Nearly 35 years have passed since writer/director Richard Stanley sent his sci-fi horror cult classic Hardware out into the world. Now, the folks at the Australian company Umbrella Entertainment have revealed that they’re getting an early start on celebrating the film’s anniversary by giving it a 4K collector’s edition release – and this release includes a copy of the script for the unmade sequel! Copies of the 4K collector’s edition set can be purchased at THIS LINK.

Starring Dylan McDermott and Stacey Travis, with a cameo by Lemmy and a vocal performance by Iggy Pop, Hardware has the following synopsis: In the barren, radioactive wastelands of the future lies the discarded remains of a Mark 13 cyborg, an advanced military killing machine. When purchased as scrap by Space Trooper Mo as a gift for his sculptress girlfriend, the dismembered remains begin to reconstruct themselves. The fully restored exterminator embarks on a relentless killing spree, with Mo’s girlfriend as its prime target.

Here’s the information on the Umbrella Entertainment release: Umbrella Entertainment presents Hardware fully uncut and uncensored in 4K HDR. Remastered by Umbrella, this release has been supervised by director Richard Stanley (Dust Devil, Color Out of Space). Hardware is a fever dream of gore, sex, sweat, grease and sand delivered as a warning from a nihilistic future. Stylishly melding hard rock, industrial horror and cyberpunk dystopia, Stanley’s cult classic is a pulse-pounding journey into the dangers of unchecked technology and the resilience of the human spirit against mechanical terror. Hardware also features a full-throttle soundtrack including Ministry and Public Image Ltd. and appearances from music stalwarts Iggy Pop, Lemmy from Motorhead and Fields of The Nephilim’s Carl McCoy.

The 4K collector’s edition has the following special features: – NEW! HDR 4K remaster by Umbrella Entertainment – NEW! Audio Commentary with Director Richard Stanley – Audio commentary Director Richard Stanley and Producer Paul Trijbits – No Flesh Shall Be Spared: The Making of Hardware – NEW! Interview with Producer Stephen Wooley – NEW! Hardware: Richard Stanley’s Bitter Message of Hope and Grief, A Video Essay by Bryn Tilly – NEW! Original Storyboard Featurette – Deleted and Extended Scenes – Richard Stanley on Hardware 2 – Hardware Promo Videos with Iggy Pop and Lemmy – Original Hardware Promo Video – Rites of Passage, 1983 Short Film – Incidents in an Expanding Universe, 1985 Short Film – The Voice of the Moon, 1990 Documentary – The Sea of Perdition, 2006 Short Film – Trailer Plus, it comes with – Exclusive T-shirt designed by Hollow Bones Studios (220GSM AS Colour Classic) – A 150+ page hardback book with never before seen behind the scenes, experiences and art from director Richard Stanley – A 100+ page softback book of the unreleased Hardware 2: Ground Zero script – Custom designed rigid case, slipcase and books using pre-production artwork and posters – 8 artcards – A3 reversible poster – Limited Edition Numbered release

Umbrella Entertainment is also offering a 4K and Blu-ray set that doesn’t have the T-shirt, book, script, or artcards. That edition of Hardware goes for $100AUD less than the collector’s edition and can be purchased HERE. If you want the book, script, and artcards, but don’t care about a T-shirt, a shirt-less edition is also an option.

Are you a fan of Hardware, and will you be buying the 4K from Umbrella Entertainment? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Hardware: Richard Stanley’s sci-fi horror film gets a 4K collector’s edition release that includes the script for the unmade sequel appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: When Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped from the North Pole on the day before Christmas, his head of security, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), must team with an untrustworthy tracker (Chris Evans) to find him and save both Christmas and the world!

REVIEW: Red One is the very definition of a streaming movie. While it’s getting a theatrical release, it seems tailor-made as a movie meant to please the algorithm and audiences looking for an easily digestible family action film they can break up in pieces. Despite running only two hours, it’s striking similar in structure to Dwayne Johnson’s Netflix hit, Red Notice, in that it’s little more than a series of generic action set pieces strung together and designed as “world-building” in the hopes, I suppose, that this will turn out to be a perennial hit for Prime Video. It hits theatres this week, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see it surface on streaming before the Holiday season kicks into high gear. 

Really, that’s probably where a movie like this belongs, as in a theatrical setting it feels like a surprisingly tough sit, with it anchored around some “buddy” chemistry which never really surfaces. Here, Johnson’s upstanding Callum Drift is partnered with Chris Evans’s scheming Jack O’Malley, with us supposed to be charmed by the fact that they start out at each other’s throats in classic buddy movie tradition. However, those pairings are lightning in a bottle, with Johnson and Evans doing the same wannabe Tango & Cash pairing we’ve seen fall flat too many times. I get it – when it works (such as in Deadpool & Wolverine), it’s golden, but Johnson and Evans are playing too close to type here without ever really poking fun at themselves. It’s a formula Johnson’s done again and again, but has it ever really worked?

Red One plunges us into the middle of a high-tech North Pole, where Santa Claus is a jacked J.K. Simmons, who has a security network that puts the Pentagon to shame. Johnson’s Drift is his number one guy, but he’s just resigned, as he’s despondent over how much the naughty list has grown over the years. Of course, when Santa is taken, he teams up with Lucy Liu’s head of MORA (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority) to find ol’ St Nick.  

Director Jake Kasdan is an old hand at movies like this, having directed The Rock in two Jumanji movies, and Red One is done very much in the same style. We’re supposed to find it hilarious that Johnson is basically an ELF, and a pal of Santa’s, with many jokes directed at how imposing and scary a guy he is – but is Johnson really that anymore? We always see him play these kinds of super-imposing, soft-hearted heroes, making his casting feel like old hat.

Evans isn’t that much more effective as Jack O’Malley, who’s supposed to be such a degenerate that the movie opens with him literally stealing candy from a baby. Yet, the movie also gives him an estranged son to care about, and who wants to bet that by the time the credits roll, this former member of the “naughty” list will have a change of heart?

One thing about Red One is that it plays like a Marvel movie without the superheroes, with heavy doses of CG creatures and a villain no one will really care about, with Kiernan Shipka’s witch, Grýla, never allowed to become too threatening. Like other streaming movies, it feels like an algorithm threw together Jumanji, Marvel, and Christmas, spitting out the idea for this, with the script by Chris Morgan (one of the Fast Saga’s masterminds) utterly generic. 

Indeed, there’s pretty much nothing anyone does in Red One that hasn’t been done a lot better elsewhere. Heck, if you want to see a really badass Christmas action flick, look no further than Violent Night. Red One is really only worthwhile if you’re desperate for some inoffensive entertainment for the kids, but otherwise this is just a big old lump of coal.

Red One

NOT GOOD

4

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In space, no one can hear you scream. But in the news, everybody can hear your gripes. As he gears up for the release of another sequel in Gladiator II, Ridley Scott is opening up about not only how he got sidestepped for Aliens but also his take on the rest that followed, including his own.

Speaking with Deadline, Ridley Scott remembered being told by James Cameron just how the Alien franchise would be moving forward – and how that all changed when he himself stepped aside. Remember, Scott maintains that he wasn’t even offered the chance to direct Aliens despite 1979’s Alien being a smash at the box office. “Jim told me, ‘Listen, I can’t get it as frightening because you’ve just shown the beast enough that it’s no longer fresh. But it works, still.’ He said, ‘I’m going to go military.’ That’s what Jim said. I said, ‘Gotcha.’ Jim’s was a very good sequel. Three and four became more and more difficult. As it unrolled, I thought, oh God, they’re f*cking it up. And then from that, honestly, I said okay, that’s done.”

But Ridley Scott would of course return to the Alien franchise for 2012’s Prometheus, which brought Ridley Scott back to the Alien franchise after more than 30 years and three other directors. On this stage, Scott stated, “Years later, I saw this bloody film that they keep playing every night somewhere on the globe, on all the platforms. There’s life in the best, yet. That’s why I sat down with the great writer [Damon] Lindelof, and we reconstructed a resurrection of the era, with Prometheus, and how it evolved from Alien. But we were asleep at the wheel. My advisors, who frankly no longer are with me, were asleep at the wheel, certainly. And I partly blame myself, except I was busy making other films. And so it was let go and it shouldn’t have been…”

As for being busy, Ridley Scott is absolutely guilty of this, helming nine movies since Prometheus, one of which was yet another Alien movie, 2017’s Covenant (a film he thinks deserves a sequel more than this year’s Romulus). But Scott has also been tied up in his latest sequel, Gladiator II, which turned out better than a lot of us expected and demonstrates that Scott can be perfectly capable of helming a sequel to one of his greatest films.

Outside of James Cameron’s Aliens, what do you think stands as the best Alien sequel?

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It’s been more than three years since Tom Welling first revealed that he and Michael Rosenbaum were working on a potential animated follow-up to Smallville. Fans were excited by the idea, but unfortunately, the project seems to be stalled as it’s waiting on a very crucial approval from Warner Bros.

“The honest answer is we have not been able to get Warner Bros. to give us the thumbs-up. We need their permission,” Welling told TVLine. “We haven’t even gotten a response!” The actor admitted that the Smallville animated series is “more of a fan-driven idea” that likely wouldn’t be a “financial windfall” for the studio. “We all like each other, we all like working together, and if we could do it, it’d be fun,” he said. “But Warner Bros. — and I’m not hating on them — they just haven’t gotten back to us. It’s not a priority for them. It’s like a not-returning-phone-calls thing.“

The idea was to get as much of the original cast back together as possible, including Smallville co-creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. I imagine Allison Mack wouldn’t have been asked back.

Michael Rosenbaum shared his own update earlier this year, although he was a little more positive that it could happen. “All I could share is that it’s a great idea. We have Al [Gough] and Miles [Millar], the creators of Smallville backing us up. When it’s the right time, we’d like to go and do this; pitch to Warner Bros. It has to be the right time, and right now is not the right time,” Rosenbaum said. “When the time’s right, I think it’s something that’s a no brainer, unless they have other ideas. We’d like to do it — the whole cast would like to do it. They would voice their own character from the show, and we have a concept of what the show is.“

Smallville ran for ten seasons and told the coming-of-age adventures of Clark Kent in his hometown as he discovers his abilities and fights to keep his friends and family safe.

Would you still like to see a Smallville animated series?

The post Tom Welling has an update on the Smallville animated series and it’s not good appeared first on JoBlo.

Will Forte is one of my favourite comic actors, but he may only have 19 years left to live. At least, that’s if you believe what a pissed-off spirit said through an Ouija board. While appearing on Rachel Dratch’s Woo Woo podcast, Forte flashed back to when he was a teenager and asked the Ouija board how he was going to die. The spirit answered that he was going to be stabbed to death at 73. Very specific.

The prediction happened when Forte was a teenager and had visited a girl he was interested in. The girl was friends with a “self-proclaimed witch” who brought over the Ouija board. “I would ask questions of this Ouija board that nobody else would know the answers to, and it would get the answers correct. And so I was pretty blown away,” Forte said. “I was thinking, like, is there a way that my hands are moving it because I know the answer? … I was trying not to push it all, but it was pretty nuts — like my grandma’s middle name, that kind of stuff.“

The witch had warned him that some spirits were “kind of aggressive and violent,” so they had to be careful. Forte promptly ignored the advice. “I would be putting the spirit down, trying to get him really angry. I’m sure I told him he had a small penis or something like that,” he said. “But, like, it really did get kind of kind of scary. I found out that I was going to die at at the age of 73 by stabbing. I’ve got 19 years left.“

Forte added that he doesn’t really believe it but admitted that from “time to time,” he starts to wonder if “when I’m 72, when I’m nearing the end, do I, like, start looking into Kevlar, full body Kevlar suits?“

I didn’t mess around with Ouija much when I was younger, but I recall one instance at a friend’s birthday party when we brought it out in the middle of the night. We were supposed to be asleep so we were being as quiet as possible, but then the board started shaking and moving across the floor by itself. We freaked out, and my friend’s parents came running in. Turns out there was a minor earthquake that night, but holy hell, try telling a bunch of seven year olds that.

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Although Venom: The Last Dance opened somewhat lower at the box office than expected, the sequel has managed to stay on top for the last three weeks and recently crossed a major milestone. The film has sped past the $400 million mark with a $405.5 million worldwide take. That works out to $118.5 million domestically and $287 million internationally, with all three films generating a total of $1.7 billion.

The first Venom grossed $856.1 million during its theatrical run, while Venom: Let There Be Carnage grossed $506.8 million. At this rate, Venom: The Last Dance could overtake Let There Be Carnage but won’t come close to the first movie.

Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock/Venom alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, and Stephen Graham. The Last Dance finds Eddie and Venom on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Venom: The Last Dance featured Knull, the God of the Symbiotes, as the villain pulling the strings behind the scenes. Although he didn’t have much screen time, writer/director Kelly Marcel has teased that Knull is not a “one and done” villain. “We know full well how important Knull is to the fans, so just as we laid a foundation for Venom, we hope we are doing the same for Knull. The King in Black is way too powerful for ‘one and done,’” Marcel said. “This film introduces Knull, but it just touches the beginnings of his story. Marvel’s greatest film villains are developed over time. Here, Knull is the threat lurking behind the danger that tests the absolute limits of Eddie and Venom’s partnership — but it’s their relationship that remains the heart of this story… This is just the beginning for Knull.“

Our own Chris Bumbray found The Last Dance to be something of a mixed bag, although he says that it “finally kicks into high gear for the rather satisfying last half hour. Here, Venom: The Last Dance finally delivers the Venom film we’ve wanted from the start.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here, and be sure to let us know what you think of the film as well.

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Hugh Grant stars as a strange and dangerous villain in Heretic, A24’s new horror flick that debuted with $11 million last weekend. And at one point in the film he does an impression of Star Wars character Jar-Jar Binks and folks, it’s the worst impression of the hated alien I’ve ever heard.

Read more…

Hugh Grant stars as a strange and dangerous villain in Heretic, A24’s new horror flick that debuted with $11 million last weekend. And at one point in the film he does an impression of Star Wars character Jar-Jar Binks and folks, it’s the worst impression of the hated alien I’ve ever heard.

Read more…

Gladiator II will hit theaters next week, and if all goes well, it won’t be our final trip to the Colosseum. Director Ridley Scott has already said he’s working on Gladiator III, and Paul Mescal is ready to return for more.

“Oh yeah, massively down,” Mescal told Variety when asked if he’d want to appear in Gladiator III. “I don’t think it will be [24] years — but I have no idea when it will be.” Although the belated sequel has been receiving positive reviews, it will need to do some serious numbers at the box office to justify the $250 million budget (which some reports claim went as high as $310 million). In a separate interview with Variety, Mescal admits he’s feeling the pressure of headlining a film which needs to make at least $600 million to break even. “I do feel the pressure, and I do feel the desire for this to make money,” he said. “The box office needs a shot in the arm, and if films like ‘Gladiator II’ aren’t doing it, it would be concerning. So I do feel a responsibility.“

Our own Chris Bumbray recently reviewed Gladiator II, and while he admits that it isn’t the instant classic that the original was, “it’s nonetheless a highly entertaining, faithful sequel, jam-packed with action and spectacle. There hasn’t been a lavish, action-driven historical drama done on this scale in some time, with Scott, despite his advancing age, as energetic and kinetic a director as ever.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.

“From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome,” reads the official Gladiator II synopsis. “Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.” The film will hit theaters on November 22nd.

Would you like to see Paul Mescal return for Gladiator III?

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