Hit recording artist Ed Sheeran has been making tiny steps into acting, appearing on FX’s short-lived series The Bastard Executioner, Bridget Jones’s Baby, and a much-publicized cameo on Game of Thrones that fans largely ripped. Now he may be making a much larger move by joining Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis’s untitled musical comedy.
First reported by the Daily Mail and confirmed by Deadline, Sheeran is in talks to join the film about a man who wakes up to discover he’s the only one in the world who can remember The Beatles’ songs. That’s the most detailed plot description we’ve heard thus far. There’s some dispute whether Sheeran would also be contributing music but he will definitely have an on-screen role. I have to imagine he’ll provide new music to the soundtrack, as well.
If all goes well he will be joining Baby Driver’s Lily James, Himesh Patel, and Kate McKinnon who is still in talks.
Legal mumbo jumbo can be tedious but this involves the future of the Mad Max franchise, and the possibility of Fury Road sequels. So let’s dive in and try to keep it simple. The basic point is this: we may not be seeing anymore movies. At least not for a long time.
Per the Sydney Morning Herald, director George Miller and his production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. alleging they owe him a $7M bonus for keeping Mad Max: Fury Road under the $157M budget. Just that alone seems crazy based on the vast amount of visual effects and the well-documented production troubles. But he says it came in at around $154M, while Warner Bros. say it was more than $30M over budget.
Miller claims Warner Bros. forbid him to shoot certain scenes while imposing new ones on him, including a new ending, that added significantly to the cost and production schedule. However, these costs , estimated to be around $31M, were supposed to be left off the final accounting since they weren’t of his choosing. And that, it seems, is where the big conflict is. Warner Bros. has countersued claiming Miller went way over budget of his own accord, and that they merely suggested he shoot an alternative ending. Furthermore, any additional costs were to be partly funded by Miller’s company.
So who is right? None of us know, of course, and I suspect both sides are playing loose with the facts to bolster their argument. As fans, we just want to see Miller, Charlize Theron, and Tom Hardy together again in that mad dystopia. They’ve all expressed some desire to reprise their roles, and Miller has reportedly written two sequel scripts just waiting to be filmed. This is the rare case of genuine enthusiasm for a sequel and I can’t believe Warner Bros. will let it slip by over what sounds like a relatively small amount of money.
The biggest takeaway from the NOVA Fest this year is a
welcoming sense of community. At least, that’s what I was told by at least a
dozen artists there, all of whom enthusiastically praised the festival for its
hospitality and legitimate friendliness. One artist even went so far as to
describe it as the “friendliest” film festival he’d ever attended. And I agree.
I’m not an especially sociable person, but it was nearly
impossible not to make friends while in attendance. This is one of the only
festivals I can think of where they host an after party every night. The
Angelika Film Center has successfully made a name for itself as a DC hub for
filmmakers.
The festival itself, which closed last night, ended with a
big red carpet gala and awards ceremony highlighting the best they had to
offer, and I gotta say, they kinda nailed it. I don’t typically tend to agree
with the general awards season consensus, so it felt nice to finally be at a
ceremony where I did.
Beautiful features (three of which we covered, and you can
read about each here, here, and here) left with well-deserved awards in hand,
particularly Daddy Issues, which just about swept the categories it was up
for including best feature, but also incredible short films and music videos
were given the attention and respect they so rarely receive.
The inspiring I am…, the hilarious anti-romantic
comedy Sac de Merde, the heat-breaking Pickup, the thought
provoking Othello-San, musicals, screenplays, film noir throwbacks, and
laugh out loud comedies all received various awards throughout the night, with
a lifetime achievement award being handed to legendary Batman executive producer
Michael Uslan.
The hottest spot of the festival, however, was hands-down
the inclusion of the Capital Film Market. For the first time in the area, a
market for distributing independent films was made easily accessible to local
artists. It was an element of this year’s festival that was loved by both the
NOVA film community and the producers running the market, some of whom had
never even been to the DC area before. In this way and many others, the NOVA
Fest keeps growing. It was bigger than last year’s, which was bigger than the
year before. It keeps growing and gaining power and clout without losing its
sense of community.
Ever since his work on the Brit superhero sitcom No Heroics to penning the script for Iron Man 3, directing Marvel one-shot All Hail the King, and writing Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation, Drew Pearce has been a fan favorite among the pop culture set. That should bode well for attracting an audience for his directorial debut, Hotel Artemis, which looks like it could be a spinoff of John Wick.
Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Jeff Goldblum, Jenny Slate, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Day, Sofia Boutella, Brian Tyree Henry, and Dave Bautista lead a tremendous ensemble, the kind most first-time directors could never hope to get. The story takes place in a future version of Los Angeles at a special members-only hospital just for criminals. Foster plays The Nurse, and her establishment has a strict set of rules which are put to the test when someone possesses an object of great value.
I’m a fan of giving the bad guys more shine, and with this cast it’s like Pearce is making a movie just for me. This is quite the ambitious directorial debut and I can’t wait to finally see it.
Ben Kingsley’s chameleonic ability, his skill at transforming into wildly different characters of varying ethnicities from film to film, will always be worthy of praise. But I think we shouldn’t overlook his talent for hamming it up like a champion, a skill he seems to be making greater use of during the later stages of his stages. He puts it to good use in a domineering performance in An Ordinary Man, chewing the edges off as a Serbian war criminal who befriends a young maid whose motives are a bit cloudy.
Written and directed by Brad Silberling, An Ordinary Man is Kingsley at his most entertaining. He’s never better than when he’s going over the top to carry the dramatic load, and that tends to be in the plethora of mentor/mentee films he takes part. But where Kinglsey is often mismatched with underwhelming co-stars, Hera Hilmar more than measures up. Kingsley towers as a man simply known as the General, who is shuffled around from safehouse to safehouse by Serbian loyalists in an effort to keep him from being arrested for war crimes. The General may be getting older but he’s still a tough cookie, as we see in the opening scene when he saves the owner of a local grocer from a robbery, simply by being bold and swift. A man of some principle, the rescue came moments after he had been belly-aching over the quality of produce.
Like Henry Hill growing bored of living in Witness Protection, the General has grown tired of a life of hiding in plain sight. He’s fed up with being shuttled from one shabby apartment to another by his handler (The Tick‘s Peter Serafinowicz) and wants a change of scenery. He gets that when his latest bland hideout is suddenly visited upon by the former occupant’s maid, Tanja (Kingsley’s The Ottoman Lieutenant co-star Hera Hilmar), who he greets by forcing her to strip down while holding a gun to her head. Convinced she’s not secretly there to kill him, the General invites her to be his maid instead, with a pay raise. Hopefully it’s for hazard pay.
A low budget two-hander, the film mostly takes place in drab apartment buildings while the General and Tanja warm up to one another. It quickly becomes clear (as if the whole stripping down thing wasn’t a clue) that he still fancies himself a commander of others. He enjoys the power and influence he has over Tanja right from the start, although as they become closer she begins to exert some control over him. The General enjoys the odd prank, like going out into the city and making fools of those who are tracking him. Tanja is mostly dragged along and forced to do whatever the General wants, regardless of the danger it puts them both in. It’s only after a sudden mid-movie reveal, that isn’t so surprising really, that we see their relationship truly deepen.
Silberling wants us to see the man behind the monster, and let’s make it clear that the General is a monster. He practically brags about the genocidal acts he committed on behalf of his country, frequently bringing it up as a means of provoking a reaction from Tanja. She rarely indulges, and the General usually ends up musing with himself about his past actions, and if there are any regrets. But this isn’t a story that wants to dive too deep into what makes a man like the General tick, and it becomes unseemly that we’re basically being asked to sympathize with him. Or at the very least to overlook what he’s done and just enjoy the witty repartee between him and Tanja. We never see the impact of what the General has done, so he automatically comes out smelling like a rose. It’s not the most interesting angle this story could have taken, which may be why it doesn’t seem as if anything of consequence is happening.
Actually filmed in Serbia, An Ordinary Man is anything but ordinary on a visual level. Clearly shot on a tight budget, it benefits greatly from the authentic locations and population. But this is Kingsley’s show, he launches from rant to rant like a cannon’s fusillade, only allowing himself one or two scant moments of subtlety. Hilmar isn’t asked to be a firebrand, but she stands tall in her reserved yet defiant reactions to the General’s brazenness.
One wishes An Ordinary Man had more narrative momentum and that it was more of a character study but it’s got Kingsley proving again why he’s one of the most watchable actors working today, and that’s enough.
With J.J. Abrams returning to direct Star Wars: Episode IX, I think the expectation is that he’ll be less controversial than Rian Johnson was with The Last Jedi. That said, a new rumor suggests Abrams will be borrowing at least one element from Johnson’s movie that everybody seemed to like.
According to sources at the New York Daily News, Yoda will be making a return in Episode IX. Here’s hoping he’s found another Jedi Temple to burn to the ground.
“The success of the scenes featuring Yoda in The Last Jedi were huge. Yoda will again appear as a ghost as he acknowledges Rey’s success and growth as a Jedi. The scenes are due to be put together later this year.”
If it’s true that Mark Hamill won’t be coming back as Luke Skywalker (I don’t buy it) then having Yoda return as a Force ghost would make sense. Still I hope this rumor isn’t true. Yoda’s appearance in the previous movie was a perfect way to write him off for a good long time. You mean to tell me with all of those dead Jedi out there nobody else can take up the mantle of Force prophet for a while? Share the load, Yoda!
It’s way too early to know anything concrete. Production starts in July and even then there will probably be many changes that take place during filming. Taken with a grain of salt, this rumor must be.
This week’s Gotham
was amazing. The Barbara story line was good, but it was definitely overshadowed by Jerome’s which the Gotham writers hit out of the
park. Let’s get right to it!
Jerome’s Master Plan
story arc: “Try threatening me again, but this time – try it with a smile” –
The episode begins with a meeting held between Gotham’s
interim mayor and some of Gotham’s elite. This meeting is rudely interrupted by
Fries and Tetch who round up this hoity toity bunch and bring them to Jerome.
Scarecrow sprays one of them with the laughing gas and the effects are just as
terrible as we saw last week.
It turns out that it is Bruce’s birthday and Alfred
has a special present for him. He gives him a gorgeous brand new car – which is
essentially the very first basic batmobile. It is a matte black Mustang with
anti-reflective paint so it is difficult to see at night…oh and it is
bulletproof.
Penguin, who is terrified of Jerome, goes behind his back
and visits Jim. He tells Jim of the new gas that Scarecrow has created and the
awful effects it has. Unfortunately Jerome has covered his bases and only tells
each member of his group their specific role and not the entire plan so Penguin
can’t tell Jim what is in store. Before Jim can get any helpful information from Penguin,
Harvey tells him that Jerome has been spotted near Paisley Square where the
Gotham music festival is going on.
At the music festival there is a band playing on
stage in front of a large crowd. Jerome decides that he can provide some better
entertainment so he brutally beats the lead singer with the microphone stand
and takes center stage. He sets up six chairs and puts the mayor and the other
members of the meeting into four of the chairs. Jerome straps dynamite to their
necks and tells the crowd that the two empty seats are for his guests of honor
and if he doesn’t get what he wants – he will blow the heads off of the mayor
and his associates. Jerome looks into a reporter’s camera and summons Jim to
come to the festival. While this is happening, Fries and Scarecrow break into a
chemical lab at Wayne Industries and force the chemists to create a bunch
more of the laughing gas.
Jim gets to the stage and Jerome tells him that the two
empty chairs are for Bruce and Jeremiah. Jim refuses to hand over Bruce and
volunteers himself as tribute instead. Jerome is clearly frustrated at Jim’s
lack of cooperation and realizes he needs to send a message to let Jim know how
serious he is – which he does by blowing up the head of one of his hostages. Jim,
Lucius, and Harvey go to round up Bruce and get to Wayne Manor as Bruce and
Selina are sharing another precious moment. Jim lets Bruce know that Jerome has
requested his presence. The GCPD’s plan is to have Bruce carry a device on him
that disrupts the signal from the detonator to the bombs strapped around the
hostage’s necks. This will buy the GCPD snipers enough time to take
out Jerome and his crew. Obviously Alfred is vehemently against Bruce going,
but Bruce knows that the hostages need his help and agrees to the plan.
The group then goes to visit Jeremiah who is not nearly as
willing to join in GCPD’s effort as Bruce was. Bruce finally convinces Jeremiah
to help with some inspirational words about standing up to terror being the
only way to take its power away. Bruce and Jeremiah get to the music festival
and as they approach the stage Jim orders the snipers to fire. Unfortunately
for them, Jeremiah had his men ready for this and they kill all of the snipers.
In the meantime Tetch, Scarecrow, and Penguin have gone to a hanger housing a
blimp. It seems the plan is to gather the largest crowd possible and drop the
gas on them from the blimp. Tetch hypnotizes the pilot to carry out this
mission for them. Penguin can’t take it anymore and tries to reason with
Scarecrow and Tetch to not go through with this. Turns out Jerome figured
Penguin would betray him and warned Tetch and Scarecrow of this. They knock
Penguin out and put him on the blimp.
At the music festival Jerome has Bruce and Jeremiah on stage
and is needling Jeremiah. He tells him that he is just as crazy as he is and is
also a killer – it’s in their DNA. Jerome hands Jeremiah a knife and tells him
to take his best shot. After a brief moment of hesitation, Jeremiah screams and
charges at Jerome, but he easily counters and knocks Jeremiah out. Jim sends
Harvey up to the roof to take out Jerome’s men which they successfully do. As
Jerome is distracted from the GCPD’s gunshots, Jim is able to get a
clean shot and hit him in the shoulder. Jerome races for a rooftop with Jim on
his heels. The blimp is almost at the music festival when Penguin wakes up. He
tries to convince the pilot to turn the blimp around but Tetch’s hypnosis is
too strong. Penguin calls Jim who tells him to overtake the pilot and steer the
blimp towards the river.
Jim gets to the rooftop and sees that Jerome is standing on
a ledge with his phone out. Jim warns Jerome to stand down, but Jerome calls
the pilot and tells him to drop the gas. Jim shoots Jerome twice, once in the
arm and once at center mass leading to Jerome falling off the side of the
building. Jim peers over the ledge and sees Jerome hanging on to a pipe. Jerome
asks Jim is he’s going to be a lawman and pull him up to arrest him or if he
will be a murderer and let him fall and die. Jim reaches for Jerome’s
outstretched hand to pull him up but Jerome pulls his hand away and decides to
take the quick way down to street level. Inside the blimp Penguin does manage
to attack the pilot and knock him out before he can release the gas.
On the street Bruce, Harvey, Jim, and Jeremiah all go to
Jerome’s lifeless body. Jeremiah begins to walk away, but Bruce stops him and
tells him that Wayne Enterprises would love to fund his work. Jeremiah accepts
and heads back to his place. At his house, Jeremiah is surprised to see a
present on his desk from Wayne Enterprises. When he unwraps it, he sees that it
is a jack-in-the-box that pops open and sprays him with the laughing gas. He
hears Jerome’s voice telling him that this batch of gas was made specially for him and it is time to have some fun.
My thoughts:
Well this was just awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed everything
that happened in this episode. From the little things like Jerome’s hilarious interactions
with the crowd at the concert to the awesome freeze balls that Fries busted out
to the enormity of us finally getting Joker in the Gotham universe, this episode was perfect. I love that the writers
figured out a way to still have Cameron Monaghan portray the clown prince of
crime. He was fantastic as Jerome and he will be amazing as the Joker –
I’m sure of it. I cannot wait to see how this plays out in the coming weeks.
Barbara’s Continued
Rise to Power story arc: “I am the one true heir of an immortal god’s ancient
dynasty – and I don’t dirty my fingers with the likes of you anymore” –
During this episode we also get a peek at what Barbara has
been up to as the head of the League of Shadows. At Club Siren a gang leader is
confronting Tabitha and Barbara comes to rectify the situation. Before the gang
leader and his men can fire at Barbara and Tabitha – ninja stars come flying
out of nowhere killing the men. The members of the league want Barbara to
continue Ra’s legacy and not have them just stay in Gotham. Tabitha clearly
doesn’t like this idea or where this is heading, but Barbara is drunk with
power.
The head of the league of shadows women who has “supported”
Barbara becoming the demon’s head takes her to a house Ra’s owned in Gotham
since the city existed. This house is apparently filled with ancient secrets. In
the house is a locked door that none of them can get into. The woman takes Barbara
to the door and as they approach it, Barbara’s hand begins to glow as does the
door. The door opens for Barbara and inside are multiple ancient artifacts. At
the very back of the room is a painting of a woman that looks exactly like
Barbara – solidifying again in her mind and that of the remaining league
members that she is the chosen one to lead them.
Barbara looks through the room and begins reading a
book chronicling Ra’s legacy for the past nine centuries. Tabitha tries to
convince Barbara that Ra’s was a cult leader and that the league is all
brainwashed. Barbara dismisses this notion. The two of them argue about the league
and Barbara has had enough of Tabitha. She has her loyal servants throw her out,
seemingly ending their professional partnership. The three woman take Tabitha
out to the street and tell her to leave Gotham. She refuses and a fight
ensures. Tabitha holds her own for a bit, but gets over-matched. A mysterious
stranger comes and helps Tabitha up. They tell her that Barbara is an imposter
and they serve Ra’s al Ghul who’s death is only an illusion.
My thoughts:
I feel like the woman that is serving as the mouthpiece for
the league’s female soldiers has ulterior motives and wants to control Barbara – well she clearly doesn’t know Barbara. It’s a shame that Barbara
and Tabitha’s relationship is fractured, but there is a chance it can be
reconciled in the future. I don’t see Barbara’s place at the head of the League
of Shadows lasting very long. I think she will be stripped of the title soon and go back to working the Gotham underground as she has previously done with
Tabitha and Selina.
Next week on Gotham:
Barbara gets visited by a mysterious stranger who saw a
vision of a cataclysmic event. The men that took Tabitha kidnap Bruce as well
and it looks like Ra’s might not be so dead after all. Riddler is back in that
action and we might get a Bruce and Selina make out sesh!
What happened to David Kellman, Robert Shafran, and Eddy Galland sounds like a mystery out of a Harlan Coben novel. Imagine how incredibly rare and strange it would be if you were to randomly meet an identical twin you didn’t know existed. And how incredible it would then be if the two of you encountered a third twin out of nowhere. You’d probably freak the Hell out and wonder if somebody was performing a cloning experiment. Well, it’s not too far off from reality, as seen in the stunning documentary Three Identical Strangers, which made a splash at Sundance a few months ago and now is headed for release.
Directed by Tim Wardle, the Sundance Special Jury Prize winner centers on David, Robert, and Eddy’s discovery that they are triplets, with Robert recounting the day he first met Eddy. We then see them in a series of videos and photographs, in some cases using their unlikely meeting to make names for themselves on TV. While this seems like a feel-good story there is a deeper conspiracy to their separation. Their parents were completely unaware of what happened, but how is that possible? And who would go to such lengths to make sure they were separated at birth?
1. Rampage (review)- $34.5M
After scoring one of the biggest hits of last year with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Dwayne Johnson looks to have another smash on his hands. The video game adaptation Rampage opened with an impressive $34.5M, and while that may not look like all that much, consider that it isn’t too far off from what Jumanji did. It was largely word of mouth that powered that film and I suspect the same will apply here as the reviews are good and audiences are enjoying what is a true popcorn flick. It remains unclear how leggy it’ll be here with Avengers: Infinity War looming, but internationally Johnson is a megastar and Rampage has earned $148M worldwide as a result.
2. A Quiet Place– $32.6M/$99.6M
John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place continues to shatter expectations, slipping just 35% for $32M and nearly $100M domestic after two weeks. Worldwide it has now grossed over $150M, incredible for a film that only cost $17M. The second week drop is incredibly low for the genre which usually sees 50% to 60% tumbles or more, so it may still be in theaters when more details on the already-developing sequel emerge.
3. Truth Or Dare (review)- $19.8M
It was a good weekend for horror as Blumhouse’s Truth Or Dare survived negative reviews to earn $19.8M. The Final Destination-esque film was unusual for the studio who have been on a hot streak well-received films Get Out, Happy Death Day, and Split. And it’s probably a case of the name Blumhouse carrying a lot of weight with genre fans, as it should.
4. Ready Player One– $11.2M/$114.6M
5. Blockers– $10.2M/$36.9M
6. Black Panther– $5.3M/$673.7M
7. Isle Of Dogs– $5M/$18.4M
8. I Can Only Imagine– $3.8M/$74.9M
9. Tyler Perry’s Acrimony– $3.7M/$37.8M
10. Chappaquiddick– $3M/$11M
It’s a true family affair as Disney and Funko have unveiled the first wave of Pop! Vinyl figures for The Incredibles 2! I don’t know if they’re thanking us for the long 15-year wait for the sequel but this is a huge wave of 14 Pops including a number of store exclusives and Chase variants. Many of them you can pick up right now from our friends at Entertainment Earth if Disney/Pixar Pops are your jam.
The long-awaited sequel finds Elastigirl fighting on her own in hopes of helping superheroes become legal again. Meanwhile, Mr. Incredible is left at home to care for the kids, which may turn out to be even more dangerous! So Elastigirl is really the star of this show, and she gets a Pop! Vinyl worthy of her status. She also has a Target exclusive variant in the grey uniform given to her by superhero fashion mogul Edna Mode. We also see figures for Mr. Incredible, Violet with her invisible Chase variant, Dash, Frozone, and baby Jack-Jack with his fiery Target, FYE, and Hot Topic exclusives.
If you’re as Pop! Vinyl obsessed as me, the best places to go are our friends at Entertainment Earth. Our friends have the deepest inventory of Pops, including exclusives, at the best prices anywhere on the Internet. When you click on any of our below links and make a purchase we get a small commission that helps us keep the lights on, at no cost to you at all. Every little bit helps, and we thank all of you continue to support us and our sponsors. Thanks!
