Chris Hemsworth on hearing Marvel criticism from Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola: “It bothers me, especially from heroes.”

We’ve seen several high-profile directors take shots at Marvel movies over the years, including Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, but Chris Hemsworth isn’t standing for it.

While speaking with The Times, the Thor actor opened up about how it feels to hear such harsh criticism from filmmakers he looks up to. “It felt harsh, and it bothers me, especially from heroes. It was an eye-roll for me, people bashing the superhero space,” Hemsworth said. “Those guys had films that didn’t work too — we all have. When they talked about what was wrong with superheroes, I thought, cool, tell that to the billions who watch them. Were they all wrong?“

Hemsworth added, “Cinema-going did not change because of superheroes, but because of smartphones and social media. Superhero films actually kept people in the cinemas during that transition, and now people are coming back. So they deserve a little more appreciation.“

Chris Hemsworth will next be seen in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga as Dementus. Joining the Mad Max franchise has been a long-time goal for the actor. In fact, he told Entertainment Weekly that he wanted to audition to play Max Rockatansky himself in Mad Max: Fury Road but couldn’t get his foot in the door. “[I] couldn’t even get a call or a meeting or anything,” Hemsworth said. “I just hadn’t done enough to warrant that.” When Fury Road was finally released, Hemsworth got his agent on the phone immediately. “I was completely absorbed and taken for the adventure and the ride. I said, ‘I’ve got to work with this guy, he’s a genius,’” Hemsworth said. “And then, the rest is history.“

The official synopsis for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: “As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by the Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.“ Furiosa will hit theaters on May 24th.

Lydia Deetz, her stepmother Delia and her daughter Astrid stand over a casket, the burial services in progress. We can barely make out who the funeral is for but there he is on the headstone: Charles Deetz. While Charles was once part of the Beetlejuice sequel when the ghost with the most was to “go Hawaiian”, he was written entirely out of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice…for reasons that will soon be obvious.

Despite the original’s and sequel’s dalliances with the afterlife, Jeffrey Jones will not be in the Beetlejuice sequel– or pretty much any other legitimate movie – following his disgraceful tumble from his small but reliable spotlight. Perfectly fitting into prestigious period pieces and goofball funny flicks. Jones is a Golden Globe nominee with consistent work – a mix of villain, comedic and at times patriarchal roles, Jeffrey Jones went from Ferris Bueller baddie to Who’s Your Caddy?

So let’s find out: WTF Happened to…JEFFREY JONES?

But to truly understand what happened to Jeffrey Jones, we go back to the beginning. The beginning began when he was born on September 28th, 1946 in Buffalo, New York. It was Jones’ mother who encouraged him to pursue acting; and while he focused on pre-med at Wisconsin’s Lawrence University, he did soon take to stage productions. Soon, he fell in with legendary theater director Tyrone Guthrie, studying under him at Minneapolis’ Guthrie School. He, too, would study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Jeffrey Jones took to small theater, travelling the world and stepping into roles in prominent works like Trelawny of the Wells (1975) alongside John Lithgow and Meryl Streep and taking on various roles in The Elephant Man (1979-1981) with David Bowie as the lead.

Jones would move on to television, mostly in one-offs, miniseries and TV movies. His first notable credit would be in the Cold War actioner The Soldier (1982), next playing a sleazeball opposite Rodney Dangerfield in Easy Money (1983). But his true breakout came in the widely acclaimed Best Picture winner Amadeus (1984), playing Emperor Joseph II, who shows great support for Amadeus and Salieri. For his performance, he would earn his only Golden Globe nomination (Best Supporting Actor) to date, later missing out on an Oscar nod. More importantly to his career, it would land him his signature role: Dean Edward Mooney in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). The ultimate authoritarian, ego-tripping prick – at least to the teenage mindset – Mooney was on the hunt for the titular schemer and skipper. Jones played it perfectly, exuding a sleazy weasel quality that hadn’t been taken to that level ever before in a high school movie, moulding one of the genre’s quintessential heels.

His Amadeus role would also land him Howard the Duck, also out one year after Transylvania 6-500, in which he played the mayor. Here he was Dr. Walter Jenning, but Jones really comes undone when he gets possessed by the Dark Overlord (also voiced by Jones); the movie is a notorious rotten egg, but Jones plays the character to great effect, giving an over-the-top and unhinged performance. That same year, Jones played Thomas Jefferson in a TV movie. Now that’s some diversity right there!

1987 would be a casual waste for Jones, playing an army officer in The Hanoi Hilton and Buffalo Bill in a Kenny Rogers vanity project for CBS. But he had made the mark he needed to, being recognized by Tim Burton as just the man to play patriarch Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, showing a comedic timing that let him play the foil to hauntings and “Day-O.” Tim Burton would go on to cast Jeffrey Jones in two more movies in the ‘90s: Ed Wood (1994), in which he played real-life psychic personality The Amazing Criswell, and Sleepy Hollow (1999), playing the town reverend. He had become part of Burton’s growing fleet of frequent collaborators. Another friend and occasional face was that of Paul Reubens; but more important than Pee Wee or Batman Returns was his tie to Jeffrey Jones’ undoing.

Jones ended the ‘80s with Sherlock Holmes twist Without a Clue (1988), playing second billing to John Candy in Who’s Harry Crumb? (1989) and pairing again with Miloš Forman for Valmont (1989), an 18th-century period piece where in character desired to marry a 15-year-old girl…He, too, gave the sitcom scene a shot, playing a cartoonist who can bring his works to life in The People Next Door, which lasted all of 10 episodes (half of which never aired).

The ‘90s started off promising, playing a submarine commander in John McTiernan’s The Hunt for Red October (1990). Then came a trio of flops, all in 1992: Out on a Limb (reteaming with Ferris Bueller co-star Matthew Broderick), in which he played twin brothers; idiotic sci-fi family flick Mom and Dad Save The World; and Stay Tuned, another idiotic sci-fi family flick – but at least this time he got a chewy villain to play. After an uncredited turn in Oliver Stone’s Heaven & Earth (1993), he balanced out the rest of the decade with a mix of comedies and dramas. There was a small role in 1995’s Houseguest, then moved back to his stage roots playing Thomas Putnam in The Crucible (1996). Meanwhile, 1997 saw him playing a law firm partner whose big mouth gets him killed in The Devil’s Advocate, an over-the-top racist in The Pest and a part in indie Flypaper.

1999 was just as diverse for Jones, appearing in Stuart Little as Uncle Crenshaw (a role he reprised for a couple of episodes of the animated series) and horror flick Ravenous as a colonel who turns into a cannibal.

He, too, would spend a sizable portion of the 1980s and 1990s doing spots on shows like Amazing Stories, Tales from the Crypt and The Outer Limits, as well as lending his voice – one of his strong suits – to shows like Duckman and EEK! The Cat. As for movies before he got in trouble, there was a role as a senator in Company Men (2000), a hotel manager in Heartbreakers (2001), the primary antagonist in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), and even the vice president of the United States of America in How High.

In the early 2000s, Reubens was under a year-long investigation for lewd material. While no evidence was found and no charges brought, the search became a lead to Jones. And in 2002, he was arrested for possession of child porn, even supposedly hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for explicit photographs. As such, Jones faced a felony count of using a minor in an explicit film and a misdemeanour of possession of child porn. Jones denied all accusations, saying, “All I want is for the truth to come out and for this matter to be resolved as quickly as possible.”

After pleading no contest, Jones received five years probation and had to register as a sex offender, also being made to undergo counselling. Following the sentencing, Jones stated, “This concludes a really painful chapter in my life. I am sorry that this incident was allowed to occur. Such an event has never happened before and it will never happen again.” But troubles would haunt him still, as in 2004 he failed to update his sex offender status in Florida and in 2010 failed to do the same in California, receiving 250 hours of community service as punishment.

And that was pretty much the end of Jeffrey Jones’ career…Pretty much. Before this, Jeffrey Jones had solidified himself as a familiar face among movies and television; he wasn’t quite a character actor but he was undoubtedly a character, a certified “Hey, it’s that guy!” kind of guy.

Despite his troubles, Jeffrey Jones still landed a vital role on a key show in the Golden Age of Television: that of newspaper editor A.W. Merrick on HBO’s Deadwood, tagging along to a cast SAG nomination and even being invited back for the 2019 movie. Outside of that, Jones appeared in junk like Who’s Your Caddy? (2007) – his first “major” movie since his arrest – and 2014 disaster flick 10.0 Earthquake.

And that’s just the sort of fare we would expect from Jeffrey Jones now…if he gets a role at all. Once a familiar face and recurring part of Tim Burton’s repertoire, he fell from his minor grace with a thud. To most of us he’ll always be Ed Rooney and Charles Deetz, and while his disgraceful behaviour doesn’t take anything away from the movies – they’re just too good to have one pervert ruin it. How appropriate that his acts buried his career and his Beetlejuice family closed the casket on his legacy.

With the release of The Fall Guy this weekend, the summer movie season is finally upon us. While it’s a thinner summer than usual due to the dual writer and actors strike bringing movies to a standstill for much of 2023, there should still be a lot of stuff worth checking out, even if the summer seems short of anything that can aspire to Barbenheimer levels of success. Yesterday, we teased some of our most anticipated horror movies, so now we’re tackling the rest of the blockbusters in our 2024 summer movie preview!

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (May 10)

In my opinion, there’s never been a bad Planet of the Apes movie. Going all the way back to the classic 1968 original and its four sequels, through Tim Burton’s remake and the Caesar trilogy from Fox, all of the movies have at least been interesting. With Disney now owning 20th Century Studios, the hit-strapped studio hopes for a breakout franchise starter from director Wes Ball. So far, the early buzz has been promising, with CinemaCon audiences being treated with fifteen minutes of footage that promised perhaps the most visually stunning and immersive apes movie to date. But, without Andy Serkis as Caesar, will audiences embrace this new entry into the saga? We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m cautiously optimistic.

IF (May 17)

Ryan Reynolds is generally considered one of the biggest stars in the world. But, other than Free Guy, most of his movies have been on streaming lately, and the summer movie season is set to test his box office mettle not once, but twice. IF is seen as the riskier movie, with it a big, broad family film that teams him with director John Krasinski in this story of a man helping a child connect unwanted IFs (invisible friends) with new children. It sounds a bit twee. But, with Steve Carrell, Matt Damon and a who’s who of stars voicing the CGI invisible creatures, this could be a box office bonanza.

The Garfield Movie (May 24)

However, IF has one big piece of competition for family audiences – The Garfield Movie. Many are thinking this will be one of the biggest hits of the summer, with Chris Pratt voicing everyone’s favorite fat cat. The last time he voiced an animated film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it was a monumental smash. Clearly, the studio financing this one is hoping lightning will strike twice.

Furiosa (May 24)

Speaking of lightning striking twice, George Miller’s long-awaited Max Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa, is finally set to hit theaters. It’s worth noting that Fury Road, despite being seen as one of the greatest action movies of all time, was only a modest box office hit, so those predicting blockbuster numbers for Miller’s R-rated prequel might need to think again. However, even if it doesn’t break the bank, many of us are thinking that of all the movies coming out this summer, this one has the best chance of becoming a new classic. 

Bad Boys: Ride or Die (June 7th)

The fourth Bad Boys movie marks Will Smith’s first theatrically released feature since the infamous Oscar slap. It’s being seen as the test of whether or not audiences are going to be able to move past the controversy and embrace him as the big star he used to be. Certainly, Bad Boys: Ride or Die seems like a good bet, with the last Bad Boys movie being a surprise mega-hit.

Inside Out 2 (June 14)

Just like its parent studio, Pixar needs a hit. While everyone called Elemental a flop when it came out last summer, the movie still managed to eke out a respectable worldwide gross in the $500 million neighbourhood. Still, this is a far cry from the numbers Pixar used to post. Hence, all eyes are on the long-anticipated sequel, which reunites much (but not all) of the original voice cast in what’s considered Pixar’s biggest and best hope at regaining its former glory.

Horizon: An American Saga (June 28 & August 16)

Kevin Costner’s Horizon is like a unicorn in today’s risk-averse movie climate. It’s a mega-budget, multi-part Western epic and is so far removed from the kids of movies Hollywood makes nowadays the star had to largely finance the films himself. And yes, I said films because no matter how the first movie fares at the box office, WB has the sequel coming out less than two months later. 

A Quiet Place: Day One (June 28)

I strongly feel this will be one of the summer’s highest-grossing movies. People love this franchise, with A Quiet Place: Part 2 managing to gross $160 million domestically despite being released during the pandemic. While director John Krasinski and star Emily Blunt are sitting this one out, the buzz on this prequel is sky-high. This depicts the initial invasion in New York City and stars Lupita Nyong’o and Stranger Things breakout Joseph Quinn. 

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (July 3)

This is the only streaming movie I have on this list, as to me it’s the only one that has a chance of going toe-to-toe with the summer’s big blockbusters. Fans have been waiting thirty years for a proper Beverly Hills Cop 4, and the early trailers suggest this just might have been worth the wait.

Despicable Me 4 (July 3)

While that title may make more than a few of you groan, this franchise has minted money for Universal and Illumination, with audiences flocking to see Steve Carell’s Gru and his minions. Even if the franchise might have jumped the shark a few films back for some of us, I’d be shocked it this didn’t end up as one of the summer’s biggest moneymakers. 

Twisters (July 19)

Universal’s putting a lot of faith into this big-budget sequel to Twisters, which boasts a newly minted megastar with lead Glen Powell, who co-stars with Fresh’s Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos. Minari director Lee Isaac Chung isn’t known for his blockbusters, but the early footage I saw at CinemaCon this year was epic, so this could be huge.

Deadpool and Wolverine (June 26)

That said, Twisters has a natural disaster of its own on its hands the next week, when Disney’s Deadpool and Wolverine is set to suck all the air out of the box office. If any movie on this list is a guaranteed smash, this is it. Many believe it will become the biggest summer hit and the only movie that could give last year’s duel Barbenheimer threat a run for its money. Given how dire folks expect the box office to be this season, some may well be calling the Merc With a Mouth the summer box office saviour by the time August rolls around. 

Trap (August 9)

M. Night Shyamalan’s got what looks like a killer thriller hitting theaters this summer, with the early footage from Trap blowing away the audience at CinemaCon last month. The premise is awesome, with Josh Hartnett playing a suburban dad who brings his daughter to a concert, only to discover it’s all a ruse to capture a serial killer – and he IS that killer. This could be a huge comeback for Hartnett and one of the year’s sleeper hits.

Borderlands (August 9)

Eli Roth’s Borderlands has had a bit of a tortured production history. It started shooting three years ago, and Roth infamously stepped aside for reshoots last year in order to make Thanksgiving. The new trailers for this one have serious Guardians of the Galaxy vibes – so much so that you might even call it a clone. It’s also got a pretty unusual cast, with Cate Blanchett making her debut as an action hero in the lead. 

Alien: Romulus (August 16th)

Will this be the summer that brings the Alien franchise back from the dead? Originally, Fede Alvarez’s Alien flick was supposed to debut on Hulu, but the runaway success of the Predator prequel, Prey, convinced Disney to give this a shot at big-screen glory. So far, the buzz is this is a gory throwback to the original movie, with hardcore R-rated action and chest-bursting xenomorphs galore.

The Crow (August 23)

And finally, will the summer end with a whimper or a bang as the controversial Crow reboot hits theatres? The reaction to the trailer has been divisive to say the least, with some (including original Crow director Alex Proyas) slamming this as “Crow Wick”. Yet, the studio (Lionsgate) seems high on it, and Bill Skarsgard showed promise as an action star in the largely unseen Boy Kills World. We’ll have to wait and see, I guess.

What summer movie are you most excited to see? Let us know in the talkbacks!

Ahmed Best, the man behind Jar Jar Binks, says there wouldn’t be a Gollum, Thanos or Avatar’s Na’vi without that character.

As The Phantom Menace marks 25 years since its release, we’re given the chance to reevaluate it. Is it as bad as it seemed back in 1999 or was there just too much anticipation that it couldn’t have possibly lived up to our fantasies? More importantly, what do we make of Jar Jar Binks a quarter-century on? A character mocked and loathed by the bulk of the fanbase for being terribly obnoxious and perhaps racist, Jar Jar Binks became a cultural phenomenon for all the wrong reasons. But he may have had a greater impact than we think…at least according to his portrayer.

Ahmed Best, the guy behind Jar Jar Binks, took a lot of flak for the character, saying the constant criticism “took almost a mortal toll on me. It was too much. It was the first time in my life where I couldn’t see the future. I didn’t see any hope. Here I was at 26 years old, living my dream, and my dream was over.” But today, he thinks that Jar Jar Binks was a groundbreaking character in the world of digital technology. “I’m in there. You can’t have Gollum without Jar Jar. You can’t have the Na’vi in ‘Avatar’ without Jar Jar. You can’t have Thanos or the Hulk without Jar Jar. I was the signal for the rest of this art form, and I’m proud of Jar Jar for that, and I’m proud to be a part of that. I’m in there!”

That’s an interesting point. While Jar Jar Binks was far from being the first fully computer-generated character – that’s believed to be the stained glass knight in 1985’s Young Sherlock Holmes – his more prominent presence showed just what CG could do. But maybe just for laughs we can get a Jar Jar / Thanos showdown? 

Jar Jar Binks has a bit of a cult following now, showing time might just have been all that lanky Gungan needed. There has been massive support in later years for The Phantom Menace star Jake Lloyd as well, who it was revealed suffered serious mental health problems due to the severe attacks in the press and from Star Wars fans he received at the time. That said, none of our modern perspectives can change the fact that The Phantom Menace as a whole has very few strong qualities…

What do you make of Ahmed Best’s thoughts on Jar Jar Binks’s significance? Does he have a good point or is he giving him too much credit?

The cast, which also includes Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple, gears up for a new time-hopping action comedy that comes from Constantin Films.

Gore Verbinski would seem to have hit a snag in his big-budget blockbuster career after his Lone Ranger movie for Disney became a notoriously bloated flop. However, he was able to return with a smaller directorial effort after that, with the suspense film A Cure for Wellness. It has been eight years since the release of A Cure for Wellness, and Verbinski returns from his hiatus to helm an action-adventure film with the humorous title Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. The movie sports an impressive cast, including Sam Rockwell, Michael Peña, Haley Lu Richardson, Zazie Beetz and Juno Temple. The film has just started production on location in South Africa.

The description of the movie’s plot, according to Deadline, reads, “The film, written by Matthew Robinson (Love & Monsters), centers on a man from the future (Rockwell) who arrives at a diner in Los Angeles where he must recruit the precise combination of eclectic patrons (Richardson, Peña, Beetz, Temple) to join in him on a one-night quest to save the world.” The production of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die comes from the studio Constantin Film, whose projects include Resident Evil, Fantastic Four and The Three Musketeers. Robert Kulzer is on board serving as producer. Meanwhile, Verbinski’s Blind Wink Production and 3 Arts Entertainment are also producing the movie with casting Director Denise Chaian, Erwin Stoff (known for projects like I Am Legend), and Oly Obst on board. 

Gore Verbinski is best known for helming the first three installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, as well as the American remake of The Ring and the excellent animated movie Rango before he and Johnny Depp failed to recapture the Pirates of the Caribbean success with The Lone Ranger. The director may have been out of the spotlight for some time. However, his break was not for the lack of trying to manifest new work, as he’s had numerous projects in the works that have fallen apart. He was attached to a live-action adaptation of Bioshock for many years before the project was shelved and was also in talks to direct the Gambit movie starring Channing Tatum. One of the last projects Verbinski was said to be working on was an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s The Sandkings for Netflix, but there haven’t been any updates on the project for quite some time.

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.

Producers of Gen V announced that Andre Anderson, the character played by the late Chance Perdomo, will not be replaced.

The loss of actor Chance Perdomo in March from a motorcycle accident was devastating to fans. Such a young talent Perdomo was, the impact of his death was felt throughout the industry. It, too, brought up the question of what would become of his character on The Boys spin-off Gen V. Now, a decision has been made over Perdomo and Gen V, and it’s probably just what fans were expecting and hoping.

Producers posted the following statement on the official Gen V Instagram: “As we continue to navigate the tragic loss of Chance Perdomo, everyone at Gen V is determined to find the best way to pay respect to his memory. We won’t be recasting the role, because no one can replace Chance. Instead, we have been taking the time and space to refract our Season 2 storylines as we begin production in May. We will honor Chance and his legacy this season.”

Gen V was renewed back in October 2023 while the first season was still being released on Amazon Prime Video. Surely we were all looking forward to having the entire core cast return, but with Perdomo’s tragic death just a few months later, we all anticipated that serious changes would have to take place on Gen V. Really, this is the most respectful way to go about the character of Andre Anderson.

Dying at just 27, Perdomo no doubt had a prospective acting career ahead of him. Outside of Gen V, Perdomo had made his mark on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, playing her cousin Ambrose. There, too, was a fantastic BAFTA-nominated performance in Killed by My Debt. On the movie front, he had a supporting role in the trilogy of After We Fell, After Ever Happy and After Everything.

With Gen V now crossing over with The Boys, it could have eventually given Chance Perdomo an opportunity to develop his character even more. Unfortunately, we will never see just where Andre Anderson could have gone, although it is ultimately probably the right decision to retire the character at this point.

Do you think not recasting Chance Perdomo’s character on Gen V is a good idea? What were you hoping to see the late actor do in the future?

Vampires and werewolves are big business in mainstream media, with a veritable feast of TV shows and movies being dedicated to the mythical creatures across the decades. So when something comes along that slots straight into the mainstream zeitgeist with its gothic visuals and sexy vampires fighting pesky swearwolves, you know what’s coming next. Yup, sequels and prequels! As mentioned in our previous episode that sunk its teeth into the fun but flawed Underworld from 2003, director Len Wiseman found love with his leading lady, Kate Beckinsale. And, if you’re being massively cynical, you could perhaps suggest that their star-struck Hollywood romance is one of the main reasons a follow-up to the first movie was green-lit. Or maybe it was the decent box-office, cool world-building or maybe even the lashings of S&M clad characters? The first movie, as we discussed previously, is flawed and far from perfect but you know what, I liked it, hairy Lycan warts and all. Whatever your view of the movie is, it had a lot going for it and, let’s face it, this type of genre flick has gone down the once dreaded straight to home video route before. The main selling point is obviously Beckinsale’s Selene, with her slo-mo acrobatics, raucous firefights and tight leather costume. And that long overcoat she pilfered from Neo. Director Wiseman obviously thought so, with the endless glamor shots of his partner, whom he married in 2004, but sadly divorced from a number of years later. Sequels are never an easy undertaking, with audience and fan expectation heightened by what’s come before. So could the promise of some further world-building lead to a follow-up that expands upon the first movie and ups the vampire vs werewolf action significantly? Let’s find out, here on WTF happened to Underworld: Evolution!

Let’s just take a moment to look at the merits of some vampire and werewolf flicks that showed the world that their impact on mainstream culture was merited and worthy of potential sequels. Or on the contrary, that should have been staked through the heart and left to slowly decay. Well, don’t get me started on the awful Twilight series. I appreciate how huge the books are and the cultural impact of the franchise as a whole, and at least it introduced a new audience to the mythology of vampires and shape-shifters. But, vamps shimmering in the sunlight in a largely bloodless and raunch-free teen-friendly setting is too tame for this particular gore-hound. Nope. No thanks. See you later Bella and friends. Give me the black and white, punk vampire western aesthetic of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Del Toro’s excellent Cronos, or the hilarious hijinx of What We Do in the Shadows, both on the big and small screen, over Twilight any time. But, that’s just my own personal opinion, gore-hounds!

The point is, there’s obviously an audience out there for Underworld, and while the merits of the series is subjective to your own personal tastes, we can still dissect what works in terms of the follow-ups’ narrative and if it expands upon the mythology sufficiently. The story for Underworld: Evolution (watch it HERE) was again written by director Wiseman and Danny McBride, who also wrote the movie’s screenplay. In terms of cast we get the leather clad Kate Beckinsale back again, naturally, plus Bill Nighy returning in a smaller role this time, which makes sense when you see the movie, even though his head was sliced in two in the first installment. Scott Speedman’s Michael also returns as does Shane Brolly’s Kraven. The main cast is also joined in this one by the classically trained English Shakespearian actor, Derek Jacobi, as the progenitor of both the vampire and werewolf bloodlines, Alexander Cornivus. It’s fun seeing the great Jacobi on screen in such an admittedly over the top but entertaining genre flick like this. We also get Tony Curran as Markus Cornivus, Steven Mackintosh as Andreas Tanis and the returning Zita Gorog as vampire elder Amelia.

Like the first movie, Evolution boasts a solid cast and talent behind the camera, so could it not only expand upon the mythology, answer some questions about the battle between the vamps and Lycans, and deliver some kick-ass bloodthirsty action? Well, it tries to achieve all of these elements but just doesn’t quite manage to stick the slo-mo, leather-trousered landing. The blood-feud between the two factions continues apace in Wiseman’s cranked up sequel, with more of the expected goth-flavored sex appeal, blood-spillage and grisly spectacle. The movie opens with a prologue set in a frosty medieval village that’s been ravaged by those pesky Lycans, who as we all know by now, are the sworn enemies of the slightly poncy Vampire clan. Amongst the corpses littering the streets, just ready to transform, we’re introduced to two brothers, Tony Curran’s Marcus and William, played mainly by some monstrous CGI. You see, Marcus was bitten by a bat and William by a wolf, which sets us up nicely for a sibling power struggle. Which, naturally, is set against a bleak, gothic environment where leather clad ladies lay waste to beasties with her twin pistols, like she’s just stepped off the set of a badly lit John Woo movie.

The prologue at least rectifies an issue with the first movie, in that the vampires and werewolves spent a lot time of shooting at each other while wearing black leather or as a badly rendered CGI beastie, but don’t necessarily seem like the classic creatures. The opening scenes of Evolution at least give us a glimpse into their origins, and we also get to see some freshly turned Lycans bite some vampire faces off, which is always fun. Once the action switches to the present day, the blood-sucking Markus emerges from his tomb as one ugly mother fucker with wings he uses to behead his enemies. It’s appreciated, because the monsters are at last actually acting like monsters in the series. Meanwhile, the star crossed lovers, Selene and Michael, are coming to terms with his new status as a hybrid, and the fact that they need to stop Markus from freeing his Lycan brother from his very long entombment. The first act of the movie gives us some pretty decent set pieces, including a truck chase with the winged Markus in full flight, and climaxes with a sex scene between Selene and Michael. It’s been a long coming, but it sure looks like their body doubles are enjoying themselves at least.

The rest of the narrative from this point onwards doesn’t get any more complicated other than it would be pretty bad if Markus freed William from his slumber, as he’s also a proper beast himself. Plus, both brothers are direct ancestors of their respective races and were sired by Derek Jacobi’s Alexander Corvinus. What isn’t clear though, is how his offspring are able to mutate into super-beasts while Corvinus seems to be stuck in the body of a classic Shakespearian English actor. The movie’s tangled plot gets bogged down by concentrating on backstories, and age-old-motivations, while Beckinsale continues to be the series’ selling point, opposite the underwhelming and seemingly emotionless Scott Speedman as Michael. Their relationship is fairly believable, however, and at least they share some decent chemistry at times.

The first movie had that uber cool shot of Selene’s balletic drop from the roof and while the sequel attempts to recreate this several times, choppy editing and poorly executed camera angles lessen the impact. To be fair though, the action in the movie is fairly well produced and as well as the aforementioned truck chase we also get a fun, if CGI heavy finale, with rampant mutated beasts and a nice bit of rotor blade comeuppance for one particular character. The settings and location work gives the movie the look of any other generic horror or fantasy epics of the time, and while the CGI monsters aren’t always convincing, to say the least, you can forgive this to a certain degree due to the film’s heightened reality. The most successful use of VFX and character design goes to the winged Markus, with Curran’s menacing performance a highlight of the movie. This sequel is by no way the disaster it could have been, nor is it the evolution (pun intended) the series needed. However, the promise of future installments at the end of the film doesn’t elicit the groans it could have easily done, which is something at least.

Underworld: Evolution premiered at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles on January 11th, 2006 and was released in the US on January 20th by Sony Pictures. The movie opened at number one at the domestic box office with a haul of $26.9 million dollars over its opening weekend, from a total of 3,207 screens. It didn’t have much in the way of similar competition at the time, with only torture porn shocker Hostel competing for the same audience, which was in week three and had already dropped down to number 10 in the charts. Critically, the movie was, predictably, slated by most reviewers. It has a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site’s consensus saying the movie is, “A visual and aural assault on the senses, this vampire-werewolf sequel makes a lot of noise and features a heavy-handed, overly convoluted story.” That is, of course, if you take any notice of that particular website. The New York Times were critical of the movie’s overall ‘look’ and also described it as, “a monotonous barrage of computer-generated fur and fangs.” The San Francisco Chronicle were also less than enthused about the colour grade, saying, “you can tell that Underworld: Evolution is trying to be an artistic action-horror film, because every scene is bathed in the color blue,” but going on to offer some faint praise, “It’s an admirable attempt to test the boundaries of the genre but is confusing and not fun to watch”.

Ultimately then, Evolution doesn’t, well, ‘evolve’ the series in any major way, but if you take it for what it really is, a formulaic genre flick, it’s still a fun watch. It’s far from perfect and is light on both characterisation and an engrossing narrative, but Beckinsale works the leather well again and some of the other main cast members bring a decent amount of menace to proceedings. More importantly though, I’d love to hear about what YOUR opinion is, as that is what matters to us most here at JoBlo; so let us know your thoughts of Underworld: Evolution in the comments section. Does it deliver a worthy part two or should the franchise have been obliterated by some out of control rotor blades? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this one, you wonderful gore-hounds. Thanks for watching!

A couple of the previous episodes of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

Ferrell’s alter ego, who notoriously spouts whatever comes to mind without filter, makes a reappearance for some jabs at one of the biggest figures in the NFL.

While Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues was released back in 2013, no solid plan for a follow-up has been announced. However, this does not mean that Ron Burgundy is officially gone from the spotlight, as Will Ferrell looks to break out the character every now and then. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the latest instance of Burgundy’s mustachioed return came at the Netflix comedy special, The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady. Before Burgundy took the stage, he was introduced as “a living legend, a world-class lover and the No. 1 news anchor in all of Sunday.” Then, Ferrell sported a corduroy jacket and proceeded to joke, “My name is Ron Burgundy. I am a very big deal but tonight is not about me. …We are here to honor a champion of the gridiron, a great American, a father and a sexy man, a true patriot — until he was not.”

Burgundy would start in on the obvious target of Brady’s good looks, “This man is gorgeous. … Look at those cheekbones. That’s a million-watt smile right there. … I could get lost in those eyes and right now I am that person,” he said. “Ron, pull it together. You’re a straight man. He’s making you question your sexuality. Stop looking at him. You’re here to make fun of him. Not fall in love. Concentrate.” Burgundy would then continue, “Tom, it’s clear, everybody up here loves you. I love you, although it might just be lust. Could be love, we’ll never know.” Ferrell’s Anchorman character would move on to address the post-football career of Brady. As Burgundy is a champion of the news, he references the possibility of Brady taking on his own broadcasting position, “I can’t wait for you to be up there on Fox Sports commentating on the game you loved, or playing for the Raiders in the playoffs, or coaching the Patriots, or whatever the f*ck you’re gonna do.” He quipped that Tom was “boring” to watch. Then, he continued, “I never liked you Tom in all my years of watching professional football. I never saw a more boring quarterback,” he said, later adding: “He actually made me look forward to all the fun and laughter of a Bill Belichick postgame interview.”

Burgundy segued into poking fun at Brady’s former Patriots coach, “By the way, Bill, wherever you are, I hope, you know, I hope you know it now it was Tom, it was never you. … Remember that period when people thought it was you. Well, it wasn’t. It was Tom. I understand, Bill. You’re currently unemployed. Good luck on ZipRecruiter. There are a lot of jobs in the health care field. I hear male nurses are in great demand and with your bedside manner, no one would rather wake up after gallbladder surgery and look into the loving kind face of Bill Belichick as he gives you a sponge bath.”

Then, Ferrell brought it home, saying, “I mean, let’s be honest. Your best years are behind you, Tom. The Super Bowls, Gisele, your movie career, it’s all done, it’s all gone. But you won’t be forgotten, you’ll always be remembered as Eli Manning’s bitch. Don’t let that get you down, Tom. Like I said before, we all love you. In fact, only one man truly hates you and it is my pleasure to bring him out here, Mr. Bill Belichick,”

Drake and Kendrick Lamar are locked in one of the most heated rap feuds in modern history, with diss tracks dropping endlessly.

What is the world of rap without feuds? Well, the music world is on fire as of late, as Drake and Kendrick Lamar have spent the better part of the last month and a half throwing diss tracks at one another in a constant stream. That’s right, we now have a Pulitzer Prize winner in a rap war…Damn.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been going at it for over a decade at this point. Even though they formerly collaborated on a number of projects in the early 2010s, their partnership, like so many in the rap world, fell apart. While the first diss track came sometime back in 2013, the clash between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is at an all-time high. The trigger for this thread goes back to March’s “Like That”, in which Lamar distanced himself from his former friend. Drake hit back the following month on “Push Ups”, doubling down less than a week later with “Taylor Made Freestyle”, which actually resulted in a cease and desist after he used the AI-generated voice of Tupac Shakur.

We really haven’t gone more than a week without a response diss track from either Drake or Kendrick Lamar. This month alone has seen four tracks – and it’s only May 6th! Let’s check these out: after somehow confusing Haley Joel Osment and Joel Osteen on “Euphoria”, Lamar himself dropped another song, “6:16 in LA” in which he rapped, Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it.

As has become habit and proving to be possible in the digital age, Drake responded to this Kendrick Lamar track with “Family Matters” that same day, taking personal shots at Lamar’s family. Lamar fired back over the weekend with the double shot of “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us” almost immediately after, both personal attacks. In “Not Like Us”, Lamar ramped up the hate, rapping, Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young / You better not ever go to cell block one. With all that is going on with Sean Combs, no doubt people will draw links whether Lamar intended them or not.

That about takes us up to speed with the drama around Drake and Kendrick Lamar, although I have a feeling this article will be outdated the minute it gets published…

Who do you pick in the feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar? What has been the most damning line so far?