Apple TV+ is changing things up a bit. Up until now, the streaming service has been releasing its original shows on a weekly basis. But with its upcoming series Little America, they’ll be giving subscribers the opportunity to binge by dropping the entire series at once. The show comes from The Big Sick writers and real-life couple, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, and explores the lives of immigrants in America. On top of all that, Apple has already given the show a second season.
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When remaking a classic, it often seems like a Catch-22. You veer far away from the original storyline and it gets accused of being a remake in name only. But if you remain too faithful to the source material, then it might get written off as an unoriginal clone. Both remakes of the classic Black Christmas seem to fit into each category, with the newest version seemingly falling under the former and the 2006 version falling into the latter. Regardless of how many re-doings it may get, the original 1974 version still serves a template that has influenced subsequent slasher films. One that captures what feels like a lost art within the genre.
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#Hawkehive, this one’s for you.
We’re giving away three Blu-ray copies of Adopt a Highway, this year’s moving Ethan Hawke drama from Blumhouse that marks the directing debut of actor Logan Marshall-Green (Upgrade, Prometheus). Our review from the South By Southwest Film Festival called Hawke’s performance “equal parts tragic and triumphant,” and three winners will be able to check it out themselves courtesy of a free Blu-ray from RLJE Films. Find out how to enter below. Read More »
In just a few years, the online video game Fortnite has become a pop culture titan, influencing how kids do embarrassing viral dances and how we see our new Star Wars clips. J.J. Abrams announced at last night’s Game Awards that a new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker clips will debut exclusively on Epic’s online shooter game, just after two new Star Wars Fortnite skins were unveiled at the game’s item shop.
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It is fair to say that Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen has managed to surpass every expectation. The odds were truly against this show, but not only is it a poignant and relevant superhero story for 2019 that carries on the themes and plot threads of the original comic, it even adds to the established characters and canon.
Lindelof has referred to his adaptation as a “remix,” which is fitting given that the show is both a sequel and a prequel that also mirrors the format and even the characters of the original Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel. One way the show mirrors the original is by taking a page of the graphic novel’s use of supplemental material at the end of every issue, which offered additional information about the history of the comic’s world and its characters. The show Watchmen takes this idea and updates it to 2019 via the companion site “Peteypedia”, named after FBI Agent Dale Petey, who recollects relevant information that is released after each episode airs.
Some of this information has proven to be essential to the Watchmen experience and some is just fun facts. With that in mind, let’s look at the 10 funniest, weirdest, and maybe most relevant things you need to know about Peteypedia before the Watchmen finale airs this Sunday.
Major spoilers for the first eight episodes of Watchmen follow.
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Posted on Friday, December 13th, 2019 by David Chen
Knives Out is out in theaters now, and it’s a blast. It’s a delightful murder mystery that takes place in the modern day, yet is loaded with references to its predecessors (particularly the works of Agatha Christie). It manages to convey an infectious love for its genre while still being a substantial entry into that genre, and that’s a rare treasure in this day and age.
The mastermind of the film is writer/director Rian Johnson, who has managed to continuously reinvent his career with every film he puts out. Despite going from low budget mysteries to big budget sci-fi, Johnson’s films all manage to retain his love of wit and surprise.
I was grateful that Rian decided to stop by the Slashfilmcast this week to chat with me and Jeff Cannata about how the film came together in the months following The Last Jedi, and how Rian put his own spin on the murder mystery film. Warning: There will be banjo.
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Like the works of Shakespeare, Black Christmas has now been remade more than once.
The Canadian cult slasher that predates Halloween by four years has its ups and downs, but it warranted retreads because it captures a very special time of year. Not just as subversive counter-programming for the twee holiday season, but as a horror film that takes place in the safe space of a college campus that becomes isolated when everyone else leaves for the break. Its hollowed-out familiarity makes it ideal for a slasher stalking their victims.
The film also doubles down on the myth of Stranger Danger (it’s usually someone you know that harms you! Sleep tight, everyone!). Uncertainty, mystery, and our friends showing up murdered? Solid grounds for panic.
Here are 6 other films to give you the holiday chills.
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Mere months after David Benioff and D.B. Weiss parted ways with Star Wars over “scheduling issues,” the Game of Thrones co-creators have signed on to adapt the Vertigo graphic novel Lovecraft into a feature film for Warner Bros. The duo have signed on to produce the thus-far untitled thriller, but it is unknown if they will also direct the project.
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(Welcome to Walt Disney Animation Ranked, a three-part series where we’re ranking all 58 feature-length animated films released by the Walt Disney Company. This is the third and final part.)
What must it have been like to live in a time when feature-length animated films were perceived as folly? Growing up in the era of the Disney Renaissance means that feature animation was always just part of the family-movie landscape. But the Walt Disney Company, now one of the biggest behemoths in all of the corporate world, was once on death’s door and hoping beyond hope that a hand-drawn animated film would make a profit. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, once dubbed “Disney’s Folly”, became a massive worldwide hit, and so a new storytelling medium was born. With the arrival of Frozen II on November 22, Walt Disney Animation Studios has released 58 animated features over 82 years. Consider this the definitive, legally binding (sorry, I don’t make the rules, I just follow them) ranking of all of those 58 films.
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Cool Posts From Around the Web:
The Lord of the Rings giveth, The Lord of the Rings taketh away. Will Poulter, seen recently stealing the show in Midsommar, was named as a star of the upcoming Lord of the Ring TV series – but that’s no longer happening. To be fair, Amazon never confirmed Poulter’s casting. But according to reports, Poulter really was in talks to join the Lord of the Rings TV series cast but has since dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
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