What sets someone off? In the twisty, streaming-caliber thriller “Fuze,” that’s as much the question as whether the 500-pound bomb discovered in a London construction site might blow. If it does, the WW2-era explosive (presumably a relic of the Blitz) could wipe out several city blocks, which is why authorities swarm the area and evacuate all residents in the film’s opening minutes. Normally, that would be a recipe for some edge-of-your-seat action, although Ben Hopkins’ script makes clear early on that the bomb is just a distraction, while an even more sinister plot is ticking within the blast radius.
If it weren’t for the film’s cast (or the grim seriosity of its director, David Mackenzie), “Fuze” might have been a complete dud. But “Hell or High Water” helmer Mackenzie treats the assignment like he’s the one saving lives, eschewing anything that might count as fun along the way. With his jaw clenched and sights set on being the next James Bond, Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Major Will Tranter, a bomb disposal pro who’s both an ace sniper and a bit of a loose cannon, breaking protocol in his obsessive attempt to deactivate the vintage ordnance with minimal casualties.
While Tranter’s poking around the deadly antique, a high-ranking police officer named Zuzana (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is focused on protecting the public. Mackenize singles out a Dari-speaking immigrant named Rahim (Elham Ehsas) and his elderly parents as the residents warily pour out of a nearby apartment building, knowing that audiences’ imaginations (and biases) will start to suggest how this character might relate to the bigger picture. Although several of the film’s surprises are predictable — usually just moments before the reversal comes — no one is likely to figure out Rahim’s connection to the bomb.
One thing is sure: Movie stars don’t take roles in movies like “Fuze” unless they’re being offered something interesting to play, which means that the instant Theo James and Sam Worthington appear (or step from the shadows), our interest shifts from the bomb to whatever these two and their accomplices are up to. For nearly the first half of the film, composer Tony Doogan layers a steady synthetic heartbeat beneath the action, which gains little from this trick. If we’re invested, it’s because the cast telegraphs that these characters are important.
James’s character talks with a South African accent and goes by the name Karalis, and though he comes across as a villain at first, it’s too early to say if that’s true. Karalis supplies his colleagues with fluorescent orange utility uniforms and stealthily leads them through the back door of the Bank Al Muraqabah, located just below Rahim’s building. While Tranter tinkers and Zuzana monitors the wall of local surveillance footage, Karalis and his team get to work drilling through the wall of the vault. Clearly, it’s no coincidence that they picked this moment to rob the bank. But what is their greater goal?
Mackenzie’s a good director — good enough to make the sheer preposterous of this heist seem plausible — but he saves the thing that would make us root for these characters until the very end. Meanwhile, it’s not clear who’s side we’re meant to take, which complicates things once a scheme that couldn’t possibly have gone according to plan starts to unravel in unexpected and potentially upsetting ways. By this point, there are plot holes bigger than the one this bomb might tear in the London map.
How did the bomb get to the building site? Who’s the bloke whose safety deposit box Karalis is after, and why isn’t he a character? Is Zuzana the only one trying to stop the scheme, and what kind of thriller is that, where you leave it to the criminals to eliminate one another? There’s an element of sleek, Jean-Pierre Melville-style efficiency to the operation, if not Michael Mann-level theatrics. “Fuze” shares the French director’s code of honor between men, no matter which side of the law they inhabit, as seen in films such as “The Red Circle” and “Army of Shadows.”
Apart from one shocking death (when Tranter switches from neutralizing bombs up close to eliminating threats with his long-range rifle), the action is entertaining enough in the moment, but not especially memorable. The most explosive scene isn’t the one you expect, but the coda in which we learn why three characters are so unwaveringly loyal, when everyone else seems ready to double-cross each other at the first opportunity. It’s in that moment that the film’s fuze is set. Can Tranter or anyone stop it?
The opening credits of the heist thriller Fuze flicker and shake like action-movie credits used to do back in the good old Tony Scott days. That’s an early indication that the film, from director David Mackenzie and writer Ben Hopkins, has a clear sense of what tradition it wants to honor. The film prizes style, but has no higher ambition than to entertain, with an economy of means and no fussy pretension. That’s a noble mission, especially in this time of auteur worship, when so many genre movies seem determined to be something more.
Mackenzie, the director behind sturdy films like Hell or High Water, keeps Fuze trotting along at a steady clip. It begins as a story of civic suspense: A London construction crew unwittingly digs up an unexploded bomb from the Blitz, similar to an event that really happened in Plymouth last year. It’s a compelling setup, connecting the sleek modernity of Fuze to a horror of the past. The clock ticks all too swiftly as the police and military work to clear the area and bring in a special team, led by an army major played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who will try to defuse the bomb.
Fuze
The Bottom Line
Meat and potatoes, well-prepared.
Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Gala Presentations) Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Sam Worthington, Gugu Mbatha-Raw Director: David Mackenzie Writer: Ben Hopkins
1 hour 38 minutes
While they perform that bogglingly dangerous task, another series of events is unfolding beneath them. Theo James and Sam Worthington (this is a film admirably committed to the casting of hunks) are down in the basement of a suddenly abandoned building, surely up to no good. It soon becomes evident that they are using the distraction to stage a raid on a bank vault, up against their own ticking clock as they drill through brick and concrete.
The fun of this opening stretch is that we’re rooting for both groups to succeed, for London to be saved and for the thieves to get their hands on whatever they’re after. Mackenzie smoothly toggles between storylines, ratcheting up the tension and giving us quick but useful character sketches.
Fuze has a lively energy, a cool, daylit bravado that occasionally brings to mind Spike Lee’s Inside Man. Like that shrewd film, Fuze is more than first meets the eye. Before long, the two narratives have intertwined and the film rollicks away from its initial premise and into the realm of double-cross, job-gone-wrong crime caper. Some of the plot mechanics may strain credibility, but one does not come to a film like Fuze looking for docudrama. The internal logic of Hopkins’ busy script is sound enough to hold our attention as we try to suss out just who is zooming whom, and how.
Throughout, Giles Nuttgens’ cinematography is bright and crisp, holding the film in the glossy, liminal space between A-feature and B–movie. That’s a great place to be, one that used to be occupied by many studio films every year. Not so much in our streaming era, when there is a stark aesthetic divide between what makes it to theaters and the toss-off stuff that is designed to only ever exist in the digital bazaar of the internet. One hopes that an enterprising American distributor will give Fuze a go at multiplexes; it earns that distinction.
The actors are having fun, too. Taylor-Johnson is a convincingly intense and sweaty hotshot, while James gamely dons a South African accent to play a slimy operator who seems a step or two ahead of everyone else. Gugu Mbatha-Raw radiates steely competence as a policewoman overseeing things from a multi-screen control room—any movie of this ilk worth its salt needs that kind of omniscient observer. Worthington is perhaps a little underserved, but it’s always nice to see him outside the blue fugues of the Avatar films.
Mackenzie has now debuted two solid thrillers at Toronto in a row. So why not make that a new annual custom? Hampering the dream some is that Relay, which premiered here last year, didn’t do much business when it opened in the U.S. in late August. But maybe Fuze, with its more easily parsed and marketable premise, will break through. It’s not high art, but not everything ought to be. And anyway, riding the middle is its own tricky maneuver; it takes a lot of smarts to not overthink things.
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) had it all: a flourishing career as stunt double for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnston) and a relationship with cameraperson Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). But after breaking his back during a stunt gone awry, he abandons both. That is, until mega-producer Gail Myer (Hannah Waddingham) tells him Jody is now a director, and wants Colt to come join the production of her new movie in Australia. Two problems: Jody didn’t *actually* ask for him, and Ryder — the star of the picture — has disappeared. “Critical” Analysis: Gosling and Blunt have finally buried their Barbenheimer hatchet by appearing in a movie together. The Fall Guy, directed by former stunt dude David Leitch, is an action-comedy in the truest sense of both words. The stunt sequences are suitably pants-dampening, and the jokes are unforced and effective, thanks in large part to the chemistry between our leads.
Though it’s a little dicey at the outset. The opening titles kick off with the extremely disagreeable “I Was Made For Loving You” by Kiss. And if that wasn’t a bad enough omen, it’s the signature tune of the film, with remixes popping up alongside songs like “Thunderstruck,” a karaoke version of “Against All Odds” (performed by Blunt), and other selections likely to appeal to people in Leitch’s age group.
*cough*
Butt-rock selections aside, Leitch deftly weaves Colt’s onscreen punishment with a surprisingly satisfying romantic arc. It’s easy to chalk it up to the snappy dialogue between Gosling and Blunt, but it’s more likely they’re just naturally charismatic people. Blunt was able to convincingly portray being in love with *John Krasinski*, for crying out loud. And Gosling’s greatest onscreen romance was clearly with Russell Crowe.
Speaking of bad ’80s decisions, calling Jody’s breakthrough movie Metalstorm has to be an in-joke for Reagan era nerds, right? Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (spoiler!)? Not to be confused with Megaforce? Fun fact: in my rabbit-holing for this review, I learned that Jared-Syn was played by Michael Preston, who was Pappagallo in The Road Warrior! Maybe five of you care, but I thought that was pretty rad.
This version of Metalstorm sounds distinctly dumber than the original (if you can believe that), but that’s part of The Fall Guy’s charm. This movie-inside-a-movie approach allows Leitch to wink at the camera in a slightly less meta way than he did in Deadpool 2. Or almost, such as when Colt ruminates on why there’s no Academy Award for stunt performers
It’s also a bit of an insulting premise that Gosling isn’t good looking enough to be a lead (and hence, is eclipsed by Tom Ryder). Then again, Taylor-Johnson is quite the hunk.
And it’s just as well that The Fall Guy doesn’t take anything too seriously, because the key romantic conflict — Colt’s failure to reach out to Jody after his accident — is hardly “cheating on her with her best friend” territory. The guy was going through an existential crisis, for pity’s sake. So let he who hasn’t ghosted someone after 18 months cast the first stone.
Also: 18 months? Didn’t Batman heal his own broken back in, like, six weeks?
The Fall Guy is a rarity these days: a mainstream popcorn flick that appeals to just about everyone. With some brains, a lot of heart, old school stunt work, and an authentic romance, it’s some real old-fashioned moviemaking, and a less maudlin look at the industry than Hal Needham’s Hooper.
As far as movies that acknowledge the importance of stuntmen (because no one thinks of this as a profession for stuntwomen, clearly), the only one of mainstream note—up until now—has been Death Proof (unfortunately for Drew Barrymore, The Stand In doesn’t qualify). The Quentin Tarantino-directed film that was part of 2007’s Grindhouse double feature (which commenced with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror), wherein Kurt Russell plays the part of Stuntman Mike (and there is actually some play for a stuntwoman in the form of Zoë Bell). Like David Leitch’s The Fall Guy, Death Proof delights in its cleverness and meta-ness, but in a way that isn’t, shall we say, quite as fun. Though Tarantino surely thought that “sweet revenge” ending was all the fun any audience could want. But screenwriter Drew Pearce seems to be aware that they want something more than “Tarantino cleverness”—they want some fucking Ryan Gosling “hey girl”-style romance peppered in. With a dash of Tom Cruise roasting thrown into the mix, too. And that’s exactly what they get.
Starting from the beginning, Gosling as Colt Seavers delivers on both ingredients, with one of the first scenes consisting of Colt being told that Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, making better movies than his wife at the moment), “the biggest action star on the planet,” wants to speak with him. The name alone is already a dead giveaway that this is a major troll on Cruise, who has often boasted about doing his own stunts. This includes declaring one of the bigger stunts in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (namely, driving a motorcycle off a roughly four-thousand-foot high structure) to be “far and away the most dangerous thing I’ve ever attempted.”
Cruise’s long-running insistence that he does all his own stunts was parodied as far back as the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, during which a segment centered on Cruise’s supposedly nonexistent stunt double was featured, with Ben Stiller playing “Tom Crooze,” the stuntman in question. Presented as a behind-the-scenes documentary, even John Woo appears in it to say, “Tom Cruise does most of his own stunts. So he doesn’t really need a stunt double. But we make good use of the other Tom Cruise.” Meanwhile, The Fall Guy makes good use of both Tom Cruise (jokes) and the actor that’s clearly based on him and his ego: Tom Ryder. What’s more, seeing as how Pearce is credited as coming up with the story for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (the fifth installment in the film series), the amount of Tom Cruise-related wisecracks feels particularly pointed. Almost like Pearce is putting him in his place for having such arrogance. To that point, we see what happens to Colt as a result of his own so-called hubris (that is, in Tom Ryder’s estimation, who never, never wants to be overshadowed—least of all by his stunt double).
Although Gosling has previously starred in movies heavy with action (including Drive), this is his first proper “Hollywood action movie” (even if action-comedy). One that, incidentally, pokes fun at the Hollywood action movie (complete with an over-bloated third act). And yes, it’s surprising that it took Gosling this long to become an action hero (in lieu of his usual anti-hero) considering this was the boy compelled to bring steak knives to school and throw them at classmates thanks to inspiration from First Blood. The sense of homage in general to action movies past is a constant presence in The Fall Guy as well, whether including scenes of famous stunts from classic movies, mentioning that stunt work doesn’t qualify for having an Oscar category despite being the backbone of most major films or simply quoting action movies in general. This last form of reverence for the stuntman being an ongoing bit between Colt and his friend/stunt coordinator, Dan Tucker (Winston Duke).
Indeed, the first thing Dan quotes to Colt is Rambo—specifically, “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” This is meant to serve as motivation for conquering his fear of getting back in the proverbial saddle for “stunting.” For, by this point in the movie, the audience has been flashed with the title card “18 Months Later.” As in: eighteen months after Colt embodied the literal meaning of being a fall guy by plummeting from a twelve-story building and botching the stunt by landing right on his back. Moments after the fall, viewers see him being rushed to the hospital on a gurney as he gives the crew his customary “stuntman’s thumbs up” to indicate he’s fine.
But, of course, he’s not fine at all. No longer a stuntman, but an emotionally stunted man who has lost all sense of identity in the wake of realizing, in a very humiliating way, that he’s not invincible at all. The shame of the incident prompts him to cut off all communication with everyone he knew from that part of his life, even Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt, coming for Emma Stone in terms of onscreen chemistry with Gosling). The camera operator with directorial ambitions who became as sweet on Colt as he is on her over the course of working on many film productions together.
Having descended into the depths of “normalcy” after hanging up his kneepads, Colt has become a valet at a restaurant called El Cacatúa del Capitán (and yes, later a cockatoo will figure into the plot, along with an attack dog named Jean-Claude who only responds to commands given to him in French). It is Tom Ryder’s go-to producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), that manages to track Colt down and call his new phone number to lure him to the set of a movie Ryder is currently working on called Metalstorm (something that looks a lot like a sendup of Dune, and even Edge of Tomorrow…an action-alien movie that Emily Blunt co-starred in with, you guessed it, Tom Cruise).
The project is already (down) underway in, where else, Sydney (a place that must be offering a lot of tax breaks lately if we’re to go by the recent rash of films shot there, such as The Invisible Man, Thor: Love and Thunder and Anyone But You). Although Colt is initially quick to rebuff Gail’s request to come and assist her with keeping Tom in line, he can’t help but respond positively to the dangled carrot (or “sexy bacon,” in this case) of her insistence that Jody, who has been hired as the director, expressly asked for him to be the stuntman.
Seeing an opportunity to right the wrong he did by ghosting her, Colt hops on the next plane, greeted promptly by facial scans from the set’s resident “effects person,” Venti Kushner (Zara Michales). When Colt asks why there’s suddenly all these bells and whistles, Venti informs him that they’re taking the scans so they can seamlessly computer-generate Tom’s face onto Colt’s face for any stunt scenes. Colt replies, “Like a deepfake situation? If you get a chance, turn me into Tom Cruise.” Oh my, Leitch and Pearce are really overestimating Cruise’s sense of humor about this sort of thing. An actor whose ego has steadily ballooned since he started out in the 80s, the decade when the TV series, The Fall Guy, originally aired. Because, yes, of course, it’s a movie based on a TV show (as LL Cool J once meta-ly complained at the beginning of Charlie’s Angels upon seeing the opening credits for T. J. Hooker: The Movie, “Another movie from an old TV show”).
This is something that Leitch and Pearce give a nod to via a post-credits scene focused on two cops played by Lee Majors and Heather Thomas (a.k.a. the stars of The Fall Guy). In the series, Lee Majors’ Colt is also a bounty hunter on the side (which is where that element comes into play for the movie) and Thomas’ Jody is a fellow stuntwoman whose last name is the more anglicized Banks instead of Moreno (and no, there is nothing about Blunt that makes her look like a Moreno).
As for being “upgraded” to director in the movie version, Jody is also given the chance to shine as a singer, with a lengthy karaoke scene providing her with the occasion to belt out Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” (granted, Mariah Carey delivers a possibly superior cover on Rainbow). Blunt kept right on singing for her cameo in Gosling’s monologue on SNL, during which the two duetted a parody version of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” (a song that features prominently in the movie). In their version of the song, they explore letting go of the characters that made them part of two of the biggest blockbusters of Summer 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer (so yes, Barbenheimer did manage to reanimate in 2024 by way of Blunt and Gosling working together).
In something of a missed opportunity, SNL didn’t opt to include a sketch of Gosling as a stuntman. But that’s fine, one supposes, for Gosling is no stranger to playing a serious stunt performer instead, having also done so in Drive and The Place Beyond the Pines (the set where he and Eva Mendes would translate their onscreen romance into an offscreen one). What’s more, it probably would have been too much for Gosling to play Tom Cruise in one of the sketches (for whatever reason, choosing to play Beavis was more important). Because even in the promo interviews for The Fall Guy, Gosling and Blunt still find time to rib Cruise. Case in point, when Gosling admits to IMDb, “I have a fear of heights,” Blunt replies, “Who doesn’t? Who doesn’t have a fear of heights?” “Tom Cruise,” Gosling says without missing a beat. But, for the most part, the duo keeps the focus of their interviews on having a deep respect and appreciation for what stunt people do. “It’s a love letter to the stunt community,” Gosling reiterates in an interview for MTV. Blunt adds, “They risk their souls, their bodies, their lives for us to make us look cool.” Gosling then concludes, “They risk more than anyone… You can’t separate the history of film [from] the history of stunts.”
History that continues to be made with The Fall Guy, which just secured an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for showcasing the most cannon rolls (eight and a half) ever performed in a film (executed by stunt driver Logan Holladay). It also happens to be the kind of laugh-a-minute film not seen since The Lost City(a movie that Argylleattempted to heavily emulate with less success). And that’s hard for someone like Tarantino, the only other person with as much well-documented “love” for stuntmen, to compete with, even when he also paid homage to the stunt community in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood via Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). A character who, in addition to Stuntman Mike, doesn’t exactly make for the best representation of the “average” stuntman.
Funnily enough, Leitch would also enlist Pitt for the lead in Bullet Train, a far less intelligent (read: not intelligent at all) action movie than what the director has on offer here. Thus, whatever “bad mojo” he was suffering from in 2022 (*cough cough* a bad script), he seems to have recovered from it as nicely as Colt Seavers after his massive, back-breaking fall…with more than just a little help from Pearce and a leading man as charismatic as Gosling and his “tousled just so” coif.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is to be the new James Bond…maybe he should update the image and add in some cannabis.
The buzz is Aaron Taylor-Johnson may be set to be the new James Bond. A British tabloid claims Eon Productions offered the iconic role to the actor after Daniel Craig stepped down. What does it mean for the next round of movies? Maybe the new James Bond should update with marijuana. There is a case of bold different direction, The Spy Who Loved Me used the title of one of Fleming’s novels, but was an original screenplay with nothing to do with the book plot. And both Sean Connery and Roger Moore flirted with the plant when young.
When Casino Royale was published in 1953, Bond burst on the scene. When he hit the big screen via Eon Production in 1962 with Dr. No, an icon was born. The name, the look, the cars, the martini all became part of the cultural language. While the 60s were the start of the cultural revolution, it hadn’t hit the movies. And Eon was all about mass marketing and weed was not where it was at. Ian Fleming, Bond’s creator was an old school spy. He took his adventures and knowledge, added in a healthy dose of creativity and produced a series which have captured the public’s fancy. Himself a fan of liquor and cigarettes, his writing reflects the times.
But since the new Bond will not appear at least until 2025, things have changed. The youngest fans in Gen Z have started drifting away from alcohol and embraced legal cannabis. Also, over 85% of the population believe there should be some form of legal cannabis. A different landscape could add some updated nuance.
While it might be hard to switch out the martini for a vape or pre-roll, an ointment or gummy could be used to help with the frequent aches, pains and injuries the hero endures as he saves the world. The average deaths per movie is 16 people which usually involved some type of scuffle. Popping a gummy to power through could be positive…or Q can give him some medical marijuana for injuries.
While Bond is known for charging hard, defeating the villains and winning the ladies. It must take a tool. Cannabis and even CBD can help him sleep and is proven to help with PTSD…which even the most ardent hero must have some regrets.
Let’s see what Eon does in the role and in the update.
All the cool film girlies just came back from Berlin. Specifically, they are fresh from the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, and they still smell like cigarettes to prove it. Between anecdotes about how Berghain is ruined, they’re telling me how they watched Cillian Murphy (my father, emotionally) give another masterful, award-worthy performance in the Enda Walsh adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These. This is apropos of nothing, except that I was not in Berlin, so I will have to wait alongside everyone else to see one of my favorite books on screen later this year.
But how can I be bitter? This week, half of Los Angeles will flock to Texas for South By Southwest in Austin, and I’ll be delightfully distracted by a whole new slate of upcoming releases premiering at this year’s festival. There are so many new films to be excited about premiering at the festival — even without Cillian Murphy’s cheekbones.
Let’s get into it.
What is SXSW?
I’m in for a week of acronyms: SXSW in ATX FTW – LFG!! South By Southwest (aka SXSW or SX or South By) is a film festival, music festival, and industry conference all rolled into one. Fueled by Texas BBQ and Torchy’s Tacos, creative people in the tech, film, music, education, and culture industries swarm from theater to concert hall and conference room networking (allegedly), writing pretentious reviews about the future of culture (guilty), and being menaces to the residents of Austin by causing even worse traffic jams than the city is used to— and I can’t wait.
When is SXSW 2024?
SXSW 2024 will be held from March 8 – 16 2024. Highly anticipated events include Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Series (my artists to watch are Flo Milli and Faye Webster), and the SXSW Music Festival (which, this year, includes The Black Keys, Bootsy Collins, and many more). Of course, the highlight is the insane 2024 SXSW movie lineup. I can’t wait to laugh, cry, and contemplate my very existence while staring up at a screen at SXSW. In the words of Nicole Kidman, “We come to this place to dream.” And this week, the dreamers are all in Austin, Texas.
Here are the films at SXSW 2024 we’re most excited about – starring an assortment of all our favorite actors (even though Cilian won’t be making an appearance). Still, we’re excited to see new performances from faves like Ayo Edebiri, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jonathan Groff, Hunter Schafer, Rachel Zegler, Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, and a whole lot more.
SXSW 2024 Official Opening Night Selection
Road House
This is not Patrick Swayze’s Road House (1989) — but by the time Jake Gyllenhaal is done with you, you’ll love it as much as the original. Gyllenhaal stars as an ex-UFC fighter-turned-bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, owned by Frankie (Jessica Williams). Facing threats from a criminal gang led by Brandt (Billy Magnussen), Dalton’s violent past emerges. When he is confronted by Knox (Conor McGregor), a lethal gun-for-hire, the escalating brawls and bloodshed become more dangerous than his days in the Octagon. Fans of real-life, ex-UFC fighter Conor McGregor are excited to see him in this film, even if he is the villain. Road House is coming to Prime Video on March 21st.
SXSW 2024 Official Closing Night Selection
The Idea of You
This film is like if your mom stole your Wattpad moment. Created by two-time SXSW Audience Award Winner Michael Showalter, it’s his great return to SXSW and it’s sure to be a riot. Allegedly based on Harry Styles (and a little bit of Prince Harry, too), The Idea of You is the salacious story of a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with her daughter’s favorite popstar. She goes from begrudgingly chaperoning her daughter to Coachella to meeting, and falling for, 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of a band based on One Direction. This odd couple romance promises to be more than meets the eye. The couple is played by Red White & Royal Blue’s Nicholas Galitzine alongside Anne Hathaway so I am ready and willing to go on this ride. I’m expecting something that feels like a mix of After, A Star is Born, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Watch the trailer HERE. And listen to the first song from the Original Soundtrack by fictional boy band August Moon HERE.
Other films to watch at SXSW 2024
I Wish You All The Best
I am unspeakably excited for Tommy Dorfman’s queer coming-of-age drama. Written and directed by Dorfman and starring Corey Fogelmanis, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Alexandra Daddario, Cole Sprouse, Lena Dunham, Amy Landecker, Lexi Underwood, and more (wow!) it’s an adaptation of Mason Deaver’s novel of the same name. A queer tale of chosen family, it follows Ben DeBacker, a non-binary teen who is thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas. Struggling with anxiety, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their art teacher, Ms. Lyons, while trying to keep a low profile at their new school. Ben’s attempts to survive junior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. With the help of Nathan, and his friends Sophie and Mel, Ben discovers themselves, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.
A Nice Indian Boy
A Nice Indian Boy
I’ll watch Jonathan Groff in anything — and this original odd-couple comedic drama would have taken me no convincing anyway. Self-effacing doctor Naveen Gavaskar meets Jay Kurundkar, a white man adopted by two Indian parents, when Jay takes his picture at the hospital. Despite initial skepticism on Naveen’s part, the two quickly fall in love. Naveen avoids telling his traditional family—parents Megha & Archit and sister Arundhathi—who accepted his sexuality years earlier and are close to him but increasingly don’t know much about his life. Eventually, inevitably, Jay, with no family of his own, has to meet the Gavaskars, who have never met a boyfriend of Naveen’s.
The Fall Guy
The Fall Guy
Don’t fret, Barbie fever is over, but Ryan Gosling will be back on your screens soon enough with this comedic action blockbuster. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt, a stuntman who, after a near-career-ending accident, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget movie—being directed by his ex, Jody (Emily Blunt)—goes missing. Now, this working-class hero has to solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. Certified heartthrob Aaron Taylor Johnson is also in this — giving me something to look forward to as I wait patiently for his role in Kraven: The Hunter later this year. I’m sat.
Omni Loop
Omni Loop
The more Ayo Edebiri in the zeitgeist, the better. Alongside Mary Louise Parker, Steven Maier, Eddie Cahill, and more, she stars in this existential sci-fi feature. Zoya Lowe, a 55 year old woman from Miami, FL, has been diagnosed with a black hole inside her chest and given a week to live. But what the doctors and her family don’t know is that she has already lived this week before. She’s lived it so many times, in fact, that she doesn’t even know how long it’s been. Until one day she meets Paula, a young woman studying time at a lab in the local university, and together they decide to try and solve time travel so Zoya can actually go back— back into her past, back to a time before she settled, back to when her whole future was still wide open in front of her—back so she can do it all over again, and finally be the person she always wanted to be. It’s this year’s Everything Everywhere All At Once so I have high hopes.
The Greatest Hits
The Greatest Hits
Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time-traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders if she can change the past. Think Yesterday, but … no, pretty much just exactly Yesterday.
Y2K
Y2K A24 Movie
The children are our future! This A24 disaster comedy, Y2K, stars Rachel Zegler, Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Lachlan Watson, Daniel Zolghadri, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi (yes, from that Justin Bieber song), and more as high schoolers who crash a NYE party in 1999 and end up fighting for their lives. But doesn’t all high school feel like that?
I Love You Forever
I Love You Forever
Directed and written by Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani and starring Sofia Black-D’Elia, Ray Nicholson, Jon Rudnitsky, Cazzie David, and Raymond Cham Jr, this film portrays the sad reality of the dating landscape. It follows Mackenzie, a disillusioned 25-year old law student tired of the apps — because who isn’t. When she has a “real life meet-cute” with a charming journalist who makes her believe true love may actually exist. Ultimately, it starts to go left and Mackenzie finds herself trapped in a tumultuous and depleting cycle of emotional abuse.
Doin It
Doin It
Starring internet sensation-turned-host-turned-actor Lilly Singh, Doin It is a comedy of errors about an Indian woman trying to lose her virginity. Fans of Never Have I Ever, which also starts with that premise, should flock to this film. After teenage Maya is caught in a sexually compromising position, her mom moves the family back to India so Maya can learn proper discipline. Years later, she returns to the US to find funding for her teen-focused app, and gets a job as a substitute high school teacher so she can research her target demo. But when the principal assigns her to teach sex ed, Maya —who’s still a virgin— sets out on a quest with her best friend to make up for the high school experience she lost out on. It also stars Ana Gasteyer, Sabrina Jalees, Stephanie Beatriz, Mary Holland, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Sonia Dhillon Tully.
Civil War
Civil War
No, not the Marvel film. Much more chilling and dystopian — especially since it’s set in a plausible, near-future. It stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman taking us on an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride through a fractured America balanced on the razor’s edge, going through a civil war.
Birdeater
Birdeater
A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare. I’m imagining part Saltburn and part Get Out from this feature debut.
Babes
Babes
After becoming pregnant from a one-night stand, Eden leans on her married best friend and mother of two, Dawn, to guide her through gestation and beyond. Starring lana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, and Hasan Minhaj, this comedy about friendship and motherhood is sure to be both belly-busting and heartwarming
Musica
Musica
Based on writer, director and star Rudy Mancuso, Música is a coming-of-age love story that follows an aspiring creator with synesthesia, who must come to terms with an uncertain future, while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture. Alongside Mancuso are Camila Mendes, Francesca Reale, Maria Mancuso, and J.B. Smoove.
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told
If anyone else has heard about Freaknik endlessly without hearing about Freaknik, your time has come. This documentary feature is a celebratory exploration of the boisterous times of Freaknik, the iconic Atlanta street party that drew hundreds of thousands of people in the 80s and 90s, helping put Atlanta on the map culturally. At its height, Freaknik was a traffic-stopping, city-shuttering, juggernaut that has since become a cult classic. This documentary will, too.
The Black Sea
The Black Sea
Immersive and inspired by Derrick B. Harden’s travels to Bulgaria, The Black Sea details the transformative journey of a man who finds unexpected connections in a small coastal Eastern European town even as he finds himself to be the only black person around.
Pet Shop Days
Pet Shop Days
I love a very serious thriller with a whimsical title. Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazeb Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Peter Sarsgaard, and more, you know this one’s going to be good. In an act of desperation, impulsive black sheep Alejandro flees his home in Mexico. On the run from his unforgiving father, Alejandro finds himself in New York City where he meets Jack, a college age pet store employee with similar parental baggage. Together the two enter a whirlwind romance sending them down the rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld.
Toll
Toll
This Brazilian feature is definitely going to chill me to my core, I’m calling it now. Suellen, a Brazilian toll booth attendant and mother, falls in with a gang of thieves in an attempt to keep her family afloat. In doing so, she realizes she can use her job to raise some extra money illegally for a so-called noble cause: to send her son to an expensive gay conversion workshop led by a renowned foreign priest.
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe
My Dead Friend Zoe follows the journey of Merit, a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe, her dead best friend from the Army. Despite the persistence of her VA group counselor, the tough love of her mother and the levity of an unexpected love interest, Merit’s cozy-dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world. That is until Merit’s estranged grandfather—holed up at the family’s ancestral lake house—begins to lose his way and is in need of the one thing he refuses… help. It stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Gloria Reuben.
A House Is Not a Disco
A House Is Not a Disco
Directed by Brian J. Smith, this documentary shows a year-in-the-life in the world’s most iconic “homo-normative” community: Fire Island Pines. Situated fifty miles from New York City, this storied queer beach town finds itself in the midst of a renaissance as a new generation of Millennial homeowners reimagine The Pines for a new, more inclusive era. Filmed like a Wiseman movie on magic mushrooms, a large cast of unforgettable eccentrics, activists, drifters, and first-timers reflect on the legacy of The Pines while preparing their beloved village for the biggest challenge it has faced since the AIDS crisis: rising seas caused by climate change.
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
My eighth-grade self, experiencing all the stages of grief in the Brandy Melville changing room, is ready for this expose. It examines how Brandy Melville developed a cult-like following despite its controversial “one size fits all” tagline. Hiding behind its shiny Instagram façade is a shockingly toxic world, a reflection of the global fast fashion industry. Fast fashion isn’t all glitz and glamor – it’s a business that sacrifices humanity and pollutes the planet for the sake of profit.
I remember exactly where I was when I first watched it: the trailer for Challengers starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor. That was my Super Bowl. It had everything: besties, bisexuality, and Zendaya in that Blonde bob.
I had waited months to finally get a glimpse of Zendaya’s collaboration with Luca Guadagnino. Ever since the film had been announced, we’d savored clips of Zendaya practicing her tennis game, Tomdaya strolling around Boston on location, and even her judgemental looks (and flawless courtside fashion) at Wimbledon and the US Open.
And just when we were on the precipice of a legendary press tour — that was supposed to include a stop at the Venice International Film Festival — it was taken away from us by the SAG strike.
Challengers was originally slated to premiere on September 15, 2023. Due to the strike, it was pushed back to April 26th, 2024. You can understand my devastation. Especially since Challengers was not the only casualty of the strike. Many films were pushed from late 2023 release dates and into 2024. Luckily, we had some bangers to close out the year. But we have been so brave and, in the new year, we are about to be rewarded.
2024 promises a slew of highly anticipated films. And not just delayed projects, but other cinematic delights that we’ve been waiting years for. And with the press circuit back and better than ever, we also have promotional interviews, red carpets, and more to look forward to. After Barbie put on a marketing masterclass, next year promises to take it up a notch. And I, quite frankly, cannot wait.
Here are some of our most anticipated titles in 2024:
Challengers, April 26
It goes without saying that I’ll be first in line when tickets are finally released. Join me to watch Zendaya play a retired tennis star in the middle of a years-long love triangle. All directed by the man who made Call Me By Your Name.
Dune: Part II, March 15
Speaking of delayed Zendaya projects, Dune’s long-awaited sequel is finally coming. Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya will be joined by Austin Butler and Florence Pugh — which is enough for me.
If you can’t wait until the Spring, don’t worry, Argylle will be out in February. It promises to be a hilarious take on the spy genre that subverts all the old tropes and cliches. It stars Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill. We’re in for a delightfully ridiculous treat.
The Fall Guy, May 3
Another comedic action film, The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt man who becomes the hero of the screen when he has to save his ex, Emily Blunt. If you liked Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in The Lost City, you’ll love this.
Spaceman, March 1
Based on the book Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař, Adam Sandler is returning to dramatic roles with a movie that promises to be his next Uncut Gems or Punch Drunk Love. He stars alongside Paul Dano, Carey Mulligan, and Kunal Nayyar stars as an astronaut whose life unravels while he is on a mission.
Mean Girls: The Musical, January 12
While this might not be as giant as Barbie, this musical remake of the 2000s classic is already a hit. Starring Renee Rapp as Regina George, a role she has been playing on Broadway for years, I can’t wait to relive all the iconic Mean Girls moments on the big screen.
The American Society of Magical Negroes, March 22
Black satire is back in a big way. After the success of 2023’s American Fiction, I am excited to see another film that examines Black representation in pop culture. This satire stars Justice Smith as a man who enters a secret society of Black people who embody the “magical negro” trope.
Bob Marley: One Love, February 14
Biopics can be hit or miss, so fingers crossed that Kingsley Ben-Adir’s turn as Jamaican singer and songwriter Bob Marley hits the right notes. Produced in partnership with the Marley family, the film spotlights his life and career, including his political activism and fight for peace.
Mickey 17, March 29
One thing about me? I love an unsettling film — hence my devotion to Saltburn. Bong Joon-ho’s first movie after Parasite, Mickey 17, promises to fit the bill. It stars A-List weirdo Robert Pattinson in an adapted tale about a man who dies and is reborn with memories of his past life.
Deadpool 3, July 26
Deadpool 3 might be the last good Marvel movie we get because it’s looking pretty bleak for the next generation. Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds team up for this tale of Deadpool and Wolverine. The summer blockbuster we deserve.
Kraven: The Hunter, August 30
Hear me out: Aaron Taylor Johnson. Marvel is trying their best to replicate the success of Joker with their own villain origin story. Kraven is a Spiderman villain but, more than that, I would like to reiterate: Aaron Taylor Johnson.
Joker: Folie à Deux, October 4
Following the Oscar-winning success of the first Joker , DC is hoping this sequel will save them from the despair of 2023’s The Flash. More than anything else, I’m curious to see Lady Gaga join Joaquin Phoenix as Harley Quinn.
Wicked, November 27
While movie-musicals have a spotty history (think: Cats and Les Mis), Wicked is so iconic I want to believe in it. It stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum. The cast has already made headlines for Slater’s relationship with Grande — it’s giving Don’t Worry Darling presstour-levels of chaos already.
Gladiator 2, November 22
Will 2024 make me an action movie stan? If Paul Mescal has anything to do with it, it’s more likely than you think. Gladiator, the 2000 film starring Russell Crowe, spawned a generation of men thinking about the Roman Empire. Ridley Scott returns with this long-awaited sequel to hope he can strike lightning twice.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is one of Hollywood’s most bankable action stars and is rumored to be a top contender for the next installment in the James Bond franchise, but it’s his role as a family man that remains paramount.
The British actor opened up about his marriage to filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson and his relationship with their children in a candid interview with Esquire for the magazine’s September issue, unveiled this week.
The couple’s 11-year marriage has been the subject of ample media speculation given that Sam Taylor-Johnson ― whose credits include “Fifty Shades of Grey” ― is 23 years her husband’s senior. The two met while working on the 2009 John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy,” when Aaron was 18 and Sam was 41.
Speaking to Esquire, Aaron Taylor-Johnson said he steered clear of blockbuster movie projects early in his career as he “wanted, purely, to be with my babies,” referring to daughters Romy Hero, 11, and Wylda Rae, 13.
“I didn’t want to be taken away from them. I battled with what that would be like,” noted the “Kick-Ass” and “Bullet Train” star, who is also a co-parent to his wife’s daughters Jessie, 16, and Angelica, 25, whom she shares with ex-husband Jay Jopling. “I would say I was probably not ready to be in that position anyway — it was too early. But yeah, I also slightly didn’t give a fuck.”
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (left) and Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Amy Graves via Getty Images
Though the Taylor-Johnsons met while working on a film, the actor shrugged off the implication that his marriage works because it’s rooted in a creative partnership.
“Yeah, we worked — I met Sam as actor and director. I think we’re really great at collaborating,” he said. “But that’s not why I fell in love with her.” As for starting a family at a young age, that was something that was always in his life plan: “I was going to have a big family. I knew I was going to be a young father. I knew I was going to have many kids.”
A Golden Globe winner for 2016’s “Nocturnal Animals,” Aaron Taylor-Johnson recently completed work on three films: “The Fall Guy” and “Kraven the Hunter,” both slated for release next year, and “Nosferatu.”
His name is also frequently mentioned alongside fellow actors Henry Golding and Regé-Jean Page in discussing who might succeed Daniel Craig as James Bond in the 007 franchise.
The actor shrugged off the Bond discourse, noting that he hoped to focus solely “on the things I can have in my hands right now. What’s in front of me right now.” And, from the sounds of it, he’s got more personal commitments to look forward to.
“I enjoy the normality of things, the everyday stuff,” he told Esquire. “Getting my kids ready in the mornings, taking them to school and activities — that’s plenty. That feeds my soul.”
Some of the faux Roman statues at Caesar’s Palace have a different look this week: they’ve been reworked to hold Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles skateboards. Why? Blame CinemaCon 2023, the annual pep rally run by the National Association of Theater Owners. Thousands of film exhibitors have gathered in Las Vegas this week to reassure themselves that streaming hasn’t put them out of a job just yet, and to take a look at what’s new from the major Hollywood studios. (Including a new entry in the Ninja Turtles franchise, out this August.)
Monday night’s opening ceremonies saw CinemaCon managing director Mitch Neuhauser enthusiastically refer to motion pictures as “product” no less than four times, before ceding the floor to Sony Pictures Entertainment. Of the great many films that were teased, the most exciting came at the very end, when Sony’s Chairman and CEO teed up Sir Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. That film is actually an Apple Original Films production, but the studio chief assured the exhibitors that it will have a significant, dedicated theatrical window via Sony at Thanksgiving. Though Napoleon is not to be confused with the long-gestating HBO seriesSteven Spielberg has been working on based off Stanley Kubrick’s unrealized Napoleon project, the clip shown at CinemaCon (a brutal battle sequence) included images that were very reminiscent of the late director’s Barry Lyndon.
Long lenses and rigid battle lines were met with a hazy blue sheen as Joaquin Phoenix played history’s most famous Corsican military commander. (We mostly see him staring off at the battlefield and ordering cannons to fire.) The clip was intense, and got the crowd fairly pumped.
The title that got the second-biggest pop was, perhaps surprisingly, Gran Turismo, a “based on a true story” tale about a gaming whiz turned actual race car driver. (To put this in Gen X terms: it’s like The Last Starfighter, but real.) Actors David Harbour and Orlando Bloom were both present to introduce a trailer of the Neill Blomkamp picture which came across as extremely entertaining (due, perhaps, to low expectations). The film is out August 11.
The other project to get people applauding was Kraven the Hunter, a comic book property in the greater Spider-Man (and therefore greater Marvel) universe. Aaron Taylor-Johnson introduced a quick sizzle reel with a taped message, telling theater owners “fuck yes, it’s going to be rated R.”
And the footage bore this out. The extremely muscular British actor (who joked that his contract only allows two grams of carbs per day) sliced open jugular veins, chewed off a guy’s nose, and wore a fur vest. In certain shots, it felt like director J.C. Chandor was framing him an awful lot like Hugh Jackman in his early Wolverine roles. Also in the picture are Russell Crowe (we see him over a dead water buffalo, looking sullen) and Ariana DeBose, who didn’t get to say or do much, but at least got a nice close-up. For the comic book enthusiasts: the Rhino (a villain with the powers of a rhinoceros) will be in the picture. Who plays him, for now, remains a mystery. The movie is out in October.
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell also graced Caesar’s Coliseum stage, zinging one another and declaring that they wrapped their romantic comedy Anyone But You “just a few hours ago” in Sydney, Australia. The footage shown was too brief to really discern a plot, but one thing is certain: these two beautiful people spend much of this movie in various states of undress. Film is a visual medium, and this production took full advantage of the assets made available to this production. Audience reaction was a little muted, but it could have been because everyone had their jaws dropped to the floor.
Other highlights: Jennifer Lawrence gave a warm hello with director Gene Stupnitsky for the raunchy comedy No Hard Feelings, and a short scene from early in the film (which is teased in the trailer) played very well. Paul Dano and director Craig Gillespie introduced an early sequence from the upcoming Dumb Money, a The Big Short-esque picture about how a Reddit user turned the stock market upside-down, and Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, and Issa Rae made some very rehearsed-sounding remarks about the upcoming animated picture Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse. Other upcoming Sony projects, like Insidious: The Red Door and The Machine, were met with a shrug.
Finally, Antoine Fuqua gave Denzel Washington a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the two-time Academy Award-winner said a few nice things to the theater owners (“What we do means nothing without your houses. I thank you from the bottom of my heart”) before glibly reading from the teleprompter “it says ‘ad-lib’ so ‘ad-lib, ad-lib’” and introducing Dakota Fanning and the trailer for The Equalizer 3—a project that seems unlikely to get Washington a third Oscar. Tuesday will bring a similar panel for Warner Bros, which will debut its upcoming slate—and give a first glimpse at The Flash, a tentpole that may already have been overshadowed by behind-the-scenes drama.
For years, there’s been a void in Hollywood. Despite all the young, fresh talent parading along red carpets and across our screens, there was one type missing: the quintessential heartthrob.
Heartthrobs of yore had a hold on me — and on pop culture as a whole. And there have always been jawdroppingly beautiful people in Hollywood. That’s part of its whole thing. But heartthrobs are in their own class. Their swoon-worthy looks combined with their out-of-this-world charisma place them in a league of their own. But where have all the heartthrobs gone?
Despite male celebrities like Timothee Chalamet or Harry Styles winning our hearts, their energy doesn’t give heartthrob in classic Hollywood style.
Perhaps, in an age of social media, the endless scrum of influencers and TikTok stars have desensitized us to pure beauty. Liking a photo or scrolling through a feed is blasé compared to slavering over the latest TV interview with your heartthrob of choice and then plastering their limited-edition, J14 posters to your bedroom wall.
Or maybe Tarantino was right when he said that actors don’t play “leading men” anymore. “Part of the Marvel-ization of Hollywood is you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters,” he said in an interview in 2022. “But they’re not movie stars, right? Captain America is the star. Thor is the star.”
Though his statement got backlash, he was right … in a way. I miss the days when I’d go to the movies just to watch my heartthrob take the screen. Because that’s precisely what it means to be a heartthrob: you’re defined by your charisma, not the pedigree bestowed to you by the industry or a giant like Marvel.
It’s why Leonardo DiCaprio mysteriously remains alluring (though he is only allured by women under 25). It’s why Brad Pitt remains one of the most famous movie stars in the world, despite not winning an Oscar for acting until 2020.
But never fear, heartthrobs are here.
With the Oscars barrelling towards us, Vanity Fair just released its annual Hollywood Issue. And this year’s spread is a feast for the eyes.
This year’s coveted cover spot was awarded to Selena Gomez, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Ana de Armas, Jonathan Majors, Keke Palmer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Julia Garner, Regé-Jean Page, Emma Corrin, Hoyeon, and Jeremy Allen White.
Familiar faces like Keke Palmer and Selena Gomez entertained us as former child stars. But last year marked significant growth in their careers.
Newer faces like Florence Pugh, Julia Garner, Hoyeon, and Ana de Armas have been impressing the industry over the past few years and finally had landmark career breakthroughs in 2022.
And. Vanity Fair, I want to thank you for your service. From the bottom of my throbbing heart. The creative direction held nothing back. Set a dark, sexy club, the entire set harkened back to old Hollywood. And though the diverse cast selected signals a long-awaited, inclusive standard of beauty, the charm of the classic Heartthrob is alive in this intergalactic generation of superstars.
For the past few years, there have been whispers about who will be the next actor to take on the coveted role of James Bond. That icon-making moniker, 007, cannot be passed down casually. The stakes are high. The wait has been long. But could we finally have our next Bond in 32-year-old Aaron Taylor Johnson?
There have been many names thrown into the ring for Daniel Craig’s successor. For a time, many speculated Idris Alba. Some said Richard Madden, of Game of Thrones —and now Marvel Studio’s Eternals — fame. There was a brief moment where Harry Styles was rumored to be in talks for the role. Other speculated candidates include Tom Hardy, John Boyega, Sam Heughan, and so on and so on.
u201cWho should be the next James Bond? https://t.co/UWZhU7iFPhu201d
At the conclusion of the most recent Bond installment, No Time to Die, it seemed that a female Bond could be in the cards. However, that was ruled out by the Bond producers who verified that the next Bond will be male. So some British man in his 30s — young enough to take on the 10-12 year commitment, but old enough to be realistic.
But eventually, we’ll hear a decision. Let’s hope soon. Aaron Taylor Johnson appears to be the frontrunner for the part — especially after his Blockbuster-shattering role in Bullet Train.
Johnson has always had leading man potential, but his career’s currently on a rapid upward trajectory and he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves.
His breakout role was in the 2008 Britsh teen movie Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging. He then went on to find leading role success in films like Kick-Ass, Anna Karenina, and even a brief time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the buzz around his latest role makes him prime Bond fodder.
Bullet Train, a feature-filled with heartthrobs and action could have been okay if they hadn’t forced the cast to do those Guy Ritchie-esque accents. A box office success, it’s maintained a consistent spot on the Netflix Top 10 list. More importantly, it put Johnson on the map.
But is Aaron Taylor Johnson truly the new James Bond? Nothing official has been released but word on the street (yes, including Deuxmoi) is it’s looking good for the 007-hopeful.
The Sun stoked these rumors in November with reports that Johnson had impressed producers in a “secret audition”. It’s also confirmed that he spoke with producers in a recent meeting. However, the only wrench in the plan might be this: Johnson’s getting a titch too famous.
Bond is a star-making role. It puts actors on the map, making them household names. But the producers want someone they can take to those heights with the Bond franchise. Not someone who already has a mega-fan base or is known too well known for a former role. So, that rules out Harry Styles, I guess.
Johnson’s right on the cusp of this kind of fame. Especially considering he’s about to re-enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the lead in Kraven The Hunter. He’s also supposed to co-star in The Fall Guy alongside Ryan Gosling.
While all of this is good news for Johnson’s career and for us as viewers, that might be the only thing keeping him from Bond. Only time will tell. Either way, I’ll be in the front row of whatever movie ATJ stars in next.
