We review Ben Affleck’s excellent Nike drama Air, starring Matt Damon.

PLOT: In 1984, Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) tries to recruit Michael Jordan as a Hail Mary to save the fledgling basketball shoes division.

REVIEW: Ben Affleck’s Air allows the director to play to all his strengths as a director and actor. Like Argo, it shines a light on an intriguing event from the eighties, but unlike that film, the stakes here aren’t necessarily life and death. But, if you think the idea of a movie about Michael Jordan being signed to Nike is minor, you’d be wrong, as this is a truly involving, entertaining depiction of everything that went into the landmark deal. And this deal forever changed the way athletes are compensated the world over.

Matt Damon is at his best as the plucky Vaccaro. A passionate devotee of the game, he’s trying to put Nike on the map amongst basketball players at a time when Nike, as crazy as it sounds, was unhip. Converse was the biggest sneaker, and Adidas was quickly gaining momentum as the “cool” brand thanks to having placement in hip-hop videos. The movie spends much time depicting the frustration of all involved, who know they have the superior product. In addition to Damon’s Vaccaro, there’s Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, who’s in charge of marketing and has his family’s future staked on the shoe’s success.

In a showy supporting role, there’s also Ben Affleck himself as Phil Knight, Nike’s colourful CEO, who wears a perm and shows up to the office wearing loud tracksuits. While he initially comes off as a bit of an eighties yuppie send-up, Knight is also depicted as savvy and someone who believes in his employees, particularly Vaccaro, whose gambles often don’t pay off.

The movie follows Damon’s affable Vaccaro as he puts his and the company’s future on the line in his aggressive pursuit of Jordan. Remember that no one had any inkling of what MJ would become at the time, so it was a significant gamble. While we all know the outcome, we don’t know what went into the deal, with much time spent on Vaccaro’s respectful relationship with Jordan’s business-savvy mother, Deloris (played but the great Viola Davis), who wants her son to get his rightful share of whatever profits are made off of his name.

Affleck does a good job evoking the eighties era in a way that this actually feels like a movie that legitimately could have been made in the decade. The film is shot in a way that evokes an older-type movie by Robert Richardson, and Affleck even got Tangerine Dream to work on the score. Notably, the pace is kept tight, with the film running a lean, disciplined 112 minutes, with no fat on the bone whatsoever.

Affleck really has made a movie that sits nicely on the shelf next to Argo, and it seems sure to be a crowd-pleaser, even if you’re not a sports fan. The acting is top shelf, not only from Damon and Affleck, who are well-served by writer Alex Convery’s dialogue but also the entire supporting cast. That includes Chris Messina as Jordan’s shark-like (but not cartoonish agent). In a single scene, Marlon Wayans as college coach George Raveling, delivers the movie’s standout monologue about why you should always listen to your intuition. Chris Tucker is also terrific in an atypical role as Howard White, the man in charge of player relations, who evokes a believable affability that hides his own desire to do right by the families he interacts with.

All in all, Air really is a terrific package, with Affleck having a ton of fun telling this story. It definitely has one of the best soundtracks of the year, with the needle drops running the gamut from Bruce Springsteen to Axel F. Affleck even repurposes Pino Donaggio’s main theme to Brian De Palma’s Body Double to complement the Tangerine Dream music. It’s a nice touch in a movie that’s full of them. While Air will bow on Prime Video within a few months, it’s definitely a movie that delivers on the big screen and a rare adult drama people should go out and support.

8

Jensen Ackles says that he will appear as Soldier Boy in Gen V, Prime Video’s upcoming spinoff of The Boys.

Jensen Ackles joined The Boys last season to play Soldier Boy, America’s first and greatest superhero, and it sounds as though he’ll make an appearance in the upcoming spinoff series Gen V as well.

While speaking with fans during a Creation New Orleans convention (via Entertainment Weekly), Jensen Ackles revealed that his character of Soldier Boy will show up in Gen V. “Soldier Boy pops up for a brief moment in this new spin-off of The Boys,” Ackles said. “In fact, there’s a few cameos from the mothership that come into this spin-off. My little bit there was heavily [improvised].” Ackles added that The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke was on set with him for filming. “He and I were just, like, we were spitballing ideas and workshopping literally in between takes and coming up with a whole variety of takes,” Ackles said.

Gen V takes place “in America’s only college exclusively for young adult superheroes (or supes) that is run by Vought International.” It will explore the lives of “hormonal, competitive supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. Part college show, part Hunger Games—with all the heart, satire, and raunch of The Boys.“

Eric Kripke has previously teased that Gen V would include a few crossovers with The Boys, both in terms of characters and events. “There’s definitely crossover, and we’re doing our best to design a universe that sees some of the issues and storylines in Season 3 hand off to the first season in Varsity,” Kripke said. “Like there’s a presidential campaign happening in the background of that season, and there’s certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys. There’s Soldier Boy, etcetera, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spinoff that we have to pick up and take into Season 4 of the show.” We don’t have an official release date for Gen V yet, but the spinoff series is expected to premiere on Prime Video sometime this year.

Todd Phillips took to Instagram to announce that Joker 2 has finally wrapped after four months of filming. The director also shared two new images from the movie featuring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in character. “That’s a wrap,” Phillips wrote in the caption. “Thanks to these two (+ the entire cast) and the BEST crew that the film industry has to offer. From top to bottom. Gonna crawl into a cave now (edit room) and put it all together.“

Joker: Folie à Deux will find Joaquin Phoenix (Beau is Afraid) reprising his role of Arthur Fleck, with Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) starring alongside him as Harley Quinn. Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2) has also returned to reprise her role of Sophie Dumond from the first movie. The rest of the cast consists of Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Catherine Keener (The Adam Project), Jacob Lofland (The Son), and Harry Lawtey (The Pale Blue Eye).

Related

Joker 2: Set Photos Reveal Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn makeup

Once the first Joker movie became the first R-rated movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide — not to mention earning Joaquin Phoenix the Academy Award for Best Actor — it was only a matter of time before the studio got the ball rolling on a sequel. But the new film won’t be part of the new DC Universe taking shape under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran, as it will fall under the DC Elseworlds label which would also include Matt Reeves’ The Batman – Part II.

Much of Joker: Folie à Deux is expected to take place in Arkham Asylum, which is where we left Arthur Fleck in the last movie. The film has also been described as something of a musical, which has certainly piqued my interest. Although Joker 2 may have wrapped, we still have quite a wait ahead of us as the sequel isn’t set to be released until October 4, 2024.

HBO Max releases Clone High teaser trailer for revival of Phil Lord, Christopher Miller & Bill Lawrence’s cult animated series.

Clone High was easily one of my favourite animated shows, but the series was cancelled in 2003 after just thirteen episodes. Now, twenty years later, the clones are back! HBO Max has released the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Clone High revival, which features the return of Abe, Joan, Cleo, JFK, and a few new faces.

The original Clone High series was created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence, all of whom have returned for the revival. Dubbed a “modern refresh” of the original series, Clone High is “set at a high school for clones of historical figures. After a high school that was secretly being run as an elaborate military experiment to clone the greatest minds in history was put on ice, the clones have been thawed out 20 years later to resume the experiment with new clone classmates – all while navigating a new set of cultural norms and overly dramatic teen relationships.“

The returning cast includes Will Forte as Abe, Nicole Sullivan as Joan, Phil Lord as Scudworth, Chris Miller as JFK and Mr. B, Donald Faison as George Washington Carner, and Judah Miller as Scangrade. Christa Miller, who voiced Cleo in the original series, will instead voice Candide Sampson. The role of Cleo has now been filled by Mitra Jouhari. The rest of the new cast includes Ayo Edebiri as Harriet, Vicci Martinez as Frida, Kelvin Yu as Confucious, Neil Casey as Topher Bus, Jana Schmieding as Sacagawea, Sam Richardson as Wesley, Mo Gaffney as Ms. Grumbles, Al Madrigal as Frederico; Danny Pudi as Dr. Neelankavil, Emily Maya Mills as Ethel Merman, Michael Bolton as Michael Bolton, Mandy Moore as Mandy Moore, Ian Ziering as Ian Ziering, and Steve Kerr as Steve Kerr.

You might notice that one of the original Clone High characters is not featured in the revival. Of course, I’m talking about Gandhi. The character sparked protests in India, as they were outraged by the show’s depiction of the real-life figure. In an apology at the time, MTV said, “Clone High was created and intended for an American audience… we recognize and respect that various cultures may view this programming differently, and we regret any offence taken by the content in the show.“

Clone High will premiere this spring on HBO Max. What did you think of the Clone High trailer?

Let’s-a go to the movies! Box office projections are expecting the Super Mario Bros. Movie to have one of Illumination’s best openings.

The box office haul for The Super Mario Bros. Movie is projected to be $127.5 million over its five-day opening, throwing a blue shell at previous estimates, which put it between $85-$90 million. Breaking it down, Wednesday–its official opening day–was looking at $26 million alone, while the three-day total is shaping up to be just over $86 million.

These box office numbers would make The Super Mario Bros. Movie the second-best five-day opening for Illumination, following 2013’s Despicable Me 2. While Pixar and Disney are still the kings of box office when it comes to animated features, Illumination has been making its presence known for over a decade now, with the Despicable Me franchise actually being one of the highest-grossing animated franchises ever. Through its five entries, it has raked in nearly $1.6 billion, topping even Toy Story (albeit with only four entries). Ahead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Illumination has a worldwide take of just over $8 billion, with much credit going to the minions.

Deadline notes that the current champ of a three-day opening for a movie based on a video game is Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with $72.1 million. This would set up a Super Smash Bros. showdown at the box office this week, with Mario easily coming out on top of the blue speed demon.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad aren’t looking at much competition at the box office over the weekend. Ben Affleck’s Air (read our 8/10 review here), which chronicles the development and success of the Air Jordan sneaker, hits an entirely different demographic and is looking at around $16 million. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is expected to drop from its $37.2 opening but still hold onto the number two spot.

Will you be gassing up the go-kart and upping Mario and company’s box office numbers? How do you think the movie will do over the weekend? Let us know below!