The SXSW darling “The Peanut Butter Falcon” hits theaters this August, so in the meantime, Roadside Attractions has dropped the official trailer.
The preview offers a glimpse at what is described as a “modern Mark Twain style adventure story.” It introduces Zak (Zachary Gottsagen), a young man with Down syndrome who decides to run away from the nursing home where he lives in order to attend a professional wrestling school. He ends up crossing paths with Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), who happens to be an outlaw on the run, and they form an unlikely bond. Meanwhile, nursing home employee Eleanor (Dakota Johnson) is trying to find Zak and bring him home.
The three end up on a unique journey that involves rafting, religion, whiskey, and more. Watch below.
“The Peanut Butter Falcon” is directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, who also teamed up to pen the screenplay. The film is set to open Aug. 9.
2018 has been a really good year for horror movies.
It probably has to do with the unease we’re all feeling, whether it be political, cultural, or environmental. The filmmakers behind these films have internalized those anxieties, and given them supernatural or mythological weight, to create something as entertaining as it is cathartic. (If anything, the success of “Get Out” has established the tone and tenor for the entire year’s horror output, in new and idiosyncratic ways.)
Quite frankly, the fact that these films scare the pants off of you while also saying something makes them even more miraculous.
‘A Quiet Place’
Paramount
This year’s breakout horror sensation was, undoubtedly, “A Quiet Place,” an unnerving and fiendishly clever take on the alien invasion genre wherein the creatures’ primary motivation is sound. (It shares a lot with a terrific episode of the original “Twilight Zone” series, “The Invaders.”) Co-writer/director/star John Krasinski turned what could have been a gimmicky romp into something profound and unnerving, playing like a single continuously sustained suspense set piece for its entire 90-minute runtime.
But if it was only thrills Krasinksi was after, it wouldn’t have connected the way it did; thankfully, he grounded it with a remarkably human story of a single family living their lives at the end of the world. And Emily Blunt, as the pregnant matriarch struggling to hold her family together, gives one of the greatest performances of the year. She’s a scream queen who can’t make a peep.
‘Veronica’
Netflix
“Veronica” quietly premiered on Netflix in February, unceremoniously dropped on the service despite its high pedigree (it comes from Paco Plaza, co-creator of the wonderful “[rec]” franchise) and catchy, based-on-a-true-story logline (involving a teenage girl, a “spirit board” and demonic possession). But from those inglorious beginnings came something of a word-of-mouth sensation, with many taking to the Internet to proclaim it the scariest movie they’d ever seen.
And while that reaction might be a bit much, it’s not exactly wrong, either, especially since the most vocal Twitter users maybe haven’t seen some of the older classics. “Veronica” is definitely sleep-with-the-lights-on scary, and its supposed basis in fact makes it even more haunting and terrifying. Because stuff like this can’t happen in real life, right?
‘Cargo’
Netflix
Netflix debuted this deeply heartfelt post-apocalyptic chiller, arguably the most thoughtful and emotionally resonant zombie film you’ll see this year.
In “Cargo,” Martin Freeman stars as a man living in the Australian outback after the end of the world. He’s got a small child and, early in the film, loses his wife to the zombie outbreak. He also soon becomes bitten and so it becomes a race against time to get his child in safe hands before he succumbs. The film’s subtle, intricate world-building (people were bracelets that tell them how long they have until they turn, there are medical needles handed out that kill the undead) and nifty additions to preexisting mythology (the honeyed goo that covers the soon-to-be-zombie’s eyes and mouth is a great flourish) do much to pave over some of the more well-worn territory.
‘Hereditary’
A24
The breakout indie horror movie of the year (it wound up being A24’s biggest hit), “Hereditary” is still giving us the heebie-jeebies.
Ari Aster’s assured debut features a tour de force performance by Toni Collette as a woman whose family is coming unglued after the death of her mother, an overpowering matriarch with an incredibly dark secret. The movie unfolds slowly and deliberately, with the audience uncovering the mystery alongside Collette, to profoundly disturbing results. Punctuated by bursts of shocking violence, a spine-tingling score by frequent Arcade Fire confederate Colin Stetson and some of the spookiest moments in recent horror movie memory, “Hereditary” takes hold of you and never, ever lets go. *clucks tongue.
‘Annihilation’
Paramount
To anyone who is thinking, “Isn’t ‘Annihilation’ more of a heady sci-fi movie?”, we’d just like to remind you of the screaming bear creature that brutally murders somebody … or the mutant shark-alligator that puts the big beastie in “The Meg” to shame … or the part where somebody’s stomach is sliced open and eel-like intestines slither underneath. And these are just the parts we can remember off the top of our head.
“Annihilation” is a brutal, brilliant film, that follows a scientist (Natalie Portman) as she journeys into an alien region known as The Shimmer, hunting for answers about what happened to her lost husband (Oscar Isaac) – and how to save him.
Ultimately, the title refers to her own self-destruction, beautifully depicted in the film’s final act with a virtuoso climax as chilling as anything in a straight “horror film” this year.
‘The Ritual’
Chances are, “The Ritual” (now on Netflix) will seem familiar to you. It most closely resembles “The Descent,” in the sense that it’s about a group of friends (this time, they’re male and led by the in-demand Rafe Spall) who go on a hiking trip following a personal tragedy. Of course, like in “The Descent,” that trip soon turns very, very ugly.
But if you let go of its connections to other films, “The Ritual” is strangely rewarding, with a heavy atmosphere of dread that permeates every frame and a handful of finely honed performances (Spall, in particular, haunted by a brutal event, is compelling and cowardly in equal measure). Plus, the creature is one of the strangest, most bewitching designs in the current horror landscape. You’ll be riveted.
‘Mandy’
RLJE
“Mandy” has turned out to be one of the sleeper hits of the year. It was released on VOD and theatrically at the same time and after a few weeks actually expanded into more theaters. And with good reason — it’s not only one of the year’s best horror movies but it’s one of the year’s best movies (period).
As directed by the truly visionary Panos Cosmatos (“Beyond the Black Rainbow“), “Mandy” concerns a lumberjack named Red (Nicolas Cage), who goes on a rampage after his titular girlfriend (Andrea Riseborough) is murdered by cultists. It’s weird, for sure (we didn’t even mention the supernatural S&M biker gang), but also profoundly moving and haunting, with one of the all-time greatest Cage performances (seriously).
It’s also arguably the most metal movie ever made.
‘Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich’
Full Moon
Sorry, “The Happytime Murders,” but this is the X-rated puppet movie we’ve all been waiting for. “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich” is a gore-soaked reboot of the horror franchise that began way back in 1989 and has continued, unabated, to this day. (There was a canonical sequel – the 12th – released in 2017.)
In this entry, written by certifiable genius S. Craig Zahler (“Brawl in Cell Block 99,” “Bone Tomahawk”), the backstory has been rewritten (hello, Udo Kier as a Nazi toymaker!) and a new story has formed around a toy convention where the demonic playthings run amok. The narrative is inspired, in part, by racial, ethnic and homophobic prejudice. So, yes, this isn’t for everyone. But if you’re finding yourself wanting a bloody blast of inappropriate humor, outré horror, and some very, er, “heightened” performances (led by Thomas Lennon), it’s hard to top this.
‘Suspiria’
Amazon Studios
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Luca Guadagino’s “Suspiria” is that it doesn’t try to ape Dario Argento’s peerless original. Instead, he crafted a brand new experience around the same basic framework (a dewy American girl, this time played by Dakota Johnson, travels to a European ballet school run by witches). The remake is incredibly artful and effective in completely different and equally profound ways. (He even stayed away from the primary colors of the original; this one is awash in autumnal hues.)
Guadagino fascinatingly chooses to set the movie in the same year that the original film was released, bringing in elements of socio-political unease that the original steered clear of, broadening the scope but maintaining its emotional intimacy. The cast’s performances (led by Tilda Swinton) are peerless and Thom Yorke’s score is, like the rest of the film, haunting and unforgettable.
If you aren’t moved, puzzled, or enraged by “Suspiria,” you probably had your eyes closed.
‘Halloween‘
Universal/Blumhouse
40 years after John Carpenter’s original, David Gordon Green has crafted a “Halloween” that stands nobly alongside it. In this new movie, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has gone from a terrified babysitter to an embittered survivalist, keenly aware of how prepared she should be if Michael Myers ever breaks free. (Spoiler alert: he does.)
This is a horror movie as much about a homicidal maniac ruthlessly murdering folks on Halloween night as it is about how acts of violence can cause trauma that can course through entire generations. Green’s direction is layered and nuanced, combining Carpenter’s elegance with more down-and-dirty moments, and the script (by Green, Danny McBride, and Jeff Fradley) wisely avoids the muddled mythology that the franchise had built up in the subsequent sequels. Instead, this is a direct follow-up to the original, full of chilly synths, bloody kills, and a female empowerment subtext that makes it the best possible horror sequel for 2018.
‘Ghost Stories‘
IFC
“Ghost Stories” flew under the radar for a lot of people earlier this year, blotted out by the titanic horror movie events of 2018. But you should go back and check it out. It’s a hoot.
Written and directed by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson, based on their stage play, “Ghost Stories” is playful and scary. It is an expert homage to the old British horror anthologies that Amicus would put out in the 1960s (oftentimes employing down-on-their-luck horror icons) that still feels fresh and relevantly today.
Nyman plays a professional debunker who is assigned three seemingly unexplainable cases by an aging mentor — in one, a night security guard is menaced by an otherworldly force; in another, a young motorist encounters a forest-dwelling beast. The third and final story yet focuses on a successful businessman (“Sherlock’s” Martin Freeman) who is plagued by strangeness while waiting for the birth of his child. All of the stories will chill your blood, and the wraparound segments create their own kind of messed-up story.
Creepy, twisty, and oddly mournful, “Ghost Tales” (which is now out on home video) is worth spending a sleepless night with.
‘Apostle‘
Netflix
Gareth Evans, who had previously directed the two “Raid” movies, moved into far spookier territory with his epic follow-up, a folkloric mind-f*ck that makes “The Wicker Man” look like “Hotel Transylvania.”
In 1905, a restless man (Dan Stevens) travels to a remote British island to rescue his sister from a dangerous cult, led by a charismatic madman (Michael Sheen). That’s pretty much all you can say about “Apostle” without giving way some of its myriad, blood-splattered surprises, but just know this … it’s going to mess you up and it’s going to mess you up good.
Evans, known for his visceral fight sequences, plays things more atmospheric here, instead settling into the sorrowful presence of the island, and how broken people are able to build a society that is just as broken. It’s beautiful and compelling, with an ending you will not believe, and since it arrived on Netflix, there’s no excuse for you to not watch right now. Like, go!
‘Revenge‘
NEON
2018 seems like the perfect time for a feminist rape-revenge movie and whew boy did French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat deliver. In “Revenge,” Jen (Matilda Lutz, star earrings dangling from each lobe) is invited to a lavish weekend getaway by her rich (and married) boyfriend. Things take a turn for the worse when one of his buddies rapes her, and then her said boyfriend attempts to kill her. Thankfully, she’s got a will to live and a locket full of high-powered hallucinogens.
While some of the make-up effects are wildly over-the-top (so much gushing blood), they are all in service of putting the viewer in Jen’s position, as the claws her way to vengeance. She is a survivor. And while this is sounding more like a thesis project than a thrilling piece of entertainment, let me assure you that it is. The subtext is all there, and Fargeat (in her very first film!) delicately balances the message of the movie with the thrill of watching very bad people get dispatched in appropriately nasty ways. (Lutz is a revelation.)
Think of it as the first drive-in classic of the #MeToo era.
Dario Argento’s “Suspiria,” released back in 1977 to cultish devotion, is a towering accomplishment in modern horror cinema, ripe with meaning and subtext, but also capable of delivering visceral thrills. In the years since, it has been endlessly dissected, imitated, and adored. All of that makes the new remake, helmed by Luca Guadagnino and written by David Kajganich, seem even more ballsy.
This new “Suspiria” is set during the same timeframe that the original was released, with the action transplanted from Munich to Berlin, as naïve waif Susie (Dakota Johnson) attends a ballet academy run by bickering witches (including Tilda Swinton). The witches and the ballet are about the only holdovers from the original; this new one is festooned with political commentary and heady ideas about how the sins of the past can haunt the generation of today. In keeping with that theme, Jessica Harper, who starred as Julie in the original, is on hand for a key sequence in this new film. Even if you’ve never seen the original film, it’s a powerful statement — and your heart just sinks when you watch it.
While we were down in Austin for Fantastic Fest, we were able to chat with Kajganich and Harper about adapting “Suspiria” for an entirely new audience, and what it was like for her to have her “Alfred Hitchcock moment” in one of the most talked-about releases of the year (capturing the best per-screen average of any movie in 2018).
Moviefone: There’s been talk of a “Suspiria” for years and years. David, when did you get involved? And Jessica, did you follow the development of these remakes and always want to be a part of it?
Harper: I kept hearing about all of these remakes … So-and-so was going to star as Suzie and somebody else was going to direct it … This has been going on for years. Then there was going to be a musical … wait, no I’m thinking of “Phantom of the Paradise.” [laughs] I always thought it was interesting and thought I’d love to do a little cameo, but none of the elements seemed to come together. Until I heard you guys were doing it. Then I thought, “Oh my god, this is going to be fantastic.” I didn’t particularly have that moment with the other iterations they talked about. But this I knew was going to be incredibly interesting.
Kajganich: Luca and I were in prep for “A Bigger Splash” and he said, “Let’s meet for lunch, I want to talk to you about something.” And I thought, “Obviously, I’m being fired.” He was so serious about it and brought it up as if it was this holy thing. And I was so thrilled that he asked me to do it. So, yes, for a moment I thought it was going to be something horrible — but it turned out to be something incredible.
Seda Spettacoli
This movie has a lot more going on than in the original, including Jessica’s role. How did you go about mapping that out?
Kajganich: Well, we knew that Jessica had to be in it. It was a question of how. Because we wanted it to be really special. So, we talked about what the shape of what ours would be, and how we would try and broaden it out, and it was clear that Berlin in the ’70s was going to be part of it, and this character of Klemperer was going to be a part of it and his past. There was a moment when I suggested that the witches trick Klemperer into coming back to the company by giving him his wife for a night. Then Luca and I looked at each other and were like, “Wait a minute, she’s coming into the film representing a kind of nostalgia in the most beautiful way and then curdles into this horrible act of emotional terrorism.” Clearly, that’s for Jessica.
Harper: That’s so me.
Kajganich: But I said to Luca, “It’ll probably have to be in German.” He said, “Let me find out, let me find out.” And then he called you …
Harper: He called me. At this point, you guys were really ready to shoot, it was really close to the start of shooting. I wasn’t a part of the development process. So Luca called me and — at first — he said, “I’m doing ‘Suspiria.’ Would you like to do a cameo?” And, of course, I already admired him so much. I said, “Yeah, I’ll do it! Whatever it is! I’ll be there!” He said, “Can you do it in German?” And I said, “Absolutely, no problem!”
Kajganich: Then he texted me and said, “Jessica speaks German.”
Harper: Then I got a hold of someone at the Berlitz School and said, “Can someone teach me German? Like … right now?”
Amazon Studios
So if they had asked you to be Background Witch No. 18, you would have done it?
Harper: Oh, absolutely!
Kajganich: And there was one … but thank goodness it wasn’t her.
How did they explain this movie to you, Jessica? David, did you go into any background or anything?
Kajganich: I’m not sure we even tried.
Harper: No, they didn’t. And I didn’t care. Like I said, it was just working with them was dreamy from the get-go. Plus Dakota and Tilda. I was ready to do it, whatever it was. But then I looked at the script and thought it was so interesting. It was really taking that idea to another level.
You’ve spoken about how this is a movie about generations talking to one another. Was there ever talk of bringing anyone else from the original?
Kajganich: It felt like it was exactly right to have Jessica crossover. And to do more would have maybe felt too slavish to the original. So we ended up pulling people from other influences, like getting Ingrid Caven to be a part of the film, because Fassbinder’s work was such a big part of the development of this film … those kinds of invitations were also on our mind. It felt like exactly enough, that Jessica could come over and wave “hello.”
Harper: Yes, I got to have my Alfred Hitchcock moment.
When you finally saw the film, what did you think?
Kajganich: Yeah, where did you see it?
Harper: I first saw it some months ago, maybe March — in Beverly Hills. It wasn’t finished. I thought it was fantastic. Then, when I saw it in Venice, it was even more fantastic. The ending hadn’t been quite pulled together. But I thought it was fantastic.
Kajganich: Yeah, I had seen some early cuts of it without the effects. And Luca played the finale for me on his phone in a sushi restaurant in LA and I couldn’t stop laughing … I couldn’t breathe. And people in the sushi restaurant were looking at me like, “What is wrong with him?”
Harper: “I’ll have what he’s having!”
“Suspiria” is in limited release now and everywhere Friday, Nov. 2.
“Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino wants to make the third time of working with actress Dakota Johnson the charm — by casting her in a key role in the hoped-for sequel to the Oscar-nominated film.
Guadagnino has teamed up with Johnson in 2016’s “A Bigger Splash” and the upcoming “Suspiria” remake. He has said he is serious about making a sequel to “Call Me By Your Name,” and in a recent New Yorker profile, he declared he wants Johnson to play the wife of Armie Hammer’s character Oliver.
At the end of “Call Me By Your Name,” [SPOILERS AHEAD] Oliver calls Elio (the Oscar-nominated Timothée Chalamet), with whom he had a dreamy summer fling in Italy, and informs him he’s engaged.
The sequel would introduce Johnson as the woman Oliver married.
“She has to be a New England kind of hoochie woman,” Guadagnino explained to Hammer, who was present for the interview. “You have, maybe, five children.”
“Oh, great,” Hammer replied.
Guadagnino has previously said the sequel would take place in the early 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and would touch upon the AIDs epidemic. Both Chalamet and Hammer have indicated they are completely on board to do a sequel, should it happen.
“The only problem is the title,” Guadagnino said. “It cannot be ‘Call Me by Your Name Two.’ ”
Ah, Fantastic Fest. The international film festival, which highlights genre films of every stripe, takes place at Austin, Texas’ Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar every fall. It’s one of the greatest film festivals in the world, period, even if it does show a lot of very odd movies that your parents would probably disapprove of you watching.
This year, the lineup was totally stellar, with a number of very high profile debuts and just as many interesting screenings of movies that have picked up hype over the last few months. It was an incredible event (as always), and while we didn’t get to see everything, we did get to see a lot. Here’s hoping we’ll see even more in 2019.
15. ‘Madam Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club’
On paper, it’s very easy to get behind a zany Israeli cannibal comedy-of-manners, but — whew, boy — watching is something very different indeed. Instead of there being any punch to the concept, “Madam Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club” is, instead, a tedious bore, full of mixed-up gender politics, suspense set pieces with very little tension, and a dopey love story at its center.
Listen, they’re not all going to be winners.
14. ‘An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn’
Univerrsal
Jim Hosking, the bizarre British filmmaker behind “The Greasy Strangler,” is back. Consider yourself warned.
Instead of some crazed version of a horror movie, he’s doing some crazed version of a romantic comedy, with Aubrey Plaza playing a woman in love with a mysterious illusionist (Craig Robinson). Of course, her hired hand (Jemaine Clement) is in love with her. Oh, and Emile Hirsch plays her husband. The entire thing is incredibly off-putting, with a mixture of nonprofessional actors and actors behaving in incredibly nonprofessional ways. “An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn” heightened and icky, although there are a few laughs to be had along the way (even if immediately after laughing you feel the need to take a shower).
13. ‘Burning’
CGV
Well this movie was … something. “Burning” is the latest film from South Korean master filmmaker Lee Chang-dong and, what’s more, it’s based on a short story by international literary phenomenon Haruki Murakami. Sadly, it is a very dull movie.
It’s essentially a very protracted murder mystery, with very little murder or mystery, that might have some sociopolitical or cultural dimensions that I just didn’t pick up on but I couldn’t quite figure it out. (Keep in mind, it competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is South Korea’s official Foreign Language Feature selection.) At 148 minutes, it’s at least 45 minutes too long, too.
12. ‘Overlord’
Paramount/Bad Robot
J.J. Abrams‘ secretive World War II thriller made its long-awaited debut at Fantastic Fest, and while most fell in love with the bloody carnage, I remained cooler.
“Overlord” is the story of a group of soldiers (led by Jovan Adepo), dropped into Nazi-occupied France on the eve of D-Day, who encounter, along with an enemy-operated radio tower, lots and lots of zombies. Unlike many of the other movies at Fantastic Fest, you could tell that “Overlord” has gone through a number of revisions (there are two credited cinematographers) and the seams show. There’s never really any escalation to the action, and much of the horror feels ho-hum.
11. ‘One Cut of the Dead’
Fantastic Fest audiences went nuts for this wry Japanese zombie comedy (it was a smash in its native land, too) and while it’s easy to admire, it’s harder to actually love.
The first 37 minutes are a single shot (the “one cut” of the title), following a film crew as they shoot a zombie movie but are – surprise! – attacked by actual zombies. Then the movie takes a very fun twist that puts it squarely in “Ed Wood” territory (the less said about it, the better). Sure, “One Cut of the Dead” is charming and strange in a satisfying way, it also feels cheaply made (the music is atrocious) and, for a zombie comedy, could have used a little more bite.
10. ‘Lords of Chaos’
Vice
“Lords of Chaos” is a based-on-a-true-story story so bizarre that you’ll undoubtedly look up the actual case the second the movie is over. (It checks out.)
Music video visionary Jonas Åkerlund co-wrote and directed the film (based on the nonfiction book of the same name), which charts the meteoric rise of Norwegian death metal, focusing mostly on the band Mayhem. What makes the movie work so well is its expert tonal control; most of the movie plays like a younger version of “This Is Spinal Tap,” with a bunch of messy kids (led by Rory Culkin) trying to make a name for themselves and self-seriously piling on all of the offensive iconography and Satanic kitsch they can find.
Of course, once they start actually tapping into that darkness (church burnings! Murder!) is when the movie exerts even more power. If you’ve never been a head-banger, you can still easily love this film.
9. ‘Apostle’
Netflix
If you’ve seen the trailer for “Apostle,” the brand new Gareth Evans movie debuting on Netflix on October 12, you get the general gist: a man (Dan Stevens) travels to a far away island to rescue his sister from a dangerous cult (led by Michael Sheen). But, really, that’s only a sliver of the story and to say anything more would probably get me banished.
But know this: there are dark forces at work on that island and what begins as a fairly creepy horror movie along the lines of “The Wicker Man,” soon turns into a probing examination of what faith can do to people, and concludes with a wonderfully WTF moment that will require much discussion. Just know that Evans’ move away from action to more sustained atmospherics was a fruitful one indeed.
8. ‘Hold the Dark’
Netflix
Another movie that was maybe purposefully misdirected in the marketing materials is “Hold the Dark,” now available on Netflix. As expressed in the trailer, the film is the tale of an Alaskan woman (Riley Keough) who hires a wolf expert (Jeffrey Wright), after she claims her young son was murdered by a local wolf. Now, that set up alone is great and it’s a very big part of the movie, but there’s a lot more to it than that. (Not that it’ll be spoiled here.)
Director Jeremy Sualnier knows how to craft almost painfully thrilling set pieces, and he never allows the bleakness to overcome the movie’s inherent beauty. Throw in some performances as chilling as the Alaskan air, and you’ve got a cult favorite in the making.
7. ‘Halloween’
Universal/Blumhouse
40 years later, we finally have a worthy successor to the original “Halloween.” This installment all but ignores every other sequel, remake, or spin-off, picking up where the events of the first film left off … only 40 years later.
Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has become a backwoods survivalist, convinced that relentless killing machine Michael Myers will one day come for her (spoiler alert: he does!) What could have been a fairly standard, nostalgia-dipped slasher movie, instead becomes something deeper and more thoughtful, focusing on the way that the effects of violence and trauma can ripple through generations. (Thank director and co-writer David Gordon Green.)
It’s just one of the many ways that expectations are inverted and subverted into something even newer and more exciting. (It’s a testament to how outstanding Fantastic Fest’s programming was this year that there are even six movies better than “Halloween.”) Also, this movie is going to make so much money.
6. ‘The Night Comes For Us’
Netflix
October 19. That’s when “The Night Comes for Us” premieres on Netflix. I’m just letting you know so that you can drink plenty of water and maybe bolt yourself to the furniture or something because this movie kicks that much ass.
It’s the tale of a member of the triad’s elite killing squad who turns his back on the mafia after being ordered to murder a child, and ends up taking the heat from the entire criminal organization. Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto stages the action with gleeful, gory abandon, as wide shots take in all of the bone-crushing carnage. And it never, ever stops.
This movie shows you just how lame and tired American action filmmaking has become, but makes you hopeful because, clearly, there are others out there still doing it right.
5. ‘The Standoff at Sparrow Creek’
RLJE
Talk about an ingenious set up for a low budget thriller: There’s been a shooting at a police officer’s funeral. A local militia convenes and discovers that one of the group’s automatic weapons is missing, and that one of the men is responsible for the crime. What follows is an increasingly tense whodunit, as a former cop (James Badge Dale, also excellent in “Hold the Dark”) starts to investigate which one of them is lying.
That’s about all that you can say about “The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” without giving anything away, but writer-director Henry Dunham, making his feature debut, has put together an incredibly exciting, wonderfully photographed yarn that is apolitical in ways you would never expect, leading to much post-viewing discussion. Get ready.
4. ‘The World Is Yours’
It struck me as odd that more people weren’t talking about “The World is Yours,” a zippy, incredibly engrossing French crime comedy from filmmaker Romain Gavras. The title, of course, comes from the mantra of Tony Montana in “Scarface,” and it’s a purposeful misdirect; instead of aspiration-minded gangsters who want nothing but the latest guns, shoes, and silk shirts, it follows a fairly straight, low-level goon who is just trying to make enough money to get a popsicle franchise off the ground in Africa. (Yes, seriously — it’s adorable.)
Of course, things get rather complicated along the way, with each new wrinkle being introduced with almost surgical precision (my favorite subplot involved Vincent Cassel being consumed with Illuminati conspiracy theories). Add in a wicked supporting performance by Isabelle Adjani, and a killer score by Jamie xx and Sebastian, and you’ve got a comic soufflé too delicious to pass up.
3. ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’
Fox
The festival’s closing night film seems like something of a no-brainer: It’s a twisty turny, noir-tinged story of double-crosses and people pretending to be something they’re not. But what makes “Bad Times at the El Royale” transcend those fairly obvious genre trappings is how much heart writer-director Drew Goddard injects into the material, and what marvelous, full-bodied performances stars like Fantastic Fest MVP Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, and breakout Cynthia Erivo provide.
Some folks groused about the movie’s lengthy 140-minute running time; I was happy to luxuriate with the colorful band of lowlifes. Checking into the El Royale, it’s best not to know much of anything except, of course, that you’ll have a ball.
2. ‘Piercing’
Universal
Well, “Piercing” was a huge surprise: Nicholas Pesce‘s follow-up to 2016’s dour, black-and-white horror movie “The Eyes of My Mother” turns out to be a bright, vibrant, very screwed-up romantic comedy (of sorts). Christopher Abbott plays a straight-laced businessman who, fighting back homicidal urges, checks into a hotel and orders a prostitute, luring her to her doom. Except, of course, the prostitute is Mia Wasikowska and, well, you know what they say about best-laid plans.
Alternately horrifying and hilarious, Pesce’s sophomore feature is more human and alive than his debut, complimented by unassumingly oddball production design (all of the exteriors of buildings are miniatures) and featuring a musical bedrock full of obscure cuts from movies like “Cherry 2000” and “Tenebre.”
1. ‘Suspiria’
Amazon Studios
When “Suspiria,” “Call Me By Your Name” filmmaker Luca Guadagnino‘s autumnally hued take on Dario Argento‘s 1977 candy-colored classic, made its debut at the Venice Film Festival reactions were, um, muted, to say the least. So it was something of a surprise that “Suspiria” exploded at Fantastic Fest the way it did; nobody quite knew what they were getting into (and not just because it was the never-officially-announced secret screening). But, make no mistake, this new version of the ballet-school-run-by-witches tale is vitally alive and unlike any other movie released this year (or, potentially, any other year).
Instead of a remake or sequel, it’s a straight-up transformation, taking the original conceit and making it sexier, weirder, more political, and more distinctly feminist. The results are a fascinating, electric work of art, featuring sublime performances by Dakota Johnson (as the naïve waif), Tilda Swinton (as the plotting witch — plus a couple of other characters), and Mia Goth (as the delicate ballerina-turned-detective).
It’s almost impossible to describe, but this intricately staged masterpiece (with new music by Thom Yorke) will carry you away. It’s bloody brilliant.
A lot of dance movies are light and upbeat, but that’s definitely not the case with “Suspiria.”
Amazon Studios released the official trailer for the upcoming horror film on Thursday, and the tone is nothing if not dark. The preview shows Dakota Johnson as Susie Bannion, a talented dancer who captures the attention of a powerful artistic director (Tilda Swinton). Great as that sounds, Susie starts to uncover dark and dangerous secrets at her dance school. It looks like she’s got a psychologist (Lutz Ebersdorf) and a friend (Mia Goth) on her side, but whatever she’s up against is eerie.
Watch the chilling trailer below.
“Suspiria” is a remake of the 1997 film of the same name, and it was directed by Luca Guadagnino. The cast also includes Chloe Grace Moretz.
The new film’s world premiere will take place on Sept. 1 at the 2018 Venice International Film Festival. “Suspiria” then hits theaters Oct. 26.
“Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption… before everything goes to hell.”
Entertainment Weekly shared more details on “Bad Times at the El Royale,” including some character breakdowns:
Already on hand to welcome them is a young concierge (Lewis Pullman).
Among the gathered rogues: a down-on-his-luck priest (Jeff Bridges), a singer named Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo), an impressionable Southern girl (Cailee Spaeny) and her older sister (Dakota Johnson), a vacuum cleaner salesman (Jon Hamm), and — perhaps most enigmatically — a charismatic and shirt-averse cult leader, played by Chris Hemsworth.
Jon Hamm is forever Don Draper. Always selling something.
Empire shared the first photo of Hemsworth’s character, followed by EW with another Hemsworth shot and images of other cast members:
Very, very intrigued about this movie. The first trailer should be coming any time now.
“Bad Times at the El Royale” opens in U.S. theaters October 5.
Hey, moviegoers, do you want to see badass women in a realm of opulent wealth? Cartoonish fun suitable for kids? Manly heroism in a geopolitical context? Well, if you wanted those themes, then you had to settle for their treatment in this week’s meh new wide releases: “Fifty Shades Freed,” “Peter Rabbit,” and “The 15:17 to Paris.”
Box office analysts are so ready to see “Black Panther” blow everything out of the water next weekend that they may not give enough credit to this weekend’s new releases, all of which did surprisingly very well by February standards. Indeed, if it weren’t for the looming Marvel blockbuster, pundits would be crowing about what a great weekend this was, with overall sales up 44 percent from a week ago. You can credit that to three new movies that, together on the marquee, seemed to offer something for everyone.
Of the new films, “Fifty Shades” seems to have received the least credit from the experts.
It opened with an estimated $38.8 million, about what was predicted. That’s a steep drop from the $85.2 million debut of “Fifty Shades of Grey” three Februaries ago, and a modest dip from the $46.6 million premiere of “Fifty Shades Darker” last February. You could blame waning interest in the franchise — or you could argue that the first movie’s gross was inflated by lookie-loos outside of the best-selling books’ voyeuristic fan base, and that only those core fans stuck around for the second and third films.
It’s also the case this year that Valentine’s Day falls on a Wednesday, so there wasn’t that extra incentive to make a weekend date night out of an evening spent watching “Freed.”
In any case, the “Fifty Shades” trilogy has never gotten much respect from the industry. Mostly because the movies aren’t good. Like, at all. But that didn’t stop the target demographic from seeing the third and final movie. According to tracking service PostTrak, “Freed” drew a crowd that was 81 percent women. And most of them, some 59 percent, were older women (that, is, older than 25). That’s the demographic that Hollywood understands and caters to the least. (To its credit, “Freed” studio Universal seems to appreciate women over 25, enough to generate such hits as “Bridesmaids,” “Trainwreck,” and “Girls Trip.”) “Freed” has had the biggest opening weekend of any movie so far this year. It’s in the top 20 of all February openings ever and the top 50 of all R-rated debuts in history. The series is popular not just throughout America (even in the supposedly more puritanical middle-American states) but around the globe. Worldwide, the three movies have earned $1.1 billion to date, an especially huge number considering they cost just $150 million total to make.
Industry folk may scoff at the series for its poor reviews, lack of demographic range, or declining sales, but I bet Universal wishes E.L. James had written a fourth “Fifty Shades” book so that it could keep adding to a billion-dollar franchise that’s earned back more than seven times its modest cost.
If “Freed” cornered the women’s market this weekend, then Sony’s “Peter Rabbit” did the same for kids, opening slightly above predictions with an estimated $25.0 million. Based loosely on the classic Beatrix Potter children’s tale, the live-action/animated hybrid had the advantages of brand recognition and star power, in the form of human karaoke machine James Corden as its lead and most tireless promoter. The reviews were just okay (58 percent at RT), but families were apparently ready for something new, even with Sony’s own “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” still going strong and with “Paddington 2,” “Ferdinand,” and “Coco” still in theaters. A saturation marketing campaign, including bunny-themed events at malls and libraries, helped a lot.
That left the Older Guy market, a niche that Clint Eastwood‘s “The 15:17 to Paris” seemed designed to fill. It underperformed a little, debuting in third place with an estimated $12.6 million. As we noted when “12 Strong” opened three weeks ago, the war-movie subgenre of War-on-Terror tales of real-life heroism has done well, particularly in the winter months. The all-time classic example, of course, is Eastwood’s own “American Sniper.” No other movie in the subgenre has come anywhere near that movie’s $350 million domestic take, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from trying.
Indeed, “Paris” studio Warner Bros. tried just last month with “12 Strong,” which is still playing in 1,901 theaters and earned $2.7 million this weekend, good for 11th place. You’d think Warners wouldn’t want to cannibalize the success of the earlier film, which has earned about $42 million to date, but the temptation to counterprogram something macho against “Fifty Shades Freed” must have been too strong to resist.
Nonetheless, “Paris” did only a third as well as “Freed.” A lot of that may have to do with the quality of the film. Eastwood cast the three real-life American heroes, who thwarted a terrorist attack during a 2015 train ride, as themselves. That novelty factor, however, wasn’t enough of a draw to overcome the movie’s reviews, which were poor (20 percent “Rotten” at RT).
Critics felt that the amateur actors were, well, amateurish. And judging by the movie’s lackluster B- grade at CinemaScore, audiences didn’t warm to “Paris” either, perhaps feeling that the movie had too much backstory and not enough action. Critics usually like Eastwood’s movies, and his fan base is an older one that still reads reviews, so they had to notice that critics felt he’d stumbled this time.
At least Eastwood keeps his budgets low (“Paris” cost a reported $30 million), so there’s still a chance the film will make a profit.
The good news continued further down the chart, as “Jumanji” and “The Greatest Showman” proved they both still have legs as long as “Showman” star Hugh Jackman’s. After spending several weeks, off and on, in first place, “Jumanji” may finally be out of the top spot for good. Still, it slipped just ten percent from last week’s business, earning an estimated $9.8 million and coming in fourth.
With $365.7 million earned over eight weeks, it’s within $8 million of overtaking “Spider-Man 2” as the second biggest domestic grosser in Sony’s history. (The biggest is 2002’s “Spider-Man,” with $403.7 million, a number that’s not out of reach for “Jumanji.”)
“Showman,” in fifth this week with an estimated $6.4 million, also held on to most of last weekend’s business, with a drop of just 17 percent. It’s earned $146.5 million to date, which makes it the sixth biggest musical of all time. Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, who composed the score, are within $5 million of overtaking their hit from last year, “La La Land,” to become the fourth most lucrative musical.
All told, this weekend’s movies brought in about $137 million, thanks to a slate of films that seemed to leave no moviegoer ignored.
Try to remember that next week, even though “Black Panther” is expected to open with a figure greater than this weekend’s entire take.
Just like a butt dial, side-eye can be completely accidental.
Dakota Johnson became a meme after the recent Golden Globes, when a photo caught the “50 Shades Freed” actress seemingly glancing at Angelina Jolie while Jennifer Aniston presented an award. Jolie looked like she was studiously not paying attention to her ex-husband Brad Pitt’s ex-wife. The Instagram photo went viral.
But now Johnson explains that she wasn’t looking at Jolie at all.
On “The Tonight Show,” Fallon asked Johnson about staring at Jolie while Aniston was presenting. First, Johnson defended herself by pointing out, “But so is Armie’s (Hammer) wife!” =
She added, “I’m not the only one! … I was trying to be sly about it.”
But Johnson clarified that she wasn’t actually side-eyeing on Jolie. “Truthfully, I don’t think I was really looking at her because if you look really closely at the angle of my eyes, they’re kind of over here,” the actress said.
And by “here,” she meant the table full of kids from “Stranger Things.” So, instead of side-eyeing, she was fangirling!
“The thing that I hate the most is when people are in restaurants or whatever, when they try to take a sneaky picture of you,” Johnson said. “So, I did that at the Golden Globes.”
The first teaser and poster for “Fifty Shades Freed” arrived as a gift on Anastasia Steele’s birthday. Or should we call her Anastasia Grey now?
The trailer previews the wedding of Ana (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), with glimpses of their honeymoon — complete with shirtless Christian emerging Bond-style from the ocean. There are the obligatory S&M teases, and then things take a thriller turn when Ana is threatened with a knife to her throat.
The last thing you want to do is get involved in a “Fifty Shades” vs. “Twilight” fight, but maybe we can all agree the brides look lovely in their wedding attire.
“Fifty Shades Freed” is the third movie in the trilogy; it was directed by James Foley and set to open Feb. 9, 2018, in time for Valentine’s Day.
Very, very intrigued about this movie. The first trailer should be coming any time now.
Hey, moviegoers, do you want to see badass women in a realm of opulent wealth? Cartoonish fun suitable for kids? Manly heroism in a geopolitical context? Well, if you wanted those themes, then you had to settle for their treatment in this week’s meh new wide releases: “
“Freed” has had the biggest opening weekend of any movie so far this year. It’s in the top 20 of all February openings ever and the top 50 of all R-rated debuts in history. The series is popular not just throughout America (even in the supposedly more puritanical middle-American states) but around the globe. Worldwide, the three movies have earned $1.1 billion to date, an especially huge number considering they cost just $150 million total to make.
Based loosely on the classic Beatrix Potter children’s tale, the live-action/animated hybrid had the advantages of brand recognition and star power, in the form of human karaoke machine 
Just like a butt dial, side-eye can be completely accidental.
The first teaser and poster for