Mike Flanagan, Rahul Kohli, Carlo Gugino, and Kate Siegel entertained a packed panel room, discussing past, present, and future projects

THE STORY: After causing a deadly accident while driving drunk, a family man (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is sent to a maximum security penitentiary. There, he’s recruited by the Aryan Brotherhood, and coerced into acts of violence that threaten to erase any trace of the man he once was.

THE PLAYERS: Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Omari Hardwick, Lake Bell, Jon Bernthal, Emory Cohen & Jeffrey Donovan. Written and directed by Ric Roman Waugh.

THE HISTORY: Shot Caller was released with very little fanfare last summer. A low-key VOD release from Saban, which nonetheless received some pretty good reviews when it played the festival circuit, it forms a loose trilogy for director Ric Roman Waugh, following his earlier FELON and SNITCH. Originally a Relativity production, that company’s bankruptcy sent the finished film into a tailspin, hence the limited release. Given how VOD numbers are rarely revealed, it’s impossible to know how the film did financially, but it seems to have been a heavily pirated title, cutting into the bottom line – although that aspect also gave the film a certain cult notoriety which seems to be growing.

I didn’t know much of Saban Films when we were looking for a new home — I just thought of Haim Saban and the “Power Rangers” franchise. I ended up meeting with the team at this new independent distributor and had suddenly found partners that were super passionate about the film and understood what the movie was and the marketing enhances it in that way. I feel like we traded up. I knew it wasn’t going to be a massive box office hit but I hope it makes enough to make everyone happy. – Ric Roman Waugh Variety interview

WHY IT’S GREAT: As I wrote when I initially reviewed this title, Shot Caller is the reason I review so many VOD films. Usually, they’re crap, but occasionally, a great little sleeper, such as this one, hits the platform, and makes the digging worthwhile. A tough-as-nails prison thriller, Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau gives the performance of his life as the comfy, white-collar family man turned hard as nails killer.

I knew I had to get a guy that could straddle both lines — believable as a white collar guy, yet surprise you when they become violent. When I talked with Nik, it really was one of the greatest conversations I’ve had with an actor. All he talked about for three hours was the subtext of the character, what the movie meant and nothing about any of the cool stuff the character would do. It had nothing to do with that. It was all about what the movie was trying to present, and I knew right there I had my partner. – Ric Roman Waugh Variety interview 

Shot Caller never begs you to sympathize with Coster-Waldau’s Jacob (or – as he’s called in the slammer – “Money”). It’s made clear that it’s his own fault that he wound up in prison, having driven drunk and then refused a plea which would have saved him from his fate. It reminded me a bit of the old Tom Selleck vehicle, An Innocent Man, although Jacob’s not, in fact, innocent. Yet, you still naturally empathize with him, even when he makes horrible choices, such as affiliating with the Aryan Brotherhood. Even then, there’s an escape, with their chapter head (an unnerving Jeffrey Donovan) advising him to keep his head down and do what they tell him, but his own machismo gets the better of him. Soon, his thirty-month sentence becomes a decade, and the film crosses back and forth between his eventual release, where he’s now a high-ranking gang member, to his prison career. He’s our hero, yet you never really root for him to get back to his family, as they really are better without him – giving the film a palpable sense of tragedy.

At the same time, Shot Caller works as a thriller, with brutal action scenes, and an amazing supporting cast, including Lake Bell as Jacob’s wife, Donovan, and Jon Bernthal as another gang member – plus Omari Hardwick of Power as the probation officer on Jacob’s trail. Waugh gives it a gritty, stripped-down feel, and earns the two-hour plus running time. In a better marketplace, this would have been an A-level studio release.vi

SEE IT: Shot Caller is available on most streaming sites, and on Blu-ray.

PARTING SHOT: Given the low-key release, this is likely one of the few movies in this column I wager a lot of people genuinely have never seen, but it’s an under-the-radar gem and a must see. Check it out!

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What Do We Know About the upcoming DCU original series Lanterns? More thank you may think. The Max original series will be the first live-action project on television from James Gunn’s rebooted DC cinematic universe. With casting announcements, rumors, and more, we know a lot of what is to come. So, let’s jump in and discuss Lanterns.

We will see multiple Green Lanterns.

While we met several members of the Green Lantern Corps in the Ryan Reynolds-led feature film, this new series is intentionally plural, as we will meet more than just Hal Jordan. According to James Gunn, Lanterns will center on Jon Stewart, who briefly appeared in Zack Snyder’s Justice League in a non-speaking role. We also know that James Gunn’s longtime friend and collaborator Nathan Fillion is portraying Lanterns hero Guy Gardner in the upcoming Superman movie and will potentially appear.

Kyle Chandler is Hal Jordan, but it was almost Josh Brolin.

Over the last few weeks, many casting rumors have been bandied about, with the Mayor of Kingstown and Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler being officially linked to the role of Hal Jordan this week. We previously had heard that Josh Brolin was offered the role but turned it down. Rumors have also circled around Matthew McConaughey and Ewan McGregor for the Jordan role, which is expected to be that of an established Lantern rather than the origin story we saw in the 2011 film.

Aaron Pierre will play the role of Jon Stewart.

Jon Stewart was the next major character needing to be cast, and reports had it down to two contenders. Aaron Pierre, who recently starred in the Netflix action movie Rebel Ridge, and Stephan James, star of Homecoming, are both up for the lead role in Lanterns. Reports also had Snowfall actor Damon Idris in contention, but he has since been removed from the running for the role. In the comics, Stewart has become the most powerful Green Lantern ever, but the series looks poised to set him as a rookie in the Corps learning how to wield a Power Ring under the mentorship of Hal Jordan. With Pierre landing the role, it is only a matter of time for the rest of the ensemble to fall into place.

Damon Lindelof and Chris Mundy are showrunners.

Employing solid creative talent is the bedrock for a project like Lanterns, so James Gunn has enlisted two of the best. Chris Mundy, showrunner of Netflix’s acclaimed Ozark, is working on Lanterns alongside Damon Lindelof, the man behind HBO’s critically acclaimed Watchmen and The Leftovers and the iconic series Lost. Lindelof and Mundy, alongside Tom King, wrote the pilot for Lanterns and the series bible, setting the show for long-term success. This is the latest iteration of a Green Lantern series after Greg Berlanti’s previously announced show had been scrapped with Gunn’s DCU reboot.

Plot details are under wraps.

Gunn has not revealed much about Lanterns other than that it would be a mystery along the lines of True Detective. Following a couple of Lantern Corps members, the heroes would investigate an Earth-based mystery. While having a pair of space cops with rings that allow them to make amazing weapons seems like overkill for a police procedural, I would expect some fun twists to come from the new series. It would also allow the series to differentiate itself from the slew of other comic book properties coming from DC, which is aiming to diversify its catalog of properties. DC Studios co-leader Peter Safran has also revealed that the investigation in Lanterns will tie directly into the main storyline of the new DCU.

Lanterns will likely debut in 2026.

James Gunn has only confirmed release dates for Superman in 2025, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and The Batman: Part II on the big screen in 2026, along with the animated series Creature Commandos later this year. It does appear that the casting call underway is intended to have the series ready to shoot in early 2025 and wrapping by July. With heavy special effects needed, it seems unlikely we will see the Lanterns debut until 2026.

Stay tuned to JoBlo.com as we learn more about Lanterns and all of your other favorite shows. What do you expect to see in the upcoming Lanterns season? Let us know in the comments, click like, and subscribe to follow all our latest original videos.

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Halloween is on a Thursday this year, which means those parties you’ll be hitting will arrive almost a full week earlier than the spooktacular holiday. With the festivities beginning as early as Friday, October 25, your annual chance at costumed debauchery is frighteningly close, and you have even less time to…

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PLOT: A teenager who stops off to see his dealer to test a new drug before heading off for a night of partying. On the way home, he picks up an injured woman and the night takes a surreal turn.

REVIEW: The gimmick of the one-take scene has gotten pretty out of control in recent years with varied success. Netflix’s Extraction action series utilizes various techniques to accomplish long, seemingly unbroken takes. And with the many setups that action movies require, the unbroken takes are all the more impressive. But it’s been diminished as less and less effort is made towards execution. Often digitally stitched together, the one-take-shot no longer has that same sense of wonder it did when Henry Hill walked through the back of the restaurant and finally reached his table. But if there’s anyone that can make something interesting again: it’s the French.

The story of MadS is pretty simple: Eighteen-year-old, Romain just wants to party and takes a mysterious new pill. But his trippy night takes a bad turn when he comes across an injured woman on the road. Romain has to figure out what is happening, while his mental faculties aren’t entirely present. MadS is a zombie film and like many from that subgenre, witnessing the zombie outbreak is a common occurrence. What this does so well is by following individual people during the chaos, we can see the outbreak at a more surface level. This feels like a much more personal story than the zombie films we’re used to, while still putting up a wall between the characters and the viewer that never truly allows them to feel real.

Since the story plays out in real-time, we can see this chaos unroll at the same time as our lead’s bad trip. I’m sure there’s some digital stitching going on with the edits, which is understandable given its nearly 90-minute runtime. This is a very dark movie, and I’m sure that really helped aid in some of the camera cuts. But it can be a bit nauseating with so much of the movie being visually indistinguishable. I could hardly even tell what was happening in some scenes. There were times when I desperately wanted the film to break from its one-take gimmick and just expand upon this interesting world. I’d love to see more of what’s happening, but it’s all so constrained by the storytelling method.

Right around an hour in, things start to get sloppy. To maintain the mystery of the events, despite being in real-time, MadS requires some ridiculously stupid character moments. I often struggle in movies when people ignore the obvious happening in front of them. There are some really dumb character moments like when Julia takes Ana on the motorcycle despite her clearly being messed up. It’s one of those idiotic movie moments where 99% of people would have stopped driving and pulled over. But we have a movie to finish so there’s no logic or reason allowed here.

MadS plays out like a bad trip. The one-take approach allows you to go down the journey into madness while still never quite understanding the parameters of the world shown. The zombies here are more like Evil Dead Demons than the typical shambling flesh-eaters. This makes them a bit more intriguing and allows a bit more personality to shine through. However, sometimes I wonder if the main direction given to the “zombie actors” was simply to act like Isabelle Adjani in Possession. Not that I’m complaining. It worked for Nell Tiger Free in The First Omen.

Like most gimmicky films, MadS isn’t going to be for everyone. While I found interest in even the mundane moments due to the journey of the characters, not everyone will be down for the ride. This is presented in a very different way than most audiences are used to and will therefore have a tough hill to climb. I found the narrative (or lack thereof) to be a bit frustrating as the film went on. Like any gimmick film, once that main draw starts to become tired, there sure better be other elements for the audience to attach themselves to. And sadly, MadS never really gets past the gimmick of the one-take-shot.

MADS IS STREAMING ON SHUDDER ON OCTOBER 18TH, 2024.

MadS

AVERAGE

6

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I’ve been a grumpy old man about all things Dragon Ball for far too long. As your typical non-manga-reading, mainstream-anime-watching child of Toonami, I drew a line in the sand a few episodes into Dragon Ball Super when I first gave it a chance. I wasn’t going to continue watching because its earliest episodes…

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As we head into the late part of the fall, studios are starting to put out their awards-worthy fare, in addition to prestige blockbusters, which they hope will play well throughout the holiday movie season in late November, December and early January. One of the biggest movies coming out this fall, Gladiator II, got its first screenings this weekend, with raves all around for what many are calling director Ridley Scott’s best movie since Black Hawk Down. With October almost finished, we want to know what late fall release has you the most hyped! Take our poll below and let us know!

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On Saturday at New York Comic Con, Square Enix announced five new manga series for English-language publication from its Manga and Books imprints in fall 2025 and winter 2026. The publisher also revealed the Soul Eater: Soul Art Encore! art book for release in October 2025. Read on for details on the announcements, including cover […]

Do you feel the need – the need for speed? Well, just make sure that speed is set at 33 ½ RPM because the soundtracks for two Tom Cruise classics, Top Gun and Days of Thunder, are coming to vinyl. But these aren’t any ordinary releases, as both are going to be available in their extended forms. 

As per Variety, the Top Gun and Days of Thunder vinyl releases will drop on this Friday, October 18th. While these soundtracks were previously released on CD, these are on 140 gram vinyl. They are also remarkably different from the original albums, as the 1986 Top Gun soundtrack featured only one track from composer Harold Faltemeyer (“Mighty Wings”), with the real selling point being Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” and Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”, which would win the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Enjoy the Ride – the label behind these releases – promoted the titles with the following write-up: “After decades of being locked in the vault, the iconic full scores were finally released to the public last year on limited edition CD by our friends at La-La Land Records, and we are excited to bring it to our favorite format for the first time! Both albums feature the original score, plus bonus tracks and additional audio, and are housed in a 2xLP gatefold jacket designed by the ETR Team and Dan Goldwasser.” They also showed off the available variants, with some being limited to just 100 units:

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Like Top Gun, the original Days of Thunder soundtrack release featured only one track from its composer, the great Hans Zimmer, but even that one (“The Last Note of Freedom”, performed by Whitesnake’s David Coverdale, with lyrics by Billy Idol) wasn’t from the score itself. Thankfully, Zimmer’s score can finally be heard on vinyl. As with Top Gun, the Days of Thunder release is capped at 1,000 overall pieces – now that’s a thunder you can’t outrun!

Will you be picking up these vinyl releases of Top Gun and Days of Thunder? Which do you think has the best score overall? Share your thoughts with us below.

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RLJE Films dropped the first teaser trailer for Ash at New York Comic-Con, a trippy sci-fi horror movie starring Eiza González (3 Body Problem) and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) from director Flying Lotus and screenwriter Jonni Remmler.

The official synopsis for Ash: “On the mysterious planet of Ash, Riya (González) awakens to find her crew slaughtered. When a man named Brion (Paul) arrives to rescue her, an ordeal of psychological and physical terror ensues while Riya and Brion must decide if they can trust one another to survive.” The film also stars Iko Uwais (The Raid), Beulah Koale (Next Goal Wins), and Kate Elliott (Wentworth). In addition to directing Ash, Flying Lotus also composed the score.

González has previously teased that you should expect the unexpected with Flying Lotus. “The way his brain works is quite special,” González says of Ash’s director. “He reminds me a lot of David Fincher, who also started in music videos, as someone who is quite interested in pushing boundaries and not being scared of diving into something. But this movie also required someone who had a really authentic and unique artistic take. We couldn’t have been more lucky, because his visual imagery and the way that he spoke to us about the movie really translated to the making of the film. It’s a movie that causes the audience to stay engaged consistently. I love movies that require you to keep thinking and trying to figure out what is actually happening.“

Paul added that music was very important to the production. “He was always playing music on set,” Paul said. “Not necessarily his own music, but just stuff that he dug that fit the vibe of where the characters were at. And then, just before rolling, he would start messing with some stuff that he’d been working on and playing it over the speakers, to get us in the mood. Then they’d yell ‘action!’ and we’d cut the music and go into it.“

Ash will be released in theaters in 2025, followed by a streaming debut on Shudder. What did you think of the teaser trailer for Ash?

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