Deadline is reporting on the new project from Stephen Frears, the director of Dangerous Liasons, The Queen and Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight. Frears is set to make Wilder & Me, which will be a screen adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s popular novel Mr. Wilder and Me. The screenplay for the film will be penned by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father), with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing the film. Frears has assembled his impressive cast for the film, which will include Christoph Waltz as legendary movie director Billy Wilder, who has helmed such films as Some Like it Hot and The Apartment. Waltz is set to be joined by Maya Hawke, Jon Hamm and John Turturro.
According to Deadline, “The story starts out during a heady Greek summer, and sees Calista fall in love with cinema and life on a journey of self-discovery. Thrilled by her new adventure, Calista follows Wilder to Munich and Paris to continue the shoot with leading actor William Holden, and experiences her first love. Realising his star is on the wane, Wilder navigates the changing world of cinema in the twilight of his career, while Calista’s career is just beginning. The time she spends in this glamorous, unfamiliar new life will change her forever.”
Hawke will be playing Calista, a young musician whose life will change after it takes on a whole new meaning while working on the set of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora. Turturro is set to play his lifelong friend and screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond. And Hamm will play the famed actor William Holden. The production is set for an early 2025 shoot in Greece and aims to take advantage of the Greek locations originally used by Wilder.
Frears expressed his excitement for working on the film, “This is the most wonderful project. Wilder was sharp, clever and very very funny. And he directed Marilyn Monroe twice! Christoph Waltz will be magnificent. I always go by the script and this one is terrific.” Hampton would add, “Wilder And Me is the story of veteran film-makers in the 1970s, beginning to realise the extent of the changes within the industry and the ways in which they have failed to move with the times; it’s about the memories that haunt an émigré on his return to the boneyard of Europe; and it shows how an open-minded younger generation can draw inspiration from the giants of the past.”
OK, campers, rise and shine and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s cold out there today. It’s cold out there every day! But this isn’t Miami Beach and it’s not even Punxsutawney. Heck, it’s not even Woodstock, Illinois, where Groundhog Day was shot. No, it’s Chicago, the location of a celebration not only of the 1993 comedy but also the life of director Harold Ramis.
Today, February 2nd, of course marks Groundhog Day, when thousands of people gather to freeze their butts off and worship a rat. But for many of us today is more about the movie. And that’s just what will be commemorated at Chicago’s Navy Pier when a selection of the cast gathers to remember Groundhog Day and Ramis, who passed away in February 2014.
The most notable cast members joining the Groundhog Day festivities are Brian Doyle-Murray (“Inner Circle” head Buster Green), Stephen Tobolowsky (Ned Ryerson) and Marita Geraghty (Phil’s part-time love interest Nancy Taylor), while those that played waitress Doris, the psychiatrist, the piano teacher, and the DJ will also be there. The question on everybody’s mind today won’t be if Phil the groundhog sees his shadow but if Phil Connors shows up, as Bill Murray is a Chicago boy. And who wouldn’t want to see Chris Elliott and Andie MacDowell?
The central location for the Groundhog Day event will be Harry Caray’s Tavern, which Ramis actually was a partner in. There, attendees can get some themed drinks (sweet vermouth, rocks with a twist?) and check out a number of pieces from Ramis’ career, including clothing and his personal leather-bound shooting scripts from Groundhog Day, in addition to his and Murray’s iconic outfits from 1984’s Ghostbusters.
Groundhog Day has gone on to become one of the most respected comedies ever, being recognized by the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for being a significant work in movie history and even placing in the top 300 on this year’s edition of They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’s list of the 1,000 greatest films ever. It’s also just about as deep and dark of a comedy you’re likely to get, what with all of the existentialism, suicide and groundhog-napping.
PLOT: An artist (Andre Holland) must come to terms with the trauma of his youth when his father (James Earl Jelks) re-enters his life seeking forgiveness.
REVIEW: It’s easier to forgive than forget. That the well-worn but always true message of director Titus Kaphar’s powerhouse debut, Exhibiting Forgiveness. A notable artist who received the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2018 had exhibitions all over the United States and abroad, this marks his first time behind the camera, and what a debut it is.
The Knick star Andre Holland stars as Tarrell, an acclaimed black artist who’s become the toast of the art world, has a beautiful, loving wife (Audra Day) and an adoring young son. But he still wakes up in a cold sweat every morning, remembering the psychological and physical abuse his father, La’Ron (James Earl Jelks), dished out on him as a kid. This included making him work a full day mowing lawns even after he impaled his foot on a dirty nail. Now that Tarrell is thriving and happy, his father has come out of the woodwork, claiming to have “found Jesus” and to be free of the crack addiction he blames for his worst behaviour. His loving mother, Joyce (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), wants him to let his dad back in his life, but it’s not so easy for Tarrell, who can’t help but despise the man.
Indeed, Exhibiting Forgiveness is the antithesis of your typical, uplifting family drama. Too many films judge the victims of abuse too harshly for not being quick to forgive or forget, and Exhibiting Forgiveness is on Tarrell’s side throughout as some wounds, like it or not, run too deep.
Yet, the film is sensitively acted and manages to have some empathy towards everyone. No one is perfect, including Holland’s Tarrell, who repressed his anger and fear so much that it comes out at the wrong targets, including his own family, in a misguided attempt to protect them from his past. While Audra Day’s Aisha could have been a stock, “loving wife” character, she has agency of her own, with her a struggling musician looking to fulfil her own ambitions. Her support is unwavering, but she doesn’t hand Tarrell platitudes about moving on. She doesn’t know what he went through because he won’t let her in, and the film respects that.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, as Tarrell’s loving mother, also has a more complicated role than usual in the film. While a dotting, kind and religious woman, the film also questions the fact that she allowed La’Ron to abuse his son for so long. And finally, James Earl Jelks has a powerhouse role as the once fearsome La’Ron, who’s become mentally and physically mellowed with time.
One of the best things about the film is that Kaphar allows you to empathize with all involved without spoon-feeding you a reconciliation narrative that might come off as unearned. He doesn’t want you leaving the theatre with an “up” feeling because that’s not truthful to the experience of the abused. Some demons may stay buried, but they’re never, ever forgotten. Through it all, Kaphar brings a touch of the avant-garde to his movie while still dipping into a little welcome art world satire, as wealthy patrons jockey to buy Tarrell’s depictions of suffering because they’re trendy, and how he resents it but also needs to go along with it to make a living.
In many ways, I’m surprised Exhibiting Forgiveness didn’t get a big sale (yet) at Sundance, as it seems like the kind of movie an indie distributor could do a lot with come awards time. Holland has long been underrated as an actor, and this is a powerhouse showcase for him.
Every Persona player knows that the most difficult part of these games isn’t taking down shadows, managing your hangout time, or getting Morgana to let you stay awake past 8 at night. The toughest part of being a Persona user is answering the difficult questions your teachers ask you during school hours.
Every Persona player knows that the most difficult part of these games isn’t taking down shadows, managing your hangout time, or getting Morgana to let you stay awake past 8 at night. The toughest part of being a Persona user is answering the difficult questions your teachers ask you during school hours.
When Suits suddenly became the hottest TV series of the summer — despite coming to an end over four years ago — NBC wasted little time in approaching series creator Aaron Korsh about developing a new spinoff series. Well, the Suits spinoff has now been given an official pilot order from NBC, as well as a title: Suits: L.A.
Suits: L.A. will follow Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York who has reinvented himself by representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. “His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career,” reads the official description. “Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.“
Aaron Korsh penned the script for the pilot, which will be directed by Victoria Mahoney (The Old Guard 2). Production on the Suits spinoff will kick off in late March in Vancouver, Canada. Korsh will also executive produce alongside David Bartis, Doug Liman, Gene Klein, and Victoria Mahoney.
The original Suits series takes place in a fictional New York City corporate law firm and follows Mike (Patrick J. Adams), a college dropout who never attended law school but is able to talk his way into getting a job working for attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) thanks to his impressive photographic memory. The series also stars Rick Hoffman, Sarah Rafferty, Gina Torres, and Meghan Markle. The series spanned nine seasons and 134 episodes. We’ve already seen one Suits spinoff, with Pearson following Gina Torres’ character as she entered the dirty world of Chicago politics, but the series was cancelled after just one season
Although the pilot for the Suits spinoff isn’t expected to include any members of the original cast, the door is open for them to appear. Patrick J. Adams has expressed a willingness to return if asked. “If I got the phone call, I’m ready to suit up again,” said Adams last month. “I love the show, I love the character and I loved working with all these people.“
Eureka Entertainment announced today that they will be releasing Jet Li’s martial arts extravaganza Black Mask on Blu-ray on April 23rd.
Influenced by Bruce Lee’s role as Kato in The Green Hornet, Black Mask stars Jet Li as Tsui Chik, “a librarian who leads a quiet, unassuming life – or, at least, that’s what he wants people to believe. In truth, he was once a member of the 701 Squad, a group of elite combatants produced by a failed super-soldier project. In-kind with his former comrades, his central nervous system has been altered to render him impervious to pain. When several of his fellow test subjects resurface and embark on a crimewave under the leadership of their former commander Hung Kuk (Patrick Lung), Tsui is forced to use his extraordinary abilities once more. Donning a costume, he sets out to face his past – as the vigilante known as the Black Mask.“
Black Mask has been given a new 2K restoration, and this Blu-ray release will mark the first time that the fully uncut version of the movie will be available in North America. The limited-edition set will feature an O-card slipcase, a collectors booklet, a bevy of special features, as well as a bonus disc with two alternate cuts of the movie.
The Black Mask Blu-ray will be limited to 2000 copies per territory, and here’s what you can expect to find in the set:
DISC ONE
Fully uncut Hong Kong version presented in 1080p from a 2K restoration.
The original US version presented in 1080p from a 2K restoration.
Original Cantonese Stereo and optional DTS-HD MA 5.1 (Hong Kong Version).
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release.
Brand new audio commentary on the Hong Kong version by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival).
Brand new audio commentary on the US export version by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema.
Brand new interview with stuntman Mike Lambert.
Brand new interview with film critic Andrew Heskins (easternKicks.com).
Brand new interview with Leon Hunt, author of Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger.
A reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork.
Archival Making of featurette.
Trailers.
DISC TWO (LIMITED EDITION BONUS DISC)
Alternate Taiwanese cut of the film.
Extended version of Black Mask featuring all the unique footage from the various releases of the film re-inserted.
The last time Black Mask was released on Blu-ray in North America was back in 2008, the early days of the format, so the film had been long overdue for a restoration. Some may argue that physical media is dying during the age of streaming, but when I see all the wonderful releases coming from boutique labels, I just see it as an evolution more catered to collectors; sure, it may be a little more expensive to grab your favourite cult movie than it used to be, but it’s a good trade-off to actually have them available.
There will be no second season of Obliterated as Netflix has canceled the action comedy series after just one season.
Obliterated follows a special forces team assembled to stop a deadly terrorist network from blowing up Las Vegas. After completing their mission, they celebrate with a night on the town, filled with sex, drugs, and booze, only to discover that the nuclear bomb they neutralized was fake. They must fight off their hangovers to find the real bomb and save the city for real. The series was created by Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald, best known for Netflix’s Cobra Kai series.
Considering that Obliterated spent six weeks on Netflix’s Top 10 for English-language series following its debut last November, the cancelation comes as something of a surprise, but streaming services have been much more frugal lately. The series was originally given a straight-to-series order by TBS in 2019, but after the network backed out, Netflix scooped up the series.
The action comedy certainly had its fans, including our own Alex Maidy. “There is a charm to these characters, especially as the series never tries to make them politically correct and allows them just to be ass-kicking, horny, and crass warriors who get the job done even when they are three sheets to the wind,” Maidy wrote. “Obliterated is not marquee, award-level television but rather a more fun series that benefits from having a blast.” He added that the series “is a lot of fun with some creative kills and witty one-liners that would have been right at home coming from Arnold or Sly. Obliterated is a solid original project from the team that has been mining Karate Kid nostalgia for half a decade. I hope we get multiple seasons of this series in the future.” Sadly not. You can check out the rest of Maidy’s review of Obliteratedright here.
Also, you should check out a little trip to Sin City that our own Chris Bumbray took last year to interview the creators, check out the sets, and even do a little drinking and ziplining.
Are you sad to see Obliterated get canceled after just one season?
According to Deadline, Brad Pitt will be reuniting with Quentin Tarantino for The Movie Critic. This would mark the third time that the pair have worked together, as Pitt starred in Inglourious Basterds and co-starred in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
It’s not known if Brad Pitt will play the title character in The Movie Critic, but Deadline believes that he will. The outlet also believes that Sony Pictures will be back to distribute the new film, but nothing has been confirmed. However, it’s also possible that Tarantino, who’s carried on writing about the life and career of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton and his stuntman Cliff Booth (as iconically played by Pitt), might be having the actor reprise his Oscar-winning role.
Why do we think this? If you listen to the Video Archives podcast, you’ll know that Tarantino acts like Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth are real guys. In QT’s continuity, Booth died in the nineties, while Rick passed away just recently. The episodes of his podcasst reveal that in the eighties, Dalton made a series of action movies for Cannon Pictures called The Fireman, and that Booth directed several of the sequels for his former pal. If DiCaprio ends up signing on to be in this, we think they could be reprising their Once Upon a Time in Hollywood roles. Deadline speculates Booth will actually be the titular character in the movie, as if you’ve read the novelization QT wrote, he had the soul of a critic. So really, who knows?
As far as the plot goes, we don’t know all that much about The Movie Critic, only that it will be set in California in 1977 and will be “based on a guy who really lived, but was never really famous, and he used to write movie reviews for a porno rag.” When Tarantino was a teenager, he had a job loading porn magazines into a vending machine. “All the other stuff was too skanky to read, but then there was this porno rag that had a really interesting movie page,” Tarantino said. “He wrote about mainstream movies and he was the second-string critic. I think he was a very good critic. He was as cynical as hell. His reviews were a cross between early Howard Stern and what Travis Bickle might be if he were a film critic.“
As far as who could star in The Movie Critic alongside Brad Pitt, I’d imagine that we’ll see more than a few Tarantino regulars pop up for the director’s final movie. In fact, a rumour emerged last fall that John Travolta might just have a role in the movie. Wouldn’t that be something? There were also rumblings that Tarantino had offered Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell) a leading role in the film prior to the Hollywood strikes. With production set to kick off later this year, we should be hearing some more concrete news regarding casting.
Aside from Brad Pitt, what other past Tarantino actors are you hoping will make an appearance in The Movie Critic? Samuel L. Jackson has got to be one of them, right?
Say his name three times. Do it. Unlike Candyman, most people would love to summon Beetlejuice. He’s the Ghost With The Most. The film Beetlejuice became an instant classic when it haunted theater screens in the spring of 1988. Burton’s visual aesthetic, along with the amazing performances by Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, captivated audiences. The film easily grossed over $75 Million at the box office on a $15 Million budget. People loved the character, and he even got a Saturday morning cartoon spin-off that kids loved, but it’s taken thirty-five years for them to get Beetlejuice 2 (or as it’ s now called, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) off the ground!
While, after many false starts, the Beetlejuice sequel has just about finished shooting, believe it or not, work on Beetlejuice 2 began not long after the original movie premiered! We did a whole video that dived into the production history that you can watch here, but here’s the gist of it:
Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian?
In 1990 Tim Burton was riding high on his Batman film breaking all sorts of records at the summer box office. He had a golden ticket to work on anything he wanted. As he was finishing up work on Edward Scissorhands, he began to turn his attention to what his next projects would be. He had another Batman film on the horizon but wanted to get working on one of his other projects. Burton hired British playwright Jonathan Gems to work on a script for Beetlejuice 2 called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.
Tim Burton wanted to take the character out of the dreary underworld and put him in the colorful and sun-filled islands. The Deetz family was going to move there to open a new resort. Turns out Charles didn’t do any research and ended up building it on the resting place of a great Hawaiian Kahuna. The spirit would come back to the world of the living and cause problems for the family and surrounding citizens causing them to call in the big guns. At one point Beetlejuice even wins a surfing contest by using his magic. It seems strange but Jonathan Gems said Burton loved the idea. “Tim thought it would be funny to match the surfing backdrop of a beach movie with some sort of German Expressionism because they’re totally wrong together,”
Keaton and Ryder both agreed to return on the condition that Burton would again be directing. Before work could get started on it Burton and Keaton got busy with Batman Returns. A few years later producer David Geffen would hire writer Pamela Norris to take a shot at rewriting the script. It eventually fell into development hell. Famously Kevin Smith was offered a chance to take a shot at it. He turned it down in favor of writing Superman Lives. When asked why he turned it down he replied, “didn’t we say all we needed to say in the first Beetlejuice? Must we go tropical?”
Eventually, the project died. When he was asked about the Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian script, Jonathan Gems said it was too late to make the film as Ryder had aged out of the part as it was written. They would have to recast and no one really wanted that.
New After-Life
After two decades of sitting on the shelf, in 2011 Warner Bros. approached Seth Grahame-Smith about writing a new sequel and even producing it. He had worked with Burton on Dark Shadows and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter previously. Smith said he signed to make sure it was “a story that is worthy of us actually doing this for real, something that is not just about cashing in, is not just about forcing a remake or a reboot down someone’s throat.” He said he had met with Keaton about doing the film, and he was on board.
They had gone over the story and Keaton seemed to be really excited to finally get back to the character. Ryder herself said that she was excited to return to the role but only if Burton and Keaton were involved. She stated that Lydia was an important part of her that she wanted to explore again 27 years later. Burton said that they had been working on the script and were excited to get started in 2014.
It seemed that the sequel was moving forward and everyone was happy . . . but that window came and went and no movement happened on the film. In 2015 Ryder was on a talk show and said she was for sure coming back to the role and that she couldn’t wait to get started. By 2017 screenwriter Mike Vukadinovich was hired to do a re-write of the script. In 2019 Warner Bros. confirmed that the project was in fact sitting in the waiting room of the afterlife. Burton and Keaton eventually did reunite, for the Disney remake of Dumbo in 2019.
Our only hope is . . . Brad Pitt?
With the project once again dead on arrival there looked like no hope of ever seeing a Beetlejuice 2… until Brad Pitt stepped in. Well, not Brad Pitt personally but his production company Plan B Entertainment. In February of 2022, his company announced its producing the new film, and sure enough – it actually happened this time.
Beetlejuice 2: The Cast
Burton has stated in the past that he would only do the film if Keaton agreed to return, but the stars aligned and it finally happened, We never thought we would see him back in the Batsuit either but hey, that happened too.
Costume designer Colleen Atwood confirmed that Keaton would be wearing his iconic black and white striped suit again, although she admitted that Keaton has more of an affinity for the Burgundy tux.
Other confirmed cast members include Winona Ryder, who’s reprising her role as Lydia Deetz opposite Catherine O’Hara, who also returns as her mother. I wouldn’t expect Jeffrey Jones to return as her father, following his infamous arrest many years ago – but we won’t go into that here…
Jenna Ortega, who previously teamed with Burton on Netflix’s wildly popular show Wednesday, plays Lydia’s daughter. Monica Belluci, who in real life is dating Burton (lucky guy!), is also in the cast, apparently as Beetlejuice’s wife, while Willem Dafoe apparently plays a dead B-movie action star, which sounds kind of hilarious. There’s also a rumour that Jean-Claude Van Damme has a cameo. Maybe as a former co-star of Dafoe’s?
When Will We See It?
As of now, Warner Brothers have set the release of the film for September 6, 2024. They recently put out the first poster, which also confiemed the new title, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as well as the release date:
When will we get a trailer?
It’s highly likely that WB is planning to roll out a trailer, or at least a teaser, close to CinemaCon in April, although it could very well arrive sooner. With both Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom and The Color Purple coming from Beetlejuice 2′s home studio before the holidays, maybe Keaton’s second most iconic character might show up to wish us a merry Christmas. Whatever the case, our first official look at Keaton in character probably isn’t far off.
Are you excited to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice? Let us know in the comments.
