On the Heels of A Debut Trailer ‘Dark Phoenix’ is Pushed Back

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September 29, 2018

It doesn’t take much for folks to call a movie a disaster these days, reshoots, casting changes, delays, anyone of them can have the internet a blaze with tales of a troubled production from the set. After Rogue One‘s success I had hoped that would quiet everyone down, I really hate when the world collectively jumps to a conclusion but no such luck. That all being said even I am starting to wonder about the upcoming live action adaptation of the ‘Dark Phoenix’ story line that will close out the X-Men: Days of Future Past phase of that universe. It had karma against it from the start, what with X-Men: The Last Stand, which also adopted this comic book story-line, being widely regarded as the lowest point in the franchise. Then there was the less then epic reception of X-Men: Apocalypse which was the film they hoped would usher in their newly cast versions of Cyclops, Jean Gray, Nightcrawler, etc as new fan favorites, with Sophie Turner’s Jean being the least liked of the group. It wasn’t off to a great start, and it didn’t get better once production started, the ominous cloud of Marvel’s acquisition of Fox hanging over it the shoot was delayed, even once it was completed there had been stories of major re-shoots after a disastrous test screening. Fast forward to this week, the news of a trailer blazes through the interwebs and hits to…umm, not terrible fan reception? Hey, at least it will get out there and who knows, maybe it could surprise us.

Well, today brings the news that the film has been delayed again which is especially odd considering the timing literal days after the premier trailer hits. Fox has announced that Dark Phoenix has been moved from February 14th, 2019 to June 7th, 2019, but lets read between the lines her. I opened this by decrying those that jump to conclusions and maybe that’s just what I’m doing. Fox is also moving it’s ‘Alita’ adaptation from a December slot to the one previously occupied by ‘Phoenix’ which may be the real indicator. One of the main reasons a film is moved is to avoid competition if the studio doesn’t have confidence in the flick’s ability to perform. What this says to me is that Fox has no hope that Atila can compete in the highly coveted late December arena so it’s moving to February to give it a fighting chance, more interesting is that the new X-Men flick has been moved right into the trenches of summer box office warfare. So, obviously, they think it can stand up in Marvel’s domain…is it possible this is actually good news for Dark Phoenix? I guess we’ll have to wait until June to find out.

Review: ‘All About Nina’, Mary Elizabeth Winstead Shines

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John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

The Orchard

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has done excellent work in her career thus far, does q fantastic job in her portrayal of Nina Geld, a comedian trying to make it in a male-dominated sphere. But her past demons and traumatic experiences demand to make a comeback just as she’s about to hit a career high. Written and directed by Eva Vives, All About Nina is a solid and strong debut for the first-time feature film director.

The Orchard

All About Nina smoothly manages to balance the ups and downs of Nina’s life without one outweighing the other. Nina is a multi-dimensional character not defined by her past, but certainly shaped, affected and recovering from it. She defines herself as a stereotype but she is anything but and it goes to show what a layered female character can look like when written and directed by another woman. There’s a gentleness and sincerity in the handling of the story and sensitive topics.

The comedy is vulgar and straight to the point and Nina dives in head first, with her strong comedic talent and stage personality masking a lot of her internal struggles. Winstead is able to carry the film and digs deep into the feelings of Nina, often bouncing back and forth between various emotions in the span of a minute. Winstead’s performance is nuanced, ebbing and flowing alongside the narrative, never doing too much or too little. Her performance is truly pitch perfect.

It’s often hard to find that balance between comedy and darker themes, but Vives manages to do exactly that. There’s certainly a lot that the film tackles, from the reception of female comedians to how Nina’s past potentially puts a wrench in her career and also how she’s perceived by the public. Nina has a formerly abusive relationship with Joe (Chace Crawford), a married cop who won’t stop showing up where he doesn’t belong, but the film thankfully doesn’t spend the entirety of its run time torturing Nina and the audience with their relationship.

The Orchard

Instead, we get to watch Nina develop a much healthier relationship with Rafe (Common), a man who’s honest with her up front and doesn’t hurt her in the way she’s used to. Through this relationship, we watch Nina become more comfortable, but it’s not rushed and unfolds organically. Her relationship with Rafe and the slow and steady rise of her career help build toward the most heart-wrenching and vulnerable moment for Nina and Winstead truly nails it. Meanwhile, Common’s Rafe is patient and isn’t quick to walk away. The rapper-turned-actor is a solid and calming presence throughout the film.

All About Nina is one of those films that sneaks up on you because you’re not expecting it to be as good as it is. But it’s easily one of the standout indie films of the year. Eva Vives’ directorial feature film debut is exceptionally good and her writing isn’t overly dramatic for the sake of it. Rather, it moves like gentle waves lapping at the shore and the steady pacing matches the major narrative beats. All About Nina is definitely worth checking out and I look forward to seeing where Vives goes from here.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Bradley Cooper On Possibly Directing ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy 3’

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John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

Now that Bradley Cooper has made his directorial debut with A Star is Born, and is earning very real Oscar buzz for it, he has graduated to a new level of Internet scrutiny. Not only will EVERY interview include a question about superhero movies he might star in, now he can be asked which superhero movies he might direct. There’s a vacancy opened up for the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 directing gig, and it didn’t take long for Cooper to get asked if he would be up for it. Here’s his response to the JOE interviewer…

“In directing it?”, he responded. “I could never direct anything that I didn’t write. No, I could never direct anything that I didn’t write.”

Oh, damn, ok. Who knew Bradley Cooper would be such a hands-on dude committed to his vision and his vision only. That’s surprising and kinda cool. Unfortunately, it means his involvement with the Guardians franchise will be voicing Rocket, not stepping behind the camera.

Now, let’s see what comic book movie he gets asked about next.

Next ‘Kingsman’ Film Is A WWI Prequel Starring Ralph Fiennes And Harris Dickinson

By

John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

Now this is very unexpected. Just a few days ago Kingsman 3 was confirmed with Matthew Vaughn returning to write and direct. For obvious reasons we assumed this would be a movie reuniting Taron Egerton and Colin Firth as Eggsy and Harry Hart, because Vaughn has said we’d be seeing the conclusion to their storyline. But apparently we were wrong to think that, because DailyMail says the next movie is actually a prequel with a very different cast.

Ralph Fiennes and Harris Dickinson are apparently attached to star in the untitled Kingsman film, a prequel set during WWI. The story may include real-life Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, with Fiennes taking on the role of the first Kingsman, a unique rank. This could be Kingsman: The Great Game, the prequel Vaughn has been setting up, although we assumed a traditional sequel would come first.

Fiennes is a known commodity at this point, and honestly it feels perfect him joining the Bond-influenced Kingsman franchise. Dickinson is less known, but I’ve sung his praises here for his performance in the indie drama Beach Rats, and he was solid in last summer’s The Darkest Minds. He’ll be seen next in Maleficent 2, so this definitely a kid on the come up.

The untitled Kingsman film opens November 8th 2019.

‘Rocketman’ First Look: Taron Egerton Captures Elton John’s Extravagant Style

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John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

Dexter Fletcher may not be the biggest director around, he’s probably best known for his roles in front of the camera, but he’s got two huge rock music biopics coming up within months of one another. He was hired to replace Bryan Singer on Bohemian Rhapsody, although it’ll be Singer who takes all the credit. And next year he’ll chronicle another superstar ’70s rocker in the Elton John film, Rocketman, and we have our first look at star Taron Egerton as the glamorous performer.

The image perfectly capture the rocker’s, let’s just call it gaudy, fashion sense with the blazing gold jacket, and those sneaks! Only Elton John could rock those blue and gold feather sneakers and make it look so chill. So Egerton has the look down, and hopefully we’ll hear how he tackles John’s unique voice when the trailer arrives. Egerton proved in the animated film Sing that he has the pipes, but will it be enough to convince skeptics?

Rocketman opens May 17th 2019.

Simon Kinberg Says ‘Gambit’ Will Be A Rom-Com, Confirms Early 2019 Start

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John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

The recent Dark Phoenix trailer is confirmation enough that 20th Century Fox is going to keep making X-Men movies all the way up until the merger with Disney is complete. One film that may get in under the wire is Gambit, although after years of troubles even finding a director to join star Channing Tatum, that looks really unlikely despite recent reports of a looming start date. Simon Kinberg, director of Dark Phoenix and a creative force in the X-Men franchise, talked to IGN and gave his thoughts on the status of Gambit, and what genre he sees the film falling into…

“When you look at Gambit, he’s a hustler and a womanizer and we just felt like there was an attitude, a swagger to him, that lent itself to romantic comedy,” said Kinberg. “You know, when I say romantic comedy, I use that term loosely, in the same term that I use the term western for Logan loosely. It’s not like they’re gunslingers at high noon in Logan. It’s just a vibe. And I would say the vibe of Gambit has a romantic or sex comedy vibe to it. While it is also still very much a superhero movie with villains and heroes, as all these movies are.”

I don’t know if I’d classify Gambit as a womanizer. Popular with the ladies? Yes, but is he the use ’em and throw ’em away type? Not really. Then again, if this is an origin story as has been suggested in the past, and it includes his ex BellaDonna Boudreaux, then maybe I can see where Kinberg is coming from. Lea Seydoux had been cast in the role of BellaDonna but that, like so much else about this movie, didn’t last long.

Kinberg also backs up the plan to begin shooting “early next year”, saying they have a “great script” ready to go. That’s all well and good, but he doesn’t address the film’s lack of a director, which would seem to be a pretty big sticking point, right? Doug Liman, Gore Verbinski, and Rupert Wyatt were the previous directors attached, only to drop out fairly soon after.

Review: ‘Smallfoot’ Starring Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common And LeBron James

By

John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

Smallfoot is a weird animated movie from Warner Animation starring Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, and Gina Rodriguez about a village of Yetis. The story begins with Migo (Tatum), a young member of the village who wants to follow in his father’s footsteps. First of all, it’s funny that this character is name Migo and the whole time I’m thinking about Quavo, Offset and Takeoff (The Migos), I was expecting to hear an adlib in the movie. In the Yeti village, they have rules given to them by Stonekeeper, the chief of the village. Young Migo ends up venturing outside of the village by mistake and seeing an airplane and a human being. Migo’s mind is blown by seeing the mythic “smallfoot” that they were told don’t exist. Migo goes back to the village and tells what he saw but has no proof so he’s banished from the village. Migo, thanks to his friend, hehe, trys helping him to find a smallfoot. Migo then ventures beyond his part of the mountain, seeing this whole world where humans live. This brings us to Percy Patterson (Corden), a down on his luck animal expert and TV personality trying to find a new way to get famous in the age of social media.

Percy and Migo’s world collide and Migo ends up taking Percy to his village which completely shakes up the Yetis’ world and what was told to them by the Stonekeeper. This is where the movie really starts to get to its point of telling kids, and adults as well, to question what those in power tell you and ask why. A lot of this movie is Migo wanting to know why things are the way they are, when he sees things that are different from that. I can see how that works with kids being told one thing by their parents and then what the world shows them. Some of the momentum of the story is slowed by the music. Most of the songs in the movie just aren’t needed and don’t add to the story. There are two really strong and enjoyable music scenes, one with Common which of course is more rap, and tells a key part of the story, then there’s a cute and fun remake of Queen’s Under Pressure by Corden’s character that’s very reminiscent of his stuff on the late-night show. Some of the real highs for me were technical aspects that most viewers won’t care about, like how they created the snow which looked soft and had that crunch that snow makes, along with the fantastic hair effects on the yetis. Overall the movie was cute, but it was not an amazing piece of film-making that we’ve come to expect from Pixar. It also wasn’t a ton of silly jokes like we get from the Illumination Entertainment team but it’s a good step forward for WAG after Storks.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Seth Rogen Will Get Pickled In His New Comedy For Sony

By

John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

This might be the closest Seth Rogen gets to playing Captain America. Rogen, who has been busy producing and hasn’t had a major starring role since Neighbors 2, is set to star in a new Sony comedy that finds him woken up in the present day ala the Avengers hero. Only this one involves being pickled rather than frozen in ice.

The untitled comedy will be directed by cinematographer Brandon Troust and penned by Man Seeking Woman creator Simon Rich. The strange story finds Rogen playing dual roles, first as Herschel Greenbaum, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1918 and works in a factory making pickles. When he accidentally falls into a vat of pickles he is brined for a century, waking up in the present day in perfect condition. The first thing he does is seek out any living family members, and comes across his great-grandson played also by Rogen.

Weird, right?

The film marks Rogen’s return to Sony, where he, Evan Goldberg, and James Franco nearly caused WWIII with their controversial North Korea comedy, The Interview. Glad to see fences have been mended. Next up for Rogen is the comedy Flarsky opposite Charlize Theron, and voicing Pumbaa in Disney’s live-action The Lion King. [Variety]

‘The Long Dumb Road’ Trailer: Jason Mantzoukas And Tony Revolori Go On A Life-Changing Trip

By

John Nolan

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September 28, 2018

If you ever wanted to take a hilarious road trip with Jason Mantzoukas and Tony Revolori, then Hannah Fidell’s The Long Dumb Road may be the movie for you. The film debuted earlier this year at Sundance, and while there wasn’t a ton of buzz surrounding it, the word from those who saw it was that it was a real standout performance for Mantzoukas, who is usually relegated to being the weird sidekick or neighbor. Well, he’s still pretty far out there as a motormouth mechanic who hitches a ride with an L.A. bound art student. As road trips tend to do, the experience changes both of their lives.

Fidell, who loves setting her films in the American southwest, got the idea from the real-life experience of Moonlight editor Nat Sanders, who just went and picked up a random homeless guy while traveling from Austin to Los Angeles. Pretty cool. The film co-stars Taissa Farmiga, Grace Gummer, Casey Wilson, and Ron Livingston.

The Long Dumb Road opens November 9th in theaters, VOD a week later.

Bruce Dern Joins ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ In Burt Reynolds’ Old Role

By

John Nolan

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September 27, 2018

The sudden death of Burt Reynolds just weeks ago was a big loss, and his fans expressed that through their grief, and also through celebrations of his career. And that career was actually at one of its busiest moments in a long time. The actor was set for a high-profile role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and sadly, his death left that film with a vacancy that would be tough to fill. While nobody can truly replace Reynolds or what he would have brought to the role, we now know who will do his best by stepping in, and it’s one of his very dear friends.

Deadline reports Bruce Dern will step in for his friend Burt Reynolds. He’ll take on the part of George Spahn, the elderly man who rented out his mansion to be used in Westerns, but also allowed the Manson Family to set up shop on his ranch. Dern had been shooting another film in Spain, Remember Me, but the director put the shoot on pause so he could come and work with Tarantino. Pretty cool.

Dern recently earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in Nebraska, and is obviously a tremendous actor in his own right. He’ll be a strong addition to a cast that already boasts Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and more. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opens July 26th 2019.