So while True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto is jealously throwing shade at the show’s fourth season, Night Country, the fact remains it’s the most-viewed and highest-rated season yet. Ouch, Nic, that must sting. HBO loves it, though, and they want more of that action in a fifth season
HBO has renewed True Detective for season five, with showrunner Issa López returning. The writer/director has inked a multi-year deal with the network to create new content, including the upcoming fifth season
As for stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, they aren’t likely to return given the series’ anthology structure. So look for new detectives taking on a different case, but that doesn’t mean connections to past seasons won’t happen, as we saw this season.
“From conception to release, Night Country has been the most beautiful collaboration and adventure of my entire creative life.” Lopez said in a statement. “HBO trusted my vision all the way, and the idea of bringing to life a new incarnation of True Detective with Casey, Francesca, and the whole team is a dream come true. I can’t wait to go again.”
Don’t expect it right away, though. This season was a grueling 100-day shoot, and it will take time to come up with the kind of detailed storyline that has become the True Detective standard.
I have to preface this review with my unabashed love for Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon/anime (I still consider it an anime even though I’m in the minority of that logic). Not too many cartoons are on my “greatest of all time” TV lists, but the tale of Aang and “Team Avatar” facing off against the Fire Nation absolutely is on my list. In fact, thanks to streaming, it’s one of the shows that I will rewatch at least once every two years, right up there with Breaking Bad, The Wire, 24, and all the greats. Needless to say, Avatar: The Last Airbender holds a special place in my heart. It made me nervous that Netflix was commissioning a live-action adaptation of the beloved cartoon, especially after that atrocious M. Night Shyamalan adaptation that was downright unwatchable. To make matters worse, the original creators left the Netflix production due to “creative differences” and some character beats from the cartoon were already announced to change. So how would Netflix’s version of Avatar: The Last Airbender go?
Debuting almost 19 years to the day after the premiere of the original cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender delivers on almost every level and is a worthy adaptation of the beloved classic. For the uninitiated, Avatar takes place in an alternative world where there are four nations: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. In this world, a select group of people from these nations have the ability to “bend” the elements. People from the Water Tribes can manipulate water, Air Nomads: air, Earth Kingdom: earth, and the Fire Nation: fire. While people from each nation can control the elements of their nationality, only “The Avatar” is gifted with the ability to control all four elements. The Avatar is a role/title that changes generationally and across all four nations. When one Avatar passes away, he/she is reborn in another nation. The goal of the Avatar is to establish balance not only between the nations, but also between the physical and spiritual world. The latest reincarnation of The Avatar takes the form of a young kid named Aang (Gordon Cormier) who is an airbender, but when The Fire Nation dipped their toes in imperialism, Aang was lost for and remained lost for 100 years.
During the 100 years that Aang was missing, the Fire Nation led by the ruthless Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) went on a campaign of conquest across the planet, leaving the world on the brink of war. In the south, Southern Water Tribe members Katara (Kiawentiio) and her big brother Sokka (Ian Ousley) are basically the “elders” of their tribe as most of the fighters left their village to fight The Fire Nation. They happen to come across Aang, who has been hibernating frozen in an iceberg for the last 100 years. They have to fill Aang in on the last 100 years and quickly befriend him and join him to complete his training on the other elements so he can defeat the Fire Nation and save the world.
At the same time, Aang’s arrival has peaks the interest of Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu), Fire Lord Ozai’s son and recently banished member of The Fire Nation. Zuko cannot return home unless he captures The Avatar and delivers him to his father, so he is determined to capture Aang so he can return back home. Teaming up with his tea-loving uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), Zuko leads his naval battalion for a season-long game of cat and mouse with Aang, Katara, and Sokka. “Team Avatar” as they named themselves, are now on a quest to help Aang go out and save the world from the Fire Nation. Each episode is a new adventure for them to get into as they travel in search of clues to help Aang learn the skills he needs and discover what it means to be The Avatar.
Avatar: The Last Airbender nails so many crucial elements from the cartoon in such a way that will make even the most jaded fan smile. The set decoration and CGI (for the most part) are flawlessly copied from animation to live action. The world-building that existed in the cartoon is also available in the live-action show, complete with the choices for merged animals like tiger seals, turtle ducks, giant moles, and of course Appa the flying bison or Momo the winged lemur. Just like the cartoon, the cultures of each elemental nation are on full display, and unlike other live-action adaptations, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cast primarily of people of color. In the cartoon, most of the characters were either of Asian, South Asian, or Indigenous descent, and that carries into the Netflix adaptation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s biggest test is whether or not the bending looks realistic. It’s one thing for the cartoon to have people shooting fire out of their hands while fighting someone who can turn water into ice daggers, or an earth bender causing earthquakes and throwing dirt at their enemies, but in live-action, that could be a disaster. However, I’m happy to say that the bending is awesome, is done in very creative ways during fights, and it never gets old. There are plenty of breathtaking fight scenes that not only look great, but aren’t over-bloated CGI monstrosities as the world is completely believable.
In addition, each of the performances delivers. Team Avatar does most of the heavy lifting as we get to spend so much time with them. While some folks are upset about the lack of Sokka’s initial sexism, you will barely notice it as each character has great character moments, especially Gordon Cormier as Aang as he wrestles with not only being The Avatar and how that conflicts with his pacifist upbringing, but also he, Kara, and Soka are all young kids who have to go on a quest to save the world, while they probably would rather want to be going out and playing. The decision to introduce Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula before their introduction from the animated series helps establish them as dangerous foils for Team Avatar. Daniel Dae Kim (yes, I know he’s the Internet’s new “Zaddy” thanks to him being shirtless on the show) is terrifying as the ruthless leader of the fire nation, and Elizabeth Yu as Azula shows just how evil she will become thanks to her ambition and ruthlessness to appease her father. But fan favorites Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh are pitch-perfect in their casting. Dallas Liu plays Zuko’s anguish perfectly, and fans know how his character arc is going to be over the series and it’ll be interesting to see him fulfill that role. But just like in the cartoon, Uncle Iroh is the MVP. The “Dragon of the West” who loves his tea is such a perfect role for Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as his star continues to climb with each pop culture role he gets.
While Avatar: The Last Airbender is a great adaptation, at times it does feel like Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Lion King, in that not much of the story is changing from one medium to another, it just looks prettier. The first season of the show pretty much covers “Book One: Water” from the cartoon. The cartoon had twenty 20-minute episodes to cover the subject, the first season of the show has to truncate it into eight 45–53-minute episodes, and it feels we could have had 1-2 more episodes to help flesh everything out. In addition, while the bending CGI was awesome, sometimes the mythological creatures could have done another rendering pass. Momo and Appa looked great, but it’s not surprising that some of the CGI animals were sparingly used for cloudy day or night shots to help cover deficiencies in the CGI department.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s first season ends with a bunch of story setup for the second season, to the point that after you finish binging, you’re going to be mad that you have to wait a couple years for the second season. There’s a reason they adjusted the timeline of “Sozin’s Comet” from the cartoon so that the story can take longer (and the teen actors don’t look like grown adults by season 2), and it’s because Netflix is in this for the long haul. While the cartoon was only three seasons, I can see them trying to stretch this show for 4-5 seasons, and as an Avatar fan, bring it on. Bring on Aang, bring on Kora, hell even give us prequels for other Avatars! If they can keep up the awesomeness of the first season, Netflix will have a hit for the foreseeable future.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is currently available on Netflix.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of Dune: Part Two, the continuation of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi blockbuster. The film stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar nominee Josh Brolin, Oscar nominee Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem.
SYNOPSIS: “Dune: Part Two” will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
The screening takes place on Monday, February 26th at 7:00pm at AMC Tysons Corner IMAX. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Warner Bros. site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you will need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
I don’t complain much about spinoffs and unwanted remakes, but this idea is truly terrible and I’m surprised Paramount doesn’t see it. A spinoff of 1986 stone cold classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is in the works, and it’ll center on the two valet drivers who took the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder belonging to Cameron’s father for a spin.
Ugh, right?
THR reports that David Katzenberg will direct the film, titled Sam and Victor’s Day Off. The story will take place over the course of a single day during the events of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, as Sam and Victor enjoy what is sure to be an insane joyride. The characters were originally played by Richard Edson and Larry “Flash” Jenkins.
The follow-up to John Hughes’ comedy classic will have someone familiar with nostalgia properties in Katzenberg, who directed episodes of The Goldbergs and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. Aboard as producers are Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald.
So what do you think? Excited for Sam and Victor’s Day Off? And if so, who are you hoping gets cast?
If there’s any director who needs to return to his roots, it’s Luc Besson. The French filmmaker behind The Professional, La Femme Nikita, Lucy, and more, went a little too big with his massive sci-fi filmValerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. But he returns to the gritty world of dangerous loners with Dogman, which stars Caleb Landry Jones in what looks to be a tour de force performance.
The story centers on Douglas, a New Jersey man who had been abused as a child for his love of dogs, which he freely admits is greater than his love of family. Literally thrown to the dogs, they protected him rather than attacked him. Douglas would reciprocate that love in kind, but only for canines. Humans, on the other hand, better watch out.
Also in the cast are Jojo T. Gibbs, Christopher Denham, Clemens Schick, John Charles Aguilar, Grace Palma, Iris Bry, Marisa Berenson, Alexander Settineri, Michael Garza, and Tom Leeb.
Dogman opens in select theaters on March 29th, with a wider rollout on April 5th. As a huge Besson fan, this movie has me pumped to see him return to form.
With roles in Barbarian, It, and John Wick: Chapter 4, Bill Skarsgard has gained his fame by exploring his creepy side. A far cry from his brother Alex and father Stellan, whose careers have taken a slightly different route. But it’s all coming together for Bill, too, and his next film, Boy Kills World, a pulpy B-movie revenge flick compared by some to The Raid, could be what makes him the Skarsgard everyone is talking about.
It doesn’t take long to see where comparisons to The Raid come from. Set in a post-apocalyptic society, Skarsgard plays a man seeking violent revenge against the matriarch of an elite dynasty for killing his family and leaving him deaf and mute as a child. The action sequences are fast, over-the-top violent like something out of a video game, and even feature martial arts killer Yayan Ruhian who starred in The Raid 1 & 2.
Also joining Skarsgard in the cast are Happy Death Day‘s Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Famke Janssen, Sharlto Copley, Brett Gelman, Isaiah Mustafa, and Andrew Koji.
The film is directed by Moritz Mohr from a script by Arend Remmers and Tyler Burton Smith. Sam Raimi is aboard as one of the producers.
Here’s the synopsis: Skarsgård stars as “Boy” who vows revenge after his family is murdered by Hilda Van Der Koy (Janssen), the deranged matriarch of a corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty that left the boy orphaned, deaf and voiceless. Driven by his inner voice, one which he co-opted from his favorite childhood video game, Boy trains with a mysterious shaman (Ruhian) to become an instrument of death and is set loose on the eve of the annual culling of dissidents. Bedlam ensues as Boy commits bloody martial arts mayhem, inciting a wrath of carnage and blood-letting. As he tries to get his bearings in this delirious realm, Boy soon falls in with a desperate resistance group, all the while bickering with the apparent ghost of his rebellious little sister.
I can’t wait for someone to make a queer version of Ethan Coen’s Drive Away Dolls. You’re probably thinking, “Cortland, that film is about to come out and has two lesbian women as its protagonists.” You’re not wrong. However, the first solo film from Ethan Coen, one-half of the revered Coen Brothers, doesn’t cash in on the potential of its premise in a way a queer director would.
Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan play two lesbian friends, one recovering from a break-up, the other sexually repressed, who need some time away from Philadelphia and must figure out how to get to Tallahassee. Instead of renting a car, Jamie (Margaret Qualley) suggests they do a drive away, a service that pairs travelers with vehicles that both are heading in the same direction.
Of course, their timing is terrible and the man behind the counter (an underused but great Bill Camp) pairs them with a car meant for someone else. Buried under the spare tire is a mysterious case. As they travel most of the way to Florida without knowing henchmen (led by Colman Domingo) are on their tail, the two friends stop, drink, and reflect on their relationship.
The premise is rife with jokes: gay jokes, crime jokes, Matt Damon penis jokes, and except for a few scattered laughs, Drive Away Dolls doesn’t deliver. Part of this problem derives from my previous point that Ethan Coen is not a lesbian and doesn’t know where, when, and how to find comedic moments from his leading ladies. The majority of the jokes that are made feel stale and inauthentic.
It’s as if Coen is trying to recreate a Coen Brothers film but instead pulls off the fresh out-of-film school version. Margaret Qualley is playing a Frances McDormand type, complete with a blunt bob haircut. Henchmen debate their relationship in the car, resorting to violence that fails to be comedic. The box’s contents is more of a McGuffin than anything else. Coen, who co-wrote the script with his wife and editor Tricia Cooke, inserts Coen brother-esque characters and tropes into the script without much care or precision. Instead of trying something different, like his brother Joel did in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Ethan rests on his laurels.
As leads, Viswanathan and Qualley play more archetypes than characters which makes them more tedious than endearing to wash. The former, who is normally hilariously charming, is annoyingly morose and overwhelming one note. Qualley tries to play the playboy character we’re used to seeing in a road movie but it’s not endearing. Her Texas accent has a similar effect to Juno Temple’s Fargo accent, which sounds off-putting when you initially hear it. Unlike Temple, you never get used to Qualley’s drawl.
The supporting cast is absolutely having a great time here. Pedro Pascal has a blast in a small but grisly cameo, while Colman Domingo feels like the weathered, tough but fair, worthy opponent we are used to seeing in Coen Brother’s films. Beanie Feldstein plays the part of the scorn lesbian perfectly, though her character’s presence doesn’t feel necessary.
When the film ends, the end titles eventually change from Drive Away Dolls to Drive Away Dykes and though feelings around the slur have changed, I’m not quite sure the previous 84 minutes have earned Ethan Coen the right to use it.
Drive-Away Dolls is in theaters this Friday. Watch the trailer below.
If you’ve not felt the solo work of the Coen Brothers so far; Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, and Ethan Coen’s new comedy Drive-Away Dolls and Jerry Lee Lewis doc Trouble in Mind, then it’s time to celebrate. The Coen Brothers are reuniting on a new horror movie, and no, this isn’t some old screenplay they had in a drawer somewhere. It’s a totally new project that they worked on together.
Ethan revealed the news in an AP interview promoting Drive-Away Dolls…
“We talked about it for a long time, but we hadn’t actually written anything. We talked about the starting point. It was in a mental drawer.”
“It wasn’t breaking up. It was just me going, ‘Uaaagghh,’” Coen said of the solo journey he and his brother went on. “It was great. It’s always great. But it’s not like we were out of contact. We see each other all the time, talk all the time.”
Ethan already has his next film lined up. He’ll next direct Honey Don’t! starring Aubrey Plaza, Chris Evans, and Margaret Qualley. Shooting is rumored to begin this fall, and after that, Ethan and Joel will reunite.
The AP describes their horror movie as harkening “back to the Coens’ 1984 debut, “Blood Simple.” That doesn’t sound quite right to me, since Blood Simple isn’t a horror, but without knowing more they could be saying pretty much anything. Perhaps they mean in terms of size, budget, and style.
You might recall that Tom Cruise was once very close to starring in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, probalbly in the Brad Pitt role, but things ultimately didn’t work out. That doesn’t mean the desire for the two of them to work together has gone away, and rumors sprang up last week that Cruise could join Tarantino’s final film, The Movie Critic. Well, according to a new Variety piece, that could very well be the plan.
The news comes in an extensive piece on Warner Bros. and the ballooning budget of Todd Phillips’ Joker Folie à Deux. Cruise has entered a non-exclusive strategic partnership with the studio, and recently met with studio chiefs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca about potential projects. One of those was a role in The Movie Critic, while another option was the long-awaited Edge of Tomorrow sequel. I’m pretty sure that movie will never happen, but I digress.
An expensive bidding war for the distribution rights to The Movie Critic is expected, and Warner Bros. is sure to be in the mix. If Tarantino and Cruise want it badly enough, Warner Bros. is going to make sure that this happens.
There are so many layers to this, with things that could work in the deal’s favor and others that don’t. But here’s one thing that caught my attention; David Zaslav and the potential sale of Warner Bros…
“But sources who have done recent business with the studio say the mandate to spare no expense to land big talent comes via Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
“The strategy at Warner Bros. right now and the reason they made some of these big star deals is they’re basically playing with other people’s money,” says one insider. “They’re shopping for Quentin or Cruise with the notion they can use it as a shiny object that is going to be additive when Zaslav sells the company.”
Another source says that Cruise really wants to start branching out and doing more than action movies again, including a possible reunion with Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed him to his last Oscar nomination for Magnolia.
So there’s a lot in the cards here, and following the manuevers of Warner Bros. is going to be very interesting.
With the embargo having lifted on next week’s Dune: Part Two, it’s no shock that MGM has dropped a new trailer for Challengers. The only real connection between the two vastly different films is Zendaya, who is poised to become an even bigger star when the sci-fi sequel hits theaters. But with Challengers she’s starring in a tennis comedy that also doubles as a sex comedy, from Luca Guadagnino of all people.
And what’s being served up? A throuple, that’s what. Zendaya’s character finds herself in the middle of the romantic triad with co-stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. The film, penned by Justin Kuritzkes, centers on a former tennis pro-turned-manager to her Grand Slam champion husband who she has entered into a tournament event against her former lover.
You could say this scans as a change-of-pace for Guadagnino, but that would suggest he has a specific genre he sticks to. The filmmaker has done pretty much everything, from arthouse dramas (I Am Love, Call Me By Your Name) to horror (Suspiria) to romantic thrillers (Bones & All). There’s every reason to believe he can make something like Challengers work.
Here’s the synopsis: From visionary filmmaker, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist – West Side Story), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor – The Crown) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.
