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‘The Kissing Booth 2’ Trailer: The Sequel To Netflix’s Popular YA Rom-Com Deals With Long Distance Relationships

By
Travis Hopson
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The sequel you’ve been waiting for is here, and no, you aren’t going to find it any theater. No, it isn’t the latest from Marvel or a new Star Wars movie. It’s The Kissing Booth 2, the sequel one of Netflix’s wildly popular YA rom-coms. Don’t turn up your nose. Chances are someone in your house is very excited about this.

The Kissing Booth 2 finds Joey King back as Elle, with Jacob Elordi as her boyfriend Noah, who is away at college. Faster than you can say “long distance relationship” both have struck up new friendships that might blossom into something more, and Elle and Noah must decide if they are truly meant to be together.

Drama!

Seriously, these movies are what they are, melodramatic as Hell, but viewers love them. The first movie was a big hit for Netflix and chances are this one will be, too.

Written and directed by the returning Vince Marcello, The Kissing Booth 2 hits Netflix on July 24th.

SYNOPSIS: Elle Evans (Joey King) just had the most romantic summer of her life with her reformed bad-boy boyfriend Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi). But now Noah is off to Harvard, and Elle heads back to high school for her senior year. She’ll have to juggle a long-distance relationship, getting into her dream college with her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), and the complications brought on by a close friendship with a handsome, charismatic new classmate named Marco (Taylor Perez). When Noah grows close to a seemingly-perfect college girl (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), Elle will have to decide how much she trusts him and to whom her heart truly belongs.

Review: ‘Money Plane’

Adam "Edge" Copeland Flies The Unfriendly Skies In A Ridiculous Heist Movie That Never Takes Off

By
Travis Hopson
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All aboard, the Money Plane! Imagine, a high stakes casino and underground gambling circuit that caters to the world’s most notorious criminals and scoundrels, all aboard a giant luxury jet operating over international skies. Sounds pretty ludicrous, doesn’t it? Well, it’s par for the course from a movie led by WWE superstar Adam “Edge” Copeland, a howlingly awful Kelsey Grammer, and…shockingly, all three Lawrence brothers in prominent roles, with one of them having directed and written the script.

Yeah, no shit, Joey. That’s what I said.

Money Plane is both as wildly terrible as I kinda hoped it would be, and yet is also less than it could’ve been. The premise isn’t that far off from the 1990s heist flick Money Train (one of those patented Snipes/Harrelson collabos), mixed with a dollop of Con Air. So the potential for fun is there, it’s just rarely realized. And admittedly, within the first five minutes I had nearly peed my pants at some of the atrocious dialogue spouted by Kelsey Grammer’s character, an art connoisseur and crime lord known simply as “The Rumble.” Yeah. That’s his name.

Grammer, who has somehow made the leap from astute purveyor of advice Frasier Crane to playing a poor man’s R. Lee Ermey, never met a line he can’t chew up tougher than a $2 steak. The Rumble is a man who won’t be trifled with, y’see? He’s got one over on criminal/family man Jack Reese (Copeland) after an art theft goes bellyup. The Rumble really wanted that painting, of a duck, mind you, but since Jack and his team failed he now wants compensation. Since he now owns Jack’s massive debt, he feels he can threaten the man at will…

“Warhol, de Kooning, Pollack. Buncha bitches. How about I just blow your brains out? I’ll create my own Pollack.”

But no, it’s better to make use of Jack’s skills. Y’know, the guy who just failed. So instead, The Rumble gives him another chance to repay what is owed. First, a bedtime story…

“There is a legend in the underworld, for those in the know. It’s called a money plane. Some of the baddest muthafuckas on the planet are on that plane all craving for action. You want to bet on a dude fucking an alligator? Money plane.”

Sadly, there are no dudes fucking alligators in this movie, but if the thought of it gave us that line for the rest of time, it’s worth the momentary disappointment.  Jack’s tasked with breaking aboard this legendary vessel, securing $1B in cryptocurrency, and keeping anything that’s in the vault. It’s better to not think about the viability of an actual money plane that operates totally off the grid, but somehow has its tentacles so deep it can arrange literally any kind of wager anywhere at any time. How long will it take for a man bitten by a snake to die from the poison? Well shit, just bet on it. Can’t get that kind of action at the Vegas sportsbook. Bet on a game of Russian Roulette with the phoniest-looking cowboy (played by Matthew Lawrence) this side of the Village People? Sure, why not?

There’s a lot going on inside the money plane, too, and yet somehow very little of it as as fun as promised. Jack, played by an Edge so sleepy it’s like he still hasn’t recovered from Randy Orton kicking him in the head, has assembled his team everywhere they need to be. His right-hand man Trey (Patrick Lamont Jr.) is the tech guy on the inside, while secret weapon Isabella (Katrina Norman, actually a standout here) is a lethal force hiding in plain sight, barely keeping the grubby mitts of degenerates off of her ass. On the ground manning comms is Iggy (played by writer/director Andrew Lawrence). And Jack even has his old military pal, Harry (Thomas Jane, in a role that doesn’t give him enough to do) watching his back, and looking over his family who could be harmed if this heist goes bad. Speaking of which, Denise Richards is top-billed here but she has about two more minutes in this movie than I do, and maybe one more line of dialogue. She has a better smile than me, though.

There are rare moments when Money Plane is as over-the-top as we’d like it to be, but the premise is never capitalized on as it should be. Ignoring that I didn’t get my wish to see Edge spear someone from 30,000 feet in the air like he did Jeff Hardy…

…the money plane turns out to be pretty tame other than the occasional act of random violence.  Maybe it’s my fault for expecting sharks with freakin’ laser beams attached to their heads, but excuse me for thinking that a movie called Money Plane would be pretty insane. There are some decent fights, mostly by Isabella who can be as gruesome as she is sexy. One might think Copeland, with his WWE background, would be spearheading the action but he spends most of his time sitting in a cockpit and trying to stay awake. The same goes for Thomas Jane, whose most exciting moments come from piloting a drone. And if you’re wondering where the biggest bro of all Joey Lawrence is, he plays the money plane concierge, which is a bit like the concierge at The Continental Hotel in John Wick; just as deadly but not quite as cool.

Money Plane is indeed bizarre, but not in the way we want it. While the hokey dialogue and worse acting are part of its B-movie charm, the misuse of its stars and the lack of action is terminal. Perhaps my expectations had been allowed to soar too high for a film that has just a single good idea, that of a money plane, but then never comes up with ways to keep something like that in the air.

New “Knightmare” Batman Poster As ‘Batman v Superman’ Ultimate Edition Hits HBO Max

By
Travis Hopson
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Despite all of the fighting we’ve seen recently over things that might’ve happened on the Justice League set, there’s an upshot to the upcoming release of the Snyder Cut. Zack Snyder does appear to be back in Warner Bros.’ good graces. How do we know? Because not only have they just launched the Ultimate Cut of Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on HBO Max, but the director is out there hyping it up with a brand new poster.

The Ultimate Cut of Batman v Superman is roughly 30-minutes longer than the theatrical cut, and I would say it’s definitely better. It doesn’t fix all of that movie’s problems, so if you hate it already…well, you’ll probably still hate it after. That said, one of the movie’s coolest scenes is depicted in this new poster, and that’s the “Knightmare” sequence featuring Ben Affleck’s Batman.

It’s meaningful that this scene is featured, because the Snyder Cut of Justice League is meant to expand on it a great deal. It was always really cool, but damn confusing, as well.

Christopher McQuarrie And Tom Cruise Wanted R-Rated ‘Jack Reacher’ Sequel, Now Planning Something Even Edgier

By
Travis Hopson
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Tom Cruise turned 58-years-young this week, and he’s not slowing down at all. In fact, with his buddy Christopher McQuarrie by his side, Cruise is more active than ever and doing bigger stunts than ever. But the Mission: Impossible movies aren’t the only franchise Cruise and McQuarrie have worked on together. There was also Jack Reacher, which had two mostly-successful action films but were PG-13 rated, which is a huge departure from the violent Lee Child novels. McQuarrie has some thoughts about that, and they are leading him to a new idea that will push Cruise in a direction he has never gone before.

Speaking with Empire, McQuarrie talked about Jack Reacher and how he still has hopes for the franchise, especially with R-rated action movies all the rage…

“Tom and I were talking about, had the series continued, to take [‘Jack Reacher’] to a place where, in the post-‘Deadpool’, post-‘Joker’ world, [‘Jack Reacher’] could have been an R-rated movie and an R-rated franchise and really fed into the brutality of those books. We were fully ready to lean into that.”

However, a third movie doesn’t seem to be happening. While the 2012 movie earned a sizable $218M on a $60M budget, the sequel titled Never Go Back only hit $162M on a budget nearing $100M.  That said, McQuarrie has another idea that will take Cruise to the edge in ways they had always hoped to with Jack Reacher…

“It’s a very un-Tom character,” McQuarrie said. “And we have plans for an even more un-Tom character that we’ve been talking about, which I’m hopeful about in the future. The franchise has moved on, and we haven’t. So we’ve now got stuff in the hopper. The [Jack Reacher] stuff we’re talking about now is tinker toys [compared to it], I’m actually very, very excited.”

Whatever this idea is, it won’t happen soon. McQuarrie and Cruise are working on a pair of Mission: Impossible films back-to-back, with the last one opening in November 2022.  There’s also Cruise’s outer space movie with Elon Musk, and who knows where that might fit in.

‘Justice League’: Kevin Smith Reveals What He Heard Of Joss Whedon’s “Negative” Behavior On Set

By
Travis Hopson
-

Clearly, this surprise beef between Ray Fisher and Joss Whedon over the Justice League director’s “gross, abusive, unprofessional” behavior during reshoots isn’t going away. It probably won’t until Whedon gives his side of the story, but for now we have Kevin Smith, who reveals what he has heard about what happened, and it lends some credibility to Fisher’s story…

“Remember went I went to the Skywalker set and some people had worked on both Solo and Justice League? The special effects guy said there was a fair amount of trash-talking of Zack’s version of the movie on-set by Joss,” Smith revealed on his Fatman Beyond podcast. “Again, this is what a special effects guy who worked on both versions of the movie told me. But that he [Whedon] would cut down, dismiss, and be negative about Zack’s version, which he had seen and all these people had made together without him and stuff.”

“The guy had said he was kind of uncomfortable on-set because the people he was talking to about not liking that version of the movie were all people that had helped make that version of the movie, so that I think is probably the unprofessional thing. Like you don’t do that, especially if you came in to help out during a bad moment in the director’s life and stuff. But that’s hearsay.”

Clearly, this is a very unprofessional way for a big-time director like Whedon to act, but it should be noted that Smith is just repeating what he heard. None of us know the full story, and we aren’t likely to ever know it. Producer Jon Berg did come to Whedon’s defense, but Berg is implicated in Fisher’s comments, as well.

As I said on Twitch yesterday, it’s just interesting to see Fisher burning bridges like this, because Berg and Geoff Johns still hold a lot of sway at Warner Bros. Whatever happened, it’s clear Fisher feels strong enough about it to possibly damage his career with the studio.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max next year.

‘An American Pickle’ Trailer: Seth Rogen And Seth Rogen Take A Briny Look At The American Dream

By
Travis Hopson
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You know how Captain America was frozen in ice and re-emerged into a modern world he didn’t understand? Well, imagine if that guy wasn’t frozen, but brined in pickle juice. And imagine if that guy was Seth Rogen. Well, that would be the premise of An American Pickle, which is hitting HBO Max and has just debuted its trailer.

Rogen takes on the dual role of 1920s immigrant Herschel Greenbaum who lands a job at a pickle factory, only to fall into the brine and be preserved for 100 years. Discovered and introduced to the new world, he’s connected with his great-grandson, an app developer who has lost his way in the wake of his parents’ death.

This might not look like the laugh out loud riot some are expecting from Rogen, especially when one considers the ridiculous premise. There’s a lot of emotion and heart to be found in this trailer, and we know from past experience that Rogen can do that stuff just as well as he can play a stoner.

The cast is led by Rogen, who is joined by Sarah Snook, Jorma Taccone, Maya Erskine, and Kalen Allen. Brandon Trost directs, with Rogen also on board as a producer.

An American Pickle hits HBO Max on August 6th.

Charlie Kaufman’s Psychological Horror ‘I’m Thinking Of Ending Things’ Hits Netflix In September

By
Travis Hopson
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The long wait for a new movie by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind writer Charlie Kaufman is nearly over. It’s been five years since he directed his underrated stop-motion film Anomalisa, and this fall he returns with psychological horror I’m Thinking of Ending Things, which Netflix has just announced for a September 4th release.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is based on the book by Ian Reid, and stars Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette, David Thewlis, and Abby Quinn. The story follows a woman with significant identity issues, who discovers uncomfortable truths while meeting her boyfriend’s parents at their remote farm. Brie Larson had been cast in the lead role, but within a few months she was replaced by Buckley, best known for Wild Rose and Dolittle.

This will be the third feature directed by Kaufman, following Anomalisa and 2008’s acclaimed, mind-bending Synecdoche, New York. It’s a little bit crazy to think that we’re going to get I’m Thinking of Ending Things before we get Kaufman’s script for Chaos Walking, which he wrote more than five years ago and won’t hit the screen until 2021. Maybe.

 

Review: ‘The Old Guard’

Charlize Theron And Gina Prince-Bythewood Teamup On An Action Movie For The Ages

By
Travis Hopson
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Netflix has been putting in the big bucks over the last year or so to turn itself into a destination for the kind of widescreen, blockbuster action movies we usually pay to see in theaters. And so we’ve had the occasional decent action flick, like Extraction, and the occasional stupid dumb flick like 6 Underground, which are watchable but sorta forgettable. Leave it to the team of Charlize Theron and director Gina Prince-Bythewood to deliver the complete package with The Old Guard, which manages to have the top-shelf action we’re craving while building a fresh cinematic world we want to spend forever in.

A modern day Highlander that, like that classic franchise is unafraid to embrace its bleaker aspects, The Old Guard stars Theron as Andromache the Scythian, but please just call her Andy. Just don’t ask her age. Andy has been around for millennia, living an eternal life of combat. Along the way she has met others like herself who share the gift/curse of immortality: Matthias Schoenaerts is Andy’s closest companion, Booker, and the guy who finds missions for them to take; Aladdin‘s Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli are lovers Joe and Nicky, who have stuck by one another’s side for ages. It’s a tiny group, so there’s no “There can be only one!!!!” hijinks between them. They fight together, often die together, but they always look out for one another.

When we first meet the team, their latest mission turns out to be a trap.  Surprisingly for a bunch of immortals, this couldn’t come at a worse time. Andy is feeling lost that the hundreds of years she’s spent fighting for good causes have amounted to nothing. The world is only getting more, there’s more death, more suffering than ever, and she was there at the damn Crusades! She was there at the Salem witch trials! The mysterious government agent Mr. Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) has found out their secret, and has joined with an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company CEO (Harry Melling) to capture them and steal their abilities for sale on the market.

While The Old Guard could very easily be a smash ’em up movie with Andy and her crew battling waves of enemies all across the globe, there’s so much more here than that. The film is based on the graphic novels by screenwriter Grug Rucka, and he creates characters that are sympathetic and believable beyond their remarkable powers. If Beale Street Could Talk’s Kiki Layne is the best of these characters, Nile, a Marine who learns two things the hard way: 1. that no good deed goes unpunished, and 2. oh yeah, that she can’t be killed.  Nile’s emergence attracts Andy and the others, with the team trying to convince the newbie that her old life is over…just as someone is trying to kill them all.

Rucka’s script delivers action and characterization in equal measure, and that’s important when you’re dealing with people who can do superhuman things. While we’ve seen movies touch on the burden of immortality, The Old Guard really digs in and gives each character a different perspective on their long lives. Andy has been around so long and lost so much that she doesn’t know if everything was worth it. She’s especially hard on Nile, to impress on her just how difficult things are going to be. But at the same time, Nile has a family she doesn’t want to just leave behind, and just as important is the sense of duty she feels as a Marine. How does one just give that up? How do you just turn that part of you off?

Even better are the characters of Joe and Nicky, who frankly need their own side movie or spinoff.  It would be easy for the film to brush aside the gay duo, introduce their love and then leave it off the table, but The Old Guard instead treats their romance as integral, vital. They’ve spent an eternity together, enduring centuries of mistreatment for their feelings, and it has built a bond that makes their every moment together special. But there’s a flipside to it. We come to feel so much for them that when they’re in trouble, we truly ache at the idea of one being separated from the other. There’s a scene, during a moment of torment, when Joe expresses his deep love for Nicky with such force of passion it’ll bring tears to your eyes. You don’t expect that kind of thing from The Old Guard but that’s just one reason why this movie is special.

While the character-building and mythology surrounding these characters is so rich, the villains they face need a lot of work. Ejiofor’s role is one that could have been played by any actor, not one of his caliber. And Melling as an evil pharmaceutical rep may sound like it’s ripped from the headlines, but it’s also not particularly imaginative and Melling is hardly threatening. The biggest threat the immortals face is the fear within themselves.

The Old Guard is an expert action film from an expert cast and crew, and they confidently lay the groundwork for what could be a long run of sequels for Netflix. If that happens, you can count me in for the long haul.

 

 

 

 

 

Review: ‘Desperados’

A Welcome Raunchy Escape To Mexico For Two ‘New Girl’ Lovebirds

By
Jake Sokolsky
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Netflix’s newest comedy Desperados takes an interesting look at dating in the modern world. To say that Wes (Nasim Pedrad) is in a rut couldn’t be more of an understatement. She’s on the wrong side of 30, jobless, single, and draining her savings account. Maybe most importantly, in her mind, her ovaries are quickly running out of time. Wes’s friends Brooke (Anna Camp) and Kaylie (Sarah Burns) are her rocks but are in different places in their lives. While both may be married, that doesn’t mean their lives are perfect. Yet that seems to take a backseat to everything that Wes is going through. After countless terrible dates, including an immediate veto by Sean (Lamorne Morris), Wes happens to meet Jared (Robbie Amell). Jared is the perfect guy – successful career, good looking, wants kids…so Wes has to screw it up somehow.

Jared goes MIA for a few days after they have sex. In a completely healthy and measured response, Wes decides to get drunk and leave Jared quite the scathing email. Brooke and Kaylie join in on the fun as they pass the laptop, and booze, around. Each one of them contributes to the profanity and emoji filled email and off it goes to Jared’s inbox. In a cruel twist of fate, Jared immediately calls Wes to let her know he was in a car accident in Mexico and stuck in the hospital. In short, Wes realizes she has a brief window to get to Mexico, delete the email, and save her relationship. She talks Brooke and Kaylie into joining her and the three of them go off on a Mexican adventure.

Desperados doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Hell, the plot is eerily reminiscent of Road Trip – friends race against time to save a relationship by intercepting _________. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t full of laughs and ridiculous moments. I found myself cracking up throughout and for a comedy, there isn’t too much more you can ask for. Writer Ellen Rapoport and director LP keep things fresh and interesting with a fast-paced script and fun stylistic choices. Some have been used before – most notably texts/voicemails appearing on screen – but they find a way to add unique elements. On top of that, you throw in a cameo or two and Desperados really rounds into form.

Desperado pushes the envelope at times. There are plenty of hilarious moments and on the other hand some that are just plain absurd and slightly stupid. Above all, the good far outweighs the bad. The chemistry of the three leading ladies is strong and they each bring their own quirks to the group. It is also great seeing the two New Girl alums back on screen together. If you think one awkward date is it, think again. Sean is in Mexico for one reason or another and helps Wes with some of her hijinks. A long weekend is the perfect time to put the kids to bed and take a Netflix trip to Mexico. Get the popcorn ready, turn on Desperados, and be prepared to laugh and shake your head…but mostly laugh.

Zachary Levi To Star As Super Bowl QB Kurt Warner In New Faith-Based Film

By
Travis Hopson
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Faith and football are inextricably linked, especially in the small, conservative towns that worship the sport as much as any deity. Lionsgate is banking on this, as well as the recent popularity of faith-based movies, to create a huge hit film out of the underdog story of NFL Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Kurt Warner, and it might just be another big movie for Shazam! star Zachary Levi.

The Wrap reports Lionsgate have teamed up with Christian-themed studio Kingdom Story Company for American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story. The film will star Zachary Levi as the two-time Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner, who came out of nowhere to lead the St. Louis Rams to the NFL championship in 1999. He would go on to do the same for the Arizona Cardinals in 2008. Throughout his career, Warner was open about his Christian faith and spoke about it often, citing it as a reason for his remarkable transition from grocery store clerk to NFL champion.

The film will be directed by Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin, who previously worked with Lionsgate on anther real-life story of faith, the Jeremy Camp film I Still Believe. They also directed the smash film I Can Only Imagine, also for Lionsgate, which went on to earn a whopping $86M back in 2018.

Since this a small-budgeted film it’s expected to get rolling pretty quick, beating Levi’s return as the titular DC Comics superhero in Shazam 2.

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