James McAvoy – We Are Movie Geeks

SPEAK NO EVIL – Review

*L to R: (from left) Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) in Speak No Evil, directed by James Watkins. Courtesy of Universal*

In the chilling thriller/horror drama SPEAK NO EVIL, James McAvoy delivers another striking performance as character who shifts between charming and aggressive. No one does this like McAvoy, who has played roles from sweet heroes to madmen, a range that means audiences are never sure which McAvoy they will encounter, creating an edgy tension from the start.

In this story, two couple meet on vacation and hit it off. One couple is American, Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy) who have an 11-year-old daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), and live in London. The other couple are British, Patrick (James McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi), and their shy, mostly mute son Ant (Dan Hough), who live in scenic, rural west England. The Brits are fun, lively, and adventurous, particularly Patrick, who goes by Paddy, a breath of fresh air for the Americans. The two families have a great time in Paris, and the kids seem to hit it off too, despite the age difference and the fact that the boy has difficulty speaking, due a problem with his tongue. “Congenital aglossia,” says the British dad, who tells the Americans that he’s a doctor. When the British couple later send the London-based Americans a postcard with a photo from that trip, and invite them for a weekend visit at their home in the west England countryside, it doesn’t take much to persuade Ben and Louise.

SPEAK NO EVIL is an English-language remake of the Danish horror drama of the same name. In the Danish original, the couples are Danish and Dutch, and meet in Italy instead of France, but the Dutch couple lives in the country and invites the Danes one the visit. Like many such remakes, it varies from the origin – for example, in the original the children are about the same age – but in this case several scenes early on follow the original closely, even down the the dialog, although the last portion diverges.

One thing that is different – very different – from the start, and that is James McAvoy’s character. Rather than a harmless-seeming fellow, very like the other couple, McAvoy’s Paddy is alternately charming and a bit unsettling from the start, put us much more on edge from the start. No one does this kind of character like the talented Mr. McAvoy.

McAvoy is a big reason to see this film, which once it diverges from the original morphs into something that plays on a lot of horror tropes. But McAvoy always keeps us off-balance, being unhinged at times, while even touching at others, charmingly persuasive and rational, but always exuding power and a sense he’s in control – even when he’s not. It is thrilling just to see this actor work.

The tension develops slowly, apart from McAvoy’s character’s occasional flashes of scary. In the original, the couples feel more alike, which is a bit part of the appeal for the Danes. In the remake, it is the differences, the hints of excitement and adventure in the British couple, that is part of what draws in the Americans. Chalk it up to cultural differences.

This remake diverges significantly from the original, so they end up as very different films, although starting from a common premise. In both, the first half of this film feels more like psychological horror but finishes up in more taut thriller territory. For one thing, there are more weapons in this one, although not more gore. The original Danish film is more philosophical, more nihilistic, but this remake adds more rationale motives for what happens. It also adds more complicated relationships for the couples, and how those dynamics interact heightens interest, even when the newer film makes a turn into more conventional horror film territory, with a siege reminiscent of the classic STRAW DOGS. The last half is more rational, and the resolution is different, with the characters in American couple undergoing changes that are the opposite of what happens in the Danish film.

What lifts the film in this turn towards more typical horror is the cast. James McAvoy is splendid but the rest of the cast bring it too. Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy as the American couple struggling in their marriage deliver fine performances as their relationship dynamics shift under the challenges they face. Likewise, the kids are both very good, particularly newcomer Dan Hough who plays a larger role in this version despite his near-muteness. Aisling Franciosi is also good as Paddy’s seemingly harmless wife, and she and McAvoy bring a complexity to their relationship too, none of which appears in the first one.

Ultimately, SPEAK NO EVIL is less groundbreaking and unconventional than the Danish original but it is still a well-made, nail-biting, satisfying thriller, that is mostly elevated by its psychological thriller set-up and the strong performances of the cast, who are good on all levels.

SPEAK NO EVIL opens Friday, Sept. 13, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE – Review

Director/writer Jeymes Samuel seems to have been inspired by those Hollywood’s long tradition of epic Biblical movies, like BEN HUR and THE ROBE to try his own version of those big-screen extravaganzas mixing Bible stories with adventure and action for THE BOOK OF CLARENCE – but with a big comic twist. With a plenty of humor, some social commentary and with a mostly Black cast playing the Jewish population of “Lower Jerusalem” in 33 A.D., Jeymes Samuel aimed to create a new, entertaining version of this venerable movie genre. The result is a movie with one foot in something like BEN HUR crossed with Monty Python’s LIFE OF BRIAN, with a touch of Mel Brooks’ HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1. THE BOOK OF CLARENCE is a cinematic creation that teeters precariously and unevenly between the wisecracking and the reverent, sometimes making head-spinning switches from one to the other.

Often, THE BOOK OF CLARENCE does hit the mark on comedy, and even on social commentary. It also often hits the mark on the touching and gentle faith-inspired moments. It is in putting those two together in one movie where this movie hits rough patches.

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE both honors the classic Hollywood Biblical epic and sometimes mocks it, a film with both faith and low comedy. It opens with wonderfully-ornate classic Hollywood titles to introduce its chapters, and the film has high-quality production values, with fine sets and costumes, so that it evokes the epics that inspired it. Further, it has an excellent cast, led by the gifted LaKeith Stanfield as Clarence, and including Benedict Cumberbatch and James McAvoy.

Clearly, Jeymes Samuel comes at this production from a place of sincere faith but just as clearly he wants the audience to have fun, laugh, and be entertained. But the humor, which tends to low-brow, and the serious, which leans to sentimental or touching, don’t often mesh in this movie. Low comedy in the style of Mel Brooks is hilarious and fine on its own, but it doesn’t work in every movie story, especially one that strays into the sentimental or touching. The two just clash here.

It is an ambitious project and a tough balancing act to pull off, and Samuel deserves credit to the attempt, even if the mix of humor and faith doesn’t always work, sometimes whip-lashing from a serious scene to a joke with head-spinning speed. with a movie that seems often off-balance. Still, for the right audience, one willing to ignore that uneven tone and whiplash shifts, THE BOOK OF CLARENCE’s underlying sincerity might come through.

Like in LIFE OF BRIAN, this story is set in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus, and the central character, Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield), is someone who is continually mistaken for Jesus. But in this case, it is not an accidental case of mistaken identity. No, Clarence is a con-man, a non-believer who deliberately creates that confusion, with faked miracles and the aim of gathering donations from a crowd of followers.

Like BEN HUR, there is a chariot race, in this case the opening scene where Clarence and his buddy Elijah (RJ Cyler) attempt to win a chariot race to win a big cash prize, bankrolled by a local tough guy called Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi-Abrefa), They lose, leaving Clarence in debt to this loan shark.

But this 33 A.D. Jerusalem is full of Messiahs, something that makes the Romans rulers nervous, fearing it is a lead-up to rebellion. Clarence is an ambitious young man, hoping to be “somebody” and struggling under the ruling Romans’ thumb like everyone else and a host of personal problems. Ironically, he loses that opening-scene chariot race to the fiercely independent woman (Anna Diop) he is secretly in love with, who also happens to be the sister of that loan shark to whom he now owes money. Clarence is also the twin brother of Jesus’ apostle Thomas (also Stanfield), who looks down on his never-do-well twin, while Clarence resents his brother for abandoning their sick mother (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) when he left to follow Jesus, leaving Clarence to nurse her back to health.

Director Jeymes Samuel clearly knows the Gospels well but has no problem playing around with the Jesus story to suit his film. Clarence lives in economically depressed “lower Jerusalem” and the residents of Jerusalem are played by a mostly Black cast, while the Romans are played by white actors. Although we see what appears to be Hebrew writing on the signs and walls, there is no mention of Jews or Judaism.

The humor tends to be low-brow and sometimes even slapstick, like when Clarence meets Jesus’ mother Mary (Alfre Woodward) and pointedly quizzes her about being a virgin, resulting in a slapstick scene. That style of comedy is hard to integrate with more serious or reverent scenes. Some serious scenes are touching but others are melodramatic or too pat, which also does not help matters.

The film is filled with familiar Biblical figures. Nicholas Pinnock plays Jesus, while David Oyelowo plays a hyper-critical John the Baptist and Omar Sy plays a superhero type Barabbas, who becomes Clarence’s pal. James McAvoy plays a chilling Pontius Pilate, rounding up all those roving Messiahs, while Benedict Cumberbatch plays a beggar covered in dirt and rags, who gets a makeover and a bath, transforming him into the Renaissance image of Jesus, with the expected adoration results.

BOOK OF CLARENCE has plenty of problems, including not quite being able to decide if it wants to be a comedy or a more serious film about faith and belief. But in a movie world of re-makes, re-boots, sequels and prequels, one has to give Samuel credit for doing something fresh.

In a movie world of re-makes, re-boots, sequels and prequels, I want to give Samuels credit for doing something fresh. But if you come to THE BOOK OF CLARENCE looking for a revival of the classic Hollywood Biblical epic, you may be disappointed. If you come for comedy and action only, you also may be disappointed. However, for some audiences, more willing to just go with the movie’s shifts of tone and style and embrace it for the quirky, faith-based thing it is, THE BOOK OF CLARENCE may be just the funny, inspiring, quietly reverent film they are looking for. It isn’t everyone but there may be an audience for this sincere cinematic if offbeat effort.

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE opens Friday, Jan. 12, in theaters.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of THE BOOK OF CLARENCE

From visionary filmmaker Jeymes Samuel, The Book of Clarence is a bold new take on the timeless Hollywood era Biblical epic. Streetwise but struggling, Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) is trying to find a better life for himself and his family, make himself worthy to the woman he loves, and prove that he’s not a nobody. Captivated by the power and glory of the rising Messiah and His apostles, he risks everything to carve his own path to a divine life, a journey through which he finds redemption and faith, power and knowledge. The Book of Clarence Official Soundtrack features new music by Jeymes Samuel, JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi and more.

The film stars LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, Anna Diop, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Micheal Ward, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Marianne Jean-Baptiste with James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch.

https://www.thebookofclarence.movie/

The St. Louis advance screening is Thursday, January 4 at 7pm at the AMC Esquire 7.

Please arrive early as seating is not guaranteed.

Enter at the link: https://events.sonypictures.com/screenings/unsecured/main/screeningInfo.jsf?code=PBBD9ZDVS1

Rated PG-13.

Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield), Barabbas (Omar Sy) and Elijah (R.J. Cyler) in THE BOOK OF CLARENCE.

TOGETHER – Review

*(l-r) Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy in Stephen Daldry’s TOGETHER.*
*Photo credit: Peter Mountain / © Arty Films Ltd. 2021. Courtesy of Bleecker Street.*

Pandemic lock-down was such a universal experience that it was inevitable there would be a film about it. James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan star in TOGETHER, award-winning director Stephen Daldry’s (BILLY ELLIOT, THE HOURS) take on that. The film follows a British couple from the beginning of lock-down to the present, as they shelter in place with their young son, taking us through the many shared experiences of the pandemic and the particular personal struggles of this family. The problem is that the unnamed couple McAvoy and Horgan play are notably irritating people who hate each other and complain vehemently to us, the audience, about their mutual dislike. Daldry’s film is being billed as a comedy but it is more of the uncomfortable humor type in this lock-down tale with a couple who acknowledge they already hate each other even as the door slams shut.

There is a kind of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” vibe to this tale and it also quickly becomes clear we, the audience, are in for a bumpy night, or at least for the hour and a half of the film’s running time.

What makes this film worth watching are the sterling performances. McAvoy and Horgan are put through their actor’s paces, as they go through a year of pandemic, experiences that changes them individually and their relationship. Although McAvoy is the better known actor, he is well-matched with Horgan, who gives as good as she gets, balancing their fiery, snarky back-and-forth. At first the complaints are all about each other but slowly they turn their focus to the pandemic itself, brilliantly conveying the fears, the anger, the pressures, the anguish and the all the subtle changes wrought by lock-down and the pandemic. In the hands of lesser actors, this immersion in their toxic relationship would have been unbearable but McAvoy and Horgan create an appeal beyond the crusty surface.

Stylistically, TOGETHER startles us from the start. As almost as soon as McAvoy reaches the couple’s kitchen, he turns and addresses the camera, reeling off a list of things he hates about her. At first, we don’t know if this is an internal dialog we are hearing, as she ignores him, but soon Horgan turns to the camera with her list of reasons she hates him. They then alternate between complaining to each other about the other, or appealing to us for support of their viewpoint. They seem only to agree on how much they despise the other. It leaves the audience feeling like the friend listening to a couple he/she knows bickering, a couple who take turns appealing to the friend for validation. A decidedly squirm-inducing situation.

TOGETHER is a very dialog heavy film, basically a filmed play, but that seems appropriate for its subject. With that much dialog, good acting is critical but fortunately James McAvoy, using his little-heard natural Scottish accent, and Sharon Horgan are excellent. Although essentially a filmed play, clever photography and colorful set decoration and costuming help distract us from that, keeping the focus on the actors and the unfolding crisis or moment.

Why would you agree to lock-down with someone you hate? The unnamed couple claim that they are staying together for their son (Samuel Logan), who is called Arthur by his mother and Artie by his father, but that seems unconvincing. They are mismatched from the start. She is a liberal who works for a non-profit doing social aid work, the daughter of a dentist and a mother she describes as “old school communist.” He is a conservative, who came from the working classes but is now a successful entrepreneur, who brags about his Mercedes and wealth and disparages those who do not pull themselves up by their bootstraps as lazy. He accuses her of being “holier-than-thou” and she accuses him of being cold-hearted. Why they are together is a mystery but it quickly becomes clear that this couple has co-exited in this state of mutual loathing for some time, and we suspect they both get something out of this hostile relationship.

As the lock-down starts, the couple tell us they have made the decision not to include their son’s sole surviving grandparent, her mother, in their sheltering-in-place pod .They argue her mother, who has multiple health issues, she is better off with her visiting caregivers. They hope to move her to a nursing home, called a care home in Britain, where she “will be safe.”

Even though this film is set in Great Britain, the shared experiences of pandemic are much the same as here. We start with the rush to lock-down, toilet paper shortages and store shelves picked clean, The film then takes us through the unfolding pandemic chronologically, in periodic vignettes, each starting with a text showing the current number of COVID cases in Britain, and later vaccinations. At first all their venom is directed towards each other, along with shock at empty grocery shelves and similar shortages. They don’t know how long lock-down will last but seem to believe it can’t last that long, As the COVID horror unfolds and cases soar, they become more fearful, and more anger shift towards government’s poor response, the breakdown in supply chains, and then devastating decisions about nursing homes, as they are soon able to move her mother to one.

While the couple continue to complain about each other and over-share about their sex lives, eventually the sheer weight of all that is happening during the pandemic shifts their viewpoint, and they start to think more beyond themselves. James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan are excellent and riveting in this film, fiery and caustic to start, outraged at the situation and the lack of preparedness on the part of government, and heartbroken and helpless as the pandemic reaches into their lives. There is a heartbreaking scene where human touch would matter so much but the need to self-isolate prevents it. McAvoy subtly shifts his character from hard arrogance to a more human, emotional view, a moving and touching transformation. Horgan likewise softens her judgementalness, forced to face that not all is in her control and that she has flaws like anyone. There is a moment of elation as the vaccines are distributed, before frustration emerges when vaccine refusals stymies hopes to quickly get back to normal. The film ends with the characters feeling that the pandemic experience has changed things, although there is a lingering suspicion it hasn’t.

Stephen Daldry’s tale gives us a high-energy recap of our shared pandemic experience, spiked with incisive insights, through the evolving relationship of a sharp-tongued couple, an experience greatly enhanced by shining performances by James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan. TOGETHER opens Friday, August 27, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and other theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

DARK PHOENIX – Review

Finally caught your breath from the epic superhero showdown from six weeks ago? Well, you’d better be since another big batch of Marvel characters is battling it out at the multiplex this weekend. So, what’s the big difference? For one thing, many of them are barely out of their teens. Oh, and their powers are due to genetic mutations. Yes, after a three-year hiatus the Marvel mutants return to the big screen, but they’re not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe…yet. Twentieth Century Fox snapped up the screen rights in the last century(!), so this is the seventh entry in a film franchise that began way back in 2000 (along the way there’s been two spin-off series, with Wolverine and Deadpool, five more flicks). Plus this is really a prequel with many younger actors taking over the roles from that 19-year-old initial adventure. Hopefully, any confusion will be cleared up as we dive deep into what may be the finale of the franchise, based on the acclaimed comic story arc that introduced DARK PHOENIX.

At the story’s start, we’re bopping through a couple of decades. First, a childhood trauma brings grade schooler Jean Grey to the attention of scientist/school founder Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). A quick cut and we’re in 1991 as the space shuttle Endeavor is launched into orbit. Charles is monitoring the flight with NASA back at his School for Gifted Youngsters. When the shuttle comes in contact with a swirling cosmic energy cloud that begins to tear it apart, Charles sends out a rescue team: Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and the now-grown Jean (Sophie Turner), all supervised by Raven AKA Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). Things turn deadly when the X-Jet (now really a rocket) arrives for the rescue of the crew. Jean is engulfed by the cloud, yet she somehow survives. Back at the school, she’s examined by Hank McCoy AKA Beast (Nicholas Hoult), who gives her a clean bill of health though he notices some odd energy pulses. But it’s Charles who is most alarmed as he detects that this force is revealing too many of Jean’s childhood memories and amplifying her rage. When she lashes out at a post-mission party and flees, the X-team are in pursuit. The encounter ends tragically and eventually brings Erik AKA Magneto (Michael Fassbender) out of hiding at his island commune/sanctuary he shares with other outcast mutants. Also tracking down Jean is the mysterious Vuk (Jessica Chastain), who may be part of another group wanting to possess the power now residing in the young woman (now dubbed Phoenix). The big question is: will she be the planet Earth’s defender or its destroyer?

Without the constraints of a time travel plot, nor a big baddie (Apocolypse), or even a role (lead or cameo) from fan-favorite Wolverine (this being the first completely Hugh J-free X flick), the young cast gets to explore the drama that springs from these complex relationships. Straight from the finale of that cable TV dragon show, Turner expertly portrays both sides of the conflicted Jean Grey, going from unpredictable unstoppable monster to a fragile teen trying to cope with a past filled with tragedy and deceit. Much of the latter comes from McAvoy as the controlling mentor who twists the truth for his ideas of justice. His foe (and brother who “takes the p*#s out of him”) is the always compelling Fassbender who brings a touch of nobility and passion to the comics supervillain. Lawrence conveys a sense of sad frustration as reformed baddie now pseudo-co-parent Raven. Sheridan is a stoic, devoted beau as Cyclops Scott. Although they’re under tons of makeup, Hoult and Smit-McPhee are excellent as the more outwardly odd mutants, Beast and Nightcrawler. Unfortunately, the guy who seems to be having the most fun with his abilities, Peters as Quicksilver (a scene stealer in the last two installments) is side-lined much too early (now he needs a spin-off). And the incredibly gifted Chastain is wasted as a one-note ethereal baddie who spends much of her limited screentime as the whispering demon to Turner, all while glaring under a white “fright wig”.

First-time director, though a long-time producer and writer on this series, Simon Kinberg captures much of the emotional power of the original comics saga by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and the sorely-missed Dave Cockrum (Simon wrote the adaptation), much more than in the previous screen treatment in the much-reviled X-MEN: THE LAST STAND. And though it’s one of the better flicks in the series (miles above the last dreary, dismal slog from 3 years ago), it still lacks a real coherent plot path, veering off for some alien menace, then stopping dead to denounce the bigoted, evil world at large just before the next big action set piece. Most of these are very involving, making great use of top of the line CGI, but edited with a “jerky’ pace, speeding up then slowing to a crawl, with the camera spinning around so fast we have a tough time figuring out who’s who, and who’s where. The biggest fault with the flick may be that of timing (something out of Kinsberg’s hands) because its original release date was last November. Since then we’ve seen a horrific 1970s car crash in the prologue of another superhero flick (SHAZAM), and just six weeks ago we were treated with a superhero battle finale capped with a noble hero making the ultimate sacrifice. Plus it was packed with charm and humor, elements sorely lacking in this X-adventure. But if this is indeed the end of the series (Disney’s purchase of Fox went through, so the folks at Marvel Studios could relaunch the “mutant movies” soon, which may have prompted a clever “inside joke” during a big battle), it’s going out on a fairly high note (though it lacks the giddy fun of X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and the “grand opera” of X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST), while even tossing in the first movie appearance of a truly obscure character who epitomizes the tacky 70s (hint, the initials are DD, but it’s not Daredevil nor Devil Dinosaur). So we wave goodbye to that “fancy-schmancy” elite school in the last frames of DARK PHOENIX with a strong feeling we may return once more.

3.5 out of 5

Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Nicholas Hoult, Kodi Smit-McPhee And James McAvoy Talk X-Men Movies In New DARK PHOENIX Celebration Video

It all leads to this moment.

20th Century Fox has released a new video in celebration of the upcoming release of DARK PHOENIX. The film stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain, and is scored by composer Hans Zimmer.

Watch the celebration video now.

DARK PHOENIX arrives in theaters everywhere this Friday, June 7.

This is the story of one of the X-Men’s most beloved characters, Jean Grey, as she evolves into the iconic DARK PHOENIX.

During a life-threatening rescue mission in space, Jean is hit by a cosmic force that transforms her into one of the most powerful mutants of all. Wrestling with this increasingly unstable power as well as her own personal demons, Jean spirals out of control, tearing the X-Men family apart and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our planet.

Sophie Turner stars as Jean Grey in Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

The film is the most intense and emotional X-Men movie ever made. It is the culmination of 20 years of X-Men movies, as the family of mutants that we’ve come to know and love must face their most devastating enemy yet — one of their own.

And where is Wolverine in all of this?

Rolling Stone spoke with Director Simon Kinberg for the answer:

“Beginning with the original X-Men movie, back in the pre-superhero-industrial-complex year of 2000, every non-Deadpool entry in the franchise has had one thing in common: Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Dark Phoenix, due in theaters on June 7th, is the exception, and it’s not just because Jackman bid farewell to the character in James Mangold’s superb 2017 film Logan.

“Jackman could still have fit into the timeline, Kinberg notes, in keeping with his small role in 2016’s X-Men Apocalypse. But there was another issue: In the original Dark Phoenix saga in the comic books — and even in the botched previous adaptation in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand — the love triangle between Cyclops, Jean Grey (the X-Men member who becomes Dark Phoenix, and Wolverine is key to the narrative. “If you know the Dark Phoenix story, you’d want to really service the love story between Logan and Jean,” says Kinberg. “And I think the notion of Hugh Jackman, as great as he looks for his age, and Sophie Turner — it didn’t sit well with me. Or anyone else!”

“Plus, Kinberg wanted to keep the focus on the title character. “There was an element of this being Jean’s story,” he says. “And I was committing so fully to it that I didn’t want to run the risk of pulling away from Jean by going to the well of a fan-favorite character in these movies. I wanted this to be a very different experience of seeing an X-Men movie.”

For more on The Dark Phoenix, head over to the comic book section of Marvel
https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/the-definitive-dark-phoenix-reading-guide-part-one-the-beginning

https://www.foxmovies.com/movies/dark-phoenix

New DARK PHOENIX Trailer Adds Emma Frost To X-Men Movie Universe

This summer, the world will go dark.

20th Century Fox has released the new trailer and poster for DARK PHOENIX. The film stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain. DARK PHOENIX is scored by composer Hans Zimmer.

Watch the new trailer now.

In DARK PHOENIX, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.

DARK PHOENIX arrives in theaters everywhere on June 7, 2019.

Director Simon Kinberg and Michael Fassbender on the set of Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as Raven/Mystique in Twentieth Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

GLASS – Review

The premise of GLASS was a good idea, but considering M. Night Shyamalan’s track record, I’m not sure why anyone’s expectations were high. SPLIT was something of a critical comeback for the beleaguered filmmaker (and THE VISIT before that was a nifty little found footage shocker), but with GLASS, his sequel to two (mostly) unrelated earlier films, Shyamalan has not failed to disappoint.

GLASS opens 19 years after UNBREAKABLE with the indestructible David Dunn (Bruce Willis) running a home security shop and moonlighting as caped street vigilante The Sentry (now referred to as The Overseer), who patrols the streets of Philadelphia. He takes special interest in tracking down Kevin Crumb aka The Beast (James McAvoy), the cheerleader-abducting, multi-personalitied, cannibalistic serial killer from SPLIT (now referred to as The Horde). With the help of his tech-savvy son, Joseph (Spencer Treat-Clark), David discovers where Crumb is hiding, rescues a trio of cheerleaders and starts a massive street smackdown with the pumped-up villain. This battle is soon interrupted by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), who captures both combatants (with the help of a small army) and transports them to her mysterious psychiatric compound, where Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson), the brittle-boned baddie from UNBREAKABLE has been residing. This is where the next long, boring 90 minutes of GLASS takes place. Once there, she tells Beast/Horde “It may not seem fair, but you are stuck in this room”, which is how I felt watching the wretched middle stretch of this film which consists of endless, talky scenes of therapy and psychobabble. There must be a half hour of close-ups of Sarah Paulson’s face, yammering on about mental disorders and comic books and holding up x-rays of frontal lobes. Paulson has more dialog than Jackson and Willis combined (reminded me of how they put Viola Davis’ buttoned up bureaucrat front and center in SUICIDE SQUAD). She’s a fine actress I suppose, but nobody is coming to see GLASS for Sarah Paulsen! The only character with more lines than her is Beast/Horde. Shyamalan directs many long single-takes in which McAvoy manically cycles through several of his personalities including 9-year-old Hedwig, fey Barry, slow-witted Dennis, and Miss Jennifer. It’s a technically impressive performance from the bulked-up actor, but this stuff worked far better in SPLIT, which was much better-written and the scenes of him crawling walls and ceilings has since lost its punch. Though the film is named after him, Glass (first name Mister!) spends the first half of the movie catatonic, sedated and twitching until it’s revealed that his 19 years of silently drooling in his wheelchair was all a ruse (just like Jim Carrey at the beginning of DUMB AND DUMBER TO!) and that he’s really been working on his master plan to escape and wipe out thousands of visitors at the upcoming opening of Osaka Tower, Philly’s largest skyscraper! This hints at a third-act action climax that never materializes. All three do escape but instead of the promised slaughter of innocents, we get a half-hour of fistfights between these characters on a parking lot. While that’s not quite as thrilling as mass murder, we do get a long twisty explanation of why they escaped through the basement instead of the side door, so there’s that. Since this is an M. Night, there’s a twist or two, but the movie is so dull, they hardly register.

GLASS is terrible, but it falls short of the delirious, fun atrociousness of Shyamalan’s THE HAPPENING mostly because it rambles on at 135 minutes and is so poorly and hastily written. Anya Taylor Joy from SPLIT is back reprising her role as Casey, the girl whose friends were butchered by Beast/Horde. They actually bring her in to his therapy sessions and the two embrace, which makes no sense. I can’t think of a single thing to recommend about GLASSS but one of the worst things about it is all of the ridiculous existential dialog about Comic book doctrine and mythos. I suppose all of this is supposed to warm the hearts of comic book insiders, and it was part of UNBREAKABLE where it worked better when just Mister Glass was reciting it. Here it’s so awkwardly-written, especially in the exchanges between Glass and his mom, played by Charlayne Woodard, where he delivers howlers like “I’m not a special edition. I’m an origin story!”. The actress is 12 years younger than Samuel Jackson, which is fine in the flashbacks to when little Elijah is a child (she had the same role in UNBREAKABLE and a deleted scene from that earlier film is well-integrated here), but to make her look old enough to be the 60-ish Elijah’s mom, she’s wearing some of the most god-awful, unconvincing old-age makeup I’ve seen. It would have been a better idea to simply cast an older actress in the role. There are several scenes set in comic-book shops, which are a welcome distraction, but GLASS turns out to be one of Shyamalan’s worst films, which is saying a lot!

1 of 5 Stars

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of M. Night Shyamalan’s GLASS

(L to R) SAMUEL L. JACKSON, JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS and SARAH PAULSON in “Glass.”

M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout originals—2000’s Unbreakable, from Touchstone, and 2016’s Split, from Universal—in one explosive, all-new comic-book thriller: Glass.

From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, known also by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast.

Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

Joining the all-star cast are Unbreakable’s Spencer Treat Clark and Charlayne Woodard, who reprise their roles as Dunn’s son and Price’s mother, as well as Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story series).

This riveting culmination of his worldwide blockbusters is produced by Shyamalan and Blumhouse Production’s Jason Blum, who also produced the writer/director’s previous two films for Universal. They produce again with Ashwin Rajan and Marc Bienstock, and Steven Schneider executive produces.

A Blinding Edge Pictures and Blumhouse production, Glass will be released by Universal Pictures in North America on January 18, 2019.

Enter for your chance to win two free passes to the St. Louis advance screening of GLASS. The theatrical sneak preview will be on JANUARY 15 at 7pm.

Answer the following: James McAvoy and Samuel L. Jackson have starred in other Superhero franchises – name those series of movies and their characters.

Add you name, answer and email address in our comments section below.

NO PURCHASE REQUIRED. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house.

WEBSITE: www.glassmovie.com

RATING: GLASS has been rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned – Some Material May Be Inappropriate for Children Under 13) for violence including some bloody images, thematic elements, and language.

There’s More Beast In New Trailer For GLASS From M. Night Shyamalan

“Real villains are among us…real heroes are within us.”

Here’s a first look at the brand new trailer for director M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming, and long-awaited sequel to UNBREAKABLE… GLASS.

A Blinding Edge Pictures and Blumhouse production, GLASS will be released by Universal Pictures in North America on January 18, 2019, and by Buena Vista International abroad.

Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout originals—2000’s Unbreakable, from Touchstone, and 2016’s Split, from Universal—in one explosive, all-new comic-book thriller: Glass.

Visit the official site: glassmovie.com

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