Epic, now primarily known for Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, has given permission for two of the most significant video games ever made, Unreal and Unreal Tournament, to be freely accessed via the Internet Archive. As spotted by RPS, via ResetEra, the OldUnreal group announced the move on their Discord, along with…
Epic, now primarily known for Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, has given permission for two of the most significant video games ever made, Unreal and Unreal Tournament, to be freely accessed via the Internet Archive. As spotted by RPS, via ResetEra, the OldUnreal group announced the move on their Discord, along with…
Poetry Comics Month, Day 14: Scene
We’re just a couple weeks into Pokémon TCG Pocket’s life out in the wild and the devs behind the hit mobile card game adaptation have already teased some big upcoming plans. Those include new booster packs before the end of the year, the arrival of trading in 2025, and other new features that are still in development.
We’re just a couple weeks into Pokémon TCG Pocket’s life out in the wild and the devs behind the hit mobile card game adaptation have already teased some big upcoming plans. Those include new booster packs before the end of the year, the arrival of trading in 2025, and other new features that are still in development.
Stranger Things and Ghostbusters: Afterlife / Frozen Empire actor Finn Wolfhard recently made his feature directorial debut with a horror comedy called Hell of a Summer, which he directed alongside Billy Bryk, who also appeared in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to watch the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and gave it a 5/10 review than can be read at THIS LINK. Hell of a Summer has secured a U.S. distribution deal with NEON, and will receive a theatrical release sometime in 2025 – and earlier this week, we learned that Wolfhard and Bryk have already lined up their second genre project, as they’re writing a remake of the 1999 horror comedy Idle Hands, which they might end up directing as well. The Ghostbusters franchise’s Jason Reitman is on board to produce the film. But what does original Idle Hands star Devon Sawa think of this announcement? He took to social media to let us know.
Sawa wrote on X, “I mean if anyone’s gonna do it, better be them two fine lads (Wolfhard and Bryk). Good luck fellas.” He added, “My 10 year old: “Awesome!! Finn Wolfhard from the coolest show Stranger Things is making a new movie called Idle Hands!!” Me: “I was in Idle Hands!! I’m the original Anton!!” “Sure, dad. Whatever you say. Can I have a snack?”“
Directed by Rodman Flender – who also directed Leprechaun 2 and happens to be the uncle of Dune star Timothée Chalamet – from a screenplay by Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer, the original Idle Hands has the following synopsis: When slacker teen Anton Tobias has his right hand possessed by a demonic force, he finds that his life gets a lot more interesting. While Anton himself is an amiable guy, his hand proves to be an appendage of death, killing his two best buddies, Pnub and Mick, who return to life as wisecracking zombies. In addition to murdering those closest to him, Anton’s evil hand significantly hinders his chances with lovely neighbor Molly.
Sawa was joined in the cast by Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, Vivica A. Fox, Jack Noseworthy, Steve Van Wormer, Fred Willard, Connie Ray, Katie Wright, Kelly Monaco, Sean Whalen, Nick Sadler, Randy Oglesby, Timothy Stack, Mindy Sterling, Joey Slotnick, Tom DeLonge, and Kyle Gass, with Christopher Hart as The Hand. There’s also a special appearance by the band The Offspring.
Earlier this year, Sawa (who appeared on every season of the Chucky TV series) suggested that there should be a Chucky / Idle Hands crossover. He told Collider, “I would love to see something like Chucky battle the hand, running wild in a little house, like a hand and Chucky chasing it with a knife. That would be the ultimate battle.” It doesn’t seem like we’ll ever see that battle, but we do have more Idle Hands action to look forward to know.
Reitman is producing the Idle Hands remake with Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd, under their Team Todd banner. Reitman’s Ghostbusters collaborator (and Frozen Empire director) Gil Keenan is also a producer on the project. Maia Eyre is overseeing for Sony.
Would you like to see Devon Sawa show up in the Idle Hands remake? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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With all these musical biopics being released, many are questioning how many of these life stories can be told in a more refreshing way without falling into the traps that Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story parodied. Well, Robbie Williams and the creatives behind Better Man have attempted a slightly different approach. The film inspired by Williams’ life has him being portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee. Our own Chris Bumbray loved the movie at TIFF, saying in his review, “The craziest thing about Better Man isn’t the fact that Robbie Williams is presented as a CGI chimpanzee but rather that this risky conceit works quite well. […] While I went into Better Man with a raised eyebrow, wary of the chimpanzee aspect, to my delight, it worked wonderfully. As far as big-screen biopics go, this is a pretty deliriously entertaining one, and I had a blast watching it. It’s definitely one to keep an eye out for.”
Paramount has now released the trailer for Better Man coupled with a featurette. The official synopsis reads, “Better Man is based on the true story of the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams, one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Under the visionary direction of Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), the film is uniquely told from Robbie’s perspective, capturing his signature wit and indomitable spirit. It follows Robbie’s journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.”
The film stars Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvaney, Frazer Hadfield, Tom Budge and Anthony Hayes.
Michael Gracey directs from a screenplay he wrote with Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole. The movie is produced by Paul Currie, Michael Gracey, Coco Xiaolu Ma, Jules Daly and Craig McMahon. And the executive producers on board include Zhe Chen, Robbie Williams, Markus Barmettler, Philip Lee, Li-Wei Chu, Michael Loney, Thorsten Schumacher,Lars Sylvest, Mark Williams, Gregory Jankilevitsch, Klaudia Smieja, David Ravel, Domenic Benvenuto, Gianni Benvenuto, Zoran Stojkovic, Faris Dedic, David Conley, Daniel Fluri, Adrian Grabe, Andres Kernen and Dean Hood.
The film will swing into select theaters on December 25 and then go nationwide on January 17, 2025.
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The Ben Affleck/Charlize Theron Christmas action film is coming home…just not in time for Christmas. Blu-ray.com is reporting that Reindeer Games, the final theatrical film by John Frankenheimer, is getting a new 4K Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. The Santa-centric Casino robbery film stars Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron, Isaac Hayes, and Ron Jeremy. However, the holiday-themed film is due to hit retailers just after the holidays on January 14.
The description reads,
“Just released from prison, all Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) wants is to start a new life with Ashley (Charlize Theron), the girl of his dreams, whom he met through pen pal letters in prison. But between them and happiness stands her crazy brother, Gabriel (Gary Sinise), and his motley crue of deadly criminals who think Rudy has some inside information about a casino where he once had a job — a casino Gabriel and his short-fused posse plan to take down.”
Special Features and Technical Specs:
DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
As panned as this movie is, Reindeer Games would still make a spot on our past Best Christmas Action Movies list, saying, “This is one of those movies that’s kinda good and kinda not good but still belongs on your Christmas watch list. […] This movie starts with that Yuletide spirit by panning across several dead Santas. So, it is not exactly the movie you want to watch with your kids on Christmas Eve before reading them the night before Christmas, but, as with some of the other films on this list, Reindeer Games is one of those Christmas movies you watch early in December to get you in the Christmas mood.”
The post The Ben Affleck Christmas actioner, Reindeer Games, will get a new 4K Blu-ray release just after the holidays appeared first on JoBlo.
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.
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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.
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