MoviePass Now Limiting Its Users To Six Options Per Day

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August 16, 2018

It’s a day of the week ending in “y”, and that means there’s a new case of MoviePass mucking things up. So a few days ago they tried launching a plan in which subscribers could only choose from two movies daily, and the uproar over that was such that they scrapped that plan. So they’ve come up with something new that they hope will stop users from canceling the service…well, or at least TRYING to cancel the service.

Today MoviePass began their new $9.95 plan that allows users to see three movies per month, a far cry from the unlimited access they had just a few short weeks ago. However there is a new restriction thrown into the mix, in that only a select group of six movies will be made available each day. Here’s the official statement to go along with the launch of the new plan:

“As we transition to the new subscription plan, we want to share more details about our service moving forward as part of our commitment to keep you fully informed. For the time being, we will be limiting the films and showtimes that are available to members each day. During this transition period, MoviePass will offer up to six films to choose from daily, including a selection of major studio first-run films and independent releases. In addition, showtime availability may be limited depending on the popularity of those films on the app that particular day.

While the films and showtimes available in the app will change daily, the schedule of available film selections will be published at least a week in advance on the MoviePass website so members can plan ahead for the films they want to see.”

So a few things: I actually don’t think this is the worst idea in the world, at least not if MoviePass keeps its options diverse. Today for instance you can check out a blockbuster like The Meg while also the acclaimed Jaden Smith indie Skate Kitchen. That’s a good start. I also appreciate that MoviePass is being open with their subscribers about their difficulties now, rather than blowing smoke up their asses like they were for weeks. That said, these are still pretty drastic changes to the service and they arrive without really giving anybody a heads up about them, which is why you see the rapid exodus of subscribers. Finally, it looks like this is just a trial, hence their use of the word “transition”, and further limitations could be right around the corner.

What do you think? Is this new idea by MoviePass enough to keep you around? This latest stumbling comes on the same day that AMC announced their AMC Stubs A-List subscriber plan has already hit 260,000 users in only 7 weeks, about 4% of their total attendance in the U.S. That’s incredible, and is likely to punch MoviePass right where it hurts.

Canceled ‘Star Wars’ Spinoff Would’ve Been Set On Tatooine

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John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

After the mediocre performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the future of Star Wars spinoffs is in limbo. Before that film’s release there were rumors about films featuring Boba Fett, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and more, and even though James Mangold and Stephen Daldry were named as potential directors nothing was ever confirmed. Depending on who you believe the spinoffs are either dead or just put on ice for a while.

But now we’re learning a key detail about one movie that was apparently in the building phase, because production designer Neil Lamont tells CinemaBlend where it would have taken place: Tatooine.

“We were just starting our work on another Star Wars spin-off and yeah. We were actually just making our mark on Tatooine — which would have been interesting and some other new galaxies. So hopefully, if that comes back, we’ll get the chance to be able to do that further.”

Okay, so that sounds like it might’ve been the Obi-Wan Kenobi film, given his obvious ties to the desert planet that would be the home planet of Luke Skywalker. The timing would have been right, too, given the expectation of Ewan McGregor reprising the role of Kenobi.

But that might not have actually been the case. Other rumors had suggested the possibility of a Mos Eisley Cantina crime movie, but those rumors were always considered razor thin at the time. Might they have had more substance to them than we thought, and it was actually the movie that got shelved?

My gut tells me this wasn’t that and it was actually the Obi-Wan Kenobi film, just because Lucasfilm seemed to be heading in a character-centric direction leading up to Solo. Basically, we should take anything regarding Star Wars spinoffs as rumor until Lucasfilm comes out and confirms something, which could be a long time coming.

25th Anniversary Re-Release Of ‘Jurassic Park’ Hits Theaters Next Month

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John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

I don’t know if this is a controversial opinion or not, but the Jurassic Park franchise….eh, it kinda sucks. Let’s be honest, the only truly great film of the three was the 1993 original, which still holds up and is superior to anything the Jurassic World movies have done. And while we all probably have it on Bluray by now, not everybody had the chance to see this masterpiece on the big screen, but that’s about to change.

Jurassic Park is headed back into theaters for three days to celebrate its 25th anniversary, thanks to Universal and Fathom Events. The film will run on September 16th, 18th, and 19th. 500 theaters nationwide will take part, and each screening will include a 17-minute fanmade cut of the film.

The last time Jurassic Park was in theaters was in 2013 for the 3D re-release, which brought in an incredible $45M, putting it over the $1B mark worldwide.

You can get tickets now at FathomEvents.com.

Paul Walker’s Brothers Want To Bring His ‘Fast And The Furious’ Character Back

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John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

After Paul Walker was tragically killed in 2013, his Fast and the Furious character Brian O’Conner was played by his brothers, Cody and Caleb, through some digital wizardry. It wasn’t perfect, but it allowed his character to get a proper and happy sendoff with Jordana Brewster’s Mia Toretto. While Brewster is expected to return for Fast & Furious 9, we’ve likely seen the last of Brian, but not if Walker’s family has anything to say about it.

Speaking with the Associated Press about the I Am Paul Walker documentary, the brothers say they’d like to find a way to have Brian O’Conner return to the franchise, played by them of course…

“I just hope we get to — I don’t know — have a little cameo and bring Paul back to save the day and I get to help create that again,” says Caleb Walker “That’s my dream and I hope we get to do that in one of the future movies.”

Cody chimes in, “I think there could potentially be a way to do it. But it would take a lot of thought and it’d have to be tasteful. It would have to be tasteful. He was the real deal, the real car guy. And in his absence, I — you know — I think it’s lost its way in a big way.”

Yeah, no. This sounds like a horrible idea. Brian got to ride off into the sunset and that should be the end of it. To do anything else would be both tasteless and pointless. It wouldn’t add anything of value tothe franchise because it wouldn’t be Paul, it would be his brothers and the last time they tried to fill-in for him it didn’t work out so well. None of it looked quite right and Caleb admits it, saying about his brother’s final scene, “It’s kind of creepy sometimes when you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s me.’ It doesn’t feel right.”

No, it doesn’t. Let it go.

‘Cruise’ Trailer: The Writer Of ‘The Wrestler’ Takes Emily Ratajkowski On A Trip To The 1980s

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John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

If you know the name Robert Siegel then you’re probably familiar with his tremendous script for The Wrestler, which earned Mickey Rourke an Oscar nomination for his performance. He made his directorial debut a couple of years earlier with the underrated Big Fan, which saw Patton Oswalt give what I said at the time was one of the best screen portrayals of the year. And now Siegel is back behind the camera with Cruise, and it looks like a synth-pop trip back into the 1980s.

You won’t find a lot of big names in this one, with the exception of model/video maven-turned-actress Emily Ratajkowski. The Gone Girl actress plays Jessica, a good Jewish girl from Long Island who falls head over heels for Gio (Spencer Boldman), an Italian badboy from Queens. The 1987-set flick finds the two lovebirds exploring their wild sides and the joys of muscle cars, neon, skintight leather, and pagers.

This doesn’t look like anything we havent’ seen before, but with Siegel’s script and direction I expect it’ll go places we don’t expect. His writing has helped bring out the best in Rourke and Oswalt, maybe it can do the same for Ratajkowski? Cruise hits theaters and VOD on September 28th.

‘Iron Fist’ Season 2 Trailer Gives Danny A Deadly And Familiar Foe

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John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

After the first season of Iron Fist was unquestionably the least successful of Marvel’s Netflix output, it’s entirely possible Danny Rand is the least popular character in his own series. Fortunately, the second season will turn some of its focus away from Danny and onto two characters fans actually want to see: Misty Knight and Rand’s former friend-turned-foe, Davos.

Simone Missick makes the leap from Luke Cage and it looks like we’re getting that Daughters of the Dragon teamup we’ve been asking for. She shares the screen with Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, joining with Finn Jones’ Iron Fist as they try to stop all of the warring factions in New York.

The highlight is the return of Sacha Dhawan as Davos aka the Steel Serpent, who Danny trained with in K’un Lun and could have been the Iron Fist himself. Davos helped elevate the few episodes he appeared in last season and seeing more of him this time as a full-fledged antagonist can only be seen as an improvement.

Iron Fist season 2 hits Netflix on September 7th.

‘Roma’ Trailer: Alfonso Cuaron Comes Back Down To Earth With His Most Personal Film Yet

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John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

After sending us hurtling through space with Sandra Bullock in Gravity five years ago, Alfonso Cuaron is bringing us back down to Earth with his latest. Roma has always been described by Cuaron as his most personal, most “essential” film, and now we get to see what that means to him in this new trailer.

Based on Cuaron’s memories of growing up in 1970s Mexico City, the story centers on domestic workers Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) and Adela (Nancy García García), who go through a year of life-changing events while helping to keep the middle-class family they work for together. While their employer Sofia (Marina de Tavira) copes with her husband’s extended absence, the three women must “construct a new sense of love and solidarity” while Mexico prepares for a confrontation between the government militia and student activists.

Adding to the project’s personal nature, this will be the first time Cuaron will handle the cinematography himself. Talking with IndieWire, the director said, “Ninety percent of the scenes represented in the film are scenes taken out of my memory. Sometimes directly, sometimes a bit more obliquely. It’s about a moment of time that shaped me, but also a moment of time that shaped a country. It was the beginning of a long transition in Mexico.”

Netflix will release Roma later this year and it will play at the Venice, Toronto, Telluride, and New York film festivals.

Review: ‘Mile 22’, Not Enough Action To Go Around For Mark Wahlberg, Iko Uwais, And Ronda Rousey

By

John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

With Ronda Rousey, Iko Uwais, Lauren Cohan, and Mark Wahlberg leading action flick Mile 22 there are no shortage of credible badasses to choose from. As a huge fan of both Rousey and Uwais, her for her time in MMA and the WWE, him for The Raid and its incredible sequel, this was a film high on my radar, and it didn’t hurt that it was a continuation of the Mark Wahlberg/Peter Berg bromance. And while Mile 22 features Uwais doing what he does best, there simply isn’t enough of it and there isn’t much else to carry this film the distance.

This is the fourth collaboration between Wahlberg and Berg, the latter his director on Lone Survivor, Patriots Day, and Deepwater Horizon before this. Those were all action-dramas based on real events, but Mile 22 is pure fictional claptrap, about one of those ludicrous, black ops paramilitary units you only find in movies. This one is known as Overwatch, part of the CIA’s ground branch, and they are the “last resort” when both diplomacy and the military have failed. We know all of this because Wahlberg’s character, the misanthropic psycho James Silva, tells us frequently during interview cutscenes with an unknown interrogator. It’s there that we see James’ nihilistic view of just about everything. The guy is an angry, bipolar douche to just about everybody, including his partner and struggling divorcee Alice Kerr (Cohan), whose self-destructive personality he claims is a lot like his own.

After an intense firefight during a botched raid, Mile 22 slows down considerably as the script by Lea Carpenter tries to wring whatever tension it can from a barebones plot. Things begin to pick up when Uwais arrives on the scene as Li Noor, a low-level cop in the South Asian police. He arrives at the U.S. embassy asking for asylum and a one-way ticket to America. In exchange he’ll give them access to a USB drive with information about an upcoming terror attack and the location of the lethal substance used to trigger it. But there are outside forces that want Li dead, and will do anything to make that happen. It’s up to James and his team to escort Li the 22 miles to an extraction point where a plane is waiting, but they’ll have to get through a literal warzone to do it.

Bullets fly, rockets are launched, and Wahlberg talks tough as Mile 22 finally kicks into high gear. But that’s pretty much all Wahlberg does is talk. James is a chatterbox, given to long monologues that ratchet up to scathing diatribes. He does it in interviews, quiet lunches, while staring down his enemies, and even in the midst of a fight. James is given a sob story past that paints him out to be some kind of hyper-intelligent super soldier but as one of the geeky tech analysts says, “He’s just an asshole.”

Uwais fares better in the limited amount of ass-kicking he gets to do. He’s always looked best when under the brilliant cinematic eye of The Raid director Gareth Evans, but Berg is no Evans. For all of his skill at choreographing a battlefield landscape, Berg is less skilled at shooting hand-to-hand combat. He can’t resist the quick-cutting style that blurs Uwais’ brutally precise technique, making his fights incomprehensible. Those familiar with him will see flashes of the lethal screen combatant they know and admire. There are only a couple of decent fight scenes for Uwais; the first one in a locked medical bay, being the best and most reminiscent of the work he did on The Raid. I continue to be impressed by Rousey’s growth as an actress, and have no doubt that her time in WWE is a big part of the reason why. It’s a waste to not have her throwing people around more, but Rousey makes an impression in limited time. The same goes for Cohan, who is the only one who gets anything dramatic to contend with. While I don’t think Alice’s custody dispute with her ex (played by Berg) makes any kind of sense in this straight-arrow point A to point B story, Cohan is excellent in the role. At least she gets more to do than poor John Malkovich, who does little more than walk around in a pair of Chucks barking orders into a radio.

Visceral and exciting in spurts, Mile 22 could have made better use of its brisk 90-minute runtime. When you’ve got the physical talents of Wahlberg, Rousey, and Uwais the gameplan should be a no-brainer. Give them someone to hit, stand back and let it happen. With a twist ending that teases a greater conflict in an already-announced sequel, maybe they’ll get the formula right the next time.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Anthony Mackie Joins Fantastic ‘Woman In The Window’ Cast, Michael Bay’s ‘6 Underground’ Adds Melanie Laurent

By

John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

Joe Wright has never had problems putting together a tremendous cast, and that looks to be continuing with his next film, the Rear Window-style thriller, The Woman in the Window. Already set to star Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Brian Tyree Henry, and Wyatt Russell, the film can now add the Falcon himself, Anthony Mackie, to the list. Playwright Tracy Letts has penned the adaptation of AJ Finn’s best-selling novel about an alcoholic recluse who spends her days obsessing over her neighbors, until she witnesses something terrible that she was never meant to see. No details on Mackie’s character yet, or when the film will hit theaters. [Variety]

Michael Bay is adding to the cast of his mysterious $100M action flick, 6 Underground, one of the biggest original films ever under the Netflix umbrella. Inglourious Basterds’ Melanie Laurent and A Separation‘s Payman Maadi have signed up, joining Ryan Reynolds, Corey Hawkins, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ben Hardy, and Lior Raz. The script is by Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, but plot details are still being kept under wraps for some reason. Filming begins later this month and should be available for streaming in 2019. [Deadline]

Eddie Redmayne And Felicity Jones Take To The Air In First Look At ‘The Aeronauts’

By

John Nolan

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August 16, 2018

It was in 2014 that Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones starred together in the Stephen Hawking drama, The Theory of Everything. Not only did it earn him a win for Best Actor, but her a nomination for Best Actress and a Best Picture nom, as well. Now the two are together again for The Aeronauts, a different true-life story that will see them taking to the air.

Amazon Studios has announced the start of production on the film, and released the first high-flying image of Redmayne and Jones aboard an open-air balloon. They play pioneering balloonists James Glaisher and Amelia Wren, who attempted to reach heights never before achieved by man. Here’s the synopsis:

Set in 1862, THE AERONAUTS follow wealthy young widow Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) and ambitious scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) as they mount a balloon expedition to fly higher than anyone in history. This is a journey to the very edge of existence, where the air is thin and the chances of survival are slim. As their perilous ascent reveals their true selves, this unlikely pair discover things about each other – and themselves – that help them find their place in the world they have left behind.

Behind the camera is BAFTA nominee Tom Harper (Peaky Blinders) working from a script by the busy Jack Thorne (Wonder).

In talking about the film’s authentic look, producer Todd Pieberman reveals the above image wasn’t done in front of a green screen somewhere, that’s actually Redmayne and Jones a couple of thousand feet in the sky…

“A top priority for us on The Aeronauts is authenticity. With that in mind, we intend to do as much balloon filming in the sky as the weather will allow. This image was taken after we launched Felicity and Eddie 2,000 feet in the air, performing their scripted scene, while a helicopter captured it all. We’re fortunate that Felicity and Eddie have the nerve to do these stunts themselves as it authenticates our entire approach.”