We’ve seen that the pandemic really got the creative juices flowing for a lot of filmmakers, who used quarantine to make smaller, more targeted genre flicks. Neill Blomkamp, who hadn’t made a film since Chappie in 2015, also got motivated and shot horror film Demonic, a supernatural horror that also deals with strained family dynamics.
Shot in Canada during the heart of the pandemic last year, Demonic stars Carly Pope, Chris William Martin, and Michael Rogers. The story follows “a young woman unleashes terrifying demons when supernatural forces at the root of a decades-old rift between mother and daughter are ruthlessly revealed”.
Blomkamp not only directed but wrote the script. The film was shown at the Berlin Film Festival but kept from the public, so these images and behind-the-scenes 8mm teaser really are some of the first we’re seeing from it.
IFC Midnight jumped all over this one and will release Demonic in theaters and VOD on August 20th.
Sports underdog stories are a staple of the movie business, but how many have you seen about sport fishing? It’s more exciting than it sounds, as based on the true story behind Blue Miracle, a Netflix drama starring Dennis Quaid, no stranger to films about the longshot overcoming the odds.
Directed by Julio Quintana, who also co-wrote the script, Blue Miracle centers on the kids of Casa Hogar, a Mexican orphanage struggling in the wake of a terrible hurricane that hit the Cabo San Lucas area. Dennis Quaid plays a two-time fishing champion who leads the team, comprised of people with little to no experience in sport fishing or boating, on a miraculous, inspirational journey to win the world’s largest tournament in hopes of saving their home.
Also in the cast are Jimmy Gonzales, Anthony Gonzalez, Raymond Cruz, Nathan Arenas, Miguel Angel Garcia, Isaac Arellanes, Steve Gutierrez, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Fernanda Urrejola, Silverio Palacios, Bruce McGill. Reach Records exec-produced the soundtrack, which features Grammy Award-winning artist Lecrae, along with label mates GAWVI, WHATUPRG and 1K Phew.
Okay, so on paper there’s a lot the kid in me who grew up on action movies should love about The Misfits. It’s a heist film directed by Renny Harlin, known for Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, and more. Even the cast isn’t too bad with Pierce Brosnan, Jamie Chung, Tim Roth, Hermione Corfield, and Nick Cannon on board. However, the trailer doesn’t look great, and my hope is that it’s saving some of the best stuff for later.
Set in the Middle East, The Misfits follows a group of modern-day Robin Hoods who recruit a renowned thief to pull off the heist of the century. The film was co-written by Kurt Wimmer, very familiar with Brosnan after working together on The Thomas Crown Affair, another all-time favorite of mine. Again, there’s a lot about this movie that I should like.
Also in the cast are Rami Jaber and Mike d Angelo.
The problem is that it can’t escape looking like a knockoff Fast & Furious, and Harlin, who used to be a favorite, hasn’t directed even a solid action movie in ages. He’s found new life working overseas, primarily in China on films such as Skiptrace, Legend of the Ancient Sword, and Bodies at Rest, none worth writing home about. Unfortunately, The Misfits doesn’t look much better. I hope I’m wrong.
The Misfits opens in theaters on June 11th, Digital and VOD on June 15th.
Even a federal maximum-security prison can’t hold Richard Pace (Golden Globe nominee PIERCE BROSNAN), a brilliant international thief. But his daring escape and high-octane car chase, eluding the FBI and police, ends with him being scooped up by The Misfits, a band of modern-day Robin Hoods. Led by the eccentric and charismatic Ringo (NICK CANNON) with Violet (JAMIE CHUNG), the Prince (RAMI JABER), and Wick (MIKE ANGELO) with Pace’s daughter Hope (HERMIONE CORFIELD)- a mysterious group who do devious things for all the right reasons. The skilled group convinces Pace to join them to pull off the heist of the century: stealing millions in gold bars kept under one of the most secure prisons on earth, owned by rogue businessman Schultz (Tim Roth), and used for funding terrorist groups worldwide. Aside from the money, Pace wants revenge against Schultz, the man behind his incarceration. From LA to Abu Dhabi, it will take supercharged engines, forged identities, multiple cons, camels, nitro and massive explosions to succeed. Directed by RENNY HARLIN (Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Cliffhanger), THE MISFITS brings a new team of outsiders into the world of action-adventure.
How excited are you for a legal drama on a court case involving canola seeds? Yeah? Getting pretty hyped? Probably not, but then Percy vs. Goliath isn’t about canola in the same way Erin Brockovich and Dark Waters weren’t really about groudwater. It’s about the little guy taking on the overwhelming money, power, and influence of giant corporations, and winning against all odds. It’s a small-scale underdog story with simple values and big emotions, and a fiery turn from Christopher Walken who seems to have found renewed energy in playing the real-life champion of farmers everywhere, Percy Schmeiser.
Based on a true story, Percy vs. Goliath is about Schmeiser, a Canadian man whose farm has been in his family for generations. He’s an old school grower, one who takes pride in his “seed saving” techniques that have allowed him to grow fresh, strong crops out of the previous year’s yield. But when gigantic agro-business Monsanto suddenly files a lawsuit against him, claiming that traces of their genetically-modified formula were found in Percy’s crop, he’s suddenly fighting a fight nobody believes he can win, and it’s a fight he must take around the world, from Canada to India and ultimately the Supreme Court.
You’re not going to find a lot of nuance here. Director Clark Johnson with screenwriters Garfield Lindsay Miller and Hilary Pyror are going for the biggest anti-corporate, anti-globalization bang for the buck. Monsanto seems to overrun with shady white guys in suits, hanging around the farms of poor, rural folks just barely ekeing out a living. You get lots of high-minded speeches about fighting back against such crushing overreach, and idolizing of the farmer who is struggling to feed themselves just so they can put food on our tables. If you’re open to that sort of rhetoric, and admittedly I am, then this movie will punch all of your buttons.
Christina Ricci, channeling a little bit of Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon, plays Rebecca Salcau, an environmental who enthusiastically backs Percy’s cause, teaching the reclusive farmer how to get out there and be the public face of a movement. Meanwhile, Zach Braff plays Percy’s overmatched attorney, Jackson Weaver, one of those cinematic “good” lawyers who takes a case on faith and because it’s the right thing to do. His partners are more interested in the money, of course, and encourage a settlement.
This is all by-the-numbers stuff but sometimes that works. It’s good to see Walken playing a believable character, and not one that seems molded by the actor’s eccentric personality. Percy is a bit of a curmudgeon; he’s liked by some people in his community but not by others. When they turn against him, due largely to Monsanto’s smear campaign calling him a “seed stealer”, it affects him deeply. His wife Louise (Roberta Maxwell) also feels the sting of the town’s rebuke.
Other than a trip to India where Percy spreads his message to an international audience and encounters the tragic death toll associated with Monsanto, the film doesn’t offer much variety in the locales. The cinematography when outdoors is beautiful, with wide, open shots of the fields suggesting the freedom that guys like Percy Schmeiser value most. Aspects of stories such as this have been Hollywood fodder for years, in particular this one has elements seen in the underrated 2012 drama At Any Price. Everybody likes to back a longshot, and Percy vs. Goliath harvests that desire while getting rid of anything that stands in the way of easy entertainment.
Percy vs. Goliath opens in theaters, digital and VOD on April 30th.
Six years ago Christoph Waltz set out to make his directorial debut with a film titled The Worst Marriage in Georgetown, based on the true story of social climber Albrecht Muth, and chronicled in the pages of the New York Times. We’ve heard little about it since then but Paramount has now revealed the first trailer for Georgetown, which finds Waltz directing and starring in a twisted game of murder and deception alongside Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave and Oscar nominee Annette Bening.
Some of the quirkier aspects of Waltz’s persona come to the fore in this trailer, in which he plays Ulrich Mott, an eccentric schemer who worms his way into the life of the aging, wealthy Elsa Brecht, much to the chagrin of her daughter. When Elsa ends up murdered, Ulrich is the obvious suspect, and a deeper charade begins to unravel.
The script was written by David Auburn (The Lake House) and has Brett Ratner as one of its producers, which may explain why the film has flown under the radar.
Georgetown opens in select theaters and VOD on May 14th.
GEORGETOWN stars Waltz, Academy Award® winner** Vanessa Redgrave (Julia) and Academy Award® nominee*** Annette Bening (American Beauty). In this thrilling true crime story filled with twists, turns, and political turmoil Waltz stars as Ulrich Mott, an eccentric and smooth-talking social climber who seems to have everyone in Washington, D.C. wrapped around his finger. But when his wealthy, well-connected and much older wife (Redgrave) turns up dead in their home, her daughter Amanda (Bening) suspects Ulrich may not be all that he seems as the police investigation begins to uncover a larger deception that goes far deeper than anyone ever imagined.
The news that aCaptain America 4 is next following the finale of Falcon and the Winter Soldier has excited fans…and led to denials by Anthony Mackie and showrunner Malcolm Spellman, the latter reportedly in line to write the screenplay. So it looks like if this thing is really happening, Marvel is doing it by putting the band back together. So what about director Kari Skogland? Has she heard anything about it?
Speaking with Collider, Skogland followed the same line as Mackie and Spellman which is that she doesn’t know anything about Captain America 4…
“I still don’t know anything about it. I don’t even know that the headline’s true. So I have no idea about any of that.”
However, if the film were to happen, Skogland told Cinema Blend that she’d definitely answer the call from Kevin Feige if asked…
“I think if Marvel called me to do anything, if they called me to film the phone book, I would do it,” Skogland said. “The Marvel characters are all very, very rich. I’ve become friends with Anthony and Sebastian, and I really enjoyed working with them. And Emily and Daniel Bruhl. I mean, I’ve worked with them for a couple of years, so of course, I have a special place in my heart. But as I said, if Kevin [Feige] picked up the phone, I would answer it.”
All of these people throwing cold water on another Captain America movie doesn’t mean much. We know Marvel keeps their talent under lock and key until they are ready to make an official announcement. But when and if that happens I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Skogland’s name in the mix to direct.
I talked a lot last year about how crappy the first virtual San Diego Comic-Con was. Fortunately for all of us who were starved for cool movie teases and content, DC FanDome wasn’t far behind, and they definitely got it right. I have a feeling SDCC will be copying their model closely this year, but even if they don’t, DC FanDome is coming back to show them how it’s done.
DC FanDome is officially returning on October 16th 2021! Here is the official announcement and a small teaser…
“Having reached fans across 220 countries and territories with over 22 million views, this year the innovative, global fan experience returns on October 16, 2021!”
We can begin to speculate on things we might see, right? Last year was our first actual teaser for The Batman, so chances re there will be more footage this time around. The Flash is probably a good bet, along with Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Aquaman 2, and perhaps more information on this new Superman movie from Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Regardless of your stance on the Star Wars prequels, the one thing everyone can agree on is the excellence observed in Ewan McGregor’s performance as the galaxy’s finest Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. In the years that have passed since 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith the disdain for those films has matured into an appreciation, if not love, from the younger generation. All this coming together made it no surprise that when Disney+ announced their slate of upcoming series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was one of the most anticipated, especially when it was confirmed that Ewan McGregor would be resuming the role beloved by all. McGregor is in the midst of his training and preparation for the series that TheHollywoodReporter sat down and discussed ‘Kenobi’, McGregor’s epic career, and his upcoming Netflix Original, Halston.
McGregor was more then forthcoming about everything from his views on intimacy coordinators on set to his feud with Danny Boyle. If you want a deep dive on his career I’d fully recommend clicking the link above. There was only one thing I wanted out of the interview and that was to find out any tidbits I could about production of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The big question has been surrounding the story. We all know that Kenobi spent the 20 years between Episodes III and IV in exile on Tatooine watching over young Luke, and while seeing a few fights with the Sand People could be cool, it’s not enough for a full series. The other weird thing was hearing about Hayden Christensen reprising his role as Darth Vader. Why cast Christensen just to put him in the suit? They were clear about him being cast as Vader, and not Skywalker, but it just didn’t make sense. My hope has always been that the series will rely heavily on flashbacks, filling in the gaps of the legendary Skywalker/Kenobi friendship…something we only got a feeling for through comics and animated series.
While there was no clear confirmation or any details about the series at all really, reading between the lines tells us that the series will be more action-packed adventure then philosophical soul searching. When discussing where he currently was in prep, McGregor had this to say:
“For months, we’ve been doing these monster, two-and-a-half-hour sessions of sword fights and hand-to-hand stuff,”
Maybe it’s the optimist in me, but that much training can only mean constant and varied action, the kind one would encounter in a long campaign through a war zone. I simply don’t see how they could conviningly show Kenobi fighting, episode after episode, while keeping a low-profile on Tatooine. Add to that the casting of Christensen, who would have been more expensive then just having a stuntman in the suit, seals my thought that this series is only going to be bookended in Kenobi’s present on Tatooine.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to premier on Disney+ in early 2022
We movie fans, particularly us fanboys of superhero flicks, are really good at connecting the dots in our minds. So a couple of years ago Michael B. Jordan is rumored to be the next Superman, replacing Henry Cavill who appeared/appears to be done. Jordan sorta denies it, and we hear nothing about it. But then a story emerges that JJ Abrams is joining with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates on a new Superman film that could feature a Black actor as Man of Steel. OBVIOUSLY that’s going to be Jordan, right?
Well, no.
In an interview with THR, Jordan talks about how excited he is for Coates to be doing a Superman movie. But as for whether he’ll put on the cape himself, Jordan sounds like that won’t be happening…
“It’s smart of DC to grab Ta-Nehisi to go ahead and adapt that project,” he said. “He’s incredibly talented. It’s going to be worth checking out. I’m flattered that people have me in that conversation. It’s definitely a compliment, but I’m just watching on this one.”
It’s not like Jordan is sitting on his ass or anything. He has a potential new franchise on his hands with Without Remorse, and recently set his directorial debut on Creed III. Fitting a Superman movie, which would eat up potentially years of production and press commitments, seems unlikely.
You can check out Jordan in Without Remorse this Friday, April 30th on Amazon Prime. Creed III arrives on
If you’re a fan of Tom Clancy, and millions of people (mostly men, let’s be real) love his franchise of shady government conspiracy, military thriller novels. The two most popular characters he’s created are Jack Ryan, who has already been in a series of hit movies and now has John Krasinski playing him in an Amazon series; and John Clark aka John Kelly, the “dark side” to Clancy’s stories in the way that makes the title Without Remorse very appropriate.
In the works for years, most recently with Kevin Costner attached during the Chris Pine/Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit era, Without Remorse now has Michael B. Jordan in the lead role, and his charismatic, old-school action hero approach is what makes you want this to be the start of a long-running franchise.
While some have decried that Without Remorse isn’t like your typical Clancy film, it’s also meant to be an origin story. Clark is a badass killer, a Navy SEAL whose team takes on a murky mission involving Russian targets. Fed some shaky intel by suspicious CIA agent Ritter (Jamie Bell), Clark is none too happy about being misled and potentially starting all-out war with Russia. Taking its cues straight out of the Commando playbook, Clark and his men find themselves targeted by assassins. But when they come after Clark in his own home, he survives multiple gunshot wounds. However, his pregnant wife (Lauren London) isn’t so lucky. Uh oh, revenge time!
Directed by Stefano Sollima, a reunion with Sicario: Day of the Soldado writer Taylor Sheridan (working with co-writer Will Staples), Without Remorse is a straight-ahead revenge movie, and probably doesn’t need to be affiliated with the Clancy-verse at all. The conspiracy aspects are mostly undercooked, with Clark pulled in many different directions by Ritter and Secretary of Defense Clay (Guy Pearce). But there isn’t much tension in that aspect of the story, unusual for Sheridan whose scripts traffic in that stuff to tremendous effect.
In a surprise to absolutely nobody, Jordan attacks the role like a superstar. He’s absolutely electric with raw charisma, making Clark an absolute powder keg primed to blow up. There’s a tremendous close-quarters fight against prison guards that reminded me of Captain America’s elevator battle in The Winter Soldier, or like a scene out of The Raid. I just wish there was more like that! When the momentum slows down, and Clark has to deal with the consequences of his actions and those of the people around him, Jordan has us believing in the swirl of rage and despair within him.
There are other solid sequences, as well, but I’d be lying if I said Sollima is a great action movie director. Like Sicario 2, his work is good enough but doesn’t take it to the next level. The final act, a fast-paced kill/escape sequence set against a ticking clock scenario, feels like it should have come earlier in the movie where it could have led to something much bigger.
Surrounding Jordan is a stellar cast with little to do. Bell oversells Ritter’s shadiness, while his role might have been better suited for Pearce who has played morally dubious characters so much he could do it in his sleep. The other key role went to Queen & Slim breakout Jodie Turner-Smith as his SEAL commander and best friend Karen Greer. While Turner-Smith is a good actress with tons of screen presence, she just commands your attention, she’s curiously downbeat and her scenes drag when you just want to see Jordan leap back onto the path of vengeance.
Without Remorse is meant to be the launch of a franchise and here’s hoping we get to see it. If nothing else, the film makes us want to see Jordan in a sequel (be sure to check out the mid-credits!) that steps up the action and really shows what he can. As someone who grew up in the age of Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Norris, I can appreciate a revenge movie that is focused on its star and not much else. That’s what Without Remorse is, and if you’re a fan of Jordan and want to see what he can do as the toughest of Clancy’s badasses, tuning in to Amazon Prime will be worth it.
