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Saturday, August 17, 2019

Pet Sematary Has Screened, Here Are The Early Reactions

Pet Sematary Has Screened, Here Are The Early Reactions

Sometimes dead is better, but not better than getting an early chance to see the new Pet Sematary movie. The 2019 Stephen King adaptation premiered Saturday night, March 16 at South by Southwest, giving lucky critics and fans a first look at the horror movie before it opens wide in the U.S. on April 5.


So far, it sounds like Pet Sematary is a big win. The film highly impressed many viewers, including CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell, although he admitted he missed a few little things from Stephen King's original story:


Collier's Perri Nemiroff absolutely raved about the movie, praising directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, along with young star Jeté Laurence as Ellie Creed.





Erik Davis of Fandango praised the film, adding that it should please fans of Stephen King's novel. He also pushed Captain Marvel's Goose out of the way to make room for Pet Sematary's Church -- as if what we really need isn't a buddy movie starring both cats.


Take me to Church! Chris Evangelista of /Film also noted that Pet Sematary isn't 100% faithful to Stephen King's novel, but that didn't damage his opinion of the movie at all. He called it one of the best King adaptations to date.


(The Ramones have a song called "Pet Sematary," if you didn't know.)





Some fans at home -- myself included, I'll admit -- have worried the Pet Sematary trailers may have given away the entire story. Critics like Heather Wixson of Daily Dead tried to put those fears to rest, adding expectations of some major twists.


Since we're talking about a horror film, Meredith Borders of Fangoria emphasized that it delivers on one major requirement -- scares.


Stephen King published Pet Sematary in 1983, and a horror movie adaptation was first released in 1989. We already know from the trailers that this film makes one semi-big change to the source material, but apparently there are more changes ahead.





The 2019 adaptation stars Jason Clarke as Louis Creed, Amy Seimetz as Rachel Creed, John Lithgow as Jud Crandall, Jeté Laurence as Ellie Creed, and both young Hugo Lavoie and Lucas Lavoie as Gage Creed.


Pet Sematary opens opposite DC's Shazam!, which will be some serious competition at the box office. Early estimates put Pet Sematary's opening anywhere from $20 million to $30 million at the domestic North American market. The movie could skew higher after all of these rave reviews -- including promises of secrets not revealed in the trailers -- driving more curious fans to the theater.


Watch Pet Sematary in theaters starting April 5, as one of the many films to keep an eye on with our 2019 movie release date schedule.




Why Jai Courtney Signed On For His Alita: Battle Angel Cameo

Why Jai Courtney Signed On For His Alita: Battle Angel Cameo
Jai Courtney in Terminator: Genisys

Alita: Battle Angel was a movie with a lot of ambition. It was a grand film with a huge budget that was designed very much to be the first film in a franchise. It was a movie so big that some of the film's biggest names had little more than cameo roles. One of those cameos was played by Jai Courtney. The role is so small that you'd be forgiven for missing it entirely, but the actor says that he was happy to do it simply because Robert Rodriguez was the man who asked him. According to the actor, he agreed to do it after getting a call from the director who told him...



There's this role, it's a little small on paper, but if this thing blows up, I'll need someone who I can rely on when we revisit it. And I was like, 'Fuck man, of course!' For Robert Rodriguez, I'm going to go down there and do it.



It seems that Jai Courtney had read for a couple of different roles in Alita: Battle Angel but, while he and Rodriguez wanted to work together, it seemed Alita wasn't quite the right time. However, Rodriguez then turned to Courtney when he needed somebody to fill the role of Motorball star Jashugan.




It seems that while Courtney's role was tiny in Alita: Battle Angel, the idea is that there is more to the character that we would see when and if sequels to the movie ever happen.


Of course, at this point, it's difficult to tell if a sequel is a real possibility or not. Alita struggled domestically, only bringing in about $85 million, but it did much better overseas and has a total gross of just over $400 million.


That a solid total number, but due to the film's fairly expensive budget, it's been suggested the movie needed to hit $500 million to be profitable, and it's clearly well below that mark. There's clearly an audience who got behind Alita, but it just may not be quite big enough. Although, one assumes that sequels could potentially be less expensive to produce since much of the technical groundwork has been done, so perhaps follow ups are possible.




Although, the other issue is that the first movie was a Fox production, which means that any subsequent movies would have to get the green light by Disney, which means convincing an entirely new set of executives to make your movie.


Courtney tells Business Insider that he has no clue what the future might hold for Alita and that he has zero expectations in that regard. It seems he didn't take the role for the sequel potential, but just to work with Robert Rodriguez, though one assumes if the sequel does happen he'll be even happier to have the chance to work with Rodriguez again.


Jai Courtney wasn't the only brief cameo that clearly was inserted because of future potential. Edward Norton also appeared in the film, as the man one assumes will be the main antagonist of any future movies.




In the modern movie landscape the franchise is king, and so a project like Alita was clearly always meant to be the first of many. Having said that, the movie practically requires a sequel simply because of the way it ended. It didn't simply leave the possibility of more story open, it left its own story before it was over.


It will be interesting to see if these cameos will ever get a chance to be fulfilled, or if these appearances in Alita: Battle Angel will just be interesting moments of trivia in a franchise that never happened.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Avengers: Endgame TV Spot Gives First Look At Valkyrie

Avengers: Endgame TV Spot Gives First Look At Valkyrie

Thor's friend from work is back! Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie debuted in Thor: Ragnarok but was not seen in Avengers: Infinity War. It was later confirmed by the Russo Brothers that she escaped with other surviving Asgardians. Apparently she survived The Decimation, too. She got her own Avengers: Endgame poster, and it was in color like the other lucky 50%.


And now one of the many new Avengers: Endgame TV spots has given us a very quick glimpse of Valkyrie, live and in color. She's actually the first one we see in the promo:


Nice! Looking forward to seeing more of her role in Avengers 4. It was suspected that she would return, especially when she was spotted with Ragnarok (and Men in Black: International) co-star Chris Hemsworth in September 2018, joining him when he flew to Atlanta for Avengers 4 reshoots.




Of course, since we're talking about the Russos and the MCU, we have to leave room for misdirection. It would be cruel to give Valkyrie fans that glimpse of her in the new TV spot and only learn that it was another mislead. But it does sound like she'll be back in some fashion, and Marvel did give her a new Endgame poster. Maybe we'll also see the return of the rest of the Asgardians. Will they join the fight against Thanos?


One of the most exciting things about Avengers: Endgame is the number of new characters working together. Even Avengers: Infinity War didn't cover every base. We have characters like Rhodey and Black Widow going to space for the first time, alongside Guardians Nebula and Rocket Raccoon, as Thor bonds with "new girl" Captain Marvel.


Speaking of Captain Marvel, actresses Brie Larson and Tessa Thompson are good friends off-screen, and they've been loving fans' social media posts pairing Valkyrie and Carol Danvers. So maybe fans can expect to see their characters at least meet on screen? Thompson has brought up the idea of Marvel women getting together to fight folks and hang out in space. Maybe she'll get her wish soon.




Continuing on that note, Marvel Studios also released another Endgame TV spot -- it's almost too much now! -- and this one was heavy on the foreshadowing of endings and goodbyes. It also focused a lot on Black Widow finding a family for the first time with the Avengers. She has her own movie coming up, but will it be after she loses her Avenger "family"?


Avengers: Endgame isn't quite the end of MCU Phase 3, as we initially thought, but it does seem to mark the endgames for some original stars and their characters. Chris Hemsworth may be on that boat, although he has said he'd be happy to return as Thor whenever they need him. If Valkyrie is in Endgame, she'd probably connect with Thor at some point. If the rest of the Asgardians return as well, will Thor want to leave to help start a new life with them, after they do whatever they do with Thanos? I have been avoiding any spoilers, so all speculation is valid to me.


Avengers: Endgame opens in theaters this Friday, April 26, as one of the many movies playing on the big screen through 2019.



Ma Is Hilarious, But That Probably Wasn't The Movie's Intent

Ma Is Hilarious, But That Probably Wasn't The Movie's Intent
Ma Universal

Warning! The following contains spoilers regarding Ma. Read at your own risk!


As I drove to the theater for my screening of Ma, I was half regretting my decision to attend. Sunday nights are for relaxing, and seeing a horror movie in which a woman befriends and then torments teenagers didn't seem like a calm and relaxing way to prepare for the work week ahead.


As it turns out, I was completely wrong. Ma is the hardest I've laughed in a theater in some time, and though I still have yet to see Booksmart, it may be one of the funniest movies I've seen in 2019. Unfortunately, that's probably not really the point of the movie, which was billed and presented itself as a horror movie. So, why then was I laughing as opposed to jumping out of my theater seat? Let's dive in.




Ma Is An Objectively Hilarious Character


Ma does a solid job of making Sue Ann appear unhinged, and the story of how she got to where she is laid all that out perfectly. Where it struggles, however, is that her more manic moments in the film portray her less as a frightening sociopath and more of a somewhat hilarious individual. Whether she unexpectedly pulled a gun on a teen or karate kicked a pile of beer cans over, I was laughing.


For what it's worth, I think this is more a product of the film's tone and story than anything related to Octavia Spencer. She did bring an intensity to the role I haven't seen in her past work, but those scenes lack the music or build up of tension needed to make those moments legitimately scary. Instead, there might be a chuckle or two as Ma frequently comes out of left field with some actions that come out of nowhere!


The Gore In Ma Is More Cartoonish Than Frightening


Just to get this out of the way right now, Ma is not a movie I would consider to be excessively gory. Most of the violence happens in the latter part of the feature, but hoo boy, when it arrives it really makes an entrance. Fans see a pretty brutal death to kick things up, and things really escalate from that point on.




As the header states though, it's not at all scary. One death feels straight up like something out of a Final Destination movie, and the rest are weird, but almost cartoonish in how they go down. Those who haven't seen the movie need only wait until the final scenes of Ma to understand. It's necessarily as weird as the paint scene (you'll know when you watch), but just an odd display of violence when things seemed more grounded before.


The Teens In Ma Aren't Sympathetic And Make Terrible Decisions


One thing that makes Ma especially funny to me was the lack of emotion I felt towards the teenage cast, who also somehow fell below the standard for teens that make bad decisions in horror films. Like, it's one thing to do the stereotypical trope of running upstairs when being chased by a mass murderer, but these characters do that equivalent while adding "don't forget your knife!" on the way up.


Now, that situation doesn't literally happen, but it might as well have as it's pretty clear from the get go that Sue Ann is bad news. Yet they continue to show up at her house, which can certainly make the audience feel more like "well that's what you get" rather than, "oh poor kids." It also doesn't help that we only the smallest details about each character, which in turn could leave folks largely unaffected by what happens to them.




Ma Has A Good Deal Of Seemingly Intentional Humor


For all the moments in Ma that are unintentionally funny, there are some moments that were brought in, I'm assuming, to lighten the mood with some actual humor. At least, that's what we can assume when it comes to Allison Janney's Dr. Brown, whose sole purpose throughout the movie is to be on Sue Ann's ass whenever she's slacking off on the job.


Another bizarre character was Dominic Burgess' Stu, a relatively minor character with a performance that really sticks out and makes you think he has a larger part to play. Alas he doesn't, although the effort he put into the role really has me wondering if he maybe had more scenes that were cut later in development? Whatever the case, characters like this elevate the humor exponentially, but drastically reduce the creepiness and horror elements.


Ma's Ending Is Just So Damn Bizarre


Massive spoiler warning for those that don't want to know the ending of the movie. You've been warned! Sue Ann/Ma ends up drugging all the teens and keeping them in their basement, and after some unique punishments for most of the characters, Maggie's mom Erica arrives with Stu and the house goes up in flames. Maggie stabs Ma in order to rescue Ma's secret daughter (which is the twist I'm assuming promotions are touting).




Ma is stabbed and everybody else escapes and chills in the front yard in shock of what all happened. Meanwhile, Ma comes to in the burning house and casually watches everyone from the window of her living room. Again, the house is on fire, but she decides to head upstairs, curl up in bed with the dead man that orchestrated her sexual assault when she was younger and wait for the flames to take her. Fade to black, credits roll.


There's no resolution and no falling action; Ma just dips in its most pivotal scene like it has somewhere to be. It's arguably the most hilarious part of the movie, because we're left to wonder what the hell happens in the minutes that follow. Alas, it's an answer that may only come if Ma 2 gets made, which I'd honestly be on board with. Let Ma escape and bump the camp up even further in a sequel, and I'm 100% there.


Annabelle Comes Home Is Definitely Not A Horror Comedy, But It Will Have Funny Moments




Ma is currently in theaters right now for those who haven't seen it yet. Those that have can feel free to share their thoughts in the comments, and let us know if they'd be up for Ma 2.

That Moviepass Competitor Sinemia Is Shutting Down

That Moviepass Competitor Sinemia Is Shutting Down
Scream 2 theater scene

There was a time, not all that long ago, when it looked like the movie subscription service was the wave of the future. While MoviePass was the first service to grab headlines, they weren't the only game in town, and when MoviePass began to falter, Sinemia came in to try and pick up the pieces by offering an alternative to movie lovers. However, that alternative is now no more as Sinemia has announced they are ceasing operations within the U.S.


MoviePass became the hottest thing at the theater a couple years ago when the price of it's unlimited viewing option dropped to $9.95 a month in price. Subscription numbers went through the roof. However, eventually the users that took advantage of the service to an extreme degree began to be a drain on the service. This led to changes in the plan that ran the gamut from movie blackouts to price increases to limitations on the number of screenings you could view in a given time period.


When that happened, the people who signed up for the original plan began to get upset and Sinemia tried to pick up those customers. While Sinemia did not have the same unlimited plan at the time, it would come later, it did have options, including choices that included 3D and large format screens, something MoviePass didn't offer at the time.




However, as Sinemia began to grow, it began to have growing pains of its own. The service saw outages that frustrated customers and they also dealt with other customers service issues that came from the service's increase in popularity.


More recently, Sinemia was hit on two fronts by a pair of lawsuits, one came from MoviePass and claimed patent infringement. The other came in the form of a class action suit from customers with a litany of complaints including hidden fees and cancellations without refunds.


In a letter posted on Sinemia's homepage, the site admits that the company simply doesn't have the money necessary to both meet increased operations costs and the current legal issues the company is facing.




The U.S. isn't the only country Sinemia currently does business in. You can also use the service in Canada, the UK, Australia, and Turkey, where the company is based. The letter only states that Sinemia is ending U.S. operations, so it's possible the company will continue forward in other countries.


While Sinemia tried to be an alternative to MoviePass, it has now folded and MoviePass, while the company has certainly been through many trials and tribulations itself, still stands.


Many of the major theater chains in the U.S. like AMC and Cinemark have instituted their own subscription system, which largely appear to be successful.




There is clearly consumer interest in the subscription idea, but there are just as clearly some significant hurdles to making it work, at least for third party companies. Where there is interest, you can be sure there will be attempts to capture that market. Will MoviePass, or somebody else, ever figure out how to make money while still giving consumers the value they need?

Chris Hemsworth Put Snickers Bars In His Daughter's Shoes To Sneak Her Onto Disneyland's Tower Of Terror

Chris Hemsworth Put Snickers Bars In His Daughter's Shoes To Sneak Her Onto Disneyland's Tower Of Terror
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World

If you've ever been a small child, emphasis on the "small," at a theme park, or brought one with you, then you likely know the pain that comes with height requirements on attractions. It sucks when you can't go on a ride you want to, and it sucks for the parents of that child too, who want their kids to have a great time. Chris Hemsworth recently revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live that when his daughter was too short to go on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disneyland a couple years ago, he took matters into his own hands, by stuffing her shoes. According to Hemsworth...



I took my daughter on [Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout] a couple of years ago when it previously called the Tower of Terror. And she wasn’t tall enough, and she was really upset. And I was like, ‘No, forget this. Come here.’ So I grabbed a couple Snickers bars and things, and slammed it in the back of her shoe under her heel. So I propped her up, she was like this much short, walked up, was like, ‘What about now?’ So they’re like, ‘Okay, in you come.’ Snickers work.



Basically, Chris Hemsworth created make shift high heels for his daughter that pushed up the back of her feet enough to raise his daughter's height to the necessary limit. Clearly, she was really close to the limit, which is 40" if you're keeping score. I'm not sure what to think about those cast members if they had only measured her moments before and found her too short, maybe they decided they didn't want to make Thor mad twice.




Hemsworth appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live along side his Avengers: Endgame co-stars Paul Rudd, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert Downey Jr. They were less than impressed with the actor's tale, pointing out that these height requirements exist for a reason and he shouldn't be commended for subverting the system.


To his credit, Chris Hemsworth understood the reason for the requirements as soon as his daughter actually got on the ride, as it seems the restraint system was not sufficient to hold her in place.



It gets worse. So I was sitting in the chair, and this thing, it’s I don’t know how many hundreds of feet high and whatever. We’re at the top and I’m looking at her. She’s strapped in, the seat is massive on her. And I’m like, ‘We beat the system, honey!’ And then it drops and she’s like [slightly raises himself up and makes weird noise]. I grab on to her, she’s screaming the whole way down, like a cat. I was like, ‘Maybe there’s a reason that there’s a height size.’ So don’t do that. She’s fine, she’s well.





The restraints on the Tower of Terror (now Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout) are nothing more than a simple seat belt, but since the ride only moves up and down, little more is needed. I'm not sure why Chris Hemsworth's daughter found herself sliding out of the seat. Perhaps because she was smaller, there was actually space between her lap and the belt, leading to her moving upwards when the ride was pulled down.


As somebody who took longer than normal to reach all of the Disneyland height requirements, I can appreciate the desire to circumvent the rules. Still, one should not condone such things and it's good that Chris Hemsworth now understands the importance of these rules. Of course, when the new Marvel themed land opens up next to Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout, one certainly wonders if Thor might go looking for Snickers bars once again.


You can check out the Avengers full appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the video below.



Thursday, August 15, 2019

The Russo Brothers Confirm A Major Captain America Theory We Had After Avengers: Endgame

The Russo Brothers Confirm A Major Captain America Theory We Had After Avengers: Endgame
Chris Evans is Captain America

The following story contains spoilers from Avengers: Endgame.


When the latest Marvel Studios movie drew to a close, Captain America (Chris Evans) embarked on one final mission. He agreed to be the one who traveled back in time to return the Infinity Stones from the moments in which they were borrowed, thereby eliminating any multiverses that might have sprung away from the main timeline.


In doing so, this means that Cap had to travel to the remote planet of Vormir to return the Soul Stone. And that should mean that Steve Rogers would encounter – for the first time in decades – the arch-nemesis who helped bury him in the ice way back in 1945: Red Skull. We have seen the Skull in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, where he stands guard over the pit where a sacrifice must be made to retrieve the Stone. So when ReelBlend sat down with Joe and Anthony Russo to talk Endgame spoilers, we asked if this meant that Cap encountered Red Skull again, and what the rules of Soul Stone returns actually are:





Joe Russo: He would have to encounter Red Skull. And nobody knows what the rules are when you return the Soul Stone.


Anthony Russo: Nobody knows. But knowing Red Skull, he probably has a no-money-back policy.



Captain America’s final trip through time is the biggest gap in storytelling that Avengers: Endgame doesn’t bother to address. Hulk sends Cap back in time using the technology that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) perfected. And he expects to bring Steve Rogers back… only, that doesn’t happen.


Instead, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) notice that Old Man Rogers is waiting for him. It turns out, after returning the Stones, Cap decided to go back in time and live his life in full with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), and choosing not to elaborate on the steps that he took to bring the Stones back.




That leaves a LOT of story left to tell, and Marvel actually has ways to tell it. After all, with Disney+ as a new streaming service, Marvel fans already expect to see new stories branching out from Avengers: Endgame starring Tom Hiddleston as Loki, as well as Stan and Mackie. Why couldn’t Chris Evans choose to keep playing Captain America, just going on adventures in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and beyond?


Also, Marvel Studios easily could bring back the One Shots that they used to include on DVDs and Blu-rays. Who doesn’t want to see a short film that shows Steve encountering Red Skull, one last time?


The Russo brothers confirm that the meeting takes place in their version of the story, but they stop short from telling us when we might ever see it happen. To hear the rest of our conversation with the brothers, where we talk all things SPOILERY for Avengers: Endgame, press play on this bonus segment of the ReelBlend podcast.




As for Avengers: Endgame, that blockbuster is shattering records left and right, passing $2 billion in 11 days. Staggering. Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

 

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