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Prison Break reboot welcomes Clayton Cardenas, JR Bourne & more to the cast

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Prison Break reboot welcomes Clayton Cardenas, JR Bourne & more to the cast

A few Mayans M.C. alumni have joined the cast of the upcoming Prison Break reboot pilot, including Clayton Cardenas, JR Bourne & more.

Prison Break reboot welcomes Clayton Cardenas, JR Bourne & more to the cast

The cast of the Prison Break reboot continues to grow, and Deadline reports that Clayton Cardenas (Mayor of Kingstown), JR Bourne (Teenwolf), Georgie Flores (Into The Dark), and Myles Bullock (Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist) have joined as series regulars.

Cardenas and Bourne were both main cast members on Mayans M.C., so this will be something of a reunion as the Prison Break reboot pilot is being written and executive-produced by Mayans M.C. co-creator Elgin James. Cardenas will play Ghost, a “ruthlessly dangerous inmate at one of the deadliest prisons in America.” Bourne will play Junior, a “mentally unstable lone survivor of a decades-old prison break that devasted the town.” Bullock will play Darius ‘Red’ Lewis, an inmate. Flores will play Andrea, a “female cadet training to be a Corrections Officer.

It was announced last week that Emily Browning (American Gods), Lukas Gage (Road House), and Drake Rodger (Landman) will all have leading roles in the Prison Break reboot pilot. Browning will star as Cassidy Collins, “an ex-soldier turned corrections officer takes a job at one of the deadliest prisons in America.” Gage will play Jackson, “a politician from a well-to-do background in his first congressional campaign.” Rodger will play Tommy, “an inmate at one of the deadliest prisons in America, incarcerated ten years ago.” Although this project will tell a new story with new characters, it will be set in the same universe as the original Prison Break series.

If you’re hoping to see any original Prison Break characters show up in the reboot, it was previously reported that the series “is not expected to involve the characters at the center of the original series.” Wentworth Miller (who played Michael Scofield) has said he’s done with the series as he no longer wants to play heterosexual characters.

Prison Break debuted in 2005 and followed Michael Scofield (Miller) as he attempted to get his brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) off death row and escape from Fox River State Penitentiary. With its twists and turns, the series was one of the biggest hits of the year. The series came to a close after four seasons and was followed by a TV movie, The Final Break. However, much of the main cast returned for a nine-episode Prison Break revival in 2017. Although another season was in the early stages of development, it ultimately didn’t move forward.

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/prison-break-reboot-cast/

Daredevil: Born Again showrunner says Muse will have a multi-season arc

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Daredevil: Born Again showrunner says Muse will have a multi-season arc

Daredevil: Born Again showrunner says Muse will have a multi-season arc

We’re nearly halfway through the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, and we’ve only caught a few glimpses at Muse, the masked villain who has been kidnapping and murdering people to draw their blood in order to make murals all over New York City. While speaking with TVLine, showrunner Dario Scardapane confirmed that Muse will play a role in the first season “and beyond.

I call Muse a stressor in this story,” Scardapane said, “in that in the battle between Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), Muse causes a ripple effect… He causes trouble for Fisk. He causes trouble for Matt Murdock.” He continued, “The Muse run, for lack of a better word, in this story has pretty shocking consequences. And those consequences don’t end. We’re carrying them into Season 2, is the best way I can put it.

As the first season of Daredevil: Born Again continues, we’ll likely find out more about Muse. In fact, some fans think they’ve already figured out who the villain is, thanks to the end credits of the last episode. The second season is currently in production and is expected to debut in 2026.

Our own Alex Maidy enjoyed the first season and is quite excited to see where the second season takes our heroes. “Once you have all finished the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, I have no doubt that you will be anxious to see where the story goes next,” Maidy wrote in his review. “A mid-credit scene at the end of the season finale will give you a taste, but I think you will also enjoy it more than I have. Binging the nine episodes did not leave much room to enjoy the week-to-week tension that will build for you as you learn about the twists and turns the story will take, but it may also magnify some of the season’s shortcomings. Whether they be subplots that build up but do not quite pay off or the way the series transitions from the prior seasons to Born Again, there will be some contentious conversations from legacy Daredevil fans and newcomers. Personally, I enjoyed seeing Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio back and as good as they have ever been. Just be prepared that this series does not pull any punches and may have some of the most violent deaths outside of Deadpool & Wolverine. The Man Without Fear is back, and I cannot wait for season two.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/daredevil-born-again-muse/

R.I.P. George Foreman: the boxing legend was 76

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R.I.P. George Foreman: the boxing legend was 76

George Foreman, one of the all-time boxing legends, has died at 76 years old, having passed peacefully at his home.

Last Updated on March 24, 2025

George Foreman, one of the most famous and beloved boxers of all time, had passed away. The legend’s family made the announcement via his official Instagram handle, writing, “Our hearts are broken. With profound sorrow, we announce the passing of our beloved George Edward Foreman Sr. who peacefully departed on March 21, 2025 surrounded by loved ones. A devout preacher, a devoted husband, a loving father, and a proud grand and great grandfather, he lived a life marked by unwavering faith, humility, and purpose.” 

Foreman, of course, was known for being a two-time, world heavyweight champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, and entrepreneur (I use my George Foreman Grill constantly). What’s unique about his career, and nearly unmatched, is the fact that a whopping twenty-two years had passed between the two times he won the title, having famously launched one of the greatest comebacks in sports history at forty-five years old, which, back then, was considered impossibly old for a boxer. In fact, Foreman’s return to the ring helped inspire Sylvester Stallone to write, direct and star in Rocky Balboa

In his youth, Foreman fought a series of legendary bouts, with him having taken the title off Joe Frazier in 1973 before losing it to Muhammad Ali during the iconic Rumble in the Jungle, which was immortalized in Leon Gast’s documentary When We Were Kings, and the Michael Mann flick, Ali. Foreman’s return to the ring was also the basis for a faith-based biopic, Big George Foreman. Ironically, he earned more money from lending his name to the iconic fat-reducing “George Foreman Grill,”  with him reportedly having earned over $200 million from the use of his name alone. Notably, he was a pastor, having become a born-again Christian following his first retirement, with him having re-emerged party as a way to raise money for a youth center he was involved with as a pastor.

Truly, among the heavyweights in the boxing world, George Foreman was second to none. Rest in peace Big George. 



Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/george-foreman-dead/

Vice Squad: Wings Hauser was one of the best movie villains of all time in this nutty action/slasher hybrid

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Vice Squad: Wings Hauser was one of the best movie villains of all time in this nutty action/slasher hybrid

Wings Hauser played one of the best movie villains of all time in the nutty action slasher hybrid Vice Squad

Vice Squad

I was pretty bummed to read earlier this week that Wings Hauser had passed away. While often written off as a C-level action star thanks to a long line of eighties and nineties direct-to-video flicks, the fact is Hauser was beyond talented, and when he put the effort in, he could be unforgettable. Such was the case when Michael Mann cast him against time as a slimy lawyer for big tobacco in The Insider where, in one ninety-second scene, he and Bruce McGill all but walk away with what, for the rest of the 158-minute running time, is ostensibly a star vehicle for Al Pacino and Russell Crowe (and to be sure, they are great). 

Such was the power of Wings, who could be great in the right role. I also vividly remember him being terrific as a slimy bounty hunter hired by Luke Perry’s Dylan in an atypically action-packed episode of Beverly Hills 90210, while he was also deliciously over-the-top in Norman Mailer’s Tough Guys Don’t Dance. While that movie is infamous for Ryan O’Neal’s “oh God, oh Man” scene, Hauser somehow found just the right notes to hit in the film, with many saying that, had the film actually been a success, it might have kicked Hauser’s career as a character-actor into high gear.

However, Hauser also struggled with substance abuse issues, with his son Cole Hauser noting this led to some strain in their relationship for a time. For some truly unhinged footage of Wings Hauser drunk, one need only check out this scene in the bargain-basement vanity project Road to Revenge (aka Geteven – and no that’s not a misspelling of the title). I mean, either Hauser is really drunk, or he’s giving an Oscar-level performance in what has to be one of the worst films ever made.

However, Hauser was able to pull it back together, going on to The Insider and several other impressive roles, such as a good one in the cult classic Rubber, with a documentary about his life in the works. Yet, of all of his performances, none is better than his turn as Ramrod the killer pimp in 1982’s Vice Squad – aka Martin Scorsese’s choice for the best movie of 1982 (his quote actually turned up on some VHS editions of the film). 

Wings Hauser

Directed by Gary Sherman, who directed Dead and Buried the year before, Vice Squad is a down-and-dirty thriller shot on location within the boundaries of Los Angeles’s Skid Row, back when it was even more dangerous than it is now. Season Hubley plays Princess, a suburban mother by day, streetwalker by night, who’s one of the only prostitutes running “outlaw”, which, in the movie’s vernacular, means she doesn’t have a pimp. She’s pursued by Hauser’s Ramrod, who, in addition to being a pimp, is also a psychopath, with him beating a former employee to death with his “pimp stick”, which is a twisted up wire hanger he uses in a grotesque way. Wanting revenge, she’s convinced by a nice guy vice cop named Walsh (played by the completely obscure Gary Swanson), who convinces her to lure Ramrod into a trap, only for him to escape. He spends the rest of the movie hunting her, with the movie cutting back and forth between Princess’s often surreal tricks and Ramrod’s trail of terror as Walsh tries to track him down.

While not a box office hit when it came out beyond the grid house circuit (although it made a tidy profit), clearly the right people saw it, with Clint Eastwood actually lifting his “go ahead, make my day” line from the climax of the film, where Walsh uses it is a slightly different way. Everyone who saw it agreed on at least two things. One was that it was very evocatively shot, with Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon DP John Alcott having done the cinematography between stints in A-features (his next movie would be Greystroke: The Legend of Tarzan). Sherman actually had a very keen eye himself, with his later action flick, the Rutger Hauer movie Wanted: Dead or Alive having the cold, hard look of an industrial film – which is highly unusual for the era.

Vice Squad

The other thing people agreed on was that Wings Hauser was terrific as Ramrod, with him also singing the theme song, Neon Slime. I vividly remember Leonard Maltin, in an otherwise bad review in his classic movie guide, dismissing the film but admitting that Wings Hauser made for one of the screen’s best villains. It probably should have led to a bigger career for Hauser as a villain, but he didn’t want to play bad guys – he wanted to be the good guy. Thus, he rarely played villains throughout the rest of the decade, which worked well enough for him for a while as he became a staple of DTV action flicks of the era.

Vice Squad still has a lot of fans, including director Ti West, whose MaXXXine owes a certain debt to this film, along with the similarly themed Angel (with the score from that movie repurposed in certain scenes). If you happen not to really know who Wings Hauser was and want to know why it’s been our number one trending story in the trending tab, give Vice Squad a watch. You can find it pretty easily on a lot of streaming services (it’s now streaming on TubiTV in the U.S). It’s a blast. 

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/vice-squad-wings-hauser-was-one-of-the-best-movie-villains-of-all-time-in-this-nutty-action-slasher-hybrid/

Awesome Art: Sci-Fi Classics with Blade Runner, Dune, The FIfth Element, Star Trek, Star Wars

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Awesome Art: Sci-Fi Classics with Blade Runner, Dune, The FIfth Element, Star Trek, Star Wars

Last Updated on March 24, 2025

Awesome Art

Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected].

2001: A Space Odyssey by Danny Schlitz

Battlestar Galactica by Jason Palmer

Blade Runner by Huan Do

Dune by Giovanni Rodriguez

The Fifth Element by Oscar Martinez

Forbidden Planet by Laurent Carbonelle

Star Trek by Marc T. Ouellette

Star Wars by Danar Art

Total Recall by Matt Ferguson

Tron by Dani Blazquez



Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/awesome-art-sci-fi-classics/

Box Office Update: Snow White on track for an underwhelming opening

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Box Office Update: Snow White on track for an underwhelming opening

Disney’s Snow White is on track for a disastrous opening weekend in the $40 million-ish range, while Alto Knights is doing even worse.

Last Updated on March 24, 2025

Snow White

The box office numbers are starting to roll in, and so far, it looks like Snow White is underperforming badly for Disney. Whether it was the toxic word-of-mouth or middling reviews, the family audience that typically allowed the Mouse House’s animated-to-live action remakes to open in the $90-100 million range just are turning out for this one. Early this week, we predicted that Snow White would make $55 million – which itself would have been disastrous for a $300 million movie, but Deadline is reporting the numbers are far worse. According to them, the movie will only open in the mid-40s, which is about the same level Disney’s Dumbo remake opened to, with that being considered a notable flop that led to Tim Burton quitting directing for several years. And that movie cost about half of what Snow White did.

The only silver lining for Disney is that the movie has an okay B+ CinemaScore. Over the holidays, Mufasa opened even worse with $36 million, but it was able to hang in there at the box office, making over $250 million domestically. Snow White would be very lucky to get to that level, although there’s not a lot of competition for family movies coming out over the next few weeks. 

Warner Bros’s big piece of counter-programming, The Alto Knights, is proving to be yet another disaster for the studio. The $50 million gangster flick will only open to about $3 million, with it bound to go down as one of the biggest box office disasters in recent memory. What went wrong? I believe that audiences were confused by Robert De Niro playing both roles. Also, a movie like this depends on critical raves, and Barry Levinson’s film is too stately. The fact is, a movie like this needs a really dynamic director. Scorsese could have made this into a masterpiece, but under Levinson, it was only ok, although it could play a lot better after it makes its Max debut in a few weeks.

Anyway, you slice it; this is proving to be another terrific weekend for the 2025 box office, which badly needs to be resuscitated.

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/box-office-update-snow-white-on-track-for-an-underwhelming-opening/

How John McClane led to Nick Fury being an MCU staple

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How John McClane led to Nick Fury being an MCU staple

Nick Fury may not have been such a presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe if it wasn’t for Bruce Willis.

nick fury

I’m here to talk to you about Nakatomi Plaza…Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis shared credits on numerous movies, whether they appeared onscreen together or not: Pulp Fiction, M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable and Glass, National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1…But the dynamic is in full force in 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance. And it was here that Willis gave advice that inadvertently led to a fan-favorite character: Nick Fury.

Jackson recently recalled working with Willis on Die Hard with a Vengeance, joining John McClane as Zeus, an electrician who gets pulled into the hero’s attempts to thwart Simon Peter Gruber. During that time – in which they presumably also bonded over the power of delivering a good “motherf*cker” on the big screen – Willis told his co-star that franchise characters would be the path to solidifying his reputation. “He told me, ‘Hopefully you’ll be able to find a character that, when you make bad movies and they don’t make any money, you can always go back to this character everybody loves. He said, ‘Arnold’s got Terminator. Sylvester’s got Rocky, Rambo. I’ve got John McClane.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, okay.’ And it didn’t occur to me until I got that Nick Fury role – and I had a nine-picture deal to be Nick Fury – that, Oh, I’m doing what Bruce said. I’ve got this character now.”

But Jackson has taken it much farther than any of those action heroes, playing Nick Fury in nearly a dozen (or a third of) movies in the MCU, along with a handful of shows. Compare that with Schwarzenegger and Willis’ five outings as The Terminator and John McClane, and Stallone’s eight at Rocky Balboa, and it’s pretty obvious that Jackson took Willis’ tips to heart – and the bank.

Bruce Willis – who played John McClane for the final time in 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard, 25 years after introducing moviegoers to the tanktopped hero – recently celebrated his 70th birthday, an occasion marked and celebrated by his family across social media.

Where would you rank Die Hard with a Vengeance in the series? Drop your definitive ranking in the comments section below.

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/how-john-mcclane-led-to-nick-fury-being-an-mcu-staple/

O’Dessa Review: Sadie Sink can’t save this lame Rock Opera

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O’Dessa Review: Sadie Sink can’t save this lame Rock Opera

A couple of decent songs from Sink aren’t enough to save this Rock Opera from floundering in a cheesy dystopic world.

PLOT: A farm girl in search to recover a cherished family heirloom. She travels to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love. To save his soul, she must put the power of destiny to the ultimate test.

REVIEW: Rock Operas aren’t an easy type of film to pull off. The operatic nature of them can be a bit intimidating as they can be a bit more abstract in concept. I tend to lean more towards them due to the nature of the music involved versus a standard musical. I like more soulful versus showtunes. So O’Dessa intrigued me by putting a Stranger Things star who does a lot of Broadway in the lead and putting her in a colorful, dystopic world. But is that enough?

Sadie Sink stars as the title character, a farm girl who decides to depart on a journey to find an old family heirloom once her mother passes away. On her journey, she has her guitar stolen and she meets the mysterious Euri (Harrison Jr). Sink is a phenomenal singer and the film makes the most of her range. But I really had a hard time connecting with her or her journey. The heirloom is a really weak plot device that feels forgotten but then the romance adds nothing of value. It feels like the film checking a box versus actually working out a genuine connection between the two.

And I know it’s a minor moment, but why on earth did O’Dessa just leave her Llama alone in the pen when she left on her journey? I get that she unlocked the gate but it’s an odd choice for your lead actor. Feel like it’s indicative of the problems that would come with her character later. Because it’s just odd choice after odd choice. Murray Bartlett and Regina Hall feel like cartoon characters and not in a good way. In a different movie, it would have been fun but this is trying to be far too serious for such hammy performances.

I’m a bit conflicted when it comes to the music. There are some songs that work and feel like they connect on some kind of emotional level. But I was taken out of it every time people were going crazy for a mediocre song. It’s also a strange mix of genres that didn’t work for me. They seem to miss out on the “rock” element and go for more slow ballads. There’s an inherent silliness to any narrative where music has some kind of mystical power but this just takes it overboard.

I really liked the look of O’Dessa, with its colorful yet not overly saturated landscapes. The dreamlike visuals helped me buy more into the world. It actually reminded me of the Street Trash remake with its visuals. It’s easily the best aspect. But even then, there’s too much repetition and a lack of connection with the world as a whole to present a cohesive vision. The filmmakers don’t have a grasp on when they don’t have the money for something and it results in some really wonky VFX/poor set quality.

There were some soulful moments in O’Dessa that I enjoyed, and Sadie Sink is a very likable lead, but little else about this movie worked. It’s hard to care about Odessa’s plight as it all feels so melodramatic. Time passes in a way that lessens the impact of any dramatic arc and can never get a grasp on communicating that with the viewer. It never seems to know what it wants to be outside of being bombastic. And that’s just not enough to warrant a feature-length film.

O’DESSA IS NOW STREAMING ON HULU.

A trailer has been released for Hulu's post-apocalyptic rock opera O'Dessa, starring Sadie Sink of Stranger Things

About the Author

Tyler Nichols is a horror fanatic who resides in Michigan and is always on the hunt for the next great film. When not scouring the internet for movie news, he is usually off watching something dark, writing nonsensical musings, or playing in some fantastical video game world. While horror takes up most of his time, he still makes time for films of all types, with a certain affinity for the strange and unusual. He’s also an expert on all things Comic Book Cinema. In addition to reviews and interviews here on JoBlo.com, Tyler also helps with JoBlo Horror Originals where he’s constantly trying to convince viewers to give lesser-known horror films a chance.

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/odessa-review-sadie-sink-cant-save-this-lame-rock-opera/

Good American Family TV Review: The shocking true story becomes a bland drama series

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Good American Family TV Review: The shocking true story becomes a bland drama series

Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass star in the adaptation of the true story that shocked the world.

Plot: Told from multiple points of view, as a means to explore issues of perspective, bias, and trauma, this compelling drama is inspired by the disturbing stories surrounding a Midwestern couple who adopts a girl with a rare form of dwarfism. But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, mystery emerges around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is. As they defend their family from the daughter they’ve grown to believe is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds, in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom. 

Review: The idea that there are two sides to every story has never been truer than in the bizarre saga of Natalia Grace. Adopted at the age of seven, Natalia Grace’s story became national news when it was discovered that she was abandoned by her parents, who claimed she was actually a twenty-two-year-old posing as a child. The subsequent court case and DNA testing revealed the truth, but there is still a divide between Natalia Grace’s claims about herself and those of her adoptive mother, Kristine Barnett. While a Max documentary series centered on Natalia Grace’s story, the new Hulu dramatized series Good American Family tackles multiple points of view, including those of the Barnetts. Led by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, Good American Family is a pulpy and overwrought melodrama straight out of the classic primetime made-for-television fare of the Eighties and Nineties.

Good American Family follows Kristine Barnett (Ellen Pompeo), a devoted advocate for children with special needs who is opening a center for disabled kids in honor of her autistic son, Jacob (Aias Dalman). Having recently lost out on adopting a daughter, Kristine and her husband, Michael (Mark Duplass), are experiencing a rift in their marriage. When the sudden opportunity arises to adopt a young girl in desperate need of a foster family, Kristine and Mark jump at the chance and bring Natalia Grace (Imogen Faith Reid) into their home. Knowing she suffers from a form of dwarfism, the Barnetts are caught off guard by Natalia’s bizarre behavior, including tantrums, outbursts, and physical threats. While Michael is still enamored with having a daughter, Kristine begins to think that Natalia is actually an adult posing as a child to con them, something seemingly inspired by the film Orphan.

The early episodes of Good American Family show Natalia’s bizarre behavior and the growing suspicion held by Kristine, which she convinces her family and friends to believe. As the behaviors get worse, Kristine and Michael legally get Natalia’s birth date changed from 2003 to 1989 before renting her an apartment and abandoning her. Natalia is forced to fend for herself to survive before she is taken in by Cynthia (Christina Hendricks) and Antwon Mans (Jerod Haynes). The Mans family believe Natalia’s story and assist her in taking legal action against the Barnetts. This fight takes the series through the 2022 legal proceedings against Kristine and Michael. Showing us the events as they occurred and flashbacks to different perspectives through the years illustrates the story in a way that does not draw any concrete conclusions but delivers a more balanced story than I anticipated.

While the intensity and shocking elements of Natalia Grace’s story are enough on their own to build a dramatic series around, Good American Family leans heavily into the melodramatic and pulpy side of the narrative. At times, Mark Duplass and Ellen Pompeo seem to be acting in an overwrought series that borders on comedy. There are more nuanced performances from Dule Hill as Detective Brandon Drysdale and Sarayi Blue as Kristine’s friend Val, but the most impressive turn is from Imogen Faith Reid. Reid, a 27-year-old actress, plays Natalia Grace from age seven through sixteen, convincingly acting progressively more mature as the timeline advances. In the early episodes, some of her mannerisms and outbursts play on the horror movie paranoia experienced by Kristine Barnett. Still, it does not go so far over the top that it defies believability. The same cannot be said about Pompeo and Duplass, who often feel like caricatures of the real Barnetts. Pompeo, who has spent almost twenty years starring on Grey’s Anatomy, often wavers between Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest and a more balanced portrayal of who Kristine Barnett actually is. Because of the nature of the real events, Good American Family does not take sides but convincingly leaves the interpretation open to the audience as to who is telling the truth.

Created by Katie Robbins (Sunny, The Affair), who serves as co-showrunner alongside Sarah Sutherland (Nine Perfect Strangers), Good American Family was also written by Eoghan O’Donnell, Jaquen Tee Castellanos, and Samantha Levenshus. Directing duties fell to Liz Garbus (Yellowjackets), Stacie Passon, Seith Mann, Eva Vives, and Iain MacDonald. Each of the eight episodes takes the story in near-sequential order through the adoption of Natalia Grace through the results of the much-publicized trial. Suppose you are unfamiliar with how things have turned out for Natalia and the Barnetts. In that case, the series outlines the events pretty well while also laying enough theories and alternative ideas that you may question who is telling the truth. The hard facts are closely aligned with what the media has revealed, but that does not stop the series from posing some wrinkles in the story that elevate the drama for entertainment purposes.

Remembering that this series is inspired by the truth rather than a true story is a good disclaimer going into things. Whatever you believe about what happened to Natalia Grace, Good American Family offers a balanced portrait of who was responsible for which acts. At the end of the day, whether Natalia or Kristine, and Michael Barnett were to blame for what took place during their familial bond, no one looks good by the end. In fact, a closing note at the end of the finale reveals another shocking fact that came to light during the production of the series, making Good American Family even more tragic. As intriguing as the story is, Good American Family too often embraces performances and storytelling that feel inauthentic and silly, undermining the sadness of this story. Anything involving children being harmed is hard to watch, but how callously this production treats it sometimes makes it feel inappropriate and borderline disrespectful.

Good American Family is now streaming on Hulu.

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/good-american-family-tv-review-the-shocking-true-story-becomes-a-bland-drama-series/

First Alien: Earth clip has grim update on crew status

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First Alien: Earth clip has grim update on crew status

The latest clip for upcoming FX series Alien: Earth has landed, with a doomed crew headed towards our planet.

If we’re going to get a full-blown revival of the Alien franchise, believe us when we say we are all in. While Ridley Scott’s most recent attempts to resurrect the series – 2012’s Prometheus and 2017’s Alien: Covenant – were huge letdowns (even Scott thinks so), Fede Álvarez did his part in generating genuine interest with last year’s Alien: Romulus. Now, the franchise is getting its first-ever live-action show via Alien: Earth, which is set to air on FX on Hulu later this year.

While we have seen multiple looks at Alien: Earth, this latest clip shows off the sort of suspense and design that makes the Alien franchise so distinct, with a character banging on the doors of a spacecraft screaming, “Let me in – it’s coming!” as another updates the crew status. Spoiler: they’re probably going to be losing one real soon…

One of the more alluring aspects of Alien: Earth is that it takes place most on, yes, Earth. Admittedly, we know the series doesn’t have the best track record with this (see: Alien vs. Predator), but showrunner Noah Hawley may know what he’s doing here. Look, Alien fans have every right to be skeptical, but based on what we have seen so far, I’m going to remain optimistic and hope this is just the latest expansion of the universe. As for the timeframe, Aline: Earth takes place in 2120, so just a couple of years after the events of Ridley Scott’s original Alien.

Alien: Earth has the following plot: “When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s highly anticipated TV series Alien: Earth from creator Noah Hawley.” Chandler is joined by the likes of Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babous Ceesay, David Rysdahl, Adrian Edmondson, and more.

Alien: Earth lands this summer.

What do you think of the latest teaser for Alien: Earth? Are you going to check out the show? Where do you see the future of the franchise going?

Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/first-alien-earth-clip-has-grim-update-on-crew-status/