Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, made by Saber Interactive, is the sequel to a beloved 2011 shooter and has been praised for, among other things, feeling like an old-school Xbox 360-era game. But some have marshaled that classic mystique into a rebuke of modern games that don’t conform to certain views they have about…
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, made by Saber Interactive, is the sequel to a beloved 2011 shooter and has been praised for, among other things, feeling like an old-school Xbox 360-era game. But some have marshaled that classic mystique into a rebuke of modern games that don’t conform to certain views they have about…
Anthony and Joe Russo, the Russo Brothers, have directed some of the biggest movies of all time, with their film Avengers: Endgame coming in second place just behind James Cameron’s Avatar… but that hasn’t made it any easier to get their sci-fi adventure film The Electric State out into the world. The project was first announced back in 2017, when the Russos purchased the film rights to the The Electric State graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, with their frequent collaborators Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely working on the screenplay and Andy Muschietti in negotiations to direct. The project was set up at Universal in 2020, by which time Muschietti had stepped back into an executive producer role while the Russos took the helm. Then Universal passed it over to Netflix. Filming finally began in 2022 and wrapped in early 2023, with some reshoots taking place this year. Now it looks like The Electric State might finally be almost ready to make its way out into the world, as the Motion Picture Association ratings board has revealed that they’ve given the film a PG-13 rating for sci-fi violence/action, language and some thematic material.
The graphic novel had the following description: In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her yellow toy robot travel west through a strange USA, where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside heaped together with the discarded trash of a high tech consumerist society in decline. As their car approaches the edge of the continent, the world outside the window seems to be unraveling ever faster as if somewhere beyond the horizon, the hollow core of civilization has finally caved in.
For the film adaptation, Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) takes the lead as a young woman traveling across the country after a civil war between humanity and the robots that once served them spirals out of control. While searching for her missing brother, Brown’s character meets a mysterious smuggler, played by Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy). Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) plays an antagonist called the Marshall, who operates a robotic drone remotely and is tasked with hunting down the robot traveling with Brown’s character on her quest. Ke Huy Quan (The Goonies) plays a doctor Brown’s character is desperate to find. Quan’s Everything Everywhere All At Once co-star Michelle Yeoh was once attached to play the character, but had to drop out due to scheduling issues.
Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) provide the voices for robot characters. Mackie’s robot is a sidekick to the smuggler played by Pratt, while Thornton’s robot is a key figure in the civil war. Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) and Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) are also in the cast.
The Russos are producing The Electric State with Mike Larocca, Chris Castaldi, and Patrick Newall. Markus and McFeely serve as executive producers with Angela Russo-Otstot, Jake Aust, Geoff Haley, and Jeff Ford.
Are you glad to hear that The Electric State has secured a PG-13 rating and taken a step closer to being released? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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PLOT: A mother (Halle Berry) and her twin sons (Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins) are tormented by a malicious spirit. They can only survive if they remain connected to their home, a remote cabin in the woods. But when one of the sons starts to question whether or not the evil really exists, the family finds itself in greater danger than ever.
REVIEW: Alexandre Aja has easily established himself as one of the most unique voices in horror, famously willing to try his hand at just about every aspect of the genre. He’s made hardcore horror (High Tension), funny horror (Piranha 3D), contained horror (Crawl – which is getting a sequel) and even romantic horror (Horns). With Never Let Go, he dips his toe into the elevated facet of the genre, weaving a highly allegorical yarn that ties in themes of motherhood, brotherhood, repressed trauma, and more.
As such, Never Let Go might not have the same kind of easy mainstream hook some of Aja’s other movies have had, but kudos to him for never repeating himself. Aja has a superb cast in this one, written by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby. It is mostly a three-hander surrounding Berry’s character and the two actors playing her sons.
In it, Berry’s character keeps her sons, Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV), safe from an evil spirit who torments her by taking the form of her dead parents and husband. They show up to mock her constantly, warning that if they somehow make contact with the boys while they’re not connected to the home (mostly by long ropes_, it will get into their heads, and the family will descend into madness. However, only Berry can see the spirits and her sons start to wonder whether or not this is all in her head.
Of the two sons, Daggs’s Nolan is the more rebellious one. He is convinced his mother prefers the quieter Samuel, who never questions her. But Nolan wonders whether or not there’s a world around them, and once they begin to starve due to a lack of food and his beloved pet dog becomes a potential source of nourishment, he starts to rebel.
To Aja’s credit, the film takes a big twist about an hour into the movie that I didn’t see coming, and Never Let Go’s last act is the best part of the film. You assume it’s going in one direction, but then it takes a risky left turn, allowing the director to play with genre expectations. If you’ve seen the trailer and think you have it all figured out, think again.
Berry anchors the movie in a typically excellent performance. Berry doesn’t make a ton of horror movies, but when she dips her toe into the genre (such as with The Call and Gothika) she tends to deliver A-level work, and certainly that’s true of this one. In it, she has to walk a tightrope in some ways, as she has to be convincing as both a devoted mother and leave some element of doubt in there for the audience as to whether she’s mentally ill or not.
The two youngsters playing her sons deliver outstanding performances, with Daggs especially good as the rebellious Nolan. Much of the film revolves around them, and Daggs and Jenkins, despite their young ages, deliver utterly convincing and grounded performances. It helps that they play off Berry so well, whose affection for them is never in doubt.
As usual, Aja also made Never Let Go a great-looking film, although the darker lensing was seriously marred in the screening I attended, where the lamps on the projectors seemed to have been too dim. This is sometimes an issue in run-of-the-mill theatres, so you might have to hit up a premium screen to see Never Let Go looking its best. The soundtrack by Robin Coudert (billed simply as ROB) is also a treat, with him quickly becoming one of the genre’s most prolific composers.
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Fans of Galaxy Quest, never give up, never surrender! Because the popular sci-fi comedy and Star Trek satire is finally getting a 4K Blu-ray release from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Blu-ray.com has just revealed the news, along with specs and special features that will be included in the new physical media release. Additionally, a limited edition 4K UltraHD Steelbook has also been announced for the Dean Parisot film that stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, and Sam Rockwell. The 4K release will make a good stocking-stuffer as it becomes available on December 3.
The description reads,
“Years after cancellation, the stars of the television series Galaxy Quest cling to their careers. When a distressed interstellar race mistakes the show for ‘historical documents,’ lead actor Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) and his crew of has-beens are unwittingly recruited to save the alien race from a genocidal warlord. Featuring an all-star ensemble, including Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Justin Long and Rainn Wilson, GALAXY QUEST is a hilarious adventure that boldly goes where no comedy has gone before.”
Special Features and Technical Specs include:
Sequel talk has been on and off for about 25 years now, with word coming last year that Paramount+ would be producing a TV series, which we all know needs to be subtitled The Journey Continues. Tim Allen previously said a sequel was in discussion, teasing, “There is constantly a little flicker of a butane torch that we could reboot it with. Without giving too much away, a member of Alan’s Galaxy Quest family could step in and the idea would still work.”
Additionally, earlier this year, it was announced that Vinegar Syndrome is releasing a Blu-ray of the documentary Never Surrender, about the making and legacy of the film. Bonus features on Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary include: interviews with stars Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver, director Dean Parisot, writer Robert Gordon, and numerous notable fans like Lost creator Damon Lindelof and The Flash’s Greg Berlanti. Also housed on the disc will be b-roll bonus clips and the original trailer.
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Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is a very good third-person shooter with a lot of action and content to play. But if you’ve beaten the main campaign and are craving more, we have you covered.
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is a very good third-person shooter with a lot of action and content to play. But if you’ve beaten the main campaign and are craving more, we have you covered.
The topic of artificial intelligence is one of the most hot-button issues in Hollywood. Whether it comes down to its questionable usage in physical media or the role it played in last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike, most see it as a force that is by and large unethical or being wildly misused. Whether or not we circle the industry, we all have our thoughts on it. So, why not hear Guillermo del Toro’s fiery take on AI?
Speaking with the British Film Institute, Guillermo del Toro said that the use of artificial intelligence is extremely limited – probably more so than its supporters are giving it credit for, stating, “AI has demonstrated that it can do semi-compelling screensavers. That’s essentially that. The value of art is not how much it costs and how little effort it requires, it’s how much would you risk to be in its presence? How much would people pay for those screensavers? Are they gonna make them cry because they lost a son? A mother? Because they misspent their youth? F*ck no.”
Look, we’re not saying we are actively against the use of artificial intelligence across media, as certainly it can be used for good. But it’s when it’s costing jobs, limiting artistic creativity and encouraging laziness, then yes, that’s an issue that needs to constantly be addressed in Hollywood. While Guillermo del Toro might be minimizing its overall capabilities and some of its benefits, we do have to support any major filmmaker who will stand up against AI taking over in a way it shouldn’t.
Last year, Guillermo del Toro put AI on full blast, saying, “If anyone wants movies made by AI, let them get it immediately. I don’t care about people who want to be fulfilled and get something sh*tty, quickly.” Just for the heck of it, I typed in “guillermo del toro taking a stand against artificial intelligence” into an AI image generator and, well, it was sh*tty…but it sure was quick!
What are your takeaways from Guillermo del Toro’s continued stance against AI? Is there more to it than he thinks? Chime in in the comments section below.
The post Guillermo del Toro questions AI’s value in continued rally against it appeared first on JoBlo.
The topic of artificial intelligence is one of the most hot-button issues in Hollywood. Whether it comes down to its questionable usage in physical media or the role it played in last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike, most see it as a force that is by and large unethical or being wildly misused. Whether or not we circle the industry, we all have our thoughts on it. So, why not hear Guillermo del Toro’s fiery take on AI?
Speaking with the British Film Institute, Guillermo del Toro said that the use of artificial intelligence is extremely limited – probably more so than its supporters are giving it credit for, stating, “AI has demonstrated that it can do semi-compelling screensavers. That’s essentially that. The value of art is not how much it costs and how little effort it requires, it’s how much would you risk to be in its presence? How much would people pay for those screensavers? Are they gonna make them cry because they lost a son? A mother? Because they misspent their youth? F*ck no.”
Look, we’re not saying we are actively against the use of artificial intelligence across media, as certainly it can be used for good. But it’s when it’s costing jobs, limiting artistic creativity and encouraging laziness, then yes, that’s an issue that needs to constantly be addressed in Hollywood. While Guillermo del Toro might be minimizing its overall capabilities and some of its benefits, we do have to support any major filmmaker who will stand up against AI taking over in a way it shouldn’t.
Last year, Guillermo del Toro put AI on full blast, saying, “If anyone wants movies made by AI, let them get it immediately. I don’t care about people who want to be fulfilled and get something sh*tty, quickly.” Just for the heck of it, I typed in “guillermo del toro taking a stand against artificial intelligence” into an AI image generator and, well, it was sh*tty…but it sure was quick!
What are your takeaways from Guillermo del Toro’s continued stance against AI? Is there more to it than he thinks? Chime in in the comments section below.
The post Guillermo del Toro questions AI’s value in continued rally against it appeared first on JoBlo.
We don’t often get trailers so late in the day, but I’ll make an exception for Bong Joon-ho’s highly anticipated sci-fi movie Mickey 17. The darkly comedic trailer gets off to a great start with Mickey, played by Robert Pattinson, getting his hand gruesomely sliced off by a piece of space debris. From then on, Mickey dies again and again and again. Everything from industrial accidents to being devoured by space aliens. However, when multiple versions end up alive at the same time (a big no-no apparently), all hell breaks loose.
The official synopsis for Mickey 17 reads: “From the Academy Award-winning writer/director of “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho, comes his next groundbreaking cinematic experience, “Mickey 17.” The unlikely hero, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.“
In addition to Pattinson as the various Mickeys, the film also stars Steve Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, and Naomi Ackie. It is based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, with Bong Joon-ho writing the script and directing.
A wacky Robert Pattinson. Bong Joon-ho. Some sci-fi. I’m a fan, but there have been some rumblings that Warner Bros. isn’t quite sure what to make of the film. Mickey 17 was originally supposed to be released back in March, but it wound up being taken off the schedule entirely before making the shift to 2025. Some have said that the reason for the delay is that the studio won’t let Bong Joon-ho release his director’s cut but instead want to release a “more accessible” version of the movie. The dude is an Academy Award winner. Let him do his thing.
Mickey 17 is set to hit theaters on January 31, 2025. What did you think of the trailer for Mickey 17?
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