#Rankings

Click here to see the rankings of 2024 films

Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

--- Summary:

The city of New Rome is the main conflict between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of a utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Francis Ford Coppola

Cast:

• Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina
• Giancarlo Esposito as Mayor Cicero
• Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero
• Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum
• Shia LaBeouf as Clodio Pulcher
• Jon Voight as Hamilton Crassus III
• Laurence Fishburne as Fundi Romaine

Rotten Tomatoes: 52%

Metacritic: 58

VOD: Theaters

Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes: 77%

Metacritic: 62

--- Summary:

After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Seth Grahame-Smith

As a huge Alien fan, I have come away from tonight's screening actually angry. The sets and practical effects were fantastic, but you barely saw the aliens until the climax to the mid-section of the film.

Bringing back Ian Holm as Rook took some getting used to, especially as some of those shots were off. It seemed to get better as the film progressed. I already have a theory on that one. The credits listed the crew who worked on the Rook animatronic. I wonder if they were displeased with the result and used CGI to cover the face? (Maybe I'm just too angry at the moment 😆)

The visual and audio Easter eggs were annoying, especially when Andy repeated Ripley's line. My audience laughed, and I was just facepalming by this point.

I think what finally broke the camel's back was the third act, which links the film to Covenant and Prometheus. I didn't like those films as hey try to explain the alien's origins, and now we have to have a fight with a creature that was giving me Alien:Resurrection newborn vibes. Is this Ridley sticking his oar in, as it is his creation?

I'm just so disappointed. After seeing the first two trailers, I thought we were getting something that was going to be really special, a return to form.

Ugh!

Please nominate a film for August's "Fedi Film Club"!

This is the "Fringe Theater" ... for weird, niche films, unknown classics and pioneering statements. If you've got more "popcorn" or popular films in mind, you should check out the "Popcorn Theater" post.

Anything that either you'd like to watch or would recommend to the community!

Please make sure it's more than roughly two years old so that it will (hopefully) be available somewhere.

And if possible, provide a quick description for why you'd like to watch or why you suggest it.

---

• See the July's Nominations and the introductory post for "Fedi Film Club".
• We'll take a vote on the suggestions in about a week's time after this. Then we can watch and discuss.
  • If you're keen to host a live watch & chat, let us know and we'll help notify others.

Please nominate a film for August's "Fedi Film Club"!

This is the "Popcorn Theater" ... for fun, popular films, box office hits and blockbusters. If you've got more "fringe" films in mind, you should check out the "Fringe Theater" post.

Anything that either you'd like to watch or would recommend to the community!

Please make sure it's more than roughly two years old so that it will (hopefully) be available somewhere.

And if possible, provide a quick description for why you'd like to watch or why you suggest it.

---

• See the July's Nominations and the introductory post for "Fedi Film Club".
• We'll take a vote on the suggestions in about a week's time after this. Then we can watch and discuss.
  • If you're keen to host a live watch & chat, let us know and we'll help notify others.

In other words: What’s a hidden gem I probably haven’t seen but totally should? And why is it a must-watch?

> This is not a review. This is a warning. If I gave Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” a standard movie review and told you that it was an incoherent mess on par with “Rebel Moon” (which it is), your fanboy reflexes would kick and you’d write me off. You’d take me as just another pair of glasses dead set on panning a movie just to bolster their art cred. I hate critics like that, and so do you. > > So I’m telling you this not as a reviewer, but as a friend: Do not see this movie. It is a piece of s—t.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/23531943 > Apple TV+ has made more waves with TV shows than movies so far.

> Last year, the original Pixar film “Elemental” looked doomed with the worst opening weekend in studio history, but turned into the box office comeback of the year. DreamWorks Animation’s latest film, “The Wild Robot,” hopes to chart a similar path to theatrical success. > > Despite rave early reviews, projections for the Universal release remain very low, with most projecting a start in the $20 million range similar to the $25 million start last weekend for Paramount’s “Transformers One.” > > As an adaptation of Peter Brown’s book series, “The Wild Robot” is not strictly speaking an original film. It’s in the vein of literary adaptations DreamWorks has picked up dating back to its first big CG-animated hit, “Shrek,” which was loosely based on a children’s book by William Steig. > > The most recent DreamWorks book adaptation, “The Bad Guys,” opened to just under $24 million in 2022 and grossed $97 million domestic and $250 million worldwide, prompting Universal and DreamWorks to greenlight a sequel for next year. > > With its beautiful animation style and moving tale of a robot stranded in a forest that adopts an orphaned gosling, “The Wild Robot” has the potential to win over audiences and show similar legs to “The Bad Guys.” If audiences embrace it as much as the critics, it could go even further, taking advantage of a lack of competing family titles in October and early November for a run similar to the $154 million domestic/$496 million global total of “Elemental.” > > But the fact that “The Wild Robot” must take the long road to box office success compared to instant hit sequels to films like “Inside Out” and “Despicable Me” shows how much familiar characters and narratives have come to dominate the family market since the pandemic shutdown. > > And sometimes even that is not enough, as Paramount is looking for “Transformers One” to leg out based on strong buzz from franchise fans, hoping that will win over moviegoers who weren’t originally sold on an origin story movie from the long-running series. > > “The cost-driven selectivity that families bring into whether or not they see a movie is playing out in real time. Something like ‘Despicable Me’ which families already know and enjoy can get people in easily. In this case, familiarity breeds confidence that it’s worth the time, energy and money to go out to the theater,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. > > Pixar’s “Coco,” the last original animated film to gross over $500 million worldwide, opened to $72 million over five days on Thanksgiving weekend in 2017. “Shrek” opened to $42 million before inflation adjustment back in 2001 while another children’s book adaptation, “How to Train Your Dragon,” opened to $43 million in 2010. Both cleared $200 million in domestic grosses. > > “The Wild Robot” is earning critical acclaim as strong or perhaps stronger than any installment of the franchises spawned by those films, yet could very well have to settle for an opening below $30 million. The wild success of “Inside Out 2” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” shows that families have not abandoned theaters in the slightest, but such tracking for “Wild Robot” perhaps suggests that parents are less likely to try out something new unless they’re convinced they and their kids will enjoy it, making post-release word-of-mouth even more crucial. > > “It used to be that theatrical and home video were the clear metrics with sometimes merch being taken into account, but now with streaming it just makes the formula so different,” said Dergarabedian. “Now it takes months and months to really see how much an animated film makes an impact on audiences, and it takes everyone in the room at a studio from different departments to sort it all out.” > > Further complicating matters for both “The Wild Robot” and “Transformers One” is that Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” has found considerable traction with families and young adults. According to data from exhibition sources, the audience share of moviegoers age 13-24 has increased by 16 points in the second and third weekend of the Tim Burton sequel’s run compared to its Gen X driven opening weekend. > > This is part of the reason why “Beetlejuice 2” has been able to hold so well, approaching $250 million domestically after holding on to the No. 1 spot last weekend against “Transformers One.” > > With three well-reviewed, family friendly yet tonally unique films now on offer and with the R-rated “Joker: Folie a Deux” being the top new release next weekend it will be curious to see how audience interest shakes out this weekend and whether “Transformers One” and “The Wild Robot” will be able to have lengthy and profitable theatrical runs without cannibalizing audience interest in each other. > > Meanwhile, cinephiles will at long last get a chance to see Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating and critically polarizing “Megalopolis,” as Lionsgate brings it to theaters this weekend. > > It has been a long road for this movie starring Adam Driver and Giancarlo Esposito as a brilliant architect and a corrupt mayor clashing over humanity’s future. The film was first conceived by Coppola in 1977 shortly after completing “Apocalypse Now,” but was shelved after a string of box office failures until Coppola decided to fund the film himself, selling his Sonoma wineries to fund the film’s $120 million budget. > > Upon its premiere at Cannes, “Megalopolis” sharply divided critics, carrying a 52% Rotten Tomatoes score. Screenings for the film for Hollywood’s top studio execs led to the movie largely being passed on until Lionsgate reached a distribution-only deal in June, with Coppola covering the marketing costs. > > How much Coppola, who has voiced his plans for other filmmaking projects, needs “Megalopolis” to make to keep bringing his cinematic visions to reality is unclear. But what is clear is that “Megalopolis” is likely to do worse than than “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1,” the first of a planned four-part series partially self-funded by writer-director Kevin Costner that had the release of “Chapter 2” indefinitely put on hold after it only made $29 million in the U.S. from an $11 million opening. > > “Megalopolis” is tracking to open to roughly half that at $5-7 million, and given the mixed reception is unlikely to find an audience outside of Coppola’s devoted fans and the most fervent of cinema lovers. > > For Lionsgate, this will be the fifth straight wide release for the studio with an opening weekend of below $10 million. But unlike some past recent misfires like “Borderlands,” Lionsgate holds no expenses beyond what it paid to acquire the distribution costs along with a percentage of the box office. With such a low bar, insiders tell TheWrap that Lionsgate should recoup its costs on “Megalopolis” within a week of theatrical play.

> Maika Monroe is going to be one bad nanny. > >In her first casting since starring in the horror hit Longlegs, Monroe has signed to topline 20th Century Studios’ remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. > >Michelle Garza Cervera is directing the feature that is being produced by Radar Pictures’ Ted Field and Michael Schaefer and Mike Larocca via their banner, Department M. > >The project adapts the 1992 thriller originally distributed by Buena Vista Pictures and directed by Curtis Hanson. Rebecca De Mornay starred as a twisted widow who, distraught over losing her own baby, insinuates herself into a family as their nanny, with the ultimate goal of taking the kids and the husband for herself. Annabella Sciorra played the mother.

> New RoboCop TV series has James Wan as executive producer > ========================================================= > > James Wan is on board to executive produce a new TV series inspired by the classic 1987 film RoboCop for Amazon MGM > > Back in 2022, Amazon closed an $8.5 billion acquisition of the film studio MGM, giving them ownership of the studio's thousands of films and TV shows. Last year, we heard that the six MGM properties Amazon was most interested in doing something with were Poltergeist, *Stargate, The Thomas Crown Affair, Legally Blonde, Rocky, *and RoboCop... and we've recently heard updates on some of those projects, with a Poltergeist TV series finding its showrunners and Michael B. Jordan signing on to both direct and star in a new version of The Thomas Crown Affair. Now Deadline has broken the news that a new RoboCop TV series is moving forward and has James Wan, the director of such films as Saw, The Conjuring, and Aquaman, on board as executive producer. > > Peter Ocko (Lodge 49) has been hired to write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner on the potential series. Wan, Michael Clear, and Rob Hackett are executive producing through their company Atomic Monster, while Danielle Bozzone is overseeing the project for Atomic Monster. The series is being produced by Amazon MGM Studios. > > Directed by Paul Verhoeven from a screenplay by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, the 1987 film RoboCop has the following synopsis: In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters. The movie was followed by sequels RoboCop 2 (1990) and RoboCop 3 (1993), an animated series that ran for one season in 1988, a live-action TV series that ran for one season in 1994, a 2001 mini-series called RoboCop: Prime Directives, and a 2014 remake, as well as video games, comic books, toys, clothing, and other merchandise. > > The new TV series has the following official logline: A giant tech conglomerate collaborates with the local police department to introduce a technologically advanced enforcer to combat rising crime --- a police officer who's part man, part machine.

Now the last time they did this, it was back in 2000 with a series called RoboCop: Prime Directives. It comprised of four 90 minute films. I followed the official website for all the news, it sounded great. It was going to ignore the sequels and follow on from the original. I was quite excited as RoboCop is a scifi classic.

When I finally managed to see it here in the UK, I was so disappointed I didn't even finish the first episode. So I'm not holding out any hope here. I didn't think much of the 2014 remake either.

> It’s unusual for a movie to have inspired creations as diverse as Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Roland Emmerich's Independence Day, but a movie celebrating its 100th birthday today can claim just such an accomplishment. Loosely based on a 1923 novel by Alexei Tolstoy, Yakov Protazanov's 1924 silent film Aelita: Queen of Mars is, in fact, secretly one of the most influential sci-fi movies of all time. > > Set in 1921, the film follows a group of people in post-civil war Soviet Russia as they reckon with their place in a rebuilding society. The movie begins with people worldwide attempting to understand a mysterious radio message, and the scene immediately makes Queen of Mars’ influence obvious. Seventy years later, its visuals were echoed by Emmerich as countries around the globe received transmissions from Independence Day’s invaders, then later used Morse code to coordinate a united counter-offensive. > > ... > > It’s in these Martian sequences that Aelita’s impact on sci-fi film can really be observed. The Mars of Los' dreams is filled with constructivist sets and extravagant costumes, the latter designed by Cubo-Futurist artist Aleksandra Ekster, a Ukrainian colleague of Pablo Picasso. The costume’s oblique shapes, born of industrial materials like aluminum, acrylics, and steel, provided modern aesthetics that later appeared in the sets and costumes of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Woman in the Moon. Both were produced at Germany’s UFA Studios, where Protazanov had worked in the early 1920s before returning to Russia after the revolution. > > ... > > Protazanov's unique style continued to influence films well into the 1980s, from a space opera revival of Flash Gordon to the low-budget queer sci-fi Liquid Sky, which New York Times writer J. Hoberman suggested had “a particularly Soviet quality,” noting that its “costumes, makeup, hairstyles, production design, and even the herky-jerky dances are also highly suggestive of Russia’s 1920s Constructivist avant-garde." He called it a "true ancestor" to Aelita.

> Filmmaker Mel Gibson has a couple of key sequels on his slate to direct in the coming years – namely a follow-up to “The Passion of the Christ” and a fifth “Lethal Weapon” entry. > > Both projects have been floated as possibilities for many years now, but they have also taken on a new urgency recently and are seemingly much closer to fruition than ever before. > > Gibson is also an industry veteran and is well aware of how film productions are all about various elements aligning just right – a big reason why so many filmmakers have multiple projects in development as you never know which one may suddenly be ready to move forward. > > Speaking with ComicBook.com, Gibson was asked what film he would direct first to which he said it’s not completely clear which of the films might go sooner: > > “I don’t know, and that’s the funny thing, I mean, there’s various obstacles to getting any film up on its feet, and not just budgetary, but there’s like, there’s 1,000,001 reason why something goes and why it doesn’t. So it’s really kind of a crapshoot at this point. You know, what goes first and which came first, whether it’s the chicken or the egg.” > > The comments follow on from Gibson revealing earlier this year that he was still planning on directing “Lethal Weapon 5,” stepping in for the late Richard Donner who passed away in 2021. > > Donner had done a bunch of work on a screenplay for a fifth film with Gibson getting further work done on it and, as of earlier this year, he was “pretty happy” with how it turned out. > > The comments also follow reports a week ago that Gibson has been in Malta with a production team scouting potential filming locations for the “Passion” sequel and production could begin as soon as early next year.

Personal opinion, neither? 🤷‍♂️😄

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17856559

> > The Paddington films have always been imbued with a deep love of cinema. Paul King’s Paddington and Paddington 2 revelled in creating handcrafted textures, both beautifully shot and making nods to classic slapstick comedies, prison escape dramas, and soundstage musicals. Next, Paddington is venturing out of London – make way for Paddington In Peru, a threequel that sees Douglas Wilson make his directorial debut, taking the reins from King, and sending our young furry hero (and the Brown family) on an Amazonian adventure. That change of location means an influx of new cinematic touchstones. > > > >Notably, Wilson mentions an influence from Werner Herzog’s jungle-traversing Aguirre, The Wrath Of God, and Fitzcarraldo. Yes, in a Paddington movie. It comes with the Peruvian territory – literally. “Peru has this incredible variety of landscapes, crazy geology, especially the Andes and the mysterious Incan side,” the director tells Empire. “If you’ve seen [Werner Herzog’s] Aguirre, The Wrath Of God, we go up into similar landscapes. And the people are incredibly friendly.” Part of the mission here is to portray that sense of place and culture. “Obviously there are mopeds and mobile phones and all that, but they do still seem to wear traditional-looking clothes in the rural Andes,” says Wilson. “So I tried to show some Peruvian culture; a Peruvian legend underlies our whole story.” And since Paddington In Peru features singing nuns (including Olivia Colman’s Reverend Mother), expect a bit of The Sound Of Music and Black Narcissus in the mix.

> The new Hellboy movie, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, is skipping theatres and going right to a digital release this October (8th)

Can we talk about? - Fan service getting out of control.

By Martyn Conterio [Total Film magazine, October 2024 issue]

‘Get away from her, you bitch.’ Great line. Actually, it's iconic. But when it's uttered towards the end of Alien: Romulus, you won't believe your ears. Same goes for the other memorable bits cribbed directly from Ridley Scott's Alien and James Cameron's Aliens. Because it's not just dialogue: there are shots replicated, moments revisited from the series (and video game Alien: Isolation) and one familiar actor from the franchise is brought back from the dead with VFX.

In such instances, does fan service start to feel like a snake eating its own tail? Say what you like about the various merits (or lack thereof) of anything after Aliens, but each film had a distinct identity. Alien movies should aspire to be more than fan fiction.

Audiences have always gotten a kick out of movies referencing other movies (they were doing it as far back as the silent era). But fan service is a relatively new phenomenon linked to properties such as the MCU, the DCEU and Star Wars. A savvy, geek-literate audience now demands Easter eggs and callbacks in every film, every show, and acts vocally disappointed when those treats fail to materialise to their satisfaction.

‘A SAVVY, GEEK-LITERATE AUDIENCE NOW DEMANDS CALLBACKS IN EVERY FILM, EVERY SHOW’ f0026-03 Fury Road: fan service done right (ALAMY) Still, fan service can be creative. George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road provided a laundry list of nods to the original Mad Max trilogy: it just didn't shout about it. And the nostalgia factor worked too - primarily because it was Miller's own creation, not somebody else's.

The recent Deadpool & Wolverine is another film stuffed to the gills with scenes designed to cause whooping, hollering, and ‘amagawd’ reactions in the auditorium. Meanwhile, 2023's The Flash is a comic-book spectacle that delivered fan service up the wazoo. Did we really need Michael Keaton returning as Batman? Or a CGI Nicolas Cage as Superman (in reference to Tim Burton's abandoned 1990s project)?

How can a blockbuster film stand any chance of becoming a potentially beloved classic on its own terms? A line must be drawn between heartfelt homage and unnecessary (and lazy) nostalgia.

We all love these characters, these franchises, but it's how they're served creatively that matters the most.

> Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, known for starring in Barbie and Saltburn, are to join forces in a major new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights. > >The Australian actors will play Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff in director Emerald Fennell's adaptation of the classic Emily Bronte novel, set on the tempestuous Yorkshire moors. > >They may be two of Hollywood's hottest stars, and it may be one of the most enduring love stories ever written, but their casting has left many film fans unimpressed. > >"Did anyone actually read the book before deciding this?" asked the Independent's film critic Clarisse Loughrey. > >Some pointed out that Catherine is in her teens in the book, while Heathcliff is described in the novel, written in 1847, as "dark-skinned". > >"White Heathcliff and 34-year-old Cathy, and they both look like they belong on Instagram. I'm obsessed," wrote TV and film critic Gavia Baker-Whitelaw. > >She added: "Emerald Fennell does it again [derogatory]." > > The Collider critic and editor Maggie Boccella vented: "It is painfully obvious that Fennell doesn’t actually care about Wuthering Heights’s themes. > >"She just wants to make a tortured lovers drama with a name that’ll put butts in seats. As though her last two movies didn’t make that shallowness obvious already."

Giving my perspective so far with the new show that I doubt most people are giving a watch (I was forced to try it lol). It's only 2 episodes in, the first episode I wasn't that impressed with. It seemed to be wrapping up other storylines and trying to branch into it's new, own thing. It was a confusing episode trying to get a grasp of what they were doing. But, with the previous enjoyment of wandavision (at least the first few episodes of it), I decided to push through.

Then comes Episode 2, just completely blew me away. Not like it's a masterpiece but definitely feels like Marvel is attempting to let them do their own thing atm and is one of the best "Witch" related media since the Hocus Pocus original (made me realize that genre just completely fell off since the 90's with decently made stories that wasn't an action "van-helsing/hugh jackman" kinda thing. I'm really looking forward to where they might be taking this.

---

Spoiler for talking about some characters that show up but no plot points exposed

With Episode 1 I felt like Aubrey Plaza was shoehorned in because of her status, she did nothing for the plot besides something that could've been fleshed out with the Teen character better. The Teen character itself I'm not too thrilled with only because of my confusion on the hierarchy of everything. He has good scenes, but his role seems to fluctuate for plot needs, just needs more fleshed out with him to be realistic but obviously this was a choice that was made.

I really feel like I need to watch Wandavision again because the Agatha in this show seems completely different, I'm not sure if it's my perception from a show I watched over 3 years ago or if there's some Marvel rewriting shenanigans going on here. I definitely am interested in looking into the comic origin and storylines now though from this show.

---

I wanted to highlight the song in episode 2 as well, utterly beautiful.

Agatha All Along Coven Sings The Ballad of the Witches' Road Episode 2

(I'm trying to think of a better Marvel song, but now I can't even think of any real singing besides this one)

Anyways, the 3rd episode drops in like 8 hours. Haven't followed a show while it's releasing in a while, and typically I don't, but I'm gonna try this one out. If it turns out great, awesome. If it's a horrible rest of the season, at least I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the hype of it while waiting for the next one.

tl;dr Episode 1, a little rough going down and finding it's footing. Episode 2, really has me excited for a real witch show about witches (doesn't feel like Marvel). Episode 3 drops tonight.

AGBO Creative Chief spills details about the upcoming sci-fi film, The Electric State

Angela Russo-Otstot, sister of Joe and Anthony Russo, shares new information on their production company’s new ambitious film.

September 24th 2024, 9:01am The Russo Brothers' sci-fi adventure film The Electric State, starring Millie Bobby Brown, has secured a PG-13 rating

The Russo brothers have quite a bit on their plate. Not only are they returning to one of the biggest franchises in movies with future Avengers films, but the brothers’ artist-led production company, AGBO, is also bringing the Citadel franchise to Prime Video with its many incarnations, as well as finally releasing their long-awaited sci-fi film, The Electric State, next year in March. The Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown film would finally secure a rating from the MPA with a PG-13 for sci-fi violence/action, language and some thematic material.

The Hollywood Reporter recently got to sit down with the Russo’s sister, Angela Russo-Otstot, who is the Creative Chief for AGBO, as she talks about the upcoming projects from their company. Russo-Otstot would divulge some details about The Electric State. She calls the film “a really interesting exploration of a world where service robots live alongside humans. Within their time performing specific services for humans, the robots start to realize that they may want something more than the purpose they [were made] for, and the humans begin to fear this. So, eventually, a conflict plays out. There’s a war between the humans and the robots, and the humans leverage technology to win, and they take all of the robots and banish them into an exclusion zone in the middle of a desert wasteland in the center of the U.S. But it’s a global conflict as well. So there are other stories and narratives that can play out in different countries around the world, but we witness the U.S. story in this film.”

Russo-Otstot also mentions that the robots “have a real nostalgia to them.” Some of them are based on actual brands, like Woody Harrelson’s Mr. Peanut-inspired robot. “And I remember when we had to approach Hormel to ask permission to do this. We were like: ‘It has to be Mr. Peanut. We have to make this work.’ And fortunately, it did work out.”

The Russo sister also talks a bit of the background behind the film, saying, “It’s a wonderfully imaginative alternate history that takes place in the 1990s. It’s based on an illustrated novel by an artist [from Sweden] named Simon Stålenhag.” It was adapted by frequent Russo and Marvel collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. “They were the writers that did all four of the Marvel movies that Anthony and Joe directed. They work at our company as the co-presidents of story department. Christopher found this book on Facebook in a crowdfunding. And he said, there’s a movie here. And so we optioned the book, and he and Stephen built out a really rich mythology. There was an existing mythology in the book, but they expanded upon it.”

Casino Royale filmmaker Martin Campbell directs, with Ridley starring alongside Clive Owen and Taz Skylar. Anton produces with UK outfit Qwerty Films.

The story begins when a group of radical activists take over an energy company's annual gala in London, seizing 300 hostages. But their cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, played by Ridley, to save the day.

Sky Cinema has snapped this up for broadcast in UK/Ireland early next year. Personally, I'm interested in seeing Daisy in an action role that sounds very Statham-y.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17862282

> > M. Night Shyamalan is the producer for an upcoming thriller titled Caddo Lake, formerly The Vanishings At Caddo Lake, and the official trailer has been released this afternoon > > > > ... > > > > “The plot revolves around when an 8-year-old girl mysteriously vanishes on Caddo Lake, a series of past deaths and disappearances begin to link together, forever altering a broken family’s history.” > > > > ... > > > > The inspiration for Caddo Lake was sparked after filmmakers, Celine Held and Logan George, came across a photograph of the real Caddo Lake online, leading to many visits to the cypress forest that rests on the border of Texas and Louisiana. The film was shot in late 2021 and 2022 in and around Karnak, Texas. > > Trailer > > IMDb

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17806295

> cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17805465 > > > > Horror can be a difficult genre to get into. While its fans enjoy feeling the tension provided by a good horror movie, those who are less experienced with the genre often don't enjoy that feeling. But, for many, a comedic tone can help to remedy this issue. > > > > > > Horror comedies are a great way to get into the genre. Horror is all about building tension, but laughter is all about relieving it. As a result, the best horror comedies don't stay tense for too long because they know when to put audiences on edge, while also knowing when to make them feel comfortable with a joke. The filmmakers behind these movies expertly blend screams and laughs to create horror films that are perfect for those who don't typically like the genre. > > > > 1. 'Evil Dead II' (1987) > > 2. 'Shaun of the Dead' (2004) > > 3. 'Zombieland' (2009) > > 4. 'Ready or Not' (2019) > > 5. 'The Cabin in the Woods' (2012) > > 6. 'Gremlins' (1984) > > 7. 'Freaky' (2020) > > 8. 'Tucker & Dale vs. Evil' (2010) > > 9. 'Killer Klowns from Outer Space' (1988) > > 10. 'Happy Death Day' (2017)

> The Irish thriller Bring Them Down starring Barry Keoghan has won Best Picture at the Texas film festival Fantastic Fest. > >Described in the festival's programme as a "beautifully crafted and assured character piece", Bring Them Down won Best Picture in the main competition of the annual Austin-based Fantastic Fest. > > ... > > The debut feature of writer-director Christopher Andrews, Bring Them Down is billed as "a suspenseful thriller that observes the escalating tensions of two farming families in the west of Ireland, whose actions have increasingly devastating consequences". > >The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17846396

> > While there’s no telling if or when a certain other Black vampire film will make its way into theaters, the first trailer for writer / director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is here, and it looks sick as hell. > > > >We’ve seen Coogler direct powerful pieces of dramatic social commentary like Fruitvale Station and blockbuster genre features like the Black Panther films, but he’s turning to straight horror with his latest project. Set in the 1930s Jim Crow South, Sinners revolves around twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who return to their small-town home hoping to start new lives, only to find something deeply sinister waiting for them. In the daytime, there’s an unsettling presence lurking in the shadows that keeps the townsfolk (Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, and Li Jun Li) looking over their shoulders. > > Trailer

> One thing Marvel fans may be asking themselves after watching the first trailer for Thunderbolts* is, "Why is there an asterik at the end of the name?" It's definitely an interesting question, especially because the asterik was added last year after Marvel Studios made some adjustments to its release calendar. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige even confirmed the asterik was an official part of the Thunderbolts* title, though he didn't elaborate on exactly what it means. Of course, that isn't going to stop us from speculating, and there are some clues that point us to some adaptations from the comics that are tied to the Avengers. > >Thunderbolts* features a diverse cast of characters, headlined by Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier), David Harbour (Alexei / The Red Guardian), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine). As Yelena referenced in the trailer, every member of the Thunderbolts has a shady past. After the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, there doesn't appear to be an official team of Avengers operating in the MCU. This leaves a void that the Thunderbolts are perfectly suitable to fill. Valentina may also be the person who purchased Avengers Tower, which is another clue to the Thunderbolts* asterik. What if the Thunderbolts are meant to replace the Avengers, even taking on their name? > > Following the Secret Invasion event, which saw the alien Skrulls infiltrate and attack Earth, Marvel Comics transitioned to its "Dark Reign" publishing initiative, with Norman Osborn put in charge of the global peacekeeping entity known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Norman renamed S.H.I.E.L.D. into H.A.M.M.E.R. and dressed up some of Marvel's most infamous villains as fan-favorite heroes, dubbing them the Dark Avengers. Norman gained this rise in prominence by helping to defeat the Skrulls during Secret Invasion.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17806786

> > The 1980s were a great decade for science fiction movies in general, and this included some great sci-fi comedies. With Blade Runner, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and two classic Star Wars movies, the 1980s was filled with classic sci-fi movies that changed the genre forever. This change was reflected in some great comedies too, many of which spoofed the genre's many tropes. > > > > Movies like Back to the Future and Ghostbusters showed that sci-fi could be hilarious while still telling fascinating stories. Some of the best sci-fi comedies of the decade would still be just as compelling with their humor ripped out, and this is often what separates a good comedy from a great one. Many of the decade's funniest sci-fi movies started long-running franchises, while others have a distinctly 1980s feel that gives them a nostalgic quality. > > 1. Back To The Future (1985) > 2. Ghostbusters (1984) > 3. Brazil (1985) > 4. Spaceballs (1987) > 5. Back To The Future Part II (1989) > 6. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) > 7. Repo Man (1984) > 8. Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989) > 9. Short Circuit (1986) > 10. Weird Science (1985)