Whether you’re trying to deal with the obnoxious son of the late Shinra president and his pesky pet or just learn a cool new trick to help you tackle Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s battles, we’ve got you covered this week. We’ve also got the lowdown on how to rank up your Fortnite Festival pass without playing the game,…
When Twin Peaks returned, it was everything and more that fans of the original series could have dreamed — or had nightmares about. A massive success, talk of a fourth season (whatever it may be called) was inevitable. But now that another seven years have passed since we last encountered the goings-on of that strange little Washington town — it had been more than 25 since the season two finale — some might wonder if the cast would be too old. Perhaps…And so what about revisiting the show with a younger lineup? Well, Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan is pretty much in line with what we would assume to be everybody else: that’s a terrible idea.
MacLachlan recently said that Twin Peaks should be left alone this time around, pointing to speculation that a younger generation could continue the story. “I don’t think I’d want to see that and I don’t think anyone should attempt it…You are like, ‘Don’t touch that,’ but they do, they can’t help but put their hand on the stove again. That is the problem.” Fortunately, it seems that that stove will remain untouched and pretty much all word for a fourth season of Twin Peaks has itself cooled, even though David Lynch initially had a “never say never” approach.
On the reception and following of the first airing of the series, MacLachlan added, “[The cast] all recognized how weird Twin Peaks was. We didn’t think it would get past ‘one and done’ and thought it might become a movie of the week but said that we had to be part of it because it is David Lynch.”
Twin Peaks: The Return would soon go on to be heralded as a masterpiece of television — and even film. While sitting somewhere between a third season and a full-blown miniseries, many have categorized it as a film, primarily going off of its nearly 17-hour runtime and story arc. The British Film Institute’s 2022 Sight & Sound poll even named it one of the greatest films ever, quite the endorsement from one of the most highly regarded organizations in the field. They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They? also placed it in their of the 1,000 greatest films ever, with it just outside of the top 500, although they have been more open about adding miniseries.
Do you agree with Kyle MacLachlan’s take that another return to Twin Peaks is unnecessary? Share your thoughts below!
The post Kyle MacLachlan says Twin Peaks should never be rebooted appeared first on JoBlo.
With The First Omen playing in theaters and earning solid reviews, and our own Omen Movie Rankings list having been posted yesterday. it’s your turn to weigh in on what you think is the best movie in this unholy franchise. Let us know by voting below, and let us know what you think of The First Omen in the comments!
The post POLL: What’s The Best Omen Movie? appeared first on JoBlo.
Plot: An insider account of how the women of “Newsnight” secured Prince Andrew’s infamous 2019 interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Review: Sometimes, pursuing a news story is as fascinating as the story itself. From All The President’s Men to Spotlight, countless films have looked at the reporters and journalists who have investigated the most significant revelations of all time and have garnered awards for the recreation of the tireless journey. The distance between the event and the dramatization often reminds audiences of the stakes at play, but Scoop chronicles a news story that occurred just six years ago. Led by Billie Piper as the producer who secured the shocking interview alongside Gillian Anderson, Romola Garai, Keeley Hawes, and Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew, Scoop has some exciting stories from an insider’s point of view. Still, it fails to generate anything we did not already get from the broadcast itself. Scoop is well-made but does not seem to be as relevant as it thinks it is.
Starting with photographs taken in 2010 linking Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Scoop spends the majority of its running time in 2019 in the weeks leading up to the now infamous Newsnight interview between journalist Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) and the Duke of York. At the time, the BBC was making significant budget cuts and installing new leadership to restore the ship. With Esme Wren (Romola Garai) now overseeing Newsnight, interview producer Sam McAlister (Billie Piper) uses her skills to contact Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes) to arrange an interview with the Duke. Thirsk, a longtime employee of the Royal Family, is convinced that if given the right platform the charm of Prince Andrew could convince the public of his innocence. The Duke seems oblivious to his actions’ stakes for the Royal Family, and they agree to the interview.
The first hour of Scoop is spent showing us the pursuit of the interview and giving us some background on McAlister. A single mother supporting her teenage son with the help of her mother, McAlister is brash and outspoken. Billie Piper plays McAlister as a British version of Erin Brockovich. Decked out in a Chanel coat with wavy hair and lots of makeup, McAlister is loud and proud in private, which belies an intuitive way of negotiating with people. Her demeanor builds barriers between McAlister and her boss, Esme Wren, and the acclaimed Emily Maitlis. Still, the three women connect over the knowledge that securing Prince Andrew for the interview is vital in the public interest. Everyone seems aware of the stakes of what this interview could reveal. Everyone that is except Prince Andrew. As the evidence continues to mount, the Prince focuses more on his day-to-day. The film presents him as somewhat clueless, with scenes focused on the weird organization of his stuffed animals and his repeated reference to Queen Elizabeth as “Mummy.”
While this is, first and foremost, a story about Sam McAlister’s role in securing the interview, Scoop does feature a lot of solid work from Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell. In some individual moments, both actors get to do what they do best, with Anderson great in a scene set in the park before her interview while Sewell, restrained by imitating Prince Andrew rather than playing a character, has a sad nude scene towards the end of the movie that speaks volumes. Most of the film’s last half hour is an exacting recreation of the interview featuring Anderson and Sewell replicating the broadcast verbatim but accentuated by the camera panning to the various behind-the-scenes reactions as it takes place. There is some interest in these moments, but Scoop never mines them for more than brief glimpses. So much focus is placed on the interview itself that after the movie wraps, it feels like the movie has been more about the actual sit-down rather than what it represents.
Scoop looks really good, directed by veteran television helmer Philip Martin and written by Peter Moffat. The recreations of Buckingham Palace and the interiors of the Newsnight offices at the BBC are where the movie spends the bulk of its running time, but seeing Sam McAlister taking the bus to and from work through the streets of London evokes the workmanlike and not glamorous work behind the scenes of a news program. While the interactions between the actors are good, especially between Gillian Anderson and Billie Piper, the movie does not do anything with the heavy material. So much of Scoop is spent building up the interview’s significance, but it never feels like it will not happen. There is little interference from the Queen or the Royal Family and no major roadblocks getting it to the public, so why are we meant to care? Philip Martin, who directed seven episodes of The Crown, treats this movie as a supplemental chapter in that series rather than anything that truly stands on its own.
Scoop is not a bad movie but it is something of a pointless one. Advertised as the story of the key women who brought this story to the public, it is never positioned as a story of feminism or women facing challenges in a male-dominated industry. Even if the angle had been a female-led cast in a story about women getting the upper hand against a man who sexually predated underage girls, the movie could have been something more energetic. Instead, this is a rote retelling of events without any gravitas behind it. It is a shame because all of the performances in Scoop were worthy of stronger material. Scoop feels like an hour-long dramatization stretched to a feature-length running time. It isn’t boring enough to be bad but not special enough to be good.
The post Scoop Review appeared first on JoBlo.
For most performers, building up a resume of over 150 projects is something that takes an entire lifetime to achieve, but for James Franco that is a feat he has accomplished at just 45 years old. This Freaky Geek was catapulted to fame in one of biggest comic book franchises of all time before settling in to his role as a performer who can take on any genre and any film no matter how big or small. But with a tremendous rise at such a young age, sometimes you don’t make the best decisions. For Franco, those bad decisions would come to light on the very night of his greatest professional achievement and begin a downfall that is sadly all too common in today’s world. At one point putting out up to 12 projects a year, Franco has taken a backseat as allegations against him began to pile up. It is time we examine the career and find out just WTF Happened to James Franco!
But as always, we must begin at the beginning, and the beginning started on April 19, 1978, in Palo Alto, California. When most people get into acting, they go in head first and start auditioning immediately. But Franco knew he wanted to study the craft before making a serious run at it, so he spent a year and a half training and taking acting classes before he began auditioning. Luckily, his first gig came quickly when he was cast in a Pizza Hut commercial before landing guest spots on shows like Pacific Blue and Profiler. But it would be 1999 when Franco, and several other prominent stars of today, had his actual break-out role… in a series that was cancelled after airing just 12 episodes. After having a supporting role in the Drew Barrymore film Never Been Kissed (1999), Franco would be cast as the bad boy in the short-lived yet cult classic television series Freaks and Geeks. The show premiered on September 25, 1999, and received solid critical acclaim yet only garnered around 7 million viewers, which in today’s world would be a genuine hit, but in 1999, it was seen as not very good. Despite the show’s cancellation, Franco and his cast mates would be nominated for Best Performance in a TV Series- Young Ensemble at the Young Artists Awards.
But even with a failed TV series on his resume, Franco was on the verge of something big. We don’t often associate TNT with made-for-TV movie career makers, but for James Franco, playing another actor named James would be the big break he was looking for when he was cast as James Dean in the film of the same name. When cast, Franco took the job seriously; having never smoked before, he became a two-pack-a-day kind of guy, as James Dean was, while also learning to ride a motorcycle and play several instruments. He even isolated himself from his family and friends, saying that Dean had this pervasive loneliness to him that he wanted to feel. That work paid off when Franco was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award and an Emmy Award while winning Best Actor in a Motion Picture Made for TV at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards and Critics Choice Awards.
In 2000, Franco graduated to the world of blockbuster films when he went in to audition for the role of Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, in a new film directed by Sam Raimi. Although he didn’t land that job, Raimi felt he would be perfect to portray Parker’s best friend who ultimately becomes his mortal enemy: Harry Osborn. Although there had been comic book films prior to this, Spider-Man can directly be attributed to the genre becoming what it has become. Not only was it the first film to ever open above $100 million at the domestic box office ultimately taking in $825 million worldwide. But that wasn’t the only film you could see James Franco in 2002; he also had roles in Deuces Wild, City by the Sea and a lead role in Nicolas Cage’s directorial debut, Sonny. After appearing in the 2003 film The Company, Franco would return to the world of blockbusters for the 2004 follow-up Spider-Man 2, the rare sequel that is widely regarded as superior to the original. In this one, Franco could really show the transition in his character. Whereas in the first movie, Peter Parker has the character ark of who he was to who he is, for Franco’s Harry Osborn, he was able to perform that ark over the course of three films, with this movie being the one that does a lot of the heavy lifting as he grapples with the fact that Spider-man killed his father, finding out that his best friend is Spider-Man and ultimately realizing what he has to do to avenge his father. In a big summer blockbuster film, Franco delivers an independent film’s level character performance.
With the mainstream success of the Spider-Man films, Franco would land leading roles in films such as The Great Raid (2005), Tristan & Isolde (2006), Annapolis (2006) and Flyboys (2006), the problem was none of these films really hit at the box office, pulling in just a combined $73.6 million worldwide. Franco would also pop up in smaller roles in films such as The Wicker Man and The Dead Girl. The Holiday, An American Crime as well as reuniting with his pals Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan for a cameo in Knocked Up. However, Franco’s biggest success, although the numbers and reviews may not support that claim, was when he decided to step behind the camera and make his directorial debut with the 2005 film The Ape. Granted, Variety did call it “Self-indulgent,” and it never received a theatrical release; it did start Franco down the path of directing, which some would say he certainly got better at as time went on.
Back on the big screen, Franco would finally get to go full villain in Spider-Man 3 when the ark of his character was complete, and he was able to fill in the mantle of his father and become the New Green Goblin. As a series, Franco was kind of the true star as we witnessed a true transformation from the best friend to the mortal enemy. But for Franco, I think he wasn’t super comfortable in those big blockbusters. He is more of an indie kind of guy, and so he would step back behind the camera for 2007’s Good Time Max, although audiences didn’t seem to enjoy that one giving it just a 49% audience score. He would finish out 2007 starring opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the under-rated In The Valley of Elah that was a timely film about the Iraq war and post-traumatic stress disorder when it was released in 2007. By this time, Franco was a pretty big star, so it was a bit of a shock when he decided to head back to TV, but not just any TV… Daytime Soap Opera TV when he appeared in over 30 episodes of the long-running General Hospital , playing a character named Franco.
In 2008, after appearing in the romantic comedy Camille, Franco would re-team with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen for the film Pineapple Express, where he played a stoner drug dealer. The R-rated film would be a much-needed success for Franco, who needed one outside of the superhero genre, pulling in over $100 million off a mid $20 million budget with Franco being awarded the High Times Stoner of the Year award as well as being nominated for a Golden Globe Award. He would finish out 2008 with an uncredited cameo in the Richard Gere/ Diane Lane film Nights in Rodanthe before appearing in the critically acclaimed film Milk where he played the much younger lover to San Francisco politician Harvey Milk. Franco said it was a dream fulfilled to be in a Gus Van Sant movie, saying he used to watch Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho obsessively.
Of course, you never know what you will get with James Franco. He would kick off 2010 by starring as Allen Ginsberg in the independent film Howl, which would see Franco nominated for several awards. He would follow that up with a comical turn in the Tina Fey/ Steve Carell starring Date Night before starring in the little-seen Shadows and Lies and a part in the Julia Roberts starring Eat Pray Love and directing the documentary Saturday Night, about the production process of Saturday Night Live. That was also when Franco was seen in the true story 127 Hours (2010) as a hiker who is forced to do something unfathomable to survive. Franco would be heralded for his performance in the Danny Boyle-directed film. He would receive several Nominations for his solo performance, including an Academy Award Nomination for Best Lead Actor. Although he didn’t win the Oscar, Franco would actually step foot on the stage at the Dolby Theater, as he and Anne Hathaway were the hosts for the evening. Sadly, that year, a year in which Franco gave one of his best performances ever, it wouldn’t be the film people were talking about the next day, but the pretty horrible job he did hosting the show.
Theatrically speaking, this is what James Franco does; he mixes up his output from independent character studies that go under the radar to films that grab the attention of critics to blockbuster films aimed at the popcorn-eating crowd with some solid comedies thrown in for good measure. And it isn’t even his name above the title that keeps him going; he is happy to just show up iniend’s a cameo in a fr project without receiving credit. Since 2011, he has had no less than 2 films released each year, with some years seeing up to 12 projects featuring the actor. Whether he has a small cameo in his pal Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet or appears in the comedy Your Highness while also launching the very lucrative franchise reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Then the next year, he shows up alongside Michael Shannon in The Iceman, playing an arms dealer who takes some unsuspecting young ladies under his tutelage in Spring Breakers, appearing on a Nick at Nite telenovela Hollywood Heights and appearing alongside Winona Ryder in The Letter to playing Hugh Hefner in Lovelace followed by reuniting with Sam Raimi and playing the man behind the curtain in Oz: The Great and Powerful to stepping back behind the camera for As I Lay Dying before starring in what is for my money one of the all-time funniest movies ever made This is the End. It shows that despite Franco many times being featured in very intense dramas and the calibreerformer he is, the guy is also a genius comedic talent of a dramatic p.
He would finish out 2013 by directing three more films, Palo Alto, Child of God and the documentary Interior. Leather Bar while also appearing in Third Person and Homefront and, of course, getting the dubious honour of being roasted by those closest to him in the Comedy Central Roast of James Franco and receiving the prestigious star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 2014 would see him take a bit of a break by appearing on an episode of Naked and Afraid before playing himself in the Veronica Mars movie, followed by starring in Good People while directing and starring in The Sound of Fury before almost bringing the United States to war with North Korea with the film The Interview. That’s right, a James Franco/ Seth Rogan film almost created an international conflict. Who says movies don’t have the power to change the world?
2015 would be his big year; 12 movies featuring the actor were released. Granted, most were independent or direct-to-video releases, but all showcased the range Franco has as a performer. Whether in the adaptation of Don Quixote to playing a man suspected of killing his wife and 3 children in True Story alongside titles such as Yosemite, I Am Michael, Queen of the Desert, Everything Will be Fine, Wild Horses, They Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards, The Adderall Diaries, Memoria while voicing The Fox in The Little Prince and having a hilarious cameo as himself in one of the best R rated Christmas movies ever made The Night Before while also appearing as Johnny Penis in the Hulu series Deadbeat.
Franco is a performer who just never seems to slow down; between 2016 and 2019, he appeared in no less than 28 projects, including Sausage Party and the comedy Why Him?, the Giancarlo Esposito directed The Show, Kin, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and the TV series Angie Tribeca while also appearing in and directing episodes of his hit mini-series 11.22.63 and The Duece while also directing the films In Dubious Battle, The Institute, Future World, The Pretenders and Zeroville. Of course, his biggest success in that time came when he directed a film about the making of a film that many deem to be the worst movie ever made: The Disaster Artist would bring Franco the respect he had longed for as a director since he began directing. It would be a film that was heralded for not just the direction but also the pitch-perfect portrayal of The Room star Tommy Wiseau.
On January 7, 2018, Franco took the stage at the Beverly Hilton where the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards were being held to accept his award for Best Actor in a Comedy; that night, he was sporting a pin on his lapel in solidarity with the fight against sexual misconduct. When he took the stage, Franco was experiencing the biggest high of his entire career. What he didn’t know was at that exact moment, a former costar of his, Ally Sheedy, whom Franco directed and appeared in the 2014 off-broadway play The Long Shrift, tweeted that “James Franco just won. Please never ask me why I left the film/TV business.” That tweet, ominous as it was, set off the internet where the 2014 incident where Franco admitted to texting and trying to meet up with a 17-year-old girl. Franco blamed the incident on “the trickyness of social media” while saying he exercised bad judgment. Franco would appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert just 3 days later, where Colbert asked the actor about these allegations and his wearing the pin in the face of the allegations. Franco said he had no idea what he did to Ally Sheedy and that other allegations against him were inaccurate.
Of course, those allegations were just the beginning. A month after winning the award, The Los Angeles Times published a report where five women accused Franco of exploiting his power to coerce these women into unwanted sexual encounters while he was a teacher at the Playhouse West acting school and his own Stage 4 School in Los Angeles with the woman saying that Franco took advantage of their desires to be part of the industry. Other women alleged that Franco would coerce this young woman into performing sexual acts in his films with the thought that it would help their careers. In 2019 two of these women sued Franco for Sexualizing his power as a teacher and employer by dangling potential roles in his projects. Although Franco maintained his innocence, he would reach a $2.2 million settlement in 2021 and admit that he did abuse his power by engaging in consensual sexual encounters with his students. He said that he started the school with the intention of helping students fulfill their dreams of being in show business and not as some sort of sick plan to sleep with woman, but he figured that if the sexual relationships were consensual, then it was okay, not recognizing the power dynamic between an award-winning professional actor and those who are still making their way in the industry.
And those bad decisions made by Franco have taken a toll on his career. As you can tell, Franco was the very definition of a working actor. Every year since his first project in 1997, Franco had something on TV or in theatres; sometimes, he had double-digit projects in a single year. This was a person who genuinely loved working in the entertainment industry and would give it 100%, whether it was a big-budget summer blockbuster or a role on a soap opera. Since winning the Golden Globe and the allegations against him, he has appeared on several podcasts where he talks about his addiction issues, both with alcohol and sex addiction. Franco does have a few films in the pipeline, including a film where he plays Fidel Castro, but the question is: Will James Franco ever get back to where he once was? It seems even Franco’s closest friends had not stuck by him when Seth Rogen said he has no plans to ever work with Franco again. His first movie in many years, The Price of Money: A Largo Winch Adventure, is set to come out in France on August 15th, but seems unlikely to have much of a US release planned, with the first two films in the franchise (which stars Tomer Sisley, who was recently outed for stealing material in his stand-up comedy specials) more or less when DTV in North America. Overall, it seems like a low-key comeback for an actor who was once one of the biggest stars in town. Alas, in a world where people like Louis CK continue to sell out their live performances, it seems like talented people can have resurrections, and as Franco seems to have shown genuine remorse for his actions and has proven he has immense talent, it is not unfathomable that we will see James Franco return to the limelight soon… just as long as he doesn’t ever host the Oscars again! And that is WTF Happened to James Franco.
The post What Happened to James Franco? appeared first on JoBlo.
One of the most anticipated movies of this season is one we never really expected: Dev Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man. But it could have slipped completely under the radar. And as it was originally set to be released exclusively on Netflix, the director and star knows that it took a lot of faith on the part of none other than Jordan Peele to get it to the big screen.
Speaking at Monkey Man’s Los Angeles premiere – after debuting at last month’s SXSW – Dev Patel said that Jordan Peele “took us from this thing that was brushed under the carpet to putting us on top of the mantel piece,” apparently referring to the reports that Netflix found the film too “gritty” for the service. “He saw the film; Jordan saw me as a filmmaker, someone broken out, like what he did with his amazing comedy show and became this filmmaker…He understood the strength of using genre to talk about more interesting motif things, societal issues, using it as a trojan horse.”
Jordan Peele has of course been a trojan horse himself with films like Get Out, giving minorities a voice in genre films – for him, horror – that they haven’t had to this degree. With Monkey Man, hopefully that will do something similar, especially considering the movie has been described as “John Wick in Mumbai.”
After Netflix essentially folded on the idea of Monkey Man, Universal picked it up for $10 million, giving it the theatrical release that all buzz points to being earned.
Here is the official synopsis of the movie: “Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash.. After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.”
Will you be checking out Dev Patel’s Monkey Man in theaters this weekend? Are you surprised at the strong response for the movie?
The post Dev Patel credits Jordan Peele for Monkey Man breaking from Netflix’s cage appeared first on JoBlo.
For day two of our Abigail set visit coverage, we got to speak with actors Kevin Durand and the legendary Giancarlo Esposito.
Recently, JoBlo was invited to visit the set of Radio Silence’s newest Universal monster movie, Abigail (CHECK OUT KATHRYN NEWTON INTERVIEW HERE), a film best described by the directors as “a heist movie hijacked by a monster movie.”
Just as the day was ending on day two, we returned to the Glenmaroon House, the massively beautiful set for the vampire film. Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, and Melissa Barrera welcomed us in as they were getting ready to film their big introduction to the crew, as seen in the brand new trailer. In this scene, Lambert (played by Giancarlo Esposito) tells a group of the heist the girl they kidnapped is the daughter of a “very wealthy man who is about to be 50 million dollars poorer.”
After filming, we got to sit down with Mr. Durand and Mr. Esposito. The following is a transcript of the round table interview.
Can you talk a little bit about your role?
KEVIN DURAND: “I play a guy named Peter, who is basically kind of a hired muscle of the crew. We’ve been hired to kidnap a target and then realize the target is a 12-year-old, and we think, ‘Well, this is too easy,’ and it turns out it’s not as easy as we thought. Peter’s always a couple of steps behind, partially because there’s a bit of a language barrier. I’m playing him like he’s from French Canada, like he’s from Montreal, which is my original – my first accent. So, I’m playing a French-Canadian guy who’s a little bit askew in trying to catch up and is not really okay with his line of work, so he drinks heavily.”
What’s Peter’s relationship with the rest of the crew?
“We kept no relationship. We’ve never seen each other before. None of us has any idea who the other is, so we were assembled because of that. “
Kathryn (Newton) was talking about how she came up with this three-minute dance number, speaking to how creative the collaboration is with Matt and Tyler. So, I was curious how that has been with you and if you have also evolved your character working with them.
“I came up with a 35-minute dance. And they promised me at the very end they will try to shoot it. It’s pretty funky.” He laughs. “Seriously, there’s a lot of freedom within the world they created. They have a ton of faith in the people they hire. For me to say ‘I want to make him French-Canadian,’ because for me it feels more personal, that was cool they were just open for that. And from scene to scene, beat to beat, we just throw all the shit at the wall and see what sticks. It’s a real nice collaboration.”
How does Peter react when things get weird?
“He doesn’t want to believe it. He’s very Catholic. And the very idea that vampires exist he’s like (in a French-Canadian accent) ‘There no such thing.’ He doesn’t believe it and then he’s being attacked by one.
Is there a specific element of the film that you are most excited about or anxious to see?
“Well, Alisha is so stunning. From the table read, I was like (whispering to himself) ‘Oh wow. I’m probably not that good of an actor. Shit. How does she know how to do all this shit already?’ It’s unreal. She’s really a phenomenal talent. But I’m really, truly, excited for the entire thing. When I read the script, I was thinking this is the kind of movie I want to see on a Friday night.”
Next up, Giancarlo Esposito walks in, playfully feeling like he’s being ambushed and joking around with us.
We would love to know more about your character (Lambert) if you could reveal anything about that.
GIANCARLO ESPOSITO: “Reveal…that’s an interesting question. Look, I’m kind of a take-charge guy who, in this particular film, the big misdirect is that it’s a heist film from the beginning that’s done quite well on the first couple of pages – and they were for me when I read them. And you know, I went, ‘Wow, what a great set piece in the beginning.’ And then I come into the film, and I’m kind of taking charge of telling people what this job is, which insensibly is a kidnapping, and have to do that convincingly…
He continues,
“You know, in so many ways, the film’s about relationships and loyalty and being cursed with the great burden of who we are. So, in a way, yes, it’s a horror film, but isn’t life the ultimate horror film? Like, if you live and you start learning about who you are, you see the good, the bad, the ugly. So, you know, for me I know for years I just shut that door. I don’t want to look at that; probably why I’m an actor. You know, I just want to shut that door because that person is an intense human being that I don’t want to look at because he can be really a nasty fucking asshole. Like, my children say, ‘Papa, you’ve grown so much.’ And I say, ‘No, I’m the same old asshole.’ (laughter) Don’t be fooled. Just looking at them in a different way, right?
So, isn’t that the burden of life? So, I look at scripts – when I read them as something that I can learn from and grow from. And then I decide, ‘Should I be on this journey?’ And I relate it back to the spiritual journey I’m taking. People ask me a lot: how do you play these villains? And you know, I shy away from saying it’s because I am a villain. Right? And they look at me. It’s because I’ve lived, you know? I know I’ve been a warrior in a past life. I know I’ve killed people (in my past life). I know that’s been a part of my essence. And I know this because I can look at one of my children, and she’ll just shrink, and I’ll see tears arise. I had this experience once, and she asked me a question that was really hard to answer. She said, ‘What happened to you when you were a child?’ And that just froze me. She said, ‘Do you know that generational trauma is really real?’ And I didn’t wanna hear that. And so I had to think about my father. I’m Italian. My father was really strict. I witnessed a lot of arguing between my father and mother.
All of that affected me, you know? My father used to belittle me. Just verbally, and I started to think about all this and started to really feel it again, and it still hurts me. I’m an adult man, a mature man. So, I went, ‘Oh okay, I’m still working through that, so that means I’m still angry at him for doing that.’ If I can learn not to do that to my children, then I’m better off… an interesting part of this film for me as well is that this young Abigail is getting her way. And it’s just a great analogy…There’s a lot of, in this horror movie, there’s a lot of great action, a lot of blood, a lot of loss of life, but a lot of great lessons, too. That’s part of why I like it.”
Speaking with all of the actors we’ve talked to, there’s a lot of gray area. There’s no black and white. They’ve done despicable things, but there’s a lot of empathy there. Was that part off the myth for you?
“I think so. it’s part of why I like being an actor here. You know, thank goodness I love Ireland, and I have a short period of time here. But we, as actors, we’re in a circus, and we’re in purgatory. This house is purgatory, right? You can’t get out. Some of these people have to get caked in blood. It’s nasty and sticky. You’re doing your time until your time is up. So, you make a choice. Do you learn from it? Do you have experiences from it with other people? Or do you hate it? I’ve been with actors who are just miserable. I mean, you sign on, you might as well get something out of it. It’s interesting. I do think that there are a lot of analogies for our lives within this movie and that we talk about a character that we don’t see the whole movie a lot. The most powerful character we don’t see. What does that remind you of? Why are you here? Where is God? Where is Goddess? The most powerful puppeteer of all.
You know what I mean? It’s really fascinating. But what does that really represent? Because God and Goddess – because I always can’t say God without Goddess, powerful words – it’s a principle, right? Yes, so I grew up Roman Catholic. I was going to be a priest. That was the person to look up to the sky to find God, right? And now I believe that there’s that piece of God and Goddess that’s in all of us. You got to find it inside of you to be able to find the goodness of who you are or the badness of who you are. Because one doesn’t exist without the other.”
Abigail opens only in theaters April 19.
The post Abigail Set Visit: Interview with Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Durand and more! appeared first on JoBlo.
Gerard Butler has had a varied career so far, with him playing everything from action leads to rom-com love interests to a singing Phantom of the Opera. But, it has to be said that his most consistently entertaining output falls squarely into the action genre, and as far as Gerard Butler movies go, the action films will always be our favorites… so don’t expect to see The Ugly Truth on this list, but The Bounty Hunter might scrape by. Or maybe not. Let’s see how it goes:
Perhaps THE film that put Gerard Butler on the map for most people, particularly the action and comic book crowds. Butler is in peek physical form here, showing off his bod as the ultimate Spartan warrior and proving that he is indeed quite the leading man. His performance here is commanding, a bit in your face (in the right way), and exactly what the film needed. Considering 300 is still well-remembered by most while its Butler-less sequel seems to have disappeared from the common consciousness says a lot about how he embodies the character of King Leonidas and how viewers connected to him in this Zack Snyder adaptation of the Frank Miller and Lynn Varley graphic novel. The film being shot basically fully on green screen with brand new, at the time, technology created a very particular look for the film and from interviews with the cast and crew, it seems it required some adaptation and readiness to embrace the unusual ways of shooting scenes. Butler’s performance here works great with all the green screen and CGI and shows a good evolution from his previous action-fantasy roles in Beowulf & Grendel, Timeline, and (Best Movie You Never Saw fave) Reign of Fire.
Released just a few months ago, right at that time of year (January) when it seems like nothing good gets to theaters, Plane was already working the odds stacked against it. Beyond its less-than-ideal release date, the film had changed distributors a few times before finally getting released by Lionsgate. The trailer didn’t bode too well either, but it ended up getting some positive reviews that helped lead it to a $52 million box office. It’s even getting a sequel, albeit without Butler as the lead. Here, he plays an airline pilot who has fallen from grace and thus works away from his family with a home base in Asia. On this flight that starts the film, things go awry with the weather, and he is forced to land his few passengers and a felon (the great Mike Colter) being extradited to an unknown island where things go from bad to worse. Butler does quite well here, showing the public that he is still a go-to actor for action thrillers. His big fight scene near the middle of the film works well and he really gets into the character of a man who has lost almost everything but is more than willing to fight for what hs has left. Butler sells the part here and really works with the depressed lead and his issues who finds himself back in a crisis. This is a good Gerard Butler performance, one that works for his fans and for those willing to give this surprising film a chance.
The first in a trilogy, Olympus Has Fallen sets up high stakes by making its story about the US President and his security. Gerard Butler comes into this as a secret service agent who must rescue the President who was kidnapped after a terrorist attack. Generally speaking, this one is a bit more generic, but the work by Butler and Morgan Freeman here helps rescue this from being just another late-night cable-bound action film. There’s a bit more here of course and a lot of that “bit more” comes down to Butler’s work and the direction by Antoine Fuqua who is a pro at bringing action films and thrillers to the screen. In the case of Butler in this film, he takes a part seen so many times before, the lone protector who is the only one able to rescue the victim, and turns it into something more interesting. Between his capacities as an actor, his ease in handling action scenes, and his charisma, Butler pulls off the part of Mike Banning very well. So well in fact, that he reprised this role in both sequels London Has Fallen (2016) and Angel Has Fallen (2019). Sadly, another sequel seems unlikely, with Butler initially taking Millenium to court over unpaid profits. While the lawsuit was settled recently, I wonder if Butler will be eager to get back in bed with them anytime soon.
Written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (the Crank guys), this film is a mix of science-fiction, action, and thriller set in a bleak, near-future where gamers play using death row convicts as their avatars, pitting them against impossible odds. Butler plays Kable, a convict whose teenage player is Simon (played by a young Logan Lerman). Should this team-up survive thirty brutal gaming sessions, Kable will be set free. Of course, much like the recent Death Race films, it’s not going to be that easy. Gerard Butler gets to be the man who has the carrot of survival dangled in front of him, making him a man ready to do almost anything to survive. His work here is on the darker side, playing a killer ready to slay anyone in his way so that he can survive and possibly get back to his family. This leads to a part filled with action sequences, fight scenes, and violence, with a bit of background to make him more human and likable. Butler does well here with a part that could have easily been completely one-dimensional. Ludacris also steals more than a few scenes in this one.
Coming fairly close on the heels of Geostorm, many assumed Greenland would terrible. It is yet another weather disaster film with a man, his estranged wife, and their kid in the middle of it all. If it sounds familiar, it’s because it’s been done a ton of times (San Andreas, any random SyFy channel disaster movie, etc) so it was easy to see the trailer for Greenland and think, yeah no… And honestly, the presence of Butler in this was probably the only reason some folks saw this movie at first. Thankfully, the film was made for a fairly modest budget considering the subject and how it was released in theaters (like many pandemic-era movies it went straight to streaming in North America). Its $35 million budget means that the box office for it being at $52.3 million was not a complete loss. It was a mild hit and most people who dared to see it first were part of the reason why as it built quite a bit on word of mouth. The movie, to everyone’s surprise, was good, thanks perhaps to the great director at the helm, Ric Roman Waugh (Shot Caller).At this point, more people have seen it and a sequel, Greenland: Migration is set to film in April with Butler returning.
Released during the pandemic post-lockdown, this one was skipped by far too many people. The trailer had some panache and the fact that it’s from director Joe Carnahan, who previously did the loads-of-fun Smokin’ Aces, Narc, The Grey, and a few more fun films, should have made it more of an attraction for action fans. Yet, the film only made a measly $6.9 million which basically means the public slept on this one and did not give the film its due. Gerard Butler stars opposite Frank Grillo here in a face-off set in a police station where Butler is after Grillo to kill him due to a con he pulled. This one is a lot of fun and the fact that other killers come into play makes this a dynamic movie where you never really know where it’s going exactly. Butler is having a ball here, playing a man filled with evil and a sort of almost glee about his job. His back and forth with Grillo make this the kind of film that is easy to watch and where the runtime flies by.
Ok, to be fair this is NOT a good movie. It’s pretty terrible actually and was marred by a neverending series of delays and reshoots with the credited writer/ producer/ director, Dean Devlin having been removed, in favor of Jerry Bruckheimer and Judge Dredd director Danny Cannon. In the end, it lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 million for Warner Bros and resulted in Butler laying off the big PG-13 four-quadrant movies in order to do more modest actioners. Yet, if you like cheesy, fun movies it can’t be denied that Geostorm fits the bill pretty well. It’s unintentionally funny (take a shot everyone says “dutchboy”), but its curiously rewatchable.
So there you go, a bunch of suggestions that you can use to assemble your own Gerard Butler film festival.
What are your favorite Gerard Butler movies? Let us know in the comments.
The post Gerard Butler’s Best Action Movies appeared first on JoBlo.
In an era where leaks – chiefly for big-budget franchise movies – are rampant, there is only so much that the filmmakers can do other than confirm or deny. And perhaps no other person has done his part more to shut people up than James Gunn, who has made it a habit of using social media to address leaks and rumors…which means he has been pretty busy doing just that over next year’s Superman.
James Gunn took to Threads to take on rumors that there were some sort of secret plot developments of Superman that fans were in the dark about. “The primary protagonist of Superman is, shockingly, Superman. The main villain of Superman is, shockingly, Lex Luthor. I don’t know where all the stuff is coming from that it’s something other than this.” He went on to address the influx of Superman rumors, saying they have no basis and that there’s really only one source to trust on the matters. “There are so many stories coming out every day it’s difficult to deal with and everytime I strike something down I’m giving it attention. So, I’ll say again, don’t believe anything unless you see it HERE (& why would you want to know everything before the movie comes out anyway?)”.
I especially like James Gunn’s point in wondering why people want to know every detail ahead of a movie’s release. The lack of surprise can downright spoil the fun, with really nothing to gain from it other than internet bragging rights, which in turn means spoilers for those trying to organically experience the film. So where do these rumors even come from? Mostly thin air or clues that aren’t really clues, all generated from people who might be posting just to get a rise in the community. With the case of James Gunn, who has been remarkably transparent with his followers, there’s also the “claim to fame” chance that he’ll respond directly to you, which itself doesn’t help kill the rumor mill.
As the IMAX-shot Superman isn’t due out until July 11th, 2025, James Gunn is certainly well aware that he’ll have a whole lot more rumor-blocking to do. The movie will launch the DC Universe, a soft reboot for the studio now co-run by Gunn and Peter Safran.
The post James Gunn stops more Superman rumors faster than a speeding bullet appeared first on JoBlo.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 currently has everyone talking, and we’ve got our own thoughts on the game’s highs and lows. We’re also cautiously optimistic for the future of Destiny 2 and have opinions on a few of this week’s gaming-related April Fools’ Day shenanigans. Read on for more.