The Stifmeister is coming to ABC for the upcoming comedy series Shifting Gears. The MILF hunter, Seann William Scott, joins Tim Allen (Toy Story, Home Improvement, The Santa Claus) and Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls, Thor, Dollface) for the multi-camera project, which goes into production in November. Scott boards the series for a lead role that replaces the character Nick from the pilot episode.
According to the show’s description, Tim Allen plays Matt, the stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop. When Matt’s estranged daughter, Riley (Dennings), and her teenage kids move into his house, the actual restoration begins. Scott plays Gabriel for the series, a family friend of Matt and Riley who works at the shop with Matt. Scott’s Gabriel replaces Nick from the pilot. Initially, Froy Gutierrez played Nick. Nick was Matt’s son and Riley’s younger brother, who spent his days coding video games. Nick is no longer a part of the show as it moves into production.
Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins, and Barrett Margolis join Shifting Gears as Stitch, Carter, and Georgia, respectively. Michelle Nadler showruns.
Seann William Scott appears briefly in Prime Video’s Paul Feig-directed comedy Jackpot!, starring John Cena and Awkwafina. Scott plays a lottery contestant on the run at the film’s start. After being discovered by a woman enrolled in the lottery who lives alone in her apartment, the game doesn’t go so well for him.
Scott has two post-production film projects, Bad Man and Dolly. Michael Diliberti directs Bad Man, which focuses on a meth epidemic in Colt Lake, Tennessee. Sam Evans gets sidelined after Bobby Gaines, an undercover agent, arrives. Despite Evans’s local ties, Gaines is hailed as a hero. Suspicions arise on Gaines, unraveling a complex narrative.
Meanwhile, Dolly focuses on Macy, a young woman who gets abducted by a monstrous figure intent on raising her as their child. Ethan Suplee, Fabianne Therese, Michalina Scorzelli, and Russ Tiler star as primary cast members.
Are you excited about Seann William Scott’s return to TV for Shifting Gears? Will he have great on-screen chemistry with Tim Allen and Kat Dennings? We’ll find out when Shifting Gears comes to ABC.
Back in 2014, writer/director Patrick Brice and co-writer/star Mark Duplass teamed up with Blumhouse Productions to bring us the found footage horror film Creep – which was so well-received that a sequel, appropriately titled Creep 2, followed in 2017. Before Creep 2 was even released, Brice confirmed that a third film was in development and was meant to wrap everything up as a trilogy – but along the way, the plan changed from making another feature to making a TV series called The Creep Tapes. The six-episode series is set to premiere on the Shudder and AMC+ streaming services on November 15th, and we’ve heard that the series will launch with a two-episode premiere, followed by new episodes releasing weekly on Fridays on both platforms. With the premiere date one month away, a trailer for The Creep Tapes has arrived online and can be viewed in the embed above.
Created by Brice and Duplass, the first season of The Creep Tapes continues to unravel the mind of a secluded serial killer who lures videographers into his world with the promise of a paid job documenting his life. Unfortunately, as the tape rolls, the killer’s questionable intentions surface with his increasingly odd behavior and the victims will learn they may have made a deadly mistake.
Duplass provided the following statement: “A little over 10 years ago, Patrick Brice and I spent a week together in my cabin with a small digital camera. We emerged with a found footage horror film that was so wildly strange and uncomfortable we assumed no one would see it. To be continuing this unholy legacy in the series format is a true nightmare come true.” Duplass previously let us know, “The series is based on a collection of video tapes in the secret vault of the world’s deadliest and most socially uncomfortableserial killer, who hires his victims to film him for the day under false pretenses. Each episode exposes a new victim from one of the fabled ‘Creep Tapes.’“
Courtney Thomasma, EVP of streaming for AMC Networks, added: “Patrick and Mark have given us two of the most unique and exciting takes on psychological horror with Creep and Creep 2, both of which amassed a huge fan following and camp audience. We’re thrilled to be working alongside them in expanding this popular franchise with six thrilling episodes that will unfold more of this twisted story and Peachfuzz antics.“
Duplass Brothers Productions produced The Creep Tapes with Shudder. Duplass and Brice co-wrote and serve as executive producers, with Brice, who directed both of the films, directing all of the episodes. Mel Eslyn, Jay Duplass, and Chris Donlon are also executive producers, with Shuli Harel co-executive producing.
What did you think of the trailer for The Creep Tapes? Will you be watching this show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
PLOT: The true story of an actress (Anna Kendrick) who, in the seventies, went on The Dating Game and was matched with Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), who was later revealed to be a serial killer that may have murdered up to 130 women.
Woman of the Hour was originally reviewed at TIFF 2023
REVIEW: The story behind Woman of the Hour is pretty wild, even as far as true crime goes. While the movie takes several significant liberties with her story, a young actress named Cheryl Bradshaw really did go on The Dating Game in 1978 and chose serial killer Rodney Alcala as her match. While the premise is thin, as there wasn’t much to Bradshaw’s interactions with Alcala beyond the show, Anna Kendrick, who makes her directorial debut from a Black List script by Ian MacAllister McDonald, has put together a chilling film.
Much of the film enters around Alcala’s murder spree, focusing on the young women he won over with his considerable charm (which is why he did well on The Dating Game) and eventually killed. It’s a similar technique to the one Ryan Murphy used in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace in that it humanizes the victims and gives them a voice. It also never glamorizes Alcala or lingers on his crimes, tastefully cutting away before the killings happen (it’s not that kind of movie).
It’s a pretty assured debut for Kendrick, who also keeps herself merely part of the ensemble rather than the focus. Cheryl’s story is essential, but much of the film is centered around Zovatto’s Alcala, with his warm smile and good looks hiding the monster underneath. While certain aspects stretch the premise a little, such as Cheryl’s brother’s girlfriend in the Dating Game audience being someone whose friend was murdered by Alcala, it’s a well-paced and thought-out film.
Much of the plot revolves around a common truth found in many other true crime stories of the era, mainly that people’s concerns weren’t always taken seriously by the police. Kendrick does a good job depicting the casual sexism of the period, with Tony Hale wearing a hideous wig, making his seventies game show host a real sleaze. Kendrick portrays Cheryl as a woman desperate to please, as being an actress, she doesn’t want to be labeled difficult. However, she comes into her own during a fictionalized bit where she goes on a date with Alcala. The men aren’t all two-dimensional either, with the sleaziest contestant on the show trying to warn Cheryl about the bad vibes he’s picking up from Alcala at one point.
Despite working with a limited budget, Kendrick’s done an excellent job evoking the era with its hideous fashions and decor. Despite Alcala’s crimes making for pretty grim fare, Kendrick never makes the film too dour and isn’t afraid to have a little fun depicting the cheesiness of The Dating Game. She also does some interesting stuff visually, with the movie shot in scope by DP Zach Kuperstein and having a nicely atmospheric score by Dan Romer. One thing worth noting is that TIFF had several films by actors turned directors the year this playe. As Michael Keaton’s terrific Knox Goes Away, the supporting cast is given a chance to shine here, with Zovato crafting a nuanced portrayal of Alcala that, while never shying away from the fact that he was a monster, makes us understand how he could seduce women.
Woman of the Hour was a big sale at TIFF in 2023, with it snapped up by Netflix. Given their success with true crime, it was a wise purchase, especially if they can pair it with some of their non-fiction programming. I expect it to be a big hit for the streamer when it eventually comes out.
People tend to fear what they do not understand, and in A24‘s The Legend of Ochi trailer, a young girl defies the laws of tradition to return a mythical creature to its forest home. Isaiah Saxon wrote and directed this adventure fantasy film starring Helena Zengel (News of the World, System Crasher), Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse, Poor Things), Emily Watson (Godsford Park, Red Dragon, Punch-Drunk Love), and Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire).
The Legend of Ochi takes place in what appears to be some post-apocalyptic setting, with survivors forever fearful of what lurks within the depths of a nearby jungle. The group shares stories about a vicious creature skulking beyond the treeline, drooling and waiting for anyone foolish enough to come within its iron-like grasp. They hunt the beast but know little about its actual identity. It’s all fear-mongering and cautionary tales. That is until one young woman, Yuri, discovers the truth and can communicate with the creature.
Here’s the official logline for The Legend of Ochi courtesy of A24:
In a remote northern village, a young girl, Yuri, is raised to never go outside after dark and to fear the reclusive forest creatures known as the ochi. When a baby ochi is left behind by its pack, she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to reunite it with its family.
Saxon, a frequent collaborator on music videos with Icelandic songstress Björk, makes his feature debut with The Legend of Ochi. Today’s trailer has The Legend of Ochi looking like more than your garden variety “rescue the misunderstood creature” film. The footage boasts a gorgeous setting, complicated character relationships, an adorable traveling companion, and something atypical of A24’s usual output. At first, I got some Mac and Me vibes from the trailer, but I quickly smiled as Yuri (Zengel) and Ochi teamed up for the adventure of a lifetime. I’m a sucker for fantasy fare, and we rarely get this brand of purity in contemporary films. A movie like The Legend of Ochi could come and go in today’s theatrical climate, and I sincerely hope this charming film finds its audience.
Two years ago, it was announced that Paul Greengrass – director of most of the films in the Jason Bourne franchise – was set to direct a film adaptation of the Stephen King novel Fairy Tale (you can pick up a copy HERE)… but now the plan has changed. Deadline reports that A24 has come on board to produce the King adaptation as a 10 episode TV series. Greengrass had been working on a feature script, but will now be building that script out into 10 episodes with J.H. Wyman, who will be the showrunner. Wyman’s previous credits include Fringe, Almost Human, and Debris. Greengrass, Wyman, and King will serve as executive producers on the show with Peter Rice, and Greengrass is expected to be involved as director to some degree. We’ll have to wait and see how many episodes he ends up directing.
When Greengrass was trying to turn Fairy Tale into a feature, the project was set up at Universal. Universal lost interest and dropped it, so Rice, a fan of the source material, brought it to its new home at A24, where it was decided that the story would work better as a series.
Fairy Tale follows a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for their world or ours. Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is 17, he meets a dog named Radar and his aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it. Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world. King’s storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy – and his dog – must lead the battle.
When Greengrass first picked up the rights to Fairy Tale, he and King released statements complimenting each other. King said, “Needless to say, I’m a Paul Greengrass fan and think he’s a wonderful choice for this film.” Greengrass added, “Fairy Tale is a work of genius. A classic adventure story and also a disturbing contemporary allegory.”
Are you glad to hear that Greengrass and A24 are teaming up to turn King’s Fairy Tale into a 10 episode series? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Two years ago, we heard that Ghostbusters: Afterlife writer/director Jason Reitman and his co-writer Gil Kenan (who ended up directing Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) would be executive producing a new Ghostbusters animated series for the Netflix streaming service. A couple of months ago, Netflix officially gave a greenlight to the series, with Elliott Kalan has boarding the project as writer, showrunner, and executive producer. During an interview with The Direct, Kenan took the chance to hype up the series a bit, while also confirming that he and Reitman are having conversations about continuing the franchise with more live-action films.
When asked if there will be more Ghostbusters movies, Kenan said, “The answer is yes, Jason (and I), we take the responsibility and the joy of being the keepers of the flame of Ghostbusters very seriously… we definitely are continuing the conversation of telling big Ghostbuster stories on the big screen. And stay tuned. There’ll be more. There’ll be more about that later.“
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire earned just under $201 million at the global box office, almost replicating the $203.5 million Ghostbusters: Afterlife made – but Frozen Empire had a $100 million budget, while Afterlife was made for $75 million. So there was some disappointment with its box office numbers, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going to keep another movie from being made.
As for the animated series, Kenan had this to say: “We are in very active development on our animated series that we’re producing with Netflix. That is something that I’m actively involved with, Jason on a day-to-day basis right now, we are really excited about the stories that are starting to be told there, and the way that it intersects with the Ghostbusters stories that you and I love is going to be thrilling for our audiences.“
While we wait to find out what Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan will bring to the Ghostbusters franchise in the future, they have a new movie in theatres right now: the biographical comedy drama Saturday Night, about the night of the 1975 premiere of the NBC show Saturday Night, which we now know as Saturday Night Live. You can read our 8/10 review HERE.
Are you looking forward to watching more Ghostbusters movies and the new animated series? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, Anyone But You, Immaculate) could not be farther away from playing the demure Julia Cornwall in Sony’s Madame Web than in the latest behind-the-scenes pics from her upcoming Christy Martin biopic. In the photos, Sweeney sports a ’90s mullet while giving us a front-row seat to her impressive gun show. As she curls her bicep for the camera, Sweeney smiles brightly, knowing her training to play the former boxer is paying off.
“Well the cat’s out of the bag thanks to some paps in bushes so here’s a little BTS from my film I’m working on right now,” Sweeney wrote on Instagram.
David Michod directs the untitled Christy Martin sports biopic he co-wrote with Mirrah Foulkes. The project charts Martin’s rise to become the most iconic boxer of the 1990s. Dubbed the “female Rocky” by producers, the untitled film follows Martin as she makes a name for herself in the squared circle.
Martin’s life changed dramatically in 1989 when she met her manager and later husband, Jim Martin. Her career blew up when she signed with fight promoter Don King, leading to an iconic cover story for Sports Illustrated. Known for her fighting prowess, stand-out beauty, and charismatic ways, Martin gained a significant fanbase on her way to becoming the welterweight champion. Sadly, like many athletes, Martin struggled behind the scenes with personal demons, toxic relationships, and an attempt to end her life.
In 2010, Christy survived an attempted murder when her husband, James Martin, stabbed her multiple times and shot her at their Florida home. By some miraculous grace, Christy survived. In 2021, James Martin was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman — a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring,” Sweeney wrote. “Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honored to step into her shoes to share her powerful story with you all. more to come soon CHRISTY MARTIN.”
Ben Foster plays James Martin in the untitled Christy Martin biopic, with Merritt Weaver, Katy O’Brien, Ethan Embry, Jess Gabor, Chad L. Coleman, and Tony Cavalero filling out the main cast.
Sweeney’s newly minted physique is impressive. As the son of a personal trainer and former bodybuilder, I know hard work and dedication in the gym when I see it. Christy Martin’s complicated tale should allow Sweeney to flex her drama muscles, and we can’t wait to see it.
Plot: In the sixth and final season of the Emmy-nominated comedy, Nandor, Nadja, Laszlo, Colin and Guillermo will enter the workforce, visit New Hampshire, go to a human dinner party, fête The Baron and conjure a demon — all while trying to find their place and their purpose in this crazy, mixed-up world.
Review: Since it debuted in 2019, What We Do In The Shadows has consistently been one of the funniest television shows. Taking a cue from the mockumentary film of the same name starring Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, What We Do In The Shadows has followed the Staten Island-based vampires Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), energy vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Prosch), and Nandor’s familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) as they have explored the day to day life of the bloodsuckers and their interactions with the human world. The series has been consistent in tone and style and has developed a broad narrative over the years. Now that the series is coming to an end, the show is as funny as it has ever been. With new cameos and characters, revisited plot elements from prior seasons, and the same biting sense of humor, the final season of What We Do In The Shadows never misses a beat.
Over the first five seasons of What We Do In The Shadows, there has been a recurring mention of the mission for the vampires to take over North America, something they have failed to do for decades. In the first episode of this season, the housemates realize their fifth roommate, Jerry (Mike O’Brien), has been in a deep sleep since the 1970s and awaken him. Jerry calls out everything that the vampires have not accomplished in the last five decades which prompts them all to reevaluate what they have done with their lives. In the first three episodes of the final season, they all try to get back to tasks they dropped when Jerry went to sleep, providing the writers and cast the chance to probe back into the quirks and misadventures of this crew while still keeping the focus on standalone episodic tales connected with an overall thread leading to the series finale.
While you would think that it would become difficult to keep storylines fresh, especially when you set the season-long narrative to be about what happened in the past, What We Do In The Shadows is still just as funny as ever. Mark Prosch continues to shine, and Colin Robinson takes a more prominent role each successive season. The series does also revisit Laszlo’s sex addiction, porn collection, and scientific exploits while Nandor contemplates his Relentless title and Nadja remains frustrated by the idiotic men surrounding her. We even got a visit from Baron Afanas (Doug Jones) and The Sire, who have always provided fun moments. Kristen Schaal remains a main cast member this season, but The Guide has limited screen time in the first trio of episodes, something the plot indicates will expand in the remaining chapters. While I won’t spoil anything that happens in these first episodes, they are overall a strong opening for the final season that seems like any other season and not contemplative or focused on ending the storylines of these characters.
The last two seasons of What We Do In The Shadows have closed with a feeling of completion to the character arcs, only to return for another solid year of adventures for these characters. The first three episodes this season strike a balance between the characters bickering and in-fighting within their mansion, with the second episode venturing outside of the home and into a workplace. I have always been lukewarm about the vampires interacting in public places, as it borders on ridiculous, but this season works within the plotline being developed for Guillermo. It is also interesting that this season directly addresses the documentary crew that has been chronicling the vampires since the first episode, which leaves me wondering if What We Do In The Shadows will reveal anything about the filmed footage as they did in the final season of The Office. I hope they do not and just let the season end with some questions left unanswered.
Kyle Newachek and Yana Gorskaya each directed five episodes of the final season, with DJ Stipsen on one episode, bringing the final season to a total of eleven episodes rather than the ten in each of the first five seasons. Writers include returning scribes Paul Simms, Sam Johnson, Sarah Naftalis, Marika Sawyer, Jake Bender, Zach Dunn, Max Brockman, William Meny, Shana Gohd, Rajat Suresh, Jeremy Levick, Amelia Haller, and Lauren Wells, with producers and series creators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waiititi not returning to help close out the final season of the show. Regardless, this talented creative group has managed to mine this concept consistently for over half a decade without ever wasting an episode. I know these first three chapters do not go nearly far enough into the season’s overall arc, but they set things up well, and I never once felt like the cast or crew were giving anything less than their best effort. The jokes are strong, and these actors know their roles inside and out, which makes this series the best comedy on the air next to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
While only the first three episodes of the final season of What We Do In The Shadows were made available for this review, it is impossible to judge how the series finale will or will not wrap things up. Based on how these opening episodes nail every joke and set up the narrative direction for the last run of the series, I am confident that What We Do In The Shadows will leave fans happy with where Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja, Colin Robinson, and Guillermo will be in their journey to take over North America. Few shows have remained this funny over six seasons, with many series continuing too long with diminishing returns. By going out on top, What We Do In The Shadows sets itself up to be considered one of the funniest sitcoms of all time and leaves the door open to revisit these characters in the future.
The final season of What We Do In The Shadows premieres on October 21st on FX.
A collaboration between writers and directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson, the genre-bending dark comedy Rumours screened out of competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and now a wider audience will have the chance to watch the movie when it reaches theatres this Friday, October 18th. In anticipation of the film’s release, we were able to sit down for an interview with its star, two-time Oscar winner (and many-time Oscar nominee) Cate Blanchett, as well as the directors and Blanchett’s co-stars Denis Ménochet, Roy Dupuis, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Rolando Ravello. To find out what they had to say about the movie, check out the video embedded above!
Rumours has the following synopsis: Ricocheting between comedy, apocalyptic horror, and swooning soap opera, Rumours follows the seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies at the annual G7 summit, where they attempt to draft a provisional statement regarding a global crisis. With unexpected, uproarious performances from a brilliant ensemble cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander, and Charles Dance, these so-called leaders become spectacles of incompetence, contending with increasingly surreal obstacles in the misty woods as night falls and they realize they are suddenly alone. A genre-hopping satire of political ineptitude, the latest film from incomparable directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson is a journey into the absurd heart of power and institutional failure in a slowly burning world.
Liz Jarvis, Phillip Kreuzer, and Lars Knudsen produced the film, with Blanchett serving as an executive producer alongside Ari Aster, Phyllis Laing, Jorg Schulze, Jow Neurauter, Tyler Campellone, Adrian Love, Michael O’Leary, Andrew Karpen, and Kent Sanderson.
Are you looking forward to checking out Rumours? Watch our interviews with Cate Blanchett, the directors, and Blanchett’s fellow cast members, then let us know what you thought by leaving a comment below.
Aardman is determined to show fans that there is no clay shortage. The renowned animation studio had recently brought a sequel to Chicken Run to Netflix and now the streamer has released the trailer for their new film, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Four-time Academy Award-winning director Nick Park and Emmy Award-nominated Merlin Crossingham return with this new tale of revenge. The film is written by scribe Mark Burton and is produced by Richard Beek. The executive producers on board include Nick Park, Mark Burton, Sarah Cox, Peter Lord and Carla Shelley.
The official synopsis reads, “Aardman’s four-time Academy Award®-winning director Nick Park and Emmy Award-nominated Merlin Crossingham return with a brand new epic adventure, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. In this next installment, Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a “smart” gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master… or Wallace may never be able to invent again!”
Nick Park tells Netflix, “Returning to Wallace and Gromit is like meeting up with family friends. People respond to them because they feel so familiar. They’re like an old married couple in some ways, who know each other so well –– it’s a sort of love-hate relationship, but when the chips are down, they are always there for each other. Wallace pushes Gromit’s loyalty to the extreme, and Gromit always wants Wallace to change. It’s something everyone can relate to.”
Crossingham added, “One of our most asked questions is ‘When will Feathers come back?’ Well now is the time, and he’s back with a vengeance.” The directors also said, “We are delighted to introduce Norbot, a ‘nifty odd-jobbing robot’ gnome, designed to help Gromit with his gardening chores. Norbot is Wallace’s most proud achievement to date and, according to Wallace, his ‘best invention ever’! Garden gnomes have long been a part of Wallace and Gromit’s world, but this is no cute patio ornament. Norbot is the ultimate gnome — a ‘smart-gnome.’ We’re so excited to see Wallace unleashing his latest invention, Norbot, into the world. However, his long-suffering pooch, Gromit, may be a little less sure …”
CHRISTY MARTIN.”
