A fusion of real-time reaction speed and tactical decision-making, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s combat system is both speedy and strategic. If it’s been a while since you’ve played 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, or if you’re jumping into Rebirth as your first modern FF7 experience, this guide will help you gain…
Three-week projections for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two are in, and the highly-anticipated sequel could ride a sandworm all the way to the bank! The follow-up to Villeneuve’s 2021 epic gives theater owners and film industry workers something to feel spicy about, with conservative predictions giving the movie a $65M+ launch. That projected total is 59%-83% higher than the original, which debuted at $41M.
Legendary/Warner Bros released Dune during the pandemic, with the science-fiction spectacle going day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max. The simultaneous release cut into Dune’s box office totals, but fans longing for a big-screen blockbuster still showed up to theaters, making Dune the second highest-grossing day and date/HBO Max movie for Warner Media at $402M worldwide.
Early tickets for Dune: Part Two went on sale on January 26, with receipts stacking like hotcakes, outpacing Universal’s Oppenheimer, which is quite the feat. Dune: Part Two may blow past the projected $65M+ as theater offerings have been slim for weeks. Movie fans are a tenacious bunch with money burning in their pockets. It seems harsh to lay the saving of a dismal box office at Dune’s feet, but Hollywood is still recuperating from the pandemic and strikes.
Dune: Part Two “will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family,” says the film’s official synopsis. “Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.”
Denis Villeneuve directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts based on Frank Herbert’s novel. The film is produced by Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Villeneuve, Tanya Lapointe, and Patrick McCormick. The executive producers are Josh Grode, Herbert W. Gains, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, and Kim Herbert, with Kevin J. Anderson as a creative consultant.
Do you plan on seeing Dune: Part Two during the film’s opening weekend? Can Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated sequel be the shot in the arm the box office needs? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Dune: Part Two rides a sandworm into theaters on March 1, 2024.
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The French horror film The Animal Kingdom has been making the festival rounds for the last year, and after reaching theatres in its home country last October it ended up earning 12 Nominations at this year’s César Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor. We’ll have to wait a couple weeks to find out if it’s going to win those César Awards (the ceremony is set to be held on February 23rd), but in the meantime a trailer for the film’s American release has made its way online and can be seen in the embed above. Magnet Releasing will be giving The Animal Kingdom a theatrical and VOD release on March 15th.
Directed by Thomas Cailley, who also wrote the screenplay with Pauline Munier, The Animal Kingdom, which is described as “a visionary thriller”, drops viewers into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures, François does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile, their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer. From acclaimed director Thomas Cailley, the film world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard.
Romain Duris (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) stars as François and is joined in the cast by Paul Kircher (Winter Boy) as Emile and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color) as the helpful local police officer.
Cailley made his feature directorial debut with the comedy Love at First Fight back in 2014 and has since directed six episodes of the mystery series Ad Vitam, which he co-created.
Pierre Guyard produced The Animal Kingdom, with Eve François Machuel serving as executive producer and Philip Boëffard and Christophe Rossignon as associate producers.
What did you think of the trailer for The Animal Kingdom? Does this look like a movie you’d like to check out next month? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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It seems like so many stories that arise from Hollywood are caked with negativity, toxicity and sometimes sheer evil. So when one with such positivity and hope comes along, it feels not only fresh but also puts a new light on the powers of the famous and the surprising capabilities of our favorite actors. This time around, the focus is on Christian Bale, who is helping complete a 16-year project that puts roofs over the heads of siblings in the foster care system.
The project recently broke ground, putting in motion an initiative that Christian Bale has kept close to his heart. At the event, Bale explained the purpose of the plan, saying, “With our Together California model, [the village] is something absolutely new, totally transformative and something completely needed. Imagine the absolute pain and the trauma of losing your parents or being torn from your parents, and then losing your brothers and sisters on top of that, that’s no way to treat kids…And so, we will be the hub for that. I hope that this village will be the first of many, and I hope that people, Californians and Angelenos, know to come join us in opening our eyes to what’s happening right under our noses. These are our children, and we must help our children.”
Together California, which is on pace to be completed next year, is pegged at costing $22 million, with a portion of the budget going towards an expansive property just outside of Los Angeles that includes 16 homes, two studio apartments and a 7,000 square foot community center. Through Together California, Bale joins The Big Short co-star Brad Pitt in his affinity for constructing homes for those in need.
But it has indeed been a long journey for Christian Bale and company. “I had the very unrealistic idea that within one year I’d have created a miniature Sound of Music with kids singing on hills in an endlessly joyful environment. But I discovered no, it takes an awful long time and really well-motivated people. It’s complicated and tough to help kids. It should be a hell of a lot easier than it was but I didn’t flinch for one second.”
Christian Bale recently voiced in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron.
What is your favorite Christian Bale movie or performance?
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Square Enix’s new, PlayStation-exclusive, multiplayer foam-combat game—Foamstars—is out now on PS5 and PS4. It’s free for folks who have PlayStation Plus, which means the barrier to entry is low and it’s just your time you’ll waste playing this meh shooter instead of actual money.
Square Enix’s new, PlayStation-exclusive, multiplayer foam-combat game—Foamstars—is out now on PS5 and PS4. It’s free for folks who have PlayStation Plus, which means the barrier to entry is low and it’s just your time you’ll waste playing this meh shooter instead of actual money.
And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor goes to…The heavy favorite this year is Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer – and even those he’s in competition with know he’s a shoo-in for the Oscar. Sterling K. Brown, who is up for American Fiction, recently admitted that the statue is Downey Jr.’s to lose.
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show (via EW), Brown suggested that the nomination itself is a sort of victory, saying, “There’s no losing yet. It will happen in its own due time…I know that I’m not going to win.” But he knows the Oscar will go to Downey Jr., who plays Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer. “I’mma tell you: Robert Downey Jr.’s gonna win, and he’s incredibly deserving. He’s an incredible actor. Like, you should give him love…The fact that I get a chance to be nominated along with him and Mr. [Robert] De Niro and Ryan Gosling and [Mark] Ruffalo…I’m just happy to be in the room.” De Niro, Gosling and Ruffalo are nominated for Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie and Poor Things, respectively; of all of the nominees, only De Niro has a previous win in the category, although Ruffalo does lead in nominations with four.
Outside of his sure-thing bet on Best Supporting Actor being awarded to Downey Jr., Brown predicted that Colman Domingo would win Best Actor for Rustin, although he’s way off base here as the odds-on favorite is Paul Giamatti, with Cillian Murphy proving to be his only real competition if any. If you have strong feelings about the awards, make sure to have your say over at The Golden Schmoes! Our nomination period starts Monday
This Oscar nomination is Downey Jr.’s third and second in the Best Supporting Actor category, after 2009’s Tropic Thunder. He was previously nominated for Best Actor for Chaplin, which RDJ has since gone on to say he’s grateful he didn’t win as it may have screwed with his ego.
It’s pretty cool seeing how humble and giving Brown is here coming off of his first Academy Award nomination. He already has three Primetime Emmy Awards, all in different categories and for different projects.
Do you think the Best Supporting Actor Oscar is a lock for Robert Downey Jr. or is there room for a surprise? Let us know below!
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It feels that the term “superhero movie” used to be a subgenre that could take on many forms. For example, Logan was a Western epic with super-powered characters at the core, but the tone was nothing like any of the other X-Men films of years past. Or the way Constantine gave us a dark horror-thriller with demons and monsters but kept the detective-slash-noir aesthetic and allowed it to bleed through. But, these days, it feels like nearly all of the caped cinema we’re getting fits into the same all-encompassing, mass-appealing mega-genre that has started to feel the same across every film- With the rare exception of movies like The Batman or Marvel’s recent Werewolf By Night, there’s been a frustrating lack of variety in the tones of modern comic book cinema. But back in 2011, Marvel was in the infancy of building out there now-dominating connected universe by way of introducing different characters in their films, before crossing over into one giant blockbuster event with Marvel’s Avengers.
With Iron Man already being two films in and Thor and the Hulk being introduced in their outings, it was time for Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel Studios to rewind the clocks to 1942 and introduce audiences to one of the MCU’s most iconic heroes- in Captain America: The First Avenger.
If the Iron Man movies were a high-octane action romp, Thor was a Shakespearian ode to the Renaissance era, and The Incredible Hulk was… I don’t know, something? Marvel Studios wanted to tell the story of Captain America in an adventurous trip to the past where we can meet the man who unknowingly made it possible for the Avengers to come together nearly 70 years later. The film offers a full origin story for Steve Rogers as the character. Also, it brings in some history to help fill out the already-established MCU, giving the entire connected universe a sense of lore and detail that connects these films even further. But, by this time, Marvel’s confidence in the success of their projects led them to use this movie to dabble and experiment with the historical war epic genre- and in some ways, it works, and in other ways, it simply does not. But of course, the big question today is how this movie stacks up against the standards or lack thereof in today’s world of comic-riddled content. Let’s find out in today’s episode of Marvel Revisited.
The post Captain America: The First Avenger – How does Cap’s first screen outing hold up? appeared first on JoBlo.
It feels that the term “superhero movie” used to be a subgenre that could take on many forms. For example, Logan was a Western epic with super-powered characters at the core, but the tone was nothing like any of the other X-Men films of years past. Or the way Constantine gave us a dark horror-thriller with demons and monsters but kept the detective-slash-noir aesthetic and allowed it to bleed through. But, these days, it feels like nearly all of the caped cinema we’re getting fits into the same all-encompassing, mass-appealing mega-genre that has started to feel the same across every film- With the rare exception of movies like The Batman or Marvel’s recent Werewolf By Night, there’s been a frustrating lack of variety in the tones of modern comic book cinema. But back in 2011, Marvel was in the infancy of building out there now-dominating connected universe by way of introducing different characters in their films, before crossing over into one giant blockbuster event with Marvel’s Avengers.
With Iron Man already being two films in and Thor and the Hulk being introduced in their outings, it was time for Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel Studios to rewind the clocks to 1942 and introduce audiences to one of the MCU’s most iconic heroes- in Captain America: The First Avenger.
If the Iron Man movies were a high-octane action romp, Thor was a Shakespearian ode to the Renaissance era, and The Incredible Hulk was… I don’t know, something? Marvel Studios wanted to tell the story of Captain America in an adventurous trip to the past where we can meet the man who unknowingly made it possible for the Avengers to come together nearly 70 years later. The film offers a full origin story for Steve Rogers as the character. Also, it brings in some history to help fill out the already-established MCU, giving the entire connected universe a sense of lore and detail that connects these films even further. But, by this time, Marvel’s confidence in the success of their projects led them to use this movie to dabble and experiment with the historical war epic genre- and in some ways, it works, and in other ways, it simply does not. But of course, the big question today is how this movie stacks up against the standards or lack thereof in today’s world of comic-riddled content. Let’s find out in today’s episode of Marvel Revisited.
The post Captain America: The First Avenger – How does Cap’s first screen outing hold up? appeared first on JoBlo.
In between drags of cigarette smoke, Patty and Selma Bouvier are likely freaking out over the idea of a new Matlock series coming to CBS. The Matlock reboot gets a new star today with Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys, Max Payne, Hit and Run) joining the cast. Bridges replaces Jayme Sheridan, who starred in the pilot, to act opposite Kathy Bates (Misery, Fried Green Tomatoes, Dolores Claiborne) in the updated version. CBS’ Matlock debuts in 2024-25 after the strike delayed production.
CBS’ Matlock hails from Jennie Snyder Urman (Something Borrowed, Charmed, Men in Trees) and stars Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a sharp-minded septuagenarian with a stellar track record for solving cases. After being away from the game for years, Matlock rejoins the workforce at a distinguished law firm, where she uses her years of experience and unique tactics to achieve justice. At her new place of employment, Matty teams up with Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), a senior attorney and key rainmaker who thirsts for fair play. Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Jason Ritter), the son of the head of the firm (Bridges), is fascinated by Matty and her precocious skills.
According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Bridges plays Senior, “the firm’s chief executive officer, who has an indomitable presence that immediately alters the temperature of any room. The man’s influence reaches far and wide, and although he loves his son, Julian (Ritter), he might respect his daughter-in-law, Olympia (Marshall), more.”
David Del Rio and Leah Lewis join Kathy Bates, Skye P. Marshall, and Beau Bridges for CBS’ new Matlock series, with Urman, Joanna Klein, Eric Christian Olsen, John Will, and Bates executive producing.
Beau Bridges appears in the Apple TV+ series Lessons in Chemistry, starring Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) as Elizabeth Zott, whose dream of being a chemist is put on hold when she finds herself pregnant, alone, and fired from her lab. Lewis Pullman and Aja Naomi King star in Lessons in Chemistry, with Patrick Walker, Stephanie Koenig, Marc Evan Jackson, and more.
Talk about a blast from the past! What do you think about Beau Bridges joining the cast of CBS’ Matlock? Did you ever watch the original show in reruns or on DVD? Let us know in the comments below.
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