The ‘Brahms: The Boy II’ Trailer Reminds Us Why We Hate Dolls

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February 11, 2020

Your Grandma has that room doesn’t she? You know the one, no one’s allowed to go in there and decorating the walls like some demonic audience are fancy porcelain dolls, with their dead eyes and evil smiles. Dammit Grandma, thanks for the trauma! Anywho, thanks to Chucky I’m part of a generation that added evil dolls to our list of weird things to be terrified of. I was almost concerned that future generations, who were jaded by good effects and sharp writing, wouldn’t share that dread. Then I saw this trailer. Certainly, there’s been no lack of evil doll films, hell this one’s a sequel (I never saw the first), but the recent films lacked that certain something that even the well-received Child’s Play remake couldn’t capture. Looks like we finally have a contender in Brahms: The Boy II which brings Katie Holmes back to the big screen. The films got the look, and sometimes that’s enough. Whether there’s more to it time will tell, but check out the trailer below and let me know if I’m just being a little wussy…if so, blame grandma.

Brahms: The Boy II opens February 21st, directed by William Brent Bell.

‘Altered Carbon’ Season 2 Has A Trailer….It’s Time To Get Crazy

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John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

I never caught season 1 of the Netflix sci-fi hit Altered Carbon, but I’ve really wanted to, for whatever reason it just hasn’t popped into my immediate watch list. So you can imagine I wasn’t really clamoring for season 2. Then I saw this trailer. I’m not sure what I thought the show was before, Black Mirror meets Battlestar maybe? I honestly had no real clue but with Anthony Mackie added to the main cast and the jaw-dropping action taking place inside the two minutes of the clip below I think it may just be time to get caught up. Check it out below and let us know what you think!

Altered Carbon season 2 comes to Netflix on February 27th!

Details Emerge On Joaquin Phoenix’s New Film With ‘Beginners’ Director Mike Mills

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John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

The idea of Beginners and 20th Century Women director Mike Mills teaming up with Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix was enough to make their mysterious film a hot topic of discussion. What could these two possibly be collaborating on? Will it arrive in time for the 2020 awards season? Details have been virtually nonexistent, but now Deadline has some intriguing new details as A24 goes on the hunt for worldwide distribution. Something tells me they won’t have any difficulty.

According to the trade, shooting is now wrapped, and the film is indeed being shopped around in hopes that it’ll be released later this year in time for awards season. While this still sounds pretty vague, the plot reportedly finds Phoenix as “an artist left to take care of his precocious young nephew as they forge an unexpected bond over a cross country trip.” There will also be some kind of CGI component as Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital is involved, too.

Joining Phoenix in the cast are Gaby Hoffman, Woody Norman, and Kenneth Kynt Bryan, with a budget around the $10M range. But the hook is going to be Phoenix, who is coming off a career-best performance in Joker that has everyone eager to see what he does next. Could he be in line for another trip onto the Oscars stage?

Dee Rees To Direct Adaptation Of Iconic Opera ‘Porgy And Bess’

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John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

Dee Rees’ latest, The Last Thing He Wanted doesn’t hit Netflix until February 21st after premiering at Sundance (I did not love it at all), but the filmmaker has already decided on what she’s doing next. Deadline reports Rees will write and direct an adaptation of Porgy and Bess, the acclaimed opera from George Gershwin and writer/author DuBose Heyward.

Porgy and Bess is a love story centered on a disabled, black street beggar in Charleston, SC as he attempts to rescue Bess from her abusive lover Crown and drug dealer Sportin’ Life. A film adaptation was released in 1959 that had an incredible cast including Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, and Sammy Davis Jr.

The play was controversial for playing into racial stereotypes, especially seeing that so many who have adapted it have not been African-Americans. Having Rees involved should assuage any fears of something similar happening with this version. Rees spoke to doing exactly that…

“‘Porgy and Bess’ is at its core, a love story,” Rees said. “So I’m very excited to take on the challenge of this highly venerated, iconic material and lift the architecture of this unlikely love story and re-site it at a place and moment of resistance. With the help of a terrific artistic team, my vision is to invest this community with a new agency and re-locate the characters from a fictional landscape mostly viewed from the outside to a real geography with actual historical and cultural roots, relevance, and consequence and that has been built and lived from the inside.”

“By accessing the spirit of the lyrics as they’ve been conjured, reinterpreted, and rearranged by greats like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, I’m most excited about inviting today’s brightest musical talents to lend new voice and spirit to both the joys and the frustrations of the ongoing struggle of African American citizens in this country. In this new adaptation, I’m hoping to raise the stakes for our hero and heroine, giving them full expression of existence placing emphasis not just on the circumstantial but on their rich inner lives and emotional pasts. It’s thrilling to work with the legendary producer, Irwin Winkler, and the visionary team at MGM Studios and be a part of the studio’s rich musical legacy.”

Controversial ‘The Hunt’ Finally Has A Release Date And A New Trailer

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John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

In the light of Joker‘s recent awards success despite initial concerns it may incite violence (it didn’t), the controversy surrounding The Hunt has been ludicrous. You may recall, the film became a target last year for its plot about a group of elites who hunt down ordinary people for sport. A mass shooting, an incendiary tweet from the orange dude in the White House, and concerns the story was about killing right-wing “deplorables” led Universal to pull the action flick’s September 2019 release entirely. I think we all knew it would see the light of day eventually, and now we know when.

Universal has dropped a brand new trailer and poster for The Hunt, revealing that it will hit theaters on March 13th. Directed by Craig Zobel from a story by Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof, the movie stars Betty Gilpin, Emma Roberts, Hilary Swank, Glen Howerton, Amy Madigan, Justin Hartley, Ethan Suplee, Macon Blair, and Ike Barinholtz.

Just looking at this trailer it’s clear what’s changed. While I don’t believe any alterations were made to the movie itself, the marketing gimmick has definitely shifted, giving the movie a more satirical vibe than what we saw before. Will that stop the wackos from pretending to be offended? From playing the victim? Of course not, but I’m just happy the movie is finally being made available so the rest of us can decide for ourselves.

SYNOPSIS: The most talked about movie of the year is the one nobody has seen … yet.

Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are, or how they got there. They don’t know they’ve been chosen… for a very specific purpose … The Hunt.

In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, a group of elites gathers for the very first time at a remote Manor House to hunt ordinary Americans for sport. But the elites’ master plan is about to be derailed because one of The Hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin, GLOW), knows The Hunters’ game better than they do. She turns the tables on the killers, picking them off, one by one, as she makes her way toward the mysterious woman (two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank) at the center of it all.

Wes Anderson Reveals Whimsical ‘The French Dispatch’ Poster Before Tomorrow’s Trailer

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John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

You had to know that with a title of The French Dispatch and a story centered on the lives of those at a European newspaper, Wes Anderson was going to create images worthy of a splash page. The new poster for Anderson’s latest has arrived a day before the trailer debuts, and it features the starry cast as animated versions of themselves.

The poster for The French Dispatch looks like a colorful insert in a newspaper, only given Anderson’s trademark whimsical touch. Featured are Timothee Chalamet, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Lea Seydoux, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Adrien Brody, Benicio Del Toro, Jeffrey Wright, Lyna Khoudri, and Frances McDormand, all occupying rooms in a tiny French apartment building. Each image teases one of the many stories that will make up the film. Of particular note is Seydoux’s, seems to have her dressed as a cop, standing near a gun and a police baton.

Anderson’s pulled together so many for this one that some of the biggest names can’t even be included. Recent Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss, Liev Schreiber, Willem Dafoe, Jason Schwartzman, Christoph Waltz, and more are left out, perhaps appearing on a future poster?

SYNOPSIS: THE FRENCH DISPATCH brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city.

The French Dispatch opens July 24th.

Mystery Sony/Marvel Film Set For October 2021

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John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

Following the recent trailer for Morbius, Sony’s Marvel-verse is a Hell of a lot more interesting. Now that it appears there is a direct link between Sony and Marvel’s cinematic universes, the announcement of a new movie has the potential to mean more than ever before.

According to Exhibitor Relations, Sony has set October 8th 2021 for an untitled Sony/Marvel movie. What might it be? Well, it’s untitled so we have no idea. There are a couple of things it probably isn’t, though.

Doubtful that date is for Andy Serkis’ Venom sequel, which is already deep into production for a likely October 2nd 2020 release. It also feels too early to be planning any sequels to Morbius because the jury is still out whether fans are interested in seeing Jared Leto as the vampiric vigilante. There’s also a followup to Spider-Man: Far from Home, but that already is set for July 21st 2021.

So what does that leave? Well, Sony does have a Kraven the Hunter movie in the works, as well as Nightwatch, Silver Sable, Black Cat, possibly the animated Spider-Women movie featuring Into the Spider-Verse’s Gwen Stacy. Lots of options and Sony is likely to pluck from one of these to fill that date.

‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Recruits ‘Someone Great’ Writer/Director, Jaimie Alexander Possibly Teases Return As Sif

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John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

Just because Taika Waititi is now an Oscar winner for Jojo Rabbit it doesn’t mean he’s got time to kick back and relax. Thor: Love and Thunder is expected to shoot later this year, and Waititi is gathering those around him who will help shape the god of thunder’s latest adventure.

Variety reports Jennifer Kaytin Robinson has been brought on to help Waititi co-write the sequel to Thor: Ragnaork. Robinson is probably best known for writing/directing the Netflix rom-com Someone Great starring Gina Rodriguez.

Waititi may have written the prior movie himself, but it’s possible the return of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, who will inherit the powers of Thor, inspired him to bring on a female writer. Seems like a smart move. Chris Hemsworth will return as Thor, of course, along with Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie and Waititi as the voice of Korg. Christian Bale is reportedly in talks for an unspecified role, but he doesn’t appear to have signed on the dotted line with Marvel yet.

And I don’t know how to take this, but Jaimie Alexander may be teasing her return as Sif, possibly in Thor: Love and Thunder. The actress was all over the MCU early on, playing a close confidante and potential love interest in Thor and Thor: The Dark World. She would later appear in an episode of Agents of SHIELD in a rare Marvel crossover. The character hasn’t been seen since. Kevin Feige confirmed it was Alexander’s busy schedule on Blindspot that prevented her return.

In a recent Reddit interview, Alexander was asked if she was still able to ride a horse and swing a sword like Sif does, and the actress responded, “Yes, once upon a time I was able to do that, and I might have to do that again in the future.”

Okay, so that’s not much, but when asked what she’s working on next Alexander responded that she “would probably cease to exist if I actually told what I have coming up, so I can’t tell you guys, but thanks for asking anyway.”

Again, that’s not a confirmation she’ll be armoring up as Sif once again, but that kind of secrecy is very familiar. I wouldn’t mind seeing Sif return to stir things up, maybe clash with or turn her romantic attentions to Valkyrie?

‘Birds Of Prey’ Gets A Title Change After Disappointing Debut Weekend

By

John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

The upside of Birds of Prey‘s opening weekend, which topped out at $81M worldwide, with just $33M of that domestic, is the film was relatively inexpensive at just about $100M. That’s the lowest of any DCEU movie, and so it will more than likely turn a profit when all is said and done. That said, Warner Bros. is still disappointed in the early numbers, as well they should be, and have found a way to try and turn things around: by changing the movie’s title.

Spotted by Comicbook.com at Cinemark and AMC theaters is a new title that puts Margot Robbie’s character front and center, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.

It’s so simple, it kinda makes you wonder why they didn’t think of this before?

Seriously, the title Birds of Prey was fine but if you have a popular character like Harley Quinn why wouldn’t you flaunt it? Most of the promos didn’t even bother to include the ridiculously-long subtitle (And the Fantabulous of One Harley Quinn), so there was no value in that. It makes sense to put Robbie, who was also just nominated for an Oscar, fully in the spotlight.

We’ll see if this strategy works or not. More good news is the positive response from critics and audiences, not to mention a weak crop of new releases in coming weeks. If there’s a turn around and Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey shows steady legs we might get that sequel director Cathy Yan is eager to make.

Disney+ Knows How to Get You Ready for the Final Season of ‘Clone Wars’

By

John Nolan

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February 11, 2020

There was a TON of excitement around the release of Disney+ last year, one of the most surprising reasons for that excitement was the announcement that Clone Wars the beloved animated series would be coming back for a final season. Crazy that I’m referring to this as a beloved animated series, talk about a turn around from the pilot. I still remember going to a screening for the theatrical release of the pilot and man….was it bad. That being said, the series REALLY found it’s groove providing needed backstory to SO many iconic Jedi and doing what the prequel series failed to do, develop Anakin Skywalker and make us believe the legendary friendship between he and Obi-Wan Kenobi. If you’re anything like me you’ve been catching up on all of the episodes available on Disney+ before the final season premiers on February 21st. Here’s the only issue….over 6 season the series produced over 100 episodes, and while their less then 30 minutes a piece that still comes out to a work week worth of watching (maybe…math’s not really my thing). Thankfully Disney+ has released a list of it’s 20 essential episodes to catch up on before the premier. For Mandalorian fans, there’s something for you too. Remember that crazy black lightsaber we saw during the season finale? Yeah, that’s the Darksaber and you can learn all about it during these episodes. Check out the list below and let us know if Disney missed any important ep’s on their list.

1×01: Ambush
1×05: Rookies
2×05: Landing at Point Rain
2×06: Weapons Factory
2×07: Legacy of Terror
2×08: Brain Invaders
2×12: The Mandalore Plot
2×13: Voyage of Temptation
3×02: Arc Troopers
4×21: Brothers
4×22: Revenge
5×06: The Gathering
5×01: Revival
5×14: Eminence
5×15: Shades of Reason
5×16: The Lawless
5×17: Sabotage
5×18: The Jedi Who Knew Too Much
5×19: To Catch a Jedi
5×20: The Wrong Jedi