Somehow, Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms have seen their careers transform to the point where we are more accustomed to seeing them as parents in family comedies than anything else. How did the killer actress from Alias and Elektra, and the raunchy actor from The Hangover movies become so…domesticated? They practically have “family friendly” stamped on their foreheads. Well, it ain’t over. Because the duo will play parents in the upcoming Netflix body-swapping comedy, Family Switch.
This one’s pretty easy to follow. A dysfunctional family finds their home more chaotic than usual when the parents suddenly swap bodies with their kids, the kids become the adults, the baby becomes the dog, and all of this happens on an extremely important day! Of course it does!
Also in the cast are Wednesday actress Emma Myers, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem‘s Brady Noon, Bashir Salahuddin, Army of the Dead‘s Matthias Schweighöfer, Xosha Roquemore, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Paul Scheer, Fortune Feimster, and Rita Moreno. Lots of talent that have worked with Netflix many times before, and that includes the guy behind the camera.
Surprisingly, the film is directed by McG, who you probably remember from his Terminator and Charlie’s Angels action flicks. Most recently he directed both The Babysitter films for Netflix.
Seriously, this looks pretty cozy and easy to watch. FamilySwitch hits Netflix on November 30th.
Here’s the synopsis followed by the new trailer:
Jess and Bill Walker are doing their best to keep their family connected as their children grow older, more independent, and more distant. When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the family to wake up to a full body switch, on the morning of the most important day of each of their lives, can the Walkers unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal and soccer tryout?
Sports are one of the best pastimes to exist because of the way that their stories of triumph and heartbreak encapsulate the human experience in an exciting, made for TV package.
However, unless you have an incredibly diverse taste in sports, there’s a good chance that you won’t have a game to tap in to 24/7/365. Whether due to scheduling lulls because of the way games are spaced out — NFL games, for instance, joy take place on three days each week — or because of lengthy offseasons that can drag on for months, you might not always have the opportunity to watch your favorite sports.
Watching YouTube highlights can be fun, but even that gets old after a while when you already know the outcome of what you’re watching.
With that goal for an around the clock sports viewing experience in mind, TV series make for an excellent compromise. You can turn them on at any time of day or year, and with seasons upon seasons of episodes and dramatic plot lines designed so that there’s never a down moment, you’ll soon find yourself immersed in the world on the screen instead of just looking for a way to kill time.
Here’s a look at some of the best sports TV series out there today, as well as how you can watch them. Now, with the launch of ESPN Bet in more than a dozen states, sports fans can enjoy these shows, the thrilling entertainment, and also take a bet using the ESPN sports betting code. You’re sure to get your money’s worth and immerse yourself in the action on and off the screen.
Friday Night Lights
Remember how I said that part of what makes sports so compelling is the way that they reflect the human experience? That’s exactly what made this series so compelling.
Set in a small town in football-crazy West Texas, Friday Night Lights digs much deeper than what happens on the gridiron, showing what the players and coaches go through off the field and addressing social issues like poverty, racism and substance abuse.
The show ran for five seasons, meaning you’ll have plenty to keep you busy, and the poignant portrayal of the hardships of daily life mean that you’ll grow attached to the characters for the struggles they go through even more than for their highlights on the gridiron. Depending what country you live in, you can stream Friday Night Lights on a number of video platforms, including Netflix and Hulu.
Ted Lasso
It’s always a shame to pick up a new TV series after it’s already finished its run. You can binge watch dozens of episodes, of course, but that comes with the painful realization that once you’re done pigging out, the show is done for good.
This option makes up for that shortcoming, as Ted Lasso is three seasons into its run with a solid chance of getting renewed for a fourth season after receiving critical acclaim. Ted Lasso tells the story of the titular man, an American football head coach who journeys across the pond to begin managing a British soccer team.
Described as a dramedy, Lasso is a much lighter take on the world of sports, packed with humor and a generally uplifting tone as the out of place coach finds a way to bring people together and make things work.
Just as you see the players and management at AFC Richmond start to warm up to their head coach, cheery Ted Lasso will win you over in no time if you decide to watch it on Apple TV+.
QB1: Beyond the Lights
QB1 earns a place on this list not just because of the drama, which there is plenty of, but because of the star power. Rather than relying on an ensemble cast like Ted Lasso or Friday Night Lights, this show is compelling because it’s a documentary: the players on the screen are actual college prospects amidst their senior year of high school. Getting a behind the scenes look at the next crop of standout Saturday players is a fascinating opportunity that helps you feel like you’re really getting to know them. On the other hand, the show’s impact continues as you see each player’s collegiate career pan out: it’s a harrowing reminder of just how hard it is to make it in college football, as not all of the top prospects manage to catch on at the Division 1 level.
QB1 has showcased studs inducing Heisman trophy winners, candidates and future first round draft picks like Justin Fields, Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson.
It has also featured duds like Spencer Rattler and Tate Martell who were supposed to be the next big thing but never actually panned out as such.
How bad must your day be to accidentally run over and kill a mythical creature known for its unique beauty? Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega are going to find out in Death of a Unicorn, an A24 film that has officially wrapped production. And as part of that good news, the full star-studded ensemble has been revealed.
Joining Rudd and Ortega in the cast are Richard E. Grant, Tea Leoni, Will Poulter, Anthony Carrigan, Sunita Mani, Jessica Hynes, and Stephen Park. As you can tell, the cast leans heavy on the funny, which should be perfect for this dark comedy.
The film marks the debut from writer/director Alex Scharfman. If you’re curious how so many big names are aboard, it might have helped that Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar) is an exec-producer. Frequent Zack Snyder collaborator, cinematographer Larry Fong, will be manning the camera. Pretty good crew on this one.
Here’s the synopsis: A father (Rudd) and daughter (Ortega) accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss (Grant) seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.
Rudd is one of the most popular actors in the world, and seemingly doesn’t age. Perhaps he’s already partaken of the unicorn’s healing properties? Ortega is red-hot right now following a pair of Scream movies and Netflix’s Wednesday. A24 could have a huge hit on their hands right here, and with production already wrapped we might see something from it soon.
A few years ago, Velvet Buzzsaw attempted to satirize the art world on a canvas of dark comedy and murder, but even with that title its insights were pretty dull. At least Nicol Paone’s The Kill Roomhas a few more laughs to offer, a sharper comparison between the art world and underworld, and a cast that would make Quentin Tarantino jealous. I mean, this film wins just for giving us Samuel L. Jackson as a Jewish crimelord and bakery owner who speaks Yiddish for the entire movie. We get to hear him utter “Oy gevalt!”, although I have to admit it would be much funnier if he not only had a head of payot sidelocks but a pair of glocks in his hands.
The film also features Uma Thurman as Patrice, owner of a struggling art gallery that has been blown away by unscrupulous dealers who will do anything to make the sale. Their corruption is right out in the open, selling to whoever whether they give a damn about the art or not. Patrice prefers to do things the right away, even if it means the smaller talent she wants to promote, such as local artist Grace (played by Thurman’s daughter, Maya Hawke) get overlooked.
Being surrounded by the sliding ethics of her peers, the Adderall-snorting Patrice can’t help but get down in the muck, too. Out of desperation, she hooks up with Gordon (Jackson) who has a mob scheme to launder money through her gallery. It involves her snobby clients paying huge sums of money for rather terrible art cooked up by hulking assassin, Reggie (Joe Manganiello). Shocker; Reggie’s art becomes incredibly popular and soon everybody wants a piece from “The Bagman”, even if this sudden fame draws a lot of unwanted attention.
In the opening sequence, we see Reggie’s calling card; choking out a target using common grocery bags. As the victim is dragged away screaming, his shoes leave scuff marks in the floor; with the scene fading away to the brush strokes of a piece art that somebody will probably overpay for. So you get the level of the critique here. Both the art world and the criminal underworld are shady businesses full of phonies who will do anything for money and clout. The genuine art lovers are getting boxed out by collectors who aren’t in this for an appreciation for the craft, but because they believe owning a valuable piece means they are themselves valuable. Sure, this level of insight is probably a touch outdated, but it still scans as accurate and ripe material to be poked at.
The Kill Room does feel like a movie from an earlier generation; like it belongs next to the wave of Get Shorty knockoffs from the late ’90s and early 2000s. The mix of violence and comedy plays at the same level, so when we see Reggie do what he does best we don’t actually register it as murder. Likewise, Patrice agreeing to work with killers becomes just another day in the cutthroat world of high-value art pieces. It makes for an amusing tone but not an especially memorable one. Paone’s background is in comedy, so it makes sense when the film starts to turn more in that direction, and she definitely has the cast for it.
Jackson and Thurman are perfect together, and it’s easy to see that they are friends in real life. Paone told me it was Thurman who got Jackson onto the film, with the Gordon character being rewritten for him. While they didn’t actually share scenes together in Pulp Fiction, their comedic chemistry is on point. Frankly, both are hamming it up just enough without going overboard. Gordon and Patrice somehow manage to make sense in this crazy, heightened world they’re living in, rather than feeling like imposters in it. Manganiello’s physicality and understated magnetism are used to great effect when Reggie begins taking on the beleaguered traits of a tortured artist. There are so many talented folks that you wish there was enough time to spend with them. Hawke’s role is fairly one-note and limited, while Debi Mazar maximizes her time as a snooty art critic whose word can make or break an artist. WWE fans tuning in to see popular superstar Liv Morgan will need to keep their eyes peeled. Manganiello
The Kill Room is far from a masterpiece, but Thurman, Jackson, and Manganiello guide the broad comedic brush strokes in entertaining fashion.
The Kill Room streams on digital and VOD beginning November 3rd.
There’s a good chance you missed Alex Wolff’s directorial debut, 2019 coming-of-age film The Cat and the Moon, and only know him for acting roles in Hereditary, Oppenheimer, and more. Well, Wolff is hoping to change that, and is ready to embark on his sophomore effort behind the camera, If She Burns, with a cast ready to go.
THR reports Wolff will write, direct, and star in If She Burns, a film that will see him joined by Justice Smith, Asa Butterfield, and The Haunting of Hill House actress Victoria Pedretti. The story follows “a fiery young woman (Pedretti) who travels to Europe with her dysfunctional family after a traumatic incident. There she finds refuge and danger in a turbulent affair with her enigmatic neighbor (Wolff), which, along with increasing family tensions and mysterious wildfires, threaten to push her to breaking point.”
A professional musician, as well, Wolff will co-write the music with composer Karl McComas-Reichl. So this is more than just another project for Wolff and you can see that he’s investing a lot in the filmmaking side of his career.
“I’m exhilarated to embark on a journey with such remarkable, brave actors like Victoria, Asa and Justice,” said Wolff. “What we put on screen will be daring, ferocious, tender, and honest. I’m honored to be able to share it.”
Sofia Coppola has made a career out of cinematically capturing young women on the precipice of adulthood. We saw it in The Virgin Suicides,Maria Antionette,The Beguiled, and we see it in the opening sequence of her latest film Priscilla. Based on Priscilla Prestley’s memoir, Elvis and Me, the esteemed filmmaker attempts to put a sidelined and pedestaled American icon at the center of her own story, in a way other depictions of her have not.
We first meet Priscilla as a high school freshman, stationed with her family in Germany in the late 1950s. The first time we see her whole face, she’s sitting at a soda counter, sipping on a float and working on school work – a subtle reminder of how young she is. In that same scene, she is propositioned by a military official to attend a party where Elvis is meant to make an appearance. A tale as old as time, they meet, have a five-year courtship, and consummate their relationship on their wedding night, all the while the cracks in their relationship start to show.
If last year’s Elvis was all spectacle, Priscilla is grounded in an edited reality. Because Ms. Prestley was heavily involved in the film’s production, we can feel her hand guiding the story along at times, especially in the film’s final 15 heavily sanitized minutes. Her journey from kept daughter to Elvis’ pet wife to independent woman is not a clean one and her character lacks the agency you’d expect from a liberation story.
Sofia Coppola knows how to visualize young womanhood and she has a brutal job hammering home Priscilla’s lack of agency and surplus of youth. With a muted color palette and a soundtrack composed mainly of ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s female artists, Coppola inserts her signature style into every frame. Jacob Elordi throws in infantilizing terms of endearment whenever he can, subtly controlling her with the drop of a suggestion. His performance never overshadows Cailee Spaeney but rather shows the overlooked side of Elvis’ private life.
While Elvis overlooked the Presleys’ marital woes, Priscillaforces you to grapple with them. Coppola factors in the idea that Priscilla could have been groomed, that their relationship was at least toxic, if not abusive. Spaeney’s performance, especially during scenes of turmoil, is quietly captivating, wrestling with her circumstances under a heavy lid of false eyelashes.
The film ends how you expect it to, with its leading lady driving away. Surprisingly, Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” is playing in the background. Fans of the Country icon will know that Elvis actually wanted the song but demanded Parton hand over the rights. It’s a cinematic moment that hits harder when you know some of the backstory and nuance. That seems to be a theme with Priscilla. Though Coppola’s muted style grounds the film, the more you know the more effective the film is.
A24’s Priscilla will be released nationwide on Friday, November 3rd.
Synopsis: In Trick ‘r Treat, five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: an everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.
As is tradition with every 31 Days of Horror, I close out the month with my favorite Halloween anthology. Not much needs to be said beyond the synopsis pulled from IMDB. To me, this film is the perfect collection of tales for Halloween night. When the veil between the two worlds thin and all matter of ghoulies roam the earth. I enjoy everything about the cult classic Trick ‘r Treat. It happens to be the movie I recommend the most around this time of year. There’s a killer stalking his prey, werewolves, ghostly children and a supernatural being that ties it all together via interstitials. It’s jam packed with Halloween lore. It’s one of those flicks that has a little something for everyone and completes itself by beginning exactly where it ends. Tying the story up perfectly in a nice neat little bow.
Trick ‘r Treat takes you on a journey through the Halloween experience during every stage of life. There’s the introduction to the holiday via Steven (Dylan Baker) passing down traditions, father to son. There’s the unsupervised teen years with the kids collecting pumpkins to take to the quarry. Followed by Anna Paquin’s sequence basically showing Halloween in your 20’s, where the whole holiday revolves around sex. Then there’s the final sequence with Mr. Kreeg (Brian Cox) being your twilight years. The time when the holiday starts to lose its luster. Then there’s the pumpkin headed, orange pajama clad child demon that brings this all together. Sam is the ultimate (somewhat lovable) antagonist who just wants people to respect the traditions. He is the ultimate personification of the holiday itself.
If you haven’t seen this film or even if you have, do yourself a favor and watch it again, it’s definitely worth the time. I own several copies in various formats but I’m pretty sure you can find this one streaming somewhere.
Before I go, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read and interact with me this October. It’s a labor of love and I’m glad I’m able to share it with you. I’ve seen a lot throughout the years but still have barely scratched the surface when it comes to genre films. There’s so much out there and tons of hidden gems that just beg to be found. I’m not exactly sure how but I’m looking to continue this deep dive into horror film so keep your eyes open and I’ll surface with something again soon. In the meantime you can find me writing about all the new horror right here at PunchDrunkCritics.com
Fans of Marvel Comics know that body-swapping shenanigans are nothing new for the superhero Marvel family. But we’re seeing it happen for the first time in the MCU in The Marvels, which features fun, cosmic action with Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, and Photon.
Iman Vellani brings her Kamala Khan character from the Ms. Marvel series on Disney+ onto the big screen, joining Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris. As seen in the new clip, alien Kree wackiness caused by villain Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) has caused the trio of super-ladies to swap bodies anytime they use their powers. That leads to a ton of confusion when Captain Marvel ends up fighting bad guys in Ms. Marvel’s home, while Kamala battles baddies on a space station with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). No sign of Photon, sadly. Not in this clip, anyway.
Freaky Friday, Marvel style? Did I mention that Photon is one of my all-time favorite Marvel characters and seeing her in such a prominent role makes me very happy?
Here’s the synopsis: Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as “The Marvels.”
The Marvels opens in theaters on November 10th, directed by Nia DaCosta. This is not only a major film for her, but for Marvel Studios as they weather an unexpected storm. Things have not been smooth sailing for Marvel of late, and Disney is starting to crack down. Captain Marvel earned $1.1B in 2019 yet nobody expects this one to come close to that.
What is our obsession with comedies about bad teachers? There have been loads of them over the years, and now 4-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan will get to play one in Bad Apples.
Deadline reports that Ronan will star in Bad Apples, a dark comedy based on Rasmus Lindgren’s novel De Oönskade about a teacher who traps her worst student in her own house. The result? The rest of the class begins to excel without the influence of that one bad apple student. So all good, right? Obviously not.
The film will mark the English-language debut of Swedish filmmaker Jonatan Etzler. His directorial debut One More Time hit Netflix this year. Bad Apples will have a script by Jess O’Kane, with production set to begin in spring 2024.
Ronan is keeping busy this year. She can be seen in theaters right now in Foeopposite Paul Mescal. She has two movies coming, Steve McQueen’s Blitz, followed by The Outrun.
A few days ago for the Lisa Frankenstein trailer, I mentioned the depth of female-led movies this year influenced by Mary Shelley’s horror classic. One I forgot to mention, and shame on me for that, is Birth/Rebirth. Laura Moss’s horror debuted at Sundance earlier this year with a lot of buzz, and after being acquired by Shudder is set to stream next week.
Two vastly underrated actresses, Marin Ireland (of the upcoming film Eileen) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs), lead this look at motherhood and monstrosity. Ireland plays a pathologist obsessed with bringing the dead back to life, while Reyes is a mother whose deceased daughter has been revived, but at a terrible cost. The two women go down a sinister path in order to keep the girl alive.
For Moss, this is their directing and co-writing debut, having co-written the script with Brendan J. O’Brien.
I remember hearing people rave about this film while in Park City, and I’m excited to get a chance to see it for myself.
Here’s the synopsis: Rose (Marin Ireland) is a pathologist who prefers working with corpses over social interaction. She also has an obsession — the reanimation of the dead. Celie (Judy Reyes) is a maternity nurse who has built her life around her bouncy, chatterbox six-year-old daughter, Lila (A.J. Lister). When one tragic night, Lila suddenly falls ill and dies, the two women’s worlds crash into each other. They embark on a dark path of no return where they will be forced to confront how far they are willing to go to protect what they hold most dear.
Birth/Rebirth streams on Shudder beginning November 10th.
