After flying under the radar for a while, Hilary Swank has been keeping herself very busy of late. This year will find her in the controversial but highly-anticipated thriller The Hunt, but after that she’ll star in Fatale, in which she brings a classic femme fatale vibe to a contemporary story of passion that turns into obsession.
Fatale stars Swank alongside Michael Ealy, an actor whose characters always seem to be on either end of a stalker-ish relationship. The Stumptown and The Perfect Guy actor plays a sports agent whose steamy one night stand with Swank’s detective threatens to destroy his perfect life.
Also in the cast are Luke Cage star Mike Colter, Geoffrey Owens, and Kali Hawk. Behind the camera is Deon Taylor, who has carved out his niche in Hollywood with these mid-level thrillers including Black & Blue, The Intruder, and Traffik. They don’t make these salacious adult films too often anymore, but when they do, like with Fatal Attraction or Obsessed, they tend to be huge. I’m certainly looking forward to this one, too.
Over the last few days I’ve been struggling with whether to post my review of the action flick, Guns Akimbo, y’know, that movie starring Daniel Radcliffe as a guy with guns bolted to his hands. The review is done, however, controversy broke out over the weekend after its director Jason Lei Howden went into a Twitter tirade against two female film critics of color and setting loose his fans against them. The criticism put Guns Akimbo’s release into serious jeopardy, but distributor Saban Films says it will happen as normal. Here’s their statement:
“We are releasing ‘Guns Akimbo’ this Friday, February 28. While we do not condone, agree or share Mr. Howden’s online behavior, which is upsetting and disturbing, we are supportive of the film and all the hard work and dedication that has gone into making ‘Guns Akimbo.’”
Without going too deep into this, the whole thing began when Dilara Elbir, blogger and editor-in-chief of the Much Ado About Cinema website, used racial slurs in a private message and it was spread online. Most of the site’s staff abruptly quit and she was hit with the expected online anger in response. She would later apologize in a serious of emotional videos, but a friend reported on Twitter that she was also threatening suicide and had been taken to a hospital.
Howden entered the picture when he publicly accused writers Valerie Complex and DarkSkyLady of cyber bullying and attempted murder over what happened to Dilara. While Howden’s claims seem to be false (neither was online at the time), he continued to escalate the situation as the two women of color tried to defend themselves, including in a piece on Medium.
Howden has since deleted his personal Twitter account, but continues to operate the Guns Akimbo account.
So this whole thing escalated pretty quickly. And here I thought the buzz for Guns Akimbo would center on its ridiculous premise, as it should. Howden’s actions are deplorable. His attacks against online film critics and specifically writers of color should get him shunned from the larger film community, and they probably will. It’s not as if Guns Akimbo is the next Citizen Kane. If Howden doesn’t make another movie, nobody will give a shit.
That said, I’m going to move ahead on the release of my review later this week. Not for Howden, who is an epic douchebag, but for all of the other people who worked hard on the movie, from stars Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving to the producers, assistants, and crew. They didn’t have any part to play in Howden’s idiocy and don’t deserve to be punished for it.
However, if Howden’s activities continue and others choose to work him on another movie, we will not be bothering to review that one regardless of how good/bad it may be.
ICYMI: , the director of Guns Akimbo, a new Daniel Radcliffe film, knowingly falsely accused Val and other female poc writers of bullying another woman (they did not). He was called out by men (me, Robert), But he decided to only target, smear and harass POC women https://t.co/eW8fWucGO1pic.twitter.com/VXEwWTtP0x
How far would you go to get a first look at Jordan Peele’s upcoming Candyman movie? Would you dare say the dreaded terror’s name five times, and risk his haunting presence forever? Although Peele is challenging fans of the horror to do exactly that, but you won’t have to because we’ve got the first teaser and poster right here, ahead of this Thursday’s trailer!
Looks like Teyonah Parris is about to get paid a visit by the infamous slasher, made famous by Tony Todd in a trilogy of horrors in the ’90s. Todd will return for this “spiritual sequel”, along with Parris, Colman Domingo, and Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The film will be directed by Nia DaCosta, from a story co-written by her, Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld.
The progress on Indiana Jones 5 has been long, and it’s still unclear there’s any real demand to see another one. A ton of different writers have come and gone over the years, but Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg are dead set on bringing Indy back for at least one more adventure, perhaps to make up for the underwhelming ‘Crystal Skull‘. While questions remain whether Ford will “pass the torch”, he says the movie will only happen if it has a chance to be everything fans want.
Ford spoke with HeyUGuys, and said fans have a new level of expectation thanks to what Marvel has been able to accomplish…
“I don’t really want to give them what they want to see, I want to give them something they didn’t anticipate seeing. They are used to a degree of disappointment when you revisit. Certainly, the Marvel movies have made a spectacular example of a success that worked the other way around, they killed it! Well, we’re not going to make another Indiana Jones unless we are in a position to kill it.”
“We want it to be the best. We’ve got some scheduling issues and a few script things still to do, but we are determined to get it right before we get it made.”
Color me skeptical, but at least Ford seems to be pretty excited about the future of Indiana Jones. That has to count for something. Indiana Jones 5 opens July 9th 2021.
The sign of a well-deserved Best Picture winner? We keep talking about it long after the Oscar has been given out. Such is the case with Parasite, Bong Joon-ho’s intense thriller which we know is being turned into a TV series and is having a run on IMAX right now. But for those who have been unable to see the movie up to this point, we now know where and when it’ll be available to stream at home.
Hulu has acquired the exclusive streaming rights to Parasite, with plans to release Joon-ho’s acclaimed movie on April 8th. Nope, they’re not waiting around in the least.
Here’s a statement from Hulu on the news: This year’s historic Best Picture winning film Parasite, from NEON, will be available on Hulu beginning Wednesday, April 8. Parasite made waves this awards season with both critics and audiences alike. Visionary director Bong Joon-ho, took home four Oscar wins including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. Additional accolades include the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, the SAG Award for Best Ensemble Cast and the Palme D’or, which is the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Do I even need to remind you what Parasite is about? Basically, a poor family of grifters ingratiates itself in the lives of a wealthy family, and shit goes crazy. The film is also available right now on Bluray and digital, raking in the big bucks in just about every way.
When it comes to Mission: Impossible, health-related delays apparently come with the territory. This time, production hasn’t been delayed by Tom Cruise breaking his foot, but because of an outbreak of the coronavirus in Venice, Italy, where shooting was gearing up.
Paramount Pictures has decided to delay production in Venice, Italy on Mission: Impossible 7, due to Italy having one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks anywhere in the world. Currently, there are a reported 219 cases in the country, and the government has put a stop to all public gatherings. Movie sets tend to attract pretty big crowds, so that’s a no-go.
While none of the cast had arrived yet, crew were already starting to show up for work and have been flown right back out.
Here is Paramount’s statement: “Out of an abundance of caution for the safety and well-being of our cast and crew, and efforts of the local Venetian government to halt public gatherings in response to the threat of coronavirus, we are altering the production plan for our three week shoot in Venice, the scheduled first leg of an extensive production for Mission: Impossible 7. During this hiatus we want to be mindful of the concerns of the crew and are allowing them to return home until production starts. We will continue to monitor this situation, and work alongside health and government officials as it evolves.”
Christopher McQuarrie returns to direct Mission: Impossible 7 which opens on July 23rd 2021, and will be shot back-to-back with its sequel, opening a year later. Returning to join Cruise in the cast are Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, and Henry Czerny. Newcomers include Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, and Nicholas Hoult.
Alison Brie may be taking her experience suplexing women in GLOW, and putting it to super-powered use in Marvel’s She-Hulk series on Disney+. That’s if a new rumor turns out to be true, which says she is tops on the list to play the mean, green lawyer to the superhero community.
Take this with a massive dose of salt because I can’t vouch for the source, Knight Edge Media, who add Marvel could simply be looking for an Alison Brie “type”. But why go for that if you can have the real deal? While she wasn’t first to come to mind when thinking of She-Hulk, that’s because we tend to only think of the big, muscled, green aspect of the character. We never just think of her as Bruce Banner’s cousin, Jennifer Walters, a renowned attorney with a wicked sense of humor and tendency for breaking the fourth wall.
So we’ll see how this plays out, but if true it’s a choice I’m definitely down with. That said, I also wouldn’t mind Brie’s GLOW co-star Betty Gilpin, who is just as talented. Production on She-Hulk is to begin this summer. Brie can be seen right now in Netflix’s film Horse Girl. The final season of GLOW arrives later this year.
There have already been some big movies this early into 2020, but undoubtedly the one we’re really waiting for is A Quiet Place Part II. The sequel to John Krasinski’s surprise horror is sneaking up on us pretty quick, and Paramount has dropped a new trailer and featurette to get audiences ready to watch in silence.
Krasinski is back behind the camera, having also written the script this time, with Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe returning as the family in peril. There isn’t a ton of new footage here, making clear that the formula will remain largely the same. The difference, as Blunt makes clear in the accompanying featurette, is to expect more monsters.
My hope is they don’t go too far with this. If they start explaining to us where the monsters come from, that’s a direction probably best avoided.
Well, this was a welcome surprise. I don’t know if there’s a ton of anticipation for a Little Shop of Horrors remake, but casting like this will definitely help. According to THR, Evans is in talks to bring “America’s Ass” to the role of the dentist, Orin Scrivello, in Greg Berlanti’s upcoming musical. He would be joining Taron Egerton, Billy Porter, and potentially a reunion with Scarlett Johansson.
So this is unexpected, but a very good thing. While Edgerton’s Seymour would be the movie’s lead, the dentist, at least as played by Steve Martin in the 1986 movie, is far more interesting and gives Evans a chance to sing for what I think will be his first time on screen? The abusive, nitrous-addicted DDS is more than just an a-hole, he’s also the boyfriend to Audrey, who would be played by Johansson. Porter is expected to voice the man-eating plant, Audrey II.
No word on a release date but shooting begins this summer.
It’s the time of year for equestrian dramas, I guess? Although it’s been open in Australia for a few months, we’re now getting the first domestic trailer for Ride Like a Girl, the feature directorial debut by Six Feet Under actress Rachel Griffiths, and led by a pair of fellow Aussies, Teresa Palmer and Sam Neill.
Based on a true story, the film stars Palmer as jockey Michelle Payne, the first woman to win the Melborne Cup. In 2015 she rode the horse Prince of Penzance to victory. Neill plays her father and well-known horse trainer Paddy Payne. The film co-stars Sullivan Stapleton and Brooke Satchwell.
This one’s clearly playing to the crowd, which these kinds of underdog (underhorse?) stories are designed to do. Between this and Dream Horse this is a good time for fans of the track. I’m a huge fan of Teresa Palmer ever since I Am Number Four, and I’m curious to see how Griffiths handles herself behind the camera.
