MovieFest

8.1/10 The second season of  Preacher  has done a great job of narrowing the show’s story to a central conflict between Jesse Custer and the Saint of Killers. However, there is one emerging subplot that has grown increasingly more interesting regarding a certain aspect of Tulip’s past. For the past two episodes, she’s been (just about) dodging a man named Viktor to the point where she becomes a recluse simply whenever someone mentions his name. However, his henchmen cornered her at the end of the 3rd episode, which means we’re about to find out what he’s really made of. How does Viktor’s appearance affect Jesse’s search for God? Or does he just get in the way of it. Picking up right where the last episode left off, Tulip hands over her gun to Viktor’s men. They take her into a van and drive off. As the henchmen bring Tulip into Viktor’s office, she can hear him screaming through the door. As he sizes her up, he wonders aloud what they’re going to do with her. M...

Weekend Box Office Report: 28-30 July, 2017 For a second weekend, Christopher Nolan's WWII movie DUNKIRK was on top at the box office with an estimated $28.1 million! Opening in second place was the god-awful animated comedy THE EMOJI MOVIE with $25.6 million. In third place was the R-rated GIRLS TRIP with$20 million, dipping just 35% from its opening last weekend. In fourth place was the new Charlize Theronaction movie ATOMIC BLONDE with an opening of $18.5 million. SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING continued crawling in fifth with $13.5 million. Marvel's web-swinging superhero has a domestic total of $278.3 million after a month in theaters, leaping over the $262 million domestic finish of previous reboot THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN in 2012. In sixth place, WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES kept fighting with $10.3 million. The animated DESPICABLE ME 3 was in seventh with $7.7 million. The sequel continues the franchise's global domination with a worldwide total of $819 ...

It’s been a bit of a rough summer for movies hoping to kick off new “cinematic universes” (The Mummy, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword), but Lionsgate may be on the right track. The studio won a big bidding war against Universal and Warner Bros, for a female assassin screenplay called Ballerina, which they are considering linking into the world of John Wick as a potential spinoff (how cool would that be). Ballerina was written byscreenwriter Shay Hatten, who also wrote the “2016 Black List” screenplay Maximum King!, about author Stephen King directing Maximum Overdrive.

7.4/10 So i finally got around to watching this nearly a year later. Though this familiar material has been done before, both better and worse, Jodie Foster directs with a satisfying combination of admirable skill and old-fashioned Hollywood entertainment. This is her fourth feature directorial effort, and, after working on House of Cards and Orange Is the new Black, she seems more technically proficient. Some sequences set in the TV studio of Money Monster contain many images and audio feeds, and Foster juggles them cleanly and effectively. She tells her story with a few surprises, teeing up fairly typical scenes (a plea to the viewing audience, the kidnapper's girlfriend showing up, etc.) but then having them turn unexpected corners. So on the majority i would just like to say kudos to Jodie Foster. Don't get me wrong it's not an amazing film and the plot is quite thin, but the cast where all on point and it was great to see George and Julia back together again,...

4/10 Before I start I would just like to point out that this is my "personal" opinion. Where the f*** do I begin, I actually cannot comprehend what I just watched, no actually, tell a lie.... Garbage, that's what it bloody was. Kristen Stewart giving almost the exact same performance as she has done in every other movie since the 'Twilight' saga. I thought i would give her another chance and check it out, due to it getting 5/5 from the guardian and 4/4 from Washington post, aswell as a couple other good reviews and i just want to say... What s*** where they smoking. Everything was just shoddy, graphics where below par, acting was ok-ish, the fact we spend almost half an hour just reading texts going back and forth killed me a little inside, I was not thrilled once and was firmly sat on my sofa nice and relaxed with not one jump or scare or even a blink to be fair, it was a joke, definitely one of the worst films I have watched this year and i wish i never ...

Fans of iZombie will get to see more of Angus in the upcoming fourth season, as it has been confirmed that Robert Knepper has been promoted to a series regular. The news came from the executive producers and cast of iZombie at the San Diego Comic-Con panel. They also teased a few plot details on the show's fourth season, which will explore new territory as humans have become aware of zombies. "Angus is going to get out of the well, and he's going to be up to no good, and he's going to have some very hardcore pro-zombie people on his side," executive producer Rob Thomas shared (via TVLine). However, the upcoming season will not have one major enemy for Liz to deal with. "There's going to be a human terrorist organization that doesn't want any human-zombie fraternization," Thomas said. "This is not about one big bad this year. It's coming at our characters from all sides of the spectrum." Thomas previously revealed th...

8.5/10 Immersing yourself in JK Rowling's magical universe is always tremendously entertaining. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them isn't set in child-friendly Hogwarts, full of House-sorted students going to class and learning about weird and wonderful magical creatures. This is 1920s Manhattan, where magical characters face a very separatist attitude toward those without magic, as well as a frightening dark force that's a threat to all New Yorkers. The period cityscape provides a wonderful contrast to Scamander's amazing personal zoo, which he keeps hidden in his briefcase (that briefcase must use an even more impressive spell than Hermione's purse in Deathly Hallows). All the wildly imaginative creatures are a marvel to look at, from the adorable Niffler, who loves to steal shiny things, to the Groot-like Bowtruckle, to the enormous hippo-like Erumpent and the awesome Thunderbird. The performances are led by a perfectly cast Redmayne as the curious, kind...

9/10 I was absolutely blown away after watching this masterpiece due to seeing and hearing really good things about it. Every now and then a film comes along that will leave an impact on you that will make it hard for you to forget. This film is one of those. This story was told with such realism, even the actors did not seem like they were acting. At first I was hesitant when I saw that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau  as I mentioned yesterday, but wow did he nail his role. His transition from a white collar to jailed convict was perfect. Jon Bernthal's acting was sensational even in a smaller role (of course), Omari Hardwick (Power) was great but for me, I'm so happy to say Nikolaj stole the show. Every character was cast perfectly and were very convincing in their roles. The writing and screenplay is what truly made this film so great. It's a story told really well, transitioning back and forth at just the right time from back-story to current time. Had the transitioning...

8/10 Hacksaw Ridge is based on the true story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a pacifist who enlisted in World War II but re fused to carry a weapon or kill, preferring to save wounded men as a medic rather than taking a mans life ("while everybody is taking life, I'm gonna be saving it") . Director Mel Gibson doesn't shy away from showing extremely graphic war violence. We see Bullets pierce flesh in slow motion, explosions toss men in the air, bleeding leg and arm stumps are shown, throats are slashed, soldiers bayonet each other to death, and men are graphically gutted, disembodied, and beheaded, with entrails and ligaments left hanging. Doss is also beaten by his fellow soldiers during basic training due to his refusal to carry a weapon. And his superior officers jail and put him on trial. Although this WWII action drama is a technical wonder, the soul of the movie feels at odds with itself. While director Mel Gibson fairly represents Doss' pacifist ...

The cast and crew of Riverdale are still working very hard on season 2 of The CW's unexpectedly awesome dark Archie universe show, but a whole lot of them were on hand at SDCC this past weekend to chat about some of the things to come, and there's also a new trailer/sneak peek to tide us over until it arrives back on our screens later this year. It'll be a huge second season for  Riverdale , with almost double the episodes we got with the first. Its going to be darker and maybe feature some supernatural aspects (like the comics). “Season one was kind of all about who killed Jason Blossom, but in season two, we launch two or three kind of big mysteries," executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Tonight. “The biggest thing that I think I'm most excited about, and that most people will be excited about, is just to have more time with these characters that they love. We all wanted [22 episodes] and that’s what we were working towards, so we...

7.5/10  It starts as a normal day at the office for employees of an American company based in Colombia. Suddenly blast walls are lowered in the small office tower, exits are closed and a malevolent voice over the office intercom orders people to kill or be killed. A few have to die before it is believed that this voice means business. Soon it is hand to hand combat and survival of the fittest among maintenance, management, IT nerds and the rest of the workers. Weapons are in plentiful supply. So are theories as to how and why this is happening, what to do in response to the commands and whether people should band together or fight for themselves. This intense, violent, funny and unpredictable film is fueled by capable actors and an intriguing plot with a decent pace. It says a lot about human nature. People divide into two camps; the manipulators and those with empathy for others. Yet both types tend to die when the lights go out and the blast walls go down. The unexpected ...

Actor  Jared Leto  is in early negotiations to star in 'Bloodshot' comic book adaptation. If things go according to plan, the 'Sucide Squad' star will play the titular role in the movie. Dave Wilson is attached to direct the movie, which was initially announced in 2015 as part of an ambitious plan to create a five-film franchise. Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe are producing. First published in 1992, 'Bloodshot' centers on Angelo Mortalli, a former soldier whose memories are erased and his body is injected with nanotechnology that grants him enhanced strength, speed, and healing abilities aswell as other kick-ass abilities such as nuclear energy blasts, cyberkinesis and shapeshifting.

With the release of Kong: Skull Island on Blu-ray, Warner Bros. is ramping up the promotion for their next monster mash-up, Godzilla: King of the Monsters . The film doesn’t come out for another 2 years, so that’s plenty of time to drop little hints about the upcoming film, including ones relating to all the new monsters the big lizard will face. The Twitter page for Monarch (the secretive organization that deals in the existence of taller-than-average animals) recently dropped a little tease for one of ‘Zillas most iconic foes/allies – Mothra. Unlocked: Monarch Classified File #63061 – Temple of the Moth, Yucca Province – E. Russell #MonarchSighting pic.twitter.com/bCSAomvpCM — [MONARCH] (@MonarchSciences) 22 July 2017 The winged beast first made an appearance in its own movie Mothra in 1961, before being featured in a crossover with Godzilla in 1964’s Mothra vs Godzilla . Mothra fought Godzilla when the latter attacked Japan, making the former the hero of the tale that ...

According to an interview with ComicBook.com, one of McFarlane’s main influences is the 1975 Shark flick Jaws , a monster movie about a shark terrorizing a coastal town during tourist season. McFarlane said such a dynamic would work well in the kind of Spawn movie he’s planning. “There’s two big roles in the script,” McFarlane said. “There’s obviously sort of Spawn himself, although in a weird way it’s not the biggest role, and then there’s the cop. The cop is this character Twitch who’s been there since issue #1. Twitch is the lead role in this one, and I sort of refer to him as my sheriff Brody, who is the sheriff in the Jaws movie. Although it was called Jaws , Jaws didn’t really talk a lot in his movie, right? He just kind of showed up at the opportune time to make the movie worthwhile.” Quite a funny argument but if McFarlane’s claim holds weight, it sounds like Spawn will become more of a background character in the film, no less a demonic arbiter of justice, but less over...

'Westworld's Season 2 trailer was shown just the other day by HBO at Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, and the host uprising has finally come. The spot starts with a player piano starting up and Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) staring at the body of a dead tiger, all while “I Gotta Be Me” by Sammy Davis Jr. cheerfully plays on in the background. Soon after, we see Maeve (Thandie Newton) looking calmly over a scene of carnage, and Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) on horseback, aiming a gun at partygoers. The Man in Black’s face is covered in blood while he slowly smiles. 'Westworld' won’t return until 2018 and a specific date has not been announced as of yet. Thanks to how ambitious the production is and where creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy want to take their story, the second season will take some time before it actually debuts. In an interview with Variety, Nolan said, “It’s an ambitious project, and HBO has encouraged us to take the time and resources that we nee...

Marvel’s 'The Defenders' will arrive ready to binge in just a few weeks to come. In the miniseries’ latest trailer, Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) intones that she and them aren’t that different, and that they’re just on opposing sides in a war. But that war will decide the future of New York City. 'The Defenders' is Netflix’s major crossover event for its Marvel series up until this point, starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. The four heroes will be facing off against Alexandra and the Hand, the undead ninja group that has been working behind the scenes since Daredevil’s first season. Attendees in Hall H got to see the first episode of the miniseries, and the reception has been positive so far. Now the rest of us just have to see it. 'The Defenders' premieres on August 18th.

Yesterday at San Diego Comic Con we got a fistfull of new trailers and this is the second I bring you today, and it comes from, Warner Bros. They released the first trailer for the upcoming film Ready Player One, and like the novel it’s based on, it’s loaded down with references to everything geek culture loves. The trailer begins with Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) describing his life in the Stacks. He’s a part of a generation known as the missing millions, but he and those around him found solace in a virtual world known as OASIS. In that world, it’s possible to meet the Iron Giant and fight the likes of Freddy Krueger himself. The movie is based on the debut novel from Fanboys screenwriter Ernie Cline, which is set in a near-future where virtual reality is commonplace. Wade Watts joins an international scavenger hunt in the virtual world to track down three clues left behind by OASIS’s founder. Whoever finds the three easter eggs gets control of the system itself. The book, laden...

The cast of Stranger Things got a heroes’ welcome in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con yesterday, even before they released this giant trailer filled with awesome new footage (a bit to much of you ask me, that's why i don't always like trailers)  from the show’s incredibly anticipated second season. And yes, that is Vincent Price’s voiceover from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Yep, Stranger Things is still totally awesome. Not only do you get this weird synth version of Thriller throughout the trailer, you get to see Will’s deep psychological problems, lots of Ghostbusters stuff and Eleven busting out of the Upside Down. Wow, we can’t wait. Oh, and the first question asked at the Hall H panel was by Shannon Purser herself. “Is Barb in season 2?” she asked. And, unfortunately, the answer was no. But David Harbor did say there will be justice for Barb. “Barb will be avenged,” he said. Stranger Things season two drops on Netflix October 27.

8.8/10 Arrival  is a deeply thoughtful sci-fi movie about trying to communicate with aliens rather than defeat them. It presents battle and war as last resorts, with only frightened, desperate people looking to violence as a solution. It champions education, compassion, and curiosity and has a strong female lead character ( Amy Adams ) as well as two great actors supporting her, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker. This deeply thoughtful, profoundly compassionate sci-fi movie beautifully mixes realism with a sense of wonder. It keeps its mysteries at bay, and, amazingly, doesn't disappoint when all is revealed. French-Canadian director  Denis Villeneuve   ( Prisoners ,   Enemy ,   Sicario ) is becoming one of the best, smartest cinematic storytellers in the world, finding new ways to pull the camera back and observe, taking a little extra time to find emotions, and explore spaces and sounds (a chirping bird is especially poignant). The cinematography by Bra...

Todd McFarlane has been working for a bloody long time to bring his comic book character Spawn back to the big screen once again. Now, it looks like he’ll be able to do that as I'm really excited to say, he has signed with Blumhouse Productions, the company behind recent hit horror films 'Get Out', 'Paranormal Activity', 'The Purge', and 'Split'. McFarlane made the announcement alongside Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) with a Facebook Live video yesterday, saying that the film was no longer theoretical: “we’re now making movies.” McFarlane has been working on the project for several years, saying in 2009 that he was writing a new, R-rated, standalone film featuring the character and I have been following him since up until a few months ago when he announced he had finally finished his script, and then the news I brought you yesterday, and now this the best of all, finally 8 years later we should have the film in 2 years. In the video, h...

Marvel’s 'Iron Fist', the television series about a young billionaire who kicks-ass in New York City as a member of The Defenders, will return to Netflix for a second season. Jeph Loeb, the head of Marvel Television, made the announcement yesterday during the San Diego Comic-Con panel for Netflix’s The Defenders. The news came after the fans were treated when the main cast of the highly anticipated series appeared together on stage in Hall H to a standing ovation: Charlie Cox as Daredevil, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Finn Jones as Iron Fist, Sigourney Weaver as the villain Alexandra, Elodie Yung as Elektra, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing. Marco Ramirez, the series’ showrunner, rounded out the group of panellists (I'm so fricking jealous). Loeb did not give a release window for Iron Fist’s second season, although he said that production will begin very soon. Entertainment Weekly reports that Loeb did hi...

Upon his death, Albert Francis Simmons made a deal with the devil and exchanged his soul with a lord of Hell in order to see his wife again, only to find himself transformed into the demonic creature known only as Spawn. Everyone is aware that Todd McFarlane's anti-hero hasn't had the best luck on the big-screen. The first and only 'Spawn' film was released in 1997 and starred Michael Jai White in the title role. It was the only film due to it not resonating to well with its fans, but Todd McFarlane has nonetheless been attempting to get another SPAWN film off the ground since then, and I have been eagerly waiting for him to tell us that he has finally finished faffing around with the script, and he's signed on with someone to finally get things going. The 'Spawn' reboot has spent much of its life languishing in development hell, but Todd McFarlane took to Facebook yesterday to announce that he will be making an official announcement about the '...

‘Red Dirt’ is an episode that dives right into the feud between the Ottos and Walker’s group. It also manages to unveil just how stubborn and racist Jeremiah really fucking is, and how he’s likely to get everyone on the ranch killed and that's not even by the undead. We immediately learn that, before the apocalypse, Walker was a tribal lawyer who sued the Ottos multiple times for ownership of the land, losing every single time. While Jeremiah is slowly becoming unhinged, it seems that Madison and Troy are stepping up in his place or rather to take his place. With the threat of Walker and his people growing by the day, residents of the ranch are beginning to panic. One night, Walker’s people light fires around the entire ranch, and that seems to be the last straw for the Trimbol family. They choose to pack up and leave, and Troy is not happy one bit. However, it does allow Troy to step up as the leader he was groomed to be. Jeremiah doesn’t trust him, but Madison is slowly taki...

I'm so pumped! After receiving a standing ovation as a work-in-progress screening at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, A24 and New Line Cinema have released the first trailer for James Franco’s The Disaster Artist, which tells the true story about the making of Tommy Wiseau’s beloved but terrible cult classic, The Room.  This brilliant piece of promotional material offers up our first glimpse at Franco in the role of Wiseau as he struggles to remember his lines in the now-infamous “I did not hit her. It’s not true! It’s bullshit, I did not hit her. I did not! Oh, hi, Mark,” scene that took a grueling three hours and thirty-two takes to finally perfect, according to Greg Sestero’s best-selling tell-all “The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made,” which the film is based on. The Disaster Artist received rave reviews out of SXSW and boasts a staggering 92% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, many of them praising Franco’s performance as Wiseau, and some even ca...

6.1/10 Cate Shortland, the director of the widely admired 'Somersault', has made an efficient but unrewarding and ultimately pointless psycho-thriller 'Berlin Syndrome', adapted by Shaun Grant from the 2011 debut novel by Australian author Melanie Joosten. It is set in Berlin, a capital for backpackers and international hipsters. Clare (Teresa Palmer, 'Lights Out') is a tourist from Brisbane, wandering around the city, exploring the sites, photographing the East German architecture that fascinates her, but feeling a little aimless. She runs into Andi (Max Riemelt, 'Sense8'), a charming, interesting German guy who chats her up in the street. They go back to his place; the next morning he goes off to work, leaving her to sleep. Clare’s loved-up mood is dispelled, however, when she wakes up and realises he has locked her in his apartment and taken her sim card, panic starts to set in. Berlin Syndrome feels like a “lite” version of Lenny Abrahamson’s...

Ant-Man wasn't perfect (and I'll always mourn what could've been with Baby Driver's Edgar Wright), but I still really enjoyed it. Paul Rudd is always amazing, Michael Pena was hilarious, and the small-scale heist story was a refreshing breather from all the end-of-the-world malarkey that had plagued Marvel films prior. Overall, it was fun with some cool action scenes. However, I'm really looking forward to Ant-Man and the Wasp, as it'll be cool to have yet another awesome, badass female superhero tearing it up on screen! Not only that, but it seems Walton frickin Goggins (Justified, Hateful Eight, Vice Principals) has signed on as well! No confirmation on who he'll be playing (though it might be revealed soon at Comic-Con), but chances are he's someone slimy and untrustworthy (he's amazing at that kind of role). Maybe he'll be the villain? At this point who knows, but I'm excited.

Besides the Justice League movie and Aquaman, there doesn't seem to be many other official releases for the rest of the DCEU films. Sure many have been announced (Gotham City Sirens, BatGirl, The Flash, Shazam!, Green Lantern, Suicide Squad 2, The Batman, and theoretically still Cyborg). However, according to Scott Mendelson of Forbes, it seems Warner Bros. has finally scheduled at least two untitled DCEU films for 2020: Warner Bros. has announced... An UNTITLED DC FILM will be released on 02/14/20 An UNTITLED DC FILM will be released on 06/05/20 — Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) 17 July 2017 Speculation for at least one of them is Wonder Woman 2, and the other could conceivably be anything. Maybe we'll hear it during Hall H later this week? Hell, for all we know it could be Plastic Man or a Booster Gold movie at this point!

Burning In Water, Drowning In Flame is a very busy episode, intercutting between four individual storylines. Each story is replete with its own odd character pairings, of which first and foremost is my main man Daniel and Strand. These are two people who shouldn’t be in a car together, much less road-tripping their way through Mexico’s apocalyptic wasteland. Theirs is the least effective pairing, if only because Strand is just so unlikable. Remember when Strand was the very definition of cool in season one, a mellifluous patter wrapped in an suave suit? His fall from cool happened promptly in season two, when we discovered he’s a predatory land developer with a penchant for spending other people’s money with not a care in the world. Now, as even that artifice is stripped away, we see him for the lying coward he actually is. And, truthfully, you figure for every rugged, self-sufficient Daniel Salazar in the world, there’s a gutless Victor Strand bullshitting his way through life. ...