#Desperately need more appearances in Kirby media

[desultory-novice]

Do you think that Daroach has killed someone off-screen? He is referred as a ruthless thief in star allies even after his friendly meetings with Kirby and him stopping the villians has more so to do with pragmatism than him feeling actually helping.

...!! A Daroach ask! I'm so happy!

Anyway, warning for brief talk of killing, stealing, and other immoral + gray morality stuff! And remember that regardless of what your favorite video game characters would do, everyone has someone who cares about them the same way you care about your most important people! (If you don't think YOU have that person in YOUR life yet, you will, someday! I promise!) </Dess positivity>

Now, Daroach gives me strong "phantom thief" vibes (The hat, the cape. Red is not exactly a stealthy color. It's clear Daroach cares more about style than being undetected. Plus, his JP description constantly throws around the word “calling card” - another staple of the phantom thief) and phantom thieves traditionally outsmart those they encounter rather than kill them but...

...If we're talking about a Kirby universe where everyone comes back to life in a week or so, then perhaps...?!? That is to say, at least as many as Kirby has "killed." (Aka, has "killed" no one that's gone forever :cough: ignoring Sectonia :cough:) But being ruthless (I did a quick wiki browse and couldn’t find a direct quote, but I trust that it’s mentioned somewhere) I'm SURE he and the Squeaks have gotten into violent confrontations before.

The question here is, who would a thief "need" to kill? Even in real life, a thief's focus is on stealing. Anything that gets in the way of that/complicates that process is something they DON'T want. That includes violence/violent confrontations. Killing someone and THEN taking their stuff is more liable to be associated with feelings of power/domination/control. Stealing CAN be about those things, but is usually more concerned with profit or survival. Or rebellion, if you're stealing from an institution.

(Btw, as for writing all that, I actually have zero experience with thievery - and I've never taken a psychology class, so treat the stuff up above with a grain of salt - but when you have ambitions of being a writer, you look a LOT of stuff up/think a lot about motivations.)

There's the possibility of Daroach having harmed or killed someone in self-defense, such as some yet unseen law-person or bounty hunter, but unless his reciprocation was particularly cruel or brutal, it doesn't exactly follow that such an act would lead him to be described as ruthless. And that level of violence doesn't line up with anything we know about the Squeaks anyway. They made Kirby apology cake!!

"Ruthless" does mean having no compassion or pity, but I imagine that is more in reference to the degrees they will go to get their treasure. Recall that Doc built at least two giant killer robots to stop Kirby!

...Oh.... 

...I just said "killer" robots, didn't I?

O-Okay. Let's just make a division here between cartoon violence and real world violence. I don't think the Squeaks have committed anything that could be comparable to the horror of real world violence. I DO think they have gotten up to their non-existent elbows in cartoon violence though!

But as much as I could imagine a growly Daroach threatening someone "to the pain" style in a dimly lit room, the tip of his cane pressed right up against their throat, I don't see him going through with it. He's got so many better methods of getting what he wants than serious violence! Plus, his dialogue in Mass Attack is a perfect mix of “Robin Hood” and “Noblesse Oblige.”

In fact, I went and checked the Japanese Star Allies description and while he mentions “taking” those “Dark Heart Gems” there’s no indication he plans on using them to do anything bad. Daroach speaks as if the thrill of the (treasure) hunt is what he’s in for more than anything. (And being able to lay back on a pile of gold and jewels like some kind of tiny, furry dragon.)

...He'd definitely make someone who hurt his crew regret it though!

Slightly related, I happen to love any HC in which the Squeaks are treated like space pirates, considering they have an airship AND are capable of inter-planetary travel! I feel like someone once mentioned that since Samus is (sort of) canon to the Kirby universe, she's probably seen Daroach's bounty on her radar, at least.

...Though I cannot say for certain what a Metroid-canon Daroach may or may not have done to earn that bounty!

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

U.S. Is Getting a Crash Course in Scientific Uncertainty (NYT) When the coronavirus surfaced last year, no one was prepared for it to invade every aspect of daily life for so long, so insidiously. The pandemic has forced Americans to wrestle with life-or-death choices every day of the past 18 months—and there is no end in sight. Scientific understanding of the virus changes by the hour, it seems. The virus spreads only by close contact or on contaminated surfaces, and then turns out to be airborne. The virus mutates slowly, but then emerges in a series of dangerous new forms. Americans do not need to wear masks. Wait, they do. At no point in this ordeal has the ground beneath our feet seemed so uncertain. Just last week, federal health officials said they would begin offering booster shots to all Americans in the coming months. Days earlier, those officials had assured the public that the vaccines were holding strong against the delta variant of the virus, and that boosters would not be necessary. As early as Monday, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to formally approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already been given to scores of millions of Americans. Some holdouts found it suspicious that the vaccine was not formally approved yet somehow widely dispensed. For them, “emergency authorization” has never seemed quite enough. Americans are living with science as it unfolds in real time. The process has always been fluid, unpredictable. But rarely has it moved at this speed, leaving citizens to confront research findings as soon as they land at the front door, a stream of deliveries that no one ordered and no one wants.

Census data: U.S. hunger problem may be waning, but food assistance still tops pre-pandemic levels (Washington Post) Hunger around America is improving, compared with a month ago, according to the most recent U.S. census data. But food insecurity has a long way to go before returning to pre-pandemic levels. Self-reported food insecurity for the week ending Aug. 2 was at its lowest levels since the start of the coronavirus pandemic for households with children, according to the census data. That dovetails with strong jobs numbers, stronger economic growth and other bright spots in the economic recovery. But food stamps enrollment is still way up, 2 million more than last year and 6 million more than in 2019. And food banks are still seeing dramatically more need than during pre-pandemic times. Plus money doesn’t go quite as far, as the cost of many grocery items—including beef, poultry, eggs and dairy—continues to tick higher, as it has for well over a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Inflation watch (NYT) The good news is that job openings are abundant, wages for people at the lower end of the pay scale are rising quickly, and it appears that the post-pandemic recovery won’t be like the long slog that followed the three previous recessions. But consumer prices have been rising faster than average wages—meaning that, on average, workers are seeing the purchasing power of their paycheck fall. People looking to buy a car or build a house or obtain a wide variety of other products are finding it hard to do so. And while much of that reflects temporary supply disruptions that should abate in coming months, other forces could keep prices rising. These include soaring rents and the delayed effects of higher prices from companies having to pay higher wages.

Cleanup begins in soggy Northeast as Henri plods back to sea (AP) Residents across the waterlogged Northeast began clearing mud and tearing out sodden carpets Monday after deluges dropped by Tropical Storm Henri, whose remnants threatened further flooding in New England as the system made a slow trek back to the sea. The smell of sewage filled the air as residents of Rossmoor, a retirement community in central New Jersey’s Monroe Township, returned to soaked homes and ruined possessions after Henri turned their streets into rivers. Henri spared coastal areas of New York and New England major damage when its center made landfall Sunday in Rhode Island. But its size and slow speed led to deluges in areas from Maine to Pennsylvania.

Turkey reinforces border to block any Afghan migrant wave (Reuters) Afghans who manage to make the weeks-long journey through Iran on foot to the Turkish border face a three-metre high wall, ditches or barbed wire as Turkish authorities step up efforts to block any refugee influx into the country. The beefed up border measures in Turkey, which already hosts nearly 4 million Syrian refugees and is a staging post for many migrants trying to reach Europe, began as the Taliban started advancing in Afghanistan and took over Kabul last week. Turkey is not the only country putting up barriers: Its neighbour Greece has just completed a 40-km fence and surveillance system to keep out migrants who still manage to enter Turkey and try to reach the European Union. Authorities say there are 182,000 registered Afghan migrants in Turkey and up to an estimated 120,000 unregistered ones. President Tayyip Erdogan urged European countries to take responsibility for any new influx, warning that Turkey had no intention of becoming “Europe’s migrant storage unit”.

Paralympics 2020 (NBC) The 2020 Paralympics get underway today in Tokyo, with many anticipating records to be broken in the long jump, swimming, and powerlifting, among other events. Athletes will compete across almost two dozen events including badminton and taekwondo—the two new sports being featured this year. The Games are expected to be the biggest ever in Paralympic history, with roughly 4,500 athletes from almost every country competing in events. Similar to this summer’s Olympic Games, the stands will be mostly absent of spectators due to COVID-19 protocols.

Harris rebukes China in major speech on Indo-Pacific (AP) U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning its actions there amount to “coercion” and “intimidation” and affirming that the U.S. will support its allies in the region against Beijing’s advances. “We know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea,” she said in a major foreign policy speech Tuesday in Singapore in which she laid out the Biden administration’s vision for the Indo-Pacific. “Beijing’s actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations.” Harris, who is on a weeklong swing through Southeast Asia, declared that the U.S. “stands with our allies and our partners” in the face of threats from China. The speech sought to cement the U.S. commitment to supporting its allies in an area of growing importance to the Biden administration, which has made countering China’s influence globally a centerpiece of its foreign policy. And it came during a critical moment for the United States, as the Biden administration seeks to further solidify its pivot toward Asia while America’s decades-long focus on the Middle East comes to a messy end with the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

US troops surge evacuations out of Kabul but threats persist (AP) The U.S. military pulled off its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far on Monday, but deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul’s airport persisted, and the Taliban signaled they might soon seek to shut down the airlifts. Twenty-eight U.S. military flights ferried about 10,400 people to safety out of Taliban-held Afghanistan over 24 hours that ended early Monday morning, and 15 C-17 flights over the next 12 hours brought out another 6,660, White House officials said. The chief Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said the faster pace of evacuation was due in part to coordination with Taliban commanders on getting evacuees into the airport. With access still difficult, the U.S. military went beyond the airport to carry out another helicopter retrieval of Americans. U.S. officials said a military helicopter picked up 16 American citizens Monday and brought them onto the airfield for evacuation. This was at least the second such rescue mission beyond the airport; Kirby said that last Thursday, three Army helicopters picked up 169 Americans near a hotel just beyond the airport gate and flew them onto the airfield. Biden said Sunday he would not rule out extending the evacuation beyond Aug. 31. But Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, in an interview with Sky News, said that Aug. 31 is a “red line” the U.S. must not cross and that extending the American presence would “provoke a reaction.”

Taliban rule presents aid agencies with moral, fiscal dilemma (Reuters) As foreign governments, aid institutions and companies scramble to evacuate staff from Afghanistan, a crucial question is emerging: should they engage with the ruling Taliban or abandon years of investment in the country and 38 million Afghans? The Taliban in the past week has pledged peaceful relations with other countries, women’s rights and independent media but some former diplomats and academics said the Islamist militant group, while more media and internet savvy than the Taliban of the 1990s, is just as brutal. For foreign aid agencies the situation presents “a paradox,” said Robert Crews, a Stanford University history professor and author of the 2015 book “Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation.” “If you are an aid worker at a state hospital, you are serving a regime whose legitimacy is in the balance,” he said. “But if everybody goes home, will the state collapse?” Afghanistan’s government budget is 70% to 80% funded by international donors. The country faces economic collapse without that aid.

In Shift, Israel Quietly Allows Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount (NYT) The Israeli government has long forbidden Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, a site sacred to Jews and Muslims, yet Rabbi Yehudah Glick made little effort to hide his prayers. In fact, he was livestreaming them. Since Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, it has maintained a fragile religious balance at the Temple Mount, the most divisive site in Jerusalem: Only Muslims can worship there, while Jews can pray at the Western Wall below. But recently the government has quietly allowed increasing numbers of Jews to pray there, a shift that could aggravate the instability in East Jerusalem and potentially lead to religious conflict. “It’s a sensitive place,” said Ehud Olmert, a former Israeli prime minister. “And sensitive places such as this, which have an enormous potential for explosion, need to be treated with care.”

Desperate Nigerians sell homes and land to free kidnapped children (Reuters) After armed men snatched seven of Abubakar Adam’s 11 children in northwestern Nigeria, he sold his car and a parcel of land and cleaned out his savings to raise a ransom to free them. He sent his 3 million naira ($7,300) into the bush, together with payments from other families in his town of Tegina. The kidnappers took the money, seized one of the men delivering it and sent back a new demand for more cash and six motorbikes. “We are in agony,” the 40-year-old tyre repairman told Reuters, still waiting for any sign of what happened to his children three months after the mass abduction. “Honestly I don’t have anything left.” Kidnappers have taken more than 1,000 students since December amid a rash of abductions across the impoverished northwest. Around 300 of the children have still not been returned. President Muhammadu Buhari has told states not to pay anything to kidnappers, saying it will only encourage more abductions. Security agencies say they are targeting the bandits with military action and other methods. Meanwhile, hundreds of parents are facing the same quandary: do everything they can to raise the ransoms themselves, or risk never seeing their children again.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior’s January 2021 Preview

Happy New Year!

So we’re gonna do things a little different this month. If it works out, I might do this as a regular thing until I feel comfortable writing about box office on a weekly basis again. It may be a long while. As you’ll see, this is a fairly comprehensive preview of the month ahead, as it stands on the first day of posting this, which hopefully is Wednesday, January 6.

I will be updating this post regularly with reviews and any date changes, etc.  If you want to keep track of which movies I’ve reviewed, your best option is to bookmark my Rotten Tomatoes page, since more than likely, any new reviews will be added there at the same time they’re posted here.

Why do I have this bad feeling that doing the column this way is just gonna give me more work? (I was correct. Instead of writing about 6 movies every single week, I ended up writing about nearly 30 movies in one week.)

What’s surprising is that there are far fewer wide releases in January than any previous year, as I only count two or three in total. That’s not good.

Definitions:

Theatrical – Movie will play in any number of movie theaters, either in select locations or nationwide. Some of these may have a digital/VOD component.

Streaming – Movie is available to watch any time as part of a subscription streaming service aka Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Shudder, Hulu, etc.

Virtual Cinema – Movie is available to watch through a ticketed system which shares profits with any number of local or nationwide arthouses or festivals. Some of these may be geoblocked.

VOD – Video on Demand, movie can be rented, downloaded and watched either for a set amount of time (24 hours+) or bought to watch any time, available on a variety of platforms including iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Fandango Now and others. (Also may be called “Digital,” “PVOD,” “TVOD,” or merely “On Demand,”)

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5

Digital/VOD: Gun and a Hotel Bible (Freestyle Digital Media) Scooby Doo director Raja Gosnell teams with Alicia Joy LeBlanc to adapt the award-winning play starring Bradley Gosnell as Pete, a desperate man who is about to commit a violent act when he encounters Daniel Floren’s Gideon, a personified hotel bible, as they get into a philosophical discussion. It will be available to buy or rent on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, DirecTV, On Demand, YouTube Movies, Vudu, Xbox, & FandangoNOW.

Streaming:

History of Swear Words (Netflix) No less than Nicolas Cage stars in Season 1 of the “educational series” on swear words that goes into the origins of all of your favorites!

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6

Virtual Cinema:

MY REMBRANDT (Strand Releasing) Dutch filmmaker Oeke Hoogendijk’s documentary looks at a few of the just 37 private owners of Rembrandt paintings, particularly Amsterdam’s Jan Six, a young art dealer and member of a family who has owned many Rembrandts, but he’s obsessed with an unknown painting that might even have Rembrandt having painted himself into the picture. Another owner, Baron Eric de Rothschild, is obsessed with selling two paintings, creating a bidding war between two top art museums.  The film will be available through New York’s Film Forum Virtual Cinema and others.

Streaming: SURVIVING DEATH (Netflix) The new six-episode doc series is directed and exec. produced by Ricki Stern (Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work) and based on Leslie Kean’s best-selling book that looks into the possibility of an afterlife.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 7

Streaming:

FEATURED FLICK!

PIECES OF A WOMAN (Netflix) Kornél Mundruczó’s drama starring Vanessa Kirby and Shia Labeouf as a Boston couple who lose their baby in a difficult home delivery will hit the streamer.  You can read my review of the film here.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8

Theatrical:

FEATURED FLICK!

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI… (Amazon Prime Video)   Regina King’s narrative directorial debut will open in more theaters after playing in Miami over the past few weeks will expand to other cities nationwide for a one-week theatrical release before streaming on Prime Video. You can read my reviews of the film here and here.

FEATURED FLICK! 

THE REASON I JUMP (Kino Lorber) Naoki Higashida’s best-selling book that was translated into English by David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) is turned into an arty doc directed by Jerry Rothwell. It’s based on Higashida’s revelations as a 13-year-old boy suffering dealing with autism blended with portraits of five other young people with autism.

Quick Thoughts:  I haven’t read Higashida’s book or its English translation, but it makes a beautiful and lyrical  accompaniment, as narrated by Jordan O’Donegan, for this look inside the life of a number of young autistic people, as their parents talk about trying to help their children without fully understanding what they’re going through. In many ways, this doc may offer some of the best insights into what it’s like to be autistic or dealing with an autistic family member in order to create some much-needed empathy for a condition so many face. The film is haunting and even horrifying at times, but it’s beautifully filmed to create a fully immersive experience.

REDEMPTION DAY (Saban Films) Hicham Hajji’s action thriller stars Gary Dourdan (CSI) as U.S. Marine Captain Brad Paxton whose wife Kate (Serinda Swan) is kidnapped by a terrorist group while working in Morocco, which forces him back into action to save the woman he loves. It also stars Andy Garcia, Ernie Hudson and Martin Donovan, and it will get a limited theatrical release and be available on Tuesday, Jan. 12, On Demand and Digital.

Quick Thoughts: While Hajji seems to bring some authenticity to this Mideast revenge thriller, the film starts out as a tribute to our fighting troops but then soon turns ridiculous, first with the kidnapping of his wife less than 24 hours after going to Morocco, and then some of the politics involved with helping her. Eventually, Dourdan goes in guns a-blazin’ in a way more apt for a movie from the ‘90s, and Hajji undoes a lot of the good will the film would have received if things were handled even somewhat tastefully.  Appearances by better-known actors like Garcia, Hudson and Donovan tends to distract from the story more than adding or enhancing what was already a problematic premise.

IF NOT NOW, WHEN? (Vertical) Actors Meagan Good and Tamara Bass make their directorial debuts with this movie about four high school friends (Good and Bass are two of them, presumably) who are brought back together to help one of them during a crisis. From the official summary: “It’s a story of love, forgiveness and the incredible bond between women.)

Digital/On Demand:

STARS FELL ON ALABAMA (Samuel Goldwyn Films) V.W. Scheich’s romantic comedy stars James Maslow as successful Hollywood agent Bryce Dixon who returns to Alabama after 15 years for his high school reunion, only to learn that he is one of his few friends not married with children, so he pretends his client Madison Belle, to pretend to be his girlfriend. American Idol winner Taylor Hicks appears in the movie as himself.

FEATURED FLICK!

THE DISSIDENT (Briarcliff Bryan Fogel’s documentary about the murder of journalist Jamal Kashouggi will be released On Demand today via ITunes. Reviewed in the previous Weekend Warrior column.

Deon Taylor’s thriller Fatale (reviewed last month) will also be available to watch via VOD starting today.

Streaming:

WORTH WATCHING!

PRETEND IT’S A CITY (Netflix) No less than Martin Scorsese directs this 7-part limited series about his long-time friend, critic and essayist Fran Lebowitz, as they explore New York City, presumably pre-pandemic. As someone who is celebrating my 34th year in New York City this week, I absolutely loved the series. Lebowitz is absolutely hilarious and Scorsese really pulls some amazing stories from out of her in this series that’s like a “how-to” for anyone who might ever want to live here. A truly joyful albeit crotchety take on New York living, which is the perfect combination to keep this series entertaining.

FEATURED FLICK!

HERSELF (Prime Video) Phyllida Lloyd’s dramedy, starring Clare Dunne (who co-wrote the script) as a single mother trying to create a home for her two daughters and who decides to build an affordable home for them, hits the streamer today.  Also reviewed in the previous Weekend Warrior column.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 10

Critics Choice Super Awards The inaugural edition of the Critics Choice’s genre film and television awards show will be broadcast on the CW tonight, hosted by Kevin Smith and Dani Fernandez.

******************************************

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12

Digital/VOD: SKYFIRE (ScreenMedia) The Simon-West directed thriller is set on the Tianhuo Island in a Pacific Rim volcanic belt where a young scientist (Hannah Quinlivan), who has invented a volcanic warning system, returns to prevent more death only to find that it’s been turned into a volcano theme park by Jason Isaacs. Okay, then. This will available On Demand.

THE BID (GVN Releasing) Marquis Boone’s directorial debut has him and co-writer Richard Harris (not that one) playing Philadelphia rappers who get framed by a police officer who sends them to prison to fight the prison system from the inside. As I started that last sentence, I presumed it was a comedy until I got to the last half of it.

CURSE OF AURORE (Freestyle Digital Releasing) Mehran C. Torgoley’s horror film is about a “Dark Web” thumb drive found by a YouTuber that involves a trio of American filmmakers including Liana Barron’s Lena, who are in Quebec researching the true crime case of a young girl named Aurore Gagnon, murdered in 1920 by her parents in a case of child abuse. As the filmmakers investigate the place where she was killed, they experience paranormal occurrences… and yes, it’s 2021 an we’re still getting Blair Witch Project “homages.”

GO/DON’T GO (Gravitas Ventures) Alex Knapp writes/directs and stars in this “psychosexual thriller” in which he plays the sole survivor after an unknown cataclysm with visons of his best friend Kyle (Nore Davis) introducing him to Olivia Luccardi’s Kay, the love of his life. It will be out via digital and cable VOD platforms.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13

2021 New York Jewish Film Festival This long-running series from Film at Lincoln Center will run virtually this year, beginning with the Ophir Award-winning Here We Are from director Nir Bergman (who won Best Director), a road trip tale of a divorced dad hitting the road with his autistic son. The festival’s centerpiece is Winter Journey, co-directed by Anders Østergaard and Erzsébet Rácz, and starring the great Bruno Ganz. The festival also includes Israel’s entry to this year’s Oscars, Ruthy Pribar’s Asia. You can read all about the films in the program here and can get a 17-film All-Access pass for the entire line-up for $125.00.

FEATURED FLICK!

THE WHITE TIGER (Netflix) Ramin (99 Homes, Man Push Cart) Bahrani directs this comedic adaptation of Balram Halwai’s 2008 Man Booker Prize-winning bestseller. Halwai is played by Adarsh Gourav, as it follows his journey from being a poor driver who uses his wit and cunning to become a successful entrepreneur in India.  Although Balram has been trained by society to only be a servant, he finds a way to work his way up through the system and try to change things from a new position within society. This will get a very limited theatrical release today before hitting Netflix on January 22.

Streaming: STALKER: THE HUNT FOR A SERIAL KILLER (Netflix) Tiller Russell’s docuseries tells the story about a serial killer that struck Los Angeles in 1985 in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave, the victims ranging from six to 82 years old.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14

Theatrical/On Demand:  BLOODY HELL (The Horror Collective) Alister Grierson’s violent horror-comedy stars Ben O’Toole as a man with a mysterious past who flees the country to escape his personal hell only to end up somewhere much worse. It opens in select cities and On Demand, and then will be on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, January 19.

Streaming:

LOCKED DOWN (HBO Max) The Doug Liman-directed romantic comedy, starring Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, about a heist set during a pandemic that’s written by Steven Knight will hit the streamer today. This movie was fully made during the pandemic.

HUNTED (Shudder) The live action English debut from Persepolis and Chicken with Plums director Vincent Paronnaud will stream on Shudder today. It stars Lucie Debay as Eve, who becomes the target of a misogynistic plot against two men who pursue her through the forest where she’s forced to survive. From the synopsis: “But survival isn’t enough for Eve. She will have revenge!” (Okay, that exclamation point is my own. Definitely sounds like something that would require one.)

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15

Note: This is Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday weekend, so many government agencies and schools are off on Monday. Not sure that will really have an effect on anything.

Theatrical:

THE MARKSMAN (Briarcliff/Open Road) (NEW REVIEW!) Liam Neeson stars in his second theatrical release in the past six months, Robert (Trouble with the Curve) Lorenz’s action-thriller in which Neeson plays a rancher on the Arizona border who ends up defending a young Mexican boy who is trying to escape from cartel assassins that followed him into the States. I haven’t seen this yet, nor do I know if I’ll have a chance. I’m guessing this is being released as a typical January release and not as an awards contender with the Oscar deadline pushed back to February 28.

Mini-Review:  Here we’re into a brand new year, and yet, we’re getting the third movie about an old man watching over a young child. This time it’s Liam Neeson as Vietnam sniper Jim Henson, who is living on his ranch in an Arizona border town with his dog Jackson with financial problems that might take his home away from him. A chance encounter on the border when Jim witnesses a single mother with her son being chased by the cartel, leaves the mother dead and the young, Miguel (Jacob Perez), in danger of being next. Jim decides to take the boy across the country to his family in Chicago, chased the entire way by the cartel.

While The Marksman attempts to create a topical action-thriller, it isn’t one that necessarily feels very timely, only because we’ve seen so many border-set movies over the past few years, maybe for obvious reasons. Director Robert Lorenz is a long-time Clint Eastwood collaborator, both as producer and assistant-director, and you probably will notice a number of similar stylistic flares in common –  you also can totally see Eastwood playing the Neeson role if he was twenty years younger.

The movie comes across more like last year’s Let Him Go rather than Neeson’s own 2020 movie, Honest Thief, and maybe that’s for the better since this seems to be better suited for his specialized skills, both in terms of action and drama.  Not that there is a ton of action in the movie, but the few shootouts and chases are decent enough, but nothing too insane. I’m sure ultra-liberals might have issues with certain scenes like how easy it is for Jim to buy a gun or teaching the young Miguel to use one, but that just seems creating an unnecessary political overlay.

While the majority of the film is Jim and Miguel on this road trip, there’s a nice role for Katheryn Winnick as Jim’s border police—well, it’s never really clear if she’s his daughter or not--but otherwise, the Mexican actors are not particularly good compared to Neeson – sadly, very stereotypical – and the writing is probably on the weaker side compared to the score by Sean Callery that goes a long way towards enhancing the emotions and tension when needed.

The Marksman is a decent enough dramatic thriller that feels a little by-the-books but gains enough humanity from Neeson’s performance to make it a worthwhile watch.

Rating: 7/10

THE DIG (Netflix) Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes star in this drama that takes place just before WWII with Mulligan playing a wealthy widow wo hires Fiennes’ archeologist to excavate the burial mounds on her estate in which they make a historic discovery. I like when movie titles are very literal like this one. Will be released to select cinemas before its Netflix debut on January 29.

MLK/FBI (IFC Films) Sam Pollack’s doc that’s had a successful festival run will get a small limited run as well as be available On Demand today. As the title implies, it studies the FBI’s attempts to discredit Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as his movement towards the Civil Rights Act continues to gain momentum. I didn’t like this as much as a few of Pollack’s other docs, including the recent Two Train Runnin’ and his co-directed doc, Mr Soul!

SOME KIND OF HEAVEN (Magnolia Pictures)

Lance Oppenheim’s first feature doc, co-produced by Darren Aronofsky, looks at the largest retirement community in America, the Villages in Central Florida, where a few residents are unable to find happiness despite the community’s pre-packaged paradise.

Quick Thoughts: This was a very different movie than I was expecting, since at first it seemed to thrive on the quirky personalities of the resident and their party-centric activities, but it then quickly focuses on three very particular cases, an elderly man named Dennis who is living in his van on the site of the Villages, trying to find himself a relationship (hopefully one with money). There’s also a couple who has been married for 47 years with a woman who has to deal with her husband’s ever-increasing eccentric behavior that involves drugs and troubles with the law. Lastly, there’s a widow who is trying to find happiness and companionship in the Villages, which is a particularly lonely experience as she goes from one group or club to another. All three of these stories keep the viewer invested but especially Oppenheim’s look at loneliness of people in that age group, which made it impossible for me not to think of my mother who has been suffering through the loneliness of the pandemic and not being able to be around other people her own age because of it. A terrifically insightful film that makes you think and hard about your own aging and mortality.

FLINCH (Ardor Pictures) Camron Van Hoy’s crime-thriller stars Daniel Zovatto as a young hitman who lives with his mother (Cathy Moriarty) who falls in love with a girl (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) who sees him kill someone. Since he can’t kill her, he instead brings her home and learns there’s more to her than he thought. This will ALSO be on TVOD starting on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

ACASA MY HOME (Zeitgeist, Kino Lorber) Romanian filmmaker Radu Ciorniciuc’s directorial debut doc, which premiered at Sundance last year (receiving an award for its cinematography), about the Enache family who lives in harmony with nature in the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta. When the area is turned into a public national park, they’re forced to move to the city where things are very different. It will open in select cities and via virtual cinema.

GOODBYE, BUTTERFLY (Gravitas Ventures) Tyler Wayne’s directorial debut is this crime thriller starring Adam Donshik (House of Cards) as Ryan Olsen, a family man whose five-year-old daughter is murdered, but with no leads, Ryan starts suspecting his oddball neighbor Stan (Andy Lauer), so Ryan takes the law into his own hands. This is getting day and date theatrical with TVOD (no idea what that is) and digital.

VOD:

AMERICAN SKIN Nate Parker’s second film as a director following the Sundance Prize-winning Birth of a Nation has him starring as a Marine veteran working as a school janitor who tries to fix things with his son, who is killed by a police officer who isn’t even put to trial for the death so he takes matters in his own hand. The drama also stars Omari Hardwick and will be available on iTunes and other VOD platforms.

Two of my favorite movies of 2020, Emmerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman (Focus Features), starring Carey Mulligan, and Paul Greengrass’ News of the World (Universal), starring Tom Hanks, will be available starting today via PVOD, rentable for 48-Hour rental. These both should be in the Oscar race, so don’t miss them!

Virtual Cinema: 

TRIBUTE TO SAM POLLARD Film at Lincoln Center is running a one-week retrospective to editor, producer and director Sam Pollard to tie in with the release by IFC Films of MLK/FBI, which played at the New York Film Festival last year. It will include some of his own docs (including, hopefully, the excellent Mr. Soul!), as well as his collaborations with Spike Lee, St. Clair Bourne and Henry Hampton. Hopefully, there will be a line-up as it gets closer to the series start, and I’ll add that when it becomes available.

FILM ABOUT A FATHER WHO (Cinema Guild) Over a period of 35 years between 1984 and 2019, Lynne Sachs used various media, including 8 and 16mm film, videotape and digital images to capture a portrait of her father, Ira Sachs Sr, a Park Cit, Utah businessman, in order to understand the web that connects a child to her parents and a sister to her siblings. This will open in Virtual Cinema through the Museum of the Moving Image, Laemmle and others around the country. MOMI will also be holding a  30-year virtual retrospective of Ms. Sachs’ work, starting on Jan. 13.

MY LITTLE SISTER (Film Movement) Switzerland’s official Oscar entry is Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond’s drama starring Nina Hoss (Phoenix) as Lisa, a brilliant playwright who has stopped writing and now lives with her family in Switzerland. She dreams of returning to Berlin to be with her stage acting twin brother Sven (Lars Eldinger from Proxima) who is facing an aggressive leukemia. Lisa’s attention to her brother causes a rift in her marriage, but she hopes to write something that will get Sven back on stage before the inevitable. You can find a list of theaters showing this via virtual cinema here.

THE WAKE OF LIGHT (Laemmle) Renji Phillip’s drama stars Rome Brooks as a young woman who has to choose between seeking love with Cole (Matt Bush), a young man she meets who wants her to join him on his road trip, or caring for her aging father . This will have a virtual theatrical release through Laemmle Theaters today and then be available through Digital Platforms on February 15.

MANDABI (Janus Films) Senegalese novelist and the “father of African film” Ousmne Sembène’s 1968 film about an unemployed man who finds a windfall of money will get a release through Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema.

Streaming:

OUTSIDE THE WIRE (Netflix) Anthony Mackie stars in Mikael Håfström’s sci-fi thriller, playing android officer Leo who is teamed with drone pilot Harp (Damson Idris) to locate a doomsday device in a militarized zone before insurgents do.

WANDAVISION (Disney+) The long-awaited Marvel Studios television series that ties directly into the MCU, spinning-off Elisabeth Olsen’s Wanda and Paul Bettany’s Vision into their own series that seems to be playing with other dimensions and worlds but also

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI… (Amazon Prime Video) Regina King’s powerful drama will finally stream on Prime Video, so those who haven’t had a chance to see it at a festival or awards screening or in theaters will get to see it. Woohoo!

SATURDAY, JANUARY 16

Streaming: SERVANT (Apple TV+) Season 2 of the M. Night Shyamalan produced thriller series will debut.  I hope to have some more to write about as it gets closer, since it’s currently under embargo.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 18 VOD/Digital:

STALLONE... FRANK, THAT IS (Branded Studio) Derek Wayne Johnson’s documentary takes an in-depth look into the life and career of Frank Stallone, the younger brother of the far-more-famous Sylvester Stallone, whose own four decade career has earned him three Platinum Albums, ten Gold Albums and five Gold Singles… which is odd, since I don’t think I could name a single one of his songs. He’s also done soundtracks for many of his brother’s films including The Expendables 2, the first three Rocky movies, Rambo II and more and appeared in 75 films and TV shows. Obviously, I’ll need to watch this doc to learn more about him.

YUNG LEUN: IN MY HEAD (Momento Film/Nonstop Entertainment) Henrik Burman’s doc about Swedish hip-hop artist Yung Leun aka Jonathan Leandoer, who turned his love for rap music into a career by making music on his computer and putting the results up on YouTube, but soon, the imaginary character he has been portraying starts to take over, leading to drugs and mental illness.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20

Virtual Cinema:

THE SALT OF TEARS (Distrib Films) Philippe Garrel’s black and white drama about toxic masculinity involving one young handsome man put amidst three vulnerable women will play as part of Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 22

Theatrical:

NO MAN’S LAND (IFC Films) Conor Allyn’s thriller stars Frank Grillo as border “vigilante” Bill Greer, whose son Jackson (Jake Allyn) accidentally kills a Mexican immigrant boy while on patrol. Although Bill tries to take the blame, a Texas Ranger, played by George Lopez, urges Jackson to flee south via horseback into Mexico to hide out, chased by both rangers and Mexican federales, as he seeks forgiveness from the boy’s father (Jorge A. JIminez). Simultaneous theatrical and VOD.

FEATURED FLICK!

OUR FRIEND (Gravitas Ventures/Universal) Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson and Jason Segel star in Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s adaptation of Matthew Teague’s novel The Friend: Love is Not a Big Enough Word (adapted by filmmaker Brad Ingelsby), which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2019. It tells the story of the Teague family – Afleck’s Matt, a journalist, his wife Nicole (Johnson) and their two daughters – and how their life is upended when she’s diagnosed with terminal cancer, forcing Matt to take on more responsibilities as her caretaker and parent, so the couple’s friend Dane (Segel) offers to help out. The film will be in select theaters and On Demand.

THE HUMAN FACTOR (Sony Pictures Classics) Oscar-nominated doc The Gatekeepers director Dror Moreh takes a look at the peace process between Israelis and Arabs over the past thirty years through the eyes of American mediators, spending time with all of the key players in the conflict trying to find a solution.

BROTHERS BY BLOOD (Vertical) Jérémie Guez’s revenge thriller, based on Pete Dexter’s novel, stars Joel Kinnaman as Peter Flood, who as an 8-year-old saw his little sister be killed in a reckless driving accident, for which his father sought violent revenge. 30 year later, he’s still trying to deal with his guilt and tries to distance himself from his family crime business and his cousin Michael (Matthias Schoenarts) who has been rising up in the business. In select theaters, and on VOD/Digital.

PG: PSYCHO GOREMAN (RLJfilms/Shudder) Steven Kostanski’s horror-comedy follows siblings Mimi and Luke (Nita-Josee Hanna, Owen Myre), who resurrect an ancient alien overlord who had been entombed million years ago, nicknaming the evil creature “Psycho Goreman” aka PG (Matthew Ninaber), using an amulet to make him obey their wishes. Soon, lots of PG’s friends and foes from across the galaxy realize he’s been released, and they come to Mimi and Luke’s town to resume their battle.  This will also be in select theaters, On Demand and digital.

BORN A CHAMPION (Lionsgate)  (NEW ADDITION!) Dennis Quaid and Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints) star in this mixed martial arts film directed by Alex Ranarivelo (American Wrestler: The Wizard) that hits select theaters, digital, and On Demand today before being released on Blu-Ray and DVD on Tuesday, January 26. Flannery plays fighting legend Mickey Kelly, who lost a blood-soaked jujitsu match in Dubai only to learn many years later, that his opponent cheated, so he has to get in shape for a revenge match.

Digital/VOD/Virtual Cinema:

IDENTIFYING FEATURES (Kino Lorber)  (NEW ADDITION!) Having just won the Gotham Award for Best International Feature on Monday (after winning the audience and screenplay awards in the World Cinema category at Sundance last year), Fernanda Valadez’s Mexican border thriller will be released on Kino Marquee and via various virtual cinemas nationwide. It stars Mercedes Hernandez as middle-aged Magdalena, who has lost contact with her son after he’s left their town to cross the border into the U.S. to find work. She ends up following on an equally dangerous journey to find him while a young man named Miguel (David Illescas), recently deported back to Mexico crosses paths with her. 

ATLANTIS (Grasshopper) Ukraine’s Oscar selection is this film from Valentyn Vasyanovych  set in a desolate post-war Ukraine where former soldier Sergiy delivers the rare resource of water and volunteers his time to recover the dead bodies of fellow soldiers in hopes of healing. This will open exclusively in Metrograph’s Virtual Cinema system Friday.

NOTTURNO (Super) (NEW ADDITION!) Gianfranco (Fire at Sea) Rosi’s new documentary is Italy’s entry to the Oscars, as the filmmaker spent three years on the borders of Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon capturing the day every day life that follows the tragedy of the dictatorships and civil wars within those countries.  It will get an exclusive virtual cinema launch today and then be available on Hulu and On Demand starting Jan. 29.

COMING CLEAN The new doc from Ondi Timoner (Dig!, We Live in Public) takes a comprehensive look at the opioid crisis, and the part in it played by Purdue Pharmaceutical and how it deceived patients (and doctors) to lure them in and get them hooked. Available via Virtual Cinema after its virtual festival run.

PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN TIME (Greenwich) Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát makes a love story set in the male-driven world of neurosurgery, starring Natasa Stork as Márta Vizy, who returns to Hungary after time in America to discover that a colleague with whom she had a passionate affair says he’s never seen her before. This will open in Virtual Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center and other places. Part of Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema, as well as Hungary’s official entry for the International Film Oscar.

BREAKING FAST (Vertical Entertainment) Mike Mosallam’s romantic dramedy set in West Hollywood stars Haaz Sleiman as Mo, a practicing Muslim who recently had his heart broken. When All-American Kal (Michael Cassidy) agrees to come to nightly Iftars (the traditional Ramadan meal), they soon learn that they have more in common than they thought. Available on VOD and digital.

Streaming:

THE WHITE TIGER (Netflix) Ramin (99 Homes, Man Push Cart) Bahrani’s comic adaptation of Balram Halwai’s bestseller hits the streaming service today.

THE SISTER (Hulu) Neil Cross adapted his own novel Burial into this four-part original series starring Russell Tovey as Nathan, who has been keeping a secret from his past, a party that ended with the shocking death of a young woman. Only Nathan and Bob (Bertie Carvel) knew what happened, but then Bob appears on Nathan’s doorstep with horrifying news.

PIXAR POPCORN (Disney+) The Disney streamer debuts a series of short films starring your favorite Pixar characters from Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars and The Incredibles.

Blown Away and Busted! (Netflix) Season 2 of the glass-blowing competition reality series and Season 3 of the amateur celebrity sleuth series begin.

Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix) Brian Young’s live-action version of the Italian cartoon “Winx Club,” a coming-of-age journey that follows five fairies as they enter the magical boarding school called Alfrea.

Derek Delgaudio’s In and Of Itself (Hulu) The comedy directed by Frank Oz and exec. produced by Stephen Colbert that’s “a new kind of lyric poem.” Telling “the story of a man fighting to see through the illusion of his own identity, only to discover that identity itself is an illusion.” Yeah, no idea what that means but even Oz isn’t able to describe it, so that’s pretty weird.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 26

Theatrical:

WRONG TURN (Saban Films) Mike P. Nelson’s remake of the 00’s horror franchise will debut as a Fathom Event today. It stars Charlotte Vega, Adain Bradley, Bill Sage, Emma Dumont, Dylan McTee, Daisy Head, Tim DeZarn and Matthew Modine. It involves a group of friends hiking the Appalachian Trail who… you guessed it… make a wrong turn and end up in the land of the Foundation, a community of mountain dwellers who want to protect their lifestyle.

Digital/VOD:

CAGED (Shout Factory) Aaron Fjellman’s thriller stars Kenyan-born actor Edi Gathegi (The Blacklist), Melora Hardin, Angela Sarafyan, Tony Amendola and James Jagger. Gathegi plays an affluent African-American psychiatrist who is convicted of murdering his wife (Sarafyan) and sentenced to life and put in solitary. While trying to file an appeal, he’s pushed to the breaking point by an abusive female guard (Hardin), causing him to question his innocence and sanity.

#LIKE Sarah Pirozek’s thriller stars Sarah Rich as a Woodstock, NY teenager named Rosie who a year after her sister Amelia’s death from suicide after being cyberbullied learns that the man responsible (Marc Menchaca) is back online looking for new victims. It will be available via TVOD on iTunes, Amazon Prime, Vudu, FandangoNow and more.

A WOMAN’S WORK: THE NFL’S CHEERLEADER PROBLEM (1091) (NEW ADDITION!) Yu Gu’s documentary, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, will be released on VOD today. It looks at a couple cases of professional NFL cheerleaders who re making far less than deserve, almost working at minimum wage while having to pay out of pocket for their own beauty, transportation and uniforms, putting them into debt. So they sue the Oakland Raiders in a class-action lawsuit.

WEDNESDAY, JANURY 27

Streaming: PENGUIN BLOOM (Netflix) Glendyn Ivin’s adaptation of Bradley Trevor Greive’s novel stars Naomi Watts as Samantha Bloom, an Australian mother of three boys who travelled with her husband Cameron (Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead) in 2013 and became paralyzed from the waist down after falling from a rooftop. She ends up bonding with a black and white bird her kids name “Penguin” that helps her heal.  

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28 The Sundance Film Festival begins today, running until February 3. Hope to have some coverage here and on Below the Line.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29

Theatrical:

FEATURED FLICK! THE LITTLE THINGS (Warner Bros/HBO Max) John Lee Hancock directs this psychological thriller that puts Oscar winner Denzel Washington back into Bone Collectormode, as he plays Kern County Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon, who is sent to Los Angeles to gather evidence but ends up looking for a killer terrorizing the city with a local Sergeant, played by Oscar winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody). Getting involved in the case, brings up secrets from Deke’s past. A third Oscar winner, Jared Leto, presumably plays the killer. This will be in theaters and streaming on HBO Max day-and-date. I will have a review for this closer to release.

FEATURED FLICK! SUPERNOVA (Bleecker Street) Harry Macqueen’s drama stars Colin Firth and Stanely Tucci as twenty-year partners Sam and Tusk, who travel across England in a camper van visiting friends, family and places from their past after a life-changing diagnosis that will test their love for each other. Look for my review of this very soon.

FEATURED FLICK! MALCOLM AND MARIE (Netflix) (NEW ADDITION!)

A week before its debut on the stream, Euphoria creator Sam Levinson’s new drama, starring John David Washington and Zendaya, will hit select theaters. Made during the pandemic, Washington plays a filmmaker on the night of the premier of his first feature gets into a very heavy conversation about their relationship with his partner (Zendaya) who doesn’t think he appreciates her and her contribution to his craft. Will have a review of this sometime later this week.

SAINT MAUD (A24) (NEW ADDITION!) Rose Glass’ acclaimed directorial debut starring breakout star Morfydd Clark as Maud, a hospice nurse who becomes obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient (played by Jennifer Ehle) but sinister forces try to stop her. This will get a theatrical release today and then will get some sort of Epix Pay TV release on February 12. The movie just received eight nominations from the London Film Critics Circle, but honestly, I saw the movie so long ago, I don’t really remember it very much.

APOLLO 11: QUARANTINE (NEON) (NEW ADDITION!) This new doc short by Todd Douglas Miller follows up his Emmy-winning documentary, Apollo 11, this one covering the astronauts of the first spaceflight to the moon as they quarantine for three days after arriving back on earth. This will open in IMAX theaters this day and then be available On Demand starting February 5.

FINDING YOU (Roadside Attractions) Brian Baugh’s adaptation of Jenny B. Jones’ novel There You’ll Find Me is a romantic drama starring Rose Reid as violinist Finley Sinclair who is studying abroad at an Irish coastal village after failing to get into a New York music conservatory. Once there, she meets heartthrob movie star Beckett Rush (Jedidiah Goodacre) who is there filming his fantasy-adventure franchise, and a romance blooms between them.

THE NIGHT (IFC Midnight) Kourosh Ahari’s horror-thriller stars Shahab Hosseini and Niousha Noor as a married couple with a baby who take shelter in the eerie Hotel Normandie after a night out partying with friends. Over the course of the night, they realize they’re locked in with a malevolent force.

HAYMAKER (Gravitas Ventures)   Nick Sasso wrote, directed, edited and stars in the action-thriller in which he plays a retired Muay Thai fighter working as a bouncer who rescues a transgender performer (Nomi Ruiz) from a thug and becomes her bodyguard and protector in a relationship that also forces him back into the world of fighting. It will open in select theaters, On Demand AND Digital.

Virtual Cinema: DEAR COMRADES! (NEON) (NEW ADDITION!) Andrei Konchalovski’s 1962-set Russian drama about a rebellion and a strike following the rising of food prices in the industrial town of Novocherkassk and the massacre that follows. Following its December one-week qualifying, it will open in virtual cinemas this Friday (Jan 29) and then will be available On Demand and on Hulu starting February 5.

On Demand/Digital:

SAVAGE STATE (Samuel Goldwyn Films) David Perrault’s French-tinged Western takes place at the start of the Civil War as a family of French colonists in Missouri decide to return to France, but first they have to cross the entire country to get back to New York, led by a dangerous mercenary named Victor (Kevin Janssens).

Virtual Cinema: WHAT HAPPENED WAS... (Oscilloscope) Actor Tom Noonan’s 1994 directorial debut is a dark comedy about dating based on his own play, starring Noonan and Karen Sillas as co-workers who are stuck together on a Friday night after an intimate dinner that goes sideways. This won the Grand Jury Prize and Screenwriting Award at the 1994 Sundance, and will be added to Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema.

THE FUNERAL HOME (Uncork’d Entertainment) (NEW ADDITION!) Mauro Iván Ojeda’s supernatural thriller, which premiered at the Fantasia Fest last year, will hit virtual theaters today before its digital release on Tuesday, February 2. It’s about the dysfunctional family of an undertaker who experience all sorts of paranormal manifestations, but it could just be that they’re all MAAAAAD!

THE REUNITED STATES (Dark Star Pictures) (NEW ADDITION!) Ben Rekhi’s doc is about a group of unsung heroes trying to bridge the political and racial divides in the country as it’s being ripped apart at the seams.It will be available via virtual cinema today and on VOD platforms February 9.

Streaming:

THE DIG (Netflix) The Cary Mulligan-Ralph Fiennes drama is scheduled to hit the streamer.

PALMER (Apple TV+) Justin Timberlake stars in the Fisher Stevens-directed drama as an ex-convict who strikes up a friendship with a boy from a troubled home, played by Ryder Allen. It also stars Juno Temple and June Squibb.

BEGINNING (MUBI) (NEW ADDITION!) Georgia’s (the country, not the state) Oscar entry is the debut feature from  writer-director Dea Kulumbegashvili, a drama about a Jehovah’s Witness who undergoes a dramatic crisis of faith. Ila Sukhitshvili plays Yana, the wife of a Jehovah’s Witness leader whose community is attack from an extremist group that creates Yana’s discontent to grow.

WE ARE: THE BROOKLYN SAINTS (Netflix)

The new four-part docuseries from Rudy Valdez (The Sentence) looks at the youth football program in East New York, Brooklyn, where the Brooklyn Saints program gets 7 to 13-year-old boys ready to play and succeed in athletics, while also creating a community.

That’s it for January. Again, check back over the course of the month to see what reviews/movies have been added. Hopefully, we’ll be back to your normal weekly Weekend Warrior by February, but we’ll see.

[aion-rsa]

Justice League The Snyder Cut Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

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After years of drama, hundreds of hashtags, and a lot of discourse we finally got our first look at the Snyder Cut of Justice League. You might say “isn’t this just a director’s cut, what’s the big deal?” and honestly looking at this new trailer you might not be wrong. But for a lot of fans this moment has been a longtime coming and if you’re a big DC Comics head then there are some interesting deep-cut moments to dig into.

If you somehow haven’t watched it yet, you can check it out here…

So without further ado let’s dive in…

Darkseid

Uxas is here baby. As teased in Zack Snyder’s social media posts, Darkseid will play a huge part in the new cut of Justice League.

The opening of the trailer (which is set to a very on the nose song choice of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen) shows a younger looking Darkseid wielding a large weapon and looking generally menacing.

Does that weapon look like a farm tool to you? If it does then this could hint that we’re going to be seeing the New 52 version of the character who was a cosmic farmhand that killed the gods in order to gain their power and create the planet of Apokolips. That sounds very Randian and rather up Zack Snyder’s alley.

There is also the other option which is that he’s holding a sledgehammer, to denote just how subtle Snyder’s messaging and symbolism will be in the new cut of Justice League.

Did you know Superman is basically Jesus? Well, you will in this four hour edit of the superhero team-up flick!

The Hall of Justice

Though we only get a glimpse of the terrible fate that the Justice League may have to face, we do get to see a demolished Hall of Justice–which is pretty funny as we never saw the Hall completed or even under construction–in the ruins of a city swarming with Parademons. We know that those are the minions of Apokolips and are usually controlled by Darkseid or whoever he gives his all powerful Boomstick to.

The only time we’ve ever seen them in the DCEU continuity is in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice during Bruce Wayne’s psychedelic dream sequence where he has a dark vision of the future where Darkseid has apparently terraformed the Earth which is under the control of a fascist-Injustice-style Superman. 

It’s very likely that this is a vision of a potential future, much like Wayne’s vision in Batman v. Superman. And of course, Snyder made his disdain for “Saturday morning cartoons” known during a spat with a critic a few hours before this trailer was released. Since the Hall of Justice originated on the Super Friends animated series well…you do the math.

Aquaman 

One of the best things about the theatrical cut of Justice League is the absolutely badass introduction of Arthur Curry as Aquaman. Though the character was soft-rebooted in James Wan’s spectacular solo-superhero movie we get a lot of shirtless Jason Momoa action here hinting at a bigger role in Snyder’s new cut. We don’t get much else with him though we do see him getting really wet in numerous water-soaked set pieces and who doesn’t want to see that in their lives? 

But then there’s the question of who this is…

Is this Arthur in full and regal Atlantean armor before he had accepted his role as King in the Aquaman movie? Based on another shot in the movie that appears to show Arthur stumbling on a suit of armor and a trident, it’s possible.

Or is this more of the flashback sequence we saw in the theatrical cut of the film, which explored how DC heroes of earlier eras rose up to fight the hordes of Apokolips?

Batman

One of the key pieces of the arc of this movie (any cut) was always Bruce Wayne’s revelation that the world needed Superman, and needs heroes in general. This shot helps bookend Batman‘s line at the end of the trailer about the team being “united” against Steppenwolf and Apokolips.

Black Suit Superman

We all knew this was coming but we do get a brief momentary glance of Superman in the Fortress of Solitude wearing his Black suit. This isn’t technically new as a version of it apparently appeared on the Justice League deleted scenes but the fact that it’s here confirms we will actually get to see Superman in the Black suit in Zack Snyder’s Justice League rather than just walking past it in his icy den (the director had previously released a scene as well)

But there’s more at work with the Man of Steel that we’re still trying to figure out…

Supes appears to be wearing his traditional red and blue suit here, and we’re not sure exactly what’s happening. Could it be part of the sequence where the Man of Steel is resurrected after his battle with Doomsday in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice?

In any case, Supes is back in black in another shot which appears to be him taking on Steppenwolf during the film’s climax.

Cyborg

Zack Snyder has said that Ray Fisher’s Cyborg is “the heart of the movie” in his cut of Justice League, and the character is certainly a little more prominent here.

For one thing, we’re going to see Vic Stone’s origin story explored a little bit, as we see here is time as a college football star for Gotham University.

This quick shot COULD be of a vision Vic sees of the hordes from Apokolips coming to Earth.

In the established Justice League movie continuity, Cyborg’s father saves his son using the magic of the Motherbox. In case you aren’t aware what the alien technology is, the most important thing to know is that they’re a key part of DC’s Fourth World lore–where Darkseid hails from–and play a large part in all iterations of the DCEU’s Justice League.

In the comics they’re essentially superpowered supercomputers created by a scientist on Apokolips, in the movie universe they are mysterious threats which link the mythical worlds of both Atlantis and Themyscira as the powerful world’s tried to hide and destroy the boxes in the far past. 

The new sequence doesn’t really build on any of that lore but it does show one of the boxes killing Cyborg’s father and turning him into Thanos-style dust. Another tragic moment for the young hero and one that will likely drive him to become a reluctant hero and defeat Darkseid.  

There are a couple of interesting new scenes including one where see the hero desperately digging up a grave in a dark cemetery… whose grave is it, well that takes us to the next sequence. 

Maybe it’s his father’s grave he’s trying to dig up. Or perhaps his mother’s. Oh god, what if it’s Martha’s…

The Flash

From what we understand, this shot happens right before the Iris West rescue above, as Barry vibrates through a shop window to stop the young reporter from getting run over by a car.

Barry’s in the speedforce. There’s not much more to say here but we didn’t get to see much of Barry being a speedster in the original cut of the movie and Miller’s version has been more of a cameo character than a true hero.

During the Snyder Cut panel, Snyder teased that Barry would play a larger role and hinted at the Cosmic Treadmill part of Flash canon that he has winked at before. Basically expect to see Barry causing some timey-wimey chaos in this cut. 

Let’s stick with Flash stuff for a minute…

Iris West

Kiersey Clemons is a powerhouse and for this writer the most exciting moment of the film was seeing her appear in a brief moment that appeared to be the first meeting between her version of Iris West and Barry Allen (Ezra Miller).

Iris is a key part of The Flash lore and it was a massive disappointment to find out that she didn’t make it into the final cut of the original movie. Even though there is a lot of cynicism around this cut getting to see Clemons bring Iris to life as part of the wider DC world is actually pretty exciting.

Wonder Woman

Is Diana in Themyscira here? And is this spear an artifact of the flashback battle sequence we saw in the theatrical cut with the Amazons and DC heroes of old taking on Steppenwolf and company?

And no, the little girl she smiles at probably isn’t Donna Troy. We…think.

DeSaad

In a very exciting moment for DC fans the trailer revealed what seemed to be the first appearance of the deep-cut supervillain DeSaad. With his trademark hood and a suspiciously alien face we only get a momentary glimpse of the cosmic antagonist, but with his deep connections to Darkseid it makes sense that he’d appear.

The most interesting thing here is that DeSaad is a key part of the old school–Pre-Crisis–version of the character who was a royal on the planet of Apokolips who killed his whole family in his quest for power.

But as much as we’d love to see more of that dynamic Jack Kirby version of the character, he did play a small role in the New 52 relaunch during a plotpoint which focused on cloning Superman and Parademons. Both of those things are already established in the Snyder-verse–remember Doomsday? So if DeSaad is involved it probably doesn’t change the fact that this is a young Darkseid or Uxas. 

We have more on Desaad here.

Steppenwolf

There’s a new and “improved” and definitely more menacing design for Darkseid herald/henchman/uncle Steppenwolf for this flick, too.

We wrote a little bit more about that new design here.

Uniting the Seven 

Remember that poster for Justice League that said Unite the Seven and then nothing came of it? Well, maybe that was actually about the Aquaman movie’s seven kingdoms? Anyway it was once again hinted at here as Ben Affleck’s Batman says the word “united.”

Of course the big twist here would be if Green Lantern turned up making the Justice League seven heroes instead of six, that was a big rumor going into this movie but it never occurred. Who knows, maybe we will see a Green Lantern in this new four hour cut? If that happens my money is on John Stewart. 

Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max in 2021… allegedly. 

The post Justice League The Snyder Cut Trailer Breakdown and Analysis appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Los Angeles agrees to host 2028 Summer time Games

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Los Angeles agrees to host 2028 Summer time Games

CARSON, Calif. — The Olympic Games have normally been a mega sporting celebration flush with hyperbole. Each individual of all those seventeen days are filled with physical exams to see who is the fastest, strongest and mentally hardest. So when Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti stepped the podium at the StubHub Centre here Monday evening and formally declared the metropolis had reached an arrangement with the Global Olympic Committee to host the 2028 Summer time Games, his words and phrases have been, well, over the top.

“There is no other metaphor. It was a marathon,” he stated. “A few occasions we have been counted out entirely. But we hardly ever hit a wall. We hardly ever dropped our concentration, and right now we are at the complete line.”

Against a cloudless powder blue twilight sky, with the new LA2028 slogan “Stick to the Sunshine” boldly plastered on the stadium scoreboard at the rear of him, Garcetti and the rest of the LA2024 management proudly celebrated the instant they had used two decades waiting around for.

“We are here right now to make record,” Garcetti stated. “I’m proud to say the Olympics are coming back to the United States of The united states.”

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, proper, has stated he won’t foresee needing any public cash for 2028. The 1984 Los Angeles Games are the only Olympics in contemporary record to operate at a income. Kirby Lee-Usa Currently Sporting activities

Monday’s information was not a surprise. With the announcement, there will be a dual bid allocation, with Paris getting the 2024 Summer time Games — an end result all those near to Olympic circles have noticed coming for months. The proposal was rubber-stamped by IOC membership last month in Lausanne, Switzerland, paving the way for the negotiations involving Paris, Los Angeles and the IOC that led to Monday’s arrangement.

But the evident conclusion won’t reduce its great importance. On the most basic level, the information is that, yes, the Summer time Olympics will return to the U.S. for the 1st time due to the fact Atlanta in 1996. The announcement comes at a time when the United States Olympic Committee had grown significantly frustrated by failed bids for the 2012 and 2016 Games. There have been rumblings an L.A. reduction could possibly suggest the U.S. would not bid yet again.

But the more substantial tale is a complete change in the Olympic paradigm. For the 1st time in the contemporary era, the script has been reversed. Alternatively than towns using desperate steps to acquire over IOC associates for their votes, the income this time is flowing the other way. As aspect of its arrangement with Los Angeles, the IOC agreed to improve the total of profits it will share to enable offset the more charge and possibility that comes with waiting around four more decades. It is also waving some $50 million in fees.

Why is this essential? Well, you 1st have to realize how Olympic funding ordinarily works. Because 1984, the last time Los Angeles hosted the Summer time Games, the IOC has marketed television legal rights and international sponsorships on its individual. It then cuts a examine to the host metropolis for a predetermined total to enable protect the charge of the celebration. That total is set to be $1.7 billion in 2024 (it was $1.5 billion for Rio last summertime). From there, towns count on domestic sponsorships ($1.2 billion in London in 2012) and ticket product sales ($1.1 billion in London) to protect the remaining bills. The caveat: that total is rarely sufficient to protect all the costs.

But, for 2028, the IOC has agreed the total could be as a great deal as $2 billion. Of maybe even bigger great importance: the IOC has agreed to not acquire its twenty-% share of any surplus that is remaining just after the Games, permitting the L.A. arranging committee to offer domestic sponsorships in any area exactly where the IOC won’t now have a sponsor. Those people concessions could possibly be well worth hundreds of thousands and thousands of pounds.

Los Angeles has reached an arrangement with Global Olympic leaders that will open the way for the metropolis to host the 2028 Summer time Games, even though ceding the 2024 Games to rival Paris, officials declared Monday.

Why are Los Angeles and Paris the last two towns standing in an Olympic bid approach that can be fraught with possibility? Look no more than their respective mayors, Eric Garcetti and Anne Hidalgo, who have altered the match together the way.

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“What we have been equipped to negotiate — this deal was far too superior to move up,” Garcetti stated. “This legacy can encourage a entire new generation.”

Garcetti manufactured no secret of his need to make youth activity totally free for young children in Los Angeles. He stated Monday that approach could start out as early as subsequent calendar year many thanks to the $a hundred and sixty million curiosity-totally free, upfront mortgage from the IOC. “That is one thing well worth combating for,” Garcetti stated.

What does the IOC be expecting from L.A. in return? To conserve the upcoming of the Olympic movement. And no, that’s not a lot more Olympic hyperbole.

The days of towns lining up one particular just after yet another begging to host the Games are extended absent. Again in September 2015, when Garcetti stood at the rear of a podium on Santa Monica Beach front to formally announce L.A. would stand for the U.S. as its 2024 candidate metropolis, the industry was crowded with four other contenders: Budapest, Hamburg, Paris and Rome. But people in three of all those four towns looked at a current string of charge overruns and pressured public officials to bag the Olympic aspiration. The very same occurred in the bidding for the 2022 Wintertime Games, with six towns ending their bids ahead of a conclusion was manufactured.

And who could blame all those towns for dropping out. For the 2008 Summer time Games, Beijing reportedly budgeted $1.6 billion and used $forty billion. In London in 2012, $4 billion became $13 billion. Peak absurdity was reached in Sochi, exactly where the Russians reportedly used $fifty one billion to put on the 2014 Wintertime Games, a lot more than just about every other Wintertime Olympics merged.

Now it turns into L.A.’s work to do the actual very same issue it did in 1984 — fix the damaged Olympic design. Again then, in the wake of the 1972 terrorist attack in Munich and charge overruns in Montreal four decades later on, L.A. was the only metropolis to bid for the 1984 Games. The close outcome was a $235-million surplus, a lot more than half of the total $413-million spending plan. The income was in aspect made use of to get started the LA84 Foundation, which helped fund youth athletics, such as a tennis league in which a youthful Venus and Serena Williams participated. It is also aspect of an endowment the USOC works by using each and every calendar year to enable assist its athletes.

“This is the very same form of watershed instant,” states Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the Faculty of Holy Cross in Massachusetts who specializes on the influence of mega sporting gatherings. “And it certainly appears to be like Los Angeles is going to bail them out yet again.”

Want to know how a great deal it expenditures to host the Olympics? L.A.’s $5.three-billion spending plan won’t consist of a solitary new long term location, Olympic village or media compound. As a substitute, there are non permanent venues and the charge to guarantee the present-day services to be Olympic-ready. Although they won’t say so publicly, L.A. bid committee officials are optimistic their proposal will outcome in a identical economic influence on its people. Just like Peter Uberroth did when he negotiated that groundbreaking arrangement with the IOC in 1984.

“[LA2024 chairman] Casey [Wasserman] and the mayor, they know their accomplishment will not be calculated in opposition to Tokyo [in 2020] or Rio, but somewhat that of Peter Uberroth,” stated UCLA professor Zev Yaroslavsky, who used forty decades as an elected formal in Southern California, such as 19 on the L.A. City Council. “They know that, and they want to do an even superior work than Uberroth.”

Technically, the deal is not 100-% complete. The L.A. City Council will require ratify the arrangement over the system of the subsequent week but you can consider Garcetti and other bid leaders would not have put on Monday’s clearly show if they weren’t near to 100-% selected the council was on their side. Afterwards, the IOC will do the very same and is envisioned to make the official announcement for both of those Paris and Los Angeles at its conference on Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru.

Under no circumstances ahead of has there been eleven decades involving the IOC picking out a host metropolis and the opening ceremonies happening in that metropolis. With the conclusion comes bigger possibility and bigger prospect but what happens just after the 2028 Games will be what matters most to the Olympic movement.

Will countries yet again line up hunting to repeat Los Angeles’ accomplishment? How many of all those towns will have the infrastructure to replicate L.A.’s template? Or will a new blueprint someway be established, one particular in which the IOC will change what matters most and worth bids that go away a actually affluent legacy at the rear of?

Monday was the 1st stage in a extended approach to locate out the responses.

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