Netflix is flipping the script on the buddy cop comedy genre with Coffee & Kareem. Yes, that’s a pun, and if you chuckled at it then you’re likely the target audience for this new film featuring Ed Helms paired up with young actor Terrence Little Gardenhigh.
Helms plays cop James Coffee, who finds himself on the case with Kareem Manning (Terrence Little Gardenhigh), the 12-year-old son to his girlfriend, played by Taraji P. Henson. First of all, the idea of Helms and Henson as a romantic couple is worth a few laughs already, but throw in some drug dealers and a cast that includes the terrific Betty Gilpin and David Alan Grier, and this could be one sweet cup o’ joe.
Another reason for optimism is director Michael Dowse, best known for comedies Take Me Home Tonight, Goon, and Stuber.
SYNOPSIS: In the raunchy, buddy-cop comedy Coffee & Kareem, twelve-year-old Kareem Manning hires a criminal to scare his mom’s new boyfriend — police officer James Coffee — but it backfires, forcing Coffee and Kareem to team up in order to save themselves from Detroit’s most ruthless drug kingpin.
New photos have been released for Peninsula, the new film from Korean director Yeon Sang-ho. Though the film takes place in the same universe as his hit Train to Busan,Peninsula isn’t exactly a sequel. It takes place four years after the event in Train to Busan and in the same universe. However, the film will not contain the same characters or continue the story in any way.
The cast includes Lee Re, Kwon Hae-hyo, Kim Min-jae, Koo Kyo-hwan, and child actress Lee Ye Won. The budget is nearly double the $8.5M cost of the original zombie outbreak film, and Yeon suggests the difference will be noticeable. He tells ScreenDaily…
“The scale of Peninsula can’t compare to Train To Busan, it makes it look like an independent film,” says Yeon. “Train To Busan was a high-concept film shot in narrow spaces whereas Peninsula has a much wider scope of movement.”
Peninsula is set for a summer release in South Korea.
The best Bad Boys is coming home early. Bad Boys for Life, the biggest movie so far in 2020 with $419M worldwide, will be released digitally on March 31st. That’s a full month earlier than its availability on Bluray and DVD.
The move by Sony is likely a response to the worldwide pandemic which has closed movie theaters and left millions of people in their homes. Following the March 31st digital release, Bad Boys for Life will hit 4K Ultra, Bluray, and DVD on April 21st. The gap between digital and physical releases is rarely so long, if there’s one at all. So this move is likely a strategic one.
Bad Boys for Life returns Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to the action franchise for the first time since 2003. I think everybody’s expectations were low, but for me this was the best story of the three movies by far, even if the action sequences were less impressive. It’s safe to say the series is reborn, and another movie is already in the works.
Details on the home release special features are below:
4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAY AND DIGITAL BONUS MATERIALS
Extended & Alternate Scenes (Including an Alternate Ending)
Outtakes & Bloopers
Ride or Die: Making Bad Boys for Life
Partners in Crime: Behind-the-Scenes
It’s About Time: Go through 25 years of Bad Boys history with Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the cast and crew
Easter Eggs: Directors Adil and Billal take us on a tour of a few of the Easter eggs and callbacks to earlier Bad Boys films
And more
DVD BONUS MATERIALS
Extended & Alternate Scenes
Outtakes & Bloopers
And more
The Bruce Willis sci-fi film Cosmic Sin may turn out better than what he’s been doing lately. Despite production being shut down right now, but some key casting was able to take place beforehand.
Deadline says Frank Grillo, Adelaide Kane (The Purge), and Luke Wilson have joined the previously-cast Willis, WWE superstar Lana, Lochlyn Munro, and Brandon Thomas Lee in Cosmic Sin. The film, by writers/directors Corey Large and Edward Drake, follows a race of human warriors and scientists who must save their race from hostile aliens with the power to infect and take over their hosts.
Willis and Grillo recently worked together on the action flick, Reprisal. Hopefully, this will be better than that. Check out images of Willis and Lana in the below Instagram.
Most kids probably go through a phase when they think they’re better off without their parents. Few of them actually put that notion into deadly practice, however, and it makes for an odd premise for the upcoming animated film, The Willoughbys, which is set to hit Netflix next month.
Featuring the voices of Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Alessia Cara, Terry Crews, Martin Short, Jane Krakowski, Séan Cullen, and Ricky Gervais, the story follows siblings who set their selfish parents on a dangerous journey they’re unlikely to return from. The film is directed by Kris Pearn, who last worked on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, and based on the popular children’s book by Lois Lowry.
The Willoughbys hits Netflix on April 22nd, and considering how many families will be stuck indoors together for so long I hope it doesn’t give them any ideas.
SYNOPSIS: Convinced they’d be better off raising themselves, the Willoughby children hatch a sneaky plan to send their selfish parents on vacation. The siblings then embark on their own high-flying adventure to find the true meaning of family.
If, when watching the trailer for Hulu series The Great, you get the feeling somebody had watched The Favourite one too many times…well, you’re close. The show actually comes from Tony McNamara, writer of that Oscar-winning comedy, which is why the satirical tone feels so familiar.
The Great is a comedic look at the rise of Catherine the Great, the longest-reigning female ruler in Russian history. She attained this power by arranging a coup against her own husband, so get ready for plenty of palace intrigue to go along with the humor from McNamara, who created and wrote the series. Catherine was also known to have her share of favourites, who she leaned on for companionship and policy.
Elle Fanning stars as Catherine, joined by Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Sebastian de Souza, Bayo Gbadamosi, and Belinda Bromilow. The Great hits Hulu on May 15th.
There is a weird conflict brewing between theater exhibitors and Universal over the upcoming day-and-date release of Trolls World Tour. As you well know, Universal decided to release the animated sequel, a major release, in theaters and VOD on April 10th due to the closure of theaters during the pandemic. But John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) thinks something sinister is afoot.
In a grim interview with Variety, Fithian talks about the shutdown of theaters as more than just a momentary hurdle, but as a crisis that could end the theatrical experience entirely, especially if the stimulus package being debated in Congress fails to pass…
“The situation is that dire. Overnight, we went from an industry that makes $15 billion a year — $11 billion in ticket sales and $4 billion in concessions — to one that is not going to make a penny for three or four months.”
“Most of these theaters, not all of them, but most of them, will go bankrupt if this does not pass. If this goes through, it will provide a whole lot of help to industries that need it like restaurants and bars and bowling alleys and retailers.”
Fithian took aim at Universal in a separate interview, attacking the studio for its claims that Trolls World Tour will hit theaters and digital. The simple fact is that theaters are unlikely to be open so soon, which amounts to a straight-to-VOD release…
“Only Universal, and only on ‘Trolls,’ did one studio skip the theatrical model and go straight to the home. Universal continues to advertise to consumers that ‘Trolls’ will be released simultaneously to theaters and the home on April 10. And they are lying to consumers.”
“Universal knows that theaters will still be closed on April 10, so unlike every other distributor who must simply delay their releases in that time period, but still understand that theatrical release is essential to their business model, Universal on Trolls didn’t make that decision. Exhibitors will not forget this.”
Fithian is holding Universal accountable for any lost revenue theaters won’t get by Universal’s continued release of Trolls World Tour, and clearly sees something sinister in their motives. On the other hand, perhaps Universal is just guilty of having too rosy an outlook on the pandemic situation? All of the theaters weren’t shut down at the time they made their announcement. The situation has evolved constantly and will continue to do so, but perhaps theater owners should be more concerned about getting through this situation now than worrying about one movie?
Sophie Turner, star of Game of Thrones and Dark Phoenix. Corey Hawkins, star of 24: Legacy, Kong: Skull Island, and Straight Outta Compton. They’re coming together for the upcoming Quibi thriller series Survive, one of the big shows that will be available on the streaming platform at launch.
Turner and Hawkins play two people who miraculously survive an airplane crash, but now must work together to brave the snowy mountains. As we see in this brief teaser, Turner’s character already has some issues she’s trying to get away from, which could make braving the harsh elements even tougher.
Survive is directed by Mark Pellington, whose resume includes films Arlington Road, Henry Poole is Here, and The Mothman Prophecies. Quibi is the streaming platform designed for mobile devices, with programs offered in 10-minute-long episodes. Launch is on April 6th, and as long as they keep putting out shows like this I may have to check it out.
SYNOPSIS: Jane (Sophie Turner) wants to end it all. Then a plane crash almost ends it for her. Now she’s crawling from the wreckage with the only other survivor (Corey Hawkins) and a new drive to stay alive. Together they embark on a harrowing journey out of the wilderness, battling brutal conditions in this thrilling drama based on the critically acclaimed novel, SURVIVE, by Alex Morel.
Debuting at Sundance in 2019, Big Time Adolescence was the kind of familiar, plucky coming-of-age story the festival trafficks in pretty regularly. What made it stand out from the rest, and thus draw a ton of attention and one of the biggest acquisition buys that year, was the presence of SNL funnyman Pete Davidson in a role that many said showed his wider scope as an actor. I’m not sure that’s necessarily true; Davidson is excellent in a flashy, slacker role, but it’s also right in his bread and butter. The film succeeds well enough on its own thanks to writer/director Jason Orley and the presence of its real star, Griffin Gluck.
While surely no gamechanger, Big Time Adolescence hits all of the right emotional notes, and has the guts to portray Davidson’s character, Zeke, for what he is: rather pathetic. Zeke is in his 20s but he dresses and acts like someone still figuring himself out in high school. He was the man back then, and now everybody else around him has grown up and moved on. But Zeke is still a clown, who works a crappy dead-end-job and pines for his ex-girlfriend Kate (Emily Arlook) who happens to be the older sister of 16-year-old Mo (Gluck), his new best pal. Zeke did all of the things for Mo that an older brother would, like show him his first nudie mag and take him to R-rated movies, and now they’re inseparable. But Mo has real potential, everybody recognizes it, and Zeke can only hold him back.
Most of the film sets up this scenario where Zeke is basically living vicariously through Mo, which means the latter isn’t doing much for himself. When Mo gets invited to a party where drugs and alcohol are needed, it’s Zeke who turns the kid into his own personal drug mule. When Mo meets the perfect girl, the undeniably cool and wise-beyond-her-years Sophie (Oona Laurence, terrific), Zeke’s terrible advice (“ghost her”) is a constant roadblock. Meanwhile, Mo sister and parents (Jon Cryer and Julia Murney) are well aware of what makes Zeke so attractive to a kid, and why he’s everything that needs to be avoided.
Orley makes the best possible use of Davidson’s sophomoric brand of humor, which, like Zeke, is an acquired taste that can be tolerated only for so long. He’s not unsympathetic, in fact, Zeke is quite lovable in his own way and Orley makes it clear that people don’t hate the guy. They just know he isn’t going anywhere and doesn’t want to see others dragged down by him. But Davidson, with the help of Orley’s script, makes you wonder whether Zeke is fully aware of his situation and is either unable or unwilling to change. Throughout it all, he shows ultimate loyalty to Mo even when his young kid arguably doesn’t deserve it.
While Davidson is good and will get the bulk of the headlines, it’s Gluck’s confident performance that truly stands out. His charisma overshadows Davidson’s, and we understand why all in the women in the film are more drawn to Mo, who is significantly younger than Zeke but carries himself in a maturer way.
It’s tough to ignore that Big Time Adolescence refuses to address the creepiness of an older man’s attachment to a teenage kid. But to go down that route takes the story, which is genuinely funny and heartfelt, into darker territory than it needs to go.
Westworld’s convoluted nature has pretty much driven me away from the show, but I hung around to give it one more shot. And with this episode, not only does it get more complex, but somehow manages to throw in multiple references to other films (Futureworld, Jurassic Park), but it also confirms a connection to HBO’s other groundbreaking series, Game of Thrones.
Episode 2 of Westworld season 3 jumped all the way down the rabbit hole with one Easter Egg after another. It begins with Stubbs and Bernard making their way through Delos and coming upon the existence of Medievalworld, which was a park in the 1976 movie Futureword, the sequel to Michael Crichton’s original 1973 movie Westworld.
The most obvious reference comes as a pair of techs are seen in the Medievalworld labs. The techs are played by Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, who are talking about selling off a Medievalworld attraction to a new company in Costa Rica. When the camera pans over, we see a big scaly dragon that is very clearly Drogon, last seen flying off with a dead Dany in the Game of Thrones series finale. They then proceed to chop the poor dragon up, which might entertain some folks who hated the way that show ended.
As for the Jurassic Park thing, it’s subtle and maybe a stretch. The Costa Rican company the techs plan to sell the dragon to? Might the place be Isla Nublar, the Costan Rican island home to John Hammond’s Jurassic Park? The original Jurassic Park novels were written after all by…Michael Crichton.
If Westworld has taught us anything it’s to not believe in coincidences. So I guess this means Game of Thrones was always just another area of the park in Westworld, which I think is the perfect level of weirdness to add to this show.
