Avengers: Endgame is the biggest superhero movie ever, and is full of moments that make me want to stand up and cheer. But there’s one scene that I cringe every single time I see it, and that’s when all of the MCU’s female heroes band together for a massive show of force against Thanos’ forces. It’s not that seeing them all together wasn’t cool, it definitely was, but the moment smelled of being shoehorned in to artificially create a “moment.”
And it turns out I’m not the only one who worried about that scene. In the book “The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe” Executive producer Trinh Tran admits some within Marvel Studios were concerned that it would look too much like pandering. WHAT!? YOU DON’T SAY!?!?
“[In earlier cuts] when we started screen-testing it, there was a little concern for ‘Does it come off [as] pandering?’ Are we going to get people saying, ‘Oh you’re just putting that scene in there just to put the scene in there. Does it actually have a story to tell with the rest of the narrative?’ That was always a concern in the back of our heads.’”
You might recall at the time, there was a lot of talk about bringing together Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp, and other female characters into an Avengers-style teamup. This scene was put in because of the buzz that talk generated on social media.
So in order to quiet any pandering complaints, the team decided to add more scenes of the female heroes fighting in small groups during that gigantic battle, so when they came together it would be more natural. They. Did. Not. Succeed. It’s distracting every time.
Anyway, it’s hardly the worst thing ever. Just a minor annoyance in an altogether awesome movie. The sad part is that we never got that all-woman teamup movie, and perhaps never will.
Following his recent medieval drama The Last Duel, Ridley Scott has another film set to make a major splash this awards season. But to look at the stylish, flashy House of Gucci you’d be hard-pressed to see that they came from the same director, even though both are centered on a violent crime of passion.
Lady Gaga and Adam Driver look especially fab as members of the Gucci fashion house, who live a life of extraordinary excess that can only lead to betrayal and murder. Gaga plays Patrizia Reggiani, who would later be convicted of orchestrating the murder of her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci. Hey, the lady wanted more and she was willing to kill for it.
This looks like campy, high-class trash and I can’t wait for it, especially with a cast that includes Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, Jack Huston, and Al Pacino. The costume and hairstyling budget on this thing probably surpasses most indie flicks.
House of Gucci opens in theaters on November 24th.
“House of Gucci” is inspired by the shocking true story of the family empire behind the Italian fashion house of Gucci. Spanning three decades of love, betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately murder, we see what a name means, what it’s worth, and how far a family will go for control.
*NOTE: This review was previously part of our 2021 SXSW Film Festival Coverage. The Spine of Night opens in theaters and digital on October 29th.*
Well, I didn’t go to SXSW expecting to see the most grisly animated film I’ve ever witnessed, but that’s what The Spine of Night delivered. Perhaps the title should’ve been a warning? Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King’s grim epic fantasy comprises multiple tales of brutality, magic, tyranny, and heroic sacrifice set across what appears to be multiple centuries across time. The hyper-realistic, rotoscoping animation of Ralph Bakshi would seem a clear influence, but the film stands on its own as an astonishingly unforgiving tale of power run amok.
The Spine of Night is, first and foremost, about storytelling. Everybody has one, and they all center on “the Bloom”, a magical blue flower with extraordinary powers. The first we hear is from the naked swamp mage Tzod (Lucy Lawless) as she approaches a skull-shaped cave and its ancient Guardian (Richard E. Grant) in search of the flower’s gifts. Rather than fight, as he’s warily done for years, they exchange stories. Hers involves a petty prince (Patton Oswalt) who massacres her tribe with the help of a mercenary (Joe Manganiello), all to steal the power of the Bloom from her. It’s then that her path crosses with Ghal-sur (Jordan Douglas Smith), a seemingly innocent scholar whose intentions are malevolent to be sure, and spell doom for the entire world.
Each story told by Tzod and the Guardian presents a different phase of the Bloom, from it falling into Ghal-Sur’s hands, to his abuse of its power and the horrors he unleashes on the people, to the small band of fighters who attempt to stop him. Each is more horrific and cruel than the last. Even the minor diversions into smaller, seemingly-hopeful tales, such as one with the last two survivors of a Ghal-Sur massacre, end in slaughter. It can be a bit much to take consuming this much rampant bloodshed, and the filmmakers take it to the extreme. You’ll see countless decapitations, mutilations, immolations, and yes, there’s worse.
And yet, the Fire and Ice-inspired animation is never less than sheer artistry and wonderfully detailed in its depictions of sorcery and violence. Free from the restrictions of live-action filmmaking, Gelatt and King go wild with eye-popping displays, and allow their A-list cast of voice actors to express with gusto. If there’s an over-arching theme of these stories it’s that the cycle of violence is never-ending, and wielded by both the good and the bad. These cycles create the legends, fables, and myths that civilizations are built upon. Ultimately, The Spine of Night is set apart by how its visual beauty works in symphony with the gruesome imagery on display. This one is sure to be a winner with fans of this art style and the rare adult-themed fantasy epic.
Although the Jordan Peel and Keegan-Michael Key have moved on to have bigger and better careers than they ever would have as a comedy duo, they’re still working together on different kinds of projects. Case in point: the stop-motion animated film Wendell & Wild, which teams them up with legendary Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas director, Henry Selick.
What’s cool about this right now? Netflix is hyping it up at this very moment in a live stream you can watch below, featuring music by Sate, Big Joanie, Nafets, Bad Brains, Death, and more.
The film includes the voices of Key & Peele as personal demons belonging to a teenage girl named Kat. They must face their archnemeis, a demon-dusting nun named Sister Helly.
Peele doesn’t just lend his voice, he also co-wrote the script with Selick, Key, and Clay McLeod Chapman. Wendell & Wild hits Netflix in 2022.
Strangely enough, the story of King Henry VIII and the many wives he either killed or exiled plays a major role in Kristen Stewart’s Prince Di drama, Spencer. But it won’t be the last starry project to feature the mad King of England. Deadline reports Michelle Williams and Jude Law will star in Firebrand, but this version of palace intrigue will be for the genre fans.
Firebrand is described as a psychological horror, with Williams set to play Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII (Law), and the only one of his wives to escape execution or banishment. Catherine was a Protestant, who married into the pro-Catholic royalty at a time when Protestants were being executed at increasing numbers. Her mission was to try and convert Henry, a dangerous gambit given the brutality shown to his previous wives, two of which were beheaded, two banished, and another who died in childbirth. Their crimes? Failing to bear Henry a son, although he usually found a way to accuse them of adultery…which he himself was committing, of course.
The time period and Henry’s grotesque actions is perfect for the horror genre, and with a cast of Williams and Law this should be a movie to keep a close eye on. Behind the camera is Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz (The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão), from a script by Killing Eve writers Jessica Ashworth and Henrietta Ashworth.
Williams was just seen reprising her role as Anne Weying in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. She’s got a busy slate coming up with Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans, a reunion with Kelly Reichardt in Showing Up, and Todd Haynes’ Peggy Lee biopic Fever. Jude Law will return as Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Well, it was too good to be true. When Jeff Nichols, the director behind Midnight Special, Loving, Take Shelter, and other great films, signed on to direct a spinoff of A Quiet Place, it seemed like the perfect match. Perhaps it was, but it ain’t gonna happen.
Deadline reports Nichols has exited the A Quiet Place movie, and the split from Paramount is said to be “amicable.” While that’s incredibly disappointing, there is some good news. The reason for Nichols’ departure has to do with his attention moving to an original sci-fi project, and that is definitely something we should all be looking forward to.
So what happens now? Well, Paramount is moving quickly to find a new director to replace Nichols. They’ll be taking over a film that is set to open on March 31st 2023, and is pretty much ready to go. Plot details are being kept under wraps, of course, as well as any connection it will have to the previous two A Quiet Place movies.
The year of Zack Snyder continues. Forget whatever he’s done with the DCEU, he’s already accomplished as much if not more with Netflix’s Army of the Dead, and its entertaining prequel, Army of Thieves. The latter establishes that the ‘Dead’ franchise won’t just be about zombie action flicks, but that there’s a willingness to try out different genres set in a well-established universe. In this case, fans of Matthias Schweighofer’s erstwhile safe cracker Ludwig Dieter will get an origin story and nifty, fun heist flick that expands not only what we know of Dieter, but of the undead-infested world at large.
Schoweighofer not only returns as the chatty, overconfident Dieter; he takes the camera, as well, building off a resume of films in his native Germany. The story finds Dieter working a dull bank job by day, while by night he makes Youtube videos nobody watches about his awesome safe cracking skills. When one finally does get a view, it’s by the mysterious Gwendoline (F9 and Game of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel) who ropes him into a plot to crack four legendarily difficult safes of designer Hans Wagner. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Dieter glorifies Wagner before agreeing to join the dangerous zombie heist in Army of the Dead. The name Gwendoline should also mean something to eagle-eyed viewers of that film.
Right off the bat, one of the cool things about Army of Thieves is how much it informs and expands on the story we’ve already seen. Dieter, who is by no means a tough guy, he’s actually kind of a wimp, is nonetheless the best at what he does and knows it. That was one of his coolest traits, and none of that is different here. This is Dieter’s movie, and what it does is lay the groundwork for the man we know he will become, the sacrifices he will make, and so forth. Penned by Army of the Dead writer Shay Hatten, the film makes many allusions to the zombie outbreak and the quarantine situation in Las Vegas. While this works in drawing a line between the two established movies, it also goes overboard with flashes to scenes we know happen in the future, and one moment when Dieter has an ominous premonition about his fate. Army of Thieves and Army of the Dead are different enough it’s easy to see a viewer choosing one and not the other, and clearly Snyder and Hatten are trying to change that.
Like any good heist movie, the best part is in the planning. The actual safes aren’t that much of a challenge, but wrangling the personalities within Gwendoline’s Army of Thieves is where most of the conflict arises. Along for the ride are Ruby O. Fee as the sexy hacker and strategist Korina, Guz Khan plays getaway driver Rolf, and Stuart Martin is Gwendoline’s lover and team hot head Brad Cage. Being a tough guy and a toxic personality, he naturally dislikes Dieter and resents his closeness to Gwendoline. Double crosses, run-ins with incompetent INTERPOL agents, all of the heist movie boxes get checked in stylish fashion, with Schoweighofer showing that he fits right in with Snyder as a maximalist filmmaker. Netflix clearly spared no expense in making this movie happen, compared to Army of the Dead which sometimes looked like some corners had been cut. But this is what happens when you have one hit movie; the followups get a vote of confidence and that means better resources to play around with.
Other than Schoweighofer’s Dieter (not his real name, we discover), the other standout is Emmanuel who finally gets an action role to command after years of being a Fast & Furious bit player. She handles most of the physical action as the multi-talented Gwendoline. Not just the team’s brains, she’s a master criminal and a Hell of a fighter. She covers for Dieter when out in the field, but is just as good on her own. She’s a character that could easily become a major component of the ‘Dead’ universe, as hinted at by Snyder himself in recent interviews.
Your mileage on Army of Thieves might depend on how you feel about Dieter. It’s one thing to get him in measured doses, but an entire movie about him can be overwhelming. Ultimately, I think he’s better as a supporting character in a larger ensemble. That said, Army of Thieves is a propulsive, high-energy film that makes Dieter a more interesting, unlikely hero. Even if he doesn’t return for the newly revealed Planet of the Dead (he almost certainly will), his story is far from over.
There was just one film at the Middleburg Film Festival that I saw which I didn’t have time to review. That was Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes prize-winner, A Hero. That shouldn’t be taken as a slight on this tremendous moral drama, but on me for being a poor manager of time. Fortunately, the film doesn’t arrive until January when it’s surely to be in the awards season mix, as Farhadi’s films always deserve to be.
Going back to his native Iran after journeying to Spain for 2018’s Everybody Knows, Farhadi presents a complicated film about an ex-con whose attempts to do the right thing bring him nothing but trouble. While in America this would probably amount to, oh, maybe a few miscommunications and perhaps a misunderstanding with the law, one has to factor a strict Iranian culture into the mix. Suffice it to say, Farhadi does not take this story where it would go if produced in Hollywood.
Starring Amir Jadidi, Mohsen Tanabendeh, Fereshteh Sadr Orafaie, and Sahar Goldoost. Maryam Shahdei, Alireza Jahandideh, and Sarina Farhadi, A Hero opens January 7th 2022 on Amazon Prime Video.
Rahim is in prison because of a debt he was unable to repay. During a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum. But things don’t go as planned…
Vacations, nosey neighbors, dinner parties…the horror genre would die without these things. Put them all into a single movie and you’ve got Blumhouse’s latest, A House On the Bayou, from multi-talented filmmaker Alex McAulay.
Starring Westworld‘s Angela Sarafyan, The Assassination of Jesse James‘ Paul Schneider, and Lia McHugh, who is poised for a breakout in Eternals later this month, the film centers on a couple who go on vacation with their daughter to remote Louisiana mansion. Stupidly, they invite their overly friendly neighbors over for dinner, only to be shocked when things take a sinister turn.
McAulay made his directorial debut last year with the thriller Don’t Tell a Soul. He also wrote and produced the Zoey Deutch coming-of-age comedy Flower, and has recorded five albums and written a few novels. The guy does it all.
A House On the Bayou hits Epix and VOD on November 19th.
In an effort to reconnect and mend their relationship, Jessica and John Chambers (Angela Sarafyan, Paul Schneider) seek an idyllic getaway with their daughter Anna (Lia McHugh) to a remote mansion in rural Louisiana. When suspiciously friendly neighbors show up for dinner uninvited, the weekend takes a sinister turn as the fragile family bond is tested and dark secrets come to light.
What would the pandemic have been if not for Tiger King? Let’s be honest, the series and all of its insane, deplorable characters and the many conspiracy theories it hatched (Carole Baskin is a serial killer!) kept millions of people indoors glued to Netflix. Can the streamer recapture that magic with the sequel, boringly titled Tiger King 2? We’re soon going to find out.
The trailer for Tiger King 2 promises more of the same, only now everybody is famous and cashing in on the previous show’s success. Well, all except Joe Exotic himself who is still behind bars. Does this strike you as a situation he’d keep quiet about?
Here’s the synopsis: With Joe Exotic behind bars and Carole Baskin closing in on ownership of his disreputable zoo, the Emmy-nominated saga continues its twisted course with Tiger King 2 as newfound revelations emerge on the motivations, backstories, and secrets of America’s most notorious big cat owners. Old enemies and frenemies, including Jeff Lowe, Tim Stark, Allen Glover, and James Garretson return for another season of murder, mayhem, and madness. Thought you knew the whole story? Just you wait.
I’ll be honest; this seems like a cynical cash grab to me and I’m not sure this will have the same cultural impact. Most of it looks like footage that got left on the cutting room floor, and isn’t really about Joe Exotic. Baskin has pulled away from her beef with Exotic, and yet we’re expected to believe things are still heated between them. I don’t buy it.
We’ll all find out when Tiger King 2 hits Netflix on November 17th.
