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14 Feb

Michelle Yeoh stars as an immigrant who challenges a Boston crime family in the action-thriller The Mother

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After leading the action-packed Netflix series The Brothers Sun, Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once, Crazy Rich Asians, Gunpowder Milkshake) is ready to throw down again for The Mother, a newly-announced thriller heading to the upcoming EFM (European Film Market) event.

Mélanie Laurent (Diving, Galveston, The Mad Women’s Ball) directs from a screenplay by P.G. Cuschieri (Cut Throat City, The Undercovers, Shadow Ball Rise and the Black Athlete), with the story following an immigrant mother and businesswoman, Ann, who’s trying to make the best life she knows how in America with her beloved family. However, when her two teenage sons find trouble with a dirty Boston cop and a crime ring, their American dream shatters. Ann taps into her wicked past to save her sons, summoning a woman no one expected to come knocking at their door.

Production kicks off this summer with 30West financing the film’s production. Laurent’s latest project will command attention at the upcoming EFM event. Michelle Yeoh is at the top of her game after dazzling everyone with her jaw-dropping performance in The Daniels’ Oscar-winning action-comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once. Anything she touches turns to gold lately, with The Brothers Sun being an absolute blast of action, comedy, and mixed martial arts. If you haven’t watched The Brothers Sun, I highly recommend it. I blazed through the first season in two sittings, and Yeoh’s performance as Eileen ‘Mama’ Sun is priceless.

A trailer for the Jon M. Chu-directed adaptation of Wicked dropped at the Super Bowl this past weekend. Michelle Yeoh plays Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University, an institution of higher education in the city of Shiz in Gillikin, the northern province of Oz. The cast of Wicked includes Ariana Grande as Glinda, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, and Ethan Slater as Boq, with Jeff Goldblum playing the Wizard of Oz. The presentation is a two-part theatrical event, with films debuting in theaters on Christmas 2024 and 2025.

Are you ready for Michelle Yeoh to take on a Boston powderkeg of crime in The Mother? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Michelle Yeoh stars as an immigrant who challenges a Boston crime family in the action-thriller The Mother appeared first on JoBlo.

14 Feb

The second half of Chucky season 3 begins airing in April

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Chucky season 3 had to be split in half due to the writers and actors strikes, with the first four episodes (read our review HERE) airing on Syfy and USA Network (as well as the Peacock streaming service) back in October. Production resumed at the end of November – and now it has been announced that the second half of the season will begin airing on April 10th! The announcement was made via a social media video made to look like a text exchange between Chucky the killer doll and series cast member Devon Sawa, and you can watch that at the bottom of this article.

A follow-up to all of the Child’s Play movies (remake excluded), Chucky picks up where Cult of Chucky left off. Don Mancini, who has written every film in the franchise (except that remake) and directed a few of them, developed Chucky with producer David Kirschner. Mancini and Kirschner are executive producing Chucky with Harley Peyton, Alex Hedlund, and Nick Antosca. The first season had Chucky terrorizing Hackensack, New Jersey, then he was sent off to a Catholic boarding school for season 2. Now it’s D.C.’s turn to experience some Chucky trouble.

Here’s the season 3 synopsis: In Chucky’s unending thirst for power, season 3 now sees Chucky ensconced with the most powerful family in the world — America’s First Family, inside the infamous walls of the White House. How did Chucky wind up here? What in God’s name does he want? And how can Jake, Devon, and Lexy possibly get to Chucky inside the world’s most secure house, all while balancing the pressures of romantic relationships and growing up? Meanwhile, Tiffany faces a looming crisis of her own as the police close in on her for “Jennifer Tilly’s” murderous rampage last season.

The series stars Jennifer Tilly (as serial killer Tiffany Valentine, now inhabiting the body of actress Jennifer Tilly), Zackary Arthur (as Jake Wheeler), Alyvia Alyn Lind (as Lexy Cross), Fiona Dourif (as Nica Pierce), Björgvin Arnarson (as Devon Evans), Devon Sawa (as President James Collins), Alex Vincent (as Andy Barclay), Christine Elise (as Kyle), Jackson Kelly (as Grant Collins), Lara Jean Chorostecki (as Charlotte Collins), Carina Battrick (as Caroline Cross), and Brad Dourif (providing the voice of Chucky). A while back, it was announced that legendary filmmaker John Waters, who previously played Pete Peters, a tabloid photographer who got dissolved by acid in 2004’s Seed of Chucky, has been added to the cast of Chucky season 3, where he’ll be playing Wendell Wilkins, “the reclusive creator of the Good Guy dolls, who gets drawn into the psychopathic Chucky’s tangled web”.

Are you caught up on Chucky season 3, and will you be tuning in when the season resumes in April? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The second half of Chucky season 3 begins airing in April appeared first on JoBlo.

14 Feb

Ethan Hawke, Daniel Radcliffe, and Jessica Biel strap in to scale the iconic peak of El Capitan in Batso

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Batso

Ethan Hawke (Leave the World Behind, Moon Knight, The Black Phone), Daniel Radcliffe (Guns Akimbo, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, The Lost City), and Jessica Biel (Candy, The Illusionist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) will pack their gear for Batso, a film based on the true story of three groundbreaking climbers who scaled the iconic peak El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in the early 1970s.

Kyle Marvin (80 for Brady, All Wrong) directs from a screenplay by Eamon O’Sullivan, with Ethan Hawke playing Warren “Batso” Harding and Daniel Radcliffe as Dean Caldwell, the first climbers to challenge the incredibly daunting sheer face El Capitan route known as “The Wall of Early Morning Light.” Meanwhile, Jessica Biel plays Beryl Knauth, a trend-setting climber and Warner’s romantic partner.

Here’s the official synopsis from Deadline‘s exclusive report:

“In 1970, ‘The Wall of Early Morning Light’ was an unthinkable climb. For larger-than-life climbing legends Warren ‘Batso’ Harding and Dean Caldwell, it represented a near-impossible physical and mental challenge. For iconoclast Batso, it also offered one last chance to stick it to the naysayers who thought him too old, too out of touch and too crazy. For novice Dean, it was a way to see beyond his 9-to-5 existence and unlock the awesome potential of the human spirit.

“What began as an almost farcical exercise became one of the great underdog stories in the history of the sport. The estimated 10-day climb stretched into a 28-day marathon of grit and determination that sparked a media sensation.”

The official Yosemite website recapped Warren and Dean’s harrowing story, saying, “The pair was forced to wait out storms while on the wall and to drill extensively through areas that looked to be more natural from the ground. They started the climb with 15 days of provisions but required 27 days to finally make the summit. The National Park Service mounted a rescue for the team when they were mid-route, but Harding and Caldwell famously refused and continued their epic ascent unaided. They were met on the summit by throngs of media.”

Wow! Can you imagine refusing help when storms threaten to knock you off a cliff face? I don’t know whether that’s guts or pure insanity. I would have had the rescue team airlift my ass out of there so quickly. You can keep your fame and pride. I’ll take safety and a stack of pancakes back at the lodge, thank you.

Are you familiar with this story of Batso? Have you ever scaled a world-famous cliffside? If you have, tell us about the experience in the comments below.

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14 Feb

Bob Marley: One Love Review

By . FilmTV No Comments

PLOT: The story of how reggae icon Bob Marley overcame adversity, and the journey behind his revolutionary music.

REVIEW: I remember discovering Bob Marley in college and being blown away at the amount of passion he put into his music. Those on the outside may have just minimalized him to simply being a reggae pot smoker, but he was so much more than that. His message of peace through unity always stuck in this hippie’s mind. So I’ve always felt Bob would be a fantastic subject for a big-budget musical biopic. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’m any closer to knowing the man than I was before sitting down in the theater.

Bob Marley: One Love follows Marley through one of the biggest times of his life: the creation of Exodus and his unity concert(s) in Jamaica. The film does a good job of showing just how much music can affect people. Marley was more than just a musician in Jamaica: he was an icon. And they do a great job of presenting him as such. The crowds of adoring fans and looks of sheer amazement that his band members give him, do a great job of showing what a presence he was. I’ve grown to hate CGI crowds, as they take some of the soul out of moments. But I’d say they absolutely nail it here, with the right blend of real crowds, with digital ones.

Kingsley Ben-Adir is absolutely wonderful as Bob Marley, getting down the voice and mannerisms perfectly. Bob is a very unique individual, so it’s nice to see Kingsley nail the nuances. A “vibe” is a very hard thing to get right, but the energy that Kingsley exudes is the perfect encapsulation of the legendary reggae artist. Sure, he’s about a foot larger than Marley was in real life, but I’ll always argue things like that can be ignored with a great performance. While most of the performances feature Marley’s real voice, there are some jam sessions where Ben-Adir’s work shines through.

I was most impressed with Issa Rae‘s Rita Marley, who has one of the most powerful scenes in One Love. There were hints at their unique relationship, but I would have liked to have seen it expanded a bit. Instead, their story feels mostly like one that plays out off-camera. The audience is given very little outside of the music side of Bob. When you see the credits roll, you’ll notice many Marley’s were involved with production. This means there’s authenticity in the music and look that cannot be ignored. Though it’s hard not to wonder if this would have felt a little more true with a little less involvement. Bob is essentially treated as this godlike figure, with very few flaws. They don’t address his womanizing and just gloss over his many children with different women. At one point, he goes from having two kids to suddenly having a bunch, with little to no explanation.

Much of the problem with Bob Marley: One Love is its lack of truth. I’m not sure if is just the idolization of the man, without getting into the stuff that made him human or the lack of meaty emotional moments, it didn’t make for a satisfying narrative. Sure, the music is wonderful but it feels like it’s doing so much of the heavy lifting with the narrative. The lyrics are constantly spelling out the message versus letting the audience experience it themselves. Remember, show, don’t tell. The most interesting elements are simply glossed over. Even Marley’s cancer feels like just another box they have to check off in the story versus the massive life event that it was.

I was also very disappointed with how the film simply ends. There’s a massive buildup to Jamaica uniting and Bob playing this concert. Yet this information ends up being given through archive footage and on-screen titles. In the end, Bob Marley: One Love is an uneven film with some tremendous performances. It ultimately doesn’t end up being anything other than a way to introduce a younger generation to a talented artist they may not be familiar with. But in terms of getting to understand the man behind it all? At this point, I’m not sure we’ll ever get that in movie form.

BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE IS PLAYING IN THEATERS ON FEBRUARY 14TH, 2023.


Bob Marley: One Love

AVERAGE

6

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14 Feb

Bewitched: classic sitcom is being reimagined as an irreverent hourlong show

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Bewitched

The classic sitcom Bewitched ran for eight seasons and a total of 254 episodes, premiering on September 17, 1964 and wrapping up on March 25, 1972. A spin-off called Tabitha came and went in 1977, then Bewitched received a big screen reboot back in 2005… and in recent years, Sony has shown that they’re very eager to reboot the property again. Back in 2018, it was announced that Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and writer Yamara Taylor were working on a TV series reboot that would give the concept “an interracial twist”. That didn’t go anywhere. In 2021, it was reported that Terry Matalas (MacGyver) and Travis Fickett (12 Monkeys) had been hired to write the screenplay for a new Bewitched movie. That never made it into production… and apparently the idea has been abandoned, because now Deadline has learned that writer/producer Judalina Neira has signed an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television that’s focused on developing drama series for cable and streaming through her newly launched production company, Famous Last Words Productions. And the first project to come out of this deal is a TV series reimagining of Bewitched.

The original series showed us what happened when a witch married an ordinary mortal man, vowing to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife.

Neira is writing what is described as being an “irreverent hourlong” take on Bewitched. (Episodes of the original show aired in a half-hour time slot.) She will be executive producing the series with The Goldbergs executive producer Doug Robinson and Lauren Moffat of the Sony TV-based Doug Robinson Productions.

Lauren Stein, Head of Creative, Sony Pictures Television had this to say about the Neira deal: “Judalina joined the Sony family with her work on The Boys, and we are incredibly proud of her contributions to supporting creator Eric Kripke’s vision. She brings passion and authenticity and has been such a champion for the representation and growth of Latinx writers — we knew we had to make a deal with her! We are so excited to have her call Sony home and can’t wait for what is to come as we deepen our relationship.“

Neira added: “It’s been such a pleasure telling wicked stories with the team at Sony TV these past few years. I couldn’t be more amped to join forces with them for this next big step in my career. And under our newly launched Famous Last Words Productions, I’m excited to both write and produce a full slate of hooky character-forward shows that dish up delight with bite.“

Neira’s previous credits include working as a writer and story editor on The Flash, where she was also a producer, serving as a writer and supervising producer on Daisy Jones & The Six, being co-executive producer on Gen V, and being a consulting producer on The Morning Show. As mentioned, she has also written for The Boys.

Are you interested in seeing what a modern, irreverent, hourlong show could do with the concept of Bewitched? Share your thoughts on this news by leaving a comment below.

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