On Friday at New York Comic Con, Apple TV+ and the creative team behind “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” unveiled the trailer for the highly anticipated series, and shared a preview of the expansive new series, based on Legendary’s Monsterverse. Starring Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” premieres globally with the first two episodes on Friday, November 17 on Apple TV+, followed by one episode every Friday through January 12.
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” executive producers Chris Black and Matt Fraction, executive producer Tory Tunnell, executive producer and director Andy Goddard, casting director Ronna Kress and VFX supervisor Sean Konrad came together for the special conversation and screening at New York Comic Con, moderated by entertainment journalist Scott Mantz.
Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco, and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), taking place in the 1950s and half a century later where Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. The dramatic saga — spanning three generations — reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.
Hailing from Legendary Television, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is co-developed and executive produced by Chris Black and Matt Fraction. Matt Shakman directs the first two episodes and serves as executive producer alongside Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell from Safehouse Pictures, Andy Goddard, Brad Van Arragon and Andrew Colville. Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita executive produce on behalf of Toho Co., Ltd., the owner of the Godzilla character. Toho licensed the rights to Legendary for “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” as a natural byproduct of their long-term relationship with the film franchise.
Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse is an epic entertainment universe of interconnected stories that bring together popular culture’s most titanic forces of nature. Witness humanity’s greatest battle for survival as we fight for our world in the face of a catastrophic new reality — the monsters of our myths and legends are real. Beginning in 2014 with Godzilla and continuing with 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island,” 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the Monsterverse has accumulated close to two billion dollars globally at the box office and is ever-expanding, with the highly anticipated sequel “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”
The 10-episode series will premiere globally on Apple TV+ alongside an expanding offering of sweeping, world-building dramas including global hit series “Silo”; “Foundation,” based on the award-winning novels by Isaac Asimov, and created by David S. Goyer; “Invasion,” a sci-fi drama series from Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy Award-nominated producer Simon Kinberg and David Weil currently streaming its second season and more.
Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz are former advertising creative executives who founded their agency Bush/Renz in 2008. The duo has a long and successful history of viral and effective short form marketing and entertainment. Their debut feature ANTEBELLUM, is about a woman who finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality involving slavery.
Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about their careers and about how ANTEBELLUM came to be.
Interview conducted by Tom Stockman January 13th, 2021
Tom Stockman: I recently watched your movie ANTEBELLUM and found it very entertaining. Gerard, I heard that this story was inspired by a nightmare that you had.
Gerard Bush; Yes it was shortly before we moved to LA . I was having a lot of weird dreams at that time. This particular nightmare felt different. It felt like this woman Eden was so desperate for help that she was screaming across dimensions. That’s how we got the original idea.
TS: I’m curious about what you did as soon as you woke up from your dream. Did you write things down? Did you call someone and tell them about it?
GB: I’m very respectful about dreams and I get a lot of inspiration from them. I usually keep a notepad next to the bed but in this case, I didn’t. I had my phone and I was contemplating whether or not to open the phone because I felt like if I did, that would keep me from going back to sleep. At first I decided to just wait and write it all down in the morning but something inside me said not to do that and I’m so happy I didn’t. I opened the note app on my phone and wrote everything down.
TS: There’s a big twist in ANTEBELLUM so I don’t want to talk about the story too much, but was that twist in your dream?
GB: Yes. That’s what boggles my mind. The nightmare followes the whole story right down to the sign and everything. That’s why this woman was so desperate to reach for help. I wondered if this was happening in the future or an SOS from the past.
TS: Christopher, how did you get involved in this project?
Christopher Renz: Gerard and I have been together as writing and directing partners and also as life partners for the past 12 years. I was on board from the morning he woke up and came to the kitchen and told me about the nightmare We discussed it and it was such an incredible story that we wrote it as a short story that same day.
GB: We wrote the short story with the idea that it was just going to be that. We had no intention at that point that it was going to be a film.
TS: It’s definitely high-concept. Was this a difficult story to describe to studios and investors to get funding for?
GB: It’s a difficult movie to describe because when describing it because you just want them to experience it the way audiences would experience it. We were pleasantly surprised that there was a bidding war from almost all of the major studios.
TS: Let’s talk about these plantation scenes that make up part of the film. Where were those filmed?
CR: Those were filmed in Louisiana at the Evergreen Plantation. That’s also where DJANGO UNCHAINED was filmed. It’s an oddly beautiful place considering the history.
TS: Who owns this plantation now and what do they do there?
CR: The lady that owns this particular plantation is very dedicated to educating people about the enslavement of black people and what that meant for us as a country and as a society and how it’s still rears its ugly head in so many crevices in corners of the country even today. She told us about some of the neighboring plantations. When you see people taking tours of those plantation, they are virtually all white but I don’t want to make assumptions about what those people are thinking or what motivates them to take those tours, but some of what I saw didn’t feel so good. We liked what Miss Jane, the owner of Evergreen, was doing and how respectable she was. Outside of the aesthetics, that was one of the main reasons we chose that location. Some of the other plantations felt so dirty and wrong. People went through the slave quarters and then went into the gift shop.
TS: Do they have a gift shop at Evergreen?
CR: No, not at Evergreen. There’s a whole part of Louisiana there called Plantation Row.
TS:Was there any discomfort or tension between the white actors playing the plantation owners and workers and the black actors playing the slaves?
GB: Not at all. Everybody that was part of the film went into this project with the best of intentions and motivations. We were very respectful of one another and engaged in in-depth conversations prior to even getting on set. It was important to us that we had a set where everyone was there for all of the right reasons. We were so fortunate to have an all-star cast that was really motivated to stay true to the script.
TS: How did you keep things historically accurate?
GB: First and foremost, we are both history buffs and we wanted to make sure that everything that we were including in the film had some value in terms of historical contacts even right down to the enslaved people whispering what is the national black anthem; Lift Every Voice. Some people who might take just a cursory overview, and not really look at the film, may think they see things that don’t feel appropriate for the period, but it’s not until you see the entire film that you understand that everything we did was quite deliberate.
TS: You tell your story very visually, which I always like. What were your backgrounds prior to becoming filmmakers?
CR: When we got together 12 years ago, our intention was to always become filmmakers. Within the first three days of being together, we were writing a short story about aliens. We didn’t want to move to Hollywood on a wing and a prayer so we spent the next 10 years honing our skills with the advertising shop that we had started, Bush/Renz. There we worked with clients such as Porsche and Harry Winston before we really went in headfirst with environmental issues, social justice, and politics. We were able to use a lot of the concepts of the writing and filmmaking that we had done on behalf of luxury brands. We then applied that visual identity, one that had became really unique to Bush/Renz to the political and activist work that we were doing. That just translated into the filmmaking work and ANTEBELLUM and others moving forward.
TS: Explain to me how the pair of you work as co-directors.
GB: It’s funny because I don’t know, and Christopher doesn’t know, anything else because we have only written and directed together for the past twelve years. We’re not the same person but we have shared values in those places that are most important to a creative process. What makes it work is that we are very respectful of the other person‘s perspective, point of view, and how meaningful that is in terms of a contribution to what we are trying to do as a whole. There is never a time on set that we are not making those decisions together. The DGA says “one Director one vision” but Janelle Monáe ended up buying the entire cast and TScrew T-shirts dedicated to Chris and I that said “two directors one vision“, So we are like Siamese twins in that way.
TS: I remember seeing trailers for ANTEBELLUM at the theater. It came out in spring right about the time the theaters are closing down because of Covid. Were you guys ever able to go to a big premiere of this movie with an audience?
CR: No. We had screenings with people and we had a drive-in premiere that was incredibly well done. It was on the rooftop of The Grove here in Los Angeles. But it was not the same as being in a movie theater and having that communal experience. We designed and made ANTEBELLUM to be experienced in a theater with a group of strangers in the dark. It didn’t happen that way obviously with Covid, but we felt an urgency about getting the film out given the circumstance and relevance and how prescient some who had seen it thought that it was for the time. What we have learned is that Antebellum is the sixth most looked-up word in 2020 because of our film. It wasn’t a word that was in heavy rotation. Here’s a film that pierces pop culture and the collective consciousness of the country here when we are in the middle of a global pandemic and what feels like the end of times, We are really satisfied with the outcome, all things considered.
TS: What were some of the biggest challenges in making ANTEBELLUM?
GB: This is our first feature so there was a bit of a learning curve but we are quick learners. We got there. I think that making a movie is not an easy thing. It’s difficult. You have to fight for your vision throughout the whole process, from the script notes all the way through the final edit.
CR: We learned a lot throughout this experience, and will be able to use that experience in our next film which is called RAPTURE.
TS: When you’re making that one, let’s talk again. Good luck with your future projects.
CR & GB: Thanks a lot
ANTEBELLUM is currently available on Streaming and on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K.
Hans Christian Andersen said, “Where words fail, music speaks.” This is most certainly the case with HEARTS BEAT LOUD – a quiet well-meaning slice-of-life that only feels alive when the music is playing. It’s the unfortunate kind of indie drama that fails to reach out through the screen despite showcasing two likable actors playing to their strengths. Offermann the curmudgeonly philosopher who talks about feelings without showing them, and Clemons the timid outsider trying to find her path.
Widowed dad and record store owner Frank (Nick Offerman) is preparing to close his record shop just as his only daughter, Sam (Kiersey Clemons), is about to go off to college. Their love of music triggers a jam session one night, and the result is a catchy tune that Frank dumps online under the band name “We’re Not a Band.” After the song becomes an Internet breakout, the two must decide what they want to do next in their lives and if they should keep the music going.
Director and writer Brett Haley purposefully centers the film on these small moments – the glances between a father and daughter and those times of contemplation over a drink at the bar. But the gentle, character-driven approach is ultimately unmoving. There’s no forward motion propelling the film. For a film about music, it never quite finds a rhythm that works for it. Offermann’s flirtations with his landlord played by Toni Collette is as about as bland and boring as you can get. Clemons’ relationship struggles with her girlfriend don’t offer that much more to the stagnant feeling, but it at least represents a gay relationship in a refreshingly natural, un-Hollywood way.
The music the father-daughter duo create is instantly catchy. Her impassioned voice fits perfectly with the soaring melodies and synth beats. Indie music fans will also smirk at mentions of such acts like Sleater Kinney, Animal Collective, and another band whose singer makes a cameo. In the end, the script hits all the music and indie drama notes but lacks the emotional pop to make the film a hit. The structure is there as well as all the parts. However, it doesn’t stand out from other feel-good charmers.
HEARTS BEAT LOUD is about those important transitions in life – the months between high school and college and the closing of your business and passion – and those lingering thoughts of anticipation and anxiety. While the drama didn’t hit the right notes to get sucked in, it definitely has its heart in the right place.
Overall score: 2.5 out of 5
HEARTS BEAT LOUD opens in select theaters Jun 22nd
This weekend presents us with another film set in Manhattan, but the locale is the only thing it has in common with MENASHE. Well, it does deal with a father-son conflict, though the duo here is worlds apart from the shop clerk and his pre-teen progeny. For this release we’re taken from the orthodox Jewish community of Brooklyn to the posh, intellectual upper west side, and the son is a good ten years older, a twenty-something. The conflict here concerns something, really someone, the two men have in common, unknown to the patriarch. Though the son shares the frustrations about gentrification (“The city’s losing its soul”) with his parents’ friends, in many ways he may really still be on the cusp of adulthood, hence his status as THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK. And no, it’s not another post-apocalyptic, dystopian teens fighting for humanity opus, thank heavens.
It is set in the modern-day, as the opening title line-drawn animation informs us of the current state of the city, with the fleeing suburbanites returning to make NYC less dangerous…and interesting. We then meet the “title boy”, 23 year-old Thomas Webb (Callum Turner), a college graduate paying his bills as a Spanish tutor and living in a walk-up apartment on the lower east side. This is seen as an act of defiance by his father Ethan (Pierce Brosnan), owner of a small book publishing company. Perhaps he’s right, since Dad squelched his son’s own early literary aspirations by dismissing his work has “serviceable”. But Thomas still has much affection and concern for his mother Judith (Cynthia Nixon), a former artist who now channels her creativity by planning lavish dinner parties featuring a who’s who’s of NYC’s best and brightest. Judith’s also emotionally fragile, so Thomas tries to spend lots of time with her. He also spends time with a beautiful bookseller named Mimi (Kiersey Clemons). Thomas is smitten, but after a drug and booze-fueled one night stand, Mimi has firmly put him back in the “friend zone”. It was a mistake, a “one time thing”, since she’s got a boyfriend in a band who always seems to be on the road. But she still enjoys hanging out with him, which proves to be torture for Thomas. One evening, the frustrated young man meets his new neighbor, a much older man, sixty-something W.F. Gerald (Jeff Bridges), who inquires about his dour attitude. Soon Thomas opens up to the man who becomes a fatherly mentor, dispensing sage wisdom about life and love as they enjoy cigars and scotch. Then Thomas’s world cracks up when he and Mimi go to a high-class burlesque nightclub. He spies his father in the company of an alluring dark-haired younger woman. What if Judith finds out? He tracks her down and begins to “tail” the lady, first joined by Mimi, then solo. Eventually Thomas confronts the mystery woman, a free-lance editor named Johanna (Kate Beckinsale). He warns her to stay away from Ethan, while she believes he has other motives. A flirtation begins which sparks a wild romance, a very hush-hush affair. Has Thomas given up on Mimi? Can they keep this family destroying secret between them? Could things get even messier? Yeah, probably.
An impressive cast has been assembled for this very weird love triangle, but they’re tripped up by a script with an abrasive character at its center. Turner does his best to bring some humanity and depth to the mawkish self-absorbed Thomas, to no avail. He seems at times like a petulant adolescent just moments before throwing a tantrum when a shiny new toy is denied. Of course, the object of his main desire is the too flighty Mimi, Clemons projects smart sensuality, but it’s never clear why she continues to “lead on” then push away Thomas (perhaps she’s keeping him for a “back up” if the bad boy musician goes off with some groupies. Still, her character is more thought out than the siren cipher Johanna. Beckinsale is very believable as the high society knockout, but her dialogue is mainly riddles and admonitions. It’s never clear why she decides to juggle father and son, especially since there’s so little chemistry with Turner. Nixon, on the other hand, is the ethereal nurturer. Her Judith seems the fragile flower, but Nixon shows that there’s a lot more going on behind those clouded eyes. Bridges appears to be concocting a stew of some familiar recent roles for the oddball writer. He’s a bit of THE GIVER, a dollop of “The Dude”, with a layer of David Lynch (in his hair style and fashion sense). And yet again, his growling gritted jaw-line delivery becomes distracting. Oddly the actor who does some of his best work here may be Brosnan as a character we think is a heart-less, gold-grabbing philandering villain. However, Ethan has the most compelling “arc”, especially in the film’s last act when the triangle finally meets (connects, I suppose).
Amazingly this is the second feature this year from the prolific director Marc Webb, but with last April’s GIFTED he had a much more compelling story for that talented cast to explore. The New York locations are stunning (especially the wedding reception at a museum), but many of themes come of as “riffs” on much better Woody Allen flicks (a bit of HANNAH here, some MANHATTAN there). Plus many of the sophisticated dialogue comes off as coy and precious (like the opening scene cartoon). And the big emotional reveal in the final moments would be more at home in a daytime TV drama. The iconic city streets and Ms. Beckinsale are lovely, but THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK has little life or originality.
Returning stars Seth Rogen, Zac Efron and Rose Byrne are joined by Chloë Grace Moretz for NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING, the follow-up to 2014’s most popular original comedy. Nicholas Stoller again directs in a film that follows what happens when the will of parenthood goes against the bonds of sisterhood.
Check out the funny new trailer below.
Now that Mac (Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Byrne) have a second baby on the way, they are ready to make the final move into adulthood: the suburbs. But just as they thought they’d reclaimed the neighborhood and were safe to sell, they learn that the new occupants next door are a sorority even more out of control than Teddy (Efron) and his brothers ever dreamed of being.
Tired of their school’s sexist, restrictive system, the unorthodox ladies of Kappa Nu have decided to start a house where they can do whatever the hell they want. When Shelby (Moretz) and her sisters, Beth (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein), find the perfect place just off campus, they won’t let the fact that it’s located on a quiet street stand in their way of parties as epic as the guys throw.
Forced to turn to the one ex-neighbor with the skills to bring down the new Greeks next door, the Radners—alongside best friends Jimmy (Ike Barinholtz) and Paula (Carla Gallo)—bring in charismatic Teddy as their secret weapon. If he can infiltrate the sorority and charm his way through it, the thirtysomethings will shutter the Kappas’ home. But if they think that their neighbors are going down without a fight, they have severely underestimated the power of youthful ingenuity and straight-up crazy.
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING hits theaters May 20, 2016.
A critical hit and audience favorite out of the Sundance Film Festival, in DOPE, Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
The film also stars Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Kimberly Elise, Chanel Iman, Keith Stanfield, Quincy Brown, Blake Anderson, with Zoë Kravitz and A$AP Rocky.
From writer/director Rick Famuyiwa, DOPE opens in theaters on June 19th.
The #DopeMovie soundtrack, featuring four original tracks written by PHARRELL WILLIAMS (@Pharrell), is available for pre-order NOW! CLICK HERE to pre-order and you will also receive an automatic download of Awreeoh’s “Don’t Get Deleted.
WAMG invites you to enter for a chance to win passes (Good for 2) to the advance screening of DOPE on June 16th at 7PM in the St. Louis area.
We will contact the winners by email.
Answer the following:
Name Director Rick Famuyiwa’s first feature film.
TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
3. No purchase necessary.
The film is rated R for language, drug content, sexuality/nudity, and some violence – all involving teens.
“It’s hard out here for a geek…” reads the tagline on the new poster for director Rick Famuyiwa’s DOPE.
You can also catch it on executive producer Pharrell Williams’ Instagram account here.This summer, welcome to a day in the life of a geek in the Bottoms when DOPE hits theaters on June 19.
A critical hit and audience favorite out of the Sundance Film Festival, in DOPE, Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT.
A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
Starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoe Kravitz, A$AP Rocky, Chanel Iman and Quincy Brown, DOPE features four new original songs by Pharrell Williams.
From Open Road Films, DOPE is produced by Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, and executive produced by Pharrell Williams, Michael Y. Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, David Lonner and Sean Combs.
The official trailer for director Rick Famuyiwa’s DOPE has launched.
A critical hit and audience favorite out of the Sundance Film Festival, in DOPE, Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT.
A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
Starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoe Kravitz, A$AP Rocky, Chanel Iman and Quincy Brown, DOPE features four new original songs by Pharrell Williams.
Rick Famuyiwa (BROWN SUGAR, OUR FAMILY WEDDING) recently signed on to direct the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas TV movie CONFIRMATION, starring Kerry Washington, for HBO.
From Open Road Films, DOPE is produced by Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, and executive produced by Pharrell Williams, Michael Y. Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, David Lonner and Sean Combs.
This summer, welcome to a day in the life of a geek in the Bottoms when DOPE hits theaters on June 19.
