On the surface, Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix series Ratched bears striking resemblance to his American Horror Story. An evil nurse plies her trade on unwilling patients in a mental ward. But there’s a lot more going on, as the show stars Sarah Paulson as Nurse Ratched, the infamous heel of Oscar-winning film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Ratched is actually a prequel to the classic 1975 movie which starred Jack Nicholson in one of his most iconic performances. Paulson plays Nurse Mildred Ratched as she evolves into one of the vilest monsters in movie history, played by Louis Fletcher in an Oscar-winning performance.
Murphy is already TV’s busiest man, but he has been in overdrive since striking a deal with Netflix. This is his third series for the streamer, following The Politician and Hollywood. Based on the little bit we get in this trailer, Murphy is pulling from all of his past shows, combining horror elements, dark humor, and period-specific production values.
Joining Paulson in the cast are Cynthia Nixon, Judy Davis, Sharon Stone, Jon Jon Briones, Finn Wittrock, Charlie Carver, Alice Englert, Amanda Plummer, Corey Stoll, Sophie Okonedo, Brandon Flynn, and Vincent D’Onofrio.
Ratched comes to Netflix beginning September 18th.
SYNOPSIS: From Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, RATCHED is a suspenseful drama series that tells the origin story of asylum nurse Mildred Ratched. In 1947, Mildred arrives in Northern California to seek employment at a leading psychiatric hospital where new and unsettling experiments have begun on the human mind. On a clandestine mission, Mildred presents herself as the perfect image of what a dedicated nurse should be, but the wheels are always turning and as she begins to infiltrate the mental health care system and those within it, Mildred’s stylish exterior belies a growing darkness that has long been smoldering within, revealing that true monsters are made, not born.
Now that the world has seen Donald Trump’s disastrous Axios interview, it’s clearer than ever how unfit he is to run a McDonald’s, much less the United States. And in light of what we all saw, the timing of the new doc The Way I See it couldn’t be better. The film highlights official White House photographer Pete Souza, who has captured the administrations of two very different Presidents: Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.
We talk often about the power of the moving image, but the same can be said of still photography. In some ways, they are better at capturing historical moments, in particular those of a United States President. In a single frame, a photograph can create an idea that will list a lifetime. Obama’s presidency was already historic, but it would be less so without some of what Souza was able to snap on his camera.
Furthermore, the inclusion of Reagan’s administration offers some much-needed bipartisanship. While there wasn’t anything nearly as monumental about Reagan’s presidency, he is still the paragon of what many Republicans want a Commander-in-Chief to be. Between Reagan and Obama, we see what a President can mean to people; we see them enacting the functions we have entrusted them with.
On the other hand, are there ANY memorable photos of Donald Trump that aren’t of him doing something stupid or cruel? There are no photos of Trump that matter because he doesn’t fulfill the duties of President.
I think this looks fascinating. The Way I See It is directed by Dawn Porter, and opens in September.
SYNOPSIS: Based on the New York Times #1 bestseller comes The Way I See It, an unprecedented look behind the scenes of two of the most iconic Presidents in American History, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, as seen through the eyes of renowned photographer Pete Souza. As Official White House Photographer, Souza was an eyewitness to the unique and tremendous responsibilities of being the most powerful person on Earth. The movie reveals how Souza transforms from a respected photojournalist to a searing commentator on the issues we face as a country and a people.
Normally, the arrival of a new superhero is a cause for celebration. A fresh face has taken on the responsibility of protecting those who can’t protect themselves from the world’s evils. Well, not in The Boys. In Amazon’s boundary-pushing series the heroes…well, they tend to be murderous, fascist social media whores.
The final trailer for The Boys‘ second season introduces Aya Cash as Stormfront. She’s the latest addition to the government-sanctioned superteam, The Seven, which puts her immediately in the crosshairs of Billy Butcher and his team, who are ready to unleash righteous violence on all supes.
The character Stormfront is a male in Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book, and casting a woman as the Nazi “hero” should make for some interesting conflict within The Seven. If you saw the show’s first season you know that women tend to have a very difficult time amongst the privileged, abusive super-team.
The Boys season 2 hits Amazon Prime on September 4th.
The even more intense, more insane Season 2 finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia.
While a funny line of dialogue in Black Panther may have made “colonizers” a punchline for the moment, there’s nothing humorous about them in Waiting for the Barbarians. Adapted by J.M. Coetzee based on his own novel, the film version is directed by Ciro Guerra, who explored the impacts of white colonizers on native people in greater, more adventurous detail in Embrace of the Serpent and again in last year’s Birds of Passage. Here, he’s more interested in painting an unfortunately timely picture of a brutal regime’s mad grab for power by casting the “other” as a dangerous and violent threat in need of conquering.
Appropriately enough, Guerra’s most ambitious effort, his first English-language film, stars three huge names: Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, and Robert Pattinson. The star-studded trio star in a film that presents itself as historical drama, but works just as well as a metaphor of the terrible oppression Indigenous people continue to face. Rylance plays an unnamed Magistrate in a far-off borderland ruled by the British empire. He’s lived there in relative peace with the locals, and ruled them gently, having allowed them to live their lives freely. Disputes are settled quickly and without incident. He clearly loves the place and its people, soaking in the quiet like a sponge.
While the tranquility of the early-going can be a bit tedious, it’s an effective way to contrast the chaos brought by the arrival of Depp’s Colonel Joll. Arriving with a gaunt face, cold demeanor, and peculiar eyewear that makes him look like the villain from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Joll has no interest in peace. He comes with warnings of a possible barbarian invasion, and he’ll use “advanced” interrogation techniques on the locals to get information. His actions appall the Magistrate, who has also begun to have feelings for a woman (Gana Bayarsaikhan) brutalized by Joll’s men. In his efforts to treat her wounds and show her a simple measure of kindness, the Magistrate puts himself in the crosshairs of Joll and his equally merciless colleague, Officer Mandel, played by Pattinson.
There isn’t a lot of subtlety to this story, but that actually works in its favor. The Magistrate is seen as the rare paragon of virtue, while Joll is almost cartoonish in his evil. Depp employs the same sneer and precise enunciation as his Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts movies. While his presence doesn’t necessarily hurt the movie, Depp always gives the impression he’s doing his own thing compared to everyone else, and that can be distracting. Pattinson strikes a menacing image as Mandel, but his part is tiny and one-note.
Broken down into distinctive seasonal chapters, the cinematography is simply gorgeous with Oscar-winning DP Chris Menges capturing Morocco’s natural beauty. In particular during the autumnal sequence “The Return”, we see nature vividly capture the swirl of emotions within the Magistrate as he attempts to make good on a promise, even though he knows it will come with terrible consequences.
In its exploration of ruling by the closed fist or the open hand, Waiting for the Barbarians finds that, at least for those being ruled, it’s all the same. For the natives, what matters one invader over another? This is a cruel lesson the Magistrate comes to learn, even as he shoulders the weight of guilt for what these conquered people are being put through. Guerra refuses to shy away from stark images of inhumane treatment. Some of the tortures inflicted are simply grotesque, including one scene in which the “barbarians” are strung together by wires through their cheeks.
Just looking at it from a U.S. perspective, Waiting for the Barbarians parallels many terrible aspects of our history. From the conquering of Native Americans to our use of torture during the Iraq War, to the current Administration’s demonization of black and brown people, Guerra forces us to examine our own part to play in allowing these things to happen in our name.
Waiting for the Barbarians review pics
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This image released by Samuel Goldwyn Films shows Johnny Depp in a scene from "Waiting for the Barbarians." (Fabrizio Di Giulio/Samuel Goldwyn Films via AP)
Netflix may get most of the attention for throwing a lot of money around, but Apple is no slouch, either. In recent months they’ve backed up the cash truck to acquire a lot of blockbuster features from top-tier stars. Now Apple has struck a deal with one of the biggest stars in the world, Leonardo DiCaprio, that will see him develop projects exclusively for them.
DiCaprio and Apple have come to terms on a deal that will see the actor’s Appian Way label develop film and TV projects for the company and streaming service Apple TV+. This partnership has been teased for weeks. Apple spent big money on Killers of the Flower Moon, the Martin Scorsese film which DiCaprio is producing and starring in. They also acquired the Elisabeth Moss series Shining Girls, also developed by Appian Way.
Apple has a lot of ground to make up if they want to be a leader in the streaming wars. Whether DiCaprio can help them turn it around remains to be seen, but I think if potential subscribers are weighing options, it can’t hurt to have him on board.
Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, left) and Saul Silver (James Franco, right) are two lazy stoners running for their lives in Columbia Pictures' action-comedy Pineapple Express. The film is directed by David Gordon Green. The screenplay is by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg from a story by Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg. Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson produce.
Seth Rogen doesn’t really do the stoner action-comedies like he used to, but maybe if there had been another hit of Pineapple Express, he would be. The 2008 film, a cult classic that earned over $100M on a $26M budget, seemed like an obvious choice for a sequel that would reunite Rogen with co-star James Franco. It never happened, and smoked-out fans everywhere now have a reason as to why. Turns out, it all boils down to money.
Rogen confirmed to Howard Stern the reason Pineapple Express 2 never got made is due to a budget disagreement between Sony and producer Judd Apatow…
“I think we probably wanted too much money. We made the first one, no one got paid anything, and that’s why it was like a $25 million movie. And that’s why it became highly, highly, highly profitable. Because it was made really cheaply, especially for an action movie. Studios are just – they don’t like giving away money. Weird thing!”
Rogen is right. There was so much fallout from the Sony email hack years ago that we forget one of the lesser reveals was a Pineapple Express 2 budget battle. Apatow wanted the sequel to have double the budget, and Sony largely agreed with him. The whole thing fell apart because the two sides couldn’t agree on a $5M difference. That’s it. The reason you don’t have Pineapple Express 2 is $5M. Think about that.
Joe Wright’s adaptation of The Woman in the Window should be a big deal. It still might be, but the Rear Window-esque thriller, led by Amy Adams, has seen some rough sledding over the last year, and now Netflix is coming in to rescue it.
Deadline reports that Netflix is in negotiations to acquire The Woman in the Window from Fox/Disney. The film is based on AJ Finn’s bestseller, and a movie version was expected to capitalize on the success of similar domestic thrillers as Gone Girl and The Girl On the Train. Wright was brought in to direct, with Tracy Letts on the script. Adams is joined in the cast by Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Julianne Moore. So what could go wrong?
Well, a lot. Originally due to open in October 2019, the film was delayed for reshoots when test audiences didn’t care for it. A fresh release date in May 2020 was set, but then the coronavirus happened. Now it looks like there will be no theatrical release at all, and instead be a “global Netflix event film.”
The Woman in the Window centers on an agoraphobic psychologist whose life is turned upside down when the neighbor she befriends vanishes, and foul play is suspected.
Netflix has yet to cement a new release date, but I’m guessing it will be within the next couple of months.
Joey King is going from The Kissing Booth to….the killing booth? Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but not much of one. King will join Brad Pitt in Bullet Train, the upcoming assassin flick from Hobbs & Shaw and Atomic Blonde director David Leitch.
Deadline has the news of King hopping aboard the Bullet Train alongside Pitt. The film centers on a group of assassins who all find themselves aboard the same speeding train. King’s role is a supporting one and promises to be the most “action-heavy” part she’s ever had. The script is by Zak Olkewicz (Fear Street), although Leitch will be supervising on it in addition to directing.
This continues a hot run for King. The Kissing Booth 2 is only a couple of weeks old on Netflix, and it was learned that a third film was shot at the same time. She also recently earned an Emmy nomination for Hulu’s The Act, and took part in the home movie recreation of The Princess Bride.
Attracting Oscar-caliber actors to his films has never been a hurdle for Paul Thomas Anderson, and that will continue into his next one. THR reports eight-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper will star in Anderson’s SoCal drama about a child actor.
Anderson returns to the SoCal setting where many of his greatest films took place, including Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Set in the 1970s, it follows multiple storylines focused on a child actor attending high school in the San Fernando Valley.
Cooper’s role is unclear at this point, but I’m hoping he’ll get to work with some old Anderson regulars. Hopefully, there’s a role for Melora Walters, too.
Production was delayed due to COVID-19 but now a fall start is planned. It all depends on how well Los Angeles does in getting its shit together.
Cooper already has a lot on his plate following his Oscar nominations for A Star is Born, and again for producing Joker last year. His next directorial effort is a biopic on composer Leonard Bernstein, followed by Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley.
Formerly-titled Boyz in the Wood, the British comedy Get Duked has been one of the buzziest films on the festival circuit since last year. I’m surprised they changed the title at all, but given the current racial climate, biting off Boyz n the Hood probably isn’t the best look. Whatever the movie is called, the trailer is absolutely wild, crazy frenetic, and looks like the nuttiest teen adventure since Attack the Block.
Get Duked centers on four boys; three troublemakers and one straight-arrow, who go on an insane drug-fueled camping trip in the Scottish highlands, pursued by a strange huntsman and an inept police force.
The cast includes Samuel Bottomley, Rian Gordon, Lewis Gribben, Viraj Juneja, Kate Dickie, Kevin Guthrie, Jonathan Aris, Eddie Izzard, and James Cosmo. Ninian Doff wrote and directed the film, springboarding off an acclaimed career of music videos and TV.
Get Duked hits Amazon Prime on August 28th.
SYNOPSIS: Dean, Duncan and DJ Beatroot are teenage pals from Glasgow who embark on the character-building camping trip — based on a real-life program — known as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, where foraging, teamwork and orienteering are the order of the day. Eager to cut loose and smoke weed in the Scottish Highlands, the trio finds themselves paired with straight-laced Ian, a fellow camper determined to play by the rules. After veering off-path into remote farmland that’s worlds away from their urban comfort zone, the boys find themselves hunted down by a shadowy force hell-bent on extinguishing their futures.
