Twenty years ago John Woo, one of the greatest action movie directors of our time, directed the Ben Affleck thriller Paycheck. The film was absolutely killed by critics, for good reason, and only did modest business at the box office. After that, Woo stayed away from the U.S. for twenty years! But now he’s finally back with Silent Night, a holiday flick that more than lives up to its name.
Y’see, there’s absolutely no dialogue in Silent Night, a rare filmmaking approach that posed quite a challenge for Woo…
“It was a very smart script, and the story really touched me [because] I have three children,” Woo told EW. “The biggest challenge is how do you make the audience accept a story without dialogue, and get them moved by the story, let them understand they’re not missing something.”
The film stars Joel Kinnaman as a father who exacts bloody vengeance for his son who was accidentally murdered during a gang shootout. Also in the cast are Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace) and Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (House Party).
Silent Night opens in theaters on December 1st, and I can’t wait! Welcome back, John Woo! Bring on the two-fisted, double-barrel John Woo-style action!
Following Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s critically-acclaimed Drive My Car, the Japanese filmmaker is finally getting long-deserved recognition. That’s what winning multiple awards at Cannes and earning a pair of Oscar nominations will do. And now Hamaguchi seems poised for more accolades with Evil Does Not Exist, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice.
Starring Hitoshi Omika, Ryo Nishikawa, Ryuji Kosaka, Ayaka Shibutani, Hazuki Kikuchi, and Hiroyuki Miura, this modest story centers on a father and daughter living off the land in a village just outside of Tokyo. When a new camping development enters the planning stages, the city threatens to intrude on their lives.
There’s no firm release date yet, but the arrival of the trailer suggests an awards season arrival in the coming weeks.
Here’s the synopsis: Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. Like generations before them, they live a modest life according to the cycles and order of nature. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Takumi’s house, offering city residents a comfortable “escape” to nature. When two company representatives from Tokyo arrive in the village to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the project will have a negative impact on the local water supply, causing unrest. The agency’s mismatched intentions endanger both the ecological balance of the plateau and their way of life, with an aftermath that affects Takumi’s life deeply.
When you’re one of the creative forces behind Stranger Things, Netflix is going to go out of its way to keep you happy. And Shawn Levy is indeed a happy filmmaker, as the streamer backed his big-budget WWII drama series All the Light We Cannot See, which arrives this November.
Starring newcomer Aria Mia Loberti, plus Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, Louis Hofmann, Lars Eidinger, and Nell Sutton, the adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel centers on two teenagers during the height of Nazi power in WWII. One is a blind French girl who is the voice of a pirate radio station, another is a German teenage boy forced to join the Nazi Regime.
The screenplay was penned by Steven Knight, known for Peaky Blinders, Taboo, and for penning Eastern Promises.
Synopsis: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All The Light We Cannot See is a groundbreaking limited series that follows the story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl and her father, Daniel LeBlanc, who flee German-occupied Paris with a legendary diamond to keep it from falling into the hands of the Nazis. Relentlessly pursued by a cruel Gestapo officer who seeks to possess the stone for his own selfish means, Marie-Laure and Daniel soon find refuge in St. Malo, where they take up residence with a reclusive uncle who transmits clandestine radio broadcasts as part of the resistance. Yet here in this once-idyllic seaside city, Marie-Laure’s path also collides inexorably with the unlikeliest of kindred spirits: Werner, a brilliant teenager enlisted by Hitler’s regime to track down illegal broadcasts, who instead shares a secret connection to Marie-Laure as well as her faith in humanity and the possibility of hope.
All the Light We Cannot See hits Netflix on November 2nd.
What does a god of mischief do when he’s done mischief-making? Skip around the multiverse trying to save all of time and space, that’s what. The first season of Loki was a bit of time-hopping fun in the Sliders mold, introducing many different Loki variants that could make for cool toys and stuff. But it was best the less it focused on the enormity of the time/space disaster and the inner-workings of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) that Loki was reluctantly trying to aid. In season two, Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki who is burdened with more glorious purpose; to fix all of the craziness from last season’s finale, which basically launched the next two years of MCU multiversal chaos.
The second season of Loki definitely switches up the formula, both for good and bad. There’s a ticking clock intensity driving the latter episodes that is as good as anything in the first season, but also a less focused plot that tends to wander adrift. Your mileage will vary with all of this Multiverse stuff, too. I’ll admit that my bias here is in being extremely bored of every Marvel plotline having the fabric of reality at stake. Loki is such a vast, complicated character who has been villain, overshadowed sibling, conqueror, and martyr, it feels like a waste to not have stories that are a bit more personal. There’s just so much more that could be explored with him.
A number of things have shifted with Loki‘s second season. Owen Wilson’s dutiful TVA agent Mobius seems more obsessed with key lime pie than ever. Rennslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has turned heel, alongside the animated AI Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong), after last season’s revelations that exposed the TVA’s true agenda. Loki variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) has found glorious purpose of her own, building a life for herself as a McDonald’s employee in the 1982 Midwest. And if you guessed there was some sweet sweet product placement and corporate synergy between Disney and McD’s, you’d be so right. We see bigger roles for geeky TVA receptionist Casey (Eugene Cordero) and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), the latter taking a more active role with Rennslayer on the loose. And despite rumors that he had been banished into the Quantum Realm or something, Jonathan Majors does indeed return as He Who Remains, or a 19th-century variant named Victor Timely. Majors’ presence is definitely awkward, given the allegations against him that continue to put his career in jeopardy. Timely, with his spectacles and professorial demeanor, almost seems like a way of hiding Majors in plain sight. Majors is definitely key, but you can also see how his role might have been diminished somewhat.
On top of the returning cast, who all return for a second helping, the cast actually expands, as well. Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan has the most enjoyable role as Ouroboros or “OB”, the TVA’s resident repair guy and writer of the company guidebook. Quan is a really cool choice, not just because he explored the multiverse so recently in Everything Everywhere All At Once, but because he lightens up the mood with his quirky, jovial personality. The series really needs it because the gravity of everything they do is so heavy.
The thrust of this season deals with the consequences of Sylvie’s actions last season. She and Loki, who developed something of a romantic connection best not to think too deeply about, journeying to the end of time to confront He Who Remains. He found himself blocking Sylvie’s knife with his chest, which disrupted all of time. The creators of the TVA were revealed to be robotic fakes, meaning everyone working there to protect the sacred timeline was doing something quite different. They thought “pruning” the branched timelines was a harmless but heroic deed, but now it’s become clear that they are killing billions of people with real lives, hopes, and dreams. Well, that’s got to stop. But some within the TVA don’t agree. Others, like Hunter X-5 (Rafael Casal) just want to create a real life for themselves in Hollywood, the most artificial place in the universe.
With so much going on in the first four episodes made available to review, Loki is too often sidelined by the expanded ensemble. He feels like more of a stock antihero character than ever before, although Eric Martin’s screenplay occasionally tries to convince us otherwise by teasing a return to the dark side. Fortunately, Hiddleston is still able to find the moments of complexity that recall the notorious trickster side of Loki’s persona. Even at his worst, Loki was the villain we loved to hate. And now as he’s playing the good guy it’s easy to just love him, even if his heroism seems fragile at best.
The pairing of Hiddleston and Wilson is better than ever, and sometimes you wish there was more time dedicated to their banter. Wilson is an actor who always controls the mood of every scene he’s in. When he’s really on point, as he often is the loyal TVA company man Mobius, Wilson elevates Loki into a tremendous superhero workplace sitcom. It’s also good to see Mosaku’s B-15 taking charge, coping with the realization that she is also a variant, and holding the TVA accountable for everything they’ve been doing. If the first season saw Sylvie have the most critical character arc, it looks as if B-15 will have it in season two.
With Kate Herron departing after the first season, Moon Knight filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead pick up where she left off. The duo bring more of a cinematic, big screen quality and when you can watch all of the episodes together, it really does feel like one epic movie. This season is just plain weirder, too, as we dig into the nuts and bolts of the TVA and the rules that govern it. This really plays into Quan and Wilson’s strengths, and the humor is tight when those two are on the screen together. Cordero’s Casey is really starting to grow on me, as well, as the third TVA stooge alongside Mobius and OB.
Pacing problems plague Loki in the first four episodes. While the breakneck time-skipping leads to some great cliffhangers, they also overshadow the incredible production design and character interactions that are the show’s strength. There are worse things than wishing we could spend more time with Loki, and Mobius, and Sylvie, or to luxuriate in the wackiness of OB’s cluttered office. There just isn’t enough time, and with only six episodes total this season, time is short.
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis was not only a huge hit that brought scope and spectacle to the King of Rock ‘n Roll’s life and music, it helped launch the career of Austin Butler. Could the same happen for Cailee Spaeny as she plays Elvis’ overshadowed wife Priscilla Presley in Priscilla?
Priscilla Beaulieu finally gets her time in the spotlight in Coppola’s upcoming film, with Spaeny poised for a breakout turn. The actress has been fantastic in things you’ve probably seen before, such as Bad Times at the El Royale, Mare of Easttown, Pacific Rim: Uprising, and The Craft: Legacy.
Here’s the synopsis for Priscilla: When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.
Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi plays Elvis, joined by Dagmara Dominczyk, Raine Monroe Boland, Emily Mitchell, and Dan Beirne.
Coppola continues her singular focus on the stories of women, seen in such films as Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, and The Virgin Suicides.
Priscilla opens in theaters on November 3rd courtesy of A24. And if you’re eager to check it out sooner, it’ll be playing at the Middleburg Film Festival later this month.
Synopsis: Joel, a caustic 1980’s film critic for a national horror magazine, finds himself unwittingly trapped in a self-help group for serial killers. With no other choice, Joel attempts to blend in or risk becoming the next victim.
Sticking with the film fanatic/critic theme, today’s offering is one that I’ve had in my Shudder queue for the better part of 2 years. When I saw it cross my desk I was intrigued but for some reason or another, it slipped through the cracks and got buried beneath newer releases.
The film opens up in Minnesota, 1983 with a killer prepping for the night’s hunt. Grabbing what he thinks to be a quick kill ends badly for him when the young lady he picks up beats him to the punch. This opening instantly hooked me and drew me in. Saturated in neon glow with a driving synth soundtrack, this flick felt like it was going to be everything I expected it to be. I was wrong. This movie had its moments with some interesting characters but the over-the-top, exaggerated acting felt like they were trying way too hard to make this have the same charm as the schlocky trash films from the 80’s that we’ve all known and loved while missing the mark.
Vicious Fun has an extremely predictable plot full of every slasher trope imaginable but I think that was what was intended. It was watchable but not memorable. It might be one to seek out if you’re looking for background noise or something just to pass the time but I wouldn’t actively seek it. I feel like it started strong with an incredible vibe but disappointingly faded as it progressed. I guess that’s the way it is sometimes, especially when you’re trying to fill the gaps in your genre viewings. They can’t all be winners. If you want to experience this one for yourself, it can be found streaming on Shudder as of this writing.
Join me again tomorrow as we continue our journey down the horror rabbit hole.
If Friday the 13th were to come back to the big screen, horror fans would probably want Blumhouse to do it. The respected genre studio that recently rebooted Halloween successfully (somewhat) and has The Exorcist: Believer opening this week, both from filmmaker David Gordon Green. Would they be interested in tackling Jason Voorhees, too? You betcha!
Blumhouse producer Ryan Turek spoke with Inverse about Friday the 13th and says the studio is definitely in the hunt!
“Jason [Blum] and I are definitely in agreement that Friday the 13th is the thing we would love to get our hands on. I really want to go back to the basics. You don’t need too many ingredients for a Friday the 13th film. You need summer camp, you need campers, and you need Jason Vorhees in a mask.”
He continued, “Listen, I’ve gone on the record saying Halloween is the ultimate slasher film for me. That’s my favorite slasher film of all time. But Friday the 13th as a franchise is one that I just bow down to. I just love everything about it. And if we were able to live in both worlds, like we do with Halloween, then to be able to live at Crystal Lake for a while would be so incredible.”
It’s worth noting that Blumhouse has long been pursuing the rights to Friday the 13th, but things got pretty complicated for a few years. Those issues are now resolved, and work on a new film can happen. There hasn’t been one since the 2009 reboot which was pretty awful.
A Friday the 13th prequel series, titled Crystal Lake, is still in the works with Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) producing and Adrienne King set to return as final girl Alice Hardy from the original 1980 film. But as far as Blumhouse goes, this does seem like the logical next move for them, doesn’t it?
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of Totally Killer, Blumhouse and Amazon’s comedy horror starring Kiernan Shipka. The film is directed by Nahnatchka Khan (Always Be My Maybe) and co-stars Julie Bowen, Randall Park, and Olivia Holt.
SYNOPSIS: Thirty-five years after the shocking murder of three teens, the infamous “Sweet Sixteen Killer“ returns on Halloween night to claim a fourth victim. Seventeen-year-old Jamie (Shipka) ignores her overprotective mom’s (Bowen) warning and comes face-to-face with the masked maniac and, on the run for her life, accidentally time-travels to 1987, the year of the original killings. Forced to navigate the unfamiliar and outrageous culture of the 1980s, Jamie teams up with her teen mom (Holt) to take down the killer once and for all, before she’s stuck in the past forever.
The screening takes place on Thursday, October 5th at 7:00pm at Landmark E Street. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Amazon site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
Totally Killer will premiere globally on October 6, exclusively on Prime Video.
Who would you want to ride it out with if the apocalypse were coming? How about Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke? In Leave the World Behind, the new post-apocalyptic thriller from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, all three are stuck together in an Airbnb after the world is struck by a debilitating cyberattack that has left it in a blackout.
The film is based on Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel, and will be making its world premiere at AFI Fest later this month. Also in the cast are Myha’la Herrold and Kevin Bacon. Ali’s role had previously been for Denzel Washington, but he dropped out prior to filming.
Here’s the synopsis: In this apocalyptic thriller from award-winning writer and director Sam Esmail (MR. ROBOT), Amanda (Julia Roberts) and her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) rent a luxurious home for the weekend with their kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie). Their vacation is soon upended when two strangers — G.H. (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) — arrive in the night, bearing news of a mysterious cyberattack and seeking refuge in the house they claim is theirs. The two families reckon with a looming disaster that grows more terrifying by the minute, forcing everyone to come to terms with their places in a collapsing world.
Leave the World Behind will be in select theaters on November 22nd, followed by streaming on Netflix beginning December 8th.
This fall, the biggest movies might not be awards season dramas, but concert films by the two biggest recording artists in the world. Taylor Swift’s upcoming film, The Eras Tour, drops on October 13th and has studios scrambling. And now, confirming rumors that broke over the weekend, Beyonce has announced her own concert film, Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce, that will arrive on December 1st. The Renaissance Tour is the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in music history.
An opening teaser and poster have already been unveiled for Renaissance, for which Beyonce has inked an exclusive deal with AMC Theaters to distribute nationwide and in international markets.
Knowles previously directed Homecoming, which centered on the 2018 Coachella Music Festival, as well as 2020’s Black is King, a visual companion to 2019’s The Lion King: The Gift concept album.
Here is the synopsis: “RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ accentuates the journey of RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR, from its inception to the opening in Stockholm, Sweden, to the finale in Kansas City, Missouri. It is about Beyoncé’s intention, hard work, involvement in every aspect of the production, her creative mind, and purpose to create her legacy and master her craft. Received with extraordinary acclaim, Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR created a sanctuary for freedom, and shared joy, for more than 2.7 million fans.”
