Adapting a classic with a classic reputation is always tricky. Almost as tricky as a director with a settled style stretching himself into new directions. Both are treacherous, filled with pitfalls and observers eager to point out how the earlier stuff was better. And there’s a lot of risk, too, because there’s a lot of…
Aaron Sorkin is a writer’s writer. That doesn’t mean he routinely writes excellent dialogue (though he often does) or complexly crafted characters (though he sometimes does) or even that his work is accoladed or influential to other writers (though some of it is). It means he does what all writers do, only more so. Sorkin…
Mulan was a film that so many of us were waiting to see back when it was supposed to debut in March. The premiere was held right before the shutdown. Then, it was put off because of the global health crisis. With things being so dicey in terms of theaters, Disney decided to release it…
It is perhaps fitting that, like the rest of us right now living through (gesticulating wildly) All This, Bill S. Preston, Esquire (Alex Winter), and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) in Bill and Ted Face the Music are pining for simpler, happier times. After all, their greatest moments were 25 years ago, when they saw…
After the events of Season 1, The Boys go into hiding. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, and The Female regroup in a safe house and plan their next move. With the world and the supes looking for them, their options are limited. But with the debut of supe terrorists, they see a possible solution. By catching…
More than 19 years since the second installment debuted in theaters, Bill Preston (Alex Winter) and Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) are finally back! Bill & Ted Face the Music will be available On Demand (pre-order at Amazon) and in select theaters on August 28. The movie also stars Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Kid Cudi, Kristen…
Tickets for The New Mutants recently went on sale, and Vital Thrills got a chance to chat with the cast during a virtual press conference for the anticipated movie. Participating were Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Alice Braga, Charlie Heaton, Blu Hunt, Henry Zaga, and writer/director Josh Boone. The cast talked about the film finally getting…
Unhinged is unapologetic trash. That’s not a bad thing. Good trash can be great. But there’s not much worse than bad trash. Unhinged is not good trash. Its story is rote, and its characters are one-dimensional, giving the briefest of lip service to their inner motivations in order to get them in place for its…
At first blush, 2016’s Train to Busan (buy at Amazon) does not seem to break the mold of the zombie (or “infected” if you prefer) movie. But it’s the details that make Train to Busan one of the best in the genre. Every character has agency, and all get the most with their screen time….
With the movie launching on Disney+ on August 14, Vital Thrills got a chance to talk to The One and Only Ivan cast. The Walt Disney Studios film is based on the award-winning book by Katherine Applegate (buy at Amazon). The One and Only Ivan tells the story of Ivan, a silverback gorilla who learns that…
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden (check price at Amazon) has been adapted before. It’s been on the big screen a number of times, on television and on the stage, including a Tony Award-winning musical. There has always been something lovely about it, but it’s sort of standoffish. In the story, the main…
In this series, I look back at some fantastic hidden gems that have been lost over the years and deserve to be rediscovered. We’ll kick things off with Night People, which opened in theaters in March of 1954. Night People If you ask a hundred different people what Gregory Peck‘s best role was, probably ninety…
Streaming service Max announced today that it wants to help you relax with a ten-episode order of A World of Calm, a collaboration between the Calm app and Nutopia, the team behind National Geographic’s critically acclaimed series One Strange Rock. A World of Calm is a totally new type of television experience that combines mesmeric…
With this Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull feature, we’re taking a look back at Lucasfilm’s other giant franchise and the ways it shaped the modern blockbuster. Stay tuned for all the latest Indiana Jones 5 news here. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL The first decade of Indiana…
Sketch comedy is hard. Really, all comedy is hard, but sketch comedy is really hard – getting long in and out in a (hopefully) short period without losing any part of the build or punchline. And while there is no reason old sketch comedy writers shouldn’t also be good comedy film writers, the reality is…
Da 5 Bloods is the story of four African-American Vets who battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen Squad Leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide. Recently, director Spike Lee and stars Delroy Lindo and Jonathan Majors got together for a Critics…
If you’ve been watching movies going back to the ’90s, you’re probably familiar with David Koepp’s writing from blockbusters like Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, its sequel The Lost World, the first Mission: Impossible or even the first Spider-Man movie in 2002. Every few years when he’s not one of Hollywood’s most in-demand writers, David Koepp would direct a movie or two,…
With this Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade feature, we’re taking a look back at Lucasfilm’s other giant franchise and the ways it shaped the modern blockbuster. Stay tuned for all the latest Indiana Jones 5 news here. INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE Like any series with a spectacular start, most of the analyses…
Judd Apatow has a long history of “Lovable Losers” in his work. All the way from Freaks and Geeks to The 40-Year-Old Virgin, even in films like This Is 40 and Trainwreck, Apatow tells stories about broken, juvenile characters who are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the real world. Apatow’s also been accused of glossing…
With Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, we’re taking a look back at Lucasfilm’s other giant franchise and the ways it shaped the modern blockbuster. Stay tuned for all the latest Indiana Jones 5 news here. INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM Victory, the old saying goes, has many parents, but failure is…