Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
After 20 years, MGM is back at CinemaCon. Out October 1, Addams Family 2 will be in time for Halloween. The cast is back and joined by Bill Hader. The trailer was amusing for this family cartoon. Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci looks at the fashion empire with a star-studded cast. Peter Dinklage stars in Joe Wright’s Cyrano. Not only is his casting in the titular role put a twist on the story but the movie is a musical featuring music by The National.
Orion is focusing on African American stories and filmmakers. Untitled Billy Porter project is a trans rom com in high school. Till is about Emmet’s mother seeking justice for the murder of her son. On the Count of Three premiered at Sundance. Directed by and starring Jerrod Carmichael, this dark comedy finds two friends agree to a suicide pact.
United Artists anchors the presentation. In February, Channing Tatum and a military K9 are a pair on a road trip in Dog. Based on a series of graphic novels, a kid finds Samaritan, a former superhero (Sylvester Stallone) in hiding, set for August 22. Speaking of Stallone, the Rocky franchise expands with Creed III as star Michael B. Jordan takes on directing duties. Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives tells of the international rescue attempt when kids got stuck in a Thailand cave because of flooding. The cast includes Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton.
The most anticipated title from this section is No Time to Die. The audience was presented a thrilling sequence with James Bond running on foot, on motorcycle, and in a car. Portions of this have already been seen in the trailer but it does give confidence that director Cary Joji Fukunaga can construct and edit big action pieces.
Warner Brothers
Even though they have HBO Max, an audience showed up for the Warner Brothers presentation, so unless folks storm out, I don’t anticipate much of a protest. Not that it would matter as all the speakers only appeared on video. There were chuckles at the mention of the company’s commitment to theatrical, and they would like some credit. Since March, they have released more movies in theaters than any other studio, generating over $2 billion worldwide.
Cry Macho is a new western/contemporary drama by Clint Eastwood. A brief bio about him becoming a director segues into an EPK about the film. On October 1, The Many Saints of Newark, The Sopranos prequel, shows young Tony and the influence his uncle has on him as narrated by Christopher. King Richard tells the story of the Williams sisters, a drama about their family as their father worked to turn the girls into tennis champions.
For genre films, James Wan with Malignant pays tribute to Italian giallo films, although it doesn’t look like it from what we are shown about an imaginary friend that comes back into a girl ‘s life. The trailer for Matrix 4 presents a return to that world. The Batman uses the Year One comics, and director/co-writer Matt Reeves wants it to be emotional as Batman works out his rage. From Dune, we were presented the Spice Harvester rescue sequence. With a worm approaching, a Harvester and its crew are to be carried away, but something fails. If this sequence is any indication, the film is going to be stunning visually. It was followed by a new trailer.
