Welcome to May 2021. Welcome to Negromancer 2.0. This is the rebirth of Negromancer, the former movie review website as a new movie review and movie news site.
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by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
NETFLIX - From Deadline: In competitive bidding, Netflix closed a deal to acquire U.S. rights to "Gunpowder Milkshake" from STX Films. The female-driven action film is directed by Navot Papushado, and produced by Studiocanal and The Picture Company.
DISNEY - From Deadline: Rick Riordan, the author of the "Percy Jackson" book series, says that the search is underway to find a young actor to play "Percy Jackson" in the Disney+ TV series based on the books. Actor Logan Lerman played the character in two "Percy Jackson" films for 20th Century Fox.
ANIMATION - From Deadline: Actress/director Elizabeth Banks is developing an adult animated primetime series, "Bedrock," for Fox. It would act as a sequel to the 1960s primetime animated television series, "The Flintstones."
OSCARS - From Deadline: The Oscar ratings turned out to be not quite as bad as initially thought. Final numbers say 10.4 million viewed - still the all-time lowest.
From Deadline: The 93rd Academy Awards had the all-time lowest Oscar telecast ratings ever - by a huge margin. For the first time, the estimated number of viewers was under ten million, specifically 9.85 million. [It was a terrible show, in my estimation - Leroy]
MOVIES - From Deadline: "Another Round," the Danish film that just won the "Best Foreign Film" Oscar, will get an English-language remake. It will possibly be a star vehicle for Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: HBO releases a photographic image to announced that it's "Game of Thrones" prequel, "House of the Dragon" has gone into production and will launch in 2022.
MOVIES - From WeGotThisCovered: There will reportedly be CGI creatures in "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," the upcoming reboot of the "Resident Evil" film franchise.
OSCARS - From Deadline: This page gives a full list of winners, including the "Best Picture" winner, "Nomadland."
From Deadline: Most memorable Oscar moment: Once again, multiple-Oscar nominee Glenn Close goes home empty handed, but she steals the show with her knowledge of the song "Da Butt" from Spike Lee's 1988 film, "School Daze," and also by dancing "Da Butt."
From Deadline: At 83 years of age, Anthony Hopkins becomes the oldest actor to win the "Best Actor" Oscar (for his performance in "The Father"). In a video posted on Instagram, Hopkins expresses gratitude and pays tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman, who many thought would win a posthumous Oscar for his performance in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
From Variety: Clayton Davis makes "Variety's" final predictions of winners at the 93rd Academy Awards.
From Negromancer: Just in case you need them, here are the nominations for the 2021 / 93rd Academy Awards.
MOVIES - From Refinery29: In an interview, young star Keke Palmer expresses excitement at being cast in Jordan Peele's ("Get Out," "Us') upcoming, secret horror film project.
OBITS:
From Deadline: Former actor, child actor, singer and musician, Johnny Crawford, has died at the age of 75, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Crawford was best known as a child actor for his co-starring role in the late ABC Western television series, "The Rifleman" (1958-63). Crawford played "Mark McCain," the son of "Lucas McCain," played by the series' star, the late Chuck Connors. Crawford was the brother of child actor Robert L. "Bobby" Crawford, Jr. ("Laramie") and the son of film editor Robert L. Crawford, Sr. Crawford was also one of the original "Mouseketeers" that appeared on "The Mickey Mouse Club" (1955-59) TV series, although Crawford only appeared in the first season. Crawford also received a 1959 Emmy nomination for his role on "The Rifleman."
From Deadline: Philanthropist and former publicist, Anne Douglas, has died at the age of 102, Thursday, April 29, 2021. Douglas was married to legendary actor Kirk Douglas from 1954 until his death in February 2020.
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 of 2021 (No. 1767) by Leroy Douresseaux
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
Promising Young Woman (2020)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence including sexual assault, language throughout, some sexual material and drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Emerald Fennell
PRODUCERS: Tom Ackerley, Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara, and Margot Robbie
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Benjamin Cracun (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Frederic Thoraval
COMPOSER: Anthony Willis
Academy Award winner
DRAMA/COMEDY/THRILLER
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Chris Lowell, Connie Britton, Adam Brody, Max Greenfield, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Sam Richardson, Alfred Molina, and Molly Shannon
Promising Young Woman is a 2020 black comedy and suspense thriller film from director Emerald Fennell. The film focuses on a young woman who takes revenge for a traumatic event in her past on the unwary young men who cross her path.
Promising Young Woman introduces Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas (Carey Mulligan), a 30 year-old medical school dropout who lives with her parents, Susan (Jennifer Coolidge) and Stanley Thomas (Clancy Brown), in Ohio. Seven years earlier, something terrible happened to Cassie's best friend, Nina Fisher, at a party, and it led to both Cassie and Nina leaving the medical school they attended, Forrest University.
Now, Cassie spends her nights feigning drunkenness in clubs, and allowing men to take her to their homes. Then, she bluntly and forcefully reveals her sobriety when these men try to take advantage of her by having sexual relations with a woman who is too inebriated to give consent. Things begin to change when Cassie is reunited with a former classmate, Dr. Ryan Cooper (Bo Burnham), a pediatrician. When another classmate reveals a lurid secret, Cassie resumes her mission of revenge, but can she survive her own mission.
Of the many shocking things about Promising Young Woman, one of them is actress Carey Mulligan. She completely buries herself in this role, and the waif-like persona she adopted in some of her early films disappears in the storm of the force of nature that is Cassie. Mulligan's performance as Cassie recalls classic Clint Eastwood movie characters like “Dirty” Harry Callahan and “Preacher” (from 1985's Pale Rider). I also have to give a shout out to Promising Young Woman's makeup department for its work in creating Cassie's look, which, spiritually, recalls the those vengeful dead girls in such Japanese horror films as Ringu (1998) and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002).
I can't help but be impressed by the debut directorial effort of writer-director Emerald Fennell. Her film is straight to the point. Fennell is not being allegorical, metaphorical, or symbolic. Fennell delivers stunning entertainment that is both a timely message movie and a timeless cinematic film, a mainstream spin of the spirit of The Last House on the Left (1972) and I Spit on Your Grave (1978). She may or may not be talking to you, sir, but there is no doubt about what Fennell is saying.
In a way, Promising Young Woman is the Get Out of 2020. Like Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning film, Promising Young Woman is a game changer. Whereas Peele's Get Out was a revelation in its message about white people's violence against African-American bodies, Fennell's Promising Young Woman is the clarion call to the reckoning for the way men objectify and enact sexual violence on the bodies of women. Hopefully, Fennell's film is the cinematic earthquake that leads to a Hollywood tsunami.
And yes, Promising Young Woman is entertaining. It simply manages to also blow your mind, chill your blood … and make some men reflexively cover their jewels.
9 of 10
A+
Monday, March 22, 2021
NOTES:
2021 Academy Awards, USA: 1 win: “Best Original Screenplay” (Emerald Fennell); 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell, and Josey McNamara), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Carey Mulligan), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Emerald Fennell), and “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Frédéric Thoraval)
2021 Golden Globes, USA: 4 nominations: “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Emerald Fennell), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Carey Mulligan), “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Emerald Fennell), “Best Motion Picture - Drama”
2021 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Screenplay-Original” (Emerald Fennell) and “Outstanding British Film of the Year” (Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, and Josey McNamara); 4 nominations: “Best Film” (Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox, and Josey McNamara), “Best Editing” (Frédéric Thoraval), “Original Score” (Anthony Willis), and “Best Casting” (Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu)
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).
HELM GREYCASTLE #1 (OF 4)
IMAGE COMICS/Top Cow Productions
STORY: Henry Barajas
PENCILS: Rahmat M. Handoko
COLORS: Bryan Valenza
LETTERS: Gabriela Downie
SCRIPT ASSIST: Claire Napier
EDITORS: Clair Napier; Elena Salcedo
COVER: Rahmat M. Handoko and Bryan Valenza
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: David Lapham with Bryan Valenza; Tony Parker with Bryan Valenza; Becky Cloonan; Mauricio Herrera; Matt Emmons
36pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (April 2021)
Rated “T+/Teen Plus”
Helm Greycastle created by Henry Barajas and Bryan Valenza
Chapter One: Devotion & Desire
Helm Greycastle is a new comic book miniseries from writer Henry Barajas and artists Rahmat M. Handoko and Bryan Valenza. Published by Image Comics, this Latinx, alternate reality fantasy series mixes magic and dragons with Aztec mythology.
Helm Greycastle #1 (Devotion & Desire) finds Helm Greycastle and his band: Vola the fighter, Oskar Frostbeard the dwarf, and Shava Nailo the elven bard, fighting skeleton warriors to obtain a special item for their magic-using ally, Enxina Holimion. She has a bigger task for Greycastle and company, however; she needs them to recover Uadjit, the Last Dragon Prince!
Who has him? The abductors are from a new and previously unknown threat, Aztec Mexica. Little does Greycastle know that there is already a resistance brewing against Aztec Mexica's leader, Montezuma III.
THE LOWDOWN: The cover art for Helm Greycastle doesn't really convey how offbeat this new series is. A blend of Tolkien-inspired epic and quest fantasy, role playing games, and Aztec mythology, Helm Greycastle promises to be something different.
The art team of penciller Rahmat M. Handoko and colorist Bryan Valenza is perfect in that it captures the disparate mythologies and mythopoeia of this concept. In that way, the art and graphical storytelling suggest that it is perfectly acceptable for all of them to play on the same of field of narrative conflict.
Writer Henry Barajas may surprise some readers with how much Helm Greycastle seems like a Conan the Barbarian comic book. Over the past five decades, many of the comic books starring Robert E. Howard's character, Conan the Cimmerian, have blended versions of real-world mythologies and pantheons of gods with the assorted pantheons of Conan's mythology. Helm Greycastle seems firmly rooted in the sword and sorcery that inspired role playing games, and that's a good thing. The cast of characters is quite impressive; no one is like the other. By conception and by motivation, each is an intriguing player on the stage that is Helm Greycastle.
So I think readers will find something familiar in Helm Greycastle, while being intrigued by what makes it different. This first issue also includes a one-shot Latinx RPG (5E compatible). How's that for different? I'm not interested in the RPG, but Barajas and company present a first chapter that suggests Helm Greycastle will, from page to page, offer the familiar and the different, but the reading experience will be one of harmony. I recommend the adventurous readers give Helm Greycastle a try.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of fantasy comic book series that recall role playing games will want to try Helm Greycastle.
[This comic book includes the game, “Sacred Armor,” by Tristan J. Tarwater, with art and editing by Jen Vaughn.]
A-
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/HenryBarajas
https://twitter.com/BryanValenza
https://twitter.com/TopCow
https://topcow.com/
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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