frankly, we need more filmmakers like Hittman who are unafraid to take a stand. By telling stories that reflect our reality, it’s one of the most effective ways to incite change. And Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a film that demands for things to change. It doesn’t do it with rage and fury but in one woman’s quiet, harrowing, and heroic struggle.
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Sidney Flanigan stars as Autumn in NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features
Arguably the most popular Star Wars character to never appear in a live-action movie, Ahsoka Tano makes her long-awaited return in this week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She’s made other appearances further down the timeline, including her Force Ghost being heard in The Rise of Skywalker, but this explores her activities after leaving the Jedi Order behind years earlier.
Titled “Gone with a Trace” the episode follows Ahsoka Tano as she enters the criminal underworld of Coruscant. There she encounters an aspiring pilot named Trace Martinez, who is in desperate need of Tano’s help. While keeping her Jedi training a secret, it’s clear Tano hasn’t left behind the noble values they instilled.
Watch Ahsoka Tano’s return in the next episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on March 20th, only on Disney+.
The Final Destination franchise has been on ice since 2011, but we learned last year that a new entry in the death-dealing horror was on the way. With Saw writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan on the script, it was immediately pegged as a reboot, but that may not be what’s really going on. Series creator Jeffrey Reddick and producer Craig Perry clear the air, while also teasing what could be a cool new angle to take the familiar plot.
For those who may have missed out on the whole Final Destination thing, it basically centers on a group of young people who are killed in elaborate, highly-ironic ways. The reason? They managed to escape death once, and now Death (yeah, like the embodiment of it) is manufacturing ways to kill them in the manner they were always meant to. It’s weird, and the franchise got weirder and more convoluted as it went along, but they were always fun flicks that did well at the box office. So it’s no surprise Perry is unwilling to label this new movie as a reboot. He tells Digital Spy…
“I’ve been talking to [producer] Craig [Perry], and the concept behind it is unique. I think reboot is probably too strong of a word, it makes it sound like they’re going to change everything, but it’s definitely a Final Destination movie. Craig is the master of coming up with crazy openings and set pieces. He’s told me a couple of things that happen in this one, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s not going feel like cash-grab Final Destination film.”
As for what that unique concept might be, Perry says the story could follow first responders who deal with death every single day…
“We’re toying with having it take place in the world of first responders: EMTs, firemen, and police. These people deal with death on the front lines every day and make choices that can cause people to live or die. We rely on their good judgment, expertise, and calm demeanor. So why not put those people in the nightmare situation where every choice can bring about life and death – but now for themselves? We’re thinking that world might be an interesting way into a Final Destination movie, and one which can also generate unique set pieces in a very credible way.”
I love it, except that I don’t necessarily want to see the focus shift away from young people. Instead, mixing in a few seasoned adults to face Death’s wraith would change things up without moving away from a key aspect of the franchise’s success. These movies have always been great for introducing new stars and extending the careers of others (led, of course, by my girl Ali Larter who I’m petitioning for a comeback). That should remain intact.
We begin our story with an ominous voiceover from an unseen Overseer (William Shatner). Cut to Miriam as she exits an office building, sirens blaring completely covered in blood and carrying an axe. Do I have your attention? It certainly grabbed mine at first.
Following her bloody ordeal our protagonist is questioned by police who think that she is to blame for the deaths of her siblings which she vehemently denies. When left alone by the investigators to “re-think” her story Miriam is visited by a mysterious Gamemaster (Morena Baccarin) and offered a chance to re-do the previous night and save her siblings. Will she rewind 24 hours and except the offer? Or, is this all in Miriam’s head and just her mind’s way of coping with the traumatic events of the previous evening?
Flashing back to fill us in on what led us to this grisly opening scene we find Miriam arriving at her office to a phone call. Her world begins to collapse around her as she finds out that she has lost her last and largest donor. Adding insult to injury she also receives word that shes been invited to her estranged father’s office to talk. Reluctantly accepting she arrives at his office later that evening. Standing in the lobby she is greeted by her two brothers, Ethan (Damien C. Haas) and Collin (Benjamin Siemon) as well as her sister Kelsy (Florance Hartigan) who are all just as confused as to why they summoned to their estranged father’s place of business. The elevator dings and the group is escorted to Cyrus DeKalb’s (Ray Wise) office. One by one Cyrus judges each sibling for their misdeeds, sentences them to death and promptly has them escorted off by his henchmen Pavel (Bill Moseley) to some unseen doom.
Now lets fast forward to where we all began. Back to the hospital, back to the Gamemaster and her offer. Not to spoil anything but Miriam excepts the offer and instantly we are transported back to Cyrus’s office building lobby. Miriam tries to warn her siblings who all subsequently brush her off and we begin this adventure again. Can Miriam fix the past and save the people she loves or will she fall to the ever-changing rules of the sadistic Gamemaster?
To Your Last Death is an animated horror film directed by Jason Axinn and filled with amazing voice talent. Part Belko Experiment, part Saw with a dash of Twilight Zone and Groundhog Day. This movie is claustrophobic, bloody and oddly confusing at times. This story and universe they are trying to build seems promising but for me it just missed the mark. It feels disjointed. There are so many flashbacks, flash-forwards and timeline rewinds that I felt like I should be taking notes. The animation style is not really my cup of tea either. It reminded me of early Archer and not in a good way. That being said please don’t let my opinion discourage you from giving this movie a shot. I’m sure there’s some redeeming qualities. I mean the deathtraps and gore were beautifully executed but that can only get you so far. I’ve said this before in previous reviews. There will always be a genre fan somewhere out there for everything. If you’re a fan of one of the properties I listed above then you absolutely might enjoy this movie. I mean obviously there are people that are going to dig it judging by the multiple awards this movie has racked up at various Horror Film Festivals throughout 2019 but sadly I am not one of them.
To Your Last Death will be available on digital and VOD March 17th.
Well, there it is. Disney has gone and done it, pulling Black Widow off its May 1st release date. This was inevitable following news that AMC and Regal theaters would be closing down for up to 12 weeks because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
So what happens now? Variety has no further information on when Black Widow might turn up, but the possibility exists the entire MCU slate will need to shift. We could see Black Widow move to Eternals‘ slot in November, then Eternals taking over Shang-Chi, and so forth. Basically, each production move down a notch, and presumably the Disney+ shows would follow because they are so closely tied together.
It’s clear Disney doesn’t think this entire quarantine situation will be resolved by the time May comes around. Gambling with Marvel’s successful track record is something they aren’t willing to do and who can blame them? Just know that if Disney is willing to take a Marvel movie totally off the board, other studios will soon follow. Look out, Wonder Woman 1984.
A movie about controversial data collection company Cambridge Analytica may not sound too exciting, but remember it was the talent involved which made The Social Network exciting. In this case, the untitled movie will be directed by David Gordon Green, produced by The Russo Brothers, and written by Avengers duo Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Damn. And now you can add another Marvel alum, Paul Bettany, in the lead role.
According to Observer, Bettany will star in Green’s untitled film about Cambridge Analytica, which drew criticism and headlines for its data collection tactics and unauthorized possession of millions of Facebook users’ private information. Bettany will play CEO Alexander Nix, who hired consultant Christopher Wylie, the man who would later expose the company’s inner workings in a series of leaked documents.
Bettany is far from done with the MCU, and will be seen once again as Vision in the Disney+ series WandaVision. Next up for him is the roadtrip film Uncle Frank, directed by Alan Ball and co-starring Sophia Lillis. Filming on the Cambridge Analytica film will pick up once Green finishes with his Halloween sequels.
