With J.J. Abrams returning to direct Star Wars: Episode IX, I think the expectation is that he’ll be less controversial than Rian Johnson was with The Last Jedi. That said, a new rumor suggests Abrams will be borrowing at least one element from Johnson’s movie that everybody seemed to like.
According to sources at the New York Daily News, Yoda will be making a return in Episode IX. Here’s hoping he’s found another Jedi Temple to burn to the ground.
“The success of the scenes featuring Yoda in The Last Jedi were huge. Yoda will again appear as a ghost as he acknowledges Rey’s success and growth as a Jedi. The scenes are due to be put together later this year.”
If it’s true that Mark Hamill won’t be coming back as Luke Skywalker (I don’t buy it) then having Yoda return as a Force ghost would make sense. Still I hope this rumor isn’t true. Yoda’s appearance in the previous movie was a perfect way to write him off for a good long time. You mean to tell me with all of those dead Jedi out there nobody else can take up the mantle of Force prophet for a while? Share the load, Yoda!
It’s way too early to know anything concrete. Production starts in July and even then there will probably be many changes that take place during filming. Taken with a grain of salt, this rumor must be.
This week’s Gotham
was amazing. The Barbara story line was good, but it was definitely overshadowed by Jerome’s which the Gotham writers hit out of the
park. Let’s get right to it!
Jerome’s Master Plan
story arc: “Try threatening me again, but this time – try it with a smile” –
The episode begins with a meeting held between Gotham’s
interim mayor and some of Gotham’s elite. This meeting is rudely interrupted by
Fries and Tetch who round up this hoity toity bunch and bring them to Jerome.
Scarecrow sprays one of them with the laughing gas and the effects are just as
terrible as we saw last week.
It turns out that it is Bruce’s birthday and Alfred
has a special present for him. He gives him a gorgeous brand new car – which is
essentially the very first basic batmobile. It is a matte black Mustang with
anti-reflective paint so it is difficult to see at night…oh and it is
bulletproof.
Penguin, who is terrified of Jerome, goes behind his back
and visits Jim. He tells Jim of the new gas that Scarecrow has created and the
awful effects it has. Unfortunately Jerome has covered his bases and only tells
each member of his group their specific role and not the entire plan so Penguin
can’t tell Jim what is in store. Before Jim can get any helpful information from Penguin,
Harvey tells him that Jerome has been spotted near Paisley Square where the
Gotham music festival is going on.
At the music festival there is a band playing on
stage in front of a large crowd. Jerome decides that he can provide some better
entertainment so he brutally beats the lead singer with the microphone stand
and takes center stage. He sets up six chairs and puts the mayor and the other
members of the meeting into four of the chairs. Jerome straps dynamite to their
necks and tells the crowd that the two empty seats are for his guests of honor
and if he doesn’t get what he wants – he will blow the heads off of the mayor
and his associates. Jerome looks into a reporter’s camera and summons Jim to
come to the festival. While this is happening, Fries and Scarecrow break into a
chemical lab at Wayne Industries and force the chemists to create a bunch
more of the laughing gas.
Jim gets to the stage and Jerome tells him that the two
empty chairs are for Bruce and Jeremiah. Jim refuses to hand over Bruce and
volunteers himself as tribute instead. Jerome is clearly frustrated at Jim’s
lack of cooperation and realizes he needs to send a message to let Jim know how
serious he is – which he does by blowing up the head of one of his hostages. Jim,
Lucius, and Harvey go to round up Bruce and get to Wayne Manor as Bruce and
Selina are sharing another precious moment. Jim lets Bruce know that Jerome has
requested his presence. The GCPD’s plan is to have Bruce carry a device on him
that disrupts the signal from the detonator to the bombs strapped around the
hostage’s necks. This will buy the GCPD snipers enough time to take
out Jerome and his crew. Obviously Alfred is vehemently against Bruce going,
but Bruce knows that the hostages need his help and agrees to the plan.
The group then goes to visit Jeremiah who is not nearly as
willing to join in GCPD’s effort as Bruce was. Bruce finally convinces Jeremiah
to help with some inspirational words about standing up to terror being the
only way to take its power away. Bruce and Jeremiah get to the music festival
and as they approach the stage Jim orders the snipers to fire. Unfortunately
for them, Jeremiah had his men ready for this and they kill all of the snipers.
In the meantime Tetch, Scarecrow, and Penguin have gone to a hanger housing a
blimp. It seems the plan is to gather the largest crowd possible and drop the
gas on them from the blimp. Tetch hypnotizes the pilot to carry out this
mission for them. Penguin can’t take it anymore and tries to reason with
Scarecrow and Tetch to not go through with this. Turns out Jerome figured
Penguin would betray him and warned Tetch and Scarecrow of this. They knock
Penguin out and put him on the blimp.
At the music festival Jerome has Bruce and Jeremiah on stage
and is needling Jeremiah. He tells him that he is just as crazy as he is and is
also a killer – it’s in their DNA. Jerome hands Jeremiah a knife and tells him
to take his best shot. After a brief moment of hesitation, Jeremiah screams and
charges at Jerome, but he easily counters and knocks Jeremiah out. Jim sends
Harvey up to the roof to take out Jerome’s men which they successfully do. As
Jerome is distracted from the GCPD’s gunshots, Jim is able to get a
clean shot and hit him in the shoulder. Jerome races for a rooftop with Jim on
his heels. The blimp is almost at the music festival when Penguin wakes up. He
tries to convince the pilot to turn the blimp around but Tetch’s hypnosis is
too strong. Penguin calls Jim who tells him to overtake the pilot and steer the
blimp towards the river.
Jim gets to the rooftop and sees that Jerome is standing on
a ledge with his phone out. Jim warns Jerome to stand down, but Jerome calls
the pilot and tells him to drop the gas. Jim shoots Jerome twice, once in the
arm and once at center mass leading to Jerome falling off the side of the
building. Jim peers over the ledge and sees Jerome hanging on to a pipe. Jerome
asks Jim is he’s going to be a lawman and pull him up to arrest him or if he
will be a murderer and let him fall and die. Jim reaches for Jerome’s
outstretched hand to pull him up but Jerome pulls his hand away and decides to
take the quick way down to street level. Inside the blimp Penguin does manage
to attack the pilot and knock him out before he can release the gas.
On the street Bruce, Harvey, Jim, and Jeremiah all go to
Jerome’s lifeless body. Jeremiah begins to walk away, but Bruce stops him and
tells him that Wayne Enterprises would love to fund his work. Jeremiah accepts
and heads back to his place. At his house, Jeremiah is surprised to see a
present on his desk from Wayne Enterprises. When he unwraps it, he sees that it
is a jack-in-the-box that pops open and sprays him with the laughing gas. He
hears Jerome’s voice telling him that this batch of gas was made specially for him and it is time to have some fun.
My thoughts:
Well this was just awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed everything
that happened in this episode. From the little things like Jerome’s hilarious interactions
with the crowd at the concert to the awesome freeze balls that Fries busted out
to the enormity of us finally getting Joker in the Gotham universe, this episode was perfect. I love that the writers
figured out a way to still have Cameron Monaghan portray the clown prince of
crime. He was fantastic as Jerome and he will be amazing as the Joker –
I’m sure of it. I cannot wait to see how this plays out in the coming weeks.
Barbara’s Continued
Rise to Power story arc: “I am the one true heir of an immortal god’s ancient
dynasty – and I don’t dirty my fingers with the likes of you anymore” –
During this episode we also get a peek at what Barbara has
been up to as the head of the League of Shadows. At Club Siren a gang leader is
confronting Tabitha and Barbara comes to rectify the situation. Before the gang
leader and his men can fire at Barbara and Tabitha – ninja stars come flying
out of nowhere killing the men. The members of the league want Barbara to
continue Ra’s legacy and not have them just stay in Gotham. Tabitha clearly
doesn’t like this idea or where this is heading, but Barbara is drunk with
power.
The head of the league of shadows women who has “supported”
Barbara becoming the demon’s head takes her to a house Ra’s owned in Gotham
since the city existed. This house is apparently filled with ancient secrets. In
the house is a locked door that none of them can get into. The woman takes Barbara
to the door and as they approach it, Barbara’s hand begins to glow as does the
door. The door opens for Barbara and inside are multiple ancient artifacts. At
the very back of the room is a painting of a woman that looks exactly like
Barbara – solidifying again in her mind and that of the remaining league
members that she is the chosen one to lead them.
Barbara looks through the room and begins reading a
book chronicling Ra’s legacy for the past nine centuries. Tabitha tries to
convince Barbara that Ra’s was a cult leader and that the league is all
brainwashed. Barbara dismisses this notion. The two of them argue about the league
and Barbara has had enough of Tabitha. She has her loyal servants throw her out,
seemingly ending their professional partnership. The three woman take Tabitha
out to the street and tell her to leave Gotham. She refuses and a fight
ensures. Tabitha holds her own for a bit, but gets over-matched. A mysterious
stranger comes and helps Tabitha up. They tell her that Barbara is an imposter
and they serve Ra’s al Ghul who’s death is only an illusion.
My thoughts:
I feel like the woman that is serving as the mouthpiece for
the league’s female soldiers has ulterior motives and wants to control Barbara – well she clearly doesn’t know Barbara. It’s a shame that Barbara
and Tabitha’s relationship is fractured, but there is a chance it can be
reconciled in the future. I don’t see Barbara’s place at the head of the League
of Shadows lasting very long. I think she will be stripped of the title soon and go back to working the Gotham underground as she has previously done with
Tabitha and Selina.
Next week on Gotham:
Barbara gets visited by a mysterious stranger who saw a
vision of a cataclysmic event. The men that took Tabitha kidnap Bruce as well
and it looks like Ra’s might not be so dead after all. Riddler is back in that
action and we might get a Bruce and Selina make out sesh!
What happened to David Kellman, Robert Shafran, and Eddy Galland sounds like a mystery out of a Harlan Coben novel. Imagine how incredibly rare and strange it would be if you were to randomly meet an identical twin you didn’t know existed. And how incredible it would then be if the two of you encountered a third twin out of nowhere. You’d probably freak the Hell out and wonder if somebody was performing a cloning experiment. Well, it’s not too far off from reality, as seen in the stunning documentary Three Identical Strangers, which made a splash at Sundance a few months ago and now is headed for release.
Directed by Tim Wardle, the Sundance Special Jury Prize winner centers on David, Robert, and Eddy’s discovery that they are triplets, with Robert recounting the day he first met Eddy. We then see them in a series of videos and photographs, in some cases using their unlikely meeting to make names for themselves on TV. While this seems like a feel-good story there is a deeper conspiracy to their separation. Their parents were completely unaware of what happened, but how is that possible? And who would go to such lengths to make sure they were separated at birth?
1. Rampage (review)- $34.5M
After scoring one of the biggest hits of last year with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Dwayne Johnson looks to have another smash on his hands. The video game adaptation Rampage opened with an impressive $34.5M, and while that may not look like all that much, consider that it isn’t too far off from what Jumanji did. It was largely word of mouth that powered that film and I suspect the same will apply here as the reviews are good and audiences are enjoying what is a true popcorn flick. It remains unclear how leggy it’ll be here with Avengers: Infinity War looming, but internationally Johnson is a megastar and Rampage has earned $148M worldwide as a result.
2. A Quiet Place– $32.6M/$99.6M
John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place continues to shatter expectations, slipping just 35% for $32M and nearly $100M domestic after two weeks. Worldwide it has now grossed over $150M, incredible for a film that only cost $17M. The second week drop is incredibly low for the genre which usually sees 50% to 60% tumbles or more, so it may still be in theaters when more details on the already-developing sequel emerge.
3. Truth Or Dare (review)- $19.8M
It was a good weekend for horror as Blumhouse’s Truth Or Dare survived negative reviews to earn $19.8M. The Final Destination-esque film was unusual for the studio who have been on a hot streak well-received films Get Out, Happy Death Day, and Split. And it’s probably a case of the name Blumhouse carrying a lot of weight with genre fans, as it should.
4. Ready Player One– $11.2M/$114.6M
5. Blockers– $10.2M/$36.9M
6. Black Panther– $5.3M/$673.7M
7. Isle Of Dogs– $5M/$18.4M
8. I Can Only Imagine– $3.8M/$74.9M
9. Tyler Perry’s Acrimony– $3.7M/$37.8M
10. Chappaquiddick– $3M/$11M
It’s a true family affair as Disney and Funko have unveiled the first wave of Pop! Vinyl figures for The Incredibles 2! I don’t know if they’re thanking us for the long 15-year wait for the sequel but this is a huge wave of 14 Pops including a number of store exclusives and Chase variants. Many of them you can pick up right now from our friends at Entertainment Earth if Disney/Pixar Pops are your jam.
The long-awaited sequel finds Elastigirl fighting on her own in hopes of helping superheroes become legal again. Meanwhile, Mr. Incredible is left at home to care for the kids, which may turn out to be even more dangerous! So Elastigirl is really the star of this show, and she gets a Pop! Vinyl worthy of her status. She also has a Target exclusive variant in the grey uniform given to her by superhero fashion mogul Edna Mode. We also see figures for Mr. Incredible, Violet with her invisible Chase variant, Dash, Frozone, and baby Jack-Jack with his fiery Target, FYE, and Hot Topic exclusives.
If you’re as Pop! Vinyl obsessed as me, the best places to go are our friends at Entertainment Earth. Our friends have the deepest inventory of Pops, including exclusives, at the best prices anywhere on the Internet. When you click on any of our below links and make a purchase we get a small commission that helps us keep the lights on, at no cost to you at all. Every little bit helps, and we thank all of you continue to support us and our sponsors. Thanks!
Tom Hardy’s Instagram page continues to reap unexpected rewards. If you follow him you’ve already seen some awesome images from the set of Venom, and he isn’t against using the site to debunk rumors. Currently he’s shooting Josh Trank’s Al Capone film Fonzo, and naturally he’s sharing an upclose look at the radical transformation to become the infamous gangster.
Fonzo isn’t your typical Capone movie. Penned and directed by Trank, it takes a look at the mobster after a decade in prison. Although he’s only 47 years old at this point, dementia has already begun to rot Capone’s brain, forcing him to relive his violent past.
These images are pretty wild, but my favorite is the gangsta rap photo featuring Hardy and former Company Flow frontman and one half of Run the Jewels, El-P. Okay, the one where he’s channeling his “inner Stephen Segal” is pretty funny, too. I’m pretty sure he means Marked for Death‘s Steven Seagal.
Fonzo also stars Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Jack Lowden, and Kathrine Narducci.
While we’ve definitely begun to see a breakthrough in the way transgender people are portrayed on the big and small screen, the new film A Kid Like Jake is treading still unexplored territory. One of the most talked about films at Sundance, it’s directed by trans filmmaker Silas Howard, who has previously been behind episodes of Transparent and This Is Us. Howard’s film takes a look at how children first begin to realize their sexual identity, and the factors that influence their perception of it.
The cast Howard put together is impressive, with Jim Parsons, Claire Danes, Octavia Spencer, Priyanka Chopra, Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker, and newcomer Leo James Davis leading the way. The story follows Alice and Greg, New York parents whose 4-year-old son Jake likes fairy tales and wearing dresses. When the preschool director suggests his “gender expansive play” may be more than just a phase, his parents must begin to reexamine their roles as parents.
This is already turning out to be a big year for LGBTQ representation on the big screen, but A Kid Like Jake, which opens June 8th, looks like another huge step forward.
Earlier in the week, I saw the new thriller A
Quiet Place. I left the theater confident that I had seen the most
shocking and horrifying movie of the year. Having now seen the new indie drama Daddy
Issues, I feel confident that I was wrong. Though not a horror movie, Daddy
Issues has its finger firmly on the pulse of what will just terrify you
to your core. It’s everything you don’t want to see or think about, shot and
edited beautifully. I honestly cannot remember the last time I was this happily
shaken up by a movie before, especially one without any literal monsters or
jump-scares. This is a quiet, human story that brilliantly made my skin crawl.
Having its regional premiere at last night’s NOVA Film
Festival, Daddy Issues follows Maya, a young, queer, aspiring artist who
wants nothing more than to escape the oppression of her yuppie mother and
step-father and attend an Italian art school. Fortunately, she meets a muse and
kindred spirit in Jasmine, an Instagram model she’s been following. They begin
both a romantic and professional relationship together, spending all their time
together and designing modern fashion pieces based around her drawings.
Unfortunately for the young couple, there is the hiccup of Jasmine’s other
relationship: a co-dependent, money driven, fetish deal with an older, drug
addicted doctor she calls “Daddy.” Maya is jealous, Jasmine’s heart is torn in
two, and the audience squirms at the specifics of the plot that I can’t get
into here.
I am kind of walking on eggshells in summarizing this film,
as I want to be careful not to give too much away. I was lucky enough to come
into the film blind, and wouldn’t want to ruin this experience for anyone who
intends on watching it in the future. Part of the brilliance of Daddy
Issues was in its revelations. It seems like we’re watching several
different plot lines when in reality we’re more seeing different vantage points
of the same broad strokes story. These plots specifics that I’m dancing around
are what make the movie as exquisitely messed up as it is. So without going
into any further spoilers, please take my word for it when I say that this film
is a beautiful nightmare.
One of the many things I loved about this film was its
visual style. Director Amara Cash had a brilliant vision for the neon-punk
world of millennial fashion design, and captures it in a way that feels like
the hyperactive child of Phantom Thread and Spring
Breakers. Fast moving cuts (set to blasting music) almost hypnotize you
with patterns, whereas the lives of the adult characters are almost comically
contrasted. They’re shown in static, long, dull, grey shots. You literally hear
the clock ticking. It was a spot on way to show us, through style and visuals,
the vastly different lifestyles inhabited by the intersecting characters.
I was genuinely floored by this film. It’s so beautiful and
appalling at the same time. It’s haunting. This is one of those movies that,
for numerous reasons that I truly don’t want to spoil, will stick with you long
after it’s over. The acting is top notch. Visually, it’s gorgeous. The script
is fascinating and deeply disturbing. Just about every aspect of the film was a
home run. A soul-crushing home run. If this sounds like something your psyche
can handle, I would highly recommend Daddy Issues.
One of the cool thing about Rampage, besides that it stars Dwayne Johnson going toe-to-toe with a trio of oversized beasties, is that his best friend George isn’t a CGI creation. That’s actually motion capture actor Jason Liles side-by-side with Johnson the whole time, making for an experience that was both grueling and the most rewarding of his career.
I had a chance to speak with Liles about his co-starring role as George in Rampage, and he talked about the six months of extensive ape study he put in, training alongside the great Terry Notary, the legendary stunt coordinator and animal movement coach best known for films such as Tarzan, Kong: Skull Island, Rise of the Silver Surfer, War for the Planet of the Apes, and last year’s The Square. Liles talks about becoming buddies with Johnson during filming, his love of video games, upcoming projects, and more.
Tune in to my interview with Jason Liles below, and check out my review of Rampagehere!
I’ve always thought that Michelle Pfeiffer is pretty underrated as an actress, so when I first heard about the film Where is Kyra and how everyone seemed to be in agreement with this being the role that really gets to showcase her acting chops making this the “performance of her career” I was excited. Dark Indies are notorious for being those movies where actors are generally called to reach down within the depths of their soul to bring to life their aching and troubled character. So, needless to say I was pretty pleased to see Michelle be able to do just this, however, I was also extremely disappointed when this was only the case for the last 30 mins of the film.
Where is Kyra follows the sad reality of Kyra (Pfeiffer) after a divorce and the loss of her mother who was incredibly sick. As the film follows her descent into poverty we see the unfortunate lengths that her character is willing to go to just to be able to survive.
I wanted to love this film: The dark and ambient lighting; the desaturated and muted colors; the wide angled shots and framing that had Kyra taking up a small space on screen so as to drive home the point of how incredibly lonely and dull her world is; as well as the overall bleak tone for the film had me thinking “now, this is my kind of movie”. That first hour, however, had me feeling like I had been robbed.
Much of that hour for Kyra was spent showing her taking care of her mother, applying for jobs, having sex, and the occasional conversation between her and and her love interest, Doug, played by Keifer Sutherland. I understand that movies don’t always need to be this loud, boisterous, action-filled story; sometimes the quietness and subtleties of a character and their story holds so much more weight than any dialogue or over-the-top acting, but in this particular case much of the movie felt like it was just dragging on; like you were waiting for something to happen. Though, I can understand the lack of action, overall disjointedness, and lack of truly living in her life because she has more pressing issues to worry about like trying to survive, the result, at least for me, was pretty underwhelming.
After that last hour, however, I was hooked: there was tension, a clear conflict, emotion, stakes; I actually began to feel something for her character and I became invested to see how it would all unfold. I just wish that more of the film felt like that last half hour. Yes, this is a role that we don’t normally see Michelle Pfeiffer in, but when much of the story itself doesn’t feel like it’s amounting to anything other than to show just how shitty her life is becoming with each passing day it doesn’t make for an incredibly enticing film.
