Amulet Trailer: Have faith in fear

Magnet Releasing has unveiled the first official trailer for the upcoming horror film Amulet from debuting writer/director Romola Garai centered on a former soldier who goes to help take care of a sinister old woman. The trailer can be viewed in the player below!

RELATED: New Nick Simon Project Untitled Horror Movie Unveiled

Written and directed by Garai, the story centers on former soldier Tomaz who, following an accident that leaves him homeless in London, is brought to the rotting home of Magda, a lonely woman in desperate need of help as she looks after her dying mother. Though at first resistant, Magda eventually welcomes him into their lives and allows him to help her care for them. But as he worms his way into their routine and begins to fall for Magda, Tomaz starts to notice strange, unexplainable, and ugly phenomena. Something seems very wrong with the mysterious old woman who never leaves the top floor, and Magda may in fact be enslaved to do her otherworldly bidding.

The cast for the film is made up of Carla Juri (Blade Runner 2049), Alec Secareanu (God’s Own Country), Imelda Staunton (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) and Angeliki Papoulia (The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea).

RELATED: Relic Clip: These Moldy Walls House Dark Secrets

Having garnered strong reviews at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, the film is set to hit select theaters and VOD on July 24.

The post Amulet Trailer: Have Faith in Fear appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

CS Interview: Phillipa Soo Talks Hamilton & Playing Leading Lady Eliza

The stages of Broadway remain quiet in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis that has seen the shutters come down on all shows since March 12, and it will stay that way through the end of the year according to The Broadway League. Even before the shut-down, though, seeing Hamilton was out of reach for many of its fans.

Early in 2020, before the quarantine that would define all that came after, the announcement that Disney had bought the film rights to distribute a live performance of Hamilton was huge news. Filmed in 2016 with the Original Broadway Cast, Hamilton fans no longer had to wonder when they’d get a chance to take in the show, albeit on the big screen: Disney confirmed an October 2020 release. Then the coronavirus hit and Disney adjusted its plans, announcing they would premiere Hamilton by bringing it into the homes of its Disney+ subscribers just in time for the July 4th weekend.

ComingSoon.net had the opportunity to speak Phillipa Soo, one of Hamilton’s leading ladies, who graduated from Julliard in 2012 and in that same year was cast as the lead in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Future Hamilton director Thomas Kail, and writer/star Lin-Manuel Miranda, took in a performance and asked Soo to take part in an early reading of their show.

Soo would go on to shepherd the role of Eliza, wife of the titular Alexander, all the way to Broadway. CS spoke to Soo, just a few weeks after she’d celebrated her birthday in quarantine by adopting a new puppy, about her time with Hamilton, and her thoughts on how it resonates in our current social and political climate.

RELATED: Disney Debuts Special New Look at Hamilton!

ComingSoon.net: You were a part of Hamilton from the very beginning, from the first readings and all the way up through Broadway. What do you remember most about those early days?

Phillipa Soo: I remember constantly being surprised by like, the hair standing up on my arms, you know, all those moments. Because I started, and I only heard the second half of the show, because it was a reading of act two. So I didn’t have any idea what was happening in act one until the next reading that I did. And that was like, my mind was blown. I was just like, “what? ‘Helpless,’ ‘Satisfied,’” like, “this is incredible!” You know, and it just kept on adding from there. But I think the thread is that every single moment working on that show and hearing a new piece of music, or seeing a new person come in, it sort of clicked? Like it kept clicking, and the air would change in the room, and we would all sort of look at each other and be like: “whoa, okay. I can’t believe this.”

CS: Wow. That sounds incredibly intense. I have to wonder, what’s it like revisiting the show for you now? This film coming out while America is in the middle of another revolution, what some are calling the largest civil rights protest in history?

Soo: Yeah, I mean, I am so glad that we can have this film come out and have it be a part of the conversation into Black Lives Matter, and really examining what it means to be an American. And like the show, to see that it’s imperfect, that revolution is messy. And that shouldn’t deter us from going out into the streets, using our voice, using our ballot to create a country that we want to see.

CS: Eliza is such an emotional character in many ways that feels like she’s the audience’s surrogate emotionally. What’s your experience like inhabiting someone who goes through such profound emotional changes eight nights a week?

Soo: Well, it was not easy.

CS: I can’t imagine!

Soo: I mean, it’s not an easy task. Well, I’ll say this, it was easy in so many ways because the writing and the material is so profound, and I deeply connected to it on so many levels. So in terms of that old actor story of “being in the moment” and: “will the tears be there, will the emotion be there?” So often I didn’t really have to worry about that, because just looking at my cast, and listening to the words, and looking out into the audience and seeing all of the faces of the people who were coming to see it, I would just get emotional thinking about it.

CS: Sure.

Soo: So that fed me. That certainly fed me. But I think as a young actor, you don’t know how to prepare for something like that.

CS: Or how to re-emerge from the role?

Soo: More so to know how to maintain health and balance during things like that, because it’s so rare that an actor is asked to do the same thing, multiple nights in a row for like, two years. So I think I learned a lot about myself, as an actor and just sort of like, the mechanics of it and how to like, take care of myself.

CS: In many ways, Eliza’s journey reminds me of what a lot of Americans are going through right now. Do you see any common threads between her struggles and kind of what’s happening right now in the nation?

Soo: Certainly. I mean, here you have a mother who loses her child to a bullet. I think that certainly resonates with me. And I think that at the end of the day, what’s most important to remember is that these historical figures that we look at, when we see their stories, it’s important to remember that they were people, too? That their hardships are not just tales of a story long, long ago, that they were us, you know?

So I find that in moments now when I’m sort of looking at the world, I just try and remember that people have had hardships for centuries and centuries and centuries. And I feel quite lucky to be where I am. And I have to ask myself: what can I do based off of the hard work and fighting for change and fighting to have their stories told and their legacies maintained? Like what can I do to honor the people who have come before me by using my body, by using my voice? You know, how can I lift them up and honor them?

RELATED: Disney Unveils New Clip from Opening Number of Hamilton

CS: It seems like Eliza’s legacy, I was reading a bit about her to refresh my memory, was the safety net she helped create for hundreds of orphan children, as well as documenting the work and legacy of her husband. And I wondered, did portraying her get you thinking about your own legacy and about how you’d want to be remembered?

Soo: Oh absolutely. I mean, I think as I was 25 and 26 at the time and thinking like, “what am I supposed to do?” This woman lived a full life, and helped so many people, and dedicated her life to uplifting voices that might not have been heard. So I don’t know, I just think like: “well, geez. Like, how can I try and even remotely do that?” But her story is so comforting because yes, we’re living in a moment where we “cannot throw away our shot.” Like we just, we can’t wait. We gotta go now. We gotta say the things we want to say. We gotta write the things we want to write. We need to connect with the people that we want to connect with.

And at the same time, there is time and we need to use it wisely. Even if that means like, waiting. Even if that means listening and patience; that there is a way to be constructive with your time. And I think that’s just for the individual person to know, like: “do I need to focus more on my output right now, or do I need to focus more on my input?” And that’s a question that we can continue to ask ourselves and continue to strive to move forward.

(Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage via Getty Images)

The post CS Interview: Phillipa Soo Talks Hamilton & Playing Leading Lady Eliza appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Rating: 

6.5/10

Cast:

Tobin Bell as Vasilio Canetti

Joaquín Cosio as Emmanuel Ritter

Tate Ellington as Ivan Franco

Giovanna Zacarías as Leonor

Aurora Gill as Marina Ritter

Aida López as Elena

Yunuen Pardo as Beatríz

José Sefami as Demetrio

Co-written and Directed by Emilio Portes; Co-written by Luis Carlos Fuentes

Click here to rent or purchase Belzebuth!

Belzebuth Review:

The concept of possession has been one of the longest-lasting and most exhilarating of the horror genre when executed correctly and though motivations have mostly been left as a mystery in the past, there are a handful of films that see explanations given, some smart, others lackluster, and while Emilio Portes’ Belzebuth offers a fairly interesting justification for its events and scares, some of the dialogue and plotting can’t quite live up to its efforts.

Special Agent Emmanuel Ritter is enjoying the arrival of his newborn baby with his wife, but before she can be discharged from the hospital, a monumental tragedy strikes that leads to him losing both and heading towards a personal downward spiral. He is put on the case of a series of shocking massacres in his area, in which he comes across a paranormal forensic investigation team led by a Vatican priest and learns of a dark being responsible for the murders and must search for an excommunicated priest who may have knowledge on how to bring the madness to an end.

The opening minutes of the film may be a bit tonally imbalanced and over-the-top, with Tobin Bell’s narration feeling very mismatched with the happier moments of Ritter’s wife giving birth and the two preparing for a happy future, but its transition into its tragedy is smooth and incredibly effective, resulting in quite the jaw-dropping start for the events to come. As events unfold and more massacres occur, the character development of Ritter feels interesting and compelling, with the crime scenes themselves all proving visceral and shocking, though what it’s setting up feels very reminiscent of the Denzel Washington-starrer Fallen. Though there are some plot elements that many will not see coming as the film progresses, the clear connection of “an evil entity is driving these deaths” kind of makes it clear where some character arcs are heading and takes away from some of the originality on display.

The mood of the film finds a nice balance of working to keep its story grounded in reality while also delivering a number of solid scares, even if a number of the scares themselves prove predictable or expose some of the weaker dialogue and acting from its cast. One notable scene comes near the middle of the film as Ritter and Tate Ellington’s Ivan Franco investigate a seemingly abandoned church and are confronted by a form of the titular demon inhabiting a porcelain figure of Jesus on the cross. It’s a well-shot scene, keeping the more haunting elements in the dark and creating a highly-tense scene, but the dialogue from Franco in the scene does kind of suck the tension away as it becomes cyclical and pad the scene rather than just allow Ritter to “peacefully” interact with the demonic presence.

That scene aside, however, the majority of the scenes find a great way to deliver chills and scares that, even if seen before, still prove to be a thrill ride for genre fans. From unique takes on classic exorcism scenes to great practical effects work, the horror in the film is mostly enough of a joy ride to put aside some of its more lackluster writing and uninteresting performances. It’s not that the actors don’t appear to be trying, with Cosio delivering one of the better performances in the film, but even decent performances can’t quite seem to elevate some of the material.

Belzebuth may have quite a bit of dull dialogue and predictable plotting, but thanks to some skillful scares and a few points of originality, this is a chilling enough affair to strike fear in the hearts of the easier-to-frighten at the least, if not genre fans.

The post Belzebuth Review appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Gamemaster Trailer Plus Exclusive Clip From Board Game Documentary!

ComingSoon.net has an exclusive clip from the upcoming board game documentary Gamemaster, as well as the official trailer from Gravitas Ventures! You can check out both videos now in the players below!

RELATED: Skyman Trailer: The Blair Witch Project’s Daniel Myrick Returns

Gamemaster is a deep dive into the world of the thriving board game industry, the recent billion-dollar tabletop renaissance, and the creators behind wildly popular games. Watch first-time game designers as they try to achieve their dream of creating a board game.

This insightful documentary also includes interviews with established creators of popular board games including Exploding Kittens, Settlers of Catan, Pandemic, Hanabi, and many more.

Gamemaster is directed by Charles Mruz and produced by Mia Chang, Scott Kim, George Loucas, Jimmy Nguyen, Alan Poa, Matthew Shreder, and Stefanie Woodburn.

RELATED: Exclusive Daddy Issues Clip for Gravitas Ventures’ New Romantic Comedy

Gamemaster will be available on VOD and Digital HD on July 7, 2020.

The post Gamemaster Trailer Plus Exclusive Clip From Board Game Documentary! appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

New Nick Simon project Untitled Horror Movie unveiled

Spectrum Studios has revealed that Nick Simon’s upcoming project, Untitled Horror Movie, has completed its principal photography with the entire writing, pre-production and filming process taking place remotely during global quarantine.

RELATED: Relic Clip: These Moldy Walls House Dark Secrets

Co-written and directed by Simon (The Girl in the Photographs), the film is set on computer screens and filmed in found footage style and will explore the behind-the-scenes lives of moderately famous actors who will do anything to save their careers and keep sharing their craft with the world. With their hit TV show on the brink of cancellation, six actors decide to film their own horror movie. In their search for a plot, they unintentionally summon a spirit with an affinity for violence, who starts picking them off one vapid actor at a time.

“I’ve always believed that film should be a collaborative art form, and I don’t think there’s a truer example than with this picture,” Simon said in a statement. “The actors did everything from lighting themselves — guided by our incredible DP, Kevin Duggin — to recording their own sound and doing their own hair and makeup. As crazy as that could have been, it was easily one of the most enjoyable experiences in my professional life. It was one of those once in a lifetime moments when everything aligns at the exact right time.”

The script for the project was co-written by Simon and Luka Baines (Under the Silver Lake), who also stars in the project alongside Claire Holt (The Vampire Diaries), Darren Barnet (Agents of SHIELD), Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy), Katherine McNamara (Arrow), Timothy Granaderos (13 Reasons Why), Kal Penn (Designated Survivor), Kevin Daniels (Sirens) and Sohm Kapila (911). The film marks a reunion between the Harold & Kumar vet and Simon after The Girl in the Photographs.

RELATED: Shudder Unveils Trailer for Cosmic Body Horror The Beach House

“There’s a joke in the film that says: ‘The only people who say there’s creative freedom from making their own stuff are the ones who can’t get a studio to finance their movie,’” Baines said in a statement. “I want to publicly contradict myself and say I’ve never had more fun or felt this amount of space to take risks and make mistakes, although I do wholeheartedly miss having a full crew. I think I speak for the rest of the actors when I say we’ve never had more respect for each and every department.”

Untitled Horror Movie is produced by Bronwyn Cornelius (Clemency) and Marina Stabile (Beatriz at Dinner), with Randy Singuefield’s Spectrum Studios financing the picture and currently selling it to distributors for potential acquisition with post-production expected to wrap by September.

(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

The post New Nick Simon Project Untitled Horror Movie Unveiled appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Rian Johnson Praises George Lucas’ Work on Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

It seems that director Rian Johnson is one of the biggest fans of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In a recent back-and-forth on Twitter, Johnson praised George Lucas’ work on the story about Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader. According to Johnson, the prequel trilogy was way ahead of its time, especially as far as the VFX department goes.

“Lucas made a gorgeous 7 hour long movie for children about how entitlement and fear of loss turns good people into fascists, and did it while spearheading nearly every technical sea change in modern filmmaking of the past 30 years,” he wrote.

Lucas made a gorgeous 7 hour long movie for children about how entitlement and fear of loss turns good people into fascists, and did it while spearheading nearly every technical sea change in modern filmmaking of the past 30 years.

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 29, 2020

Johnson had his chance to work with the Star Wars material in 2017’s The Last Jedi. Although Johnson’s movie is the second highest-grossing film in the series, fans’ reactions remain mixed. The same goes for George Lucas’ prequel trilogy, which has as many fans as haters. Many fans didn’t appreciate the prequel trilogy because of the heavy CGI and the rest of the VFX, which didn’t feel the same as the practical models of the originals. Plus, some of the characters introduced in the prequels, like Jar Jar Binks, didn’t quite worm their way into the hearts of fans.

Regardless of your position on it, Johnson’s words perfectly describe Lucas’ intentions with Anakin’s story. What many fans are pointing out is that their main problem is how that story was told.

Do you agree with Rian Johnson’s take on the Star Wars prequel trilogy? Let us know in the comments section below.

Recommended Reading: Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I, II & III)

The post Rian Johnson Praises George Lucas’ Work on Star Wars Prequel Trilogy appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Beautiful Ruins: Mulan Director Niki Caro to Helm Adaptation for Amblin

Variety is reporting that director Niki Caro (Mulan, Whale Rider, The Zookeeper’s Wife) will helm the feature adaptation of Beautiful Ruins for Amblin Partners.

RELATED: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen Set Untitled Horror Thriller at Amblin

Based on the best-selling novel by Jess Walter, the story is set in an Italian seaside village in 1962, where a charming young man runs a hotel with no guests, until one day an American starlet, fresh from the set of Cleopatra, appears and captures his heart. Five decades later in Hollywood, a jaded assistant to a once-powerhouse producer gets caught up in the magic of the Italian’s story and takes it upon herself to find a happy ending.

Pick up your copy of Beautiful Ruins here!

The adapted screenplay is written by Mark Hammer and Chiara Atik from an earlier draft by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster.

RELATED: Rachel Brosnahan To Lead Amblin Dramedy The Switch

Amblin is re-teaming with Neal Street Productions (Academy-Award winning war drama 1917) to make the movie. Neal Street’s Pippa Harris, Sam Mendes, and Julie Pastor will produce. Nicolas Brown will serve as executive producer.

The post Beautiful Ruins: Mulan Director Niki Caro to Helm Adaptation for Amblin appeared first on ComingSoon.net.