Marc Maron (GLOW, Joker, Spenser Confidential) is stepping out from behind his WTF podcast microphone to star in Rob Burnett’s (The Fundamentals of Caring, We Made This Movie, The Knights of Prosperity) upcoming comedy In Memoriam. Burnett, a five-time Emmy winner, is ready to roll cameras on his latest feature starting on October 14.

According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, In Memoriam focuses on a veteran Hollywood actor (Maron) who becomes obsessed with being a part of the Academy Awards “In Memoriam” montage after learning about his terminal cancer diagnosis. The actor’s journey tells a heartfelt tale about self-discovery, humility, and ego as he hopes to leave his mark on the industry by becoming immortalized in a time-honored tradition.

Marc Maron, known for playing Sam Sylvia in the women’s wrestling drama series GLOW, Gene Ufland in Todd Phillips’ Joker, and the Grumpy GPS in the YouTube Originals family series Jam Van, is a wildly successful actor and podcast host with over 80 million downloads yearly for his WTF podcast. He’s hitting the links with Owen Wilson in Apple TV’s untitled golf comedy series and stars alongside Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, and Tye Sheridan in Justin Kurzel’s upcoming crime thriller The Order.

Justin Kurzel directs The Order from a script by Zach Baylin, Gary Gerhardt, and Kevin Flynn. The upcoming film focuses on a series of bank robberies and car heists that frighten communities in the Pacific Northwest. A lone FBI agent believes that the crimes were not the work of financially motivated criminals but rather a group of dangerous domestic terrorists. The Order hits screens on December 5, 2024.

Rob Burnett’s In Memoriam could be a comedic powerhouse with a splash of drama for Marc Maron. The Academy’s “In Memoriam” tribute is a heart-wrenching highlight of the annual awards show, though some of the industry’s greatest actors are occasionally left off the list. The tribute is always a touching reminder of how many influential talents we lose yearly. If Maron’s character hopes to get a spot in the ceremony, he must remind people of his impact on the industry and, by extension, their lives.

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Being married to a genuine bookworm, I know what it’s like to compete for attention with a mountain of thrilling page-turners. My wife has read an estimated 500 novels this year, so I sympathize with Elija Wood’s Strawn as he attempts to appeal to the mind of someone overflowing with information and imagination. In today’s Bookworm trailer, father and daughter embark on an epic journey into the wilderness in search of an elusive Canterbury Panther. However, neither came prepared to find love and the beginnings of forgiveness alongside danger and adventure.

Here’s the official synopsis for Bookworm courtesy of Vertical:

Bookworm follows 11-year-old Mildred (Nell Fisher), whose life takes a wild turn when her estranged father, Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood), a washed-up Las Vegas illusionist, suddenly reappears. Years ago, after a magical encounter with the once-charming Strawn, Mildred’s mom moved back to New Zealand. Now, a comical mishap leaves Strawn caring for Mildred while her mom is hospitalized. Their first adventure? Camping to hunt for the mythological Canterbury Panther. As this mismatched duo navigates the wilderness, magic tricks, and an extraordinary quest, hilarity ensues, and they might just find a way to piece their family back together.

Ant Timpson (Come to Daddy, Turbo Kid, She Loved Blossoms More) directs Bookworm from a script he co-wrote with Toby Harvard. In today’s Bookworm trailer, Mildred and Strawn reconnect after years spent apart, creating awkwardness that hangs in the room like an angry ghost. When Strawn discovers Mildred’s desire to locate the mythological panther, they embark on a mission that changes their relationship and outlook on life forever.

Michael Smiley (Kill List, Free Fire), Morgana O’Reilly (Housebound, The White Lotus), and Nikki Si’ulepa (The Whole of the Moon, Housebound) co-star alongside Wood and Fisher in this comedic epic.

Our Editor-in-Chief, Chris Bumbray, reviewed Bookworm after seeing Timpson’s latest feature at Fantasia 2024. Chris loved the film, giving it a 9/10, saying, “Bookworm is an absolutely gorgeous film. Whether it’s the lush interiors filled with books, woodwork, and shadow or the vast New Zealand landscapes, it’s a constant treat for the eyes. The first portion of the film is in 4:3, putting an emphasis on the claustrophobic interior of the house.” Adding, “Don’t let the strange Dora the Explorer poster turn you away because Bookworm has all the makings of a New Zealand classic. Fantastic performances from Wood and Fisher help to carry a fantastical journey. I see myself putting this on for years as it gives that warm feeling that few manage. This is an adventure in every sense of the word, and the world would be better off with more films like it.”

Bookworm opens in theaters and explores On Demand on October 19.

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Back in 2017, legendary action star Jean-Claude Van Damme had the lead role in a film titled Kill ‘Em All, which saw him taking on the role of a mysterious stranger who arrives at a hospital on the brink of death – and yet still has to fight for his life when a gang raids the hospital with the intention of finishing him off. Seven years later, Kill ‘Em All is getting a sequel, appropriately titled Kill ‘Em All 2, which is set to receive a digital release next Tuesday, September 24th. In anticipation of that release, a trailer for Kill ‘Em All 2 has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above.

The feature directorial debut of fight coordinator Peter Malota, who had previously worked with Van Damme on Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Nowhere to Run, The Quest, and The Order, Kill ‘Em All was scripted by Craig Stewart, Brian Smolensky, and Jesse Cilio and told the following story: After a massive shootout, a mysterious stranger (Van Damme) arrives at a local hospital on the brink of death. Then, a foreign gang brazenly comes to the hospital to hunt him down. His nurse Suzanne (Autumn Reeser), the sole surviving witness to the follow-up shootout, must face an FBI interrogation that unlocks a plot of international intrigue and revenge. With enough twists and turns, Kill ‘Em All will keep you guessing until the final bullet is fired!

Valeri Milev, whose credits include Code Red, Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort, Re-Kill, and Bullets of Justice, takes over directing duties on Kill ‘Em All 2, working from a screenplay by James Agnew. The sequel finds that Phillip (Van Damme) is retired from the spy game, living peacefully off the grid. That’s until his whereabouts are discovered by Vlad, the vengeful brother of his target from the first film.

Van Damme is joined in the cast by Andrei Lenart (FBI: International), Talia Asseraf (The Ritual Killer), Meredith Mickelson (Paradox Effect), Maria Conchita Alonso (The Running Man), Peter Stormare (Constantine), and Jacqueline Fernandez (Mrs. Serial Killer).

Kill ‘Em All 2 has been produced by Lady Monika Bacardi, Andrea Iervolino, Danielle Maloni, Rafael Primorac, and Richard Salvatore. Deadline noted that Iervolino brought production to the Caribbean island of Antigua after local authorities asked him “to grow entertainment investment opportunities in the West Indies, with a focus on enriching Antigua and Barbuda through film and TV shoots.” Iervolino told Deadline, “I am delighted and honored that Jean-Claude Van Damme has agreed to be part of this exciting project. The beauty of Antigua, with its unique atmosphere, will provide an extraordinary backdrop for the production of this film. This initiative not only furthers our commitment to the film industry, but aims to help strengthen cultural and collaborative ties between Europe and the West Indies.“

What did you think of the Kill ‘Em All 2 trailer? Will you be watching this movie next week? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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The video game Mortal Kombat 1, which was first released last September, is getting a DLC expansion called Khaos Reigns next Tuesday, September 24th, and today a gore-soaked trailer has arrived online to give players a glimpse at the sort of insanity they’ll have the opportunity to get up to if they purchase the Khaos Reigns. The trailer can be viewed in the embed above, and features “guest kombatants” like the slasher Ghostface from the Scream franchise, Omni-Man from the Invincible animated series, Homelander from the TV series The Boys, the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, DC’s Peacemaker, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger version of Conan the Barbarian. The trailer is packed with fatalities and animalities, all building up to a Ghostface fatality that it likely to bring smiles to the faces of most Scream fans.

The twelfth main installment in the Mortal Kombat video game franchise and its second reboot (following 2011’s Mortal Kombat), Mortal Kombat 1 takes place in a new timeline that was created through one ending of the 2019 game Mortal Kombat 11. In this new timeline, Fire God Liu Kang assembles a clique of fighters to participate in the latest Mortal Kombat tournament in Outworld while contending with an alliance formed by Titan Shang Tsung. In the follow-up expansion, Khaos Reigns, Liu Kang and his allies must contend with Titan Havik. Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns expands Liu Kang’s New Era with a new story campaign and an all-new cinematic experience. Discover how Liu Kang rallies his champions and puts faith in his enemies as he battles the ruthless Titan Havik, who threatens to plunge the realms into khaos. If they fail, the New Era will be reduced to anarchy.

The main roster of characters includes Ashrah, Baraka, General Shao, Geras, Johnny Cage, Kenshi, Kitana, Kung Lao, Li Mei, Liu Kang, Mileena, Nitara, Raiden, Rain, Reiko, Reptile, Scorpion, Sindel, Smoke, Sub-Zero, and Tanya. There are also multiple “kameo fighters” and characters that can be added through DLCs. Khaos Reigns brings Noob Saibot, Cyrax, and Sektor into the mix, along with Ghostface, T-1000, and Conan the Barbarian.

Do you play Mortal Kombat 1, and will you be buying the Khaos Reigns expansion? Check out the bloody Ghostface action in the trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

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PLOT: An origin story set on Cybertron focused on the friendship between a young Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) before they became arch-enemies.

REVIEW: It figures that the best movie Paramount’s ever made from the Transformers franchise is animated. When I hit Comic Con in San Diego a few months ago, the folks behind Transformers One mentioned that by adopting an animated format, for the first time in the history of the big screen franchise, they were able to make a Transformers movie without any human characters, set 100% on Cybertron. It would have cost about $400 million had this been live-action. And, indeed, with no limit on the story’s scope, for the first time, we have a Transformers movie that can legitimately be called terrific.

Indeed, folks are in for a surprise with this one, which is very much in the vein of the recent animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot and the Spider-Verse movies. While it’s definitely not as good as either Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse or Across the Spider-Verse, it comes much closer than you might expect.

In it, we get a deep dive into the history of the Autobots and Decepticons, tracking how Optimus Prime and Megatron liberated Cybertronians from virtual enslavement before being split into two warring factions. In this one, the young Optimus, here called Orion Pax, and Megatron (D-16) are two miners who don’t have transforming cogs and exist in the lower echelon of Cybertronian society, which Jon Hamm’s Sentinel Prime lords over. Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry do a good job evoking the buddy-movie chemistry needed between Orion Pax and D-16, with much of the movie playing almost like an animated version of Tango & Cash as the two embark on a mission that leads to their eventual transformation into the iconic characters as we know them.

While it all sounds like you have to be steeped in Transformers lore to appreciate what director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) and his writers are going for, the movie is much more compelling than you’d think. It starts off as your typical sci-fi adventure movie, complete with a humorous sidekick (Keegan Michael-Key as Bumblebee before he lost his voice) and a robot love interest (Scarlett Johansson’s Elita), but eventually takes a dark turn as the truth about Cybertron emerges, and D-16’s more ruthless side comes to the surface. You can’t help but get invested in the brotherhood between the two robots, and when they eventually turn on each other, it feels pretty epic.

The voice work by Hemsworth and Tyree Henry certainly helps it. While many may have issues with Peter Cullen no longer voicing Optimus, Hemsworth works in many vocal references to his predecessor, paying homage to his iconic performance as the film goes on. Likewise, Tyree Henry’s vocal performance once he becomes Megatron begins to change, and he imbues the character with a surprising amount of pathos.

It also doesn’t hurt that the film is gorgeous to look at. The animation style is fresh-feeling, and it makes an effort to be distinctive while also paying tribute to the old cartoon show and 1986 film. It’s also set in the same timeline as the modern Transformer movies, but it’s distinct enough that you really don’t have to have seen any of them to enjoy it.

One thing worth noting is that the audience I saw this with REALLY seemed to love the movie. They laughed and cheered throughout, and when it was over, the audience gave it a huge round of applause, which is something you really never get at free screenings in my neck of the woods. There’s a reason why Paramount’s been doing so many word-of-mouth screenings, as this has the potential to be a major hit, and, again, it’s the best Transformers movie ever made by a wide margin. 

Check out this trailer with a sweet JoBlo quote off the top!

Transformers One

GREAT

8

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Transformers One is about to hit screens and it’s already accumulating a bevy of positive responses, which is headlined in the final trailer that quotes our very own Chris Bumbray as saying it will be “The best Transformers movie ever!” It was also implicated that the new movie, while animated, can serve as a prequel to the Michael Bay films. While Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts were soft-reboots of the franchise with new filmmakers at the helm, the property started to dabble in shared universes with a tease to the G.I. Joes at the end of Rise of the Beasts.

Collider has now revealed that franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirms that the next live-action film will crossover both Transformers with the Joes. He states, “Well, we’re going, again, subject to success, we’re going to do a sequel to this, and there will be an animated version, and it will exist completely separately to whatever we do live-action. The next live-action movie will be a crossover. Where it will be particularly affected is the fact that we now know what these robots are capable of emotionally in a way. So we’re going to have to figure out how to create that room, that we can afford that, and create a story that you can take more advantage of that. So one of the things that I’m particularly interested in doing, and we’re still in the development phase, so nothing is by any means written in stone, but I think we need to do more now from the robot point of view in the live-action because that’s the only way you’re really going to get inside them.”

Di Bonaventura also wanted to clarify that the hybrid film will give both character factions equal time to shine, “Instead of them reacting to humans or reacting to the human plot, what is their drive, has to be part of that story now. So it’s going to be complicated because now the hardest thing about a lot of franchise movies is how many characters there are, and the more characters you try to manage, the harder it is to make a bunch of really good ones. You kind of got to keep going, keep it smaller, keep it smaller. So we’ll be in that process for a while where we’ll start with a bunch of Joes and a bunch of Transformers and I’ll say, regular humans, and then you’re going to do this. That’s kind of where we are right now, is trying to put the larger thing in place. The trick in this one, like we were talking about here, in trying to find that tone and balance is like, ‘Well, how much of the Joes do you want? And how much of the Transformers do you want?’”

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Marc Bernardin, a television writer/producer (Star Trek: Picard) who has also written multiple comic books and hosts the Fatman Beyond podcast with Kevin Smith, has teamed up with writer/producer/actress Tiffany Smith (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) to create a new anthology called Deepest, Darkest, which will “weave together stories of horror, suspense, dark comedy, and edgy science fiction” – and they have assembled quite an impressive cast for the project. That cast includes Smith herself, as well as Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass), Phil LaMarr (Pulp Fiction), Raymond Lee (Top Gun: Maverick), Caitlin Bassett (Quantum Leap), Sujata Day (Definition Please), and Kevin Avery (The Great North).

Deepest, Darkest will consist of eight segments that are set to be directed by Bernardin, LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead), Ubah Mohamed (The Handmaid’s Tale), Lamont Magee (Black Lightning), Deric A. Hughes and Benjamin Raab (Warehouse 13), Day, and Avery. Here’s the pitch: Have you ever had a secret? One so big, so awful, so horrifically extreme that you had no choice but to keep it to yourself? Something that if anyone else knew that revelation would shift your world on its axis? What if there was someone whose job it was to listen to those secrets — because she could never remember them? What would you pay for absolution?

Each story in the film will revolve around that most human of impulses: the keeping of secrets. Our central character is Tara, a survivor of a devastating accident who now suffers from short-term memory loss — and who makes ends meet by hiring herself out as sort of a freelance confessionist. Over the course of these eight chapters, we’ll examine that part of the human condition we keep closest to the vest. Guilt. Damage. Pain. And how through the telling of these stories we might exorcise that pain. Oh, and Tara will find herself in mortal danger. A lot.

Rachel Walker, Carrie Finn, and Kyle Smithers are producing the film, which has M3GAN screenwriter Akeela Cooper and Late Night with the Devil star David Dastmalchian on board as executive producers. The budget for the film is currently being raised on Kickstarter, with seven days left to go in the campaign. As of this writing, $136,668 has been raised of the $250,000 goal.

Rosario Dawson told Deadline, “I’m a big fan of… well, I guess I shouldn’t tell you which project I’m working on but all of the writers and directors [on Deepest, Darkest] are amazing, so getting a chance to work with them was an opportunity that I didn’t want to miss.“

Does Deepest, Darkest sound interesting to you? Share your thoughts on this anthology project by leaving a comment below.

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With Deadpool & Wolverine clawing away at box office records and X-MEN ‘97 gaining huge streaming numbers, Awfully Good Movies is heading back in time with the TVA to discuss 20th Century Fox’s fourth and final X-Men prequel before their MCU merger… DARK PHOENIX! (Or as it was retitled on home video… X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX!)

That title change was just one of many problems that Fox had before and after filming the last of its mutant saga, with Bryan Singer getting #MeToo-ed out of the director’s chair and longtime franchise writer/producer Simon Kinberg taking his place to have another go at adapting Chris Claremont’s “Dark Phoenix” Saga, after his disappointment at poorly adapting it for Brett Ratner’s infamously disappointing X-Men: The Last Stand. But with its release delayed to fix the ending’s similarities to Captain Marvel, only to end up releasing one month after Avengers: Endgame was still snapping up box office profits, it was obvious that their future at Disney spelled doom for their final days at Fox.

As for the returning X-Men cast, many of the older actors from First Class visibly don’t want to be there (looking at you, Jennifer Lawrence!), while the younger actors who still need to prove themselves after Apocalypse get pathetically little to do, especially Sophie Turner as a Jean Grey whose evil transformation into the Phoenix mostly consists of her sulking for the camera a lot. And don’t get me started on Jessica Chastain as our big alien villain who plans to cleanse the blah blah blah, you’ve heard all this before, and she’s wasted even worse here than Christian Bale in Love and Thunder. 

And with Hugh Jackman having retired (for now) from Wolverine after Logan already gave us a satisfying ending to the X-Men saga, his absence makes this finale to the once-great X-Men prequels a depressingly generic slog that’ll have you wishing Mickey Mouse would snap these younger X-Men out of existence already. Oh, and there’s a new X-Man who has sentient dreadlocks… in the words of Stan Lee, ‘nuff said!

Previously on Awfully Good Movies…

CANNONBALL RUN II

DOLITTLE

GODZILLA (1998)

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Two years ago, we heard that production had wrapped on Spin the Bottle, a supernatural horror film that has genre regulars Ali Larter (the Final Destination and Resident Evil franchises) and Justin Long (Tusk, Drag Me to Hell, Barbarian, etc.) playing supporting roles and Tanner Stine (Impulse) and Kaylee Bryant (Legacies) taking on the lead roles. Now Spin the Bottle is finally ready to make its way out into the world, as Paramount will be giving the film a digital release on October 4th – and with that date just a couple of weeks away, a trailer has arrived online. You can check it out in the embed above.

Gavin Wiesen directed Spin the Bottle from a screenplay written by John Cregan (Plague Town). The actors mentioned above are joined in the cast by Christopher Ammanuel (Black Lightning), Ryan Whitney (Reagan), Angela Halili (American Horror Stories), Samantha Cormier (Legion), Hal Cumpston (The Greatest Beer Run Ever) and Tony Amendola (The Curse of La Llorona). Wiesen previously directed the 2011 romance The Art of Getting By and the 2017 comedy All Nighter. Spin the Bottle marks his horror debut.

The story Cregan crafted for this film centers on a group of teenagers in small town Texas who unleash a deadly force after playing the famed party game Spin the Bottle in an abandoned house where a grisly massacre once took place. The idea of a deadly force being unleashed by a game of spin the bottle doesn’t sound very enticing to me, but the fact that Ali Larter and Justin Long are in this film’s cast is enough to guarantee that I’ll be watching it at some point.

Financing for Spin the Bottle was provided by Fortress Media Group. Will Hayes, Jim Valdez, Kyle Hayes, and Chris Barish produced the film, with Harrison Kordestani serving as executive producer and Scot Ruggles co-producing.

What did you think of the trailer for Spin the Bottle? Does this look like a movie you’d like to include in your Halloween season viewings this year? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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Part dog, part man, all hero.

From DreamWorks Animation—creators of the beloved blockbuster franchises Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Boss Baby—comes the canine-crime-fighting film adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s New York Times bestselling literary phenomenon: Dog Man.

When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born. Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve—and fetch, sit and roll over. 

As Dog Man embraces his new identity and strives to impress his Chief (Lil Rel Howery, Get Out, Free Guy), he must stop the pretty evil plots of feline supervillain Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson; Saturday Night Live, The King of Staten Island). Petey’s latest plan is to clone himself, creating the kitten Lil Petey, to double his ability to do crime stuff. Things get complicated, though, when Lil Petey forges an unexpected bond with Dog Man.

When Lil Petey falls into the clutches of a common enemy, Dog Man and Petey reluctantly join forces in an action-packed race against time to rescue the young kitten. In the process, they discover the power of family (and kittens!) to bring even the most hostile foes together. 

Dog Man also stars Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, Rango) as TV reporter Sarah Hatoff; Poppy Liu (Hacks, The Afterparty) as Petey’s assistant, Butler; Emmy nominee Stephen Root (Barry, King of the Hill) as Grampa; Billy Boyd (the Lord of the Rings franchise, Seed of Chucky) as Sarah’s cameraman, Seamus; and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras) as Flippy the fish. 

Dog Man is directed by Emmy winner Peter Hastings (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness), whose credits include the groundbreaking animated series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. The film is produced by Karen Foster (Spirit Untamed), who served as co-producer on DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon.

Launched in 2016 by Dav Pilkey—the #1 global bestselling author and award-winning illustrator of the Captain Underpants books—the Dog Man Scholastic series now includes 12 books. The series has more than 60 million copies in print and has been translated into 47 languages. Cat Kid Comic Club, a spin-off of Dog Man launched in 2020, has also topped bestseller lists around the world. The most recent Dog Man book, Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, was overall the #1 bestselling children’s book in the U.S. in 2023, across all children’s formats and ages. Pilkey’s newest book in the Dog Man Series, Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, is set to release on December 3, 2024.

DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man will be distributed by Universal Pictures.

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