Netflix’s resident horror guru Mike Flanagan has found a new favorite author to adapt. Moving on from Stephen King, Flanagan is set to take on Edgar Allen Poe with The Fall of the House of Usher, a new series headed to the streamer.
The eight-episode series which Flanagan will co-direct with Michael Fimognari (To All the Boys: Always and Forever) centers on a man who goes to visit the home of an ailing friend whose entire family has practically been wiped out by illness, only to find that many strange things are happening there. The story has been adapted numerous times for the stage and screen, including a 2015 animated short narrated by Christopher Lee.
It’s classic Poe spooky shit and Flanagan should be perfect for it. This will mark his fifth Netflix horror series following The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club which should arrive later this year.
‘sLetitia Wright’s role as Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is more important than ever due to the loss of Chadwick Boseman. Perhaps that is why Disney hasn’t shown her the door for spouting anti-vax views on set, after getting into hot water for doing so online last year.
According to a feature in THR, Wright continues to act polar to the brilliant Shuri by espousing her anti-vax views on the Atlanta set, only now she’s doing it in-person rather than over social media. Reportedly, “Wright quietly parted ways with her entire U.S. team of representatives” after the earlier incident, with this latest one possibly inspired by Disney’s mandate that everyone on set must show visible proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
This might not end well. Wright’s Shuri is a leading contender to take over the mantle of Black Panther, but I think Disney will want someone less controversial in the role. Perhaps Winston Duke’s M’baku? Or an entirely new character?
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens July 8th 2022. What do you think will happen?
It wasn’t long ago that found footage horrors were king. And the undisputed leader of the pack was Paranormal Activity, which took its small budget to $200M+ heights in 2007 and effectively launched Blumhouse. That was seven movies ago, and after a hiatus following 2015’s The Ghost Dimension, it’s back with Next of Kin (not the Patrick Swayze movie!) that takes the scares to Amish country.
Directed by William Eubank (The Signal) and penned by franchise vet Christopher Landon (also of Happy Death Day), the film centers on a young documentary filmmaker who “heads to a secluded Amish community in the hopes of meeting and learning about her long-lost mother and extended family. Following a string of strange occurrences and discoveries, she soon realizes this community that welcomed them into their home might be hiding something sinister.”
The cast is led by Emily Bader, joined by a bunch of people you probably don’t know. Casting unknowns has always been one of the franchise’s standards. Judging by the footage, this looks like a cross between The Witch and Midsommar, which I’m sure makes Blumhouse happy that I made such a comparison.
Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin hits Paramount+ on October 29th.
For much of the first season of Netflix’s hit series Locke & Key, the Locke siblings wrestled with their discovery of several magical keys in their family estate. That meant dealing with the demonic Dodge (Laysla De Oliveira) who sought to claim the keys’ powers, and also accepting their role as the keys’ guardians. Well, things are only going to get more dangerous in season two.
The Locke kiddos Kinsey (CODA‘s Emilia Jones), Tyler (Connor Jessup), and Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) thought they were done with Dodge, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Not only that, but this footage also makes clear the Lockes don’t know anything about what the keys truly are, and that could be deadly for them and their mother Nina (Darby Stanchfield).
Locke & Key is based on the graphic novel series by Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodríguez. The first season was huge for Netflix, and they’ve already greenlit a third season. The new season arrives on October 22nd.
After their father is murdered under mysterious circumstances, the three Locke siblings and their mother move into their ancestral home, Keyhouse, which they discover is full of magical keys that may be connected to their father’s death. As the Locke children explore the different keys and their unique powers, a mysterious demon awakens — and will stop at nothing to steal them.
Michael Myers is back! Again! We’re happy to offer our DC readers an early Halloween treat by attending a free early screening of Halloween Kills!
SYNOPSIS: Minutes after Laurie Strode, her daughter Karen, and granddaughter Allyson left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie’s basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie’s trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster. The Strode women join a group of other survivors of Michael’s first rampage who decide to take matters into their own hands, forming a vigilante mob that sets out to hunt Michael down, once and for all. Evil dies tonight.
The screening takes place on Tuesday, October 12th at 7:00pm at AMC Tysons Corner. If you’d like to attend, simply register at the Gofobo site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you will need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
Halloween Kills opens in theaters and Peacock on October 15th.
Let’s be honest, Joe Wright is a 50/50 filmmaker. And since he’s coming off the disastrous release of The Woman in the Window, he’s due for something much better, possibly Oscar worthy. That film would be Cyrano, which people have been buzzing about since its world premiere at Telluride. With Peter Dinklage singing his heart out in a musical version of the classic story, Wright is offering what could be a real treat this holiday season.
Based on the Edmond Rostand classic Cyrano de Bergerac, and adapted from screenwriter Erica Schmidt’s 2018 play, Cyrano stars Dinklage as a fictionalized version of the 17th-century playwright, novelist, soldier, and renaissance man who falls in love with Roxanne, but fears talking to her because of his oversized nose. A comedy of errors ensues when he enlists his friend Christian to impersonate him to Roxanne, only to have him fall in love with her, too.
The cast also includes Haley Bennett, who reprises her role as Roxanne from Schmidt’s play. Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Christian, while Ben Mendelsohn is count De Guiche, and Bashir Salahuddin as Le Bret.
Cyrano opens in theaters on Christmas Day, and will be part of the upcoming Middleburg Film Festival lineup.
Next week at DC FanDome we will finally get the latest trailer for The Batman. But is that all of the news we’re going to get from the fan event? Or does Warner Bros. have news on a sequel all ready to go?
The latest rumor from Daniel Richtman says The Batman has already been given green light for a sequel. Be skeptical for now, even though Batman On Film claims to have confirmed it. You’ll know it’s legit when the trades start chiming in.
It does seem premature, though. Sure, there’s already an expansion of Matt Reeves’ Bat-verse with a Gotham PD series for HBO Max and a Penguin series, as well. But what happens if fans don’t take to Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne? Then all bets are off, which is why I say to take this with a grain of salt.
There’s enough pain and tragedy to go around in actor Fran Kranz’s impressive directorial debut, Mass. The irony is that the four central characters in a room, jammed together at a too-small table to discuss the emotional impact of a school shooting, are basically arguing about who is carrying the most. Kranz, who most will remember from the series Dollhouse and his role in Cabin in the Woods, isn’t the most obvious choice for a film like this, but he shows a knack for getting the best out of actors we already expect a lot from, and for making cinematic a one-room conversation piece that would seem to be better off as a one act stageplay.
Largely taking place within the bland decor of an Episcopalian church, Mass is given color by the performances of Ann Dowd, Reed Birney, Jason Isaacs, and Martha Plimpton in a rare, and quite welcome, big-screen role. Jay (Isaccs) and Gail (Plimpton) have arrived to meet with Richard (Birney) and Linda (Dowd), for reasons Kranz keeps deliberately at bay. We know this gathering isn’t one that came easily, that much is clear from the organizer who nitpicks every detail, plus Gail’s reticence to show up. Body language says a lot; when all four finally get together there’s defensiveness in some, guilt and resignation in others. Kranz doesn’t rush things, allowing his actors room to maneuver within their characters.
The deliberate pacing lingers a little too long, and Mass can start to feel stagnant as the four tiptoe around one other verbally, trading pleasantries and small talk. It’s not all warmly-received. It takes a while, but finally, we learn what’s happening and a switch goes off. Jay and Gail’s son was murdered by Richard and Linda’s boy while he was committing a mass shooting. He would turn the gun on himself, too. Everyone has lost someone here, but is the pain equal? A flood of rage, resentment, and regrets comes rushing forth to such a degree it can be overwhelming and it wouldn’t be a surprise if some can’t handle it. I can only imagine how it must have felt within the confines of that enclosed set with tensions running so high. But the heavy atmosphere gives the film a naturalistic feel, so that it feels like you’re a fly on the wall looking in at something you’re not supposed to.
All of the performances are terrific, with each actor navigating the shifting moods with ease. These couldn’t have been easy characters to get into the proper headspace; each is carrying an oppressive amount of anger and shame. But for me, it’s Plimpton who stood out most even though she probably has the least amount of dialogue. As Gail, she mostly sits simmering in her chair, curled so tight she might as well be in a separate corner of the room. You can feel the heat radiating off of her, and every time Linda makes a friendly overture you fear Gail is going to jump up and smack her. Or worse. You can’t help wondering if this meeting will end in another tragedy. When Plimpton does get her big moment, as everyone does at some point, the catharsis is like a weight being lifted off of the chest. She makes us realize we were clenching our fists and holding our breath the whole time right along with her. Really tremendous stuff on her part.
Occasional glimpses outside, whether it be to a park, the colorful stained glass windows, or to the always-nervous church organizer Judy (Breeda Wool), help Mass feel like a movie and not a recorded play. As well-crafted as it is, this is one of those movies few will want to watch more than once. Movies about mass shootings have been done numerous times, even those that examine the aftermath on those who remain. I don’t know if Mass adds anything new to the discussion, other than a glimmer of hope that people can pull themselves out of the darkness. There’s no happy ending to be found here, and as these people reach a point of understanding it comes across a little forced. It’s the one bit of fantasy that Kranz allows to enter that room and it should have been kept locked outside the door.
Mass opens in theaters on October 8th. You can also check out my interview with the cast and director here.
The only bullets fired in Fran Kranz’s directorial debut, Mass, are emotional ones. This intimate, but devastating drama takes place in the aftermath of a school shooting, where the parents of a murdered student interact have a dialogue with the shooter’s parents. The hope? To discuss their incredible grief, to find healing, to find a way forward from a tragedy that has dragged them down for years.
Not an easy subject, for sure, and probably the last film anybody would expect from Kranz, best known for his comedic roles in The Cabin in the Woods and the TV series, Dollhouse. To help pull off a film that is all about the human drama, Kranz enlisted some of the best actors around: Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton who play the victim’s parents Jay and Gail, plus Ann Dowd and Reed Birney as Linda and Richard, whose son was the shooter.
Through all of the pain, the anger, the guilt, the resignation, what Kranz ultimately delivers is a story of hope that people can come together and emerge from the darkness.
I was fortunate to have a chance to speak with Kranz, Dowd, Birney, and Isaacs about Mass. Kranz spoke about his motivations in tackling such a hard topic, while the actors talked about the process of wrapping their minds around characters who have been through so much. In the case of Isaacs and Kranz, we also had a funny, but brief, chat about their lack of Funko pops, which was a pretty nice icebreaker considering the weightiness of the movie subject!
Mass had its world premiere earlier this year at Sundance and will open in theaters on October 8th.
For most of the first season of Marvel series What If…?, each episode has been self-contained with the only thing carrying over the presence of Uatu the Watcher (voiced by Jeffrey Wright). But all of that changed with the arrival of Infinity Ultron, who has been revealed as the show’s big baddie. Tomorrow’s season finale will find Uatu, who has broken his oath, assembling a group of heroes from across the multiverse to defeat Ultron.
And one of those heroes will be Party Thor! Wait, what? You mean to tell me that Uatu has his pick of any hero from across multiple universes and he picks the wildly irresponsible one? I hope that gets explained somehow. In this clip we see Party Thor, still partying it up in Vegas, battling hordes of Ultron drones only to get a helping hand, literally, from Uatu.
This series has been hit and miss with me, but I’ve dug the last few Ultron-focused episodes and the reemergence of the “evil” Doctor Strange. I’m a firm believer there will be live-action ramifications to all of this, and we’ll see the beginning of it soon.
