Generic – Page 107 – Movie Retakes

Tiffany Haddish Joins Nicolas Cage’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Tiffany Haddish joins Nicolas Cage’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

As if the bizarre action-dramedy didn’t already have a star-studded roster, the Nicolas Cage-led The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has expanded its cast with the addition of Grammy-nominated and Emmy-winning comedian Tiffany Haddish (Bad Trip).

The Unbearable Weight of a Massive Talent will see Nicolas Cage portray a version of himself desperate to get a role in a new Tarantino movie while also struggling with a strained relationship with his teenage daughter. As he makes his way through life, he also talks to an egotistical version of himself from the ’90s who railroads him for making bad movies and not being the same star he was at the time, now dealing with a mountain of death and making an appearance at the birthday party of a Mexican billionaire that is a huge fan.

In a long-standing battle against one of the largest criminal organizations in Europe, Haddish plays the role of Vivian, an eccentric rogue government agent who forces superstar Nicolas Cage to go undercover in a crazy, offbook, last ditch effort to bring them down for good.

While bonding with the man, who hopes to show Cage a script he’s been working on, the actor learns from the CIA that the billionaire is actually a drug cartel kingpin who has kidnapped the daughter of a presidential nominee and is recruited to get intelligence. The predicament gets worse when the billionaire brings Cage’s daughter and ex-wife for a reconciliation and he must take on the role of a lifetime to save their lives.

In addition to Cage and Haddish, the cast for the film includes Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Wonder Woman 1984) and Emmy nominee Sharon Horgan (Game Night, Catastrophe). The film is eyeing a fall production date and a 2021 release date.

The Unbearable Weight of a Massive Talent will be directed by Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the script with Kevin Etten. The film will executive produced by Etten and Kevin Turren along with Cage and Mike Nilon through their Saturn Films banner.

The script is set to include nods to various Cage works including Leaving Las Vegas, Face-Off and Gone in 60 Seconds and reportedly has tones of Adaptation, which Cage starred in, as well as Jean-Claude Van Damme’s JCVD and the Hollywood caper Get Shorty.

(Photo Credit: Tommaso Boddi/FilmMagic)

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Tenet Sequel Possibilities Teased by John David Washington

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Tenet: John David Washington opens up about potential sequel

With the theatrical release of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet in full swing, Golden Globe nominee John David Washington has finally opened up about returning for a potential sequel. In a recent interview with Esquire, when asked about the sci-fi film’s ending, Washington immediately expressed his excitement for the possibility of doing a Tenet sequel in the future!

“In my mind, that’s a yes!” Washington said. “We will be doing this again, we’ll see you in a couple of years. In reality, I don’t know. Chris does what he wants. Maybe he has something that he’s developed for years that he wants to do next, maybe he’s been inspired by something else he sees and wants to do that, I don’t know. I hope we get to do it again, I hope we get to explore more, because I think we found something really unique.”

Even though the film’s ending sure does set up the story for a potential sequel, the chances of Nolan making a follow-up is somehow slim because the acclaimed director isn’t very known for making sequels to his previous films such as Inception, Interstellar and Dunkirk. The only sequels he has ever made were for The Dark Knight trilogy, which is expected for the superhero genre.

Tenet is an international espionage thriller filmed across seven countries. John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) stars, with a supporting cast that includes Robert Pattinson (Good Time), Elizabeth Debicki (Widows), Dimple Kapadia (Fugly), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Michael Caine (The Dark Knight Rises) and Kenneth Branagh (Dunkirk).

Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist (Washington) journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real-time. Not time travel. Inversion.

The director first made an impact in 2001 with his indie film Memento. His next film, Insomnia, was also a modest hit. but it wasn’t until Batman Begins hit theaters in 2005 that Nolan became a box office force in his own right. The Prestige was Nolan’s last movie to gross under $200 million worldwide. His other films include The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk.

Looking to binge-watch some movies? Check out Amazon’s Director’s Collection of Christopher Nolan films here!

Tenet is written by Nolan and will utilize a mixture of IMAX and 70mm film, which is something he’s become famous for. Nolan is the film producer along with his partner Emma Thomas.

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Superman and Wonder Woman Themes Will Get New Spin in Snyder Cut

Junkie XL Says Superman and Wonder Woman Themes Will Get New Spin in Snyder Cut

In a recent interview with Forbes, Tom Holkenborg -aka Junkie XL- shed a little more light on his score for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which he promises will feature new takes on Wonder Woman’s and Superman’s themes!

“Besides the Man of Steel theme for Superman and the theme for Wonder Woman, which I have given a new spin, all the other themes for this movie are brand new,” he revealed. “Some of them I did the groundwork on four years ago, but as you grow as a composer, you look at what you did and maybe have a better way of doing it now or a better idea. It was inspiring. I would get an idea in my downtime and think, ‘Oh, let’s rework this thing. Let’s do that.’ Because I knew for a while that this was coming, I had the time and space to shape it into its best possible form.”

For those unaware, one of the aspects of Zack Snyder’s Justice League to get the axe was Junkie XL’s music. The composer provided additional music for Man of Steel before co-scoring Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice alongside Hans Zimmer. He was set to score Justice League and has said that his soundtrack was completed before WB replaced Snyder with Joss Whedon. As a result, Holkenborg was kicked off the project and the theatrical cut of the superhero epic arrived with an all new score by Danny Elfman that, for some reason or another, incorporated Elfman’s Batman theme as well as bits of John Williams’ Superman.

The final result was a decidedly underwhelming score that paled in comparison to the music heard in Snyder’s previous films. Thankfully, the Snyder Cut plans to incorporate Junkie XL’s original music, which means we will likely get to hear Zimmer’s iconic Superman theme once more. Rejoice!

Fueled by the hero’s restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Justice League sees Bruce Wayne enlist the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League, which features a screenplay from Chris Terrio from a story by Snyder and Terrio, stars Affleck as Batman, Cavill as Superman, Gadot as Wonder Woman, Momoa as Aquaman, Miller as The Flash, Fisher as Cyborg, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta, with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

Released in November 2017, the film earned mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, praising the action and performances from Gadot and Miller while criticizing every other aspect of the film, namely the inconsistent tone that many fault Joss Whedon (The Avengers) for after taking over directorial duties from Snyder. With a large budget of $300 million and a break-even point of $750 million, the film is considered a box office bomb having grossed only $658 million.

Junkie XL previews his Justice League theme! Wow!#DCFanDome #TheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/UDW668Q22t

— The Zack Snyder Bible (@ZackSnyderBible) September 12, 2020

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CS Recommends: RBG & More!

CS Recommends: RGB & More!

CS Recommends: RBG & More!

Stuck inside? Don’t know what to watch/read/play/listen to? ComingSoon.net has got you covered. In this week’s CS Recommends our staff gives you solid tips on the best media to consume during your downtime, including RBG and more! Check out our picks below!

MAX EVRY’S RECOMMEND: RBG and On the Basis of Sex

Click here to purchase the hit documentary RBG!

Click here to purchase the biopic On the Basis of Sex!

The nation mourns the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman ever appointed to the prestigious seat. Her death at age 87 marks the end of a remarkable 27-year tenure in the United States’ highest court, despite her years-long cancer battle. Film fans have two primary sources with which to celebrate the life of the feminist icon known in some circles as The Notorious R.B.G, namely the lauded 2018 documentary RBG as well as the biopic On the Basis of Sex starring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer from that same year. Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who directed RBG, released a statement this evening…

“Like so many Americans, we are crushed by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” West and Cohen said jointly. “Even had she not become a Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg earned a place in history for what she did to win equality for American women. When we asked her several years ago how she wanted to be remembered, she said with characteristic modesty, ‘Just as someone who did whatever she could, with whatever limited talent she had, to move society along in the direction I would like it to be for my children and grandchildren.’ ”

KYLIE HEMMERT’S RECOMMEND: Prisoners

Click here to purchase!

Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-nominated mystery thriller Prisoners features some of Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal’s best performances onscreen. The story follows Jackman’s character as he takes matters into his own hands after his daughter and her friend go missing while Gyllenhaal’s Detective Loki pursues multiple leads as the pressure mounts to solve the case and find the missing girls. Boasting a fantastic ensemble cast (including Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano), the character-driven drama explores the darkest corners of human nature, particularly how seemingly good people can sometimes cross irredeemable lines when driven by anguish, revenge, and desperation.

GRANT HERMANNS’ RECOMMEND: Lethal Weapon Season 1

Click here to purchase!

As we gear up for the exciting return of Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and Richard Donner for a fifth installment in the hit action-comedy film franchise, I think it’s high time we go back and give Fox’s small-screen adaptation of Lethal Weapon a second chance, namely its first season. Arriving on the heels of the lackluster TV adaptation of Rush Hour, I had no expectations for a series based on one of the best buddy cop films in the genre and found myself very surprised by how well the pilot worked and to see how it just continued to bloom and improve from episode to episode really made the show an absolute joy to watch week to week, especially for the chemistry between stars Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford. Combining explosive action, outrageous comedy and a further evolution of its fan-favorite duo than the films generally had time for, Lethal Weapon was truly an outstanding series for both fans of the franchise and newcomers.

MAGGIE DELA PAZ’S RECOMMEND: Election (1999)

Click here to purchase!

Starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick, Election centers around a high school election where an overachieving senior named Tracy Flick tries her best to become the student body president. However, her easy path to victory gets immediately undermined due to her teacher Jim McAllister’s unreasonable resentment against her. To give Tracy a run for her money, Jim encourages popular football player Paul Metzler to also run for presidency. As Jim gets distracted with the election and his childish hate towards Tracy, he doesn’t seem to realize that his personal life is also getting affected by it.

This 1999 black comedy film is easily one of Witherspoon’s best performances before becoming a full-fledged A-lister she is known today. Her effective portrayal of a determined and egotistic know-it-all student would definitely make the audience get annoyed with the character while also at the same time, making her a favorite among its cast. As for Broderick, it’s funny and ironic to see him portray a role that is the total opposite of his iconic 80s’ character Ferris Bueller.

Even though the film had a poor box office performance, it still garnered critical acclaim and had earned director Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. In addition to Witherspoon and Broderick, it also featured Chris Klein and then break-out star Jessica Campbell, who both also gave charming performances as Paul Metzler and Tammy Metzler. However, like other early high-school comedy films during the 80s up to the 2000s, this film does feature a few red-flagged moments. But despite that, it is still an entertaining movie that will appeal to people who are obsessed with old teen films such as Mean Girls. With only two months to go before the upcoming U.S. presidential election, I think now is the perfect time for you to check out or revisit Election!

JEFF AMES’ RECOMMEND: Call of Duty Modern Warfare Remastered

Click here to purchase!

On the heels of that stunning Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War trailer this week, I decided to go back and revisit an old friend: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — the 2007 classic that, for me at least, truly established COD as one of the best gaming franchises on the market. Thanks to a remastered edition that greatly improves the graphics and overall gameplay, Modern Warfare continues to pop and surprise unlike any other for roughly 7-10 hours, depending on your finger abilities. It’s simplistic gaming at its finest, free from the depressing tones of modern-day titles like The Last of Us Part II and the shoddy, even perplexing, glitch-infested gameplay of Marvel’s Avengers. In Modern Warfare, players need only pick up their gun of choice and blast the holy Hell out countless bad guys in a myriad of missions executed amidst eye-popping locales. In terms of simple entertainment, you can’t get much better!

ComingSoon.net recommends all readers comply with CDC guidelines and remain as isolated as possible during this urgent time.

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Alone Review: A Simple Yet Exhilarating Survivalist Thriller

Rating:

8/10

Cast:

Jules Willcox as Jessica

Marc Menchaca as Man

Anthony Heald as Robert

Jonathan Rosenthal as Eric

Directed by John Hyams; Written by Mattias Olsson

Click here to rent Alone!

Alone Review:

The survivalist thriller genre has seen everything from the most basic of events to convoluted motivations and leaps in logic and often times it’s truly at its best when it’s at its simplest and though Alone‘s more stripped-down exercise in the genre may feel a bit familiar, it proves to be exhilarating nonetheless.

Jules Willcox (Netflix’s Bloodline) stars as Jessica, a grief-stricken widow who flees the city in an attempt to cope with the loss of her husband. When Jessica is kidnapped by a mysterious man and locked in a cabin in the Pacific Northwest, she escapes into the wilderness and is pursued by her captor. The key cast includes Marc Menchaca (Ozark, The Outsider) and Anthony Heald (The Silence Of The Lambs).

The film starts out fairly routine, a woman embarks on a journey to a new life on her own, estranged from her opinionated mother while still trying to stay connected with her father and suffering from a heartbreak of some kind. Through a handful of cell phone videos and dialogue, we come to somewhat learn why and though it’s supposed to act as a sympathetic connection for viewers with Jessica, it doesn’t prove as effective as it could. With only one moment of breaking down into tears and the rest of the film seeing her skirt around the topic in conversations, it just doesn’t quite feel as believable or moving as it should for getting audiences to root for the protagonist.

That being said, Jessica is mostly a blank slate of a character that audiences can see as a neutral ground so that when someone as quietly suspicious and simultaneously brutal as the unnamed man comes along, we know who to side with. This certainly comes to life brilliantly thanks to the performance of Marc Menchaca, who just chews up every bit of scenery he has both before and after he reveals his true intentions and remains a compelling villain to watch as the film progresses and he becomes more and more detestable.

Another major factor that really keeps the film a thrill to watch is the beautiful direction from Hyams, mostly known for his work as a cinematographer, for helming the final two installments in the Universal Soldier franchise and TV direction. Be it from his time directing 45-minute long episodes on television or a couple of 90-minute indies, the filmmaker shows a strong grasp on pace and atmosphere, keeping the film moving at a brisk pace while allowing Jessica to go through the wringer while coming to grips with her own strength, not to mention he keeps every shot of the film looking pretty breathtaking without any kind of extravagant angles or IMAX-quality cameras being used.

The action in the film is also all very well-executed, taking a minimalist approach to its special effects with the most mild of gore and violence and yet it’s all played to such strong effect that every punch, every broken branch lodged in a body, every knife slice, it all feels real and actually more believable than most big-budget pics with similar injuries. We’re not seeing our protagonist limp for a few minutes then magically shake off her wounds, we actually see her fight to power through the pain to come out victorious in this game of cat-and-mouse and it is an absolute thrill to watch and also begs for more filmmakers to put Jules Willcox in genre-leading roles as with a little more expansive of material, she could join the ranks of recent great final girls including Samara Weaving, Imogen Poots and Jessica Rothe.

Alone is a movie whose only true flaws come in its feelings of familiarity and reliance on formula, but it takes these seeming drawbacks and mostly uses them to create a taut, chilling and thrilling genre pic that is beautifully shot, very well-performed and intricately designed with its usage of sound.

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CS Video: Co-Writer/Director Antonio Campos on The Devil All The Time

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CS Video: Co-writer/director Antonio Campos on The Devil All The Time

ComingSoon.net got the opportunity to chat with co-writer and director Antonio Campos (Christine, The Sinner) to discuss his work bringing the Southern gothic crime drama The Devil All The Time to life, which is now available to stream on Netflix. Our interview can be viewed in the player below!

Based on Donald Ray Pollock’s 2011 novel, The Devil All the Time film is set in rural southern Ohio in a town called Knockemstiff over the course of two decades and surrounding a cast of dark and bizarre characters, including a serial-killing couple, a faith-testing preacher and a corrupt sheriff.

Pick up a copy of the book here!

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters — an unholy preacher (Robert Pattinson), twisted couple (Jason Clarke and Riley Keough), and crooked sheriff (Sebastian Stan) — converge around young Arvin Russell (Holland) as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family. Spanning the time between World War II and the Vietnam war, director Antonio Campos’ The Devil All the Time renders a seductive and horrific landscape that pits the just against the corrupted.

The film will be led by MCU stars Tom Holland (Impossible, Spider-Man: Far From Home) and Sebastian Stan (Captain America: Civil War, I, Tonya) along with Robert Pattinson (Good Time, The Batman), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Bill Skarsgard (It), Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train), Jason Clarke (Pet Sematary), Riley Keough (It Comes at Night) Eliza Scanlen (Little Women), Harry Melling (Harry Potter films) and Pokey LaFarge.

The Devil All the Time is directed by Antonio Campos who also co-wrote the adaptation with Paulo Campos. It is produced by Randall Poster (Destroyer), Riva Marker (Wildlife) and Jake Gyllenhaal through their Nine Stories Production, marking Gyllenhaal’s second collaboration with Netflix after the horror-thriller Velvet Buzzsaw. Max Born also produces with Jared Ian Goldman, Marc Hammer, and Annie Marter executive producing.

The movie is now available to stream on Netflix!

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CS Video: The Devil All The Time Cast Talk Netflix Crime Drama

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CS Video: The Devil All The Time cast talk Netflix crime drama

ComingSoon.net got the opportunity to chat with stars Bill Skarsgård (Castle Rock), Harry Melling (His Dark Materials) and Pokey LaFarge to discuss their work in the Netflix crime drama The Devil All The Time, which is now available to stream on Netflix! Our interviews can be viewed in the player below!

Pick up a copy of the book here!

The movie is now available to stream on Netflix!

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New to Stream: MUBI’s October 2020 Film Slate

New to Stream: MUBI’s October 2020 film slate

MUBI, the premier streaming service for curated films, has revealed its October lineup, including new retrospectives, tributes and exclusive premieres, the month seeing the exclusive online premiere of South Terminal, which reflects on the long civil war that racked his native Algeria throughout the 1990s.

October will also mark the beginning of an ongoing retrospective dedicated to Amit Dutta, one of India’s most significant contemporary filmmakers and practitioners of experimental cinema. Giving viewers a chance to discover his bold and stirringly beautiful body of work, this retrospective will present one of Dutta’s films each month beginning with Nainsukh, a dreamy and intoxicating tribute to the 18th-century Indian painter Nainsukh of Guler.

For those in the mood for a good scare this spooky season, MUBI will present a month-long series dedicated to genre maestro Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who just took home the Best Director award at Venice. Best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre through cult classics such as Cure and Pulse, this selection features a handful of Kurosawa’s mind-bending work including the absorbing four hour ghost series Penance and nail-biting thriller Creepy.

Additional programs of note include: a double bill from Ben Rivers featuring his two recent short films Ghost Strata and Now, at Last! as well as Performers We Love, a new ongoing series dedicated to masterful performances by singular actors, starting with Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas, in which Mads Mikkelsen stars in the titular role.

Highlights from the October lineup are as follows:

EXCLUSIVELY ON MUBI

MUBI is proud to present the online premiere of South Terminal(Locarno ‘19), the latest work from the celebrated Algerian-French auteur Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche. Blending fiction with reality, the film vividly explores the traumas and deep wounds imprinted by colonial violence. This exclusive presentation will sit alongside a retrospective dedicated to the director in the MUBI Library, which will include his much-feted films Wesh wesh, qu’est–ce qui se passe? and Story of Judas.

South Terminal — October 5

Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at Berlin last year, Manuel Abramovich’s intimate documentary Blue Boy profiles immigrant male sex workers in Berlin. Abramovich captures the young men as they react to their own stories in a series of portraits that explore the performativity of the everyday.

Blue Boy — October 15

MUBI is thrilled to exclusively present the international premiere of the new 2k restoration of Werner Schroeter’s celebrated film Malina, the first of the director’s three collaborations with Isabelle Huppert. An adaptation of Ingeborg Bachmann’s 1971 novel, the film is driven by Huppert’s masterful performance and features breathtaking visuals and a striking operatic score.

Malina — October 22

The Inimitable Image: An Amit Dutta Retrospective — Exclusive

MUBI is proud to launch a new ongoing retrospective dedicated to the experimental filmmaker Amit Dutta, one of India’s most distinctive and unique contemporary cinematic voices. Operating outside India’s conventional film industry hubs, his deeply meditative films explore diverse forms of artistic expression. Dutta’s prolific body of work has garnered admiration from major film festivals, including Venice and Rotterdam. Sitting alongside MUBI’s current series A Journey Into Indian Cinema, which features a classic of Indian Cinema each month, MUBI will now also exclusively present one of Dutta’s films monthly. The series kicks off with Nainsukh, an intimate portrait of an 18th-century painter.

Nainsukh — October 16

Double Bill: Ben Rivers — Exclusive

After featuring much of his work on the platform and co-producing his film Trees Down Here in 2018, MUBI returns again to the visionary work of UK artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers. This double bill exclusively features his two recent short films, the globetrotting Ghost Strata and his singular portrait of a sloth Now, at Last!

Ghost Strata — October 21

Now, at Last! — October 27

The Uncanny Universe of Kiyoshi Kurosawa

This October, MUBI embraces the Halloween spirit with the mind-bending cinema of genre maestro Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Bridging both the art house and genre film worlds, Kurosawa’s unmatched career has been celebrated by major festivals and genre fans alike. His prolific and diverse filmography proves few are more skillful at cultivating suspense and a sense of uneasiness. This selection includes his epic four hour ghost series Penance and the celebrated disquieting thriller Creepy.

Döppelganger — October 1
Creepy — October 12
Beautiful New Bay Area Project — October 20
Penance — October 28

Taiwanese in America

MUBI is currently highlighting the vibrant works of the “first wave” of New Taiwanese Cinema, including the influential directors Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien. This October, MUBI will continue this focus on Taiwanese cinema, featuring two masters from the next generation of Taiwanese filmmakers (the “second wave”): Sylvia Chang and Ang Lee. This double bill presents two films exploring the Taiwanese immigrant experience in America, Sylvia Chang’s Siao Yu and Ang Lee’s Pushing Hands.

Siao Yu — October 6
Pushing Hands — October 7

MUBI will launch a new ongoing series dedicated to masterful performances by singular actors. The program kicks off with Mads Mikkelsen’s valiant performance as the titular Michael Kohlhaas in Arnaud des Pallières’s epic Palm d’Or contender Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas.

Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas — October 9

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CS Score: Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Edition & Harley Quinn Composer

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CS Score: Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Edition & Harley Quinn Composer Jefferson Friedman

Yippee kay yay, soundtrack lovers! Today we’ve got an amazing batch of material for you to check out. First, a look at the soundtrack to the PBS docuseries And She Could Be Next, featuring the single “Believe” by Sa-Roc. Then, we’ll take a look at La-La Land Records’ 30th Anniversary Remastered Limited Edition of Michael Kamen’s classic Die Hard, which recently became available again. Finally, we sat down with Harley Quinn composer Jefferson Friedman who discussed the music to the popular HBO Max series and revealed his thoughts on writing a new theme for the Batman.

Listen to the Single “Believe” by Sa-Roc from the Soundtrack And She Could Be Next

Lakeshore Records has released the first single to the soundtrack for the PBS series And She Could Be Next, titled “Believe” by Sa-Roc, Ginger Shankar and D*L*P feat. Aloe Blacc. The single is available digitally by Lakeshore Records today, September 18 and the album, “She Could Be Next” will be released October 2. and features dynamic, powerful, outspoken voices from the hip hop, pop, and R&B community including Aloe Blacc, Lila Downs, Sa-Roc, Sheila E, Arabian Prince (NWA), Madame Gandhi, Saul Williams, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, Hyro the Hero, William Stanbro, Flor de Toloache, Ruby Ibarra, Judith Hill, Shawnee, Sussan Deyhim, Sarah Thawer, Vivek Maddala, Jahi Lake, Daniel French from Las Cafeteras, Sarah DeAun McCrary, Dee MC, and Nappy Nina.

And She Could Be Next is produced by and features musician and composer Gingger Shankar (The Passion of the Christ, CNN’s We Will Rise: Michelle Obama’s Mission to Educate Girls Around the World, Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock), who scored the two-part documentary series.

Purchase the song by clicking here!

Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Remastered Edition
Michael Kamen

Die Hard remains on of the great (if not greatest) action films ever made — an exciting spectacle boasting terrific performances from Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman, spectacular action set pieces, and a dynamic score from Hollywood great, the late Michael Kamen.

Kamen was already well established in the industry thanks to his scores for popular films such as The Dead Zone, Brazil, Highlander, Lethal Weapon and Adventures in Babysitting, as well as his work on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, and was a natural fit for Die Hard. And while his score was ultimately cut and pasted all over the final film, it still serves as a massive achievement in a career that spanned several decades until the composer’s untimely death in 2003.

Using a variety of instruments, including brass, woodwinds, pizzicato and arco strings, all of which are mixed with sleigh bells as well as references to the Christmas ballad “Let It Snow!”, “Singin’ in the Rain”, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, or “Ode to Joy,” Kamen presents a score that is both ominous and thrilling. Indeed, the score follows the beats of John McTiernan’s film in that the first half is rather minimalistic in nature as the pic’s hero, John McClane, sneaks about the massive Nakatomi Plaza in search of a means to stop Hans Gruber and his merry band of “terrorists,” while the second half of the score is decidedly more bombastic during the more elaborate, action-heavy set pieces.

La-La Land Records originally released Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Remastered Edition back in January of 2019 but with limited quantities. As such, the soundtrack was unavailable for some time, unless you wanted to spend more than twice the amount of its initial cost on eBay or Amazon. Luckily, La-La Land saw fit to re-release the score, and the results are mighty impressive.

First off, the packaging is terrific. The entire set consists of 3 CDs and each disc boasts stunning artwork featuring a character from the film — namely, McClane, Hans and Alexander Godunov’s Karl — while linear notes written by film historian Eric Lichtenfeld offer a great encapsulation of Die Hard’s production as well as its overarching legacy along with a detailed recap of each track on the album. The score itself is presented in the manner originally crafted by Kaman and spread across the first two discs. CD2 also features additional music, including alternate cues and unused takes; and even James Horner’s Resolution & Hyperspace, which is an unused track written for Aliens but was repurposed for the moment in which Sgt. Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson) takes down Karl at the film’s climax.

The third disc offers the score as presented (and edited) in the final film along with a drum solo titled “Wild Take” and the tracks “Roy Rogers Meets Beethoven’s Ninth,” and “Hip Hop Christmas,” with vocals by Kamen himself.

In other words: this is quite literally every single note of music written for Die Hard, edited by Bulk, remixed by Matessino, and mastered by Daniel Hersch (sourced from recently rediscovered original digital multi-track tapes) and produced in cooperation with the Michael Kamen Estate. It’s absolutely spectacular!

Tellingly, the music as originally intended by Kamen is a bit more structured in its presentation. I’m a sucker for listening to the music as heard in the film but it’s also interesting to hear how the composer approached the film versus the final result. For example, the composer originally wrote a nice bit of music for Holly and John that first appears in “Seeing Holly” and earns a reprisal in “Aftermath – Powell’s Comeback,” but that music was replaced by the aforementioned Horner cue. “The Phone Goes Dead/Party Crashers” went largely unheard in the film as well, replaced instead by music from the track “Tony and John Fight.” In all, Kamen’s music was similar to the score written by John Williams for Raiders of the Lost Ark I that it bubbles under the surface via the use of plucked strings and steel guitar (albeit with occasional bursts of action) before building to a massive finale — a structure the score as presented in the film all but eliminates. I consider Die Hard to be as close to a perfect film as one can get and wouldn’t change anything about the final release, though, as a film score enthusiast, I’d be curious to hear the music as originally intended to see how it matches up with the images on screen. And while a lot of Kamen’s music was indeed cut, including a number of darker cues that don’t quite jive with the more light-hearted nature of the pic, many of his ideas found their way into his scores for Die Hard 2: Die Harder and the equally superb Die Hard With a Vengeance.

Standout action cues include “Assault on the Tower,” “Shoot the Glass” and the thrilling “The Battle/Freeing the Hostages,” while “Message for Holly” and “I Had an Accident (Extended Version)” offer quiet, lovely string-heavy underscore.

All told, Die Hard deserves recognition as one of the finest action scores ever written and stands out as a stunning achievement in Kamen’s distinguished career. It’s a goddamned masterpiece! Click here to get it before it’s gone again!!!

Disc 1: The Film Score

Main Title :43
Seeing Holly 1:07
Terrorist Entrance 4:06
The Phone Goes Dead / Party Crashers 1:53
John’s Escape / You Want Money 6:01
The Nakatomi Plaza (Takagi’s Death) 1:45
Wiring The Roof 1:51
Approaching The Vault* :48
Fire Alarm 2:04
Tony Approaches 1:42
Tony And John Fight 1:13
Santa :57
He Won’t Be Joining Us 3:02
And If He Alters It 2:40
Going After John 4:32
Have A Few Laughs / Al Powell Approaches 3:32
Under The Table 1:59
Welcome To The Party 1:10
Yippee Ki-Yay** :45
Holly Meets Hans 1:20
Assault On The Tower 8:34
John Is Found Out 5:04
Attention Police 3:54
Bill Clay 4:09
Shoot The Glass** 2:20
I Had An Accident (Extended Version)** 2:56
Total Disc 1 Time: 70:08

Disc 2: The Film Score (Continued)

The Vault (Film Edit) 3:07
Message For Holly (Film Edit)** 3:13
Gun In Cheek (Extended Version)** 1:20
The Battle / Freeing The Hostages 6:53
The Fire Hose** 1:24
Helicopter Explosion And Showdown 4:02
Happy Trails, Hans* 1:42
Aftermath – Powell’s Comeback* 2:52
Let It Snow 1:44
Performed by Vaughn Monroe
Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne
Published by WB Music Corp. OBO Cahn Music Company (ASCAP)
Chappell & Co., OBO Producers Music Publishing Co. (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Geffen Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Beethoven’s 9th (End Credit Excerpt) 3:53
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven; Courtesy of APM Music
Total Score Time: 100:18

Additional Music

Main Title (Alternate)* :40
The Nakatomi Plaza (Takagi’s Death) (Alternate)* 1:47
Approaching The Vault (Alternates)* 2:33
Tony Approaches (Alternate)* 1:43
Yippee Ki-Yay (Extended Version) 2:48
Assault On The Tower (Alternate Excerpts)* 3:44
Attention Police (Pick Up Opening)* 2:04
The Vault (Alternate)* 2:52
The Vault (Alternate Performance) 2:11
Message For Holly (Original Version)** 2:52
Message For Holly (Revised Version)** 2:58
Happy Trails (Tracked Film Edit) 1:13
We’ve Got Each Other 1:56
From the movie Man On Fire
Composed by John Patrick Scott (PRS)
Published by T C F Music Publishing, Inc. o/b/o New Regency Music (ASCAP)
Resolution and Hyperspace (Excerpt) 2:47
From the movie Aliens
Composed by James Horner (ASCAP); WB Music Corp; Rewind Music Inc.
Wild Percussion* 2:16
Roy Rogers Meets Beethoven’s 9th (Source) 1:33
Winter Wonderland (Source) 1:26
Written by Felix Bernard and Dick Smith
Let It Snow (Source) 1:58
Performed by Michael Kamen; Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne
Published by WB Music Corp. OBO Cahn Music Company (ASCAP)
Chappell & Co., OBO Producers Music Publishing Co. (ASCAP)
Christmas In Hollis 2:58
Performed by RUN-DMC, Courtesy of Arista Records
Written by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, Jason Mizell
Published by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)
Ⓟ 1987 Arista Records LLC by arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
Total Additional Music: 42:19
Total Disc 2 Time: 72:38

Disc 3: The Vault: Bonus Music from Die Hard

Main Title (Film Edit) :36
Seeing Holly (Film Mix) 1:05
The Phone Goes Dead / Party Crashers (Extended Opening)** 2:22
The Nakatomi Plaza (Takagi’s Death) (Orchestra Only) 1:47
Wiring The Roof (Film Mix Excerpt) :58
Tony Approaches (Film Mix) 1:44
Going After John (Film Mix) 4:33
Al Powell Approaches (Film Mix) 2:32
Al Powell Approaches (Alternate)* 2:37
Under The Table (His Bag Is Missing) (Film Edit) 1:25
John Is Found Out (Film Mix) 5:54
Bill Clay Pt. 1 (Film Mix) 2:08
Bill Clay Pt. 2 (Extended)** 2:08
Shooting The Glass 1:08
Message For Holly (Original Version) (Orchestra Only)** 2:53
The Battle (Alternate Excerpt)** 1:19
Wild Take* 1:29
Roy Rogers Meets Beethoven’s Ninth (Alternate)* 1:36
Hip Hop Christmas (Source)* 1:44
Vocal by Michael Kamen

Total Disc 3 Time: 39:58
Total Three Disc Time: 182:44
* Previously Unreleased
** Contains Previously Unreleased Material

Interview with Harley Quinn Composer Jefferson Friedman

Click here to purchase Harley Quinn Season 1 soundtrack!

ComingSoon.net: How did you get involved with Harley Quinn?

Jefferson Friedman: I had worked with Pat [Schumacker] and Justin [Halpern] and Dean [Lorey] before on Powerless, and so just as we were finishing up our lists, they had mentioned to me that they just got commissioned to write a Harley Quinn pilot. And I was like, Well, I’m available. We hit it off creatively and personally, when we were working on Powerless together, and so it was a pretty natural fit for everybody, I think.

CS: When you first came aboard Harley Quinn did you know exactly how you were going to score this series?

Friedman: I think that there are two answers to that, the short answer being that like, literally in that moment, on the mixing stage for the last episode of Powerless, I had a bright vision of what the show should sound like. Then, two years passed I think between the time that they said it was being developed and the time that we started working on it. And so over the course of those two years, it’s just, you know, sort of ideas kept popping into my head and the ones that remained at the end of those two years ended up becoming the sound of the show, which ended up being like, very similar to like the flash of inspiration I had at the very beginning.

CS: Were you given a clear set of instructions on how to handle the material or were you free to do what you wanted to do?

Friedman: I mean, the process is different for every, you know, show runner/composer team. We sat down in a room, the four of us — the three guys and then Jen Coyle who is a supervising animator on the show. I presented a pitch to them of what I thought the music should sound like, and they bit. They were like, Yep, that’s great! And then and I went home and started, you know, maybe a month later, after I’d finished some of the major themes for the show, I played it for some of the guys and they were like, That’s great. That doesn’t always happen! But, you know, on this project, I think we all sort of understood from the beginning what what it’s supposed to be. And I don’t just mean the music. I mean, I think everybody worked on the show. It just had this kind of synergy with each other and just kind of knew what the show needed to be.

CS: How much fun was it to score a series like Harley Quinn that features all of these wild, even iconic comic book characters?

Friedman: I mean, it couldn’t have been more fun. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had doing my job. Not only was it fun, but it was really special to be able to contribute to the canon of music for these iconic heroes and doing my own particular take on it. But yeah, I mean, the variety of the score was there. Every episode had a bunch of new and different challenges and that helps keep you engaged as a composer. I had a blast.

CS: So what were some of the challenges you faced? Did feel the pressure of writing music for these famed characters?

Friedman: Yeah, for sure. I mean, the Batman theme was sort of the most intimidating. And funnily enough, the one that came out the quickest of all the major characters teams. I just remember sitting down in my studio and I just said out loud to myself, “I’m writing a Batman theme for Batman.” And it just kind of occurred to me that like, that’s kind of a crazy thing that not very many people in the history of the world have had the opportunity to do. So yeah, I definitely tried to rise to the occasion.

CS: Speaking a little more on that, we’ve had so many iterations of Batman by the likes of Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. How do you separate yourself from what they’ve already done? Are those scores constantly floating around in the back of your brain? Or is there an urge to mimic those styles?

Friedman: I wouldn’t say mimic those styles. I’ve said this in a few other interviews — I didn’t listen to any DC related music as soon as I started working on the project until it was over because I wanted my memory of those themes to inform the score versus like literally inform the score. So, it’s some sort of abstract idea of, like you say, like rolling around the back of my head what Danny Elfman’s theme sounds like what Zimmer’s theme sounded like etc, etc. Batman was kind of a special case, because for some of the other characters that were like fully reinvented for the show, I felt like I had the opportunity to also fully reinvent their sound. But Batman is played as such a straight guy on the show that my concept for his theme was just like, write a proper straight up the middle Batman theme. And so that theme I think sounds similar to all the other bat themes because it was by design that way.

CS: What were the what were the challenges with Season 2?

Friedman: For Season 1, and I think on the show narratively as well, you have to spend a lot of time establishing characters and establishing the world; and establishing the relationships between characters. And so, my job is to write themes that sound like those characters and then stick to the themes and only change them if I need to change them for some sort of dramatic reasons, some sort of reason to like push the story forward. Once Season 2 started, most of the main character themes were already written. So, at that point, it’s just a matter of using that material. Not coming up with it. Coming up with it obviously takes way more time than just using something that you’ve already created. So, having all the themes done for Season 1 allowed me freed me up time wise and creatively to go in bigger and deeper directions. And for that matter, I think the story of Season 2 warrants that because it’s just it’s a bigger, deeper story too.

CS: Do you view these villains in a sympathetic light? Does that change your approach to how you score them?

Friedman: For sure! I mean, how do people become super villains? You know, like what drives someone to become a super villain? It’s obviously some pain or sadness or something … to be that evil? I think it’s probably a defense mechanism for something lacking on the inside of the villain. So, I think there’s always this kind of tragic sadness to supervillains. I’m not sure I write the music in such a manner so literally or consciously. But that’s the theory or the case inside of my head. Supervillains are tragic. There’s that one episode where it flashes back inside Ivy’s brain to her childhood and shows her a little sad girl who has a birthday party of one and her father’s a monster. That requires a certain amount of pathos to the character.

CS: Do you have any news on season three?

Friedman: I have no information about season three, I’m sorry to say. That’s my way above way, way above my pay grade. As far as if we get to season three, I think at this point, some of the main themes that I established for these characters could be due for a little bit of freshening up or changing things slightly. It really all depends on on what the story is gonna be. Obviously, if it’s sort of a return to the Season 1standalone episode style, I’ll think of the season in a different way than if it’s more like the through line narrative they used on Season 2.

CS: What do you believe is the most challenging aspect of composing music for film or TV?

Friedman: I think the most challenging aspect of it is the turnaround — the quick turnaround — that everything needs to get done so quickly in this town that you always feel like you’re just barely getting everything done. We did Season 1 and Season 2 back-to-back and I got two weeks for each episode. There were 26 episodes, so it was just like a year’s worth of steady work for seven days a week. You need a lot of stamina to do it. With that said, it’s one of my favorite things about this version of my job as a composer. Because when I was a classical composer you had all the time in the world to do whatever you wanted and that can be as difficult as a short deadline. Sometimes it can be even more difficult. Deadlines are a good thing!

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Hot Toys Reveals Lando & Boba Fett Empire Strikes Back Figures!

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Hot Toys reveals Lando & Boba Fett Empire Strikes Back figures!

In celebration of the iconic sci-fi adventure’s 40th anniversary, Hot Toys has unveiled new figures of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back‘s Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett that are set to hit shelves in early 2022. The figures can be viewed in the gallery below!

In his youth, Lando Calrissian was a sportsman seeking a fortune at the sabacc tables. After he lost his beloved ship to Han Solo, Lando spent years living the high life and pursuing get-rich-quick schemes, with uneven results. He went semi-respectable as the baron administrator of Cloud City, only to be drawn into the fight against the Galactic Empire.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Hot Toys is thrilled to continue expanding the series of throwback collectibles based on this iconic film and delighted to officially introduce the new 1/6th scale collectible figure of many fans’ beloved smooth talker – Lando Calrissian!

The highly-accurate Lando Calrissian collectible figure is skillfully crafted based on his appearance in the movie featuring a newly developed head sculpt with astonishing likeness, meticulously tailored outfit and cape, two blasters, a communicator, a wrist link, a figure base with Cloud City backdrop all in a specially designed retro style packaging!

Armed in customized Mandalorian armor, dangerous weaponry and highly trained combat skills, Boba Fett has earned a notorious reputation as one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the galaxy as he takes on contracts from the criminal underworld and the Galactic Empire.

Based on his famous appearance in the beloved film, the Boba Fett collectible figure features a meticulously crafted Mandalorian helmet and armor with distressed effects, his iconic jetpack, a cape, detailed blasters, and a display stand! Furthermore, this 1/6th scale collectible figure features an alternative version of Boba Fett’s armor including a range of interchangeable parts such as helmet, jetpack, gauntlets, cape, and a number of gloved hands all packaged in specially designed retro style packaging!