I am downright amazed we haven’t had a resurgence in the Western genre. For close to a decade Western’s were the Marvel movies of Hollywood output, saturating box office options throughout the 60s and 70s. After that time, the gunslinger was noticeably absent from screens with the exception of a few high profile films spattered throughout (Tombstone being my personal favorite).
When you consider the recent popularity of shows like Yellowstone and it’s spin-offs as well as games like Red Dead Redemption 2 it’s pretty clear that the public has a hunger for the genre. Thankfully for those going through tumbleweed withdrawal Brian Skiba’s upcoming film Dead Man’s Hand should scratch that itch.
Dead Man’s Hand sees Reno, a gunfighter trying to escape his old life, pulled back into the fray when he and his new bride are accosted by a group of bandits who he kills in self defense. The movie has all of the makings of your classic western, gunfighter’s good and bad, a solid revenge background, corrupt local politicians and plenty of bullets to go around. In terms of cast the film seems to have done alright, booking Stephen Dorff as the big bad, Cole Hauser as the corrupt mayor and genre legacy Jack Kilmer (who doesn’t have Val’s Doc Holiday in their top 5 performances?) as our heroic gunfighter.
Sure to be a fun watch, check out the trailer below and look for Dead Man’s Hand in theaters and on digital July 7th, 2023!
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part 1! The film sees Tom Cruise return as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, joined by Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Esai Morales.
SYNOPSIS: In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.
The screening takes place on Thursday, July 6th at 7:00pm at AMC Tysons Corner. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Gofobo site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE IS ONLY IN THEATRES, DOLBY CINEMA, PREMIUM LARGE FORMATS, AND IMAX ON JULY 12, 2023
It’s time for one last chase by the giant boulder, one final tumble into the snake pit, one last crack of the whip, one last serving of chilled monkey brains! We’re talking Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on this week’s episode of Cinema Royale, and joining me is my homie Chris Bumbray of Joblo.com.
How does Harrison Ford’s last time in the fedora stack up to the rest? And most importantly, does the movie give Indiana Jones the proper send-off that he deserves?
All of this and more because you know we can’t always stay on topic!
NIMONA- To think that we nearly missed out on this stunning gem of a film when its original studio was shuttered by Disney. Nimona, a deft blend of medievel fantasy, superheroics, and sci-fi, follows a heroic knight framed for an assassination of the queen. Forced to flee, he teams up with the titular, pink-haired rebel shapeshifter, who he has been sworn to destroy, in an effort to clear his name. Utilizing a cutting edge 3D animation style only topped by Across the Spider-Verse, this film’s story about friendship and looking beneath the surface beautifully adapts the original webcomic.
It’s time we really start taking Netflix seriously as a major force in animated movies. In an already-great year for them, Netflix’s Nimona, an adaptation of ND Stevenson’s award-winning graphic novel, is a timely, inclusive blast of creative chaos. Set in a futuristic medieval world, a fun mix of Blade Runner and King Arthur, a newly-knighted warrior named Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) finds himself accused of murder and on the run. His only hope for getting through this and clearing his name? A short, feisty, pink-hued, shapeshifting chaos agent named Nimona (voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz), and she is definitely no hero.
The world of Nimona is a fascinating one. It’s a place where knights in shining armor ride metal steeds and fight with with laser swords; it’s a place where high-tech subway systems give way to massive castles. Knights, assigned to protect the realm and Queen Valerin (Lorraine Toussaint), are basically celebrities. Think something akin to The Boys, but without all of the explicit stuff. What the kingdom also has is a lot of discrimination, and the people aren’t ready for a commoner like Ballister to be among their protectors. When the moment of his knighthood arrives, and his sword suddenly acts of its own accord and slays the Queen, Ballister is seen as a murderer to everyone. Even his lover, champion knight Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang), only sees him as a killer.
Enter Nimona, who finds the fugitive Ballister and takes devilish glee at his actions. She’s been ready for someone to fight the system for ages, and now she wants to join Ballister as his sidekick. Ballister won’t hear of it. He wants to clear his name without violence. Violence is the entire reason she’s there. But she’s also extremely useful, and has shapeshifting powers that have branded her a monster to the realm. Even Ballister, who has been trained to kill Nimona, has to unlearn what he has been taught, and it isn’t easy.
With an established social hierarchy, bigotry, and intolerance central to the story, Nimona has a lot to say without being heavy-handed in saying it. In fact, the film moves along at such a quick, almost disorderly pace it’s like Nimona herself is running the show and not Spies in Disguise duo Nick Bruno and Troy Quane. Nimona is such a driver of the action and the humor that it being a bit scattered actually works to the film’s benefit. Kids checking out the film won’t even realize they’re being schooled. For instance, the fact that Ballister is gay and in a relationship with Ambrosius is just another part of this fantastic web being spun. Adding to the theme of inclusion and support for LGBTQ tolerance is Nimona, whose ability to transition is integral to her personality. Whether shifting from human girl to an angry rhinoceros or to a little demon boy, Nimona sees her fluidity as the truest expression of freedom.
Nimona had a rough go getting to this point. Starting out under the Blue Sky Studios banner, it fell into limbo when Disney bought 20th Century Fox and shut Blue Sky down soon after. Fortunately, Annapurna Pictures swooped in for the rescue and completed the film, with Netflix coming aboard as distributor. And we are all better for it. Featuring gorgeous animation that differs from the stale Disney/Pixar model, and modern heroes that audiences of all ages and lifestyles can relate to, Nimona is easily one of the best animated movies of the year and a must-see.
Nimona streams exclusively on Netflix beginning June 30th.
Bill Pohlad, a producer on The Runaways, director of the excellent Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, is back with another film charting the life of famous rockers. Dreamin’ Wild stars Casey Affleck as Donnie Emerson, with Walton Goggins as Joe Emerson, singer/songwriters whose music in the 1970s went largely ignored, but found legions of fans when it was rediscovered decades later.
Affleck and Goggins are joined by a strong cast that includes Noah Jupe, Jack Dylan Grazer, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Messina, and Beau Bridges. Not a single weak link in the bunch.
As seen in the new trailer, the Emersons find that their sudden fame and recognition of their musical talent causes a lot of emotional baggage to resurface.
The film is based on Steven Kurutz’s book, Fruitland.
Here’s the synopsis: Dreamin’ Wild, the true story of love and redemption, is about what happened to singer/songwriter Donnie Emerson and his family when the album he and his brother recorded as teens was rediscovered after thirty years of obscurity and was suddenly hailed by music critics as a lost masterpiece. While the album’s rediscovery brings hopes of second chances, it also brings long-buried emotions as Donnie, his wife Nancy, brother Joe, and father Don Sr. come to terms with the past and their newly found fame.
What shocks me about Sundance each and every year are the movies that completely flew by me. I’m not talking about the ones I knew were there but couldn’t attend. These are the films that I didn’t know were there at all, and might’ve gone to see. One of those from this year was Scrapper, a father/daughter comedy that does appear to have a certain scrappiness to it.
The film is led by newcomer Lola Campbell, who plays 12-year-old Georgie, a resourceful young girl living on her own in London after the death of her mother. Harris Dickinson, hot right now after Triangle of Sadness, See How They Run, and Where the Crawdads Sing, plays Georgei’s estranged father who returns and shakes things up.
Here’s the synopsis: This vibrant and inventive father-daughter comedy follows Georgie (Lola Campbell), a resourceful 12-year-old girl who secretly lives alone in her flat in a working-class suburb of London following the death of her mother. She makes money stealing bikes with her best friend Ali (Alin Uzun) and keeps the social workers off her back by pretending to live with an uncle. Out of nowhere, her estranged father, Jason (Harris Dickinson; Triangle of Sadness, Beach Rats), arrives and forces her to confront reality. Uninterested in this sudden new parental figure, Georgie is stubbornly resistant to his efforts. As they adjust to their new circumstances, Georgie and Jason find that they both still have a lot of growing up to do. Winner of a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Scrapper is full of spirit, humor, and formal inventiveness that sets it apart from much of British working-class cinema. Dickinson and remarkable newcomer Campbell imbue irresistible charm into this moving and frequently the hilarious story of two emotionally tangled people: a grieving kid thrust into adulthood and a father in over his head.
The film is written and directed by Charlotte Regan, and took the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, leading to Kino Lorber picking up the rights soon after. They’ll release Scrapper into theaters on August 25th.
Professional wrestling isn’t called “a soap opera for men” for no reason. It’s a world of intense emotions, out-of-this-world athleticism, and big-time injuries. The melodrama runs thick when wrestling is at its best. So what do you get when you take an already melodramatic “sport” and craft an actual soap opera around a fictional wrestling league? You get the hit Starz series Heels, and the second season is ready to make that leap off the top rope.
Stephen Amell, who is a huge wrestling fan, and Alexander Ludwig return as squabbling brothers running a family-owned wrestling league out of rural Georgia. The physical and emotional bruises begin to add up as each brother fights to become the promotion’s biggest star, and also to claim their father’s legacy.
Also taking the ring are Alison Luff, Mary McCormack, Kelli Berglund, exec-producer/showrunner Mike O’Malley, Mark Christopher Bauer, and controversial All Elite Wrestling superstar CM Punk along with his wife, former wrestler AJ Mendez. The series was created by Michael Waldron, known for Marvel’s Loki and Doctor Strange 2.
Here’s the synopsis: “Heels” is aptly named after the wrestling term for a villain or antagonist. Most stories center around heroes vs. villains, but in wrestling, it’s faces vs. heels. Season two brings fans back to the family-owned wrestling organization, Duffy Wrestling League (DWL), where brothers and rivals, Jack (Amell) and Ace Spade (Ludwig), continue to fightover their late father’s legacy and their individual versions of success, while also working to find their own identity as a “face” or a “heel.” The show invokes feelings of nostalgia akin to “Friday Night Lights,” while covering topics like the effects of trauma on communities, finding personal identity, and women taking the lead in every facet. It is centered around a small-town community where everyone knows each other and everyone in town follows the saga of the Heels and Faces in the DWL.
Heels returns to Starz for season two on July 28th.
From living in an underground bunker in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, to roughing it for love in Happiness for Beginners. The upcoming Netflix rom-com stars Ellie Kemper as a newly-divorced woman looking to start over in life, so she joins others in a survival treat so she can…well, hike through a journey of self-discovery.
“I liked that Helen is a grump,” Kemper told EW about the film. “She’s a little pessimistic. She’s going through a really tough time, and she doesn’t really believe in the goodness of things. It felt like that would be fun to play because it is so different from the optimistic, funny, bright-eyed women that I’ve played in the past. I wasn’t intentionally speaking up for something like that, but once I read this script, I thought, ‘Oh, this is, this is really interesting to me.’ Everybody has different sides to them, and I haven’t been able to portray that as much on TV and in film.”
Of course, movies about people on just such a road to recovery are nothing new. This one is based on the novel by Katherine Center, and also stars Yellowstone‘s Luke Grimes, Nico Santos, Blythe Danner, Ben Cook, Shayvawn Webster, Esteban Benito, Gus Birney, and Julia Shiplett. The film is directed by Vicky Wight, who adapted another Katherine Center adaptation with The Lost Husband in 2020.
Happiness for Beginners hits Netflix on July 27th.
Helen has always lived her life as far from the edge as possible. Newly divorced, she joins a quirky group of strangers on a survival course for the “Adventure of a Lifetime” with the hope of learning how to live – and love – again. HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS stars Ellie Kemper, Luke Grimes, Nico Santos, Blythe Danner, Ben Cook, Shayvawn Webster, Esteban Benito, Gus Birney, and Julia Shiplett. Directed by Vicky Wight and based on the wildly popular novel by Katherine Center.
Is it possible the expectations are even higher for Dune: Part Two? Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic did well in 2021, earning just over $400M. That’s not a gigantic hit, but it’s not like we’re talking Star Wars or Star Trek here. The Dune audience is loyal but very niche. And yet, with glowing reviews of the first movie and a star-powered cast, the sequel could turn out as the highest-grossing of the year.
Picking up right where things left off, Timothée Chalamet‘s Paul Atreides is on Arrakis hiding among the Freman, preparing for war against Baron Harkonnen, who murdered his entire House. There’s also the matter of Paul’s destiny and the fulfillment of that which will come with great consequences for the galaxy.
Here’s the 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.
Returning or new to the Dune cast are Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, Stephen McKindley Henderson, and Charlotte Rampling, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux.
Jared Leto is no longer the only one in The Grid. Disney’s long-gestating Tron sequel, currently titled Tron: Ares, has just added X-Men and American Horror Story actor Evan Peters to the cast. The film is to be directed by Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil), with a script by Jack Thorne and Jesse Wigutow.
Peters joins a film that is still somewhat surprising to even be happening. The original film in 1982, led by Jeff Bridges, became a cult hit but not a box office one. 2010’s sequel, Tron: Legacy, earned $400M worldwide but that was disappointing considering the $200M budget. That film ended with Garrett Hedlund’s Sam Flynn bringing the warrior algorithm Quorra into the real world, teasing that as the direction for a third movie. However, it’s unclear if that storyline will be followed. THR describes Tron: Ares as centering on “the emergence of a sentient program that crosses over into the human world that is not ready for contact.” Perhaps Quorra is that sentient program?
Filming should begin this August, assuming there’s no SAG strike or anything like that to hold things up.
