There is something quite creepy about getting lost in the woods. The filmmaking duo Celine Held and Logan George add something unique to that trippy and intriguing story. Caddo Lake stars Dylan O’Brien, Eliza Scanlen, and Diana Hopper. The film explores the disappearance of an 8-year-old girl and the lives it affects. To say too much might be a disservice, as there is much to admire here. All the performances are terrific, but Dylan O’Brien and Eliza Scanlen who stand out in this complex and grounded tale. The two are exceptional, and given the impressive script, it offers both much to work with.
I first interviewed Dylan O’Brien during the press tour of one of the Maze Runner features. He was awesome to interview and has only gotten better. Since then, we’ve spoken often (we just interviewed him about his work in Saturday Night), and frankly, we’ve gained quite a friendly and respectful relationship. I genuinely dig this guy, and he is a fantastic talent. His work in Caddo Lake continues to impress (check out our review). The actor’s character takes on a very personal journey in this story. While there are many secrets, it works due to the grounded nature of the script and the amazing talent bringing their voice to it. And he had much praise for the filmmakers and their creation.
Caddo Lake is refreshingly inventive, with excellent performances from the cast. Check it out this week on Max!
News of the extensive reshoots for Ballerina has been at the forefront of the film’s hype since the John Wick spin-off had been delayed a year to revamp the footage that Lionsgate was not satisfied with. Earlier this year, Ian McShane, who is a staple of the Wick films and reprises his role as Winston for Ballerina, explained that the reshoots were so extensive that he even gave it the term, “new shoots.” “They’re new-shooting for Ballerina.” Then, he continues, “You know, it’s like, they’ve gotta protect the franchise. We did it about a year ago. And they’ve looked at it and Chad’s come in. And they wanna make it better cause they have to protect [the franchise].”
It was conveyed that Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski was brought in to work with Ballerina director Len Wiseman for the new shoots. Now, according to The Wrap, multiple sources have revealed that Stahelski had re-shot most of the movie and the former director was not at all present. The new shoots had reportedly taken place in Prague for two to three months without Wiseman. One of the sources explained, “Of course, Chad had to clean up someone else’s mess. Remember, this film is basically John Wick 3.5. This story happens before John Wick 4 and after that film, they can’t have a failure in anything ‘Wick’ related.”
The source added, “Chad is going to do Highlander, but cleaning up Ballerina pushed him by five months for sure.” Stahelski was set to work on Highlander with Henry Cavill, but the delay would free him up to accept a role in Voltron from Amazon MGM. That project goes into production later this year while it is being said that more work will be done to the Highlander script.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated situation for the studio Lionsgate, as the film Borderlands would also bring in Deadpool director Tim Miller to take over duties from former director Eli Roth. A lot is riding on Ballerina to save the studio from a disastrous 2024 after suffering flops like the aforementioned Borderlands as well as The Killer’s Game, The Crow remake and their major gamble with Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
Lana and Lilly Wachowski used to work as a filmmaking duo, bringing us the likes of Bound, The Matrix and its first two sequels, Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending, while also scripting the likes of V for Vendetta and Assassins, plus creating the TV series Sense8. In recent years, they have been focusing on separate projects, with Lana making The Matrix Resurrections solo while Lilly has been working on the Showtime series Work in Progress and a movie called Trash Mountain. Now, during an interview with Autostraddle, Lilly has revealed that she has several other projects in the works, including an adaptation of the horror novel Manhunt.
Lilly Wachowski said, “I have my fingers in a lot of different projects. Some of the projects are big, some of the projects are small, but they’re all queer and trans. I’ve just written a script with my partner called The Hunted which is sort of a response to all of the horrible anti-trans stuff that’s going on in the world. What if trans people could form this almost Weather Underground level of resistance? It becomes a murder mystery that goes up the ladder into the furthest reaches of government. So I have that. I’m involved in the adaptations of a couple of different trans books: Gretchen Felker-Martin’s Manhunt and Jordy Rosenberg’s Confessions of the Fox. I’m trying to do an adaption of this wonderful comic book called Cosmoknights with Emily Andras, the woman behind Wynonna Earp. It’s lesbians in space! It’s fantastic! So I’m all over the place! I’m trying to do all of it at the same time.“
The post-apocalyptic novel Manhunt has the following description: Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they’ll never face the same fate. Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren’t safe. After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics―all while outrunning packs of feral men, and their own demons.
Sharing the link to the interview on X, Felker-Martin wrote, “The cat’s out of the bag, baby. I’m adapting Manhunt for TV with Lilly Wachowski, and I couldn’t be prouder or more excited to be writing it. We’re going to do our damnedest to bring this thing kicking, screaming, and queer as hell onto the screen.“
Here’s what Confessions of the Fox is about: Jack Sheppard and Edgeworth Bess were the most notorious thieves, jailbreakers, and lovers of eighteenth-century London. Yet no one knows the true story; their confessions have never been found. Until now. Reeling from heartbreak, a scholar named Dr. Voth discovers a long-lost manuscript—a gender-defying exposé of Jack and Bess’s adventures. Is Confessions of the Fox an authentic autobiography or a hoax? As Dr. Voth is drawn deeper into Jack and Bess’s tale of underworld resistance and gender transformation, it becomes clear that their fates are intertwined—and only a miracle will save them all. Writing with the narrative mastery of Sarah Waters and the playful imagination of Nabokov, Jordy Rosenberg is an audacious storyteller of extraordinary talent.
And Cosmoknights: Pan’s life used to be very small. Work in her dad’s body shop, sneak out with her friend Tara to go dancing, and watch the skies for freighter ships. It didn’t even matter that Tara was a princess… until one day it very much did matter, and Pan had to say goodbye forever. Years later, when a charismatic pair of off-world gladiators show up on her doorstep, she finds that life may not be as small as she thought. On the run and off the galactic grid, Pan discovers the astonishing secrets of her neo-medieval world… and the intoxicating possibility of burning it all down.
Are you a fan of the Wachowskis? What would you like to see Lilly Wachowski get into production next – Manhunt, Confessions of the Fox, or Cosmoknights? Share your thoughts on these projects by leaving a comment below.
For a generation of TV lovers, The Fonz was the coolest dude around. With the motorcycle, leather jacket and ability to turn on the jukebox with a quick bop, the dude had it all. But Henry Winkler feared he would be typecast as The Fonz, never getting the meatier roles he also desired.
Reminiscing with his wife Stacey Weitzman, Henry Winkler said of his struggle with The Fonz, “I was panicked at the time about being typecast, so I would do nothing Fonzie off of the show. I was Henry, and that was my character.”
But this didn’t always hold for Winkler, who even challenged his future stepson for calling him The Fonz. As Weitzman put it, “We went to the movies, and maybe it was because I said to [my son Jed], ‘Guess who I’m going out with?’ and it was his birthday cake person, he opened the front door and said, ‘Fonzie!’ And Henry — who was, at the time, extremely serious — [said] ‘What did you say, honey?’” Winkler added, “[Jed] opened the door, I looked down at this little guy [who said], ‘Fonzie!’ I said, ‘My name is Henry. Would you like it if I called you ‘Ralph’?’”
Winkler would face different challenges on the set of Happy Days, as it was here that he truly struggled with dyslexia. But The Fonz as a character would come in handy for Winkler at a different time, once recounting a time he channeled his cool demeanor when helping a suicidal aspiring actor while dressed in Fonzie’s trademark digs.
Despite a reluctance to be typecast as The Fonz, Henry Winkler would reprise the character several times in his post-Happy Days career, turning up in spinoffs Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy and Joanie Loves Chachi, as well as animated series The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang. Winkler would win two Golden Globes for Happy Days and be nominated three times for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy. He would win much later in the supporting category for Barry…but we don’t see any Gene Cousineau lunchboxes in the cafeteria!
Outside of The Fonz, which Henry Winkler performance stands out for you?
Writer/director Parker Finn’s sequel to his 2022 horror film Smile (read our review HERE, watch the movie HERE) is aiming for an October 18th theatrical release date, and with that date just a few days away, a new featurette has arrived online to give us another behind-the-scenes look at Smile 2. In this featurette, which is embedded above, we get some insight into how the film’s star, Naomi Scott of Aladdin and Charlie’s Angels, brought her pop star character Skye Riley to life. Speaking of Skye Riley, her EP has been released and is available HERE.
Smile was based on Finn’s short film Laura Hasn’t Slept (watch it HERE), which won the Special Jury Recognition Prize in SXSW’s Midnight Short category. Caitlin Stasey (Neighbours) played the title character in that short, and reprises the role in Smile, making it a follow-up of sorts. Smile has the following synopsis: After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
Here’s the Smile 2 synopsis: About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.
Smile was produced by Temple Hill, and they are producing Smile 2 as well. Scott is joined in the cast by Lukas Gage of The White Lotus and You, Rosemarie DeWitt of La La Land and the Poltergeist remake, Dylan Gelula of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Dream Scenario, Raúl Castillo of Army of the Dead and Knives Out, Miles Gutierrez-Riley of The Wilds and On The Come Up, and Kyle Gallner (Red State), reprising the role he played in the first movie. Another featurette revealed that Drew Barrymore (Scream) also makes an appearance, playing herself and interviewing Skye Riley on her talk show.
Are you looking forward to Smile 2? Take a look at the Naomi Scott / Skye Riley featurette, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
At 82, Harrison Ford doesn’t need to keep acting. But now nearly 60 years into his career, you’d think he’d be at a place where he would hang up more than just Indy’s fedora. Fortunately for his fans, that’s not going to be the case, as Ford says he has a specific reason he presses on.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Harrison Ford said there’s something deep about why he continues taking roles. “Oh man, I get out of it essential human contact. I get to imagine with people that have great skill and experience…It’s fun to work with these people.”
The people he’s referring to are those on Shrinking, the Apple TV+ series that he is unjustly being snubbed Emmy recognition for. In it, he gives one of his finest and most nuanced performances. He’s also incredibly funny in it, a trait we don’t normally associate with Harrison Ford. On his approach to comedy, he said, “I didn’t think much about it as an actor, but I did think about it as a person. I always enjoyed humor. I loved jokes. I loved the construction of jokes. My father was a joke teller. The wordsmithing and the ideas that lay behind a joke have always interested me. When I was thinking about becoming an actor, I was ambitious for both kinds of work—serious drama and comedy. I found myself doing both and not really distinguishing much between them. I think I think with the same actor’s head about a joke as I do about a serious or emotional scene.”
Harrison Ford has chatted about his disinterest in the retirement life before, saying he would feel utterly useless if he ever did leave acting. And it’s a good thing, because now that Ford has kicked the nostalgia bug by giving Indiana Jones, Han Solo and Rick Deckard their send-offs, he can focus on projects that give him something to chew on and have fun with. As season two of Shrinking nears its premiere, he is also set to go full mo-cap as Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
Outside of his franchise characters, which Harrison Ford performance is your favorite?
A new episode of the Revisited video series has just been released, and with this one we’re looking back at the 2005 video game adaptation Doom (watch it HERE) – a movie that didn’t spawn the sort of franchise the game did, but there was a second movie that was released direct-to-video in 2019. Oddly, the title of that movie was Doom: Annihilation, just like the original video game adaptation of Mortal Kombat received a sequel called Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. That’s a story for another time – for now, you can hear all about Doom by checking out the video embedded above.
Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak from a screenplay that was crafted by David Callaham and Wesley Strick, Doom has the following synopsis: Something has gone wrong at a remote scientific research station on Mars. All research has ceased. Communication has failed. And the messages that do get through are less than comforting. It’s a level 5 quarantine and the only souls allowed in or out are the Rapid Response Tactical Squad – hardened Marines armed to the teeth with enough firepower to neutralize the enemy… or so they think.
The film stars Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Deobia Oparei, Ben Daniels, Razaaq Adoti, Richard Brake, Al Weaver, Dexter Fletcher, Brian Steele, Yao Chin, Robert Russell, Daniel York, Ian Hughes, Sara Houghton, Blanka Jarosova, Vladislav Dyntera, and Petr Hnetkovsky.
The Doom episode of Revisited was Written, Narrated, and Edited by Lance Vlcek, Produced by Tyler Nichols and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
Are you a fan of Doom? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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!
In our Reel Action series on the JoBlo Originals channel on YouTube, we’ve covered the Ninja trilogy from Cannon Films — Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination. All three featured Japanese action star, Shô Kasugi. Now, Blu-ray.com reveals that Kino Lorber will be bringing two of his classics to Blu-ray. Pray for Death and Rage of Honor are both scheduled to hit retailers on December 10.
The description for Pray for Death reads, “They Shattered His American Dream. The Ninja Master himself, Shô Kosugi (Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja), stars as Akira, a Japanese immigrant who starts a new life with his family in America, only to stumble onto the headquarters of a bloodthirsty gang of criminals. When the gangsters begin a rampage of murder that takes the lives of his two sons, Akira must step out of his quiet, peace-loving life and reveal his hidden identity, that of a perfectly skilled Ninja, the most lethal and mysterious of all martial artists. He has sounded his warning to top thug Limehouse (co-star/screenwriter James Booth, Avenging Force) and his henchmen: “Stay away from my family, or you will Pray for Death.” It’s time for vigilante justice—Ninja style! Directed by Gordon Hessler (Kosugi’s Rage of Honor). This two-disc special edition includes both the R rated and unrated versions of the film.”
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Optional English Subtitles
NEW Audio Commentary by Action Film Historian Mike Leeder
UNRATED AND R RATED VERSIONS OF THE FILM ON TWO DISCS
Sho and Tell Part 1: Interview with Shô Kosugi (19:05)
Theatrical Trailer (Newly Mastered in 2K)
And the description for Rage of Honor reads, “International action icon Shô Kosugi (Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja) unleashes a devastating display of martial arts virtuosity as the forces of evil push him over the edge…and into a Rage of Honor. When his best friend is slain by a vicious drug ring, undercover agent Shiro (Kosugi) vows revenge. Warned by his superiors to drop his vendetta, Shiro pretends to comply, traveling to South America with girlfriend Jennifer for a long overdue ‘vacation.’ Picking up the villains’ trail in Brazil, Shiro forces a confrontation—but it backfires when Jennifer is kidnapped by the drug-runners. Pushed to the limit, Shiro’s mission of vengeance explodes into a bone-crushing martial arts bloodbath as he battles to rescue Jennifer and bring down the corrupt empire of his ruthless opponents! Directed by Gordon Hessler (Kosugi’s Pray for Death).”
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Optional English Subtitles
NEW Audio Commentary by Action Film Historian Mike Leeder
Sho and Tell Part 2: Interview with Shô Kosugi (17:48)
Interview with Composer Stelvio Cipriani (2:47)
American Ninjas: Video Essay by Chris Poggiali on the Rise of the Ninja Film in the 1980s (7:34)
The late nineties and early 2000s marked the peak of Brendan Fraser’s career as a leading man. The 1992 comedy classic, Encino Man put him on the map in a big way, and he had several other comedy hits throughout the decade, including George of the Jungle (along with an underrated drama called School Ties). But, it was 1999’s The Mummy that truly elevated him, with him cast as the wisecracking, Indiana Jones-style hero in what turned out to be one of the year’s biggest hits.
Yet, one movie Fraser did pretty soon after The Mummy has all but been forgotten, the live-action/ stop-motion hybrid Monkeybone, which was directed by The Nightmare Before Christmas’s Henry Selick. In it, Fraser played a harried cartoonist who meets his most famous creation, Monkeybone (voiced by John Turturro) while in a state of limbo following a car accident. Bridget Fonda, Chris Kattan and Rose McGowan co-star.
Before it came out, there were rumors that the studio, 20th Century Fox, had removed much of Selick’s darker material to market the movie as a quasi-family film, which it was never intended to be. It was a box office disaster, only grossing $5.4 million domestically on a then-mammoth $75 million budget. Lucky for Fraser and all involved, it was soon overshadowed by the success of The Mummy Returns, although Fraser would struggle to regain his foothold in comedy, with 2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action another pricey flop.
In this episode of Awfully Good, our host Jesse Shade takes a look at this ill-remembered movie and tries to see if perhaps it’s an underrated gem, or a movie that deserves to be as obscure as it’s become. Check out the embedded video above and let us know what you think in the comments!
For the longest time, it didn’t seem like a sequel to 1982’s Blade Runner would ever happen, only coming into the realm of possibility decades later. And there was only one man for the job: original director Ridley Scott, who had long desired to get a sequel to Blade Runner going. But as we all know, Scott would become too busy toiling with his Alien franchise to commit to the film. Enter Denis Villeneuve, who took the opportunity to helm Blade Runner 2049 even though he was almost certain it could tank his career.
Denis Villeneuve was initially hesitant to take on Blade Runner 2049 – and is still haunted by it – but saw the challenge as just what his career needed at the time. “I said, ‘OK, if I do one big sci-fi movie, and I risk everything, that’s beautiful. To make a sequel to my favorite film is a beautiful way to end my career…I thought it was very romantic.” Of course, the film offered an entirely new path for Villeneuve, who would next be given the opportunity to reinvent the Dune franchise, the most recent installment of which is one of the highest-grossing films of this year. Blade Runner 2049, meanwhile, would take in more than $250 million worldwide.
As for how Villeneuve became just the right guy for Blade Runner 2049, he remembered, “When I was doing Prisoners, one day [execs] stopped the meetings and siad, ‘Sorry. Ridley Scott is in the next room. We’re not supposed to tell you but we’re doing a sequel to Blade Runner.’ I said, ‘Wow.’…Then, when I was doing Sicario, I got a call. Ridley is the most prolific, over-busy director. And when I direct one movie, Ridley does three things. I think that Harrison Ford was tired of waiting.”
Reluctantly moving away from Blade Runner 2049, Ridley Scott would end up pumping out six movies since 2017, from Alien: Covenant to this fall’s Gladiator II.
How do you think Denis Villeneuve did with Blade Runner 2049? Should Ridley Scott have been the one to direct it? Chime in in the comments section below.
