There’s still a lot that we don’t know about The Matrix 4, but it’s clear the cast is going to be a mix of familiar faces and new stars. So it makes sense that this latest bit of news features the possible return of a character well-known to the franchise, and the new addition of another alum of Lana Wachowski’s Netflix series, Sense8.
Let’s start with the potential return of Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian, one of the more confounding characters in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. According to Allocine, Wilson says he’s in negotiations to return as the enigmatic Frenchman, who provides safe haven for exiled or obsolete programs looking to hide within the Matrix, rather than be deleted. His arrival, at least for me, was more confusing than anything and helped to turn an already-convoluted story into mush.
Wilson is concerned his schedule will get in the way, though, so who knows if any of this pans out. Is The Merovingian really necessary? I hope not, but maybe Wachowski has some cool plans for him this time. This being the Matrix they could easily recast the character, too.
Also joining the cast (according to Deadline) is Sense8 actress Eréndira Ibarra, making her the second from that show after Toby Onwumere. No details on her role, of course. She joins other newcomers Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith are all reprising their roles in The Matrix 4, which opens May 21st 2021.
Last night at the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Joaquin Phoenix kept his momentum going by winning Outstanding Actor for his role in Joker. During his acceptance speech, Phoenix kept it classy by closing with a few words in tribute to the late Heath Ledger, who won an Oscar for portraying the character in 2008’s The Dark Knight.
“I’m standing here on the shoulders of my favorite actor, Heath Ledger,” Phoenix said towards the end of his acceptance speech. This came after he had praised the other nominees in the category; Leonardo DiCaprio (who apparently won all the gigs Phoenix wanted when they were young) for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Christian Bale in Ford v Ferrari, Adam Driver for Marriage Story, and Taron Egerton for Rocketman.
Phoenix wasn’t just blowing smoke, either. He and Ledger were known to have great mutual respect for one another, coming up in Hollywood at around the same time. Some have called Phoenix’s Joker a way of paying respect to Ledger’s unforgettable, iconic performance.
Bong Joon-ho’s acclaimed thriller Parasite may have made its boldest move yet in the Oscars race. The film won the Screen Actors Guild’s top honor, the Ensemble Cast for a Motion Picture award, becoming the first non-English movie to do so. While I think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood briefly had the momentum following the Golden Globes, frontrunner status has been usurped by Parasite and Producers Guild Award winner 1917
The other film awards were less newsworthy, though. Joaquin Phoenix continued his march towards the Oscars with another Best Actor win for Joker; Renee Zellweger picked up steam with a Best Actress win for Judy. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s Brad Pitt took Best Supporting Actor, while Marriage Story‘s Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress.
The complete list of winners is below!
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale, “Ford v Ferrari”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood”
Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
Taron Edgerton, “Rocketman” Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”
Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”
Lupita Nyong’o, “Us”
Charlize Theron, “Bombshell” Renee Zellweger, “Judy” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Jamie Fox, “Just Mercy”
Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
Al Pacino, “The Irishman”
Joe Pesci, “The Irishman” Brad Pitt, “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Laura Dern, “Marriage Story” – WINNER
Scarlett Johanson, “Jojo Rabbit”
Nicole Kidman, “Bombshell”
Jennifer Lopez, “Hustlers”
Margot Robbie, “Bombshell”
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“Bombshell”
“The Irishman”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” “Parasite” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture “Avengers: Endgame” – WINNER
“Ford v. Ferrari”
“The Irishman”
“Joker”
“Once Upon A Time in Hollywood”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
Mahershala Ali, “True Detective”
Russell Crowe, “The Loudest Voice”
Jared Harris, “Chernobyl”
Jharell Jerome, “When They See Us” Sam Rockwell, “Fosse/Verdon” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
Patricia Arquette, “The Act”
Toni Collette, “Unbelievable”
Joey King, “The Act”
Emily Watson, “Chernobyl” Michelle Williams, “Fosse/Verdon” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Steve Carell, “The Morning Show”
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show” Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones” – WINNER
David Harbour, “Stranger Things”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show” – WINNER
Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”
Olivia Colman, “The Crown”
Jodi Comer, “Killing Eve”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”
Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”
Bill Hader, “Barry”
Andrew Scott, “Fleabag” Tony Shaloub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”
Alex Bornstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek” Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “Fleabag” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
“Big Little Lies”
“The Crown” – WINNER
“Game of Thrones”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Stranger Things”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
“Barry”
“Fleabag”
“The Kominsky Method” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – WINNER
“Schitt’s Creek”
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series “Game of Thrones” – WINNER
“Glow”
“Stranger Things”
“The Walking Dead”
“Watchmen”
This morning we posted a story about Bad Boys for Life, and how Sony was already moving forward on a sequel. Part of that was the rehiring of screenwriter Chris Bremner to begin work on the followup. But also part of the original THR piece was a little nugget that could have easily been missed: Bremner is also working on a National Treasure 3 script.
There aren’t any details, other than Bremner is writing National Treasure 3 for Disney. I don’t recall this being confirmed anywhere else before now. Maybe I missed it, maybe not.
Regardless, the idea of a third National Treasure is pretty dope, as far as I’m concerned. They were Nicolas Cage back when he was still a mainstream star, and he got to run around historical landmarks and solve puzzles, find treasures, play the hero…basically, these movies were The Da Vinci Code only much lighter on the brain. And they were hits, too. The first National Treasure in 2004 made $347M, 2007’s Book of Secrets did even better with $457M. Problems with drafting a script Disney liked was the only reason a third movie wasn’t done sooner.
Jerry Bruckheimer will return as a producer, and presumably, Jon Turteltaub will direct as these movies are most closely associated with him. Then again, until we hear more details perhaps it’s too soon to speculate on anything.
Travis flies solo on this abbreviated episode of Cinema Royale. Martin Lawrence was finally able to convince Will Smith to return for BAD BOYS FOR LIFE, but was the wait worth it? While Robert Downey Jr.’s passion project DOLITTLE finally sets sail, and gets sunk at the box office.
Plus, a look at Colin Trevorrow’s leaked STAR WARS 9 script, and what the new MORBIUS trailer means for the future relationship between Sony and Marvel Studios
You can follow and subscribe to Cinema Royale directly here, or head to Apple ITunes, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast outlets. Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @punchycritic and @punchdrunkjohn!
1. Bad Boys for Life (review)- $59.1M/$68M
The Bad Boys came out to play in a big way this MLK weekend. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys for Life, the franchise’s first movie since 2003, opened huge with $59M with an estimated $68M through the four-day weekend. Worldwide the buddy cop film has $106M. This is the biggest January debut ever for a newly released film, excluding the $89M expansion of Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper. This couldn’t have come at a better time for Will Smith, who has been teetering lately. Sure, he scored with Disney’s Aladdin, but that wasn’t really about him. Gemini Man, on the other hand, was pretty much all on his shoulders and we saw how that went. The long-running Bad Boys movies leaned hard on his star power, and of course a healthy amount of nostalgia. But I would argue the smartest thing Sony did was to reinvent the film in a way that resembled Fast & Furious, setting it up for a long future of potential blockbuster sequels.
2. Dolittle (review)- $22.5M/$30M
Poor Robert Downey Jr. It’s not like he’s done a bunch of non-Marvel movies lately. The last one was 2014’s mostly-forgotten The Judge ($84M), and now his longtime pet project, Dolittle, rolls over with just $22.5M and $30M through the MLK holiday. That wouldn’t be so bad if the reviews were better, or if it didn’t cost a ridiculous $175M do to extensive reshoots, but the reality is what it is. This one has had disaster written all over it for a long time, and only got worse when horror stories from the set started to emerge that trashed director Stephen Gaghan. The decision to hire him, when his claim to fame is serious dramas like Traffic and Syriana, made no sense in the first place.
3. 1917– $22.1M/$76.7M
4. Jumanji: The Next Level– $9.5M/$270.4M
5. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker– $8.3M/$492M
6. Just Mercy– $6M/$19.6M
7. Little Women– $5.9M/$84.4M
8. Knives Out– $4.3M/$145.9M
9 Like a Boss– $3.8M/$16.9M
10. Frozen 2– $3.7M/$464.8M
Next in the line of forgettable Guy Pearce movies is Disturbing the Peace. Jim Dillon (Guy
Pearce) is a marshal in the small town of Horse Cave. Once having a prestigious
career as a Texas Ranger, Dillon has renounced carrying a firearm after a
tragedy where he accidentally shot and paralyzed his partner. He decided that the
quiet country life was best for him and the grief that he is harboring. 10
years later Dillon gets word that his former partner has finally died
from the wounds that Dillon inflicted all those years ago. While Dillon didn’t
suffer any legal troubles as the situation was ruled an accident by the Attorney General – it drastically changed countless lives.
As if being sent at the perfect time to test Dillon, a biker
gang led by the calculated Diablo (Devon Sawa) decides to make Horse Camp the
focus of their next big score. After the biker gang cut the power and cell
phone lines (…which I didn’t know could happen) leaving Horse Cave isolated – Dillon
and fellow marshall Matt Reynolds (Michael Sirow) are the only thing standing in the way of Diablo
and company getting the payday of a lifetime. Well the two of them AND Dillon’s
love interest Catie Reynolds (Kelly Greyson) – the local restaurant operator
who packs a mean punch and isn’t afraid to back down from a threat. Just as
Dillon must try and get over the past, it turns out that Diablo has some
history in Horse Cave – but will this history cloud his judgement enough to
ruin the entire gang’s plan?
Disturbing the Peace
is a mediocre action film at best. It is a story we’ve all seen, and director York
Alec Shackleton does not do enough to distinguish it from other movies with a similar
plot that have come before it. Most notably, Shackleton employs some handheld shaky-cam footage to try
and mix things up, but that proves to be too little too late. Pearce’s performance is decent enough,
certainly not as good as earlier roles in his career that put him on the map –
but he does not get a lot of help from his supporting cast. Devon Sawa has some
well delivered lines showing that Diablo is not just some uneducated biker gang
member, but a suave and well-informed leader – other than that there is not much
to write home about. There are multiple instances throughout the movie where Disturbing the Peace seems like a
bargain basement straight to DVD flick. Along with the reused plot and subpar acting, the only place I have seen worse aim than
in Disturbing the Peace is from
Stormtroopers throughout the Star Wars
saga. You can go ahead and skip this one, there are countless better options out there.
One last ride? Sure, whatever, not if the box office demands otherwise. And that looks to be the case with Bad Boys for Life, which is projected to nearly hit $70M this weekend, a number that should help Will Smith’s fans forget that whole Gemini Man debacle. Sony Pictures isn’t willing to let Smith and Martin Lawrence ride off into the sunset so easily, as a fourth movie is already in the works.
THR reports that Bad Boys for Life screenwriter Chris Bremner has been hired to start working on a Bad Boys 4 script. This one is expected to be a direct sequel, so you probably won’t see as many jokes about how old cops Mike and Marcus are, and how they should be thinking about retirement.
In my Bad Boys for Life review, I noted how it felt like an attempt to copy the Fast & Furious model, introducing newer, younger characters, and teasing connections that could lead to bigger movies. Looks like that is happening sooner than expected. This also shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise because two movies were always planned if the numbers justified it. No word on whether Smith and Lawrence will be down for another case, especially Smith, but I think both can easily be convinced to return.
*NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the 2018 Sundance Film Festival*
I don’t know what I was expecting from the quirky underdog story Troop Zero, but this wasn’t it. Perhaps I was swayed, like so many probably were, by the presence of Viola Davis and Allison Janney in the cast, along with the film’s recent purchase by Amazon. So there are all sorts of acting cred there that suggests something more than just another movie about misfit kids, but that’s pretty much all this movie is without much in the way of originality.
While hardly a terrible movie, Troop Zero rarely seems to be dealing with real people, rather cartoon caricatures. The irony is McKenna Grace’s space cadet of a protagonist, Christmas Flint (seriously that’s her name), who declares herself to the extraterrestrials she’s obsessed with, ” I’m Christmas Flint. Human female.” Well, yeah, sorta. Set in the southern-fried town of Wimbly, GA in 1977, the film centers on Christmas, who recently lost her mother and now spends her days dreaming about outer space while her loser-lawyer of a father (Jim Gaffigan) struggles to keep her out of trouble. When the town’s Birdie scout troop is offered by some NASA rep a chance to be included in a recording being sent up to space, Christmas assembles a squad of outsiders to defeat the prissy troop led by mean ol’ Principal Massey (Janney).
Try not to overdose on the saccharine sweetness of this peculiar romp. Christmas’ band of weirdos includes her gay, Aretha Franklin lovin’ best friend Joseph (Charlie Shotwell), the overly religious and one-eyed Anne-Claire (Bella Higginbotham), bully Hell-No (Milan Ray), and Hell-No’s bruising sidekick, Smash (Johanna Colón).
Adding some much-needed heft and a balance to all that sugar is Davis as Rayleen, the cynical paralegal to Christmas’ daddy. She has no interest in hanging around a bunch of kids, but she wouldn’t mind getting even with old rival Massey. The film swings unevenly between Christmas’ misadventures earning Birdie merit badges and the gritty real-life problems people in this poor town are facing. One moment we’re meant to laugh as Anne-Claire vomits while trying to sell cookies, the next Rayleen is lamenting past legal problems, relationship woes, and the direction of her life. At the same time, we’re also meant to feel Christmas’ grief, recognizing that her need to send a message to outer space is more than just some silly fascination.
The movie’s best moments are when directing duo Bert & Bertie, along with Beasts of the Southern Wild co-writer Lucy Alibar, slow things down and get real. Davis and Grace have more than their share of touching scenes as Christmas looks towards the reluctant Rayleen as a surrogate mother figure. Janney is hamming it up in a way similar to her drawlsy performance in Drop Dead Gorgeous, while Gaffigan shows unexpected sensitivity that pays off in the end, following a big concert number resembling something out of Revenge of the Nerds.
Troop Zero will act as comfort food to anyone looking for something cute and well-meaning to digest, but it doesn’t say anything that will reverberate very far, and certainly not into the stars.
Don’t be confused. The comic book Ex Machina has nothing to do with the movie Ex Machina that Isaac starred in for Alex Garland a few years ago. Other than they are both seriously tech-based stories, that is.
The Great Machine will find Isaac starring as Mitchell Hundred, a man who gains the ability to communicate with machines and uses that power to become the world’s first true superhero. After a heroic feat on 9/11 turns him into a celebrity, Mitchell uses his fame to become Mayor of New York City.
It’s a fantastic comic, on par with Vaughan’s other work on Runaways and Y: The Last Man, both of which either have been or will be adapted into TV shows. The Great Machine will be written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, writers of the recent Kristen Stewart drama Seberg and 2016’s Jesse Owens biopic Race.
No word on when production begins, but Isaac will be seen next in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. He can be found right now in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, wrapping up his run as pilot Poe Dameron. [THR]
