Review: ‘Fear Street Part 3: 1666’
A Satisfying End To What Could Be A New Beginning

By
Jen Pourreza
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Fear Street Part 1: 1994 welcomed us to Shadyside, a town labeled “Murder Capital, USA”. A dark shopping mall shrouded with neon lights is an image fitting to R.L. Stine’s classic teen horror book covers. The curse comes to light in this era and features the fun vibe from the 90’s Slasher films of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Fear Street Part 2: 1978 takes place in summer at Camp Nightwing. The curse of Shadyside is first discovered during this time and features the heyday slasher vibes of classic films such as Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street.

At the end of Fear Street Part 2, Deena (Kiana Madeira) and her brother, Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.), return to the witches tree where Sarah Fier’s body is buried in hopes of bringing back Deena’s girlfriend. Sam (Olivia Scott Welch) has been possessed by the demonic energy that has rippled through Shadyside for decades. According to legend, once Fier’s hand reunites with her body, it could end the murderous cycle that plagues Shadyside. When Deena places the hand to the body, visions transport her back in time. She can see the events responsible for the evil unleashed.

It’s 1666 and the first settlers have arrived and formed a union to establish a town. Actors who were in the first two films play characters that are connected to the origin in some way. Deena portrays Sarah Fier (played by Elizabeth Scopel) and Sam is Hannah Miller, the town preacher’s daughter. McCabe Slye is back as another Mad Thomas, a drunk and disorderly self-proclaimed prophet, who brings the sadistic approach taken from historical accounts of the Salem Witch Trials. The Berman sisters (Sadie Sink and Emily Rudd) are back to play yet again, another set of sisters. Old friends Katie and Simon (Julia Rehwald and Fred Hechinger), are still friends in 1666. The Goode family lineage originates to this time period with Ashley Zuckerman playing both Soloman and Nick Goode.

The first half of Fear Street Part 3 is respectable in regards to period horror. Colonial times, deep religious lifestyles and of course, satanic evil. Three key ingredients that, if done well, can be rather thrilling. Scenes and mood are reminiscent of a film (that definitely weirds me) out and runs slightly parallel by comparison, The Witch (2015). Once the Shadyside Curse origin is truly learned we are returned back to 1994. The teens form a plan with the help of adult Ziggy (Gillian Jacobs) and new found ally, Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson). The nightly maintenance man Martin (from the first film who was originally accused of the mall murders) Ziggy and the gang head back to the Shadyside Mall to finally put an end to the curse.

For as fast as the Fear Street films arrived, it feels like it’s already over. All three films have their own story but are connected through one narrative. Part 3 struggled with accents that came and went during the 1666 era that had me wondering, why do it in the first place? The first two installments pay homage to the early slasher film era whereas the third film has more of its own unique horror vibe. Intensity and certain aspects like sexuality and gore are at its highest peak in part 3.

The Fear Street books are seen in the first film as a reminder and pay homage to a series that still has loyal readers to this day. The books appear again at the end of part 3 and there’s a cliffhanger scene in the credits. I can see why the original plan was to release each movie in separate but back-to-back months this summer. It definitely would have been better to soak them all in and enjoy over a longer period of time but Covid happened. I suspect that there may be more of these books turned into films and hopefully, in the near future. I know, I’m looking forward to more! All three films are available now.

Fear Street Part 3: 1666 releases today, July 16th on Netflix.

‘The Sympathizer’: Robert Downey Jr. Joins HBO Spy Series From A24 And Park Chan-wook

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July 16, 2021

Robert Downey Jr. has finally found his long-awaited followup to…Dolittle. What, you thought I was going to say Avengers: Endgame? Anyway, he’ll take on his first starring TV series with The Sympathizer, the A24 series from Oldboy director Park Chan-wook. HBO has snapped up the rights now that Downey is on board.

The Sympathizer is based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pultizer Prize-winning book about an anonymous half-Vietnamese, half-French man who acts as a communist spy after coming to the United States, and follows his journey from the fall of Saigon, to refugee camps and relocation in Los Angeles, to his time as a film consultant in the Philippines, and eventual imprisonment in Vietnam.

Strangely enough, Deadline says Downey will “play multiple supporting roles as the main antagonists — all of whom represent a different arm of the American establishment including an up-and-coming Orange County congressman, a CIA agent and a Hollywood film director, among others.”

The series returns Chan-wook to television following 2018’s The Little Drummer Girl, which starred another Marvel actor, Florence Pugh.

“Adapting Mr. Nguyen’s important and masterful work requires a visionary team,” Downey Jr. said in a statement. “With Director Park at the helm, I expect this to be a creative producing adventure for Susan, me and Team Downey, and a stimulating process for myself in playing these complex supporting roles. A24 and HBO are the perfect combination of partners and co-parents…It’s exactly the type of challenge I’ve been craving, and I believe we will deliver an exceptional viewing experience to our audience.”

Review: ‘Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions’
Puzzle Horror Isn't As Much Fun To Play The Second Time But Still Has Room To Grow

By
Travis Hopson
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I’m quite a big fan of escape rooms. The fun of them, of course, is figuring out the puzzles with your friends, seeing who rises to the challenge when under pressure and seeing who folds like a deck of cards. The first Escape Room in 2019 captured this sensation perfectly, crafting killer traps that allowed the audience to feel like they were in on the problem-solving themselves. Rooms were designed with characters in mind, giving the viewer someone they could at least try to identify with. The sequel, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, continues the Saw-meets-Hostel premise of the original but also takes on the worst aspects of those films, becoming a straight-forward horror that ignores the personality that made the first movie so much fun.

As the title suggests, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions finds survivors of previous games returning to survive another maze of deadly puzzles. The charming Taylor Russell is back as Zoey, who is the only player to help another live through the game. Ben (Logan Miller), who has stayed loyal to her ever since, wants to move on from Minos, the evil company that crafted the escape rooms, but Zoey is insistent they confront them at their New York headquarters. Of course, this was all a lure to bait them into another series of games of death.

There’s quite a lot about Escape Room: Tournament of Champions that works, and you’ll be unsurprised to learn the best are the rooms themselves. But also the premise negates a lot of the convoluted nonsense of the first movie and others like it, where characters spend half the time wondering what’s going on. Almost immediately, Zoe and Ben know they’ve fallen into another of Minos’ schemes, while the others aboard the electrified subway car they’re in also know what’s up. It only takes a few moments of angry realization before they all start springing into action to find the clues to move on to the next room. Of course, it’s not that simple and failure leads to shocking repercussions.

The downside is that the other players don’t get much of an introduction, either. We barely even know their names. One was a travel blogger who somehow managed to survive her game, while another is a Catholic priest with a hero complex, while a third player has absolutely no traits at all except she doesn’t feel pain. At one point she remarks about the kind of inventive traps Minos would design for someone like her, but we don’t see it. Another finds the priest deciding to trust in his faith and ignore the clues, stomping across a booby-trapped floor that sets off a laser grid with each misstep. It’s a cool moment that momentarily gives a character some agency, but it would’ve been better if there were more displays for these supposed champions. They’re all past winners, but rarely get a chance to show why they’re special.

Although the clues aren’t nearly as thought-provoking this time around, the rooms themselves are just as tense and exciting, with the clock always winding down to the last second. Those final moments, when someone is either doomed to die or on the verge of freedom, are truly pulse-pounding and the heart of what continues to make the Escape Room movies enjoyable. Returning director Adam Robitel keeps the pacing brisk (the runtime is only 88 minutes), moving the competitors from deathtrap to deathtrap with barely time to catch a breath. The overall Minos plot lurches forward by making them appear way too powerful and all-encompassing, inviting you to consider just how ridiculous the whole thing is. Escape Room is best when you’re only thinking about the next clue to be solved, not the machinations of plot. If the franchise continues, ditching some of the excess baggage might be the smart way to play.

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions is in theaters now.

‘Julia’ Trailer: New Julia Child Doc From ‘RBG’ Filmmakers Follows The First “Rock Star Chef”

By

Travis Hopson

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July 15, 2021

If you were like me, a kid who loved food who grew up to be an adult who loves food way too much, Julia Child probably helped foster that love. When Chopped chef Marcus Samuelsson says in the new trailer for Julia that she was the first “rock star” chef, it’s not hyperbole. She was an author, a television icon, and the most famous person to bring French cooking to American audiences, and now her life and career is being celebrated in a new documentary.

Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the filmmakers behind the Ruth Bader Ginsburg doc RBG, are back chronicling another powerful, trailblazing woman. Julia follows the “delicious life of America’s first food icon,” and inspiration to generations of foodies everywhere.

Julia Child’s life has been brought to the big screen before in Julie & Julia, a film by Nora Ephron that earned Meryl Streep an Oscar nomination.

Julia is produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, and will open this fall probably during the awards season.

JULIA tells the story of the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even about women. Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child’s surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.

‘Naked Singularity’ Trailer: John Boyega, Olivia Cooke, And More Star In A Courtroom Heist Thriller

By

Travis Hopson

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July 15, 2021

His Star Wars days long behind him, John Boyega has since reverted to the smaller movies that launched his career, such as Imperial Dreams and the recent Small Axe. Later this summer he’ll star in Naked Singularity, which may sound like it belongs in a sci-fi franchise, but is actually a legal thriller with an intriguing heist aspect.

Directed and co-written by Chase Palmer (co-writer on It: Chapter One), the story follows an idealistic public defender who joins with a former client to pull off a high-stakes heist in order to stick it to the broken legal system.

Joining Boyega in the cast is an impressive lineup that includes Olivia Cooke, Bill Skarsgård, Ed Skrein, Linda Lavin, and Tim Blake Nelson. I bet if you hadn’t heard of this movie before it’s now got your attention.

The film is based on the novel by author Sergio De La Pava, a former D.A. and current public defender who knows the injustices in the courtroom every day.

Naked Singularity opens in New York theaters on August 6th, followed by a wide release that includes VOD on August 13th.

Naked Singularity tells the story of Casi (John Boyega), a promising young NYC public defender whose idealism is beginning to crack under the daily injustices of the very justice system he’s trying to make right. Doubting all he has worked for and seeing signs of the universe collapsing all around him, he is pulled into a dangerous high-stakes drug heist by an unpredictable former client (Olivia Cooke) to beat the broken system at its own game.

Tom Hiddleston Isn’t Planning To Quit Playing Loki Anytime Soon

By

Travis Hopson

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July 15, 2021

We already know that Loki is coming back for a second season, and that means Tom Hiddleston will be back again as the god of mischief. But for how long? He was first hired for the role in 2009 and made his first appearance in 2011’s Thor. Many of the other Marvel actors around that long have already left, so is Hiddleston the next to go?

Well, not according to him. In fact, Hiddleston says he’s in this for the long haul. He said during a recent Tumblr Q&A…

“If I were asked to play Loki for the rest of my life, would I? Yeah, absolutely. I’m so lucky that I’ve got to play Loki for this long. I feel like he’s such an interesting character who’s been around in human consciousness for so long. And he’s got so many different aspects, so many different complex characteristics, that it feels like every time I play him I find out something new or we get to evolve him or take him down an avenue that we haven’t gone down before.”

“Yeah, [Loki’s] been around for a while. I think he’s going to be around for a lot longer. Meanwhile, I’ll just hold on for as long as people want me to hold on for.”

Hiddleston’s performance has been wildly popular, winning over fans with a character they absolutely love to hate. I’ll never forget that first Comic-Con when he came out as Loki and the crowd of fans absolutely went apeshit.

But lately, those same fans no longer love to hate Loki. They just plain love him, with his recent series mellowing the character to the point where he has made friends and maybe even a romantic partner in Sylvie. He’s no longer a pure villain, if he ever truly was, but someone who is complicated and layered. It’ll be interesting to see how this Loki reacts the next time he encounters Thor.

The point being, Loki’s evolution is probably a big reason why Hiddleston is willing to stick around. And as long as it stays interesting, and fans continue to want to see him, Hiddleston isn’t going to go anywhere.

‘Midway’ Writer Joins ‘Thomas Crown Affair’ Remake With Michael B. Jordan And The Russo Brothers

By

Travis Hopson

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July 15, 2021

Michael B. Jordan to direct and star in THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR

I don’t condone any remaking of The Thomas Crown Affair, not when the 1999 film, itself a remake of the 1968 original, is damn near perfection. But if it is going to happen, at least it has Michael B. Jordan starring and the Russo Brothers producing. On the other hand, a new addition to the long-developing project inspires less confidence.

According to Deadline, Wes Tooke, who wrote the awful WWII disaster Midway has been hired to write MGM’s The Thomas Crown Affair reimagining. The story follows a bored rich guy who decides to take his love of art and literally take the art he loves so much by becoming a thief.

Pierce Brosnan starred as the thieving millionaire in the 1999 movie, with Rene Russo as the insurance investigator who pursues him in more ways than one. Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway starred in the 1968 version. Both movies are great, but you know which one I think is best.

Midway was a comically bad effort, one of the worst WWII films I’ve ever seen and an embarrassment. Tooke’s laughable script was a big part of that. Hard to feel good about this choice, but Jordan and the Russos don’t usually attach themselves to a lot of crap. If Tooke’s script doesn’t pass muster I’m sure they’ll hire someone else to rewrite it. The project has been simmering since 2016, and with MGM making this a high priority they’ll want to get it right the first time.

First Clip From Sean Baker’s ‘Red Rocket’ Has A Pornstar Coming Home To Texas

By

Travis Hopson

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July 15, 2021

Ever since his breakout with 2015’s Tangerine, Sean Baker has earned accolades for his films exploring marginalized communities. In 2017 he debuted The Florida Project during the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, earning numerous accolades (it was my top movie of the year) and catapulting Baker as a must-see filmmaker. And now he has returned to Cannes with Red Rocket, which is his third straight movie that seeks to tell normal stories about people in the sex industry.

The first clip (via ThePlaylist) from Red Rocket takes us to Texas, where a former pornstar has returned home from L.A., even though nobody really wants him back. Simon Rex stars as the suggestively named Mikey Saber, joined by co-stars Bree Elizabeth Elrod, Suzanna Son, and Ethan Darbone.

Joining Baker is longtime co-writer Chris Bergoch, who has been working with him since Starlet in 2012, and producer/actor Shih-Ching Tsou who began working with Baker on 2004’s Take Out.

A24 acquired Red Rocket earlier this year and will presumably release it during the awards season.

‘The Batman’: Colin Farrell Reveals How Much We’ll See Of Him As Penguin

By

Travis Hopson

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July 15, 2021

Villains won’t be in short supply in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, with Catwoman, Carmine Falcone, and The Riddler taking up space in Gotham City. With so many, it was always expected that some would get limited time on screen, and that will be the case for Colin Farrell, who plays Oswald Cobblepot aka Penguin.

In his appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Farrell revealed how many scenes he has in The Batman, and it ain’t much.

“I’m only in for five or six scenes so I can’t wait to see the film because it won’t be ruined by my presence. I’ll get a little uncomfortable for the nine minutes I have, but the rest of it, I cannot wait to see how [Matt] brought this world to life.”

All of those prosthetics for only 5 or 6 scenes? Damn. Farrell is practically unrecognizable as Penguin, undergoing a transformation unlike any we’ve seen from him before. It’s a shame we won’t get too much of him, but there’s a good chance he’ll show up for sequels, too.

The Batman opens on March 4th 2022.

Laika Is Re-Releasing ‘Coraline’ And ‘ParaNorman’ Back Into Theaters To Scare The Kiddies

By

Travis Hopson

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July 15, 2021

The Fear Street trilogy wraps up this week, but Laika is making sure that horrors made for kids don’t go away for long. The renowned animation studio has teamed with Fathom Events to return two of its best and scariest, Coraline and ParaNorman, back into theaters for a limited time.

Both of these films are great, and I would say a damn sight creepier than just about any animated horror around. Coraline hits theaters beginning August 24th, so terrifying button-eyed “parents” are your thing, this is your moment. The film is based on Neil Gaiman’s award-winning book, about the titular girl who discovers a seemingly idyllic, but ultimately sinister, parallel world. It was by far Laika’s biggest box office hit with $124M worldwide and a ton of accolades.

Arriving perfectly in the fall on November 16th is ParaNorman, my favorite Laika film outside of Kubo and the Two Strings. ParaNorman is the Tim Burton-esque story of a kid who can communicate with the dead, and of course, nobody in town believes him! This is, in my opinion, the funniest of Laika’s films while also delivering plenty of legit scares.

Laika will probably never get the box office appreciation they deserve, but all they do is put out great animated movies. Here’s hoping they make re-releases like this a regular thing. As a way of easing your kid into horror, you can hardly do better than Coraline and ParaNorman. I would love to see these together as a twinbill. Make it happen!