There’s a brand new The Suicide Squad trailer, which means it’s time for us to obsessively nerd out over the latest footage. This trailer goes heavy on the action, but also drops some new tantalizing info about what can expect to see in James Gunn‘s supervillain action-comedy. Read our The Suicide Squad trailer breakdown below to get the details.
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Renny Harlin has a lot to say about his movies. So much to say that, in what was supposed to be a career-spanning interview, we only touched on the early days of his career in a half-hour discussion. Harlin was fresh off directing a horror-thriller, The Refuge, and promoting his new comedic crime caper, The Misfits (now on VOD). The director’s latest, which stars Pierce Brosnan, is a light throwback to the action movies of the ’90s.
Of course, the ’90s were a special time for Harlin. It’s when he directed one of the great buddy action comedies, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and the extremely entertaining Sylvester Stallone film Cliffhanger. And no one will ever forget 1999’s Deep Blue Sea, a movie that remains as entertaining as ever more than 20 years after it hit theaters.
In the future, we’ll talk to Harlin more about those titles, as well as his time making movies in China, including the under-seen gem Bodies at Rest. And we already spoke to him about the experience of making A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. In the meantime, here’s a conversation with Harlin about how he originally envisioned his filmography, what he hoped to accomplish with The Misfits, and one career regret he’s trying to resolve at the moment.
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Willem Dafoe wants to see my face.
During a Zoom call, the video is not working at the start of the interview. Finally, once Dafoe and I connect face-to-face, he explains, “It’s important.” And it is important. Seeing how someone reacts, what lights them up, or what disinterests them, matters during an interview. When you’re interviewing Dafoe, you’re talking to a real conversationalist, somebody who feels completely present. You want to see that, not just hear it.
The interview is for the actor’s sixth collaboration with Abel Ferrara, Siberia. It’s a dream, or nightmare, of a film. It’s tricky to put into words or boxes. It’s a dream narrative you’re reacting to, not consciously analyzing. In other words, another project well-suited to Dafoe’s approach to performing, which as he told us, isn’t about calculation, but intuition.
Truly, acting is reacting for Dafoe.
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In 2018, Bing Liu emerged as an exciting new filmmaker with his soul-searching skater documentary Minding the Gap, a deeply personal treatise on domestic violence and toxic masculinity in which his own family life heavily featured. But with All These Sons, Liu takes a step back and takes himself out of the frame to focus on gun violence in Chicago, tracing the wide-reaching issue through two organizations dedicated to helping troubled young Black men.
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Paul Rudd is one of the most beloved guests Conan O’Brien has ever had across his slate of talk shows. From Late Night with Conan O’Brien through Conan on TBS, the actor is always a hit with fans. But it’s not just because Paul Rudd is one of the most lovable and funniest guys around Hollywood. It’s because Paul Rudd always brings the best clips with him when he visits Conan. Actually, it’s always the same clip from the movie Mac and Me, and as Conan is coming to an end, Paul Rudd had to bring that clip around once more for old time’s sake. Read More »
(Welcome to DTV Descent, a series where we explore the weird and wild world of direct-to-video sequels to theatrical released movies. In this edition we take a look at a forgotten follow-up to a film better left forgotten.)
Everyone has choices in their past that they regret or that leave them feeling even an inkling of shame, and yours truly is no different. One of my biggest shames, and it’s no small thing, is the knowledge that as a young teenager I was a big, big fan of the movie Zapped! Part of my misguided interest was powered by hormones, obviously, but I also found its antics to be entertaining enough to rewatch it multiple times on HBO. Decades passed before I revisited the Scott Baio-led “comedy” only to discover that it in no way lives up to younger me’s hype. At best it’s a Dexter Riley film (The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, 1969) for dumb, horny teens, but at worst? Well, it’s far, far worse.
But I’m nothing if not dedicated, so before checking out its direct-to-video sequel, Zapped Again! (1990), I rewatched it one last time to see how the two compare as a double feature. That sound you hear is me cringing and squirming for 190 minutes straight.
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(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching, why it’s worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Series: The Nanny
Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max
The Pitch: Cosmetics saleswoman Fran Fine was working at a bridal shop in Flushing Queens when her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes. She was out on her fanny, but unexpectedly, gets hired as a nanny for a rich Broadway producer’s three children. Oh, just watch the opening theme song.
Why It’s Essential Viewing: I can’t confess to being a huge fan of The Nanny. I don’t always love obnoxious characters in comedy, and The Nanny is all about that loud, big central performance by Fran Drescher. I also have some lingering trauma from when my college roommate would insist on leaving the TV on at night when she went to bed, and she would always turn it to Nick at Nite when The Nanny was playing (let me tell you, that famously nasal voice isn’t the best inducement to sleep). But as my current roommate makes her way through the beloved CBS sitcom for the first time, I noticed something that I hadn’t before when I was stuffing my head into my pillow to attempt to drown out the din in college. Fran Drescher is a comedy genius.
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Playmobil has been digging into some of the most iconic franchises in cinema history with playsets for Ghostbusters and Back to the Future. Now they’re heading into the final frontier with a huge Star Trek playset of the U.S.S. Enterprise from the original series, complete with all the main characters and interior compartments to fit them. Check out the Playmobil Star Trek playset below. Read More »
(The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fan-made productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.)
In this edition, watch as Adam Savage gets up close with some old props from Star Wars, including Chewbacca’s mask from the original trilogy and some lightsabers from Revenge of the Sith. Plus, watch a video essay diving into the Manic Pixie Dream Boy trope that doesn’t get discussed as much as its female counterpart. And finally, watch a comedy showrunners roundtable discussion with the minds behind Ted Lasso, Chad, Pen15, and more. Read More »
Cool Posts From Around the Web:
(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks.)
In this edition of Superhero Bits:
- Josh Duhamel reacts to Jupiter’s Legacy getting canceled after one season
- David Harbour has some terrible Dad jokes in honor of Black Widow
- James Gunn is hyping The Suicide Squad‘s theatrical release
- Wonder Woman was spotted on the set of The Flash in a surprising way
- Marvel Studios shows probably aren’t coming to Blu-ray
- All that and more.
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