Struggling cinemas may not survive the impact of the pandemic
On Thursday, October 8th, Regal Cinemas— the second largest movie theater chain in America—will be shutting its doors to audiences. This occurs as British parent company Cineworld deems the market far too unstable for its theaters to continue operating through the pandemic.
Cineworld owns 536 theaters in the United States and 127 in the UK. All of them will be closed indefinitely by the end of the week. According to the New York Times, these closures will impact 40,000 employees in the U.S. and over 5,000 in Europe.
We can confirm we are considering the temporary closure of our U.K. and US cinemas, but a final decision has not yet been reached. Once a decision has been made we will update all staff and customers as soon as we can.
Many theaters have been holding on for dear life since COVID-19 arrived this year. Most were forced to shut their doors in April and have only reopened within the past couple months— notably for the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.”
While “Tenet” should have been a blockbuster hit, though, the $200 million budget film only managed to earn $300 million at the box office. Evidently, even if the theaters are open, audiences are still tepid about returning to the cinema.
Simultaneously, “Tenet’s” underperformance showed studios that they remain better off waiting to releasing their films or moving them onto other platforms. Unfortunately, this means a shortage of product for the theaters.
The dominos are falling with Bond as the last straw
Non-coincidentally then, Cineworld decided to close up just days after MGM delayed the release of its 25th James Bond movie, “No Time To Die.” This is the second time the film has been pushed back, as it was originally billed for this Spring, but was delayed until November, and now won’t see the screen until next April.
In fact, almost all of the 2020 blockbusters have seen perpetual delays. Warner Brother’s “Wonder Woman: 1984” was supposed to come out earlier this year, but is now aiming for a Christmas release. Likewise, Marvel’s “Black Widow” was meant to be a summer sensation, but now sits on the backburner until 2021. Meanwhile, Disney’s “Mulan” went straight to the company’s streaming site, for the premium price of $30 on top of the monthly subscription fee.
Clearly, “No Time To Die” was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back for Cineworld.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cineworld had already lost $1.6 billion in the first half of 2020. Now, on top of moviegoer’s concerns about COVID, there is not enough exciting content to get people into the cinema.
Perhaps people would risk going to the movies to see a new James Bond, Marvel, or DC film, but with these releases being continually postponed, staying open becomes a major and unrewarding gamble for theater owners.
Part of the struggle may also be tied to a reticence to consider theaters amongst other indoor businesses that warrant reopening. New York City and Los Angeles, for example, provide a huge portion of domestic audiences, but their respective government officials have been nervous about letting people return to the cinema. Without such hubs being operational, ticket prices will inevitably fall short of expectations.
As of right now, there is no telling when Regal Cinemas might reopen, or if other theater chains will follow in its footsteps. All of that depends heavily on how the country and its leaders deal with the coronavirus.
As you might be aware, a new documentary is on the top ten most watched list on Netflix and is getting a lot of attention. The Social Dilemma is a well made documentary, directed by Jeff Orlowski, that aims to reveal the problems, very very big problems that have arisen, mainly in the past decade in the way social media and internet platforms generally, are operating and prospering.
While that may sound harmless at first blush, it’s the sheer scale; trillions of dollars, and the lack of any product or service, other than to advertisers, that begs the question: at what expense to humanity?
This is a big, important subject and is one that is extremely difficult to cram into an “entertaining” documentary. Here, an attempt is made to tackle that difficulty in two main ways.
First there are many on-camera interviews with almost exclusively former and current Silicon Valley insiders, many of whom where partially responsible for the very systems and methods that are being called into question here, and second, the two inter-twined semi-fictional dramatic elements, clearly meant to help viewers that may lose interest in discussions of algorithms, machine learning and corrupt business models.
Choosing insiders is not an oversight but by design
The choice of such a long list of high level tech insiders as interviewees is important and meaningful. The very fact that people, most of whom profited and made careers out of building these systems and platforms, are willing, now, to passionately speak out about them, and agree that they are horrific mistakes that have the potential to destroy not just people’s lives but humanity and the planet itself, speaks volumes.
While there are many other scholars, journalists and witnesses that could, and should, have their ideas and opinions heard, it is the extreme fact that insiders are willing to address these problems so candidly and so passionately, that helps this to be a mind-blowing and impossible to ignore documentary film.
Companies like Google and Facebook are some of the wealthiest and most successful of all time. They have relatively few employees. They just have this giant computer that rakes in money, right? Now, what are they being paid for? That’s a really important question.
-Jaron Lanier, founding father of virtual reality, computer scientist
The film must be seen, and the information absorbed, to understand the true importance, but, in a nut-shell, what is becoming more obvious by the minute is that the combination of massive power based on worldwide near-monopoly status, and a business model that has no contribution to make or product to sell, has allowed these platforms to amass trillion dollar fortunes in a lethal mix that must be stopped at all costs.
”The first fifty years of Silicon Valley the industry made products, hardware, software, sold them to customers, nice, simple business. For the last ten years the biggest companies in Silicon Valley have been in the business of selling their users”.
-Roger McNamee, Early Facebook investor and Venture Capitalist
Critics fail to see the film’s urgency and instead nitpick it as an imperfect entertainment product
There are layers of irony in the fact that the weaknesses decried by many critical articles written about this film are the same ones that the film is pointing to, and a major force, one that propelled these online platforms to positions of virtually unlimited power in the first place: human weaknesses and short attention spans.
”The classic saying is: “if you’re not paying for the product, then, you are the product”
-Classic Silicon Valley truism
The interviews are powerful and the quotes and alternately chilling and illuminating. So much so that it is actually difficult to absorb all at once. Many reviewers chose to simplify this reality by boiling the many serious quotes down to “dystopian” cliché, as if the end of the world is a topic for a cartoon movie review. Others harped on the weakness of the acted-out semi-fictional stories as not being the optimum way to get the real data and facts across.
The two narrative threads portrayed by actors revolve around an imaginary semi-suburban mixed family and their interactions with technology platforms and social media and a fictional visualization of the “back end” of the software systems used by the giant platforms (Facebook, Google, etc).
This back end software is elevated to a “triple-android” character, portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser, of Madmen fame, as sort of automaton-triplets that embody the actions of the software, AI and the integrated instructions, presumably from Zuckerberg himself (or the equivalent at Google or other platforms. (character name is, revealingly, “AI”)
This is a new kind of marketplace now. It’s a marketplace that never existed before. And it’s a marketplace that trades exclusively in “human futures”. Just like there are markets that trade in pork belly futures or oil futures. We now have markets that trade in human futures at scale. And those markets have produced the trillions of dollars that have made the internet companies the richest companies in the history of humanity”
-Shoshanna Zuboff PhD., Harvard Business School Professor, emeritus and author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism”
While these filmic-devices are not ideal or particularly precise in showing the problems with the entire complex system, they are, nevertheless, a good choice to find a way for the statements of the interviewees to be dramatized. They can help people who are not technical analysts to viscerally grasp the deep and serious problems being discussed. Without these elements the film’s audience would be, almost certainly, far smaller. This fact was not appreciated by many reviewers, however.
”Many people call this ‘surveillance capitalism’. Capitalism profiting off of the infinite tracking of everywhere everyone goes, by large technology companies whose business model is to make sure that advertisers are as successful as possible”
-Tristan Harris, Google’s former design ethicist and co-founder of The Center for Humane Technology
One reviewer even mistook the fictional anthropomorphic portrayal of software algorithms and artificial intelligence, all three by the same actor, as a real “unnamed” social platform and that these characters were supposed to be employees of the “unnamed” platform!
All of this confusion is directly related and lies at the heart of the eponymous dilemma being addressed. If the interview subjects, many of whom have become extremely rich from their contributions, are terrified of the evil power of these systems and platforms, what can be done to stop them from getting even bigger and more powerful and eventually destroying us all?
What chance of understanding and solving the problem to the rest of us have?
”How much of your life can we get you to give to us? We often talked about, at Facebook, this idea, of being able to just “dial that” as needed. And we talked about, you know, Mark (Zuckerberg) have those dials… “let’s dial up the ads a little bit”, dial up the monetization, just slightly… At all these companies there’s that level of precision”
-Tim Kendall, Facebook / former director of monetization, Pinterest / former president, CEO / Moment
Such a question sounds almost like a joke to anyone who has not followed and investigated the rise of these behemoths and the “legal” and yet criminal behaviors they perpetrate on a global scale, amplified by computing and financial powers that would have been unimaginable even 2 decades ago.
Therein lies the rub.
The beginning of the end of malignant big tech structures or of us?
The only criticism that stands out to this reviewer is that the message of doom was portrayed as an open question with not much in the way of suggestions for solution, or ways forward other than “delete your social media accounts”.
”there are times when there is a national interest, there are times when the interests of people, of users, is actually more important than the profits of somebody who is already a billionaire”
-Roger McNamee, Early Facebook investor and Venture Capitalist
While that, in and of itself, is a start, the reality is that governments around the world, particularly in Europe and Australia have convicted the giants of criminal behavior on multiple occasions and there are many pending anti-trust actions, not to mention grass roots support for radical change to laws and regulations as a response to the truly destructive nature of these platforms.
“These markets undermine democracy and they undermine freedom and they should be outlawed. This is not a radical proposal. There are other markets that we outlaw. We outlaw markets in human organs. We outlaw markets in human slaves. Because they have inevitable destructive consequences.”
-Shoshanna Zuboff PhD., Harvard Business School Professor, emeritus and author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism”
In an odd way the truth of even the most hyperbolic statements is what makes it so hard to keep people engaged. If these platforms and, in particular the dangerous and destructive business models that they are allowed to operate under, are not replaced or at least broken up, this could represent an even larger threat to humanity than climate change or nuclear war, so where do we start to dismantle them?
”We could tax data collection and processing. The same way that you, for example, pay your water bill, by monitoring the amount of water that you use. You tax these companies on the data assets that they have. It gives them a fiscal reason to not acquire every piece of data on the planet.”
-Joe Toscano, Google / Former experience design consultant and author of “Automating Humanity”
This is where interviewing and asking some very distinguished people who were, in part, responsible for building these systems, falls apart. Why should they be expected to have a solution for a problem that they, admittedly, were a part of creating?
”What I see are a bunch of people who are trapped, by a business model, and economic incentive and shareholder pressure that makes it almost impossible to do something else.
-Tristan Harris, Google’s former design ethicist and co-founder of The Center for Humane Technology
The answer is, of course, that they should not be expected to be the ones with the solutions – though their support of finding solutions and tackling the problems is very valuable, indeed. This is why this film deserves not criticism as an imperfect entertainment vehicle, but rather support and recommendation, as an important beginning in recognizing the threat posed by these business models; to mental health, economic prosperity and political stability of all nations.
”Whether it is to be utopia or oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment…”
On July 6th, actor Tom Hanks sat down for an interview with The Guardian to promote his new movie “Greyhound.” However, this interview was not done face-to-face between Hanks and the correspondent. Like almost all other professional interactions nowadays, it was done remotely, with the two parties talking via computer screens in their homes—practicing social distancing due to the coronavirus.
This particular interview with Hanks was especially telling, because the actor was actually one of the first American celebrities to contract COVID-19 back in March, and “Greyhound” was among a long list of movies meant to hit theaters this summer, but got sidelined because of the pandemic.
Now, Hanks—along with his wife Rita Wilson, who also had coronavirus—is fully recovered and well. Nevertheless, his beef with the pandemic is not entirely settled, as the coronavirus’ consequential theater shutdowns has forced him to release his new film on a different platform: Apple TV+.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with Apple TV+. As far as streaming services go, Apple is a rising phenomenon and has brought about several praiseworthy shows since it launched last November. All the same, Hanks intended “Greyhound” for a theatrical release, and in the interview he called the film’s ultimate home on Apple TV+ “an absolute heartbreak.”
Again, this is not necessarily a jab at Apple, but it is indicative of what many filmmakers are going through right now. Streaming vs Theatrical releases was a hot debate in Hollywood long before COVID-19 ran everything amuck, but now that releasing movies in theaters is not an option, many movies have no choice but to sell out to the streamers and debut online.
“Greyhound” for example, was meant to hit theaters in March with Sony Pictures as distributor. However, the pandemic pushed the release date back perpetually, and in May, it sold to Apple for $70 Million, getting an official July 10th release date on the site.
Hanks continues in the interview, “I don’t mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality [when viewing a film online rather than in a theater].” He is not the first filmmaker to voice this opinion, but he is also not the first filmmaker to have his creative work siphoned off to an unanticipated platform during these unprecedented times. Paramount Pictures, for example, sold the Kumail Nanjiani-starring rom-com, “The Lovebirds” to Netflix earlier this year despite initially banking on a theatrical release.
Triple Threat Thwarted by Timing, perhaps, but will be enjoyed nonetheless
The alternative would’ve been to hold out on releasing these films until theaters re-open. Given the fact that the theaters are closed indefinitely, though, only the movies that are more-or-less guaranteed blockbuster hits are taking this risky option—Marvel’s “Black Widow,” Universal’s “Fast & Furious 9,” DC’s “Wonder Woman: 1984” and Warner Brother’s Chris Nolan-directed “Tenet” are among them.
“Greyhound”— which Hanks wrote and produced as well as starred in— might’ve had blockbuster potential, but the clock was ticking a little too temperamentally on production company Columbia Pictures and the film’s $50 million budget. Returns simply could not be left up to a temporally unspecified gamble.
Luckily, the stigma around direct-to-streaming releases has diminished in recent years, as Netflix in particular has garnered a large number of Oscar nominations with prestigious projects like Martin Scorsese‘s “The Irishman” and Alfonso Cuaròn’s “Roma” going straight to the service. Likewise, even the studios are also transitioning to the streaming world these days with Disney+, HBOMax, and Peacock headlining the ongoing streaming wars.
Still, with “Greyhound” being a war epic set at sea, we can empathize with Tom Hanks for wanting audiences to experience it on the big screen. In fact, we can empathize with all of the filmmakers who put their hearts into creative projects for 2020, and are now seeing them shrunk down to something smaller—but perhaps not lesser—than their expectations.
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With movie theaters shut down around the globe and many films either getting delayed releases or siphoned off to streaming services, Warner Brothers has been anomalously adamant about keeping its highly anticipated Christopher Nolan directed “Tenet” on schedule for a July 17th theatrical release. It recently reaffirmed this plan by releasing a new trailer.
“Tenet” is a sci-fi action spy film, but like most Chris Nolan projects, details about the (presumably intricate) plot have been kept under tight wraps. We don’t even know the names of the characters and from the trailers, all we can decipher is that it will have to do with time travel/inversion to prevent World War III and “something worse” than nuclear holocaust. Overall, it looks very twisty and complex… classic Nolan.
Perhaps the reason Warner Brothers has been so steadfast about a theatrical release for “Tenet” is that Chris Nolan is a highly cinematic filmmaker. The director of “Inception,” “Interstellar,” and “The Dark Knight,” Nolan frequently shoots in IMAX and his final products are visual feasts best served on the big screen. He blends practical and visual effects in a manner that few other directors can pull off nowadays and is considered one of the few remaining auteurs in the business, able to rake in blockbuster revenue and hype without relying on franchise or studio labels.
Visual feast could be vicarious travel replacement for fans
For “Tenet,” Nolan shot the film on location across seven countries, working with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema and an all-star cast including John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Kane, and other recognizable faces (including Indian stars Dimple Kapadia and Denzil Smith). Behind the camera, Nolan also teamed up with editor Jennifer Lame, VFX supervisor Andrew Jackson, SFX supervisor Ludwig Göransson, and executive producer Thomas Hayslip. Nolan being a Brit himself, “Tenet” is an acutely international production.
Right now, a few theaters are opening back up, so maybe come July, “Tenet” will be able to deliver on its high box office expectations. However, most intended summer blockbusters have been pushed back to November at the earliest. If the pool of open theaters is not large enough by the intended release date, perhaps “Tenet” will follow suit.
Until then, we will have to wait with bated breath, theorizing what the movie could be about, what weight its palindrome of a title carries, and when we will actually get to see it. One thing’s for sure, though, the film will definitely throw us for unexpected loops and keep us on the edge of our seats. After all, this is the director who most recently gave us the Oscar-nominated WWII epic “Dunkirk,” started his career with the chronologically warped “Momento” and came into the spotlight by transforming the superhero genre with his thrilling reimagining of Batman over a decade ago.
We can’t wait to find out what this modern master of suspense has up his sleeve this time around.
Disney has a full line up of 2020 movies releases. We’ve found new movie trailers that will satisfy all your fantastical fictional watching needs. From a movie based on popular fantasy book series, inspiration from the popular Disney theme park riverboat ride, a spin-off or an animated sequel, the below trailers have all that and more.
Click to Buy “Artemis Fowl -Book Set” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.
Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old genius and descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds. He soon finds himself in an epic battle against a race of powerful underground fairies who may be behind his father’s disappearance. Starring Ferdia Shaw, Judi Dench, Lara McDonnell, Josh Gad, and Nonso Anozie. Walt Disney and TriBeCa Productions set to release May 29th, 2020.
Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series has enjoyed phenomenal worldwide success and has sold more than nine million copies in the United States alone. For fans eagerly anticipating the release of the Artemis Fowl feature film in 2020, here is a paperback boxed set of the first three books in the series with stunningly redesigned covers, and including a three-chapter sampler of the new Artemis Fowl graphic novel. Also Available on Amazon and Walmart.
Film based on Disneyland’s theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travellers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles, but with a supernatural element. Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons and Edgar Ramirez. Set for release on July 24th, 2020.
Following an accident, Danielle Moonstar wakes up handcuffed to a hospital bed and is told by her doctor that she survived the accident thanks to mutant abilities. She and other young mutants learn that they are in a secret facility and begin the fight to escape and save themselves. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt and Alice Barga. Set for Release on April 3rd, 2020.
Poppy and Branch discover that there are six different troll tribes scattered over six different lands. Each tribe is also devoted to six different kinds of music — funk, country, techno, classical, pop and rock. When rockers Queen Barb and King Thrash set out to destroy the other music, Poppy and Branch embark on a daring mission to unite the trolls and save the diverse melodies from becoming extinct. Voiced by Anna Kendrick, Jamie Dornan, Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom and Kunal Nayyar. Set for release April 10th, 2020.
After staging his own suicide, a crazed scientist uses his power to become invisible to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend. When the police refuse to believe her story, she decides to take matters into her own hands and fight back. Starring Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Aldis Hodge. Released February 28th, 2020.
Nine-year-old Sophie catches JJ, a hardened CIA operative, spying on her family during a routine surveillance operation. In exchange for not blowing his cover, JJ begrudgingly agrees to show the precocious girl how to become a spy. What at first seems like an easy task soon turns into a battle of wits as Sophie proves you don’t need much experience to outsmart a seasoned agent. Starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman.
Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are — or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted, Crystal, turns the tables on her pursuers. Starring Betty Gilpin, Emma Roberts and Hilary Swank. Released March 13th, 2020.
After he and his wife are murdered, marine Ray Garrison is resurrected by a team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine – Bloodshot. As Ray first trains with fellow super-soldiers, he cannot recall anything from his former life. But when his memories flood back and he remembers the man that killed both him and his wife, he breaks out of the facility to get revenge, only to discover that there’s more to the conspiracy than he thought. Starring Vin Diesel and Sam Heughan. Released March 13th, 2020.
Official Movie Release and Premiere Timing Reconsidered
The 25th James Bond movie and the last one to star Daniel Craig “No Time to Die” has officially been delayed. The premiere in London was originally set for March 31st and worldwide release April 10th, yet due to the increasing global outbreaks of COVID-19, the movie and production company gave word that the film will now be released in November of this year.
The official word is said to be the result of an open letter written by a popular Bond fan website named MI6-HQ that addressed EON, MGM, and Universal about the health concerns relating to the movie release. (see link for full letter):
“With the Coronavirus reaching pandemic status, it is time to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of canceling publicity events.
Major events around the world have already been canceled or postponed due to health risks. Leading tech companies have banned travel for hundreds of thousands of employees, including Amazon and Google. All before the US and UK outbreaks expand.”
quote from MI6 Staff / www.mi6-hq.com
MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020. pic.twitter.com/a9h1RP5OKd
Two days after the letter was written, @007 the official Twitter page for the Bond movie took to social media to make the announcement of the delay. All in all this seems a wise decision as the public attendance of large numbers of people for any venue is in question due to the outbreak and the danger associated with close contact in enclosed spaces.
The entire film industry, concert and music industry and even live sports face a potentially huge challenge if this situation worsens. At this stage both the spread of the virus and the extent of quarantine measures that could become mandatory in the U.S. are unclear.
In Asia, not only mainland China but also Korea and Japan can be seen as initial examples of what could be in store for us in North America. In Europe, most notably Italy and in Iran things have already progressed beyond what we have seen thus far in the U.S.
Ultimately the question remains whether the spread of the infection can be contained, and yet, it is precisely measures such as the postponement of large public events that could be seen as part of the prophylactic response, and could help to prevent the kind of tragedy that China has already experienced.
Trend in Cancellations and Postponements Rising as Concerns of Infection Increase
Click to Buy “The Ghost Map” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores. Also Available on Amazon.
The list of events being cancelled due to fears of an increase in Coronavirus cases and even a possible eventual quarantine situation arising in the U.S. is getting longer daily. Some recent examples include the South by Southwest festival (also known as SWSX), scheduled to kick off on March 13th in Austin TX and yet is considering a cancellation after both Facebook and Twitter indicated that they would not send employees to the sow this year. The huge festival’s organizers must reconsider, it seems, after a petition online has been signed by over 40,000 people calling for the cancellation of the event. In some countries there is a ban on public gatherings altogether, naturally in China but even in Switzerland where there is a ban in place on any gathering that expects attendees in excess of 1000.
The effects on vast swaths of commerce, such as the $2.5 trillion trade show industry are looming large and could have a ripple effect throughout the economy as a whole. The Mobile World Congress, now known as MWC, originally scheduled for February 24-27, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain, for example, which is the world’s largest trade show for the Mobile Phone Industry has just been cancelled, and each of these kinds of large gatherings will mean a directly correlated drop in hotel, travel and restaurant revenue in the cities affected. To date more than 24 trade shows and conferences have been cancelled or postponed worldwide due to the concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
Poppy and Branch discover that there are six different troll tribes scattered over six different lands. Each tribe is also devoted to six different kinds of music — funk, country, techno, classical, pop and rock. When rockers Queen Barb and King Thrash set out to destroy the other music, Poppy and Branch embark on a daring mission to unite the trolls and save the diverse melodies from becoming extinct.
Citizen K is a 2019 documentary film about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, written and directed by Alex Gibney. It is a film about post-Soviet Russia. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a wealthy man in Russia, rocketed to prosperity in the 1990s and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement. It had its world premiere at Venice Film Festival.
The Way Back stars Ben Affleck. A widowed, former basketball all-star lost family foundation in a struggle with addiction and attempts to comeback by becoming the coach of a disparate, ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.
Some of today’s biggest singers/songwriters — including Garth Brooks, Vince Gill and Taylor Swift — discuss their memories of performing at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tenn.
Police officer Daniel Saxon (Charlie Sheen) goes undercover in an effort to topple a motorcycle gang whose members deal in illegal weapons and drugs. To prove himself to the gang’s leader, a thug called “Blood” (Michael Madsen), Saxon engages in a series of dangerous acts. Though he takes solace in his burgeoning romance with Renee (Linda Fiorentino), a photographer chronicling the gang’s lifestyle, Saxon finds the line between police work and criminal behavior increasingly blurry.
“Sleeping Beauty” is certainly a timeless tale, and thus Maleficent is an everlasting villain. However, there is one recent performance of the antagonist that stands above the rest. And that is Angelina Jolie’s.
Set in the 1890s, this upcoming black-and-white horror movie follows the story of two lighthouse keepers as they battle cabin fever, intoxication, madness, mystery, and mayhem on a secluded New England island.
“Jojo Rabbit” is about a young boy in the Hitler Youth. Like many German kids of the time, he aspires to be a Nazi soldier when he grows up. He buys into the party’s ideologies and believes their propaganda. That is until he comes face to face with a Jewish girl and learns, despite what the Nazis have taught him, that she is harmless, pleasant, and appealing.
“Zombieland: Double Tap” is a follow-up to the 2009 zombie-horror-comedy “Zombieland.” It has been ten years since the first movie hit theaters and surprised audiences with its humor and fresh take on the genre. Fortunately, despite how long it has taken to produce a sequel, the aforementioned original cast and director are back in their rightful places for the new film.
In this feminist dystopia, critics recognized that the women in “Paradise Hills” went beyond simple archetypes, and offered an array of original voices.
Based on an article published in “New York Magazine” in 2015, this feel-good stripper story is getting strong, effusive positive reviews after its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend.
Talk of an Oscar nod for J Lo is already out there based on her performance as the head of an underdog-stripper crime “family”. In a kind of “Robin-Hood as Stripper” twist based on the original report.
With a star studded cast, lead by Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu (“Fresh off the Boat”, “Crazy Rich Asians”), Cardi B, Julia Stiles and Keke Palmer, the crime drama has the mixture of a heist movie with built in sex, money and post feminist empowerment all wrapped into one.
“[It] does for a gang of New Yawk bad girls what Goodfellas did for the mob…adapted by writer-director Lorene Scafaria at her most Scorsese.”
– Peter Debruge, Variety
Written for the screen and Directed by Lorene Scafaria, “Hustlers” is riding the buzz straight into opening weekend with what appears like it will be a big first weekend beginning on September 12th.
Martin Freeman stars as Charlie in this romantic comedy about a cataplexic man (faints when excited or has too much joy) struggling with his attraction to the ultimate trigger of his affliction: Francesca, played by Morena Baccarin.
Based on an episode from NPR’s podcast series “This American Life”, that first aired in 2010, the concept was based on a real person, the subject of the piece, who had cataplexy, which is a particular symptom of narcolepsy that can cause lack of muscular control or even paralysis as a reaction to the experience of strong emotions, including joy.
At one time having the provisional title; “The Pursuit of Unhappiness” it chronicles a man who’s condition literally requires him to avoid feelings, including happiness and joy.
In a sense, the plot is like a physical re-enactment through this dramatization, based on a real affliction, of what, perhaps, we all feel on some level. Too much “joy” and Charlie literally collapses and removes himself from the overstimulating situation.
The Plight of One is a Mirror of Us All?
It’s funny, but also somehow endearing, that this man has resigned himself to intentionally avoiding all that excites and fulfills him. The journey becomes one of facing his “demons” and, in his case, quite literally confronting them, even as they cause him to collapse whenever he attempts to do so.
Based on the trailer (see above) there are many genuinely funny moments in the film, and the romance appears poignant and believable, in spite of the true-to-life and yet, at the same time hard to imagine, plot twists.
The film’s producer, Jason Winer, when interviewed in “The Hollywood Reporter” put it this way:
“A lot of people living with this disease described the horror of being conscious while it’s happening,” he explains. “You’re not passing out; you’re losing muscle control. So as (Charlie’s) body reacts to emotion by essentially crumbling, he’s witnessing people’s reaction to him crumbling, which is part of the embarrassment and fear of the whole thing.”
Jason Winer, producer, “ode to Joy
And on what it was about the story that attracted him to the project:
“It was a compassionate and moving look at the people who were living with this condition where they couldn’t allow themselves to feel, and it was tragic, But it was also the most original obstacle to falling in love that either Mike (co-executive producer) or myself had heard in years.”
JASON WINER, PRODUCER
Photo / Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions
With so many major film studios focused on Super Hero blockbusters, sequels and remakes, “Ode to Joy” had a long arduous path to reach today’s release. Originally slated to be made under the Sony Pictures umbrella, ultimately is became an Indie project now with distribution by IFC Films.
Perhaps it is still enough, in the movie industry, to stimulate thought and entertain with comedy and romance. With so much violence and strife in our real-life surroundings, it seems, maybe this is the kind of hopeful and thoughtful escape we can all embrace.
Opening on August 1st and grabbing some attention this weekend, aiming for a $60 million debut, the big-budget action spin off from Fast & Furious has some work ahead…
Starring Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw it’s clear this is popcorn and top level (expensive at $200 million in production costs) Stunts and EFX, with more than a dash of comic relief.
Adding the gravitas of Idris Elba raises the overall quality of the characters, and Johnson and Statham are tried and true masters of the genre, if there is such a thing. Can entertainment be more pure? A badass duo that you can never accuse of taking itself (themselves?) too seriously. Seriously.
Photo / Universal Pictures
No need to worry about the exact plot twists or even the connection to the Fast & Furious franchise, this is pure guilty pleasure summer enjoyment, plain and simple.
Perhaps after all the cute cats we’ve all been seeing lately, a bit of fantasy testosterone might be just the thing, on a hot August night.
Basically, we are saying: check out the trailer above and if it adequately entertains, you’ll probably do no wrong in escalating yourself into a theater to take it all in.
Spider-Man (Sony / Marvel) bested the rest in theaters this weekend with an estimated $45 million take.
In it’s second week in the US, the film took in more than the next three titles combined, including the likes of “Toy Story 4” (Disney-Pixar), “Crawl” (Paramount Pictures) and “Stuber” (Disney). The last two in the top four sport an “R” rating, however.
As our report on the initial Asian release tallies indicated, (see below) the blockbuster sequel should eventually top the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office.
Although “The Lion King“, due to be released state-side on July 18th, will hit a similar demographic, even with the expected loss to the large cat, Spidey should reach that ever more reachable, but still enormous, $1 billion mark.
As a matter of fact, “Far From Home” could eventually top all previous Spider-Man flicks to become the highest grossing entry in the long running franchise.
While “The Lion King” is fully expected to take over the top spot next weekend, if “Far From Home” can hold steady at #2, the future looks bright for the web-slinger’s box office destiny.
The world of John Wick is a dark, violent, fast and slippery place. The rapid fire franchise on Wick, a retired hitman seeking vengeance, has resulted in hit after hit at the box office. The movie’s rabid fanbase is fed with a near seamless story, the second movie picks up 4 days after the first, and the third chapter continues right after the second.
Photo / LionsGate
After killing D’Antonio, an Italian Mafia boss, on the grounds of the Continental Hotel known for its neutral, no-kill territory, a contract is placed on Wick. John finds himself fighting for his life (again) with the $14 million dollar bounty for his head. The hit results in the flooding of all the greatest assassins around the world to come for him. Once again, the odds are super stacked against the now “excommunicado” Wick.
Photo / LionsGate
The John Wick movies are known for their bruising, fast paced sequences, gunplay, realistic fight scenes and dark tone. All three films have been directed by Chad Stahelski, who broke into the film business as a stunt coordinator. Stahelski doubled for the late great Brandon Lee after his fatal accident on the set of The Crow.
Brandon Lee was vocal about the lack of realism and craft in fight choreography. This commitment to fantastic realism follows the family line, his father Bruce Lee reinvented the Martial Arts and action film genre. It is also no coincidence that Keanu Reeves studies Martial Arts and performs a lot of his own stunts in the film.
Photo / LionsGate
Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick alongside Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Anjelica Huston, and Ian McShane.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum crashes into theaters May 17th, 2019
