A poster for director Tim Story’s horror comedy The Blackening has been unveiled. A trailer will be released online tomorrow

Director Tim Story’s horror comedy The Blackening is said to take place during a Juneteenth weekend getaway, and Lionsgate is going to give the film a wide theatrical release on June 16, 2023 – which happens to be Juneteenth weekend. With the release date just three and a half months away, a poster for The Blackening has arrived online – and it came with the promise that a trailer is going to be released tomorrow! So while we wait to see the trailer, you can take a look at the poster at the bottom of this article.

Story directed The Blackening from a screenplay by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins. Inspired by a Perkins-scripted 3Peat comedy sketch that aired on Comedy Central in 2018, the film is about a group of Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who forces them to play a game with life-or-death consequences. The idea asks a reasonable question: since it seems that Black characters are usually the earliest victims in horror films, what happens when all the characters are Black?

Perkins (The Upshaws) stars in the film alongside Antoinette Robertson (Dear White People), Sinqua Walls (Shark Night), Grace Byers (Empire), X Mayo (The Farewell), Melvin Gregg (The Way Back), Jermaine Fowler (The Drop), Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Jay Pharoah (Unsane), and James Preston Rogers (Pixels).

Lionsgate’s Jason Constantine has said that The Blackening is “a wildly entertaining horror movie that delivers jump-out-of-your-seat scares while also hilariously subverting the genre.” Story and Oliver produced the film with Marcei A. Brown, Jason Clark, E. Brian Dobbins, and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett. Perkins co-produced, and Vicky Story is associate producer.

Story’s previous directing credits include Barbershop, Taxi, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hurricane Season, Think Like a Man, Ride Along, Think Like a Man Too, Ride Along 2, Shaft, and Tom & Jerry.

How does The Blackening sound to you, and what do you think of the poster? Are you looking forward to seeing the movie in June (and the trailer tomorrow)? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The long awaited sequel to the Mel Brooks classic is chock full of celebrities, comedians, and jokes, but not enough of them are all that funny.

Plot: After waiting over 40 years there is finally a sequel to the seminal Mel Brooks film, “History of the World, Part I,” with each episode featuring a variety of sketches that take us through different periods of human history.

Review: I was beyond excited when it was first announced that Hulu was bringing the long awaited sequel to Mel Brooks’ comedy History of the World Part I. I was less enthusiastic when I learned that the ninety-six year old would only be involved in a limited capacity. Spread over eight half-hour episodes, History of the World Part II has all of the hallmarks and style of classic Mel Brooks but without the spark that made Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein into masterpieces. With a reliance on quantity versus quality, History of the World Part II throws everything at the screen to see what sticks, resulting in a very uneven anthology of skits that pales compared to the 1981 movie that inspired it.

The trailers immediately show that History of the World Part II employs the same anachronistic humor as the feature film. With jokes taking contemporary elements and technology and putting them into various eras throughout history, the trademark approach that Mel Brooks’ movies have become synonymous with are heaped into each of the eight episodes of this series. While the 1981 film had four main segments set in the Stone Age, Roman Empire, Spanish Inquisition, and French Revolution, they each had short skits that bridged one chapter to the next. in History of the World Part II, the eight episodes chop up the main segments through the entire season. This means that each half-hour episode has six to ten skits that move back and forth through the timeline rather than showcasing a linear progression like the movie did.

The main skits focus on Jesus and the Apostles, The Civil War, The Russian Revolution, and Shirley Chisholm’s campaign as the first female and African-American presidential candidate. The consistent stars of the series are Nick Kroll, Ike Barinholtz, and Wanda Sykes, who each serve as writers and producers. Each episode also showcases Mel Brooks as narrator of each segment despite the legendary comedian not having any writing credits on these episodes. But, the creative talent writing this series are indebted to Brooks and his filmography. Do not hesitate to skewer and satirize everything from religion and documented historical record to racism, social media, reality television, and the divide between Brooks’ generation and Millennials, Zoomers, and beyond. There are jokes on The Beatles, Jackass, TikTok, YouTube, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and even Brooks’ classic Blazing Saddles. With four hours of running time to fill, many jokes here work, and many of them are the shorter skits, while the longer ones are chopped up into too many segments.

So many of the jokes in this series are rooted in Jewish culture and mock both Judaism and Christianity that this series is bound to offend some viewers, but if you have ever seen a Mel Brooks production, you know what you are in for. Airing on Hulu, History of the World Part II has plenty of drugs on display and copious profanity, but is surprisingly light on the nudity. The sheer size of the cast, many of whom are not shown in any of the trailers and will surprise people, is impressive. Some work better than others, with Jay Ellis and Zazie Beetz a highlight as Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Most of the actors in History of the World Part II appear for a single skit and some for a single line of dialogue. There are also some pretty hilarious connections to Part I, but I won’t spoil any details about what audiences are in store for.

Directed by Alice Mathias, David Stassen, Nick Kroll, and Lance Bangs, amongst others, History of the World Part II boasts a staff of fourteen writers, including Kroll, Barinholtz, and Sykes. I am still confused as to why they chose to split the main stories across the eight episodes rather than dedicate an entire episode to a single story with some skits between them. Maybe this was to contend with the low attention spans of modern viewers, or maybe it was to try and get people to tune in for the entire series, but with some stories crossing a handful of episodes and others broken into all eight, the inconsistent structure of this series ends up making it feel more redundant and repetitive instead of the quicker pace they were aiming for. It may also have to do with the longer segments needing filler. Still, in either case, History of the World Part II could have benefited from being either half as long or using a more traditional episode structure.

More jaded viewers enjoying the prevalence of comedy available on cable and streaming platforms in the four decades since History of the World Part I debuted on the big screen may not find much in this sequel series that they have not seen before. The most significant difference between History of the World Part II and the humor of Saturday Night Live, South Park, and even The Simpsons and Family Guy is the heavy reliance on jokes about Jewish people, which may fly over many viewers’ heads. For me, the highlight of this series was seeing Mel Brooks back in action, even if a limited capacity. This series does not hold a candle to Brooks’ movies and works more as a love letter to his career and importance to both movies and comedians. Undoubtedly, everyone involved in making this series had a lot of fun doing so, but I wish it had been more cohesive and less repetitive.

History of the World Part II premieres on March 6th on Hulu.

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We speak to the legendary Don Johnson about his career and new film A Little White Lie co-starring Michael Shannon.

Don Johnson is a personal hero of mine. One of my prized possessions is a framed, autographed copy of his 1987 album, “Heartbeat”, which I have hanging on my living room wall. Being a child of the eighties, I always thought he was the coolest of the cool. As a youngster, I got into Miami Vice in a big way through re-runs, and I loved him in action flicks like 1989’s Dead-Bang, and 1991’s Best Movie You Never Saw fave Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. Plus, there was Nash Bridges!

This week, Johnson, who’s been carving out a terrific niche for himself as a character actor in recent years, stars alongside Michael Shannon and Kate Hudson in the comedy-drama A Little White Lie. In it, Johnson plays a famous writer whose big personality hides a certain degree of insecurity. I was lucky enough to sit with Johnson for a great interview where, among other things, he revealed that he based his character on his friend, the legendary Hunter S. Thompson. He discusses how the film was a week away from wrapping when the Covid pandemic began and how it took 400 days before they were finally able to wrap the movie. He also teases his upcoming action thriller Rebel Ridge, which is being directed by Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room) for Netflix, which he thinks might be a really special film, even if it was the hardest physical shoot of his life due to an injury.

Johnson, who it must be said is a terrific guy, also indulged me in a little talk about his 1989 action flick Dead-Bang, which was directed by the legendary John Frankenheimer. In it, there’s this amazing foot chase that climaxes with Johnson puking all over a perp, and Johnson, to my delight, not only remembers the scene but admits it was his idea. He also told me some great stories about the director as well as folks like M. Emmett Walsh, the late Gregg Allman, and more. This was my second time interviewing Don Johnson (the first time was for Brawl in Cell Block 99), and both times he was as friendly of an interview subject as you can hope for, and he ended the interview by paying me a super nice compliment that made my day.

A Little White Lie is in theaters, on digital and on demand Friday March 3rd.

Here’s the studio synopsis (which to be honest doesn’t really reflect the actual film all that well):

Shriver (Michael Shannon), a down-on-his-luck handyman who has never read a book in his life, is mistaken for a famous writer that has been in hiding for over 20 years. With nothing to lose, he accepts an invitation to attend a college literary festival and finds himself surrounded by adoring fans and an English professor (Kate Hudson) who captures his heart. Shriver must do whatever it takes for his shot at love in this fish-out-of-water comedy.

It’s a nice little gem of a movie (review to follow soon) and worth checking out.

Disney releases new teaser trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy, a live-action reimagining of the animated movie from David Lowery.

Get ready to return to Neverland… again. Disney has released the new teaser trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy, a live-action reimagining of the original J.M. Barrie novel and the studio’s own animated classic. Peter Pan & Wendy will debut exclusively on Disney+ on April 28th.

While Disney has no shortage of live-action remakes under their belt (with more to come), Peter Pan & Wendy should be on your radar as it’s helmed by David Lowery, best known for Pete’s Dragon and The Green Knight. In addition to directing, Lowery also penned the screenplay alongside Toby Halbrooks. “In making ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ we set out to craft a film that honors both the original J.M. Barrie text and Walt Disney’s animated adaptation,” Lowery said. “We wanted to invigorate our retelling with emotional sincerity, an open heart, and a grand yearning for adventure. Hundreds of incredible artists spent many years bringing this film to the screen; I’m excited for audiences to see their work, to go on this ride, and to rediscover an evergreen tale from a new perspective.“

Peter Pan & Wendy introduces Wendy Darling, “a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind, who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Neverland. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever.” Ever Anderson stars as Wendy, with Alexander Molony as Peter Pan, Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell, Jude Law as Captain Hook, Jim Gaffigan as Mr. Smee, Alan Tudyk as George Darling, and Molly Parker as Mary Darling. I’ve got to admit that I didn’t remember that Jude Law was playing Captain Hook until I read it in the press release; the actor looks nearly unrecognizable in the role, but it looks like he’s having a lot of fun with it.

You can check out a poster for Peter Pan & Wendy below, and let us know what you thought of the teaser trailer in the comment.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s release date has been moved forward slightly. Voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Seth Rogen, Anya Taylor-Joy

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment have announced that the animated feature The Super Mario Bros. Movie is getting an earlier release date… but only slightly earlier. Previously scheduled to reach theatres on April 7th, The Super Mario Bros. Movie now has a release date of April 5th in the United States and in more than sixty other markets around the world (including China, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, the U.K., and Ireland). The film will reach additional markets in April and May, with its Japan release set for April 28th.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film has a voice cast that includes Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.

Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri produced The Super Mario Bros. Movie with Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo. The film has been co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo.

As we have noted before, Nintendo acquired Dynamo Pictures in July of 2022 to establish a CG animation company, Nintendo Pictures. The studio plans to adapt more of Nintendo’s IPs. Nintendo has yet to reveal what properties the studio intends to adopt. If you’re unfamiliar with Dynamo Pictures, they’ve worked on projects like Ghost in the Shell, Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch, Nier Replicant, Mega Man, Death Stranding, and titles in the Resident Evil franchise. While Nintendo has yet to reveal any potential plans for the studio, fans may eventually see adaptations of The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Animal Crossing, or Luigi’s Mansion.

Are you looking forward to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and are you glad it has an earlier release date? Let us know by leaving a comment below. I have fond memories of playing several of the Mario games (and not-so-fond memories of watching the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie), so I will be watching this movie at some point.

The Mandalorian executive producers Rick Famuyiwa and Dave Filoni address the absence of Gina Carano’s Cara Dune in the third season.

Gina Carano played Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, but after making a few controversial statements, Lucasfilm ditched the actress. “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm statement read. “Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.” It’s safe to say that Gina Carano won’t be returning for the third season of The Mandalorian, but what about Cara Dune?

The Mandalorian executive producer Rick Famuyiwa addressed Cara Dune’s status in The Mandalorian while speaking with Deadline. “Cara was a big part and continues as a character to be part of the world. It had to be addressed in the creative and [Jon Favreau] took the time to think about that,” Famuyiwa said. “It was something that was discussed as we knew it was going to have impact on the show, but at the same time, what has been at the heart of the show are the two characters — Din Djarin and Grogu — so ultimately it felt like a servicing of that, and around the Mandalorians.” So it sounds like Cara Dune won’t be killed, but will rather continue existing off-screen.

Dave Filoni added, “It’s a big galaxy and we have many characters in it — many characters are fighting for their screen time. We’ll just have to see as the season unfolds what the adventures are, but it’s a great character, someone who was vital to Din Djarin’s beginnings; we’ll see if he has evolved beyond that.” Filoni said that as the new season mainly deals with the Mandalorians and the Mandalorian saga, there’s not a lot of room for characters who don’t factor into that tale.

“The journeys of the Mandalorian through the Star Wars galaxy continue,” reads the official synopsis of the third season. “Once a lone bounty hunter, Din Djarin has reunited with Grogu. Meanwhile, the New Republic struggles to lead the galaxy away from its dark history. The Mandalorian will cross paths with old allies and make new enemies as he and Grogu continue their journey together.” The Mandalorian season 3 will debut on Disney+ on March 1st.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness admits that he was surprised by the movie’s negative reviews.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was released a little over a week ago, but the reviews… haven’t exactly been kind, which took screenwriter Jeff Loveness by surprise.

“To be honest, those reviews took me by surprise,” Jeff Loveness told The Daily Beast in an interview. “I was in a pretty low spot… Those were not good reviews, and I was like, ‘What the …?’” Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania joins Eternals as the only two Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that have earned a Rotten Tomatometer status on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite those negative reviews being a little crushing, Jeff Loveness remains proud of his work. “I’m really proud of what I wrote for Jonathan [Majors] and Michelle Pfeiffer,” Loveness said. “I thought that was good stuff, you know? And so I was just despondent, and I was really sad about it.“

Reviews certainly aren’t everything, and it’s important to note that the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is much higher than its critics’ score. Jeff Loveness told The Daily Beast that he went attended a screening of Quantumania after the reviews had came out and found the audience to be very appreciative of what he was trying to do. “I went to [a showing] of the movie after the reviews were in and the movie was out,” Loveness said. “And an audience was laughing, and it was one of those Sullivan’s Travels, ‘watching the movie with the prisoners’ moments… I actually tried to make [Quantumania] feel more like a throwback ’90s adventure comedy than anything. I wanted it to feel like the way Men in Black is funny and goofy, but it also has real stakes and real character motives.“

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has already grossed over $363 million worldwide, but it has seen a 69% decrease in ticket sales during its second week, the largest drop of any MCU movie. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own JimmyO and let us know what you thought of the film as well. Does Quantumania deserve the negative reviews?

Jeremy Renner has provided yet another update for fans, showing himself hard at work in the gym and on his mind.

Jeremy Renner is continuing his recovery in admirable fashion, taking to the gym less than two months after an accident left him with 30 broken bones.

In an Instagram story this week, Jeremy Renner showed a video of himself working out and exercising his legs, along with the caption, “Whatever it Takes”. But it’s not just his body he’s trying to work on, but also his mind. Renner also posted that he is focusing on his “mental recovery” as well, relaxing with a copy of “The Book of Awakening” by Mark Nepo, in which the author “opens a new season of freedom and joy―an escape from deadening, asleep-at-the wheel sameness―that is both profound and clarifying.”

Jeremy Renner refuses to slow down. Not only has he kept fans abreast of his condition and recovery, but also his projects. Since the January 1st accident, in which Renner was trying to save his nephew from the oncoming snowplow that Renner had just exited, the actor has taken to social media more than most might considering the situation. Just two weeks ago, Renner teased he was at work on his upcoming Disney+ series Rennervations, described as “an original four-part series that embraces Jeremy Renner’s lifelong passion for giving back to communities around the world by reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles to meet a community’s needs.”

A final post in the Instagram story was one from Mayor of Kingstown co-creator Hugh Dillon showing off a clip from the show. Season two of the Paramount+ series premiered two weeks after Jeremy Renner’s accident.

Despite two Oscar nominations (Best Actor for The Hurt Locker, Best Supporting Actor for The Town) and a role in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Jeremy Renner is best known for playing Clint Barton aka Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is credited in the role in six MCU movies in addition to two series, most notably the titular Disney+ series. Renner has been a clear inspiration to his fans, with the younger ones hopefully seeing a superhero outside of the costume.

Keep sending your well wishes to Jeremy Renner in the comments section below!