frenemies, but one of them might actually be a suspect! Right off the bat, we get to see that (like in Knives Out), the suspects in Medusa Deluxe aren’t going to be people the audience will like as evidenced by the introduction of a hairstylist who through just sheer gossip, lets us all know that she has no qualms about using violence. This attempts to set the tone that things aren’t as they seem, someone’s responsible for a murder, and everyone’s a suspect.

Everyone in this competition still has to remain in the warehouse that the beauty competition took place in, so this gives the audience plenty of time to navigate between different groups of hair stylists as they all have a reason to want the victim dead, but at the same time, they are also sympathetic to his demise. Medusa Deluxe is shot as a continuous one-take throughout the film’s one hour and forty-six-minute runtime, and the cinematography is outstanding, enough to make Roger Deakins blush and it’s hard for someone like me (who loves one-take shots in movies and TV shows) to try and see where the secret cuts are hidden. The camera traverses through each different room in the warehouse and navigates through up to a dozen characters who are all trying to understand what’s going on, and also not look one hundred percent guilty when they trash talk the deceased.

For a film that is firing on all cylinders in regard to cinematic style (in addition to the continuous one-take shot, the lighting throughout the warehouse is outstanding), Medusa Deluxe falls short when it comes to actual storytelling. The film seems to be more focused on showing instead of telling. Now in most cases, this is a great way to present a film, but the “story” part of the story wears thin in comparison to the visual style of Medusa Deluxe. Besides a few characters we get to spend a great deal of time with, many of the beauticians are simply passengers in the story as we don’t get to spend too much time with them.

For being a whodunnit, it’s pretty clear who the culprit is in Medusa Deluxe. In fact, it’s not even a difficult guess as to who the person is, but the film decides to change things up towards the end of the film and show exactly how we got to where we are at the beginning of Medusa Deluxe and then give context as to why that person died and why they were scalped. Honestly, it’s a little bit of a letdown, but the journey in this film is the bonus, not the destination.

While Medusa Deluxe does stumble a little bit in its execution of the story, the visual flair is top-notch. As someone who really loves a good one-take shot, I was thrilled to watch it for an entire movie, and it didn’t feel like it was “cheating” with the cinematography, but instead, it was a first-time director absolutely flexing on the audience with what he’s capable of when it comes to a signature visual style. The extensive cast are all doing a bang-up job making you believe them in this world. If any of them really are hair stylists in real life, you absolutely believe they are by how effective their acting is. Once again, with this being a one-take film (or at least presented that way), the actors never miss a beat throughout the entire film and seamlessly move from one scene to the next. Everything from gossiping, to babysitting, to doing hair while gossiping and babysitting, and even a fistfight between them is all honest and earned by the flawless execution by everyone involved.

If you are expecting a huge Knives Out type of twist and revelation, you’ll be disappointed. But if you are interested in seeing a well-executed film try and peel the layers off on a murder mystery with impressive visual competence, Medusa Deluxe is the film for you. Some of the British slang words and colloquialisms take some getting used to (I keep forgetting what British folks call cigarettes), but it’s a fun view into a completely different world. A world that just happens to have a murder mystery that needs to be solved, and solved within one take!

Medusa Deluxe is currently available on VOD.

Medusa Deluxe

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Review: ‘Heart Of Stone’
Gal Gadot Is On Target But Netflix's Big Budget Spy Flick Could Use More Heart

By
Travis Hopson
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Beautiful spies battling deadly, globe-threatening AI is all the rage right now. While Tom Cruise is still out there taking death-defying risks in Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning, Gal Gadot is engaged in a smaller-scale mission with similar franchise goals in Netflix’s Heart of Stone. It’s probably not a coincidence that production company Skydance is behind both action flicks. The formula is tried and true, and the Wonder Woman star packs a punch even if the film itself struggles to set itself apart.

There’s a clever double blind going on in the initial stages of Heart of Stone. Gadot’s Rachel Stone is a low-level MI6 tech whose job is definitely not to be a field agent. But when a mission in the snowy Italian Alps to catch an arms dealer goes south, Stone is forced into action, leaving the van and into danger, where she proves…ummm, well, more than capable. This is confusing as Hell to her colleagues, including the handsome field leader Parker (Jamie Dornan). In truth, Stone is in more than one super secret organization. She’s also part of The Charter, an international band of do-gooders who use an AI algorithm known as the Heart to do pretty much anything they want. It’s so effective, it can even predict the future, which is pretty handy at stopping crimes before they happen.

The Charter feels like something designed to be a villainous cabal for James Bond to battle. Their heirarchy is based on playing card suits, with Stone as the “Nine of Hearts”, and her Q-esque weapons guy (Army of Thieves breakout Matthias Schweighofer) the “Jack of Hearts”, providing her real-time info. They are led by Nomad (Sophie Okonedo), a character who seems to have been written for Angela Bassett to growl through. No such luck, I guess.

Stone is a true hero. She can kick ass, break hearts (one of her colleagues is clearly smitten), and always tries to do the right thing, which doesn’t always fly with her Charter bosses. But when it’s revealed that one of her team is also a double agent, except on the side of evil with a plot to steal the Charter’s secret weapon, Stone must travel the world to make sure it doesn’t fall into their hands.

Heart of Stone is a lot like Netflix’s other summer blockbuster films, including Gadot’s Red Notice, in that it does way too much to justify its own existence. While practically bursting at the gills with action, most of it is pretty forgettable and detracts from the character work and world building needed to make Stone someone we want to follow for the long haul.

On the plus side, Gadot is as likeable as ever. There’s an awkard approachability about her that cuts through her obvious beauty. In one scene, Stone’s friends break out into dance at a rare moment of downtime. Gadot is the only one who looks like she has no idea what she’s doing out there on the dance floor, and while that might just be her playing a role, it feels genuinely clumsy and shy. On the other hand, Gadot also has the proven physicality to carry the fight scenes and shootouts. You come away wishing that we learned more about Stone’s past, so we could understand why she does what she does, and shy she connects with Keya (Alia Bhatt), an Indian tech wiz with similarly divided loyalties. This is especially important because Stone is a brand new character that we are just getting to know.

Heart of Stone is better than Netflix’s other big swing actioners, with the exception of the excellent Extraction franchise. In this case director Tom Harper, who helmed with great ambition The Aeronauts back in 2019, is given a lot to work with in terms of set pieces and star power, but ironically what it needs is more heart. However, it’s clear that Gadot, who is also a producer on the film, sees something in Rachel Stone and will take the character as far as she can go. Let’s just hope that if there are sequels, things slow down enough that she can be something more than a card in the deck.

Heart of Stone is streaming on Netflix now.

‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’: First Look At Mike Flanagan’s Latest Netflix Horror Series Coming This October

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August 10, 2023

Paramount might have Taylor Sheridan to build multiple hit shows for them, but Netflix has Mike Flanagan and his seemingly endless number of horror projects. The filmmaker behind The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and more coming back to the streamer with a new miniseries, The Fall of the House of Usher.

Having already adapted the works of Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, and Christopher Pike, Flanagan turns his attention to another genius horror author, Edgar Allan Poe. Flanagan splits directing duties on the 8-episode series with his longtime cinematographer Michael Fimognari.

The series stars Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T’Nia Miller, Paola Nuñez, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, and Crystal Balint.

New photos feature many in the principal cast, playing heirs to a pharmaceutical dynasty who suddenly start dying off at the hands of someone from their past.

The Fall of the House of Usher hits Netflix on October 12th.

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‘El Conde’ Trailer: Pablo Larraín’s Latest Reimagines Pinochet As A Vampire Dictator

By

Travis Hopson

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August 10, 2023

While these days Chilean director Pablo Larraín (who I interviewed years ago) is known for award-winning biopics such as Jackie and Spencer, earlier in his career it was his Pinochet trilogy (Tony Manero, Post Mortem, No) that built his filmmaking cred. After quite a bit of time away, Larraín is returning to his primary focus, dictator Augusto Pinochet, for El Conde, a film that reimagines the despotic ruler as a bloodthirsty vampire.

Well, when one considers how Pinochet sucked the lifeblood from the Chilean people for years during his authoritarian regime, the jump to turning him into a vampire is a small one.

Jaime Vadell, who starred in Larraín’s films Post Mortem, No, The Club, and Neruda, takes on the Pinochet role.

Here’s the synopsis: El Conde is a dark comedy/horror that imagines a parallel universe inspired by the recent history of Chile. The film portrays Augusto Pinochet, a symbol of world fascism, as a vampire who lives hidden in a ruined mansion in the cold southern tip of the continent. Feeding his appetite for evil to sustain his existence. After two hundred and fifty years of life, Pinochet has decided to stop drinking blood and abandon the privilege of eternal life. He can no longer bear that the world remembers him as a thief.

Larraín not only directed the film, he co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Guillermo Calderón.

El Conde hits Netflix on September 15th, following a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Review: ‘The Last Voyage Of The Demeter’
Dracula Has A Seaside Feast In Gory But Repetitive Horror

By
Travis Hopson
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There’s a reason why so many thrillers and horror movies are set on ships. They are, in a way, like floating prisons. Once a ship sets out to sea, there really is nowhere to go. This is especially true back in the 1890s when all sea voyage was dangerous, and even some of the ways to make it safer were ALSO dangerous. Myth and mystery surrounded the sea, as you were completely at the whims of the wind and the creatures that lurk beneath the water’s edge. It’s a perfect time and setting for The Last Voyage of the Demeter, a gory but ultimately formulaic horror yarn that expands on the “Log of the Demeter” chapter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

The premise is a nifty way to tell a Dracula story that is different from the many big-screen iterations out there already, and is a damn sight better than a bad comedy like Renfield. In The Last Voyage of the Demeter, an unsuspecting crew set sail from Romania to a port town in England, carrying 50 mysterious crates from an unknown shipper. Unfortunately for the crew, one of those crates contains a sleeping Dracula, who periodically emerges to do what vampires do…feast on the blood of the living.

Trapped on this floating all-you-can-eat buffet are Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham), a grizzled seadog making his final voyage before retirement. Isn’t that always the way? His first mate Wojcheck (David Dastmalchian) is a wary sort, eager to throw anyone overboard who doesn’t earn their keep. That goes double for the latest member, learned doctor Clemens (Corey Hawkins), who has more than one strike against him. The times being what they are, being a Black man has earned him no friends or business opportunties. The salty Demeter men aren’t too fond of him, either. There’s also Toby (Woody Norman), a young boy under the care of Captain Eliot. And a stowaway, Anna (Aisling Franciosi), found stuffed into one of Dracula’s crates where she was being used as his personal feedbag.

Norwegian director André Øvredal is best known for horrors with a fantastical edge, such as Trollhunters and Scary Movies to Tell in the Dark. He’s clearly having a blast indulging in the rainy, nocturnal setting, filling the screen with shadows from which Dracula can stalk. The atmosphere is skincrawling even as the kills themselves become repetitive. It’s just the nature of the story that things get predictable in the way Dracula hunts and picks off each member of the crew. However, one can’t help but feel the tension of being trapped on this creaky, haunting vessel. Even if Dracula wasn’t a predator lurking, the Demeter would be creepy all by itself.

Stacking up the body count is Dracula, and Øvredal is wise to keep him largely out of frame, a monster lurking in the ocean mist, hiding behind the sound of crashing waves. This is the animalistic version of Dracula, the one that is more feral beast than any sort of man, and he strikes an imposing image when fully revealed.

While the film largely sticks to Dracula lore faithfully, the conclusion feels like studio-mandated nonsense designed to launch a franchise. There’s a bit of cleverness in the way it skirts around the book’s grim outcome, but The Last Voyage of the Demeter is best as a bloody, brutal one-way trip that puts Dracula at the center of his own slasher movie.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter opens in theaters on August 11th.

‘Blue Beetle’ Actor Xolo Maridueña Has Spoken With James Gunn About Future In DCU

By

Travis Hopson

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August 10, 2023

This might come as a shock to you, but Blue Beetle star Xolo Maridueña hopes to be playing the character for a long time. I’ll wait for the shock to subside! The Cobra Kai actor makes his big screen debut in the superhero film, that was originally meant to be part of the DCEU, but will now exist in the new DCU led by James Gunn and Peter Safran.

However, things have been tough for DC Comics movies lately. Has that smothered any of the actor’s excitement for the future of Blue Beetle? Not at all!

“I want to do 12 more years of ‘Blue Beetle,’” Maridueña told EW.

If that’s going to happen, it’ll be up to the movie’s success at the box office and with fans. But more importantly, it’ll be up to Gunn and Safran. Maridueña confirms that he has already spoken to both about the future…

“Yeah, I have had the chance to speak with them. They’re really happy for our project and so excited for us to kick off what is to eventually become the next DCU. But with this movie, really what we wanted to highlight was Jaime’s story and the Reyes family’s story. I’m excited to see what they have in mind and how Blue Beetle and the rest of his family might loop into the rest. But my heart is already so fulfilled with this movie. If we do 20 of these movies and 40 cameos or if it’s just this one, what’s most exciting to me is the opportunity for people to see it and have little kids everywhere saying, ‘Oh my gosh, this guy looks like me. I can be a hero, too.’”

Blue Beetle opens in theaters on August 18th.

‘The Franchise’: HBO Orders Satirical Superhero Movie Series With Aya Cash And Himesh Patel, Sam Mendes To Direct Pilot

By

Travis Hopson

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August 10, 2023

The entire business of movie news and movie blogging is driven by our examination of movie franchises. If it weren’t for Disney and Warner Bros’ continued efforts to build massive franchises, there’d be a lot less to write about and many fewer sites out there. And now we’re going to get a satirical look at what it takes to create a cinematic universe in Sam Mendes’ upcoming series, The Franchise, which has just landed a full season order at HBO.

Set to star Aya Cash (The Boys) and Himesh Patel (Yesterday), The Franchise is the brainchild of Armando Iannucci. Name sound familiar? Well, he’s one of the creators of Veep, along with hilarious political satire films such as In the Loop and The Death of Stalin. There aren’t many who can skewer a sacred cow or institution better. He also did the surprisingly great and extremely funny The Personal History of David Copperfield with Dev Patel.

Here’s the series synopsis: The crew of an unloved franchise movie fight for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. THE FRANCHISE shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made? Because every f*ck-up has an origin story.

Sam Mendes is attached to direct the pilot from a script by showrunner Jon Brown. Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Darren Goldstein, Isaac Powell, Richard E. Grant, and Daniel Brühl are aboard to co-star. Brühl and Grant know a thing or two about being part of the Marvel machine.

The Trailer for ‘Lawman: Bass Reeves’ Brings An Underappreciated Hero to Life on Paramount+

By

John Nolan

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August 9, 2023

That usual refrain of “Hollywood is all out of new ideas” never hits harder then when you hear about some overlooked historical figure who is dripping in cinematic potential but lacks any film or show. Even staying just in the wheelhouse of today’s subject I can think of Robert Smalls and John Brown…both deserving of the big screen treatment.

Thankfully, if we fast forward in history just a scooch, we get to the tale of Bass Reeves. The name probably rings a bell but not as hard as it should. Reeves was the first African-American lawman west of the Mississippi. He escaped slavery and lived with the Cherokee, learning their ways and languages before being deputized and starting a career that we lead to 3,000 felony arrests….Wyatt Earp who?

Thankfully Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) and David Oyelowo (Selma) have joined forces to bring this certified badass to the small screen by way of Paramount+. Lawman: Bass Reeves promises to bring this long arm of law to the forefront of the public psyche following his spectacular life through the episodic series. While the trailer doesn’t give much, it does give an impression that Reeves is a force to be reckoned with and that Oyelowo fits in the role like a well worn Cowboy hat.

Lastly, as a completely speculative side note. The title itself makes me think that Sheridan has plans to bring many more heroes of Wild West justice to light is this one does well, Lawman: Wyatt Earp, etc, etc.

Check out the trailer for Lawman: Bass Reeves below and look for the series this fall on Paramount+

Official Synopsis:
Lawmen: Bass Reeves comes from Executive Producer Taylor Sheridan and stars award-winning actor David Oyelowo. The series brings the story of the legendary lawman and outlaws of the Wild West to life. Reeves, known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, worked in the Post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.

DC Readers: Attend A Special Q&A And Screening Of National Geographic’s ‘Bobi Wine: The People’s President’

By

Travis Hopson

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August 9, 2023

We’re happy to offer five our DC readers the chance to attend a very special screening of National Geographic’s acclaimed documentary feature, Bobi Wine: The People’s President. The event takes place on Saturday, August 12th at 7pm at Angelika Pop Up at Union Market.

SYNOPSIS: Born in the slums of Kampala, Bobi Wine, Ugandan opposition leader, former member of parliament, activist, and national superstar musician, risks his life and the lives of his wife, Barbie, and their children to fight the ruthless regime led by Yoweri Museveni.

Bobi Wine will join Washington, DC audiences in-person at the Angelika Pop Up at Union Market on August 12th at 7pm for a Q&A discussion after the film.

To enter, simply send an email to punchdrunktrav@gmail.com with “Bobi Wine Event” in the subject. Please include your full name and email address. Winners will be chosen at random tomorrow, August 10th. Good luck!

Bobi Wine: The People’s President is in select theaters now, and opens in DC on August 11th. For more info, go here.

Review: ‘The Pod Generation’
Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor Lead Sophie Barthes’ Frustrating, Futuristic Third Feature

By
Cortland Jacoby
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Director Sophie Barthes’ The Pod Generation is a 101-minute-long movie version of a Black Mirror episode. Starring Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who would most likely show up in the dystopian anthology series, star as a married couple in the near future who live in a technology-obsessed New York. Rachel (Clarke), the breadwinner, works for a tech conglomerate that is involved in all aspects of life, including birth.

Her husband, Alvy (Ejiofor) is a botanist and holographic plant designer. His profession is looked down upon by their friends and family, getting all they need from “nature pods” and breathing treatments. The two have a desire to have a child, though Rachel is more interested in an artificial method supported by her tech job than getting pregnant herself. With an insincere push from HR and friends around her, she accepts a space at “the womb center”.

The thing about a good sci-fi movie is that some aspect of the character needs to be grounded in our reality. While Ejiofor starts there and is someone you can relate to, he quickly falls for this parental fantasy provided by this Amazon-like company (the CEO literally looks like Jeff Bezos.) Both characters are frustratingly naive and fail at any point to have a moment of reckoning with how they treat one another or the pull Rachel’s job has on their lives. Emilia Clarke’s smile is so ingenuine that it reflects the reality of their world beautifully.

The majority of the film is watching this beautiful couple fight and placate over a large white sphere where their child is growing. It’s only when the birth center tells them that they have to return their incubating child for testing, that they realize that something may be wrong with this company. Not when a giant AI therapist (who is a literal eye watching them) tries to break up their marriage, not when Rachel’s work makes her place the pod in a closet, not when the company all but insults the couple for choosing Alvy as the father, they only realize the truth when they are told ‘no.’

Maybe Barthes knows something about the future most don’t. Maybe we are stepping closer and closer to this reality with each new iPhone and SpaceX flight. But if this is the future we are speeding toward, I hope most of us won’t be as ignorant and insufferable as these characters.

The Pod Generation opens on August 11th.