On the latest Smash Cut podcast, we’re talking about what may be the final Terminator film, Dark Fate, and try to figure out why this one failed despite the return of James Cameron and Linda Hamilton. We also talk about The King, the historical drama starring Timothee Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson, and more. Later in the show we begin discussing the recent troubles Lucasfilm is having, and if The Rise of Skywalker should be the final Star Wars movie ever.
You can catch the Smash Cut podcast live every Sunday on Twitch at 2pm. Please join us, follow, subscribe, and make your opinions known in the chat room! We encourage all of your takes and will respond to them on air! You can also find us here on Libsyn where you can also subscribe!
When Bad Boys for Life opens in January, it will have been 25 years since the original movie that launched Will Smith’s career. If you’re one of the people who have been eagerly awaiting Smith’s reunion with Martin Lawrence (more than Lawrence himself, who could use the gig), you probably don’t need this new trailer at all because it looks like the last one.
Nobody comes to a Bad Boys movie looking for anything other than Smith and Lawrence blowing shit up, smashing up cars, and dropping one-liners. There’s plenty of each in this footage (“A High School Musical boy band with guns” is pretty funny), which teases one last action-packed case for the Miami cop duo as retirement starts to creep up on them.
Picking up where Michael Bay left off are directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, with Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, and Kate del Castillo joining the cast.
SYNOPSIS: Marcus Burnett is now a police inspector and Mike Lowery is in a midlife crisis. They unite again when an Albanian mercenary, whose brother they killed, promises them an important bonus.
Yeah, I know. I’m as sick of this debate as the rest of you, and had been good on my word not to keep posting every reaction to Martin Scorsese’s dismissive comments toward Marvel movies. But now that Scorsese has attempted to clarify his statements and put this whole thing to bed in a New York Times essay, the end finally appears to be in sight.
In his latest statements, Scorsese sticks to his guns in saying Marvel films are “not cinema”, but explains why they aren’t for him and why he feels their impact is ultimately detrimental to the business…
“Many franchise films are made by people of considerable talent and artistry,” wrote Scorsese. “You can see it on the screen. The fact that the films themselves don’t interest me is a matter of personal taste and temperament. I know that if I were younger, if I’d come of age at a later time, I might have been excited by these pictures and maybe even wanted to make one myself. But I grew up when I did and I developed a sense of movies — of what they were and what they could be — that was as far from the Marvel universe as we on Earth are from Alpha Centauri.”
Scorsese continues…
Some say that Hitchcock’s pictures had a sameness to them, and perhaps that’s true — Hitchcock himself wondered about it. But the sameness of today’s franchise pictures is something else again. Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures. What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger. Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes.
They are sequels in name but they are remakes in spirit, and everything in them is officially sanctioned because it can’t really be any other way. That’s the nature of modern film franchises: market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they’re ready for consumption.
Another way of putting it would be that they are everything that the films of Paul Thomas Anderson or Claire Denis or Spike Lee or Ari Aster or Kathryn Bigelow or Wes Anderson are not. When I watch a movie by any of those filmmakers, I know I’m going to see something absolutely new and be taken to unexpected and maybe even unnameable areas of experience. My sense of what is possible in telling stories with moving images and sounds is going to be expanded.
Scorsese goes on to call this a “perilous” time for theatrical film as streaming has gained such a foothold in the industry that it’s becoming the delivery system of choice for large swaths of the audience…
And if you’re going to tell me that it’s simply a matter of supply and demand and giving the people what they want, I’m going to disagree. It’s a chicken-and-egg issue. If people are given only one kind of thing and endlessly sold only one kind of thing, of course they’re going to want more of that one kind of thing.
But, you might argue, can’t they just go home and watch anything else they want on Netflix or iTunes or Hulu? Sure — anywhere but on the big screen, where the filmmaker intended her or his picture to be seen.
In the past 20 years, as we all know, the movie business has changed on all fronts. But the most ominous change has happened stealthily and under cover of night: the gradual but steady elimination of risk. Many films today are perfect products manufactured for immediate consumption. Many of them are well made by teams of talented individuals. All the same, they lack something essential to cinema: the unifying vision of an individual artist. Because, of course, the individual artist is the riskiest factor of all.
There’s a lot more that Scorsese has to say, and you should definitely check out the whole thing. I think it’s tough to argue the substance of what he’s saying, it’s the way he says it that gets me, using intentionally dark language as if this is all part of some sinister plot. It’s just the evolution of the business, and I feel it’s up to us, as in people with a platform and a voice, to let people know there’s more out there than superhero movies.
Netflix finds itself with an embarrassment of riches this awards season. Unlike last year when Roma was the horse they could back fully, the streamer has multiple movies with a legit shot at some Oscar love. One that has slipped through the cracks a little bit but is starting to gain momentum, is The Two Popes, which stars screen veterans Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as real-life Popes Francis and Benedict during a crucial moment for the future of the Catholic Church.
Directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God) and penned by Anthony McCarten (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour), The Two Popes centers on a historic moment in time following Pope Benedict’s sudden resignation. A meeting with his eventual replacement, the progressive Pope Francis, leads to a clash of ideologies full of humor, hope, and understanding.
McCarten has had the Midas Touch over the last few years, and he’s been getting a lot of buzz for his screenplay. Personally, I think it’s a sure bet for an Oscar nomination if not an outright win. But the real joy is watching two legends like Pryce and Hopkins tangle on the big screen. This is a movie that you don’t need to care about the Church to enjoy. It’s just a real pleasure.
SYNOPSIS: From Fernando Meirelles, the Academy Award-nominated director of “City of God,” and three-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten, comes an intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church. Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between both tradition and progress, guilt, and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront elements from their pasts in order to find common ground and forge a future for a billion followers around the world.
The Two Popes opens in theatres on November 27th before coming to Netflix on December 20th.
It’s the time of year when a number of deals are struck on new films; some big, some small, some prestige, some not. And one of those that is already shaping up to be part of the prestige category is Losing Clementine, a comedy-drama set to star Jessica Chastain as “world-renowned and sharp-tongued artist Clementine Pritchard who has decided she’s done. After flushing away her meds, she gives herself 31 days to tie up loose ends. While checking off her bucket list she uncovers secrets about her family and the tragedy that befell her mother and sister.” Argentinian filmmaker Lucia Puenzo (The German Doctor) will direct based on a script by Better Caul Saul writer Anna Cherkis, adapted from Ashley Ream’s novel. Chastain is coming off the horror sequel It: Chapter 2, and has the spy thriller 355 coming up, along with biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye. [Deadline]
And one film that probably won’t fall in the prestige category but could be another hit for Gerard Butler is The Plane, an action thriller from screenwriters Charles Cumming and JP Davis. Butler will play “commercial pilot Ray Torrance, who after a heroic job of successfully landing his storm-damaged aircraft in a war zone, finds himself caught between the agendas of multiple militia who are planning to take the plane and its passengers’ hostage.” Butler is coming off the $133M success of Angel Has Fallen, the final leg of the ‘Fallen’ trilogy. This is right in Butler’s wheelhouse as he continues to be a reliable action star. Something tells me if this hits we could be looking at the start of a franchise. [Deadline]
We are now a week away from the launch of Disney+ and the start of their most anticipated series, The Mandalorian. Details have been kept scarce, including a major Star Wars spoiler in the first episode, and I’m at the point where the less I know the better. But a new teaser has been released that is worth checking out for a couple of reasons. One, it gives us our first look at the always-awesome Ming-Na Wen as the assassin Fennec Shand; and second, we get to hear the gravelly-voiced Nick Nolte as Kuiil.
It’s only 30-seconds of footage and, as usual, most of it is vague, but it seems to be a lot of people hyping up the titular Mandalorian. Nolte’s character, sounding like he’s been smoking road flares, says he’s “only read the stories” about the warrior Mandalorians. “Your name will be legendary” says Ming-Na’s Fennec Shand, which suggests he’s on one Hell of a journey to earn that kind of a reputation.
We still don’t know much about Shand, but Ming-Na shed a little light on her to Vanity Fair…
“We got our inspiration really from the name. The idea of a fennec fox came to mind. She’s tricky, and yet she’s able to maneuver and survive, and be stealthy—so very graceful and agile. I just love that whole image with the name.”
So is Shang on dark or light side of the Force? Knda sounds like she’ll be playing all sides, whatever suits her at the moment…
“Thinking that she’s a mercenary, it can go either way,” Wen said. “I think it remains to be seen.” Wen compared her to Han Solo, a survivor who didn’t start out believing in any cause but his own. Then again, Fennec Shand made her name committing murder for the galaxy’s top crime syndicates, so she’s much closer to the sinister side than the wisecracking smuggler.”
“She is definitely someone who’s loyal to herself,” Wen added.
Disney+ will premiere The Mandalorian on November 12th.
A good time must’ve been had on the set of Joe Carnahan’s sci-fi action film Boss Level, because he’s set to reunite with his stars Mel Gibson and Frank Grillo on something new.
Deadline reports Gibson and Grillo have joined Carnahan’s upcoming thriller, Leo from Toledo. Based on an original script by Dan Casey, it “follows a former killer for the Kansas City mob, now hiding in witness protection, who has trouble with his memory. When his past catches up with him and he becomes a hunted man, he has little time to save the one thing he has left – his estranged daughter and granddaughter.”
No word on when Leo from Toledo gets rolling, but Gibson is eager to get started…
“I’ve seldom had more fun than sitting in a writer’s room with producer Lawrence Grey and writer-director Joe Carnahan, while we spit balled on this story. It’s a tight, fast thriller, but its quirky observations had me in stitches,” Gibson said.
You know the name McAfee if you’ve ever had antivirus software installed. But did you know a movie about its creator, the tech mogul-turned-renegade John McAfee has been in the works for what seems like forever? Well, it has, and it has just taken an unexpected step forward with Zac Efron coming aboard.
Deadline reports Efron will star in King of the Jungle, a comedy from Crazy Stupid Love directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. They’ll be working from a script by Dolemite Is My Name writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, which is based on the Wired magazine article about McAfee, who cashed in his fortune and went rogue to the jungles of Belize where he set up a compound of guns, sex, drugs, and paranoia. Efron will play journalist Ari Furman, who takes a seemingly normal assignment to interview McAfee, only to get swept up in the escalating madness.
Previous versions of the film had Seth Rogen as Furman and Michael Keaton as McAfee, which would’ve been pretty awesome. A couple of years ago Johnny Depp was seemingly confirmed to take the McAfee role, but it doesn’t seem like he’s still involved. If I were Depp I’d do whatever it takes to stay on. This looks like a role that would fit him like a glove, especially now given his current misfit status.
Efron is coming off his twisted turn as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, which kinda makes me wish he was playing McAfee.
Stow your freakout! This isn’t the Unforgiven you’re thinking of.
For years, an adaptation of the BBC miniseries Unforgiven has been in the works, with the last time back in 2013 when Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie came aboard. Finally, producer Grahame King has seen his long-developing project find a home at Netflix with Sandra Bullock starring and McQuarrie’s screenplay intact.
The news comes from Deadline, who say Bullock will follow up her Netflix smash Bird Box with the starring role in Unforgiven. A film remake of the BBC miniseries, it centers on a woman released from prison after serving 15 years for the murder of two policemen who had tried to evict her. She re-enters society looking for a fresh start, but is targeted for revenge by the family of her victims. Her only hope for redemption is to find the estranged sister she was forced to leave behind.
McQuarrie wrote the screenplay, having been attached to the film since back when Angelina Jolie was involved. He still holds this project very close to his heart based on this tweet…
This one is near and dear to my heart. I’m honored to know it’s in such good hands.Fun fact: The first draft was written in 2010. #KeepWritinghttps://t.co/bazwRjV4nU
One might think a combined $1.4B would look pretty good to Warner Bros. from their Fantastic Beasts series, but not when they’re expected to live up to the heights of Harry Potter. The second film, The Crimes of Grindelwald, was especially disappointing on a box office level, made even worse by the lackluster critical reviews that have really put a damper on things. And so there are going to be some changes for the upcoming third film, which you may recall was recently delayed so author/writer JK Rowling could get a better handle on the script. She’s going to get some help with that.
Deadline reports that Rowling will no longer be the sole screenwriter on Fantastic Beasts 3, as she will be joined by Steve Kloves. This has to be great news for fans because Kloves was the writer on all but one of the Harry Potter movies. He knows the franchise inside and out, but has been relegated to a producer role of late.
Another change involves an expansion of Jessica Williams’ character, Professor Eulalie “Lally” Hicks, although it’s unclear how that’ll shake out. A little more diversity in the casting certainly won’t hurt. The rest of the cast remains the same, and that, unfortunately, includes Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald. The controversial actor has been a deadweight ever since he joined up, and there has been a push from fans to see him removed. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, though.
Fantastic Beasts 3 hits theaters November 12th 2021.
