The Pokémon TCG is in a bit of a precarious place right now. Due to unprecedented interest in new cards driven by Pokémon TCG Pocket, spiking resale prices, and over-excitement at a new Eevee-based special set, the latest sets are selling out everywhere before regular customers can find them. It’s into this situation…
PLOT: When best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.
REVIEW: It’s a downright shame how few comedies get a theatrical release these days. We’re far from the days of the Hughes or even Apatow era in terms of frequency, and it seems that when we do get them, they’re straight to streaming. Rising marketing costs have made it so studios only seem to want to take a gamble on low-budget horror or big-budget tentpole films based on a popular IP. So it’s nice to see an original comedy release in theaters as there’s nothing quite like laughing in a crowded auditorium. And if there’s one thing you’ll definitely get out of One of Them Days: it’s plenty of laughs.
One of Them Days follows roommates Dreux and Alyssa as they struggle to come up with rent money after getting screwed over. Not wanting to be put out on the streets, they look to get enough money, all while their day gets more and more out of control. Hijinx ensue. Keke Palmer is much more subdued here than I’m used to and it really works. She’s the more level-headed of the pairing, but still eccentric enough to get plenty of laughs. You’d never know that this was SZA‘s first lead role as she’s a natural. She’s able to nail the comedic beats while never feeling out of place. Keke and SZA are far from being an odd couple, as they’re two peas in a pod, but they’re just different enough to be an interesting dynamic.
A common pitfall for these comedies is to add more and more ludicrous stakes as the film goes along, getting to the point of absurdity. One of Them Days rides that line nicely, that just when you think it’s going to jump the shark, they manage to keep things relatively grounded. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of broad humor and unrealistic situations but the film manages to never get out of control. They steadily ramp up the stakes, introduce fun new characters, and never get too convoluted. And I lost track of the number of satisfying payoffs to even smaller moments; a mark of a great film. Writer Syreeta Singleton sure did her homework.
Like any good comedy, One of Them Days has a fantastic supporting cast. Katt Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, and Janelle James all have standout moments. James and Meija, in particular, feel destined to break out as nearly every line they say gets a massive laugh. Maude Apatow also feels properly utilized as the white girl moving into the primarily black apartment complex. Her cluelessness may be a caricature to some, but I found it fitting for the type of hipster she’s meant to portray.
I tend to be a tough sell when it comes to comedy and One of Them Days managed to really tickle my funny bone. The laughs per minute were high, with several subtle jokes that are easy to miss. I’m excited for this to come to digital to be able to see some of the gags I may have missed. It does what any great comedy does: blend comedy with emotional stakes for a fun time. Comedies are hard to review, as humor is so subjective, but I feel this manages to be satisfying even if you’re not a laugher. Like any good onscreen partnership, Keke and SZA are a blast to watch and make the running time fly by.
ONE OF THEM DAYS IS PLAYING IN THEATERS ON JANUARY 17TH, 2025.
The post One of Them Days Review: Keke Palmer and Sza shine in this race against time comedy appeared first on JoBlo.
Hideki Kamiya, the director behind Platinum Games’ Bayonetta series who’s now working on Okami 2 under a new studio, has never been one to hold back. The latest targets of his ire are Switch 2 leakers who basically beat Nintendo to revealing the console weeks ago. Kamiya used the occasion of the new console’s…
Hideki Kamiya, the director behind Platinum Games’ Bayonetta series who’s now working on Okami 2 under a new studio, has never been one to hold back. The latest targets of his ire are Switch 2 leakers who basically beat Nintendo to revealing the console weeks ago. Kamiya used the occasion of the new console’s…
Nintendo finally unveiled the Switch 2 yesterday, giving us some bits of information and plenty of new cause for speculation, but the only game we saw was the next Mario Kart. Fans are already calling the kart racer Mario Kart 9 despite us having no official title yet. Though we only saw a few seconds of the game,…
Nintendo finally unveiled the Switch 2 yesterday, giving us some bits of information and plenty of new cause for speculation, but the only game we saw was the next Mario Kart. Fans are already calling the kart racer Mario Kart 9 despite us having no official title yet. Though we only saw a few seconds of the game,…
It was recently reported that Apple TV+ has renewed the Rebecca Ferguson show for two more seasons and is planning to end after season 4. Season 2 has just finished its run. Season 3 is currently being filmed, and season 4 is being written so they can shoot back-to-back. Silo follows the last 10,000 people on Earth as they navigate life in their mile-deep underground home protecting them from the toxic outside world. The catch? No one knows when or why the silo was built and anyone who goes snooping for answers faces fatal consequences. The series has an impressive cast that includes Ferguson (Doctor Sleep), Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption), David Oyelowo (Selma), Common (John Wick: Chapter 2), and Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation).
The Wrap recently sat down with the show’s creator, Graham Yost, now that season 2 has come to an end. Beware: Spoilers follow for anyone wanting to stay fresh. Yost was asked about ending the second season with a big flashback to before the silos. When asked when he knew he wanted to do the flashback, Yost explained, “A lot of it is just instinctual and also just trial and error. Breaking Season 2 was difficult. We didn’t know how far Season 2 was going to go. We thought maybe we would have Juliette over in Silo 17 for two seasons, and then we said, ‘No, we can’t sustain that. We don’t need to sustain that. Let’s move it along.’ Then it was sort of like, then what’s Season 3 and what’s Season 4? I won’t get into all of that, but we are going to get into some origin story stuff in Season 3, you’ve now met Daniel and Helen, played by Ashley Zuckerman and Jessica Henwick.”
Yost, then said, “There was talk with Apple, initially there were some who thought maybe we just end with Juliette on fire in the in the air lock. And we said, ‘No, this not a show that ends with just a cliffhanger. It needs to be something is answered and something is raised.’ At the end of Season 1, when she walks over the hill and out of sight, we could have ended with that. But no, we want her to be seeing that there are 50 other silos. So now we’ve answered some things, and now we’re asking new questions.”
He continued, “With this one, it was a different kind of thing. We knew people are going to go, ‘Oh s–t, that’s where the Pez came from. What does that mean?’ That then propels us forward and that’s kind of the way this show works best because it’s a mystery show.”
The post Silo creator Graham Yost talks the ending of season 2 appeared first on JoBlo.
Filmmaker Jeannot Szwarc earned directing credits on 80 different projects over the course of a career that spanned more than 50 years – but most movie fans will likely remember him as the director of the shark thriller sequel Jaws 2, the time travel romance Somewhere in Time, and/or the DC Comics adaptation Supergirl. Sadly, Szwarc is no longer with us, as his Somewhere in Time star Jane Seymour took to social media to confirm that he has passed away at the age of 85. Seymour wrote, “Today, we say goodbye to a true visionary. Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul. He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever. May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.“
Born in Paris on November 21, 1939, Szwarc graduated from Harvard University before getting his directing career started in the late 1960s by taking the helm of episodes of TV shows like Ironside, The Virginian, Alias Smith and Jones, and Marcus Welby, M.D., among others. In the ’70s, he continued directing for TV shows (Night Gallery, Columbo, The New Perry Mason, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kojack, The Rockford Files, Baretta) while also racking up credits on several TV movies, including Night of Terror, The Weekend Nun, and The Devil’s Daughter. His first theatrically released feature was the 1975 mutant cockroach horror movie Bug. That was followed by Jaws 2 in 1978. In the ’80s, he worked primarily on feature films – Somewhere in Time, Supergirl, Santa Claus: The Movie, etc. – but also made room in his schedule for TV work, including directing a couple TV movies and some episodes of The Twilight Zone.
As of the ’90s, he shifted back to working mostly in television. Over the last few decades, he directed Rockford Files TV movies and episodes of Boston Public, Ally McBeal, C.S.I.: Miami, The Practice, JAG, Numb3rs, Without a Trace, Heroes, Cold Case, Smallville, Fringe, Supernatural, Castle, Bones, Designated Survivor, Grey’s Anatomy, and more.
Swarz passed away on January 15th. Our sincere condolences go out to his family, friends, and fans.
The post Jaws 2, Somewhere in Time, Supergirl director Jeannot Szwarc has passed away at age 85 appeared first on JoBlo.
Questions about Sony’s live-service plans continue to mount. The company confirmed two games were canceled at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, responding to a report by Bloomberg that the PlayStation 5 maker had canned two projects that were part of the company’s ongoing multiplayer push. Neither studio will be…
Questions about Sony’s live-service plans continue to mount. The company confirmed two games were canceled at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, responding to a report by Bloomberg that the PlayStation 5 maker had canned two projects were part of the company’s ongoing multiplayer push. Neither studio will be closed, but…