The Last Duel is a film full of contradictions; indeed, the contradictions are the point. This is not the first time this kind of subject matter has been handled this way, with multiple perspectives and the ephemeral nature of truth. This isn’t even Ridley Scott’s first foray into French dueling stories; his first film, The …
Movies
Vital Thrills got a chance to talk to The Last Duel cast members Matt Damon (Jean de Carrouges / screenwriter), Jodie Comer (Marguerite de Carrouges), and Ben Affleck (Count Pierre d’Alençon / screenwriter), as well as screenwriter Nicole Holofcener. In the 20th Century Studios film, the same story is told first from the perspective of …
Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) are husband and wife who farm and raise sheep in Iceland. They seem to live a contented life, in the middle of nowhere where half the year the sun is up at night. One day, Maria and Ingvar deliver a lamb from an expecting sheep, look at …
So, in reviewing The Many Saints of Newark, this must be stated up front – all I’ve seen of The Sopranos is the first episode and the last episode. There’s probably a metric ton of story between the two, and it’s a show that obviously has a huge cultural impact. Even without seeing the show, …
The conventional wisdom in film (even, or even especially, action/adventure entertainment) is that formula is bad, an exemplar of laziness with a focus more on product than art. The other side is that the formula easily draws audiences in, and breaking it without warning is also bad because it will drive your audience away. No …
Things aren’t going well between Venom and Eddie Brock. Eddie’s rules about not eating human brains begin to fuel resentment in the alien symbiote. And Eddie is being driven nuts by Venom’s chaotic antics. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that Anne has moved on with her life, thus leaving them both depressed. In an …
Walt Disney Animation Studios will release their new animated film, Encanto, on November 24, 2021. Vital Thrills got a chance to attend an early press day for the film and learned all about Disney Animation’s 60th feature. We’ve also got the new trailer and poster, which you can both view by scrolling down! The movie …
(Disclosure: The author of this review has been friends with C. Robert Cargill, the co-writer of The Black Phone, for many years, going back to the days when they wrote together for a film review website. The author has also been on friendly terms with the film’s director, Scott Derrickson. While the author’s opinions of …
A musical, particularly a musical with strong upbeat numbers from the team behind The Greatest Showman and La La Land, built around teen depression and suicide, is a mighty big swing. It’s such a delicate topic it’s going to land differently for everyone, and musical drama is a genre that, at best, favors big melodrama …
Vital Thrills got a chance to talk to the Shang-Chi cast and crew last week about the highly anticipated Marvel Studios film, which will be opening exclusively in theaters on September 3. The Shang-Chi cast, director Destin Daniel Cretton, and producer Kevin Feige gave us the scoop on what’s coming in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s …
Vital Thrills got a chance to talk to the Vacation Friends cast about their new comedy, premiering August 27 on Hulu in the U.S. and as a Star Original on Star on Disney+ internationally. The Vacation Friends cast includes John Cena (The Suicide Squad, F9), Lil Rel Howery (Free Guy, Get Out), Yvonne Orji (Insecure, …
On August 13, director Shawn Levy is taking us into the world of Free Guy, a new movie starring Ryan Reynolds as a background player in the violent, open-world video game “Free City.” His character meets the sexy Molotov Girl (Jodie Comer), who helps him navigate the game and come to terms with the fact …
Sometime after the events of Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, Amanda Waller has a new mission for her misfit band of villains. A coup has recently taken place in a small Central American country. Unfortunately, the country has possession of an extraterrestrial weapon of mass destruction, and the new president has a distinctly anti-American …
Guy is an average fellow living in Free City. He has a job as a banker, follows a regular routine, and interacts with his fellow citizens in the exact same way every single day. But Guy realizes he is longing for something more when he meets the girl of his dreams. He instantly falls for her …
For nearly twenty years, Participant Media has been producing quality films that have been socially relevant while also striving to entertain and educate. Directors like Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, Ana DuVernay, and Stillwater’s Tom McCarthy, under the Participant banner, have found award-winning success with films that feel relevant and urgent, but those filmmakers also know …
Earlier this week, Vital Thrills attended the Jungle Cruise movie press conference with Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, and Edgar Ramirez. Read on to find out what they had to say about the Disney film based on the theme park ride. Inspired by the famous Disneyland theme park ride, Disney’s Jungle Cruise is an adventure-filled, rollicking …
Why be one movie when you can be twelve? Who cares if it makes sense; just stuff them all in there. Stick Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, The African Queen, Pirates of the Caribbean, and a bunch of other movies in a blender, and there you have it. Therein lies the problem with …
The Quest is one of the most well-established story tropes in fiction, going all the way back to Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales and even further. It is not the destination but the journey that guides and dictates the story, as a wanderer learns of their destiny and their place in the world. All storytelling …
Franchise movies with the word origins in the title don’t have the best track record of quality, but that doesn’t stop studios from making them; a case in point is Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins, which promises to tell the backstory of the fan-favorite character from the GI Joe animated series and Hasbro toy line. …
Marvel Studios can call Black Widow a Phase IV movie in their Cinematic Universe if they want, but with the exception of the obligatory post-credit scene, this movie is Phase III all the way. You could slot Black Widow right after Captain America: Civil War or right after Doctor Strange, and it would fit perfectly. …