You can now have your first look at one of the best movies to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari. Powerhouse studio A24 has released the first trailer for Chung’s moving portrait of a Korean family moving to Arkansas in the 1980s, and their struggles to craft their own version of the American dream.
The reviews for Minari coming out of Sundance were stellar, praising Chung’s personal storytelling and his deft handling of the immigrant experience. “Chung transforms the specificity of his upbringing into something warm and universal,” Variety‘s Peter Debruge writes in a review. “A rare look at a Korean family trying to adapt and make a go of it in, of all places, 1980s Arkansas, Lee Isaac Chung’s autobiographical feature is warmly observant, gently humorous in the vein of Ozu and not shy about the awful strain the struggle places on the adults in the family,” writes The Hollywood Reporter‘s Todd McCarthy. “Minari works quietly and methodically, embracing its lush rural setting with striking glimpses of its characters, alone against vast and empty landscapes,” Entertainment Weekly‘s David Canfield writes. The film is currently sitting at a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Written and directed by Chung, and lensed (gorgeously) by cinematographer Lachlan Milne, Minari is expected to be released before Oscar eligibility closes in early February 2021. Minari’s cast includes Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Youn Yuh-Jung, and Will Patton. The trailer does a great job of giving you a sense of the film’s moving family portrait, an intimate glimpse at the strength and determination required of immigrants trying to make their way in America. If the trailer also leaves a lump in your throat, perhaps that’s because it speaks to the kind of America many of us yearn to believe in; one in which hard work and love are ingredients enough to not only survive here, but flourish.
Check out the trailer here:
Here’s the official synopsis from A24:
A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother. Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Featured image: Steven Yeun and Alan S. Kim in Minari. Courtesy A24.
Recent Emmy-winner Zendaya (the youngest actress to ever win Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and only the second Black woman to win the category, no less) will play singer Ronnie Spector in a film about her life for A24. Deadlinebroke the story that the rising star will play Spector after a deal was closed to the singer’s life rights and for her memoir (co-written with Vince Waldron) “Be My Baby.” Deadline hears that Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury will pen the script. Marc Platt, Adam Siegel, Mark Itkin, Tom Shelly, and Zendaya will produce, with Jonathan Greenfield and Ronnie Spector herself serving as executive producers.
Zendaya was chosen by Spector, much as Jennifer Hudson was chosen by Aretha Franklin to play her in MGM’s Respect. Spector grew up in Spanish Harlem and launched the girl group the Ronettes with her older sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley. They were eventually signed by the legendary, and legendarily unhinged, Phil Spector, where they had their big breakthrough hit “Be My Baby” in 1963. She became Ronnie Spector when she married Phil, but their union was a mistake. As Deadline notes, she knew things were bad when she woke up to the sound of bars being installed in their mansion.
Ronnie Spector ended up fighting for the rights to her music in her divorce from Phil Spector (their case was eventually reversed by New York State’s highest court in 2002, substantially reducing the amount the Ronnettes could gain from royalties, and stripping their rights to share the money earned by Phil Spector through the use of their songs in movies, television, and advertising.) Yet Ronnie Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and found success after singing a duet with Eddie Money on “Take Me Home Tonight” in 1986.
The film is a collaboration between A24 and New Regency, which last teamed up together to produce Robert Eggers deliciously bonkers The Lighthouse, and are currently partners on Malcolm & Marie, a film starring Zendaya and John David Washington. Zendaya had prompted Malcolm & Marie by asking her Euphoria EP Sam Levinson to write a film that could be made during the pandemic. The result, a black-and-white film that Levinson directed, was eventually sold to Netflix during an auction at the Toronto Film Festival Market for a whopping $30 million.
Zendaya’s becoming one of her generation’s biggest stars, her talent indisputable. Not only did she make history with her Emmy win for her role as Rue Bennett in HBO’s Euphoria, but she’s also starring in Denis Villeneuve’s big-budget remake Dunefor Warner Bros., one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year (if it does bow this year, that is). She’s also been integral to the success of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home as MJ.
Featured image: SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 12: Zendaya attends the 25th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 12, 2020 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)
Barry Jenkins is a phenomenal director. So there’s your first and most obvious reason that today’s news that Jenkins been tapped to helm a Lion King sequel (!!) is good for Lion King lovers in particular and film lovers in general. Deadlinebroke the story that the director of the sensational, Best Picture-winning Moonlight (Jenkins and his co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney also won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay), and the also sensational If Beale Street Could Talk, would be helming the surprise sequel.
Jenkins seems as excited as we are:
This.
Yes, THIS👇🏿
‘The Lion King’ Sequel Set With ‘Moonlight’ Director Barry Jenkins To Helm For Walt Disney Studios https://t.co/Ev7Obi8Km8 via @Deadline
The sequel will be scripted by Jeff Nathanson, the man who helped director Jon Favreau tackle the photo-realistic reboot of the 1994 animated classic. Deadline reports that the sequel will continue with that photo-realistic look that Favreau and his team used, although details of plot particulars are being kept under wraps. Deadline has learned that the story will “further explore the mythology of the characters, including Mufasa’s origin story.” So we’ll be seeing both Simba’s life as the undisputed king of Pride Rock and getting a Mufasa origin story—fantastic.
This is the kind of film news that makes us dream of a brighter future, one in which we can head to a theater to watch a blockbuster like The Lion King 2 (although we’re guessing it’ll get a catchier title) from an artist like Jenkins. In the more immediate future, Jenkins’ adaptation of novelist Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning “The Underground Railroad” is due next on Amazon. He’s also got a biopic about the iconic choreographer Alvin Ailey (for Disney’s own Searchlight) and a scripted drama based on the first American Olympic boxing champ, Clarissa “T-Rex” Shields, and an adaptation of the Netflix documentary Virunga, about the battle to save the Congo’s mountain gorilla population, all on tap.
Featured image: Director Barry Jenkins in ‘They’ve Gotta Have Us.’ Courtesy Array/Netflix.
The cast of the splendidly written, gorgeously produced, exquisitely attiredThe Crown has been so good for so long it’s almost easy to take it for granted. For example, the recent news that the extremely talented Elizabeth Debicki would be playing Princess Di for The Crown’s final two seasons added yet more acting firepower to a show that’s already lousy with it. Yet still, it’s pure joy to get a glimpse of a bevy of new photos for season 4, just released by Netflix, especially the image of Gillian Anderson as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The coif! The poise! The potent blueness of her clothes!
We’ve got the photos and a synopsis for the upcoming season for you below. Season 4 premieres on November 15, 2020.
Queen Mother (MARION BAILEY). Photo credit: Mark Mainz/NetflixQueen Elizabeth II (OLIVIA COLMAN) and Prince Charles (JOSH O CONNOR). Photo by Des Willie.Princess Diana (EMMA CORRIN). Photo by Des Willie.Prince Philip (TOBIAS MENZIES) and Queen Elizabth II (OLIVIA COLMAN). Photo by Alex Bailey.Princess Anne (ERIN DOHERTY). Shooting Location: Wrotham Park. Photo by Des Willie.Princess Margaret (HELENA BONHAM CARTER). Photo by Des WilliePriness Diana (EMMA CORRIN) and Prince Charles (JOSH O CONNOR). Photo by Ollie UptonCamilla Parker Bowles (EMERALD FENNELL). Filming Location: Australia House, Aldwych. Photo by Des Willie.
Here’s the synopsis for The Crown season 4:
As the 1970s are drawing to a close, Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family find themselves preoccupied with safeguarding the line of succession by securing an appropriate bride for Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor), who is still unmarried at 30. As the nation begins to feel the impact of divisive policies introduced by Britain’s first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), tensions arise between her and the Queen which only grow worse as Thatcher leads the country into the Falklands War, generating conflict within the Commonwealth. While Charles’ romance with a young Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) provides a much-needed fairytale to unite the British people, behind closed doors, the Royal family is becoming increasingly divided.
Written by Peter Morgan, The Crown‘s fourth season also stars Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Tobias Menzies as The Duke of Edinburgh, Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles, Erin Doherty as Princess Anne, Emerald Fennell as Camilla Parker Bowles, Marion Bailey as the Queen Mother, Georgie Glen as Lady Fermoy, Tom Byrne as Prince Andrew, Angue Imrie as Prince Edward, and Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten.
Featured image: Dennis Thatcher (STEPHEN BOXER) and Margaret Thatcher (GILLIAN ANDERSON). Photo by Des Willie
Disney is unveiling GroupWatch, a brand new feature on Disney+, that will allow up to seven subscribers to simultaneously watch and react to a series or movie. With many theaters closed and social gatherings largely reduced, GroupWatch will give Disney+ the most developed social viewing option available for a streaming service at a time where we could all use as many remote social options as we can get.
Of course, Disney+ isn’t alone in seeing the need for folks to be able to watch a movie or a series together, remotely. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu offer social viewing options. What makes Disney+’s GroupWatch unique is that it’s not a laptop-only feature, nor is it a web browser extension. With a few exceptions, you’ll be able to use GroupWatch on any platform you watch Disney+, on any screen size.
“Storytelling comes alive when you’re able to share and enjoy it with others, and in this moment when many are still apart from their friends and family, GroupWatch offers a way to safely connect virtually by co-viewing your favorite Disney+ stories with your favorite people from the comfort of your living room,” said Jerrell B Jimerson, SVP Product Management for Disney+, in a press release.
You’ll be able to check out GroupWatch by clicking on the icon on the “Details” page of any series or movie from Disney+’s library. It looks like this:
Courtesy Disney+
Once you click on the icon, you’ll be given a link that will allow you to invite up to six other people to watch the series or film with you. (Of course, they’ll need a Disney+ subscription, too.) While invitations will need to be generated from the mobile or web app, you can watch your selection from your connected TV or device. The GroupWatch feature’s synchronized playback allows any viewer to pause, rewind, or fast forward the action for the entire group. Whether you need to make a trip to the fridge or the bathroom or see those silly Stormtroopers fire and miss (again), you’ll be able to do it seamlessly.
GroupWatch also offers six different emojis viewers can send to each other through the app: “like,” “funny,” “sad,” “angry,” “scared,” and “surprised.”
Courtesy Disney+
The question now is, which emoji will you use for Baby Yoda?
The Child in The Mandalorian, season two. Courtesy Lucasfilm.
Featured image: The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and the Child in The Mandalorian, season two. Courtesy Lucasfilm.
Mart Crowley’s 1968 play The Boys in the Band is an undisputed milestone in gay history. Produced a year before the Stonewall rebellion, this story of an Upper East Side birthday gathering was groundbreaking, with gay men overtly representing themselves onstage, and asked to be seen as themselves, nothing more or less. This was a first. It was also a massive hit. For its 50th anniversary, producer Ryan Murphy revived the play on Broadway, with director Joe Mantello directing a cast of all openly gay actors. It won a Tony for Best Revival of a Play.
Now Murphy and director Mantello are bringing The Boys in the Band to the screen, starring the entire Broadway cast, which includes Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, and Matt Bomer, and premieres on September 30 on Netflix. A multi-Tony Award-winning actor and director, Mantello is so integral to the New York stage that he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2018. The Credits spoke to him about his experience directing the film, and the timeliness, power, and importance of The Boys in the Band.
The Boys in the Band had a huge impact when the play first came out in 1968. As the current administration is rolling back equality for the LGBTQ+ community, what is your take on how the play has weathered 50 years and is so relevant again?
I think oppression is oppression. The forms of oppression can get more sophisticated, more subversive, but there’s a cost of oppression, and The Boys in the Band has always been a cautionary tale about the price that you pay when you surrender to that oppression. I think now more than ever it’s important to understand what that cost is on your humanity, on your relationships, and on your place in the world and your value as a human being.
For many in the gay community, the F word has been and still is a badge of fearless self-proclamation. What was the discussion for the film around these kinds of words, and their meaning and weight?
If you saw the poster for the Broadway version of The Boys in the Band we did, blown up on the theater doors were beautiful black and white portraits of these actors with slurs above them. What we were saying was, ‘We’re taking ownership. We’re taking these words back. Yes, we know it’s provocative. Yes, we know that these words are going to be lightning rods for you, but we’re owning them.’ That is acquiring the language of the enemy, and saying, ‘This is ours. These words don’t hurt me.’ I am old enough to be a fan of Lenny Bruce, and so many of his routines were about just disarming a word. His idea was to say it over and over again, because when you keep saying it, it starts to lose its effectiveness and its potency, and maybe you won’t have some kid coming home crying. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I do think there’s something about reclaiming it.
For the film, you collaborated with cinematographer Bill Pope. In what ways did your work together open up the story and add to its depth?
I consider the day Bill Pope walked in to meet with me to be one of the greatest gifts I was given on this project. He’s a legend. I remember being very up-front with him when we sat down. I said, ‘I don’t know a lot about the camera, and I don’t have the technical expertise that you have, so if you’re looking for that kind of partnership, I’m not sure that I can provide that. What I can tell you is I have very strong opinions, I’m not wishy-washy, I’m a quick learner, and I understand the emotional landscape of this piece and what we need to achieve in certain scenes. If you’re interested in engaging in a collaboration with me, where we each provide each other with information and make each other better, I would love to do this with you.’ I didn’t want to bluff, say I knew more than I did, and have him walk on the set and feel like he’d been duped. It was an incredible collaboration, and we certainly talked about the look of the film. I tend to use references that involve paintings, and there was a particular painting that I showed him that captured the look, feel, and temperature of what I hoped the film would look like, and that made sense to him.
It’s a painting by an American realist painter named John Koch called ‘Friends’. You see two people sitting in conversation in a kind of dimly lit New York apartment, and the palate is very close to what we had. It’s extraordinary. What I found out later is that painting is in Ryan Murphy’s collection.
How did capturing The Boys in the Band on film enhance the storytelling?
There are great benefits to working with the camera as opposed to the stage, though they both have plusses and minuses. On stage, I’m always holding 9 characters in a single frame at all times. Yes, I can dim the lights, or focus on something, but really, I’m responsible for the composition of the 9 people on that stage. There are techniques that help to focus and essentially create a close-up, but I have to keep the totality of the vision in mind the entire time. One of the great benefits of the camera is with the more recessive characters, the people who are the observers like Tuc Watkins as Hank, and Matt Bomer, who plays Donald, I was able to use them in a way that they are as integral to the story as the people who have the lion’s share of the dialogue. That was incredibly satisfying to play around with.
So much has changed in terms of performers who have been part of The Boys in the Band cast. Mart Crowley and the original cast took a huge risk in creating and playing these characters.
Something that came out of conversations with Mart was his unending gratitude for the original cast of actors, both the gay and the straight actors. It’s hard to imagine, but at that time, there was such a stigma to playing gay. There was such bravery involved in taking on these roles at a time when they were really thought to be career killers. Having this film premiering on Netflix, with a really enormous, wide, international audience of millions of people that will see this, just surpasses anything they could have imagined at that time. I think we really do stand on their shoulders.
You and the whole cast publicly identify as gay. At the center, it is about taking gay men as they are, as three-dimensional beings, not sidekicks or story devices.
I suppose there is some kind of meta aspect to it. Here you have this cast of gay actors, all of whom have very successful careers, who, again, were the beneficiaries of people who came way before them and risked everything, so they are the children of those people. Just in their very existence and in the opportunity to explore this play it says something. They are in conversation with the subject matter of the play. It gives a kind of tension, but also a kind of hope.
Speaking of hope, what is your hope for how this film is received?
There’s a stigma, and I think a reductive one, about this work being about one thing, and my hope is this is a reexamination and a reevaluation of the piece, both as a play and film, and that people will come to it with open minds and open hearts and allow themselves to perhaps rethink their initial response to the material. I know that was true of my experience. I had relegated it to some antiquated idea of gay life, and I’ve come out of this process with a profound respect for what Mart was able to achieve.
The Boys in the Band premieres on Netflix on September 30, 2020.
If you’ve been watching Lovecraft Country on HBO, you’ve seen one of the most sublimely ambitious series on TV this year. Stripping the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft for parts (the man was a seething racist and anti-Semite), creator Misha Green’s 9-episode series is equal parts horror, drama, sci-fi, and social commentary.Lovecraft Country is the show 2020 needed but probably didn’t deserve.
Cinematographer Michael Watson lensed four of Lovecraft‘s episodes, beginning with director Cheryl Dunye‘s gangbusters fifth episode, “Strange Case,” through episode 6’s Korean War drama “Meet in Daegu,” last Sunday’s trippy sci-fi epic “I Am,” and the upcoming 9th episode, which will air on October 11.
Aunjanue Ellis in episode 7, “I Am.” Photograph by Eli Joshua Ade/HBO
Lovecraft Country is set in the Jim Crow era, and follows the surreal, often sinister, and always compulsively compelling journey of Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) and Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) as they criss-cross the country in search of Atticus’s missing father, the missing pages to a mysterious book of magic, and a whole lot more.
We spoke to Watson about jumping aboard Misha Green’s crazily talented production, and what it’s like to work on a show that manages to tackle systemic racism, social justice, and the horrors of American history with thrilling gusto. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Watson. Photo by Tom Griscom.
I want to start with a question about the new normal of filming in the midst of a pandemic. We’re starting to get a sense of how studios are learning to do more with less—fewer people, smaller crews, etcetera. Does that concern you?
I can tell you that for myself, working in the camera department, particularly coming up in the era that I came up in—there was no conversation of inclusion or diversity. I can tell you there were many times when I walked onto a film set as a camera assistant and I’d be the only black man on the set. Not to mention the only black man in the entire department. So the thing that you have to realize, and the way that the film industry works in particular when we talk about hiring, is it’s from the top right down to the bottom. There’s this intimate thing that happens and that is because we work so closely together, there’s a certain camaraderie there, a certain intimacy within the work environment. Because of that, individuals become familiar with each other on different levels, and then when you go to the next show, those department heads tend to hire back the individuals who are the closest to them, their own circle of people. So, if you take that concept and now you’ve been told, ‘Hey, in this world of the pandemic, crews are gonna be smaller because we can’t have as many people on set,’ that same mindset hasn’t really changed. You may get a cinematographer or a first AC that might look at their list of candidates to call in, and it’s usually going to be that first 3 to 5 names on the list. So those initial positions get filled with people that they’re comfortable with. People that they know very well and have built a certain rapport with. More often than that, those people tend to be people who look like them. So if the department heads are predominately white, then you can guarantee that the people they’ll hire will then follow suit. So my biggest concern with crews getting smaller is that it presents itself as a possibility we could still see fewer women, and fewer men and women of color on set.
I imagine your experience on the set of Lovecraft Country was quite different?
It absolutely was [a different kind of set]. The scope, first of all. The size of the show. The kind of support we got from HBO—it was amazing. The thing that was the most enjoyable for me was the sheer amount of artisans that were brought to the table on this, from every department. The creative horsepower on this show was pretty amazing.
Aunjanue Ellis in episode 7, “I Am.” Photograph by Eli Joshua Ade/HBO
Lovecraft Country is not only narratively ambitious, it also gleefully combines genres—horror, sci-fi, pulp, drama—which must make your job a lot harder (and also more fun)?
The visual effects can become a challenge for a cinematographer. I think the thing that really helped with Lovecraft was we took a lot of time in pre-production doing a lot of pre-visualization of the complex visual effects. We spent a massive amount of time doing pre-viz and concept meetings to really drill down on where we wanted to be in the world of Lovecraft. Episode five, for example, we literally have people who are changing by their skin peeling off [laughs]. That’s stuff you just haven’t seen before. White women becoming black women, black women becoming white women, men becoming women, women becoming men, it’s an intense episode. So that pre-production helped us to really keep the effects within the Lovecraft world, and stay away from any gimmicky, campy ‘horror’ type of aspect. We wanted the VFX to feel very purposefully driven. The effects do a large part in telling the story.
What were some of the early conversations you had about the series?
The early conversations evolved. Once again, a lot of them had were conversations that helped us get deeper inside of Misha [Green]’s head and embrace the vision she had for each episode. As you know, episode 6 is almost it’s own stand-alone episode. It takes place in Korea, during the Korean War, and there’s a lot going on in that episode. The characters are establishing very subtle timelines for events that are going to take place further down the road. So a lot of the conversations were really focused on each episode and what each episode wanted to emphasize the characters and what was taking place in their world.
Your episodes have tackled, thus far, body-swapping, the Korean War (through a horror POV), and time travel. How do you handle all these genres while maintaining a cohesive look for the show in general?
I do a lookbook for each episode. The lookbook depends on where that episode falls within the genre range because each episode tends to lean a little bit more towards one specific genre than the others. For example, episode 6 (“Meet Me in Daegu”) feels a little more drama driven. Episode 7 (“I Am.”) felt a little more sci-fi/pulp, and then episode 9 (titled “Rewind 1921”) felt more straight sci-fi. So with each of those episodes, I’d first and foremost do a lookbook and try to embrace the visual aesthetics of each of those genres. So if I felt like on episode was leaning a little more sci-fi, I might do things with lighting and color that might lean a little more in that direction. Whereas with episode 5 (“Strange Case”), it felt a little pulpier, a little more period-horror, so I’d go a little more in that direction in terms of lighting, color, and lens.
Wunmi Mosaku. Photograph by Eli Joshua Ade/HBOWunmi Mosaku. Photograph by Eli Joshua Ade/HBO
What’s it like to watch the series for you?
That’s a great question and I’ll tell you why. So, up until episode four, I’ve been watching all of the episodes at home, and I’ve got a pretty well-calibrated and enormous 4K television [laughs], so it’s very dialed in. On episode five, I find myself here in New Orleans, in a condo that’s been rented for the show [Watson is currently filming TNT’s Claws], and the television that’s here is HD, but I hadn’t taken the time to dig into it and set it up properly. So Sunday night, I sit down and am about to watch the episode, I start getting into the first ten minutes, and at that point, I’m almost shocked, ‘What in God’s name am I looking at? This is not the show that I color-timed!’ I’m literally about to freak out, then I grab the remote and dig into the television and all of the settings are wrong. It’s set up for sports mode or whatever, the brightness and the backlight are all cranked up, and the contrast is all dialed in a weird place. So once I finally got to calibrate the television right I could then rest easy.
And…what is color timing?
Color-timing, in the digital world, takes place in a digital intermediate suite (DI), and it’s not a whole lot different than photoshop. A lot of times on set you’re running out of time, you’re running out of light, so you may be pushed into a corner that you are not able to resolve a problem on set at that very moment. I make notes throughout the day of shots that I want to tweak in the DI. Once I’m in the DI, there’s more flexibility with the image. If I see a wall that, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take the color down on set, and it draws your eye, in the DI, I can say to my colorist, ‘I want to bring that wall down a couple of points.’ With a couple of clicks of a button, we can do that. There are lots of tools that are accessible to cinematographers in the DI suite that enable you to make better decisions on set. Where you might spend hours trying to solve a problem on set, if you know what you’re able to do in DI, you can pull back and say, ‘That’s something I can fix in post, let’s move on.’
Now with all these safety measures on set to keep everyone safe, I imagine time is stretched even thinner?
Yup. The new world of COVID and being in a pandemic has changed production meetings, too. If you hated production meetings in the past, you’re gonna really hate them now. [Laughs]. It’s about four times longer, there’s just so much information now that everybody’s got to be on board.
Lovecraft Country airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 9 pm ET.
Featured image: Wunmi Mosaku. Photograph by Eli Joshua Ade/HBO
Director Julie Taymor’s latest feature, The Glorias, celebrates the life of a living icon of our time, Gloria Steinem, but she tells Gloria’s story in her utterly singular way. The director uses four different actresses to represent the famed women’s rights activist at different times in her life. There are imaginative, surreal sequences that express Gloria’s inner dialogue. There’s a sort of metaphysical bus, which carries Gloria through her journey, sometimes accompanied by her older or younger selves (played in the film by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Lulu Wilson, Alicia Vikander, and Julianne Moore). The film, co-written with Sarah Ruhl and based on Steinham’s book “My Life On The Road,” captures the passions and pursuits of its iconic namesake in Taymor’s inimitable style. The Glorias is available for purchase on Digital and Streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video starting September 30th.
Taymor discussed The Glorias with The Credits, its multi-perspective conception, and how the release of this film couldn’t come at a better time.
The Glorias centers on the iconic leader in women’s rights, but there are other important figures in the movement represented too.
I really wanted to tell a story where you saw women supporting women. Gloria is a beautiful woman, with many men in her life, but it wasn’t about the men. It was about the women she worked with. We never see movies about women that don’t focus on the relationships between them and men, or sexual relationships. This is not about that. This is about the joy and the anger and the fight for women’s equality, in every way, with their bodies and their brains. As Flo Kennedy says, ’There are very few jobs that require a penis or a vagina. All others are open to everybody’. There are so many wonderful women in this movie, like Janelle Monâe, Bette Midler, Lorraine Toussaint, and Kimberly Guerrero, who plays Wilma Mankiller. I’m very passionate about not just Gloria, but the women who make Gloria who she is.
Alicia Vikander, Monica Sanchez, and Janelle Monáe in THE GLORIAS. Photo Credit: Dan McFadden – Courtesy of LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions
How did you envision people reacting to the rich tapestry in your film?
Gloria is the main character because she wrote the book “My Life on the Road,” but she is a composite of all these women of color, and social strata, and sexual orientation, and the men who are in there as well, because there are some terrific men in the movie, too. I’ve found that men have loved The Glorias equally if not more than the women because they don’t usually get that inside look into a room of editors at a women’s magazine, or so many other examples of women empowering each other. The men that I know who have seen it just love that, and want to bring their daughters. Of course, young men should see it too. We have to show women in positions of leadership, and really doing well, and fighting the good fight. We especially need that right now, and I feel like The Glorias couldn’t be more perfectly timed or more relevant than it is today.
In the surrealistic scenes, you leverage archetypes and wish fulfillment, but they are also anchored in a feminist perspective. Can you speak to that?
I think the one scene that is the most surreal, which is the transition between Alicia Vikander’s 38-year-old Gloria to Julianne Moore’s Gloria, who is the one who starts Ms. Magazine, is a great example. Here you’re seeing Gloria grow from being someone who is silent when she is confronted with a sexist statement, to the Gloria that puts a smile on when she gives an answer, yet is never really offensive or aggressive in it. I wanted to deal with the notion that if someone says something sexist or racist to you, quite often women won’t answer. They’ll just smile because they’re afraid of being thought of as a b*tch, or ballbuster, or as we all know, a ‘nasty woman.’ I wanted to do a scene where we got to see what was going on behind the smile, and behind the eyes and soft tones, and let her mind explode into a fantasy which is this tornado, inspired by The Wizard of Oz and by all the images of witches.
Alicia Vikander and Janelle Monáe in THE GLORIAS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of LD Entertainmet and Roadside Attractions
This kind of treatment of women is something we see happening to this day…
Think about how often women are called insulting names like AOC was recently. We are so often being called a witch or b*tch. Think of how easy it is to label a strong woman or a woman who speaks her mind, one of those horrendous words. I did a very playful sequence about that, which is entertaining, but it’s also social criticism. It’s about the kind of uniform that men like to see women wear, whether it’s a Playboy bunny costume, or a nun’s habit, or a burka, which leaves a lot to the imagination. I’m given to these real flights of fancy to show another level of reality, or Gloria’s imagination, but also what women think about when they don’t say what they’re thinking.
Julianne Moore and Bette Midler in THE GLORIAS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of LD Entertainmet and Roadside Attractions
How did making The Glorias stretch you as a filmmaker?
This movie was the first time I really used documentary footage. We did so much research looking for inspiration, but then I used it. I learned that in a story that’s based on politics, social issues, and history, if you can use the real thing, sometimes it just surpasses everything else. I felt like if the real people could speak it, we should have the real thing. When we were doing the March on Washington, there was no way I could create those masses of people, and their faces, but what we were able to do, which was a tremendous amount of work by my editor, colorist, and research team, is we found color footage of the 1963 march, and we were able to add grain to our footage, colorize it, and match that, and make it seamless so the audience isn’t aware of the difference. Also, the use of backgrounds was a real stretch, because we shot 90% of the film in Savannah, so even New York, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Minneapolis, all that was shot in Savannah. We used extensive amounts of green screen in the studio behind the taxi rides, and because it’s a road movie, we added cars, buses, and all that to the frame. We went to India, which was thrilling, and we shot in those villages and with the women there, and Gloria’s trip to India is one of my favorite parts of the movie, but the rest of it we had to do in Savannah, and that stretched me very much as a filmmaker.
Another icon was in the news recently, sadly, with RBG passing away. Gloria is another inspiration to women, and really anyone who embraces the label ‘Social Justice Warrior.’ What can The Glorias teach people today, and what can we learn from Gloria Steinem’s lack of narcissism at this very divisive time?
We have to listen. That’s one of Gloria’s best traits. She listens. She works from the grassroots up. She hears people, and she fosters gender, social, racial, and cultural lives. That’s what the Black Lives Matter movement has shown us. It’s not just a Black movement, it’s an American movement. It’s a movement of all people working together to uphold this great democracy that this country was built upon. It’s very critical that people see this movie and think of it in light of RBG because she was a warrior for gender equality like Gloria. Gloria would be out there on the streets with the women making the noise, and then Ruth would be there making the laws. You need both. You’ve got to get your voice out there, get your vote counted, and you’ve got to get this country back to what it’s supposed to be. It’s all people, it’s not just red states and blue states. It started with ‘We the People,’ and that’s what it should always be.
Featured image: L-r: Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Lulu Wilson, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore, Gloria Steinem, and Director Julie Taymor behind the scenes of THE GLORIAS. Photo Credit: Dan McFadden. Courtesy of LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions
The title, poster, and cast for M. Night Shyamalan‘s new film have been revealed. Shyamalan’s latest is called Old, and Colliderbroke the story that the film is based on a French graphic novel “Sandcastle” by Pierre Oscar Levy and artist Frederick Peeters. Collider learned that Shyamalan received “Sandcastle” as a Father’s Day gift and was so enamored with the premise that he purchased the rights to it, ultimately leading to his script. The graphic novel is described as an existential horror story, which seems a perfect fit for the man who brought us The Sixth Sense. According to Collider, Shyamalan’s Old isn’t a straight adaptation of “Sandcastle,” but rather was inspired by it.
Shyamalan took to Twitter to reveal the title and a photo of him on set:
As always, Shyamalan’s assembled a great cast, led by Gael Garcia Bernal, who stars alongside Vicky Krieps, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Eliza Scanlen, Rufus Sewell, Embeth Davidtz, Aaron Pierre, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Emun Elliott, and Ken Leung. This is is a larger cast than Shyamalan typically works with, which is intriguing.
Shyamalan is—per usual—credited as writer and director of Old, with cinematographer Mike Gioulakis (Us, It Follows), production designer Naaman Marshall (The Dark Knight), and his Glass producers Marc Bienstock and Ashwin Rajan on board. This being a Shyamalan film, we won’t know much about the plot considering the man loves keeping things under wraps almost as much as he loves a big second-act twist. While we can read “Sandcastle,” it’s clear Shyamalan will be going his own way with his original script.
Old is tentatively scheduled for a July 23, 2021 release.
Check out the full poster here:
The teaser poster for M. Night Shyamalan’s new film “Old.” Courtesy Universal Pictures.
Featured image: M. Night Shyamalan on the set of his new film “Old.” Courtesy M. Night Shyamalan/Universal Pictures.
Who better for James Cameron to reveal the nearly complete status of his next two Avatar films than old buddy Arnold Schwarzenegger? That’s precisely what happened when Cameron sat down to have a virtual chat with Schwarzenegger during the 2020 Austrian World Summit. Cameron was speaking with his old Terminator and T2 collaborator from New Zealand, where he said he was “100% complete on Avatar 2 and sort of 95% complete on Avatar 3.”
Cameron and his Avatar 2 and 3 cast and crew had lost about four and a half months due to COVID-19. This, of course, meant the release date for Avatar 2 has been subject to change, eventually ending up with a December 16, 2022 release date, while Avatar 3 will bow on December 20, 2024. The final two installments in Cameron’s franchise are due in 2026 and 2028 respectively.
Cameron has been praising the way his Avatar sequels host country, New Zealand, has handled the pandemic. “We’re very lucky in that we chose this as our production site years ago. We made the first film here in New Zealand and it turns out to be ranked first or the second-best country in the world for its COVID response.” The country has been essentially virus-free since June, with an outbreak in August contained quickly.
Cameron and his producer Jon Landau have been keeping fans up to speed on their efforts to restart production since this past June, and with the country’s help have shepherded their cast and 55 crew members through the back-to-back shoots on the sequels. He told Schwarzenegger that he was confident both films would be finished.
If you were hoping for any spoilers, or even plot details, about the sequels, Cameron was naturally tight-lipped. “I can’t tell you anything about the story,” he told Schwarzenegger. “I believe in the mystery and the great reveal.”
Check out the full video of Cameron’s chat with Schwarzenegger here:
Featured image: ORLANDO, FL – MAY 24: Wes Studi, Joel David Moore, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, CCH Pounder, Sigourney Weaver, and Laz Alonso attends the Pandora The World Of Avatar Dedication at the Disney Animal Kingdom on May 24, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images)
Author and artist Nikkolas Smith created a powerful, gorgeous tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. Smith’s work was unveiled at Downtown Disney on Thursday, showing Boseman exchanging the Wakanda salute with a young child wearing a Black Panther mask. It’s a lump-in-your-throat kind of work, simultaneously reminding you the type of person that we lost and the massive impact that he made with his time.
“This one is special. My King Chad tribute is now on a wall on display at Downtown Disney,” Smith wrote on Instagram, in which he included several photos and a video of the mural. “It is a full circle moment for me: my final two projects as a Disney Imagineer last summer were working on the Children’s Hospital project and the Avengers Campus. To millions of kids, T’Challa was a legend larger than life, and there was no one more worthy to fill those shoes than Chadwick Boseman. I’m so thankful to be able to honor Chadwick’s life and purpose in this way. I am grateful to the Disney family for being so supportive of my journey as an artist.”
Boseman passed away on August 28 at only 43 years of old. His death was a tremendous blow to millions of fans—many of whom had never seen someone who looked like themselves playing a superhero. Boseman was the type of person who not only inspired his younger Black Panther fans, but also his colleagues. The outpouring of grief, and love, and respect, and admiration, that flowed after his passing spoke to a man who moved seemingly everybody he came into contact with. ABC put together a tribute to Boseman only a few days after he passed. The need to honor him and his life was overwhelming. He was loved by those that knew him and beloved by those that looked up to him.
Check out Smith’s beautiful mural here. Although Disneyland is closed, the Downtown Disney shopping and dining district is open, meaning that this moving piece of art is available for people to see.
The reviews are out for writer/director Aaron Sorkin‘s The Trial of the Chicago 7, a film that’s painfully timely. Sorkin’s second directorial effort is a look at the protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which escalated when the Chicago Police Department and National Guard descended and turned what was a peaceful gathering of Americans making use of their First Amendment rights into a violent clash. Sound familiar?
The Trial of the Chicago 7 focuses on both the protest itself and, of course, the trial that took place in the aftermath. The organizers of the protest include Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), and Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). These men were ultimately charged with conspiracy to incite a riot in what became one of the most notorious trials of the century. The cast also includes Mark Rylance as their attorney William Kuntsler, Joseph Gordon-Levit as prosecutor Richard Schultz, and Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman.
So does Sorkin’s film capture the moment? According to critics, it sounds like it does—both the propulsive, transformative year of 1968 and our own current, propulsive, straight-up terrifying year of 2020.
Let’s take a peek at some of those reviews:
Owen Gleiberman of Variety: “Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is the rare drama about the 1960s that’s powerful and authentic and moving enough to feel as if it were taking place today.”
Stephanie Zacharek of Time Magazine: “The Trial of the Chicago 7 details events that happened more than 50 years ago. The time to look away is never.”
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter: Sorkin has made a movie that’s gripping, illuminating and trenchant, as erudite as his best work and always grounded first and foremost in story and character.
Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly: “[A] remarkably relevant story, smartly told, but with certain blind spots and pitfalls: broad strokes, rhetorical grandstanding, the tendency to overstuff an already load-bearing tale.”
Brian Truitt of USA Today: “The filmmaker crafts an entertaining, immersive and ultimately optimistic spectacle that never forgets, especially at its ending, that humanity should always trump the system.”
Ty Burr of the Boston Globe: “Trial” is so inherently compelling – and so directly germane to an America where the government labels cities “anarchist jurisdictions” and states are drawing up laws against free assembly – that it doesn’t need the frills.”
The Trial of the Chicago 7 premieres on October 16 on Netflix.
Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix:
What was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard. The organizers of the protest—including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale—were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot and the trial that followed was one of the most notorious in history.
As we noted yesterday there is a ton of good stuff coming to Netflix in October. One of those titles is The Queen’s Gambit, a new limited series drama based on Walter Tevis’s novel of the same name. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy who wades into the male-dominated competitive chess world with her immense, undeniable gifts.
Beth’s journey into the world of competitive chess begins at an orphanage in Kentucky, where her chess skills flourish alongside her addiction to tranquilizers (provided by the state as a sedative for kids). Once Beth enters the world of competitive chess, her path is beset by the rank sexism she faces, but also by her lifelong struggles with addiction and mental illness. The better she gets on the chessboard, the more isolated and lost she feels.
The Queen’s Gambit comes from director Scott Frank (co-writer of Logan). Joining Taylor-Joy in the cast are Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling, and Bill Camp.
Check out the trailer below. The Queen’s Gambit is due to premiere on Netflix on October 23.
Here’s the synopsis from Netflix:
Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the Netflix limited series drama THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT is a coming-of-age story that explores the true cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children. Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess. The series is directed and written by two-time Academy Award nominee Scott Frank and executive produced by Frank, William Horberg and Allan Scott, who also co-created the series. THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling and Bill Camp.
If there was one thing that seemed certain about Zack Snyder’s Justice League—and not much did—it was that there would be no reshoots. When the world learned that the long-awaited Snyder Cut was really coming to HBO Max, we weren’t sure in precisely what form (we know now—in 4 installments), or when, but we were told that Snyder would use existing material, special effects, and additional dialogue recording to unveil his vision for the film he never got to make. (In case you’re foggy on those details, Snyder had to leave his work on the original Justice League due to a family tragedy, and the film was completed by Joss Whedon.) Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we now know that Snyder is actually going to get to shoot some brand new footage with most of the original cast after all.
THR reports that the Snyder will bring back Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg for what’s expected to be about a week-long shoot. Fisher, it must be noted, alleged that Whedon was engaged in misconduct during the original Justice League shoot, and that misconduct is currently under investigation.
The fact that this new shoot is only expected to last a week means that Snyder appears to be patching up a few pieces of the film, rather than attempting to pull off something larger. Hopefully, this also means he’s closer to finishing the Justice League miniseries than we originally thought. It’s also interesting that Jason Momoa isn’t coming back for the reshoot—one imagines Snyder has enough Aquaman footage to work with, as well as the fact that keeping this mini-production down to as few people as possible is sensible in our pandemic era.
We’ll find out one day next year what kind of new footage Snyder captures—Zack Snyder’s Justice League is due to hit HBO Max at some point in 2021.
Featured image: Zack Snyder’s Justice League is coming to HBO Max in 2021. Courtesy HBO Max/Warner Bros.
In case you missed this bit of wild news yesterday, Warner Media revealed that John Cena‘s The Suicide Squadcharacter Peacemaker is getting his own HBO Max show. The streamer has given a straight-to-series order of 8 episodes for the first season, with Cena reprising his role from the film, and with The Suicide Squad writer/director James Gunn penning all 8 episodes. Gunn and The Suicide Squad producer Peter Safran will executive produce the series, with Cena serving as co-executive producer.
We don’t know much more about the series at this point—heck, we don’t know all that much about The Suicide Squad, either. But, what we do know about Cena’s Peacemaker is this dude is a weapons expert who will stop at nothing, including hurting a whole lot of people, to pursue peace at any cost.
“Peacemaker is an opportunity to delve into current world issues through the lens of this superhero/supervillain/and world’s biggest douchebag,” Gunn said in a Warner Media press release. “I’m excited to expand The Suicide Squad and bring this character from the DC film universe to the full breadth of a series. And of course, to be able to work again with John, Peter, and my friends at Warner Bros. is the icing on the cake.”
“I have said before that it has been a tremendous honor and an incredible opportunity to be part of The Suicide Squad and to work with James on what is going to be a fantastic movie,” Cena added in the release. “I am unbelievably excited to have the chance to team up with him again for Peacemaker. We can’t wait for fans to see this.”
We’ll share more when we know more. For now, The Suicide Squad is due in theaters on August 6, 2021. Peacemaker is scheduled to begin production sometime in early 2021 before Gunn gets to work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Check out the poster here:
Featured image: “Peacemaker” poster image. Courtesy HBO Max.
Drama. Comedy. Documentaries. Horror. Animation. The works. While we’re all pretty much white-knuckling it at this point, having a bevy of streaming options is one way to take our minds off, well, everything. To that end, Netflix has released a helpful video that details every new title coming this October. From the majestic and soothing (if you don’t think about climate change) in David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet to director Glean Keane‘s gorgeous Over the Moon, Netflix has a ton of new films, shows, and series coming your way.
Halloween alone gets a ton of attention. Want a little Adam Sandler in your Halloween candy bag? You’ve got it, with Hubie Halloween. For those looking for something seriously sinister, The Haunting of Bly Manor will be more up your alley. Or how about Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight, a new horror film that follows a bunch of technology-obsessed teenagers heading to an “offline camp” and finding that there are things even scarier in this world that a Reddit subthread. His House, from director Remi Weekes, tracks a refugee couple fleeing war-torn Sudan only to find themselves in an English town that has something seriously evil lurking beneath the surface. Not gloomy enough for you? Try Cadaver, which is set in the “starving aftermath of a nuclear disaster” at a hotel you really, really wouldn’t want to be a guest at.
There’s more. A lot more. Barbarians takes you back to the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, where Germanic tribes desperately try to stop the spread of the Roman Empire. The Queens’ Gambit explores the life of Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), a chess prodigy whose skills on the chessboard are offset by the tremendous isolation she feels the better she gets. For something a little less serious, Emily in Paris tracks a young American’s adventures in the City of Lights as she tries to bring her “American perspective” to a French marketing firm. For something a little closer to home, Dream Home Makeover will satisfy anyone wishing they could magically transform their living quarters (and now, for many of us, their office) into something a little more livable.
Check out the full breadth of what Netflix is offering in October below:
HBO Max has released the official trailer for Equal, their four-part docu-series chronicling the untold events leading up to the Stonewall Uprising in New York City that began on June 28, 1969, and marked a massive shift in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. The series is narrated by Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-winning performer Billy Porter (Pose, American Horror Story: Apocalypse), and will likely introduce viewers to a wide range of LGBTQ+ leaders and visionaries for the first time—portrayed by an incredible cast. The cast includes Emmy-winner Samira Wiley, Cheyenne Jackson, Anthony Rapp, Alexandra Grey, Shannon Purser, Heather Matarazzo, Jamie Clayton, Isis King, and Gale Harold.
Clockwise, l-r: Samira Wiley as Lorraine Hannsberry, Anthony Rapp as Harry Hay, Cheyenne Jackson as Dale Jennings, Jamie Clayton as Christine Jorgensen, Alexandra Grey as Lucy Hicks Anderson, and Gale Harold as Howard Smith. Courtesy HBO Max.
Each of the four parts explores the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, from the very first organizations, the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis in Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively, through the trans experience in the 20th century, the 1966 Compton Cafeteria riots in San Francisco, the contributions from the Black community to the growing LGBTQ+ civil rights movement, and finally, to the Stonewall Uprising, the official beginning of the Pride movement.
Filmmaker Stephen Kijak (Sid & Judy) is the showrunner and director of episodes one, three, and four. Groundbreaking trans director Kimberly Reed (Prodigal Sons) directs episode two.
Check out the trailer here. Equal premieres on October 22.
Here’s the official synopsis from HBO Max:
EQUAL will introduce viewers to a wide range of LGBTQ+ visionaries portrayed by the cast, many of whom identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. Each part offers a distinct and connected chapter within the historical timeline: part one, “The Birth of a Movement,”explores the rise of early organizations, The Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis in Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively; part two, “Transgender Pioneers,” chronicles the 20th century trans experience, bookended by the 1966 Compton Cafeteria riots in San Francisco; part three, “Black is Beautiful, Gay is Good!” examines the contributions from the Black community on the growing LGBTQ+ civil rights movement; and part four, “Stonewall: From Rebellion to Liberation,” ties in the decades long struggles with the culminated Stonewall uprising – the beginning of the Pride movement.
Featured image: Billy Porter. Photo Credit: Shavonne Wong
Aaron Sorkin’s second directorial effort, The Trial of the Chicago 7, comes to Netflix at a time of upheaval the United States hasn’t seen to quite this degree or intensity since the events depicted in the film unfolded. Those events cover the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago when peaceful protestors led by some of the country’s most prominent activists marched on the city, and the Chicago Police Department and the National Guard swept in to crush them. Sorkin, one of Hollywood’s most prolific screenwriters, has chosen quite the topic, at quite the moment, for his follow-up feature to 2018’s Molly’s Game. Netflix has released his film’s official trailer, and it’s a doozy. Sorkin’s cast of top-flight talent—which includes two recent Emmy-winners in Jeremy Strong (Succession) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen)—feels painfully resonant right now.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 will likely introduce younger viewers to some of the mid-to-late 20th century’s most influential voices for the first time. The film focuses on both the protest itself and, of course, the trial that took place in the aftermath. The organizers of the protest include Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), and Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). These men were ultimately charged with conspiracy to incite a riot in what became one of the most notorious trials of the century. The cast also includes Mark Rylance as their attorney William Kuntsler, Joseph Gordon-Levit as prosecutor Richard Schultz, and Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman.
The trailer sizzles. The scenes of the protest—cops and guardsmen streaming into a march of non-violent protestors with batons and shotguns at the ready—looks like America right now. For younger viewers, these images might pull them in, seeing how so much, and also how little, has changed in the tumultuous country they are trying to navigate. The year 1968 is often brought up as one of the hardest, most crushing years in American history. It was a year that saw mass protests against the war in Vietnam and the assassinations of Martin Luther King. Jr and Bobby Kennedy. As we grapple today with a country that feels as if it’s teetering on the brink, it might be helpful, or at least informative and absorbing, to watch a film that focuses on another such pivotal moment in American history.
Sorkin is a master of the courtroom drama, as he proved so long ago with A Few Good Men. There is little doubt the scenes of the trial itself will be riveting. How well he and his sensational cast paint the larger picture of America on the edge will be one of the many reasons The Trial of the Chicago 7 feels like a must-see film.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 debuts in select theaters and on Netflix on October 16. Check out the trailer below:
Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix:
What was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard. The organizers of the protest—including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale—were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot and the trial that followed was one of the most notorious in history.
While we wait to see if Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984 hits theaters this year (it’s currently slated for a December 25, 2020 release, after being shuffled a few times due to the pandemic), we’ll take any new glimpse of the film we can get. This means that a Japanese version of the trailer that includes a bit more footage of Diana Prince, better known as Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) in her Golden Eagle armor definitely qualifies.
Wonder Woman’s Golden Eagle armor comes straight from the comics. It includes a pair of golden wings, an eagle helmet, and a sword made by the god Hephaestus. In the comics, that sword could cut anything, including Superman. It’ll be interesting to see how Jenkins reveals the backstory of the armor in Wonder Woman 1984, but we’re guessing it’ll come in handy against Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), a TV personality and media tycoon who wants the world to bow down to him and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Diana’s armor will not only work against Lord and his goons but also against Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig), a.k.a. The Cheetah, who revealed in the film’s kick-butt second trailer that she aims to be the apex predator.
For a glimpse of Wonder Woman in all her golden glory, check out the Japanese trailer below:
For more on all things DC Films, check out these stories:
As a kid, I enjoyed spending quality time with my grandfather. I remember imitating a lot of things he did, like driving his white Ford pickup truck with the hatch removed, or reading the newspaper alongside him after school. Little did I know he was setting the tone for what would lie ahead for me today. He didn’t watch much TV, but one thing he always enjoyed was a good western movie. Every Christmas, birthday, and Father’s Day, I’d be so excited to purchase a new western (on VHS, of course) for us to watch together. And no matter how many times he watched it, he never grew tired of it. So, when I learned about the new Netflix western revenge thriller The Harder They Fall, I instantly got excited just thinking about how much he would enjoy this movie had he been alive today. But contrary to his traditional views on this genre, this isn’t my grandfather’s typical western movie.
The film, set in the late 1800s in Oklahoma, follows Nat Love (played by Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors) as he reunites with his gang to seek revenge on the man (Idris Elba) who killed his parents two decades ago after he discovers he’s being released from prison. The cast that’s assembled for co-writer and director Jeymes Samuel’s film is insane. Some of Hollywood’s heavy hitters such as Emmy-winning (and Oscar-winning) Watchman Regina King, Da 5 Bloods standout performer Delroy Lindo, Atlanta and Sorry to Bother You star Lakeith Stanfield, his Atlanta co-star and Joker scene-stealer Zazie Beetz, as well as Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, and RJ Cyler. That’s a tremendous amount of onscreen talent.
Behind the camera, Jeymes Samuel (a.k.a. The Bullits), a multi-talented artist who collaborated on the soundtrack for The Great Gatsby with Jay-Z, makes his directorial debut. For a minute, Samuel had another musician-filmmaker in the mix, Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winner Cynthia Erivo was scheduled to appear, but she had to drop out due to rescheduling needs. Lawrence Bender, James Lassiter, and Jay-Z are producing with Samuels.
The Harder They Fall will follow other Black-centric westerns, including Django Unchained, Posse, Buffalo Soldiers, Buck and the Preacher, and Thomasine and Bushrod. Yet Samuel’s film sets itself apart by being the first to have an all-black cast, producers, and director.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the actors are now in cowboy camp where they are learning skills such as gunslinging and horseback riding leading to the beginning of production in New Mexico. I can only imagine what my grandfather’s response would have been to see a film like this—I’ll be watching it for both of us the day it premieres on Netflix.
The Harder They Fall is slate for a 2021 release.
Featured image: L-r: Idris Elba in “Luther.” Courtesy BBC. Regina King in “Watchmen.” Courtesy HBO. Jonathan Majors in “Lovecraft Country.” Courtesy HBO.
