CS Video: Relic Interview with Emily Mortimer

ComingSoon.net got the opportunity to chat with star Emily Mortimer (Doll & Em, Mary Poppins Returns) to discuss her role in the Sundance horror darling Relic, which is now available on digital platforms and in select theaters! Check out our interview in the player below and rent your copy of the movie here!

RELATED: Relic Review: Poignant Terror Albeit Uneven Script

Written and directed by Natalie Erika James in her feature debut, the film focused on elderly mother Edna as she inexplicably vanishes and sees her daughter Kay (Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam rush to their family’s decaying country home, finding clues of increasing dementia scattered around the house in her absence. After Edna returns just as mysteriously as she disappeared, Kay’s concern that her mother seems unwilling or unable to say where she’s been clashes with Sam’s unabashed enthusiasm to have her grandma back.

As Edna’s behavior turns increasingly volatile, both begin to sense that an insidious presence in the house might be taking control of her. All three generations of women are brought together through trauma and a powerful sense of strength and loyalty to face the ultimate fear together.

Alongside Mortimer, the film’s cast includes Robyn Nevin (Top of the Lake, The Eye of the Storm), Bella Heathcoate (Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Pieces of Her) and Jeremy Sanford (Satisfaction, Worst Year of My Life).

RELATED: IFC Films Debuts Poster & New Clip For Dave Franco’s The Rental

Relic is produced by Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riva Marker, with the Russo Brothers, Mike Larocca, Todd Makurath, Wang Zhonqiun, Wang Zhonglei, and Hu Junyi all attached as executive producers. The film, which made its debut to critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and is in select theaters, drive-ins, and VOD and digital platforms now!

The post CS Video: Relic Interview with Emily Mortimer appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

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Jurassic World 3: Universal denies claims of another filming shutdown

Yesterday, rumors circulated online that production on Jurassic World: Dominion has reportedly suffered another shut down after recently restarting its filming in the UK due to a crew member testing positive for COVID-19. However, Universal Pictures immediately responded by reassuring fans that the rumors aren’t at all true. Speaking with Comic Book, the studio also confirmed that the highly-anticipated third installment is now on its fifth day of shooting.

“Any reports indicating that Jurassic World: Dominion has halted production are categorically untrue,” Universal Pictures said in a statement. “The production is headed into its fifth day of shooting tomorrow, and we’re thrilled to be back in front of the camera on this incredible project.”

RELATED: Bryce Dallas Howard Calls Jurassic World: Dominion “Exhilarating”

Steven Spielberg and Colin Trevorrow return to executive produce Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World: Dominion, with Trevorrow once again directing the next chapter in one of the biggest franchises in the history of cinema. Producers Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley once again partner with Spielberg and Trevorrow in leading the filmmakers for this installment.

The upcoming threequel will be starring returning cast members from the first two Jurassic World films include Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith as well as original Jurassic Park stars Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Campbell Scott. It will also feature Mamoudou Athie (Sorry for You Loss), DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It), Dichen Lachman (Animal Kingdom, Altered Carbon), Scott Haze (Venom, Antlers).

RELATED: Mission: Impossible 7 Might Restart Filming in September

Joining the Jurassic team for the first time is Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim Uprising, The Black Hole), who will craft the Jurassic World 3 screenplay with Trevorrow. They will work off a story by Derek Connolly and Trevorrow, who together co-wrote Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Jurassic World: Dominion is currently set to debut in theaters on June 11, 2021.

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The post Jurassic World 3: Universal Denies Claims of Another Filming Shutdown appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Rating: 

9.5/10

Cast:

Andy Samberg as Nyles

Cristin Milioti as Sarah

J. K. Simmons as Roy

Camila Mendes as Tala

Tyler Hoechlin as Abe

Meredith Hagner as Misty

Dale Dickey as Darla

Chris Pang as Trevor

Peter Gallagher as Howard

June Squibb as Nana Schlieffen

Directed by Max Barbakow; Written by Andy Siara

Palm Springs Review:

The time loop genre has seen an incredible comeback in the past few years thanks to thrilling new takes on the concept with films including the sci-fi actioner Edge of Tomorrow and slasher comedy Happy Death Day. While there has been a minor resurgence in quality romantic comedies, the genre is still one begging for more fresh offerings and Andy Siara and Max Barbakow have found the best of both genres in their electrifying and outstanding new film Palm Springs.

As reluctant maid of honor Sarah (Cristin Milioti) finds herself trying to get through her sister’s Palm Springs wedding, she has a chance encounter with Nyles (Andy Samberg), a carefree partier and boyfriend to one of the bridesmaids. But after a wild night in the desert together away from the craziness of the wedding, they find a mysterious cavern and wake up on the day of the wedding again and realize they are trapped in a time loop, unable to escape the venue, themselves or each other.

There have been a few comedic attempts at the time loop concept in the past, the most notable of course being the Bill Murray-led Groundhog Day, but rarely have past efforts actually taken the time to offer both an interesting setup AND realistic explanation for their cyclical story and Barbakow and Siara have found a way to do both. Sure leaving the reason behind the loop ambiguous is often more fun and allows the film a chance to focus on its characters and their antics, but the duo expertly balance both as we’re still kept in the dark on many of the details regarding the loop while also offered a unique and reasonable answer for why these characters are being put through the temporal ringer.

When the film isn’t reveling in its more fantastical element, it delivers a very moving and hilarious character study on two very real people suffering from easy-to-connect-to problems and their budding romance. Romantic comedies always seem to want to pit two characters against each other to eventually fall in love or throw some obstacle in the way of them clearly being head-over-heels for each other, but the setup for Sarah and Nyles feels fresh and far more interesting than most, making for a much easier to connect to and enjoyable development of their feelings for one another.

It also certainly helps that the script allows the romance to naturally flow from their situation and experiences with one another rather than forcing some cheesy series of pick up lines and cutesy dates onto the characters. The comedy also benefits greatly from this natural character development, and the core concept driving the plot, as the characters react in thoroughly believable ways to every hurdle and obstacle thrown their way, from their individual experiences in the loop to time spent together.

The brilliant script is only further elevated by the outstanding performances from Samberg and Milioti, who unsurprisingly shine in their individual performances while also displaying incredible comic chemistry together. Though we’ve seen Samberg take on more care-free and outrageous characters in the past, his performance here feels unique and shows an extra bit of versatility in his range, marking one of his best turns yet. Milioti has delivered plenty of great performances over the year, but this feels like her chance to truly shine in a more lead capacity and in a role that gives her just as much agency and compelling development as her male counterpart.

The only real flaw in the film lies in some of its more predictable formula points for its respective genres, from the impassioned speech by a total stranger for the guy to chase after the girl to a few revelations in each character that we’ve seen before. This walk down familiar lane isn’t enough to truly take away from Palm Springs‘ overall originality or irreverent take on the Groundhog Day concept, but keeps it just one step from soaring into the territory of a perfect rom-com, landing in the near-perfect realm and proving to be a moving, hilarious and breathtaking work.

The post Palm Springs Review: A Breathtaking Twist on the Rom-Com Genre appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

CS Interview: Tony Dean & Ryan W. Smith on sci-fi thriller Volition

ComingSoon.net recently got to delve into the minds of co-writer/director Tony Dean Smith and his brother and co-writer Ryan W. Smith for their time-bending sci-fi thriller Volition, which is now available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and other digital platforms. Pick up your copy here!

RELATED: CS Interview: Toya Turner Talks Netflix’s Warrior Nun

ComingSoon.net: What were the biggest creative challenges in tackling the various genres on display in the film? 

Tony Dean Smith: Our aim was to ground the characters in their respective worlds.  Since we use clairvoyance as an affliction as opposed to a superhero ability, our protagonist needed to behave and inhabit a world that naturally extended from his behaviour.  So the cross into thriller/gangsters came quite naturally.  We knew James wasn’t using his ability to help others, so we thought it’d be a natural fit to have him hang out with other self-serving characters, who were also just trying to survive and make ends meet.  The fun was in treating the science-fiction element as a character flavor/trait/wound, not as a genre-tell in itself.

CS: What were some of your biggest inspirations in developing and shooting the film? 

TDS: There’s such a melange of inspirations for me in the development of the film, often highlighting the genre-bending nature of the movie.  I love and respect what Christopher Nolan does so much.  He’s literally making esoteric blockbusters, and I can’t think of anyone else but the late, great Kubrick who could do that.  So Nolan’s Memento had an early influence on me, as did Tony Scott’s True Romance.  In hindsight, I can see that Volition is the distant love-child of those two movies.

CS: What were some of your fondest memories in bringing this to life? 

TDS: Truthfully, it’s been such a fantastic and eye-opening experience for us, that the favorite memories are still coming in!  However, one highlight was travelling with the film to London, England – where it played to packed theatres for the 20th FrightFest Film Festival.  I just loved experiencing the joy and passion from that audience, and all of our audiences, to be fair.  We always hear that cinema is a universal language, but not until going to another county with a piece of your own work does it really dawn on you.  That is an experience I’ll forever cherish.

Ryan W. Smith: We had such an incredible cast and crew, which made the production process so special.  Yes, it was probably the hardest any of us had ever worked, with intense, sweaty days (that turned into nights), but the set had a real family feel.  We each saw each other at our tiredest. Those moments of creative delirium will stick with me, where we each enjoyed the madness of this creative endeavour.

CS: What do you hope audiences can take away from the story, aside from just the entertainment factor? 

TDS: The movie is a non-stop thrill-ride, so we hope people enjoy the high-stakes game of fate vs. free-will that James has to play. On a deeper level, I think we can all find a place in our lives where we might be stuck. Like James, I hope we all get inspired to do the hard thing; to evolve those areas in our lives that we feel trapped by. Our free-will can push through our limitations, but to do so, we have to go through the fear we see — not around it. That’s the message of the film to me.

RWS: We also hope the conversation keeps going.  We’d like the film to spark debate.  There’s definitely a fair amount to discuss and unpack, particularly in the ending.  We’re both on Twitter @volition_movie and we’re excited to connect.

Warning: The Following Questions & Answers Do Contain Some Spoilers For Volition

CS: The time travel concept is always an ambitious idea to tackle, how did the story idea come to your minds? 

TDS: Yes, it’s subject matter that any sane person should steer far away from.  Having said that, this was an idea that developed organically over a number of years.  The kernel of a clairvoyant seeing a fixed future came to me back in film school, but it wasn’t until a few years later, when I could add in my own life experience, that the film started to take shape.   At that time, I was feeling quite stuck in my life, almost resigned to the fact that maybe I could never make the movies I wanted to make.  That I was a prisoner of my own perception is what allowed me to create James.  He’s also a prisoner of his own design and it takes a vision of his own death to finally wake him up from his pre-determined worldview.  When I realized how similar James was to me, I knew I had stumbled upon a story and character that was both grounded – and personally resonant.  

RWS:  Tony approached me with his first draft, which I loved and I was excited to hop on board.  We took the core of that draft and then went down far too many rabbit holes, as we struggled to create the unique structure of the current film.  It’s a complex puzzle that involved a ridiculous amount of drafts and mind-mapping.  For all the writers out there, be warned, playing with time will take years off of your life. 

RELATED: CS Interview: Tobin Bell on Chilling Possession Pic Belzebuth

CS: Given there are multiple timelines on display in the film, how did you keep them all organized in building the structure? 

TDS: Ryan can speak to our endless pie charts and diagrams, but from a director’s standpoint, I used every color-coding trick and mnemonic device available to know who I was filming, where they were and when they were.  It was an incredible exercise in precision and planning – and it’s something that actually came quite easy to us, as we built it from the ground up.  Our cast and crew, on the other hand, had moments of confusion, not knowing when they were… but they trusted in us as filmmakers, which was both generous and brave of them!

RWS:  The graphs and charts were very really and very mind-numbing, but we needed them to reach the finish line.  In truth, we reached the finish line many times over, as once we’d get to the end of the script, we’d come to see that the ending required re-writing the beginning, and vice versa.  It was a long process of iterating and improving over time, in some ways mirroring the film itself.  Our one constant was our lead, James, who was always at the front of his personal timeline, so that was helpful.

When you know your world is predetermined, it’s hard to care about your choices. This is true for James Odin. On a rain-soaked night in 1991, two cars collide, leaving all drivers dead on the scene, including the mother of the lone survivor, a child James Odin. It’s a tragedy, but what’s more tragic is that seven-year-old James foresaw the accident happening two months prior. He tried to prevent it, but who’s going to believe a kid who claims to see the future?

Twenty-plus years later, James is a product of the failed foster care system, knowing that the events of his future are predestined, he’s getting by using his ability for petty crime and cheap thrills. But when a pre-sentient vision reveals to him his own imminent murder, James must go on the run. Together with a new friend, Angela, he must change the fate he knows is fixed.

Co-written by Ryan W. and Tony Dean Smith and directed by the latter, the cast for the film includes Adrian Glynn McMorran, Magda Apanowicz, John Cassini, Frank Cassini, Aleks Paunovic and Bill Marchant. Volition is now available on digital platforms!

The post CS Interview: Tony Dean & Ryan W. Smith on Sci-Fi Thriller Volition appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Rating: 

8.5/10

Cast:

Emily Mortimer as Kay

Robyn Nevin as Edna

Bella Heathcote as Sam

Chris Bunton as Jamie

Jeremy Stanford as Alex

Steve Rodgers as Constable Mike Adler

Co-written and directed by Natalie Erika James; Co-written by Christian White

Rent your copy of the movie now!

Relic Review:

The horror genre is one rife with potential to cover more dramatic topics in powerful fashion and some have done so with flying colors, such as both of Ari Aster’s previous works and Robert Eggers’ The Witch, while some have faltered at one or the other in balancing the terror with the story’s themes. Though Natalie Erika James’ Relic features some solid terror and powerful storytelling, its script can’t quite find the proper balance between the two.

When elderly mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) inexplicably vanishes, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) rush to their family’s decaying country home, finding clues of her increasing dementia scattered around the house in her absence. After Edna returns just as mysteriously as she disappeared, Kay’s concern that her mother seems unwilling or unable to say where she’s been clashes with Sam’s unabashed enthusiasm to have her grandma back. As Edna’s behavior turns increasingly volatile, both begin to sense that an insidious presence in the house might be taking control of her. 

The pacing of the film is nothing short of a tense, slow-burning affair that nicely offers a look into this multi-generational dysfunction, spotlighting all three women and their various inner struggles in life. As things get worse, the pace may not ramp up in any extreme fashion, but it’s not necessarily a negative for the film, because even in some of its more terrifying moments the reason behind the sinister nature of things isn’t something so devastating like a demonic presence that it requires a faster pace.

The story is certainly a topic previously touched upon in other films, namely in the chilling found footage project The Taking of Deborah Logan, but it’s handled in a much more poignant and haunting fashion in Relic than in most other efforts. James and White’s script does a brilliant job of introducing audiences to Kay and Sam and the former’s troublesome relationship with Edna, making it immediately clear the struggle she has with her desire to unconditionally love her while also having a problem with forgiving her for their past without endless lines of dialogue or scenes dumping exposition on everyone’s motives.

When the sinister presence in the home slowly begins to make itself known via the moldy walls, odd behavior and bumps in the middle of the night, this character development is unfortunately thrown to the wayside in favor of trying to tap into some of the genre’s best haunted house/possession tropes, and though it expertly brings some of them to life, it just feels so imbalanced with what came before. With Eggers’ Witch, the film always put the drama before the horror while also finding ways to meld the horror in, but the problem here is that it can’t seem to find a natural and organic segue between the two, kind of feeling like a jarring shift in tone and genre in many moments.

Should the two have found a better way to complement each other, the terror would’ve felt much more amplified and the drama much more heightened, but instead the feeling that viewers will be left with in a number of scenes is one of trying to figure out whether they should be saddened by what they’re seeing or horrified or both. Additionally, a lot of the story starts to become very convoluted and hard to connect to as things go on, with its subtle messages becoming a little too obvious and its answers becoming fewer and fewer. Keeping audiences in the dark on answers is certainly a great thing when it comes to horror, but there’s not even any hinting of what’s terrorizing the family, creating a sense of general confusion about the events and hauntings that have occurred leading up to its ending.

Even if the story falters in its tonal balance, the performances from Mortimer, Heathcote, and Nevin prove magnetic across its near-90 minute runtime, keeping audiences compelled to continue watching the characters as they come to terms with a potentially very real and disturbing situation. James’ direction also proves to be stellar, with cinematographer Charlie Sarroff helping deliver an elegant and artful look to the whole affair, making even the mismatched storytelling interesting to watch.

Relic is certainly a chilling film and one full of heartbreaking explorations of humanity, aging and dementia, with moving central performances and skillful direction, but much of its script can’t quite find the right balance between its terror and drama.

The post Relic Review: Poignant Terror Albeit Uneven Script appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Watched at Home: Top 20 Streaming Films for the Week of July 3

Welcome back, couch potatoes! And welcome back Trolls! The DreamWorks Animated comedy jumped back to number one, silencing last week’s champ, Yellowstone Season 3. Fans need not worry about Kevin Costner, though, as his dramatic series took up the next three spots.

Screen Media Films’ The Outpost followed in the No. 5 spot, while long-running champ Sonic the Hedgehog and The Invisible Man rounded out the Top 7.

Not surprisingly, Roland Emmerich’s 1996 blockbuster Independence Day snuck its way on the list over the Fourth of July weekend. I watched the film again this weekend and, surprisingly, the alien invasion flick holds up pretty well. Aside from all the Randy Quaid bits and a rather lackluster third act, that is.

Mad props to you Harry Potter fans for keeping the film floating around the Top 20. Truly astounding stuff for an increasingly aging franchise.

1 Trolls World Tour (Universal)
2 Yellowstone: SSN 3 (Paramount)
3 Yellowstone: SSN 1 (Paramount)
4 Yellowstone: SSN 2 (Paramount)
5 The Outpost (Screen Media Films)
6 Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount)
7 The Invisible Man (Universal, 2020)
8 Independence Day (Fox)
9 Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony)
10 Bad Boys for Life (Sony)
11 Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (WB)
12 The Call of the Wild (Disney, 2020)
13 Jungle Beat: The Movie (Sandcastle Studios & Sunrise Productions)
14 The Gentlemen (STX/Universal, 2019)
15 1917 (Universal)
16 The Hunt (Universal)
17 Force Of Nature (Lionsgate)
18 Bloodshot (Sony, 2020)
19 Harry Potter (WB, complete 8-film Collection)
20 Onward (Disney)

The post Watched at Home: Top 20 Streaming Films for the Week of July 3 appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

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New Wonder Woman 1984 promo image offers new look at Cheetah

A brand new promo image for Patty Jenkins’ highly-anticipated film Wonder Woman 1984 has surfaced online (via CBM) which you can check out below, providing us with our best look at Kristen Wiig in her full transformation as Cheetah. Ahead of its theatrical release on October 2, fans have been speculating that we might get new footage from the sequel at the upcoming DC FanDome virtual event on August 22.

New images of Wonder Woman and Cheetah #WW84 pic.twitter.com/lhunFi7yMU

— Wonder Woman News (@WonderWoman84HQ) July 9, 2020

RELATED: Patty Jenkins Offers New Details on Wonder Woman 1984 & Future

Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big-screen adventure finds her facing an all-new foe: The Cheetah. As previously announced, the film stars Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Kristen Wiig in the role of the Super-Villain The Cheetah, as well as Pedro Pascal. Chris Pine also returns as Steve Trevor.

Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster) returns to direct the sequel, while Jenkins, Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Stephen Jones, and Gal Gadot are producing the film. Rebecca Roven Oakley, Richard Suckle, Wesley Coller, Geoff Johns, and Walter Hamada are the executive producers.

RELATED: Wonder Woman 1984 Trailer!

Originally set to open in theaters on December 13, 2019, Wonder Woman 1984, which is based on the character created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment, was moved up to November 1 before being delayed to June 5 and a fourth time to August 14 before its current date of October 2. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

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IFC Films’ Tesla Trailer Starring Ethan Hawke in Biographical Drama

In honor of Nikola Tesla’s 164th birthday today, IFC Films has released the official Tesla trailer for their upcoming biographical drama starring Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke (Boyhood, Training Day), releasing in theaters and on VOD on August 21. You can check out the trailer now in the player below!

RELATED: Made in Italy Trailer Starring Father-Son Duo Liam Neeson & Micheál Richardson

The film, written, directed, and produced by Michael Almerevda (Hamlet), follows inventor Nikola Tesla (Hawke) as he fights an uphill battle to bring his revolutionary electrical system to fruition. Increasingly displeased by the greed of fellow inventor Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks), Tesla forges his own virtuous but arduous path toward creating the innovative alternate-current motor. His European nature is at odds with budding American industrialism and the landscape of intellectual property is treacherous and Tesla slowly becomes jailed in his overactive mind. His associate, Anne Morgan (Eve Hewson, The Knick), analyzes and presents his story as it unfolds, offering a distinctly modern voice in this scientific period drama.

In addition to Hawke, Hewson, and MacLachlan, the cast for Tesla features Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show) as entrepreneur George Westinghouse, Donnie Keshawarz (The Wolf of Wall Street), Rebecca Dayan (Celeste & Jesse Forever), Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade) and Lucy Walters (Power).

RELATED: IFC Films Sets American Release of The Painted Bird

Tesla is produced by IFC Films alongside Millennium Media, Uri Singer of Passage Pictures, Christa Campbell and Lati Grobham of Campbell-Grobman Films and Isen Robbins of Intrinsic Value Films.

The post IFC Films’ Tesla Trailer Starring Ethan Hawke in Biographical Drama appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

CS Recommends: Constantine, Plus Video Games, Graphic Novels & 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 2005’s Constantine starring Keanu Reeves & more. Check out our picks below!

RELATED: July 7 Blu-ray, Digital and DVD Releases

MAX EVRY’S RECOMMEND: The Weirn Books Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods

Click here to purchase The Weirn Books Vol. 1!

Click here to purchase Nightschool!

The first in Svetlana Chmakova’s YA graphic novel series is utterly charming and full of humor and colorful artwork. Essentially a more Americanized take on a Harry Potter-esque magical school drawn in an anglo-manga style, it takes place in a New England town where kids practicing witchcraft have little astral demon spirits attached to them. This book revolves around a teacher’s long-lost twin, a possessed classmate, and a possibly haunted house. If you like this book you can get the even thicker Collector’s Edition of Nightschool, also part of The Weirn Books series, which is drawn in a more traditional manga style in black & white by Chmakova. Check out a trailer below!

KYLIE HEMMERT’S RECOMMEND: Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal

Click here to purchase the complete series!

Part of my quarantine has been spent rewatching all three seasons of Bryan Fuller’s deliciously original and not-for-the-faint-of-heart series adaptation Hannibal that introduced the world to murder husbands and somehow gets even better every time I revisit it. Inspired by the characters from Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon, the show is the perfect psychological bloody crime drama that artfully explores the minds of disturbing individuals along with incredibly complex and codependent relationships, particularly between FBI profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) — who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers — and Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen).

The relationship between the two men is a fascinating mixture of cat-and-mouse meets genuine cravings for connection and understanding in the face of overwhelming loneliness with the constant threat of death and high-stakes consequences consistently lingering over every character. Hannibal is the perfect series to fall in love with and obsess over (if you can stomach the gore) and you might even pick up a few clever recipes along the way!

GRANT HERMANNS’ RECOMMEND: AMC’s Preacher

Click here to purchase Season 1!

Click here to purchase Season 2!

Click here to purchase Season 3!

Click here to purchase Season 4!

A few months back I recommended you step away from your screens and put your noses in a book with Vol. 1 of Garth Ennis’ Absolute Preacher, a collection of the first 26 issues of the Preacher comic line, and now I’m imploring you to power back up your TVs and dive into the darkly hilarious, gleefully bloody and exhilarating series adaptation from Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen. Masterfully cast and performed, wonderfully blending faithfulness to the source material and creators’ own take on the story and perfectly balancing its various tones, Preacher is one of the best graphic novel adaptations not only on TV but media as a whole and with only a four-season run is easy to fly through.

MAGGIE DELA PAZ’S RECOMMEND: Constantine (2005)

Click here to purchase!

Before Keanu Reeves took on one of his most popular roles as the unbeatable assassin John Wick, he first starred in director Francis Lawrence’s live-action film adaptation of DC Comics’ Hellblazer. It featured Reeves as the fan-favorite anti-superhero John Constantine which I think is definitely one of his underrated roles to date. The 2005 film was actually Reeves’ first action project following The Matrix Revolutions.

In the film, Constantine is an occult detective who helps ordinary people with their supernatural problems including exorcising demons which is his way to gain Heaven’s favor. However, his job gets more complicated when a police detective tries to enlist his help to investigate her twin sister’s unusual death which is somehow connected to the upcoming doom of humanity. Despite receiving mixed reviews for not being truthful to its source material, the film has still amassed quite a cult following which is mainly attributed to Reeves’ performance. It also boasted a star-studded cast consisting of Tilda Swinton, Rachel Weisz, and Shia LaBeouf.

With recent rumors circulating that Warner Bros. is reportedly developing a new live-action Constantine film, now is the perfect time for you to check out or revisit Reeves’ first stint into the superhero genre.

JEFF AMES’ RECOMMEND: Alien: Isolation

Click here to purchase!

For horror fans who are tired of hacking at repulsive zombies, I suggest you give Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation a whirl. Or, if you already have, go back and reexperience Amanda Ripley’s quest to survive the terrifying xenomorph moviegoers first encountered in Ridley Scott’s 1979 science fiction masterpiece, Alien. Thanks to its still astounding artificial intelligence, Alien: Isolation positions the titular slime infested baddie around your person at all times, which means you have to navigate the vast Sevastopol space station as quietly and alertly as humanly possible. The creature drops unscripted from ceilings, appears in dark hallways, and lies in wait in air ducts, ready to eviscerate its next victim.

Critics claimed the game was too long and intense to enjoy. F*#k that. Alien: Isolation rocks! I’ve played this game at least once a year since its release and find the ride just as terrifying (and satisfying) today as it was the first time I endured it back in 2015.

Not only is Alien: Isolation an amazing Alien game, it’s perhaps the best sequel to come out of the long-running franchise since James Cameron’s 1986 Aliens, and expands the mythos even further than ever before. The only question is: when will we get more?

The post CS Recommends: Constantine, Plus Video Games, Graphic Novels & More! appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Lord of the Rings series: Elijah Wood Open to Return for a Cameo

It has already been nearly 8 years since Elijah Wood made his last appearance as Frodo Baggins in 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In a recent interview with IndieWire, Wood finally commented on Amazon Studios’ highly-anticipated Lord of the Rings series. When asked about the possibility of returning to the beloved epic franchise, he immediately answered that he’s “absolutely” open to reprising his iconic role as long as his cameo would make sense to the whole story.

“If there was a world where that made sense and was organic to what they’re doing then yes,” Wood said. “Look, any excuse to get to go to New Zealand to work on something I am absolutely there.”

In addition, he also gave out some criticism about the upcoming show’s potential title, revealing it would be very misleading if the producers would continue to with “The Lord of the Rings” title. “They’re calling it The Lord of the Rings, but I think that’s slightly misleading. From what I understand, the material they are working on exists chronologically further back in history in the lore of Lord of the Rings or Middle-earth than any characters represented in Lord of the Rings. It sounds more ‘Silmarillion’ era. Not to get nerdy, but it’s the Second Age of Middle-earth.”

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The highly-anticipated Lord of the Rings series will be set in the Second Age. That places approximately 3,000 years of history between the series and the beginning of The Lord of the Rings. Casual fans may not realize it, but Jackson’s Fellowship of the Rings actually depicted the end of the Second Age, when the last alliance of elves and men confronted Sauron’s forces. The Second Age covered nearly 3,441 years, and it began after the banishment of Morgoth, the dark lord before Sauron. There’s a lot of story potential in that time, including the rise of Sauron, the creation of the One Ring, and the emergence of the Ringwraiths.

Buy the Lord of the Rings films here.

The series will star Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones) Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones), Maxim Baldry (Years and Years), Markella Kavenagh, Ema Horvath and Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud), who will portray the role of a young Galadriel which the first confirmed major character that will be featured in the series. It will also feature Tom Budge, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, and Charlie Vickers.

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Juan Antonio (J.A.) Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Orphanage, The Impossible) will direct the first two episodes of Amazon Studios’ The Lord of the Rings TV series and also executive produce alongside his producing partner Belén Atienza. JD Payne and Patrick McKay are showrunning and executive producing the series alongside Lindsey Weber (10 Cloverfield Lane), Bruce Richmond (Game of Thrones), Gene Kelly (Boardwalk Empire), Sharon Tal Yguado, Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad), Jason Cahill (The Sopranos), and Justin Doble (Stranger Things).

The Lord of the Rings series is produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema. It is expected to debut in 2021.

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