Nicolas Cage is an actor and in his next role – which is to say, he also plays as an actor, a fictional one who just-so-happens to go by the name of Nick Cage, yes, extremely meta.
In the film, Cage is an unfulfilled actor that is on the brink of financial ruin (familiar, right?). The actor is propositioned with an offer he can’t refuse, $1 million to attend a super-fan named Javi’s (played by Pedro Pascal) birthday party.
Then things get ever-more-stranger when Cage is approached by a CIA operative (played by Tiffany Haddish) and asked to go on an unusual mission. The trailer is packed with expletives and outrageousness and looks like a buddy slash comedy slash Nick Cage-style action movie. In order to do so, Cage finds himself channeling his most iconic characters (referencing to his real life movies he’s played including: “Face/Off”, “The Rock”, “Leaving Las Vegas” and “The Wicker Man”) he’s played to save himself and those he loves.
The film was met with major praise during the South by Southwest festival (SWSW) and has already generated a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. The action comedy has also attracted major buzz ahead of its theatrical release on April 22.
Digital vs. Post-Apocalyptic, the Matrix Resurrections latest trailer continues with mystery and confusion
The new preview hints at repeating loops (deja vu) and even scenes from previous films from the trilogy.
The foundations of the Matrix movies always played with the question of what is reality, and that it can be both artificially created and manipulated.
In a world of two realities – everyday life and what lies behind it – Thomas Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more,” reads the movie’s official synopsis. “Choice, while an illusion, is still the only way in or out of the Matrix, which is stronger, more secure, and more dangerous than ever before.”
Fans gets to see Jada Pinkett Smith’s character Niobe with a drastic transformation. In addition it appears that Jonathan Groff’s character is playing Agent Smith.
There’s a hint that something special is lurking beneath the entertaining endless action sequences
Both Neo, looking, just like Keanu a lifetime removed and yet the same, and Trinity appear to be aiding the cause by bringing a kind of effortless perfection to the cast – No need to mention John Wick or any intervening saga, this is a continuation, or more aptly, a resurrection of what was so amazing in the time, place spirit of that original film.
A thread like an unbroken through line, connecting the 1999 moment anew, yet absorbing the intervening changes to the fictional worlds of artifice within the films and to a third, that we, the audience, have grown with bringing us to December 22, 2021.
Naturally, some images produce more curiosity and questions than they answer, even when a still frame is isolated and studied. There is a particularly interesting interaction with the rooftop crowd in this case (above) and the image begs the question: will Neo lead uprisings both within the Matrix and the revolutions in the “real” world?
What kinds of mental challenges and trickery will a more mature Neo encounter while in the Matrix? This shot also produces mystery and begs for speculation regarding the script and how the various logical and illogical pathways will be traversed.
Multiple flash frames do confirm that a romantic adventure and escape will extend the story of Neo & Trinity, and that, while perfectly fitting, also appears to be something that could add more interest on a level above the intervening sequels (2 & 3). For all these reasons and many more, it does look like the buzz and building anticipation will start here and just keep growing until we all have a chance to experience the film in its entirety. On December 22, 2021 either in the Theater (best!) or on HBO Max for subscribers.
If anything, it feels like there is a depth and poignancy to the characters, the images and the implied story that extends and deepens the original, as a great sequel should do. For once it’s as if the maturity of the main stars in the cast is not an obstacle to manage or navigate but a built in feature.
As per W.B. press kit: The film also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Candyman,” the “Aquaman” franchise) Jessica Henwick (TV’s “Iron Fist,” “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”), Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton,” TV’s “Mindhunter”), Neil Patrick Harris (“Gone Girl”), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (TV’s “Quantico,”), Christina Ricci (TV’s “Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story,” “The Lizzie Borden Chronicles”), Telma Hopkins (TV’s “Dead to Me,”), Eréndira Ibarra (series “Sense8,” “Ingobernable”), Toby Onwumere (TV’s “Empire”), Max Riemelt (series “Sense8”), Brian J. Smith (series “Sense8,” “Treadstone”), and Jada Pinkett Smith (“Angel Has Fallen,” TV’s “Gotham”).
Lana Wachowski directed from a screenplay by Wachowski & David Mitchell & Aleksander Hemon, based on characters created by The Wachowskis. The film was produced by Grant Hill, James McTeigue and Lana Wachowski. The executive producers were Garrett Grant, Terry Needham, Michael Salven, Jesse Ehrman and Bruce Berman.
Mixture of comedy, drama and history during the rise of AIDS in London
The AIDS crisis around the 1980’s in the UK is the topic surrounding the latest mini-series now available on HBO Max. “It’s a Sin” originally premiered on Britain’s Channel 4 and was met with much acclaim.
Created by Russel T. Davies who was responsible for creating “Queer as Folk” well over twenty years ago.
The show follows a small group of queer friends that do as many college-aged young people do, party. Those that have already watched have made clear that the show doesn’t hold back on the horrifying pains and real horrors of what it meant to have lived amidst HIV/AIDS during the 80’s.
The official synopsis reads:
It’s 1981, the start of a new decade and Ritchie (Olly Alexander), Roscoe (Omari Douglas) and Colin (Callum Scott Howells) begin a new life in London. Strangers at first, these young gay lads, and best friend Jill (Years and Years’ Lydia West), find themselves thrown together, and soon share each other’s adventures.
But a new virus is on the rise, and soon their lives will be tested in ways they never imagined. As the decade passes, and they grow up in the shadow of AIDS, they’re determined to live and love more fiercely than ever.
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Hope those that can are watching #ItsASin, which premiered tonight on @Channel4. It was a sincere honor to be part of something so epic, yet so intimate. Bravo @russelldavies63 for being brilliant. @REDProductionCo
Also noteworthy and powerhouse acting in the show include the likes of Stephen Fry, Neil Patrick Harris, Keeley Hawes, Shaun Dooley and Tracy Ann Oberman
The 5 episodes will be available to watch, in one go around if you like to binge on HBO Max starting February 18, 2021.
