In her 16 years in the business, Eva Green has co-starred in several major genre films and television shows, including Casino Royale, The Golden Compass, Dark Shadows, Penny Dreadful, and a few tales from the mind of Frank Miller: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and 300: Rise of an Empire. Her next project finds her in a French production where she stars as an astronaut on a mission preparing for mankind’s trip to Mars. Centering on the relationship between her character and her daughter, played by Zélie Boulant, the new movie Proximasaw its first U.S. trailer this week.
The film co-stars Matt Dillon, who has been a recognizable face on the big screen since he appeared with Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol in Little Darlings forty years ago, followed by My Bodyguard with Chris Makepeace and Adam Baldwin, the S.E. Hinton adaptations Tex, The Outsiders, and Rumble Fish, with high points like Drugstore Cowboy, To Die For, and In & Out, and the lead role in TV’s Wayward Pines.
The film appears to be on light on the side of science fiction, with perhaps a European space agency as only the background for a personal drama, but a scene in the trailer shows part of an updated take on the process of mission training, something we’ve seen in earlier iterations of real-life space travel films like The Right Stuff, Apollo 13, and First Man. Directed by Alice Winocour, it has already received numerous international film awards.
It’s that time of year again, time to take a look forward at what movies should be on your radar for 2019. Are you going to see them all? Heck no. These are the genre films we think borg readers will want to know about to make their own checklists for the coming year–and they are only the films we know about so far. We pulled 78 of the hundreds of films that have been finalized or are in varying stages of final production, slated for next year’s movie calendar.
What looks to top the list for most fanboys and fangirls? The last of the nine films in theStar Wars saga. Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.Shazam!is DC’s contribution. Quentin Tarantino returns to movies to direct Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Martin Scorsese is back with an all-star cast in The Irishman (on Netflix). M. Night Shyamalan finishes his dark superhero trilogy with Glass. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton return in Terminator. Jordan Peele is back with another horror film with Us.
Do you like sequels? This is your year. Another Men in Black, X-Men, Shaft, Happy Death Day, Lego Movie, Hellboy, John Wick, Kingsman, Jumanji, The Secret Life of Pets, How to Train Your Dragon, Fast and the Furious, Zombieland, Addams Family, Charlie’s Angels, Godzilla, Shaun the Sheep, Annabelle,and Stephen King’s It and Pet Sematary—Disney is trying to get you to move into your local theater with another Toy Story, Aladdin, Dumbo, Frozen, and Lion King–all in one year. Yep, lots and lots of sequels are coming.
Some films don’t have locked-in release dates yet. Amazon Prime and Netflix haven’t revealed dates for these 2019 releases:
Martin Scorcese’s The Irishman, a film about Jimmy Hoffa starring Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, and Bobby Cannavale (Netflix)
The Kid, a Western biopic with Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Dane DeHaan, and Vincent D’Onofrio (Netflix)
The Man Who Killed Hitler Then Bigfoot, starring Sam Elliott (Netflix)
6 Underground, a Michael Bay film starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Hardy, Dave Franco, and Mélanie Laurent (Netflix)
The Last Thing He Wanted, Dee Rees directs Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, and Toby Jones; journalist quits newspaper job to become an arms dealer for a covert government agency (Netflix)
The Laundromat, Steven Soderbergh directs Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, James Cromwell, about the Pentagon Papers (Netflix)
Radioactive, Rosamund Pike plays Marie Curie, with Anya Taylor-Joy (Amazon)
Some of these films will have revised release dates, or get pushed to 2020.
So grab your calendar and start making your plans–here are the movies you’ll want to see in 2019 (and many you might not):
January
Glass – Superhero, M. Night Shyamalan trilogy part 3, stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy; continues where Unbreakable and Split left off – January 18.
Serenity– Mystery/Thriller, stars Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke, Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Strong, Diane Lane; sorry, no relation to Firefly – January 25.
King of Thieves– Heist Comedy, stars Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Charlie Cox, Michael Gambon, and Ray Winstone – January 25.
She played one of the best characters ever in a James Bond film as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. She played the witch queen Serafina in The Golden Compass. And she had a lead role in two films adapting Frank Miller graphic novels. Now Eva Green is taking on an updated Mary Poppins-inspired character in her next role.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a new movie based on a 2011 fantasy novel of the same name. Eva Green is Miss Peregrine, the head of an academy a la Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
An impressive director and cast highlight the popularity of this property. Tim Burton will direct, with a cast including Ender’s Game’s Asa Butterfield, and heavy hitters Samuel L. Jackson, Dame Judi Dench, Terence Stamp, and Rupert Everett.
Here is the first trailer for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children:
Christie’s & Eon Productions are auctioning off 24 lots from last year’s latest James Bond entry, SPECTRE, now out on Blu-ray and reviewed here at borg.com last week. An online-only sale will offer 14 of the 24 lots, open for bidding beginning tomorrow, February 16, 2016, through Tuesday, February 23, 2016, with an invitation-only live auction being held on Thursday, February 18, 2016, at Christie’s in London. The live auction is also open to Internet and telephone bidders.
1. Blu-ray disc signed in gold marker pen by Daniel Craig plus James Bond’s blue initialed ‘JB’ Tom Ford cufflinks worn by Daniel Craig
Each set with oval lapis lazuli panels engraved with the monogram ‘JB’ for James Bond, to single-link connections, signed Tom Ford, 15mm wide, in maker’s case and card box. Bond’s cufflinks were personalized for SPECTRE, designed by Jany Temime and made by Tom Ford. Daniel Craig as James Bond wore these cufflinks throughout the film with each of his suits apart from the ‘mother-of-pearl’ version which he wore with his dinner suit (see Lot 15). They are one of two pairs held in the EON archive.
Estimate: $4,300–7,100
2. James Bond’s Day of the Dead Costume worn by Daniel Craig
Designed by Costume designer Jany Temime and mask designer Robert Allsopp. The set includes:
Black frock coat with white hand painted bones, size IT38
Skull mask with elastic fastening
Black leather gloves, size M
Black top hat, 100% wool with grosgrain ribbon hat band ‘Jaxton Victorian’, size 7 ⅝” (61 cm.)
Skull cane
This is one of three Day of the Dead Costumes worn by Daniel Craig (the other two are retained by EON) in the pre-title sequence of the film. Bond is in pursuit of assassin Sciarra.
Estimate: $17,000–25,000
3. Longines ‘Conquest Heritage’ watch
This is the 18-carat rose gold automatic wristwatch worn by Ralph Fiennes as M in SPECTRE. With a diameter of 35 mm, this model in 18-carat rose gold displays a sunray silver dial with pink applied indices, “dolphine” hands with superluminova and date aperture at 12 o’clock. Fitted with a self-winding mechanical calibre L633, it indicates the hours, the minutes and the seconds. The caseback is decorated with a gold and enamel medallion representing a constellation. One of only two worn by Ralph Fiennes in SPECTRE, the other retained by Omega.
Estimate: $7,100–9,900
4. Final Legal SPECTRE script signed by Sam Mendes, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
Estimate: $4,300–7,100
5. Oberhauser’s SPECTRE gold ring worn by Christoph Waltz
The ring is made of 9 carat yellow gold, with 7 tentacle octopus logo rendered in distressed black, and has some marks on back of ring. This is one of only two gold rings made for the film, the other is retained by EON.
For every new Bond actor there is a handful of films that are forgettable. SPECTRE is not one of those Bond movies. In fact SPECTRE is on the heels of being as good a James Bond formula piece as Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale. After re-watching it on Blu-ray, now available this week, it may just be better.
So why is SPECTRE a cut above the rest?
It has the most elaborate, exciting, and best choreographed action scene opener of any Bond film. Ever. We begin with Bond and his attractive companion Estrella, played by Mexican actress Stephanie Sigman, at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico City. A single-take shot parade walk. Bond is in pursuit of an assassin, for a reason yet to be disclosed to the viewer. Bond in a skeleton suit is still unmistakably Daniel Craig’s Bond. We get an inadvertently blown-up building. A foot chase through a parade culminating in a hand to hand fight in a helicopter over the crowded festival. Want exciting? This scene has it all.
Gone is the tired, old, worn-out Bond emphasized in the plot of Skyfall. Gone is the disheartened Bond of Quantum of Solace. This is Bond as he is supposed to be–confident, cocky, and calm, solving a puzzle and seeking some revenge for all that has happened to him, and revealed to us since Casino Royale. And physically Craig could still out-match all prior Bond actors at any age.
SPECTRE’s main “Bond Girl” is a well-developed character this time around. French actress Léa Seydoux’s Dr. Swann is compelling and interesting, closer to Eva Green’s engaging Vesper Lynd than any Bond film actress since. But equally appealing is Italian actress Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, a character widowed by Bond, who Bond actually rescues in an almost uncharacteristic act. Did Bond make sure she was safe because he failed to do so in a similar encounter in Casino Royale with Caterina Murino’s Solange?
If you’ve been too busy buying your advance tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and forgot to get to the theaters to see the latest James Bond film, here’s your wake-up call. Get thee to the theatre before it’s gone! For every new Bond actor there is a handful of films that are forgettable. SPECTRE is not one of those Bond movies. In fact SPECTRE is on the heels of being as good a James Bond formula piece as Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale. It will be hard for any Bond movie to top that one, since it was as close to perfection as an action vehicle can get.
So why is SPECTRE a cut above the rest?
Let’s start with the required action scene opener. We begin with Bond and his attractive companion Estrella, played by Stephanie Sigman, at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico City. Bond is in pursuit of an assassin, for a reason yet to be disclosed to the viewer, and the result is some of the best action in any Bond movie. Ever. Bond in a skeleton suit is still unmistakably Daniel Craig’s Bond. We get an inadvertently blown-up building. A foot chase through a parade culminating in a hand to hand fight in a helicopter over the crowded festival. Want exciting? This scene has it all.
Gone is the tired, old, worn-out Bond emphasized in the plot of Skyfall. Gone is the disheartened Bond of Quantum of Solace. This is Bond as he is supposed to be–confident, cocky, and calm. And physically Craig could still out-match all prior Bond actors at any age.
Bond’s main “Bond Girl” is a well-developed character this time around.
Léa Seydoux’s Dr. Swann is compelling and interesting, closer to Eva Green’s engaging Vesper Lynd than any Bond Girl since.
The villains are perfect, starting with Dave Bautista’s Mr. Hinx and his Groot-like single word of dialogue, and Christoph Waltz’s mastermind is as classic a Bond villain as you’ve ever seen. He’s creepy, but not too creepy like Javier Bardem’s villain in Skyfall. Also well-written are the classic Bond supporting roles: Ben Whishaw’s Q gets more, key screen time than any prior Q, Naomie Harris’s Moneypenny gets more backstory, and Ralph Fiennes’ M gets to take on his own parallel fight against villainy.
When we think of Westerns made outside the United States the first that come to mind are usually those directed by Sergio Leone and scored by Ennio Morricone–the “spaghetti Westerns.” The best of these are from the 1960s, A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Danish director Kristian Levring is bringing to the States the next Western this year with his revenge story The Salvation.
Better labeled a EuroWestern perhaps than spaghetti Western, the trailer for The Salvation is making the rounds now after a European release last year, finally to make it into select U.S. cinemas and OnDemand later this month.
The last time we saw a movie that had that right Western look was the remake of 3:10 to Yuma, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, released in 2007. Yuma was a little bit too Hollywood to result in a modern classic, but there’s something about The Salvation’s trailer that gives us hope. It may be the lack of Hollywood’s A-List actors. Instead we have two big European names, former stars of Casino Royale. Mads Mikkelsen, the well-known Danish actor who plays Hannibal Lector in the American Hannibal TV series is the male lead, playing opposite genre favorite and “Bond girl” Eva Green (The Golden Compass, 300: Rise of an Empire).
After the break check out the trailer for The Salvation.
After the original Sin City, the 2005 film adaptation of Frank Miller’s 1993 graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics brought to the screen by co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, it might take a lot to get audiences back in the theaters for a sequel. But Miller has a big comic book fan base, and Rodriquez several fans of his slightly askew action flicks, so it’s not that big of surprise a studio is taking another run at the Sin City universe.
Lions Gate has now released its trailer for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. If the preview won’t get you into the theater, the great cast list might be enough to add this one to a future Netflix queue. Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Jamie King, and Powers Booth all are returning from the original film, and adding Jeremy Piven, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Christopher Meloni, Eva Green, and Ray Liotta (with rumors of Lady Gaga and Christopher Lloyd making appearances).
As with the original movie, the sequel certainly has its own comic book noir style, although it certainly borrows a lot from Dick Tracy–plenty of “dames” in seedy places, car chases, ugly and gruff villains, and just as ugly and gruff good guys (or at least they are almost good guys). As with Alan Moore, his books and film adaptations, Miller’s work tends to be just as polarizing. You love it or you hate it.
Here is the trailer for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For:
If you can get past 300: Rise of an Empire being another Zack Snyder movie, and another Zack Snyder 300 movie, you might just go to this one because it looks like it could be a solid popcorn movie. But a better reason would be to watch Eva Green and Lena Headey face off in a fantasy action flick.
Rise of an Empire is loosely based on Greek battles before, during, and after the battle of Thermopylae, the focus of Frank Miller’s graphic novel on which the original 300 film was based. History buffs will find it difficult to get past most of the costuming and strange masked legions of Xerxes and his allies.
This movie trailer suggests Lena Headey’s Queen of Sparta is part of a plot to avenge the death of her husband from the original film, King Leonidas (Gerard Butler). Eva Green plays Artemesia, based on an actual commander of the Persian navy, and the only female commander according to the Greek historian Herodotus in books 7 and 8 of his Histories.
Following up on yesterday’s rundown of all the Nerd HQ panels, borg.com has all of today’s panels in full from Nerd HQ for you to watch from home if you weren’t one of the 250 people who saw it live at San Diego’s Petco Park, opposite San Diego Comic-Con International today. Nerd HQ offered up even more fun panels including cast member from OrphanBlack–their first Con panel. Note that you may want to skip ahead a few minutes on each video to get to the beginning of the panel.
Enjoy!
First up, the Hannibal panel including series co-star Hugh Dancy:
Next up, the “Mystery” panel, which ended up featuring Chuck’s Zachary Levi, Rob Zazinsky from Pacific Rim, and Firefly’s Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion:
