Month: September 2024

Scream (2022) and Scream VI star Melissa Barrera – who was fired from Scream 7 when comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass Media – has the lead role in the film Your Monster, a project she had previously described as a “horror rom-com musical.” JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to see the movie at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and wrote a 6/10 review you can read at THIS LINK. A wider audience will be able to see the movie when Vertical gives it a theatrical release on October 25th – and with that date just one month away, a trailer is now online. You can check it out in the embed above.

The feature directorial debut of Caroline Lindy, who wrote the film based on her 2019 short of the same name, Your Monster tells the story of the soft-spoken actor Laura Franco, who is dumped by her longtime boyfriend while recovering from surgery and retreats to her childhood home to recover. With her future looking bleak, insult is added to injury when Laura discovers her ex is staging a musical that she helped him develop. But out of these gut-wrenching life changes emerges a monster with whom she finds a connection, encouraging Laura to follow her dreams, open her heart and fall in love with her inner rage.

Barrera plays Laura Franco, with Tommy Dewey (Casual) as the monster and Edmund Donovan (Tell Me Lies) as her ex. Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus) and Kayla Foster (The Deuce) are also in the cast.

Speaking with Digital Spy, Barrera said Your Monster is “a horror rom-com musical. My character is a musical theatre actor, so there’s a musical in the movie. There’s a lot of singing and dancing in it. And it’s like a rom-com with elements of horror. It’s scary at times, and really funny at times. And it’s everything that I love in a movie combined into one.

Vertical Partner Peter Jarowey had this to say about the distribution deal: “We were captivated by Caroline’s film at Sundance and thrilled it has made a home here at Vertical. Marking her directorial feature debut, she has created a fantastic, fresh, genre-defying film that perfectly balances the mix of comedy, romance and horror topped off with a dash of musical theater that will captivate and delight audiences later this year.

Lindy and Foster produced the film with Shannon Reilly of Bombo Sports and Entertainment and Kira Carstensen and Melanie Donkers from Mermade, “a division of Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountfor’s entertainment company Merman, which focuses on projects from emerging creators.” Dewey serves as an executive producer with Bombo’s Bob Potter. Jackson Sinder and Mermade’s Jack Taylor Cox are co-producers.

What did you think of the Your Monster trailer? Will you be catching this movie on the big screen next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Your Monster

The post Your Monster trailer: Melissa Barrera horror rom-com musical reaches theatres next month appeared first on JoBlo.

The 4:30 Movie

There are some minor SPOILERS ahead if you don’t want anything about writer/director Kevin Smith’s new film The 4:30 Movie given away before you see it… but for those of you who would like to weigh whether not these are the sort of spoilers you feel you should avoid, I will say that this only concerns one exchange of dialogue and some of the special thanks seen in the end credits. Now, to get to the point: The 4:30 Movie is in theatres as of today, and since its release date also happens to be a Friday the 13th, I thought it was worth pointing out and celebrating the fact that Jason Voorhees, the iconic star of the Friday the 13th franchise, gets a shout-out in the movie!

Set in the summer of 1986, The 4:30 Movie is a coming-of-age comedy that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local multiplex. But when one of the guys also invites the girl of his dreams to see the latest comedy, each of the teens will learn something serious about life and love before the credits roll.

Austin Zajur (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), Nicholas Cirillo (Outer Banks), and Reed Northrup (High Maintenance) play sixteen year old friends Brian David, Burny, and Belly, with Siena Agudong (Resident Evil) as the dream girl, Melody Barnegat. Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Sam Richardson (Veep), Genesis Rodriguez (Tusk), Justin Long (Barbarian), Jason Lee (Almost Famous), Rachel Dratch (I Love My Dad), Kate Micucci (The Big Bang Theory), Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog), Harley Quinn Smith (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood), Jason Biggs (American Pie), and Method Man (Garden State) are also in the cast.

The 4:30 Movie was filmed at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey, a theatre Smith now co-owns and used to hang out in every weekend when he was a teenager. Liz Destro, Josh Bachove, and Jordan Monsanto produced, with Bill Bromiley, Shanan Becker, and Jonathan Saba executive producing.

Since the movie follows a trio of movie-obsessed teens living in the ’80s, it’s not too surprising that they end up talking about slasher movies at one point – and since the viewing of slasher movies, especially Friday the 13th movies, takes up a large chunk of my life, this dialogue exchange happens to be one of my favorite parts of The 4:30 Movie. After Burny says he’s a horror movie expert and a slasher fan, Brian David asks him, “Who wins in a fight between Jason, Freddy, Leatherface, and Michael Myers?” Burny answers, “My man Jason Voorhees.” Which is a great answer, because my man Jason would also be my pick – and it’s nice to see the slasher icon get such respect in a movie that has been released on a Friday the 13th. But Brian David says the correct answer is, “The audience. We all win.” Which, if such a movie were to be made, would be true.

During the end credits scroll, Smith gives a special thanks to a long list of people, characters, and pastimes that gave him a happy childhood – and included on that list is Jason Voorhees, along with his fellow slasher Michael Myers.

As mentioned, The 4:30 Movie is in theatres now. JoBlo’s own Alex Maidy and I both rank it highly as one of the best movies Smith has ever made. You can read Alex’s review HERE.

Will you be watching The 4:30 Movie, and are you glad to hear that Jason Voorhees gets a nod in the movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Friday the 13th slasher icon Jason Voorhees gets a shout-out in Kevin Smith’s The 4:30 Movie appeared first on JoBlo.

Welcome to Hot Ones, the show with hot questions and even hotter wings. Today, we’re joined by the popular streamer Netflix to announce that Buzzfeed is in talks with the platform to launch our clever YouTube interview show for a live, spicy presentation. No deals are in place, but the meticulously researched show putting guests through the Hot Ones gauntlet is in the early stages of negotiations.

According to Variety, the show’s regular host, Sean Evans, could host select episodes of the live Hot Ones show on Netflix. The outlet emphasizes that no deal is in place yet, with Buzzfeed and Netflix remaining mum about any plans.

In case you’re unfamiliar, First We Feast’s Hot Ones, hosted by Sean Evans, finds celebrities in the hot seat fielding carefully curated questions while dining on a serving platter of hot wings. The wings get hotter with each question, causing many guests to break down under the pressure of millions of Scoville units. The clever interview formula puts guests in an increasingly vulnerable state as Sean turns up the heat, with unpredictability being the name of the game. Many guests act like they’re hot shit at first, but as the heat increases, they eventually lose their cool. Well, unless you’re Charlize Theron, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Padma Lakshmi, Brie Larson, Lorde, or Jenna Ortega.

In a recent episode, Sean hosted Donald Duck for the iconic character’s 90th birthday. The episode features seamless Who Framed Roger Rabbit-style animation, with Donald reacting to each wing with extreme expressions and desperation as he climbs the ladder.

Netflix hosting Hot Ones for a live presentation is interesting, considering the project’s real-time approach. Part of the appeal of Hot Ones is watching the show at your leisure on YouTube, removing the need to sit down at a specific date and time. Is Hot Ones popular enough to get people in front of screens when the show goes live? What if a guest is late or needs to cancel? I have a lot of questions.

What do you think about Netflix and Hot Ones possibly partnering for a live show? Would you set a Google alert reminding you to tune in? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Netflix is reportedly in talks to conquer the Wings of Death with live shows of First We Feast’s Hot Ones appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: A veteran assassin is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and authorizes a kill on himself. After ordering the kill, an army of former colleagues pounce and a new piece of information comes to light. Insanity ensues.

REVIEW: There’s a certain type of film that has been relegated to streaming services in recent years. Sadly, mid-tier action films sprinkled with comedy stopped being considered worthwhile theatrical investments. Thus, those movies our grandparents would claim as “that great movie you need to see” were left to be discovered on Netflix and Max. But something strange is happening with Lionsgate this year and they felt a theatrical release was justified for The Killer’s Game. At first, I was intrigued because Bautista is known for picking interesting roles and the quality must be great to warrant such a release. Instead, I was met with a generic action film that switches gears so many times it doesn’t know what it wants to be. And proving why these are better left on streaming.

The concept of The Killer’s Game is quite intriguing with a veteran assassin, Joe Flood, being told he only has six months to live. Having just met the love of his life, he wants his life insurance policy to go to her, so he puts a hit on himself. Only to find out that the doctor’s switched up his paperwork and he’s not actually dying. Unfortunately, he also discovers that the contract can’t be terminated. So with an army of assassins baring down on him, Joe has to fight to stay alive, so he can finally live the life he’s always wanted. It practically feels straight out of the 90s and is very charming. Unfortunately, it becomes so generic and stereotypical that nearly every single story beat can be guessed. 

As a Dave Bautista fan, I’m disappointed to say that he’s just kind of middle-of-the-road here. He’s essentially just playing a bland hitman with a heart and it doesn’t go much further than that. Even his line delivery feels like he’s just kind of sleepwalking through the part. However, I did enjoy his chemistry with Sofia Boutella, who surprised me with her vulnerability in the more romantic moments. As someone who tends to roll my eyes when she pops up in a movie, this is a big step for me. Terry Crews also has a fun part as one of the hitmen on Joe’s tail.

The Killer’s Game has this really bad habit of giving these big grand entrances to the assassins, only for them to be taken out lickety-split. This wouldn’t be an issue if it just happened the one time but it happens repeatedly, lessening the impact of each introduction. This wants to be Smokin Aces only it forgot to actually introduce interesting characters that the audience wants to see more of. Instead, all of these assassins just blend together and feel as generic as the next. The only one that really stands out is Crews, who is essentially just playing the same guy he always plays in action movies, and WWE’s Drew McIntyre, a non-sensical Scottish man who defecates in his own pants. Pom Klementieff feels severely underutilized and they really don’t take advantage of her action chops.

Scott Adkins and Drew McIntyre in The Killer's Game (2024).

There are some fun action moments but most of them devolve into a grenade exploding and bodies being thrown in every direction. There’s one scene that involves jiu-jitsu that feels like a fun little chess battle. But otherwise, the action feels so overly choreographed that it loses all realism and therefore impact. I’m not saying I need a completely grounded film but every stuntman is just waiting to be pummeled. And the CGI blood is absolutely out of control and may be the most egregious of any 2024 release. It’d be one thing if it actually looked good but most of the time it just looks like blueberry jam. I would have preferred no violence over this CGI nonsense.

Despite Bautista’s great dramatic track record, he just can’t seem to pull it together when it comes to non-Marvel action. I think this can be attributed to the man clearly wanting to star in a Rom-Com, therefore taking any role that even somewhat resembles that. But this script is so weak that he’s unable to elevate the material to any considerable degree. There are some fun moments, but everything about The Killer’s Game screams generic and average. And with Bautista seemingly wrapping down his time as an action star, I really hope he figures it out before it’s too late. Because god knows the man can act his ass off.

THE KILLER’S GAME IS PLAYING IN THEATERS ON SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2024.

6

Viewer Ratings (0 reviews)

Add your rating











The post The Killer’s Game Review appeared first on JoBlo.