‘The Last Days Of American Crime’: Edgar Ramirez Leads Olivier Megaton’s Futuristic Crime Thriller

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May 19, 2020

There are many great action directors out there, but only one has the good fortune of being named Olivier Megaton. The awesomely-named filmmaker is probably known best for Taken 2 & 3, Colombiana, and Transporter 3, but he’s back now with his first movie in five years; The Last Days of American Crime.

Starring Edgar Ramirez, The Last Days of American Crime is a little bit like Minority Report if it were a heist movie. It’s set in the future when governments have figured out how to emit a signal that prevents all people from knowingly committing crimes. Before the signal goes off, a bank robber joins with other criminals to pull-off one last big score. Of course, it doesn’t go as planned.

The cast includes Ramirez, Michael C. Pitt, Anna Brewster, Patrick Bergin, Sean Cameron Michael, and Sharlto Copley. The draw for me is Megaton, whose flashy style has sorely been missed from the action genre these last few years. He’s perfect for bringing to life the graphic novel by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini.

The Last Days of American Crime hits Netflix on June 5th.

Michael Bay On Board For Pandemic Thriller That’ll Shoot During The Pandemic

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Travis Hopson

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May 19, 2020

We’ve seen that filmmakers have been finding new ways to shoot movies while indoors due to the coronavirus, but in terms of full-scale Hollywood productions those remain on lockdown. That could be about to change if Michael Bay has anything to say about it. Deadline reports Bay will produce Songbird, a pandemic thriller that is to be shot in Los Angeles during the pandemic.

The film will be directed by Adam Mason (Into the Dark) from a script he co-wrote with Simon Boyes, and it takes place a couple of years in the future as the pandemic continues to spread and mutate. It’s being described as similar in tone to Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield, meaning it will be some form of found-footage film with a lower budget. Only there doesn’t appear to be a supernatural element, trading that for paranoia and government conspiracy.

The plan is to shoot in and around Los Angeles within five weeks, while the city is still under stay-at-home guidelines. It’s unclear how Mason plans to get around that, but Hollywood guilds have already given him the green light as they’re figuring out safety protocols for productions to resume. Casting is currently underway remotely, and a sizzle reel is being shopped around the virtual Cannes market. With Bay’s name attached, it should sell pretty easily.

Jamie Lee Curtis Joins With Blumhouse To Direct Climate Change Horror ‘Mother Nature’

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Travis Hopson

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May 19, 2020

“I’m 61 and my motto now is: ‘If not now, when, if not me, who?’”

Bold, confident words from Jamie Lee Curtis, who is busier than she’s ever been right now. A large part of that has to do with her relationship with Blumhouse, for which she starred in 2018’s Halloween and will again in a pair of sequels. Now they’re collaborating again on a new horror film that will put Curtis behind the camera.

Deadline reports Curtis and her production company have joined with Blumhouse for Mother Nature, a climate change horror which she will direct and co-write with Russell Goldman. Further details on the story are being kept a secret for now.

Curtis recently signed up to star in the Everything Everywhere All at Once, a film produced by the Russo Brothers and directed by the Swiss Army Man duo known as Daniels. She will also star in and make her feature directorial debut with Lifetime movie How We Sleep at Night: The Sara Cunningham Story, although she has previously been at the helm of episodes of Scream Queens and Anything but Love.

Review: ‘Body Cam’
Mary J. Blige Leads A Supernatural Cop Thriller That Earns Its R-Rating

By
Khalil Johnson
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You don’t even have to follow the news to know that there’s a crisis in this county in regard to police departments and their treatment of black and brown communities. More than not, many people of color find themselves on the wrong (and unjustified) end of a police officer who “was in fear” for their lives and killed an unarmed young person. While many people in those communities have known of this “new” phenomenon for generations, thanks to cell phones and the police using their mandated body cameras, now it’s a big part of the public lexicon. And because it’s a part of our collective consciousness, of course, Hollywood will try and do some interesting stories surrounding police shootings with Body Cam.

Last year’s Black and Blue had a rookie policewoman who learns about corruption within her department via body cam footage, while Body Cam takes the supernatural approach.
Fresh off a suspension for assaulting a citizen while processing the grief of her dead son, veteran police officer Renee (Mary J. Blige), comes back into the fold and is paired with a rookie cop Danny (Nat Wolff). While it seems to sort of start as some kind of Training Day situation, things take a left turn when they are called to assist a colleague during a traffic stop that ends horrifically for that person. After fining their fellow officer’s body freshly mangled, Renee checks the dashcam footage of her fellow officer’s car, and it is quickly revealed that some otherworldly thing has happened to him. Unfortunately, the footage quickly “shorts” out, so no one believes the fresh off of a suspension officer that some unseen specter killed her former partner.

Soon enough, there’s another attack on other police officers under bizarre circumstances, and even though the know nothing detectives think they caught the killers (two presumed gang members who also died during the encounter), Renee knows something is off and this situation is far from over. Renee discovers that a van and woman named Taneesha (Anika Noni Rose) is connected to everything, and she sets off on a path to try and figure out what exactly is going on. This makes the film (smartly) a mystery as much as it is a horror/thriller film. Every step she takes leads her closer to figure out who this monster hunting cops are, and why is this person doing it, which has a satisfying resolution.

Body Cam works very well towards the end when it starts to tie up all loose ends and gives you the full picture of why the monster does what it does, but the work up to it has a little bit of a pacing problem. The death of Renee’s child doesn’t really impact the story except to show that she lost her cool and beat up a citizen one day while processing her grief. At first, you think it’ll be more impactful to the story, but all it really does is display is that she and her husband (Demetrius Grosse) have grief issues to still deal with, and that she’s somewhat a tortured soul. But any character development for Renee is done through her trying to solve her fellow police officer’s murders.

Body Cam has some great kills, is gory as hell (earning its R-Rating), and has plenty of tense moments complete with some interesting jump scares. However, whenever the monster does its kills, it automatically makes the lights go dark to further the tension (and to hide the special FX budget-wise), and we are talking “Battle of Winterfell” dark, so you will find yourself squinting during all the best moments. Directed by Malik Vitthal, and written by Nicolas McCarthy with the purposeful tone of End of Watch and Get Out, Body Cam a socially conscious horror/thriller and as things get decluttered, the story works well, it just takes a while to get to the good stuff. The ending of the film comes to a strong resolution and makes a strong statement about police officers, corruption, and cover-ups. Even the cops you thought were good guys were just protecting the institution instead of the people they are supposed to serve. Real-life just needs cops like Renee, but not murderous ghosts. And Mary J. Blige doesn’t need to sing the soundtrack song for every movie she does!

Body Cam is currently available on VOD.

Apple TV+ Drops Big Money To Acquire Tom Hanks WWII Film ‘Greyhound’

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Travis Hopson

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May 19, 2020

The streaming wars have quickly led to some big money being thrown around for top-tier productions with big stars. While they aren’t drawing quite the buzz as others, Apple TV+ has been pretty busy with acquisitions, and they’ve just paid a hefty sum for Tom Hanks’ upcoming war movie, Greyhound.

Previously set to be released theatrically by Sony on Father’s Day weekend, Greyound will instead go exclusively to Apple TV+. Apple dropped a whopping $70M for the film, which Hanks both wrote and will star in as Ernest Krause, first-time US Navy commander whose ship is attacked by submarines during the WWII Battle of the Atlantic. Aaron Schneider (Get Low) is director, with a cast that includes Rob Morgan, Elisabeth Shue, and Stephen Graham.

The film had been shot in 2018 and originally pegged to hit theaters last year. It was delayed until May of this year, and then moved to June before the coronavirus screwed that up. Sony, looking to unload the expensive movie, found a willing buyer in Apple TV+ who are in need of as much content as they can get. It’s unclear when Greyhound will be released but expect it to be soon.

Halle Berry Joins Josh Gad In Roland Emmerich Disaster Film ‘Moonfall’

By

Travis Hopson

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May 19, 2020

Halle Berry has joined the CRIME 101 cast

Roland Emmerich loves finding new ways to threaten the planet. Global climate disasters, alien invasions, bad Shakespeare, Godzilla. So what’s next? How about the moon? The satellite made of green cheese is coming to destroy Earth, and Emmerich has found two of the people who can save us all.

Deadline reports Halle Berry is joining the previously-cast Josh Gad in Moonfall, which is basically Armageddon set on the moon. She’ll play a NASA NASA astronaut-turned-administrator who is part of a team sent to the celestial body to stop it from hurtling into the Earth. Emmerich will direct and co-write the script with Harold Kloser and Spencer Cohen.

Lionsgate recently released Emmerich’s big-budget war movie, Midway, which made just $125M worldwide on a production budget of $100M. Considering the losses they took on that one it’s surprising they are investing in another big film by Emmerich. As for Berry, she recently appeared in John Wick 3, and will be seen next in the MMA drama Bruised.

‘The Mandalorian’: Is Timothy Olyphant Wearing The Boba Fett Armor In Season 2?

By

Travis Hopson

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May 19, 2020

So there’s been an interesting twist in the news of Timothy Olyphant joining The Mandalorian season 2. At that time, we didn’t have any idea who he might be playing. I had suggested another gunslinger because it made sense for the Deadwood and Justified actor, but if a new rumor from /Film is true, Olyphant might be going so far as to wear the Boba Fett armor.

Here’s the deal: Olyphant was seen filming scenes sporting Mandalorian armor resembling Boba Fett’s. With Temuera Morrison, the man who originated the Jango Fett character, recently confirmed to be playing Boba Fett, that might be sorta weird. Well, if Olyphant is playing Boba Fett, then chances are Olyphant is actually in the role of Cobb Vanth, a character introduced in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath book series. Vanth was the sheriff of Freetown, a settlement on Tatooine, and enforced the law in a suit of Mandalorian armor scavenged by Jawas from the wreckage of Jabba the Hutt’s ship near the Dune Sea. You might recall in Return of the Jedi that’s where Boba Fett was hilariously thrown to his death in the Sarlacc Pit.

The role makes sense, again given Olyphant’s history of lawman roles. It also could mean Morrison is playing Boba Fett in flashback, rather than in the present. That, too, would be logical. It could also mean that rumors Morrison is playing Captain Rex in addition to Boba Fett are true.

Either way, get ready for Boba Fett! The Mandalorian returns to Disney+ this October.

Mindy Kaling & Dan Goor To Write ‘Legally Blonde 3’

By

Cortland Jacoby

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May 19, 2020

Court is back in session. Well, the stenographer is anyway. It was announced today that Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor have officially signed on as Legally Blonde 3‘s screenwriters.

The franchise’s star Reese Witherspoon announced back in 2018 that the female-driven film series was to receive a new installment, with Witherspoon coming back to star as iconic lawyer Elle Woods. The chick-flick turned girl power anthem was originally released back in 2001, with a sequel in 2003, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.

Kaling, known for writing and starring in The Mindy Project, The Office, and last year’s Late Night, previously worked closely with Witherspoon on 2018’s A Wrinkle in Time. Goor was once a late-night comedy writer before moving on to write, direct and produce comedies like Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

‘Exit Plan’ Trailer: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Investigates A Life-And-Death Mystery

By

Travis Hopson

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May 19, 2020

With films such as A Second Chance, Shot Caller, and Small Crimes, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau hasn’t needed to lean solely on playing Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones. His dramatic resume is impressive enough, and looks to get even better with Exit Plan, a mystery that has been making the rounds internationally since last year and is headed to our shores.

Directed by Jonas Alexander Arnby, the film (formerly-titled Suicide Tourist) casts Coster-Waldau as an insurance claims investigator on a case that leads him to a remote, secretive facility that specializes in assisted suicide. There, secrets are unearthed that cause him to question the very meaning of life and death.

Arnby is the Danish filmmaker who made his debut a few years ago with horror film When Animals Dream, which premiered at Cannes. The cast includes Tuva Novotny, Kate Ashfield, Robert Aramayo, and one of my favorite actresses, Johanna Wokalek.

I’m not sure what to make of this film yet, but it looks like it could be an episode of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror, and that’s not a bad thing.

Synopsis: Insurance claims investigator Max (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) follows the clues of a mysterious death to the remote Hotel Aurora, a unique and secretive facility that specializes in assisted suicide. His investigation uncovers disturbing revelations that force Max to question the very nature of life and death, and the realization that he may not be able to escape.

Exit Plan hits VOD and theaters on June 12th.

Edgar Wright To Develop Multiple Netflix Projects, Including A Series By Joe Cornish

By

Travis Hopson

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May 19, 2020

In the Hollywood of today, practically every major actor or filmmaker has a production company. It’s just smart business to be able to develop projects for yourself and to tell the stories you think should be told. And in the case of Edgar Wright, the new company he’s launched is off to a hot start by teaming up with Netflix.

Variety reports Wright, producers Nira Park and Rachael Prior, and director Joe Cornish have created a new production company, Complete Friction. They’re out of the gate quick with a deal to produce four shows for Netflix, including one exec-produced and directed by Cornish, the man behind Attack the Block and The Kid who would be King.

Cornish will direct an action-adventure detective series titled Lockwood & Co, based on the books by Jonathan Stroud. The novels take place in an alternate version of modern-day London, which has been overrun by ghosts that attack the living at night. Only children can sense the ghosts, however, an ability they lose as they grow up.

Other adaptations from Complete Friction include The Murders of Molly Southbourne, based on author Tade Thompson’s horror trilogy, and author S.A. Chakraborty’s sci-fi fantasy The City of Brass. No word on what the fourth project will be.