Scream (2022) and Scream VI star Melissa Barrera may have been fired from Scream 7, but she is in Universal Pictures’ upcoming “Dracula’s Daughter” film Abigail, which was directed by her Scream directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and is set to reach theatres on April 19th. Even beyond that film, Barrera told The Hollywood Reporter that she has no intention of leaving the horror genre behind.
Barrera, who has also starred in a horror movie called Bed Rest, said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to get away from horror, and I also don’t want to. I love the genre so much. It’s so much fun to make. Also, I think a genre that people show up to the theaters for no matter what. No stars have to be in the movie for people to show up. I think that just goes to show how big it is, and I think a lot of great directors start as horror directors. There’s just something about it.“
Barrera’s latest movie is the horror rom-com musical Your Monster, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival – and earned a 6/10 review from JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray. The feature directorial debut of Caroline Lindy, who wrote the film based on her 2019 short of the same name, Your Monster centers on an aspiring actress Laura Franco, whose life falls apart after a cancer diagnosis and devastating breakup. The soft-spoken actress finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming Monster living in her closet.
Barrera plays Laura Franco, with Tommy Dewey (Casual) as the monster. Edmund Donovan (Tell Me Lies) and Kayla Foster (The Deuce) are also in the cast. Barrera said she signed on to star in Your Monster because “This movie has comedy, romantic comedy, horror and musical theater. All the things that I love in one. It was a no-brainer.“
What do you think of Melissa Barrera remaining dedicated to the horror genre even after her Scream 7 firing? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Barrera’s other credits include the musicals In the Heights and Carmen, as well as the survival thriller limited series Keep Breathing.
The episode of Best Horror Party Movies covering Bride of Chucky was Written, Narrated/Hosted, and Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
From the director of Freddy vs. Jason and the writer of all things Child’s Play comes a romantic comedy as sharp as a bloodied knife. Join JoBlo Horror as we take the party bus on a road trip with our favorite Good Guy in Bride of Chucky (watch it HERE). Welcome to our horror party, kids, where we take some horror films and make a fun game out of it. I’m Mike Conway, and today we ditch the Child’s Play title and jump right into the “Of Chucky” era with Bride of Chucky, released in 1998.
Bride of Chucky follows Tiffany, the ex-girlfriend of serial killer Charles Lee Ray. After being torn to shreds in Child’s Play 3, Chucky’s former flame stitches him back together and ”ade dues” him back to life to keep that romance a-goin. However, after an argument, Chucky kills Tiffany and transfers her soul into a bridal doll. Now on a quest to find a magical amulet to restore them to human form, the pair arrange a road trip with Tiffany’s neighbor and his girlfriend, who are unaware of the living killer dolls.
So, what type of party is this movie? Well, according to this scale, this party is killer. And as always, I’ll be making a drink to tie along with the movie. As with any game, there are some basic rules you must follow. Keeping in line with horror tropes, take a drink when:
Someone drinks or does drugs Someone screams When there is a jump scare When a car won’t start When there is a clumsy escape And finally with any kill.
If you are a more advanced partier, add these modifications to your list:
When Tiffany mentions anything about her mother When Martha Stewart is mentioned With any other horror movie reference When Tiffany says “sweet face”
If alcohol isn’t your bag, there are plenty of other things to choose from. Cannabis if legal in your state, delta 8, 9, 10, or whatever the hell number they’re at now, caffeine, hot sauce, anything. Just know your tolerance. This is supposed to be fun; we don’t want to send you to the hospital. Basically, don’t be a dumbass.
So, on that note, slap on those JNCOs and tighten those Doc Martins as we take a trip back to 1998 to see if this romance is as awkward as I was that year. No one understood me. Anyway, let’s party.
The Movie opens with a little taste of ‘Murica at the Lockport Evidence Depository, which houses quite a bit of horror memorabilia such as Michael Myers’ mask, Freddy’s glove, Leatherface’s chainsaw, and the Jason knock-off mask you can pick up at any Dollar General within a two-mile radius. There, we have this dip wad of a police officer snatching a bag from one of the lockers before speeding off in the rain. Yo, those hands aren’t at 9 and 3. He then calls the person he’s delivering the bag to. Mmm Hmm. 9 and 3, my dude. 9 and 3. While waiting at the rendezvous point, the nosey crooked cop attempts to take a peak to what he is delivering. However, he quickly learns he has the right to remain silent…for good. Who is the other person you may ask? No other than Tiffany Valentine, played by the amazing Jennifer Tilly. She then removes the item from the bag, revealing it to be none other than the destroyed Chucky doll. Apparently, this flick takes place one month after Child’s Play 3. And quite honestly, after revisiting them recently, I have many questions as to how this doll is still intact. You know, being completely torn to shreds at the end of that film. But really, who gives a shit when you have the kick-ass Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie blasting through the speakers?
When this movie came out, I was completely obsessed with the soundtrack. It featured bands like Coal Chamber, Type O Negative, Static-x, F*cking Slayer, as my man Jose Mangin would say. I could go on about these bands, but let’s get back to the movie.
Tiffany takes the shreds back to her trailer park home to give it the ol stich-a-roo until it comes into Chucky’s most iconic look. We then cut to the other cast of characters where a high schooler comes a-knocking on the door of the chief of police, Warren, played by the late-great John Ritter. Back when I first saw this, I was totally mind blown this guy was in a horror movie. I always associated him with roles like in Problem Child or the severely underrated Stay Tuned. The high schooler, David, is there to pick up John Ritter’s niece, Jade, while in turn, he picks up on David’s stereotypical gay tropes. A young Katherine Heigl plays Jade before she got her big break in mediocre rom-coms. As it turns out, David is, in fact, gay and acts as a plant to distract her strict uncle from her true love, bad boy Jesse. Things get all hot and heavy, but their make-out session quickly gets cut short by Officer Needle Nose, sent out by Uncle Warren, who has a hairline just like mine if I decide to let it grow out. Skull Shaver, feel free to sponsor me anytime. You’d think Warren would be somewhat compassionate compared to the other John Ritter roles, but here he is the complete asshole who feels stuck with Jade and compares Jesse to trailer trash.
Back in the trailer, Tiffany takes a page out of her Voodoo For Dummies to recite the famous Dambella curse on her old flame but is having a hard time getting it to work. Well, no shit, you aren’t pronouncing it right. An unrecognizable Alexis Arquette, who plays her Crow cosplaying boyfriend Damien, then shows up at her door. He shows her some Polaroids of some nasty-looking kills he claims to have just committed to try to win her heart. Which worked until she noticed it was actually him in the photos. I mean, shit man, can you blame him? Woof. Tiffany sees her spell actually worked when Chucky has suddenly gone missing, which leads her to trap him for Damien. She then ties up on the bed, which he assumes is some kink, but instead of being all for Damien, it’s all for Chucky…and for the audience, if I’m being honest. Tiffany tells our Jerry Seinfeld from Pulp Fiction about how Chucky and her were once lovers and how jealous he would get if anyone would even look at her. After joking about the size of Chucky, the doll of the hour finally comes to life with a one-liner. Chucky then makes sure Damien will be silent, be still while sitting on his face with a pillow as he reconnects with Tiffany. Aw, wook at the wittle guy as she picks him up. So cute.
While searching for Chucky for ten years, she has been waiting to settle down and start a family, even wearing a ring she thought he left for her. But Chucky had other intentions. “What are you f*cking nuts?” Crushed by this revelation, she realizes he won’t change and keeps him prisoner in a playpen. “My mother”.
The next day, Tiffany gets Jesse, who’s her neighbor, to help load up a box containing Damien’s remains. She gets a little flirty. “Wanna grab a drink?” He turns her down and tells her he’s already in love, to which she gives him some advice. RECORD SCRATCH Hold up. So, Jesse lives alone in the trailer park and is obviously old enough to drink. Why is he dating a 17-year-old high schooler? That’s creepy, bro. I’m sorry, guys, but the older I get, the more I understand where her uncle is coming from. Anywho, while still locked in the playpen, Tiffany surprises Chucky with a present: a bridal doll, who not only looks like Jennifer Tilly with dark hair but also conveniently has her unique voice.
She takes a relaxing bubble bath while watching a movie this flick takes many cues from when Chucky finally escapes. In a very stylish scene, Chucky kills Tiffany by pushing the TV set into the tub and electrocuting her. Aww. Wittle man wuvs his bubbles. He then proceeds to Ade Due Tiffany’s soul into the doll. He explains to her the only way they can get back into human form is to travel to the grave site of Charles Lee Ray to dig up the body and remove the Heart of Damballa amulet. Apparently he was wearing it when he got shot at the beginning of the first film, but, you know, we can overlook that. In order to get across the states, Tiffany phones up Jesse to see if she can drive the dolls. He demands to do it for a thousand bucks, which he thinks he can use to runaway with Jade. Tiff then ditches the wedding garb and gives herself the makeover we all know. After Jesse picks up the dolls, he hauls ass to Jades house to giver her the news about his new income, which, in his mind, is the equivalent of what I thought a thousand dollars was when I was 5. He also thinks this is more than enough for the pair to get married.
What these two don’t realize…ya know other than she may need parental consent to get married at 17…is that Warren was spying on them the entire time. However, our dolls noticed and begin to prepare how to take care of the problem. Chucky has it covered, but Tiffany wants to take this pinhead out in style. You know, this would make a killer mask. Hop on it, Trick or Treat Studios.
The couple then head off on their road trip, but it quickly runs into a roadblock when Officer Needle Nose catches up with them at the most happening convenience store in the US. Jesse tells her he will take care of the situation and sends her off to grab some snacks for the road. But when Needle Nose searches the van, he almost finds Warren’s body until Chucky decides to distract him with a stash he was smoking on.
While Needle Nose is in his car to report Jesse, Chucky sneaks out to shove a piece of clothing in the gas tank and lights it. Smelling the smoke, the crooked cop looks ahead to see the dolls waving at him just before the whole thing explodes. Seeing the explosion, Jade and Jesse high tail it the f*ck out of there and also have their first pre-marital spat accusing each other of being cop killers. Yep, that’s one sure way to get her to stay with you. Really. It worked in Knocked Up. Their first official stop on the Killer Love Tour is at a little wedding chapel and sleazeball motel where the pair tie the knot. Eh, they’re mediocre at best. Just like the music scene in 1998. While Chucky jams out to White Zombie’s Thunder Kiss ’65, Warren busts out of the container he was in, which lets Chucky finally get to jam his knife into Warren. Classic. Soon after, a con artist couple busts in the room who seemingly want Jade and Jesse to partake in a freak fest, but really they are there to steal Jesse’s money. This doesn’t fly with Tiffany, so she heads to their room, where she throws a bottle onto an overhead mirror, which shatters and kills the couple. Isn’t it funny how real CGI looked back then? This immediately makes Chucky feel like Pinocchio down in his good guy parts, and the two get right down to the promise of the movie’s tagline
The next morning, the maid pops in to clean the dead couple’s room. Seeing a bloodied mess, Jade and Jesse again flee the crime scene, but not before their friend David meets them. He knows for a fact the pair had nothing to do with any of the killings that have been going on and decides to tag along for moral support. But he then smells something a little funky coming from the back of the van, where he finds the dead body of Warren. He demands to have the van be pulled over and then pulls a gun on the newlyweds. As he backs away in fear of seeing the dolls come to life, a mother f*cking semi-truck plows right into him. Holy shit. Back in the late 90s and 2000s, this type of kill was severely overplayed. But that didn’t mean I didn’t see this one coming.
Chucky explains to the couple how they all got to where they are now and the unfortunate situation they have gotten themselves into. Since Jesse and Jade have now made the news, and every cop in the area is looking for them, they ditch the van for a camper originally owned by some old folks. Tiffany then begins to give Jade a make-over to her liking since she’s about to take over her body while also baking Chucky some fresh hot cookies. This doll’s got it all, folks. Remembering the conversation with Tiffany earlier about the dishes, Jesse takes this opportunity to let Chucky know how shitty of a housekeeper she is. This starts a huge, but pretty adorable argument that leads to Jade kicking Tiffany into the oven and the RV crashing off the road. She ends up busting out of the oven and attacks Jade, but Jesse comes to the rescue and yeets her out the window. The pair jump out the door just before the RV explodes.
Hey, the RV crashed right at the cemetery. How about that? Chucky takes Jade hostage, kills the poor son of a bitch digging up the grave of Charles Lee Ray, and forces Jade to open the coffin to grab the amulet.
Now, with the power of Damballa, Chucky begins the body-swapping curse, but Tiffany suddenly has a change of heart by quoting her favorite movie “WE BELONG DEAD.” And if Tiffany had watched the previous movies, she would have known that you don’t f*ck with the chuck. The dolls then begin to fight to the death, and apparently the power of Damballa let them grow a couple feet. The fight ends with Chucky stabbing Tiffany, killing her. Jesse then shows up and tells Chucky to eat a shovel and knocks him into the grave. Suddenly, a detective shows up, and he sees the real person behind the killings. And if you Five Nights at Freddy’s fans shit yourselves when William Afton said the line, remember our little Good Guy said it first. ‘I ALWAYS COME BACK.’ With the death of Chucky, Jesse and Jade are free to go. Do they live happily ever after? Who cares? Because there is a seed of Chucky coming out this motha.
And that’s it. Bride of Chucky came out in October of 1998 and opened at #2, just behind Practical Magic. The Chucky series is my favorite horror franchise and this film in particular remains my favorite. Is it the best one? Not really, but it’s a little personal to me since it’s the first R rated film I snuck into. What’s your favorite Child’s Play film? Let us know in the comments and we will see you on the next one.
A couple previous episodes of the Best Horror Party Movies series can be seen below. To see more, and to check out some of our other shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
PLOT: A mild-mannered psychology professor (Glen Powell) interested in electronics takes a sideline bugging undercover cops in sting operations, specializing in setting up phony hits. When the usual undercover guy is suspended, he’s enlisted to pose as a hitman. He turns out to be a natural at undercover work, with the police using him to entrap people taking out contracts. Things get complicated when he falls for an abused wife (Adria Arjona) wanting to take out her husband.
REVIEW: Richard Linklater’s Hit Man is the movie where Glen Powell finally becomes a legit star. Granted, there was little to no doubt remaining in anyone’s head after his breakout turn in Top Gun: Maverick, but in Hit Man, his charisma is so white hot and old-school in that true movie star way that he should rocket to the top of everyone’s young leading man list. Linklater previously cast Powell (with a solid role) in Everybody Wants Some, as well as in his more recent Apollo 10 1/2, and seems to know precisely what his leading man’s strengths are. This is tailored to his talents like a bespoke suit.
Powell (who also had a hand in the screenplay) plays a real(ish) guy named Gary Johnson, who worked for the Houston police as an undercover man, posing as a hitman for hire. Through clever use of famous hitman movie clips, the movie tells us that this profession doesn’t really exist in the way Hollywood seems to think it does. People may kill for money, but it’s not the ordinary criminal profession people think, yet we, as a culture, choose to believe such a thing exists.
That’s where Johnson comes in, with his job being to get perps to pay him to kill people, and then they get some jail time for plotting a murder. Part of Hit Man is based on a true story, but other parts are made up, with Linklater only revealing the “truth” at the end. No matter; it just exists to give Powell an old-fashioned movie star part to sink his teeth into.
Despite being such a good-looking guy, Powell is convincing as both the character’s natural, geeky self and any of his more badass identities. The character proves to be a master of disguise, allowing Powell to play a whole host of characters, with him enjoying playing one tough guy so much that he starts to become the persona full-time.
Powell’s matched by Adria Arjona, in her best role to date, as a quasi-femme fatale who wants him to off her good-for-nothing husband. By falling for her, Gary starts to fall into a film noir rabbit hole, but Linklater, who knows his genres inside and out, always keeps it unpredictable. Whatever you think people in this movie are bound to do, thanks to the conventions of the genre, he has them do the opposite. It’s like a mixture of the original Fletch, with heavy doses of The Sting and Stakeout thrown into the pleasing cocktail. Powell and Arjona are legitimately sexy together, with their love scenes having more heat than we’ve seen in a mainstream Hollywood movie in quite some time. Their chemistry is white hot.
Additionally, Linklater works with an excellent supporting cast that seems to be a mixture of local non-actors and professionals, like Parks and Recreation’s Retta as one of the cops handling Gary. One of Powell’s Everybody Wants Some co-stars, Austin Amelio plays a racist, hard-hearted cop the more tender Gary replaces as an undercover man, with him probably the closest the movie has to antagonist. Notably, despite being a movie about killing, the film is pretty non-violent and charming. If there was ever a feel-good movie to be made about murder-for-hire, this is it.
Hit Man began its fall film festival run without a studio distributor, but it seems likely to score a big sale, with it one of the most crowd-pleasing films I’ve seen at a film festival this year. Powell could even emerge as a dark horse Oscar contender, although the movie might ultimately be too light to win over the Academy. Whatever the case, it seems like a surefire hit – whether in theaters or on streaming. If it gets a distributor behind it that believes in it, there’s no telling what this could do for Powell’s career.
A long time ago, in a movie theater not too far away . . . a series of films came out that captured the imagination of movie fans everywhere. The Star Wars franchise has been a giant among the most loved movies ever made. The original trilogy has been held up as sacred.
When it came time for the Prequels, original fans were a little let down, but young fans embraced them. They have finally aged into their place in Star Wars canon.
When Lucasfilm was sold to Disney for a staggering $4.5 billion, fans knew it was only a matter of time before we finally got some films with some of our favorite characters returning to the big screen. The first two divided audiences, but the third may have been the one that really made fans wonder what was happening behind the scenes. There didn’t seem to be a plan for the new films, and every director went by the seat of their pants. Originally, director Colin Trevorrow was supposed to come in and direct the final film, capping off this trilogy and paying off on storylines from the first two films.
When The Rise Of Skywalker was released, fans began to wonder what the original plan for the film was back when it was titled Duel Of The Fates. Why did Trevorrow leave? What was the actual plan for the film? Let’s find out all that and more here on What The Fuck Happened To This Unmade Film?
In 2015 it was announced that Trevorrow would be directing the last film in the sequel trilogy. JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson had done the first two films, and now Trevorrow would get to come in and tie everything up for this series of films. He began working on the script with Derek Connolly.
In the first two films, Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo Ren were introduced as the leading characters for the new series, along with returning classic characters like Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo. Rey was an abandoned junker who had dreams of flying in the stars. Finn was a Stormtrooper who decided he didn’t agree with the First Order and defected to the Resistance. Poe was a pilot working with the Resistance. Kylo Ren was actually Ben Solo, who had turned to the dark side of the force and now idolized his grandfather, Darth Vader.
In The Duel Of The Fates, we would have seen The First Order winning the battle against the rebellion. General Hux has appointed himself Chancellor. They have taken control of Coruscant, and they publically execute anyone who helped the Resistance. Finn Rey Poe and Rose steal a ship and reconnect with the rebellion led by Leia.
Meanwhile, Kylo Ren has been hanging out in Darth Vader’s old castle on Mustafar. There, he finds a holocron which leads him to seek training from the 7000-year-old Sith Tor Valum. He is known for training the Emperor’s master, Darth Plagueis. Kylo learns the ability to absorb life energy from another being. He uses this technique to kill Tor Valum.
Rey studies the old Jedi texts to learn that in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, there is a device that they can use to restore the galactic communications system, which The First Order had blocked. Leia can use this to plea to the entire galaxy to stand up to the First Order. Rey keeps having visions of herself fighting Kylo Ren on the planet Mortis. The group decides to split up, and Finn Rose R2-D2 and C3PO head to Coruscant to find the device while Rey seeks out Mortis with Poe and Chewbacca. Leia reaches out to Lando Calrissian to see if his network of smugglers can help them with their battle against The First Order.
Finn and Rose find the communications device and activate it. Rose ends up getting captured, but Finn can get away. He runs into stormtroopers, and after some fighting back and forth, he can convince them to defect to the rebellion. They agree to help him rescue Rose.
Just as Rey discovers Mortis’s location, her group is attacked by the Knights of Ren. During the battle, Rey remembers that they were responsible for killing her parents. As her hatred rises, she kills one of them with force lightning. Sith are typically the only ones who can wield that power. She fears that she is falling to the dark side and leaves her friends to travel to Mortis alone.
Finn leads a resistance to overthrow the First Order on Coruscant. His group consists of former stormtroopers, droids, and fed-up citizens. Lando Poe Chewbacca and the Resistance army show up to join Finn, and they can overtake The First Order troops. General Hux ends up committing suicide to avoid capture by using a purple lightsaber. When Rose is released, she rewires part of the First Order’s capital ship. When it tries to leave Coruscant, it crashes above the planet.
Rey and Kylo Ren confront each other on Mortis. He blinds her, and she nearly dies. The Force Spirit of Luke Skywalker arrives to support Rey, and she recovers. She and Kylo battle once again, and she tells him that their masters were wrong before. They should embrace both sides of the force to balance themselves.
Rey defeats Kylo, but he starts to drain her life energy. Leia feels this disturbance in the force and reaches out to Kylo Ren. She convinces him not to kill Rey, and instead, he transfers his life force into her. Just before he dies, he tells Rey that her last name is Solana. Rey is on the verge of death when Luke Yoda and Obi-Won Kenobi appear before her. They offer her a choice to continue living or to cross over. We don’t see her decision.
We jump ahead and learn that Finn and Rose are settling down on a small planet. The children they have show signs of being force-sensitive. Rey then appears on their doorstep and says she will train their children in a balanced use of the force.
Some of the big changes included more of Luke’s Force ghost playing a bigger part in the story and that Kylo Ren would have died without being redeemed. R2-D2 apparently would have been badly damaged, but after the script leaked, Trevorrow commented that he would have been repaired by the film’s end. Emperor Palpatine would have only appeared in one scene. He would have been a holographic image with the Holocron that Kylo Ren discovers at Vader’s castle. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have been resurrected during the crawl at the film’s beginning like we ended up getting in.
Lando would have been portrayed as still living the life of a smuggler. He would have been living in lavish accommodations on a casino planet. Probably the same one we saw in The Last Jedi. He comes to Leia’s aid because of their past history in the resistance. We would have seen that he hates the First Order but has made the best out of a bad situation for himself to live a luxurious life. Billy Dee Williams has said he liked the Duel Of The Fates version of Lando more than what we ended up with in Rise Of Skywalker.
Online critics have lauded the script as it gives characters like Finn and Rose more to do. One of the big complaints about Rise Of Skywalker is that all the minority characters get pushed to the side. They do nothing of consequence and are mainly reduced to background characters. It became such a problem that John Boyega spoke out about how Disney sidelined all the minority characters and did very little to help the actors when they began to receive death threats. Duel Of The Fates gave the characters more agency and actual things to do rather than support Rey.
It also followed through with some of the plot threads put forth in the previous two films. Rey remained a nobody who happened to be force-sensitive rather than a direct genetic link to the use of force lightning. Kylo Ren remained unredeemable because of his past actions.
The biggest thing that would have had to change was Leia’s involvement with the film. After the death of Carrie Fisher, her character would not have been able to be as involved with the story as she was. This could have seen Lando step up to a bigger role or another character (Poe, anyone) to take her place.
Why did Trevorrow end up leaving the film? The official response given is the dreaded “Creative Difference,” which could really mean anything. When asked about it, the director himself has only said he likes to remember his positive experiences working on the film as these films are magic to fans. When the directors start to talk about how they are made, he believes they begin to lose that magic.
Other unconfirmed reports have revealed that Kathleen Kennedy didn’t like his script and didn’t like working with him. Some say that he had a very big ego after his Jurassic World film blew up as big as it did. Trevorrow himself has stated that most directors have to have an ego as part of the job. When his film The Book Of Henry flopped upon release, it was thought Kennedy used that as a reason to part ways with the director.
She was much more diplomatic when asked about it during an interview, saying she felt he was at a disadvantage from the start. He hadn’t been involved with the production meetings on the other two films, and with a deadline approaching, she felt he didn’t have time to catch up. Instead, JJ Abrams was brought in, and the script was re-written.
While nothing official has ever been made of the unmade script, graphic artist Andrew Winegarner decided to draw it as a comic. He released the whole thing for free on his website. While promoting it on his Twitter profile, both writers Colling Trevorrow and Derrek Connolly LIKED the tweet, seemingly signing off on using the material.
We’ll never know how fans would have responded to this unmade film. Maybe it would have been the film they were looking for or even been more hated than Rise Of Skywalker. At least we had a chance to see into another reality and wonder, “What If . . . ?”
In September 2011, I was a college junior very willing to waste away the early days of her fall semester playing Epic Games’ new third-person shooter, Gears of War 3. I pre-ordered the highly anticipated title so I could guarantee I got the gold Retro Lancer skin for my multiplayer battles, and threw myself into the…
In September 2011, I was a college junior very willing to waste away the early days of her fall semester playing Epic Games’ new third-person shooter, Gears of War 3. I pre-ordered the highly anticipated title so I could guarantee I got the gold Retro Lancer skin for my multiplayer battles, and threw myself into the…
PLOT: A family moves into a house with a supernatural presence.
REVIEW: I’m sure I can be forgiven for rolling my eyes when I heard the logline for Presence. I’ve seen my share of haunted house movies and was wary of anything being added to this well-worn genre. However, director Steven Soderbergh and his writer David Koepp have once again subverted expectations, making this a supernatural tale that’s light on horror but heavy on heart.
The big selling point here will be that Soderbergh’s camera is always from the perspective of the presence itself (no one uses the term ghost here), making it an interesting visual exercise. The family is observed from an arm’s length, with us eventually realizing that the presence itself isn’t necessarily malignant, nor is it even aware of why it’s in their home in the first place.
The movie mostly centers around Callina Lang’s Chloe, who is mourning the death of her best friend from an opioid overdose. Her brother, Eddy Maday’s Tyler, has a cruel streak and chases popularity at school. At the same time, her mother, played by Lucy Liu, is often drunk and seems on the verge of being arrested for a white-collar crime (which we never learn the details of). Luckily, Chloe’s father, played by This is Us star Chris Sullivan (who worked with Soderbergh on The Knick), is supportive if also preoccupied with the notion that his wife’s crimes may make him guilty in the eyes of the law. Chloe is also pursued romantically by an older boy (West Mulholland), whom the presence seems to be trying to make Chloe stay away from.
More than anything, Presence seems like a filmmaking exercise for Soderbergh, with him using technological innovations over the last few years to give the film a unique identity. It continues the experimental vibe he kicked off following his short-lived early retirement, and I’ll take something like this over his watered-down Magic Mike’s Last Dance any day.
By its nature, Presence is a film you have to be patient with, and the style of the film takes a while to get into because of how unconventional it is. Yet, in the second half, as it becomes more emotionally grounded and the stakes get higher, Presence starts to really work. The cast is excellent, with Callina Lang a real find in the film’s most important role. Eddy Maday initially comes off as a near sociopathic bully, but as the movie goes on, the better side of his character starts to peer through. Meanwhile, Chris Sullivan is touching as the overwhelmed but loving father who also lives to regret his culpability in whatever his wife might have done. Lucy Liu is nuanced as the loving but preoccupied and anxious mother who knows her time might be running out and tries to make up excuses for her actions by drunkenly telling her favoured child that whatever she did, it was out of love for her family. To Liu’s credit, she never tries to water this character down and manages to hold our sympathy throughout.
While its experimental nature means that Presence will be one of Soderbergh’s more niche efforts, it’s still technically impeccable and moving once you settle into it. It’s an interesting exercise for a director who never fails to innovate.
It has all led to this. While 2023’s box office numbers were less than stellar and a number of big-budget franchises weren’t able to live up to the hype they once had, the Academy Awards nominations had plenty of notable names and titles to choose from. The big story of last year, Barbenheimer, has yet to burn out as both movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer, continue to walk hand-in-hand as their journey would travel all the way to the Oscars. Oppenheimer may not have had the kind of business that Barbie saw, but with everything that could very well have worked against the Christopher Nolan film, its success had still blown up (pun intended). Inversely, a movie like Barbie was a curious project from the start purely due to the kind of names that would be behind the project. Now, the summer movie whose source material stemmed from a toyline exceeded expectations to become recognized on the biggest platform in the film industry.
Some of the other big stories of the year include the much-acclaimed film from cinema legend Martin Scorsese, Killers of the FlowerMoon, which features a breakthrough performance by the newcomer Lily Gladstone. Gladstone has already taken home some statuettes and was seen as a favorite from the start. However, Emma Stone also made huge waves with her performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Meanwhile, Paul Giamatti, has rightfully been getting recognition for his latest role in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, which he also rightfully celebrated at In-N-Out Burger. The nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards have now been announced and you can view the list below.
The major nomination announcements courtesy of the Academy livestream on Deadline:
Best Supporting Actor: Stirling K. Brown – American Fiction Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer Ryan Gosling – Barbie Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things
Best Adapted Screenplay: American Fiction Barbie Oppenheimer Poor Things The Zone of Interest
Best Original Screenplay: Anatomy of a Fall The Holdovers Maestro May December Past LIves
Best Supporting Actress: Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple America Ferrera – Barbie Jodie Foster – Nyad Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Best Original Song: “The Fire Inside” – Flamin’ Hot “I’m Just Ken” – Barbie “It Never Went Away” – American Symphony “Wahzhahzie” – Killers of the Flower Moon “What was I Made For?” – Barbie
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper – Maestro Colman Domingo – Rustin Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction
Best Actress: Annette Benning – Nyad Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall Carey Mulligan – Maestro Emma Stone – Poor Things
Best Director: Justine Triet – Anatomy of a Fall Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things Jonathan Glazer – The Zone of Interest
Best Picture: American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things The Zone of Interest
Todd McFarlane has said that 2024 will be the “make or break year” for getting another Spawn project off the ground. And while we have every right to be skeptical on the matter – McFarlane isn’t exactly the most reliable on this front – fans of the character and the 1997 movie may still hold out hope. But will Michael Jai White return for Spawn 2?
As it turns out, Michael Jai White doesn’t give Spawn all that much thought, although he could potentially consider a return. “I really don’t think much about the sequel. If I was invited to do it, then I’d apply myself toward it, but I mean, I think it’s been talked about for a very long time. And it seems that Todd McFarlane has been leading that conversation.” But for White, there would have to be some conditions if he would suit up again. “I think that to do a sequel is to do it as a hard R and make it very dark and badass. I think it needs to be like the cartoon or plain and simple: the comic book. Outside of that, I don’t think I’d be interested in doing it if it wasn’t going for the jugular.” He added, “I wasn’t that impressed with the first one, even though I’m involved with it, but even then, I thought it should be like the comic book, or the series, you know, and I don’t know why such a dark character was going for PG-13. I think, just like I thought in the beginning, it should be real badass.”
In the years since Spawn there has been plenty of speculation not just on a sequel but even a potential reboot starring Jamie Foxx at Blumhouse, although Michael Jai White wasn’t confident on McFarlane’s pitch to barely show the lead. That it would apparently have the studio’s “edge” to it hasn’t exactly built hype, either.
Outside of Spawn, Michael Jai White has rarely stepped back into the superhero game, although he did turn up as Ben Turner aka Bronze Tiger on Arrow, later reprising him in animated form for Batman: Soul of the Dragon.
Do you think it’s too late for Michael Jai White to return as Spawn? Should any version of the property move forward or is the fanbase not there anymore? Give us your thoughts below!
Prime Video recently revealed, after months of speculation, that it would be going ahead with The Terminal List Season 2. They also announced they have big plans for the extended universe, with Taylor Kitsch’s character, Ben Edwards, also set to get a spin-off prequel series. While the SAG/AFTRA strike delayed the start of Season 2, it looks like things are finally getting rolling for what may well turn out to be a massive franchise for the streamer.
Here’s everything we know about The Terminal List Season 2 and beyond.
When will it shoot?
Recently, we spoke to Antoine Fuqua, one of the show’s executive producers and the director of the pilot, while he was promoting The Equalizer 3. According to him, they’re ready to go but just on hold because of the strikes. “We’ve been scouting and we’re ready to go,” said Fuqua. “I love that franchise and that series.”
What book will The Terminal List Season 2 be based on?
Author Jack Carr previously revealed that the second season, were it to happen, would be based on his novel True Believer. In it, the American government offers Chris Pratt’s James Reece a deal. As the first season ended, he was among the world’s most wanted fugitives, as he’s technically a domestic terrorist. Yet, when a London holiday fair is attacked, Reese winds up having a connection to a shadowy Iraqi commando that the government needs, leading to them cutting him a deal.
What about James Reece’s cancer?
If the series follows the books, Reece will eventually undergo surgery to remove his tumor, but in the books, this didn’t happen until the third instalment, Savage Son. Given that the books are still being written, you can reasonably assume he survives.
Who will play Raife Hastings?
In the books, raise Hastings is a South African-born former SEAL, and at the end of Terminal List Season 1, Reece is on his way to see him in Mozambique. The character is supposed to be a lot like Reese in some ways, so it might make sense to cast another of the Chris’s, with Chris Hemsworth the popular choice online. However, the role might be too close to his role in the Extraction movies. Alexander Skarsgard is another popular choice.
Will Constance Wu return?
The character Constance Wu played, Katie Buranek, survives the bloodbath ending Terminal List Season 1 and returns as a significant character in the third novel, Savage Son. It’s possible Wu might sit out the next series (or have a smaller role) but one could reasonably assume she’ll be back at some point.
Will Taylor Kitsch’s Ben Edwards be back? (SPOILERS)
Given how The Terminal List Season 1 ended, with Reece killing Kitsch’s Ben Edwards after learning he betrayed his team and was responsible for the chaos that killed his family, I don’t think you’ll see him come back. But, Prime Video seems keen on exploring what made Edwards compromise himself so thoroughly, with them announcing that a Ben Edwards prequel series will (per Deadline) “explore Ben’s journey from Navy SEAL to CIA paramilitary operator, exploring true darker side of warfare and the human cost that comes with it.” Indeed, recent news suggests we may actually see this series BEFORE the next season of Terminal List, with Prime Video releasing a poster with a new title, Dark Wolf. It also seems that Chris Pratt will reprise his role in the new series.
When will The Terminal List Season 2 air?
Don’t expect to see The Terminal List Season 2 anytime soon. While it’s been given the green light, these adaptations of Carr’s novels are intricate, given their reliance on action. No casting has happened yet, so It’s unlikely we’ll see the show return in 2024, although it’s possible the prequel may air before the end of the year. Read our review of the first season here!
