PLOT: A young man (Dev Patel) who makes his living fighting in underground fights in Mumbai hatches a violent plot designed to avenge the rape and murder of his mother.

REVIEW: Calling Dev Patel’s Monkey Man “John Wick in Mumbai” is simplistic. While it’s a nice one-liner the studio can use in its trailers, Monkey Man is an altogether different kind of action flick. Much lower budget than any of the Wick films and less polished (by design), this has more in common with seventies revenge thrillers, albeit given a bruising, martial arts-driven makeover. It’s an impressive debut for Patel both as a director and burgeoning action hero.

Indeed, Patel’s action-hero makeover is one of the most impressive in recent years. Sporting a lean physique and serious martial arts prowess (he’s apparently been training since he was a kid), Monkey Man is the kind of movie that changes a career and makes Hollywood sit up and take notice. With many older action heroes hanging up their guns, it’s time for a younger generation to move in, and Patel seems like the heir apparent to many of these guys.

Monkey Man really is a solid action flick and is pretty scrappy and well-realized, considering Patel has never directed before. It’s ultra-violent, with the film eschewing the gunplay of something like John Wick (which is name-checked) in favor of fists, kicks and blades. While it’s not wall-to-wall action, when the carnage kicks in, it’s truly impressive, with a long, fifteen-minute segment from the middle of the film featuring an aborted stab (pun intended) at revenge and Patel’s flight from the cops, a particular highlight.

Patel’s intensity is cranked up to eleven here. He stars as the unnamed “Kid,” who’s a young man whose family was wiped out by the cops, who in turn, were strong-arm men for politicians wanting the land his family lived on. Monkey Man hasn’t been able to secure a release in India yet, with original distributors Netflix allegedly dropping the film after they realized its 1% vs the corrupt ruling class subject matter wouldn’t go over well. Their loss is Universal Pictures’ gain, as even if the movie isn’t a huge hit in theatres, it’s the kind of slick action movie that becomes a perennial once it hits home media and streaming.

You really invest in Kid’s quest for vengeance with Patel, a driven hero with a touch of vulnerability. Unlike some modern action stars, he has no trouble taking his licks on screen, with him getting bloody and beaten several times in the movie, even if he has an almost inhuman way of taking a licking and keep on ticking.

As a director, Patel aces the action sequences and the seedy vibe of a deeply divided India. The film almost sets a record for the number of F-bombs dropped in the first half of the film, as Kid infiltrates a corrupt high society where the folks in power all pattern themselves off Hollywood gangsters. Patel overdoes the swearing a bit, as the constant cursing becomes almost unintentionally funny, something which could also be said about a sequence or two that are a little on the nose. One of these, which I must admit made me chuckle, is a bit where Kid watches his love interest, Sobhita Dhulipala’s Sita, work as an escort while The Police’s Roxanne plays on the soundtrack. 

However, this indulgence can be forgiven, especially when the action kicks in. Monkey Man runs for about two hours and probably could have lost about ten minutes, but it’s pretty exciting stuff for the most part. The carnage is plentiful, with some especially brutal scenes eliciting “whoa’s” from the (paying) audience I saw this with, including a close-quarters elevator sequence scored by an old Boney M song.

Suffice it to say, if you consider yourself an action fan, you almost have a duty to go out and support Monkey Man. Patel busted his ass making a hardcore action flick, and he needs the audience to show studios that they still care about action movies on the big screen. While it’s not perfect, overall, I had a blast. 

Monkey Man

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7

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The post Monkey Man Review appeared first on JoBlo.

Bring your pink suit to the dry cleaners because Legally Blonde is making a comeback, and you’ll want to dress to impress! According to Deadline, Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine company will partner with Amazon MGM Studios for a Legally Blonde spinoff TV series. The long-anticipated project comes from Gossip Girl writers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who will also produce through their Fake Empire studio. Plot details remain a mystery, though Witherspoon’s involvement with the project gives me good vibes.

Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter will produce the Legally Blonde spinoff TV series via Hello Sunshine alongside Legally Blonde film producer Marc Platt. Deadline says there’s a chance we could get more than one spinoff series inspired by Legally Blonde, but details are fuzzier than the eraser toppers Elle Woods keeps in her purse.

Released in 2001, Legally Blonde stars Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen whom her boyfriend dumps. She decides to follow him to law school. While there, she discovers that there is more to her than looks. Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge, and Ali Larter also star as primary cast members in the laugh-out-loud comedy.

A sequel directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld followed in 2003 with Witherspoon back in her pink pumps. In the follow-up film, Elle Woods heads to Washington, D.C., to join the staff of a Representative to pass a bill to ban animal testing. Sally Field, Regina King, Bob Newhart, and Bruce McGill join Witherspoon in the sequel.

A third film in the Legally Blonde series is said to be in the works, but things have been quiet on that front for a while. In May 2020, Never Have I Ever‘s Mindy Kaling and Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Dan Goor were announced as screenwriters. Again, there’s no telling if this is still the case or if the spinoff series will put the threequel on ice. Witherspoon says she’d return to star and produce the film, but no official announcements have been made.

Are you a fan of Reese Witherspoon’s Legally Blonde series? Would you watch a Legally Blonde spinoff? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Start stamping your Prada shoes in celebration! A Legally Blonde spinoff series is in development with Reese Withspoon’s Hello Sunshine appeared first on JoBlo.

Olivia Wilde’s comic book action film Avengelyne is picking up the sword with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap production company along for the ride. Based on the signature comic book creation by Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, rumor has it Margot Robbie could play the lead, but her reps are denying her involvement with that part of the project. LuckyChap includes Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, and Simon Kinberg. LuckyChap produced Barbie, the billion-dollar barn-burner based on Mattel’s iconic blonde bombshell. With influence like that, it’s difficult not to imagine Avengelyne being a big to-do.

After directing 2019’s Booksmart and the controversial Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde is one of Hollywood’s most in-demand filmmakers. According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Avengelyne “is an angel who fights the forces of evil and often finds herself face-to-face with demons and monsters. She was the most feared warrior in Heaven’s Warhost, having single-handedly broken into Pandemonium, the outer fortress of Hell, to confront the Devil himself. She is a fallen angel, banished from Heaven by God after being tricked into questioning his love for humans. Avengelyne was stripped of all her angelic abilities, other than her great strength and her blood, which, once extracted from her body, could be used as a weapon or a miracle once empowered by quoting verses from the Bible.” Like anyone with powers worth their salt, Avengelyne uses her unique abilities to battle demons on Earth while preparing to thwart an oncoming Armageddon.

Known to Liefeld’s fans as a powerful warrior, Avengelyne could fill a unique gap in the superhero genre. Think of Vampirella meeting Barbarella with the supernatural sensitivities of John Constantine. It’s been a while since we’ve had an honest-to-goodness battle for the soul outside of Netflix’s Warrior Nun. With Olivia Wilde behind the camera, Avengelyne could exorcise people’s superhero fatigue when it lands in theaters.

What do you think about Margot Robbie climbing aboard Wilde and Liefeld’s Avengelyne? Is this a strange career move for Wilde? Will Margot Robbie end up starring in the film after all is said and done? Who do you think could play Avengelyne in Wilde’s film? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap teams with Olivia Wilde to produce Avengelyne from Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld appeared first on JoBlo.

Like Hideo Kojima and his collection of scanned celebrities, Taylor Sheridan is adding another star to his Paramount+ collection as Boss Level and The Purge franchise badass Frank Grillo joins the cast of Tulsa King: Season 2. The MCU alum boards the Sylvester Stallone-led crime drama as a series regular, playing Bill Bevilaqua, a Kansas City mobster interested in Tulsa. Is Grillo’s character trying to muscle in on The General’s territory? Who will tell him how much of a bad idea that would be?

Sylvester Stallone stars in Tulsa King as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a New York mafia capo. After he’s released from prison, his boss unceremoniously exiles him to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a crew from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that might as well be another planet.

Grillo joins an already-stacked cast for Tulsa King: Season 2, featuring Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, Jay Will, Annabella Sciorra, Tatiana Zappardino, with Garrett Hedlund and Dana Delany. Cameras are currently rolling for the sophomore season in Oklahoma and Atlanta.

“Tulsa King scored as the #1 new series of the year, topping all others including the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, with its preview on Paramount Network, and on Paramount+, it shattered records, driving us to our biggest new sign-up day in history – which is why we instantly greenlit season two,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO, Paramount Media Networks & MTV Entertainment Studios in 2022. “Tulsa King together with Mayor of Kingstown, 1883 and the upcoming 1923, undeniably confirm the success of our strategy to franchise Yellowstone and use it to supercharge streaming growth – none of which would be possible without the creative mastermind of Taylor Sheridan.”

Frank Grillo is one of Hollywood’s busiest stars, having worked on multiple projects in various production states. He’s got six movies in post-production, including (but not limited to) the Steven C. Miller-directed action thriller Werewolves, John Swab’s crime thriller Land of Grace, and Lowell Dean’s horror thriller Die Alone. Grillo is also the voice of Rick Flag Sr. in the upcoming DC animated TV series Creature Commandos.

Are you excited to hear Frank Grillo is joining the Tulsa King: Season 2 cast? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Frank Grillo joins Sylvester Stallone as a series regular for Tulsa King Season 2 appeared first on JoBlo.

All aboard! The Pain Train is leaving the station, and you want to avoid getting stuck riding coach! Lionsgate is giving action fans something to crow about today with the debut of the brutal Kill trailer. Described as India’s goriest and most intensely violent film, Kill is like David Leitch’s Bullet Train on steroids, if those steroids were taking steroids!

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat (Saluun, The Gone Game, Hurdang) directs Kill from a script he wrote with Ayesha Syed. The plot revolves around a passenger on a train to New Delhi. The train soon becomes a combat battleground as a pair of commandos face an army of invading bandits. What was supposed to be a leisurely trek turns into a claustrophobic bloodbath, with death and destruction filling every car along a fast-moving train.

The feature, directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival to critical acclaim. Here’s a more detailed description of the plot courtesy of Collider’s report:

Kill follows Amrit (Lakshya) and Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), whose relationship is jeopardized after Tulika’s family finds out about it. As they take her away for an arranged marriage, commando Amrit and his friend are far from willing to let fate dictate their story. The troop embarks on a “rescue” mission that becomes a gory adventure and blurs the line between their duty and emotions, elaborating the theme of “how far a man can go for love.”

Raghav Juyal, Abhishek Chauhan, Ashish Vidyarthi, Adrija Sinha, Harsh Chhaya, Parth Tiwari, and more join Lakshya and Tanya Maniktala as cast members of Bhat’s outrageous film.

Is anyone else getting Train to Busan and The Raid: Redemption vibes from today’s Kill trailer? I’m a huge fan of foreign action films, with movies like The Night Comes For Us and Headshot being two of my favorites. Kill looks right up my alley, and some of those kill shots and extreme stabbings in the trailer are gnarly! I look forward to screaming at my TV while Lakshya tears everyone on the train a new asshole with his sweet moves and give no f**ks attitude. Let’s go!

The post Climb aboard the train to Stabsville as India’s goriest action film yet goes into overdrive in the Kill trailer appeared first on JoBlo.

Back in 1958, director Irvin Yeaworth brought the world a really fun creature feature called The Blob, which was followed by Larry Hagman’s late-to-the-party sequel Beware! The Blob (a.k.a. Son of Blob) in 1972 and an awesome remake directed by Chuck Russell – which ranks as one of the best remakes ever made – in 1988. We’ve been hearing rumblings of another Blob remake for over a decade now. Rob Zombie was attached to write and direct a new version of The Blob for a brief period of time, and commissioned some concept art before leaving the project. The Conjuring writers Chad and Carey Hayes wrote a draft of the script that reimagined the titular being as the B.L.O.B., which stood for Biological Lethal Organic Bomb. Their script was scrapped. Later, Con Air director Simon West was going to be helming the film, with Samuel L. Jackson signed on to star and Halle Berry rumored to join him. That one didn’t make it into production, either. A few months ago, it was announced that Hellraiser reboot director David Bruckner is now attached to write and direct a new take on The Blob. Keith Levine, who produced the Hellraiser reboot and is producing the Blob remake, is currently doing the press rounds for another horror film he worked on, The First Omen (a prequel to the 1976 classic The Omen). During an interview with ComicBook.com, Levine took a moment to talk about The Blob and said the new remake will honor the practical effects work of the previous films.

Levine said, “Well, I personally am very excited about – because another one of these ‘my parents are out movies’ that I’m watching at a young age is The Blob – which we’re doing at Warner Brothers, also with David Bruckner … The Chuck Russell movie just, as a kid, it f*cked me up big time. There’s this movie theater scene towards the end of it where these kids sneak out and they go to the movies and then they get killed by the Blob … I think that was the first time I had seen kids my age die. I was watching all these horror movies. It was always about teenagers and older people, and I think I was like, ‘It never felt like me,’ but that movie, just because of that scene, really, really, really terrorized me. So very excited to dive into that world and honor the practical effects, the tactile feel of it. We’re just excited about all the possibilities there.“

I have always loved The Blob, I watched both the 1958 and 1988 versions of the film a lot when I was growing up (I didn’t find out about the 1972 movie until later), and have been waiting decades to see the Blob return to the screen. So I’m looking forward to seeing what David Bruckner is going to do with the concept.

Levine is producing The Blob with David S. Goyer, while Judith Harris, the widow of original Blob producer Jack Harris, serves as executive producer.

Are you interested in seeing a new remake of The Blob? What do you think of the Keith Levine quote? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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One of the most harrowing things to come out in a while is ID’s documentary series Quiet On Set, which reveals the troubling history behind the kids’ TV network Nickelodeon’s most popular programming from the 90s and 2000s. Specifically, the series investigates what was happening on the set of various shows produced by the network’s golden boy, Dan Schneider. Among the revelations is that a P. A on the set of his shows was a pedophile, and one of the network’s biggest stars, Drake Bell, was molested by his acting coach, Brian Peck, who also acted in many of the shows. To note, Schneider has not been accused of any sexual abuse himself, and Bell actually praised him in the documentary.

While the four-episode series seemed to be at an end (you can read our review here), a bonus episode revealing new information that’s come forward since the show ended is set to premiere on ID on April 7th. In fact, even more episodes might be coming, with the directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, apparently still shooting new material for future episodes. Indeed, there’s much more ground to cover, with one of the biggest stars from that era, Amanda Bynes, having yet to tell her story. More actors who worked on those sets are speaking out now after seeing the documentary. But, to be sure, not all of the reactions have been positive. Former Nickelodeon host Marc Summers (Double Dare) recently revealed that he walked out of his interview as he wasn’t aware of the documentary’s premise beforehand and felt they had done a bait and switch. Indeed, Summers’ stunned reaction upon seeing a risqué clip from one of the network’s shows is one of the most memorable moments in the first episode. For his part, he claims Dan Schneider’s tenure at the network only began after his time hosting Double Dare.

Will you be watching the next episode of Quiet on Set? Let us know in the comments. 

The post Quiet on Set: Bombshell documentary series about Nickelodeon returns with a bonus episode appeared first on JoBlo.

One of the most harrowing things to come out in a while is ID’s documentary series Quiet On Set, which reveals the troubling history behind the kids’ TV network Nickelodeon’s most popular programming from the 90s and 2000s. Specifically, the series investigates what was happening on the set of various shows produced by the network’s golden boy, Dan Schneider. Among the revelations is that a P. A on the set of his shows was a pedophile, and one of the network’s biggest stars, Drake Bell, was molested by his acting coach, Brian Peck, who also acted in many of the shows. To note, Schneider has not been accused of any sexual abuse himself, and Bell actually praised him in the documentary.

While the four-episode series seemed to be at an end (you can read our review here), a bonus episode revealing new information that’s come forward since the show ended is set to premiere on ID on April 7th. In fact, even more episodes might be coming, with the directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, apparently still shooting new material for future episodes. Indeed, there’s much more ground to cover, with one of the biggest stars from that era, Amanda Bynes, having yet to tell her story. More actors who worked on those sets are speaking out now after seeing the documentary. But, to be sure, not all of the reactions have been positive. Former Nickelodeon host Marc Summers (Double Dare) recently revealed that he walked out of his interview as he wasn’t aware of the documentary’s premise beforehand and felt they had done a bait and switch. Indeed, Summers’ stunned reaction upon seeing a risqué clip from one of the network’s shows is one of the most memorable moments in the first episode. For his part, he claims Dan Schneider’s tenure at the network only began after his time hosting Double Dare.

Will you be watching the next episode of Quiet on Set? Let us know in the comments. 

The post Quiet on Set: Bombshell documentary series about Nickelodeon returns with a bonus episode appeared first on JoBlo.

Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Spooky Pictures recently teamed up to produce the horror film Late Night With the Devil, headed up by the Australian writing and directing duo of Colin and Cameron Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres) and starring David Dastmalchian – whose previous credits include The Boogeyman, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and The Suicide Squad. The film was recently given a theatrical release and has racked up positive reviews from the likes of Stephen King and Kevin Smith, not to mention JoBlo’s own Tyler Nichols (you can read his 9/10 review at THIS LINK). It’s set to reach the Shudder streaming service on April 19th, and in anticipation of the streaming release the film has gotten a new, retro-style poster. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Late Night With the Devil is a “supernatural chiller” that tells the story of the live broadcast of a late-night talk show in 1977 that goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms. Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy, the host of the show Night Owls.

Colin and Cameron Cairnes previously provided the following statement: “In the ’70s and ’80s there was something slightly dangerous about late-night TV. Talk shows in particular were a window into some strange adult world. We thought combining that charged, live-to-air atmosphere with the supernatural could make for a uniquely frightening film experience.”

Late Night With the Devil has been making the festival rounds, racking up awards as it goes. The film had its premiere South by Southwest, won best screenplay at Sitges Film Festival, and won both best feature film and best lead performance (for Dastmalchian) at Toronto After Dark.

Spooky Pictures was founded by It producer Roy Lee and the Paranormal Activity franchise’s Steven Schneider. They are producing Late Night With the Devil alongside John Molloy, Derek Dauchy, and Future Pictures’ Mat Govoni and Adam White. Dastmalchian serves as an executive producer with Rami Yasin and Lake Mungo director Joel Anderson.

Have you seen Late Night With the Devil during its theatrical run, or are you waiting for the Shudder release? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and take a look at the retro-style poster while you’re scrolling down:

The post Late Night With the Devil gets a retro-style poster ahead of Shudder release appeared first on JoBlo.

After Christopher Nolan’s award-winning success with Oppenheimer, Denis Villeneuve, another of Hollywood’s premiere directors, will tackle the threat of nuclear fallout with an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize -finalist Annie Jacobsen’s non-fiction novel Nuclear War: A Scenario. The project finds Villeneuve reteaming with Legendary, with plans to complete the nuclear drama before going into production on the final film in the Dune trilogy, Dune: Messiah.

Deadline‘s exclusive report says the deal for Nuclear War: A Scenario is worth $500,000 against $1.5 million. The evidence explored in Jacobsen’s novel is truly terrifying, especially since the threat of nuclear war is real and could happen at any given moment. Here’s a synopsis for Nuclear War: A Scenario courtesy of Amazon:

There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.

Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.

Jacobsen’s research extends to dozens of interviews with military and civilian experts familiar with nuclear war’s real-world consequences and dangers. Nuclear fallout has been the subject of many science-fiction dramas in Hollywood, but all those stories stem from an ever-present threat as tensions between warring nations continue to churn and bubble.

Villeneuve’s adaptation of Nuclear War: A Scenario could be one of cinematic history’s most essential and eye-opening film projects, considering the filmmaker’s box office appeal and dedicated fandom. We’ll be keeping an eye out for more details as the project develops.

The post Denis Villeneuve will reteam with Legendary for Nuclear War: A Scenario before tackling Dune: Messiah appeared first on JoBlo.