Andrew Garfield in ‘We Live in Time’. Photo: StudioCanal.
Nothing has been official released yet, but Guadagnino reportedly considered several scripts before landing on Simon Rich’s (‘An American Pickle’) about the wild true story surrounding OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
He co-founded OpenAI, but in the fall of 2023, after mounting safety concerns regarding AI, and reports of abusive behavior, was ousted as the head of the company by his board.
Five days later, after a revolt, he was reinstated in a story reminiscent of the return of Steve Jobs to Apple.
If all goes as planned, Garfield will play Altman, Barbaro will be chief technology officer Mira Murati, and Borisov has the role of Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder who led the movement to get rid of Altman.
We don’t yet know who Hoffman or Koch will be, but Barinholtz is in talks to be Elon Musk, who… well, does he really need an introduction these days after the last few months. At least it’s a good casting choice: Barinholtz is good at playing smug weirdos.
Along with Garfield, the new project marks a reunion for Guadagnino and Amazon, having made ‘After the Hunt’ and last year’s sizzling tennis drama ‘Challengers’ for the company.
What else is Luca Guadagnino working on?
Director Luca Guadagnino attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Challengers’ at Regency Village Theatre on April 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios.
As talked about above, the director had been busy developing ‘Sgt. Rock,’ which adapts the DC Comics character for the big screen. Daniel Craig reportedly considered the lead, but Guadagnino was locking in on Colin Farrell to star.
Yet weather conditions have reportedly stymied the production, and the aim is to have it rolling cameras next year –– though not with Guadagnino aboard.
Beyond that, he has a variety of other potential movies waiting in the wings, including a new adaptation of ‘American Psycho’ and romantic drama ‘Separate Rooms.’
When will ‘Artificial’ be in theaters?
Though ‘Artificial’ is clearly coming together fairly quickly, Amazon MGM Studios has yet to hand out a release date for the movie.
Guadagnino’s latest, the aforementioned ‘After The Hunt,’ which stars Garfield alongside Julia Roberts and Chloë Sevigny, is scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 17th, signaling a potential awards contender.
(L to R) Ike Barinholtz and Seth Rogen in ‘The Studio,’ premiering March 26, 2025 on Apple TV+.
‘The Studio’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.
Arriving on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes on March 26th (a further eight arrive weekly), ‘The Studio’ represents Hollywood poking fun at itself and looking for ways to show how ridiculous the business of moviemaking can be.
It’s also the latest comedy from prolific duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who emerged from the Judd Apatow school of laughs to essentially build their own creative empire.
(L to R) Sarah Polley, Catherine O’Hara and Seth Rogen in ‘The Studio,’ premiering March 26, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Hooray for Hollywood! It’s a viper’s nest of giant egos, entitled talent, sweaty executives, million-dollar (and sometimes billion-dollar decisions), drugs, parties, glad-handing, disagreements about edits and a hundred tough decisions a day.
There’s a movie in danger of going over budget! A star who just wants their way! A corporation really hoping that its latest film is a hit with the sort of audiences who don’t really care what it’s about, just that they recognize the names!
If the scenario sounds familiar, it’s because it’s been seen in a swathe of movies and TV shows, most notably in the likes of 1992 Robert Altman effort ‘The Player’ and more recently with HBO’s ‘The Franchise,’ which tweaked the nose of the superhero film industrial complex (though couldn’t land all its punches and has been summarily cancelled after one season).
‘The Studio’ is essentially a blend of the two –– an old-school Hollywood farce but crossbred with current concerns such as exploiting IP.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Bryan Cranston and Seth Rogen in ‘The Studio,’ premiering March 26, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg alongside Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck and Frida Perez (Gregory and Huyck took the lead as showrunners since Rogen was starring and co-directing every episode with Goldberg), this initially comes across as Hollywood Satire 101. So many of the beats feel familiar, even down to Rogen’s Matt Remick, the movie-obsessed executive who thinks his knowledge of Hollywood history will help him succeed in his dream job, only to be hamstrung by corporate concerns and uncooperative above-the-line folk.
Trouble is, that carries over a lot into the rest of the series; while a couple of the characters are interesting and original, most are archetypes we’ve watched so many times before: the harried junior executive, the wacky PR person, the aggrieved former studio head.
And as one episode in particular later on (one of the better examples of the show having a viewpoint), it can be hard to care too much about people struggling to make movies at this sort of level; worried for their jobs they might be, but they’re still earning big bucks.
(L to R) Seth Rogen and Ron Howard in ‘The Studio,’ premiering March 26, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Even as Rogen and co. try to make their issues relatable, they can’t quite get there. The show does at least have a few solid laughs, and as the season goes on, the focus shifts slightly to other aspects of the job (as mentioned, a later episode has Rogen’s Matt trying to defend his position that his job is as stressful as, say, a doctor’s), and the characters start to bed down and work more smoothly.
Still, the final couple –– about which we won’t directly talk –– do fall back into old, predictable and somewhat tiresome patterns.
Rogen and Goldberg are experienced directors at this point, with several movies under their collective belt. With a hefty Apple TV+ budget to spend, they’re clearly happy to experiment to a limited degree, pulling off continuous tracking shots here and there and giving the show some visual panache.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, Chase Sui Wonders and Seth Rogen in ‘The Studio,’ premiering March 26, 2025 on Apple TV+.
As the heart of the series, Rogan is a variation on his relatively easygoing screen persona, albeit thrown into a tough new situation. He does sweaty, sweary desperation well, but is still overshadowed by some of his co-stars.
Ike Barinholtz is good value as Sal Saperstein. Matt’s friend and fellow executive jockeying for position. In true Barinholtz style, he’s more of a “bro,” all about the party lifestyle and social climbing, but with a quivering vein of vulnerability.
As ambitious young corporate ladder-climber Quinn Hackett, Chase Sui Wonders can be more of a sympathetic character, since she doesn’t hold so many of the cards. While her storyline is sometimes predictable, she’s fun in the role.
Kathryn Hahn naturally steals scenes as Maya, the hyperactive, foul-mouthed marketing guru at the studio. It’s the sort of supporting comedic role that Hahn shines in, and she makes the most of the character.
(L to R) Seth Rogen and Catherine O’Hara in ‘The Studio,’ premiering March 26, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Catherine O’Hara falls into a similar category of reliable performer, and here she’s Patty Leigh, the one-time studio head forced out and now ploughing her own course as a powerhouse producer. O’Hara brings just the right level of bitterness and comic creation to the role.
Playing Griffin Mill, the boss of the studio even above Matt, Bryan Cranston is sadly saddled with the sort of blowhard corporate type we’ve seen so many of in the past. And naming the character after Tim Robbins’ role in ‘The Player’ just calls more attention to how this variation doesn’t quite work.
On the cameo front, at least the ones we can talk about, Nicholas Stoller offers solid entertainment value playing a slightly more eager-to-please version of himself, while Martin Scorsese is largely there because he’s a Hollywood titan and is good at being gruff when needed.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen in ‘The Studio,’ premiering March 26, 2025 on Apple TV+.
While it can’t compete with the best of those, when it switches focus slightly, it does offer more value. And if its comedic levels aren’t always the highest, it does have some solid gags and situations.
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What’s the plot of ‘The Studio’?
Matt Remick (Seth Rogen) is the newly appointed head of Continental Studios. He attempts to save the floundering company in an industry undergoing rapid social and economic changes.
Inspired by Jeannie Buss, who took over running the L.A. Lakers basketball organization following her father’s death (the fact that Buss is an executive producer here should be a clue –- though that’s more of a contractual title than a creative one), it sees Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, who is thrust into the tough job of taking over running the fictional LA Waves team.
‘Running Point,’ despite its sports milieu will feel familiar to anyone who has seen a workplace comedy before, and particularly the comedic stylings of Mindy Kaling, who following her work on ‘The Office’ went on to create and star in her own show (‘The Mindy Project’) and shepherd others, including previous Netflix effort ‘Never Have I Ever.’
David Stassen, who has worked extensively with Kaling in the past, on both TV and movies, seems to be –– there’s no way to escape it –– running point here, as he’s the main showrunner. Yet their shared tone shines through; this is another mix of wacky, funny shenanigans and some emotional core elements. The question is, does that blend work?
As mentioned above, Stassen and Kaling have professional history, so too does Ike Barinholtz, who worked and appeared on ‘The Mindy Project’ and has also collaborated on other jobs with them. That helps ‘Running Point’ feel like a smoothly orchestrated comedy from a scripting point of view, instead of a creative team fighting each other over choices.
And the laughs are clear from the start –– Hudson’s Isla is a compelling comic creation, a woman fighting for her place in a male-dominated world and while that’s not the newest idea, she works well as a character. Around her, much of the supporting roles are archetypes, but each is given enough layers that they don’t feel like they show up, say silly things and step off screen again. From Gordon’s PR maven and sidekick Ali Lee (Brenda Song), who has cultural concerns as well as quippy one-liners to her brother Sandy’s (Drew Tarver) relationship crises with his boyfriend, the storylines weave around each other and work.
If there’s an issue with the scripting, at least in the early going, it’s that the show falls into a particular sitcom trap of repeating the first episode’s idea at least a couple of times, with Sandy and brothers Ness (Scott MacArthur) and Cam (Justin Theroux) conspiring to oust her, which becomes annoying. It’s one thing to restate the premise for shows that run weekly, where producers need to catch those dipping in up on the basic concept, it’s another for it to be a recurring motif in a streaming series dropping all at once.
James Ponsoldt, a movie director more known for the likes of ‘The Spectacular Now’ and ‘The Circle’ (but who has been taking more TV work including ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ and ‘Shrinking’), handles all 10 episodes here, and keeps the tone light. The show might not be winning awards for its visual style, but that’s rarely the point in comedies, especially sitcoms.
Hudson makes for a likeable (usually –– though she’s not afraid to go to darker corners when the script calls for it), scrappy main character that you’ll root for as she deals with the various madcap issues of her co-workers and the players.
She has able support from Song, who can deliver an acid-tipped put-down with aplomb, and all three actors playing her brothers. Tarver is a nervy, entertaining watch as Sandy, while MacArthur gets the goofier side of the show as Ness, whose name rhymes with “mess” for a reason.
Theroux has less of a presence by design, since Cam’s addictions and initial car accident are the reason Isla ascends to her business throne in the first place. But what material he is given he spins perfectly, with the right level of imperiousness and stupidity.
Then there is Jackie Moreno, a loyal waves fan who works at the stadium and has more to him than first appears. He’s played with enjoyable charm by Fabrizio Guido, whose storyline also includes his lawyer cousin Ana, played by Keyla Monterroso Mejia, who has been stealing scenes in movies including ‘One of Them Days’ and ‘You’re Cordially Invited’ similarly makes an impact here.
The players, meanwhile, are smaller characters, but it’s amusing to see Chet Hanks as a tattooed weirdo superstar whose career Isla holds in the balance.
‘Running Point’ seems unlikely to charge up the charts of Greatest Sitcoms anytime soon, but it’s certainly amusing enough. Hudson is a fun central figure, and the jokes mostly come out of character –– and they’re well drawn enough that the heartfelt moments hit home without feeling cheesy.
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What’s the plot of ‘Running Point’?
When a scandal forces her brother to resign, Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson) is appointed president of the Los Angeles Waves, one of the most storied professional basketball franchises, and her family business.
Ambitious and often overlooked, Isla will have to prove to her skeptical brothers, the board, and the larger sports community that she was the right choice for the job.
Premiering on Netflix February 2nd, ‘Orion and the Dark’ has mostly flown under the radar. The streaming service put out one trailer, and the concern was that it had ordered something it didn’t like –– in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation, no less –– and was simply dumping it on its servers in the netherworld that is early February.
It’s a pleasant surprise, then, to learn that the movie is actually delightful, smart, ambitious and much deeper than some other animated offerings premiering on streaming services around the same time.
Netflix is really finding a nice line in creative animation, and this new movie certainly fits into that category. ‘Orion and the Dark’ has a lot to offer, with an unexpected story that will entertain and inform in equal measure.
With a compelling voice cast and some beautifully realized animated visuals, this breaks out from the pack to be one we’re happy to recommend. After all, did you really expect an animated kids’ film from Charlie Kaufman? We’re not sure we had that on our 2024 movie release bingo card.
This is one you really wish Netflix had tried to release theatrically, as it would certainly benefit from a healthily big screen. But it still works well on smaller venues, as its power is as much in its imagination as it is the look of the movie.
Given that the movie’s script is adapted from a 2015 children’s picture book created by writer and illustrator Emma Yarlett, ‘Orion and the Dark’ has become a satisfying, charming film with unexpected layers.
Or perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised since Charlie Kaufman was hired to write it. While it may not go to the weirdness of some of his other efforts (after all, no one needs a stop-motion sex scene in a kids’ movie). But the man who has created such unique efforts as ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ and ‘Adaptation’ here (alongside Lloyd Taylor) brings some of his incisive wit to the story of a young man who is confronted with his fears.
Orion feels like an ideal Kaufman character; a nerdy, nervy type who has to go on a journey. But there’s more to it than that –– a narrative wrinkle sees the film as a story narrated by an older Orion to help his daughter handle her own nervousness, which allows for it to serve as a sort of meta commentary on the tale itself and storytelling in general.
And all the characters have solid purpose beyond being window dressing –– they all have their own small story fragments and emotional grounding.
The animated side of things, led by Sean Charmatz (who has worked as a story artist on films on the ‘Trolls’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ franchises before stepping up to direct a ‘Trolls’ direct-to-video spin-off) is a thing of beauty. It might not compete with the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies, but the look of the film’s characters is smooth and quirky, at times looking like it comes straight from a child’s sketch book (which feels fitting given the source material). There are also shots of real textured beauty, such as Dark seen from above spreading a near-watercolor curtain of night across the world.
Paul Walter Hauser has been doing sterling work in a variety of roles both comedic and dramatic, and here he proves to be a warm, gifted voice-over performer. His Dark is a great creation –– funny yet riddled with his own neuroses and burdened with some serious light envy directed towards his opposite number (a committed, if small role for Ike Barinholtz).
Jacob Tremblay does good work as Orion, and pairs well with Colin Hanks as his adult self, who unpacks his experience (but we won’t spoil how he fully ties in).
Elsewhere, the rest the night creatures are fun and funny when they’re onscreen and show an inventive peek into nighttime concerns such as unexplained noises and insomnia.
Feeling more like a creative Pixar effort than a pumped-out franchise entry, ‘Orion and the Dark’ certainly offers more thoughtful entertainment than the 545th example of kid-discovers-the-true-power-to-defeat-the-villain-just-needed-help-from-a-magical-mentor that is the seemingly lazy default mode of so many animated movies, no matter how much dressing they put on that particular frame.
It’s not quite at the level of, say, last year’s ‘Nimona’ (now nominated for an Oscar), but ‘Orion and the Dark’ is certainly worth your and your family’s time.
‘Orion and the Dark’ receives 7.5 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the Plot of ‘Orion and the Dark’?
Orion (Jacob Tremblay) seems a lot like your average elementary school kid –– shy, unassuming, harboring a secret crush. But underneath his seemingly normal exterior, Orion is a ball of adolescent anxiety, completely consumed by irrational fears of bees, dogs, the ocean, cell phone waves, murderous gutter clowns, even falling off a cliff. But of all his fears, the thing he’s the most afraid of is what he confronts on a nightly basis: the dark.
So when the literal embodiment of his worst fear pays a visit, Dark (Paul Walter Hauser) whisks Orion away on a roller coaster ride around the world to prove there is nothing to be afraid of in the night. As the unlikely pair grow closer, Orion must decide if he can learn to accept the unknown –– to stop letting fear control his life and finally embrace the joy of living.
Nicolas Cage (“Nick Cage”) contemplates his career while poolside in Mallorca, Spain in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.’ Photo credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate.
Nicolas Cage is one of those actors who has built a mythology around himself – or in some cases, had one thrust upon them. His career is marked by huge highs: he won an Oscar for ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ and has received acclaim for many of his dramatic and comedic performances. He also managed to carve out time as an action star in the likes of ‘Con Air’ and ‘The Rock’.
More recently, though, his performances have dived into straight-to-home-entertainment territory, with madcap action movies sharing shelf space with more nuanced indies. He’s still putting in solid performances (last year’s ‘Pig’ was a quiet triumph that put him into awards consideration once more), but he’s not quite scoring the higher profile parts he once did.
Which means that this latest job is a chance to show he’s in on the joke.
Co-written by director Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ channels all shades of Cage in what amounts to a light satire of the man, his movies, and his quirks. This is, after all, an actor who once blew $150 million on a dinosaur skull, pygmy heads and two European castles. Who has named his children Weston (neutral, probably unlikely to cause trouble at recess and Kal-El (AKA Superman’s Kryptonian name, because Cage is a Super-fan who almost played the character for Tim Burton and got to voice him in ‘Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’).
‘Massive Talent’ features Cage playing ‘Nick Cage’, a meta-referential (and self-parodying) version of himself. This Cage is creatively unfulfilled, facing financial ruin and worried about his degrading relationship with his daughter, Cage decides to announce his retirement. But not before accepting a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a seeming superfan called Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal). Javi’s a giggly, enthusiastic Cage worshipper, who claims ‘Face/Off’ as his favorite movie and is ready to show the actor the time of his life.
(L to R) Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.’ Photo: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate.
That includes some random improv, speeding around in a jeep and diving from a dangerous cliff near Javi’s palatial Mallorca compound. And he also has an extensive collection of memorabilia from Cage’s movies, which initially throws off the actor, but he soon embraces it.
There’s just one teeny tiny catch: Javi is also apparently a wanted arms dealer with blood on his hands. Cage is recruited by a pair of CIA operatives (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz) and forced to spy on his new best buddy, with the hope that he’ll track down the kidnapped girl sequestered within the compound, the focus of the crime lord’s attempt to influence an election.
Though he initially embraces the idea of “spy stuff”, Cage soon realizes he’s in over his head, and his life could well be forfeit if he can’t pull it off. And that’s before he learns the true temperature of the hot water he’s landed in.
Gormican keeps the tone fun, varying between laidback bonding sessions between Cage and Javi, and frantic action moments. He also loads the film with Cage references – a key plot point, for example, revolves around a gruesome, expensive waxwork of ‘Face/Off’s Castor Troy boasting two (working) golden guns, while dialogue drops and riffs factor in everything from his classics to his clunkers.
Pedro Pascal in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.’ Photo: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate.
Pascal brings a nervy, boyish energy to Javi, who can’t contain how excited he is to meet his idol (and pitch his script to him, of course). Elsewhere, there’s Sharon Horgan as Cage’s ex-wife Olivia, who wants him to step up and be a better dad to their daughter Addy (Lily Sheen, who knows a thing or two about being the daughter of actors, given that her real-life progenitors are Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale). Horgan finds nuance within Olivia, elevating her from the usual frustrated ex trope. While they’re initially sidelined, mother and daughter do re-enter the story as it moves along, upping the stakes for our hero.
Haddish and Barinholtz have less to do, but make their scenes work, the former in particular bouncing well off of Cage and stepping up when the moment calls for it. Neil Patrick Harris, meanwhile, puts in a solid performance as Cage’s agent, the superbly named Richard Fink.
And then, there’s Nicky. A de-aged, ‘Wild at Heart’-era Cage (also played by the actor), Nicky serves as a Greek chorus, urging Nick to rekindle and embrace his superstar status and to lean into his more manic impulses. Nicky is an inspired addition, and well-brought to life by Cage, contrasting his more mellow, if frustrated, older persona. The back and forth between the two is used judiciously so Nicky never wears out his welcome. His enthusiastic shout of their shared name is one for the ages and a meme waiting to happen.
On the downside, several of the gags are expected and a little cheap and the movie does tend to run out of steam before the finale – a few trims here and there could have tightened it up to flow a little more smoothly as it barrels towards the finish. Some of the story turns come across as fairly predictable too, meaning the entertainment factor is slightly reduced. With such a comedically talented cast, not all of the laughs land, either.
That said, ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ is largely light on its feet and very funny. It also doesn’t alienate those without an encyclopedic knowledge of Cage’s canon. The movie still works as the study of an actor finding himself again at a low point and an action comedy that delivers (if more on the comedy than the action front for the most part).
It’s a Cage match-up that super-fans will love and in which everyone else will find something to enjoy.
‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ receives 3.5 out of 5 stars.
‘Nicolas Cage’ (Nicolas Cage) greets ‘Javi Gutierrez’ with a ‘Palm Hold Fist’ salute as he arrives in Mallorca, Spain. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate.
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“Nick Cage” (Nicolas Cage) greets “Javi Gutierrez” (Pedro Pascal) with a ‘Palm Hold Fist’ salute as he arrives in Mallorca, Spain in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.’ Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate.
Nicolas Cage has always been an actor – and a man – marching to his own particular drumbeat. He’s been garlanded with Oscars, fronted giant blockbusters, and had quieter runs on straight-to-home entertainment stragglers. He’s quirky, he’s weird, but he also has a huge following.
It’s perhaps not shocking, then, that a meta comedy about him getting into hot water with a big fan would eventually be made. That comedy is ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ and it stars Nic Cage, as, well, “Nick Cage”. The movie has a new trailer online.
In the movie, we find a semi-fictionalized leading man teetering on the edge of giving up the ol’ acting lark once and for all, especially once he gets turned down for Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie. Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, this Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan (Pedro Pascal).
Things take a wildly unexpected turn when Cage is recruited by a CIA operative (Tiffany Haddish) and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones. With a career built for this very moment, the seminal award-winning actor must take on the role of a lifetime: Nicolas Cage.
Yes, it turns out Pascal’s Javi, Cage’s biggest fan is not, as he was initially concerned into weird sex stuff, he is in fact into massively criminal stuff. And when Javi discovers that Cage was recruited by the government to investigate his supremely dodgy dealings, things become violent. Soon, Cage is longing for the moments when his biggest concern was Javi asking him which of his movies is his favorite. Or viewing Javi’s extensive collection of props from NC’s movies, which also includes a “grotesque” waxwork of his ‘Face/Off’ character, which Cage offers to buy for a healthy sum.
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Haddish’s agent, meanwhile, has backup from Ike Barinholtz’s fellow CIA operative, and it’s clear that Barinholtz’s character has no time for Cage’s more family friendly output – he’s all about the action movies.
On Cage’s business side of things, we have Neil Patrick Harris as his agent, the man who first approaches him with Javi’s offer.
And in case one version of Cage just wasn’t enough, the movie features two, with the actor also playing “Nicky”, an imaginary younger version of himself, who torments “Nick” from time to time.
“I wasn’t too excited about the idea of playing myself, but when Tom sent me this script, Nicky reminded me a little of Jerry Lewis’ Buddy Love in ‘The Nutty Professor,’” Cage told Entertainment Weekly. “I always admired what he did with that movie. For me, Nicky steals the show.”
Co-written and directed by Tom Gormican, ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ will bring “Nick fuckin’ Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaage” back into theaters on April 22.
“Nick Cage” (Nicolas Cage) contemplates his career while poolside in Mallorca, Spain in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.’ Photo credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate.
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(L to R) Sam Richardson, Jamie Demetriou, Ben Schwartz, John Early, Tiffany Haddish, Tiya Sircar, Ilana Glazer, Zoe Chao, and Ike Barinholtz in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
‘The Afterparty’ revolves around a murder that takes place at a high school reunion after party, and each episode is told from a different character’s point of view. Lord and Miller serve as executive producers and both co-wrote several episodes, with Miller also directing the entire series.
Moviefone recently had a chance to speak with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller about their new Apple TV+ series, as well as some of the cast from ‘The Afterparty’ Including Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Zoe Chao, Ike Barinholtz, Dave Franco, and Ilana Glazer.
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Below you can read our full interview with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller about ‘The Afterparty,’ or you can watch the complete set of interviews in the video player above.
Moviefone: Chris, can you begin by talking about the genesis of the idea for the series, and also deciding to have each episode focus on a different character’s point of view?
Christopher Miller: It was a little over a decade ago that I had the idea to tell a murder mystery in a Rashomon style where each suspect would tell their version of the evening and it would be wildly different from the other ones. We were going to make it, we wrote it as a movie, and then we got busy making ‘The Lego Movie’ and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and whatnot.
But when we got a breath of air, we revisited it and thought this would work better as a series because in a movie, you didn’t have time to really dig to each character. But as a series, you could give each character their own episode and really understand them as more complex characters. You could really learn to empathize and love each of them, and hope that they didn’t do it. So, as that was evolving, we realized that to push their style of storytelling, stylistically and thematically, we can make each episode feel like a different genre of filmmaking and storytelling.
Then it evolved even farther, and we got an amazing writing staff full of really cool people. With the structure and outline already intact, they were able to turn it into something really special. But it was a really mind exploding process because if you’re working on episode four and you want to change something there, it affects everything in all the other episodes. So, you have to keep the whole thing in your head like this giant machinery of a massive clock in your head. It would really explode people’s heads from time to time.
MF: Phil, was making a murder mystery something you always wanted to do?
Phil Lord: I think Chris and I are fans of ‘Clue,’ ‘The Last of Sheila’ and ‘Murder by Death.’ There’s a long proud history of mixing comedy and murder and we’ve always been interested in what’s a unique way to pull that off. Chris had been developing this as a script for a long time for a feature. When he thought of the idea of breaking it into episodes, and then each of those episodes would have its own filmmaking style and you would get to know each of these characters even more deeply, that’s when it really took off for us and felt like it was going to be worth doing.
MF: Phil, because each episode contains events seen from different characters perspectives, can you talk about how production actually worked?
PL: So, the whole show, more or less, we batch shot it. Meaning that we would shoot a scene in a hallway that was like a fun rom-com and then, “Okay everyone, let’s go to lunch, we’ll come back and now it’s a dark thriller.” That’s part of the fun of it, honestly, but the poor actors did need a second to switch modes.
MF: Chris, can you talk about the impressive cast of actors you assembled and the challenges for them with the different tones in each episode?
CM: We got so lucky to get like a real murderer’s row, pun intended, of comedy geniuses. What was especially great about all of them is that so many of them are writers, filmmakers or show creators in their own rights. So, they really were smart about also holding this whole show in their heads, because asking an actor to be able to just do a character is one thing, but to do a character with eight different shadings of that character is a really big ask. It has to be people who are really smart and savvy, and luckily, they all were amazing, and they added so much to it. We all had a great time together and it was a real love fest. You could really feel the chemistry and joy on the screen.
(L to R) Ben Schwartz and Sam Richardson in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
The eight-part series revolves around a murder that takes place at a high school reunion after party, and each episode is told from a different character’s perspective. The result is an innovative and hilarious whodunit with a charming cast led by Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson and Ben Schwartz.
The series begins by introducing us to Aniq (Richardson), who is reluctantly attending his high school reunion in hopes of seeing the girl he had a crush on, Zoe (Chao). He first finds his friend Yasper (Schwartz), before eventually reuniting with Zoe. He is delighted to find that she is recently separated from Brett (Barinholtz), who Aniq thinks took her from him when they were in high school. But Aniq’s good time with Zoe is interrupted by the arrival of Xavier (Franco), who was a nerd in high school but is now a famous pop star and actor.
Trouble begins when Xavier invites everyone over to his mansion for an after party, and he is soon murdered by one of his guests. Enter Detective Danner (Haddish), who suspects Aniq of the murder and questions him about the events of the night. Soon, everyone becomes a suspect and while Danner investigates and questions the other guests, Yasper tries to help Aniq clear his name.
Sam Richardson in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
After seeing their previous work, including the Oscar winning animated movie ‘Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse,’ it’s no surprise that a new streaming series from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller would be fresh, funny, and completely unique.
A high school reunion is a perfect backdrop for a comedic mystery and the characters are both over-the-top yet very relatable. The choice to center each episode on a particular character’s point of view of the evening’s events was brilliant, as it allows each character to come alive in a different way, and lets the actors play different versions of their characters.
The ensemble cast is excellent, led by Tiffany Haddish as the outsider investigating the murder, Detective Danner. Haddish brings her own brand of humor to the series, while never overshadowing the plot or the other actors. She is especially excellent in the penultimate episode, where her character’s backstory is finally revealed.
Sam Richardson is really the anchor of the series, as Aniq is the main character that we are rooting for to not only clear his name but win back Zoe’s heart as well. Richardson plays the role a bit nerdish, which is where the real comedy comes in. Equally great is Ben Schwartz as Aniq’s friend Yasper, who gets to perform a full-on musical during his character specific episode.
Tiffany Haddish in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
Dave Franco is also hilarious as pop star Xavier, who ends up being the murder victim. The actor plays his character like an arrogant, insecure jerk, who you sympathize with once his backstory is revealed. Franco does some of his best work channeling a Justin Bieber/Machine Gun Kelly type character. Another funny character is Jamie Demetriou’s Walt, who is the guy from high school that no one remembers, which leads to some hilarious moments.
Comedian Ike Barinholtz was perfectly cast as Brett, the high school bully who rivals Aniq for Zoe’s affection. The actor plays the role of a real jerk, but also shows us a bit of his character’s vulnerable side throughout the first season. Ilana Glazer, best known for her Comedy Central series ‘Broad City,’ has some great moments playing the pivotal role of Chelsea, a character that has more going on under the surface than it first appears.
However, if there is a weak link in the cast, unfortunately its Zoe Chao, who plays Zoe. Her character never really rises to the level that you understand why Aniq, and Brett for that matter, care for her so much. Her character’s point-of-view episode helps to explain her different personalities with some really entertaining animation, but it doesn’t come until the sixth episode, which is a little late in the season to finally make the character interesting.
One of the great aspects of ‘The Afterparty,’ which is baked into the Rashomon concept, is that nothing is as it seems. So, truly any character, even Aniq or Detective Danner, could be the murderer! My money is on Yasper, who just seems a little too nice, and a little too eager to help Aniq clear his name. But I also think it’s possible that Xavier is not dead, which could be the season’s big twist.
Dave Franco in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
Full disclosure, critics were only given the first seven episodes to screen, so your guess is as good as mine as to who the true killer is.
In the end, ‘The Afterparty’ is a true joy to watch, and a murder-mystery-comedy on level with classics from the genre like ‘Clue.’ Lord and Miller have assembled a marvelous cast, which is truly a pleasure to watch. The characters are both ridiculous and relatable, and the show’s unique concept makes it a series that you won’t want to miss.
‘The Afterparty’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.
(L to R) Sam Richardson, Jamie Demetriou, Ben Schwartz, John Early, Tiffany Haddish, Tiya Sircar, Ilana Glazer, Zoe Chao, and Ike Barinholtz in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
The new Netflix series ‘Chicago Party Aunt’ was inspired by a Twitter account. This isn’t the first time a Twitter handle has inspired a series, but in this case the creators of this new Netflix series decided to use animation to tell the stories. The cast includes Jon & Ike Barinholtz, Lauren Ash, Rory O’Malley, Katie Rich, and Chris Witsake (the creator of the original Twitter handle). They recently sat down with Moviefone to talk about the new series.
Ike and Jon Barinholtz talk about the inspiration for the show.
Moviefone: Tell me about the Twitter account, @ChiPartyAunt.
Jon Barinholtz: Okay. “Chicago Party Aunt” was created by Chris Witaske, one of our friends, and he created this character, this very wild, fun persona, who we all know, right? We all have a party aunt, a party uncle, or party neighbor, or cousin in our life. And if you don’t, then you are that person to other people. And we, Ike and myself and some other friends, would interact with this person on Twitter, knowing it was Chris, would interact with this character. And very quickly all the pieces came together, where Richie Schwartz and Will Gluck at Olive Bridge, and Ike and Dave at 2334 saw how this could exist as an animated show. And Katie Rich and I came aboard, and we all broke open what this world could be and figured out what the pilot could be, and we got to write it. And here we are, just a short three years later, and we get to put it out to the whole world.
MF: Short three years later! I guess it always takes that long, right? The development for anything. So Ike, this is an adult animated comedy, and I’m wondering, is it harder to do an animated comedy rather than a live action? Because in an animated I’m guessing you probably were by yourself in a recording studio and not on a set with other people to play off of.
Ike Barinholtz, one of the creators of ‘Chicago Party Aunt’
Ike Barinholtz: Yeah, it’s interesting. In some ways, production-wise animated is a lot easier, in the sense that you know the character pretty well, and you are just in a booth, it’s just kind of you and an engineer. So you can kind of knock it out kind of pretty quickly. It’s very economical acting, as opposed to doing a big scene with a group where you’re all in person, and it takes a lot of time.
On the flip side, there is something about a live action where, as a creator, you’re going to see the finished product a lot sooner than you will with an animated project, which can take a long time and lots of different phases, but they’re both really fun. You know what I mean? There’s nothing like being on set with a great cast and doing good work, but when you get into the zone, when you’re in the booth by yourself, and you’re just watching this character, you start to making the connection between your face and his face. It really is kind of freeing and very kind of pure in a way, because it’s really just you at that moment.
MF: You both also voice characters in this. So Jon, Mikey has just the biggest heart of everybody in this show.
Jon Barinholtz: Literally. Size-wise, it’s a large heart, it’s a large, it’s a very big heart. Yes. Mikey is Diane’s lovable, gentle giant with a heart of gold. And I imagine he grew up in a little bit of chaos with Kurt and Diane being his parents, and he’s no worse for the wear. He’s a sweet, lovable goofball, who’s gotten hit in the head at every Chicago sporting event that there is, whether it’s a puck or a football or a baseball, maybe a bat, but he’s Diane’s little baby boy.
MF: I’m really curious about how Mark and Bonnie met.
Jon Barinholtz: That is a great question that we’ve actually talked about before many times. They’re a very kind of normie couple, and we talked, I think, about them. They were both singing the same Dave Matthews song in a bar and turned to each other and saw each other, that that was kind of when. They met at a bar because all of their friends went out to go smoke, and they didn’t, they were the only two left. It was just, he was a lot of fun for me to play because normally I play characters who are just completely insane and off the wall and not necessarily tethered to reality. So to play as just a normal suburban dad, who’s just kind of a dork, I had a lot of fun with that character.
Chris Witsake talks about creating the original Twitter account, and Katie Rich shares how much she loved the feed.
Moviefone: Chris. This is all because of you. Tell me about this Twitter account. Why did you start that?
Chris Witsake: Well, I’ll correct you. It’s not all because of me. The inspiration started with me, but now all of these amazing creators have joined in, and it has now become a labor of love for all of us. It takes a village. But I started the Twitter account in 2016 because I was very bored in Los Angeles and I wanted a creative outlet. And I was very homesick from missing Chicago. So it’s based on a couple of my actual aunts. And I would tweet as if I were this woman, and then it started with very few followers, but then it grew and grew and grew until now it’s going to be streaming all over the world.
MF: Katie, were you aware of this Twitter feed? This Twitter account?
Katie Rich: Very much so. And you know, myself and some of the other folks who are involved in this, we used to interact with Diane. And in a way, it was kind of like, why are we yelling at this woman? But it was sort of an outlet for us too, right? Cause this was a person that we all knew. This is an archetype we all knew. So it was fun to get to interact with her.
MF: You know, it’s funny that you say, Chris, that you were homesick for Chicago. ‘Cause I was going to talk to you about this, how I really feel like it’s a love letter to Chicago.
Witsake: When we sat down, when we first met on the first day, we said, what are our goals? And that was the first thing was we want this to be a love letter to Chicago, to the city that we all love so much, and miss. Katie still lives there, actually, that’s how much she loves it. But we wanted it to be really funny, and we wanted it to be a love letter to Chicago. And I think we did a good job of that.
MF: You absolutely did because I’ve never lived in Chicago, I’ve only visited, but there were still things in there that I recognize. Like Portillo’s, and the Malort and some of the street names mentioned. I was like, how do I, why am I connecting when I’ve never even lived in Chicago?
Witsake: That is so good to hear because that’s what we want. Yeah.
Rich: See, there’s more Chicago in the world than you even know.
MF: Absolutely, absolutely. Katie, let’s make sure that parents know this is not a cartoon for children.
Rich: This is not Paw Patrol!
MF: No, very much an adult comedy. Is it harder to do a comedic animated comedy role than it is to do live action? Because you don’t have a set, and you have nobody to bounce off of, nobody for that comedic timing.
Rich: Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s harder. It’s just different. It’s a completely different muscle. So everything that you could do with your face and your body and sets and things like that, you’re doing with your voice. So it’s sort of like, I don’t know if you’ve ever played tennis and then played badminton? And if you play tennis, and then you play badminton, you’re like bwam. Like you can’t hit it as hard, even though it’s the same thing. It’s kind of like that when you go into animation, is it’s like… Your voice has to be at a completely different level than when you’re on camera.
Witsake: The other cool thing, though, is we can do whatever… We can send Diane to the moon if we want with animation.
Rich: Yeah, exactly. And it’s not going to cost a million dollars for the set.
Witsake: We’re not going to have to deal with Jeff Bezos, right?
MF: No, but maybe he would have let Diane for free, ’cause she is so much fun.
Witsake: She is very, very fun.
Rich: She would like to take a penis into space, I think.
MF: Really quickly, let’s talk about your characters because besides being the co-creators of the series, you also voice characters. So who is Zuzana?
Rich: Zuzana is every Polish woman that you have seen who works so hard and never complains and has the weight of the world on her shoulders, but no matter what will always be there for you and will always, I say she will always show up even if she had to take 14 buses to get there. And Chicago has a huge Polish population. So we definitely wanted to honor that part of the city.
MF: And Chris, who’s Kurt?
Witsake: Kurt is Diane’s on again, off again, on again, off again, husband, ex-husband. And Diane and Kurt, they’re probably soulmates, but Kurt just can’t put up with her partying lifestyle anymore because he’s getting older. And so that’s why there’s a handful of divorces between the two of them.
MF: It sounds like such a mess, but really you, there’s some very nice themes that you’ve interwoven into the series.
Rich: Yeah. That was really important to us, that it wasn’t just, it wasn’t crass, or it wasn’t just a one dimensional thing. We wanted there to be a lot of heart. We wanted this at the core to be about relationships between friends and family and how they can often get messy. But they, in the end, that’s who you fight for and that’s who you live for. So that was very, very important to us that it be a show that had a lot of heart to it.
Lauren Ash and Rory O’Malley describe their characters.
Moviefone: This series is so much fun. Rory, were you familiar with the Twitter account before you got this role?
Rory O’Malley: I wasn’t familiar with the Twitter account, but as soon as I told all my family in Chicago that I was going to play Chicago Party Aunt’s nephew, they lost their minds. They were so excited, more than anything else I have ever been a part of, so I’m really proud to be a part of the Chicago Party Aunt story.
MF: Lauren, you are the Chicago Party Aunt. What is Diane’s motto for life?
Lauren Ash: I mean, well her motto on the show is, “When life hands you lemons, make Mike’s Hard Lemonade,” which I could not agree with more, personally. I think it is a mantra to live by. I think that her way of living is just, you got to have fun while you can, and we’re only young once. And I think, for her, youth has a much longer bracket than it does for others, and I think that’s awesome. I think that, in life, we get caught up in growing up and being adults and having responsibilities, which of course we need to do, but I think connecting to a youthfulness like Diane does, she pushes it, certainly, but I think that there is something that is really beautiful about that and embracing staying young and having fun for as long as you can.
MF: Although she is all of those things you just said, she just really, though, is a nice person. She has a love for her family and everybody around her and her city.
Ash: Yeah, and I think that that’s what’s really cool about the character is she’s hard partying, she likes a drink, she likes her men, but she has a really great heart, and she really is driven by wanting to do good and wanting people to have the most fun. She wants to spread joy, and I think that those are really positive kind of characteristics. She’s loyal to the point that she’d step in front of a bus for her nephew, Daniel. She really is a good, good person with really good intentions. She just sometimes misses the mark in her execution.
MF: True. Rory, where do we find Daniel when this series starts?
O’Malley: Well, Daniel is a sweet, bright, maybe a little nervous, sheltered 18-year-old gay kid who’s always done what his parents tell him to do, and he’s about to go to Stanford to start his freshman year, but he decides that he’s going to take a gap year and really find out who he is and move in with his Aunt Diane into an apartment in Chicago and break out of his shell, and there’s no better person than Aunt Diane to break him out of his shell and learn how to do a keg stand and all the important things in life.
MF: Yeah, we don’t want to mistake this for a children’s animated series.
O’Malley: No!
MF: This is definitely an adult comedy. I’m wondering, Lauren, is it harder to do comedy when it’s animated rather than live action? Because, I mean, animated, you’re not on a set. You don’t have somebody right in front of you to play off of. There’s no comedic timing, per se.
Ash: Yeah. I think that it is a challenge in some ways, but I love that challenge. I think it’s kind of a different part of your actor brain, if that makes sense. When you can’t rely on your facial expression or your body and how it moves, you really have to learn how to convey comedy and jokes and timing and all of those things, only using your voice, which is a really awesome, interesting opportunity as a performer. For me, personally, when I’m in the booth playing Diane, I’m extremely physical. I’m moving around a lot, my face is moving a lot, I sometimes ruin takes, because I’ll be so in the moment and talking that I’ll hit something and then the sound… I’ve ruined that go. But I think it’s always a really cool kind of challenge, I think is a good word for it, which is not a negative, it’s just something different.
And I love it. I’ve loved getting to find the nuance with her about what the balance of the accent is, where are the times it’s going to come out more if she’s been drinking, if she’s angry, if she’s happy, those kinds of things. But then, also finding how to convey all those different emotions just using your voice, it’s been really creatively fulfilling.
MF: And for you, Rory, how does Daniel balance his Aunt Diane with his parents, who are very different?
O’Malley: Very, very different. Yeah. They’re very straight-laced and strict, and Aunt Diane is definitely not. I think that it’s something that makes him such a well-rounded person, that he’s always had that influence of both. We need to have some rules, but we also need to have somebody show us how to break the rules, and an aunt is a perfect person to do that, because an aunt doesn’t have to tell their niece or nephew, “No.” They get to just give them the candy as much as they want. And I think that Aunt Diane is just so joyful and just so fun. And I think that Daniel must’ve been very attracted to that from the get-go, because he knew there were no rules with her and that she is just so happy to be herself and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks about her and kind of becomes Daniel’s hero, in that way.
MF: Absolutely. Aunt Diane giving the candy is the best thing, the crux of this whole series.
Four more actors are entering “The Twilight Zone.”
Taissa Farmiga, Rhea Seehorn, Luke Kirby, and Ike Barinholtz are set to star in an upcoming episode of the CBS All Access original series, as CBS announced Monday. It is a modern reimagining of the iconic series that ran from 1959 to 1964. So far, character details remain under wraps.
Percy Hynes-White has also landed a key role in the episode, and Jordan Peele serves as the host and narrator. Other actors that have joined the series include John Cho, Greg Kinnear, Sanaa Lathan, Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott, Alison Tolman, Jacob Tremblay, Jessica Williams, DeWanda Wise, and Steven Yeun.
Farmiga, Seehorn, Kirby, and Barinholtz all have plenty of acting experience. Farmiga’s body of work includes “The Mule” and “The Nun,” among others; Seehorn stars in AMC’s “Better Call Saul”; Kirby can be seen in HBO’s “The Deuce”; and Ike Barinholtz has been in the films “The Oath,” “Blockers,” and more.
The upcoming CBS All Access series comes from CBS Television Studios, Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw productions, and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films. Peele and Kinberg are both executive producing, as are Win Rosenfeld, Audrey Chon, Glen Morgan, Carol Serling, Rick Berg, and Greg Yaitanes.
“The Twilight Zone” reboot’s premiere date has not yet been announced.
Preview:
