Netflix is taking this awards season very seriously, and with multiple films as likely favorites they pretty much have to. Yesterday it was hinted they may give a limited theatrical release to some of their awards hopefuls, and now today it has been made official. The three movies to get a day-and-date release are Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, the Coen Brothers’ Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and Paul Greengrass’ July 22.
When they say limited, they mean limited, too. Deadline confirms the three films will run in major cities in about 10-12 theaters apiece, mostly at Landmark Theaters which have been Netflix’s go-to venue. The exception may be Roma which was designed for Dolby sound systems, which Landmark doesn’t use. It’s possible it will also play at Alamo Drafthouse or other venues. Here are the official release dates, July 22 will hit first on October 10th, followed by Buster Scruggs on November 16th, and finally Roma on December 14th.
Paul Greengrass’ Norway political thriller 22 July on October 10, the Coen Brothers’ western The Ballad of Buster Scruggson November 16 and Alfonso Cuaron’s black and white epic Roma on December 14.
While Netflix has taken some criticism for their disregard for the theatrical experience, and the impact it has had on them during this time of year, they’ve been practicing this limited run schedule for a few years, beginning with 2015’s Beasts of No Nation. That film didn’t earn a single Oscar nomination that year, but the streaming service bounced back with Mudbound which had four. Then again, many say it should have won Best Picture, which it wasn’t even in the running for.
Maybe if these films find greater success theatrically Netflix will begin to change their tune?
The Bookshop stars Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, and Bill Nighy. The movie follows the story of Florence Green as she attempts to open up a bookshop in a small town. Through this fight she gains the friendship of a little girl, the admiration of a widowed recluse, and the resentment of a local grand dame.
I unfortunately found this movie to be rather lifeless; there was nothing extremely compelling about it. You would think (or at least I would) that a movie centering around a love for books would have at the least thrown in some poignant, quotable moments of dialogue that would create some kind of stirring emotion like metaphors about books and life or monologued moments that reveal a person’s true view on the power struggle that classism creates that, to the cynically driven people, would come off as terribly corny (especially seeing as though this is based on a novel), but other than one line at the beginning of the movie, we get none of that. It’s almost as if the movie doesn’t even try to be a little captivating.
There was also nothing in this movie that made me feel invested in any of its characters. Florence wants to open up a bookshop because she loves books, but I feel like the movie never really shows and explores her love of books. The movie puts more attention on her journey to opening up the shop much to the opposition of the aristocratic, more high class members of the town, especially by way of Dame Violet Gamart, rather than remembering to also ground us in this love that she is willing to fight so hard for. I felt like the movie made Mr. Edmund Brandish’s (side) character – an old, widowed, recluse, who loves books, and hates people – way more established, interesting, and complex than Florence, the lead.
I think that Violet’s motivations also could’ve been fleshed a bit more. So she doesn’t want the bookshop to be located at The Old House because she feels as though a historic site such as that one should be put to better use – ok, fine. But when it then comes to explaining why her choice of an art center is better than a book shop, we’re left out in the cold with more questions than answers.
It’s a shame that this movie didn’t really offer much of anything because there are some great and well-known actors in this and they do a great job with their characters, but great acting alone can’t save a movie.
First-time directors Jonathan and Josh Baker didn’t take it easy with their feature debut, Kin, a family drama masquerading as a sci-fi action flick, road trip movie, and crime thriller all at once. The film is an expansion of their 2014 short, Bag Man, and their familiarity with the material pays off in their attention to detail and commitment to the characters, which they clearly have a genuine fondness for. While every element doesn’t totally come together, and the dialogue by writer Daniel Casey is often clunky, the Bakers’ ambition ultimately pays off in a genre film with more emotional investment than this time of year normally affords.
Detroit’s urban decay serves as the backdrop for young Eli (Myles Truitt), a black kid trying and failing to stay out of trouble. He scrounges through the many vacant buildings for wire to strip, in hopes of making more cash than the meager allowance he gets from his hard-working father, Hal (Dennis Quaid). A recent widower, Hal is struggling to raise Eli up right, and it only gets harder when his no-good son Jimmy (Jack Reynor) returns home from prison and starts making an impression on his brother. The shake-up in the family dynamic only makes things tougher for Eli, a black kid adopted into this all-white family. The isolation he feels is palpable, and Hal’s harsh life lessons only serve to drive a bigger wedge between them.
But Eli has something that could change everything. Inside of an abandoned building he’s found a powerful alien rifle, apparently part of a battle between helmeted soldiers using Detroit as their battlefield. The weapon bonds with Eli instantly, but of course he has no idea what to do with it. When Jimmy’s old habits get him in $60,000 worth of debt to criminal low-life Taylor (James Franco, a cross between his Spring Breakers character and…James Franco), it leads to a tragedy that sends him and Eli on a road trip to Tahoe, where the alien rifle comes in handy getting them out of a few tight spots. What they don’t know is that it’s also sending off a signal alerting two of the alien soldiers to its whereabouts.
It’s a pretty cool setup that someone like James Cameron might have dreamed up. Take this poor family from Detroit, give them a weapon of amazing power and obvious value, and send a couple of alien terminators, plus a psychotic crimelord, in pursuit of them. The Bakers aren’t overly enamored with the action potential in that idea, though. They put their focus on the characters, in particular the brotherly relationship between Eli and Jimmy, which grows for the first time while they are on the road. Eli begins to feel comfortable with a part of his family, while Jimmy tries to atone for a tragic incident he’s hoping to keep secret. The only gripe I have with this is that Jimmy’s actions are downright unforgiveable, and yet they are too easily forgiven when it comes right down to it. We get it; he’s meant to be this well-meaning screwup but there are limits that I think get crossed. Early on Hal tells Eli that it’s important for a good person to do the right thing, especially when it’s hard. The Bakers smartly return to this theme on frequent occasions, especially in regards to Jimmy who, admittedly, doesn’t seem to get it.
Purely on a character level it works, even when the Bakers throw in clichéd elements that muck things up. During one of their pit stops, the brothers end up in a strip club where they meet Milly (Zoe Kravitz), the stereotypical stripper with a heart of pure gold, who instantly bonds with the boys after they use the ray gun to blow shit up and scare her mean boss. Meanwhile, Taylor has gone from being a Detroit lowlife into a national menace, following them from state to state and causing the kind of chaos one might expect from a Marvel Universe villain. It makes no sense, and Franco is not the actor to turn to when you need a credible menace. He played a VERY similar character in the forgettable Jason Statham flick, Homefront, and it didn’t work there, either. Speaking of not really working, that the incredible Carrie Coon is barely in the movie for five minutes, and only plays a non-descript FBI agent, is an unacceptable crime. The city of Detroit plays a major part, as well, in driving every decision each character makes. Resembling a bombed-out warzone, it is a place of utter despair that breeds desperation and greed. The Bakers probably could have set Kin anywhere but using Detroit is especially powerful given the real-life circumstances for the people who live there.
A laggy midsection amps back up in the final act when Eli is confronted by the weapon’s true owners. It’s during the preceding firefight and a latter display of cosmic prowess that we see the Bakers unleash some impressive CGI effects, making use of what must have been a modest budget. No doubt taking a page from their short-film experience, the Bakers save the best for last, including a major cameo that is both worth the wait and suggestive of a wider story to tell in future installments. That’s if Kin gets a sequel, of course. Based on the groundwork laid here, with familiar ground told from a fresh perspective, the Bakers should be afforded that opportunity.
The scandal that ruined the political career of Democratic presidential contender Gary Hart was no joke, and yet it was also pretty pathetic. Hart was the clear front runner when he ran for the top office in 1988, but when rumors surfaced of an extramarital affair, he made an offhanded remark during an interview that the press could “follow” him around. Well, they did. And his affair was exposed within days. His candidacy was sunk. Like I said, pathetic, but also fertile ground for biting political satire, and that’s what Jason Reitman is aiming for with his new film, The Front Runner.
Hugh Jackman takes on the role of Gary Hart, looking and sound like a more convincing politician than Hart ever did, if I’m being honest. The film is based on Matt Bai’s 2014 book All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid and will take a look at how the Hart scandal really kickstarted our current 24-hour newscycle where nothing is sacred.
This is the most overtly political film from Reitman since 2005’s Thank You For Smoking, and his latest second movie this year after the critically-acclaimed Tully. Vera Farmiga, Kaitlyn Dever, Sara Paxton, J. K. Simmons, Mamoudou Athie, Molly Ephraim, Josh Brener, and Mike Judge co-star. Here’s the synopsis:
Hugh Jackman is set to star in the upcoming biopic “The Front Runner,” about former Senator Gary Hart. Hart served as a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1975 to 1987, but is most famous for his two bids for the presidency in 1984 and 1988. During the latter primary campaign, he was considered the frontrunner, far ahead of eventual candidate Mike Dukakis, but his momentum became hobbled by accusations in the media of an extramarital affair. Hart famously challenged the media to, “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.” The tabloids accepted the challenge, and photographs of Hart with a woman named Donna Rice aboard a yacht brought a swift end to his candidacy.
Songwriter is the
newest music documentary, available through Apple Music, focusing on one of
today’s hottest artists – Ed Sheeran. The film follows Sheeran through 2017 as he
works on his newest album ‘Divide’. Songwriter gives us a behind the scenes glimpse at how Sheeran goes about creating
song after song – many of them set to become hit singles. Throughout the
documentary Sheeran works with other artists and these collaborations are a joy
to watch. Sheeran’s talent is undeniable, and it is truly amazing to see how he
can so easily and flawlessly come up with amazing songs. Something as simple as
a quick jam session on the tour bus can turn into a song listened to and loved
by millions. Writer and director Murray Cummings provides the audience the opportunity
to see how Sheeran interacts with his producers and how they help him shape his
music. Sheeran surrounds himself with family members, from his cousin filming multiples
pieces of the documentary and many of his performances to his brother who is a musical
composer as well. Sheeran’s family gives him a sense of peace that he values
and finds vital in the crazy music industry he is now a prominent member of.
Songwriter has
some interesting moments and gives great access to Sheeran’s world and his
creativity, but it is also lacking in many areas. There is no real depth to the
documentary and no true vision. The entire film just seems to be numerous short
scenes flung together without any real rhyme or reason. If you are a fan of Ed
Sheeran’s music, it is great to see the story and creation of some of his most
famous songs. However, the documentary does not seem to have a central purpose.
It is more like a long music video without very much substance other than that.
I was really hoping to come out of watching Songwriter learning more about Ed Sheeran – I didn’t need to know
his whole life story, but a little more than what we got would’ve been great.
Other than a few home videos and a little blurb about his music teacher, we
don’t get anything personal from Sheeran. Songwriter
is almost exclusively focused on that, writing songs. The biggest of Ed Sheeran’s
fans will love Songwriter and
think Sheeran can do no wrong, but most who watch it will be longing for more by the time the credits roll. If you find yourself in the mood
to listen to many of Sheeran’s best songs, go ahead and put on Songwriter – but if you are looking for
more substance, I’d avoid this documentary.
Blade has been off the big screen for nearly 15 years now, and at this point I find it difficult to get excited over the frequent “updates” about a revival of the Marvel vampire hero. With the rights to Blade now firmly back under the Marvel banner, and star Wesley Snipes active in Hollywood again, we’ve heard rumblings of a potential fourth movie or perhaps a dark and violent TV series, the latter it’s worth reminding you having already been tried once. Hey, I dug the Blade TV show even if nobody else did. Anyway, all of this talk has gone nowhere, yet Snipes has continued to get fans’ hopes up.
Well, he’s at it again, and as usual he sounds deeply serious about returning to the Blade character in some fashion. Speaking with Vice to commemorate the 20th anniversary (!!!) of Blade‘s theatrical release, Snipes says he’s in conversations with Marvel about a couple of projects, and since he was asked specifically about Blade 4 we can assume he’s referring to a return of the Daywalker himself…
“There are a lot of conversations going around right now and we’re very blessed to have the enthusiasm and interest in something coming from that world again. We’ve created two projects that fit perfectly into this world and, when people see them, I think they’re only going to have a problem with deciding which one they love the most.
“All the main execs (at Marvel) and my team, we’ve been discussing for the past two years. Everyone’s enthusiastic about it, everybody gets it. But they got a business to run and they gotta square the things that they gotta figure out before they can get to it, I guess. In the meantime, we got a business to run and our own slate of things to do so…”
Although he doesn’t actually mention Blade in that response, he would go on to add “The next time you see something in [the Blade universe], mark my words: what we did before is child’s play compared to what we can do now.”
My favorite part of the interview comes next, when he starts speculating on the idea of who could replace him if Marvel decided to reboot Blade with a new actor. Of course, Snipes can’t think of anybody other than himself, because “not a lot of chocolate guys out there” who have the acting and martial arts skills that he does. He then considers if Marvel might “go vanilla” with some non-traditional casting, and he’s down for that too if they can find the right guy.
How about a chocolate vanilla swirl, Wesley? Split the difference?
He also debunks some old rumors about his behavior on the Blade: Trinity set, and even disses co-star Patton Oswalt at one point. You should read that part for yourself because it’s pure Wesley.
So we’ll see if this leads to anything. Marvel post-Avengers 4 is going to be a very different place and there may be some room there for Blade to sink his teeth into.
Get ready to head back to an animated galaxy far far away. We recently got our first look at Disney and Lucasfilm’s new series, Star Wars Resistance, which takes place months prior to the events of The Force Awakens. While we’ve already met the show’s central character, newbie Resistance pilot Kazuda “Kaz” Xiono, a new video introduces us to the rest of his squad, known as Team Fireball.
The Star Wars archetypes are pretty familiar, too, but as with Star Wars Rebels they should evolve over time. There’s the requisite father figure character, Jarek Yaeger, a former Resistance pilot now a mechanic helping to investigate the growing threat of the First Order. Much like Kaz, he’s called into action by General Leia herself, along with hotshot pilot Poe Dameron. Both Leia and Poe will make appearances in the series.
We’re also introduced to fellow mechanic Tam Ryvora, who already looks to be more capable than Kaz ever will be. Of course there’s an alien humanoid character, in this case the optimistic Neeku. Finally, there’s got to be a droid companion, and while BB-8 does make appearances on the show it will be a new droid named Bucket who is part of the team. Along with Leia, BB-8, and Poe Dameron, expect other familiar faces to appear, including Captain Phasma, voiced once again by Gwendoline Christie.
Star Wars Resistance will hit Disney Channel on October 7th at 10pmEST.
J.J. Abrams upcoming World War 2 horror film has dropped a brand new poster just ahead of it’s first premier(s) at Fantastic Fest. While WW2, and Nazis in particular, have always seemed to garner alot of attention at the cinema I’ve always been surprised that deep dives into the occult and sci-fi aspects of the era are relegated to crappy B-movie takes. Seriously, watch any History channel special on the “Wunderwaffe” or Wonder Weapons designed by the Nazis or the things they were trying to discover during their repulsive experiments and it becomes readily apparent that the more fantastical elements of the time period are ripe for the box office taking. This new poster tells us nothing and everything all at once. A simple black and red pallet that evokes violent and bloody imagery coupled with demonic eyes and fangs gives us a taste of the zombie/vampire/monster hordes lying in wait for the soldiers that arrive ahead of the D-Day landings.
Paramount just did some reshuffling of the decks, and a bunch of their films have brand new release dates. The biggest move goes to Top Gun: Maverick, with the long-awaited sequel getting bumped a full year to June 26th 2020. Ouch. To be fair, they were moving at mach 10 on this one and there’s really no need to. Joseph Kosinski will be behind the camera, directing Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm, and Ed Harris.
Next up, John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place sequel now officially has a date: May 15th 2020. We can argue about whether the original film, which is an outstanding piece of work, actually needs a sequel. It made over $300M and cost nothing, so damn right it’s getting one. Krasinski will write the script but may not direct, and he’s talked in the past about using a sequel to focus on different characters in a new place, so don’t automatically assume Emily Blunt is returning.
Skynet has decided Terminator 6 is moving along well enough to move up a week, opening on November 15th 2019. The untitled film is a true sequel to Terminator 2, and will bring back Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Linda Hamilton’s biceps. They’re joined by Mackenzie Davis, Gabriel Luna, Natalia Reyes, and Diego Boneta with Tim Miller (Deadpool) directing and James Cameron back in the fold as producer.
Finally, that Sonic the Hedgehog live-action/CGI movie is racing along faster than the blue critter himself. It will now open on November 8th 2019, a full week earlier than before. Ben Schwartz is voicing the video game mascot, with James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally and Neal McDonough in human roles and Jim Carrey as the evil Dr. Robotnik.
Well, I’d heard Alec Baldwin could be fickle about the roles he chooses, but this is ridiculous. Only yesterday he was cast in Todd Phillips’ Joker movie, the actor is apparently out of the film. And he’s apparently not happy about it, whatever the Hell it was that went down. His response to USAToday when asked about the film makes that abundantly clear…
“I’m no longer doing that movie,” Baldwin said. “I’m sure there are 25 guys who can play that part.”
Damn. He added that “scheduling” was the issue for his departure, but it sounds like maybe the role of Thomas Wayne wasn’t meaty enough for an actor of his talents? Maybe he was too far down on the bill? Just a guess. Unfortunate, because seeing him alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, and Marc Maron in a gritty superhero movie could have been incredible. Especially if Wayne is being portrayed as a “cheesy” Donald Trump-like figure, it would have been perfect for Baldwin.
With shooting to being September 10th there isn’t a lot of time to find a replacement. What are the rest of the Baldwin clan doing right now? Joker opens October 4th 2019.
