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14 Apr

The Last Kingdom Recap: What You Need to Know Before Seven Kings Must Die

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Warning: spoilers for The Last Kingdom seasons 1-5 and the Saxon Stories . It’s been over a year since The Last Kingdom TV series ended, and this multi-location show with its many Aethelflaeds, Aethelreds, Aethelhelms, Aethelstans, Aelswiths and Aelfwynns (honestly just the tip of the ‘ae’ iceberg) has never been the easiest to keep straight. If you’d benefit from a reminder of where things were left and who everybody is in new feature length Netflix film Seven Kings Must Die then, you’re more than excused. First of all, it’s important to know that the TV show ended roughly in line…

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13 Apr

Russell Crowe Be Praised! The Pope’s Exorcist Is Not an Unholy Mess

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Before we begin, let’s make something clear: Russell Crowe’s Father Gabriele Amorth is a cool priest. How cool is he? He’s so cool that whenever he exits Vatican City he rides a moped while bathed in perpetual sunset. How cool is he? When that moped crosses the Ponte Sant’Angelo his film throws up a title card that reads “Rome, Italy” (in case there’s a yokel out there who’d confuse it with Rome, Georgia). How cool is he?! When he speaks with an Italian accent, it’s like Chico Marx has risen from the grave and come back with the swagger of…

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13 Apr

Did The Marvels Trailer Kinda Spoil Secret Invasion?

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is back in business, and from our first look at Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, it’s a woman’s world. Well, a woman’s cosmos. The sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel brings Brie Larson back as Carol Danvers, while WandaVision standout Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Cap superfan Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) from Ms. Marvel are along for the ride. Donning his eyepatch for more, Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury, and as the bald badass played a crucial role in Danvers’ origin story, it’s only right he’s back by her side. It’s a big year for Jackson,…

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13 Apr

Renfield Review: Nicolas Cage’s Dracula Puts Blood into Dead Movie

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My first proper introduction to Dracula was the 1931 Tod Browning film starring Bela Lugosi. Released the same year as James Whale’s equally seminal Frankenstein, Lugosi’s Transylvanian count would shape the pop culture image of vampires in the century to come. Even so, according to conventional wisdom the movie aged far worse than ol’ flattop. And to be sure, Browning’s direction is largely static, the script stagey (with it being based on a play instead of the Bram Stoker novel), and all the best scenes occur inside of the first 20 minutes. But Lugosi? He remains forever, preternaturally magnetic. Much…

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12 Apr

Deadpool 3 Confirms More X-Men Characters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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It looks like Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine aren’t the only X-Men characters making the jump from the 20th Century Fox’s X-Men continuity over to the Mouse House when Deadpool 3 hits cinemas next year. As broken by Deadline, the duo is going to be joined by some other familiar faces, at least from the pocket of Deadpool films. Monica Baccarin and Stefan Kapicic are both slated to reprise their roles as Vanessa and Colossus after playing those characters in Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). The news isn’t entirely surprising, especially since Baccarin’s Vanessa…

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11 Apr

The Marvels Trailer Finally Reveals New Marvel Movie Villain

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Captain Marvel! Ms. Marvel! Monica Rambeau! Nick Fury! Like most Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels brings back familiar characters, all on display in the first trailer for the 2023 movie. However, less familiar to even hardcore comic book readers is the movie’s villain, Kree warrior Dar-Benn, played by English actor Zawe Ashton, who makes her debut in this trailer. Watch it below: The trailer focuses on catching up with our marvelous heroes, most of whom we haven’t seen in a while. The trailer opens with Nick Fury on a space station (apparently he’ll make…

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11 Apr

Why Dracula Adaptations Always Get Renfield Wrong

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It sucks to be a stooge, so says Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield, the long-suffering servant of Count Dracula in the new Chris McKay comedy of the same name. Hoult plays Renfield as a lackey who has spent centuries having to deal with the whims and murderous demands of the boss from hell, played by Nicolas Cage in his long-awaited turn as history’s most iconic vampire. It’s not hard to see how Bram Stoker‘s novel would inspire a story like this. Ever since the beginning of cinema, adaptations of Dracula have positioned poor Renfield as somewhere between a zealous cult follower and…

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11 Apr

Ben Affleck’s Air Leads Right into Bizarre Origins of Space Jam Movie

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A little over a year after Ben Affleck mused he would never make a theatrically released movie again, and insisting he wanted to focus on non-franchise films for adult audiences, the filmmaker nonetheless enjoyed one of the happiest box office stories of 2023. To be sure, this past holiday weekend was dominated by yet another “IP movie,” as Affleck is wont to say, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. However, in the shadow of that film’s gargantuan $205.5 million across five days, Affleck’s own adult-skewing drama, Air, also dominated the court in its own league, grossing $20.2 million over five days.…

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10 Apr

The Lego Movie Director Finally Reveals Sequel Plot

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While the eye-rolling cheese of Batman & Robin certainly has its defenders, movie adaptations of the Caped Crusader have largely adhered to one rule: be serious. Since that 1997 movie ended the four-movie run that began with the relatively dark and gritty Batman from 1989, every subsequent big-screen take on the Dark Knight has been increasingly grumpy and grounded. The Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy starring Christian Bale gave thorough explanations for every part of the mythos, Zack Snyder’s Batman played by Ben Affleck showed us what Batman would be like in a dystopia filled with adherents of Ayn Rand’s…

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10 Apr

How Suzume Was Inspired by RPG Boss Battles

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Makoto Shinkai is a revered name in animation who’s emerged as someone who expertly combines melodramatic love stories with fantastical explorations of nature and what it means to be human. Garden of Words, Your Name, and Weathering With You are some of Shinkai’s most celebrated feature films that helped establish the writer/director as a force to be reckoned with and must-see cinematic events. Shinkai’s latest feature, Suzume, has been more than four years in the making and it looks at a listless 17-year-old who finds herself on an unexpected mission to protect Japan from paranormally-influenced natural disasters alongside a very…

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10 Apr

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Overwhelming Success Offers Lessons to Hollywood

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Despite having several plumbers on hand, there were no leaks at the box office this holiday weekend for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The eagerly anticipated Illumination Entertainment adaptation of Nintendo’s flagship video game franchise arrived like a AAA gaming event in cinemas, with the picture overperforming on its opening day, grossing an astounding $31.7 million on Wednesday, April 5, well before most families even began taking time off. This number would pave the way for a record-setting opening weekend of $377 million worldwide, the highest five-day debut for any animated movie ever, with The Super Mario Bros. Movie also…

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08 Apr

The Best Super Mario Bros. Movie Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed

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This Super Mario Bros. Movie article contains spoilers. Surprise! The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which celebrates the long history of the most popular Nintendo character to ever appear on consoles, is jam-packed with tons of easter eggs, callbacks, and references to Mario’s gaming legacy. But it’s not just the video games themselves the movie turns to for inspiration. You’ll also find references to a certain 1993 movie as well as the animated series and comics sprinkled throughout the film. And there are plenty of even more obscure references, too. In fact, there are so many easter eggs, we’re still finding…

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08 Apr

The Original Super Mario Bros. Movie Understood a Universal Truth: Luigi Is Cooler

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Luigi is the man. The green-capped, younger brother of Mario—as well as the one with the far more luxuriant mustache—jumps higher, runs faster, and looks plain cooler while doing it. This is a truth that’s universally acknowledged by gamers of a certain age. For if you were a younger sibling growing up sometime in the ‘90s or late ‘80s, you were always Player 2. You were always Luigi. I was one such player, the kid brother of a sister who adored Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES. There were thus many an afternoon spent waiting…

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07 Apr

Mark Jenkin on Enys Men’s Unsettling Use of Time

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In director Mark Jenkin’s new Cornish folk horror film Enys Men, pronounced “Ennis Mane,” routine is unsettling. Set in 1973 on the uninhabited, eponymous “Stone Island” — as translated from Cornish — each day a nameless Volunteer (played by Mary Woodvine) starts up a generator, makes tea, checks wildflowers, measures soil temperature, and drops a stone in a mine shaft as she listens to hear it drop below. Then she records “No change” in a journal. But then things do begin to change.  The concept of time begins to fluctuate, even from the film’s early moments for the very observant…

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07 Apr

Hail The Last Temptation of Christ! The Movie That Made Jesus a Scorsese Antihero

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When Martin Scorsese was just 11 years old, he storyboarded a cinematic epic named “The Eternal City,” which he described as “a fictitious story of Royalty in Ancient Rome.” It was envisioned to film in 75mm CinemaScope and star Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, Virginia Mayo, and Alec Guinness. This remains a fascinating, ambitious artifact that’s been shared far and wide online. But perhaps just as interesting are the storyboards critic Richard Blake describes in his book After Image: The Indelible Catholic Imagination of Six American Filmmakers. According to Blake, Scorsese, aged 10, drew even earlier the Stations of the Cross:…

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07 Apr

Charles Martinet Deserves Better Than His Super Mario Bros. Movie Cameo

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This Super Mario Bros. Movie article contains spoilers. When the cast for Illumination and Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Bros. Movie was first announced in 2021, there was only one thing anyone could talk about: actor Chris Pratt replacing beloved veteran Charles Martinet as the voice of the Italian plumber. Martinet, a voice acting legend who has played the character in one form or another since 1991, would have to step aside for one of the biggest stars of the moment, a Marvel Cinematic Universe favorite no less. But also a performer with very little actual voice acting experience, certainly…

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06 Apr

The Bourne Legacy Revealed the Secret World Behind the Original Matt Damon Trilogy

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The scene where 2012’s The Bourne Legacy first comes truly alive features neither parkour or car chases; it also lacks fisticuffs or a single gunshot; heck, it doesn’t even have Matt Damon. To be sure, the fourth (and generally ignored) film in the Jason Bourne franchise has its fair share of death-defying stunts and white-knuckle action. However, the movie really clicks to life when a coterie of bureaucrats gather inside a windowless room, sharing hushed whispers. The scene is dominated by who was intended to be the series’ new big heavy, Col. Eric Bryer (Edward Norton), who is revealed to…

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06 Apr

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review: Great Graphics Hide Uninspired Gameplay

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The shadow of the original Super Mario Bros. movie circa 1993 is strong. As one of the first video game movies, the picture had for a brief time the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, and Arnold Schwarzenegger circling key roles. The stink we now usually associate with “video game movies” was not yet a thing. Of course that stench really began because of Super Mario Bros. and its status as a legendary Hollywood disaster. The scent became so overwhelming, in fact, not to mention humiliating, that Nintendo lowered the gates to their kingdom, refusing to let Hollywood enter again…

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06 Apr

Why Lumalee’s Super Mario Bros. Movie Role Is Surprising Fans

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This Super Mario Bros. Movie article contains spoilers. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is filled with easter eggs and references. For that matter, the entire movie is basically one big reference, which is part of its appeal and charm. However, the role of a Super Mario Bros. Movie character named Lumalee has already stolen the hearts of many early viewers and caught quite a few Super Mario fans by surprise. See, Lumalee first appeared in Super Mario Galaxy. A member of the Luma species, Lumalee is the name given to several star-like creatures that appear throughout the game. In Galaxy,…

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06 Apr

How the First Super Mario Bros. Movie Caused Nintendo to Withhold Rights for Decades

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Video game film adaptations haven’t always been smooth sailing, but with Illumination Entertainment’s work on the Super Mario Bros. Movie, the iconic franchise appears ready to receive a rejuvenation in the world of cinema. It’s taken a long time to get to this point, with Nintendo becoming very guarded over the rights to their properties and characters. It’s also become a difficult part of being a Nintendo fan: knowing that many of these beloved titles may never get adapted into a big screen spectacle. But why is it that so few productions have come from the Japanese console and game…

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