This might turn out to be a very quiet Hall H at Comic-Con next month. With Marvel already having announced they won’t be at the biggest fan event of the year, the latest to pull out is HBO. The cable network won’t have any presence there, which means the usual Game of Thrones and Westworld panels won’t be happening.
Here’s HBO’s statement: “Due to production schedules and air dates for Game of Thrones and Westworld, these series will not be presented at San Diego Comic-Con this summer. HBO has a longstanding relationship with SDCC, and we are very grateful for the fans’ enthusiastic response over the years. We look forward to returning in the future.”
Again, it won’t just be Westworld and Game of Thrones, but no HBO presence at all. This Hall H experience is looking pretty weak. There will still be The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead panels, and Warner Bros. will have the weekend spotlight to itself. They will undoubtedly bring new footage from Aquaman, probably Wonder Woman 1984, and maybe an update on The Flash? I expect Sony will be there with Venom and other Spidey-verse stuff, and Fox should have X-Men: Dark Phoenix and perhaps an update on X-Force and New Mutants.
San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 19th-22nd. Will you be there? If so, let us know! [Deadline]
James Corden is voicing the titular evil computer in the upcoming comedy, Super Intelligence, the next film from Melissa McCarthy and her director husband Ben Falcone. Penned by Steve Mallory, who has worked with McCarthy on The Boss and other comedies, the film centers on Carol Peters, an unfulfilled corporate exec whose life is turned upside down when she’s chosen for observation by a supercomputer that may or may not be trying to take over the world. Super Intelligence opens Christmas Day 2019. Corden can be seen right now in Ocean’s 8. [Variety]
Westworld actress Talulah Riley and UnREAL‘s Alex Hernandez are in talks to join Vin Diesel in Valiant Comics film, Bloodshot. Based on the popular comic created in 1992, it centers on a mortally wounded soldier who is reborn using powerful nanotechnology, and is charged with bringing in others who are super-powered. Riley will play Bloodshot’s wife Gina, while Hernandez is a scientist who helped provide his powers. Eiza Gonzalez, Michael Sheen, and Sam Heughan co-star, with Blur Studios’ Dave Wilson making his directorial debut. [TheWrap]
The surprising news that Eddie Murphy would be playing Dolemite star Rudy Ray Moore in a Netflix biopic on the actor, and now that’s been followed by an unexpectedly great supporting cast. THR reports Wesley Snipes, Craig Robinson, Mike Epps, Titus Burgess, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph will join Murphy in the film, which is now titled Dolemite Is My Name.
The upcoming biopic is directed by Black Snake Moan‘s Craig Brewer, and centers on Rudy Ray Moore, the raunchy comedian and musician who borrowed a Jamaican urban legend to create the alter ego Dolemite. In 1975 Moore invested his own money to bring Dolemite to the big screen in what would become a blaxploitation classic.
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (The People vs Larry Flynt) wrote the script. It’s unclear what roles the new additions will take, but we should find out soon as production begins next week.
Ken Marino is an actor best known for his comedy work on Party Down, Children’s Hospital, and more, but last year he took the plunge as director with How to Be a Latin Lover. The film surprised everybody by being big hit at the box office, and now Marino is back with his sophomore effort, Dog Days, an ensemble featuring a bunch of canine stars.
Starring Nina Dobrev, Vanessa Hudgens, Adam Pally, Eva Longoria, Tig Notaro, Finn Wolfhard, Rob Corddry, Jasmine Cephas Jones, and many more, the film follows the intertwining lives of Los Angeles dog owners. These kinds of movies come along all the time and are usually pretty harmless, and this is no different. If you love dogs this is definitely for you. Here’s the synopsis:
From acclaimed production company LD Entertainment (The Zookeeper’s Wife, Jackie, and Megan Leavey) and Director Ken Marino comes Dog Days. Dog Days is a hilarious and heartfelt ensemble comedy that follows the lives of multiple dog owners and their beloved fluffy pals around sunny Los Angeles. When these human and canine’s paths start to intertwine, their lives begin changing in ways they never expected.
With all of the shakeups going on at DC Entertainment a lot is riding on James Wan’s Aquaman. The next step in Warner Bros.’ lighter, more crowd-pleasing approach, the film will bring back Jason Momoa as the aquatic Justice League member. We haven’t seen many others in the cast, however, but that changes today as EW has released our first looks at villains Black Manta and King Orm, along with Aquaman’s mother, Atlanna.
The biggest image by far is Aquaman’s nemesis, Black Manta, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The deep sea pirate and mercenary known as David Kane is seen with his iconic bug-eyed helmet.
James Wan said, “He’s part mercenary but full-time pirate who in his suit will look like some crazy alien from outer space.”
He also confirmed that Black Manta is just one of two villains that will be making Aquaman’s life miserable. The other is Patrick Wilson as his half-brother, Orm. “Black Manta is a really interesting character who is somehow factored into this story, but our main story is about Jason and Patrick.”
Other images include a look at Amber Heard as Mera, and Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna as she protects a young Arthur Curry from danger.
Oscar winner Brie Larson used her time after being honored at Wednesday’s Crystal + Lucy Awards to discuss a topic that has become very important to her, that of diversity in film criticism, or the lack thereof. It’s something we’ve heard quite a lot about lately, especially with Rotten Tomatoes growing in prominence, but a report by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative really drove the point home. It found that of 20,000 reviews of last year’s top 100 films 63.9 percent of those reviews were written by white men, versus white women (18.1 percent), underrepresented men (13.8 percent), and underrepresented women (4.1 percent).
Larson said, “Am I saying I hate white dudes? No, I’m not … [but if] you make the movie that is a love letter to women of color, there is an insanely low chance a woman of color will have a chance to see your movie and review your movie.”
She then turned her attention to a specific film’s treatment, that of Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time which received mostly negative reviews upon its release despite a tremendous amount of buzz…
“[Audiences] are not allowed enough chances to read public discourse on these films by the people that the films were made for. I do not need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work for him about ‘[A] Wrinkle in Time.’ It wasn’t made for him. I want to know what it meant to women of color, to biracial women, to teen women of color, to teens that are biracial.”
It should be noted that A Wrinkle in Time has only a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics, but its audience score is actually worse at 30%. Probably not the best example, but I get what she was going for.
Larson went on to announce that both Sundance and TIFF have pledged to give 20% of their top press credentials to minorities, which I guess bodes well for yours truly’s continued access. Booyah!
Larson continued, “It really sucks that reviews matter — but reviews matter. Good reviews out of festivals give small, independent films a fighting chance to be bought and seen. Good reviews help films gross money, good reviews slingshot films into awards contenders,” she said. “A good review can change your life. It changed mine.”
I’ve actually had this conversation numerous times with other black film critics, and my position, at least when it comes to festivals, is that too often we show no interest in attending any of the major festivals. The publicists love us (they hate us sometimes, too) because there simply aren’t that many minority critics who attend, and when I speak to my colleagues it’s usually because they intend to go somewhere else that caters directly to minority audiences. I’m living breathing example that Sundance doesn’t discriminate; I’m a black guy from an independent blog who has built himself up to the point where I demand a top press credential there. I can get in anywhere I damn well please if I take the initiative to do it, and sadly too many in my group aren’t taking that initiative.
In regards to the lack of diversity in film criticism, I guess I fall into the “underrepresented men” category. I take issue with any group being undervalued for their opinion whatever it may be, but Larson has a point. There should be more women, in particular women of color, expressing their view of every kind of movie but definitely those made for them. That said, I’m not willing to sit here and act like my opinion doesn’t count because a movie wasn’t designed specifically for me, and that is what Larson is doing. A lot of movies I absolutely love weren’t made with guys like me in mind. If you trust me to give you my honest opinion then it doesn’t matter my race or gender.
Nearly a year ago we received the first trailer for prehistoric survival thriller, Alpha, from Menace II Society director Albert Hughes. At the time the film, which stars Kodi Smit-Mcphee as a hunter who is left for dead and must survive the harsh elements with the help of an injured grey wolf, was due to open last March. However it got pushed back to later this summer, and the new trailer hopes to remind you that this movie is still coming out.
This almost looks like an entirely different movie. The previous trailer painted a much darker picture, while this one resembles an uplifting Disney film about a boy and his dog. This version will probably be a much easier sell so I can’t really blame Sony for the change in direction.
Here’s the synopsis: ALPHA is an epic adventure set in the last Ice Age. Europe, 20,000 years ago. While on his first hunt, an initiation to his tribe’s most elite group, a young man, Zeta (Kodi Smit-McPhee), is injured and left for dead after a bison hunt goes horribly wrong. Awaking to find himself broken, alone, and miles from his village – he must learn to survive and navigate the harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Reluctantly taming a lone wolf, Alpha, abandoned by its pack, the pair learn to rely on each other to hunt and become unlikely allies, enduring countless dangers and overwhelming odds in order to find their way home before the deadly winter arrives.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of the road trip dramedy, Boundaries, starring Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer, and Lewis MacDougall.
SYNOPSIS: LAURA (Vera Farmiga) is a single mother living in Seattle, who has a constant need to put others & animals before her. When her estranged, criminally-minded father JACK (Christopher Plummer) is kicked out of his retirement home, Laura agrees to drive him down the coast to live with her sister JoJo (Kristen Schaal) in LA. Along for the ride is her bright but troubled son HENRY, and an assortment of animal charity cases. Without telling Laura, Jack convinces Henry to help him sell off his copious supply of marijuana at every stop of their journey, resulting in unexpected reunions with old friends and family.
The screening takes place on Thursday, June 21st at 7:00pm at Angelika Mosaic in Fairfax, VA. If you’d like to attend, simply RSVP to wdcmovies@gmail.com. All winners will receive a screening pass via email.
Yesterday brought the first images from Wonder Woman 1984, the sequel to the one DC Comics movie most people can agree is pretty great. Chris Pine’s return as Steve Trevor was teased, and so was Gal Gadot as the titular heroine, but what we didn’t get was a look at Kristen Wiig as Wonder Woman’s nemesis, Cheetah.
Hopefully that will be rectified soon, but for now we’ll have to settle for this character detail offered by Vulture’s Kyle Buchanan that clues us in to Cheetah’s storyline…
Since today is a good day for WONDER WOMAN scoops, I’ve heard that Kristen Wiig starts the sequel as Diana’s friend, not her foe. She emulates Wonder Woman, then seeks to usurp her
Sounds like a tragic turn to the dark side for Barbara Ann Minerva, which is similar to the path her character takes in the comics. Just how closely Patty Jenkins and co-writer Geoff Johns stick to the source material in other ways is yet to be known, but already it looks like Cheetah will be a much better villain than Ares was. He was kinda lame.
A Kid Like Jake stars Claire Danes and Jim Parsons as a married couple and parents to a gender nonconforming child. Outside of that subject matter, this movie takes a much closer look at how a situation like having a kid that doesn’t adhere to traditional societal norms affects the parents and their relationship with one another.
Alex is an ex-attorney, now stay-at-home mom who, on the surface, doesn’t think much of her son’s interest in things that are normally associated with girls, like wearing dresses and a love of Disney princesses. She more or less exists in her own reality where not calling attention to the fact that her son is different shields him from the harsh realities of the world; she doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he is different, she would rather Jake come to her on his own with that realization.
Greg is a bit more realistic. He’s a therapist that doesn’t spend as much time with Jake as I’m sure both he, his wife, and Jake would like for him to. He seems more comfortable with the fact that his son is different; he believes that the earlier it gets acknowledged, the better the help can be to aid Jake in navigating through the world that he is already coming into contact with.
This of course creates a lot of tension and conflict between the two parents because they both believe that they’re way of handling things is what is best for Jake. As things unfold, what we begin to see is that their son is just the tip of the iceberg and that the situation revolving around Jake actually exposes the many cracks in their marriage, bringing to light the things that they have kept hidden for some time.
Though the main story revolves around this conflict between the parents, I loved that we still got to be a part of Jake’s world. A lot of the scenes involving Jake without his parents were a lot more slowed down, blurred, fluid, and employed more close-ups than were used in the film; it almost felt like an entirely different movie. I also loved how they showed that at the end of the day Jake is just a kid that’s worried about fruit roll-ups and playing with his friends; he’s very free in that sense and I think that that’s something that’s really interesting to think about.
As kids we’re so carefree and everything seems limitless, but as we grow older a lot of the problems that we experience stem from our need to be accepted mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. Jake doesn’t see himself as being a “problem”, though, I’m sure by this point he is starting to notice that he is viewed differently, he’s still very innocent, and it’s that innocence that is so beautiful and also scary to witness.
This movie really taps into the current zeitgeist when it comes to gender. It’s timely and raw; it’s heartwarming and frustrating; it’s fearful, but also very hopeful. This is a well-written and well-acted movie that I believe can be a treat for everyone if they allow it to be and also a lesson for parents that perhaps will help them re-evaluate how they parent(ed) their own kids, “normal” or not.
