If you’re a filmmaker making your directorial debut, a good way to go about it is to start with a great cast. For The Imitation Game writer Graham Moore, he’s assembled Oscar winner Mark Rylance, Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, and Johnny Flynn for crime drama The Outfit, giving him a pretty good chance to succeed.
Rylance plays an English tailor who flees London and ends up in Chicago, only to find that his top clients are the city’s most dangerous gangsters. To survive the night, he’ll need to find a way to outwit the mob.
Also in the cast are Simon Russell Beale, Nikki Amulker-Bird, and Alan Mehdizadoh. Moore not only directs, but he also co-wrote the script with Mad Men actor and writer Johnathan McClain.
It’s been a pretty great year for Focus Features and The Outfit looks like it will keep it rolling in 2022. The film opens on February 25th.
There’s been a great deal of secrecy surrounding Encounter, the new sci-fi film led by Oscar-nominated Sound of Metal star Riz Ahmed. Why? Well, having seen the film at TIFF earlier this year, I can tell you there’s definitely more going on than meets the eye, and thankfully this new trailer doesn’t give away too much.
Encounter is directed by Michael Pearce, a followup to his acclaimed 2017 film Beast. Ahmed plays a Marine who flees with his two sons to protect them from an alien invasion, forcing them to leave their childhoods behind and grow up real quick.
Also in the cast are Octavia Spencer, Rory Cochrane, Lucian-River Chouhan, and Aditya Geddada. But it’s Ahmed who is the centerpiece here, and much of the conversation will center around the many twists and turns his character takes.
Amazon will release Encounter into theaters on December 3rd, followed by Prime Video streaming a week later.
A decorated Marine goes on a rescue mission to save his two young sons from a mysterious threat. As their journey takes them in increasingly dangerous directions, the boys will need to leave their childhoods behind.
*NOTE: This review was originally part of our Middleburg Film Festival coverage.*
The adult relationships one forms as a child are often the ones that shape us. C’mon C’mon, the newest feature from 20th Century Women director Mike Mills, shows us that those intergenerational bonds are often just as important to the adult and reveal our truest humanity.
Joaquin Phoenix plays an unmarried radio journalist who hasn’t talked to his sister (Gaby Hoffman) or his nephew (Woody Norman) in over a year. On the first anniversary of their mother’s death, his Johnny calls Hoffman’s Viv to check in. She mentions that she needs to go up to San Francisco to help figure out if her estranged husband with bipolar disorder (Scoot McNairy) is in danger.
Johnny offers to take his nephew Jesse for a few days and is basically given a crash course in parenting. Jesse (Woody Norman) is a precocious nine-year old, full of curiosity and his own agenda. He is fascinated by his uncle’s recording equipment. He isn’t afraid to ask uncomfortable questions like where his dad is or why Johnny is single. His feelings are big and black and white, like the movie.
Phoenix permanently leaves Joker behind to play Johnny. It’s his most natural role yet, with a documentary/Cinema Vérité acting style. The chemistry between him and Norman is at the heart of C’mon C’mon and the young actor may be giving the year’s best performance. Both Hoffman and McNairy give brilliant performances as well.
While Mills’ latest venture could be describe as “cute” or “sweet,” he infuses a quiet sad trepidation into the film. As Johnny is forced to take Jesse on the road for work, the two experience the everyday hilarity and pain that comes with raising a child. From Jesse’s pretend orphan character, to running away in public, we see Johnny and Jesse’s relationship get tested and grow. C’mon C’mon is truly a bittersweet film – in every sense of the word.
The film opens with Phoenix asking kids different questions about the future. “What is one thing you’d change about yourself?” “What worries you?” “What do you think the future will look like?” These NPR style interviews are interspersed throughout C’mon C’mon to remind us of the legitimate fears these kids have for their world. Often, as Jessie insinuates, grown ups forget that children are actually people who don’t always want to follow the rules. Mike Mills has given us a gift to help us remember and have some childhood joy for 108 minutes.
Everyone likes to act like boy bands are a big joke, but there’s a reason why so many of them were popular in the ’90s and ’00s, and continue to sell millions today. It’s because, secretly, we all have a boy band that we like and refuse to admit publicly. Well, if Pixar has their way you’ll be wanting to add 4*town to your playlist as they’re the newly-created boy band seen in their animated film, Turning Red.
Although Turning Red is about a teen girl whose high emotions trigger her transformation into a furry red panda, the boy band 4*town is central to the story, too. And providing the new music for the group are Billie Eilish and Fineas, so basically expect the soundtrack to fly off the shelves. Finneas also plays a member of the band alongside Grayson Villanueva, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and To All The Boys actor Jordan Fisher.
Here’s the movie’s synopsis: Disney and Pixar’s “Turning Red” introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda!
From bagging groceries to the Super Bowl. NFL broadcasters could not get enough of the story of St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who came out of nowhere to lead the team to championship victory. But, if by chance his story is one you’ve missed, the faith-based drama American Underdog will fill in the blanks for you, with Zachary Levi under the helmet as Kurt Warner.
The Shazam actor is joined by Anna Paquin, who plays his wife Brenda Warner, and Dennis Quaid as St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil. Based on Warner’s book, the film chronicles his amazing journey from stocking grocery store shelves to becoming a two-time NFL MVP and Hall of Famer quarterback, driven by his faith in God.
Behind the camera is the directing of Andrew and Jon Erwin, the sibling pair having scored massive hits in this Christian space with 2018’s I Can Only Imagine.
American Underdog opens in theaters on Christmas Day.
American Underdog tells the inspirational true story of Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi), who went from stocking shelves at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback. The film centers on Warner’s unique story and years of challenges and setbacks that could have derailed his aspirations to become an NFL player – but just when his dreams seemed all but out of reach, it is only with the support of his wife, Brenda (Anna Paquin) and the encouragement of his family, coaches, and teammates that Warner perseveres and finds the strength to show the world the champion that he already is. American Underdog is an uplifting story that demonstrates that anything is possible when you have faith, family and determination.
Channing Tatum has been going through a lot in his personal life. We’re not a gossip site so you can look that shit up yourself. But the impact of it is that we haven’t seen him on the big screen in a major role since Kingsman: the Golden Circle, which feels like a lifetime ago. Tatum’s starting to come back now with multiple projects on the way, and one of those, Dog, is a film that he makes his co-directing debut on.
Dog is co-directed by Tatum and his frequent producing partner Reid Carolin, and finds the actor as an Army Ranger who races alongside his military dog Lulu to make it to the funeral of a fallen comrade. Animal/pet comedy hijinks ensues, and honestly, it looks like a perfect comeback role for Tatum.
The film was co-written by Carolin and Brett Rodriguez, with Yellowstone and The New World actress Q’orianka Kilcher co-starring.
After some delays caused by the pandemic, Dog now opens in theaters on February 18th 2022.
DOG is a buddy comedy that follows the misadventures of two former Army Rangers paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) and Lulu (a Belgian Malinois dog) buckle into a 1984 Ford Bronco and race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, break a small handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards in order to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.
Whewww….who can rile up a movie-going audience like Spider-man? The past few weeks have been abuzz about the second trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, with reported leaks hitting the web, posters being analyzed like the Zapruder Film, and just a ton of all around fan excitement. Well, the second trailer is here and, depending on what you were looking for, you may be a bit let down.
First, those supposed leaks showing Matt Murdock and the three Spidey’s in one shot? Yup, not there, somewhat unsurprisingly. What we DO have is a much deeper look at the plot and some visual confirmation on a version of the Sinister Six. Some of the villains get plenty of facetime with Doc Ock leading the pack. Then we get a good shot of Willem DeFoe’s Green Goblin. The rest don’t get so much spotlight there are some quick shots of a poorly CGI’d Jamie Foxx as Electro, a brief glimpse of Dr. Curt Connors aka The Lizard stalking Spidey atop some construction equipment and a blink and you’ll miss it look at, what appears to be, Harry Osborne aka The Hobgoblin. So there’s 5, the sixth is more of an assumption as he doesn’t appear in full form. That being said, based on the amount of random sand floating about I think we can confirm Sandman as the last member of the six.
You have you’re bad guys, but why? We got from the first trailer that the entire movie springs from Peter enlisting Dr. Strange’s help in making the world forget that he’s Spider-Man (and then messing up the spell as it’s cast). We get a few great looks at, what may be, my new favorite match up in the MCU, Stephen Strange and the Super-hero Scooby Gang (Peter, MJ, and Ned). Whatever went wrong in the spell caused villains killed by Spider-Man in other dimensions to appear in the MCU looking for spider blood.
The trailer ends on an obvious homage to the iconic death of Gwen Stacey, but with MJ in her place. I’m sure this is just a fake out and will end up like Rami’s film, instead of Marc Webb’s. Don’t worry Spider-Friends, even though we didn’t get to see the Spidey’s all on one screen it seems pretty obvious at this point that they will show up to help save the day during the film’s climax. There’s no other logical way for Peter to take out six of his strongest super-villain’s at once.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Hits Theaters This Christmas
Ready to feel super old? It’s been a decade since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 brought the boy wizard’s battle with Voldemort to an epic close. Ready to feel even older? it’s been twenty years since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone opened in theaters. Good gravy. As part of Warner Bros.’ celebration of all things Potterverse, they’ve managed to get Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint to reunite for one magical evening on HBO Max.
Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint will get together for Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, an HBO Max special held on New Year’s Day, 2022. The trio, who will be connected to one another forever, will be joined by co-stars Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Imelda Staunton, Tom Felton,
James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Mark Williams, Bonnie Wright, Alfred Enoch, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, and Ian Hart.
Director Chris Columbus will be there, as well, even though he was the worst filmmaker the franchise had. Hey, he kicked things off and nobody will ever be able to take that away from him.
The special will take a deep dive into the making of all eight Harry Potter movies. Furthermore, it’s only going to be an HBO Max exclusive for a short time and will arrive on TBS and Cartoon Network in time for the April release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. What’s the magic spell for “corporate synergy”?
You might be shocked to learn that Fortress, the new film starring Bruce Willis and Chad Michael Murray, is already a full-blown franchise. Yeah. Three of the action flicks were shot back-to-back-to-back and the first one is hitting theaters and VOD on December 17th.
Fortress, the latest in Willis’ pact with producers Emmett/Furla Films, who are basically keeping is career alive at this point, is essentially a siege film with Murray as the heel looking to bust into a high-tech bunker. Here’s the synopsis:
In this dazzling action cyber-thriller film, Bruce Willis plays Robert, a retired CIA agent living at a secret resort in the woods. One day, his estranged son drives into the camp for a visit — but he’s followed by Robert’s old nemesis, Balzary (Chad Michael Murray). As the site is besieged by Balzary’s attack squad, father and son retreat to a high-tech bunker. But are its steel walls and advanced weapons of the bunker powerful enough to match Balzary’s bloodthirsty plans for revenge?
Also in the cast are Jesse Metcalfe, Shannen Doherty, Sean Kanan, Kelly Greyson, and Ser’Darius Blain. The film is directed by James Cullen Bressack, who worked with Willis and Murray on Survive the Game which was released just last month.
Even before Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die opened in theaters, the wish lists for who would replace him as 007 ran a mile long. Well, there’s now one more name you throw into the mix: Dwayne Johnson. Although, if he were hired they’d have to make those cool tuxedos sleeveless. And write James Bond as a…well, a bald guy.
In an interview with Esquire, Johnson talked about the James Bond franchise and how his grandfather actually appeared in You Only Live Twice, as a villain. But when it comes to following in daddy’s footsteps, The Rock says that ain’t happening because he will only play James Bond…
“Yes, my grandfather was a Bond villain in ‘You Only Live Twice’ with Sean Connery. Very, very cool. I would like to follow in his footsteps and be the next Bond. I don’t want to be a villain. Gotta be Bond.”
I don’t think for a second that this would happen, but one never knows. For one thing, Johnson is incredibly popular and can you imagine what kind of box office he’d bring? Insane! He’d need to polish up on his British accent, which he only broke out for comedic effect once in a while on WWE TV, but would get him destroyed by U.K. fans if he were James Bond.
Hey, he’s as likely as anybody else, I suppose?
Johnson can be seen right now looking pretty dapper in Netflix’s Red Notice.
