Describe This Movie In One Jewel of the Nile Quote: TARAK: Ralph, that is not the Sufi way. RALPH: I don’t know what got into me, Jewels. Every time I’m around this guy he makes me crazy.
Brief Plot Synopsis: Like if that Southern colonel from the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons solving crimes.
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 3.5 Our Time in Edens out of 5.
Better Tagline: “The best priests are the ones who murdered people in their past lives.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Murder! Murder most foul has been committed at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, and Monsignor Wicks (Josh Brolin) is the victim. The list of suspects is both lengthy and colorful. Is it newly installed Father Jud (Josh O’Connor)? Or perhaps Wick’s right-hand woman Martha (Glenn Close)? And let’s not forget the flock, which includes lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), the town doctor (Jeremy Renner), a former bestselling author (Andrew Scott), and a celebrated cellist (Cailee Spaeny). Thanks goodness famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is on the case.
“Critical” Analysis: The Knives Out movies — of which Wake Up Dead Man is the third — aren’t really about the mysteries. The first two films solved their whodunits by the second act, backfilling details we’d assumed were tangential to the main event. Glass Onion threw in a second act twist that some felt was a cheap trick, though my problems were more with the second movie’s pacing and performances, especially compared to Knives Out’s cast.
Writer/director Rian Johnson, closing out his 500 million dollar Netflix deal, leans more into character development this time around. Father Jud’s pre-clergy background, Vera and Cy’s shared past, and Martha’s pained history with the church and Monsignor Wicks. We’re aware of the so-called “Good Friday Murder” almost from the jump, but Johnson takes a while building to it.
Wake Up Dead Man is at least somewhat less cluttered than its predecessor. There are still a healthy number of red herrings and fakeouts, but setting the film in a less exotic location and eschewing any body-double shenanigans keeps the action focused. It also doesn’t hurt that O’Connor, Close, and Brolin are all bringing their “A” game. Brolin especially is enjoying a one-two combo of scumbag roles (he’s Dan Killian in last weeks’ The Running Man).
Johnson also doesn’t shy away from social commentary, though he’s less overt about it than Jacob Thrombey’s incel subreddit or Birdie Jay’s racist Tweets. Cy and Andrew Scott’s fading author Lee Ross are both hoping to ride Monsignor Wicks’ coattails to social media fame, with the former presented as an opportunist in the vein of George Santos and the latter a possible stand-in for Dilbert creator Scott Adams.
Case in point: after sharing his litany of failed issues he tried to use to jumpstart his political career, Cy unironically remarks, “People are just numb these days. I don’t know why.”
And then there’s Craig. The vaunted Benoit Blanc is still apparently the World’s Greatest Detective (sorry, Batman), but in Wake Up Dead Man, he’s fallible as well. Craig clearly enjoys the hell out of this character, and Johnson here gives him some refreshing moral ambiguity. Not everything needs to be shared with the police, after all. And if withholding ill-gotten gains makes life difficult for someone, what’s one more disgruntled asshole in the world?
Wake Up Dead Man also marks the first time Johnson addresses questions of faith (not counting Princess Leia’s “She Is Risen” moment in The Last Jedi). The Roman Catholic Church still holds some hope and mystery for young Father Jed, while for most of the “hardened cyst of regulars” at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, it’s a cudgel. Monsignor Wicks wearily refers to himself as a “warrior for Christ,” taking up spiritual arms against the forces of modernity (and, one assumes, progressivism) assailing it.
Due respect to the Monsignor, but the Church really has no one to blame for its massive list of enemies but itself.
One the other end of the divide is Blanc himself, who emphatically rejects the dogma … until he doesn’t. And as is the case with all these movies, you find yourself wondering if Blanc’s florid statements aren’t in service of the deeper plot.
Is it too early to say that Johnson is Shyamalan-ing himself? I don’t think the comparison really fits, since there’s a difference between mere formula and the inevitability of one big twist. Wake Up Dead Man still suffers from the familiarity of the Knives Out blueprint, but is more thoughtful than its predecessors. All the same, it’s probably just as well we’re finally laying Benoit Blanc to rest. Figuratively speaking.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is in theaters Wednesday.
In many ways, Ken Burns is the Van Halen of historical documentary directors.
Before you jump, hear me out.
Watching the acclaimed filmmaker’s upcoming The American Revolutionwith some apprehension, it became clear that the six-part PBS series is the soulmate to Van Halen’s seminal but commercially disappointing 1981 album Fair Warning – in a very good way.
Debuting Sunday on PBS stations, the often-languorous American Revolution has all the slow pans across paintings and maps that appear in all of Burns’ work from 1981’s Brooklyn Bridge to The Civil War, 2009’s National Parks, biographies of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, 2011’s Prohibition, 2017’s The Vietnam War and last year’s Leonardo da Vinci.
Along with Burns and his and co-directors David P. Schmidt and Sarah Botstein’s use of evocative locations and out-of-focus re-creations, American Revolution has narration by Peter Coyote, and high-definition but measured sit-down interviews with historians.
With techniques made famous and mockingly infamous by The Civil War and subsequent Burns projects, American Revolution uses letters and meticulous examination of the time to represent ordinary men and women in extraordinary situations. Like so many Burns projects, there are those celebrity voice-overs from the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Meryl Streep Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti (playing, you guessed it, John Adams), poet Amanda Gorman, Hamiltonvet Jonathan Groff (not playing who you think) and Michael Keaton to name but a handful.
(L-R) Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Amanda Gorman, Michael Keaton, Meryl Streep, Samuel L. Jackson and Jonathan Groff
Getty Images/Rich Polk for Deadline
Yes, there is a lot of the Burns tried and true in American Revolution. Add to that the fact that you know how it all turns out and, even as a student of American history, you get my trepidation going in.
So, let’s get back to that Van Halen comparison for a second.
Similar to the fourth album release from the David Lee Roth-fronted rockers, Burns’ take on the war that created America does stick to the decades-old methods and formats that have worked for him since The Civil War exploded on the small screen in 1990. When Fair Warning came out in 1981, some critics noted that it too had all the hallmarks of previous Van Halen albums and no real evolution.
Yet, some also acknowledged “Eddie [Van Halen]’s latest sound effects” and the submerged introduction of synthesizers to the band’s palate. The latter revelation was a game changer obvious to anyone who over the years followed the band after its synth-heavy blockbuster 1984.
In that context, when it comes to the quietly ambitious American Revolution, you don’t need to look too hard to notice something different going on under the surface from previous Burns works. Let’s put it this way: You don’t need to look too hard at a calendar, your local defunded PBS station or much else to see 2025 is almost as far away from 1990 as it is from 1981 or 1776.
The world has changed, the medium has changed, America has changed, and the stakes have definitely changed.
‘The American Revolution’
PBS
On the most integral level, the past decade in our frayed Republic has seen a domination by MAGA madness and the largely toxic discharge of social media. So, to put it mildly, there’s a lot of blood in the water in the culture and our sense of our collective history.
Having spent most of the past decade making American Revolution, Ken Burns clearly knows that. To that, like Van Halen’s Fair Warning, there is an urgent undercurrent that wasn’t in Burns’ previous films. Something is stirring in him, and in us — and the saga of the creation of this often unruly nation has something to tell us about what is happening now.
How that manifests itself for viewers likely depends on your own patience with the long series, and your voter-registration card.
Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum or regarding Flat Earthers, there is no denying the inviolable sense of time and place in American Revolution. It’s as if Eddie Van Halen, without telling anyone, added an extra two strings on his guitar to reverberate through his Marshall stack, and the ages.
Eddie Van Halen
AP Photos
This is not the kind of American history MAGA loyalists like, and not just for the reasons you might think. To that, with the almost last breath of the Van Halen analogy, part of the success of The American Revolution is how it is loud and proud in a quiet way.
For another thing that perhaps won’t land well with MAGA crowd: it’s also complicated and quite diverse.
Which is to say, if you are looking for the Founding Fathers and their friends to be the guys in the white hats, you might want look somewhere else. For instance, not all the good guys are white (the David Oyelowo-voiced Olaudah Equiano is one example), and not all of them are guys (the Maya Hawke voice of Betsy Ambler).
Burns’ American Revolution also burns to a crisp the prevailing notion of the Great Man of American History.
Sorry George Washington and Alexander Hamilton fans, but there’s a lot more going on in the taverns where much of it happens than those infectious Lin-Manuel Miranda tunes tell you. Opening up the aperture, American Revolution often stares straight into the ugly and unsavory realpolitik of nation creation, with broken and bumbling men and women, well-meaning or not, stumbling into an idea of a better tomorrow.
Between the incomprehensibility and the incompetence on the side of the British Empire and the side of the American rebels that Burns outlines in American Revolution, the chaotic colonists’ attempts to free themselves from the rule of George III could have had all the hallmarks of a prequel to The Poseidon Adventure, with more boats.
As the losses and bodies pile up for the rebels (I’m not saying Battle of Long Island, but I’m saying Battle of Long Island), you many even wonder why they just didn’t give up to fight another day — you won’t be alone. That feeling and, dare I say it without seeming too fancy, the contemporary subtext, is part of Burns and gang’s genius with American Revolution.
You want to look away because it is almost painful to be so deep in the muck, and you know how it ends, so why must we be stuck in this muck? Can’t we get to the glories of Independence Hall? Yet despite those typical barriers to belief, you should keep watching.
Why?
Truth be told, with all the mishaps (to put it politely) and egos among the deeply divided rebels, as the episodes move along something delightful and insightful emerges over the talking-head historians, history lessons and trivia.
Even in this dank decade for American democracy that we are living in now, the recently neglected sense of the near universal inspiration created by our centuries-old revolution springs to life anew. Turns out, the tale of the wild American dogs chasing the Brits back over the pond and beginning one of the greatest leaps of faith in human history still makes for pretty damn good history, on the small screen and otherwise.
Or, in the words of Van Halen: “Change, nothin’ stays the same/Unchained, and ya hit the ground runnin’.
You also get some unconventional wisdom from American Revolution amidst stories you’ve heard a million times before — great stuff to show off at your kids’ school recitals and soccer practices.
The motivations behind Benedict Arnold’s turn to the British side, for example, actually turns out to be much more about the heart and of the divine than they ever taught us in school. Gen. Arnold (voiced by Keaton, who you are kinda dying for him to say “I am a traitor” in a “I am Batman” way) was all too human, it seems.
To be honest, especially when it comes to the American rebels partnering with the French and their despotic monarchy against George III and the Redcoats, Arnold’s betrayal of Washington (the latter voiced by the once George W. Bush-portraying Josh Brolin) and alliance with the British makes some degree of sense, at least from his perspective.
Which is to say, if you are interested in real people, real battles (literal, social, racial and political) and the messiness of what 1776 was and is all about, American Revolution is a tome well worth sticking with until the end – even though we all know how it ends.
Or do we?
To paraphrase that great American poet and hopefully future Ken Burns subject Gil Scott-Heron: The American Revolution will be televised, and it will be well worth watching.
Describe This Movie In One Bruce Almighty Quote: BRUCE: Lower and debase myself for the amusement of total strangers? Yeah, I could do that. Sounds like fun.
Brief Plot Synopsis: “Ben Richards, come on down!”
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 2 Richard Dawsons out of 5.
Tagline: “Millions hunt. One runs. Everyone watches.”
Better Tagline: “Still more ethical than trophy hunting.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Few things trigger desperation in a man like being unemployed with a sick child. Ben Richards (Glen Powell) knows more than most, having been blackballed from most employment for repeated “insubordination.” But there’s still one place where someone from the slums can earn some New Dollars, and that’s on the Network’s potentially lethal game shows. Producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) thinks the angry Richards is a perfect fit for The Running Man, in which contestants attempt to survive for 30 days while being hounded not just be the Network’s elite Hunters, but by ordinary citizens, who can earn money from contestant sightings.
“Critical” Analysis: Stephen King wrote the Running Man (as Richard Bachman) back in 1982, when constant surveillance was just a glint in Peter Thiel’s eye. Set in an economically depressed and dystopian 2025 (“fiction”), King’s novel was prescient in depicting both the stranglehold elites have on society and the increasing cruelty of reality television. What it may have overemphasized was the oppressed masses capacity for revolution, a pitfall stumbled into by both Paul Michael Glaser’s 1987 adaptation and this new version, directed by Edgar Wright (The “Cornetto” Trilogy, Baby Driver).
Wright’s version is more faithful to the book than Glaser’s. Though in truth, it would be harder not to be. The latter starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the “weak and tubercular” (King’s words) Ben Richards, who played a cop betrayed by his superiors, in a version of the game setting the “Runners” against glandular freaks armed with flamethrowers and chainsaws. Here, Richards’ background is largely intact, and the concept of Runners being hunted by both Network assassins and billions of ordinary citizens remains as well.
Though referring to Glen Powell as “tubercular” is … a bit of a stretch.
So, fine; it’s a better adaptation. But is it a better movie? It certainly looks better, having been shot on location in he UK instead of in a janky Hollywood soundstage. Brolin, Colman Domingo (as Running Man host “Bobby T”), and yes, even Powell, are also better actors than Schwarzenegger, Jim Brown, or Jesse “The Body” Ventura. The special effects, courtesy of ILM, are top notch, and — for the movie’s first half, anyway — it felt like everything was falling into place.
Much like James Gunn, Edgar Wright has a tendency to mix comedy with occasionally shocking violence. This helps offset the brutality of the world Richards and his family inhabits. But should it? Because even this “more faithful” rendition runs counter to the bleak anti-capitalist message of the novel. The Running Man is the closest thing Wright has come to directing a straight action movie since Baby Driver. And some of the sequences are both gripping and amusing, but even the comedic flourishes are abandoned for the film’s third act.
“What do you mean your grandfather committed some ‘light treason?’” Credit:Paramount Pictures
This is also about where the 1987 version bogs down, and for similar reasons. Movies that tell downbeat stories without some form of comeuppance haven’t really been marketable to American audiences since the 1970s. The Schwarzenegger movie took the passages about Richards-inspired proletarian riot in King’s novel and blew them up into full-blown revolution (led by Mick Fleetwood and Dweezil Zappa, no less). In Wright’s movie, Richards shelters with a nerdy anarchist (played by Michael Cera) who publishes a zine that will blow the lid off the Network’s abuses.
You read that right: in the year 2025, the masses will be moved to full-scale revolt by a type of publication that saw its popularity peak almost 30 years ago.
It isn’t just the facile revolutionary bullshit, because even though this iteration of The Running Man hews closer to King’s book, it still softens many of its bleaker aspects, including the fate of Richards’ family and his own ambiguous final moments. To be clear, I never expected anyone — Edgar Wright or otherwise — to try and bring the written ending to the screen (though to his credit, he does have Killian acknowledge the possibility). But instead of finding a reasonable alternative, he gives us a finale that makes Arnold walking into the sunset with Maria Conchita Alonso look like The Mist.
Admittedly, you don’t hire Edgar Wright if you’re just looking for a straightforward book treatment. And the aggravating thing is, The Running Man could’ve worked as an actioner that got some jokes in while still highlighting the depravity of a society that feeds its poorest citizens into a meat grinder for entertainment. But the movie’s utter cop-out of an ending (and ham-fisted credits buzzwords) now make me doubt if the director of Hot Fuzz really understands satire as much as I previously thought.
Weapons, directed by Zach Cregger and starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin and others, started week 3 on an exceptional note, grossing USD 4.7 million. The movie released in 185 more theatres than it was already performing in, and this is thanks to its incredible word of mouth. The drop is under 40 percent from last Friday, indicating an exceptional hold. Post-Covid, only Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Sinners had a better 3rd Friday, but both are much bigger movies, budget-wise.
Weapons Grosses An Exceptional USD 4.7 Million On 3rd Friday In US-Canada; Heads For A USD 17 Million Weekend
With this performance, Weapons is now headed for a stellar USD 17 million third weekend, pushing its domestic total to an impressive USD 118 million by the end of Sunday. As of Friday, its cumulative gross stands at USD 105 million, continuing its strong run as one of the biggest sleeper hits of the year.
Weapons Is Showing Excellent Late Summer Legs, As Things Gradually Begin To Slow Down
The film’s resilience at the box office comes despite a crowded late-summer release slate, further highlighting the film’s strong word of mouth and audience connect. Its third Friday gross places it among the top performers in recent memory for original, mid-budget horror-thrillers, a category that has struggled to find consistent success in the post-pandemic theatrical landscape.
Weapons Heads For A Lifetime In The North Of USD 150 Million In North America
Weapons continues to outperform projections, and its box office trend suggests that the film could push toward the USD 150 million mark domestically if it maintains momentum through Labor Day weekend and beyond. For director Zach Cregger, who previously found success with the horror sleeper Barbarian, Weapons marks another major milestone, solidifying his position as one of the most exciting genre filmmakers working today.
With Julia Garner and Josh Brolin leading a critically praised ensemble, and with audiences clearly turning out in strong numbers well into its third week, Weapons is fast becoming one of 2025’s biggest box office surprises.
Weapons In Theatres
Weapons plays in theatres now. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
Travis Kelce adds game show host to his growing resume with “Are You Smarter than a Celebrity?” and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Warriors,” a musical concept album inspired by the 1979 cult classic film, are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Anna Kendrick stars in a movie about the time a serial killer made his way onto the television show “The Dating Game,” Nintendo fans get Super Mario Party Jamboree and “NCIS” looks back at character Leroy Jethro Gibbs in “NCIS: Origins,” a series set 25 years before the original.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM OCT. 14-20
— In 1978, a serial killer made his way onto the television show “The Dating Game.” Rodney Alcala was already a murderer by the time he appeared on the show as one of three bachelors seeking a date with a woman named Cheryl Bradshaw. He even won. Had they done a background check, they might have discovered that he’d been on the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list and already been imprisoned for violent crimes against an 8-year-old. In the new Netflix film “Woman of the Hour,” streaming on Friday, Oct. 18, Anna Kendrick (also making her directorial debut) stars as the woman on the show (spelled Sheryl here) and puts the attention back on the victims. “Woman of the Hour” received good reviews out of the Toronto Film Festival last year.
— If fake serial killers are more your style, “MaXXXine” starts streaming on MAX on Friday, Oct. 18. The third film in Ti West and Mia Goth’s unlikely trilogy (following “X” and “Pearl”) takes the audience to the sleazy underground of 1980s Hollywood. Goth’s Maxine Minx is an adult film star hoping for a big break in mainstream movies. She gets a shot from Elizabeth Debicki’s refined director. But she’s also running from her past and a killer terrorizing the town. It’s very stylized and a little silly and underdeveloped but it’s a fun watch with a fun, extended Lily Collins cameo.
— And for those looking for a comedy, Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage play brothers, and former partners in crime in a starry new movie coming to Prime Video on Thursday. Brolin is the one trying for a more normal life when Dinklage convinces him to embark on a road trip to a promised big score. “Brothers,” directed by Max Barbakow (who made the delightful time loop romantic comedy “Palm Springs”) also features Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Brendan Fraser and Taylour Paige in its big ensemble.
— On Friday, Oct. 18, Lin-Manuel Miranda — in his first full post-“Hamilton” musical — and the award-winning actor and playwright Eisa Davis will release “Warriors,” a musical concept album inspired by the 1979 cult classic film that follows a street gang as they make their way from the Bronx to their home turf of Coney Island amid an all-out blitz. There are some notable departures here, including some gender-flipping and inventive genre-melding, no doubt an extension of its all-star cast, which features everyone from Ms. Lauryn Hill and Marc Anthony to Colman Domingo, Busta Rhymes and more. Last month, the duo told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that their version of “Warriors” is about unity and peace. But it sounds full of action.
— Austin Stowell plays a younger version of Mark Harmon’s “NCIS” character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs in “NCIS: Origins,” a series set 25 years before the original. We meet this Gibbs as he’s beginning his career as a naval investigator. “NCIS: Origins” debuts Monday on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
— A new Peacock docuseries digs into the wild but true story of Elizabeth Finch, a former writer on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” Finch wrote storylines she claimed were inspired by her own life and medical history, including a battle with bone cancer. She later admitted to lying. The three-part docuseries also tells the story of Finch’s ex-wife, who was the one to expose her deceit in the first place. “Anatomy of Lies” streams Tuesday on Peacock.
— Travis Kelce adds game show host to his growing resume. The Kansas City Chiefs tight-end hosts “Are You Smarter than a Celebrity?” beginning Wednesday on Prime Video. On the show, adult contestants answer elementary grade questions with a pool of celebrities on standby ready to help.
— In the Apple TV+’s dramedy “Shrinking,” Jason Segel plays Jimmy, a therapist grieving the death of his wife and trying to navigate being a single parent to a teen daughter. In season one, he begins to give his patients unorthodox advice, like inviting one (Luke Tennie) to move into his home. We also saw a new kind of family blossom between Jimmy, his colleagues (Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams), and neighbor (Christa Miller). Season two of the heartwarming comedy premieres Wednesday on the streamer.
— In season three of Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer,” Mickey Haller is rocked by the murder of his former client Gloria Days (Fiona Rene), but he also agrees to defend the man accused of killing her. The story is based on No. 5 of Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer book series called “The Gods of Guilt.” It premieres Thursday on Netflix.
— The “Sheldon-verse” continues with “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” debuting Thursday on CBS. The series stars Montana Jordan as Sheldon’s older brother George “Georgie” Cooper and his new bride Mandy, played by Emily Osment. It’s a sequel to “Young Sheldon” which wrapped last May after seven seasons. Episodes also stream on Paramount+.
— “Hysteria!”, coming to Peacock on Friday, Oct. 18, follows members of a high school band who pretend to be in a Satanic cult for attention. Their plan falls apart when town members target the teens in a witch hunt. The series stars Julie Bowen of “Modern Family” and “Evil Dead” star Bruce Campbell.
— Holiday season is almost here, and for Nintendo fans, there’s no party like a Mario Party. Super Mario Party Jamboree follows the classic formula: It’s a virtual board game in which most of the spaces lead to a multiplayer contest. Up to four people can play in-person or online, though one online mode lets up to 20 compete in a hectic “Koopathlon.” There are 22 characters, seven different boards and more than 110 minigames covering the gamut of Mario Party silliness, from races to brawls to minigolf. And there are few cooperative challenges, like a cooking game where four chefs try to slice and dice in rhythm. The festivities start Thursday on Switch.
— Barcelona-based Nomada Studio gained plenty of fans and a handful of awards with 2018’s stylish Gris, a haunting tale in which a young girl worked through grief by solving puzzles and collecting stars. The indie developer’s Neva starts in a similarly gloomy place: A warrior named Alba sets out with a white wolf, Neva, to explore a dying world. Nomada calls it “a love song dedicated to our children, our parents and our planet,” and the arresting, painterly landscapes will look familiar to fans of Gris. The journey begins Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch and PC.
Being an actor is easy if you had to face exotic wildlife as a child. Josh Brolin grew up with a mother who worked as a wildlife rehabilitator, aka someone who rehabilitates animals to be released into the wild or safely rehomed to an accredited zoo with the California Department of Fish and Game. He told Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson during the latest episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast that an employee named Bud was almost eaten by a lion at their family ranch, where they rehabilitated some of the wildlife. “She told him, ‘Look, he’s not eating. You have to go in there and show him how to eat. You have to sit next to him and show him. Put your face in the bowl and show him; he needs help,’” explained Brolin. The man did just that, and in the blink of an eye, the lion bit him in the leg. He continued, “You hear the rip of the jeans and Bud’s going, ‘His teeth are going into my leg. His teeth are going into my leg!’ and my mom, when she would get nervous, she had this thing, a condition where she would laugh hysterically.” Thankfully, the lion eventually let go of Bud’s leg, setting him free. Seems like a tragic event but also just a day in the life of a little Josh Brolin, who concludes: “And then you go out into life and you become an actor and it’s all good.”
Saturday Night Live’s monologue this week was more of a “cold open” than the cold open was, with host Josh Brolin taking the opportunity to do a cold plunge live on air. But before they wheeled out his tub of ice water, Brolin addressed the viral poem he wrote for his Dune co-star Timothée Chalamet, defending himself by explaining that he writes poems for everybody he works with. That of course now includes the SNL cast, specifically Kenan Thompson, who was caught off guard watching from offstage (holding Lorne’s signature wine glass) as Brolin read a poem about him. “I look at you with your ageless face and slide down furrowed brow unto sultry eyes. Then jumping off under your sugar cookie cheeks into the divots of your laugh lines awaken me in a symphony of desire, to which I can only say, what up with that?” he beautifully delivered. We can only assume that Marcello Hernández’s poem was too long to air. Brolin went on to note that this was his third time hosting, and said that the only thing that compares is doing a cold plunge (which he’s been doing for 20 years). “Hosting is like jumping into an ice bath. It’s scary, it’s exhilarating, your penis is in your stomach. There’s just no way to prepare for it,” he said, stripping down to his underwear and hopping into a bath of ice water on stage.
As was foretold in Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” music video, in which Christopher Walken danced to a line from Dune (“Walk without rhythm, It won’t attract the worm”), the actor would be destined to join Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe in Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed adaptation. In fact, Dune: Part Twobrought Walken out of a four-year acting break.
Denis Villeneuve on Ending Dune: Part Two That Way
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Walken discussed why he took on the role of the formidable Emperor who sets in motion the fall and rise of House Atreides in Dune. “I had, of course, seen the first Dune a number of times. I loved it, and I admired [Villeneuve’s] movies. Arrival, I thought, was wonderful. And to be with all those terrific actors—Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Stellan Skarsgård—and to go to Budapest, which is a beautiful city. And of course, that’s what I do for a living. It was only, I think, three weeks. So, everything about it was attractive,” he said to the magazine.
Walken, who had somehow not yet been scooped up by a sci-fi epic, also revealed that he was almost in Star Wars but the timing wasn’t right. “I think it was for Han Solo,” Walken shared. “Yes, I auditioned for it. And if I’m not mistaken, my partner in the audition was—I think this is true—it was Jodie Foster. I think we did a screen test. I’m not sure we did a scene. Maybe we just sat in front of, in those days, those old videotape cameras… I did audition for Star Wars, but so did about 500 other actors. It was lots of people doing that.” But as was fated by “Weapon of Choice,” Walken was all along meant to be the Emperor in Dune.
When you look at Dave Bautista, the last thing you think of is failure. Even if he wasn’t a former wrestling superstar turned mega movie star, if you saw this tall, muscular, tattoo-covered man walking down the street, you’d instantly think he’s got it figured out. But in Dune: Part Two, Bautista’s character doesn’t have anything figured out. And the actor loves him for it.
Working With Recasted Characters
Once again, Bautista is Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, nephew of Baron Harkonnen and the new lord of Arrakis… having massacred almost the entire Atreides family for the privilege. Rabban is given the task of taking over the entire planet for his family, with almost no knowledge of the formidable Fremen force he’s up against. It results in the character not faring too well in the eyes of his family, which is exactly why Bautista was so excited about the film.
In his chat with io9, we talked about playing the pathetic villain, his relationship with director Denis Villeneuve, the chip on his shoulder when it comes to acting, and if he’s really done with his famous Guardians of the Galaxy character, Drax. Check it out.
Rabban in Part OneImage: Warner Bros.
Germain Lussier, io9: Rabban doesn’t have a huge role in Part One—it’s a much bigger role here in Part Two. Was there ever a conversation between you and Denis to say, like, hey, we might not make the second movie, but if we do, [your character] will have more to do?
Dave Bautista: Well, I always knew that my role in the second film was going to be bigger. We never [laughs]… I only heard rumblings that there might not be a second film. We never had that official conversation with Denis. I think he always had confidence that there would be. I think he’s a person who has a vision and he doesn’t stray from that vision. I think his vision was never one film, so I think he never abandoned that. So we never had the conversation. And I also was pretty confident because I saw the first film and I was like, it’s amazing. It’s not only beautiful storytelling, but it just really cuts off and it leaves you hanging. And I didn’t see a world where people wouldn’t want to have closure on that. So I never lost faith at all. But it was a sign of the times we were living in. It was uncertain times. And I think a lot of people were cheated, not through the fault of anyone, but by not being able to see the first film on a big screen because that is what it what was designed for. That’s what it was meant to be. But yeah, I never thought that there wouldn’t be a second film.
io9: Most of the guys you play, for obvious reasons, are pretty capable, right? However this guy, besides his size and strength, is kind of an idiot.
Bautista: [Laughs]
io9: And kind of a failure. So was it fun to play somebody that is the butt of all the jokes?
Bautista: For sure. Yeah. For me, that’s why I’m in this, man. Because I want to play characters that are layered and interesting, and not clichés or generic. That’s also the challenge. But I also think that’s my obsession. So that’s what I loved about him. I was so excited when I read the script for the second film and I was even more excited after I had the conversation with Denis because I knew that there was so much for me to play with here. I mean, I always search out roles because I do have this chip on my shoulder. It’s never going to go away. I want to prove myself as an actor because guys like me, they want to put in a lane. And I never wanted to be stuck in that lane. So I came out of the WWE, came out of the gates refusing to be stuck in that lane. And so this gives me the opportunity to prove my point.
io9: Yes.
Bautista: So I thought, this character is so great because you would think about him in one way. He’s just one way. He’s just a brute and that’s all he is. But I thought, if I can take this character and make him not only that, but make him so pathetic that you almost feel sympathy for him.
io9: “Almost.”
Bautista: Yes, almost. [Laughs] I only need one little hint of sympathy when you’re like, you feel sorry for him for a second, then it’s like, “Nahhhhh, I don’t feel sorry for him.” But if I just had that one opportunity, then that could be a real accomplishment.
Bautista with Villeneuve and Austin Butler.Image: Warner Bros.
io9: Oh I think you nailed it. I think also he’s so angry early on in the movie—what was it like to be so vocal and angry?
Bautista: So, for me, screaming for me is just another way to get rid of my anxiety. I’ve always known that about myself. I discovered that in WWE and I just let it all out. On one side of the curtain in WWE, before I came out, I was dry heaving. I was a nervous wreck. I was a mess, and I was always thinking, “God, everything’s going to go wrong. I’m not ready. I’m not warmed up enough. Oh man, I don’t know what to do.” As soon as I hit that curtain, walked out the curtain, lights, music, [crowd roars]—anxiety gone. And it’s the same with this. So it just allowed me the opportunity to just shake that anxiety, and then I can just kind of slowly transform to this performance. But again, I mean, just the richness of the character, the layers of the character and the support and encouragement from Denis, he just made this very easy for me.
io9: Very cool. Now obviously this a big ensemble piece but, by the nature of your character, you don’t really get to act with most of the people in the movie. Is that isolating? Do you form a bond with the other people that you’re with?
Bautista: Yeah, for sure. No matter what you spend a lot of time with people in makeup trailers or on set or socially. There’s always a get-together, especially for the ensemble cast, where the director wants to meet with the cast. And so there’s always going to be that camaraderie. [But] selfishly, personally, like I want those scenes. I want scenes with Timmy [Chalamet]. I want scenes and Zendaya. I want scenes with Florence [Pugh]. I want a scene with Christopher Walken. But it just, you know, it wasn’t meant to be.
io9: You get a scene with Josh Brolin.
Bautista: You know, I love Josh. Josh is one of my favorite people in the world. I’ve known Josh for years now through our Marvel experiences. So I was pretty giddy getting to share scenes with him on this in this film. And it was just nothing but fun. And I love that our characters just despise each other. So it’s great.
Dave Bautista Opens Up About His Relationship With Denis Villeneuve
Dave Bautista Opens Up About His Relationship With Denis Villeneuve
io9: One of the things I love about your career, you talk about having that chip on your shoulder, is you work with such incredible filmmakers. Obviously, there’s Gunn, Snyder, Shyamalan, and Villeneuve. What sets Denis apart from the other ones you’ve worked with?
Bautista: Our conversations are different. And it’s hard for me having these conversations without sounding… because I never want to be dismissive of anybody else that I’ve worked with. They’ve all been special experiences. And they’ve all made me rise as a performer and helped me in my career. James Gunn changed my life. His belief in me, his support of me, changed my life. But our conversations have been different. Denis supports me in a different way.
Our conversations are more intimate. I’ve never had a director until Denis, since Denis, say to me that you’re a very strong actor. And he said this to me on the first film. I was holding back because I was self-conscious [and] I was. I was very unsure of myself. And he came to me. He said, “I feel like you’re holding back.” He said, “You’re a very strong actor, my friend. Just follow your instincts.” And so I started belting it out, and I started finding this character. He not only loved it so much, but he was so supportive of my performance that he wanted to capture other people’s reactions to my performance. And so when you’re getting that kind of support, that was an experience I’ve never had before or since, with a director of that caliber. So it means everything. It’s validation.
Image: Warner Bros.
io9: Wow, that’s awesome. SoI’m talking to Stellan [Skarsgård] after this and you have a lot of scenes with him. What is it like working with him in that suit? Because it’s got to be weird. Do you laugh or are you just serious? What’s the vibe?
Bautista: It’s very serious. We are respectful because we know that it’s harsh. The experience he’s gone through, like what he’s living with and what he’s dealing with. And you can tell through conversations while he’s working, that he’s already exhausted because he’s been in a makeup chair eight hours before we even started working. Eight hours, you’re typically leaving work.
io9: Right, right.
Bautista: He’s just starting work. And so it’s very respectful of him and what he’s going through. So we’re very respectful of his time. Everybody this is from the top down. But also the actors were very, aware that he’s suffering.
io9: Last thing is, I know you said on Guardians 3 that you were done with Marvel, but is there any way that you would come back, or have you just kind of put that part of your career aside?
Bautista: No, no. When I said that I was done, I was really just done with my journey as Drax. I still have a relationship with Marvel. I’ve seen Kevin Feige again, Lou [D’Esposito] as recently as two weeks ago. And they know that I would be up for a role. I love the universe—the superhero universe, I love it. I’m a fan. So Marvel or DC, if they call, I would answer the phone. And if the role makes sense, I’d be all over it. I just would like the opportunity to do a bigger role, a different role. Maybe a deeper role. I’d love to have the opportunity to play, like an ominous villain in the superhero universe. Yeah. But never. I’m not done with it. But my journey with Drax is over.
Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Timothee Chalamet (from left) in Dune. Ryan Stetz/HBO
Whether you want surprisingly funny family dramas, international excellence, or a refresher on one of the decade’s biggest sci-fi franchises, you’re in luck. From indies to blockbusters, these are the titles you need to watch before they leave streaming this month.
What’s leaving Netflix
The Farewell
While Lulu Wang’s star-studded series Expatsis still unfurling, why not watch the movie that catapulted the director into the mainstream? The Farewell stars Awkwafina as Billi, an aspiring writer who’s struggling to find work and her place as a Chinese American woman. When she hears that her beloved grandmother, Nai Nai, has been diagnosed with cancer, though, she drops everything to go see her in China. However, there’s another issue: the family is keeping Nai Nai’s diagnosis a secret from her, and a reluctant Billi must do so too. The Farewellwill be available to stream until February 29th.
Dune
After a lengthy, strike-related delay, Dune: Part Two is finally on the horizon. The second installment of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic (out March 1st) features a sprawling cast (with new additions Austin Butler and Florence Pugh) on top of a dense mythos, so there’s no time like the present to catch up by watching Dune. Timothée Chalamet stars as Paul, heir to the House Atreides within the galactic empire, who must contend with political threats to his father (Oscar Isaac) and strange trials courtesy of his mother (Rebecca Ferguson). Along the way, he encounters friends and foes alike, played by Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Jason Momoa, and Josh Brolin. Dunestreams through the end of the month.
What’s leaving Hulu
Paddington
As winter truly begins to wear on us all, it’s the perfect time to watch some of the coziest movies of the 21st century. Paddington and its sequel are the rare family movie franchise to truly appeal to all ages, from the title bear’s expertly animated cuddliness to the A-list actors who get to play cartoonish villains (Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, the latter in a BAFTA-nominated performance). Though sweet little Paddington gets himself into quite the precarious predicaments, his mantra of “if we’re kind and polite, the world will be right” always holds true. Paddingtonstreams until the end of the month, while Paddington 2is available through February 26th.
What’s leaving Max
Drive My Car
Layered, lengthy, and packed with a lot of languages, Drive My Car is one of the most daring dramas of the decade so far. The film follows a theater actor and director who discovers his wife’s infidelity before her untimely death. Bereft and unmoored, he decides to accept a theater residency that will have him directing a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya. Ultimately, it’s a movie about understanding, and how we may never be able to achieve it when it comes to those we love. Everything about the film is superb, and there’s a reason why the movie was nominated for four Oscars. Drive My Carstreams through the end of the month.
What’s leaving Peacock
Five Nights at Freddy’s
One of last year’s biggest horror hits is departing streaming later this month. Five Nights at Freddy’s became a smash success when it was released in theaters and on Peacock last October, bringing the thrills from the beloved video game to screens both big and small. Josh Hutcherson stars as Mike, a man so desperate for a job that he takes on a gig as a nighttime security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a family pizzeria-slash-arcade with plenty of skeletons in its supply closets. Before long, things begin to go bump in the night, leaving Mike to solve a decades-old mystery. Five Nights at Freddy’sstreams through February 25th.
The Descendants
While The Holdoverscurrently stands as a favorite at the Oscars, it’s far from the first time that filmmaker Alexander Payne has seen success with the Academy. In fact, he won his second Oscar in 2012 for The Descendants, a complex family dramedy. George Clooney stars as Matt, a man who’s inherited and attained great wealth (including a large swath of land in Hawaii), but all of that stability vanishes when his wife gets in an accident that leaves her comatose. He must grapple with his role as a cousin, a husband and a father to his two daughters (Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller). The Descendantsstreams through the end of the month.
What to Watchis a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.
Hold on to your seats, sci-fi fans, because Dune: Part Two is about to gears up for its release! The hotly anticipated sequel to the 2021 hit Dune is on track to surpass its predecessor’s box office performance and treat audiences to an extended run in IMAX theaters. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and produced by Warner Bros., the sci-fi epic promises stunning visuals and a star-studded cast that will leave fans on the edge of their seats. Fans are eagerly awaiting the next installment in theaters on November 3, 2023. With an extended IMAX run, its box office potential is looking brighter than ever.
The prospect of an extended IMAX run and the absence of major competition bode well for Dune: Part Two’s box office potential. Unlike its predecessor, the sequel won’t face the challenges of a pandemic release, offering a clear path to audience engagement. With no simultaneous streaming release, fans are encouraged to flock to theaters, contributing to the film’s projected box office triumph.
Warner Bros. assures fans that Dune: Part Two picks up right where the first part left off, promising a captivating continuation filled with stunning cinematography and an ensemble cast that includes Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, and Rebecca Ferguson.
About Dune
Dune captivates audiences with its immersive storytelling. Part one of the film sets the stage flawlessly, delving into the history and politics of the planet Arrakis. The story leaves us on a thrilling cliffhanger, as Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica join forces with the Fremen to bring peace to Arrakis. With Villeneuve’s plan to split the 800-page novel into two parts, fans can look forward to Dune 2.
Dune: Part Two continues the epic tale of Paul Atreides, portrayed by the talented Timothée Chalamet, as he navigates a treacherous desert planet in search of the valuable resource known as ‘spice’. Villeneuve’s visionary direction and the stellar performances of the cast bring Herbert’s intricate world to life, garnering critical acclaim and audience adoration.
With accolades from the 94th Academy Awards and the overwhelming success of its predecessor, the stage is set for Dune: Part Two to claim its rightful place among sci-fi masterpieces. While fans eagerly await its release, Warner Bros. is already working on a television spinoff, Dune: The Sisterhood, exclusively for their streaming platform Max.
Few actors ever reach the Academy Awards, let alone before hitting the legal driving age. But that was exactly where Hailee Steinfeld found herself when she earned a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for the Coen brothers’ True Grit in 2011 at age 14.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Take it all in,” people once advised Steinfeld, now 26, as she tells People in her new cover story. “Of course, at 13, I was like, ‘Yeah, absolutely. For sure. I’m taking it all in.’ And while I do feel like I remember just about everything, I only now realize what people meant by that,” she continues. “It was such a rare experience, everything about it: the timing, the places I got to go to and the people I got to work with. I was experiencing so many firsts, and I was surrounded by the best people that really took me under their wings and guided me every step of the way. I just remember being young and curious and so overexcited about absolutely everything.”
Her True Grit co-star Jeff Bridges has been a particularly major influence, both professionally and personally. “Jeff has so much fun with what he does,” Steinfeld said. “With True Grit, I had a lot of dialogue, and the circumstances weren’t always smiley and bubbly. Yet somehow, in between takes, he managed to keep up an energy that made me feel so at ease and comfortable… If we had 10 minutes in between takes, he would pull out this game called Pass the Pigs, which became a crowd favorite very quickly with the Steinfeld family.”
Although the actor says she “had moments of [feeling like I was missing out] when friends would send me pictures from winter formals and proms and homecomings,” she still had a chance to experience some typical teenage milestones—by filming a homecoming scene on 2015’s Barely Lethal and joining a sorority in the Pitch Perfect franchise. Plus, 2016’s The Edge of Seventeen allowed Steinfeld to “let a little bit of teen angst go that I didn’t even know I had.”
In recent months, Steinfeld has been touched by the personal battles both Bridges, who is currently in remission for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and her Hawkeye co-star Jeremy Renner, who survived a near-fatal snowplow accident, have endured. “I haven’t really talked about it, but it is a weird thing because I would be so moved by what has happened to them in any other case, and here I am lucky enough to have a personal connection,” she tells the outlet. “I’m just so beyond grateful that they’re both here.”
