It’s easy to turn a blind eye to the amount of discrimination that members of LGBT community face on a daily basis, especially if you are heterosexual married movie critic with a 3-year old and another boy on the way. What most Americans take for granted, the LGBT community has been fighting to achieve for much too long. What’s astounding is how American’s general attitude towards LGBT rights has changed within the past decade. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage earlier this year, but in 2005, terminal cancer patient Detective Laurel Hester was denied an appeal to grant her pension to her domestic partner by the Ocean City, New Jersey freeholders.
Freeheld, directed by Peter Sollett, dramatizes the life of Detective Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) from the moment she meets her partner, Stacie Andree (Ellen Page), through to her battle with cancer and the freeholders. From the very beginning of the film, Detective Hester makes it clear to Stacie that she intends to keep her love life private because of how hard it is to succeed in the male-dominated world of law enforcement, even if it means lying to her partner, detective Dane Wells (Micheal Shannon). Due to the grim outlook of Laurel’s cancer diagnosis, Laurel and Stacie’s love life has to become public as they approach the Freeholders once again to allow Laurel to grant her pension to Stacie. Even though Freeholder Kelder (Josh Charles) is obviously conflicted as to how to cast his vote, he’s bullied into siding with the majority of the four-person panel, based on an antiquated notion that “A Freeholder never reverses a decision.” It’s at this point we meet Steve Goldstein (Steve Carell), the founder of Garden State Equality, who takes on the fight for Laurel.
In today’s current political environment, Freeheld is the most important movie to come out this fall. However, Freeheld is far from a perfect film. Steve Carrell’s portrayal of Steve Goldstein as a campy, media savy queen is a one-note joke overplayed throughout. A lot of critics will probably use this portrayal to ignite their negativity towards Freeheld, but it would be doltish to just cast aside the rest of film over one erratum.
The story that will resonate from Freeheld, will be the stellar performances of both Moore and Page. They create an intimacy on screen that is so striking, so pure, it almost feels intrusive to be watching. Freeheld portrays the relationship of Laurel and Stacie as realistic and loving, rife with nuance and passion. Moore’s portrayal of Hester is grounded in the reality of her inevitable fate and her passion to make each moment she has left on this earth count; Page’s portrayal is uplifted by optimism, hope that they will beat cancer, and her passion to have a long life with the love of her life. Two portrayals on two ends of the spectrum. Freeheld is truly not about a same-sex couple wanting the same rights as other couples; it’s about a couple who just simply wants equal rights. The brilliance of Peter Sollett’s Freeheld is that it humanizes the issues facing the LGBT community in today’s world. In the end, the movie becomes less about gender and more about human decency.
The notion of taking an iconic series of children’s books and turning it into a major motion picture is quite the Hollywood move. Nostalgia will motivate the biggest of movie companies to begin production on the craziest of topics. Why else would make a movie based on popular who dun-it board game (Clue)? Goosebumps certainly could have been just another flaccid attempt by Hollywood to take us down memory lane, but thanks to some quirky humor, some unique twists, and genuine heart, it’s much more.
Goosebumps is far from a perfect film. The narrative is reminiscent of a Hollywood screenwriter’s Mad-lib. ____ (name a character) moves to a new town (name a town) ______ with his single mother ______ ( mom’s name) start a new life and realizes that the creepy neighbor _______ (creepy name) is more than he says he is. It just so happens that in this version of the Mad-lib the creepy neighbor happens to the Goosebumps author R.L. Stine (played by Jack Black). In the film’s version of reality, the books are what they are, but the author has the ability to conjure up his monsters and trap them inside the pages of the books. If Stine’s monstrosities were ever to escape it would be pandemonium in the streets. I’m sure you can probably guess what happens next.
The film’s has encounters with the “Werewolf of Fever Swap”, “The Giant Praying Mantis”, and “Slappy the Evil Ventriloquist Dummy” (voiced by Jack Black). The CGI effects are not stellar, but that could have been done to dampen the scare factor as this film is targeting a younger demographic. Director Rob Letterman does deserve credit because he didn’t lose sight of the purpose of Goosebumps and that is to scare and have fun in doing so. Letterman also makes sure to tip that cap ever so slightly to the literary world. When the monsters do materialize in Goosebumps, they do so when the words off the pages of Stine’s manuscripts start to merge together resulting in his beasts to appear.
Goosebumps’s heart can be seen in Stine’s (Black) interaction with Zach (Dylan Minnette). Both are antisocial in their own ways. Stine because he doesn’t want his monsters to get out in public unleash havoc on the populous; Zach due to the death of this father. Through the course of the movie both realize that you can’t get lost in the drudgery of your problems and they should put themselves out there. Of course it takes the threat of the town being destroyed by a narcissistic ventriloquist dummy that has a slight Napoleonic complex but, hey, whatever works.
In the end, Goosebumps certainly isn’t an earth shattering film. But it didn’t need to be as it’s a pleasant and unique take on an iconic children’s book series. Any child who’s in second grade all the way to the seventh grade is just going to love this movie. Who knows, it might just motivate the kids to go buy some books after they leave the theater
If you’re anything like me, the wait from Mondays (or the ensuing Tuesday or Wednesday after work piles up and you pass out the moment you hit the bed) is an unbearable passing of time, and all the blame is pointed at Gotham.
A show that never in it’s own right should have been able to quite succeed, yet, in my own opinion, I believe it is on the verge of being great.
Immersing itself right into the Batman mythos is one thing that can be a hard thing to do, since there have been countless reincarnations of the Dark Knight since it’s inception in Detective Comics #27 back in 1939. The most recent would be the Nolan Trilogy that is barely 10 years old.
And again, the show seems to be starting to piece things together quite nicely at this point.
Granted, we are off of a lazy first season that really picked up the pace in the latter half, onto a second season that has been named like a sequel, with “Rise Of The Villains” a subtle nod to exactly what we are going to witness.
Interesting enough, prior to the launch of the show itself, I made a small prediction of what I felt the show would be a mixture of.
Calling it like I have experienced before, I felt that this show would be a part Smallville, part Batman: The Animated Series and part Jim Gordon’s side of Batman: Year One.
Breaking it down, I am still sure that my prediction holds water.
The Smallville side is the character that the story surrounds, Bruce Wayne.
Not taking away from Gordon, being that the show is nothing more than a cop drama at this point, Bruno Heller is very nicely handling how the audience experiences the growth of the Caped Crusader, but in small doses. You see the entrance to what is expected to be the start to the future Batcave, the sheer brilliance that Sean Pertwee is bringing to Alfred and the way that Bruce’s story is being curated.
Much like Smallville, we see a hero, but minus the pivotal things.
Smallville’s Superman was tagged as “No tights, no flight.” And Gotham’s Bruce Wayne is nothing but bare bones and a wit that is leading him down the path of a true vigilante. Assuming the hopeful run of this show, we could see David Mazouz’s Bruce Wayne donning the cape and cowl at the end of the series run, setting up a potential Batman show, but that is a long ways away.
The Animated Series plays a bit of inspiration at this point, as Gotham is setting up the villains much like The Animated Series did.
Episode by episode, you see someone new introduced with a brief plot in the overall arc, but really just setting the stage.
So far, you have the A-List villains, who may or may not be climbing to their eventual personas along with filler villains (fillains?) who are just there to push a story along.
Next is the final ingredient, Gordon’s story, partially, from Batman: Year One.
The new cop ventures to Gotham, only to be immersed in the dark city and all that is happening when he arrives.
Corruption, murder, and a brutal gang war that mimics that of some of the best gangster movies around, all surrounding the beginning pieces of the eventual rogues gallery of a pretty prominent figure in the DC Universe.
That’s only the start for Heller.
Again, he is emphasizing the inevitable, all while balancing a great story arc that is Ben McKenzie’s James Gordon.
At first, I liked that casting of McKenzie, and much like everyone else, began to be lulled to sleep by a rough stretch of episodes that seemed to be thrown together as a way to build a Gotham city that we know. But then we see why McKenzie is casted as this character, and the story picks up again.
Gordon is nothing more than a cop who will have an unlikely relationship with a man who takes down these people who at one point or another have been in contact with Gordon, who also takes on a more grounded set of criminals, as well as the ones who top the list.
Yes, the first season was at times disjointed and just seemed like a Law and Order laced with super-villains, but it’s growing pains for any show within a well-known story. If you have time to Netflix (yes, it’s a verb), do yourselves a service and catch up to it now. The story is serializing at a fast pace and is really pacing itself well considering we are only a few episodes in.
To paraphrase, “Gotham is the show that everyone needs, and the one it deserves right now.”
Believe me, I am not the only one who would love a caped man running around a broken city on my TV screen week in and week out, but I cannot be mad at this storyline.
Season 2 has a certain ring to it that is sure to capture a wider audience – character growth.
My first prime example is a Miss Barbara Kean.
Truth be told, Barbara was a mess last season. Her character was a quickly hated one as the story goes on. Leading to her psychotic break at the end of last season going into the present is one to be confused with. However, from the start of this season, she is much more than just crazy, she is a bit insane.
I am in no place to even discuss how they eventually re-ground her character to end up with Gordon, simply because it is a mystery as to how they handle her. Which makes her just that much more interesting.
Side note, it kind of bothers me a bit that the love interest of Jim Gordon is named Barbara, just because it seems like they are removing the fact that Barbara Gordon is Batgirl. But that is a storyline for a long way down the road and another crazy theory I have for another day.
Next is the development of Jim himself. Known all throughout the DCU as a straight cop, it’s a little refreshing to see a bad side to a good man. His flirting with a bad crowd is a good developmental point, almost like a “join them to know how to beat them.” With Michael Chiklis’ Captain Nathaniel Barnes coming into the mix now, we will begin to see a strong influence on the man Gordon is destined to become.
David Mazouz’s Bruce Wayne is a strong casting at this point, he shows frailty and fear of the unknown, much for what Batman projects onto his future enemies. We also get a rare glimpse at one side of the hero, for right now, and how he will break himself to become the Bat.
Along him is a fatherly influence of Alfred, who is a hard-nosed type of man, influenced from much of the Earth One story arc, with a hard past and an overlooking quality to a young Bruce. You’ll see glimpses of how his past will influence Bruce’s training, and just how deep the story goes.
The long list of villains grows by episode, each with a backstory and a strong push from other characters to thrust their names into a growing list of people for the eventual Dark Knight to meet. With so little episodes and so many names, I’d begin to wonder if we don’t already begin to see a young Bruce develop a story with them some point down the road pre-cape.
This show is one that has been blown wide open to discuss in one post. But what are your thoughts? Comment below and don’t be afraid to throw your theories in and I’ll be happy to discuss mine!
It seems Darren Aronofsky has officially abandoned the Evel Kneival biopic he was once set to direct with Channing Tatum in the lead role. Now, Aronofsky has settled on an indie project as his next film, and Jennifer Lawrence is in talks to star.
Variety has the exclusive news on the project, which doesn’t go much beyond the aforementioned news. Jennifer Lawrence, one of the busiest actresses in Hollywood, has The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part II and the David O. Russell drama Joy hitting theaters this fall.
On the other hand, Darren Aronofsky has been mulling several projects for several years it seems. The director most recently helmed Noah early last year, and before that it was 2010 when Black Swan was a major Oscar contender and earned Natalie Portman her Best Actress Academy Award.
The idea of Lawrence teaming up with Aronofsky is wonderfully intriguing, as Aronofsky has done some great things with female performances in the past (Jennifer Connelly in both Noah and Requiem for a Dream, Portman, Marisa Tomei). Not to mention, it would be nice to see Jennifer Lawrence take on a dramatic role away from David O. Russell.
Ronda Rousey’s acting resume includes Expendables 3, Entourage, and Furious 7. She will add the Mark Wahlberg film Mile 22 to her resume in 2016 and is set to star in the remake of Roadhouse. Variety is reporting that director Nick Cassavetes has signed on to direct and write the Roadhouse remake for MGM.
“I was pursuing Road House for like two years. I really don’t think that any other man could be [Patrick Swayze]. I think that it’s a wise angle to take to kind of do a little gender flip of the role,” said Rousey.
Apparently Rousey is trying to build her acting resume so she can land the lead role of Carol Danvers in the Marvel film Captain Marvel according to Entertainment Tonight.
“I’m really looking forward to doing my first starring role opposite Mark Wahlberg. Hopefully by the time Captain Marvel comes around, I will have enough experience and skills in the field for them to really seriously consider me,” said Rousey.
Captain Marvel is scheduled for release on March 8, 2019.
Mattel and Solipsist Films have teamed up to developed 80s cartoon Dino-Riders for the big screen, with Alissa Phillips and Stephen L’Heureux producing for Solipsist, according to The Tracking Board.
The producers are currently looking for a writer to pen the script. The film has no studio attached to the project. With Jurassic World destroying the box office this summer expect more dinosaur films to fight for your dollar. Dino-Riders would give the audience giant dinosaurs with guns! Who doesn’t want to see that?
What you could see in a Dino-Riders film: The Valorians were a peaceful race that had lived in Cellardyke until the evil Rulons came and attacked them. The Valorians tried to escape from the Rulon assault and attempted to use their “Space Time Energy Projector” (S.T.E.P.) to do so, however something went wrong and they ended up being sent back through time 65 million years to the age of the dinosaurs. Unknown to them, the Rulons in the spaceship Dreadlock were also sent back through time when the S.T.E.P. was activated.
The Valorians, led by Questar, after making planet-fall use their AMP necklaces to telepathically communicate with the dinosaurs they come across and befriend them. The Rulons, led by their leader Emperor Krulos, on the other hand used brainwashing devices known as brain-boxes to control dinosaurs for their own ends. The Rulons then launched an attack on the Valorians, who call upon their dinosaur friends to assist them in fighting back. After successfully defeating the Rulons, the Valorians declare themselves to be the Dino-Riders.
Dino-Riders aired for one season (14 episodes) in 1988. The series was primarily a promotion to launch a new Tyco toy line.
New York Comic Con was a big weekend for Marvel’s Netflix shows. A thirty-second teaser for the new season of Daredevil was released. Three of the four Defenders gathered. And of course we learned much more about Jessica Jones, mainly that this will be the first Marvel Cinematic Universe property with a rather crude sex scene with Luke Cage that is directly lifted from the comics.
“Smash cut to Luke on top of Jessica in his bed, going at it with a sexual fury unlike anything Marvel (or DC, for that matter) has even come close to putting on-screen. She eggs him on, and when he warns her that she might not be able to take it, she insists she can. At that point, he flips her over and starts taking her from behind while the camera focuses on her impassioned face. It’s a scene where Jessica is in total control of her sexuality. Whatever her reason may be for banging Luke, she’s doing it on her terms. It’s the way real-life grown-ups have sex, not the way neutered TV superheroes do. The audience at Comic Con seemed to simultaneously clutch its pearls and lean forward in titillated fascination.”
This will be the beginning of their relationship on the show, which started as a simple no strings attached deal, then blossomed into a marriage and parenthood.
Yes they have a baby, and yes it’s adorable.
The Vulture article also dishes out an implied former romance between Jessica Jones and future superhero Trish Walker (A.K.A Hellcat), Carrie-Anne Moss playing a lesbian gender-swapped version of an Iron Fist character named Jeryn Hogarth, and a disturbing discussion of rape. Jessica Jones hasn’t come out yet, and it’s already daring to go further than other superhero shows/movies.
Sure, there have been gay and lesbian characters in other shows (Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, The Flash, Gotham), but sexuality hasn’t really been explored in any of those shows. And when there is a sex scene, it’s usually very safe, sensual, and rarely realistic. As Vulture states, this is more adult in terms of sexuality, and behavior.
The really interesting question is, “how is this going to go over with audiences?” Those who were huge fans of Daredevil (like myself) welcomed the drastic tone shift from the traditional MCU formula. Jessica Jones looks like it will be the least Marvel-like project yet, and that might be a mixed blessing. On one hand, fans of these Netflix shows will embrace the dark and gritty attitude and might be more open to superhero fiction that is more sexual; however Jessica Jones might be alienating to die-hard fans of the upbeat Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What do you guys think? Are you happy to see something more sexual from Marvel? Or do you think they should stick with the quip heavy dialogue and upbeat story telling?
Fargo season 2 continues to tap into the world of The Coen Brothers while somehow creating a world of its own. It is a wild, weird, wonderful world full of rich characters, where individual scenes can flip from darkly comic to shocking and violent. This spirit animal of the Coen’s best film should never have worked as effectively as it did in season 1, and now in season 2 it appears to be even better.
This season jumps back into the past, to 1979, and focuses on a young Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson), father to the Molly (Allison Tolman) from the first season. Keith Carradine played Lou in the first season, and casually hinted at a gruesome crime he had to investigate in his younger days; and that crime is the focus of this new story. Rye Gerhardt (Kieran Culkin) is the Fredo of his low-rent Gerhardt crime family in rural Minnesota. Overlooked, dim-witted, yearning to make his mark and impress his more imposing brothers. His plan: threaten a female judge into making a certain decision on a certain court case. He follows the judge (Ann Cusack) to a Waffle Hut late at night, where his intimidation tactics predictably unravel in the face of a judge who is annoyed rather than scared of Rye’s feeble threats.
As expected, the situation spirals out of control and ends with shocking violence. This is the strength of Fargo, its ability to channel the Coen Brothers by building a scene on dark comedy before an abrupt bloodletting. Rye escapes the murder scene, where three are dead, but doesn’t make it far before getting plowed by a car, driven by Peggy Blomquist (Kirsten Dunst). However, right before meeting the windshield, a moment occurs that will most certainly be the talking point of the episode and, perhaps, the entire season. Rye sees what appears to be a UFO. It’s a bold stroke by writer Noah Hawley, and one of the many solid attempts to tap into the late 70s vibe of a paranoia-fueled country on the brink of major change.
Other characters fill out the tapestry of Fargo season 2, beginning Wilson’s Lou – who’s inquisitive mind hearkens back to his daughter from season 1 – and Ted Danson’s police officer Hank Larsson, Lou’s father in law with one of those matter-of-fact midwestern deliveries. Dunst is perfectly ditzy as Peggy, and her doting husband, Ed, is played by Breaking Bad alum Jesse Plemons. It’s a definite change of pace for Plemons. There is the paranoid local nut job, Karl, played by Nick Offerman. There is the patriarch of the Gerhardt clan, Floyd (Jean Smart), and in the end, a hint of FBI involvement personified by Brad Garrett. Each character, no matter the consequence to this first episode, feels completely realized.
Fargo season 2 also appears to know its time and place. 1979 was a time of great tension, strife, and uncertainty in the country. The gas crisis, the fledgling presidency of Jimmy Cater, and the hope of Reagan just around the corner creates a buzzing undercurrent that can be felt and seen in each moment of this new season. It is some brilliant world building. Fargo is the best thing going on television at the moment.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are currently working on adapting Garth Ennis’ Preacher for AMC. Back in September AMC picked up the pilot and ordered a 10-episode first season.
Now it appears that Rogen and Goldberg have their eyes set on their next project. According to Birth Death Movies to duo is talking to cable networks about a TV adaption of Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys.
The comic book series was canceled by DC Comics after six issues and then picked up by Dynamite for a 72-issue run.
The series is set between 2006–2008 in a world where superheroes exist. However, most of the superheroes in the series’ universe are corrupted by their celebrity status and often engage in reckless behavior, compromising the safety of the world. For this reason, a superpowered CIA squad, known informally as “The Boys”, is charged with monitoring the superhero community; the name is Butcher’s contribution, a reference from his neighborhood that those in power would send “the boys” to handle anyone causing trouble.
Ennis has said in an interview that the series would “out-Preacher Preacher”, presumably referring to the extreme violence and sexuality that were that series’ hallmark, and that the series would end with its seventy-second issue.
Rogen and Goldberg will have their work cut out for them to find a home for The Boys, as there are only a handful of networks that could air the type of content needed to truly represent the comic series.
After watching the first two episodes of Comet Lucifer I have really mixed emotions about it. At the same time I feel like I’m seeing something I’ve seen before many times, but also there is enough the show seems to have as its own to seem fresh. The show’s story seems like an Eureka Seven scenario right off the bat. Unfortunately this show isn’t a visually creative as Eureka Seven, but it certainly is trying to keep its style from being more than generic. I’m still on the fence whether I like this show for more than its cute comet girl and sometimes breathtaking art. That’s to be expected though because there really isn’t much else to be caught up in quite yet. At this point I’m still not sure what is even going on. Well for the most part, I have a slight idea.
I think that the comet girl, Felia, is some sort of… I don’t even know, but this countries government apparently knows about her and wants to capture her. That’s really all I know about the plot so far, and I was paying pretty close attention. Unlike another show I’m reviewing this season, Comet Lucifer seems to be in opposite when it comes to making their exposition digestible. It’s all very cryptic right off that bat, giving us little to no information on why somethings are going on. There is some serious stuff in the works with a brooding old man, a veteran pilot, and a maniacal murderous kid. These characters seem interesting but when they are spouting out cryptic nonsense it makes me care less. Which is not cool, I want to care more, not less. This needs to be fixed. But thankfully its only the government stuff that really isn’t making any sense.
The scenario of “boy finds girl in rock” seems to be progressing at a nice pace and is enjoyable for the most part. Our main character, Sogo, seems to be an adventurous person. He’s a nice guy and has some good friends, pretty generic so far. There are things about his life style though, that may end up revealing more about him. Honestly we haven’t been able to get to hang out with him this much to learn anything besides he likes digging up rocks, and gets embarrassed when he touches girls. Togo has three friends, but at this point aren’t really worth delving into yet. Not sure if they are going to be a main part of the story. The only seemingly important person is his orange haired friend, Kaon, who he seems to get embarrassed overtime they get somewhat close. But the other two boys seem interesting enough that they will stick around, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Felia is quite a treat, both aesthetically pretty and entertaining. They could have gone a couple of ways with treating their blank slate rock girl, and I’m glad with what they chose. It seems right off that bat she has a vibrant personality and is quite the curious one, almost like a baby. But she certainly doesn’t look like a baby, probably 10-12 if I had to ballpark it. Her relationship with Sogo hasn’t really started yet. If anything she is growing closer to Kaon. According to the opening though they will eventually get really close. Just what kind of relationship they will form is still a mystery. I hope it’s not a romantic one. One because she seems way too young and immature and two because Kaon may like Sogo.
There is on more important character, Moura, a crystal ferret that can transform into a giant robot. Just like Felia he seems to have quite a vibrant personality. He is very protective of Felia and doesn’t like Sogo, for reasons. Somehow he knows things like how to speak and stuff, which Felia is only learning. Moura will most likely be as important to the plot as Felia seeing that he can transform into a robot. And seeing that Sogo wears a crest that gives him the sole power to transform Moura, the characters have already been tied together for the long haul. And I assume that this long haul will be full of MouraXSogo robots battles.
There have already been one fight, and so far is the least visually impressive part of the show. Which is sad to say. The designs of the mech’s are one of the most creative I’ve seen. But the mech’s seem like they are part of a different show and don’t really belong in the universe. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they are CG, like every other mech series nowadays. Or maybe it has to do with the only mech fight taking place in a dark dreary cave. Once they get out in the sun and really get to shine I might change my tune on them.
So like I said before, It’s hard to know how I feel about Comet Lucifer yet. There are certainly things I like and things I am confused on. The show seems to be holding back and hinting parts of the plot which will get annoying unless we start to get straight forward answers soon. I’m all for some mystery in a show but when you spend so much time with mystery instead of focusing on whats actually going on, you’re gonna lose me. So far Comet Lucifer hasn’t lost me yet, but I guess we’ll see.
