‘Cursed’ Trailer: Katherine Langford Stars In Netflix’s New Twist On The King Arthur Legend

By

-

June 18, 2020

There have been many updated versions of the King Arthur legend, some of them very recently, but here’s one that may actually present it from a fresh angle. Cursed is a new series headed to Netflix, and it stars 13 Reasons Why‘s Katherine Langford as the Lady of the Lake.

In Cursed, Langford takes on the role of Nimue, who will eventually become the Lady of the Lake and the one who gifts Arthur with the sword Excalibur. She has yet to attain that role in this series, but finds herself drawn to a mercenary named Arthur and a quest to find Merlin and deliver a mysterious sword.

There’s some interesting talent behind the camera, with Tom Wheeler as co-creator and showrunner alongside comics legend Frank Miller. Miller and Wheeler collaborated on the graphic novel, which should ensure a faithful adaptation. Miller is well-versed in adapting his own comics for the screen, as he did with Sin City and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Wheeler created the short-lived series The Cape, and wrote movies Puss in Boots and Lego Ninjago.

SYNOPSIS: Based on the New York Times bestselling book, Cursed is a re-imagination of the Arthurian legend, told through the eyes of Nimue, a young woman with a mysterious gift who is destined to become the powerful (and tragic) Lady of the Lake. After her mother’s death, she finds an unexpected partner in Arthur, a humble mercenary, in a quest to find Merlin and deliver an ancient sword. Over the course of her journey, Nimue will become a symbol of courage and rebellion against the terrifying Red Paladins, and their complicit King Uther. “Cursed” is a coming-of-age story whose themes are familiar to our own time: the obliteration of the natural world, religious terror, senseless war, and finding the courage to lead in the face of the impossible.

Netflix debuts Cursed on July 17th.

‘Warrior Nun’ Trailer: Holy Hell Is Unleashed In Netflix’s Badass New Series

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 18, 2020

I used to read issues of Ben Dunn’s manga Warrior Nun Areala when they would sporadically appear at my comic shop, so to see it now as a badass Netflix series is a trip. Imagine Buffy or Dark Angel with a side of Spawn and you’ll get an idea of what an off-the-wall show this is going to be, and why fans have been eagerly awaiting it since first announced back in 2018.

Warrior Nun stars Alba Baptiste as Ava, a teen who dies, finds herself awake in a morgue with a powerful relic embedded into her back, and enlisted into a clan of reincarnated holy warriors tasked with battling demons. While Ava tries to get used to her newfound powers, forces from Heaven and Hell conspire to use her power for themselves. If you wanted to see machine gun-toting nuns this is the show for you.

Those who read the comic will note some small changes beyond the lead character’s name, and some of the more zany, manga-influenced aspects have been tweaked. Most of all, the religious angle isn’t taken too seriously at all, and will just be another avenue for showrunner Simon Barry (Continuum) to have some fun. We’ll see if anybody gets offended, anyway. I’m sure somebody will.

Warrior Nun hits Netflix on July 2nd.

‘Hanna’ Season 2 Trailer: Amazon’s Hit-Girl Series Goes Back To School

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 18, 2020

Joe Wright’s 2011 coming-of-age film/assassin thriller Hanna didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it opened. But reviews of it were pretty good, especially for star Saoirse Ronan as the young woman raised from birth to be an elite killer. But to see it, one wouldn’t exactly have pegged it to be turned into a TV series, much less one that has survived into its second season.

Hanna returns to Amazon for season two, and the title character’s world has been flipped upside down. The end of the first season saw her suffer a tragic loss from her life, and now she finds herself in a boarding school for young assassins known as The Meadows.

Esme Creed-Miles had some pretty big shoes to fill as Hanna, and while she’s no Ronan (But who is??) she has gone a long way in making the character her own. She’s joined in the cast by Mireille Enos, Anthony Welsh, and Dermot Mulroney.

SYNOPSIS: Welcome to the Meadows, a secret conditioning school where assassins are trained to go undercover as everyday teenage girls. But a former test subject, Hanna, returns to infiltrate the facility and put an end to this shadowy organization. They took her father. They took her identity. But can they stop her?

Hanna season 2 hits Amazon Prime on July 3rd.

‘Alien 5’ Treatment Already Completed, Producer Pushes For Sigourney Weaver’s Return

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 17, 2020

Now that the Alien franchise is the plaything of Disney overlords, the question is where does it go next? After Ridley Scott’s prequels failed to muster much excitement, and Neil Blomkamp’s attempted sequel suffered a chest-bursting fate, there have been talks of a new film that would bring Sigourney Weaver back into the role of Ellen Ripley. Weaver has recently expressed serious concerns about returning, but producer Walter Hill has an idea he thinks can work.

Speaking with SYFY Wire, Hill revealed that an Alien 5 story treatment has been completed, having finished it back in March with producer David Giler. And Hill has already shown this treatment to Weaver, with hopes that it’ll sway her to play the iconic Ripley once more…

“Sigourney, as she has from the very beginning, is being too modest about her proven ability to pull off the idea — which is to tell a story that scares the pants off your date, kicks the ass of a new Xenomorph, and conducts a meditation on both the universe of the ‘Alien’ franchise and the destiny of the character of Lt. Ellen Ripley,” Hill said.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it? If Weaver doesn’t come back, then you’ve got nothing at all. This is something Blomkamp wanted, as well, but she seemed more interested in doing that one, perhaps because it would’ve been the end of Ripley’s story.

With sci-fi relaunches failing pretty miserably lately, plus the ho-hum reaction to Scott’s Alien prequels, chances are Disney is going to sit on this franchise for a while. Maybe by the time they’re ready to go Weaver will have warmed to the idea.

Michael Keaton To Lead Opioid Drama Series ‘Dopesick’ From Danny Strong And Barry Levinson

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 17, 2020

Michael Keaton is returning to the small screen for the first time in more than a decade, and his return will be on an opioid drama series for Hulu. THR reports Keaton will star in Dopesick, which boasts the talents of writer/showrunner Danny Strong (Empire) and legendary director Barry Levinson.

Dopesick is based on the book by Beth Macy, and takes a look at the current opioid crisis from multiple angles, almost similar to what Steven Soderbergh did with the drug crisis in Traffic. Keaton plays Samuel Finnix, a compassionate doctor who gets swept up in the struggle due to his connection with Big Pharma.

The series will be directed by Levinson, whose credits include such classics as Rain Man, Wag the Dog, and The Natural. Recently, he’s been working on notable TV films such as The Wizard of Lies and Paterno. Strong turned from acting to filmmaking, making his directorial debut with Rebel in the Rye. He also co-created Fox’s hit series, Empire, and wrote acclaimed films Recount, Game Change, and The Butler.

But the hook here is Keaton, an Oscar nominee for his performance in Birdman, while accumulating other memorable roles in Beetlejuice, The Founder, Batman, and Spotlight. He most recently starred in the Sundance drama Worth, about the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, and has yet to gain distribution as far as I can tell. His last go at series TV was in The Company back in 2007.

I have a question: where in the Hell is Michael Keaton drama Worth? The film, which follows the guy who managed the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, has no release and no distributor as far as I can tell. It’s Michael Keaton, and

‘Infamous’ Interview: Director Joshua Caldwell On His Modern-Day Bonnie & Clyde Film Starring Bella Thorne

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 17, 2020

The Bonnie & Clyde model gets updated for the social media age with Infamous, the latest film from indie director Joshua Caldwell. The criminal duo at its core are played by celebrity queen Bella Thorne and Jake Manley, who as Arielle and Dean race through the American south on a violent road trip that makes them Internet famous…or perhaps just infamous.

I spoke with Bella Thorne a couple of days ago and, sadly, Zoom screwed me over on that one. Fortunately, Caldwell was willing to talk with me about Infamous and we had a terrific conversation about his desire to tell modern-day lovers on the run story. He also talked about the casting of Thorne and what her own celebrity brought to the role, plus the chemistry she and Manley had right from the beginning.

Infamous is out now in drive-ins and on VOD. You can check out my review here, and watch the interview below!

Kristen Stewart To Star As Princess Diana In Pablo Larrain’s ‘Spencer’

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 17, 2020

Kristen Stewart has been one of Charlie’s Angels, she’s been a vampire, an Iraq War soldier, and much more. But she’s never been royalty, and that’s about to change in Spencer, the new film from Chilean director Pablo Larrain (Jackie) about Princess Diana.

Deadline reports Stewart will play the late Princess Diana in Spencer, the title a reference to her full name, Diana Frances Spencer. The film, written by Steven Knight (Eastern Promises, Locke), “covers a critical weekend in the early ‘90s, when Diana decided her marriage to Prince Charles wasn’t working, and that she needed to veer from a path that put her in line to one day be queen. The drama takes place over three days, in one of her final Christmas holidays in the House of Windsor in their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.”

Diana was beloved by the people for her celebrity and activism, but her marriage to Prince Charles in 1981 made her personal life the subject of public scrutiny and embarrassment. The royal couple separated in 1992 and divorced four years later. Diana would die a year later in an automobile accident alongside her lover, Dodi Fayed.

This could very well be the most high-profile role of Stewart’s career, and that’s really saying something. But playing a beloved figure like Diana is sure to catch a lot of attention. Add to that direction by Larrain, and you’ve got the makings of a project worth keeping a close eye on. Larrain has tackled a “royal” figure before, most-recently in 2016’s Jackie, a film that earned Natalie Portman a Best Actress nomination. Could Stewart be next?

Review: ‘I Am Vengeance: Retaliation’
Stu Bennett And Vinnie Jones Trade Punches In An Old School Action Brawler

By
Travis Hopson
-

I am Vengeance was an old school kick-in-the-face for genre fans, and for most people probably their introduction to Stu “Bad News Barrett” Bennett, ex-WWE superstar. If so, it was a Hell of an intro, as Stu showed he’s a natural in front of the camera and one of the most credible ass-kickers on the screen. Now he’s back as John Gold in the sequel, I Am Vengeance: Retaliation, which pairs him up with Vinnie Jones for what is basically an 80-minute fight scene.

If that sounds like it’s up your alley, then I Am Vengeance: Retaliation won’t disappoint. The plot has a Hitman’s Bodyguard feel to it, minus all of the dumb jokes, car chases, and gratuitous F-bombs. Ex-special forces soldier John Gold is tasked with bringing in Sean Teague (Jones), the man who betrayed him and his team years earlier. But Teague has his own goon squad out there trying to keep him safe, and a Molotov cocktail thrown into the mix is Katrina Durden as Jen Quaid, who wants revenge on Teague for killing her father. Escorting Teague to the federal prison where he’ll likely rot for eternity proves to be a difficult task.

This movie is chocked full of badass women who equal, and often surpass, the fighting skills of any dude they go up against. Durden’s Jen Quaid leaps and springs off the walls like a ninja, while Phoebe Robinson-Galvin packs a Hell of a punch as Gold’s right-hand lady, Kate Lynch. When Quaid and Lynch throwdown, it’s the highlight of the entire movie…right up until the moment they can break some skulls together.

At 80-minutes long, I Am Vengeance: Retaliation doesn’t dick around, and writer/director Ross Boyask keeps the pace brisk. Sure, the dialogue is corny as shit, and the bad guys have the aim of Imperial Stormtroopers, but you let that stuff go because this franchise clearly knows what it’s doing. Even so, with a vast number of characters all running around hitting or shooting at one another, it gets a little out of control and it seems Boyask loses track of them. Some end up standing around doing nothing at really odd times, letting people they were just trying to kill walk free for no apparent reason other than plot, and so forth. Your mileage may vary on how much that annoys you, but for me it was laughable the number of times Gold or his team are allowed to just skate unscathed when they should be dead.

Boyask deserves credit for keeping each fight totally free of CGI, and allowing his talented group of battlers to shine. The shootouts aren’t nearly as fun as when his characters resort to hand-to-hand combat, because that’s where everybody gets to show off their skills. Bennett is rock solid as John Gold. You believe he could legitimately destroy everybody in the room if he wanted to. From top to bottom, Boyask has put together a stellar group that I hope we can see put together again in another film. Along with Bennett, Jones, Durden, and Robinson-Galvin the cast is basically a stunt coordinator’s dream. There are some obvious limitations due to the budget, which Boyask tries to conceal to mixed effectiveness. Basically, as long as the film stays away from car crashes and anything beyond people beating one another up, it’s all good. Less is definitely more.

All of that said, if you’ve got an itch for action that needs to be scratched, you could do a lot worse than I Am Vengeance: Retaliation. The previous film doesn’t need to have been seen to understand why Gold is beating everybody up. And there are some great showdowns between Bennett and Jones as these two hulking bruisers trade barbs and fists in equal measure.

Vengeance Retaliation review pics

1 of 4

Joe Cornish Teases Meeting With John Boyega About An ‘Attack The Block’ Sequel

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 17, 2020

John Boyega has been a force beyond the movie screen of late, lending his voice to the Black Lives Matter rallies happening in London and around the world. But he’s, of course, known for his time as Finn in the latest Star Wars trilogy, and before that a little alien invasion movie called Attack the Block, for which he and director Joe Cornish made their careers. While fans have hoped for a sequel, and it damn sure deserves one, all has been quiet on that front…until now, with Cornish giving hope that it might actually happen.

Joining the Script Apart podcast, Cornish revealed that he’s actually met with Boyega about an Attack the Block sequel, and it could all boil down to timing…

“We’ve got ideas. I met with John a couple of months ago to talk about it. We’ve always had ideas after the first one, but obviously we’ve both been busy doing different things. In a way, the longer you leave it, the more interesting it is. So that’s all I’ll say.”

What’s more, Boyega chimed in on social media and he seems pretty chill with the idea of coming back…

….think imma need the whole of London for an army on this one…… https://t.co/hGu9IL4UBJ

— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) June 17, 2020

Attack the Block was released in 2011 and went on to become a cult favorite. Other than Boyega, the big names in the cast were Nick Frost, Jodie Whittaker, and Franz Drameh. Let’s hope Cornish and Boyega have the time in their busy schedules to make this sequel a reality.

Regal Cinemas Announces New Safety Guidelines Ahead Of July 10th Reopening

By

Travis Hopson

-

June 17, 2020

Flattening the curve? Whuzzat? Despite the COVID-19 cases spiking, and a federal government that doesn’t seem to give a shit, the show really must go on. Businesses that shutdown during the outbreak are starting to open back up, and cinemas are a big part of that plan. While we already know AMC is gearing up to reopen next month, and now Regal Cinemas has announced new safety rules and regulations in preparation for a July 10th return.

Regal Cinemas is reopening its doors on July 10th, but things will be done a bit differently in order to mitigate the threat of COVID-19. You can read the entire list at Regal’s website, but the gist is that each individual theater will be going by state guidelines. Theaters will be kept at 50% max capacity in states that require it, and the same goes for wearing make. If the state government demands masks be worn, most likely in big cities, then those will be the rules. As for the Regal staffers, they’ll be undergoing daily health screening checks, as well. If buying tickets online, the system will automatically include theater spacing to account for social distancing measures. In places without online ticketing? Well, Regal will hope you’ll follow the rules. Concession stands will be socially distanced, and theaters will be thoroughly sanitized after each showing.

Nothing is going to make going out to a movie 100% safe, and hopefully Regal and AMC realize that. So when/if audiences are slow to return, they’ll understand why. This is going to be very slow going for a while, and there’s no guarantee it’ll ever get back to normal, even with films like Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 out there.

As a critic, I’m curious to see what all of this means for movie screenings. Have we seen the end of general audiences sneak peeks? Kinda hard to socially distance when the entire point of screenings is to jam pack the house for maximum word-of-mouth. Very interesting, and scary, times ahead. Are you eager to return to cinemas next month? Let us know!