‘Cloak and Dagger’ S1E5: “Princeton Offense”

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June 29, 2018

Last week on Cloak and Dagger, Tandy realized that maybe her half-drunken paranoid mother was right, thanks to the efforts of her mom’s recent-yet-now-deceased lawyer/booty call, the Roxxon Energy Corporation is behind her father’s death and has something to hide. Now, able to control her light powers, she’s going to try and take the fight to the corporation.

The episode begins with an infomercial for the Roxxon Energy Corporation showcasing the “good” that the company does, as one of their executives is a veteran who was gifted with a mechanical arm (one eerily similar to the one Misty Knight has on Netflix’s Luke Cage) and talks up the benefits the corporation does for humanity. Tandy, watching the infomercial on her phone, knows something else is up, and the church she’s squatting in is scattered with the lawyer’s investigative paperwork.

Meanwhile, Detective O’Reilly, who we didn’t see much of last week, returns. She’s in the middle of having back seat police car sex with a colleague in the parking lot (once again, this isn’t ABC Family, it’s Freeform and a completely different type of show than the family-friendly programming we are used to from the channel). Just as she and her colleague are finishing up their rendezvous, she gets a call that Tyrone is in the station and she sets up an interview. Turns out, she’s found his bike that was “stolen.” Knowing he’s up to something else, the two have a conversation about corrupt cop Detective Connors. Being a member of Vice, he really has no record as a cop (to protect his own identity). Tyrone tells her that he can bring her evidence that Connors is dealing drugs, drugs that he stole from the police department. She advises that she will look into it.

Tyrone gets back to school and it’s the week of the big game, the state championship. He comes to his locker and sees that it’s been made up by his girlfriend. He’s approached behind and at first thinks that it’s his girlfriend Evita, but instead, it’s Tandy. She tells him that she has learned how to control her Dagger powers, and that she learned it from when she tried to kill herself in last week’s episode. She tells him that she plans to use it for good use and stop Roxxon. Tyrone isn’t too keen on her using her light powers to learn about her enemy’s hopes. She encourages him to try to learn how to control his powers in the same way. Based on their connection, if she can control her powers, he can do the same for his. After using his school’s computer lab to print her research, she learns of the corporate hierarchy, and will go after them. She see’s Tyrone’s pep rally and manages to steal the preppy school uniforms from some of the girls at school, which she uses to dress fancy and apply at an escort agency. In the hopes of getting close enough to the executives at a party so that she can see their hopes and figure out a way to stop them.

O’Reilly continues her investigation into Detective Connors. She first approaches Tandy’s boyfriend, currently locked up and asks about anyone dealing drugs on the street that matches what Connors is supposed to be dealing. At first, Liam plays it cool and is not telling her anything. Of course, his anger towards Tandy can be used as motivation to get him to start talking. He tells her about a club where a local woman deals out of the club. O’Reilly is able to flip the girl to become her local informant.

Tyrone has the basketball championship. For the most part, the game is going well as it’s a pretty even match between his school and the other team. He notices that the referee is making unnecessary calls against the opposing team, calling a foul against his opponent who didn’t touch him. This rubs him the wrong way. When he gets involved in a jump ball scuffle, he accidentally touches the referee and his darkness power is activated. The ref’s fear is that he will be stabbed by local criminals, meaning that the ref is trying to throw the game.

Tandy is at a fancy party full of Roxxon executives. Knowing the corporate hierarchy, she sees persons of interest and begins to flirt with them and by touching each of them, she is able to see their hopes. One thing that most of them have in common is that they hate their boss. They envision attacking him, tying him up, or even having him give another executive oral sex. They all hate this mystery guy or fear him. Either way, he’s the one at the top that she has to find.

While Tandy is working her magic, it’s also effecting Tyrone. During the halftime break, he is teleported to the party where he and Tandy start talking. Tyrone just wants to get back to the game. Just then, Tandy notices a poster on the wall at the party which showcases the main guy she needs to find. She learns that his name is Peter Scarborough. She then realizes that he was one of the main guys who collected evidence after her father’s death. She now knows who she has to stop. Tyron is still trying to get back to the game. He pleads with Tandy to send him back. she tells him that he has to focus his powers, and gives him a little “push,” right off the second floor into a fountain. Luckily, he teleports right back to the locker room, a little wetter. He then plays the rest of the game, but now he knows how to activate his powers of touch as well. As he is playing and brushing against other players, he’s seeing their darkness and fears. Many of them have problems with abusive parents, gang violence, and other things. Tyrone starts to feel sorry for them. The end of the game is on the line and it’s up to him. Instead of winning the state championship, he purposely shoots a brick, allowing them to win the game. Tyrone heads home to find his girlfriend in his room. He had previously given her his letter jacket and assumes she wants to give it back. She tells him she knows why he threw the game and is cool with it. She removes his jacket to reveal she’s not wearing much and the two proceed to have sex. The next morning after she leaves, Tyron teleports to Connor’s location where he finds out Connors has a partner, his brother’s former friend.

O’Reilly is in the evidence room snorting coke (a bold move to do). Just then, Connors walks in. At first, it looks like the two may be in cahoots, but it turns out that she’s working him. They proceed to snort lines together and he inquires about her coke connection. O’Reilly now has an angle to stop him.

Tandy goes to Scarborough’s home faking a flat tire (caused by her daggers) in order to gain access to him. Scarborough proceeds to help her change the tire. This gives her the opportunity to kill him as he’s changing the tire. Instead of going forward, she touches him and uses her light powers to see what his hopes are. In his vision, he’s walking through water after the oil rig explosion where he’s picking up giant rolls of cash off of dead oil workers. Yeah, he’s truly the bad guy!

Review: ‘Uncle Drew’ Has Kyrie Irving Teaching Life Lessons While Breaking Ankles

By

John Nolan

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June 29, 2018

It’s not a foreign concept for characters that have brief
glimpses in movies or TV shows to get their own feature length films – we’ve
seen this countless times including some comedy heavy hitters like Zoolander, Night at the Roxbury, and the more recent Get Him to the Greek. Uncle
Drew follows in this same mold, with Kyrie Irving reprising his role as the
old school geriatric hoopster, which we’ve seen from extended Pepsi commercials
over the past couple of years, continuing on his quest to teach young-bloods the
right way to play the game. These commercials show Kyrie dressed as an old man
going to local courts and shocking players and onlookers who supposedly have no
idea what is going on, but all happen to be drinking Pepsi. The commercials
were a hit and naturally developed enough momentum for Uncle Drew to reach the
big screens. There were multiple chapters of the Uncle Drew Pepsi saga, each
one adding other hoopsters, many are past superstars of the game. Some of
the characters from the commercials – like J.B. Smoove’s Angelo – make it into
the film, but many we see in the film version are created solely
for the movie.

Uncle Drew
follows Dax (Lil Rel Howery), a footlocker employee who is trying to write
himself a winning lottery ticket riding the coattails of a local hoopster
Casper (Aaron Gordon). Dax has used virtually all of the money to his name to
bankroll a team to enter Harlem’s Rucker Classic street ball Tournament, eyeing
the 100,000 cash prizes awarded to the winner of the tournament. This money
seems like a sure bet – Dax has the best local player around, a player that can
easily carry his team to a tournament championship, on his team. That’s where
Dax’s longtime rival Mookie (Nick Kroll) comes in and throws a wrench in his
plans, stealing Casper and the rest of the team away from Dax. To add fuel to
the fire, Dax’s girlfriend Jess (Tiffany Haddish), has had enough of Dax’s
excuses and kicks him out. Down on his luck, Dax happens to stumble upon a
court where Uncle Drew puts a young-blood in his place with some dazzling shots
and moves. Dax convinces Drew to play in the tournament and teach the
young-bloods the right way to play the game, but Drew demands that he assembles
the roster. This leads Dax and Drew to hop into his 70s era van and round up
his old team made up of Preacher (Chris Webber) – who is now actually a
preacher and must run away from his wife Betty Lou (Lisa Leslie) to join in on
the fun, Lights Out (Reggie Miller) – a near blind sharp shooter, Boots (Nate
Robinson) – a wheelchair bound grandfather, and Big Fella (Shaquille O’Neal) – a dojo
master who has some unresolved beef with Uncle Drew. The entire crew, along
with Boots’ granddaughter Maya (Erica Ash) hop in the van and make their way to
Harlem to try and finally capture the Rucker championship by playing basketball
the way it is meant to be played.

Yes, it’s true, a character we all saw in some hilarious
extended Pepsi commercials has his own film depicting his antics. And no, it is
not a terrible flick –far from it. The Pepsi commercials were all written and
directed by Kyrie himself, but the film has Charles Stone III directing and Jay
Longino writing. Full disclosure, I am a big basketball fan, so seeing some of
my favorite players from the past letting loose was a joy for me. Right off the
bat, Uncle Drew gets going with the
hilarity and cameos – a fake 30 for 30 montage gives us a glimpse of the
history of Rucker Park and how Uncle Drew and his team had an impact in shaping
that history. Uncle Drew has plenty
of basketball jokes throughout that poke fun at players and past events that
hoopheads will love, but there is so much other ridiculousness that you don’t
need to be well versed in basketball to enjoy yourself. This movie is wild,
full of clichés, and is awfully predictable – but it has many moments that left
the audience roaring in laughter. Numerous times I kept thinking that the film
reminded me of Dodgeball, and just
like Dodgeball, if you want to turn
your brain off and just laugh for an hour and a half, I would strap on your
Nikes and check out Uncle Drew.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Sony To Bring Plus-Sized Valiant Comics Hero ‘Faith’ To The Big Screen

By

John Nolan

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June 29, 2018

A big part of a person’s self-confidence is being positive about one’s own body, but it’s hard to be that way when everybody famous looks like a supermodel. For comic book fans it can be difficult because the superheroes and superheroines all appear to have been chiseled out of granite. While Marvel and DC haven’t changed the way their heroes look to reflect reality, some smaller publishers have taken that step, and Sony wants to bring one of those comics to the big screen. Deadline reports Sony plans to adapt Faith, the Valiant Comic that’s all about inclusivity and body positivity.

Faith centers on Faith Hebert aka Zephyr, a plus-sized woman who loves sci-fi and gains the power of telekinesis and flight. She was created in 1992 by Jim Shooter and appeared in the Harbinger comic before spinning off into her own series due to her popularity. Sony has hired American Gods writer Maria Melnik to pen the screenplay.

Whether it moves forward will depend on the success of Bloodshot, another Valiant Comics movie that has Vin Diesel attached. A Harbinger Wars movie would follow, and presumably all of these films will exist in the same universe and crossover at some point.

So who are we thinking about for this? Amy Schumer and Rebel Wilson seem like obvious choices to me. Who else?

‘To The Night’ Trailer: Caleb Landry Jones Struggles With Childhood Trauma

By

John Nolan

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June 29, 2018

If you’ve seen Caleb Landry Jones there’s no way to forget him. Besides his distinctive appearance he’s been a reliable presence in movies small, like last year’s The Florida Project, and big like Get Out, Three Billboards, and American Made. He’s even done franchise stuff before. Remember when he played Banshee in X-Men: First Class? Six years ago he was a rising star with Antiviral but now he’s just one of the best actors working today, and his next film To The Night looks like another impressive notch on the belt.

The film is written and directed by Peter Brunner, a protégé of the great Michael Haneke (Funny Games) who is weirdly listed as a “dramaturgical consultant” on the film. I don’t even know what that means but it sounds super important! Anyway, the film finds Jones as a man suffering from PTSD after witnessing, as a child, a fire that wiped out everybody he cared for. Now he’s struggling to move beyond the pain and forge a new life. Jones is joined by Eléonore Hendricks, Jana McKinnon, Christos Haas, and Abbey Lee. Here’s the synopsis:

Norman has never come to terms with the fire that, in his childhood, took away all those closest to him. His inner sorrow and feelings of guilt prevent him from starting a new life with his girlfriend and son. Although the fire took everything, it now becomes a path to dealing with his trauma. Gifted director Peter Brunner ramps up the near physical intensity of the viewer’s experience via the thoughtful use of unspoken hints and images, which assail the associative processes of the subconscious rather than the rational mind. Filmed on-location in New York City and starring the captivating Caleb Landry Jones, the story presents one man’s desire for a life unburdened by trauma, but while doing so it offers up a spectacular and brutally intimate study of a wounded individual.

To The Night will have its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

‘The Purge’ TV Series Trailer Brings The Annual Night Of Violence To The Small Screen

By

John Nolan

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June 29, 2018

The Purge is, undoubtedly in my mind, the best horror franchise around. What began as a simple home invasion movie has evolved into a brilliant, searing political thriller that posits an America that is so dark, so ugly, and yet shows echoes of today. Next week The First Purge details the origin of the annual day of violence and that makes today the perfect time to debut the trailer for The Purge TV series, which shows the impact of that violence on the people left in its wake.

Franchise creator James DeMonaco is back to write and exec-produce the series, which takes place sometime between The First Purge and the most recent movie. The 10-episode event will follow an ensemble of characters through one horrifying night of the Purge, detailing the events leading up to it. And the trailer is pretty much what you’d expect. Death, mayhem, killers in creepy masks, a society of rich elitists murdering the less fortunate, flaming vehicles.

The movies for Blumhouse are fairly low budget affairs so there’s a good chance DeMonaco can replicate the same production values each episode, which is pretty cool. Sign me up.

Here’s the series synopsis: Based on the hit movie franchise from Blumhouse Productions, THE PURGE revolves around a 12-hour period when all crime, including murder, is legal. Set in an altered America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. As the clock winds down, each character is forced to reckon with their past as they discover how far they will go to survive the night.

The Purge premieres Tuesday, September 4th on USA Network.

‘The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society’ Trailer: Book Club Inspires Passion During WWII

By

John Nolan

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June 28, 2018

Would you watch a movie titled The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society? I have a feeling the vast number of American moviegoers will absolutely refuse, but they might be missing out. The period romance drama is based on the bestselling 2008 novel that immediately became a hot property around Hollywood. A wealth of talent is involved in front of and behind the camera with Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) directing and Lily James, Glen Powell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Michael Huisman, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton, Tom Courtenay, and Katherine Parkinson starring.

Set during WWII, the story centers on a free-spirited writer who falls in love with the eccentric members of a book club that formed while Guernsey was under German occupation. It looks positively charming and like it would appeal to the Downton Abbey crowd, which may explain why it got a U.K. theatrical release but domestically will arrive on Netflix. Here’s hoping it doesn’t go down the memory hole like so many of the streaming network’s movies do.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society hits Netflix on August 10th.

DC Universe Streaming Details: ‘Titans’, ‘Doom Patrol’, Classic ‘Superman’ And More

By

John Nolan

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June 28, 2018

The streaming service market continues to grow as every company looks for ways to maximize profit on their hottest properties. The latest is DC Comics, which falls under the Warner Bros. umbrella, that will be launching the DC Universe service later this year. We already have a good idea of some of the titles that will be luring in subscribers, but now Deadline has more details on what to look forward to.

DC Universe will launch this fall with the live-action Titans series as its centerpiece. The series stars Brenton Thwaites as the Dick Grayson version of Robin, Anna Diop as Starfire, Teagan Croft as Raven, and Ryan Potter as Beast Boy. Also on the way in 2019 is a live-action Swamp Thing series produced by James Wan, and a Doom Patrol show. There’s also an animated Harley Quinn because there can apparently never be too much Harley Quinn.

Expanding out the schedule are some of DC’s classic films and legacy live-action and animated shows. If you want to check out all four classic Superman movies with Christopher Reeve, this will be the place to get them. Plus remastered editions of the amazing Batman: The Animated Series and Wonder Woman will be available. Warner Bros. Animation will be well represented as well with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Green Lantern: First Flight, and more.

A curated selection of DC comic books will be readily available, plus contests, exclusive merch, prizes, and ways to communicate with other fans.

No word on how much DC Universe will cost subscribers when it launches this fall, but those who are interested can apply for the beta test later this summer. My question is how long before all of Greg Berlanti’s Arrowverse shows migrate over?

UPDATE ‘Indiana Jones 5’ Adds ‘Solo’ Screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan, Replacing David Koepp

By

John Nolan

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June 28, 2018

*Update: Variety says that Kasdan will be delivering a brand new script, and because of it production has been delayed. No longer will filming begin next April, and as a result Indiana Jones 5 will miss its target July 10th 2020 release date. Original story is below. *

Some welcome course correction was just done on Indiana Jones 5. It was a baffling decision when David Koepp, who wrote the hated Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, was hired to pen the next adventure of everyone’s favorite treasure seeker. Fortunately, he ain’t sticking around, because Collider reports Jonathan Kasdan has replaced him as screenwriter.

Kasdan is coming off co-writing Solo: A Star Wars Story with his father, Lawrence. This brings the Indiana Jones franchise full-circle as it was Lawrence who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark back in 1981. What’s unclear is whether Kasdan is starting over from scratch or cleaning up what Koepp wrote. Either way, I see this as a strong move in the right direction.

We still don’t know the plot of Indiana Jones 5, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s enough to know that Harrison Ford is coming back, possibly for the last time, and Steven Spielberg is directing.

Review: ‘Sicario: Day Of The Soldado’, A Grim Sequel At War With Itself

By

John Nolan

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June 28, 2018

In yet another summer full of sequels, Sicario: Day of the Soldado (which translates loosely to Hitman: Day of the Soldier) is the least likely. Some would say it’s also the most unnecessary. 2015’s Sicario was a dirty-black convoy ride through the drug war, the bloody violence and murderous politics of combatting it, seen through the eyes of a naïve federal agent played by Emily Blunt. She doesn’t return for the sequel, nor do director Denis Villeneuve or cinematographer Roger Deakins, but arguably the best parts of the movie did return. That would be screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (also of Hell or High Water and Wind River), along with Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro as the shadowy operatives fighting that war in the cover of darkness.

The Sicario story is broadened in a sequel that feels a little too much like an attempted franchise starter, but still has enough of the cynicism, moral decay, and tense action of the first film. With Villeneuve out, Italian director Stefano Sollima steps in and does a capable job replicating the oppressive, murky atmosphere. Best known for directing episodes of the TV series adaptation of mob film Gomorrah, Sollima adopts a Traffic-style approach; quick cuts and parallel narratives. Each and every one of those narratives is as bleak as the other. A devastating ISIS-style bombing in a Kansas City grocery store has Black Ops agent Matt Graver (Brolin) on the hunt for the Mexican cartel members that helped the terrorists sneak across the border. Called into action by a bunch of stuffed shirts (including Matthew Modine as Secretary of Defense) who won’t get their hands dirty, Graver dives into the filth eagerly. His job is to start a war between the Mexican cartels so as to make them easy to pick off. To do it he brings in his “bird dog”, the ruthless mercenary Alejandro (Del Toro) to help foment chaos by kidnapping Isabela (Isabela Moner), the feisty daughter of a cartel boss, the same one that murdered Alejandro’s family.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is almost like two separate movies. One a timely vengeance thriller penned with all of the muscular affectations we’ve come to expect from Sheridan. That film feels exactly like how a sequel to Sicario should feel. The body count stacks even higher this time, so too does the number of black helicopters and ominous convoy journeys. Sollima and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (The Martian) favor capturing the action from the inside; inside vehicles during crazy car chases over dirt roads; inside the helicopters stalking them down. When the bullets fly the gunfights are as slick and cool as ever, largely because Brolin and Del Toro are as cool as ice. They slide in and out of danger like ninjas, and when they get hurt it’s like a minor inconvenience.

“That’s going to need stitches”, Graver is told by one of his bosses (Catherine Keener) after a blown op.

“The good thing is I’ll still need them tomorrow”, he replies. Tough guy! He’d have made a great Spartan.

The other, less watchable movie is Sheridan in a crowd-pleasing mode we’ve never seen from him before. There’s a certain level amount of coincidence that occurs in all of Sheridan’s films, a twist of fate that usually has disastrous consequences. It happens here, too, but Sheridan messily handles the two competing storylines, one involving a Mexican teen just making his bones within the cartel. They’re always at cross purposes so when they finally intersect, it never feels natural. Also baffling is the hard turn towards sympathy for the most vicious character in these movies. The dynamic between Alejandro and the kidnapped Isabel is…well, it’s a little too cozy considering he’s the same guy we saw coldly murder an enemy’s entire family at the dinner table. If Sheridan wanted to remake The Professional, he should just go ahead and do that. I’d watch Del Toro in that role in a heartbeat, but it doesn’t make sense for Sicario.

Sheridan cops out in other ways that edge too close to spoiler territory. At times Sicario: Day of the Soldado is exactly what we’d want a sequel to Sicario to be. Other times it is virtually unrecognizable and you wonder why it even exists when Villeneuve’s film was so masterful. If the only reason is so we can continue to see Del Toro grimly perpetuate the cycle of violence then so be it, but we should be expecting more.

Rating: 3 out of 5

‘Mile 22’ Red Band Trailer: Iko Uwais Makes Everybody Look Like They’re Standing Still

By

John Nolan

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June 28, 2018

There’s been a lot going on with Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg’s action flick, Mile 22, and I’m guessing that’s why STX Entertainment dropped a new red band trailer today. The release date was pushed back a few weeks to August 17th, and only days ago a sequel was put in motion. Both movies suggest a ton of confidence the film will be a hit, probably banking on Wahlberg to put the most butts in seats. And maybe that’s true, but the real reason to get pumped is Iko Uwais in his biggest American role yet.

Uwais is the breakout star of Gareth Evans’ The Raid movies, and the dude is an absolute ass-kicking machine. The Indonesian actor has also had roles in sci-fi sequel Beyond Skyline and a little thing called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In Mile 22 he plays a high-value foreign agent who must be escorted 22 miles to safety by an elite Black Ops squad that includes Wahlberg, Ronda Rousey, and Lauren Cohan of The Walking Dead. John Malkovich co-stars as the team’s boss or something. I don’t know, he’s a guy in a suit who looks like he’s in charge.

The trailer is pretty generic, honestly, EXCEPT when Uwais shows off his fighting skills. He’s truly a next level action star, and I think he’s going to make Wahlberg look like he’s standing in quicksand by comparison.