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Review: ‘VAL’

Val Kilmer Documentary Reveals The Actor's Lust For Life

By
Jen Pourreza
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For over 40 years Val Kilmer, one of Hollywood’s eccentric and/or misunderstood actors has been documenting his own life and craft through film and video. He has amassed thousands of hours of footage, from 16mm home movies made with his brothers, to time spent in iconic roles for movies hits like Top Gun, The Doors, Tombstone, and Batman Forever. VAL is a raw, wildly original, and unflinching self portrait of Kilmer. Directors Leo Scott and Ting Poo help open the door and shine light to his artistic and complex world. Val Kilmer co-produces along with his children, Jack and Mercedes Kilmer.

His autobiography kicks off by introducing you to his childhood. Kilmer and his two brothers were their own creative geniuses but together, were a force to be reckoned with. They shared a love for making art, movies, music, and to always have fun. He sheds light of an early family tragedy that broke his family apart. Revealing the obstacles endured while trying to balance his rising career, support, emotional stability with his remaining family members.

Kilmer notes his time studying at Julliard before finally hitting small budget Hollywood films. Top Secret and Real Genius are slapstick, all nonsense comedies that were perfect for his personality. I instantly became a fan and big film Hollywood bosses must have caught on too. Kilmer’s next big roles in Willow and Top Gun catapulted his acting career.

One of the most notable memories shared is about his experience working on the Batman Forever film. The Kilmer boys were long time fans of the original TV show and often referenced scenes when creating their own work. When the opportunity arose for Kilmer to play Batman, he happily but blindly took the job. An underwhelming role that he later admits was a physical and emotional hot mess.

VAL gets more personal as Kilmer opens up about his marriage, children, and the world he wanted them to have. The relationship he had with his father was complex and may have been the crack that led to his collapsed marriage. Kilmer also took his work too seriously. He would spend all hours of the day for months perfecting his craft when he wasn’t traveling. The method acting extremism and absence only widened that crack. Despite his best efforts, the world he tried to build, came crumbling down.

Val Kilmer is tough as nails with a heart of pure gold. He powers through his struggles by keeping a healthy relationship with his kids and starts working on a new passion project. Kilmer takes on the real life role of a man whose life has similar parallels to life and death experiences. He playwrights and performs a one man show as author Mark Twain. The show is a success until Kilmer runs into a health complication. One that will have a devastating effect on the rest of his career and livelihood.  

Val is a wonderful documentary because of its eccentric energy and lust for life that screams “Val Kilmer”. The amount of footage collected of his life is a genuine treasure. His passion for life, talent, and love for his kids and art is truly motivational and inspirational. So, I recommend checking it when it comes out this Friday. 

Amazon Studios will release VAL on Prime Video, August 6th.

‘Y: The Last Man’ Trailer Confirms The Show Is Real And Finally Arriving Next Month

By
Travis Hopson
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I’ve been reading comic books for over three decades, most of that Marvel’s merry mutants the X-Men. But if there’s one comic that I rank up there as among my very favorites, it’s Y: The Last Man. Brian K. Vaughan’s post-apocalyptic series concluded its run over a decade ago, and an adaptation, be it movie or TV, has been in the works even longer. Multiple failed attempts aside, a series is finally here and it will hit FX on Hulu in a month. A month!

For those who don’t know, Y: The Last Man takes place after a mysterious event wipes out every mammal with a Y chromosome. And yet, amateur magician Yorick Brown and his pet capuchin named Ampersand survive in a world now dominated by women. Shocker, the loss of all the guys doesn’t cure global chaos or anything.

Ben Schnetzer stars as Yorick, with Olivia Thirlby as his sister Hero, Ashley Romans as Agent 355, and Diane Lane as Yorick and Hero’s mother President Jennifer Brown. Eliza Clark is on board as showrunner, and every season one episode will have a female director. Good move.

This is far and away better than initial plans for a feature film led by Shia LaBeouf. The gigantic story Vaughan crafted could only be satisfying on the small screen.

Y: The Last Man hits FX on Hulu on September 13th.

“Based on DC Comics’ acclaimed series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man traverses a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event decimates every mammal with a Y chromosome but for one cisgender man and his pet monkey. The series follows the survivors in this new world as they struggle with their efforts to restore what was lost and the opportunity to build something better.”

‘Copshop’ Trailer: Frank Grillo And Gerard Butler Go To War In A Police Station

By
Travis Hopson
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Joe Carnahan makes unapologetically masculine action flicks. I think he and Antoine Fuqua may be cinematic kindred spirits or something. From Smokin’ Aces to The Grey, The A-Team, and this year’s awesome video game-inspired Boss Level, you just know the kind of movie you’re going to get from him. If you’re a fan that’s pretty exciting, but give him stars like Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler, who are definitely on the same wavelength, and it’s a recipe for something great.

That’s the long-winded way of saying I’m pretty stoked for Copshop, which follows a con artist who seeks refuge from assassins in a police station. But his assumption the cops will protect him doesn’t go as planned, turning the station into a battleground. Yes, please!

Also in the cast are Toby Huss (ARTIE!!!), Alexis Louder, Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau, and Ryan O’Nan. Carnahan co-wrote the script with Kurt McLeod.

Copshop hits theaters on September 17th.

Tearing through the Nevada desert in a bullet-ridden Crown Vic, wily con artist Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo) hatches a desperate plan to hide out from lethal hitman Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler): He sucker-punches rookie officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder) to get himself arrested and locked up in a small-town police station. Jail can’t protect Murretto for long, and Viddick schemes his own way into detention, biding his time in a nearby cell until he can complete his mission. When the arrival of a competing assassin (Toby Huss) ignites all-out mayhem, mounting threats force Viddick to get creative if he wants to finish the job and escape the explosive situation.

 

 

Review: ‘Free Guy’

Ryan Reynolds Is A Video Game Character To Root For In Shawn Levy's Sweet, Surprisingly Rich Action-Comedy

By
Travis Hopson
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Is it too early to say Free Guy is the best video game movie EVER!?!?  Let’s be honest, the bar has been set incredibly low, and you’d be forgiven if your expectations were the same. But the film, a zany romp that’s part Stranger than Fiction, part They Live, and maybe a little bit of The Matrix, is insanely ambitious with levels of depth unseen for the genre. Not to mention it’s just plain fun, with director Shawn Levy and star Ryan Reynolds finding the joy and human connection that can come from video games.

What looked like Disney’s version of Ready Player One is a surprisingly deep story of living one’s life to the fullest rather than standing in the background. Reynolds’ character Guy, a happy-go-lucky dork who wears the same blue shirt and brown trousers every single day, has no idea he’s just an NPC (non-player character) in a Grand Theft Auto-esque game called Free City. This place is exactly what you’d find if you went online to play one of these open-world games, too. The civilians are made to be victims, usually of the uber-violent players and their deadly missions. Or because they just feel like beating up someone who can’t fight back. Let’s face it, gamers are a pretty toxic bunch and certain games bring it out more than others.

Gamers will immediately recognize all of the archetypes that populate Free City. The old lady who lost her cat, the businessman mumbling about reports due, the security guard (Buddy, played by Lil Rel Howery) in the bank that gets robbed every day. Guy is a teller in that bank, and to him this place is just home. But then he develops a crush on one Moloto Girl aka Millie (Jodie Comer), a player who gives off some serious Lara Croft vibes. In the real world, Millie is blasting her way through the game to prove that its code is based on a simulation game she made with her old friend Keys (Joe Keery), and stolen by prick CEO Antwan (Taika Waititi) to build Free City. After stealing a set of sunglasses and peering through them, Guy learns the truth about the world he lives in, and decided he’ll no longer be a background character, but an active participant. He’ll no longer be just a good Guy, but a GREAT guy!

Guy’s Truman Show-esque existential crisis isn’t something you have to be a gamer to understand, but those who are will take something extra from it. They’ll geek out at the number of Twitch streamers who make cameos, along with plenty of other appearances to remind you that, oh yeah, Fox is part of Disney now! Plus, whether know an open-world game from an open-faced sandwich, you’ll understand Guy’s desire to break free from the confines he’s been placed in, to forge his own path. And that he does, in an adventure that is sweet, full of heart, and still full of crazy explosions, car wrecks, at least one gun-toting bunny who could be a Minecraft wizard.

Levy specializes in feel-good action comedies (think Night at the Museum) with lead characters you just can’t help but root for. Guy is just someone you want to see win the love of his life and share a scoop of bubblegum ice cream with her. He’s such a contrast to the other egotistical characters, many of them men, who use games as a way to hide how awful they truly are. Antwan demeans his staff and belittles the players who buy his game and keep him rich. Is this any different from some of the complaints we hear about real video game companies that take their customers for granted? It’s genuinely refreshing to have a hero who genuinely wants to do the right thing, and isn’t some conflicted antihero. In a lot of ways, Guy is the most real person in the game even though he’s just a series of zeros and ones. When the world starts to take note of this rogue A.I. doing good deeds in Free City, we want to cheer right along with them.

It’s also a perfect role for Reynolds, who gets to embrace the wacky logic of video game worlds as much as he did comic books in Deadpool. Only as Guy he doesn’t sport a blistering R-rated mouth, but instead a giant beating heart. Reynolds can just be incredibly charming and likable without having to surround him with F-bombs and murders. Just let him be funny! This is also a great film for Comer, who is such a chameleonic actress it’s hard to get a gauge on who she’ll play next. And Waititi is just having way too much fun as the ultra-toxic Antwan, who can barely be bothered to learn how his own game works.

Free Guy deals with some heavy stuff but with a light touch, always aiming to entertain first and teach at the same time. It doesn’t even mind poking fun at itself for rampant commercialization and franchise-building when we know damn well Disney will try to make multiple sequels out of this. That self-awareness makes Free Guy a true joy that you’ll want to play again and again.

Free Guy opens in theaters on August 13th.

‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Is Coming Back For Another Season In 2022

By
Travis Hopson
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The first half of Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s season finale hits Disney+ tonight, but fans won’t have to worry if this is the oddball team of clone troopers’ final mission. Disney has confirmed the animated series will return for a second season in 2022.

“Fans have enthusiastically embraced the action and drama of ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch,’ and we are excited to see the Star Wars animated universe continue to expand on Disney+,” said Michael Paull, President of Disney+ and ESPN+. “As the dedicated streaming home for the Star Wars franchise, we can’t wait for the second season of this fan-favorite animated series.”

Of course, Star Wars guru and The Bad Batch exec-producer Dave Filoni also expressed his happiness at the show’s return…

“The entire Lucasfilm Animation team and I would like to thank Disney+ and our fans for the opportunity to continue telling the story of the Bad Batch.”

The Bad Batch is a spinoff of The Clone Wars, following troopers Hunter, Echo, Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker, who are joined by the unique female clone Omega. This season has found the team refusing to follow Order 66 which tells them to kill all Jedi. They leave the Empire soon after and go on the run, enduring a betrayal from within.

After a slow start I’ve really gotten into The Bad Batch. My biggest problem was always that they didn’t feel like Star Wars characters, but like someone really wanted to do something with superheroes. Fortunately, each member has been developed surprisingly well, there are some cool tie-ins to prominent Star Wars events, and I don’t know how this season is going to end. Good stuff all around.

Ryan Reynolds Isn’t Sure How ‘Deadpool’ Should Make His MCU Debut, Hopes For Something “Wildly Divergent”

By
Travis Hopson
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Here’s what we know about the next Deadpool movie: it’s definitely happening at some point and Bob’s Burgers writers Wendy Molyneaux and Lizzie Molyneaux-Loeglin are on the script. Oh, and Ryan Reynolds is back, of course. So not much; we don’t even know if it will pick up where Deadpool 2 left off or how the mouthy merc will debut in the MCU. And it turns out that Reynolds doesn’t know yet, either, or at least it doesn’t sound like it.

While doing press rounds for Free Guy (review coming later today), Reynolds told Comicbook.com there’s a case to be made for Deadpool to show up first in his own movie and for him to be part of another character’s film…

“I think both are pretty warranted,” Reynolds said. “I think you’re always gonna zig when everybody’s expecting you to zag when it comes to that character. As long as Disney’s open to doing some pretty wildly divergent or having some wildly divergent uses of Deadpool, then I dig it, man. I think it’s all great.”

Hmmm…maybe Deadpool isn’t that far along at all?  Whenever it does finally happen, you can bet Reynolds put everything he had into it. Remember, it’s largely because of his constant pushing that Fox ever greenlit the franchise, and he may need to do a similar job on Disney.

“Deadpool, for me, is kind of like an anxiety-inducing tightrope walk,” Reynolds continued. “I always think when I’ve got Deadpool just right, I’m speaking from experience from Deadpool 1 & 2, that I need to make it 30 to 40% percent better than it already it is. Even if I’m at the moment where I’m like, ‘This is perfect, this moment!’ Then, I stop, and I go, ‘Okay, this has to be 30% better than it already is.’ It’s a stressful thing to get right, or at least right as far as I’m concerned. So, no, I never really thought about it, but I did love the idea of playing with Deadpool and Korg in some of the marketing materials, given the fact that Taika [Waititi] and I are in the movie. So, I kinda got to scratch the itch, inevitably anyway.”

You can see Reynolds next in Free Guy on August 13th. Here’s that Korg/Deadpool teamup he referred to.

The Gender Tables Are Turned In The Trailer For Netflix’s ‘He’s All That’

By
John Nolan
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She’s All That, one of the seminal teen films of the 90’s. The film made Rachel Leigh Cook and Freddie Prinze Jr. into teen idols and set in place a number of tropes that would be used in countless movies of the genre for years to come. That being said, it’s also a movie that I wouldn’t think would have a chance to be made today. The premise alone would be problematic, the popular guy at school makes a bet that he can turn an unpopular/ugly girl and make her the Prom Queen, along the way he learns lessons and they fall in love. I mean sure, it ends up being sweet and a lesson learning situation but it seems that the objectification and straight up glorification of bullying would result in a lot of angry emails. Now all that being said, if something made an impact it’s eventually going to be re-made. So how does one do that and avoid the angry emails? Well, you swap the genders affected, that’s how.

He’s All That, as you can probably guess by now, is a gender-swapped version of the original 1999 film. The trailer looks like it’s going to hit all the marks required, and to be honest it looks like they did so in a really fun way. Seeing Rachel Leigh Cook pop up as, Padgett’s (said popular girl) mom was a nice little call back and fans of Cobra Kai will be delighted to see that Tanner Buchanan (Robby Keene in Cobra Kai) fills the role of ugly duckling.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Starring Addison Rae and Tanner Buchanan, He’s All That reimagines the original plot of the 1999 teen classic She’s All That. The contemporary story follows an influencer (Addison Rae) who accepts a challenge to turn the school’s biggest loser (Tanner Buchanan) into prom king.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it. God Bless Netflix for keeping these mid-level genre movies alive when they were abandoned by the theaters.

He’s All That Premiers on Netflix August 27th, 2021

 

 

 

Review: ‘Annette’

Adam Driver And Marion Cotillard Star In A Beautifully Strange Bauble About The Perils Of Fame

By
Travis Hopson
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It’s no wonder the Cannes audience was left somewhat baffled by Leos Carax’s beautifully weird, stilted, melodramatic rock opera Annette. The film swings wildly from Carax’s avant garde tendencies to the esoteric stylings of Sparks, the suddenly hip-again band who not only did the music but developed this nightmarish twist on  A Star is Born. For all of its grand operatic sweep and oversized performances by Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, the film is more puzzling than entertaining.

For one thing, it’s hard to tell whether we’re meant to take it seriously or not. The film repeatedly winks knowingly at us at moments meant to carry the most intense emotional weight. And yet the themes are quite heavy within this odd flight of fancy. The perils of fame, marriage, parenthood, passion, and jealousy don’t so much as bubble beneath the surface as explode out like a raging volcano.

At its core, Annette is quite simple. Henry (Driver) is a shock stand-up comedian whose routing consists of him complaining on stage, while calling himself the “ape of God.” Anne (Cotillard) is a world-renowned soprano and a real class act, completely out of the league of someone like Henry. This mismatched union has made them paparazzi stars, which comes with its own added pressures. Any disparity between their successes is publicized and heightened, creating tension. Add to the mix their newborn child, Annette, who…well, she’s played by a puppet for most of the movie.

Um, what?

Never you mind, because there’s weirdness abound and your mileage will vary on it. The film actually gets off to a promising and energetic start with the zippy “So May We Start?”, with the cast, crew, plus Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks performing through the streets of Los Angeles. The film then settles into a perilous, histrionic slog peppered with bits of weirdness that is meant to be cute but is more annoying than anything else. McHenry and Anne have zero in common or anything to talk about, but the oft-repeated song “We Love Each Other So Much”, itself devoid of meaningful lyrics, will have to suffice. Why, they love this song so much that McHenry comes up for air to sing it while going down on Anne, his head buried between her legs. TMZ-style news segments telegraph the turbulent phases of their relationship. When an angry storm brews in the sky and the waters stir fearsomely, we know something bad is about to happen. Annette is both painfully literal and tonally all over the map.

And yet, at times you can’t help but be transfixed. Carax all but dedicates the film to his daughter, whose mother (a deep inspiration on Carax’s work) died years earlier. The spectre of grief hangs over Annette the same way it hung over Holy Motors, but within you can also sense the worry of a famous parent for the well-being of their child. Carax traps his characters in a surreal landscape as seductive as it is deadly, echoes of the fame that can make or destroy them. Driver, his wild hair blowing in an ill wind, is often framed to maximize his imposing physical stature. His form can be comforting, offering safety as he does so often for Anne and later Annette. But turned another way, it can be terrifying, like a demon emerging from the shadows. Henry rages against his adoring fans and it’s a scary thing even they recognize as their laughter grows uncomfortable. This is definitely Driver’s movie, but that’s not a knock on Cotillard who is luminous to the point of angelic. That is definitely by Carax’s design, as she and Driver are coming from two different place, drawing emotion from very different reservoirs.

In a key moment, Anne and Henry talk about their respective shows. He says he “killed” his audience, a slang term comedians often use, while she says she “saved” hers. Ironically, Anne’s character dies in every one of her shows. But in the middle of this wide gap that exists between Henry and Anne is also where Annette finds itself; just a strange, dark bauble to be briefly examined and then discarded.

Annette hits Amazon Prime Video on August 6th.

‘Shibumi’: Chad Stahelski Developing Film Based On Classic Assassin Novel

By
Travis Hopson
-

Chad Stahelski may be getting ready to start directing John Wick 4, but that hasn’t stopped him from piling on one future project after another. Well, you can add one more, and this one won’t stretch too far away from the world of assassins. In fact, the film he’s making is an adaptation of Shibumi, which actually got referenced right out in the open in the first John Wick movie.

Shibumi is the classic novel from author Trevanian (the pen name of film critic Rodney William Whitaker), centering on highly skilled assassin Nicholaï Hel and his struggles against the “Mother Company”, a conspiracy of energy companies that secretly control much of the Western world. Hel was born to a Russian mother and raised partly by a Japanese general, learning the concept of shibumi or simple, unobtrusive beauty in many different subjects. He’s also skilled in the territorial game Go, which adds to his abilities as a killer.

Stahelski is producing Shibumi with an eye towards directing it sometime in the future. Good luck with that. Right now he’s got a Highlander reboot, a Ghosts of Tsushima movie, an action flick titled Classified, not to mention the pilot episode of John Wick spinoff The Continental.

So Stahelski is a busy guy, but he might make extra time for this one. The book is said to have been a favorite of his for a long time, and is actually seen in John Wick as an airport security guard is reading it as he lets John pass by. Maybe they were both fans? [Deadline]

New ‘What If…?’ Clip Shows Steve Rogers As A New Kind Of Super Soldier

By
Travis Hopson
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The cool thing about Marvel’s What If? series, just like the comic that preceded it, is the chance to see characters we love in a different light. They could be reimagined with a different backstory, different relationships, powers, and if different events had shaped them. For instance, what if it were Peggy Carter who got the Super Soldier serum and not Steve Rogers? We know that question will be answered and she will become the hero Captain Carter. But what happens to Rogers in that scenario?

In the latest What If? clip, we find out that Rogers still becomes a hero, still battles Nazis in WWII, and continues fighting alongside his pals Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos. The scene has Steve coming to Carter and the team’s rescue in a classic Iron Man-esque suit, known as the Hydra Stomper.

While that may sound like Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, the voice is actually Josh Keaton, joined by Marvel regulars Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark.

What If? hits Disney+ on August 11th, and while each episode stands alone, the ramifications on the MCU will be felt.

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