Tobin Bell returns as Jigsaw in the first true Saw sequel in years in this bloody good Saw X trailer from Lionsgate.

Jigsaw is back in the Saw X trailer! They tried to make the series work without him but, alas, it couldn’t be done. Now, after missing out on the spin-off Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Tobin Bell is back as the iconic Jigsaw Killer in Saw X, which just dropped its first official trailer. Lionsgate seems bullish on the return of one of horror’s most iconic villains, with them planning a wide theatrical bow on September 29th. Now, I know what you’re thinking – isn’t Jigsaw dead? It turns out Saw X is a prequel to the latter films, with it set between the events of Saw and Saw 2. 

According to the official synopsis:

A sick and desperate John Kramer travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer — only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through devious, deranged and ingenious traps.

Saw X definely looks like a slick return to form for what was a pretty huge horror franchise for a good decade or so. The series has grossed over a billion dollars, with each film being not only successful theatrically, but also perennial favourites on DVD. The last true Saw film, Jigsaw, cleared over $100 million worldwide. While Spiral: From the Book of Saw won’t really tie into Saw X, it’s still being considered part of the canon, as it was the ninth film, and this is being billed as the tenth. Kevin Greutert, who edited the first five Saw movies, and directed Saw VI and Saw 3D (both of which ranked highly in our Saw movies ranked list) returns to direct, along with franchise favourite Shawnee Smith, reprising her role as Amanda Young, a former Jigsaw victim turned protege. 

Are you excited for Jigsaw’s return? Let us know in the comments!

Paul Verhoeven‘s 1990 Total Recall (f*ck that remake btw) remains an iconic and enduring classic in the realm of action and sci-fi. Add the overly aggressive blood squibs, imaginative production design, top-notch action, Verhoeven’s signature satirical flair, and you have yourself an absolute classic. Today Lance and The Arrow discuss one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best film! Peak Schwarzenegger baby!

Total Recall stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox and Michael Ironside and is about:

When a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real – or is he?

The M.O. of The Arrow in the Head Show is: After many years behind the scenes, we’ve decided to take our sarcastic, booze-influenced style into the video age with The Arrow In The Head Show! Hosted by John Fallon aka The Arrow and Lance Vlcek, the show digs into the good, bad, and ugly of horror, sci-fi and action from the golden ages of the ’80s through the underrated 90s and maybe a bit beyond. Something groovy and a tad rough around the edges, we are here to talk shop with a drink in hand, a bit of foul language, and a whole lot of heart.

Check out previous episodes of The Arrow in the Head Show below! Peruse all of our shows and subscribe to the channel while you’re at it here: Arrow in the Head Show YouTube channel.

Episodes of The Arrow in the Head Show are also available to listen to as audio-only podcasts. Get the 411 at THIS LINK.

Any TMNT fan is going to have a blast with this movie as it provides references to the past while still carving itself a new identity.

PLOT: Follows the Turtle brothers as they work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants.

REVIEW: I count myself as a massive fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Whether it’s the old cartoon show, the live actions films of the 90’s, or even the original comic book. While I didn’t vibe with the Michael Bay-produced films, I’ve always loved the turtle action in them. So the fact that this one does the right thing and focuses on the titular characters versus April O’Neil, is already a massive win in my book. That’s what I want in a turtle movie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has that in spades. And while there’s certainly a degree of origin story present, it mostly serves to reintroduce the public to this gang of green teens versus treading old ground.

One of the most brilliant decisions that the filmmakers make is casting actual teenagers as the Turtles. This already feels like a massive improvement over the near 30-somethings we’re used to getting. They actually feel like teenagers without being dreadfully annoying. The voice acting as well as the writing for each of the teens feels spot on. These aren’t the fully formed versions that we’ve seen in the past, and so they’re still developing some of those traits that would grow to become staples of the character ie. the leadership of Leo. I was a little trepidatious with the change to April O’Neil from an established reporter to an anxious high schooler, but it mostly works. Her connection with the Turtles is beautifully done.

My favorite arc of the story though is Jackie Chan‘s Master Splinter. Past iterations really settle on having him be a wise old man who occasionally cracks jokes. But here they are able to put him in an interesting place that allows him to grow as a character. They finally acknowledge that Splinter doesn’t always know what’s best for the boys. I particularly liked how much he saw of himself in Superfly (Ice Cube), who is another standout. He brings so much energy to the role and sounds like he’s having a blast doing it. When you look at the supporting cast, it’s not surprising there are so many funny side characters. Paul Rudd, John Cena, and Natasia Demetriou all voice various mutants, which allow for what may have been forgotten moments to really leave an impression.

It’s easy to compare the animation to that of Into the Spiderverse but I think it does a good enough job of differentiating itself from those films. Mutant Mayhem is gorgeous and you could stop nearly every shot and use it as a screensaver. There’s a getaway sequence that is a real highlight. And I feel as though the writers absolutely stuffed the film full of references to all sorts of past Turtles’ outings. So unless you count yourself as a fan, you may not get as much out of these moments. Still, I’d say the film does a good job of providing funny moments throughout.

I will say though: I’m not entirely sure how this plays for kids. Most of the children in the screening I was at, seemed mostly disinterested in the film. Whether that’s the slow pacing or the fact that they just didn’t have an investment in the characters, it was a bit alarming given a lot of the box office is expected from families. But I know as a thirty-something nerd who grew up on Turtles, I found myself laughing and having a grand ole time. I can’t wait to see where they go with this and what other characters they bring in. While Shredder is certainly a given, I’m hoping Bebop and Rocksteady are able to take on a more villainous role. All I know is I’m ready for more Turtles!

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM will be IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE AUGUST 2ND, 2023.

8

Barbie and Oppenheimer had tremendous second week holds while Haunted Mansion becomes the latest Disney under-performer

As expected, Barbie remained on top of the box office for a second week in a row with an impressively small drop off of just 43% for a second week take of $93 million and a domestic total of $351.4 million. Add that to its massive global take and you have a movie that in just two weeks has already amassed over $700 million. While it won’t crack the record for fastest movie to reach a billion dollars globally, that record belongs to Avengers: Endgame at just 5 days, it will undoubtedly cross that magical milestone that only 52 other movies have ever crossed within the next week and change. If Top Gun: Maverick saved movie theaters last year, Barbie is surely making sure they keep their lights on this year. 

Once that first trailer hit for Barbie, we all pretty much knew it was destined to be a hit. Even though the trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer looked amazing, when it was announced the film was clocking in at three hours long and rated R, a lot of us became worried that Nolan’s latest may be the type of film that not many people would be willing to sit through, no matter how good it was. Well, the hype of Barbenheimer surely helped it secure a strong opening weekend, but this week shows that the movie has true legs as it dropped a small 44% with an estimated take of $46.2 million and a solid $174 million domestic total. Audiences are embracing a film that demands the big screen experience. That is what Christopher Nolan does, he makes sure anything he puts out has a feel to it that it must be experienced, not just seen. That is why people are willing to get out to theaters and see his movies instead of waiting for home video/ streaming.

The same can not be said for Disney, who have pivoted to embracing their streaming service above all else. This is the reason the mouse house has had trouble with their films finding audiences in theaters. The latest victim of that is their update of the Haunted Mansion which only managed a $24.2 million opening. Perhaps if the movie had received better reviews, more people would have gone out of their way to see this one in theaters, but sadly this one was just a very mediocre movie that audiences seem to realize they can watch on Disney+ in time for Halloween. I do like streaming, I really do, but we are in this weird period right now where studios don’t know how to make their theatrical releases and their streaming services work with each other and until they figure it out, as Disney seems to be finding out week after week, audiences will simply wait it out. Im not sure a box office bomb is the best marketing plan for a movies streaming debut! You can check out Chris Bumbray’s 5/10 review here.

Fourth place belongs to the Jim Caviezel starring Sound of Freedom which continues it insanely successful independent release losing just 37% for a $12.4 million weekend take. That number is actually almost $2 million more than Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One landed with this weekend. I don’t think anybody had Jim Caviezel coming out victorious in the box office battle between him and Tom Cruise! You can check out Chris Bumbray’s 6/10 Sound of Freedom review here.

In sixth place is the new A24 horror film Talk To Me which doubled its budget in just its opening weekend with slightly over $10 million. It is a rare thing when it is the actual studio that gets people hyped for a movie, but I think A24 has earned their reputation as a company that releases quality entertainment. How else to explain that they became the first studio ever to have their films sweep the top six awards at the Oscars.

Spots seven through nine go to your holdover films: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with $4 million added to its $167 million domestic total; Elemental with $3.4 million added to its $144.9 million total and Insidious: The Red Door with $3.1 million added to its $78 million total. While tenth place lands the Bollywood release Rocky Air Rani Kii Prep Kahaani with $1.3 million. As I have said before, these Hindi language films have their passionate audiences who will seek out the new releases and turn them into hits.

Did you make it to theaters this weekend? How many times have you seen Barbie and Oppenheimer so far (its two times each for me)? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to check out our weekly poll where we ask: What is your favorite Margot Robbie film?

Ethan Coen’s narrative debut, Drive-Away Dolls, has been pushed back five months and will now debut in February.

The brakes have been pumped on Ethan Coen’s upcoming solo directing effort, Drive-Away Dolls, which has become one of the latest victims of both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Drive-Away Dolls was originally set for a September 22nd release, but has been pushed back to February 23rd, 2024. It has also been surmised that this will also take it out of box office competition with Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money, about a group of Reddit users who caused a “short squeeze” on GameStop’s stock. Dumb Money could also find itself as an Oscar contender, hitting on that subgenre of real-life financial dramedies that make you feel smart even though you only understood about 30% of it. Hey, The Big Short cleared five Academy Award nominations, and with a Toronto Film Festival debut also behind it, it could be part of the scene.

But enough about Craig Gillespie. Drive-Away Dolls was getting much attention for being Ethan Coen’s solo directing debut (not counting the documentary Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind), breaking away from older brother Joel. The duo hasn’t helmed a movie together since 2018’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – but don’t worry, the fellas do have plans to reunite. Of note, Joel Coen made his solo outing with 2021’s The Tragedy of MacBeth, which was well-received by critics.

Drive-Away Dolls is about “an uninhibited free spirit (Margaret Qualley) bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.” The cast also includes Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, Matt Damon, and more.

The news of Drive-Away Dolls’ delay is a bit of a disappointment. While the trailer may not have built the loudest buzz, it will be nice to see how Ethan Coen handles a solo outing. He co-wrote the script with wife and frequent Coen Bros. collaborator Tricia Cooke.

Are you looking forward to Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls? Do you think its release shift could affect its box office? Let us know in the comments section below!