Of the many Netflix titles set to premiere at Venice, one that is flying under the radar is J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow. The director of The Impossible, A Monster Calls, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has scored the festival’s Closing Night slot, which is going to put a lot of eyes on a film about one of the most harrowing plane crashes in history.
Directed and co-written by Bayona, the film recounts the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster, carrying a rugby team headed to Chile.
Here’s the synopsis: In 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which had been chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile, crashed in the heart of the Andes. Only 29 of its 45 passengers survived the accident. Trapped in one of the most hostile and inaccessible environments on the planet, they have to resort to extreme measures to stay alive.
The cast is led by Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi, Fernando Contigiani García, and Esteban Kukuriczka, all Uruguayan and Argentine actors who are largely unknowns.
Carlos “Carlitos” Páez plays his own father, who was aboard the flight and saw the horrors of what the surviving passengers had to do to survive. If you’ve seen the movie Alive, you probably know what’s coming.
Netflix has not given a release date for Society of the Snow, but expect that to change soon.
Forget the Dark Side, Daisy Ridley faces a different kind of evil in The Marsh King’s Daughter,a new thriller from Divergent director Neil Burger.
As seen in the brand new trailer, Ridley stars as Helena, a woman who might seem to be living an ordinary life, but buried in her past is a terrible secret. Her father, played by Ben Mendelsohn, kidnapped her mother and held them both captive in the wilderness for years, earning the infamous monicker of The Marsh King. When her Dad breaks out of prison, Helena is forced to confront her past and use the survival skills that he taught her.
The film is based on the novel by Karen Dionne, and co-stars Garrett Hedlund, Caren Pistorius, Gil Birmingham, and Brooklynn Prince.
The Marsh King’s Daughter opens in theaters on October 6th.
Sometimes you just need to understand the audience. When The Expendables was released in 2010 (!!!), it promised hard-hitting, R-rated violence from the greatest action stars of all-time. The film was a hit with $274M worldwide, followed by the R-rated sequel two years later which made over $300M. Two years later, a third film arrived with a PG-13 rating and it was the lowest-grossing of the franchise. So now nearly a decade later with Expend4bles, Lionsgate has made sure to pump up the blood and violence to secure another ‘R’ rating.
Sylvester Stallone returns for the final time as Expendables leader, Barney Ross. Jason Statham is taking over the franchise as Lee Christmas, joined by new additions 50 Cent, Megan Fox, Andy Garcia, Tony Jaa, Jacob Scipio,Levy Tran, and Iko Uwais. Randy Couture is also back as Toll Road, along with Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen.
Looks as if Fox is playing Statham’s love interest in the film, which might explain why we don’t see Charisma Carpenter in the cast anymore.
Under any other circumstance, I’d be hyped to see Jaa and Uwais in a movie together again, but I’m not sure Expendables is the best use of their skills. We shall see!
Here’s the synopsis, which promises the “new blood” will be taking over:
A new generation of stars join the world’s top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in Expend4bles. Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
Expend4bles hits theaters on September 22nd, directed by Scott Waugh.
For over a decade, six films, and even a couple of spinoffs, the V/H/S anthology franchise has been among the strongest in all of horror,. With its found footage aesthetic, it has given new filmmakers the chance to show what they can do, and veterans the chance to cut loose. And now it’s back in time for Halloween with V/H/S/85, which turns its attention to the grainy camcorders and video footage of 1985.
Shudder has attracted an impressive list of directors once again, led by Sinister and Doctor Strange filmmaker Scott Derrickson, Hellraiser reboot’s David Bruckner, Gigi Saul Guerrero (Bingo Hell), Natasha Kermani (Lucky), and Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn remake).
Here’s the extensive synopsis from its upcoming Fantastic Fest premiere next month:
“The remains of an ancient Aztec cult, a lake that brings the dead back to life, and a performance art piece attempting to contact a new god. How do these ideas relate? Well, you’ll just have to pop V/H/S/85 in the VCR and see for yourself.
The found footage franchise returns to Fantastic Fest with more eldritch beings than you can cram onto a handheld camcorder. This installment features alumni galore as we journey back to the ‘80s for teenage campout shenanigans and newscasts from the pits of indigenous retribution.
Mike P. Nelson explores undead body horror and right-wing, gun-nut extremism in NO WAKE. Gigi Saul Guerrero brings the horror to a disaster recovery crew that runs afoul of an underground Tenochtitlan god in GOD OF DEATH. Natasha Kermani brings us a conwoman whose art installation ends up contacting a vengeful deity in TKNOGOD. And finally, Scott Derrickson returns to Fantastic Fest with a vision of a prophetic serial killer nightmare in DREAMKILL. The segments are all tied together with a terrifying wraparound from director David Bruckner.”
Not that Adam Sandler’s career was in jeopardy or anything, but the deal he struck with Netflix has been the best thing that ever happened to it. He’s putting out quality films like Hustle, while giving his fans the silly comedies that they love such as Murder Mystery (which ain’t bad), and still has the time to work with the Safdies on movies such as Uncut Gems. But now his Netflix deal takes a different route as he voices the lead character in an animated movie, Leo, that arrives just in time for Thanksgiving.
The premise is actually kinda cool, as it centers on a 74-year-old lizard (Sandler) who has been stuck in the same terrarium as a classroom pet for decades, alongside a turtle voiced by Bill Burr. When Leo learns it’s the final year of elementary school and that he only has a short time left to live, he decides it’s time to escape and experience the outside world.
A mix of Sandler pals and Netflix favorites are in the voice cast: Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Rob Schneider, Jo Koy, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Robert Smigel, Nick Swardson, Stephanie Hsu, and Nicholas Turturro. The film is directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, and David Wachtenheim.
Leo hits Netflix on November 21st.
Here’s the synopsis: Actor and comedian Adam Sandler (Hotel Transylvania, The Wedding Singer) delivers signature laughs in this coming-of-age animated musical comedy about the last year of elementary school – as seen through the eyes of a class pet. Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo (Sandler) has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students — including an impossibly mean substitute teacher. It ends up being the strangest but most rewarding bucket list ever…
FLORA AND SON- John Carney doesn’t make typical love stories. He makes movies about the power of music to help people find love in one another. His latest musical masterpiece, Flora and Son, might be his most rewarding yet as it centers on the love between Flora, a single mother, played with a winning attitude and resourcefulness by Eve Hewson, and the rebellious teen son (Orén Kinlan) she hopes to reconnect with. Meanwhile, a long-distance romance is teased between Flora and a washed-up American guitar player (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) teaching her lessons over the internet. Hewson’s Flora might be Carney’s most lovable character yet, while the connections forged between these three people are so real and true you might burst out into song yourself.
If you know the films of John Carney, then you know he makes a certain kind of movie and has yet to deviate from that. Soulful Irish musicals about love and the power of music are his brand, seen in the Oscar-winning Once, Sing Street, and the underrated (to me anyway) Begin Again. So when his latest, Flora and Son, was added late to Sundance, I was super pumped to see what Carney had to offer, and this story of the transformative power of music did not disappoint.
Flora and Son stars Eve Hewson as a brassy, scrappy single mom from Dublin who must cope with her rebellious son who is too much like his momma. After he rejects an old acoustic guitar given as a gift, Flora takes up learning the instrument herself with the help of washed-up LA musician teaching lessons over the Internet. As she gets better and grows more self-confident, Flora and her son reconnect through the power of music.
So yes, it’s a kind of love story but not necessarily romantic love. In my rave review out of Sundance, I noted that Hewson’s Flora is the best and most vivid character Carney has ever created. Carney can be a bit cheesy and the emotions pretty heavy, but you want and expect that from him at this point. Fans of his films will not be disappointed.
Also starring newcomer Orén Kinlan and Jack Reynor, Flora and Son hits theaters on September 22nd and Apple TV+ on September 29th. Check out the trailer along with a video I took of the cast following its world premiere.
I’ve long ago grown bored of racing sims, and that includes Sony’s bestselling Gran Turismo games. The last thing I could think of being at all interesting is a movie based on watching people trick out racing cars. But Sony was smart, and rather than making their Gran Turismo movie based on the game, they made a movie that told a true story about how their game is so authentic, it can literally change a gamer’s life. You can sense how proud they are to tell this story and of the game’s accomplishment. The messaging roars in your face like a high-powered engine on full throttle. And while the self-serving commercialism unavoidably runs rampant, it’s impossible to deny the sheer crowd-pleasing thrill of the race, and the unlikely underdog who went from gamer to racing champion.
I don’t know if Gran Turismo is the first video game movie based on a true story (That would be Doom, no? j/k), but with eSports a billion-dollar industry I expect it won’t be the last. The film centers on British teen Jann Mardenborough, played by Heart of Stone actor Archie Madekwe, whose life largely consists of kicking up dust in Gran Turismo, and he’s got the brand new shiny steering wheel peripheral (Sony brand, of course) to show for it. While Jann insists it’s a racing simulation and not just some video game, his father (Djimon Hounsou) think his son is wasting his time. There’s no future in playing video games, after all, don’t ya know?
Everything changes for Jann when marketing mad genius Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) makes a pitch to Nisson execs to launch GT Academy, a large-scale competition between the best Gran Turismo players, with the winner earning a spot to hit top speeds behind the wheel of an actual car for an actual racing team. Danny’s thinking is that the 80 million players are an untapped market of dreamers, who are just dying to get excited about cars again.
The beginning of Gran Turismo sorta plays out like the four-wheel version of Air, with Bloom as the ambitious Nike exec played by Matt Damon. And I guess that would make Jann his Michael Jordan. But then who would David Harbour’s Jack Salter be? Harbour gristles frustratingly and growls like a drill sergeant as Salter, a former race car driver whose career flamed out early, but of course he “could’ve been one of the best” if he’d just stuck it out. Now he’s a salty, disapproving engineer in charge of keeping these soft, armchair racers alive. He’s not going to be impressed by any of them, until Jann does, naturally.
After winning the competition, the film kicks into fairly traditional racing movie mode. Jann endures the disgust of the veteran racers looking down at this gamer intruding on their territory. He endures actual races against legit competition, putting Nissan’s reputation and investment at risk with every turn, every throttle, every split second decison. The races are thrilling, edge of your seat awesome under the guidance of director Neill Blomkamp, who seems so jazzed at helming big-budget action movies again. The District 9 and Elysium filmmaker has been out of the spotlight for a while, but Gran Turismo reminds us how kinetic his style can be. The screen lights up with HUD displays ripped right out of the game, with bells, whistles, and crazy angles that put you right into the driver’s seat. An over-reliance on montages takes some of the joy and spirit out of it, especially as we need to be there to feel it as Jann gets the tacticle, visceral sensation of real racing.
It’s a double-edged sword that the film’s story follows such a linear, familiar road that you could easily forget the whole video game aspect. But those racing story beats are time tested and still work today. There’s nothing like the thrill of the race, with one man behind the wheel putting his life on the line to cross the finish line.
Madekwe gets off to a slow start as Jann, and for a while I was worried the film would be saddled with an uncharismatic lead. But it could have something to do with Jason Hall and Zach Baylin’s screenplay, which is pretty conventional by sports movie standards. Certain lines of dialogue sound like they were written by corporate suits in a boardroom somewhere, while the overwhelming crush of Sony product placement is an unintentional running gag.
Tremendous liberties are taken with Jann’s story and his accomplishments, but since most people have never heard of him, none of it will matter. As someone who knew of the reality, it didn’t affect my enjoyment at all. I was still sucked into Gran Turismo and was along for every lap, willing Jann to hit top speed and take the checkered flag. It’s so good as to possibly inspire a new generation of Gran Turismo players, or to inspire former players like me to get behind the wheel once more.
The whole ‘movie shown in a theater is magical and makes the film come to life’ sub-genre is one of my all time favorites. Ok, maybe it’s just The Last Action Hero and The Forbidden Kingdom I’m thinking of, but still it’s a plot device that usually leads to fun in my experience. I’m sure some people will look at this trailer for Zombie Town, an adaptation of an R.L. Stine story starring Dan Akroyd and Chevy Chase and think “Oh how the mighty have fallen” but that’s short sighted. Plus….Akroyd hasn’t been in anything great in more then a cameo for years and Chase is lucky to land a local auto insurance ad with his storied charm.
No, I think if you take a minute to watch this trailer you will agree that what we see is promising for a fun time. Not a memorable one, certainly not an award winning one, but just a simple old fashioned fun time. Akroyd plays an infamous filmmaker who premiers his latest zombie flick at a small town theater. Unfortunately for the town the film reels appear to be cursed and cause anyone watching them to become undead. Chase appears to play a long gone archeologist and the one who defeated this evil once before. Honestly, those “starring” names are just for marketing, I’m sure, and the real lift will come from Madi Monroe and Marlon Kazadi, the films young leads, and they appear more then up to the task for an adolescent adventure flick.
Check out the trailer below and look for Zombie Town in theaters on September 1st, 2023
Official Synopsis:
Amy (Madi Monroe) and Mike (Marlon Kazadi) uncover a centuries-old secret when they decide to watch an exclusive film reel. Before they know it, their town has been turned to the undead before their eyes. The duo must track down an infamous filmmaker (Dan Akroyd) and navigate a town of hungry zombies to break the curse before it’s too late
The long-awaited premiere of Ahsoka, featuring Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, has finally arrived! I’m joined by Black Girl Nerds founder Jamie Broadnax to give our thoughts on the first two episodes of the anticipated Star Wars series that brings together storylines from Star Wars Rebels, The Mandalorian, and more!
All of this and more, including our hopes for future episodes of Ahsoka!
Say what you want about Zack Snyder, and plenty of people do, he’s always full of big ideas. Like crafting a brand new Star Wars movie with influences taken from the samurai epics of the great Akira Kurosawa. Pretty cool idea, but one that Lucasfilm wasn’t really interested in during the early days of their acquisition by Disney. And so Snyder took his ball over to Netflix, and thus we have the original space epic, Rebel Moon.
The first full trailer debuted today at Gamescom, confirming the previously-revealed titles to be Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, which comes out this year on December 22nd, and Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver in April 2024.
Snyder has assembled a gigantic cast fitting for a massive undertaking that looks to be the launch of a franchise. Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam Anthony Hopkins, Staz Nair, Fra Fee, Cleopatra Coleman, Stuart Martin, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Alfonso Herrera, Cary Elwes, Rhian Rees, E. Duffy, Jena Malone, Sky Yang, Charlotte Maggi, and Corey Stoll comprise the ensemble.
Here’s the synopsis: From Zack Snyder, the filmmaker behind 300, Man of Steel, and Army of the Dead, comes REBEL MOON, an epic science-fantasy event decades in the making. When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.
While I understand a lot of the hate aimed at Snyder, it’s ambitious undertakings like this that will always have me supporting him.
Netflix is smart to also be planning a theatrical component to its release, as Rebel Moon could be huge for audiences who like their sci-fi on the big screen. Count me as one of those.
