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Tag Archive: Brian Tyree Henry


Don’t Let Go–New Blumhouse flick gives Frequency a horror twist

Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies, Sci-Fi Café — Leave a comment
August 29, 2019

Something in the air is hinting that autumn is on the way, and that means Halloween and more horror movies are coming.  This weekend a new twist on a modern trope arrives in theaters with director Jacob Estes’ new film Don’t Let Go.  Estes is a relatively new director, with the horror classic Ring sequel Rings under his belt.  His latest project is billed as drama, fantasy, horror, mystery, and thriller, and it’s from Blumhouse, so expect plenty of blood and gore.  The trailer suggests it has a science fiction element, too.

That’s the part that looks like the modern sci-fi movie classic Frequency (later made into a TV series), which starred Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel as a father and son who can communicate via HAM radio, years after the father’s death.  In Frequency (despite the rantings of how time travel works in Avengers: Endgame, ahem) you are able to alter the past, and in Don’t Let Go it looks like it relies on the same understanding of time.  After a man’s brother, sister-in-law, and their daughter/his niece are murdered, he gets a phone call from the niece, only she’s calling him her funeral–from two weeks ago.  So just like in Frequency, it’s up to the lead character to prevent a murder.  Time travel with a twist, this time with a horror set-up.

Don’t Let Go stars David Oyelowo (The Cloverfield Paradox, Star Wars Rebels, Jack Reacher, A Sound of Thunder, As Time Goes By) as an ex-L.A. cop, with Mykelti Williamson as his partner, Alfred Molina as their boss, Brian Tyree Henry as his brother, and young actor Storm Reid as his niece.  Whodunnit?  The cop, his partner, his brother, or the criminal element laid out in the trailer?

Here’s the trailer:

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All the Marvel Cinematic Universe news from SDCC 2019

Filed under: Comics & Books, Con Culture, Movies, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment
July 22, 2019

Instead of what has been done at past panels at San Diego Comic-Con–having a panel for each or just a few major projects–Marvel Studios exec Kevin Feige was on-hand to get several announcements out the door and as many key cast members in and out of his single panel as possible.  For the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase IV, that means tying in Disney’s (pay) streaming service with the movies.  The big takeaway?  New logos are pretty much all there is so far to share, plus key casting and timing announcements.  And although the last Phase had some changes along the way, it looks as if these ten projects will round out the entirety of Marvel over the next few years.  The biggest frustration for fans of the X-Men and Fantastic Four is why nobody at Marvel has been getting a head start on these two massively popular teams of characters–money is definitely going to be left on the table for the duration of Phase IV by pushing out these projects.  Why aren’t these Priority #1 with someone at Disney in light of the long lead-time the corporation had for the Fox acquisition?

The new time table is straightforward: Black Widow movie (May 1, 2020), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series (Fall 2020), Eternals movie (November 6, 2020), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings movie (February 12, 2021), WandaVision TV series (Spring 2021), Loki TV series (Spring 2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness movie (May 7, 2021), What If…? animated series (Summer 2021), Hawkeye TV series (Fall 2021), and Thor: Love and Thunder movie (November 5, 2021).  The most eagerly awaited film after this year’s Avengers: Endgame was the hinted-at Guardians of the Galaxy/Thor or Asgardians of the Galaxy team-up movie, but Marvel still has not confirmed that project, unless it’s tied into the 2021 film.  Also relegated to “in development” status: Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and the next Tom Holland Spider-Man movie (Spider-Man is Iron Man’s replacement, right?).  Silence seems to confirm the death of the Marvel Netflix universe of Luke Cage, The Punisher, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, and maybe even Disney+ projects Runaways, Ghost Rider, and Helstrom.  FX’s Legion was already announced as canceled, and we lost track of how many times The New Mutants movie has been pushed back.  Even bigger unknowns are the next Ant-Man and The Wasp, which had Hank Pym actor Michael Douglas already discussing it as a prequel, and if anyone is thinking about Prince Namor the Submariner, nobody is talking.  It begs the question:  Does Disney have too much to handle now?

As a beginning Disney’s Marvel side seems to be taking a lead from its Star Wars division, with its offerings targeting a mix of fans old, new, and in-between.  For the fans of the MCU so far you have plenty, a Black Widow (presumably prequel) and Thor movie as bookends for Phase IV, and TV series to keep alive Falcon, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Loki, Doctor Strange, and Hawkeye.  For new audiences (and possibly much older comic book readers) there is Shang-Chi and the Eternals to get to know, along with the announcement that Luke Cage’s Mahershala Ali will be playing Blade in a reboot movie at the beginning of Phase V, the vampire hunter who, like Spider-Man, has already seen an entire series of movies outside of the MCU.

The details are an eclectic mix of things you might want, things you didn’t know you want, and things you won’t know what to make of:

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Opening weekend review–Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a great lead-off to the holiday movie season

Filed under: Movies, Superheroes — Leave a comment
December 16, 2018

Review by C.J. Bunce

The Christmas movie releases began big this weekend with the first out of the gate: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, an animated superhero movie in a year that has seen the animated Incredibles 2 and live action versions of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Deadpool 2, and Venom.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse holds its own against them all.  A rich story and layered characters in an easy to digest, familiar, multi-verse story make this rise above other recent animated superhero shows.  In-world references to comic books–sporting the main characters on the covers, multi-view panel sequences, and even first-person narrative captions appear pulled from the pages of any real-world Spider-Man book.

The cast list has been publicized for months, and as the trailers promised, the voice actors take the film from good to great.  Familiar–maybe over-used–Spidey villain Kingpin, played by Liev Schreiber, is trying to take control of all the multi-verses with a new weapon that initially pulls in Spider-heroes from five other universes.  Shameik Moore plays star Miles Morales, a new Spider-Man trying to find his way at the beginning stage of his journey in his universe along with Chris Pine (Star Trek, Jack Ryan, Wonder Woman) as your more familiar neighborhood Spider-Man.  After an explosion Miles catches up with another Spider-Man, Peter B. Parker, a view of Parker in another dimension 20 years older, played perfectly (and hilariously) by Jake Johnson (Jurassic World, The Mummy, New Girl).  They are soon joined by cool and confident Spider-Woman aka Gwen “Spider-Gwen” Stacy, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld (BumbleBee, True Grit, Ender’s Game).  Early scenes present lots of great action, including a memorable scene where Miles drags Peter to safety aboard a speeding commuter train, but this story is more about sentiment and humor.  And it gets better.

Three other Spider-heroes arrive.  Rounding out the cast previewed in the trailers is Spider-Man Noir, allowing the great Nicolas Cage another superhero role after his performance as Big Daddy in Kick-Ass (after almost starring in a Tim Burton Superman movie years ago).  A lifelong comic book connoisseur, Cage was born to portray superheroes, and here his Spider-Man is pure perfection.  The oldest of spin-off Spideys emerges with the entrance of Peter Porker aka Spider-Ham (John Mulany), first seen in print back in 1983.  And a newer webslinger, the anime heroine Peni Parker from Earth-14512 (Kimiko Glenn), complete with her high-tech “SP//dr Suit,” gets her own great scenes.  The film features plenty of surprise characters, too.

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Now streaming–It’s time to book your reservations for an action fix at the Hotel Artemis

Filed under: Movies, Sci-Fi Café — Leave a comment
November 26, 2018

Review by C.J. Bunce

No guns, no killing the other patients, and no cops.  The titular Hotel Artemis in Drew Pearce‘s directorial debut film is a secret hospital for criminals, criminals who must be members to utilize its elite services, which consist of high-tech, life-saving medicine.  Services are provided under the direction of a craggy, battle-hardened, and effective nurse known primarily as “the Nurse,” played by Oscar-winner Jodie Foster, in what is probably her most exciting and outside-the-box role so far.  She has hard rules for guests in the same vein as the Continental Hotel in John Wick, and parallels to that movie’s plot device made obvious in the trailers may have been what kept away some of the action movie audience.  Now streaming and available on disc formats, Hotel Artemis is worth giving a second chance, if only because you’re looking for something action-packed that feels like a 1980s “B” action flick.

The year is 2028 with more riots in Los Angeles, heating up worse than ever as police and citizens face off on the downtown streets.  And the battle is approaching the door of the Hotel Artemis.  Enter two brothers played by this year’s rising star Sterling K. Brown (Black Panther, Marshall, The Predator) and Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse), both just shot while robbing a bank.  Everyone takes on city name aliases in the hotel, theirs Waikiki and Honolulu.  They join other guests Acapulco, played by Pacific Rim: Uprising’s Charlie Day, and Nice, played by the decade’s number one female action star, Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Atomic Blonde, Star Trek Beyond).  The humor is all tongue-in-cheek, the kind that makes James Bond movies work so well.  Along with directing, Pearce also wrote the script, and the combination of the best of today’s actors and his banter bouncing between them turns a freshman effort into something better.

The cast gets better, too:  Dave Bautista plays the Nurse’s loyal orderly Everest in a role different from how we’ve seen him in Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, or Spectre, except for that tardemark tough-guy physicality.  Jeff Goldblum plays both a criminal and the owner of the hotel, which presents a bit of a conflict for the Nurse along the way, Zachary Quinto plays his whiny wannabe son, and rounding out the cast is The Predator’s Jenny Slate, a wounded cop who shares a past with someone inside the hospital

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First look–Will action-thriller Hotel Artemis be the next surprise summer hit?

Filed under: Movies — Leave a comment
April 17, 2018

An all-star cast from the past and present heads up the new action-thriller Hotel Artemis.  The first trailer is out and it looks like a new take on John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13, maybe colliding with Atomic Blonde.  It stars Academy Award winner Jodie Foster as The Nurse–the head of a members-only, exclusive, secret hospital for criminals, built on two concepts: Trust and Rules.  And it all goes spy vs. spy as the bad guys must face even badder bad guys.  Foster looks and sounds great as a tried and true, battle-worn healthcare worker who has clearly encountered any and all kinds of patients and circumstances over the years.  Hotel Artemis–oddly enough–seems to fit right into her catalog of films like Flightplan, Panic Room, Inside Man, and Elysium.

You couldn’t ask for a more exciting cast of Hollywood’s current big names.  Joining Foster, Black Panther and Marshall actor Sterling K. Brown stars as Waikiki, a thief whose team gets wounded in a robbery.  That team includes his brother Honolulu, played by Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse).  The real badass of the film is one of our favorites, Atomic Blonde co-star Sofia Boutella as a jet-fueled, Bruce Lee-skilled assassin.  Boutella has conquered the genre with roles in Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond, and The Mummy.  Who else would you want in your corner but an orderly played by Dave Bautista?  Chuck, DC and Marvel, Blade Runner, and James Bond–Bautista has played some great parts in cool worlds.  And it doesn’t stop there.  These characters must confront another bad guy group, led by a cocky villain played by Jeff Goldblum.  Hotel Artemis also hosts Jenny Slate (Venom, Zootopia, Parks and Recreation, The LEGO Batman Movie), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek, Heroes), and Charlie Day (Pacific Rim, Pacific Rim: Uprising, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). 

Hotel Artemis is coming from the mind of writer/director Drew Pearce, known for writing big films like Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Iron Man 3, plus he’s also writing the next Ghostbusters and Sherlock Holmes movie.  Get ready for a trailer done just right:

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