Tag: anthony-hopkins

• ‘Locked’ Exclusive Interview: Director David Yarovesky

  

  Opening in theaters on March 21st is ‘Locked,’ directed by David Yarovesky, and starring Bill Skarsgård, Anthony Hopkins, Ashley Cartwright, and Michael Eklund.

  Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director David Yarovesky about his work on ‘Locked’, how he came to direct the project, the Argentinian film it is based on, other inspirations, practical aspects of the story, and working with Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins on set.

  Related Article: Bill Skarsgård Talks ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ and Working with Keanu Reeves

  

  Moviefone: To begin with, how did this project land in your lap?

  David Yarovesky: I just made a movie with Sam Raimi called ‘Nightbooks,’ and it was just a really great experience. So he sent me this script, which was not a kind of thing I’d ever done before. But Sam’s sending me a script, so I’m in, right? I’m going to do anything to work with Sam, but I had to kind of get my brain around how I’m going to take this on. The more I started digging in, the more I was like, “It feels like something I’ve seen before, but I’ve really never seen this before.” I couldn’t find a comp. So I started to pull on that thread and go, “Okay, you’ve got a guy trapped somewhere — what are things that are tropes for this subgenre?” I started to think about those tropes that we see over and over again, and I said, “Okay, one of the things is that you’re trapped in a little space.” So shooting it is very tricky. Oftentimes the cinematography is very simplistic and you’re really limited in shooting. So one of the things I wanted to do with this was really break that open and shoot this as a big cinematic movie and try to capture something that the people haven’t seen before.

  MF: Did you see ‘4×4,’ the Argentinian film that this is based on?

  DY: Immediately after reading the script, the next thing I did was watch ‘4×4.’ I loved it. I thought it was just so well done, super unique obviously. I had never seen something quite done like this before. I watched that movie one time and then I was like, “I don’t want to see this again,” because I love seeing remakes or reboots or adaptations where I can say, “Okay, this was their interpretation, and now we brought a new filmmaker in, and this is a totally different voice coming into this, and it feels totally different.” So my aim was to do that with this movie, to go in with the most respect and admiration for the original team that made this and did an incredible job with it, but take a crack at telling the story and see how my story ends up going down different paths than their story. I guess that was part of what had inspired me.

  

  MF: Did you look at films like ‘Buried,’ which come at the same problem (shooting in a small space) from different angles?

  DY: I had actually seen ‘Buried’ a couple of times over the years, but I rewatched it for this. I love ‘Buried.’ I think ‘Buried’ is incredible, but I mean, they’re very trapped in there. They’re very contained. Then ‘Phone Booth,’ of course. All these movies were clear inspirations, but this is ‘Phone Booth’ or ‘Buried’ in ‘Christine,’ so it takes it to a different place. This movie has a foot in the elevated thriller space, and it has a foot in the genre space. I think it’s because it’s so experiential — at times, Eddie’s terrified, so it can feel like a horror movie to a degree. I also think oftentimes movies like this can become a series of puzzles and traps to solve that are heightened and not believable. I love that stuff, but I wanted to ground this movie in reality, and I wanted to just sort of explore, “Okay, if a guy wanted to build a trap car and capture someone and really take revenge, what would that really look like?”

  MF: How plausible was it in terms of what the car was able to do, and what William was able to control remotely? Did you have things that you wanted to try that weren’t possible?

  DY: I’m not actually a car person at all. I am not a big car guy. I don’t know the new car stuff or whatever. But when I took on this movie, obviously I had to learn a lot about cars and car manufacturing and building and design. In that process I really came to sort of love cars in a way and get pulled into it. Now I find myself driving around going like, “Oh, that’s the new thing. Oh yeah, I like what they did with this.” So after doing many deep dives, I found that there were a number of companies that will modify cars, like an Escalade or whatever, to be armored in a number of different ways. The sky’s the limit. There’s like multi-million-dollar cars that are made to transport princes and kings and stuff. I tried to follow every painstaking detail of it. I’ll give you an example of that, something that probably you saw and didn’t notice. In the trailer, there’s a moment where Anthony Hopkins’ character is standing outside and the window lowers and he says something. But if you look at the window, it’s layers and layers and layers of window, because the armored glass is that thick. I’ve not heard one person mention that they saw that, but we went through that painstaking process to make sure that detail was in there for people. We did a lot of research and I really wanted to keep it all within the boundaries of what is realistic and believable for right now, and in doing that, we really followed that to a very intense degree. We did our absolute best to try to recreate what that would be like, how you would achieve it, and so on.

  

  MF: Can you talk about working with both Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins?

  DY: You’re talking about two of the greatest living actors today. Both of them are playing these intense roles and bringing their A-game. When the two of them met, they met on set. I didn’t want them to meet before. I wanted to be like, “Hey, nice to meet you. Get in the car. We’re doing it now.” I parked the SUV under a bridge and we did the movie like a play, with Anthony Hopkins calling into the car and Bill there. The day they met, they walked up to each other and it was like nothing I’d ever seen. It was almost like a weigh-in at a boxing match. The two of them were just standing and looking at each other, and they just start grinning at each other and staring into each other’s eyes like they were about to have this cage match, and it went on for, I don’t know, 20 seconds or something. They were just staring at each other, sizing each other up. I’d never quite seen anything like it before. Then obviously we jumped right into it, and they just went for it. It was so wild to see. I really feel like we captured a little bit of magic that day. I think the entire crew really felt it. There were these texts that were going around that people were just like, “I can’t believe I’m watching this happen. It’s Hannibal versus Pennywise and blah, blah, blah.” It felt like a really special thing that was happening.

  MF: Did you shoot it that way too, with Anthony Hopkins calling into the car?

  DY: No, no, no. We couldn’t shoot it that way, but we rehearsed it that way so that we could create these moments that felt really naturalistic. Then we did a whole recording pass so that we could get the best performance possible from Bill. Sometimes we used Anthony Hopkins’ voice, sometimes it was me, so that there could be an interactivity. Sometimes it was the first AD — whatever that moment needed to make it feel alive. Then we replaced all of it again. Anthony Hopkins came back in, and we re-recorded all of it to keep it alive really, to keep that sort of naturalistic thing happening.

  

  MF: Finally, did either of them add any bits of business that wasn’t in the script, just to flesh out their characters a bit more?

  DY: I went to breakfast with Anthony Hopkins before he signed onto the movie, and he told me how much he loved the script. Shout out to Michael Arlen Ross, the writer, who was totally responsible for that, and also the original filmmakers who made a great movie. We started talking about the character, and he would just become William, and he would talk to me like I’m Eddie. We started talking about our lives, and we started talking about our relationships with our families and morality and the human capacity to do evil. We just start going down all these really deep paths, and through that, we started to shape this character. Then Anthony Hopkins would call me almost every night for a long time, and we would talk through aspects of the character, aspects of how he felt, what he thought, and then he would talk to me again like I was Eddie. Through that, he would give me ideas that we would put into the script and we created this thing together. I really wanted to shape it around who he was and where this was going. It was a really organic process, but I think in order to create that sort of naturalistic feeling of the movie, I think it needed to be organic.

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  What is the plot of ‘Locked’?

  A petty criminal named Eddie (Bill Skarsgård), desperate for money so he can take care of his daughter, breaks into an SUV but finds himself locked in the heavily fortified, trap-laden vehicle by its owner, William (Anthony Hopkins), who torments Eddie via remote control as part of his own twisted plan for vengeance.

  Who is in the cast of ‘Locked’?

  • Bill Skarsgård as Eddie Barrish
  • Anthony Hopkins as William
  • Ashley Cartwright as Sarah
  • Michael Eklund as Karl
  • Navid Charkhi as Butter

  

  List of Movies Directed by David Yarovesky:

  • ‘The Hive‘ (2015)
  • ‘Brightburn‘ (2019)
  • ‘Nightbooks‘ (2021)
  • ‘Locked‘ (2025)

  Buy Tickets: ‘Locked’ Movie Showtimes

  Buy Bill Skarsgård Movies on Amazon

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  March 20, 2025

• ‘Those About to Die’ Interview: Director Roland Emmerich

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  Premiering on Peacock July 18th is the new 10-episode sword-and-sandal series entitled ‘Those About to Die’, which was co-directed, and executive produced by Roland Emmerich (‘Stargate’ and ‘Independence Day’).

  Set in the world of gladiators in Ancient Rome, the series stars Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins (‘The Silence of the Lambs’), Iwan Rheon (‘Game of Thrones‘), Jojo Macari (‘Morbius‘), Tom Hughes (‘About Time‘), Dimitri Leonidas (‘The Monuments Men‘), Gabriella Pession (‘Crossing Lines‘), Sara Martins-Court (‘Paris, je t’aime‘), Moe Hashim (‘Ted Lasso‘), and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (‘Atomic Blonde‘).

  

  Related Article: ‘Gladiator II’: Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal Feature in First Images

  Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director and executive producer Roland Emmerich about his work on ‘Those About to Die’, what interested him in making a series about the Roman Empire, navigating the multiple storylines, and creating the chariot racing sequences.

  You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Emmerich, Iwan Rheon, Jojo Macari, Tom Hughes, Dimitri Leonidas, Gabriella Pession, Sara Martins-Court, Moe Hashim, and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson.

  

  Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your attraction to the source material and why you wanted to set the series at this specific point of the Roman Empire?

  Roland Emmerich: Well, it was about the first time a normal, regular general who had only success in war, became emperor, and there were four emperors, and they came and went, and at the end, Vespasian stayed. He was also the smartest, and he was smart because of what he did. Just to show the Roman people that he’s a man of the people, he said, “I’m not building a golden house. I will build an amphitheater for you so everybody can watch much closer what’s going on.” That was for me, the starting point. Then I said, “Okay, so who could be in this show?” Then naturally you need somebody who is the inside of betting, which is Iwan Rheon. Then all these people come to Rome, from where do they come? All these gladiators came from far, far away. Also, there’s these three brothers who are just so enamored by the Circus Maximus and Scorpus, so they kind of lie to their younger brother. So, all these kinds of people come to Rome and it’s this wild mix of characters and ethnicities. That’s always cool for a director to co-create.

  

  MF: Can you talk about the challenges of navigating all the different characters and storylines in the series?

  RE: Well, I always had this idea to make a movie or a TV show, about the whole Roman Empire but concentrated on Rome. For that, you need different characters because also a lot of them die. So, for me, it was just interesting to kind of see how that develops.

  

  MF: Finally, can you talk about shooting the chariot racing sequences? What were the challenges as a director shooting those scenes?

  RE: That was the thing that I said, “Okay, so how do I do that?” We had luckily a volume stage. Now, a volume stage you can do endlessly what you want but there was always this one moment when we said, “How can we show a character or two characters, because there’s a lot about pushing them to the wall, how can we shoot that?” Then actually after discussion with my DP we tried to film out an unreal engine, a background, and that was the only kind of thing what we had. Everything of these kinds of people, these charioteers, is done with that, with one shot.

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  What is the plot of ‘Those About to Die’?

  ‘Those About to Die’ is an epic drama set in the corrupt world of the spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition, exploring a side of ancient Rome never told — the dirty business of entertaining the masses, giving the mob what they want most … blood and sport. The series introduces an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire who collide at the explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties.

  Who is in the cast of ‘Those About to Die’?

  • Anthony Hopkins as Vespasian
  • Iwan Rheon as Tenax
  • Jojo Macari as Domitian Flavianus
  • Tom Hughes as Titus Flavianus
  • Dimitri Leonidas as Scorpus
  • Gabriella Pession as Antonia
  • Sara Martins-Court as Cala
  • Moe Hashim as Kwame
  • Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Viggo

  

  Other Movies and TV Shows Similar to ‘Those About to Die’:

  • ‘Spartacus‘ (1960)
  • ‘Excalibur‘ (1981)
  • ‘Braveheart‘ (1995)
  • ‘Gladiator‘ (2000)
  • ‘Troy‘ (2004)
  • ‘Kingdom of Heaven‘ (2005)
  • ‘Rome‘ (2005 – 2007)
  • ‘300‘ (2007)
  • ‘Centurion‘ (2010)
  • ‘Game of Thrones‘ (2011 – 2019)
  • ‘The Eagle‘ (2011)
  • ‘Immortals‘ (2011)
  • ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings‘ (2014)
  • ‘Pompeii‘ (2014)
  • ‘Gladiator II‘ (2024)

  Buy Roland Emmerich Movies On Amazon

   

  July 17, 2024

• Movie Review: ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’

  

  On Netflix on Friday, April 19th, ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ sees director Zack Snyder offering up the second chapter of his expansive, war-happy space adventure, this time with a narrowed focus and slightly more coherent storyline.

  Yet, like the first part, it doesn’t work, falling into the feeling of a lower-rent ‘Star Wars’ movie that disappoints on many levels.

  Does ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ fly?

  

  If you watched the first part of ‘Rebel Moon’ and had your socks knocked off at its audacious, sweeping scale and intense science fiction action… Then good for you. But we wonder if we watched a different movie.

  For those who found that outing an unoriginal slog filled with cliches and tropes and wondered if a follow-up could do the impossible and actually come off worse, then… Zack Snyder is here to unfortunately confirm that suspicion.

  Because ‘The Scargiver’ somehow manages to be full of battles and stakes and yet completely devoid of authentic emotion or reaction. True, some of the heroes here don’t make it out alive, but you honestly will not care. And the rest? Pure noise and bolted-together nonsense.

  Related Article: Director Zack Snyder Talks ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’

  Script and Direction

  

  The script for ‘The Scargiver’ simply and obviously continues what ‘A Child of Fire’ began –– Sofia Boutella’s Kora has returned to the pastoral moon of Veldt with the warriors she thinks could defend the place. But bafflingly (due to some poorly explained Motherworld policy), she seems to believe that all will be well since she managed to slay Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein). Alas! Not only is Noble not dead thanks to some slightly Darth Vader-like medical treatment, but he’s also boiling with vengeance towards Kora and is only too happy to take it out on Veldt.

  Yet the new movie somehow manages to waste even the vaguest spark of an idea, any potential value buried in a mire of off-the-peg motivational speeches that would make someone giving out advice at a Holiday Inn conference room cringe. Even seasoned performers such as Anthony Hopkins cannot make this stuff work.

  

  The pacing is also way off, the first third of the movie stilted and awkward, grinding to a halt as various characters fill the people of Veldt (and, by extension, whoever is watching and not already asleep by that point) in on their backstories. There are zero surprises to be found here, except perhaps from Staz Nair’s Tarak, who it turns out is these days often shirtless but used to be a buttoned-up prince whose people used giant warbirds in the hope that they can battle spaceships –– it did not go well for them! Yet even that seemingly impressive sequence feels like Snyder borrowing, in this case from himself, as it has echoes of the opening scenes of ‘Man of Steel’.

  Snyder also still indulges himself on the visual front –– for every impressive location shot or beautiful looking sequence of a ship against a giant ringed moon, there are a hundred generic moments of laser blast fire and such an overload of slow-motion that you could watch the movie on fast forward and large chunks of it would appear to be playing at normal speed. A director having a stamped-on style is one thing. A filmmaker lazily going to the well so many times that it quickly runs dry is quite another.

  Performances

  

  ‘Rebel Moon’s returning cast don’t manage to spin the material into gold any more than they did the original. In many ways, they’re even more stranded among their director’s indulgences.

  As we mentioned above, the initial chunk of the film splits its time between Ed Skrein’s Darth V… Sorry, Admiral Noble being angry (Skrein still at least seems to be having fun swallowing scenery) and either the warrior characters spinning their wheels talking about their background, or long, dull sequences of farming that make it all look like a Budweiser commercial.

  

  Sofia Boutella carries the lion’s share of the character work, her own backstory an entirely unsurprising tale of betrayal, but even she’s stranded in a character who appears to have two modes: violent fighter or mopey love interest.

  The likes of Bae Doona, Djimon Hounsou and E. Duffy likewise remain entirely wasted in their supporting roles, whose character development is relegated to fighting or worrying.

  Everyone else is an archetype in search of a character, less active participants than human props.

  Final Thoughts

  

  An utterly disappointing follow-up to the first ‘Rebel Moon’ that we didn’t think was possible, this easily limbos under the low bar set by that movie. A waste of time, money and actors, it is reduced to embarrassingly cringeworthy moments such as a quartet still playing dramatic music in the same room as a king is being portrayed or long, battering sequences of war machines shooting at people.

  This so wants to aim for the quality and majesty of movies such as the recent ‘Dune: Part Two’ but ends up hitting ‘Dumb: Part Two’. Snyder has already talked about, and leaves us with, hints of further stories to come, but that’s not something to anticipate after this.

  ‘Rebel Moon: Part Two –– The Scargiver’ receives 5.5 out of 10 stars.

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  What is the plot of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

  Kora (Sofia Boutella) and the surviving warriors prepare to fight and defend their new homeworld Veldt against the Motherworld.

  Who is in the cast of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

  • Sofia Boutella as Kora / Arthelais
  • Djimon Hounsou as Titus
  • Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble
  • Michiel Huisman as Gunnar
  • Doona Bae as Nemesis
  • Staz Nair as Tarak
  • Fra Fee as Regent Balisarius
  • Elise Duffy as Millius
  • Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy

  

  Other Movies Directed By Zack Snyder:

  • ‘Dawn of the Dead‘ (2004)
  • ‘300‘ (2006)
  • ‘Watchmen‘ (2009)
  • ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole‘ (2010)
  • ‘Sucker Punch‘ (2011)
  • ‘Man of Steel‘ (2013)
  • ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘ (2016)
  • ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League‘ (2021)
  • ‘Army of the Dead‘ (2021)

  Buy Zack Snyder Movies on Amazon

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  April 19, 2024

• ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’ Interview: Zack Snyder

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  Premiering on Netflix April 19th is ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver,’ which is a sequel to ‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’ and was once again directed by Zack Snyder (‘Watchmen,’ ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’).

  Related Article: Movie Review: ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’

  

  Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director and cinematographer Zack Snyder about his work on ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver,’ creating the overall story, knowing where to split ‘A Child of Fire’ and ‘Scargiver’ into two different films, Kora’s journey, working with Sofia Boutella, shooting the battle sequences, and the future of the franchise.

  You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Snyder, Sofia Boutella, Michiel Huisman, Djimon Hounsou, Staz Nair, Elise Duffy, Ed Skrein and Fra Fee.

  

  Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about developing the overall story for these two films, when you realized it was too much story for one movie, and how you decided where to split the two films?

  Zack Snyder: When Kurt (Johnstad) and Shay (Hatten) and I were working on the script, even as I was pitching it with Netflix in our early days, we knew we were over 220 pages for the script. We cut it down to the version that you see, and it was still a good solid two hours and the director’s cuts are a solid three hours each, so it’s a lot of material, obviously. So, I knew early on that we were going to have to cut it and we knew we had Gondival in the middle of the movie and that run-in with Noble, and so that was where we kind of thought, “Okay, that’s a good spot.” Kora has a small victory, but it’s a false victory and we felt like that would be a good place to break it. The truth is that I think once you see ‘Part Two,’ you’ll really understand that it’s one story.

  

  MF: Can you talk about how Kora has changed from the first film, the importance of seeing this story through her eyes, and what it’s been like for you working with Sofia Boutella on these two movies?

  ZS: First, I’ll just say Sofia’s an incredible partner and an incredible actress, and I trust her incredibly with the work and really rely on her physicality and her emotional strength. She’s just amazing. Also, I really feel like her story is an incredible story of redemption. You’ll find out in ‘Part Two” why she’s on the run, what she’s done and the importance that this kind of sacrifice has for her. How far she would be willing to go to be redeemed, I think is really an incredible and fun thing that she really personifies incredibly well.

  

  MF: In addition to directing, you are also the cinematographer on ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver.’ Can you talk about shooting the battle sequences and was it physically and emotionally challenging for you to do both?

  ZS: Yeah, thankfully, I’m supported by this guy named John Clothier, who’s an incredible camera operator who I’ve been working with since ‘Watchmen,’ and he is an amazing resource. He’s the A camera operator, I’m the B camera operator, and so we work really in partnership. But during the battle sequences, all those explosions and stuff, we were just right in them, in the heart of them, getting plastered with dirt and debris every day. So yeah, it was really taxing and difficult for us to photograph, but super fun, rewarding and I wouldn’t do it any other way. It’s just like when you are in the trenches, literally with the guy’s filming, you really understand just what physically is happening and what emotionally needs to happen because you’re just right there and so it’s a kind of cool way to make a movie.

  

  MF: Finally, are there more stories that you want to tell in the ‘Rebel Moon’ universe, and what is the future of the franchise?

  ZS: Sure, absolutely. I would love to make some more ‘Rebel Moon’ movies. I mean, right now we’re trying to set up to make this little movie that I’ve been working on, so I might go do that, just as a palate cleanser. But in the end, I think the ‘Rebel Moon’ universe has some stories left in it, obviously based on the end of this movie.

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  What is the plot of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

  Kora (Sofia Boutella) and the surviving warriors prepare to fight and defend their new homeworld Veldt against the Motherworld.

  Who is in the cast of ‘Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver’?

  • Sofia Boutella as Kora / Arthelais
  • Djimon Hounsou as Titus
  • Ed Skrein as Atticus Noble
  • Michiel Huisman as Gunnar
  • Doona Bae as Nemesis
  • Staz Nair as Tarak
  • Fra Fee as Regent Balisarius
  • Elise Duffy as Millius
  • Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy

  

  Other Movies Directed By Zack Snyder:

  • ‘Dawn of the Dead‘ (2004)
  • ‘300‘ (2006)
  • ‘Watchmen‘ (2009)
  • ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole‘ (2010)
  • ‘Sucker Punch‘ (2011)
  • ‘Man of Steel‘ (2013)
  • ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘ (2016)
  • ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League‘ (2021)
  • ‘Army of the Dead‘ (2021)

  Buy Zack Snyder Movies on Amazon

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  April 15, 2024

• Movie Review: ‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’

  

  In theaters for a limited release on December 15th before premiering on Netflix December 21st, ‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’ is the latest slab of sci-fi action from genre specialist Zack Snyder, who is following up ‘Army of the Dead’ with another team movie that follows some very familiar concepts and character types.

  It is in no way surprising that this began life as a pitch Snyder presented to Lucasfilm way back in the days before Disney snapped it up. That Kathleen Kennedy passed on his side story set in that galaxy far, far is both good and bad news, and particularly positive if you’re a fan of the director’s distinctive visuals and action sense, as it’s full of both.

  Should you head to ‘Rebel Moon’?

  

  How you react to the movie might depend on what you’re looking for going in –– if you’re after a sweeping sci-fi epic full of scrappy underdogs looking to battle a powerful empire that is cracking down on any hint of rebellion well… if you’ve also watched ‘Star Wars’ than this might be a solid second choice.

  Perhaps the biggest issue with the movie might be that despite all the unfamiliar names for words and characters, it all feels very… done before. Opening on a giant, lurking space vessel and then panning down to a planet where someone is engaged in farm work feels less like crafting a homage to George Lucas (who, let’s not forget, borrowed liberally to create his own space opera) and more like cribbing from his homework. And not just Lucas –– there are elements that you’ll recognize from the likes of ‘Serenity’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Terminator’ and many, many more.

  Yet with its own mythology to build and some compelling sequences, ‘Rebel Moon’ does find the confidence to stand on its own, even if what remains is not as memorable as some of the classics it is referencing.

  ‘Rebel Moon’: Script and Direction

  

  Snyder, who has been letting this one cook in the back of his head for years, finally got cracking on it with regular collaborators Shay Hatten (‘Army of the Dead’, ‘Day Shift’, ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’) and Kurt Johnstad, and they’ve whipped up a mostly entertaining romp through the stars. Using the ‘Seven Samurai’ mold of oppressed people looking to secure the services of warriors who will fight an oncoming enemy for them, they’ve built out the story of Kora in such a way that it feels like they were all considering other spin-offs and stories ahead of actually making this one tick over.

  Still, in its defense, ‘Part One’ does at least tell a complete story before the inevitable cliffhanger setting up the next movie and does so in a less outwardly annoying fashion than some recent Marvel and DC entries.

  The characters are decently drawn, even if none of them feel truly original –– a fighter with a troubled past, a rogue with his own agenda, a disgraced royal with some serious animal wrangling skills… they’re all versions of something that has gone before. Ditto the overarching mythology, which tells the story of a kingdom which loses its monarch and sees the power vacuum filled by a grasping, cunning Regent (played, albeit briefly so far, by Fra Fee).

  Snyder as director indulges in every stylised trick for which he’s become known –– if you enjoy his ramped-up, slow-motion, quick-cut action sequences, there is plenty of it on display here, all shot in the cloudy/chome-y sepia-toned way he favors.

  Related Article: Director Zack Snyder Details Plans of Different Cuts for Sci-Fi Adventure ‘Rebel Moon’

  ‘Rebel Moon’: Performances

  

  The movie assembles a solid cast but doesn’t always quite give them enough to do beyond basic archetypes. Sofia Boutella’s Kora is the focus in the early going, and she’s more than up to the task of playing this recognizable central figure who has some dark notes in her past.

  As for the rest, they’re a mixed bag: Charlie Hunnam sports a perhaps ill-judged Irish (space-Irish?) accent as the roguish Kai, who initially helps her look for the others who will help fight back when the forces of the Motherworld (read: Empire) threaten the peaceful community she’s trying to make a new start in. Michiel Huisman has some charm as the naïve farmer who is in over his head, while mostly everyone else gets their action-packed introduction or moment to shine later when the baddies led by Ed Skrein’s Admiral finally track them down.

  ‘Rebel Moon’: Final Thoughts

  

  For both good and ill, ‘Rebel Moon’ is Zack Snyder on full blast. If this one leaves you craving more, don’t forget that Part Two, subtitled ‘The Scargiver’, will be on Netflix on April 19th.

  While the writer/director is in genre magpie mode, borrowing a little from other (often better) movies and stories, the whole doesn’t completely equal the sum of its parts. It’s at least a visually interesting, rousing sci-fi adventure.

  ‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.

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  What’s the story of ‘Rebel Moon?

  After crash landing on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger with a mysterious past, begins a new life among a peaceful settlement of farmers. But she soon becomes their only hope for survival when the tyrannical Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and his cruel emissary, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), discover the farmers have unwittingly sold their crops to the Bloodaxes (Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher) — leaders of a fierce group of insurgents hunted by the Motherworld.

  Tasked with finding fighters who would risk their lives to defend the people of Veldt, Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a tenderhearted farmer naive in the realities of war, journey to different worlds in search of the Bloodaxes, and assemble a small band of warriors who share a common need for redemption along the way: Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a pilot and gun for hire; General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a legendary commander; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a master swordswoman; Tarak (Staz Nair), a captive with a regal past; and Milius (E. Duffy), a resistance fighter. Back on Veldt, Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), an ancient, mechanized protector hiding in the wings, awakens with a new purpose.

  But the newly formed revolutionaries must learn to trust each other and fight as one before the armies of the Motherworld come to destroy them all…

  Who else is in ‘Rebel Moon’?

  The cast for the movie also includes Corey Stoll, Jena Malone, Cary Elwes and
  Stella Grace Fitzgerald.

  

  Other Movies Directed By Zack Snyder:

  • ‘Dawn of the Dead‘ (2004)
  • ‘300‘ (2006)
  • ‘Watchmen‘ (2009)
  • ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole‘ (2010)
  • ‘Sucker Punch‘ (2011)
  • ‘Man of Steel‘ (2013)
  • ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘ (2016)
  • ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League‘ (2021)
  • ‘Army of the Dead‘ (2021)

  Buy Zack Snyder Movies on Amazon

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  December 15, 2023

• Zack Snyder Plans “Harder-edged” Cuts Of His ‘Rebel Moon’ Movies

  

  A long time ago (well, probably around 2012) in a galaxy far, far away (actually more like Los Angeles), Zack Snyder heard that Disney was buying Lucasfilm and that new ‘Star Wars’ movies were likely. Yet while the director’s pitch for a standalone movie set in the universe of George Lucas’ creations didn’t ultimately click with Kathleen Kennedy and co., he’s now been able to retool the concept into his own sci-fi movie… Or movies, as he’ll explain below.

  ‘Rebel Moon’ is being produced under Snyder’s big deal with Netflix, set up around the time of zombie thriller ‘Army of the Dead’. It’s an ambitious, ‘Seven Samurai’-style tale of scrappy heroes fighting back against an imposing empire, with more than a few echoes of its original intended destination.

  But unlike ‘Star Wars’ more normal family-friendly fare, ‘Rebel Moon’ will have a harder edge, with Snyder planning both an all-audience cut and something he describes as “for fans of mine and people who are ready to take a deeper, harder dive.”

  

  What’s the story of ‘Rebel Moon’?

  ‘Rebel Moon’ focuses on the agricultural moon of Veldt, part of a sprawling galaxy of planets overseen by the ferocious, all-powerful Imperium which oversees the other planets from its home base of Mother World.

  When Imperium forces expand out to Veldt’s local area, they target the moon as a potentially rich source of food and new recruits. But the natives, none too happy that their already struggling existence is being threatened, turns to a newcomer, Kora (Sofia Boutella) for help.

  The isolated woman, who has her own past with the Imperium, knows that it would be foolish to try and negotiate a better deal with the powerful government, so she rounds up some fighters who could be of use against the might of the enemy. But keeping alliances together won’t be quite so easy…

  

  Related Article: Zack Snyder Making Norse Mythology Anime Series at Netflix

  Who else is in ‘Rebel Moon’

  Alongside Boutella, the cast also includes Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Djimon Hounsou, Staz Nair, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Cleopatra Coleman, E. Duffy, Jena Malone, Anthony Hopkins, Fra Fee and Ed Skrein.

  

  Two Movies to Start?

  Though Snyder originally wrote one big script for the first movie, the powers that be at Netflix decided that it wouldn’t work as one giant film. So, a change was made…

  Says Deborah Snyder, the director’s wife and regular producing partner:

  “ Originally, the script was one movie, but it was in ‘Zack form; It was 172 pages. [Netflix film chairman Scott] Stuber was like, ‘On the service, under-two-hour movies really do better for some reason,’ even though you’ll binge-watch a series of eight episodes. Zack said, ‘If you ask me to make this less than two hours, I’m going to lose all the character. You won’t care about these people. It’s a character story about how people can change, and redemption, and what are you willing to fight for…’ So, he said, ‘What if I give you two movies?’”

  The first installment of ‘Rebel Moon’ is due to land on Netflix on December 22nd.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Other Movies Directed By Zack Snyder:

  • ‘Dawn of the Dead‘ (2004)
  • ‘300‘ (2006)
  • ‘Watchmen‘ (2009)
  • ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole‘ (2010)
  • ‘Sucker Punch‘ (2011)
  • ‘Man of Steel‘ (2013)
  • ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘ (2016)
  • ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League‘ (2021)
  • ‘Army of the Dead‘ (2021)

  Buy Zack Snyder Movies on Amazon

  June 7, 2023

• First Trailer For James Gray’s ‘Armageddon Time’

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  Following a warm reception at Cannes in May this year, filmmaker James Gray’s latest drama ‘Armageddon Time‘ is ramping up its promotional schedule ahead of its release later this year.

  The new movie from the director of ‘Ad Astra’, ‘Two Lovers’, ‘We Own The Night’ and ‘The Yards’ is described as “a deeply personal coming-of-age story about the strength of family and the generational pursuit of the American Dream.”

  Translation: it’s a semi-autobiographical story inspired by Gray’s own upbringing. Here, newcomer Michael Banks Repeta plays Paul Graff, growing up in 1980s New York, a time when Ronald Reagan was headed to the White House and racial tensions sparked in the city.

  When young Paul gets into trouble with his best friend (played by Jaylin Webb), he’s packed off to a stricter private school in the hopes that it’ll keep him in line and give him a leg up in the world.

  Addressing the class early in Paul’s new school year is Maryanne Trump (Jessica Chastain), who happens to be one Donald Trump’s sister. And the shadow of the future president looms large over the movie, which aims to comment on his era while being set decades before it.

  

  For Chastain’s part, she was happy to take on the role when original pick Cate Blanchett was unable to make the schedule work. And she even worked for free. “They sent me an offer and I said, ‘No, no, put the money back into the movie,’” Chastain told Variety of the role. “The only thing I ask — the only thing I would like — is for it to be never announced that I am in this movie.”

  No one tell her about the new trailer! We guess she’s okay with it now, since everyone who watched the movie in Cannes saw her cameo. That’s one cat that is well and truly out of the bag.

  Elsewhere, the cast is similarly stacked with great actors, including Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong as Paul’s parents Irving and Esther, while Anthony Hopkins is his grandfather, Aaron Rabinowitz, who offers some sage advice about standing up to racist bullies.

  He has reason to stand up to bullies, since his family fled to America when he was a youngster himself to avoid the Nazis.

  Given the cast and the subject matter –not to mention the positive notices out of Cannes – we’d expect this one to be in the awards conversation in a big way, especially in the acting categories.

  ‘Armageddon Time’ will arrive in theaters on October 28th.

  

  

  

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  September 6, 2022

• Hugh Jackman in First Teaser Trailer for ‘The Son’

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  Back in 2020, co-writer/director Florian Zeller had big success with ‘The Father’, which he and Christopher Hampton adapted from Zeller’s 2012 play ‘Le Père’.

  The stage version won several awards and the movie also did well with critics and audiences. Zeller’s film picked up six Oscar nominations and won two – Best Adapted Screenplay for the writers and a somewhat surprising (though well-deserved) Best Actor trophy for Anthony Hopkins.

  So Zeller has naturally been able to attract some excellent names for his next adaptation, again taken from his stage work. ‘The Son’ stars the likes of Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Hopkins. The first teaser trailer is now online.

  “After our journey on ‘The Father’, I couldn’t make another film without Anthony,” Zeller said in a statement when Hopkins’ casting was announced. “He was the first one to read ‘The Son’s script, as one of its characters was written especially for him. Having him by our side to tell this new story has been an honor, a profound joy and very emotional.”

  Hampton is back on co-writing duty, and like its predecessor, ‘The Son’ chronicles a troubled family.

  In this drama, the focus is on Peter (Jackman), whose hectic life with his infant and new partner Beth (Kirby) is upended when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) appears with their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath), who is now a teenager.

  The young man has been missing from school for months and is troubled, distant, and angry. Peter strives to take care of Nicholas as he would have liked his own father (Hopkins) to have taken care of him while juggling work, his and Beth’s new son, and the offer of his dream position in Washington.

  

  However, by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto the Nicholas in the present…

  Like ‘The Father’, we can expect ‘The Son’ to be in contention as awards season gears up, and it’ll be shown at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals.

  There is already talk of Jackman potentially entering the Best Actor race, while Dern (who won Best Supporting Actress in 2020 for Noah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’) and Kirby (a Best Actress nominee for ‘Pieces of a Woman’) could conceivably also end up on various lists.

  Jackman has been nominated himself once before, for ‘Les Miserables’, and this marks his most dramatic role in years.

  As for Hopkins, his role in this film appears to be smaller this time, but we don’t count out the actor when it comes to awards.

  ‘The Son’s cast also includes Hugh Quarshie, William Hope, Akie Kotabe, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Danielle Lewis, Erick Hayden and Mercedes Bahleda.

  Sony Pictures Classics will kick off releasing this one in New York and Los Angeles on November 11th.

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  August 31, 2022

• 

  2021 Oscar Nominations

  

  Early in the morning on March 15th, Nick Jonas and Prianka Chopra-Jonas announced the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards. Here are the nominees for this years’ awards:

  BEST PICTURE

  ‘The Father’
  ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
  ‘Mank’
  ‘Minari’
  ‘Nomadland’
  ‘Promising Young Woman’
  ‘Sound of Metal’
  ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’

  ---

  DIRECTOR

  Thomas Vinterberg, ‘Another Round’
  David Fincher, ‘Mank’
  Lee Isaac Chung, ‘Minari’
  Chloe Zhao, ‘Nomadland’
  Emerald Fennell, ‘Promising Young Woman’

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Riz Ahmed, ‘Sound of Metal’
Chadwick Boseman, ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
Anthony Hopkins, ‘The Father’
Gary Oldman, ‘Mank’
Steven Yeun, ‘Minari’

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Viola Davis, ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
Andra Day, ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’
Vanessa Kirby, ‘Pieces of a Woman’
Frances McDormand, ‘Nomadland’
Carey Mulligan, ‘Promising Young Woman’

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Maria Bakalova, ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’
Glenn Close, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’
Olivia Colman, ‘The Father’
Amanda Seyfried, ‘Mank’
Youn Yuh-jung, ‘Minari’

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sacha Baron Cohen, ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’
Daniel Kaluuya, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
Leslie Odom Jr., ‘One Night in Miami’
Paul Raci, ‘Sound of Metal’
Lakeith Stanfield, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

‘Onward’
‘Over the Moon’
‘A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon’
‘Soul’
‘Wolfwalkers’

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

‘Borat Subsequent MovieFilm’
‘The Father’
‘Nomadland’
‘One Night in Miami’
‘The White Tiger’

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
‘Minari’
‘Promising Young Woman’
‘Sound of Metal’
‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

‘Another Round’ – Denmark
‘Better Days’ – Hong Kong
‘Collective’ – Romania
‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’ – Tunisia
‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ – Bosnia and Herzegovina

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

‘Collective’
‘Crip Camp’
‘The Mole Agent’
‘My Octopus Teacher’
‘Time’

PRODUCTION DESIGN

‘The Father’
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
‘Mank’
‘News of the World’
‘Tenet’

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Sean Bobbitt, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
Erik Messerschmidt, ‘Mank’
Dariusz Wolski, ‘News of the World’
Joshua James Richards, ‘Nomadland’
Phedon Papamichael , ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’

COSTUME DESIGN

‘Emma’
‘Ma Rainey’s Blackbottom’
‘Mank’
‘Mulan’
‘Pinocchio’

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

‘Emma’
‘Hillbilly Elegy’
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
‘Mank’
‘Pinocchio’

FILM EDITING

‘The Father’
‘Nomadland’
‘Promising Young Woman’
‘Sound of Metal’
‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND

‘Greyhound’
‘Mank’
‘News of the World’
‘Soul’
‘Sound of Metal’

VISUAL EFFECTS

‘Love and Monsters’
‘The Midnight Sky’
‘Mulan’
‘The One and Only Ivan’
‘Tenet’

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

‘Feeling Through’
‘The Letter Room’
‘The Present’
‘Two Distant Strangers’
‘White Eye’

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

‘Burrow’
‘Genius Loci’
‘If Anything Happens I Love You’
‘Opera’
‘Yes-People’

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

‘Colette’
‘A Concerto Is a Conversation’
‘Do Not Split’
‘Hunger Ward’
‘A Love Song For Latasha’

ORIGINAL SONG

‘Fight For You’ from ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
‘Hear My Voice’ from ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’
‘Husavik’ from ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga’
‘lo Sì (Seen)’ from ‘The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)’
‘Speak Now’ from ‘One Night in Miami…’

ORIGINAL SCORE

‘Da 5 Bloods’
‘Mank’
‘Minari’
‘News of the World’
‘Soul’

Delayed by the pandemic, the Oscars ceremony will be on Sunday, April 25 on ABC.