Paul Rudd To Take Over Will Ferrell's Life In Comedy Series 'The Shrink Next Door'

Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell are together again. The Anchorman duo are reuniting, this time on the small screen, in a limited comedy series titled The Shrink Next Door, and you can bet the networks will be slugging it out to buy it.

There's nearly as much talent behind the scenes as in front of the camera. Directing will be Michael Showalter, whose previous credits include The Big Sick, Hello My Name is Doris, and Wet Hot American Summer. The script is by Veep and Succession writer, Georgia Pritchett, who will also exec-produce.

Inspired by real events captured in a true crime podcast, the series will find Rudd as celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Ike who forms an unusual relationship with his client, Marty (Ferrell), even going so far as to move into his home. From there he uses his charm to take over Marty's life and his business.

Ferrell can be seen in theaters now in Downhill, and has the Netflix comedy Eurovision coming up. Rudd has a big summer blockbuster in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.  Showalter's next film is The Lovebirds, featuring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae. [Deadline]

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A Small Town Gets Big Problems in the Official Trailer for 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife'

It's finally here! And with the full trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife we also get some answers to the story behind it all, for the most part the answers we got are pretty awesome. First and foremost the trailer reveals how Ivan Reitman decided to handle the legacy of Harold Ramis, and honestly it makes too much sense. That old house that the family moves into...you know the one where Ecto-1 was stored in an old barn. Yeah, that was Spangler's, and he's left it to his daughter. The kids in the film, his grand-kids, while it might be an obvious play it simply makes sense and ensures that he'll be front and center, in some way, throughout the film.

Outside of that I have some reservations. Not a sight of a single OG 'buster throughout the trailer (save for one news clip), and it would appear that the movie is almost a paranormal Goonies. That may not be a bad thing but it will ruffle some purist feathers. There is another angle, one that if true other filmmakers should copy. The footage we're looking at could be totally from the first act and a half of the film. We know the original crew is on-board so it's more then possible that what we are seeing is the setup for the film and Venkman, Stanz, and Zedmore are minutes away from showing up to show the little ones the way.

There's plenty of other neat little notes from the trailer, like when Paul Rudd's teacher character who is obviously a GB fanboy, lets out that there haven't been any ghost sightings in 30 years and the reaction from the kids which implies the events of NYC 1984 have been all but forgotten (I mean, who wouldn't forget a 20-story marshmallow man?). I won't bore you by regurgitating all of the details anymore then I already have, check it out below and let us know what you think.

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Review: Paul Rudd Is His Own Worst Enemy in 'Living With Yourself'

What's better then one Paul Rudd? Two Paul Rudd's of-course! The universally loved actor stars in the new Netflix series Living With Yourself, which is a new take on a somewhat regular trope. Rudd stars as Miles Elliot, a down on himself marketing executive who's got pretty much everything a guy could want but has been beat down by day to day life. He's losing out on big jobs at work, he and his wife are having trouble starting the family they've always wanted, he's got no time to work on his passion in the form of a play he's been writing. So when his seemingly rejuvenated work buddy/rival Dan let's him in on his secret, a "day spa" that leaves you feeling like a new man, the decision to go check it out is easy. One $50K price tag later Miles is led into a procedure room and put to sleep, only to wake up buried in a forest. He treks home in his surgical diaper only to find someone in bed with his wife....him. When the spa workers promised a new him, they were being literal. The only hiccup in the matter is that the gas given to Miles before his procedure was actually supposed to kill the old him, now they both have to figure their place in the live(s) they lived which, as you can imagine, is not as easy as making up the pull out couch in the living room. 

Paul Rudd is one of the only people that could have made this show work and damn does he. What could have been a fairly standard take on the clone trope becomes a show that allows a visual exploration of the fight we all have with ourselves about who we've become and what adulthood and responsibility has done to the idealistic people we once were. Rudd's boyish exuberance plays perfectly as the newly born clone and his range allows for a perfectly believable original Miles as someone who is so lost that they would go to these lengths. Aisling Bea who plays Kate, Mile's loving yet nearing the end of her patience wife, is new to me but I'm currently looking back through her filmography to see where I can get more. She's believable, something that I've always thought was Rudd's greatest asset, and is far from the perfect and understanding wife we sometimes get from the female leads in these shows. Something about the combination of her natural beauty and Irish brouge gives her this intimidating but irresistible quality that helps you to understand Miles's motivations. 

The 8-episode first season, which is delivered in 30 minute increments has a very cool structure where each episode is giving from a different primary perspective. It moves quickly and by episode 3 you begin to realize this isn't going to be a feel-good Multiplicity type show. While this wasn't something I had on my must watch list for 2019 it is one of my most pleasant surprises of the year and one of the few new shows I've watched that gave me that "oh, just one more episode" anxiety. 

Living With Yourself is available today on Netflix!

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'Living With Yourself' Trailer: Paul Rudd Is Jealous Of Paul Rudd In Netflix's Comedy Series

Paul Rudd has been funny for so long,  has the adoration of so many fans, and is apparently ageless, so it's understandable that somebody would be jealous of his success. The Avengers never would've stopped Thanos if it weren't for Rudd's Ant-Man, right? But would anybody suspect Paul Rudd to be jealous of...Paul Rudd? In the Netflix comedy series Living with Yourself, that's what happens when Rudd is forced into one whopper of an existential crisis.

Living With Yourself stars Rudd alongside Rudd, as a man who discovers that he's been replaced by a newer and better version. The result? His wife, played by red-hot comedienne Aisling Bea, kinda likes the improved version better.

The 8-episode series was created by The Daily Show's Timothy Greenberg and directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The team of Dayton and Faris is probably best known for directing Little Miss Sunshine, Ruby Sparks, and Battle of the Sexes.

SYNOPSIS: Miles is a man struggling in life. When he undergoes a novel spa treatment that promises to make him a better person, he finds he’s been replaced by a new and improved version of himself.

Living With Yourself hits Netflix on October 18th.

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Paul Rudd Answers The Call For 'Ghostbusters 2020'

If there's any actor who can get fans to fully embrace your movie, it's Paul Rudd. Does anybody not like him? Well, good for Jason Reitman's upcoming Ghostbusters sequel that Rudd has decided to answer the call.

Variety reports, and has since been confirmed by the film's social media account, that Rudd has joined the cast of Reitman's newly-titled Ghostbusters 2020. He will play a teacher in the film that has Annabelle Comes Home's McKenna Grace, Stranger Things' Finn Wolfhard, and Gone Girl's Carrie Coon set to star.

Reitman, son of original Ghostbusters director/producer Ivan Reitman, will direct and co-write the script with Gil Kenan. Unlike the 2016 movie, this isn't a reboot or remake, but a sequel set in the same universe as the classic comedies led by Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, and Harold Ramis. Sigourney Weaver is expected to reprise her role from those films, and it's possible Murray and Akroyd will, as well.

Ghostbusters 2020 hits theaters on July 10th 2020.

Look who accepted the call. #GB20 pic.twitter.com/QwYSiw5pBq

— Ghostbusters (@Ghostbusters) June 27, 2019

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Paul Rudd Unsure If There Will Be An 'Ant-Man 3'

With Avengers: Endgame firmly in the past and Spider-Man: Far From Home our first look at the "new" Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's unclear what the future holds for a number of key characters. Most of the Avengers have now concluded their story arcs, one way or another, which leaves others in limbo. One of those we know little about is Ant-Man, and Paul Rudd is as in the dark as the rest of us.

Rudd was asked by Yahoo whether there will another Scott Lang story at some point, and honestly, it doesn't sound good since his response was “I don’t know. You need to make a call to the top brass and start a campaign to make it happen.”

I'm sure somebody is starting an online poll as we speak.

The Ant-Man movies are hardly Marvel's biggest. The first film hit $519M while sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp topped out at $622M. That's not bad for a C-list character, although I would wager a third movie would do the best of all given his integral role in Avengers: Endgame. The problem is that his story does seem to be finished, doesn't it? Scott has overcome his criminal past and truly proved himself a hero, saving the world in the process. What's next for him to do besides train his daughter to become a superhero, too?

It's just sad to think we may have seen the last of Michael Pena as the quick-recapping Luis. Bring back Thanos if you have to just give us more of Luis!

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Review: 'Avengers: Endgame' Is A Satisfying, Sobering Finale To Marvel's Decade Of Dominance

Avengers: Endgame is NOT Avengers: Infinity War.

I know that should go without saying, but it really must be reiterated here. Infinity War was a double-barrelled, high-powered epic that built up to the ultimate battle against an unbeatable foe...who did indeed prove unbeatable. The Avengers lost. They lost bad.  And Endgame, which has moments of undeniable greatness and some of the most comic book moments in the history of comic book movies, is largely about our favorite heroes coming to grips with their failure. The first half, shy of a startling few moments, is about finding ways to channel the grief and anger...to see if it's even possible to move on with so many loved ones perished.

Endgame is a more sobering film, as directors Joe and Anthony Russo make sure you feel the impact of what Thanos has done. Some characters cope with it better than others; others come close to turning into the things they despise. Some have undergone drastic changes for the better, others for the worse. To give away too much would be criminal, but what you really need to know about the plot is that the Avengers get over themselves and start living up to their name. To do it is going to require a lot of luck, some scientific wizardry, and the kind of loyalty that has been built up over the course of 10 years.

And that's what Endgame is, really; a celebration of a decade's worth of intricate stories, as long dormant plotlines re-emerge and characters are forced to face the consequences of things that have happened in the past. The original 6 Avengers get more time together than we've seen in ages and it serves a dual purpose; to remind us how well these characters and actors interact, but also how far all of them have come. When Captain America gives one of his many encouraging speeches (and they are SO needed here!) it's enough to make you want to take on Thanos. Well, maybe not that. But they are inspiring.

What's missing early on is enough narrative drive to last until the inevitable showdown. There is a LOT of setup here, and while much of it has moments both heartbreaking and comical, it feels like we're stuck in neutral for a very long time before the plot kicks into gear. Anybody who isn't already a Marvel die-hard will be utterly confused by this stuff, too. I don't know why anybody who skipped Infinity War would be at Endgame but if they are...well, good luck.

But hot damn, when Endgame gets going it's like everything a Marvel fan could ever want. There's only one way this could end and that is with a gigantic war ten years in the making. Characters we always wanted to see together, fights we always clamored for, and even some of the jokes we've been thinking to ourselves, it's all here.  While the original Avengers take center stage there's plenty of room for the supporting players, as Rocket and Nebula really get their moments to shine. As for Thanos, he's going to go right up there as one of the most badass movie villains of all-time. We get to see a different side to him here, many sides actually, and I maintain he's the most well-rounded character seen in both chapters. No matter how silly Endgame gets, and it does get very silly very  often in a cheesy sci-fi kind of way, the Russos and their screenwriters never lose sight of the stakes. The weight of what's at stake is almost oppressive at times. Every decision is so crucial, everything must be exactly right. We can't ignore it or forget about it, and that makes the moments when we stand up and cheer all the more fulfilling. 

You will also shed tears. I think it's safe to say that over the years of watching these characters we feel closer to them than we probably should, and if that's true for you then Endgame will hit especially hard. Marvel has built up an incredible amount of emotional currency and Endgame is a very satisfying payoff that will be tough to replicate for at least another decade.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Two Clips From 'Ant-Man And The Wasp' Deliver Big Marvel Action

Marvel's grip on the summer blockbuster season continues in just a few days with Ant-Man and the Wasp. The latest clips do a good job of teasing a little bit of the film's action, which I think is better than in the previous movie. And they also offer better looks at two of the movie's villains, Hannah John-Kamen as the mysterious Ghost, and Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch.

The first clip shows a fight between Evangeline Lilly's Hope van Dyne and Ghost, a battle that makes it clear the villain won't be easy to take down. Or even to lay a hand on. She possesses strange phasing powers that make her virtually impossible to hit, but there's a lot to the origin of those powers. The second clip is part of the chase scene that has become a big part of the movie's marketing.  We get to see Paul Rudd's Scott Lang in Giant-Man mode, chasing down Burch and his goons using a truck as a scooter. We also see Michael Pena as Luis, who appears taken with how easily Hope takes out Burch's men.

Directed by Peyton Reed, Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 6th.

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Review: 'Ant-Man And The Wasp', A Tiny Sequel That's Another Big Win For Marvel

We heap a ton of praise on Marvel for their ten straight years of dominance and they deserve every bit of it. No studio has done anything close to what they've accomplished, turning B-list heroes into box office juggernauts and reinventing the way we all consume blockbuster movies. What we don't do is give Marvel enough credit for their sense of timing. I don't know about you, but after the doom 'n gloom of Avengers: Infinity War and the dreaded Thanos Snap, I needed a break. Doubtful me or anybody else could have handled another heavy superhero film with heroes fighting heroes or entire universes being wiped out. It was time for something light and fun with stakes that are comparatively small, no pun intended.

Thank goodness Ant-Man and the Wasp arrived when it did. The sequel to 2015's well-received Ant-Man is a step above, bringing more humor, a much better "villain", and better action thanks to the kickass performance of Evangeline Lilly as Wasp. Together she and Paul Rudd's Scott Lang are a dynamic duo of laughs and left hooks, making us wish they had been a team right from the very beginning. What the film does best, though, is entertain us with a kinetic romp through the Marvel Cinematic Universe without being held down by it. Of course if you've seen the other Marvel movies you get a better context for some things, but at heart this feels like a charming personal story for these particular characters.

Basically answering the "Where was Ant-Man during Infinity War?" question, Scott Lang has been holed up in his house for two years on house arrest for his part in that whole Civil War thing. Remember that? Big superhero battle at an airport? BIIIIIGGGGG Giant-Man appearance? Yeah, that. Civil War seems like a millennia ago. Anyway, he's going stir crazy but has managed to muddle through by creating Avengers-esque adventures for his daughter Cassie's regular visits, and helping his old thieving buddies (including Michael Pena as the mouthy Luis) launch X-Con Security. Get it, ex-con? Meanwhile, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope (Lilly) are also on the run from the government, but they've managed to find time to investigate the Quantum Zone, the microscopic world Scott escaped from. It's also the place where Hope's mother Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) went missing, and now they think they can get her back.

But for that, they'll need Scott's help, except they hate his guts and he's not exactly been honest with them about everything that he did. That puts Scott in the awkward position of playing the hero again while trying to mend fences with Hank and Hope, and avoiding being caught by dogged but pathetic FBI agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park).  Most of the tug of war Scott's going through is played comically, as it should since that's when the film is strongest. Rudd excels in the heartwarming scenes shared with Abby Ryder Fortson as Scott's daughter Cassie (lots of rumors about her lately), and in playing the goofball opposite Lilly's refined, strategic combatant.

The first movie's villain Yellowjacket was so generic he's barely worth a second thought, but the sequel gets an upgrade with Hannah-John Kamen as Ghost, a mysterious young woman with a strange phasing power and some connection to the Quantum Zone. Marvel die-hards should be pumped for the addition of Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster, aka the former hero known as Goliath. He plays a crucial role that helps broaden the Ant-Man/Giant-Man legacy, which has become surprisingly rich through two movies. No other MCU character has the heroic lineage of Ant-Man and we're seeing it used to build a deeper story.  Walton Goggins and his toothy grin also impresses as Simon Burch, a low-level criminal/obstacle who wants the Quantum technology for himself. He's no Thanos, but as a pest nuisance he fits with the movie's lower stakes.

Credited to a whopping five screenwriters, Ant-Man and the Wasp occasionally feels like pieced-together comedy sketches connected by exposition. It takes a lot to explain Scott's house arrest and the Sakovia Accords, Janet's disappearance, Ghost's backstory, Bill Foster's past with Hank...and that doesn't even begin on all the techno-babble. "Do you just put Quantum in front of everything?', Scott asks after one particularly nonsensical exchange about subatomic particles or whatever. And we kindof agree with him on that. Fortunately, Reed doesn't let things get bogged down too much, leaning on his experience as a comedy director to always be setting up for the next big joke. Reed, who prior to joining Marvel was best known for the cheerleading comedy Bring It On, has vastly improved as an all-around filmmaker. The action setpieces are exciting and hilarious, usually involving some unexpected use of Pym Particles to expand atypical items like a salt shaker or Pez dispenser. While I spent the first movie wondering what Ant-Man would have been like if Edgar Wright had stuck around, Reed has now come into his own.

Ant-Man and the Wasp works because it doesn't get too big for its britches. Whether it's dealing with Scott's home life or his heroic and romantic misadventures, there's never a moment when you wish it had larger, world-threatening ramifications.  For that, you'll have just to stick around through the end credits, but you already knew to do that.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Review: Paul Rudd Strikes Out In 'The Catcher Was A Spy'

*Note: This is a reprint of my review from the Sundance Film Festival. The Catcher Was A Spy opens tomorrow, June 22nd.*

The Catcher Was A Spy has a great story to tell. Mo Berg was a  veteran Major League Baseball player who, after he finally retired, somehow became a spy fighting for our side during WWII. It's certainly intriguing to see how Berg could go from catching fastballs to hunting a German scientist, but despite a promising cast led by Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, Mark Strong, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels, and Sienna Miller, the film misses the strike zone by a wide margin.

Berg was more than just a baseball player for the Red Sox; he was brilliant man with multiple degrees and spoke many different languages, which made him something of an ambassador for the sport. He also had his share of secrets and was pretty good at keeping them, like his relationship with Estella (Sienna Miller), a woman he clearly has feelings for but keeps at arm's length. Rumors persist that Berg is secretly a gay man, and one teammate actually seeks to expose him, but it's a plotline that is quietly dropped and never seen again.

Berg's baseball career is basically just a footnote, and director Ben Lewin (He was here a few years ago with The Sessions) and screenwriter Robert Rodat  focus on his being assigned by the U.S. military to assassinate Werner Heisenberg (Strong), a physicist they believe is developing an atomic bomb for the Germans. Sadly, the retelling of that story is pretty bland and lacks any urgency whatsoever for what amounts to a race to win the war.  Lewin seems out of his depth as a director of espionage and action, even while Howard Shore's able score plumbs the shadowy depths of intrigue the film so readily wants to be.

But not only is Lewin unsuitable as a director, so is Paul Rudd badly miscast as Berg. He's simply not the right actor for the kind of rugged film noir hero the role demands. Now if this were a parody or a WWII satire then Rudd would be your guy. And since he's in every scene the entire movie topples and there really is no way to recover. Not even the supporting cast can do much to save it. All are fine, but that's all...they're just fine. The only ones I would say are badly misused are Guy Pearce and poor Sienna Miller, relegated to yet another thankless role as the forgotten woman beside an interesting man.

The Catcher Was A Spy does no favors to Mo Berg's story, which is ready made for the big Hollywood treatment if put in the right hands.

Rating: 2 out of 5

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'Ant-Man And The Wasp' TV Spot Reveals What Scott Lang's Been Up To

There were a couple of Avengers noticeably absent from the Infinity War against Thanos. While I expect we'll find out where Hawkeye was hiding at in Avengers 4, the whereabouts of Paul Rudd's Scott Lang will be learned much sooner in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The latest TV spot maks the connection between this film and Infnity War a little bit clearer.

It's right at the beginning so at least you won't have to wait long into the 30-second clip to find out. This continues to look like a welcome breather from the seriousness of Infinity War. Marvel is smart in the way they place their movies in such a way that things never get too dark for too long. Say what you want about DC, nothing they've ever done is quite as dark as what happend in Infinity War. The difference is they would keep rolling right along with that tone, while Marvel is lightening things up.

Directed by Peyton Reed with Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Komen, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Abby Ryder-Fortson, Randall Park, and Laurence Fishburne co-starring, Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 6th.

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Rumor: Paul Rudd Racing To Paramount's 'Sonic The Hedgehog' Movie

A Sonic the Hedgehog movie is racing to the big screen, and Paramount may have found their first star. While there's still nobody set to voice the speedy video game icon, Paul Rudd is reportedly being eyed for one of the lead live-action roles. Take this with a grain of salt as the story comes from That Hashtag Show, although to be fair they've been on a roll of late.

Rudd would be playing one of the film's human characters, which kills my dreams he would voice a CGI Tails.  The Ant-Man and the Wasp star would play Tom, "a cop who befriends Sonic and will likely team up to defeat the evil Robotnik." No surprised there since Robotnik, aka Dr. Eggman, is usually the villain in the many Sonic video games published by SEGA. 

The film will mark the feature directorial debut of Jeff Fowler, Oscar nominee for his animated short film Gopher Broke. He'll work from a script by writers Patrick Casey and Josh Miller. Sonic the Hedgehog is currently set to open on November 15th 2019.  

Rudd will be seen next in WWII film The Catcher was a Spy, followed of course by Ant-Man and the Wasp.

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'Ant-Man And The Wasp' TV Spot Unleashes Ghost On The MCU

Ant-Man and the Wasp doesn't get a megavillain the size and scope of Thanos, but their foe is just right for the diminutive crime fighting duo. Hannah John-Kamen plays the technologically-gifted Ghost in the Marvel sequel, and now she's got a TV spot that's basically all about her.

Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) team up to stop Ghost, whose power to phase through solid objects make her extremely tough to handle. We see her kicking Scott's butt pretty easily in this 30-second teaser because, let's face it, he can't really fight. He's just big.

"We've unleashed something powerful, we have to stop her," Hope says, alluding to Ghost's theft of Pym Particles which may also grant her access to the Quantum Realm, the place where Hope's mother Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) was lost years earlier. We've seen very little of Janet Van Dyne or that particular plotline, which tells me it must hold some pretty big secrets.

Directed by Peyton Reed, Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 6th.

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'The Catcher Was A Spy' Trailer: Paul Rudd Goes From Home Plate To Protecting The Homefront

If you don't recognize the name of Major League Baseball player Morris "Moe" Berg, that's alright. While a solid player throughout his sixteen year career, he wasn't known for his activities on the field. Berg was also a spy, who used his frequent international trips on behalf of the League to cover for his covert activities. And that extraordinary true story is the basis for Ben Lewin's The Catcher Was A Spy, which finds Paul Rudd playing a different kind of hero than his Ant-Man persona.

Rudd stars alongside Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, Jeff Daniels, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Paul Giamatti in the film about Berg's double life, which sounds like it was tailor made to be a Hollywood movie. And yet I flat out didn't like it when I saw it at Sundance, noting that Lewin, who previously helmed The Sessions, was unsuitable as a maker of espionage movies. Worse, it badly miscast Rudd who despite his charm and good looks is completely flat and charisma-free in a role that demands the opposite. The newly-released trailer is much better than the finished product, I'll put it that way.

Here is the official synopsis: “The Catcher Was a Spy” tells the true story of Morris “Moe” Berg (Paul Rudd), the Major League Baseball player, Ivy League graduate, attorney and top-secret spy who helped the U.S. defeat Nazi Germany in the race to build the atomic bomb.

With fifteen seasons of Major League Baseball under his belt, Moe Berg walks away from his catcher’s career and the love of his life to dedicate his supreme intellect, linguistic skills and athletic prowess to U.S. intelligence’s wartime efforts. After excelling at the rigorous training mandatory for intelligence officers in America’s pre-CIA agency, Moe convinces O.S.S. Chief Bill Donovan (Jeff Daniels) that his unique capabilities will serve the nation singularly well in espionage matters abroad. Soon Donovan tasks Moe with a deadly overseas mission: to head to war-torn Europe and infiltrate the inner sanctum of the Nazi atomic program’s gifted lead physicist, Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong). Backed by U.S. military specialist Robert Furman (Guy Pearce) and renowned Dutch-American physicist Samuel Goudsmit (Paul Giamatti), Moe traverses the embattled villages of Italy and the upper echelons of Swiss academia on the hunt for the elusive Heisenberg. But once Moe ascertains exactly how close Heisenberg is to building an atomic bomb for the Nazi enemy, he is to make a life-or-death decision that will impact the very future of humanity.

The Catcher Was A Spy opens June 22nd.

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New 'Ant-Man And The Wasp' Trailer Leaves Open One Giant Question

Hey uh, somebody was conspicuously absent during that whole Infinity War affair. Nah, not Hawkeye, nobody's thinking about that guy. Oh yeah. Ant-Man. Why wasn't he out there fighting Thanos and trying to save the universe from ultimate destruction? The answer to that question will (presumably) come in this summer's sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, but you can start to get some clues in the newly released trailer.

Paul Rudd is back in the Ant-Man suit, joined by Evangeline Lilly as his partner the Wasp. The story picks up immediately after the events of Captain America: Civil War but appear to be pre-Infinity War, for obvious reasons to those who have seen it. Or maybe it's not? When does this movie actually take place?? That's one giant whopper of a question that's left hanging out there. Michael Douglas returns as Hank Pym with Laurence Fishburne joining the cast as Bill "Black Goliath" Foster and Michelle Pfeiffer as ex-Wasp Janet van Dyne. 

A trip to the Quantum Zone looks to be in order as the duo tries to find the missing Janet, while a new villain known as the Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) may have stolen some important Pym tech with plans of destroying the world.  Here's the synopsis:

From the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes a new chapter featuring heroes with the astonishing ability to shrink: “Ant-Man and The Wasp.” In the aftermath of “Captain America: Civil War,” Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father. As he struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from their past.

I love the exchange between Rudd and Fishburne, it's not only funny and sophomoric (size jokes!!!) but it gives me hope Foster will be sticking around the MCU for a while. And of course it's good to see Michael Pena back as motor-mouthed Luis.

Once again directed by Peyton Reed, Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 6th.

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The 'Avengers: Infinity War' Runtime Keeps Changing But Remains Epic

Of the many mysteries surrounding Avengers: Infinity War, the most befuddling may be how long the damn thing is. At one point we heard it would be 150 minutes, an incredibly long film and the longest in the MCU ever. The film wasn't locked at that point, though, nor was it when another report from Fandango increased the time to 156 minutes. And now another run time has surfaced and it may not be final, either.

The latest, from Britain's BBFC  and the Irish Film Classification Office list Infinity War as running 149 minutes. However, the folks at ScreenRant checked with Disney who say the 156 minutes is legit. So what's the deal? My guess is that there are different cuts for different regions and that is causing a mix up. 

No matter what you're going to want to pack a lunch, hit the restroom early, do whatever you need to do before Infinity War starts because you'll be in that chair for every single minute of it.  

Also, and this could be considered a minor SPOILER so beware. But a look at the BBFC's cast listing notes the inclusion of someone who Marvel has previously failed to confirm. Who might that be?  Paul Rudd, meaning Ant-Man will be making an appearance in the film somewhere, although Evangeline Lilly isn't listed so maybe he'll be flying solo. 

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'Ideal Home' Trailer: Paul Rudd & Steve Coogan Try To Be Good Parents

Ideal Home is a film you've probably never heard about, and that's okay because almost nobody has. Weird because it stars Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan, two screen favorites if there ever were. But to say it has been flying under the radar would be an understatement. It's already had a world premiere at the Mardi Gras Film Festival, which probably none of you attended, and somehow there's a release date in Australia before there's one in the U.S. But we do have a trailer, and maybe that will clear things up a little.

Oh. Well here's one potential stumbling block: Andrew Fleming. He's the director behind the awful Coogan-led flop Hamlet 2, which has the distinction of being one of the highest-selling box office disasters out of Sundance. And it's a terrible movie. The trailer for Ideal Home doesn't look that good, either. It stars Rudd and Coogan as an extravagant celebrity gay couple who have their lives turned inside out by a 10-year-old boy who claims to be Coogan's grandson. Of course he begins to change their selfish lives for the better.  I'll just say that laughs seem like they will be very hard to come by, and the gay jokes are like something from ten years ago. Come on, guys, do better. 

So there's no date here in the U.S. but in Australia Ideal Home opens in June. I suspect we'll get some kind of VOD release around the same time.

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Review: Duncan Jones's 'Mute' Lacks A Compelling Voice Of Its Own

Duncan Jones's dream project Mute arrives on Netflix, and typical of the streaming service it's barely making a ripple. That's disappointing given the years he has spent wanting to make it, and the years we as his fans have spent hearing about it. The promise of a return to the kind of intelligent, immersive sci-fi world he was able to create with Moon and the more mainstream Source Code goes sadly unfulfilled, though. Mute is, by any measure, a disjointed, boring, and derivative mess that shows none of the special qualities that we've previously seen from Jones and reasonably expected to find here.

There is initially a flash of inspiration, as we see a young Amish boy floating in water, blood streaming from a nasty neck wound. The doctors can save him and his voice, but his parents trust in God to heal him not the ways of modern medicine. They're wrong, of course, and the boy, named Leo (Alexander Skarsgard), grows up having never been able to utter a word. It's now twenty years later and Leo is a bartender in Berlin, a bustling place of poor working stiffs, AWOL servicemen, and criminal lowlifes. Leo doesn't have much; the influence of his conservative Luddite upbringing, but he does have Naadiyah (Seyned Saleh), his loving blue-haired girlfriend with a big smile and mysterious past.

"You don't know me, Leo", she tells him at one point, and it's clearly true because when she goes missing from the shady club they both work at, the truth about who she really is begins to emerge. To find her, Leo must play gumshoe and work his way through one seedy character after another.

A noirish detective tale in a future setting invites comparison to Blade Runner, but also does Jones's interpretation of Berlin, a deep blue cross-cultural metropolis full of dazzling billboards and grimy street corners. Jones doesn't really bring anything distinctive to give this world its own flavor, though, and there's nothing in the story that makes it clear why it needs to be set in the future at all. The visual uncertainty is matched only by the narrative confusion, as Leo is barely the star of his own movie. While his quest to learn of Naadiya's secret past and her current whereabouts is one part of the story, given equal time are the antics of Cactus Bill (Paul Rudd, sporting a Burt Reynolds 'stache to die for) and Duck (Justin Theroux), two AWOL militarymen who now serve as surgeons to the criminal underworld. Bill is down for the dirty work as long as it gets him money for IDs to escape from Berlin along with his young daughter. The two come off like former college fratboys, with Bill quick to murderous anger and Duck...well, he's creepy in ways best left unsaid.

It's possible that Jones realized the wordless Leo was hardly the most compelling antagonist and went too far in the other direction with Cactus and Duck, but they practically take over the entire film. The problem is they are as unsympathetic as Leo is dull. Supporting characters aren't much better, drifting in and out without leaving much of an impression. Jones would have been better off sticking with Leo but focusing on the one aspect about him that actually is intriguing, and that's his Amish upbringing. He's like a man out of time, a figure of peace in a world where men like that are in short supply. When Leo comes to violence, and those times do happen, he seems as shocked about it as anybody.

It's hard to get a handle on what Jones actually wants Mute to be about. It lumbers along to an unusually savage finale that should give parents nightmares, then concludes with a dedication to Jones's own parents. Was this supposed to be a movie about raising children and I just missed it? Maybe that's the case, but more likely that Mute is Jones getting out every idea he ever had for this pet project whether they make sense or not. If anything, Mute serves as a reminder that some dream projects should remain on the shelf.

Rating: 2 out of 5

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'Mute' Trailer: Duncan Jones Brings His Long-Awaited Sci-Fi Film To Netflix

While Netflix has a ton of original movies that have helped pad their inventory, recently they've gotten into the blockbuster game, finding success with the critically-acclaimed (Overrated in my opinion) Okja and subscriber favorite Bright. Now they're at it again with Mute, the long-awaited pet sci-fi project from Source Code and Warcraft director, Duncan Jones.

Following the teaser released just a couple of days ago, the full trailer is here and it's gorgeous, resembling in style and tone to Blade Runner, which is exactly what Jones was gunning for.  Set in Berlin 2052, and in the same universe as his debut film Moon, the story follows Leo, a mute bartender played by Alexander Skarsgard, who is in search of his missing girlfriend played by Seyneb Saleh.  Paul Rudd plays a surgeon named Cactus Jack (paging Mick Foley) while Justin Theroux goes by Duck Teddington.

Here's the synopsis: Berlin, the future, but close enough to feel familiar: In this loud, often brutal city, Leo (Alexander Skarsgård) – unable to speak from a childhood accident – searches for his missing girlfriend, the love of his life, his salvation, through dark streets, frenzied plazas, and the full spectrum of the cities shadow-dwellers. As he seeks answers, Leo finds himself mixed up with Cactus Bill (Paul Rudd) and Duck (Justin Theroux), a pair of irreverent US army surgeons on a mission all their own. This soulful sci-fi journey from filmmaker Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft) imagines a world of strange currencies in which echoes of love and humanity are still worth listening to.

Honestly, I think Jones is so much more comfortable with sci-fi than anything else. I hope he stays making movies like this, rather than doing another Warcraft movie.  Mute hits Netflix on February 23rd.

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'Ant-Man And The Wasp' Trailer Promises Twice The Pint-Sized Action

If you need to see the biggest difference between how Marvel and DC do things on the big screen, look no further than Ant-Man. That was about as rough of a production as it gets for Marvel, but the whole Edgar Wright fiasco didn't hamper things one bit. Peyton Reed, not exactly a fan favorite filmmaker, stepped in and took over, producing a fun, enjoyable movie that fit in with what Marvel was doing. And now he'll attempt to do the same with Ant-Man and the Wasp, which had one of the quietest productions for a superhero movie ever.

The first teaser arrived this morning and it gives us exactly what we hoped for, more of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and a lot more of his new partner in crime, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne aka the Wasp. The adventure, which brings back Michael Douglas as Hank Pym and introduces Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne and Laurence Fishburne as Bill "Black Goliath" Foster, finds the duo venturing into the Quantum zone, just as Ant-Man did in th first movie. We only get a tiny glimpse of it here, though, in-between a lot of jokes at Lang's expense. We also hear Lang and Hope bickering over Civil War, and catch a glimpse of Hannah John-Kamen as the villainous Ghost.

Also starring Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, and Randall Park, Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 6th.

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