We’ve got our first look at Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as the legendary Hollywood power couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos. The brand new trailer, released by Amazon, reveals Kidman gamely taking on one of the most legendary performers in Hollywood history. Bardem is no slouch as Lucille’s husband and co-star, and Sorkin’s film will follow the two of them during a week of production of their groundbreaking, massively popular show I Love Lucy.
Sorkin is no stranger to taking us behind-the-scenes of a television production and mining it for comedic and dramatic gold. His shows Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Newsroom were both set on set, on a Saturday Night Live-like sketch show in the former, and on a CNN-like news program in the latter. In Being the Ricardos, Sorkin has set his sights on one of the most transformative talents of the 20th century in Lucille Ball, and his rapid-fire, walking-and-talking approach to both dialogue and scene-setting seems a perfect fit for the legendary comedienne. Being the Ricardos will take us from a Monday table read through the live show on Friday, while our two married stars will face a cascading series of challenges that will threaten their marriage and their careers.
Here’s what Kidman had to say about the film to Chris Rock in Variety‘s Actors on Actors conversation: “The strange thing about Lucille Ball is that everyone thinks we’re remaking the ‘I Love Lucy’ show, and it’s so not that. It’s about Lucy and Desi and their relationship and their marriage. It’s very deep, actually.”
Joining Kidman and Bardem in the cast are J.K. Simmons, Jake Lacy, Nina Arianda, Alia Shawkat, Linda Lavin, Clark Gregg, and Tony Hale. Being the Ricardos will open in theaters on December 10, and then onto Amazon Prime Video on December 21.
Check out the trailer below.
Here’s the official synopsis from Amazon:
You know Lucy and Ricky. Now it’s time to meet Lucille and Desi. Here’s a special teaser from Being the Ricardos, in theaters December 10 and on Prime Video December 21.
Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are threatened by shocking personal accusations, a political smear and cultural taboos in Academy Award®-winning writer and director Aaron Sorkin’s behind-the-scenes drama Being the Ricardos. A revealing glimpse of the couple’s complex romantic and professional relationship, the film takes audiences into the writers’ room, onto the soundstage and behind closed doors with Ball and Arnaz during one critical production week of their groundbreaking sitcom “I Love Lucy.”
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2021 turned out to be a pretty major year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite how unsettled everything has been for over 18 months due to the pandemic. Marvel’s Phase 4 began in earnest with Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings kicking things off on July 9 and September 3, respectively. Before the year is out, we’ll have two more Phase 4 additions—Chloé Zhao’s hotly-anticipated Eternals, and Jon Watts Spider-Man: No Way Home, bowing on November 5 and December 17, respectively. From saying goodbye to Scarlett Johansson’s formidable Natasha Romanoff to meeting new superheroes, in both Shang-Chi and Eternals, to seeing Spider-Man team up with Doctor Strange in No Way Home, 2021 will end up being a big year in the MCU.
Yet things are changing for the MCU in 2022 and 2023. Disney has announced that the MCU’s upcoming slate is going to be shaped a little differently than previously expected. The next five MCU films have all been moved, their release dates now coming a few months later than originally scheduled, giving each film a bit more time to breathe before the next installment in Marvel’s ever-expanding cinematic universe.
There have been a few other intriguing developments. Two untitled Marvel movies, originally slated for July 28, 2023, and October 6, 2023, have been removed from the release slate. A third untitled Marvel film, originally slated for November 10, 2023, has been moved up a week to November 3, 2023. All these moves amount to Marvel scaling back their release schedule ever-so-slightly, to three new films a year instead of four. Considering how consistently well MCU films do, it makes sense not to flood the zone and risk the dreaded franchise fatigue.
Also, this isn’t your father’s MCU. Now, there’s an entire realm of MCU stories being told on Disney+, meaning there are more hours of Marvel mayhem on screen than ever before.
Christopher Nelson wants Michael Myers aficionados to know they’re in store for a very happy Halloween. The Oscar-winning (Suicide Squad), Emmy-winning (American Horror Story) makeup effects designer has pulled out all the tricks to assure that Halloween Kills, which was released on October 15, is a bloody treat.
“I’m such a huge, huge fan of the original, Nelson says. “Halloween 1978 was such a pivotal movie for me as a cinema lover, a genre lover, and a John Carpenter lover. As a fan, it’s appealing to try and recapture that feeling, that look of what the original Halloween means to everybody.”
Nelson isn’t the only one with this sentiment. Writers Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green, who also directed, have packed Halloween Kills with a host of characters from the original. Of course, Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, Michael Myers’ perennial adversary. But audiences will also delight in seeing Kyle Richards return as Lindsey, the little girl Laurie was babysitting, Nancy Stephens as Marion, the nurse Myers escaped from in the original, and Charles Cyphers, who played Sheriff Leigh Brackett in Halloween and Halloween II.
(from left) Karen (Judy Greer), Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Allyson (Andi Matichak) in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green.(from left) Cameron Elam (Dylan Arnold), Marion (Nancy Stephens, background), Allyson (Andi Matichak) and Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet) in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
Halloween Kills also features Tommy Doyle and Lonnie Elam —two children terrorized by Myers who are now grown and determined to stop his rampage. Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Longstreet portray the adult versions of the characters originally played by Brian Andrews and Brent Le Page.
Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy Doyle in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
And as he did in Halloween and the 2018 reboot of the same name, Nick Castle appears as “The Shape,” (aka Michael Myers).
But perhaps Halloween Kills’ most surprising appearance is Dr. Loomis, the psychiatrist who treated Myers. Donald Pleasence portrayed the doctor in five Halloween films. He died in 1995. The character pops up in several flashback scenes, thanks to some makeup magic.
“It’s actually about a 12-piece prosthetic makeup — that and a hairpiece,” reveals Nelson. “That is a completely practical prosthetic look-alike makeup on a gentleman by the name of Tom Jones Jr., who was a construction coordinator. He looked close enough to Donald Pleasence, so we decided to take him the rest of the way.”
Dr. Loomis is so spot-on, some believe he was resurrected via CGI. “I’m super thrilled with that makeup,” adds Nelson. “Dare I say it’s too good because people are saying it’s CGI or it’s found footage or this or that. It’s not.”
Nelson’s years of experience really came in handy when it came time to create all the murders. “It’s called Halloween Kills for a reason,” he says. “So I think that’s the first thing that stuck out to me is there are so many effects. So much stuff.”
(from left) Director David Gordon Green and James Jude Courtney on the set of Halloween Kills. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
In addition to all the stabbings, the film sees Myers using his thumbs to gouge out one victim’s eyes and thrusting a knife through a skull. In the show-stopping opener, he escapes from a burning building and takes out an entire firefighting squad — employing everything from a fireman’s ax to a chainsaw.
Michael Myers (aka The Shape, left) in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon green.
“We did a lot of different things and amped that up,” explains Nelson. “Things were added at the last minute. We were like, ‘Let’s do this!’There’s a lot of moving parts — choreography between stunts and camera and effects and blood and Jim (James Jude Courtney — The Shape stuntman). I’m very proud of that.”
Chris Nelson on the set of Halloween Kills. Courtesy Universal Pictures.
Past projects, particularly Kill Bill and American Horror Story, helped Nelson bring his A-game to this effort. “Kill Bill was a huge one. I mean, that was a master’s degree in blood gags,“ he says. “Working for KNB EFX Group really honed my skills as far as thinking on my toes, simplifying things, being spontaneous, and building on the fly. I’ve taken all that knowledge and built upon it ever since.”
Nelson isn’t sure how many gallons of blood he used during filming. But no doubt, it was substantial. “At the end of the day, I would go back to my hotel covered in blood,” he says. “And most of the time, it was like seven in the morning because we were shooting nights. So, seven in the morning, strolling into a lobby covered in blood — all in my hair – it kind of raised alarms.”
Michael Myers (aka The Shape) in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures(from left) Michael Myers (aka The Shape) and Cameron Elam (Dylan Arnold) in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
As he typically does, Nelson turned to longtime friend and colleague Vincent Van Dyke to build the gags. “He has a clean and very realistic aesthetic,” says Nelson. “He brings realism to the table. It’s very easy for these kinds of movies to go into another more comical, schlocky world. Vincent’s good about not letting it do that.”
One of the more challenging aspects of Halloween Kills was creating the iconicmask seen during flashbacks. Nelson was determined to capture the look and the feel of the original — something he believes has been missing from the numerous Halloween sequels. He admits it wasn’t an easy task.
“1978 was a perfect storm of an accident, so to speak,” explains Nelson. “It’s the way it fit that guy. It was the way it was lit. It was the way it was shot. It changed all the time. That’s why it looks different in every photo. That’s why it’s been so difficult to emulate and duplicate over all these years.”
Nelson poured over every old mask photo he could find. He knew it should have a cold, blank look, but he also felt it needed to evoke a sense of tragedy. And he believed the best way to create it was through a team effort. Together with Van Dyke and Daniele Tirinnanzi, a sculptor at Van Dyke’s Burbank-based shop, they fashioned a mask.
Chris Nelson on the set of Halloween Kills. Courtesy Universal Pictures.
“I think that’s the reason why it works,” says Nelson. “I put my hands on it. Vincent put his hands on it. Daniele put his hands on it. We all took our egos out of it and went, ‘Okay let’s just do what’s best for the project.’ And so, multiple eyes on something from multiple angles will give you exactly what you need.”
(from left) Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney on the set of Halloween Kills. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
Nelson realizes Halloween devotees want to know as much as possible about the newest film. But he believes the less they know, the more fun they’ll have — much like the days before social media when he saw the original in 1978.
“You didn’t know who was under the mask. You didn’t know who made the mask. You didn’t know what it was made of or where it came from,” says Nelson. “It lived on screen. It was a mystery and it added to the mystery of Michael Myers. I wish it could just live on screen and be mysterious again.”
Judy Greer as Karen in Halloween Kills directed by David Gordon Green. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures
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Eternals is the 26th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and yet the early reactions are that thanks to Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao, it feels entirely different from that films that have come before. Zhao’s star-studded epic had its premiere last night at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, which is why the internet will be flooded with initial reactions. The official review embargo for Eternals doesn’t lift until 2 p.m. EST on October 24, but the social media embargo for first reactions lifted last night. So, we’ve compiled some of those reactions for you.
Eternals promises to expand the MCU to cosmic proportions. The film is centered on the titular group of immortal superbeings who have been embedded on Earth throughout the millennia, patiently waiting to defend humanity from their demented siblings (of sorts), the Deviants. Zhao led a terrific ensemble that includes Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff, Kit Harrington, and Harish Patel. The film is set in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame yet will introduce us to characters who have been around longer than even Thor. We are meeting all of these characters for the first time in an MCU film, which would be a heavy lift for any director.
Eternals will make its European premiere on the closing night of the Rome Film Festival on October 24, then open wide here in the United States on November 45 where it plays exclusively in theaters for 45 days until moving to Disney+.
Let’s take a peek at some of those early reactions.
Just got out of #Eternals. I’ve never been so invested in a story. It was cinematically beautiful. I was engaged the entire time. There’s a lot to ingest but they do such a great job to process it all. This feels so different from the MCU, like it’s own universe. I loved it.
Holy crap – Eternals is a freaking MASTERPIECE!!! Packed with adrenaline right from the start, but also filled with lots of heart & humor! So many MCU firsts!! Your mind will be BLOWN! Nods to comics but a totally unique story. Those end credits are GAME CHANGERS!! #Eternalspic.twitter.com/jKiMJukn4S
#Eternals is surprising, epic, beautiful yet dense. It takes some big swings, sometimes feels like a DC film (not a criticism), other times feels like no other superhero movie ever. I wish I had a glowing quick reaction to offer you but I’m left with more complex thoughts.
#Eternals is perhaps the most ambitious Marvel movie ever made. But the highest compliment I can pay it is that it’s not a Marvel movie; it’s a Chloé Zhao movie. pic.twitter.com/AzlXjJQXVc
With the sweeping visuals by Chloé Zhao and an ensemble filled with actors that feel destined for the MCU, #Eternals is unlike any other Marvel movie. So many great twists and the chemistry of the cast really make this movie one to watch
#Eternals is probably the most shocking and surprising Marvel movie you’ll see. Many twists and turns. Kumail Nanjiani Is hilarious in every scene. As always, stay to the VERY end. pic.twitter.com/Z3Hm6Vxznx
My favorite part of Marvel movies is how they consistently manage to find new ways to tell their stories. #eternals is beautifully shot & looks very different than previous MCU films. Story surprised me with some of the twists & turns. The 2 after the credits scenes are 👏👍🔥 pic.twitter.com/XUgxkBngeX
#Eternals is amazing! Chloé Zhao & company turn in an evocative, emotional, extraordinarily epic superhero film. The ensemble have great chemistry & all get big Movie Moments to showcase their prowess. The naturalism of Ben Davis’ cinematography spotlights characters’ humanity. pic.twitter.com/MjZ2VheJ56
Eternals is Marvel’s version of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. A film that builds upon a cast of unknown characters and does so with great success. Chloé Zhao direction is superb. Easily one of the best looking Marvel films of all time. Insane post credits scenes too. #Eternalspic.twitter.com/TbZlqPJxGQ
#Eternals is epic in every sense of the word. It’s a story that is more massive but simultaneously more down-to-earth than the MCU has ever been. The passion everyone involved had for this movie is present in every scene and it needs to be seen on the biggest screen you can find pic.twitter.com/CyyqPt9dfn
Marvel’s #Eternals is spectacularly weird & rich w/ a new MCU mythology that makes it feel separate from everything else. It’s honestly refreshing. There’s a bittersweetness to the film that you feel in its sunset shots – a definite Chloé Zhao touch. It is soulful & thoughtful pic.twitter.com/pIAFAyhJ4D
Chloé Zhao’s #Eternals is MESMERIZING and unlike anything we’ve seen before in the MCU. It breaks the the familiar mold and delivers an EPIC and beautifully crafted story that is GRAND, yet grounded in a love of humanity. Watch it in @IMAX.@TheMoviePodcast review October 24. pic.twitter.com/HHFluL8u2H
You might not know this, but Dwayne Johnson has been attached to play Black Adam since before Christian Bale donned the cape and cowl in Christoper Nolan’s game-changing The Dark Knight and Robert Downey Jr. kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Iron Man in 2008. So now that we have our first look at Johnson as the impossibly powerful titular antihero in Black Adam, we’re witnessing the culmination of a journey that began way back in 2007.
This first glimpse, revealed at the DC FanDome event this past weekend, is beyond promising. Director Jaume Collet-Serra and Johnson are bringing about a superhero who promises to upend the power balance in the DCEU. Even knowing how powerful Shazam (Zachary Levi) is, watching this teaser makes you fear for his safety in his inevitable showdown with Johnson’s antihero. The clip shows us just how nasty Black Adam can be when you threaten him, and also introduces us to the members of the Justice Society, who will be featured in the film. The Justice Society is comprised of Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo).
This brief glimpse at the film is potent and might surprise those folks who have gotten used to the Rock playing straight-up heroes. With Black Adam, he gets to revel in his darker side, and he’ll be a force to be reckoned with going forward.
Check out the teaser here. Black Adam hits theaters on July 29, 2022.
For more on Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, check out these stories:
“For some reason, Batman has always stood out. It’s one of the major characters of the 20th century, and so many people connect to him on such a deep level, and for so many different reasons.” This is what the new Batman himself, Robert Pattison, says at top of this behind-the-scenes featurette that was revealed before The Batman trailer was shown at this past weekend’s DC FanDome event. Pattison goes on to say that what fired him up so much about writer/director Matt Reeves’ film is how radically different his version of Batman is from what we’ve seen before.
“I felt we’ve seen lots of origin stories, we’d seen things go further and further into fantasy,” says writer/director Reeves, “and I thought well one place we haven’t been is grounding it the way that ‘Year One’ does, to come into right into a young Batman, not be an origin tale but refer to his origins and shake him to his core.”
Reeves is referring to the “Year One’ comic book series that gave us a grittier, more down-to-earth Batman, one focused as much on solving crimes as being a superhero. This is the noir detective story world that Reeves has created.
“What’s so wonderful about this world is the exploration of the grey area,” says Zoë Kravitz, who plays Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman. “Catwoman really wants to fight for those who don’t have someone else to fight for them, and that’s where her and Batman really connect.”
One could argue we actually get a better sense of what Reeves, Pattison, Kravitz, and the rest of The Batman team are up to here than the trailer, which is excellent, but short on specifics.
Joining Pattison and Kravitz are Collin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffery Wright as Jim Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham DA Gil Colson.
Check out the behind-the-scenes video here. The Batman hits theaters on March 4, 2022.
We’ve been looking for a shot of Michael Keaton in the Bat-suit ever since we heard he was reprising his role of Batman in director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash. Thankfully, this past weekend’s DC FanDome event delivered, giving us our first glimpse at both Muschietti’s film and Keaton as Batman in the first teaser for The Flash.
Star Ezra Miller, who plays Barry Allen, the titular speedy superhero, introduces the clip. Miller explains that they didn’t have a proper trailer to reveal because they’re still hard at work on the film. But, the teaser does offer us a feel for what The Flash creative team is up to, and, wonderfully, it’s narrated by Keaton’s Bruce Wayne. Mr. Wayne wants to know why, if Barry Allen could go to any point on any timeline in the multiverse, he’s made this one particular choice. The answer? Barry is trying to save his mom, who died tragically years ago. Bruce Wayne reminds Barry that changing the future also changes the past. Barry is going to be meddling with various timelines, offering us a glimpse into worlds where Keaton’s Batman still protects Gotham, and worlds beyond.
The film is based on the “Flashpoint” comic book series and will find Barry speeding across the multiverse, coming into contact not only with Keaton’s Batman but also Ben Affleck’s version, too. Also joining the adventure are Sasha Calle as Supergirl, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen, and Ron Livingston as Barry’s imprisoned father Henry Allen (replacing Billy Crudup).
The teaser ends with Barry asking Batman if he’s going to join him. While we don’t yet know what that particular Batman’s answer is, we’re sure we’re going to join Barry as he mixes things up in the DCEU.
Check out the teaser below. The Flash zooms into theaters on November 2, 2022.
For more on Warner Bros., HBO, and HBO Max, check out these stories:
The Batman official trailer is here, revealed by Warner Bros. during their DC FanDome event, giving us our longest look yet at Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight. The official trailer boasts brand new footage, including much more screen time for Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman, and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin. As for the film’s big bad (as far as we can tell), we get only glimpses of Paul Dano’s the Riddler, who opens the trailer up stirring his coffee in a cafe. When he’s arrested by the Gotham Police Department, what do we find in his coffee cup? A question mark, outlined in the foam. Let the games begin.
The main event here is finding out just what kind of Batman Robert Pattinson will be. As he promised, writer/director Matt Reeves is giving us a noir Batman film in which the Caped Crusader is as much a detective as he is as a superhero. We pick up the action in The Batman with Bruce Wayne already two years into his work as a nighttime vigilante for the people of Gotham. Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) has been lighting up the Bat-signal for a while now, and Batman is known not just to the people of Gotham, but to his enemies, who are legion. Pattison appears as a young, lean, haunted Bruce Wayne, and one who leans into the role of Batman as an avenging angel, with the Bat-signal representing not only hope for the people of Gotham but a warning to those who do dastardly deeds.
Joining these heavyweight performers is a stellar cast, including Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Gotham crime boss Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham DA Gil Colson, Barry Keoghan as Gotham PD officer Stanley Merkel, Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, and Alex Ferns as Commissioner Pete Savage.
The Batman swoops into theaters on March 4, 2022. Check out the new trailer below:
This story initially appeared on the Motion Picture Association’s Asia Pacific website.
What does a story about an Indonesian schoolgirl with big dreams, a tale of a modern-day pilgrim searching for a place to call home, and an account of two miners from Vietnam confronting the ghosts of the past have in common? The answer: All are exciting new feature film projects developed with the support of the Motion Picture Association and Asia Pacific Screen Academy Film Fund.
This joint initiative aims to encourage and empower creative filmmakers. The films they feel inspired to make might be unconventional in style and content, they might be about contemporary or historical social issues that don’t fit within the conventions of the mainstream industry, or, they may be in jeopardy of attracting uninvited censorship or political restraint. The filmmakers may be located outside their own country’s commercial film and TV industries, or working alongside them or within them.
Yuni (2021) (Source: Asia Pacific Screen Awards)
An Indonesian project entitled Yuni attracted the attention of the Fund jury in 2018 because it was the work of a strong female director, Kamila Andini, seeking to explore the thoughts and emotions of a teenage schoolgirl faced with the pressure of regimented social structures around her. As the film’s synopsis says, “Yuni realizes that when her dreams get bigger, the world around her gets smaller.” Driven to resist the push from family and friends to accept a domestic role in an arranged marriage, she struggles to find a way of pursuing her own preference for continuing study at an advanced level. The communal constraints that surround her include the threat of a virginity test at her school for any students felt by teachers to be “at risk” of pregnancy. Her complex responses to these tensions are the substance and strength of the project, and the submission felt authentic, sensitive, and empathetic. Kamila Adani was nominated for Best Achievement in Directing in the 2021 Asia Pacific Screen Awards for her work on Yuni, which now begins a Festival career around the world. Toronto is the first and likely many more will follow.
No Land’s Man (2021) (Image courtesy of Mostofa Sawar Farooki)
No Land’s Man from Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki was similarly convincing as a project from the heart. Essentially a classic picaresque fable about a man’s journey through a turbulent life, the project partly drew on Farooki’s personal experiences to examine the progress of a modern “pilgrim” – in this case, a lone, stateless man who moves from one country to another looking for legal status and a place he can call home. In his identity crisis, he has no certainty about his name, religion, or nationality.
Farooki’s remarkable debut feature, Television (2012), about a rural village where the community leaders ban television, signaled him to be an innovative artist supremely committed to making his films in his own way, in the face of innumerable obstacles.
With No Land’s Man, after receiving the support of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund in 2014, the project went on to participate in the Asian Project Market at Busan in South Korea and was chosen as the best project at India’s Film Bazaar. After receiving the grant, Farooki spent some months working with Australian producer Graeme Isaac pursuing Australian finance so that he could film an episode of the story in Australia. While the location shoot didn’t happen, an Australian actress, Megan Mitchell, remained in the cast as a young woman who meets the pilgrim in the USA. The film moved forward dramatically when Indian star Nawazuddin Siddiqui made a personal commitment to join the team as lead actor and co-producer: “I thought this is our film. It is as much my film as it is Farooki’s, and it needs to get made,” Siddiqui said. With its personal origins, sense of social relevance, urgency, and bold narrative structure, the project commanded attention from the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund and is set to travel far internationally after its 2021 world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival.
An international life also awaits Viêt And Nam, a film now in pre-production, which received a grant from the Fund in 2020. With a Vietnamese director, Trương Minh Quý, and Filippino producers, Bianca Balbuena and Bradley Liew, the film is already crossing boundaries. Trương’s project signals its uniqueness and commands attention when he describes his narrative as “lying between documentary and fiction, personal and impersonal, drawing on the landscape of his homeland, childhood memories, and the historical context of Vietnam.” The submission radiated a sense of urgency and emotional depth in facing issues of profound social dislocation and alienation, with characters still haunted by memories of the Vietnam War decades earlier, and inspired in part by the appalling death of 39 Vietnamese, who suffocated in a container lorry in England in August 2015.
Việt and Nam are two miners who work deep below ground, struggling between their love for each other and their conflicting desires for their futures. In their journeys, together and apart, they confront “the ghosts of Vietnam’s past and the uncertainty of its present.” Nam helps his mother search for the remains of his father, a soldier in the war, with endless hope but no success. He decides to leave his mother and Việt and finds an agent who can smuggle him abroad.
The Fund was not alone in identifying the strength of this project. It also attracted a grant from the prestigious Hubert Bals Development Fund in the Netherlands. The film is due to be completed in 2022.
These three films exemplify the strength of the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund in promoting authentic and diverse voices from the Asia-Pacific region, and in engaging with filmmakers in fundamentally practical ways, through finance and through endorsement. To be backed by the Fund can raise a project’s profile simply through the association with the Fund’s long list of prestigious recipients, beginning with an Oscar-winner, A Separation, by Asghar Farhadi, in the Fund’s very first year of operation.
With jurors drawn from all sectors of the industry across the Asia-Pacific region, the grants carry with them networking opportunities. Bonds are created and connections made. The Fund’s goal is to promote independent filmmakers in cutting-edge work and to expand and enhance the potential for creative artists in the film domain. Audiences worldwide are also beneficiaries, both in the short term when the film is first released domestically and overseas, and also in the long-term as the film moves onto new services and continues to circulate. It cannot be underestimated too, that the Fund, through cinema, is documenting the social history and helping to stimulate understanding and awareness of communal and historical complexities in ways that would not otherwise be possible. The goal of empowering the open-ended exchange of ideas and experiences at home and abroad makes this Fund much more than an industry assistance agency.
Well, this teaser is a delightfully direct way to introduce Robert Pattison’s Batman to both audiences and villains. It also signals, in just a few choice words, the tone and tenor of writer/director Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman. The teaser gives us the iconic Bat-signal alighting during a downpour, and then a very stark message for Batman’s allies and his villains. The official Twitter handle for the film released the teaser ahead of the DC FanDome event, which kicks off on October 16 and is sure to bring us a whole host of new images, possibly/probably a new trailer, and information about Reeves’ reboot of DC’s most iconic superhero not named Superman.
Pattison will offer a very different take on Bruce Wayne from the two most previous versions, played by Ben Affleck and Christian Bale. The three actors have very different approaches and strengths, and it will be thrilling to see how Reeves and Pattison crafted their version of the character. The teaser also serves as a reminder that in The Batman, there will be multiple antagonists for Batman to deal with. These include Paul Dano as the Riddler and Colin Farrell as the Penguin. Then there’s Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman, who might not be a straight-up nemesis, but she’s also been antagonist-adjacent in most incarnations, or at the very minimum non-compliant. The last woman to play her was Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises. Sure, she ends up being Batman’s major ally by the end of the film, but keep in mind she started the proceedings stealing from him.
Pattison will be on hand at FanDome, along with co-star Zoë Kravitz. You can bet they’re going to deliver the goods. The cast also includes Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon and Andy Serkis as Alfred. The Batman will begin with Bruce Wayne already having donned the cape and cowl, meaning while this will be Robert Pattinson’s first film as the Dark Knight, we won’t be dealing with a typical origin story.
How excited is Warner Bros. about what they have with The Batman? Well, they’ve already green-lit two spinoff series for HBO Max, one centered on Farrell’s Penguin, another on the Gotham City Police Department. We’ll almost certainly find out more tomorrow about all three projects.
Making a mid-career pivot is never easy, especially when that pivot is designed to get you into the entertainment industry. Or so one might assume. For Kenya Morgan, her journey from working in a retail position for an educational sheet music company to becoming a costume department coordinator for director Ryan Coogler‘s Black Panther 2 (officially titled Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) began with an origin story worthy of a Marvel superhero.
“I worked in your standard retail for about twenty years,” Morgan says. “I did everything for that company, I learned to ship and receive, to do order processing and billing, because the philosophy of that company is everyone needs to know how to do everything just in case someone is out, it’s always helpful to have an additional set of hands who can jump in an assist.”
This proved valuable training for entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and her work, like the film universe it helps create, is a massive, sprawling, interconnected web of people working in dozens of departments towards one specific goal—make a killer new Marvel movie. Yet Morgan’s journey from sheet music retailer to Wakanda began with that aforementioned version of a superhero origin story. After moving into events, sales coordinator, and customer service manager (adding to her superpowers, if you’ll allow), Morgan’s position at the company ended in 2015. She was in need of a fresh start.
“It was a bit of a midlife crisis. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” she says. Morgan considered getting into tech and learning how to code, but in the meantime, she wanted to volunteer and do something that kept her close to creative work. She ended up volunteering at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. It was while was volunteering that her mom had a fortuitous moment in the most unlikely of places. “It’s funny, my mom was actually getting her tires worked on at the repair shop and saw the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article on the Georgia Film Academy. She called me and she said, ‘Hey, what about this?’”
Morgan thought about it, applied, and got into the inaugural class. Her work ethic and collaborative instincts were an ideal match for an industry with a huge amount of varied jobs that requires people working together across dozens of artistic mediums, where a seamstress, a stunt coordinator, and a key grip are all on the same team. She began making connections. Although she had some theater background, entering the world of film and TV proved challenging. Morgan liked it.
“All of the skills I brought from my corporate job transferred over and gave me a very solid foundation for responsibility, following things through, being on top of things, and getting in front of things. Stuff that supervisors really appreciate [laughs]. That’s how I ended up here.”
Here is in the vaunted Marvel Cinematic Universe, the home of the most successful interconnected film franchise in movie history. Working on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which she’s forbidden from speaking about specifically, of course, has been a crash course in modern moviemaking.
“It is a beast,” Morgan says. “It is larger than any production I’ve ever worked on. When I started really watching the credits for Marvel movies and saw positions in the crew, these were jobs that I had no idea about, we didn’t cover some of these things even at the Georgia Film Academy, but they’re all here in the MCU. From the different types of animal wranglers to the different types of digital tech work that needs to be done, to the layers of made-to-order handmade costumes, it’s huge.”
Morgan had previously worked on a Netflix feature in the costume department, no small matter, but the size of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was staggering. “The costume department for the Netflix feature was about fourteen people. [Black Panther: Wakana Forever] is more than 80, and that’s spread across two offices with illustrators and other designers…there are so many parts, so many departments, it’s massive.”
As the costume department coordinator, Morgan’s job entails knowing pretty much everything that’s going on inside her massive department. “I spend my days reconciling budgets and expenditures, interfacing between the production office and our PAs and other departments,” she says. “I think here we’ve got maybe between fifty to seventy people on the lot, so everything from payroll questions to check requests, it’s all admin. I have a very specific role.”
A crucial role at that. Imagine trying to keep track of all the ins and outs of a costume department in a film based on a fictional country, Wakanda, that needs to be portrayed with all the richness, variety, and realism of an actual place with actual history. Wakanda has multiple distinct cultures within it, and each culture has its own clothes, customs, beliefs, modes of being. All the MCU films are huge by any metric, but within the MCU, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is especially huge due to the world-building involved. Morgan’s department is lead by Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter, and Morgan helped explain just how comprehensive the work being done in the costume department is with a proudly nerdy comparison.
“I am a peripheral Dungeons & Dragons fan, and I listen to my friends who are game masters, the ones who create the worlds and the characters and help facilitate the storylines, this is a very detailed level of expansion and world-building, and that’s just on this small scale tabletop game. But this is something that has to have real worlds built, cultures expanded upon, and each one of those cultures has its own norms, its own looks, its own subcultures, and each one of those cultures has to be fleshed out. From what they eat to what they wear, what their transportation is, what their technology is, it’s just a massive amount of world-building. Then there’s the futurism component, plus the historical component, all of this creates these specific worlds that are mind-boggling. I’m glad I just keep track of the numbers. [Laughs.]”
As for what Morgan knows about the story of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she says she is mostly, blissfully, in the dark. She gets to work on the film without knowing how the story will play out.
“The scripts are under lock and key. You have to be authorized to have access to the script, and I do not have the authorization,” she says. Yet she gets a sense of things working in the costume department. She sees costumes going by, or one-line references on the shooting schedule or call sheet, which often includes brief descriptions of what’s being shot, but she has no context for what’s happening and she likes it this way. “The action, I have absolutely no idea. [Laughs]. Even as a fan, I will walk down the hall and I’ll get drawn in by a costume, and then I’ll remind myself, don’t look!”
Working on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is also a moving, occasionally overwhelming emotional experience due to the loss of Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman, in August of 2020.
“There were a couple of days in July where whatever the action was in the script, I could see it was emotional,” Morgan says. “I asked one of our costumers, ‘How was it?’ She told me there were some tears on set. Sometimes I was like, ‘I’m glad I was in the office because I don’t know if there would have been enough Kleenex to help me keep it together.'”
Morgan believes that this level of emotion is only going to make the film stronger and draw more people to it. “I feel like this emotion is going to pull everyone into this film. There is no denying the impact of the Black Panther character, the legacy of the Black Panther character,” she says.
As for her day-to-day, Morgan says becoming a part of the MCU requires some serious commitment.
“I have friends who work on other Marvel projects, on Loki and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and I mentioned one day that we should have a support group or club because once you’ve done a Marvel film, it’s unlike anything else. You need to be acclimated to this environment, once you understand the mechanics of this and the scale of it, some folks will get it and make it through to the end, but it’s a challenge. It’s hard. But it is going to be rewarding and there are so many of us involved in this, in making the entertainment I like, that my mom is looking forward to, my friends are looking forward to. The MCU is simply epic.”
One of the many impressive things about Marvel’s Disney+ series is how each has its own distinct personality. WandaVision expertly mixed period sitcoms, drama, comedy, and action for a singular TV experience. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was a high-octane action-adventure series from start to finish. Loki mashed up a sci-fi time-travel story with a buddy office comedy and one of the year’s most intriguing romances. And now we have Hawkeye, which gives us a holiday-themed action series centered on a mentor/mentee relationship. A new teaser, titled “Change of Plans,” offers fresh footage and further gives us the feeling that Hawkeye is going to be a romp.
That mentor/mentee relationship is between Avenger Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and another ace archer, Kate M. Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). The series finds our long-troubled Clint Barton returning to New York City after the events of Avengers: Endgame, looking to return to a semblance of normal life. All Clint wants to do at this point is enjoy time with his family, a little holiday cheer in the Big Apple, and, you know, stop Avenging. The problem is, Clint made a lot of enemies when he was mucking about in the underworld after the events of Avengers: Infinity War when he lost his family to Thanos’s snap. In the period between Infinity War and Endgame, Clint was in a fugue state of avenging, if you will, punishing every bad guy he could find as a way to vent his rage over losing his family. So, Clint’s return to New York, post repatriation of said family and all those who had been snapped out of existence is a chance for him to reconnect with his loved ones. Unfortunately for him, it’s also a chance for all his enemies to finally get their revenge.
This is where Kate M. Bishop steps in. Hawkeye will center primarily around their relationship, as the grizzled veteran and the young hotshot team-up. The result, at least as far as the first trailer and this teaser is concerned, is an egg-nog-soaked adventure series led by a pair of mismatched heroes, one that looks a touch lighter on its feet (and certainly more holiday-themed) than we might have imagined.
Check out the new teaser below. Hawkeye hits Disney+ on November 14.
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The reviews are pouring in for Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, a sweeping historical epic that boasts a script from Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and an ace director herself, Nicole Holofcener. This star-studded period piece has hit its mark, according to the critics, with Scott in his element in his brutal, beguiling story of the brutal endgame of male ego.
The Last Duel is set in 14th century France and centered on the marriage of Marguerite (Jodie Comer) and Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) in a time of “codified patriarchy” as the aforementioned screenwriters have explained. What leads to the titular last duel is when Marguerite accuses her husband’s old friend, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) of attacking her, setting into motion the events that will lead to the two men fighting to the death. The outcome of their titular duel includes a potentially horrific fate for Marguerite herself. Intriguingly, the film is structured Rashomon style, meaning we’ll see the event leading up to the duel through each of the three main characters’ perspectives. Furthermore, Holofcener, Damon, and Affleck have given this historical drama a modern twist, critiquing the “preening vanity of men” as critic Caroline Siede writes, whereas you can easily imagine this story being told, a mere few years ago, in a very different way.
So, what are the critics saying? Basically that Scott, who reinvigorated the period drama with his bloody, brilliant 2000 masterpiece Gladiator, is in top form. The Last Duel is being called an ambitious, memorable thrill-ride, one whose promised final battle is jaw-dropping. What’s more, Comer shines as Marguerite, giving the brutal, bloody film its ferocious beating heart. Here’s how The New York Times‘s Manohla Dargis opens her Critic’s Pick review: “It’s no surprise that Ridley Scott, who’s made his share of swaggering manly epics, has directed what may be the big screen’s first medieval feminist revenge saga. In addition to his love for men with mighty swords, Scott has an affinity for tough women, women who are prickly and difficult and thinking, not bodacious cartoons. They’re invariably lovely, of course, but then everything in Ridley Scott’s dream world has an exalted shimmer.”
Onto the reviews. The Last Duel hits theaters on October 15.
“The Last Duel” tells the same story from three different perspectives—and masterfully reveals the self-aggrandizement of its male characters, @davidlsims writes: https://t.co/lvBF2u5E6e
Jodie Comer deserves a Lead Actress Oscar nomination for her brilliant work in THE LAST DUEL. Can’t stop thinking about that film. Important movie that is tough to watch but incredibly necessary to be seen. Amazing performances, cinematography & direction. Ridley Scott. Sir. Wow. pic.twitter.com/wBJh8V9Pqx
#TheLastDuel is a brutal, haunting medieval affair about power, egocentrism, hypocrisy, loyalty and truth. Adam Driver and Matt Damon are great, Jodie Comer is amazing, and Ben Affleck steals the show. In my book, Ridley Scott’s best film since The Martian. @TheLastDuelFilmpic.twitter.com/B8QP3CCayv
Rafer Guzman of Newsdaywrites: “A gripping true story that draws unsettling parallels between past and present.”
Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com writes: “It all leads up to the title duel which, even by the high standards set by Scott’s Gladiator, is what you’d call a humdinger.”
Soren Andersen of the Seattle Times writes: “Scott, who knows a thing or two about how to mount sweeping historical epics, is in his element here.”
Chris Barsanti of Slant Magazine writes: “Ridley Scott’s medieval saga insightfully revels in the complexities of its competing storylines.”
Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly writes: “Scott manages to fill in the finer brushstrokes of all those characters and still fit the kind of bravura action set pieces he’s known for; the fight scenes are breathlessly, bone-crunchingly brutal.”
Jamie Lee Curtis knows how to make an entrance. The star of director David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills arrived at the film’s premiere at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood on Tuesday night dressed as her mom Janet Leigh’s iconic Psycho character. Wearing a blonde wig, blue dress, and carrying a bloody shower curtain, Curtis hit the black carpet looking period-perfect. This is a woman who has legendary horror films running through her veins and her family tree.
Speaking about the Halloween franchise, Curtis had this to say about the original film: “It’s the ultimate good versus evil. Laurie Strode represents the quotidian, quintessential, innocent American teenage girl, that is innocence personified. And when you collide it with the essence of evil which is Michael Meyers, you create a tension that you, the audience member, wants to protect her.”
Curtis knows what she’s talking about. She appeared in the very first Halloween, in 1978, directed by the legendary John Carpenter. Laurie was the one person Michael Myers couldn’t finish off (she also protected a gaggle of children), and then, 40-years later, the two met again in Green’s 2018 smash-hit Halloween. In Green’s new trilogy (more on the third film, Halloween Ends, in a second) the stories link up to Carpenter’s original, skipping all sequels between 1978 and now. In Green’s 2018 Halloween, it looked like Laurie had finished him off, at last, by burning him alive in her basement. Alas, Michael survived, and Halloween Kills finds him back to his old slashing ways the very next night. Laurie teams up with her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) to once again try to finish the job.
But what about the final film, Halloween Ends, due in October 2022? Curtis had something very intriguing to say to The Illuminerdi:
“It’s going to make people very angry. It’s going to stimulate people. People are going to be agitated by it. And it is a beautiful way to end this trilogy. Now that’s all I kind of knew from David. Only recently have he and I started to talk a little bit post-Venice film festival a little bit about the movie, a couple little tweaks that I’ve offered, but very little that you know, this man makes great movies. I just have to stay out of the way.”
Halloween Kills hits theaters and Peacock on October 15.
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Featured image: HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 12: Jamie Lee Curtis attends the costume party premiere of “Halloween Kills” at TCL Chinese Theatre on October 12, 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
You’ve got two knights (old friends, in fact) in heavy armor fighting to the death, who do you want behind the camera? You’re not going to do better than director Ridley Scott, whose 2000 hit Gladiator reinvigorated the period piece as something vital, bloody, and relentlessly exciting. He’s moved ahead a few centuries with The Last Duel, starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer, but Maximus (Russell Crowe)’s deathless line from Gladiator still gets answered in the affirmative here. “Are you not entertained?” We are.
A new behind-the-scenes look at The Last Duel plunges us right into the titular trial by combat. The film is centered on Marguerite (Jodie Comer), married to Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) in a time of “codified patriarchy” as the screenwriters (more on them in a second) have explained. The wheels come off their marriage when Marguerite accuses her husband’s old friend, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) of attacking her, setting into motion the events that will lead to the two men fighting to the death and a potentially horrific fate for Marguerite.
In the new video, we see Scott’s camera array (five in all) as he captures every possible angle of the battle. “It’s all geometry,” Damon says the legendary director told him, as he nimbly advises where every camera needs to be and what he wants from each. Although the action itself looks a lot more like bloody arithmetic. As brilliantly as the fight is choreographed, it is a game of simple subtraction—one winner takes one loser’s life.
About that script. Scott directs from a screenplay from a great director in her own right, Nicole Holofcener, which she co-wrote with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (Affleck plays Count Pierre d’Alençon.) That’s a pretty excellent starting point.
The Last Duel is set to hit theaters on October 15. Watch the new behind-the-scenes video below:
Here’s the official synopsis:
The historical epic is a cinematic and thought-provoking drama set in the midst of the Hundred Years War that explores the ubiquitous power of men, the frailty of justice and the strength and courage of one woman willing to stand alone in the service of truth. Based on actual events, the film unravels long-held assumptions about France’s last sanctioned duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris, two friends turned bitter rivals. Carrouges is a respected knight known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Le Gris is a Norman squire whose intelligence and eloquence make him one of the most admired nobles in court. When Carrouges’ wife, Marguerite, is viciously assaulted by Le Gris, a charge he denies, she refuses to stay silent, stepping forward to accuse her attacker, an act of bravery and defiance that puts her life in jeopardy. The ensuing trial by combat, a grueling duel to the death, places the fate of all three in God’s hands.
If you can watch this without drumming your fingers or tapping your feet, you’re made of stronger stuff than we are. The official trailer for Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back offers a stunning look at footage that has been locked in a vault for the past 50 years. That original film recording session, 60-hours worth of it, was shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in 1969, yet it was stored away and went more or less unseen and unheard—until now. Jackson’s docuseries threads all that footage (and more than 150 hours of audio) together to give us a look at a seminal recording session in 1969 when the band was attempting to write and record 14 brand new songs before their first live show in more than two years.
Despite the fact that the Beatles were a global phenomenon by 1969, they were nervous about performing on stage after a long stint away from a live audience. They were also attempting to create music up to their standards on an impossible deadline. On top of this, John, Paul, George, and Ringo had their own robust personal lives (you won’t want to miss Yoko’s arrival in this trailer), all of which played into their madcap recording sessions and the tensions that arose. At one point, Paul reminds his bandmates that they always did their best work when their backs were against the wall. So, after some arguing and tension, and after George walks off (and comes back), the band composes some of the most iconic songs of the 20th century.
The Beatles: Get Back offers Beatles fans, music fans, and film fans alike a stunning front-row seat to the creative process of one of the world’s most transcendent bands, as well as a chance to take in their last live performance together, the famous rooftop concert on London’s Savile Row.
Check out the trailer below. The Beatles: Get Back hits Disney+ over three days, November 25, 26, and 27.
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Featured image: Pop group The Beatles George Harrison, Paul McCartney and John Lennon with fans, circa 1968. (Photo by Daily Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Yesterday, Netflix took to their @NetflixFilm Twitter account and dropped a cryptic gem of a Tweet, getting every film nerd and David Fincher fan (often one in the same thing) very excited. Here was the Tweet:
Something special is coming tomorrow from David Fincher… 👀
So we’ll find out today what they’re talking about, but that hasn’t stopped folks from speculating. Will this be an announcement that Fincher is back to work on Mindhunters season 3? Fincher created the sensational crime drama that lasted for two glorious, creepy seasons, and then the cast was released from their contracts and the grisly ride seemed over. Mindhunter took us into the creation of the FBI’s “Serial Crime Unit,” which was the first agency devoted to studying and, if possible, predicting and stopping a threat the world didn’t even have a name for at the time—serial killers. It was, in its pitch-perfect construction, deft acting, and slow-boil tension one of the best serial killers shows ever created.
Could it be the long-awaited Fincher film The Killer? Fincher has been eyeing this project since 2007, an adaptation writer Alexis Nolent and artist Luc Jacamon’s graphic novel about a nameless assassin. Se7en writer Andrew Kevin Walker is attached to adapt the graphic novel, and the film is set to star Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, yet there’s been no word on it. This would be a thrilling update.
Fincher signed a four-year deal with Netflix in 2020 and has already long been a big boon for the streaming giant. He directed and executive produced House of Cards, their first certifiable hit, as well as his passion project Mank, which racked up 10 Oscar nominations and two wins. Perhaps the announcement will be something totally unexpected, a film not on our radars or a new television series. Whatever it is, it’ll be worth watching.
We’ll let you know when we find out more.
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“Do you get sad when you have to kill cast members off?” is the first question posed to Halloween Kills director David Gordon Green in this new behind-the-scenes video released by Universal Pictures. Green doesn’t need more than a moment to reply, “Depends on who we’re killing.”
Such is this humorous tone of this new video, which takes us close—uncomfortably close, you might think—to that maestro of maniacs Michael Myers. The masked madman is back in Green’s follow-up to his gangbusters 2018 smash-hit Halloween, which breathed new, bloody life into the franchise. Building off John Carpenter’s legendary 1978 film, Green’s Halloween in 2018 reintroduced not only one of the most iconic movie monsters ever, but Jamie Lee Curtis’s indomitable Laurie Strode. In this new video, we get a peek at some of the film’s other characters, many of whom won’t survive their encounter with The Shape.
Green explains that as Halloween fans know, “Michael has a sense of humor, a sense of design about his kills.” If that sounds baroque, well, it is, but it’s also precisely how some of the best horror movies are made. Green says that Michael even has a sense of “playfulness” when it comes to dispatching everyone standing between him and Laurie. Green shows us how in his Halloween films, “every kill is its own character,” as we watch, say, a man get dragged by the feet out of his bathroom. It’s dark stuff, but also a reminder that these films are supposed to be grisly fun. Michael seems to be enjoying his artful disregard for human life, so, we might as well too.
Halloween Kills will place a lot of people between Micheal and Laurie, some of whom we imagine Green would be sad about killing off. Those include Laurie’s daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), and the adult version of Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall). Although it appeared to the people of Haddonfield that Michael had been killed in the house fire Laurie set at the end of the 2018 film, that’s unfortunately not the case. Unfortunate for them, the perfect October film for us.
Check out the new video below. Halloween Kills hits theaters and Peacock on October 15.
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Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for Scream, the fifth installment in their slasher franchise dreamed up by the late, great Wes Craven and original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The trailer reveals that the fifth Scream will arrive in theaters on January 14, 2022, and that it’s channeling the vibes from the 1996 original that started it all. All it takes is hearing Roger L. Jackson voicing Ghostface again to bring you right back to the bloody mayhem.
This latest Scream brings back the franchise’s stalwarts—Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) are all summoned back into the fold as a new Ghostface has begun terrorizing Westboro. The film is directed by the Ready or Not helmers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, from a script written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. Original Scream scribe Kevin Williamson is on hand as a producer.
There are plenty of new faces here, which of course means a lot of these folks will end up as victims. The newcomers include Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Dylan Minnette, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ben Ammar, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding, and Kyle Gallner. They’ll all learn soon enough that whoever is wearing the Ghostface mask is targetting people connected to the original murders. Sidney, Dewey, and Gale will do their level best to school the kids on the rules of the game, but not everyone will survive.
Check out the trailer below and the new poster below. Scream comes slashing into theaters on January 14, 2022.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past. Neve Campbell (“Sidney Prescott”), Courteney Cox (“Gale Weathers”) and David Arquette (“Dewey Riley”) return to their iconic roles in Scream alongside Melissa Barrera, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Marley Shelton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Sonia Ammar.
“Scream” poster. Courtesy Paramount.
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Hulu’s new limited series Dopesick is about the origins of the national opioid epidemic. No matter what you think you know, Dopesick will open your eyes to a new level of brazen overreach and hubris on the part of Big Pharma. The series, which stars Micheal Keaton, examines ways in which the drug company Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family made billions by introducing the highly addictive drug OxyContin, leading to an unprecedented nationwide struggle with opioid addiction. Executive producer and showrunner Danny Strong crafted the story with the help of Beth Macy, writer of the New York Times bestselling book “Dopesick,” which, in part, inspired the series. Dopesick makes use of a number of separate storylines and a shifting timeline, bringing into focus the bigger picture of how the epidemic spread, from Purdue’s boardrooms and the impoverished towns of Virginia, to state attorney offices and the halls of the FDA and DEA.
Strong and his writing staff created composite characters that are an amalgam of real people in the front lines. Among its stars are Will Poulter as Purdue pharmaceutical sales rep Billy Cutler, and Rosario Dawson as DEA agent Bridget Meyer. The Credits spoke to Strong, Poulter, and Dawson about their contributions to this compelling, important project.
Danny, Beth Macy had written “Dopesick,” and when you started working with her, you and Beth did interviews and got information, some through official documents leaked to you. What specifically from that work together shows up in the series?
Danny Strong: We were a team long before we were at that point where that information was coming out to us. There was just so much new information about the FDA, and about machinations within the Justice Department. There was this Justice Department memo that leaked to us that showed Curtis Wright had met with Purdue in a room for a week and helped them write the review. He literally spent four days with them writing their review for OxyContin. When we put it into the script, Hulu was uncomfortable that the only source was one document that was a leaked Justice Department memo. And so the language in the scene was slightly tamed down to how we felt accurately portrayed it. Then a few days before we shot the scene, the book “Empire of Pain” [by Patrick Radden Keefe] came out and covered it as well, in even more detail. By having a second source, Hulu was much more comfortable with the portrayal as accurate in the memo, so I rewrote the scene two days before we shot it. We were going to wrap production one week later, so it was just in the nick of time that we got a second piece of sourcing. The scene became much more accurate and much more disturbing as to what happened. Once Beth and I teamed up, which was after I’d sold the pitch to 20th, but before we had taken the pitch out to buyers, there was just a real open communication between us, and she was in the writers’ room. I call her ‘National Treasure Beth Macy.’ She was a wonderful asset to the team.
Dopesick — “The People vs. Purdue Pharma” – Episode 108 — Rick and Randy’s criminal investigation now threatens Richard Sackler’s empire, activists take action against Purdue, and Finnix tries to heal his beloved community that’s been ravaged by addiction. Richard (Michael Stuhlbarg), shown. (Photo by: Gene Page/Hulu)
As exciting and as shocking as Dopesick is, one of the best qualities of the show is that all the characters are very well developed and well-rounded, regardless of how villainous someone might seem. Will, can you talk about that?
Will Poulter: One of the major strengths of the script, and Danny’s writing, is he does such an amazing job of humanizing everybody, which I think is so important when you’re talking about an epidemic like this when there is so much to unpack. We’re talking about an example of widespread systemic injustice. It’s really important that everyone is humanized, especially in stories where so much inhumane behavior is at play. I think part of the current narrative around the opioid epidemic is that there were a bunch of young addicts abusing this drug in pursuit of a high, and ultimately Purdue and the Sacklers have gotten away with that narrative. But what Danny has done with this series, and one of the major strengths of it is, by humanizing all the different people involved in this story, he’s turned people’s attention to the fact that this was actually a scenario where human beings who required pain relief and were in need were taken advantage of, and through the humanizing of the addicts, he’s been able to rewrite the narrative somewhat. Also, by humanizing the real villains of the story, the people who purposefully, methodically introduced this drug by fraudulent means, he’s able to shine a light on the fact that these are human beings who walk among us. They aren’t monsters. This isn’t science fiction. This isn’t a dramatization. These are real individuals who need to be held accountable for what they’ve done. That’s the strength of writing like this because you really get to course correct the information currently out there.
Dopesick — “Breakthrough Pain” – Episode 102 — OxyContin is on the market but faces a potential threat, Purdue’s vast influence reaches the town of Finch Creek, Bridget steps outside her DEA authority, and the criminal investigation of OxyContin begins. Dr. Samuel Finnix (Michael Keaton) and Billy (Will Poulter), shown. (Photo by: Antony Platt/Hulu)Dopesick — “First Bottle” – Episode 101 — Richard Sackler begins to launch a powerful new painkiller, a rural doctor is introduced to the drug, a coal miner plans her future, a DEA Agent learns of blackmarket pills, and federal prosecutors decide to open a case into OxyContin. Betsy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Dr. Samuel Finnix (Michael Keaton), shown. (Photo by: Antony Platt/Hulu)
Rosario, what has stayed with you and made an impact on your experience of working on Dopesick?
Rosario Dawson: You watch this story, and it makes this moment we’re in now feel so much more understandable. It’s still just as infuriating and outrageous and alarming, but it makes it make more sense when before I read “Dopesick” and Danny’s script, a lot of it didn’t. It’s because it’s the same kind of characters, and you understand where that division comes from, where those toxic stigmas and narratives pressure people to behave in a certain way and make certain decisions because the larger society, the status quo at the moment, is saying ‘this is okay.’ I think one of the very important scenes is when my character Bridget is first starting to really see this crisis and trying to present it to her team, and they’re saying, ‘Well, the understanding is that opioids are now okay, and if you try to go against them then you’re actually going against people who have pain, and you’re doing them an injustice. So as much as you want to focus on these addicts, and how this epidemic is terrorizing communities, that’s not what the consensus is. It’s that we finally found a cure to people’s pain. If you try to stop people from getting that, you’re on the wrong side of history.’ Those perspectives, I think, are really important, and help to do exactly what I was talking about, where we don’t just cavalierly demonize people, but we start to really empathize with the moment that they’re in, and the choices that they feel like they have to make. I hope it helps to ground us in how it is we need to approach our crises now.
Dopesick — “The 5th Vital Sign” – Episode 103 — Doctor Finnix begins to taper Betsy off OxyContin, Bridget sees the toll the drug is taking on communities, Rick and Randy investigate the world of “pain societies”, and with sales climbing, Richard Sackler makes bigger plans for his new drug. Bridget (Rosario Dawson), shown. (Photo by: Gene Page/Hulu)
Dopesick streams on Hulu starting October 13th.
Featured image: Dopesick — “First Bottle” – Episode 101 — Richard Sackler begins to launch a powerful new painkiller, a rural doctor is introduced to the drug, a coal miner plans her future, a DEA Agent learns of blackmarket pills, and federal prosecutors decide to open a case into OxyContin. Bridget Meyer (Rosario Dawson), shown. (Photo by: Antony Platt/Hulu)
