PLOT: A family moves into a house with a supernatural presence.
REVIEW: I’m sure I can be forgiven for rolling my eyes when I heard the logline for Presence. I’ve seen my share of haunted house movies and was wary of anything being added to this well-worn genre. However, director Steven Soderbergh and his writer David Koepp have once again subverted expectations, making this a supernatural tale that’s light on horror but heavy on heart.
The big selling point here will be that Soderbergh’s camera is always from the perspective of the presence itself (no one uses the term ghost here), making it an interesting visual exercise. The family is observed from an arm’s length, with us eventually realizing that the presence itself isn’t necessarily malignant, nor is it even aware of why it’s in their home in the first place.
The movie mostly centers around Callina Lang’s Chloe, who is mourning the death of her best friend from an opioid overdose. Her brother, Eddy Maday’s Tyler, has a cruel streak and chases popularity at school. At the same time, her mother, played by Lucy Liu, is often drunk and seems on the verge of being arrested for a white-collar crime (which we never learn the details of). Luckily, Chloe’s father, played by This is Us star Chris Sullivan (who worked with Soderbergh on The Knick), is supportive if also preoccupied with the notion that his wife’s crimes may make him guilty in the eyes of the law. Chloe is also pursued romantically by an older boy (West Mulholland), whom the presence seems to be trying to make Chloe stay away from.
More than anything, Presence seems like a filmmaking exercise for Soderbergh, with him using technological innovations over the last few years to give the film a unique identity. It continues the experimental vibe he kicked off following his short-lived early retirement, and I’ll take something like this over his watered-down Magic Mike’s Last Dance any day.
By its nature, Presence is a film you have to be patient with, and the style of the film takes a while to get into because of how unconventional it is. Yet, in the second half, as it becomes more emotionally grounded and the stakes get higher, Presence starts to really work. The cast is excellent, with Callina Lang a real find in the film’s most important role. Eddy Maday initially comes off as a near sociopathic bully, but as the movie goes on, the better side of his character starts to peer through. Meanwhile, Chris Sullivan is touching as the overwhelmed but loving father who also lives to regret his culpability in whatever his wife might have done. Lucy Liu is nuanced as the loving but preoccupied and anxious mother who knows her time might be running out and tries to make up excuses for her actions by drunkenly telling her favoured child that whatever she did, it was out of love for her family. To Liu’s credit, she never tries to water this character down and manages to hold our sympathy throughout.
While its experimental nature means that Presence will be one of Soderbergh’s more niche efforts, it’s still technically impeccable and moving once you settle into it. It’s an interesting exercise for a director who never fails to innovate.
It has all led to this. While 2023’s box office numbers were less than stellar and a number of big-budget franchises weren’t able to live up to the hype they once had, the Academy Awards nominations had plenty of notable names and titles to choose from. The big story of last year, Barbenheimer, has yet to burn out as both movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer, continue to walk hand-in-hand as their journey would travel all the way to the Oscars. Oppenheimer may not have had the kind of business that Barbie saw, but with everything that could very well have worked against the Christopher Nolan film, its success had still blown up (pun intended). Inversely, a movie like Barbie was a curious project from the start purely due to the kind of names that would be behind the project. Now, the summer movie whose source material stemmed from a toyline exceeded expectations to become recognized on the biggest platform in the film industry.
Some of the other big stories of the year include the much-acclaimed film from cinema legend Martin Scorsese, Killers of the FlowerMoon, which features a breakthrough performance by the newcomer Lily Gladstone. Gladstone has already taken home some statuettes and was seen as a favorite from the start. However, Emma Stone also made huge waves with her performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Meanwhile, Paul Giamatti, has rightfully been getting recognition for his latest role in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, which he also rightfully celebrated at In-N-Out Burger. The nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards have now been announced and you can view the list below.
The major nomination announcements courtesy of the Academy livestream on Deadline:
Best Supporting Actor: Stirling K. Brown – American Fiction Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer Ryan Gosling – Barbie Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things
Best Adapted Screenplay: American Fiction Barbie Oppenheimer Poor Things The Zone of Interest
Best Original Screenplay: Anatomy of a Fall The Holdovers Maestro May December Past LIves
Best Supporting Actress: Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple America Ferrera – Barbie Jodie Foster – Nyad Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Best Original Song: “The Fire Inside” – Flamin’ Hot “I’m Just Ken” – Barbie “It Never Went Away” – American Symphony “Wahzhahzie” – Killers of the Flower Moon “What was I Made For?” – Barbie
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper – Maestro Colman Domingo – Rustin Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction
Best Actress: Annette Benning – Nyad Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall Carey Mulligan – Maestro Emma Stone – Poor Things
Best Director: Justine Triet – Anatomy of a Fall Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things Jonathan Glazer – The Zone of Interest
Best Picture: American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things The Zone of Interest
Todd McFarlane has said that 2024 will be the “make or break year” for getting another Spawn project off the ground. And while we have every right to be skeptical on the matter – McFarlane isn’t exactly the most reliable on this front – fans of the character and the 1997 movie may still hold out hope. But will Michael Jai White return for Spawn 2?
As it turns out, Michael Jai White doesn’t give Spawn all that much thought, although he could potentially consider a return. “I really don’t think much about the sequel. If I was invited to do it, then I’d apply myself toward it, but I mean, I think it’s been talked about for a very long time. And it seems that Todd McFarlane has been leading that conversation.” But for White, there would have to be some conditions if he would suit up again. “I think that to do a sequel is to do it as a hard R and make it very dark and badass. I think it needs to be like the cartoon or plain and simple: the comic book. Outside of that, I don’t think I’d be interested in doing it if it wasn’t going for the jugular.” He added, “I wasn’t that impressed with the first one, even though I’m involved with it, but even then, I thought it should be like the comic book, or the series, you know, and I don’t know why such a dark character was going for PG-13. I think, just like I thought in the beginning, it should be real badass.”
In the years since Spawn there has been plenty of speculation not just on a sequel but even a potential reboot starring Jamie Foxx at Blumhouse, although Michael Jai White wasn’t confident on McFarlane’s pitch to barely show the lead. That it would apparently have the studio’s “edge” to it hasn’t exactly built hype, either.
Outside of Spawn, Michael Jai White has rarely stepped back into the superhero game, although he did turn up as Ben Turner aka Bronze Tiger on Arrow, later reprising him in animated form for Batman: Soul of the Dragon.
Do you think it’s too late for Michael Jai White to return as Spawn? Should any version of the property move forward or is the fanbase not there anymore? Give us your thoughts below!
Prime Video recently revealed, after months of speculation, that it would be going ahead with The Terminal List Season 2. They also announced they have big plans for the extended universe, with Taylor Kitsch’s character, Ben Edwards, also set to get a spin-off prequel series. While the SAG/AFTRA strike delayed the start of Season 2, it looks like things are finally getting rolling for what may well turn out to be a massive franchise for the streamer.
Here’s everything we know about The Terminal List Season 2 and beyond.
When will it shoot?
Recently, we spoke to Antoine Fuqua, one of the show’s executive producers and the director of the pilot, while he was promoting The Equalizer 3. According to him, they’re ready to go but just on hold because of the strikes. “We’ve been scouting and we’re ready to go,” said Fuqua. “I love that franchise and that series.”
What book will The Terminal List Season 2 be based on?
Author Jack Carr previously revealed that the second season, were it to happen, would be based on his novel True Believer. In it, the American government offers Chris Pratt’s James Reece a deal. As the first season ended, he was among the world’s most wanted fugitives, as he’s technically a domestic terrorist. Yet, when a London holiday fair is attacked, Reese winds up having a connection to a shadowy Iraqi commando that the government needs, leading to them cutting him a deal.
What about James Reece’s cancer?
If the series follows the books, Reece will eventually undergo surgery to remove his tumor, but in the books, this didn’t happen until the third instalment, Savage Son. Given that the books are still being written, you can reasonably assume he survives.
Who will play Raife Hastings?
In the books, raise Hastings is a South African-born former SEAL, and at the end of Terminal List Season 1, Reece is on his way to see him in Mozambique. The character is supposed to be a lot like Reese in some ways, so it might make sense to cast another of the Chris’s, with Chris Hemsworth the popular choice online. However, the role might be too close to his role in the Extraction movies. Alexander Skarsgard is another popular choice.
Will Constance Wu return?
The character Constance Wu played, Katie Buranek, survives the bloodbath ending Terminal List Season 1 and returns as a significant character in the third novel, Savage Son. It’s possible Wu might sit out the next series (or have a smaller role) but one could reasonably assume she’ll be back at some point.
Will Taylor Kitsch’s Ben Edwards be back? (SPOILERS)
Given how The Terminal List Season 1 ended, with Reece killing Kitsch’s Ben Edwards after learning he betrayed his team and was responsible for the chaos that killed his family, I don’t think you’ll see him come back. But, Prime Video seems keen on exploring what made Edwards compromise himself so thoroughly, with them announcing that a Ben Edwards prequel series will (per Deadline) “explore Ben’s journey from Navy SEAL to CIA paramilitary operator, exploring true darker side of warfare and the human cost that comes with it.” Indeed, recent news suggests we may actually see this series BEFORE the next season of Terminal List, with Prime Video releasing a poster with a new title, Dark Wolf. It also seems that Chris Pratt will reprise his role in the new series.
When will The Terminal List Season 2 air?
Don’t expect to see The Terminal List Season 2 anytime soon. While it’s been given the green light, these adaptations of Carr’s novels are intricate, given their reliance on action. No casting has happened yet, so It’s unlikely we’ll see the show return in 2024, although it’s possible the prequel may air before the end of the year. Read our review of the first season here!
In September of 2021, writer/director Gary Dauberman went into production on a new adaptation of Stephen King‘s novel Salem’s Lot (buy a copy of the novel HERE), which has previously been brought to the screen as two separate three hour mini-series; once in 1979, and again in 2004. Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot was originally set to reach theatres on September 9, 2022, but then Warner Bros. decided to push it back seven months due to “COVID-related delays in the post-production realm” soon after it underwent some reshoots in the spring of 2022. Then, on August 24, 2022, Warner Bros. announced that Salem’s Lot was losing its April 21, 2023 release date to Evil Dead Rise. That was over one year ago – and yet Warner Bros. has never announced another release date for the film. For an entire year, Salem’s Lot, a hugely anticipated 2023 horror title, has been effectively shelved, and there’s no sign of it making its way out into the world.
Why is Warner Bros. sitting on Salem’s Lot? It’s not exactly clear. Sure, they have been busy releasing plenty of other movies in 2023 – in addition to Evil Dead Rise, their releases have included Creed III, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Barbie, and Meg 2: The Trench. But that still doesn’t give any excuse for why Salem’s Lot doesn’t have a release date somewhere on their slate. In general, horror has been performing well at the box office, with Saw X earning rave reviews and making more money than the last several films in the franchise. The Exorcist: Believer, despite poor reviews, also did fairly well, even when faced with Taylor Swift’s box office juggernaut Eras Tour movie. Five Nights at Freddy’s got terrible reviews, but was still a record-breaking smash. What’s even more puzzling about the delay is that the Dauberman-penned The Nun II was a box office juggernaut. So why isn’t WB releasing Salem’s Lot? With no big stars in the cast, it seems like the perfect film to release during a SAG strike.
The delay doesn’t seem to be an indication of Salem’s Lot’s quality, because there have been at least two test screenings of the movie that have gone over quite well. (You can get information from this YouTube report of a test screening reaction.) The biggest complaint I’ve seen is that the movie favors jump scares over character development – which I can’t say is surprising. Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot reportedly has a running time of 113 minutes, and it would have been a difficult task to condense King’s story into that much time and still include a ton of character work. Plus, if you know Dauberman’s previous works (he was written the Annabelle movies and The Nun, worked on the recent It films, and directed Annabelle Comes Home), you know he loves jump scares. So it was a given that Salem’s Lot would be filled with the jumps.
Stephen King himself has shared his (mostly positive) opinion on the film, writing on his X account that “The Warner Bros remake of SALEM’S LOT, currently shelved, is muscular and involving. It has the feel of “Old Hollywood,” when a film was given a chance to draw a breath before getting to business. When attention spans were longer, in other words. It feels like a horror movie version of slow-burn movies like THE GREAT ESCAPE. It builds very well. There are diversions from the book I don’t agree with, but on the whole, faithful. Best scene: Danny Glick in the hospital, trying to claw down a blood bag. The Glick scene could have been directed by John Carpenter in his prime.“
Making Warner Bros’ apparent lack of interest in releasing Salem’s Lot even stranger is the fact that they were excited enough about it to early footage to CinemaCon attendees back in April of 2022. But that excitement seems to have faded, and they never bothered to share that trailer online. The only bit of promotion we’ve seen, the only image that has been released from the film, graces the cover of a movie tie-in edition of King’s novel.
A rumor recently surfaced that Warner Bros. is considering releasing the film on the Max streaming service. As per a recent Variety report, “A source with knowledge of the back-and-forth says the move is not a reflection of the film’s quality but is due to the fact that the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike has created a growing need for Max content. Salem’s Lot is one of a few Warner Bros. films deemed to make the jump. But a Warner Bros. spokesperson said, “No decision has been made about the film’s future distribution plans.”
That is echoed in a Deadline report about WB’s decision to scrap the Looney Tunes movie Coyote vs. Acme, turning it into a tax write-off. Deadline writes, “There’s been buzz out there that the Gary Dauberman-directed, James Wan-produced feature take on Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, once destined for a theatrical release, is going to Max as the streamer needs product due to the inventory deficiencies created by the strikes. Warners says in regards to Salem’s Lot that the jury is still out and its brass hasn’t determined the vampire pic’s fate yet. Still, King is a brand name at the box office, and this is one of his classics. And horror works vibrantly at the B.O. post-pandemic. Surely, a $10M bare-minimum box office opening isn’t the worst thing in the world for a movie that will get legged out on Max, but it boils down to whether Warners wants to shell out $40M in marketing costs.” So, nobody knows. Rather than spend $40 million on marketing, maybe they’ll just decide to scrap this one and use it for a tax write-off, too. It wouldn’t be a surprising move for the current WB regime. I don’t agree with this “scrapped for a tax write-off” tactic at all, but they seem to like doing it.
With over a year having gone by since Salem’s Lot lost its last release date, here’s hoping that Warner Bros. will be making a solid decision about the film’s distribution very soon.
Dauberman’s take on Salem’s Lot is said to be set in 1975, the same year King’s novel was first published. Here’s the synopsis: Haunted by an incident from his childhood, author Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover the town is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and his loyal servant.
The film stars Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick) as Ben Mears; Makenzie Leigh (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) as Ben’s love interest Susan Norton; Spencer Treat Clark (The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014) as Mike Ryerson, “one of the town’s simple folk”; Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave) as Matthew Burke, “a former high school English teacher who knows about the Marsten House’s evil past and helps out Ben”; Alfre Woodard (Star Trek: First Contact) as Dr. Cody; Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones) as the vampire’s familiar Richard Straker; and John Benjamin Hickey (Hostiles) as Father Callahan. William Sadler (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) is also in the cast, but it was never officially revealed who he’s playing. Alexander Ward (American Horror Story) might show up as the vampire Kurt Barlow.
Are you looking forward to Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The first half of Invincible season 2 premiered on Prime Video two months ago, leaving fans anxious for the final four episodes of the season. Well, Prime Video has finally released the official release date for the second half of Invincible season 2. The animated series is set to return on March 14th, with four new episodes airing weekly.
Based on the comic series by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Invincible follows Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), the son of an extraterrestrial superhero known as Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). Mark later inherits his father’s abilities, including great strength, flight, speed, and some invulnerability, and becomes the superhero known as Invincible. He also discovers that his father’s race, the Viltrumites, doesn’t exactly have peaceful intentions toward Earth. In addition to Steven Yeun and J.K. Simmons, Invincible also features the voices of Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, and more.
Prime Video’s initial renewal of Invincible included two more seasons, which means that we’ve got a third season to look forward to as well. “I’m extremely thankful to Amazon for the support and dedication they’ve put behind Invincible,” Kirkman said in a statement at the time. “The comic book is truly a love letter to a genre that Cory [Walker] and I grew up reading and loving, and it’s been a gratifying journey to watch our characters come to life again through the animated series. We’re beyond excited to continue this story for at least two more seasons.“
As far as how many seasons Invincible could last, Kirkman isn’t certain but said last year that seven or eight sounds about right. “I’m trying not to pin it down to a number, because it is somewhat of a moving target,” Kirkman said. “I think in the seven-to-eight-season range seems like it would be enough. But there could be some things we move through a little faster, some things we expand. If we’re fortunate enough to go for a good long time, I think that would be enough to cover the entire comic. And there are some things along the way that didn’t get into the comic that I’d like to do. I think it’d be cool to have some episodes here and there that are completely original. So that’s part of the plan moving forward.“
Just when I was finally coming to accept that The Knick was never going to come back, André Holland had to get my hopes up all over again. While speaking with The Wrap, Holland said that The Knick season 3 is still alive.
Following the cancelation of The Knick after two amazing seasons, word emerged that Moonlight director Barry Jenkins was developing a third season with André Holland, but since then… nothing. When The Wrap asked Holland what the premise of that third season would have been, the actor didn’t want to say anything as it could still happen. “I would tell you but there is still a possibility [it could happen],” Holland said. “We are working very hard to make it happen. Keep writing about it, keep talking about it and maybe we can convince the powers that be to write the check.” He said that Jenkins is still involved and that the pair “talked a couple of nights ago and he’s still in lockstep with us.“
Following the brilliant but unstable Dr. John Thackery (Clive Owen) and the staff of New York’s Knickerbocker Hospital during the early twentieth century. Holland played Dr. Algernon Edwards in the first two seasons of the show, the assistant chief surgeon at the Knick who encounters discrimination from both his fellow doctors and the patients themselves. Steven Soderbergh directed all twenty episodes of The Knick, but the original plan was for the series to undergo something of a soft reboot every two seasons, with a new director stepping in to shape the course of the series.
Soderbergh told The Playlist in 2021 that he originally had a six-year plan for the series, with a massive time jump every two years. “Our six-year plan was Seasons One and Two as you saw it,” Soderbergh said. “Seasons Three and Four were going to skip forward 50 years. It was going to be right after World War II, brand-new characters, brand-new cast. And Seasons Five and Six were going to be set five minutes into the future, with a mix of actors from the previous four seasons. I was really excited to do all of that.”
The Knick is one of my favourite TV shows of the modern era, so I would absolutely love to see season 3. It would likely be different from the first two seasons, but to just enter that world again would be a treat.
The long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick was an overwhelming success, earning rave reviews and grossing $1.4 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing movie of Tom Cruise’s career. Considering those box-office bucks, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Paramount is developing Top Gun 3 with Cruise expected to reprise his role as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell alongside Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller) and Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin (Glen Powell).
When the Top Gun 3 news broke, Glen Powell told Variety that his phone immediately blew up. “People looked at me like I knew what was going on,” Powell said. “There is going to be some fun stuff being announced soon…but it was confidential to me. I talk to [Joseph] Kosinski, Cruise and Jerry [Bruckheimer] all the time. There is stuff happening and it sounds very exciting. I don’t know when I’ll be going back…I’m sure there is a jet waiting for me sometime in the future.“
Cruise has a number of projects in the works right now, including a new pact with Warner Bros., so there may be a bit of a wait for Top Gun 3, which I’m perfectly fine with. I’d rather them take the time to get it right rather than rush to get another sequel into theaters; and hell, we waited over thirty years for Maverick. We’ve got patience.
Glen Powell will next be seen in Hit Man, an action comedy which will debut on Netflix this summer. “A mild-mannered psychology professor (Glen Powell) interested in electronics takes a sideline bugging undercover cops in sting operations, specializing in setting up phony hits,” reads the official synopsis. “When the usual undercover guy is suspended, he’s enlisted to pose as a hitman. He turns out to be a natural at undercover work, with the police using him to entrap people taking out contracts. Things get complicated when he falls for an abused wife (Adria Arjona) wanting to take out her husband.” Our own Chris Bumbray caught Hit Man at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and loved it, calling it one of the most crowd-pleasing films he saw at the festival. You can check out Bumbray’s review right here. Hit Man will be released on Netflix on June 7th.
Halo Infinite is killing its seasonal model in 2024. Three years after its initial launch, the live-service multiplayer shooter is shifting toward more bite-sized, 20-level battle passes arriving every four to six weeks. Developer 343 industries announced the content change in its January update stream on January 19,…
Halo Infinite is killing its seasonal model in 2024. Three years after its initial launch, the live-service multiplayer shooter is shifting toward more bite-sized, 20-level battle passes arriving every four to six weeks. Developer 343 industries announced the content change in its January update stream on January 19,…
