Focus Features is celebrating Pharrell Williams’ Piece By Piece‘s arrival with a fun Lego Minifigure Generator! Piece By Piece is a musically-charged Lego movie delving into the extraordinary life and career of cultural icon Pharell Williams. Focus’ Lego Minifigure Generator invites fans to embark on their own creative journey, allowing them to build and customize their very own digital LEGO minifigures to resemble whoever they want to be—piece by piece. With a commitment to inclusivity, the generator boasts an impressive array of options, including seven skin tones, over 60 hairstyles, and more than 90 outfit choices, including exclusive pieces from Pharrell’s renowned fashion brand, Billionaire Boys Club.
I made a Lego Minifigure of myself with the generator (pictured above) as part of a preview for the mix-and-match event. While I can never quite find my hairstyle with generators, I was pleased to see the beard option included in the package. My beard is far more lustrous, but what can you do? I keep my face fur burly and tight, like a stoner lumberjack with a bit of salt steadily creeping into the mix.
Piece by Piece is produced by Morgan Neville and Caitrin Rogers (Tremolo Productions) alongside producers Pharrell Williams, Mimi Valdés, and Shani Saxon (i am OTHER). Jill Wilfert and Keith Malone are executive producing for the LEGO Group.
Speaking with Deadline in January, Peter Kujawski, the chairman of Focus Features, shared his excitement about the project, saying, “Pharrell Williams is a true trailblazer whose influence across music, art and fashion continually reshapes global culture with an undeniable sense of joy. In partnering with the inimitable Morgan Neville and the limitless creativity of the LEGO brand his visionary spirit comes to life in a wholly unique and uplifting way that will inspire everyone to dance, to sing, and to use their voice to build the world they want to see, brick by brick, and piece by piece.”
Neville would add, “Five years ago, Pharrell Williams approached me with the idea of helping him tell his story through LEGO animation. It was one of those rare moments where I knew in a second that this was a journey I wanted to go on. I’m grateful to our partners at Focus Features and at the LEGO Group for their belief in our crazy mission. We assembled an incredible team of creative collaborators to help make a new type of film. I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Colin Farrell‘s reign as the famous Gotham gangster is about to begin with HBO’s The Penguin, which spun off from Matt Reeves’ film The Batman. The latest interpretation of the DC iconic superhero was praised by many, and one fan in particular now gets to helm The Penguin. The Hollywood Reporter has shared that Craig Zobel, who directs episodes of The Penguin, was so impressed with the 2022 Dark Knight movie that he sent Matt Reeves a letter, thanking him.
Zobel told THR, “I happened to have his email. So I reached out to say, ‘Hey, not for nothing, [The Batman] was the superhero movie I wanted to see right now. You killed it.’ That was my first time saying anything to Matt at all.” When it came to emulating Reeves’ style for the show, Zobel explained, “We talked with Matt and [The Batman DP] Greig Fraser a good bit before starting the show, and we asked them questions just on a very technical level. So we used all of the same camera gear and lenses that are in the movie, and as far as lighting styles and stuff like that, I would say that we carried that through, even if the scenarios were slightly different.”
Recently, Colin Farrell spoke candidly about the revealing bodysuit he had to display on the upcoming spin-off. While speaking with People, Farrell explained that one scene in the series called for his character to appear naked. “Marino is so twisted and brilliant. He was like, ‘I made you a penguin penis,’” Farrell said. “I said, ‘Really? They’re not even going to see it. I don’t know if I want to walk on set with a penguin penis.’ And he was like, ‘No, no, no, dude. It’s detachable, it’s Velcro. It’s got a beak at the end of it.’ So I had a penguin penis.“
Farrell went on to credit Marino for making the whole thing work. “If it wasn’t for Mike’s design, I’m telling you now, if it was just me with a f—ing cigarette and a top hat and a bit of a limp and an umbrella that was a machine gun, we wouldn’t have had the HBO show.” The complete transformation covers just about every part of Farrell’s body. “Only things that were me were my hands and feet,” he said. “Everything else, including ears, were pieces. Everything was covered.“
Back in 2022, Brandon Espy wrote a short horror film called Mr. Crocket for the Hulu streaming service’s Bite Size Halloween series. Now the Mr. Crocket concept has been expanded into a feature length film that is set to be released through Hulu on October 11th, and a trailer for the film has arrived online. You can check it out in the embed above.
Scripted by Espy and Carl Reid, this longer take on Mr. Crocket has the following synopsis: In 1993, a mysterious children’s show host, Mr. Crocket, magically emerges from television sets to kidnap young children, brutally slaying their parents in the process. After Mr. Crocket snatches her son, one determined mother embarks on a perilous quest to track down the demonic entertainer and rescue her boy.
Jerrika Hinton (Grey’s Anatomy), Elvis Nolasco (Godfather of Harlem), Ayden Gavin (Big George Foreman), Kristolyn Lloyd (The Bold and the Beautiful), Alex Akpobome (Twenties), Akim Black (City on a Hill), Gina Jarrin (Learning to Drive), Melanie Christine Leon-Soon (The Saint of the Impossible), and newcomers Lyla Randall, Jabari Striblin, and Riley Vinson star.
A press release notes that this is part of WorthenBrooks’ first-look horror slate with Hulu Originals. Mr. Crocket was developed by WorthenBrooks, with David Brooks, Arbi Pedrossian, Jenna Cavelle, and Carl Reid serving as lead producers. Miles Alva is an executive producer. Sean King O’Grady, Josh Feldman, and Jesse Ford co-produced.
Before the Hulu release, Mr. Crocket will be having its premiere at Fantastic Fest next Thursday, September 26th. The festival’s Austin King wrote, “In the summer of 1993, Summer (Jerrika Hinton) is trying to start over after the sudden death of her husband. Her son Major (Ayden Gavin) is having trouble processing his feelings and acting out, and a mysterious VHS tape for a children’s television show called Mr. Crocket’s World is left in their mailbox. The good news is Major starts to behave, quietly watching his new favorite TV program; the bad news is Mr. Crocket’s World opens a portal for a maniacal killer to kidnap children and brutally murder their parents.
Based on his own short film produced as a part of Hulu’s BITE SIZE HALLOWEEN, director Brandon Espy makes the jump to feature filmmaking with an ode to ‘90s childhood, parental struggles, and bloody camp. What would it look like if the delightful puppet creatures populating BLUES CLUES came to life to eat you?
MR. CROCKET struck the Fantastic Fest programming team for set pieces reminiscent of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET franchise and the tone of TALES FROM THE HOOD. Espy’s directorial debut is a fun nightmare slasher with a real emotional core. Elvis Nolasco’s performance as the titular villain, Mr. Crocket, alternates between charming host and sociopathic murderer. A terrifying mashup of Freddy Krueger and Mr. Rogers, he owns the frame whenever he is onscreen as a charismatic and demented personality that will enrapture you just as much as he does the children he kidnaps. So grab some popcorn and strap in for the world premiere of this kids TV show from hell, MR. CROCKET.“
What did you think of the Mr. Crocket trailer? Will you be watching this movie on Hulu next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Season 2 of the The Sandman went into production last year, then had to be put on pause for a while due to the writers and actors strikes. Thankfully, The Sandman season 2 was able to resume production as soon as those strikes came to an end, and a couple months ago we heard that new cast additions include Esmé Creed-Miles (Hanna) as Delirium, Adrian Lester (Hustle) as Destiny, and Barry Sloane (Pleasureland) as The Prodigal. When Netflix ordered season 2, they said, “The Sandman will return with new episodes based on multiple volumes of the Neil Gaiman graphic novel to explore even more stories of the Endless.“
Netflix has shared a new behind-the-scenes clip from the upcoming episodes and shared by Deadline. In the new look, Tom Sturridge‘s character, Dream (aka Morpheus), is seen bonding with his siblings. Plus, the eponymous character meets a few other familiar faces from Neil Gaiman‘s comic book series. Sturridge explains, “Now we know who Dream is and the world he exists within, it’s possible to open up, and Season 2 definitely does that. I think one of the most thrilling things about this season is, for the first time, to have the siblings of the Endless together in one room and to see this extraordinary family exist onscreen together.”
Showrunner Allan Heinberg reveals, “We have entirely new casts, entirely new worlds and historical periods we are exploring. We are introducing the rest of the Endless family.” He also enthusiastically proclaims, “I am very excited for audiences to see the banquet that Dream throws for all the visiting deities and gods and fairies and season mists. It’s your introduction to Thor, it’s your introduction to Loki, Odin. It really is just a showstopper. Everywhere you look, something interesting and horrible is happening.”
The new cast members join the returning Tom Sturridge as Dream, Kirby as Death, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, and Donna Preston as Despair. Other returning cast members include Patton Oswalt, Vivienne Acheampong, Gwendoline Christie, Jenna Coleman, Ferdinand Kingsley, Stephen Fry, Asim Chaudhry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Vanesu Samunyai, and Razane Jammal.
The Sandman was developed for Netflix by Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg, all of whom serve as executive producers on the show. Heinberg is also the showrunner. Every episode of season 2 is being directed by Jamie Childs.
The Prime Video series adaptation of Criminal, the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Sean Phillips, has been steadily building up its cast in recent months, and Deadline has revealed that eight more actors have been added to the line-up! The new cast additions are Garrett Hedlund (Tulsa King), Chris Diamantopoulos (The Boys in the Boat), Lawrence Kao (Walker: Independence), Kyle Bradley Davis (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Aina Brei’yon (Dark Matter), Robert Lee Hart (Chicago PD),Katie Stevens (The Bold Type), and John Pyper-Ferguson (Suits).
Criminal tells “the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past.” The official logline for the series says it will show viewers an interlocking universe of crime stories.
The previously announced cast members are Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Adria Arjona (Hit Man), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Kadeem Hardison (A Different World), Pat Healy (Better Call Saul), Taylor Selé (BMF), Logan Browning (Dear White People), Gus Halper (Rustin), Aliyah Camacho (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), Michael Mando (Better Call Saul), Marvin Jones III (Halo), Michael Xavier (Wild Cards), Dominic Burgess (Palm Royale), John Hawkes (True Detective), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), and Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6).
Hunnam will be playing the lead character, “Leo, a brilliant master thief who sees all the angles, and specializes in plans with no guns and no violence. Like a chess player, Leo thinks three moves ahead. Other crooks think he’s a coward, especially compared to his father Tommy, who went to jail for murdering the most feared man in the city, Teeg Lawless.” Arjona is taking on the role of Greta, “a sharp-tongued top-level car thief and driver and the widowed mother of Angie. Ever since her husband died in a bank job gone bad, Greta has been battling with herself about how to escape the only life she’s ever known – and the only place she’s ever thrived. The problem is, she’s good at this. She’s looking for a big score, a lump of money she can use like a gun to shoot her and Angie out of this life and into another one.” Jenkins’ character is Ivan, “Leo’s dad’s best friend, and has always been an uncle figure to him. He used to be a robber and criminal, but is now currently suffering from dementia. Leo is trying to care for him but realizes he’s more work than he can handle.” Hardison is playing Gnarly, “an old friend of Leo and Ivan. Gnarly was his nickname as a boxer back in the 1970s and it’s all anyone calls him. He walks with a limp, an old one. Gnarly’s a local legend, and he can go from warm to fierce in a heartbeat. He commands respect, partly because he can inflict massive physical damage, even at his advanced age — and partly because he has the authority and gravitas to stop other men in their tracks.”
Clarke’s character is Mallory, “a slick and daring armed robber, as quick with a gun as she is with her wits. Part of a heist crew with Ricky Lawless, who she’s in a passionate Bonnie-and-Clyde-like affair with. Mallory is a woman on the edge, living on the wrong side of the law and hiding secrets that will bring her and her entire crew into the danger zone.“ Halper will portray Ricky Lawless, “an unstable guy who likes booze, coke, and speed (and not within moderation), Ricky has known Leo since they were teenagers. Like Leo, he’s the son of a criminal — only his dad was the most-feared man in the city, Teeg Lawless.” Camacho will play Angie, “Greta’s daughter. Angie is sharp, alert and maybe a little too adult for her age. Having lost her father at a young age, it is only she and her mom making their way through life. She has an idea of the kind of business her mom is in, no matter how much Greta tries to shield her.” Mando’s character is Jeff, “a plainclothes Vice detective who pretty much hates all of humanity, and he’s looking to make a score screwing over anyone and everyone that is in his way. The kind of bad cop who uses his badge to shove others around and get them to do his bidding.” Jones III is Chester, “crime boss Sebastian Hyde’s fearsome chief enforcer. Much like a seven-foot-tall man becoming a basketball player whether he likes it or not, Chester was drafted into the criminal life for his size and fearsomeness. He’s no sadist, relying on his reputation and intelligence to get his way. He speaks softly most of the time, but the threat of sudden and deadly violence is always there.” Xavier is playing Terry, “another criminal, a good friend of Leo, a tough armed robber with a big heart, stepdad to Angie and the love of Greta’s life.” And Burgess is Delron, “a large man with a large appetite and large emotions. Delron is facing a trial in the next few days, and he’s at the mercy of a few powers that be in the criminal organization he works for. “
Hawkes is set to play Sebastian Hyde, “a hard man who is six months out from a stroke, and now walks with a cane. Once the biggest shark in the shark tank, Hyde is now showing his humanity a bit — maybe a bit too much. The owner of a gambling club, the kind of man whose name is accompanied by fear, Hyde can be both amused by someone one minute, and a ruthless enforcer the next.” Healy’s character is Seymour, “a veteran thief and one-time part of Leo’s dad’s crew. Seymour does what he has to stay alive and get rich while trying to survive in the criminal world.” Selé has been cast as Royal, “the manager of Sebastian Hyde’s gambling club, and he is sharp-dressed and menacing. Royal is ruthless and will do whatever he needs to protect himself and move forward in the underworld.” Browning is playing Jenny, “an Internal Affairs detective with a dry sense of humor and an absurdly calm demeanor. She presents as an even-tempered woman who appears to be without a care in the world. Jenny is very smart; her father was a criminal and she loves her job — which gives her the right to question, harass, terrify and imprison cops all day long. Jenny was raised with Leo as her playmate/buddy/blood brother for life.” And Evans is playing Tracy Lawless, “who was pushed out of the outlaw life of his family (his father is the legendary Teeg Lawless and Ricky is his little brother) at the age of 18 when a judge gave him a choice of prison or the military. In the Army, Tracy thrived, his wild outlaw instincts getting funneled into the strict discipline of the military. He was placed into the Special Forces and trained to be an expert in covert operations and guerilla warfare. But underneath it all, the Lawless blood still pumps in his heart.“
Shockingly, Deadline was not able to dig up information on the characters Hedlund, Diamantopoulos, and the other new additions will be playing. All they were able to find out is that these actors will be playing recurring roles.
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, the filmmaking duo behind Half Nelson, Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Mississippi Grind, Captain Marvel, andFreaky Tales, will be directing the first four episodes of Criminal. Brubaker has written the script for the pilot and will serve as showrunner of the series alongside Jordan Harper (Hightown). Brubaker and Harper are also executive producing with Sean Phillips, Sarah Carbiener, Phillip Barnett, and Legendary Television.
Are you looking forward to Criminal? What do you think of Garrett Hedlund, Chris Diamantopoulos, Lawrence Kao, Kyle Bradley Davis, Aina Brei’yon, Robert Lee Hart, Katie Stevens, and John Pyper-Ferguson joining the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
What Do We Know About the upcoming series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms? More than you may think. The Game of Thrones prequel series is the second new project set in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy realm of Westeros and the first to exist as a limited series. With multiple Game of Thrones projects in development based on existing source material, we have some solid details about this show. So, let’s dive in and take a look at what we know about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The series will be based on multiple stories and novellas.
Set between House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on the novellas collectively known as The Tales of Dunk and Egg. Focused on a smaller scale narrative compared to the epic series that came before it, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been described by producer Ryan Condal as the story of small folk who suffer at the hands of the game of thrones as it’s played by the nobles.
The first season is six episodes.
The series’ first season is an adaptation of the novella The Hedge Knight, which, according to HBO, is set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne. The memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory; great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.
What is it about?
Set ninety years before Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows Dunk, a squire who takes on the mantle of Ser Duncan the Tall when he takes the armor of a dead knight. Dunk is followed by Egg, a young boy who serves as his squire and accompanies him on his misadventures involving a love interest named Tanselle and the Targaryen clan chasing them. The Dunk and Egg tales have a considerably lighter tone while still keeping the same style as the Game of Thrones series.
George R.R. Martin is credited as the creator.
While others have gotten the created credit on House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, author George R.R. Martin is listed as the sole creator of this series. The novella that the series is based on is less than 200 pages long, so Martin and his writing team likely have cooked up new elements to strengthen this and potential subsequent seasons. House of the Dragon writer Ira Parker reportedly wrote a pilot episode, but accurate credits are still forthcoming.
Who is starring in it?
Peter Claffey leads the series as Ser Duncan the Tall, with Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg. Finn Bennett plays Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen alongside Bertie Carvel as Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen. Tanzyn Crawford plays Dornish puppeteer Tanselle, and Daniel Ings portrays Ser Lyonel Baratheon. Sam Spruell plays Prince Maekar Targaryen, Egg’s father. That’s right, Egg the Squire is actually a Targaryen prince named Aegon. Yes, that name should ring a bell. Other actors in the cast include Edward Ashley, Henry Ashton, Youssef Kerkour, Daniel Monks, Shaun Thomas, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, and Danny Webb.
Two directors split duties on the first season.
The six-episode first season will boast two directors, each of whom helmed three episodes. Mrs. Davis and Black Mirror director Owen Davis directed the first three episodes, with Sarah Adina Smith, director of Legion, Hanna, and Lessons in Chemistry, on the other three.
When will we see it?
Production began in Northern Ireland in June 2024, and in August, a brief announcement trailer showed the first footage from the HBO series. The series is slated to debut in 2025, but exact premiere dates are currently unknown.
Stay tuned to JoBlo.com as we learn more about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and all of your other favorite shows. What do you expect to see in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms? Let us know in the comments, click like, and subscribe to follow all of our latest original videos.
Her boyfriend has just cheated on her, leaving her wronged and distraught. Now on her own for the first time in who-knows-how-long, the girl will commit every act of rebellion she can think of: tattoos, belly button piercings… But being the victim to nearly every man she has encountered is too much, and she soon takes to the edge of an overpass, ready to end it all. Then, as the asshole ex approaches, she jumps… only to reveal it as a prank on the man who jilted her. And this was how Alicia Silverstone was discovered: dangling from a bungee cord and flipping off the viewer.
Let’s find out: What Happened to… Alicia Silverstone?
But to truly understand what happened to Alicia Silverstone, we go back to the beginning. And the beginning began when she was born on October 4th, 1976, in San Francisco, CA. Alicia Silverstone fell in love with the stage at an early age, even turning to modeling as a youth despite feeling she looked like a duck. She, too, was a self-proclaimed “tomboy,” later calling her constant Clueless costume changes “hell.” Even still, she was determined, taking acting classes in 8th grade and landing a Domino’s commercial in 1991. The following year, she got her first screen role as one of Kevin’s crushes on The Wonder Years. It was a one-off, but enough to make a mark.
The Crush & Aerosmith
In 1993, Alicia Silverstone was cast as a modern Lolita in The Crush. It was a forceful performance where she acted circles around Cary Elwes (OK, not hard, but still!). Right then and there, she was a star, winning both Best Villain and Best Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards. She, too, earned a nod for Most Desirable Female, something she found icky since she was being deemed a sex symbol by leering pervs at just 16 years old.
Enter Aerosmith – who cast her in three consecutive music videos (although many think the videos came before The Crush), most notably “Cryin’” and “Crazy,” both of which were smash MTV favorites – after members saw The Crush. Really, it’s no surprise they were drawn to Silverstone, considering Steven Tyler once held guardianship over a 16-year-old lover… Despite her persona, Silverstone knew how to take control early on, emancipating herself at just 15 before filming on The Crush began so she could dedicate more hours to acting. She would quit high school her sophomore year and later launch a production company called First Kiss Productions, which highlights the sort of innocence that grounded her and made her an object of desire.
Following The Crush, Silverstone played Raquel Welch’s daughter in Torch Song before turning up in the “Cool and Crazy” episode of the experimental Showtime series Rebel Highway (1994). The following year brought Le Nouveau Monde (as another symbol of affection), low-level horror Hideaway, and a version of The Crush (yes, she played another seductive underage girl) called The Babysitter.
Clueless and stardom
After Amy Heckerling saw Silverstone in Aerosmith’s “Cryin’” video, she had to cast her as Cher Horowitz in Clueless (1995). Giving a pitch-perfect turn as the voice and fashion icon of a new generation, Alicia Silverstone had hit it with the widespread audience that had eluded her. With it came award recognition from everybody from the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards to the National Board of Review. Silverstone says she never wanted fame. But that’s what she got – and with that also came a $10 million contract with Columbia-TriStar.
Passing through True Crime (1996) as an aspiring cop, Silverstone was given her first big-budget movie: Batman & Robin(1997). This was just the sort of blockbuster she was being positioned for. She, too, was now an adult, although this brought her a new set of issues: namely, the industry felt comfortable body-shaming her, with some outlets saying she was too fat for her outfit. Only decades later would a “Justice for Batgirl” campaign launch online. As she put it, “They would make fun of my body when I was younger… I knew that it was not right to make fun of someone’s body shape, that doesn’t seem like the right thing to be doing to a human.” Not even remotely worse but still damaging, she won the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress. Through her new deal – and First Kiss Productions – Silverstone co-led Excess Baggage, a light movie that could further show off her comedic chops, another Razzie nod be damned.
Batman & Robin and career slump
Around this time, Alicia Silverstone became an activist for animal rights, turning to veganism and visiting everywhere from Africa to Peru to help elephants and the rainforest. She would even publish a vegan cookbook a decade later. Such activists can often be abrasive… or weird. Silverstone took her animal love too far in 2012 when she filmed herself chewing food to spit in her baby son’s mouth like a bird. To be sure, Silverstone has come to a different kind of notoriety for her online behavior and parenting “tips.” In 2022, she announced she still sleeps with her 11-year-old son, saying that’s how animals do it in nature. She, too, suggested that eating anything other than what’s in her diet would bypass the need for any kind of medicine. Of course, a strictly vegan diet isn’t the worst thing Alicia Silverstone has put in her mouth, as in August 2024, she recorded a video of herself eating a mysterious berry… which many have pinpointed as the toxic Jerusalem berry…
But while we wait to find out if Alicia Silverstone poisoned herself for TikTok clout, let’s jump back to the past once more. 1999 brought the fun, innocent fantasy romance Blast from the Past, marking what would end up being one of her last trademark roles. 2000 saw her playing against type – and not that well – in Branagh’s adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost. This ties into her actual time on stage, first explored as a star in 2002 playing Elaine (against Jason Biggs) in The Graduate, although she tried it out in 1993. She later did a pair of Mamet plays in 2006 (Boston Marriage) and 2007 (Speed-the-Plow), part of a surprising string of stage work seen as recently as 2015. These allowed Silverstone to show she was still worth watching. Her movies? Not as much…
In 2001, Silverstone began lending her voice to things like Mickey’s Magical Christmas, later doing 2014’s Space Dogs: Adventures to the Moon, 2014’s Jungle Shuffle, 2015’s The Nutcracker Sweet, 2017’s Jeff & Some Aliens, and 2021’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Her biggest success on this front was as the lead character for the first two seasons of Brace Face, earning a Daytime Emmy nod. She would later earn another for The Baby-Sitters Club (2020–2021), playing an adult in a show that otherwise would have fit in well with the earlier TV series in the ‘90s.
Comeback roles
TV would have seemed to suit Silverstone quite well, landing Miss Match in 2003, playing a matchmaker on the one-season series. Even still, she earned a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. But if you thought that was short-lived, consider her failed pilots for Queen B (2005), Pink Collar (2006), The Singles Table (2007), and The Bad Mother’s Handbook (2008). There was also the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Candles on Bay Street (2006) and, later, a four-episode arc on season one of Suburgatory (2012), a one-season starring role on American Woman (2018), and a random appearance on American Horror Stories (2022). But none of these were memorable – either short-lived or virtually non-existent – just frequent blips in her career.
And her movie work was paling, too: Global Heresy (2002); crime comedy Scorched (2003); Scooby-Doo 2 (2005); Beauty Shop (2005); Silence Becomes You (2006); spy movie Stormbreaker (2006); The Art of Getting By (2011); Butter(2011); Ass Backwards (2013); Greek fantasy Gods Behaving Badly (2013); dramedy Angels in Stardust (2014); porn biopic King Cobra (2016); the Hallmark-level Who Gets the Dog? (2016); a Diary of a Wimpy Kid sequel (2016), replacing Rachael Harris; coming-of-age The Tribes of Palos Verde (2017); 2018’s Book Club (the movie your mother-in-law saw with all her gal pals); horror flicks The Lodge (2019) and Perpetrator (2023); the overall decent comedy Bad Therapy (2020); a fun but hapless role in Sisters of the Groom (2020); thriller Last Survivors (2022), the middle-ager-offering-wisdom-staged Senior Year (2022); Mustache (2023); and Benicio del Toro reunion Reptile (2023) (which is an underrated gem).
And while we flew through those titles like a carousel in the attic, there’s a reason for that: face it, you’ve never heard of most of these. That’s not to say Silverstone didn’t give valiant goes in movies like Catfight (2016) – a progressive role that saw her part of a lesbian couple – or Vamps (2012) – reuniting with Heckerling – or The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) – as the mother of Barry Keoghan (no easy task) – but long gone was the popularity of Alicia Silverstone. It was all now like seeing Cher Horowitz in the self-checkout lane.
And, really – despite the captive grip she had on audiences with her Aerosmith videos and The Crush – it all comes back to Clueless. Even today, Alicia Silverstone continues to pay tribute to the movie through Super Bowl commercials and TikTok recreations. And it’s what we love her for, although who could be against seeing her reprise her “Crazy” character? As she put it, “It never gets old, so that’s the good news. People always say, ‘Oh you must be so sick of it.’ But what’s there to be sick of? People liking the movie you’re in? It truly doesn’t get better.”
Alicia Silverstone is far past the point of meeting her dreams by working with Bertolucci and Scorsese and Pacino like she always wanted, but could we ever forget her and her role in ‘90s cinema? As if!
Netflix was building up their series The Witcher, which is inspired by a series of novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, to be a major franchise. In addition to the flagship show, they made the anime film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf and a prequel mini-series called The Witcher: Blood Origin, with another anime movie called The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep and a couple other spin-offs in the works… but now it looks like it’s all winding down. As The Witcher season 4 makes its way through production with Liam Hemsworth taking over the role of Geralt of Rivia from former star Henry Cavill, Netflix announced that season 5 will be the end of the show. And while The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is set to be released on February 11th, it’s rumored that it might be the last of the spin-offs, with two others, one called The Rats and another a show that would have been aimed at younger viewers, having apparently been scrapped. We’ll have to wait and see if Sirens of the Deep does indeed end up being the last Witcher spin-off, but in the meantime, a clip from the anime has dropped online and can be seen in the embed above.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s short story A Little Sacrifice. The movie follows Geralt as he’s hired to investigate a series of attacks in a seaside village, where he finds himself drawn into a centuries-old conflict between humans and merpeople that threatens to erupt into all-out war. The voice of Geralt of Rivia is provided by Doug Cockle, who voiced the character in the Witcher video games. Also in the voice cast are Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, Joey Batey as Jaskier, and Christina Wren as Essi Daven. The film was directed by Kang Hei Chul and written by Mike Ostrowski and Rae Benjamin.
When the project was first announced, Cockle provided the following statement: “I am super excited to announce my return to the world of the Witcher voicing Geralt of Rivia once again, but this time in the upcoming animated feature The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep. It’s been an honor to work with Studio Mir and Netflix on this new animated film, and I’m thrilled to be able to share this next chapter of the White Wolf’s journey with fans of the Witcher universe. Mire taedh aen stráede!” Cockle also does an on screen introduction for the clip Netflix shared.
Are you looking forward to The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep? Take a look at the clip and let us know – and also let us know what you think of the possibility that this could be the last Witcher spin-off on Netflix.
A new episode of the Revisited video series has just been released, and since we covered the 1991 science fiction tokusatsu film The Guyver a couple of months ago, with this episode we’ve decided to circle back and take a look at the sequel to The Guyver, the 1994 release Guyver: Dark Hero (watch it HERE) – also known as Guyver 2: Dark Hero, or, if you saw it in the Philippines, Predator 3. You can hear all about it in the video embedded above.
Directed by Steve Wang from a screenplay by Nathan Long that was based on both a story crafted by Wang and the Japanese manga series Bio Booster Armor Guyver by Yoshiki Takaya, Guyver 2: Dark Hero has the following synopsis: A year has passed since he defeated the Cronos Corporation, but Sean Barker continues to struggle with his ability to call upon the powers of the Guyver, a suit of armor developed by aliens, when he must face evil. Hoping to find answers as to why he has received this ability, Barker arrives at an archeological site in Utah, where scientists have uncovered an old alien spacecraft that might solve the mystery. However, the Cronos Corporation is still after him.
The film stars David Hayter, Kathy Christopherson, Bruno Patrick, Christopher Michael, Stuart Weiss, Billie Lee, Alisa Merline, Kristen Calkins, Jim O’Donoghoe, J. D. Smith, Wes Deitrick, Stephen Oprychal, Koichi Sakamoto, Butch Portillo, Christopher J. Bradshaw, Vern Roguen, Russ Kingston, Nathan Long, Lisa Hannan, and Shaun T. Benjamin, with suit performances by Anthony Houk, Brian Simpson, Tatsuro Koike, Koichi Sakamoto, Akihiro Yuji Noguchi, Ted Smith, David McDonald, Scott Putman, C. D. Post, and Kristen Calkins.
The Guyver 2: Dark Hero episode of Revisited was Written, Narrated, and Edited by Tyler Nichols, Produced by Tyler Nichols and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
Are you a fan of Guyver 2: Dark Hero? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Both of these movies are ones I need to “revisit,” as I’m not sure I’ve ever seen either of them in their entirety. I just remember catching glimpses of them on cable back in the day.
Two previous episodes of Revisited can be seen below. To see more of our shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!
Alex Proyas, director of the 1994 version of The Crow, made it very clear that he wasn’t happy about the existence of this year’s The Crow reboot – and now Christian Tafdrup, director of the 2022 Danish film Gæsterne, a.k.a. Speak No Evil (read our review HERE) has followed in Proyas’s footsteps, revealing that he was not impressed by the recently released American remake of his film (you can read our 8/10 review of the remake HERE), even though he received an executive producer credit on the film.
James Watkins, whose previous credits include Eden Lake and The Woman in Black, wrote and directed the remake, which centers on a family who takes a dream holiday to an idyllic country house, only to have the vacation turn into a psychological nightmare. Tafdrup’s version of the story, which he wrote with his brother Mads Tafdrup, had the following synopsis: A Danish family visits a Dutch family they met on a holiday. What was supposed to be an idyllic weekend slowly starts unraveling as the Danes try to stay polite in the face of unpleasantness.
Speaking on the Danish radio show Kulturen, Christian Tafdrup said (with thanks to World of Reel for the translated transcription), “I don’t know what it is about Americans, but they are brought up for a heroic tale, where the good must win over the bad, and this version of the film cultivates that. … When I saw the film, I could see that they would never succeed with a film where the characters are stoned to death, as they do in our film. These people [in the U.S. version] must fight for their family and defeat the bad guys […] It is a kind of happy ending, and it is so deep in their culture that America must be able to handle it all.” He added that the changes Watkins made to the story and characters made the remake seem less dangerous than the original, more sanitized. Audience members seeing the remake “were completely over-enthusiastic and clapped, laughed and whooped. It was like being at a rock concert,” a very different experience from watching the original. He said, “People left my film traumatized.“
The remake was made on a budget of $15 million and, after one week in release, has earned over $24 million at the global box office, so it seems the changes that were made are paying off to some degree.
Blumhouse founder Jason Blum produced the Speak No Evil remake. Christian Tafdrup was credited as executive producer alongside Paul Ritchie, Jacob Jarek, and Bea Sequeira. The cast includes James McAvoy (Split), Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate), Scoot McNairy (Monsters), Aisling Franciosi (Stopmotion), and Alix West Lefler (The Good Nurse).
Have you seen either version of Speak No Evil? What did you think of them? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
