Hey, it’s not called Wonder Woman 1984 for nothing. You can’t miss the neon colors, the crowded shopping malls, the disco soundtrack, and the helmet hair of Pedro Pascal’s villain Maxwell Lord in the brand new trailer for the anticipated sequel. Gal Gadot is back as the DC Comics heroine, who finds herself fighting to save the world in the MTV generation.
In the first film, Diana Prince had joined the world of men for the first time and was a total fish out of water. But now, all of these years later, has she truly found her place? What does Wonder Woman stand for in the 1980s? And more importantly, how in the world is her thought-dead lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) back among the living? He’s riding shotgun with her on this latest adventure, but it’s clear the mystery of his return is going to play a key role.
As for the bad guys, it’s unclear what Lord is up to, but he starts off looking like a shady used car salesman. And we finally get to see Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva, an admirer who later transforms into Cheetah, gaining a confidence she clearly doesn’t have in the beginning.
Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman 1984 opens June 5th 2020, becoming the first true sequel of the DCEU.
Today the Critics Choice Association, of which I am a voting member, announced the nominees for the 25th Critics’ Choice Awards! It was Martin Scorsese’s latest mobster epic, The Irishman, that led all with 14 total nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Robert De Niro, and Best Acting Ensemble.
Following closely behind with 12 nominations was Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, followed by Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women with 9 nods. It was also an impressive showing for Sam Mendes’ single-shot WWI film 1917 and Noah Baumbach’s devastating Marriage Story, both with 8 nominations.
Netflix continued to cement itself as an awards season force, coming away with 61 total nominations.
The full list of film and TV nominees is below. The Critics Choice Award winners will be announced live on The CW Television Network on Sunday, January 12th from 7:00 – 10:00 pm ET.
FILM NOMINATIONS FOR THE 25TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS
BEST PICTURE
1917
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Parasite
Uncut Gems
BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
Robert De Niro – The Irishman
Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Adam Driver – Marriage Story
Eddie Murphy – Dolemite Is My Name
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems
BEST ACTRESS
Awkwafina – The Farewell
Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
Al Pacino – The Irishman
Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Dern – Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit
Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers
Florence Pugh – Little Women
Margot Robbie – Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen – The Farewell
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Julia Butters – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Roman Griffin Davis – Jojo Rabbit
Noah Jupe – Honey Boy
Thomasin McKenzie – Jojo Rabbit
Shahadi Wright Joseph – Us
Archie Yates – Jojo Rabbit
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Bombshell
The Irishman
Knives Out
Little Women
Marriage Story
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Parasite
BEST DIRECTOR
Noah Baumbach – Marriage Story
Greta Gerwig – Little Women
Bong Joon Ho – Parasite
Sam Mendes – 1917
Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie – Uncut Gems
Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Noah Baumbach – Marriage Story
Rian Johnson – Knives Out
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won – Parasite
Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Lulu Wang – The Farewell
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Greta Gerwig – Little Women
Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony McCarten – The Two Popes
Todd Phillips & Scott Silver – Joker
Taika Waititi – Jojo Rabbit
Steven Zaillian – The Irishman
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jarin Blaschke – The Lighthouse
Roger Deakins – 1917
Phedon Papamichael – Ford v Ferrari
Rodrigo Prieto – The Irishman
Robert Richardson – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Lawrence Sher – Joker
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mark Friedberg, Kris Moran – Joker
Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales – 1917
Jess Gonchor, Claire Kaufman – Little Women
Lee Ha Jun – Parasite
Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Bob Shaw, Regina Graves – The Irishman
Donal Woods, Gina Cromwell – Downton Abbey
BEST EDITING
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie – Uncut Gems
Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker – Ford v Ferrari
Yang Jinmo – Parasite
Fred Raskin – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Thelma Schoonmaker – The Irishman
Lee Smith – 1917
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Ruth E. Carter – Dolemite Is My Name
Julian Day – Rocketman
Jacqueline Durran – Little Women
Arianne Phillips – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson – The Irishman
Anna Robbins – Downton Abbey
BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Bombshell
Dolemite Is My Name
The Irishman
Joker
Judy
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Rocketman
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
1917
Ad Astra
The Aeronauts
Avengers: Endgame
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
The Lion King
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Abominable
Frozen II
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Missing Link
Toy Story 4
BEST ACTION MOVIE
1917
Avengers: Endgame
Ford v Ferrari
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
Spider-Man: Far From Home
BEST COMEDY
Booksmart
Dolemite Is My Name
The Farewell
Jojo Rabbit
Knives Out
BEST SCI-FI OR HORROR MOVIE
Ad Astra
Avengers: Endgame
Midsommar
Us
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Atlantics
Les Misérables
Pain and Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
BEST SONG
Glasgow (No Place Like Home) – Wild Rose
(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again – Rocketman
I’m Standing With You – Breakthrough
Into the Unknown – Frozen II
Speechless – Aladdin
Spirit – The Lion King
Stand Up – Harriet
BEST SCORE
Michael Abels – Us
Alexandre Desplat – Little Women
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Joker
Randy Newman – Marriage Story
Thomas Newman – 1917
Robbie Robertson – The Irishman
TELEVISION NOMINATIONS FOR THE 25TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS
BEST DRAMA SERIES
The Crown (Netflix)
David Makes Man (OWN)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Pose (FX)
Succession (HBO)
This Is Us (NBC)
Watchmen (HBO)
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (NBC)
Mike Colter – Evil (CBS)
Paul Giamatti – Billions (Showtime)
Kit Harington – Game of Thrones (HBO)
Freddie Highmore – The Good Doctor (ABC)
Tobias Menzies – The Crown (Netflix)
Billy Porter – Pose (FX)
Jeremy Strong – Succession (HBO)
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christine Baranski – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Olivia Colman – The Crown (Netflix)
Jodie Comer – Killing Eve (BBC America)
Nicole Kidman – Big Little Lies (HBO)
Regina King – Watchmen (HBO)
Mj Rodriguez – Pose (FX)
Sarah Snook – Succession (HBO)
Zendaya – Euphoria (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Asante Blackk – This Is Us (NBC)
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple)
Asia Kate Dillon – Billions (Showtime)
Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones (HBO)
Justin Hartley – This Is Us (NBC)
Delroy Lindo – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Tim Blake Nelson – Watchmen (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Helena Bonham Carter – The Crown (Netflix)
Gwendoline Christie – Game of Thrones (HBO)
Laura Dern – Big Little Lies (HBO)
Audra McDonald – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Jean Smart – Watchmen (HBO)
Meryl Streep – Big Little Lies (HBO)
Susan Kelechi Watson – This Is Us (NBC)
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Barry (HBO)
Fleabag (Amazon)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Mom (CBS)
One Day at a Time (Netflix)
PEN15 (Hulu)
Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ted Danson – The Good Place (NBC)
Walton Goggins – The Unicorn (CBS)
Bill Hader – Barry (HBO)
Eugene Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Paul Rudd – Living with Yourself (Netflix)
Bashir Salahuddin – Sherman’s Showcase (IFC)
Ramy Youssef – Ramy (Hulu)
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate – Dead to Me (Netflix)
Alison Brie – GLOW (Netflix)
Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Kirsten Dunst – On Becoming a God in Central Florida (Showtime)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep (HBO)
Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge – Fleabag (Amazon)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)
Anthony Carrigan – Barry (HBO)
William Jackson Harper – The Good Place (NBC)
Daniel Levy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Nico Santos – Superstore (NBC)
Andrew Scott – Fleabag (Amazon)
Henry Winkler – Barry (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alex Borstein – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
D’Arcy Carden – The Good Place (NBC)
Sian Clifford – Fleabag (Amazon)
Betty Gilpin – GLOW (Netflix)
Rita Moreno – One Day at a Time (Netflix)
Annie Murphy – Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
Molly Shannon – The Other Two (Comedy Central)
BEST LIMITED SERIES
Catch-22 (Hulu)
Chernobyl (HBO)
Fosse/Verdon (FX)
The Loudest Voice (Showtime)
Unbelievable (Netflix)
When They See Us (Netflix)
Years and Years (HBO)
BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Brexit (HBO)
Deadwood: The Movie (HBO)
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Netflix)
Guava Island (Amazon)
Native Son (HBO)
Patsy & Loretta (Lifetime)
BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Christopher Abbott – Catch-22 (Hulu)
Mahershala Ali – True Detective (HBO)
Russell Crowe – The Loudest Voice (Showtime)
Jared Harris – Chernobyl (HBO)
Jharrel Jerome – When They See Us (Netflix)
Sam Rockwell – Fosse/Verdon (FX)
Noah Wyle – The Red Line (CBS)
BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Kaitlyn Dever – Unbelievable (Netflix)
Anne Hathaway – Modern Love (Amazon)
Megan Hilty – Patsy & Loretta (Lifetime)
Joey King – The Act (Hulu)
Jessie Mueller – Patsy & Loretta (Lifetime)
Merritt Wever – Unbelievable (Netflix)
Michelle Williams – Fosse/Verdon (FX)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Asante Blackk – When They See Us (Netflix)
George Clooney – Catch-22 (Hulu)
John Leguizamo – When They See Us (Netflix)
Dev Patel – Modern Love (Amazon)
Jesse Plemons – El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Netflix)
Stellan Skarsgård – Chernobyl (HBO)
Russell Tovey – Years and Years (HBO)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Patricia Arquette – The Act (Hulu)
Marsha Stephanie Blake – When They See Us (Netflix)
Toni Collette – Unbelievable (Netflix)
Niecy Nash – When They See Us (Netflix)
Margaret Qualley – Fosse/Verdon (FX)
Emma Thompson – Years and Years (HBO)
Emily Watson – Chernobyl (HBO)
BEST ANIMATED SERIES
Big Mouth (Netflix)
BoJack Horseman (Netflix)
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Netflix)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix)
The Simpsons (Fox)
Undone (Amazon)
BEST TALK SHOW
Desus & Mero (Showtime)
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS)
The Kelly Clarkson Show (NBC)
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
BEST COMEDY SPECIAL
Amy Schumer: Growing (Netflix)
Jenny Slate: Stage Fright (Netflix)
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons (ABC)
1. Frozen 2– $34.6M/$337.5M
On a week where there were no major new releases, Frozen 2 easily held on to the top spot with $34.6M. That brings the Disney sequel to $337M domestically and a $919M worldwide haul.
2. Knives Out– $14.1M/$63.4M
Rian Johnson’s starry whodunnit Knives Out continues to make a killing. It only fell 47% in the second weekend for $14M and $63M domestic. Worldwide the film has $124M, and could get ramped up further if it manages to snag an Oscar nomination. It’ll almost certainly land some Best Ensemble love from some of the other awards groups out there, but an Oscar contender for Best Original Screenplay seems like a possibility, too.
3. Ford v Ferrari– $6.537M/$91.1M
4. Queen & Slim– $6.53M/$26.8M
I had a feeling the timely road pic Queen & Slim would have legs, and it seems to be the case. The Daniel Kaluuya/Jodie Turner-Smit crime flick slipped just 45% in week two, totaling $26M domestic and a potential Oscar bump waiting in the wings.
5. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood– $5.2M/$43.1M
6. Dark Waters– $4.1M/$5.2M
7. 21 Bridges– $2.8M/$23.9M
8. Playing with Fire– $2M/$41.9M
9. Midway– $1.9M/$53.4M
10. Joker– $1M/$332.1M
WandaVision is shaping up to be one of the weirdest, and most vital, entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Disney+ series will offer a quirky, 1950s-style look at the relationship between Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), and while it may look too offbeat to be of much importance, Kevin Feige says the show’s impacts will be felt all throughout the MCU during Phase 4. He tells Omelet…
“[We have] the opportunity to tell their story, and show more of what Wanda can do, more of what makes Vision, Vision, and most importantly, reveal a name that I’m not even sure we’ve said in the MCU yet, but we make a big deal of in the show, is the fact that Wanda is the Scarlet Witch. And what does that mean, that she is the Scarlet Witch? That’s what we play into with this show in ways that are entirely fun, entirely funny, somewhat scary, and will have repercussions for the entire future of Phase 4 of the MCU.”
Finally referring to Wanda as the Scarlet Witch is indeed a big deal. In the Marvel Comics, she is one of the most powerful characters, literally with the ability to reshape reality. We saw her going toe-to-toe with Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, but it looks like that will be just the tip of the iceberg.
Furthermore, Wanda’s mystical powers keep her in close connection with Doctor Strange, and she will have a role in the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which will make alternate realities the thing fans will want to keep track of during Phase 4…
“The multiverse is the next step in the evolution of the MCU, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is gonna crack it wide open in ways that will have repercussions for a Disney+ series just before it, that’s not WandaVision, and for movies just after it in a big, fun way.”
The first official image from WandaVision is below, looking like it was taken from an episode of Ozzie & Harriet. The six-episode series hits Disney+ in early 2021.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, and Paul Walter Hauser.
SYNOPSIS: Directed by Clint Eastwood and based on true events, “Richard Jewell” is a story of what happens when what is reported as fact obscures the truth. “There is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have thirty minutes.” The world is first introduced to Richard Jewell as the security guard who reports finding the device at the 1996 Atlanta bombing-his report making him a hero whose swift actions save countless lives. But within days, the law enforcement wannabe becomes the FBI’s number one suspect, vilified by press and public alike, his life ripped apart. Reaching out to independent, anti-establishment attorney Watson Bryant, Jewell staunchly professes his innocence. But Bryant finds he is out of his depth as he fights the combined powers of the FBI, GBI and APD to clear his client’s name, while keeping Richard from trusting the very people trying to destroy him.
The screening takes place tomorrow, December 9th at 7:00pm at AMC Mazza Gallerie. If you’d like to attend, simply go to the Warner Bros. ticketing site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you will need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
In the opening moments of the teaser for tomorrow’s Wonder Woman 1984 trailer, Diana pops a bullet out a foe’s gun and swats it back at him with her gauntlet. Done in slo-mo, it’s a really cool moment in this brief bit of footage, some of which is taken from the teaser shown Comic-Con in 2018.
The other big takeaway from this are the eye-popping colors, a serious upgrade from the hit 2017 movie and perfect for the retro setting. Later on, we see Diana hurling around enough lightning to make Thor jealous, even swinging from the bolts using her lasso. That’s pretty damned awesome. While we don’t get a look at Kristen Wiig as Cheetah yet, Pedro Pascal as villain Maxwell Lord can be glimpsed at one point, looking like he may be calling down some serious power of his own.
SYNOPSIS: Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her facing an all-new foe: The Cheetah. As previously announced, the film also stars Kristen Wiig in the role of the Super-Villain The Cheetah, as well as Pedro Pascal. Chris Pine also returns as Steve Trevor.
If you play a lot of video games, in particular RPGs like Final Fantasy or open world games such as Grand Theft Auto, you run into a lot of NPCs, or non-playable characters. They don’t have much personality if any at all, and in some cases are just there to get run over or beat up depending on your mood at the moment. Well, imagine how that must be for them? It has to suck, and Ryan Reynolds is one of those NPCs in the new comedy, Free Guy, which looks absolutely terrific.
Directed by Shawn Levy, Free Guy stars Reynolds as an NPC bank teller in a game called Free City. That is until one day he begins to wonder if there’s more to life than just being a background character, and starts to take charge of his future.
It was the little details that had me laughing my ass off during this trailer, such as random NPCs dancing, getting rolled by armed criminals, and stuff like that. This is the kind of role perfect for Reynolds, allowing him to bring his larger-than-life personality to a character that is a blank slate ready to be filled in.
Joining Reynolds in the cast are Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi, Joe Keery, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Channing Tatum. Free Guy opens July 3rd 2020.
Well, here’s one of the big problems with a company like Disney becoming such a multimedia juggernaut: they no longer have reason to care when a decision they’ve made looks really bad. Case in point, the recent news that Mena Massoud, star of the $1B-grossing Aladdin from earlier this year hasn’t been able to snag a single casting audition since. While that’s not directly Disney’s fault, to then drop the news that Billy Magnussen, one of the VERY few white characters in the movie, is getting an Aladdin spinoff on Disney+….well, that just looks like shit.
It’s bad timing, at the very least, to make this kind of move. THR has the details on Magnussen’s Aladdin spinoff, which will bring back his bumbling Prince Anders character for a Disney+ movie. Jordan Dunn and Michael Kvamme, writers on the SpongeBob: Sponge On the Run movie, are handling the script.
This isn’t a knock against Magnussen, who is always a lot of fun and manages to be a scene-stealer in just about everything. He’ll return as Prince Anders, the dim-witted suitor from the fictional land of Skanland who tried to win the heart of Princess Jasmine. Magnussen helped come up with the spinoff idea and has been involved in the process all the way through, but things are still very early.
The report makes clear this isn’t an actual Aladdin sequel, although one is in development. Chances are we’ll see Magnussen return for that, as well, making Anders one of the most enduring characters to emerge from the live-action hit.
Gotham City just got a new resident: acclaimed actor Peter Sarsgaard. The Batman director Matt Reeves tweeted a GIF of Sarsgaard, captioned ““Oh… Hi, Peter… ????” followed by a bat insignia, which is usually his way of making these announcements. The big question is…who is he playing?
THR speculates Sarsgaard could be a corrupt cop named Wasserman, or maybe a district attorney. Sure, the D.A. thing sounds about right, but not just any D.A. Fans have begun to speculate that Sarsgaard has been cast as District Attorney Harvey Dent aka the villain Two-Face.
Interestingly, Sarsgaard’s wife is Maggie Gyllenhaal, who you may recall starred as Rachel Dawes in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, and it’s her death at the hands of Joker that drives Dent to go insane become Two-Face. Furthermore, Gyllenhaal dropped this Instagram photo of Sarsgaard where he’s halfway through a clean shave, given rise to the Two-Face rumors because Dent’s face is half disfigured.
A post shared by Maggie Gyllenhaal (@mgyllenhaal) on Dec 5, 2019 at 5:22am PST
Makes sense to me, and Sarsgaard has a penchant for playing really diabolical characters. He would be joining Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, John Turturro, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, and Andy Serkis. The Batman opens June 25th 2021.
As long as Nicolas Cage keeps pumping out the B-rated
films, people will keep watching. Sort of like Field of Dreams – “if you
build it, he will come” except in this case it’s “If Nic Cage is in it, at
least some friends will gather with popcorn, probably a couple of beers, and
sit back to enjoy the ride.” That’s exactly how I felt with Primal
earlier this year (Jaguar vision FTW) and Grand Isle is no different. This
version of Nicolas Cage is a Vietnam veteran named Walter living in a Victorian
home with his neglected wife Fancy (KaDee Strickland) in 1988. Their marriage
is clearly on the rocks – Walter drinking all day and Fancy wishing he was
still the man she had fallen in love with. The two of them do not pass up any
opportunity to put the other one down with a quick jab – regardless of whose
company they may be in.
Buddy (Luke Benward) and his wife have just welcomed a new
child into the world and Buddy is desperately trying to find work to make ends
meet. Walter happens to need someone to fix his fence, and there you have it –
Buddy and Walter’s paths cross. Walter wants the fence to be finished in a
single day and offers Buddy a handsome bonus for doing so – plus there is a hurricane
rolling through town so time is really of the essence. Buddy unfortunately does
not complete the job in time, and on top of that his truck won’t start – so he
begrudgingly accepts Walter and Fancy’s offer to stay with them until the storm
dies down…a decision he may live to regret.
Grand Isle is not shot chronologically. Director Stephen
S. Campanelli and writers Iver William Jallah and Rich Ronat show very early on
that Buddy has been arrested and is being questioned by Detective Jones (Kelsey
Grammer). The rest of the film is Buddy going through and telling Detective
Jones everything that happened the night before, after the hurricane hit Grand
Isle. Seeing as how Buddy is beat up and covered in blood, one can fairly
assume that the prior night was anything short of dull. Look, Grand Isle
is not an Oscar contender here – you have to know what you are getting yourself
into. It is a B-rated movie at best, but I can truthfully say – I have seen MUCH
worse. There are some good lines and you can add Walter to the list of absurd
characters that Cage has played in the past. There is an old timey feel to the
film that Campanelli pulls off fairly well with the music and cinematic choices
really helping bring that to light. Grand Isle does keep you guessing at
what is actually going on in Walter and Fancy’s house – we all know that multiple
locks on the basement door is never a good sign, but what is this crazy couple
really up to? Grand Isle won’t be for everyone, die hard Nic Cage fans will
of course be tuning in – but there is enough here that others should be able to
get a kick out of a decent amount of the film. Your best bet is to keep your
expectations in check, get some friends together, and turn Grand Isle
into a ridiculous Netflix movie night that you can all laugh about and enjoy.
