Since Tom Clancy’s death in 2013 we’ve seen his Jack “Ryanverse” come to the screen twice, first on the big screen in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) with Chris Pine as Ryan, and later on the small screen in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018) on Amazon Prime with The Office’s John Krasinski stepping into the role of Ryan previously handled by Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October (1990), Harrison Ford in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), and Ben Affleck in The Sum of All Fears (2002). In Clear and Present Danger, the second major Ryanverse character arrived in Willem Dafoe’s John Clark, later reprised by Liev Schreiber in The Sum of All Fears. As was first done with Ryan in The Sum of All Fears, and later with Pine and Krasinski, the franchise is taking another step back in into the Clancy timeline for the next movie–a prequel, a direct-to-Amazon Prime feature adapting Clancy’s 1993 novel Without Remorse. That book and its new movie adaptation Without Remorse focuses on the origin of the John Clark character (initially introduced as John Kelly, as explained in the novel/movie), this time played by Creed and Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan. Check out the trailer for the movie below.
Tag Archive: Willem Dafoe
Review by C.J. Bunce
If you’d happened to watched last year’s crime noir film Motherless Brooklyn and not known the screenwriter or director, I wouldn’t fault you if you expected to see Francis Ford Coppola’s name in the credits, or you figured Martin Scorsese finally made the perfect New York picture. But that’s not what you’ll find, because it not only stars Edward Norton, but he wrote and directed the film–his first director effort. And it’s an exciting, stunning, gritty film. The fact that Motherless Brooklyn is even worthy of comparison might be praise enough for the film and its creator, but it goes a step further and surpasses a film it’s frequently been compared to–Roman Polanski’s Chinatown. The fact that Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and The Irishman were nominated for best film at the Oscars this year, but this wasn’t? That’s a real head-scratcher–or that Norton’s performance as a Tourette’s syndrome-affected private detective trying to find the guys that killed his boss wasn’t even nominated for best actor? Movie lovers and fans of crime noir who missed it should catch its home release. It’s as good as it gets.
No doubt the movies of writer-director Wes Anderson are an acquired taste. Fortunately he exhibits some variety, as we’ve explored before here at borg. Whether it’s Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, or Isle of Dogs, at least one of these films will likely appeal to you. For his next big screen venture, Anderson is taking an anthology angle. The lengthy-titled The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, or just The French Dispatch, for short, doesn’t need to mention Anderson’s name at all. It’s instantly recognizable from his framed cinematography, disturbing bland color hues, and fourth-wall breaking stares from its cast. Yes, there really is a Liberty, Kansas (found in southeast Kansas, population 123). Purportedly inspired by The New Yorker magazine, the film is actually based in a fictional city in France, and follows media types in the latest look at that self-reflective, stark fantasyland found in many Anderson movies.
The anthology element consists of incorporated story threads centered on characters and “stories” played out by Anderson troupe members Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand, and–new to Anderson-land–Jeffrey Wright. Other Anderson familiars include Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, and Jason Schwartzman. Like Woody Allen movies years ago, everyone seems to be flocking to be in the next Anderson picture, so this time that means the likes of Henry Winkler, Willem Dafoe, Anjelica Huston, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux, Christoph Waltz, Liev Schreiber, and many more. Music is by Alexandre Desplat.
Check out this trailer for the expectedly unusual The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun:
The second trailer for a sequel to a 1980s action film, two animated shows, and two films about courageous dogs make today’s installment of Trailer Park. We saw our first trailer previewed earlier here for Tom Cruise′s return to the skies in Top Gun: Maverick. Now we have the next preview, with co-star Jennifer Connelly. The Fast & Furious franchise is expanding to the small screen with a new kids’ show, Fast & Furious: Spy Racers, featuring the fast driving young cousin of Vin Diesel’s character in the movies. Another animated movie brings a modern comic book tale to the screen, Superman: Red Son, an alternate history version of Superman where baby Superman landed in the Soviet Union instead of Kansas. It features the voices of Harry Potter’s Jason Isaacs as Superman, The Drew Carey Show’s Diedrich Bader as Lex Luthor, Grimm’s Sasha Roiz as Hal Jordan, and Oscar and Grammy-winning pop star Paul Williams as Brainiac.
Two CGI movies are bringing tales of loyal canines to the screen. Call of the Wild is a remake of the 1935 film based on Jack London’s 1903 novel. It stars Harrison Ford, Dan Stevens, and Karen Gillan. And based on a true story, Togo stars a dog named Diesel and stunt doubles from The Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours, Inc., with Willem Dafoe, telling the tale of the dog that had the toughest leg of the journey to get medicine to Nome, Alaska, in 1925, before handing the package off to the more well-known dog Balto and his team.
Check out these trailers:
Fans of director Yimou Zhang′s international mega-production The Great Wall didn’t need to go all the way to the Great Wall of China to have a chance at obtaining a piece of the 2016 film this past week. Auction house Prop Store′s Los Angeles location joined with Legendary Entertainment to offer 477 lots of both key and background costumes, armor, prop weaponry, and set pieces from the first partnering of the United States and China on a giant blockbuster film. The Great Wall is a Chinese dynasty fantasy set at the famous landmark, merging giant battles and action with the mega-sized monster genre, pairing China’s biggest stars with an international cast, backed by a crew from 100 countries. Although the movie received mixed reviews from critics, what can’t be denied are the visual concepts and craftsmanship of New Zealand’s Weta Workshop and Mexican costume designer Mayes Rubeo, who designed imagery for the film never seen before. Check out our review of the movie here at borg back in 2016, along with Abbie Bernstein’s ground-breaking book The Great Wall: The Art of the Film (reviewed here).
Weta Workshop kitted out the armies of The Great Wall with an arsenal of color. The workshop design studio rendered more than a thousand concepts for the film, with 6,000 final weapons used by the key cast and 600 extras, including shields, spears, axes, daggers, crossbows, swords, and arrows featured in the auction. Mayes Rubeo, known for her designs in Thor: Ragnarok and Avatar (and she created costumes for both the original Total Recall and the halted Mouse Guard live-action movie), utilized historic Chinese fabrics, textiles, techniques, hand embroidery and applique, and leathers in each costume with about 18 components per person, all featuring an animal and unique color combination: the blue crane corps, red eagle corps, gold tiger corps, black bear corps, and purple deer corps.
It should be no surprise that the top costume sales went for the two stunning, blue, armored costumes worn by the film’s Chinese star Tian Jing as Commander Lin Mae. Featuring sheathed swords, helmets, leg daggers, feathered suit and hard armor, they sold for slightly more than $9,000 and $17,500 each. Other hero costumes that sold included Matt Damon as William costume variants ($1,687, $2,625, $4,375 and $5,125), The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal′s character Tovar’s costumes ($937, $1,625, and $1,687), Willem Dafoe′s character Ballard ($344, $531, $875, and $1,437), General Shao’s (Zhang Hanyu) black armor ($2,187 and $4,500), Commander Wu’s (Eddie Peng) gold armor ($2,750 and $4,250), Commander Chen’s (Kenny Lin) red armor ($2,250 and $3,875), Commander Deng’s (Xuan Huang) purple armor ($1,625 and $3,875), and Strategist Wang’s (Andy Lau) costumes ($1,000 and $2,500). A variety of historically-inspired, ornate hero (lead actor-used) swords ranged from $400 to $3,875 for one of the swords unique to Tian Jing.
It looks entirely like an experimental expressionistic film, something created by an aspiring filmmaker in film school, maybe an ambitious effort to create something historical and strange like Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. Is production and costume designer-turned-director Robert Eggers′ The Lighthouse simply a horror movie about two lighthouse keepers or can we hope for something bigger, more of metaphor and allegory? Shot in black and white 35mm film, the initial appeal is for anyone fond of classic black and white Gothic horror. It’s billed as psychological horror, but will it feature psychological horrors of today or stick with more reserved terrors that reflect its more tempting, classic appearance?
The Lighthouse stars character actor Willem Dafoe, and co-stars Robert Pattinson in his most public role since the announcement he will don the cowl and cape in a forthcoming Batman movie. Remember Michael Keaton releasing Beetlejuice, Clean and Sober, and The Dream Team with the new acting range spin to get us prepared to see him on the big screen as the dark knight detective? Genre niche popularity of the Twilight series and his brief stint in the Harry Potter franchise aside, Pattinson hasn’t had the universal appeal and popularity Keaton had with Night Shift and Mr. Mom, making him a household name. Can he convince fanboys and fangirls he has what it takes? Can audiences push the future aside and appreciate The Lighthouse for whatever Eggers is trying to do?
As for Eggers, who co-wrote the story with brother Max, this is his second film after the Anya Taylor-Joy vehicle The Witch. Here he’s trying that tried and re-tried convention of bringing black and white films to modern audiences. It often works, as it did with popular and critical success for Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Raging Bull, Dead Again, Schindler’s List, The Artist, Logan Noir, and Roma.
Take a look at this nicely moody trailer for The Lighthouse:
As much as fans of DC Comics see Aquaman and think superhero, his undersea world is very much the stuff of the fantasy genre, much like that of Marvel Comics’ Thor, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther. Jason Momoa‘s unique take on Aquaman was no doubt the highpoint of last year’s big-screen Justice League, and each new trailer has made the film look more intriguing. Undersea people riding sharks is a difficult image to top.
The final trailer hints at the advisory role Willem Dafoe as Vulko will play for Momoa’s Arthur Curry aka Aquaman. It also provides a glimpse at Dolph Lundgren‘s King Nereus, and one of the coolest actors–Jango Fett himself–Temuera Morrison as Arthur’s father. And David Kane looks straight out of the pages of the comic books as Black Manta.
Check out the final trailer for DC’s next Justice League film, Aquaman:
DC Entertainment had previously announced this year three movie adaptations in the works: Wonder Woman 1984, Shazam, and Aquaman. Jason Momoa’s unique take on Aquaman was no doubt the highpoint of last year’s big-screen Justice League, so it’s no surprise to see the first big trailer for Momoa’s return this week at San Diego Comic-Con.
The first trailer shows some largely CGI scenes and features some well-known genre actors playing key roles, including Orm (Patrick Wilson), Vulko (Willem Dafoe), Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), and Black Manta (David Kane), who really looks good in the preview.
Check out the trailer for DC’s next Justice League film, Aquaman: