Move over, Snake Eyes. The actual most popular ninja in the world, Naruto, is about to get his own movie, too, and this one might actually be a hit. A live-action Naruto film has been talked about for years, but now it’s finally taking shape with Destin Daniel Cretton coming aboard to direct.
Cretton is best known as the director of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He had been aboard their upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty film but dropped out, while staying aboard Shang-Chi 2 and Marvel’s Wonder Man series. Cretton also helmed the terrific drama Short Term 12 that introduced the world to LaKeith Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, and showed everyone Brie Larson’s dramatic skills. And like that film, Cretton will also be writing the screenplay for Naruto.
THR notes that Cretton will be rewriting the script based on an earlier draft by Tasha Huo.
The film is based on the popular manga by Masashi Kishimoto that centers on Naruto Uzumaki, a ridiculed but carefree ninja who aspires to become the Hokage, leader of his village, to receive the approval he’s long sought. Naruto remains one of the best-selling manga of all-time around the world.
With so much on Cretton’s plate it’s unclear what comes next, but one would assume Marvel takes the pole position here.
We can debate the value of the various guild awards when it comes to predicting the Oscars, but what’s indisputable is that very few award shows are actually entertaining to watch. The Independent Spirits are one of the handful that are, and last night the art house crowd gathered to pick the best indie movies of the year. it turned out to be a very big night for Past Lives, the acclaimed drama from Celine Song winning Best Feature, while Song herself took Best Director. The film overcame stiff competition from All Of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Passages, and more to perhaps make a case for itself in the upcoming Oscars where it is a Best Picture nominee.
The Holdovers continued its strong run towards the Oscars. Da’Vine Joy Randolph perhaps solidified a few victory by taking the Indie Spirit for Best Supporting Performance, while the film also won for Best Cinematography and Best Breakthrough Performance for star Dominic Sessa.
Jeffrey Wright won Best Lead Performance for his starring role in American Fiction, while director Cord Jefferson followed his BAFTA victory with a win for Best Screenplay. Meanwhile, a really well-deserved win for director A.V. Rockwell and her film A Thousand And One, which earned Best First Feature.
The full list of Independent Spirit Award winners, including TV, are below!
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer)
All of Us Strangers
Producers: Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
American Fiction
Producers: Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, Ben LeClair
May December
Producers: Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Grant S. Johnson, Pamela Koffler, Tyler W. Konney, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Christine Vachon
Passages
Producers: Michel Merkt, Saïd Ben Saïd
Past Lives – ***WINNER**
Producers: David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
We Grown Now
Producers: Minhal Baig, Joe Pirro
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Director: Raven Jackson
Producers: Maria Altamirano, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
Director: Tomás Gómez Bustillo
Producers: Gewan Brown, Amanda Freedman
Earth Mama
Director/Producer: Savanah Leaf
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Shirley O’Connor, Medb Riordan, Cody Ryder
A Thousand and One– ***WINNER***
Director: A.V. Rockwell
Producers: Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, Brad Weston
Upon Entry
Directors: Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez
Producers: Sergio Adrià, Carlos Juárez, Alba Sotorra, Carles Torras, Xosé Zapata
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer)
The Artifice Girl
Director/Writer: Franklin Ritch
Producers: Aaron B. Koontz, Ashleigh Snead
Cadejo Blanco
Director/Writer/Producer: Justin Lerner
Producers: Mauricio Escobar, Ryan Friedkin, Jack Patrick Hurley
Fremont– ***WINNER***
Director/Writer: Babak Jalali
Writer: Carolina Cavalli
Producers: Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, Laura Wagner
Rotting in the Sun
Director/Writer: Sebastián Silva
Writer: Pedro Peirano
Producer: Jacob Wasserman
The Unknown Country
Director/Writer/Producer: Morrisa Maltz
Writer: Lily Gladstone
Writers/Producers: Lainey Bearkiller Shangreaux, Vanara Taing
Producers: Katherine Harper, Laura Heberton, Tommy Heitkamp
BEST DIRECTOR
Andrew Haigh All of Us Strangers
Todd Haynes May December
William Oldroyd Eileen
Ira Sachs Passages
Celine Song– ***WINNER*** Past Lives
BEST SCREENPLAY
David Hemingson The Holdovers
Cord Jefferson – ***WINNER*** American Fiction
Laura Moss, Brendan J. O’Brien Birth/Rebirth
Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott Bottoms
Celine Song Past Lives
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik– ***WINNER*** May December
Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt Theater Camp
Tomás Gómez Bustillo Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
Laurel Parmet The Starling Girl
Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastián Vásquez Upon Entry
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Jessica Chastain Memory
Greta Lee Past Lives
Trace Lysette Monica
Natalie Portman May December
Judy Reyes Birth/Rebirth
Franz Rogowski Passages
Andrew Scott All of Us Strangers
Teyana Taylor A Thousand and One
Jeffrey Wright– ***WINNER*** American Fiction
Teo Yoo Past Lives
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Erika Alexander American Fiction
Sterling K. Brown American Fiction
Noah Galvin Theater Camp
Anne Hathaway Eileen
Glenn Howerton BlackBerry
Marin Ireland Eileen
Charles Melton May December
Da’Vine Joy Randolph– ***WINNER*** The Holdovers
Catalina Saavedra Rotting in the Sun
Ben Whishaw Passages
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Marshawn Lynch Bottoms
Atibon Nazaire Mountains
Tia Nomore Earth Mama
Dominic Sessa– ***WINNER*** The Holdovers
Anaita Wali Zada Fremont
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Katelin Arizmendi Monica
Eigil Bryld– ***WINNER*** The Holdovers
Jomo Fray All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Pablo Lozano Chronicles of a Wandering Saint
Pat Scola We Grown Now
BEST EDITING
Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz, Sofía Subercaseaux Rotting in the Sun
Stephanie Filo We Grown Now
Daniel Garber– ***WINNER*** How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Jon Philpot Theater Camp
Emanuele Tiziani Upon Entry
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
Showing Up
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Casting Director: Gayle Keller
Ensemble Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, Michelle Williams
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
Bye Bye Tiberias
Director: Lina Soualem
Producer: Jean-Marie Nizan
Four Daughters –***WINNER***
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Producer: Nadim Cheikhrouha
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Directors/Producers: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
Producer: Tommy Oliver
Kokomo City
Director: D. Smith
Producers: Bill Butler, Harris Doran
The Mother of All Lies
Director/Producer: Asmae El Moudir
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Anatomy of a Fall– ***WINNER***
France
Director: Justine Triet
Godland
Denmark/Iceland
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Mami Wata
Nigeria
Director: C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi
Tótem
Mexico
Director: Lila Avilés
The Zone of Interest
United Kingdom, Poland, USA
Director: Jonathan Glazer
PRODUCERS AWARDpresented by Bulleit Frontier Whiskey – The Producers Award, now in its 27th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.
Rachael Fung
Graham Swon
Monique Walton– ***WINNER***
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 30th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
Joanna Arnow
Director of The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
Laura Moss
Director of Birth/Rebirth
Monica Sorelle – ***WINNER***
Director of Mountains
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 29th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
Set Hernandez– ***WINNER***
Director of unseen
Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli
Director of Lakota Nation vs. United States
Sierra Urich
Director of Joonam
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Executive Producers: Vinnie Malhotra, Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman, Dawn Porter
Dear Mama– ***WINNER***
Executive Producers: Lasse Järvi, Quincy ‘QD3’ Jones III, Staci Robinson, Nelson George, Charles D. King, Peter Nelson, Adel ‘Future’ Nur, Jamal Joseph, Ted Skillman, Allen Hughes, Steve Berman, Marc Cimino, Jody Gerson, John Janick, Nicholas Ferrall, Nigel Sinclair
Murder in Big Horn
Executive Producers: Matthew Galkin, Vinnie Malhotra
Co-Executive Producers: Lisa Kalikow, Joshua Levine
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
Executive Producers: Mindy Goldberg, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Jon Bardin, Zach Heinzerling, Krista Parris, Daniel Barban Levin, Felicia Rosario
Co-Executive Producer: Julie Gaither
Wrestlers
Executive Producers: Greg Whiteley, Ryan O’Dowd
Co-Executive Producers: Alejandro Melendez, Adam Leibowitz
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Beef-***WINNER***
Creator/Executive Producer: Lee Sung Jin
Executive Producers: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Jake Schreier, Ravi Nandan, Alli Reich
Co-Executive Producers: Alice Ju, Carrie Kemper
Dreaming Whilst Black
Creator/Executive Producer: Adjani Salmon
Creators: Maximilian Evans, Natasha Jatania, Laura Seixas
Executive Producers: Tanya Qureshi, Dhanny Joshi, Bal Samra, Thomas Stogdon
I’m a Virgo
Creator/Executive Producer: Boots Riley
Executive Producers: Tze Chun, Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, Jharrel Jerome, Rebecca Rivo
Co-Executive Producers: Marcus Gardley, Carver Karaszewski
Jury Duty
Creators/Executive Producers: Lee Eisenberg, Gene Stupnitsky
Executive Producers: David Bernad, Ruben Fleischer, Nicholas Hatton, Cody Heller, Todd Schulman, Jake Szymanski, Andrew Weinberg
Slip
Creator/Executive Producer: Zoe Lister-Jones
Executive Producers: Ro Donnelly, Dakota Johnson, Katie O’Connell Marsh, David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Emma Corrin A Murder at the End of the World
Dominique Fishback Swarm
Betty Gilpin Mrs. Davis
Jharrel Jerome I’m a Virgo
Zoe Lister-Jones Slip
Bel Powley A Small Light
Bella Ramsey The Last of Us
Ramón Rodríguez Will Trent
Ali Wong– ***WINNER*** Beef
Steven Yeun Beef
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Murray Bartlett The Last of Us
Billie Eilish Swarm
Jack Farthing Rain Dogs
Nick Offerman– ***WINNER*** The Last of Us
Adina Porter The Changeling
Lewis Pullman Lessons in Chemistry
Benny Safdie The Curse
Luke Tennie Shrinking
Olivia Washington I’m a Virgo
Jessica Williams Shrinking
BEST BREAKTRHOUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Clark Backo The Changeling
Aria Mia Loberti All the Light We Cannot See
Adjani Salmon Dreaming Whilst Black
Keivonn Montreal Woodard– ***WINNER*** The Last of Us
Kara Young I’m a Virgo
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Jury Duty
Ensemble Cast: Alan Barinholtz, Susan Berger, Cassandra Blair, David Brown, Kirk Fox, Ross Kimball, Pramode Kumar, Trisha LaFache, Mekki Leeper, James Marsden, Edy Modica, Kerry O’Neill, Rashida Olayiwola, Whitney Rice, Maria Russell, Ishmel Sahid, Ben Seaward, Ron Song, Evan Williams
For the second week in a row, Bob Marley: One Love led the week in the face of soft competition. That will definitely come to an end when Dune: Part Two hits in a few days. The reggae legend’s biopic now has $120.5M worldwide.
2. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To the Hashira Training– $11.5M
A surprisingly mid start for Ordinary Angels, the Hilary Swank/Alan Ritchson faith-based drama from Kingdom Story, who are used to raking in at least twice this much in an opening weekend. The reviews were decent, but I’m going to guess the reason this didn’t perform better is because it doesn’t have obviously Christian actors (What, no Kevin Sorbo??) and no mention of Jesus in the title. Crazy that a little thing like that could have such an impact, but I think I’m right.
4. Madame Web– $6M/$35.4M
A generally good week for Sony with Demon Slayer scoring a big debut and Anyone But You surpassing $200M globally, is blemished a little by the second week of Madame Web. The Spidey spinoff fell another 61% and has just $77M worldwide.
Ethan Coen’s first shot out of the gate as a solo director after years of teaming with brother Joel was the queer crime caper, Drive-Away Dolls, and folks had no time for it. It’s easy to see why. The film has middling critic scores and not a lot of buzz for a movie that has been pushed in cinemas for months. But the cast of Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Beanie Feldstein aren’t box office draws, while cameos by Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal weren’t enough to attract buyers.
I’ll be Garth Ennis had no clue when he was first creating The Boys that he was developing a property that would one day be such an apt allegory for modern politics (and really society in general). The twisted take on the Superhero genre is heading into its fourth season and, as of it’s season 3 finale, has never been better. While season 3’s highlights were undoubtedly surrounded by Jensen Ackles turn as Soldier Boy it was the continued madness of Homelander that will be carrying the story for the next set of episodes. Just to recap, Homelander’s sanity slipped just enough to reveal the evil below his public, PR crafted mask, and was delighted to find out that a certain subset of the population actually liked him more as a tyrannical malicious demi-god then as the white-toothed, flag-draped personification of Americana.
One of the last scenes of season 3 saw Homelander laser a guys head off in full view of the public for throwing something at his son. You’ve all seen the popular reaction gif by now, but it would suffice to say that getting cheers instead of condemnation for such an attack is likely pushing the villain into full on power drunk.
If you needed any further proof that the rise of Trum….err, Homelander, will be the focus of season 4 look no further then the just released promo poster showing the star spangled one doing the campaign shuffle with Presidential hopeful and prolific head popper Victoria Neuman. The most important detail to be found in the poster, however, is found at the very bottom…a release date of June 13th, 2024! Looks like we have just under 4 months to wait to see just how crazy the world of The Boys can get, for those that aren’t familiar with the graphic novels let me just say this, no matter what you think the limits of this insanity might be, the actual line is about 20 feet past that.
With the momentum built for season 4, the phenomenal first season of Gen V, and the upcoming spin-off The Boys: Mexico, it looks like we’re going to have plenty to consume from this universe for some time to come and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Look for The Boys Season 4 on June 13th, 2024 on Prime Video!
Official Synopsis:
In Season Four, the world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power, Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son and his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late.
stgar inHot off of Tom Cruise’s new strategic partnership with Warner Bros., one that could see him join Quentin Tarantino’s The Movie Critic, Cruise has also joined a new film by Mexican auteur Alejandro González Iñárritu that is being acquired by WB and Legendary Entertainment.
The film would mark Iñárritu’s first since 2022’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, and his first English-language project since 2015’s The Revenant. Details are being kept under wrapped, but Iñárritu will produce and direct from a script he co-wrote with Sabina Berman and Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giacobone, who he worked with on Birdman a decade ago.
Cruise, who will also act as a producer, has been seeking more films outside the realm of action, plus a chance to work with auteurs again. Iñárritu fits the bill, and it’ll be interesting to see how this project takes shape for them both. Iñárritu’s movies tend to lead to Oscar nominations for his stars, and Cruise could be next. [Deadline]
Jack Reacher star Alan Ritchson shows a different kind of strength in Ordinary Angels, as his muscles don’t mean much when faced with a dying girl and the Hellish healthcare system. The fact-based drama with a faith-based core comes from The Erwins, who through their Kingdom Story Company banner have the market cornered on Christian movies geared towards a specifically devout audience. But for this godless heathen, their best and most accessible films have featured bigger stars and have been increasingly nonreligious, like the Kurt Warner football drama American Underdog. You could say the same for Ordinary Angels, which trusts its audience enough to know that God’s teachings are spread through the actions of people, and not beat into you by incessant heavy-handed agenda messaging.
So color me a bit shocked that I actually enjoyed Ordinary Angels despite its frequent hokeyness, overwrought delivery, and utter lack of humor and romance. What it has in spades is passion, and a lot of good people coming together to do a good thing because it’s the right thing to do. There’s something nice and comforting about that. The specifically Christian qualities have been obscured, and maybe that’s the genius of pairing screenwriters Meg Tilly (the Agnes of God actress) and Kelly Fremon Craig (of The Edge of Seventeen and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret) whose sensibilities are given room to shine through.
The aforementioned Ritchson plays Ed Schmitt, and when we first meet him it’s as his wife Theresa (Amy Acker) is giving birth to their daughter, Michelle (Emily Mitchell). Ed wouldn’t have minded to give the girl his own name, but thankfully his wife overruled that choice. Cut to five years later, and poor Ed is there in the same hospital room watching Theresa pass away, leaving him alone to care for two daughters, Michelle and older sister Ashley (Skywalker Hughes). As if that wouldn’t be difficult enough, Michelle has a rare disease, biliary atresia, and will die if she doesn’t get the needed liver transplant. We see a number of factors standing in the way of this ever happening. One is their location in Louisville, KY, placing them hours from the nearest hospital that performs the surgery, to Ed’s roofing job that provides no health insurance, to the crushing weight of medical bills left in the wake of Theresa’s hospital stay. It isn’t long before Ed is drowning in grief and debt with little hope of a miracle.
The funny thing about miracles is that they sometimes can be hard to recognize. Oscar winner Hilary Swank plays Sharon, and she certainly wouldn’t be confused with any kind of a savior. A hairdresser and hard-partying drunk whose demons cost her a relationship with her son, Sharon thinks she can hide her problems behind a stiff drink and shiny dresses. After a friendly intervention, Sharon is encouraged to live for something bigger than herself. So she turns one addiction into another by becoming obsessed with Michelle’s story. She determines to help Ed and his family see through this time of need, whether they asked for her help or not. It doesn’t take long before Sharon is dropping off piles of cash from pledge drives, helping out around the house, figuring out Ed’s debts, and (unbelievably) convincing the hospital to just wipe $400K in debts off the books.
It’s tough to tell who is the true protagonist of Ordinary Angels, either Ritchson or Swank. She’s the mover and shaker who gets things done, but the real burden isn’t hers. It belongs to Ed, who sees his faith shaken when all of the prayer lists in the world didn’t help save Theresa and the same ones probably won’t save Michelle, either. He’s also dealing with a certain amount of male pride; he doesn’t like all of this charity that he’s receiving, nor the attention that comes with it. He bristles against most of Sharon’s plans and outright rages against others.
But it’s just good to see Ritchson have a little more to do in a film that requires more than one-liners and lots of punching. He’s really locked-in to the role of Ed, showing moments of weakness and vulnerability, especially as his children ponder their own mortality, but also strength and playfulness in scenes with his family. It doesn’t hurt to have someone like Swank to work with. I think we forget how good she is because her films haven’t lived up to her talent very often, lately. Some of her dialogue here is merely functional or unsophisticated, but she also gets the most rousing speeches meant to restore your faith in humanity.
Director Jon Gunn has a delicate balancing act in the final stretch, as ludicrous coincidence collides with uplifting accounts of human kindness. As the worst blizzard in Louisville history strikes at exactly the worst moment possible, hundreds of locals pull together with shovels, trucks, helicopters, whatever is needed to save a little girl most of them will never know. Ordinary Angels is simple feel-good storytelling. It won’t blow anybody away, but its heart is in the right place and so is its faith in people.
So while True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto is jealously throwing shade at the show’s fourth season, Night Country, the fact remains it’s the most-viewed and highest-rated season yet. Ouch, Nic, that must sting. HBO loves it, though, and they want more of that action in a fifth season
HBO has renewed True Detective for season five, with showrunner Issa López returning. The writer/director has inked a multi-year deal with the network to create new content, including the upcoming fifth season
As for stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, they aren’t likely to return given the series’ anthology structure. So look for new detectives taking on a different case, but that doesn’t mean connections to past seasons won’t happen, as we saw this season.
“From conception to release, Night Country has been the most beautiful collaboration and adventure of my entire creative life.” Lopez said in a statement. “HBO trusted my vision all the way, and the idea of bringing to life a new incarnation of True Detective with Casey, Francesca, and the whole team is a dream come true. I can’t wait to go again.”
Don’t expect it right away, though. This season was a grueling 100-day shoot, and it will take time to come up with the kind of detailed storyline that has become the True Detective standard.
I have to preface this review with my unabashed love for Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon/anime (I still consider it an anime even though I’m in the minority of that logic). Not too many cartoons are on my “greatest of all time” TV lists, but the tale of Aang and “Team Avatar” facing off against the Fire Nation absolutely is on my list. In fact, thanks to streaming, it’s one of the shows that I will rewatch at least once every two years, right up there with Breaking Bad, The Wire, 24, and all the greats. Needless to say, Avatar: The Last Airbender holds a special place in my heart. It made me nervous that Netflix was commissioning a live-action adaptation of the beloved cartoon, especially after that atrocious M. Night Shyamalan adaptation that was downright unwatchable. To make matters worse, the original creators left the Netflix production due to “creative differences” and some character beats from the cartoon were already announced to change. So how would Netflix’s version of Avatar: The Last Airbender go?
Debuting almost 19 years to the day after the premiere of the original cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender delivers on almost every level and is a worthy adaptation of the beloved classic. For the uninitiated, Avatar takes place in an alternative world where there are four nations: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. In this world, a select group of people from these nations have the ability to “bend” the elements. People from the Water Tribes can manipulate water, Air Nomads: air, Earth Kingdom: earth, and the Fire Nation: fire. While people from each nation can control the elements of their nationality, only “The Avatar” is gifted with the ability to control all four elements. The Avatar is a role/title that changes generationally and across all four nations. When one Avatar passes away, he/she is reborn in another nation. The goal of the Avatar is to establish balance not only between the nations, but also between the physical and spiritual world. The latest reincarnation of The Avatar takes the form of a young kid named Aang (Gordon Cormier) who is an airbender, but when The Fire Nation dipped their toes in imperialism, Aang was lost for and remained lost for 100 years.
During the 100 years that Aang was missing, the Fire Nation led by the ruthless Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) went on a campaign of conquest across the planet, leaving the world on the brink of war. In the south, Southern Water Tribe members Katara (Kiawentiio) and her big brother Sokka (Ian Ousley) are basically the “elders” of their tribe as most of the fighters left their village to fight The Fire Nation. They happen to come across Aang, who has been hibernating frozen in an iceberg for the last 100 years. They have to fill Aang in on the last 100 years and quickly befriend him and join him to complete his training on the other elements so he can defeat the Fire Nation and save the world.
At the same time, Aang’s arrival has peaks the interest of Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu), Fire Lord Ozai’s son and recently banished member of The Fire Nation. Zuko cannot return home unless he captures The Avatar and delivers him to his father, so he is determined to capture Aang so he can return back home. Teaming up with his tea-loving uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), Zuko leads his naval battalion for a season-long game of cat and mouse with Aang, Katara, and Sokka. “Team Avatar” as they named themselves, are now on a quest to help Aang go out and save the world from the Fire Nation. Each episode is a new adventure for them to get into as they travel in search of clues to help Aang learn the skills he needs and discover what it means to be The Avatar.
Avatar: The Last Airbender nails so many crucial elements from the cartoon in such a way that will make even the most jaded fan smile. The set decoration and CGI (for the most part) are flawlessly copied from animation to live action. The world-building that existed in the cartoon is also available in the live-action show, complete with the choices for merged animals like tiger seals, turtle ducks, giant moles, and of course Appa the flying bison or Momo the winged lemur. Just like the cartoon, the cultures of each elemental nation are on full display, and unlike other live-action adaptations, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cast primarily of people of color. In the cartoon, most of the characters were either of Asian, South Asian, or Indigenous descent, and that carries into the Netflix adaptation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s biggest test is whether or not the bending looks realistic. It’s one thing for the cartoon to have people shooting fire out of their hands while fighting someone who can turn water into ice daggers, or an earth bender causing earthquakes and throwing dirt at their enemies, but in live-action, that could be a disaster. However, I’m happy to say that the bending is awesome, is done in very creative ways during fights, and it never gets old. There are plenty of breathtaking fight scenes that not only look great, but aren’t over-bloated CGI monstrosities as the world is completely believable.
In addition, each of the performances delivers. Team Avatar does most of the heavy lifting as we get to spend so much time with them. While some folks are upset about the lack of Sokka’s initial sexism, you will barely notice it as each character has great character moments, especially Gordon Cormier as Aang as he wrestles with not only being The Avatar and how that conflicts with his pacifist upbringing, but also he, Kara, and Soka are all young kids who have to go on a quest to save the world, while they probably would rather want to be going out and playing. The decision to introduce Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula before their introduction from the animated series helps establish them as dangerous foils for Team Avatar. Daniel Dae Kim (yes, I know he’s the Internet’s new “Zaddy” thanks to him being shirtless on the show) is terrifying as the ruthless leader of the fire nation, and Elizabeth Yu as Azula shows just how evil she will become thanks to her ambition and ruthlessness to appease her father. But fan favorites Prince Zuko and Uncle Iroh are pitch-perfect in their casting. Dallas Liu plays Zuko’s anguish perfectly, and fans know how his character arc is going to be over the series and it’ll be interesting to see him fulfill that role. But just like in the cartoon, Uncle Iroh is the MVP. The “Dragon of the West” who loves his tea is such a perfect role for Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as his star continues to climb with each pop culture role he gets.
While Avatar: The Last Airbender is a great adaptation, at times it does feel like Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Lion King, in that not much of the story is changing from one medium to another, it just looks prettier. The first season of the show pretty much covers “Book One: Water” from the cartoon. The cartoon had twenty 20-minute episodes to cover the subject, the first season of the show has to truncate it into eight 45–53-minute episodes, and it feels we could have had 1-2 more episodes to help flesh everything out. In addition, while the bending CGI was awesome, sometimes the mythological creatures could have done another rendering pass. Momo and Appa looked great, but it’s not surprising that some of the CGI animals were sparingly used for cloudy day or night shots to help cover deficiencies in the CGI department.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s first season ends with a bunch of story setup for the second season, to the point that after you finish binging, you’re going to be mad that you have to wait a couple years for the second season. There’s a reason they adjusted the timeline of “Sozin’s Comet” from the cartoon so that the story can take longer (and the teen actors don’t look like grown adults by season 2), and it’s because Netflix is in this for the long haul. While the cartoon was only three seasons, I can see them trying to stretch this show for 4-5 seasons, and as an Avatar fan, bring it on. Bring on Aang, bring on Kora, hell even give us prequels for other Avatars! If they can keep up the awesomeness of the first season, Netflix will have a hit for the foreseeable future.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is currently available on Netflix.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of Dune: Part Two, the continuation of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi blockbuster. The film stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar nominee Josh Brolin, Oscar nominee Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem.
SYNOPSIS: “Dune: Part Two” will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
The screening takes place on Monday, February 26th at 7:00pm at AMC Tysons Corner IMAX. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Warner Bros. site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you will need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
I don’t complain much about spinoffs and unwanted remakes, but this idea is truly terrible and I’m surprised Paramount doesn’t see it. A spinoff of 1986 stone cold classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is in the works, and it’ll center on the two valet drivers who took the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder belonging to Cameron’s father for a spin.
Ugh, right?
THR reports that David Katzenberg will direct the film, titled Sam and Victor’s Day Off. The story will take place over the course of a single day during the events of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, as Sam and Victor enjoy what is sure to be an insane joyride. The characters were originally played by Richard Edson and Larry “Flash” Jenkins.
The follow-up to John Hughes’ comedy classic will have someone familiar with nostalgia properties in Katzenberg, who directed episodes of The Goldbergs and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. Aboard as producers are Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald.
So what do you think? Excited for Sam and Victor’s Day Off? And if so, who are you hoping gets cast?
