Film
John Carpenter Confirms Involvement With Blumhouse’s The Thing Reboot
For someone who doesn’t love work, John Carpenter certainly stays busy. On Saturday afternoon, the Master of Horror confirmed a number of projects while speaking with Fantasia Film Festival as he accepted their Lifetime Achievement Award. For starters, Carpenter let it slip that he’s working with Blumhouse and Universal on their forthcoming reboot of The Thing. When pressed if it was a prequel or a sequel, he played it coy and stayed mum as he’s wont to do. As previously reported, that project is reported to be a new reimagining of John W. Campbell Jr.’s Who Goes There?, only Universal and Blumhouse are also planning to pull from its recently unearthed and expanded version of the novella, Frozen Hell. Given that Carpenter is currently working with Blumhouse and Universal on their...
James Gunn Reveals Characters and First Teaser Trailer for The Suicide Squad: Watch
James Gunn has shared the first teaser trailer for The Suicide Squad and revealed new characters from the star-studded cast. The unveiling took place during DC’s virtual FanDome on Saturday. Gunn himself hosted a panel, and with a bit of pomp and ceremony he announced the villainous roles played by previously-announced actors. The big news is that Idris Elba will be inhabiting Bloodsport, a Lex Luthor associate. During a Q&A/trivia section, it was also revealed that Bloodsport in the film is spending time in jail for shooting Superman. This is the biggest plot drop from the panel, and it’s actually pulled right from the comic books. As for the rest of the Squad, a large part of it was already known, with Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) Captain Boomerang (...
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Director’s Cut Revealed in First Trailer: Watch
Fans begged, pleaded, and campaigned for this, and now it’s finally here: Zack Snyder has shared the first full trailer for the Justice League Director’s Cut at Saturday’s DC Fandome virtual event. From the jump, the preview makes it clear this is very different from 2018’s Joss Whedon-re-worked theatrical Justice League. It opens with a shot of the DC Extended Universe’s biggest baddie, Darkseid, played by Ray Porter but ultimately excised from the original cut of the film. There’s also new glimpses of the film’s primary antagonist, Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), whose look has been updated as more metallic and with a less humanoid face, like he was seen in the infamous Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice deleted scene. What really stands out here is how much more fleshed out the non-Batman-a...
Julia Fox Dominates Surprising and Sexy Pitch-Black Rom-Com PVT CHAT: Fantasia Fest Review
This review is part of our Fantasia Festival 2020 coverage. The Pitch: Jack (Peter Vack) is a lonely boy in the big city. He lives in a rundown apartment—the only kind anyone can afford in New York City–where his windows are duct-taped over and his day-to-day involves either bowls of Maruchan ramen or online poker games. But he also engages in BDSM scenes with a number of cam girls, and one in particular has caught his eye. Enter Scarlet (Julia Fox), who dominates Jack from afar, making him a human ashtray as smoke billows out from her big beautiful lips. As time ticks away and more and more money is dropped, Jack and Julia begin to connect on a deeper level, a connection that sets both parties up for twists that audiences will never see coming. I’ll Always Love You New York: With PVT CHAT...
Robert Pattinson is The Batman in Nirvana-Soundtracked First Trailer: Watch
Warner Bros. closed out DC Fandome on Saturday night with their highly anticipated panel for Matt Reeves’ The Batman. As expected, the event saw our most comprehensive look at the forthcoming re-imagining, which stars Robert Pattinson as The Dark Knight. Gorgeously soundtracked to Nirvana’s dour “Something in the Way”, the film’s first trailer reveals a Gotham City awash in the kind of realism that once fueled Christopher Nolan’s universe. Yet unlike his trilogy, Reeves’ vision carries a more dystopian, punk rock edge that feels like a DIY deconstruction of Frank Miller’s Year One (though, according to Reeves, the story actually takes place in the second year of Bruce Wayne’s life as Batman). Story-wise, it appears there’s a creepy murder mystery that’s sending Jeffrey Wright’s Commis...
12 Hour Shift Brilliantly Brings Hospital Horror to the Working Women Comedy: Fantasia Fest Review
This review is part of our Fantasia Festival 2020 coverage. The Pitch: Mandy (Angela Bettis) was having a bad day before her double shift at the hospital. She’s expected to provide a kidney transplant to some local gangsters. The only catch is that Mandy’s new courier Regina (Chloe Farnworth), who just so happens to be her half-cousin, has lost said kidney en route to the hospital. Frantically, they both try to get their hands on a replacement kidney as the clock keeps ticking. Fortunately for them, there’s a whole lotta fresh meat to choose from… Working 9 to 5: Angela Bettis should be familiar to horror fans, thanks to her iconic performances in a trio of Lucky McKee movies: 2002’s May, 2005’s The Woods, and 2011’s The Woman. She’s a stunning presence, who wears the stress of every one o...
Perdida Offers an Indelible Spin on the Hitchcock Thriller: Fantasia Fest Review
This review is part of our Fantasia Festival 2020 coverage. The Pitch: Eric (José María de Tavira) is a rich conductor living in a gorgeous modern home. So, why when we meet him is he getting fall-down drunk by himself at a dive bar? Enter Fabiana (Cristina Rodlo), the bartender on the night Eric causes a scene. Feeling curious, Fabiana brings Eric back to her place to let him sleep. When he wakes up, Eric rewards Fabiana with a pleasant afternoon date that leads to sex and a fast-tracked relationship. After practically moving into his apartment, detectives arrive with questions surrounding the last of Eric’s girlfriends. Seems one went missing not too long ago, though Eric insists it’s less nefarious. She left him. Fabiana’s not sure what to think, but then she starts hearing strange soun...
Travis Scott’s New Song “The Plan” Soundtracks Trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet: Stream
Travis Scott is having a very busy 2020, even though what’s arguably his biggest single of the year hasn’t dropped yet — well, until now. “The Plan”, Scott’s contribution to the soundtrack for Christopher Nolan‘s movie Tenet, has arrived in the latest trailer for the upcoming blockbuster. “The Plan” isn’t some random B-side Scott agreed to fork over to the Hollywood machine. According to an interview in GQ, Scott’s single wound up becoming an integral part of the film, going so far as to become a type of musical glue instead of a simple backing track. “His voice became the final piece of a yearlong puzzle,” said Nolan. “His insights into the musical and narrative mechanism [composer] Ludwig Göransson and I were building were immediate, insightful, and profound.” Scott delivers with both hi...
Tesla Wildly Reinvents the Biopic with an Inventive Ethan Hawke Performance: Review
This review originally ran as part of our Sundance 2020 coverage. The Pitch: By now, we all know the story of Nikola Tesla, spurned early 20th-century inventor and rival of Thomas Edison who invented alternating current, only to die penniless, his name largely lost to history until Christopher Nolan, Elon Musk, and the Fuck Yeah Science! corners of the Internet rehabilitated his unconventional genius. (Best not to mention the fact he was also a eugenicist, but that’s neither here nor there.) Now, one of America’s most under-appreciated minds has a full-throated biopic, with Ethan Hawke in the title role, charting his rags-to-riches-to-rags story. Of course, this being a Michael Almereyda joint, things get deeply weird. Welcome to Your Life: Make no mistake: Tesla ain’t your ...
Russell Crowe Taps Into His Inner Nicolas Cage for Maniac Motorist Movie Unhinged: Review
The Pitch: Ever wander on to YouTube, watch a few “Fail” videos, and suddenly find the algorithm inundating you with “Epic Fail” and “Expensive Fail” videos? YouTube sees your morbid curiosity for mayhem, and takes note. A day later, confident of where society seems to be heading, emboldened and in conjunction with your social media habits (a steady diet of Caucasian sociopaths refusing to wear masks), YouTube suggests more videos of people refusing to wear masks, getting into fistfights in grocery stores, and dash-cam footage of these folks trying to run people off the road with their cars. This genuinely happens to me all the time. In a way, the existence of Unhinged was algorithmically inevitable. Unhinged is a film particularly interested in road rage. Who are these guys? What drives a...
What’s Streaming on Hulu in September 2020
Hulu is prepping for spooky season in September 2020. Next month, the streamer is unlocking a bunch of tricks and treats: Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II, James Cameron’s The Terminator, and — get this — every single movie in the Twilight series. Vamps unite! Also exciting is the premiere of Keith Knight’s new irreverent comedy series Woke. The show follows a Black cartoonist whose career success is slightly derailed when an unexpected incident changes everything in his life. What’s more, Hulu is porting over all the goodies from FX. That includes the new season from Archer and the highly anticipated fourth season of Noah Hawley’s Fargo, which was postponed way, way back in April. Check out the full list below, pick up some Halloween candy, and, of course,...
Olivia Wilde Directing Spider-Woman Movie for Sony: Report
It looks like the web of silver screen spider-people is about to get a little larger. Olivia Wilde has reportedly signed on to direct and develop a secret Marvel project for Sony, and rumors have it that it’s a Spider-Woman movie. While Sony hasn’t confirmed exactly what the project is, Wilde did hint at a spider-related character with a simple tweeted emoji. Deadline reports that Katie Silberman, who wrote Wilde’s breakout directorial debut Booksmart, is penning the script. Amy Pascal, who has long spearheaded Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, is producing alongside executive producer Rachel O’Connor. Deadline also has it that this is a “completely revamped” version of Spider-Woman, which means it probably won’t be a Gwen Stacy spin-off from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Of cours...
