Sicario Sequel Gets New Title and New Director
Director Stefano Sollima has joined the planned sequel for Denis Villenueve’s Sicario. Due to Villenueve’s commitment to the upcoming Blade Runner sequel, Gomorra director Sollima, will be behind the camera for the next chapter, titled Soldado. Returning to the cast are Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro while Emily Blunt is expected not to return due to her commitment to the upcoming Mary Poppins film.
Soldado is due to start production later this year and will most likely be released sometime in 2017. More news as we get it of course.
Tallulah Review
The Plot
Desperate to be rid of her toddler, dissatisfied Beverly Hills housewife, Carolyn (Tammy Blanchard) hires a stranger to babysit and ends up getting much more than she bargained for.
The Good
Orange Is The New Black writer Sian Heder gathers a wonderful cast in her feature film directorial debut. With Ellen Page driving the story as the titular Tallulah, a young girl who lives out of her car. Stealing her way through life, Tallulah soon goes one step up from the food and drink when she is unwittingly roped into babysitting for Carolyn, a self-obsessed woman who would rather go off committing adultery than take care of her daughter.
It’s clear from the offset that Carolyn won’t be winning mother of the year any time soon, prompting Tallulah to do what she believes is the right thing, and kidnap young Madison in an effort to give her a better life. To do this, Tallulah enlists the help of her ex-boyfriends mother, Margo (Alison Janney) on the lie that she is Madison’s grandmother. Janney and Page work wonderfully together on screen and both bring grounded and deeply personal performances in their roles. Janney in particular has an interesting plot thread which sees her trying to come to terms with her divorce and newly single life.
Also coming into the frame as supporting characters, we get Tommar Wilson as a comic relief concierge who is just a joy whenever he turns up on screen, as well as Orange Is The New Black regular, Uzo Aduba as a social services worker. A complete opposite to the role she is most renowned for and proof if any were needed, that she is more than just a one trick pony.
Tallulah also manages to pull off an incredible feeling of tension in a strange way that doesn’t feel too over-dramatic. Instead the tension seeps in so naturally that fits perfectly with the indie feel of the film.
The Bad
Unfortunately, despite the brilliant cast, the plot often becomes a lillte too absurd. A big part of this is to do with Page’s character. It feels throughout as though we are supposed to be sympathetic for her kidnapping, but Heder’s script feels like it’s missing just one tiny element to tip us to Tallulah’s side. Without this, at best you feel sorry that she’s gotten to the point of kidnapping, at worst she comes off as a conniving, selfish young girl who has no regard for anyone else as long as she manages to stay out of trouble.
The Ugly Truth
Tallulah is an interesting if occasionally absurd story that is helped massively by it’s impressively strong cast. With just a little more time on screen Ellen Page could have catapulted the film to perfection, instead it sits neatly above average and still demands viewing.
Review by Johnny Ellis
Check out our interview with Director Sian Heder and Producer Heather Rae below:
Other People Review
The Plot
Fresh off a breakup and in the midst of the worst year of his life, struggling comedy writer, David (Jesse Plemons) returns to Sacramento to care for his dying mother (Molly Shannon)
The Good
Jesse Plemons stars in this heartfelt comedy-drama which sets its tone up perfectly in the opening minute. By showing us where the story will eventually take us and revealing the death of Molly Shannon’s Joanne before we’ve even been introduced to her properly, it alleviates any guessing of her fate and leaves us instead to enjoy the rest of the film which follows the year leading up to it.
Writer/director Chris Kelly manages to create a well balanced script which tackles the pain and heartache that comes with terminal cancer while also injecting some light humour along the way. Plemons’ David, a struggling screenwriter who is attempting to pick himself back up after his pilot is dropped from producers, is an interesting character to follow as he tries to stay strong for his mother and attempts to get on well with his father (played by the wonderful Bradley Whitford) who refuses to accept or even talk about David’s homosexuality.
We also have the delightful June Squibb in a glorified cameo as David’s grandmother, Ruth-Anne alongside Paul Dooley as grandfather, Ronnie. Squibb and Dooley bring one of the films best scenes as they try to come to terms with the impending death of their daughter thanks to some beautifully natural dialogue.
The Bad
While Plemons is an interesting character and holds the film up well (with the help of his co-stars) Kelly’s script feels somewhat unfinished. There is shockingly little for Maude Apatow and Madisen Beaty to do as Plemons onscreen sisters, Alexandra and Rebecca respectively. While their lack of interaction with David feels like it is perhaps leading to the script delving deeper into David’s selfish ways as he seems to only worry about himself and how he is dealing with Joanne’s predicament, it feels ultimately empty in the end. This is a bigger shame when there is one scene in particular in which Alexandra and Rebecca do in fact call him out on it albeit all to briefly before we go back to focussing on poor David.
The Ugly Truth
Opening perfectly with a scene that sets the tone instantly and leads us to settle into the story without trying to guess its ending, Other People unfortunately falls short of the potential it has. It’s by no means unwatchable but instead just a little less full than it could have been.
Review by Johnny Ellis
Batman V Superman Ultimate Edition Trailer Released
Warner Bros has given us our first glimpse of the much anticipated Ultimate Edition of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The trailer for the extended edition of the film promises to replace scenes of Jena Malone in an as-yet-unknown character as well as a host of new scenes which were cut from the cinematic release. At 181 minutes, the Ultimate Edition is 31 minutes longer than the original cut.
Expect it in stores from July 19 but for now here’s a taste:
Mary Poppins Sequel Confirmed
Disney studios have officially confirmed that Emily Blunt will be taking on the role of Mary Poppins in an upcoming sequel to the 1964 classic. Helmed by director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Into The Woods), Mary Poppins Returns is scheduled for a Christmas 2018 release in the US and will also star Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack., with David Magee on scriptwriting duties, adapting author P L Travers’ novels. Meanwhile, new songs and music will be from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. More news as we get it.