Every Christopher Nolan is a big deal, and all but guaranteed to be a blockbuster. He probably doesn’t need to have an A-list cast anymore at this point, but that’s not stopping him from gathering one for his next film, Oppenheimer. With Cillian Murphy in the title role, joined by Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon, Nolan has now added Oscar winner Rami Malek, Black Widow star Florence Pugh, and Uncut Gems actor/director Benny Safdie.
Damn.
Oppenheimer centers on theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was integral to the creation of the atomic bomb. On paper this doesn’t sound like your typical Nolan blockbuster flick, but more like a drama. So putting together an ensemble this awesome could mean something different than it would for say Tenet or Dunkirk.
THR says “Pugh will play Jean Tatlock, a member of the Communist Party of the United States who has an off-and-on affair with Oppenheimer and was the cause of major security concerns for government officials. Safdie will play Edward Teller, the Hungarian physicist who is known as the father of the hydrogen bomb and a member of the Manhattan Project, the U.S. research initiative that developed the first atomic bomb. Malek is playing a scientist.”
Gotta go fast! Tonight at The Game Awards, Paramount debuted the first Sonic the Hedgehog 2trailer! In it, we see the return of Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, freed from the Mushroom Planet where Sonic left him at the end of the last movie. Interestingly, Robotnik looks a lot more like his video game counterpart, too.
We also get our first chance to hear Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echida, who has joined Dr. Robotnik’s side, and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as the voice of Miles “Tails” Prower. O’Shaughnessey has been voicing Tails for years, while Ben Schwartz is back as Sonic. Much of the human cast returns, including James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Adam Pally, Natasha Rothwell, and new addition Shemar Moore.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is once again directed by Jeff Fowler and opens April 8th 2022.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of Amazon Prime Video’s The Tender Bar, starring Ben Affleck, Tye Sheridan, Lily Rabe, Daniel Ranieri, and directed by George Clooney!
SYNOPSIS: A neighborhood pub in Manhasset, Long Island, becomes a second home for a fatherless boy in The Tender Bar, a poignant and inspiring coming-of-age story directed by George Clooney. J.R. (Tye Sheridan and Daniel Ranieri), whose father disappeared from his life before he was old enough to speak, moves into his grandfather’s dilapidated house after he and his mother (Lily Rabe) once again hit hard times. Under the unconventional tutelage of his Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), a charismatic, self-educated bartender, and a handful of the bar’s colorful regulars, J.R. grows into a young man determined to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer in this fiercely funny and blazingly honest adaptation of J.R. Moehringer’s bestselling memoir.
The screening takes place on Tuesday, December 14th at 7:00pm at Landmark E Street. If you’d like to attend, just go to the Amazon ticketing site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
The Tender Bar opens in theaters on December 22nd, followed by Prime Video on January 7th.
Hard to believe it’s that time of year again! Next month the 2022 Sundance Film Festival will kick off from Park City, Utah. Following this year’s all-virtual event, the fest will be going in a hybrid route, beginning on January 20th and running for 11 days. And as expected with the announcement of the feature lineup, the event is going to offer a diverse mix from all-around the world with an emphasis on first-time filmmakers.
Of the 82 features announced from 28 different countries, there are a few that have caught my eye. I’d be lying if I said this was the best lineup I’ve ever seen from Sundance, but there’s still plenty of stuff here to get excited over.
Here are my 10 most anticipated films from the festival at this moment, but trust me, that will change once I’m there on the ground. For the full list of features at Sundance 2022, go here!
The biggest film, I think, of the group is Lena Dunham’s Sharp Stick, starring Dunham, Dunham, Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman, Taylour Paige, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Here’s the synopsis: Sarah Jo is a naive 26-year-old living on the fringes of Hollywood with her mother (longing for money) and sister (longing for exposure). She just longs to be seen. When she begins an affair with her older employer, she is thrust into an education on sexuality, loss and power.
With a cast that includes the late Michael K. Williams, John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, and Connie Britton, writer/director Abi Damaris Corbin’s 892 is a must-see.
SYNOPSIS: When Brian Brown-Easley’s disability check fails to materialize from Veterans Affairs, he finds himself on the brink of homelessness and breaking his daughter’s heart. No other options, he walks into a Wells Fargo Bank and says “I’ve got a bomb.“
After Yang is the latest film from writer/director Kogonoda, who I’ll forever love for what he did on Columbus a few years ago. He’s reunited with star Haley Lu Richardson here, joined by Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja.
SYNOPSIS: In the near future, a father and daughter try to save the life of Yang, their beloved robotic family member.
Alice, from writer/director Krystin Ver Linden, sounds like it’s on some Antebellum shit. The film stars Keke Palmer, Common, Jonny Lee Miller, Gaius Charles, Alicia Witt, and Sinqua Walls.
SYNOPSIS: When a woman in servitude in 1800s Georgia escapes the 55-acre confines of her captor, she discovers the shocking reality that exists beyond the treeline…it’s 1973. Inspired by true events.
Am I Ok? has a title that I hate and the unwanted inclusion of Jermaine Fowler. But it’s also Tig Notaro behind the camera alongside her significant other, actress Stephanie Allynne. Plus it’s got Dakota Johnson. Tough to complain about that. She’s joined by Sonoya Mizuno, Kiersey Clemons, Molly Gordon, and Sean Hayes.
SYNOPSIS: Lucy and Jane have been best friends for most of their lives and think they know everything there is to know about each other. But when Jane announces she’s moving to London, Lucy reveals a long-held secret. As Jane tries to help Lucy, their friendship is thrown into chaos.
Blood features my girl Carla Juri, of personal Sundance favorites Wetlands and Morris from America, so I’m here for anything she’s in. The film by writer/director Bradley Rust Gray also stars Takashi Ueno, Gustaf Skarsgård, Futaba Okazaki, and Issey Ogata.
SYNOPSIS: After the death of her husband, a young woman travels to Japan where she finds solace in an old friend. But when comforting turns to affection, she realizes she must give herself permission before she can fall in love again.
Emily the Criminal has Aubrey Plaza entering the criminal underworld. Sold. And I’ll never say “no” to Gina Gershon. The film by writer/director John Patton Ford also stars Theo Rossi and Megalyn Echikunwoke.
SYNOPSIS: Down on her luck and saddled with debt, Emily gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, ultimately leading to deadly consequences.
Resurrection stars Rebecca Hall, who scored one of the festival’s big surprises last year with The Night House. Can she repeat with another thriller?
SYNOPSIS: Margaret’s life is in order. She is capable, disciplined, and successful. Soon, her teenage daughter, who Margaret raised by herself, will be going off to a fine university, just as Margaret had intended. Everything is under control. That is, until David returns, carrying with him the horrors of Margaret’s past.
Summering marks the return of writer/director James Ponsoldt to Sundance! After successful premieres with Off the Black, Smashed, The Spectacular Now, and The End of the Tour, Ponsoldt could use a bounceback after The Circle, which was dreadful. This looks like a lot of fun and right up Ponsoldt’s alley.
SYNOPSIS: It’s the waning days of summer for four friends Dina, Lola, Daisy, and Mari, who will soon be going their separate ways when they all start middle school. While planning how to spend their last weekend together, they stumble across a mystery that takes them on a life-changing adventure. Using investigation techniques learned from watching TV shows, the friends make a series of discoveries that are as much about solving the mystery as they are about learning the hard truths of growing up.
When You Finish Saving the World marks the feature directing debut of Jesse Eisenberg, and he’s working with a cast led by Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard. Need I say more? How about that it’s also being produced by Brigsby Bear director Dave McCrary, Moore herself, and Eisenberg’s Zombieland pal, Emma Stone?
SYNOPSIS: Evelyn and her oblivious son Ziggy seek out replacements for each other as Evelyn desperately tries to parent an unassuming teenager at her shelter, while Ziggy fumbles through his pursuit of a brilliant young woman at school.
1 of 10
Summering
Resurrection
Sharp Stick
EMILY THE CRIMINAL- Me and Barack Obama agree! Emily the Criminal, with a shockingly good, down 'n dirty performance by Aubrey Plaza, is one of the year's best.
Director: John Patton Ford;
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gina Gershon
She’s baaaaaack. Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova officially made her Hawkeye debut in last episode and it looks like she is here to stay.
In a new trailer entitled “Enemies,” Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) recounts who is after him including Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), her tracksuit mafia, and Natasha Romanoff’s sister Yelena. We last saw Pugh play that role in Black Widow, where Contessa Valentine Allegra de Fontaine revealed to the young assassin that Barton “killed” her sister.
We will get to see how that misinformation plays out in the final two episodes. Speaking of which, this trailer promises more action and quips in the upcoming installments, especially from Pugh’s character. Plus there’s the mystery of what Kate Bishop’s (Hailee Steinfeld) mother Eleanor, played by Vera Farmiga is up to.
I wasn’t a big fan of the tone of the first three episode but really loved the pacing of this past episode. If the final episodes are anything like this teaser, we could be in for an early Christmas gift.
Perfectly timed to the release of Adam McKay’s awards season dark comedy Don’t Look Up, HBO has revealed the trailer for his upcoming scripted sports series, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. That’s a new title, after it had been going under Showtime for the last few months. The series follows the Showtime Lakers era of the 1980s when the team won five NBA Championships using a flashy, run ‘n gun style.
The footage features an ’80s style color palette and also gives us a look at the cast, most of which are being seen for the first time. McKay favorite John C. Reilly plays former Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, with Jason Clarke as GM Jerry West, newcomers Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson and Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, plus Gaby Hoffman, Rob Morgan, Jason Segel, Adrien Brody, Sally Field, sean Patrick Small as Larry Bird, Hadley Robinson, DeVaughn Nixon, Michael Chiklis, Julianne Nicholson, Lola Kirke, Tracy Letts, Edwin Hodge, Gillian Jacobs, and more.
Winning Time is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s. McKay is both director and exec-producer, with Max Borenstein on the scripts.
*NOTE: This review was originally part of our Middleburg Film Festival coverage.*
The sounds of NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” blast in the opening moments of Sean Baker’s The Florida Project followup, Red Rocket. The guy listening to it seems too old for it; Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) is headed back home to Texas with his tail between his legs. Dirty, battered, bruised physically and egotistically, Mikey hoofs it to the home of his ex, Lexi (terrific Bree Elrod), and despite her misgivings, as well as those of her mother Lil (Brenda Deiss), he worms his way back into their lives with big smiles, big promises, and big charm.
Red Rocket is like the cinematic embodiment of Mikey Saber. On the surface, it doesn’t look like much, perhaps like something you should stay away from. But the more of it you take in, the more you come to appreciate the strange, profane, extremely graphic journey it takes you on. Mikey, who looks like a washed-up MTV VJ from yesteryear because that’s exactly what Rex used to be, is utterly shameless. A former porn star run out of Los Angeles for lord knows what, he’s the type who will literally say anything to get what he wants in that moment. It’s no coincidence the setting is Texas and the year is 2016, with the sounds of the ultimate con artist Donald Trump playing on TVs everywhere. The hustle was everywhere, not just on the national scene but to the lowly town of Texas City where Mikey talks up stories of the past to win over old “friends”, and hypes up his accomplishments as an actor in adult entertainment. He’s mighty proud of those AVN awards, in particular winning Best Oral three years in a row, a boast that gets questioned a lot as it should.
Mikey’s a creep, that much we know, but he also seems like a decent enough sort. Or, at least, he’s really good at putting a good face on his schemes and generally appears harmless. And yet when he meets the cherubic 17-year-old Strawberry (future star Suzanna Son) working at the Donut Hole and takes a liking to her, we are instantly wary. There’s no way his intentions for her can be any good whatsoever, it’s just a matter of how badly she’s going to get hurt by it.
Baker’s films never follow any sort of strict narrative structure. Red Rocketmeanders about similar to The Florida Project, exploring people on society’s fringes. This armpit section of Texas, dotted with condemned houses and meager storefronts consumed by a plethora of giant oil refineries, is as hopeless as the poverty-stricken stragglers of Baker’s prior work, only there’s no Disney World to run off to. No fantasy world to escape into. The aimlessness gets out of Baker’s control at times. I think he becomes too enamored with Rex’s admittedly energetic, convincing performance and lets him run wild. Rex, who also was a solo porn actor for a while, does carry the film on his shoulders. He is literally in every scene and works well with his less experienced co-stars, who give the film a natural, raw feeling. It’s not an easy role; some of what Mikey does will make the audience uncomfortable. There’s a lot of sex, a lot of graphic nudity (um, a lot of swingin’ goin’ on), and your mileage may vary depending on how comfortable you are with such things. Red Rocket is hilarious and light enough on its feet that you almost don’t mind the comparative lack of cultural insight. This is like the polar opposite of a “hometown boy makes good” story, but you can’t help yourself from rooting for Mikey to good with the tools he’s got.
A24 will release Red Rocket into theaters on December 10th.
Say what you want about the action flicks from Saban Films. They know where their bread is buttered and don’t stray too far from the formula. Their latest, The Commando stars two genre stalwarts in Michael Jai White and Mickey Rourke, who will go face-to-face over millions in stolen cash.
The film is directed by Asif Akbar and also stars Jeff Fahey, Aris Mejias, Gianni Capaldi, and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. But the real hook for this type of movie is the matchup between White and Rourke. White plays a DEA agent with PTSD following a failed mission, who must defend his home from Rourke’s recently-released criminal after millions of dollars in stashed money is discovered.
White is one of the baddest dudes on the planet, and I wish he was doing bigger movies than this. But even when the movie is as generic as this appears to be, White is always worth checking out.
The Commando opens in select theaters and VOD starting January 7th, 2022.
In this edge-of-your-seat crime thriller starring Michael Jai White and Mickey Rourke, an elite DEA agent (White) returns home after a failed mission when his family makes an unexpected discovery in their house – a stash of money worth $3 million. They soon face the danger and threat of a newly released criminal (Rourke) and his crew who will do whatever it takes to retrieve the money – including kidnap the agent’s daughters. Stakes are high and lives are at risk in this head-to-head battle as the agent stops at nothing to protect his family against the money-hungry criminals.
With Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and The Book of Boba Fett on the way, it’s easy to forget that more Star Wars shows are headed to Disney+. The Acolyte is the series created by Russian Doll writer Leslye Headland, set to take place during the final days of the High Republic period. Variety reports that The Hunger Games and The Hate U Give star Amandla Stenberg is being eyed for a leading role.
The Acolyte is interesting because an acolyte in the Star Wars universe usually refers to an apprentice Sith. But we don’t know if that will be the case here. The High Republic age is roughly 50 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace, while the series will see “the emergence of secretive dark side powers.”
Yep, sounds like Sith to me.
Headland will write, exec-produce, and act as showrunner on the series. No word on who will be directing episodes.
Stenberg was most recently seen in Dear Evan Hansen. She also starred in Damien Chazelle’s Netflix series The Eddy.
Guy Ritchie continues to be on an incredible roll, and what’s great about it is his decision to direct Disney’s Aladdin is only one part of it. Following that up with two hits in a row, The Gentlemen and Wrath of Man, the latter a reunion with star Jason Statham, Ritchie is back again with Operation Fortunate: Ruse de guerre, which opens next year.
Teamed up once again with Statham, Operation Fortune follows a super-spy who must stop the sale of deadly weapons technology, but in order to do it he needs the help of Hollywood’s biggest star.
Kinda sounds like a bigger version of 1991’s The Hard Way with Michael J. Fox and James Woods. I’m down for that.
Starring alongside Statham are Aubrey Plaza, Hugh Grant, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes, and Bugzy Malone. Fun cast.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre opens in 2022!
In the film, super-spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) must track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology wielded by billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). Reluctantly teamed with some of the world’s best operatives (Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone), Fortune and his crew recruit Hollywood’s biggest movie star Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett) to help them on their globe-trotting undercover mission to save the world.
