Month: May 2024

PLOT: In the Old West, a Danish carpenter (Viggo Mortensen) falls in love with a French Canadian flower seller (Vicky Krieps). They resettle in a Nevada town, but when he goes off to fight in the Civil War, she must find a way to exist in their corrupt and violent environment, with the town lorded over by a land baron (Garret Dillahunt), his psychotic son (Solly McLeod) and a weasely mayor (Danny Huston).

REVIEW: Just when you thought you’d seen every variation on the Western comes Viggo Mortensen‘s The Dead Don’t Hurt, which marks his second film as a director following the Sundance hit Falling. Mortensen, who also produced, wrote, and composed the music, co-stars with Vicky Krieps in what could best be called a deconstructed western. The premise is pretty old school in that Mortensen is a sheriff seeking to avenge the brutal rape of his lover at the hands of a rich man’s son. It’s been done in plenty of movies, but never in the style they use here.

Mortensen, while not shying away from the genre elements of the movie, is more interested in the emotional fallout of the rape than anything else. He reframes the story around Vicky Krieps’ Vivienne. The film daringly opens with her death after a sudden illness, with Mortensen’s Olsen turning in his badge, grabbing his son, and taking off after Solly McLeod’s Weston Jeffries, who we’ve seen brutally murder half a dozen men, only for his wealthy father, Alfred (Garret Dillahunt) to have one of his lackeys take the fall. For Olsen, this miscarriage of justice, coupled with the recent death of his wife, leads him to take off after Weston, and while this could have made for a straight-forward western, what Mortensen does next is unusual. While his own character, Olsen, seemed to be the lead, suddenly, the perspective switches to Krieps’ Vivienne, with us watching as she falls in love with Olsen and winds up living with him in Nevada.

Mortensen vanishes from the film’s second act, as Vivienne has to learn to navigate the town she’s essentially been abandoned in, as he’s impulsively joined the Union cause in the Civil War. Alone in a town she doesn’t know, she goes to work in a saloon but becomes an object of lust for McLeod’s Weston, with his dad indulging the boy’s sadistic streak, such as when he beats the saloon’s Mexican piano player half to death.

We know from the start that Weston will rape Vivienne, and Mortensen doesn’t show the act itself, as he seems much more interested in the emotional fallout. Vivienne is forced to go on with her life in town, and winds up pregnant, and the movie focuses on not only her coming to terms with her new life but also Olsen’s when he arrives home after the war and is unable to avenge his wife. It’s much more of a story of healing, with the movie’s best parts showing both the two’s initial courtship and the rekindling of their love that happens later.

the dead don't hurt

Krieps is superb as the headstrong Vivienne, who, as she tells Olsen, only ever wanted tenderness in a world that’s short of it. It’s a love story, above all things, which was a surprise as after reading the description and the fact that it was being called a feminist Western, I expected it to be about her going for revenge, but that’s not how this movie works. Mortensen subverts audience expectations constantly, even in his character’s pursuit of Weston, which we keep cutting back to. While it’s her film, Mortensen also plays perfectly to form as the strong, macho, but also tender and loving Olsen. Most importantly, we buy the love between the two and want them to live happily ever after, even if we know from the start that will not happen.

My only issue with The Dead Don’t Hurt is that Mortensen’s bad guys are a pretty standard collection, with Dillahunt, McLeod, and Danny Huston all playing the kinds of roles that have existed since John Ford started shooting two-reelers in Monument Valley. They’re playing archetypes, but that’s deliberate as Mortensen clearly still wants the movie to function as a good example of the genre, and all three men, while typecast (in the case of Dillahunt and Huston), are perfect.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Dead Don’t Hurt on many levels. It works as a solid Western and modern deconstruction of the genre. The performances are terrific, and the story comes to a haunting, unexpected end that will stick with you long after the credits roll.

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The sci-fi horror A Quiet Place franchise is heading to New York with its latest entry, A Quiet Place: Day One, which is set to reach theatres on June 28th – and with that release date just four weeks away, a promotional featurette has arrived online, giving several cast members the chance to talk about what this movie has in store for us. You can check it out in the embed above. A Quiet Place: Day One just got its rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board this week: it’s a PG-13 for terror and violent content/bloody images.

While John Krasinski directed the previous two films, he is producing A Quiet Place: Day One and has passed the helming duties over to Michael Sarnoski, director of the Nicolas Cage drama Pig (watch it HERE). Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special) was attached to write and direct A Quiet Place: Day One for a while, but when he dropped out he was replaced by Sarnoski. The story, which is credited to Krasinski and Sarnoski, does take place in the same world established in the first two movies, but doesn’t involve the Abbott family, the characters we followed through the first two movies.

Deadline’s sources said that after seeing Pig and being blown away by the film, Krasinski was quick to put Sarnoski on the short list of directors to take a meeting for the project. While insiders say Sarnoski’s vision for the film was still his own and different from what Krasinski had done with the first two, he still gave a pitch that fit the tone of the world they had created and felt he was the perfect fit for their next installment.

Krasinski is producing A Quiet Place: Day One under his Sunday Night banner, while Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller produce through their company Platinum Dunes. Krasinski’s Sunday Night partner Allyson Seeger serves as executive producer.

The film stars 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Alex Wolff of Hereditary and Pig, and Joseph Quinn, who is better known as Eddie Munson from the most recent season of Stranger Things. Djimon Hounsou, who played “Man on Island” in A Quiet Place: Part II, reprises that role here.

Here’s the official synopsis: Experience the day the world went quiet.

Are you looking forward to A Quiet Place: Day One? What do you think of the featurette and PG-13 rating? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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A new episode of The Black Sheep video series has arrived online this morning, and with this one we’re looking back at one of the most fascinating “doomed productions” ever, the 1996 version of The Island of Dr. Moreau. (Watch the movie HERE.) To find out why we think this one deserves more love than it gets, check out the video embedded above!

Based on an 1896 novel by H.G. Wells, the film was originally going to be directed by Richard Stanley, who was becoming a popular name in the horror genre at the time. Unfortunately, the production was a mess from the moment the cast and crew arrived on set. Stanley was fired, cast members quit, co-stars Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer exhibited strange behavior while dealing with tragedy and heartbreak. John Frankenheimer was brought on to replace Stanley at the helm, but he couldn’t save the sinking ship… And yet, the movie is still worth a look.

Scripted by Richard Stanley and Ron Hutchinson, The Island of Dr. Moreau has the following synopsis: Dr. Moreau is a brilliant geneticist on the brink of superseding evolution. When a U.N. diplomat visits Moreau’s laboratory, he uncovers fantastic but brutal experiments turning animal life forms into human-like beasts. As Moreau and his assistant race toward their barbaric goal of creating the perfect life form, the beasts revolt, threatening not only the island but ultimately all mankind!

Brando and Kilmer were joined in the cast by David Thewlis, Fairuza Balk, Daniel Rigney, Temuera Morrison, Nelson de la Rosa, Peter Elliott, Mark Dacascos, and Ron Perlman.

The Black Sheep series features different takes on horror films that the masses or/and critics didn’t care for but that we found merit in. We defend horror movies that deserve more love!

This episode of The Black Sheep was Written, Narrated, and Edited by Lance Vlcek, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

What do you think of The Island of Dr. Moreau? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

A couple of the previous episodes of The Black Sheep can be seen at the bottom of this article. To see more, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

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Captain Marvel Brie Larson

Brie Larson knows the highs and lows of working in the superhero world. She made her own superhero debut in the 2019 film Captain Marvel, which earned over $1 billion at the global box office and became one of the top 25 highest grossing films of all time. She played the character again in Avengers: Endgame, which was released just weeks after Captain Marvel and earned almost $3 billion at the box office, briefly becoming the #1 highest grossing film of all time. We saw Larson’s Captain Marvel again in the 2021 hit Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, an episode of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, and last year’s The Marvels… which did not replicate Captain Marvel‘s success, making just over $200 million at the box office and becoming the lowest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are a lot of varying opinions about Larson’s performance and attitude, but one thing that’s indisputable is that, at this point, she has a good deal of superhero experience. So it makes sense that she gives advice to actors who are entering the superhero genre.

During a roundtable discussion with fellow actresses Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Jennifer Aniston, Sofía Vergara, and Anna Sawai, which was set up by The Hollywood Reporter, Larson revealed the advice she gives to newly hired superheroes. Here’s that section of the conversation:

Brie, I’ve also heard you say that if you hear someone’s going to be playing a superhero, you’ll reach out. What kind of tips do you find yourself sharing?

WATTS Wait, you’re a superhero mentor?

LARSON Always. I’m the first person to email everybody because it’s very specific and very strange. People are like, “I don’t know how to do this.” Yeah, no one does. Why would you? I’ll say, “Train, because you’ll want to be as prepared in your body as you possibly can because it only gets harder as the job goes on. And really understand how to be able to go to the bathroom in your suit.” The first Captain Marvel, it was a 45-minute thing to get me in and out of that costume.

ANISTON There wasn’t even a little secret trapdoor?

LARSON No! That’s why I’m like, “Get a plan.”

ANISTON Yeah, a little zipper.

LARSON I can’t stand when people have to wait for me to go to the bathroom, so I’d have to time it out. 

WATTS Oh, that would give me anxiety.

ANISTON You can’t have a sip of water.

LARSON It’s a whole thing, and it’s a lot of pressure. And I think it’s a strange thing, especially when you’re a newcomer and you’re tasked with being the most powerful blah, blah, blah of blah, blah, blah, and you feel scared. It’s so hard to be the cool, confident one when you’re like, “Do I know what I’m supposed to be doing?” 

Marvel’s The Fantastic Four is expected to go into production in just a couple months, so here’s hoping the stars of that film have already received Larson’s advice. Prepare your body and plan for bathroom breaks.

What do you think of Brie Larson’s superhero advice? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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minecraft, tv show

It’s recently been reported that the freeform game of Minecraft will be adapted into a feature film. The movie is set to be an animated adaptation with an impressive voice cast that features Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, Jermaine Clement, and Emma Myers signed on. The movie is directed by Napoleon Dynamite’s Jared Hess. Hess wasn’t the first director to have been tied to a Minecraft movie, as previous iterations found Shawn Levy, Rob McElhenney and Peter Sollett attached. At one point, Steve Carell was linked to a voice role.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Netflix is now in development for an animated TV series based on the popular world-building game. The new adaptation will come from the studio that’s responsible for Netflix’s Sonic Prime, Ninjago: Dragons Rising and Carmen Sandiego — WildBrain Studios. The details of the creative team behind the proposed show, including its showrunner, have not yet been determined at this time. It is not even known if the show will connect to the future feature film in some way.

While he prepared for voice acting in the film, Jack Black recently explained to IGN“An actor prepares so I have literally been exclusive to Minecraft for the last month and a half. All Minecraft all the time…Just Steve-in’ it up in the Minecraft universe, getting back into it – because I did play years ago because my kids were super duper into it and I wanted to speak their language. So I studied hard and I learned and I was getting really into it, building houses and tunneling around…Now I’m getting back into it and it’s pretty rad.”

Mojang’s Minecraft is considered the best-selling video game ever and currently has more than 160 million active users. One of the major draws for the game is its endless opportunities for creativity, with its most dedicated players designing pixel-driven renditions of everything from actual cities to fictional lands like Middle Earth.

The Minecraft movie will build in theaters on April 4th.

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Laura Dern Star Wars

After being blown away by the Prime Video adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel Daisy Jones & The Six, I decided to circle back and read the author’s debut novel, the “tragic love story” drama Forever, Interrupted… and as the story went on, I became more and more surprised that it hadn’t yet received an adaptation of some sort. It seemed ready to be brought to the screen as a heartbreaking and heartwarming movie or TV show, with solid roles for two lead actresses. Well, now it’s getting its adaptation. Glamour reports (via Deadline) that Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) are set to star in a limited series adaptation of Forever, Interrupted that’s coming our way from A24 and the Netflix streaming service.

Julia Bicknell, whose previous credits include 13 Reasons Why, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Midnight Club, and Yellowjackets, is writing the adaptation and serves as showrunner. Forever, Interrupted tells the following story: Elsie (Qualley) and Ben’s whirlwind romance is electric – within months they’re married and living happily ever after – when Ben’s unexpected death forces Elsie to come face to face with Susan (Dern), the mother-in-law who doesn’t know that she exists. Told through a dual timeline, the series recounts Elsie and Ben’s once-in-a-lifetime love, intercut with Elsie and Susan’s unexpected journey as their at first turbulent connection ultimately brings both women cathartic new beginnings.

The novel was a bestseller in 2013. There was a previous attempt to bring the story to the screen, as a film adaptation was set up at Gidden Media and Good Universe back in 2014, with Dakota Johnson attached to star as Elsie. It just didn’t make it into production.

Jessica Rhoades and Alison Mo Massey are executive producing the Forever, Interrupted limited series for Pacesetter Productions, which has a first-look deal with A24. Reid is also executive producing alongside Brad Mendelsohn for Circle of Confusion; Dern and Jayme Lemons for Jaywalker Pictures; and Qualley and Brett Hedblom for I Understand Pictures.

What do you think of Margaret Qualley, Laura Dern, A24, Netflix, and Taylor Jenkins Reid teaming up for the Forever, Interrupted limited series? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

Taylor Jenkins Reid was working in the casting department on Hollywood productions when she decided she didn’t just want to find actors to play characters, she wanted to create the characters from the ground up. That’s why she started writing novels. The 2023 film One True Loves, which was directed by Andy Fickman and starred Phillipa Soo, Simu Liu, and Luke Bracey, was also based on one of her books.

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If you’re here reading this, that means you’re probably a fan of movies! Even better, you’re probably a fan of JoBlo! My name is Jason Blake, sometimes I go by Jason Dean, and if you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve seen articles, YouTube shows, and most definitely heard my voice in JoBlo content. Because of my longevity and history here, JoBlo himself, Berge, has given me this brief moment on the site to tell you guys about my newest personal project that may tangentially be related to many JoBlo readers.

I don’t know about you, but my love of movies bleeds into most other things I do too. And for me, it’s particularly my love of Roland Emmerich movies that has influenced my most recent side project.

I wanted to make an interactive disaster movie but I wanted people to experience it together as a group. My love of disaster movies and my love of tabletop board games ended up meshing together into my latest creation, Cysmic.

If board games aren’t for you, then by all means click away to the movie content that JoBlo is known for. However, if you love disaster movies and play board games, you might want to stick around.

Eight years ago, I started working on a board game that was meant to be a crown jewel of someone’s game collection. I wanted the best components, the best gameplay, and to create memories and experiences between friends in a disaster movie-style setting. Finally, after all of this time, I have finished work on it. However, I can’t make it alone. The cost of something like this is extremely prohibitive to do upfront. So I turned to the world of crowdfunding, specifically Gamefound. I know, I know… trust me, I know what you’re thinking because I thought it too.

While JoBlo is not responsible or associated with this project, Berge was kind enough to allow me to tell the audience of JoBlo about my game because he and I share an entrepreneurial spirit, but more because it really could be of interest to so many readers here that fall into both categories of movies lovers and board gamers.

If you’re still with me, allow me to tell you about it, and then you can decide for yourself if this is something you would be interested in.

Cysmic is a dynamic sci-fi tactical objective game for 2-6 players set on the dying planet of Kepler-62e featuring a wrapping dual-layered game board and nearly 200 miniatures! As the leader of one of many factions fighting desperately to survive, it’s your job to build a colony ship and be the first to launch your people to safety. There’s just one problem. Each faction holds a module blueprint crucial for your survival!

This is a game about destruction, aggression, and earth-shattering pandemonium. While a good strategy and focused tactics can progress you toward your goal quickly, long-term planning goes out the window the second the earth splits.

Fracture events leave devastation in their wake, causing more and more of the surface to crumble away as time goes on. Between fracture events, discovery cards, relics, random events, and dice-based combat, luck plays an important role. In the end, it all comes down to one deciding factor—your ability to adapt, overcome, and embrace the chaos.

Cysmic actually has a lot of lore and universe-building behind it. Let me explain the story leading into the game.

“Earth’s world council selected several leaders in various fields to lead an odyssey to Kepler-62e for terraforming and civilization planning. Some of the members were chosen and funded by the World Council while others self-financed their way to have influence or presence in the new world. Industry experts, religious leaders, entertainers, scholars, businessmen, politicians, and entrepreneurs all took part in the mission. Once there, the project worked beautifully… at first. The different groups of people lived and worked together as a familiar society with all of the benefits and growing pains one would expect from a newly formed civilization. It had its share of infighting and corruption, but even those issues never threatened the delicate balance of this new world. It was slowly becoming the utopia many had hoped it would.

As the project moved forward, an unexpected instability in the terraforming process started wreaking havoc on the landscape. The news broke quickly that their efforts to terraform and create a better world had destabilized the planet. Their new Eden was doomed.

When the colonists realized there was no hope in saving their dream of a new civilization, chaos broke out among the hundreds of thousands of people as they turned to their respective leaders for salvation. Those in leadership roles… either voted in by public opinion, volunteered at will, ascended through capitalism, or ordained by faith… now rise to the occasion as wartime leaders

Massive Terraformers that once bent the landscape to their will have now been taken over by powerful organizations and converted into colony ship construction and launch platforms. These rival factions compete for information and resources across the dying planet as their last hope to escape off-world in the original Colony Ship plans that brought them there to begin with.

After society splintered, the information splintered with it. Each faction holds part of the module plans to build the colony ship but must retrieve the others to finish their build. Instead of working together, they now battle for resources and information. Workers and civilians are hastily trained in combat to protect the individual faction bases from each other while still performing their regular job duties. Soldiers are tasked with capturing enemies with the knowledge of providing blueprints for the construction of the colony ship modules.

Once the leaders obtain the blueprints and construct their colony ship, they must launch it before the impending destruction of their homeworld. The immense energy exerted from a single colony ship launch will likely doom the rest. Which faction will gain the resources necessary to escape first?

If the new world war doesn’t destroy this utopia, the planet itself surely would…”

Cysmic has been highly thematic from the beginning and plays out like a big disaster movie in a game. It creates memories and experiences for the player like nothing else out there. In fact, the game is so cinematic that I even made a movie trailer for it. Check this out!

This project has been a labor of love for over half a decade and I am just now able to introduce it to the world. If everything here is something that interests you at all, then I ask that you visit the Gamefound Campaign page, watch any of the videos below, and help me bring the project to life. I can’t make this game without the help of others.

Thanks to Berge and the JoBlo Movie Network team over the last 10 years for making me feel like part of the family and for allowing me this platform to tell you all about my project. Who knows, maybe in the future we will be covering the Cysmic Movie!

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