'Monsters Inc.' Series With Billy Crystal And John Goodman Headed To Disney+

With the arrival of their streaming service later this year, Disney has a lot of content needs that can't be filled by just Lucasfilm and Marvel. Pixar is also doing their part, and we've learned one of their biggest franchises, Monsters Inc., will be part of a brand new series with some familiar voice stars already on board.

Billy Crystal and John Goodman are back voicing Mike and Sully in a new Disney+ series, Monsters at Work. The show will follow a new character, Tylor Tuskmon, who is voiced by Superstore's Ben Feldman, and reveres Mike and Sully so much he plans to rise in the ranks in hopes of working alongside them. Other returning voices include John Ratzenberger, Jennifer Tilly, and Bob Peterson, joined by new additions Kelly Marie Tran, Henry Winkler, Lucas Neff, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Stanton, and Aisha Tyler.

A 2020 release date is planned but until Disney+ gets a confirmed launch don't expect it to get any clearer than that. [Variety]

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'Captive State' Trailer: John Goodman And Vera Farmiga Try To Survive In Alien-Occupied Chicago

Captive State has been on a lot of radars since it was first announced, and for good reason. The sci-fi thriller has John Goodman and Vera Farmiga, no strangers to the genre, as its centerpieces, surrounded by rising stars Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid's Tale), and Kiki Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk).  A veil of mystery has surrounded the film's plot that has some already comparing it to the Cloverfield franchise, which Goodman is intimately familiar with. And then there's the guy behind the camera, Rupert Wyatt, in his return to blockbuster filmmaking since Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The first teaser doesn't really illuminate things, but with the heavy focus on politics and an apparently perfect union with no crime and low unemployment, it does vaguely look like The Purge. That is until we see the reason for this so-called paradise is a legislature that is literally out of this world. The imagery of a football stadium full of people standing for the pledge of allegiance isn't lost on me in today's politically charged climate.

Here's the synopsis: Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, ‘Captive State’ explores the lives on both sides of the conflict – the collaborators and dissidents.

Captive State hits theaters on March 29th.

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Review: Charlize Theron Is The Ultimate Weapon In 'Atomic Blonde'

Over the weekend at Comic-Con, Charlize Theron was the solo centerpiece of the annual "Women Who Kick Ass" panel. Usually a discussion with a lively assortment of badass ladies, Theron held the floor on her own for an hour talking about her career as an action star. The show was full of clips from Mad Max: Fury Road and Atomic Blonde, but not a lot more. Part of the reason is Hollywood's too-early attempt to mold her into a lethal force of nature on the screen, with those attempts dying after the dreadful Aeon Flux. The career of an actress as consistent and lengthy as Theron's will always be cyclical, and she's come back around to being the baddest actress on the silver screen, only now it's a title she's earned.

Theron devastates her foes in the radical espionage flick, Atomic Blonde, putting a hurting on her male opponents that will leave guys both squeamish and strangely aroused.  Working alongside director David Leitch, the stuntman-turned-filmmaker who co-directed the awesome John Wick, Theron is both sensuous and brutal, a cold-as-ice agent perfectly suited for the Cold War. She is the best part of a movie that never surrounds her with a plot worthy of her skills, and plays around with the narrative in a way that is both distracting and dull. Whenever Theron isn't punching somebody in the throat we kinda wish she would go off in search of her next victim.

Based on the graphic novel, The Coldest City, the film takes place at the tail end of the Cold War, mere days before the fall of the Berlin Wall. MI6 super spy Lorraine (Theron) has been sent into Berlin to track down the killer of a fellow agent, who had in his possession a certain list. You know the kind of list I'm talking about, too, one of those lists with every covert operative in the world. You know it because EVERY movie uses it now, and someone really needs to call a moratorium on it. Attacked almost as soon as she touches ground, fighting off her attackers with a high heel in the back of a speeding car, Lorraine is less than enthused by her contact, David Percival (James McAvoy, practically in Filth territory), who is supposed to prevent such things. But he's shady from the ground on up, and Lorraine quickly learns not to trust anybody.

Her story unfolds in fits and starts, told as a flashback while she gets grilled by her boss (Toby Jones) and a CIA operative (John Goodman). It's an unnecessary conceit that hampers any momentum and jumbles a story that lacks the proper engagement. There does seem to be a lackluster attempt at crafting the kind of expansive world of colorful characters seen in John Wick, but it's never given the proper attention. The list is contained on a wristwatch, which is pretty cool, and it never stays on one wrist for too long in such a dangerous city. There's a mysterious double-agent out there called Satchel that every intelligence network is looking for; an operative called Spyglass (Eddie Marsan) uses his big brain to memorize the list in hopes of securing passage out of Berlin; an isolated watchmaker (Til Schweiger) doubles as a Black Market information dealer; and there's even a sexy French operative (The Mummy's Sofia Boutella) who wriggles her way into the action and under Lorraine's bedsheets. Atomic Blonde isn't lacking for style, attitude, and sex appeal, especially with a heavy European punk/synth soundtrack vibing throughout. Too bad nearly all of it is embodied by Theron, and not enough of it can be found anywhere else.

Fortunately, Theron is so good that you can mostly look past the plot, which wants to be John Le Carre but doesn't have the same level of intricacy. While she is, of course, impossible to turn your eyes away from, her Lorraine also looks like the most fatigued, battle-weary agent in all of Germany. It's a role that asks Theron to be sexy while covered head to toe in bruises. You'll understand why Lorraine drinks so much Stoli, that is when she's not soothing her aching body in tubs of ice water. She gets into some incredible scrapes, the nasty, up close and personal kind where every item within reach is a potential weapon. Leitch doesn't shy away from the gruesomeness of Lorraine's kills, either, and you have to respect that the film doesn't ease up just because it has a female star. A lengthy, nearly unbroken battle through a building stairwell has echoes of Gareth Evans' The Raid, with Theron laying the smackdown in a way that would make Iko Uwais jealous. In fact, I'd like to submit to Evans that perhaps a role for Theron in The Raid 3 is in order. 

If there's a problem with the fight choreography it's that we don't get enough of it. Any time Theron gets to hog the spotlight like this it's impossible not to want more. When I look at the best action stars the one thing that sticks out to me is if they are credible. When they punch somebody in the face and knock out their teeth, or kick a guy dead in his chest, does it look legit? I don't know if there's ever been an actress who is as credible an ass-kicker on the big screen as Charlize Theron. She's just got it all down; the fight physics, the psychology, the physicality, all of it. In Atomic Blonde she puts it all together, and while it may not be the knockout punch it should have been, I have a feeling Theron has plenty of fight left in her.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Charlize Theron Heats Up The Final Trailer For 'Atomic Blonde'

Is Charlize Theron on the verge of another action franchise? She's been appearing in a few of them lately, like Mad Max: Fury Road and Fate of the Furious, but it has been a while since she's been asked to lead one. That may be about to change because the early buzz from screenings and from SXSW for Atomic Blonde has been some of the summer's strongest, and now one last trailer gives us another reason to get excited.

Theron does what she does best, looking good while beating people up, in the film directed by John Wick's David Leitch. Based on the graphic novel The Coldest City, Theron plays an MI-6 super-spy whose skills in the art of seduction and combat are unparalleled. She'll put them all to use while in Berlin to deliver a crucial dossier and to find a dangerous double agent.  James McAvoy, Sofia Boutella, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Toby Jones, and Eddie Marsan co-star.

Atomic Blonde burns up theaters on July 28th.

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Review: 'Once Upon A Time In Venice' Starring Bruce Willis, Jason Momoa, & John Goodman

In 2010 Bruce Willis, who was still a moderately respectable star back then, put his credibility on the line in the buddy comedy, Cop Out. It was a disaster, best remembered for the beef it sparked between Willis and director Kevin Smith. It was written by Mark and Robb Cullen, who have found in Willis an apparent muse for their specific brand of idiot humor, because they've done it yet again with Once Upon a Time in Venice, a film that proves these three should never be allowed to work together again.

Imagine a really incompetently made Inherent Vice and that's pretty much what you're going to get. Unfortunately set in Venice Beach and not Venice, Italy, the film stars Willis as Steve, who is sort of like the John from Cincinnati of his beachside town. He's a local guru everybody seems to know, and he's also the only detective in town. When he's not schooling the local skater kids about the dangers of drugs and hookers, he can be found sleeping with his clients, which puts his credibility on shaky ground. But for the most part he's a good guy, with a really cute dog, a Jack Russell terrier, that he shares with his beloved nice. You know the dog's in trouble, don't you?

Silicon Valley's Thomas Middleditch gets the unenviable task of narrating the soon-to-be nonsense, playing Steve's trainee partner, Steve. It's up to Steve to find out who has been spray painting vulgar sex acts on the apartment buildings owned by "Lew the Jew" (Adam Goldberg). Everybody in the film has a colorful name. For instance, Jason Momoa plays local drug dealer Spyder, who steals Steve's dog as payback for a previous encounter gone wrong. Steve has to get the dog back, of course, and doing so will involved a couple of Willis firsts.

One: this is the first time we've had to endure the sight of a skateboarding, buck naked Bruce Willis. It didn't need to happen, but it did and now it can't be unseen.

Two: this is the first time a transvestite Bruce Willis is chased through the streets of Venice Beach by a marauding horde of other transvestites. It too cannot be unseen.

Three: this is the first time Jason Momoa has tried to be intimidating, and really really failed at it. This was not the best movie for him.

Being first is not always a good thing.

There are random appearances everywhere by stars punching below their weight. Kal Penn turns up, for exactly one scene, to play a Pakistani convenience store owner with a chip on his shoulder. Dude, you were in the White House not that long ago. Better yet, you were at White Castle not that long ago! John Goodman plays an unfortunate twist on Walter Sobchak as Steve's best friend, a mellow guy going through an ugly divorce. It eventually makes him not so mellow, until he goes full-on Sobchak. All it does is make you wish The Big Lebowski was on instead. Appearances by Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Rohm, Victor Ortiz, Wood Harris, and Stephanie Sigman add little to a plot that basically consists of Willis getting punched out every 10 minutes or so.

No really, that's about it. The laughs come few and far between, and yet you look at the cast and wonder what might have been. The premise is absurd, but silly cop movies done right can be a blast. The sticking point is that they need to be funny. They need a lead actor with someone to bounce jokes off of, and Willis gets a sleepy performance by Middleditch, who looks like he's eager to return to the HBO set or to do another phone commercial. Come to think of it, I'd rather endure another phone commercial than sit through Once Upon a Time in Venice again. Can you hear me now, Willis?

Rating: 1.5 out of 5



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Weird First Look At John Goodman In Sci-Fi Film, 'Captive State'

The last time John Goodman dealt with otherworldly creatures he...didn't really deal with them at all. He hid from them in 10 Cloverfield Lane, spending the entire time tucked away in his shelter. Now in Rupert Wyatt's sci-fi flick Captive State he'll finally take them on, and he's all dressed up for the occasion.

Goodman sports a spiffy suit to go along with an odd contraption strapped to his mug while sitting in what looks like an underground Port-a-Potty. Here's a synopsis:

Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extraterrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict – the collaborators and dissidents.

The film is directed and co-written by Rupert Wyatt, whose streak of diverse projects continues after The Escapist, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and The Gambler remake you forgot existed. A previous synopsis revealed the story will shine light on the modern surveillance state and the threats to civil liberties and the role of dissent within an authoritarian society.

Vera Farmiga, John Majors, and Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) co-star. Captive State opens August 17th 2018.

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'Roseanne' Is Getting A Series Revival With Original Cast Returning

Geezus, I just mentioned Roseanne randomly in a post yesterday, and now today the long-running sitcom is getting a revival. Time to start putting more Get A Life references into our coverage.

That's right, the seminal comedy Roseanne is coming back for a limited run, with Roseanne Barr, John Goodman (!?!) and Sara Gilbert definitely a part of it. Others, like Laurie Metcalf, are in the process of coming aboard. Whitney Cummings will serve as showrunner along with Bruce Helsford, but no sign of Joss Whedon who got his start on the show. Roseanne ran from 1988-1997 and was the biggest comedy in the country for many of those years. It depicted the paycheck-to-paycheck existence of the Conner family in a small Illinois town. The show gave comedian Barr a huge platform, and it turned her into a national celebrity who could pretty much write her own ticket. She used the series to touch on many hot button issues that spoke to ordinary blue collar Americans. No word on how they intend to use Goodman, whose character Dan Conner died towards the end of the show's run. Maybe it was all a dream? Actually, the series finale revealed the whole show to be just a story the Roseanne character wrote, so this might not be too far off.

So far there's no network home for this, but I imagine it won't take long.  Networks are eating up these awful revivals with a knife and fork, and if a show like Full House can come back, Roseanne is a shoe-in. What's weird is that Roseanne Barr has mostly been off the grid for years, unless you're a political junkie like me and have followed her as a Presidential candidate and so forth.  I remember her saying during the campaign that she was finished with scripted comedies just like this one. Oh well. This actually might serve to help her if she decides to run again in 2020. [Deadline]

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Bruce Willis Channels John Wick In Trailer For 'Once Upon A Time In Venice'

Hey, remember Bruce Willis? Feels like a while since we've seen him in anything relevant, right? I mean, Moonrise Kingdom was a few years ago now. So was Looper. And G.I. Joe: Retaliation. And Red. Pickin' up what I'm layin' down? Basically he's been stuck in straight-to-DVD Hell lately, but maybe that's about to turn around. With a movie you've probably never heard of. But hey, it's got a lot of stars in it.

Here's the trailer for Once Upon a Time in Venice, an action-comedy flick from Robb and Mark Cullen. Who the heck are they? Well, they wrote Cop Out, which Kevin Smith still hates Willis over. Not a good sign, right? Well, it actually doesn't look bad. Willis plays a private detective in Los Angeles who is forced to work for a gang leader just to get his precious dog back.  John Wick Willis? The cast is surprisingly good, too, with Jason Momoa, John Goodman, Thomas Middleditch, Famke Janssen, Adam Goldberg, Elisabeth Rohm, Stephanie Sigman, Kal Penn, and Victor Ortiz co-starring, Damn, son.

I'm diggin' the look of this one. It might turn out to be better than that Death Wish remake Willis has coming up with Eli Roth.  Once Upon a Time in Venice opens June 16th.

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Charlize Theron Is A Stone Cold Killer In New Trailer For 'Atomic Blonde'

Charlize Theron isn't ready to relinquish her crown as Hollywood's top female action star. With Mad Max: Fury Road and this week's The Fate of the Furious, it'll be tough to take her down, and that's before most of us have had a chance to see her in Atomic Blonde, which teams her up with John Wick co-director, David Leitch.

Another badass trailer for the espionage flick has dropped, and basically it's Theron destroying everybody who gets in her way. She plays a super spy sent behind enemy lines in Berlin on a top secret mission, and of course things don't go as planned and she has to kill her way out. Sometimes that means killing a bunch of goons with your shoe. James McAvoy,  John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella and Toby Jones are on board, too, but this is unquestionably Theron's show.

Atomic Blonde opens July 28th. 

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Review: 'Kong: Skull Island' Starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, And Samuel L. Jackson

The story of King Kong isn't a happy one. In the classic film in which he's introduced, Kong is a stranger to our land, an immigrant so to speak, who arrives and is used and abused until he lashes out in a violent rage at the top of a skyscraper. There have been many different takes on the world's largest ape since then, including a poorly-received remake by Peter Jackson (I dig it, but let's not argue.), but never have we seen the tables flipped the way they are in Jordan Vogt Roberts's awesome B-movie spectacle, Kong: Skull Island. It's a film that places Kong fully in the power position, and humanity in his territory for once. The shift in dynamic makes for a lot of Predator-esque monster fun, while Roberts's 1970s influences, in particular Apocalypse Now, make this Kong movie a true giant.

A genius move was setting the film in 1973 at the height of the anti-war movement, leading to the conclusion of the Vietnam War. There's a strong anti-war sentiment coursing through the film, which runs in stark contrast to man's violent inclinations and war-mongering ways. The plot is simple, Predator simple, actually. A group of soldiers accompany a scientific expedition to the fabled Skull Island, where they encounter King Kong who rules over the island with an iron paw. The expedition is led by Bill Randa (John Goodman), a conspiracy theorist who believes in the existence of monsters, and begs for government funding to explore those beliefs. Of course, times are tough with the War going on, " “Mark my words, there’ll never be a more screwed-up time in Washington!”, he says with the innocence of someone who will never know the name "Trump". But his ranting earns him one final bankroll to a mysterious island, kept hidden by a swirl of nasty, seemingly impenetrable storms. He's going to need an escort, though, a military escort, and some outside help.

Samuel L. Jackson does his best Captain Ahab impersonation as commander Preston Packard, who is still smarting from the U.S. "abandonment" of Vietnam, which he believes was caused by the media coloring public perception. That makes things awkward when the expedition is joined by anti-war photographer Mason Weaver, somehow allowed along on what is ostensibly a mapping operation. Tom Hiddleston is troubled British mercenary James Conrad, a tracker who has never found his way home from conflict. Others along for the journey are scientists played by 24: Legacy's Corey Hawkins and The Great Wall's Jing Tian, while accompanying soldiers are played by Thomas Mann, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, and Toby Kebbell. As you probably expected, with a film like this there isn't a ton of character depth but the screenplay, credited to a battalion of four writers, does a good job of distinguishing each. Mitchell's character has mommy issues, Whigham's a war fetish, and Kebbell just wants to see his son again.

Hurtling through the electric storm in their helicopters, it isn't long before they start dropping seismic bombs all over the place. And you can imagine this pisses off you know who. When Kong first arrives, thankfully very early on not like the well-hidden Godzilla from a couple years ago, it's a stunning, jaw-dropping experience. He smashes through the fleet of helicopters and barrels through their barrage of cannon fire.  Roberts, who broke out with the revelatory coming of age comedy The Kings of Summer, shows he's as expressive an action director as he is with character pieces. The initial attack is devastating and chaotic, yet Roberts never lets his stylistic flourishes (of which there are many) interfere with our understanding of what's going on. Characters are separated by miles as the helicopters go down with Kong's crushing blows, and yet we still have an idea of who is where. That level of action choreography is tough for even seasoned filmmakers to master.

Understandably, there's a bit of a lull as the film re-orients itself, but things pick up immediately with the arrival of John C. Reilly as Hank Marlow, a wacked-out loon who has been living on the island with a native tribe since WWII. He's a total kook but he knows the island, he knows Kong, and he knows what the real creatures to fear are. He calls them "skull crawlers", although he thinks the name sounds stupid, and they are creatures that look like they spring from a Jurassic Park nightmare sequence. The arrival of Marlow and the natives is a sign that not everything on Skull Island is a monster needing to be destroyed, but convincing the vengeful Packard of that is another story.

There are a number of things that separate this King Kong movie from the rest, but the biggest thing is where its located. If you're going to set the story on Skull Island then make that kind of an effort worth it. Roberts does that by making Skull Island a wondrous place where dangers lurk over every moss hill, but there are also sights of incredible beauty. It's a place where peaceful giant yak creatures graze, while man-eating pterodactyls hover overhead. Many of the most beautiful images are captured, appropriately enough, through the lens of Weaver's camera, and they aren't just limited to the island's less-human denizens.

As for Kong himself, they didn't go wildly overboard in redesigning his look. He's definitely less simian and more like a monster, and that may be a calculated move given the franchise aspirations. By now you probably know Kong will eventually lead to a crossover with Godzilla as part of a monster cinematic universe. This version of Kong, who towers over the mountains like a great animal god, could go toe-to-toe with Godzilla any day. He is an incredible creature to behold and is treated as such, both in the way he is shot, and in the reactions from those who have the fortune (or misfortune) to witness his majesty.

There's no doubt who this movie belongs to, and it's not the human characters running around trying to avoid getting stomped. Hiddleston and Larson are the big draws here, but they don't really dominate the story at any point. In fact, nobody stands out as the true protagonist, although an upbeat closing credits sequence makes the case for an unexpected supporting character. Kong: Skull Island truly belongs to Kong, and it's the best King Kong movie since the 1933 classic. While I'm less enthused about the idea of a crossover ruining what makes this movie unique, if it turns out to be half as good as Kong: Skull Island, then bring on more monsters and LET THEM FIGHT!

Rating: 4 out of 5

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New Trailer For 'Kong: Skull Island' Is Nothing But Action

Kong: Skull Island is only a few days away from hitting theaters, and for me it's a film I've been anticipating for a long time. In fact, I'm mere hours away from seeing it and usually around this time I stop watching trailers. I should've stuck to that with this latest promo, labeled the "Groove" trailer, because mostly it gives away a bunch of big action shots. >sigh<

The point is, you may want to avoid this noisy, rock-fueled trailer that kinda takes you out of the film's 1970s atmosphere. But that's up to you.  I think you know what the film is about: an exhibition to a mysterious island reveals the giant ape we all know and love, but he's hardly the only monstrous creature to be feared. There are others that may be even worse.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts with Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, and John Goodman starring, Kong: Skull Island opens March 10th.

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New 'Kong: Skull Island' Trailer Brings More Action, More Apex Predators

Other than Logan, the other movie high on my early year must-see list is Kong: Skull Island, which has been putting out some amazing blockbuster promos. Looking like a combination of Apocalypse Now and Predator, the film is essentially a prequel to the Kong stories we all know, but it doesn't look bogged down in mythology. In fact, it can't get too mired in continuity because it's setting up an eventual crossover movie with Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It looks awesome, the cast is incredible, and with the film only days away from arriving one more trailer sets out to get us even more excited.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts in his big jump to major studio flicks, it stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, Toby Kebbell, Jing Tian, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, and Thomas Mann as part of an expedition to the mysterious island home of the giant ape. But Kong's not the only alpha predator there they must contend with as other dangerous creatures have made the island their home.

Kong: Skull Island opens March 10th.

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Review: 'Patriots Day' Starring Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Bacon, John Goodman, And J.K. Simmons

It used to be we'd get some distance from a tragic event before it was ground up into Hollywood entertainment. As that window of time has closed (Chilean miner film The 33 got started while they were still in the hole), we've seen the real-life tragedy drama become less enticing of a genre, for obvious reasons. Who wants to relive something horrible when it's still fresh in mind? So it's understandable that audiences largely ignored Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg's excellent Deepwater Horizon last year, a powerful depiction of the worst man-made disaster in history. Hopefully, the quick turnaround on Patriots Day, which captures the events before and after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, won't keep audiences away from a noble effort that honors Boston's law enforcement and citizens in equal measure.

The trick with a movie like this is to be respectful and entertaining, and Berg hits the nail on the head with a deeply engrossing story that puts us right there on the ground. Mark Wahlberg is the film's face as Sgt. Tommy Saunders, but this isn't his movie. Truly a group effort, the ensemble consists of John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, and J.K. Simmons as just some of the team that led a manhunt for terrorists Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. We meet Tommy at a drug bust early on, but it's only there to show the fictional character's current predicament. He's been busted down to beat cop over an insubordinate action, letting us know he's got the rebellious spirit of many a past Wahlberg character. While Tommy endures the ridicule of dressing like a crossing guard to work the Boston Marathon, it isn't long before all of that is put aside when an explosion rocks the event. The scene of men, women, and children shredded by the shrapnel will give you chills. 

Berg's tendencies have always leaned towards thrilling four-quadrant action sequences, but this is a story that requires a bit more nuance. He's shown lately a surprising knack for personal drama, and Patriots Day is no exception with the little details we learn about its extensive characters. There's the newly-married couple (Rachel Brosnahan and Christopher O'Shea) caught in the blast together and who must recuperate together; there's the campus cop who just scored a date on the night the Tsarnaev's are trying to make their escape; there's the small-town sheriff (Simmons) who leaves his cigarette outside the Dunkin Donuts so he can resume smoking on the way out. And then there are the Tsarnaevs themselves, who are perhaps the most interesting of them all. The younger Dshokhar is played by Alex Wolff (Nat Wolff's brother) and seems like a normal kid who loves hip-hop, girls, and video games. His radicalism is inspired by his fearless brother Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze), but he seems to have no grasp of the gravity of their violent actions. Another intriguing aspect of their lives is Katherine Russell, Tamerlan's American wife played by Supergirl star Melissa Benoist. It's an unexpected turn for her, and the interrogation scene she shares with Khandi Alexander is intriguing for everything Katherine doesn't say. Of the two wives depicted in the film, Katherine fares better than Tommy's spouse, portrayed by Michelle Monaghan in a forgettable background role she's carried far too often.

Proving he's still one of the best action directors around, Berg delivers on  a ferocious, explosive shootout in the film's final act. It's as expertly choreographed a sequence as you'll find, with law enforcement in tight quarters facing the desperate bombers on the Boston streets. The threat of collateral damage is high, the personal stakes are higher' it's an intense few minutes and when it's over you realize you've been holding your breath the entire time. Following these little stories of Boston's perseverance sinks its hooks into you, so that the film's one big fight has deep emotional impact. There's a fair share of flag-waving and melodrama tacked on, of course, because that's also just what Berg does. In particular a final coda by Tommy feels tacked on, although an appearance by Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz feels perfectly appropriate. Perhaps that is the drawback of having Wahlberg play a composite character while most everyone else are playing actual figures affected by the bombing.

It's an impressive feat Berg and his talented cast have pulled off with Patriots Day, making us feel the tension they must have felt while the terrorists were loose in the city. That's why it was also important to end by showing the actual people depicted in the film; to see that they have indeed come out on the other side of this tragedy stronger than ever.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Mark Wahlberg Is Boston Strong In New Trailer For 'Patriots Day'

A few months ago Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg got together for Deepwater Horizon, their second film based on a tragic real-life event. The Lone Survivor duo did what I think was a tremendous job turning the oil disaster into an inspiring story of human triumph, but sadly audiences didn't seem to pay it a lot of mind. Well now they're back again with Patriots Day, another drama that shows how strong we can be when faced with a common tragedy to overcome.

Wahlberg has been skirting along the edges of the Oscar race for his role in the film, but he's really just a piece of a large ensemble full of talented stars. The story details how the people of Boston came together in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Not just the various police organizations that were part of the manhunt, but the ordinary citizens who were integral in finding the terrorists responsible.  Michelle Monaghan, John Goodman, JK Simmons, Kevin Bacon, Melissa Benoist, Alex Wolff, Rachel Brosnahan, and more co-star.

Patriots Day opens in select cities on December 21st before going wide January 13th 2017.

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Nicolas Cage Boards 'The Humanity Bureau', John Goodman Enters 'Captive State'

There will never be a Nicolas Cage movie that isn't worth paying attention to, even if we know they'll be terrible. The Humanity Bureau could be another stinker, or it might not, but it doesn't sound very good. The sci-fi thriller takes place in a future ravaged by the effects of global warming, and where a government agency exiles those who are deemed unproductive to society. Cage's character discovers something corrupt within the agency and seeks to root it out.  Rob W. King, a director you've never heard of, will incorporate virtual reality tech in the production, similar to what Star Trek Beyond did earlier this year.

John Goodman is the first to be cast in Captive State, the upcoming film from Rise of the Planet of the Apes director, Rupert Wyatt. So far plot details on the sci-fi film are under wraps and so is the nature of Goodman's role. But as we've seen a thousand times before, a little bit of Goodman can go a long way. He'll prove it again as part of the Patriots Day ensemble alongside Mark Wahlberg. I wonder if there's any chance of Wahlberg joining this cast, too, since he starred in Wyatt's remake of The Gambler? [Variety]

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New Trailer For 'Kong: Skull Island' Hails The King Of Apes

Over the last week Legendary and Warner Bros. have been teasing a new trailer for Kong: Skull Island. The film is just the next step in a growing movie universe that will lead to an eventual crossover with Godzilla, which is pretty amazing when you sit down and think about it. None of us would have considered such a thing was possible just a couple of years ago, but Hollywood's "franchise EVERYTHING!" mentality has opened that door, so it isn't all bad.

The best thing about the new trailer, and the approach taken by director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, is that he isn't afraid to put the Eighth Wonder of the World out there in the open. There's no hiding the giant ape the way Gareth Edwards kept a veil of mystery around Godzilla. Within moments Kong is out there wrecking shop, and leaving the humans stranded on his home island scrambling for a response. Here's the synopsis:

When a scientific expedition to an uncharted island awakens titanic forces of nature, a mission of discovery becomes an explosive war between monster and man.

I also dig how little the plot reveals. We know Tom Hiddleston leads the pack as a Special Forces officer, with Oscar winner Brie Larson as a war photographer. Samuel L. Jackson, Toby Kebbell, John Goodman, Shea Whigham, Jing Tian, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, and John Ortiz co-star as other unwanted guests Kong will try to dispose of.

Kong: Skull Island opens March 10th 2017.

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Mark Wahlberg Seeks Justice For Boston In New 'Patriots Day' Trailer

One of the biggest surprises for me was the lack of interest in Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg's Deepwater Horizon. Coming off the success they had with Lone Survivor I thought audiences would flock to the true-life disaster drama, which turned out to be so much more than it appeared in trailers. Maybe that was the problem, and it will find a bigger audience in home release. The duo are reuniting next for the Boston Marathon bombing drama, Patriot's Day, and based on the overly earnest, flag-waving trailer it may be falling into a similar situation.

The film takes place in the wake of the 2013 massacre that shook the city and the country, when the people of Boston came together to find the terrorists responsible. Wahlberg is just a piece of a huge ensemble, so while he's featured the most its unclear just how big his role actually is. Kevin Bacon, John Goodman, J.K. Simmons, Michelle Monaghan, Alex Wolff, Themo Melikidze, Melissa Benoist, James Colby, Michael Beach, Rachel Brosnahan, Christopher O’Shea, Jake Picking, Jimmy O. Yang, Vincent Curatola, and Khandi Alexander co-star. Here's the synopsis:

In the aftermath of an unspeakable attack, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) joins courageous survivors, first responders and investigators in a race against the clock to hunt down the bombers before they strike again. Weaving together the stories of Special Agent Richard DesLauriers, Police Commissioner Ed Davis, Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese and nurse Carol Saunders this visceral and unflinching chronicle captures the suspense of one of the most sophisticated manhunts in law enforcement history and celebrates the strength of the people of Boston.

Patriots Day gets a limited release on December 21st before going wide January 13th 2017.

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First Trailer For Luc Besson's 'Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets'

Luc Besson may be known for his killer action movies like The Professional, La Femme Nikita, The Transporter and others, but he also has a passion for sci-fi. The filmmaker behind The Fifth Element and Lockout next has the sprawling space epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, based on Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières French comic book series. We've seen some pretty impressive images already, and now we have a few more along with the first trailer.

The film features The Amazing Spider-Man 2's Dane DeHaan and Suicide Squad's Cara Delevingne as time-traveling space operatives as charged with helping to keep order throughout the universe. A lot of what we're seeing in the footage and images appear to be of Alpha, an ever-expanding planet with thousands of different races and millions of inhabitants. I'm surprised by how much this resembles a bigger, more detailed version of The Fifth Element, with all of the offbeat qualities that made it fun.

Also starring Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, John Goodman, and Rutger Hauer, Valerian opens July 21st 2017.

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