“No man, no problem.” IFC Films released one last red band trailer for the US release of The Death of Stalin, satirist Armando Iannucci’s latest film about Russian politics. We’ve seen plenty of trailers for this already, for the UK release and the US release too, but one more can’t hurt. Based on Fabien Nury’s graphic novel, the film is about Russian dictator Joseph Stalin’s last days and the disorganized chaos of the regime after his death in 1953 and 30 years of iron-fisted rule. Adrian McLoughlin plays Stalin, with an amazing ensemble: Rupert Friend, Steve Buscemi, Olga Kurylenko, Jason Isaacs, Andrea Riseborough, Jeffrey Tambor, Paddy Considine, Michael Palin, and Jonathan Aris. This most recently played at the Sundance Film Festival as well. If you enjoy Iannucci’s dry political humor, this film is definitely for you. ›››
A woman who has a funny bone for a backbone. Entertainment One UK has debuted an official trailer for the indie comedy Funny Cow, starring English actress Maxine Peake as a comedienne in the 70s making her mark on the male-dominated stand up scene. Peake recently starred in the black-and-white “Metalhead” episode of Netflix’s “Black Mirror”, which is where some people might recognize her from, even though she has been in many films before this. Set against the backdrop of the 70s/80s comedy club circuit in Northern England, Funny Cow stars Peake as fictional comedienne “Funny Cow”, trying making a name for herself in the stand up world. The full cast includes Paddy Considine, Christine Bottomley, Stephen Graham, Alun Armstrong, Tony Pitts, Hannah Walters, and Kevin Eldon. This film actually looks quite good. ›››
“What if we defeat you?” Cleopatra Entertainment has released an official US trailer for the South African period epic Blood & Glory, which opened in South Africa in 2016, but is just now getting a US release direct-to-VOD this March. Based on true historical events from South Africa’s history, the story is about a man who is taken prisoner during the Second Anglo-Boer War and is sent to the St. Helena concentration camp, where he tries to defeat a Colonal at the game of rugby. Stian Bam stars, along with Charlotte Salt, Josh Myers, Andre Jacobs, Greg Kriek, Nick Cornwall, and Grant Swanby. This actually looks like a film about rugby, or so it seems, with prisoners learning to play in order to battle against the warden. This just seems like an odd story to tell, but I don’t know the history in South Africa well enough. Watch below. ›››
This is the story of Astrid Lindgren, a Swedish woman who went on to write the massively popular series of books about Pippi Longstocking. Becoming Astrid is a feature film about the teenage years of Astrid’s life in Sweden. She was born in 1907, and in her youth struggled to find her independence and place in the small town of Näs where she was raised. From the moment the film started, I had a good feeling about it, with the score and the opening scene of an elderly Lindgren reading cards that children have sent her at her home. The rest of the film takes place in the 1920s in Sweden, telling the true story of a young Astrid and her love for an older newspaper man. It’s a lovely, engaging tale of an intelligent woman who strived to be different. ›››
There are two DC movies currently set for release in 2019–Shazam and Wonder Woman 2. The first of these is currently in production, and the first on set image of Shazam himself has now been revealed. The image was posted on Reddit and it shows star Zachary Levi wearing the character’s classic costume. The set dressing suggests that the scene in question is set at Christmas–you can check it out here.
We might not long have to wait until we see the first official image of the character however. Last week director David F. Sandberg predicted that an on-set image might leak from the shoot, and told fans on Reddit, “if someone had managed to snap a shot of the suit last week when we were shooting outside they would have released an official pic right away. Since we got away with it they want to do more of an official thing. And it’s right around the corner.”
Shazam also stars Asher Angel as the character’s young alter ego Billy Batson, and Mark Strong as the evil Doctor Sivana. It hits theaters on April 5, 2019. Earlier this month, a synopsis was released, which confirmed Sandberg’s earlier hints that the movie will have a more lighthearted tone than many of DC’s movies.
The synopsis reads: “We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s case, by shouting out one word–SHAZAM!–this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult superhero Shazam, courtesy of an ancient wizard.
“Still a kid at heart–inside a ripped, godlike body–Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Doctor Thaddeus Sivana.”
Shazam first appeared in 1939, when he was known by the name Captain Marvel. The character was bought by DC in 1971, when he was renamed, due to Marvel’s ownership of the name Captain Marvel. A live action Shazam TV show was broadcast in the mid-’70s, while an animated show followed in 1981.
Marvel and Star Wars are such huge franchises that it’s inevitable that they share some of the same actors. Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Serkis have had notable roles in both series, and they might soon be joined by Luke Skywalker himself–Mark Hamill. Hamill was drawn into a conversation on Twitter with Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn about potentially appearing in the next film in Marvel’s sci-fi series.
It all started with a tweet from a fan @ianfee, who asked Gunn if he would cast Hamill in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn replied by commenting that Hamill lived nearby in Malibu, and he could “just come over and talk about it over a cup of coffee.”
At this point Hamill himself entered the conversation and told Gunn that “as a good neighbor and an unemployed actor” he would love to pop over for a coffee and a chat. The exchange ended with Gunn saying “let’s do it” and Hamill asking him to DM him for his contact details if he was “serious and a good neighbor.”
I would be happy to do so, both as a good neighbor & an unemployed actor. All the best, mh
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to hit theaters in 2020. Gunn has confirmed that this will be his final movie in the series, and last year explained that he wanted to ensure that Vol. 3 ended the trilogy properly. “There is a history in Hollywood of haphazard endings to trilogies, and I didn’t want to become a part of that dishonorable tradition of pretending the third one doesn’t exist,” he said.
“My love for [the characters] goes deeper than you guys can possibly imagine. I feel they have more adventures to go on and things to learn about themselves and the wonderful and sometimes terrifying universe we all inhabit.”
With Disney owning some of the biggest franchises in cinema, it was inevitable that the company would want to incorporate them into its theme park business. Two massive Star Wars parks have been under construction in the US for several years, and it has now been announced that Disneyland Paris will undergo a $2.5 billion expansion to incorporate areas based on Star Wars, Marvel, and the animated hit Frozen.
The plans were revealed by Disney boss Bob Iger, following a meeting in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron. In a statement, Iger said: “We’re very excited about the future of Disneyland Paris and continue to invest in its long-term success. The resort is already the leading tourist destination in Europe, and the transformative expansion we announced today will add even more of our beloved characters and unparalleled storytelling to create new lands, attractions and entertainment that further elevate the guest experience and drive new opportunities for tourism in this dynamic region.”
The Star Wars, Marvel, and Frozen areas will be rolled out in stages, starting in 2021. While the company’s specific plans are unknown, Disneyland Paris will start to introduce a Marvel element from this summer with characters appearing at the park and a Marvel-themed hotel opening in 2020. In addition, Iger hinted earlier this week that Black Panther could play a part in the company’s future theme park plans.
The two Star Wars lands in Florida and California are set to open in 2019. Last summer, a scale model of the park design was revealed at the company’s annual D23 convention. According to the company, “both Star Wars-inspired lands will transport guests to a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before Wild Space, where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life.” Iger previously explained that they would be “largest single-themed land expansions ever,” covering 14 acres of land.
AMD has announced a new promotion around Far Cry 5 where you can get the open-world action game for free on PC when you buy a new GPU. Starting today, everyone who picks up one of AMD’s select pre-built systems with Radeon RX Vega 64, Radeon RX Vega 56, or Radeon RX 580 graphics cards will receive a free copy of the upcoming game.
After buying one of the supported systems, you’ll receive a code for Far Cry 5 that you can redeem on Uplay. You must visit www.amdrewards.com to redeem this code. Of course, the game will not unlock until launch March 27.
The full terms and conditions, which you can see here [PDF], reveal that the promotion ends on May 20 or when AMD’s allotment of codes runs through. The promotion is available in markets around the world at brick-and-mortar retailers and online stores.
AMD also noted in its news release that Far Cry 5 takes advantage of a number of features specific to Radeon RX Vega cards, including “rapid packed math,” “shader instrinsics,” and FreeSync 2.
George R.R. Martin, the wildly successful author of A Song of Ice and Fire, is still writing the sixth entry in the series, The Winds of Winter. But that’s not all that’s keeping him busy.
The novelist apparently attended a recent multi-day Dead and Company concert in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico earlier this month. Here’s a picture of Martin and ESPN Radio Miami host Stugotz at the “Playing in the Sand” concert, as shared by ESPN’s Pablo S. Torre:
In 2014, Martin revealed that he and his wife are big fans of Grateful Dead. “I’m certainly a fan of the Grateful Dead. I’ve attended Grateful Dead concerts and my wife Paris is perhaps even more of a fan… and I do have Grateful Dead lyrics always coming around and rattling around in my head,” he said at the time in an interview with 92Y.
Dead and Company is the new version of Grateful Dead whose lineup includes classic Grateful Dead musicians including Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, along with John Mayer and others.
“The dramatic true-life story of the men who broke the Nazis’ back!” Studiocanal in the UK has debuted a short new trailer for a special re-release screening of The Dam Busters, the 1955 WWII film about British bombers taking out German dams. This action film is regarded as one of the best WWII films, becoming the most popular film in British cinemas in 1955 when it was released. The Dam Busters has been in the news recently, as Peter Jackson has been trying to remake it for a long time. Nothing has come together yet and it’s still in development. Studiocanal is hosting a special 4K restoration screening for one night only in May in the UK, with a gala at the Royal Albert Hall that will be broadcast to other cinemas around the UK. The Dam Busters stars Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave, Ursula Jeans, Basil Sydney, Patrick Barr, Ernest Clark, and Derek Farr. If you live in the UK, this seems like a do-not-miss screening. Info below. ›››
