Edgar Wright To Direct ‘Set My Heart To Five’ About A Movie-Loving Robot

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April 1, 2020

Edgar Wright is keeping himself pretty busy, with his thriller Last Night in Soho coming up this year. That’s followed by a sequel to his biggest hit, Baby Driver, at some point. But one film may get in the way of that, an adaptation of upcoming novel Set My Heart to Five, and it sounds, frankly, insane.

Set My Heart to Five is based on the book by Simon Stephenson, and it centers on a robot named Jared who goes on a remarkable journey of the soul. THR‘s synopsis attempts to explain it best:

“According to a synopsis, the story is “set in an all-too human 2054″ and follows Jared, an android that works as a dentist, as he undergoes an emotional awakening that is sparked by an introduction to ’80s and ’90s movies. He then embarks on a quest to convince humans that he and his kind should be permitted to feel. It’s a quest that leads to an unforgettable adventure across the West Coast of America, determined to meet to programmer that created him and write a film script that will change the world.”

I mean…what??? There is so much that sounds like it could go wrong from a storytelling standpoint. Perhaps that’s what makes Wright perfect for it? I can’t imagine anyone else who could’ve wrangled an overstuffed story like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and yet Wright did it with flair. He had some help in crafting that screenplay, however. Set My Heart to Five, on the other hand, will be adapted entirely by Stephenson.

It doesn’t matter. I’m down for anything Wright does. Curious if he’ll bring his Cornetto pals Simon Pegg and Nick Frost into this. It sounds like a story where they could play some of the colorful folks Jared meets along the way.

‘Greenland’ Trailer: Gerard Butler Tries To Escape A Global Apocalypse

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Travis Hopson

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April 1, 2020

Gerard Butler is always saving the world from SOMETHING. Just two years ago it was out-of-control weather patterns or something in Geostorm. And now with the upcoming disaster flick Greenland it’s a comet that threatens a global catastrophe.

Greenland is directed Ric Roman Waugh, who co-wrote the script with Buried writer Chris Sparling. The film finds Butler as a father attempting to get his family to a safe haven in Greenland before the comet strikes. The cast includes Deadpool‘s Morena Baccarin, Daredevil‘s Scott Glenn, plus Andrew Bachelor and David Denman.

Butler is a known commodity at this point. One look at the trailer and you’ll know everything about the character he’s playing. Waugh isn’t a big name filmmaker but he’s done some really good work on Felon, Shot Caller, Snitch, and London Has Fallen, arguably the best of that Butler-led franchise.

SYNOPSIS: A family struggles to survive when a comet rages against the earth. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his separated wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and son Nathan embark on a perilous journey to their only hope of safety. While several cities around the world are leveled with the earth from the comet’s fragments, the family experiences the best and worst humanity can offer, while battling the growing panic and lawlessness around them. As the countdown to the global apocalypse approaches zero, their last chance is a desperate flight to a possible safe haven in Greenland.

Greenland opens on June 12th.

Bored? Watch The First 8-Minutes Of ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’

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Cortland Jacoby

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April 1, 2020

Lately, a lot of content meant for theaters is being released early on streaming services. Well today, Fandango’s youtube channel has released the first eight minutes of Sonic the Hedgehog, to celebrate the movie’s availability on digital platforms.

A lot happens in the first eight minutes. We get Sonic’s backstory, meet Officer Tom (James Marsden), and are introduced to other residents of Green Hills, Montana. Voiced, by character actor and comedian Ben Schwartz, Sonic shows off his comedic chops in the short time span, running with turtles, chasing crazy old men and keeping his identity a secret. Missing from the first eight minutes is Jim Carrey, who was positively praised for his performance.

The film, first released in theaters on Valentine’s Day, earned $306.8 million at the box office. Check out our review of Sonic the Hedgehog here and the first eight minutes of the film below.

Josh Brolin Is Cable, And He Wants To Keep It That Way

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John Nolan

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March 31, 2020

There are a few unwritten rules in big-time comic book movies, one of the most concrete is that you only get cast once, so you better make it count. Rules, however, don’t apply to someone as stone-cold cool as Josh Brolin who’s put in Marvel double time over the last few years as the intergalactic despot Thanos and as time-hopping anti-hero Cable. You see, Brolin got in on a loophole, he was already cast as Thanos when those lackadaisical folks at Fox decided that he would make a damn fine Cable as well and cast the stoic A-lister in Deadpool 2. Since that casting Fox was bought out by Disney, which means the unflinching white glove of Mickey has come down on those Fox properties. Apparently Brolin is hoping this doesn’t change his future as Cable for any future films, according to Rob Liefeld anyway. Liefeld, Cable’s creator and all time top-tier creator in the comics world, sat down with ComicBook.com and relayed a conversation he had with the actor, Liefeld had this to say:

“He is itching to be Cable again. He loved being Cable. He told me he understands how beloved his role as Thanos is, but he doesn’t look completely like Josh Brolin.”

He’s got a point. Thanos is not exactly recognizable as Brolin and his story in the MCU is dead. Perfect casting is something the MCU does especially well so they have to appreciate the glove-like fit Brolin brings to the role. As we get closer to a world where comic-book films are as respected as any other type of movie, having as many people with Brolin’s gravitas as possible is only going to help matters.

‘Outer Banks’ Trailer: Murder, Money, And Making Out In Netflix’s Teen Drama Series

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Cortland Jacoby

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March 31, 2020

If you’re like me, your desire to go to the beach has been heightened lately. Well, thanks to Netflix, you can now go while staying at home in your PJs. Today, the streaming service released its trailer for Outer Banks, a teen drama centered on the lives and relationships of those living in the North Carolinian beach town. Giving off major East-Coast O.C. vibes, the show follows a group of teenagers who find a treasure map to $400 million worth of gold.

Led by John B., a young man whose father has gone missing, the group of misfits must compete with the police, the wealthy, and others in order to find the missing treasure first. “If they’re willing to kill for the gold, then it must be out there,” John shouts at one point. Murder, make-outs, and money seem to cause the most tension in this beach town. As the trailer’s tagline says, “Living in Paradise is no vacation.”

Check the trailer out below and catch Outer Banks on Netflix April 15th.

Love Does Not Come Easy In Hulu’s Passionate Trailer For ‘Normal People’

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Cortland Jacoby

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March 31, 2020

What the world needs now is love, sweet love, and Hulu had certainly provided it. In a truly explosive and passionate trailer, the streaming service gives us the first look at Normal People, a romantic miniseries exploring class and love in ’00s Ireland.

Based on Sally Rooney’s 2018 best-selling book, the show will follow the romantic ups and downs between Marianne and Connell, whose mother works as a housekeeper for Marianne’s family. As they become closer over time and come of age, their relationship becomes tested by outside sources and by the trailer, it won’t be easy. Angry brothers, money, secret relationships, and lots of kissing, all seem to complicate their relationship. Starring relatively unknown actors Daisy Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal as Marianne and Connell, I can’t wait to see how this all unfolds.

A co-production with BBC Three, the 12 episode series will be directed Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald. Abrahamson is best known for directing Room, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Macdonald, who has been directing since 1996, has directed numerous episodes of TV, including Fortitude, Doctor Who, and Poirot.

Normal People will premiere on Hulu on April 29^th. Watch the trailer below.

‘Guest Of Honour’ Trailer: Atom Egoyan’s Knotty Family Drama Stars David Thewlis And Laysla de Oliveira

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Travis Hopson

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March 31, 2020

Although accolades have followed director Atom Egoyan throughout his career, it’s never translated to much beyond that. His highest-grossing film is still 2009’s Chloe with just $11M, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. Egoyan returns with Guest of Honour, a knotty family drama that has earned raves at Venice, Toronto, and elsewhere.

Guest of Honour stars David Thewlis, Laysla de Oliveira, Rossif Sutherland, and Luke Wilson. It centers on a complicated father/daughter relationship and the implications of a hoax that goes terribly wrong.

A theatrical release for Guest of Honour has been planned for Europe in April, but it’s unclear if that is going forward. Perhaps a VOD debut will be extended into the U.S., as well.

SYNOPSIS: Jim (David Thewlis) and his daughter Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira), a young high- school music teacher, attempt to unravel their complicated histories and intertwined secrets in GUEST OF HONOUR, the new film from Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) which weaves through time exploring perception and penance, memory and forgiveness. A hoax instigated by an aggressive school bus driver (Rossif Sutherland) goes very wrong. Accused of abusing her position of authority with 17-year-old Clive (Alexandre Bourgeois) and another student, Veronica is imprisoned. Convinced that she deserves to be punished for crimes she committed at an earlier age, Veronica rebuffs her father’s attempts to secure her early release. Confused and frustrated by Veronica’s intransigence, Jim’s anguish begins to impinge on his job. As a food inspector, he wields great power over small, family-owned restaurants. It’s a power he doesn’t hesitate to use. While preparing Jim’s funeral, Veronica confides the secrets of her past to Father Greg (Luke Wilson) who may hold the final piece of the father-daughter puzzle.

‘The Rise Of Skywalker’ Writer On Multiple Rewrites: “There’s A New Script Every Morning”

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Travis Hopson

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March 31, 2020

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had lofty expectations heaped on it, too much for any movie to achieve. That said, the overall consensus is that it leaves much to be desired, not just as the finale to the epic Skywalker Saga, but as an entertaining movie. In nearly every case, it’s the script where most problems begin, and that appears to be the case with The Rise of Skywalker.

We’ve heard the stories of multiple script revisions on The Rise of Skywalker, and writer Chris Terrio backs up those stories in the upcoming book The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. In fact, Terrio says he’s never had to rewrite a movie as much as this one, which is saying a lot considering her also wrote Batman v Superman and Justice League.

“I’ve never rewritten a film as much as this one,” said Terrio (via Business Insider). “It’s like a tide. There’s a new script every morning. But we just keep going at it and going at it, loosely thinking that it’s not good enough. It’s never good enough.”

“Luckily, the production team is so good that they can shift and adjust. We’re course-correcting as we go – we’re trying things, and some things don’t work and some things aren’t ambitious enough. Some things are overly ambitious. Some things are too dense. Some things are too simple. Some things are too nostalgic. Some things are too out-of-left-field. We’re finding our balance.”

So did anybody stop to tell them to remove the shit that doesn’t work? Or did they just keep it all in? Seems like they kept them all in. Terrio basically just confirmed what many of us have felt about The Rise of Skywalker, which is that it was constantly tinkered with by multiple people all of the time, until finally JJ Abrams just shot the damn thing to get it over with.

Anyway, The Rise of Skywalker is available today on Bluray and DVD. I’m still debating whether to get it, the first time I’ve ever had to think about owning a Star Wars movie.

‘Alamo-At-Home’ Will Bring The Alamo Drafthouse Experience To You

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Travis Hopson

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March 31, 2020

Alamo Drafthouse may be one of the larger novelty theaters out there, but it’s struggling like the rest of them right now. With theaters closed nationwide, all are looking for ways to keep their audiences engaged while earning a bit of revenue. Alamo has come up with a pretty cool way to do just that with Alamo-At-Home.

Alamo-At-Home basically seeks to bring the Alamo Drafthouse experience home to you. The biggest part of that is the Virtual Cinema program, a partnership with Kino Lorber, Magnolia, and Film Movement to screen their first-run films online. Just a few of the films immediately available are Oscar nominee Corpus Christi, documentary Once Were Brothers, and Brazilian Western Bacurau.

Drafthouse, of course, has a very committed base of genre fans and for them the long-running film series Terror Tuesdays and Weird Wednesdays will continue virtually. The first Terror Tuesday film will be tonight at 7pm EST, and will be a screening of 1982 Hong Kong creature feature Centipede Horror. Weird Wednesday picks things up on April 8th with a 4K restoration of Godmonster of Indian Flats.

For more info, check out Alamo Drafthouse’s website here.

‘To The Stars’ Trailer: Kara Hayward & Liana Liberato Raise Hell In The 1960s

By

Travis Hopson

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March 31, 2020

The need for freedom and escape from reality strains at the edges of director Martha Stephens’ films (Land Ho!, Passenger Pigeons, Pilgrim Song), and that continues with her latest, To the Stars. Premiering at Sundance 2019, the film stars Liana Liberato, currently earning raves for her performance in comedy Banana Split (our review of that here), and Moonrise Kingdom breakout Kara Hayward, as two girls in 1960s Oklahoma trying to make themselves heard in a place where women tend to keep silent.

I remember hearing the strong buzz for this while in Park City, but didn’t end up seeing it because of there were just so many coming-of-age films. One thing in its favor at the time was the black-and-white photography which, sadly, Stephens appears to have ditched. Curious about the reason and if there will be a chance to see it as originally intended.

To the Stars hits VOD on April 24th and co-stars Shea Whigham, Tony Hale, Malin Akerman, Madisen Beaty, Adelaide Clemens, and Jordana Spiro.