CAYOM YEAR 5 - PART I - MOVIE SUBMISSION

[Ezen Baklattan]

Forever Yours

 

Genre: Romance/Drama

Date: June 18th

Theaters: 2,453

Director: Michael Arden

Composer: Mandy Hoffman

 

Cast: Unknown Deaf Actors

Runtime: 92min (1hr, 32min)

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual content, language, and brief drinking

Budget: $15 million

 

A cross generational love story told entirely by deaf actors using ASL. Much of the production design is stylized to appear like a classic MGM movie, and the film is even shot on 35mm film.

 

Spoiler

Our story begins at a high school dance at the 1950s. Two students, left without someone to dance with them, sit in the corner, waiting to return with their friends. These two are Sam and Louise. Upon meeting each other for the first time, they decide to take this dance together. The night leads to an unexpectedly long conversation, where Sam hides in Louise's room and they converse throughout the entire night. Louise has never felt so emotional in her life before. It was the first time that she was truly close to someone. Alas, the two go separate ways in College, but they promise to keep in touch using a telephone, beginning a brief long distance relationship. However, the calls begin to diminish day after day, and the memory begins to fade.

 

A few years later entering the 1960s, Sam lands a job as an accountant. When he opens his business, he is surprised to discover that one of his first clients is actually Louise. The two are thrilled, if initially shocked, to finally see each other again. Realizing that both are at a place in their lives where they are moving along well but long for something more, they restart their relationship by purchasing an apartment within the city, growing closer together as they build up successful lives for themselves, also taking this time to truly live freely. At an observation deck, Sam proposes to Louise, who doesn't second guess herself to say yes.

 

They get married in the 70s, and their close friends are present at the wedding. Soon after, Louise decides that she wants to have a child. Louise soon gives birth to a sweet baby girl, Abigail. The couple begins to morph into a true family, giving Abigail nurturing and loving parents. Louise takes a leave of absence on her job so that she can care for Abigail, while Sam's work as an accountant keeps money pouring into the family's bank. By the end of the decade, Abigail is a healthy seven year old girl. 

 

During the 80s, Abigail becomes swept up in the culture of the time. She still loves her parents, and she's doing very well in school, but they're having a hard time adjusting to her spending lots of time out with friends. They decide to have a second child, but it results in a miscarriage. After hearing the news, Louise doesn't talk with the family for a while, feeling hit with depression. Sam comes up to her, inviting her to do one of the many trips they did when they were young in the '60s, in an effort to relieve themselves of the emotional stress. While Abigail is at a summer camp for aspiring actors, the couple takes a trip to California, feeling as if despite the time that has progressed, they can still be together.

 

In the 90s, Abigail heads off the college, but begins to feel depressed and lonely. Her parents recall their own lives after college before meeting one another again, and they help her cope with the challenges of being young. Abigail soon meets a boy named Liam, and the two get married, much like the wedding that her parents have had. Sam's memories begin to fade slightly, and we begin to notice bits of film mess up during this segment.

 

Sam and Louise become grandparents in the turn of the millennium, as Abigail and Liam manage to give birth to a child on New Year's Day, 2000. Louise retires from her job to tend to her apartment and help with Abigail's children if she needed it. Sam & Lousie decide to revisit the high school that they had first met in, thinking about the time that they had spent together. Louise soon develops cancer, and after a large battle, she succumbs to the disease in the later part of the decade. Sam has lost the love of her life for half a century. She was gone.

 

After her funeral, Sam drives alone to a park on a snowy night. He begins to cry on a bench, desperately trying to fight back his tears. Abigail soon comes up to him on the park bench, trying to comfort him. She decides that because of the cold, they should meet in her house with the children. Abigail convinces him that even if Louise has departed, we'll always have memories of her within. Sam does think about this, but even he struggles to hold on to all of her memories. Abigail and Liam collect their lives, realizing it was both the big and small moments that tell a story, having collected boxes of photos and videos that tell their life story. They spend the night watching them.

[Blankments]

Perfect Match

 

In Association with EssGeeKay Studios

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Writer: Geneva Robertson-Dworet

Genre: Sci-Fi/Romance

Release Date: February 12

Formats: IMAX, Dolby Cinema

Major cast:

Zazie Beetz as Leila Park

Kiersey Clemons as Nadia Park

Diego Luna as Damien Nazario

Daniel Wu as Hayden Yung/

 

Harley

Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Steve Tennyson

Tessa Thompson as Sloane Washington

Cinta Laura Kiehl as Alana Kusuma

Martha Higareda as Cecile Contreras

With Ben Mendelsohn as Rowan West

 

Theater count: 3,798

MPAA Rating: R for some action violence, nudity, strong sexual content, and language

Runtime: 124 minutes

Production Budget: $70 million

Music by: Pinar Toprak

 

Plot Summary: A woman signs up for an exclusive matchmaking service to find the man of her dreams and realizes the Perfect Match may be too good to be true.
 

Plot:

 

In the near future, Leila Park travels to a Brooklyn art gallery to see her cousin Nadia’s show. When Leila arrives, she meets up with her longtime friend, private investigator Damien Nazario. Damien asks Leila how her latest relationship with a lawyer is going, and Leila tells him that they broke up, since they weren’t compatible. Nadia interjects and introduces Damien and Leila to her new boyfriend, Steve Tennyson. Steve is polite to Leila and Damien and praises Nadia’s artwork, calling her paintings “indescribable.”

Separately, Nadia gushes to Leila about Steve and how much she likes him. Leila questions how the two have such a strong connection after meeting only a few weeks prior, and Nadia hands Leila a card for a Manhattan dating service called Eros, which is how she met Steve. Leila examines the card, which says “True Love Guaranteed,” and tells Nadia she’ll think about calling them. Nadia excitedly tells Steve that Leila is going to try Eros, which he encourages, but Damien is skeptical. Nadia chides Damien, telling him he just doesn’t like love and is purposely being cynical. Leila somewhat agrees with Nadia and tells Damien she just wants to try it out. Damien gives in, but tells Leila privately that he’s suspicious of how good of a match Nadia and Steve seem to be. Leila, annoyed, snaps at Damien for not being happy for Nadia and accuses him of being jealous. Damien gives in and apologizes.

A few days later, Leila arrives at the Eros headquarters and meets with Cecile Contreras, who builds an extensive profile of Leila and determines her to be a good fit for Eros’s matchmaking service. She explains that she will survey Leila and they will pair her with her “Perfect Match” based on her preferences. The survey reveals that Leila is looking for someone sweet and nurturing, but also intellectual. Cecile walks Leila out and tells her that Eros will set up the first date with Leila’s Perfect Match and all she has to do is show up. Cecile informs her that when the date is finished, both Leila and her date will be asked individually by Eros if they want to see each other again. If they both agree, the match is a success.

The night of her first date with her Perfect Match, Leila anxiously waits with Nadia, Steve and Damien. Nadia enthuses about the experience, while Damien is annoyed that they’ve given Leila no information about who her Match will be. Leila tells Damien to lighten up, but assures him that he’ll be the first person she calls if anything goes wrong. A knock on the door signals the arrival of Leila’s date. She opens the door to reveal her Perfect Match, Hayden Yung. Leila and Hayden are immediately attracted to each other. Nadia and Steve are excited about their chemistry, while Damien subtly threatens Hayden if he does anything to hurt Leila. Hayden assures him that he joined Eros for the same reason as Leila: he’s trying to find his Perfect Match too. Leila hurries Hayden out the door for their date.

En route to the restaurant, Leila and Hayden engage in small talk. Hayden reveals that he works in what is essentially the IT Department of NASA, which impresses Leila, and he impresses her further by telling her he hopes to become an astronaut one day. The two arrive at a Chinese restaurant where their date is set up. When they are seated, the two are initially awkward, with the Eros-hired waitress stepping in to give them certain conversation topics. Hayden talks about his close relationship with his mother who lives in Shanghai. Leila tells him her only family is Nadia and Nadia’s parents, as well as Damien. Hayden remarks that she and Damien seem to have a very close relationship, which she brushes off, calling Damien just a friend. She explains that she and Nadia met Damien five years ago when they hired him to catch Nadia’s stalker and have been friends ever since.

As the meal goes on, things become less stilted between the two, as Hayden talks about going to school at Harvard and Leila enthuses about her journalism career, telling him her dream is to travel the world some day. When the Eros waitress informs the two that their next course is a special dessert, Leila suggests sneaking away to Central Park instead to spend more time together. Hayden agrees.

In Central Park, Leila and Hayden playfully dance in the rain, then take shelter under an awning. Leila confesses she was a bit intimidated by Hayden at first, telling him he seems almost too perfect. Hayden tells her he felt the same way about her, and that he admires her strong sense of self. They kiss. Leila suggests they go back to her apartment, but Hayden gently turns her down, telling her he’s enjoyed just getting to know her tonight. The two say their goodbyes and Leila happily returns home.

Three days later, Leila has brunch with Damien as they both wait for Nadia to show up. Leila is anxious since she hasn’t heard back from Hayden or Eros yet when she said she wanted to see Hayden again. Damien senses her anxiety and suggests that Eros is not what it actually seems. Leila asks him if he looked into Eros at all and he says yes, but was unable to find anything notable about it online, which in itself is suspicious. Leila tells him he’s being too suspicious, but he insists there’s something off about the company, and brings up that Steve seems almost too perfect for Nadia. Leila gets annoyed at Damien’s cynicism, and tells him he’s not being supportive of Nadia and Steve’s relationship. Damien asks Leila how she can trust Eros if her date with Hayden allegedly went well yet he hasn’t contacted her. Their argument is interrupted by Leila getting a message from Eros: Hayden wants to keep seeing Leila. Leila tells Damien he should consider dating and possibly using Eros and to open himself up more. He’s still skeptical. An excited Nadia arrives and announces that she and Steve are moving in together. Leila and Damien are surprised, with Leila reminding Nadia that she and Steve have only been dating for a few weeks. Nadia brushes her off, saying she’s certain she and Steve are perfect for each other. Damien tells Leila he’ll consider trying Eros, but Leila tells him not to do it for the wrong reasons.

A few nights later, Leila arrives at Steve and Nadia’s apartment where their housewarming party is in full swing. Nadia asks Leila where Hayden is, and Leila assures her he’ll be coming later. Leila meets up with Damien, who tells her he hasn’t given up on his research of Eros, but apologizes for suggesting things wouldn’t work out with her and Hayden. Leila accepts his apology and suggests they interrogate Steve about Nadia. Damien happily agrees. Leila and Damien pull Steve aside from Nadia and they ask him what his intentions are with Nadia. Steve tells them they he sincerely has feelings for Nadia and has fallen for her. Damien unsubtly implies that he’ll do some digging into Steve’s background, to which Steve agrees, telling Damien and Leila that he admires their friendship with Nadia and that they all ultimately want what’s best for her. This satisfies Leila but Damien threatens Steve if he hurts Nadia. Nadia interrupts to tell Leila that Hayden has arrived. Leila introduces Hayden to Steve, who get along with each other. Leila and Hayden privately talk about Nadia and Steve’s relationship, with Leila saying she’s glad they’re happy together, and that both she and her cousin have found someone, but she wishes Damien had someone too. Hayden suggests setting Damien up with one of his friends but Leila shuts the idea down, saying he would hate that. They are interrupted by a nerdy woman who seems uncomfortable socializing, whom Hayden introduces to Leila as his friend and roommate Sloane. Sloane tells Hayden he left his phone at home and seems to be overly worried about him. Leila assures Sloane that Hayden is in good hands. Sloane is slightly cold to Leila as she says goodbye to Hayden and leaves.

Leila pulls Hayden aside and asks him why he didn’t tell her he had a roommate. Hayden tells her it just slipped his mind. Leila begins to ask him if there’s anything between them but stops herself. Nadia pulls Leila away to the kitchen to play a drinking game with Damien. Nadia explains to the other two the rules of the game, called Truth or Drink. She tells them the others will ask one of them a question and they have to tell the truth in their answer or drink. Leila goes first, asking Nadia what the kinkiest thing she and Steve have done is. Nadia tells them that they’ve had sex in public. Damien threatens to leave if all the questions are about sex but the women pressure him to stay. Next Leila asks Damien if he’s ever had feelings for either her or Nadia, to which he drinks. Nadia then asks Leila if she finds Damien attractive, to which she responds affirmatively, embarrassing Damien. The three conclude the game with a shot.

Later in the evening, Hayden brings up Sloane to Leila again which seems to bother her. She asks him why he wants to talk about Sloane now when he never even mentioned her before. Hayden apologizes for not bringing her up. Leila says she feels like he purposely excluded the information that he was rooming with a woman, but he shoots down her insinuation, telling her Sloane is just his friend and coworker. Nadia and Steve meet up with Leila and Hayden and suggest a weekend getaway for the four of them in Steve’s hometown. Leila accepts, using the moment to ease the tension between her and Hayden.

A few days later, Steve and Nadia pick up Leila and Hayden from Leila’s apartment. They begin their drive and chat amicably. Steve explains that his family has a cabin in his hometown upstate and that they’re using this trip as an opportunity for Nadia to meet his dad. Leila remarks that this is a big step, and Nadia coyly suggests that there may be more big steps in the future, which Steve agrees with. Later in the night, Steve continues the drive and swerves off the road to narrowly avoid hitting a deer. The car crashes into a tree on one side, trapping Leila inside. Leila hits her head and she begins to pass out, calling for Hayden before she completely goes under.

Later, Leila wakes up on the side of the road alongside the others. She asks what happened and Nadia explains that she and Steve passed out after the airbags deployed but Hayden managed to get everyone out. Steve has called for a tow and now they’re waiting. Leila is confused since her door was completely crushed. She looks at the car and sees that the door handle on her side has been completely pulled off. She asked Hayden if he did this, and he says he must have, but adrenaline has caused him to forget. She observes Hayden for bumps and he winces when she brushes his head, but he assures her he’s fine. Leila is unsure but drops it when the tow truck arrives.

The group arrives at Steve’s cabin and the couples go to their respective rooms for the night. Leila and Hayden have sex for the first time. The next morning, Steve offers to show the group a tour of his hometown, and they head out. While out and about, Steve greets the local florist and explains that they’ve been a fixture for the town for the past 30 years, but the florist apparently doesn’t know Steve. Leila finds this odd but doesn’t press the issue. Later, they arrive at Steve’s childhood home and meet his father Robert. Steve gushes to Robert about Nadia and Robert is warm and welcoming of her, but Leila is slightly uncomfortable with the exchange. Steve shows the group photos of himself growing up, including a picture of him and his mother when he was a little boy. This confuses Nadia, who says Steve told her his mother died in childbirth. Steve is just as confused as her, but Robert quickly pulls him away to talk privately in the kitchen. Nadia and Hayden stay in the living room but Leila excuses herself to go to the bathroom. She lingers outside the kitchen to eavesdrop on Steve and Robert, and overhears an enraged Robert scolding Steve for sharing too much information about their lives. Steve is confused, telling his father that his feelings for Nadia are genuine and he wants her to know about his life. Robert makes Steve promise to not tell Nadia anything else about his past. Steve angrily tells him no and storms out of the kitchen, brushing past Leila. Robert notices she’s been eavesdropping and forcefully tells her to go back to the living room. In front of the others, Leila asks Robert why he raged out at Steve. Robert’s friendly demeanor returns, and he casually explains that he likes his family to have some privacy. Leila is unconvinced.

Later that night, Leila is awoken by Nadia screaming. She hurriedly runs out of her room and finds her cousin in a panic in her room. Nadia explains that she woke up to find Steve and all of his stuff completely gone. She tried to call his and Robert’s numbers but they were both disconnected. She cries in Leila’s arms. Hayden comes in and Leila explains the situation. Hayden calls the police and then offers to go out and look for Steve, starting with Robert’s house. Leila stays and comforts Nadia. At dawn, Nadia has fallen back asleep and Hayden returns and tells Leila that all of Robert’s belongings disappeared from his house as well. The police were relatively uncooperative since Hayden had little information to give them. Nadia comes in the room with newfound determination to find Steve, but stops when she finds a note on the floor in front of the door. She reads it out loud, and the note from Steve says that they can no longer be together. Nadia weeps.

A week later, Leila visits Nadia’s apartment and finds her meticulously cleaning while Damien sits on the couch on his computer. Nadia explains that she’s asked Damien to find all the dirt he can on Steve’s whereabouts, not so that they can get back together but so that she can give him a piece of her mind. Leila is unsure of this idea but Damien says Nadia wouldn’t take no for an answer. He explains that so far there’s been very little trace of Steve online, almost like he never existed. Nadia asks Leila to stay and drink with them, but Leila awkwardly turns her down, telling her she has a date with Hayden tonight. Leila sincerely tells her not to feel bad about her own Perfect Match working out, and that she’s happy for her cousin no matter what. Leila thanks her and leaves.

Leila arrives at Hayden and Sloane’s apartment and is greeted by Sloane. Sloane tells her Hayden had to pick up his suit from the dry cleaners but he’ll be back soon. Leila tries to clear the air with Sloane, telling her it feels like they got off on the wrong foot. Sloane apologizes for being antisocial with Leila, and tells her she’s protective of Hayden because he’s her only real friend. Leila assures her she genuinely cares for Hayden, and suggests that she and Sloane could become friends. Sloane gets excited by the idea. Hayden enters and greets Leila. He leaves to go change and Sloane explains that she works in the same department at NASA as Hayden, and that she’s proud of the progress he’s made there. This slightly confuses Leila, but before she can ask what she means they hear a thud from Hayden’s room. The women rush in and find Hayden passed out on the floor. Leila panics, telling Sloane this must be an effect of him hitting his head in the car crash. Sloane leaves the room to call the ambulance while Leila stays with Hayden. Sloane reenters and assures Leila that things with Hayden will be fine and that she should go home and wait for Sloane to call her with any news. Leila is hesitant to leave so quickly but Sloane insists it’s probably just a concussion and ushers Leila out.

Leila goes back to Nadia’s apartment and tells Nadia and Damien what happened with Hayden. Nadia comforts Leila and tries to assure her Hayden will be fine. Leila is frustrated that she couldn’t go with Hayden to the hospital, and Damien calms her down, telling her she’ll be there when he wakes up later. He brings up a potential distraction for Leila, telling the cousins that he’s spotted a Steve look-alike through security cameras in Philadelphia, and suggests they drive there the next day, and then visit Hayden in the hospital afterwards if he’s still there. The women agree.

The next day, Damien, Leila and Nadia arrive in Philadelphia and go to the office building that the security camera is in front of. Exiting the building is Steve with a new hairstyle and demeanor. Damien tells Nadia to keep a low profile, but Nadia calls after Steve and runs towards him. Steve lifts up his hand and waves, and a woman walks past Nadia and embraces Steve with a kiss. Nadia storms up to Steve and the woman and asks what’s wrong with him. The confused woman asks Nadia what she’s talking about, and Nadia tells her that this is her boyfriend Steve. The woman corrects her, calling him her boyfriend Joey. Steve tells Nadia he’s never met her before, and he and the woman walk away. Leila and Damien comfort Nadia then she bursts into tears, and Damien tells the women he’s going to investigate Eros firsthand if it means getting to the bottom of this.

They arrive back in the city and make their way to the hospital. Leila asks about Hayden at the front desk, but is told by the receptionist that she is unable to see him. Nadia is able to distract the receptionist so that Damien can grab her keycard for the doors, and the three slip into the halls to find Hayden’s room. When they reach the room that is supposed to be Hayden’s they find no one in there, nor any sign of activity. Leila is frustrated with this turn of events, and decides to go back to Hayden’s apartment to see if he’s there. Damien offers her backup and they head out. At the apartment, Sloane answers the door and is surprised to see Leila and Damien, but invites them in. Leila asks where Hayden is, and Sloane tells her the hospital, but Leila tells her he’s not there. Sloane seems panicked but plays it off, telling Leila he was probably transferred to a different wing. She quickly excuses herself to make a phone call and when she’s gone Damien begins to snoop through her purse. Leila initially scolds him but stops when he finds Sloane’s employee pass for Eros. Leila tells him Sloane must have lied about working at NASA. He grabs the pass and tells her that this could be their chance to sneak into Eros and find out what’s really going on. Leila agrees. Sloane returns and Leila and Damien leave in a hurry.

Outside, Leila says they should go straight to Eros, but Damien says they should use caution and wait until the building is closed before going in. Leila asks him what he’s investigated on Eros so far, and he admits that it isn’t much, since he couldn’t even get past reception. He sheepishly admits that he tried to enroll in their Perfect Match program, but was deemed unfit. Leila senses his insecurities and suggests they go to a bar to kill a few hours. He graciously agrees.

At the bar, Leila suggests they play a game of Truth or Drink. Damien asks Leila if she’s happy with Hayden, and she admits that Hayden’s perfection comes off as a little fake, and while she wants to be happy, she doesn’t know if it’s real. He asks her if she sees a future with Hayden, and she drinks. Leila asks Damien if he’s afraid to fall in love, and Damien tells her his last relationship fell apart, so he doesn’t want to ever repeat it. Leila asks about this relationship, and he tells her he was involved with his partner back when he worked at Interpol. After a botched mission that was his fault, he sabotaged his own career and subsequently his relationship. Leila asks him what the mission was and he drinks, then tells her that’s a story for another time. Damien suggests they go to Eros now. Leila calls Nadia and tells her the plan.

At the Eros building, after meeting up, Leila, Damien, and Nadia are able to successfully sneak in using Sloane’s pass. They slip into the office space and find Sloane’s desk. After searching through her desk, Damien is able to locate her computer sign on, and they find files showing diagrams of Hayden’s body. They also find files on Leila, Nadia, Damien, Steve, and Hayden, all referred to as their Match numbers. Leila’s file says that she’s making good progress with Hayden. Nadia’s says she’s moving too fast with Steve. Damien’s says he was turned down and is being closely monitored by Eros security, which angers him. Steve’s says that he’s been relocated, and Hayden’s says he’s in critical condition. The three are interrupted by the appearance of Sloane, who points a stun gun at them. Leila questions Sloane’s involvement with Eros, to which Sloane tells her that she doesn’t need to know this information. Leila then asks where Hayden is, and Sloane urges them to leave before something bad happens. Damien angers at the threat, but Sloane tells them she’s not the threat before Eros security storms in and surrounds them. Sloane shoots one of the security guards and shouts at Leila, Damien, and Nadia to run before fleeing herself.

 Leila, Damien, and Nadia try to follow Sloane to a back exit but are slowed down by the guards, who grab Nadia. Damien successfully helps Nadia while Leila fights other guards, gaining the upper hand when she’s able to grab a downed guard’s stun gun. After evading the guards, the group makes it to the back exit only to find that Sloane has gone missing. Leila curses Sloane as the guards gain on them, but is interrupted by a black van pulling up to the exit, driven by Sloane, who tells them to get in. In the back is Hayden, now conscious, who is happy to see Leila. Leila is hesitant and confused, but Sloane insists she’ll explain later. The guards rush towards Leila and one pulls the trigger on his stun gun. Hayden pushes Leila out of the way and takes the hit. Leila is pulled up by Damien and sees that the shock has exposed an electrical interior inside of Hayden. Sloane ushers everyone inside the van and peels off.

 Nadia takes the stun gun from Leila and demands to know what’s going on from Sloane, pointing the gun at her. Leila sits by an unconscious Hayden in the back. Sloane explains that Eros’s Perfect Match program is actually an advanced form of AI testing, and that all the Matches are in fact androids. Hayden’s circuitry was damaged in the car accident so he was taken in for repairs. Sloane is actually his handler and creator. She implanted all of his personality traits and memories, but every thought and action is all his own, and that as far as he knows, he is human. She explains that Hayden is his own person, and has the ability to adapt and grow just like a real human being. She tells Leila to reach into the panel in Hayden’s shoulder and pull out a blue chip, which Eros can use to track him. Leila does it but is creeped out. She hands the chip to Sloane who throws it out the window. Sloane asks if there’s any place they can hide out and Damien suggests his safe house in town. Sloane says it will work temporarily but Eros will find them eventually. Damien tells them he knows of an Interpol safehouse in Berlin they can go to if they can make it out of the country. Sloane agrees.

 At Damien’s safehouse, Sloane works on rebooting Hayden while Damien secures them all fake documentation. Leila asks Sloane why Eros is coming after them, and she bitterly says that they’ve taken Eros’s property. Sloane says that after Leila was unable to visit Hayden in the hospital, Eros planned on completely rebooting Hayden into a new model, effectively killing him. Nadia asks if this was what happened to Steve and Sloane affirms this. Sloane says she couldn’t let Eros shut down Hayden since he deserves a chance at life. Leila tells her all the matches deserve to live human lives if they’re all as advanced as Hayden and Steve. Sloane agrees, saying Eros’s practices behind closed doors have only become more sinister, and that Cecile and the CEO Rowan West plan to sell the Match technology to private militaries to be used for killing. Leila vows to shut Eros down, but Damien tells her to focus on surviving them first. Hayden is rebooted and Sloane tells them they should go immediately. Leila briefly comforts Hayden as he questions who he really is, but is clearly uncomfortable.

 At the airport, the group is able to narrowly evade Eros security and board the plane to Berlin. Upon landing, Damien secures a car and drives them to the Interpol safehouse. They go inside but Nadia is immediately held at gunpoint by an unknown woman, who recognizes Damien. Damien introduces her as Alana, his ex, and tells her these are his friends. He gives a brief recap of Eros and the Matches, and Alana reluctantly allows them to stay, but only for the night. Damien tries to persuade her further but she puts her foot down. She openly flirts with him, making Leila uncomfortable, but he rejects her, calling her corrupt. She coldly dismisses the rest of the group.

Later, Leila pulls Hayden aside to talk to him. Hayden is hopeful that Leila will stick by him as he tries to figure out who he is, and Leila encourages him, telling him he’s still a good person, but knowing what she knows now, she’s not comfortable pursuing a relationship with him. Heartbroken, Hayden confesses his love for Leila, and she tells him she loves him as a friend, but their relationship never felt right to her, and now she knows it was because he was programmed to be perfect for her. Hayden tells her he just wants to love somebody, and Leila tells him he should focus on himself. They hug.

At dinner, Alana offers some potential intel to take down Eros, but Damien asks her what the catch is. She tells them Greek gangster Nikos Anastopoulos is currently taking over Berlin’s nightclub scene and is in possession of a power core that can potentially be used with Hayden’s software to hack into Eros’s headquarters and shut them down from the inside out. All they have to do is infiltrate his club and participate in a sting operation that will lock him up. Damien warns Alana not to get his friends involved in anything dangerous, but Leila agrees, with Sloane and Hayden backing her up. Leila holds Hayden’s hand in appreciation, which Damien notices. Alana tells them she’ll fill them in on the plan but for tonight they should all just relax. Alana goes to her room while Sloane, Nadia, and Hayden chat in the dining room. Leila notices Damien going outside and follows him out.

Outside, Damien chops wood for the fireplace, cursing quietly in Spanish. Leila startles him and asks him what’s wrong. He initially downplays his frustrations, wanting to focus on chopping the wood instead. Leila stops him and asks him again. He asks her to take a walk with him, which she agrees to. The two walk through the woods, where Damien nervously explains that seeing Alana again has brought up a lot of old feelings that he’s unsure how to confront. Leila talks him through it. He explains that seeing Alana is painful because he feels like a professional and romantic failure. Leila reminds him that he’s a successful private investigator, and that he’ll find somebody for him someday. He interjects and admits that he’s jealous of her relationship with Hayden, because he’s perfect for her and he’ll never be able to compete with that. He admits that he’s had feelings for her since he first met her, but was always too afraid to act on them and thought that he could settle for just being friends, but lately it’s been more difficult. Leila cuts him off with a kiss, telling him that she and Hayden broke up. Damien is still unsure, not wanting to pressure her into anything, and she assures him that she’s had feelings for him too, but always figured he didn’t feel the same way. They kiss again.

The next day, Alana briefs the team on their mission. They are to infiltrate Nikos’s club under the guise of performing a trade of the power core for an arsenal of guns. Leila and Sloane will go in, with Sloane scoping out security and Leila making the deal. She has to keep him stalled after he gives up the power core but not make him suspicious so that Alana can get the drop on him.

Leila gives the password for the club, and she and Sloane enter. Sloane confides in Leila that she’s nervous to be working undercover, and during the incident when they left Eros she was running on pure adrenaline. Leila assures her that she was a badass and that she’s capable than more than she thinks. Sloane takes this to heart and excuses herself to find the security panel. Leila meets with Nikos, who coldly executes one of his men in front of her when he doesn’t give him the right drink. Leila struggles to keep her cool, but Damien, through an earpiece, assures her that she can do it. Leila observes the power core and pockets it, handing Nikos a small key in exchange which she says will lead to the arsenal. Nikos compliments Leila on her beauty, and offers to show her some of his high class weapons. Alana instructs her to go along with it since Sloane has not yet cracked the building’s security. Nikos shows Leila a discreet taser baton which can deliver a powerful electrical shock. She flirts with him and asks to see it. Over the earpiece, Alana tells her she’s coming in and Leila tries to leave. Nikos stops her, insisting she stay for a drink. She hesitates and he grows suspicious. She pokes him in the stomach with the baton and quickly runs away, avoiding gunfire from his henchmen. Alana busts in and uses a smoke bomb, allowing Leila and Sloane to escape while she shoots up the henchman and apprehends Nikos. As she takes Nikos into custody he warns Leila that he never forgets a face. Damien confronts Leila about her risky move in the club attacking Nikos, but she grows annoyed with him. He apologizes and tells her he just wants to make sure she stays alive so that they can have a future together when they get back to New York. She likes the idea. Alana informs them that they won’t be going to New York any time soon, since she’s contacted a skilled Russian hacker who’s agreed to help them take down Eros and that they’ll be taking the next train to Moscow.

On the train, the group is able to relax and they have dinner and drinks, with Alana opening up to the group a bit more. Throughout the meal, Leila teases Damien by touching him under the table and sensually eating her meal. He excuses himself and Leila from the group and drags her to his room, where they have rough sex. Afterwards, Leila pokes fun at the idea of Eros, saying her ideal match is someone sweet and nurturing, and it seems Damien fits the description. Damien denies being sweet, but Leila doesn’t buy it. 

When they arrive in Russia, Alana tells the group they’re to meet the hacker at the Red Square. When they get there, they encounter Cecile and a group of Eros guards who ambush them and take everyone except Damien and Alana into custody. Cecile thanks Alana for her cooperation and says she’ll uphold her end of the deal by not taking Damien into custody. Disgusted by her betrayal, Damien demands he be taken in with his friends, to Alana’s dismay.

At the Eros base, Leila has been separated from the rest of her friends. She sits in a cell and is summoned by a guard to have dinner with Rowan West, the CEO of Eros. There, Leila is reunited with the rest of her friends. West offers them a gourmet meal and explains that he sees all of the Matches as his children. He thinks they have the potential to one day fully integrate into human society, and the Perfect Match project proved to be a surprise success, remarking on Hayden’s progress from his creation until now. He explains that the only flaw of the Matches that his team has not been able to fix is that they have no idea of the abstract. He asks Hayden to describe how the painting in the room makes him feel, and Hayden is unable to say anything about the painting besides it being “indescribable.” West also says that for now, the Matches are incapable of harming humans as per the Law of Robotics, but Eros is working on fixing that as well. Leila openly insults West, telling him if he actually considered the Matches his children he wouldn’t dispose of them so easily or hold them and their friends prisoner. West calls Leila feisty and makes sexually suggestive comments towards her, which angers Hayden and Damien. He notices that both men vie for her affection, and wonders who she would choose to save if they were both in danger. He has two guards point their guns at Damien and Hayden. Leila refuses to give in. He grabs her chin and she stabs him in the hand with her fork. He sends everyone back to their cells.

In her cell, Leila is startled by the appearance of Alana outside, who tells her she’s come to rescue her friends and win back Damien’s trust. Leila is furious with her. Alana tells her she understands, but the time for them to leave is now. Alana successfully unlocks Leila’s cell and they knock out the guards in the hallway. They search the security cameras and find that Damien is being interrogated. There is no sign of Hayden or Nadia, but they hear on one of the guard’s walkie talkies that Sloane has managed to escape. They decide to split up, with Alana getting Damien and Leila finding the others.

Leila goes into what she thinks is an interrogation room but it turns out to be a living room with Hayden sitting on the couch. He greets Leila and speaks suggestively to her, offering her a sensual massage. Leila tells him to snap out of it. He repeats a phrase that Damien once told her, and Leila tells him he’s not acting like himself. He tells her he’s not Hayden but rather Harley, the new and improved version of Hayden. She demands to know where Hayden is and he laughs at her, telling her he’s probably been deprogrammed by now. She tries to punch him but he catches her fist, threatening to break her hand. He is suddenly shot by a stun gun and falls to the ground. Leila turns and sees Sloane in the doorway. Sloane tells her to hurry since she knows where Nadia is. She explains that she was able to easily hack her way out of her cell and that once they locate Hayden they’ll be able to use the power core to shut down Eros’s network. They enter another living room to find Nadia and Steve, who has been reprogrammed to remember her. Nadia is convinced that she is back at her apartment, but Leila and Sloane manage to snap her out of it. As guards approach the room, Steve sacrifices himself so that they can escape. Nadia tearfully leaves him. 

In the hallway, Sloane, Nadia, and Leila run into Alana and Damien. Damien affectionately greets Leila, which Alana notices sadly. Alana takes her leave, telling the group she was able to reunite them but that’s all she can do. She asks Damien to join her but he turns her down. Sloane explains that the Match lab should be down the hall, and from there they can locate Hayden and get the show on the road. The group reaches the lab and finds Hayden and several other Matches strapped onto work tables. Sloane frees Hayden and gets to work on hacking into Eros’s system. Rowan West speaks over the intercom at Leila and the group, telling them that even if Sloane somehow does manage to hack into the network, she has no way to control it. Sloane tells him he’s wrong, and that she has already installed the power core they got from Berlin into Hayden, so he’ll effectively be in control of Eros. West tells Cecile to engage their endgame protocol, which wakes up the other Matches in the room and turns them into emotionless machines. He commands the Matches to apprehend the group and stop Sloane. Hayden realizes that he’s not able to be controlled, and Sloane explains that when she installed the power core, she deleted the files in Hayden that keep him controlled by Eros. The lab is also flooded with guards who threaten the group. Leila realizes that this group of Matches is somehow able to hurt the humans. West gleefully explains that the Matches are reaching their final prototype, and that removing the limitations on harming human beings makes them much more valuable. Hayden punches a guard who tries to attack Sloane, initially astonishing him, until Leila realizes that the guards must be Matches. A fight ensues as Leila, Hayden, and Damien protect Nadia and Sloane from the Matches. When a Match threatens Nadia, from across the room, Hayden forcefully tells the Match to stop, and it does. West questions what Sloane has done. She triumphantly tells him she was able to redirect control of the Matches to Hayden, and that now, Hayden essentially is Eros. Enraged, West demands that the Matches continue to fight the group, but Hayden tells them to let them pass. They all make their way to the elevator only to realize that Damien is not with them. He grabs the elevator just before the doors close and they exit.

Outside, Nadia celebrates the group’s victory over Eros, saying that they’ve stopped them for good. But Sloane explains that although they were able to shut down this facility of Eros, Hayden was only connected to that particular network, so there’s still work to be done. However, while she was hacking the system, she was able to upload all of the Eros data into Hayden, making him a database of information they can use to stop Eros in the future. Frustrated, Nadia asks if they can’t just celebrate this one victory together. Leila playfully tells her she’s always wanted to go to Paris, and Nadia looks to the rest of the group hopefully.

In Paris, the group recharges in a luxurious hotel. Leila talks with Hayden about the database side of him and how they need him now more than ever to stop Eros. Hayden agrees, telling her he’s determined to put a stop to Eros and to fight for the Matches’ rights to live as human beings. Leila tells him she’s proud of him and is happy to call him her friend. Leila then speaks to Nadia about what happened at the facility. Nadia is initially distraught but accepts that she really has lost Steve. Leila comforts her, telling her she’ll find somebody some day, but Nadia sadly tells her no one can replace what she had with Steve. Nadia cheers up when Damien arrives and teases him about taking so long to make a move with Leila. Leila and Damien decide to take a trip to the Eiffel Tower together.

 At the Eiffel Tower, Damien tells Leila that although this trip has been dangerous and stressful, he’s glad that he was able to spend it with her. Leila agrees. As they look out over the city, Damien tells Leila that he loves her. She responds by kissing him. They continue to kiss and Damien suggests they go back to their hotel, but Leila tells him she’s got a better idea and leads him to a secluded corner where they have sex.

The next day, the entire group travels to the Louvre. Hayden says even though he doesn’t understand the meaning of the paintings, he still enjoys watching people’s reactions to them, which amuses Leila. Aside from the others, Leila asks Damien how he feels about being at the Louvre. He says he’s happy that everyone else is happy. They look at a painting and Damien asks her how it makes her feel. She tells him it reminds her of home. When she asks Damien the same question, he tells her the way the painting makes him feel is “indescribable.” Leila and Damien both pause, and Leila asks him again. He concentrates, and says becomes horrified when he realizes that he can’t think of anything else to say. Leila and Damien look at each other in horror when they both realize that Damien has been replaced by a Match.

The End...

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Blankments

[Xillix]

To pre-empt any debate over Medusa and Perfect Match - unlike IMAX it's common for multiple Dolby Vision encoded films to release on the same weekend. It's up to theatres how they deal with it.

[Blankments]

Conventional Wisdom

 

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Genre: Action
Release Date: July 30
Major Cast:

Sterling K. Brown as Joe Harris

Piper Perabo as Mary Harris

KJ Apa as Tim Harris

Storm Reid as Dani Harris

Aaron Eckhart as Bruce Harris

John Cho as Officer Kim

Gerard Butler as Perry Olsen

 

Theater count: 3,303

MPAA Rating: R for strong language and violence throughout

Runtime: 97 minutes

Production Budget: $30 million

Music by: Trevor Morris

 

Plot: The film opens with the operator of the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago speaking to a father of two kids. The father introduces himself as “Joe Harris.” It’s a typical night at the Pier when disaster strikes. Joe takes his wife, Mary, onto the Ferris Wheel, when a drunk man boards their car as well. Mary asks if they can leave, but the operator refuses to let them leave, saying they have to, by law, keep the Ferris Wheel cars full. Mary sighs, saying she wished they had brought the kids; Joe says that this is their three year anniversary; they couldn’t have brought the kids. Mary smiles at him, happy he was recalled to the U.S. right before the anniversary. The Ferris Wheel goes up, and when it’s at the top, the drunk man starts rocking the carriage. Joe tells him to stop, but he refuses. Joe gets up to punch the man, but when he does, the Ferris Wheel car goes completely out of balance and his wife falls out of the carriage into the water below. The Ferris Wheel is stopped, and Joe quickly exits the Wheel to try to find his wife. However, it is too late; they find her body, dead from the impact.

 

FIVE MONTHS LATER, Joe is trying to make his way as a single dad. Having taken a job as a cashier at McDonald’s and living with his brother, Bruce, in the area, the family has downsized quite a bit. Joe does not feel like a good father, as his kids, stepson Tim and daughter Dani, do not know him at all. Tim resents his father, believing he could’ve saved Mary. Joe is still broken after the death of Mary, and Bruce, wanting to take the kids off his hands for a night, tells Joe he wants to take Tim and Dani to the International Auto Show at McCormick Place. Joe tells him not to go, but Bruce insists, saying that the kids need to be taken somewhere to take their mind off of their mother’s death. Bruce says that if Joe wants to, he could watch the kids full-time and Joe could go back into the military, like he wants to. Joe says the kids are his responsibility; he loves them, and must watch over them. Bruce sees he can’t convince Joe, but then asks him again if he can take them to the Auto Show. Joe relents, and lets them go.That night, Bruce takes Tim and Dani to the Auto Show; however, Joe realizes that Bruce left the tickets on the counter, so he goes off in his own car to get them to him. However, when Bruce arrives and realizes he doesn’t have the tickets, he just buys some new ones, and takes Tim and Dani up to the Show. They look around at the cars, as Joe pulls into the parking garage.

 

As soon as Joe steps into McCormick Place, a huge explosion is heard. We cut to the Auto Show, where Bruce, Tim, and Dani are test-driving a car when the explosion suddenly happens. Dani looks out the window and sees the entire parking garage collapse onto itself. Bruce asks what that was. Back with Joe, he looks behind himself, seeing the door collapsing. He runs away from the door, and goes up the escalator to the Auto Show, the floor crumbling beneath him. The escalator stops halfway up, and Joe looks out the window.Helicopters fly in and blow up all the surrounding buildings of the Auto Show. Joe watches in horror as police cars pull up, but are crushed by flying debris. We cut to CNN footage of the attack, getting some convenient exposition out of it. A previously unknown cyber-terrorism group, ROFFLCUT, declared on their website that they would be taking the International Auto Show and making it off with all the cars. They declared that conventions are meant to be like modern day museums, and they’re planning the first heist of one ever. When word went out on it, and police were notified, people anonymously donated money to help ROFFLCUT, and they decided to take out half of Chicago while doing it. The CNN correspondent mentions that there is no way in or out of the Auto Show, and everyone there must be hostages. We see that Joe was watching this on his smartphone. He grimaces, saying he isn’t a hostage.

 

Back at the Auto Show, the leader of ROFFLCUT enters with a booming microphone. He introduces himself as a huge Superman fan, and tells them all that they should call him Perry Olsen. Bruce attempts to show the kids how tough he is by running up to tackle Perry, but Perry just grabs a machine gun and shoots him down. Dani and Tim begin crying, and the rest of the hostages are scared too. Perry explains to them all that if they wish to escape, they merely need to attack the car salespeople and steal the keys. They can take the cars then by jumping out of the building with them. Perry does point out there might be a nasty side effect of not surviving, but who cares about that? Joe, still on the escalator, goes up to the entrance of the actual Auto Show. He is about to enter, but then sees a Security Office. He enters it, finding dead bodies of security guards everywhere, and a phone ringing. Without thinking, he picks it up.

 

On the other end of the line, we see Officer Kim. A decorated police officer, Kim is thrilled to hear one of the security guards survived. Kim asks him what his name is. Joe says his name, and then tells Kim he’s not a police officer, he’s just a normal guy. Joe asks when the police are going to arrive, and Kim sighs, telling Joe the terrible news. A majority of the Chicago police force died in the initial attack; the only hope the hostages have is if a security guard had lived. Joe tells Kim he’s better than a security guard; he’s a pissed-off dad with military training. Kim smiles, and tells Joe there’s a secret armory behind a closet in the room. Joe opens the closet, and finds that the terrorists have already taken most of the weapons. Kim frowns at this, but then tells Joe there should still be an AK-47 hidden under the floorboards. Joe takes it, and asks Kim now what, he can’t just enter the Auto Show and shoot up the terrorists. Kim tells Joe there’s an air vent right around him, which he can climb through and get to the Auto Show in secret. Joe gives Kim his own phone number for texting any updates on news on the outside world.

 

Joe goes through the vent with the AK-47 and enters the Auto Show. In the time since Perry has declared the free-for-all for the cars, all of the salespeople have been killed by the hostages, and half of the hostages have hijacked cars to jump out the windows. Kim, seeing this, texts Joe that the United States government is toying with the idea of just bombing McCormick Place. Joe says that he can stop the terrorists without need for the government and goes on his mission. Dani and Tim are huddling together scared, when Joe comes into save the day. Joe hijacks a Lamborghini to drive through the auto show, shooting up all the terrorists. However, Joe gets shot in the shoulder, and he spins out at 90 MPH, knocking him out. Perry walks up to him, grimacing. He slaps Joe awake, telling him that he made things very difficult.Joe, still in pain from the wound, challenges Perry to a hand-on-hand fight. Perry accepts, laughing at Joe’s pizzazz. They fight and it’s a fairly awesome fight. During the fight, Perry reveals that he was the drunk man who killed Mary. Perry is easily defeating Joe, when Joe decides to cheat. He trips Perry and then runs for another car, a Toyota. Joe looks around for Tim and Dani, and find them easily. He tells them to go to the Toyota, and Joe shoots to cover them. Perry doesn’t care, and Joe gets into the Toyota.

 

Perry laughs at this as he goes into his own Lamborghini, certain he is going to ram Joe out of the building and down to his death. However, a major car chase occurs with several cars chasing Joe and multiple cars exploding from sheer awesomeness. Finally, after five minutes, it’s down to Joe and Perry. Joe pulls over, and has Tim and Dani leave the car. He then begins driving straight for the window. Perry smiles, seeing he is going to ram Joe out of the building. However, Joe swerves out of the way at the last moment, causing Tim and Dani to scream. Perry rams into Joe as Joe opens up his door, holding onto it for dear life. Joe then swings up onto the top of his car and runs across the top of Perry’s car to safety. Perry looks behind himself, seeing Joe be safe and Perry begins free-falling to his death. Just for the heck of it, Joe shoots Perry’s car while it is still falling down, causing an explosion.

 

A helicopter arrives within minutes to evacuate Joe, his family, and the remaining twenty surviving hostages. Joe is declared a hero, and Officer Washington makes him an honorary member of the Chicago Police Force. Most importantly, Tim and Dani look to Joe as a hero, and Joe finally feels as though he is a fantastic father. Everything is good.

[Blankments]

The Last Six

 

Director: James Wan

Genre: Fantasy Action
Release Date: March 12

Formats: IMAX, Dolby (shot entirely with digital IMAX cameras ala Infinity War)
Major Cast:

Daniel Kaluuya as the Boss

James McAvoy as Afterlife

Jason Momoa as Dionysus

Patrick Wilson as Ares

Cillian Murphy as Loki

Gemma Chan as Freyja

Danai Gurira as Isis

Rami Malek as Osiris

Alexis Bledel as Female Loki

With Carl Weathers as Ra

And Jeff Bridges as Odin

 

Theater count: 4,302

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense fantasy violence, language, some sensuality and drinking

Runtime: 142 minutes

Production Budget: $175 million

Music by: John Powell

 

Plot Summary: After Afterlife escapes his possession, the Boss recruits Greek, Norse, and Egyptian gods to help save all four worlds from the chaos of Afterlife.

 

Plot: 

 

The film begins on a mountain. At the top of the mountain are two people, the Boss and Afterlife. They are locked in a huge fight between the two of them, using their omnipotence to predict blows and deflect them on time. The fight lasts for two minutes with amazing stunts and awe-inspiring magic when suddenly, Afterlife gives himself up. The Boss says he will be banished to the Burning Place for ten millenniums for his crimes against the four worlds, and then he may be able to return the Great Domain. Afterlife smiles and tells the Boss that he has found a way to make a better place than the Great Domain. He then suddenly jumps up, and pushes the Boss down the mountain. Afterlife quickly then teleports away. The Boss flies back up to the top of the mountain, and, realizing what is about to happen, frowns and quickly teleports away, saying that he hopes he won’t be too late.

THE LAST SIX

Cut to the town of Sparta, Olympus where we see Ares hosting guests. God King of this city-state, he is hosting his annual feast before his yearly pilgrimage to the Mount, the capital of the realm. The pilgrimage is for the twelve Olympians annual council. Dionysus is there, complaining that he has to be here for the feast, and that he never throws a feast for himself in his homecity-state. Ares replied why anyone would give him a feast when he lives in the Mount himself. Ares tells Dionysus just to enjoy the party, and that he’ll only be needed to make wine. The party continues with the two of them being the only major Gods there, although Nemesis, Bia, and other minor Gods constitute the guests. The party then ends, with everyone cheering for them as they both leave Sparta in Ares’ battle chariot; with of course, Ares driving as Dionysus is not sober at all.

However, as soon as they leave, Afterlife arrives at the party, believing Ares and Dionysus to still be there. He then tells everyone at the party to say good-bye to Sparta. Afterlife then teleports away and the city explodes immediately, starting a shockwave around the entire realm of Olympus. Ares and Dionysus are already far away from the city and don’t realize this until suddenly, the Boss lands on their chariot. The Boss tells the two that they need to leave now, and he’ll explain as soon as possible. Ares doesn’t believe him and Dionysus is passed out so they tell him to get off their chariot. The Boss, however, won’t take no for an answer and teleports the three of them away just before the shockwave hits the chariot.

The two land in a forest, where Dionysus wakes up and Ares is ticked off. Dionysus has a major hangover though, and complains about while Ares asks the Boss what he did. The Boss explains what is going on: his arch nemesis known as Afterlife is enacting his master plan. Afterlife wishes to destroy all three mythological worlds, Olympus, Asgard, and Maat, which will greatly weaken the core planet holding the mythological worlds, Earth, which Afterlife wishes to destroy and remake in glory to himself and chaos. The Boss then tells Dionysus and Ares that they are the last two members of Olympus alive, including Zeus. They might be able to rebuild their world eventually, but for now, they need to help the Boss stop Afterlife from destroying the last two mythological worlds. Ares is apprehensive, but Dionysus is completely on board, mostly because he believes it will help him get rid of his hangover. Ares agrees, believing the last Olympians need to stick together.

The Boss informs the Olympians that they are in a forest outside of Asgard, where they need to warn Odin and help him stop Afterlife from destroying the realm. The Boss says that only the leader of the realm can stop Afterlife, and as none of the three are the leaders of the realm, they need to find Odin. Ares asks if he had gotten to Zeus, would Olympus have been saved. The Boss sadly answers yes, but then he tells them that if they save Asgard, then it’s likely they will be able to restore Olympus. The three of them then begin traveling towards Asgard, as the Boss’s teleporting abilities must be saved for if they wish to restore Olympus.

However, the three do not travel far, until a large wild boar attacks them. Ares and Dionysus fight it into submission and is about to kill the boar until the Boss says to stop. The Boss then walks up to the boar and concentrates, restoring the boar to a God, Loki. Loki is shocked and thanks the Boss for lifting his curse. Suddenly though, Freyja appears, sensing Loki being freed from his punishment. Freyja explains Loki has acted up, capturing her boar, Hidisvini, to try to make a great feast, and as punishment, Freyja turned him into a boar. Loki says that Freyja was being ridiculous and that he was just trying to give the boar a huge hug. Freyja is unconvinced, and then asks Ares, Dionysus, and the Boss why they are here, as they are clearly not Asgardians.

 The Boss starts to explain, but then Dionysus volunteers just to give them the information through a special form of wine he can develop. Dionysus materializes the wine and gives it to the two, instantly giving them knowledge of the situation. Loki remarks that a world of chaos sounds fun, but the Boss rebukes by saying Loki would have no controlled chaos in that world, just chaotic chaos. Freyja agrees and then takes the group onto her chariot to fly towards Asgard.

Meanwhile, in Asgard, Odin is looking out the window of his bedroom when Afterlife comes in, saying hello kindly to the old god. Odin turns seeing Afterlife, and perceiving him correctly as a threat. Odin asks why he is here, and Afterlife says he is here to destroy and rebuild the worlds in glorious chaos in a lecture to Odin. Odin is annoyed and throws his spear, Gungnir, at Afterlife. It stabs Afterlife through the heart, but he just takes it out easily and laughs at how pathetic it is. He then throws Gungnir at Odin, which weakens Odin greatly. Odin bitterly laughs, saying that he is the most immortal of the Asgardians, and it is impossible to kill him. Afterlife just smiles and teleports away as Gungnir explodes, killing Odin and sending a shockwave of destruction out to engulf Asgard.

 The Boss feels this, says it is too late for them, and teleports them away. They land in the Desert Sea of Maat. Freya and Loki look at each other in realization of what has just occurred. Dionysus asks in desperation if there is any chance for Olympus to be saved, and Loki asks the same of Asgard. The Boss sadly replies he fears not, but they still need to stop Afterlife. The Boss deduces he’ll be headed toward Heliopolis, where Ra lives. Ares uses his inner sense of direction to lead the way to Heliopolis, when after a few minutes of traveling, the ground gives way and the group falls down a seemingly bottomless chasm.

 Nevertheless, they do land in the Underworld, in the court of Osiris. Isis is next to Osiris, who asks who are they and where did they come from. Isis senses that they are invaders, except for the Boss, which she oddly feels like belongs. Osiris is calmer, saying that they should welcome them. Isis relents, and then creates a feast out of thin air for then. Dionysus steps up and asks if he could supply the wine, winking at the Boss. Isis is suspicious, but Osiris says he’s happy to try foreign wine. Dionysus creates some of the memory-inducing wine, and then Isis and Osiris drink it, allowing them to realize what is happening. Osiris’s eyes widen, and he says they need to go warn Ra. Osiris then teleports all seven of them to Heliopolis.

In Heliopolis, Afterlife has just arrived, sighing. It’s clear the constant transporting between realms is tiring him. Nevertheless, he continues on, finding Ra landing from raising the moon. Afterlife smiles, when suddenly, the seven appear in front of him. Loki sneers at him and throws a dagger right into Afterlife’s eye. Afterlife smiles, takes out the knife with the eye still on it, and sets the knife on purple fire in his hand as he grows the eye back. Ra looks on in confusion asking what’s going on. Osiris says that Afterlife is going to destroy their world. Ra turns to Afterlife, who throws the flaming knife at the head of Ra, setting him on fire and disintegrating him. Afterlife teleports away and the shockwave is seen beginning in slow motion, as the Boss teleports himself and the six gods away as well.

They land in The Mall in Washington D.C. in the middle of the day. Seeing a crowd of people not far away, Loki sets a field of illusion, allowing the six gods and the Boss to stay there for the time being, and making them invisible and silent to any pedestrian. Osiris and Isis realize what just happened, and the Boss sadly says that all is lost for the three realms of mythology. The Boss says they should attempt to stop Afterlife on Earth, since no matter what happens, the seven will remain immortal to live through suffering at the hands of Afterlife. After some considerable debate on if they should stick together, the six gods decide to try to save the Earth.

The Boss explains that in order to rebuild the Earth, he’ll need to destroy it first. Freyja asks why Afterlife can’t use a shockwave here to instantly destroy the planet. The Boss explains that the shockwave only works with the mythological worlds. Afterlife must take another route, one that is natural. Ares realizes that an act of war must be done by a leader, thus, Afterlife must be going after the White House for the Football. Once he has possession of the Football, he will launch all of the United States nuclear missiles to destroy the planet. The Boss nods, saying that Afterlife is resting now and will attack in a few hours, with an army. The gods must spread and be ready for Afterlife’s attack.

They reveal themselves to the people in the Mall, and, deciding they should get the city to evacuate, Loki shapeshifts into a huge griffin with the head of a dragon to scare the people and get the city to go inside their houses outside of the battlefield. Then, they run to their battle stations. Dionysus and Osiris decide to take the perimeter of the city, Osiris for offense and Dionysus to create a vine wall of defense. Loki and Ares go just outside the city, to fight Afterlife’s forces before they make it into the city. Freyja and Isis protect the White House, in case some forces attack them both. Finally, the Boss watches over everything from the top of the Washington Monument, saying that he must save his now-limited energy to defeat Afterlife.

Meanwhile, Afterlife is in Arlington. He mutters to himself that he is going to need an army to take the city, but then he looks around and smiles. Suddenly, the dead start rising around him, but not as zombies. As they come to life, still decaying, Afterlife fixes them so they have no damage on them at all. One of the soldiers thanks Afterlife, and then they all thank him. They ask if they can go back to their families, and Afterlife responds by saying after they take Washington D.C. The soldiers, their minds wiped of their allegiance, swear their new allegiance to Afterlife, and begin marching towards the city.

The army of 200,000 arrives at Ares and Loki’s doorstep. Ares attempts to control the dead soldiers but soon realizes they aren’t undead. The two then look at each other, and begin fighting, Ares by using his brute strength and unleashing dogs and boars upon the army and Loki by duplicating himself and shapeshifting into unimaginable beasts to fight. Nevertheless, a number make it past them to Dionysus and Osiris to fight. Dionysus sends leopards after them, and traps a number of the army in vines. Osiris tries to control the army, since he realizes they were raised from dead, but he finds that Afterlife was able to completely restore them from the dead. He then takes out his crook, using it to easily dispatch several members of the army.

Ares and Loki are still battling right outside the perimeter, when Loki sees Afterlife. Loki charges, but then suddenly finds in himself in the throne room of Asgard. Afterlife is sitting on the throne, smiling. Loki looks at him, and sees through the illusion, telling Afterlife to face him like a man. Afterlife smiles, and says that of course, he’ll treat Loki like a man. After all, his brother and his father died because of his slowness, and that’s what Loki always wanted. Loki shouts no and then charges his staff toward Afterlife. Afterlife freezes Loki, scolding him and telling him he of all people should know that the one controlling the illusion cannot be killed. Loki says Afterlife wouldn’t dare waste his energy on killing him. Afterlife says that’s true, and then extends Loki an offer to join him. They both would thrive in the chaos and Loki would be the crown prince, able to torment and trick as many people as he can. Loki tells him he will never serve under a man as sinister as Afterlife, and that even himself has standards. Afterlife frowns briefly but then returns to his permanent sneer. He says that as Loki refused to be a man and join up, so it shall be. Loki then blackouts to hearing Afterlife laugh.

Meanwhile, Isis and Freyja see the fight and feel the need to join in. They ignore what they’ve been told to do and run off from the White House to join Dionysus and Osiris. However, they see a flash above the Lincoln Memorial and fly there. A woman has just fallen from the sky: Loki. Loki looks at her new body and sighs, remarking not again. Loki attempts to shapeshift but finds that she cannot. Freyja and Isis try to reverse the spell but can’t, as it is tethered to Afterlife’s power. Loki says she’ll be able to shapeshift and become a man again as soon they defeat Afterlife. She then goes with Freyja and Isis to join Dionysus and Osiris.

 Meanwhile, Ares is fighting alone, but actually doing a good job. We get a minute long take of Ares fighting the army without cutting away until one of them gets a good hit on him. Ares falls to the ground, and the army tramples over him, making him unable to move. However, a huge vine comes in and knocks all of the army around Ares away. Ares grabs on and the vine takes him to the five other gods, who are locked in combat. Ares joins them, and they manage to stave off the attack.

However, they do not notice a small serpent passing the battleground heading towards the White House. Far from the battle, the serpent transforms and reveals himself as Afterlife, who starts walking toward the White House. The Boss sees him and jumps down from the Washington Monument. Afterlife smiles, saying it’s time for their final battle, and it’s sad, since they need each other to survive. The Boss corrects him, saying Afterlife needs the Boss alive for his purpose, but the Boss’s purpose has nothing to do with the survival of Afterlife. Afterlife snarls and the two engage in an epic fight.

 Cut to the six gods fighting. Loki and Osiris team-up using crook and staff to take down the army. This begins a five-minute long take with no cuts of the six gods fighting the army. There are shots of them back-to-back, using tag-team techniques to take down as much of the army as they can. In the middle of the long take, they all split taking them on alone each of them until the final thirty seconds where the six of them do a huge tag team where each of them contribute to defeating the last of the army. They look at each other and smile, but then look at Loki, realizing they haven’t taken down Afterlife yet. They then look to the Washington Monument and see that the Boss is not there. They deduce what must’ve happen and then start running towards the White House.

Meanwhile, Afterlife and the Boss are still within an epic fist fight when Afterlife stops and remarks why they should fist fight when they are gods. He then grabs the Washington Monument and swings it around, knocking down every building within 600 feet and hitting the Boss. The Boss holds on so he is not thrown away from Afterlife. He then climbs onto the side sticking up, runs down it towards Afterlife, and kicks Afterlife in the face, knocking him down and throwing the Washington Monument up high in the sky. The six gods arrive just in time for Dionysus to use his powers to have vines trap Afterlife to the ground, who is now too weak to get out of them. The Boss flies up into the air to grab the Washington Monument before it hits the ground, leveling the Mall, and then moves it over to drop it back in its proper position.

Loki then confronts Afterlife telling him to lift the curse. Afterlife says he will never do such a thing unless Loki releases him from the vines, freezing everyone around them except Loki. Loki glares and says she will never betray the last of her kind. Afterlife’s eyes widen in terror as Loki was his last chance. Everyone unfreezes and the Boss comes up to Loki, and puts a hand on her shoulder, turning Loki back to a man. The Boss then stares at Afterlife, offering him redemption. The other gods gasp, as none of them would ever offer Afterlife such an opportunity. Afterlife just laughs, saying that he will never be redeemed. The Boss frowns and then teleports Afterlife away. The other gods ask what the Boss has done to Afterlife. He answers by saying that Afterlife will spend eternity in the Burning Place in terrible agony everlasting.

Ares and Dionysus then ask if there will be a way at all to restore Olympus. The other gods join in on the requests, for restoration of Asgard and Maat. The Boss sadly says that none of the world’s can be restored and the six gods are just that: the last six gods with immortality. The Boss then says he must return to the Great Domain to observe the Earth from there. The six gods ask if they can come with, and the Boss says no. They must stay on the Earth, and live on as the known guardians of the planet. They are THE LAST SIX.

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Blankments

[Blankments]

@Xillix Move Miserable Fans to April 9 and The Drowsy Chaperone to May 14

[Blankments]

Portal
 

Director: Jennifer Phang

Genre: Sci-Fi
Release Date: June 4

Formats: Dolby
Major Cast:

Eiza Gonzalez as Chell

Riz Ahmed as Sore

Ellen McLain as GLaDOS (voice)

 

Theater count: 3,591

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sci-fi action, disturbing images, and language.

Runtime: 103 minutes

Production Budget: $25 million

Music by: Anna Meredith

Plot Summary: An adaptation of the hit video game.

 

Plot: 

 

Chell opens her eyes and finds herself on a bed in a glass cell. She looks around for a way to get out, and then she tries to scream. She clutches her mouth and finds that her vocal cords have been removed. Suddenly, a voice rings out. The voice introduces itself as GLaDOS, or Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, and apologizes for the loss of her voice. GLaDOS explains that the last test subject was quite a pottymouth, and they felt like they needed to remove her vocal cords so that way they can rewatch the test videos without feeling guilty. GLaDOS then tells Chell what is going on through song in “Better Living Through Science.”

GLaDOS then drops a Portal gun into the cell, and tells Chell to go through five test chambers to get cake and grief counseling to get out the test chamber. Not being given much choice, Chell complies, and she quickly learns how to use the Portal gun to get out of the room. GLaDOS then tells that her cell did not count, and the next room is the first test chamber. Chell gets into an elevator, and arrives at chamber 1. It’s a simple chamber, where she must get across a really large chasm using her gun to shoot a portal on her side of the chamber and another at the other side. Chell does this, but then GLaDOS booms in, saying that that was too easy for the genius that is Chell. GLaDOS tells Chell to look up, and Chell sees the exit is up about twenty feet. GLaDOS tells Chell to use momentum for help, and Chell gets it. She shoots a portal underneath her feet, and then another one off to the bottom of the chasm. She jumps, and just barely lands into the portal. This shoots her up to grab the ledge near the exit. GLaDOS congratulates Chell and Chell moves onto the second test chamber.

GLaDOS has unfortunate news for Chell: the next test chamber is under regularly scheduled maintenance and she sends Chell in a new room, one where it’s a moving platform... past ten automated turrets. GLaDOS explains this is a room meant for military androids. Chell groans at this, but quickly figures how to get rid of the turrets. She shoots portals beneath them, and then drops them from the ceiling. Every one of the turrets makes a witty comment as it dies. GLaDOS tells Chell that she is doing great, and now they will move onto chamber three.

Chamber three has a liquid pool with a moving platform over it. GLaDOS tells Chell that she is free to go in the pool, but only if she wishes to die. Chell is puzzled, but then figures it out. She jumps on the moving platform, and makes it to the other side to the exit. GLaDOS tells Chell that not using the portal gun is cheap, and reflects on her character. Just because of this, GLaDOS won’t give Chell any help in the next room.
 
The fourth test chamber is about twenty turrets aiming directly at Chell. Chell quickly makes an infinite loop so the turrets can’t shoot her. She then aims the gun past the turrets to quickly shoot and land behind some cover on the other side of the chamber. She does this, and ducks for cover. She then shoots a portal individually under every turret, which eventually keeps the turrets shooting at themselves, killing them all. The exit opens and Chell leaves, with GLaDOS telling her that she used the gun, so now she will help.

 The fifth test chamber is the hardest yet, as GLaDOS says Chell must learn how to use the companion cube to go through it, and then drops said cube in front of Chell, a waist-high crate with a single large pink heart on each face. Chell picks up the cube, which is surprisingly light, and goes through the test chamber using it to activate switches. The chamber goes on for quite a bit, with Chell actually bonding somewhat with the cube, as it is the only thing not out to kill her. However, when Chell reaches the end of the chamber, GLaDOS will not let her out. GLaDOS says that the companion cube unfortunately must be euthanized in an emergency intelligence incinerator before Chell can continue. Chell sadly kills the innocent companion cube.

 After Chell completes the final test chamber, GLaDOS congratulates her and prepares her victory candescence, maneuvering Chell into a pit of fire. As GLaDOS assures her that all Aperture technologies remain safely operational up to 4,000 degrees kelvin, Chell escapes with the use of the portal gun and makes her way through the maintenance areas within the Enrichment Center. GLaDOS becomes panicked and insists that she was only pretending to kill Chell, as part of testing. GLaDOS then asks Chell to assume the party escort submission position, lying face-first on the ground, so that a party associate can take her to her reward. Chell continues forward.

As Chell continues through the maintenance areas, GLaDOS still sends messages to Chell and it becomes clear that she has become corrupt and may have killed everyone else in the center. Chell makes her way through the maintenance areas and empty office spaces behind the chambers, sometimes following graffiti messages which point in the right direction. She goes into one backstage area, which is in an extremely dilapidated state, standing in stark contrast to the pristine test chambers. There is a skeleton in the middle of the room. The graffiti includes statements such as "the cake is a lie" and pastiches of Emily Dickinson's poem "The Chariot", Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Reaper and the Flowers", and Emily Brontës "No Coward Soul Is Mine", mourning the death of the Companion Cub. She also finds a TV with a VHS inside of it.

She starts watching the video, which begins with a person talking to the camera. He introduces himself as Sore. If anyone is seeing the video, then they are the test subject probably right after him. He explains that when he arrived here, most of the graffiti was still around, but he needs to explain to the test subject what is happening. They are in Aperture Science, a demented research facility that is completely abandoned next to GLaDOS. Sore explains that he will spend the rest of his life in this room, which shouldn’t be too long, but then tells the viewer to follow the graffiti to take down GLaDOS and save every possible future test subject. The video ends, and Chell is determined to finish the job Sore started.

Chell makes her way deeper into the maintenance areas. GLaDOS attempts to dissuade Chell with threats of physical harm and misleading statements claiming that she is going the wrong way. Eventually, Chell reaches a large chamber where GLaDOS's hardware hangs overhead. GLaDOS continues to plead with Chell, but during the exchange one of GLaDOS' personality core spheres falls off. Chell quickly takes it and drops it in an incinerator. GLaDOS reveals that Chell has just destroyed the morality core, which the Aperture Science employees allegedly installed after GLaDOS flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin, and goes on to state that now there is nothing to prevent her from doing so once again.

A six-minute countdown starts as Chell dislodges and incinerates more pieces of GLaDOS, while GLaDOS attempts to discourage her both verbally with a series of taunts and increasingly juvenile insults and physically by firing rockets at Chell. After she has destroyed the final piece, a portal malfunction tears the room apart and transports everything to the surface. Chell is then seen lying outside the facility's gates amid the remains of GLaDOS. After a few seconds of lying there, Chell is dragged away from the scene by an unseen entity speaking in a robotic voice, thanking her for assuming the party escort submission position.

The final scene, after a long and speedy zoom through the bowels of the facility, shows a mix of shelves surrounding a Black Forest cake, and the Companion Cube. The shelves contain dozens of other personality cores, some of which begin to light up before a robotic arm descends and extinguishes the candle on the cake. As the credits roll, GLaDOS delivers a concluding report: the song "Still Alive", which declares the experiment to be a huge success.

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Blankments

[Blankments]

@Xillix I'll move Miserable Fans up to April 2 now that I see you moved Steel Streaks up. Rather open that up against a clear kids movie than a PG-13 blockbuster (even though I'm sure it won't do too hot anyway)

[Xillix]

1 minute ago, Blankments said:

@Xillix I'll move Miserable Fans up to April 2 now that I see you moved Steel Streaks up. Rather open that up against a clear kids movie than a PG-13 blockbuster (even though I'm sure it won't do too hot anyway)

Good on ya, that weekend needed another movie anyway for Easter.

[SLAM!]

 

Studio: New Journey Pictures

Director: Rian Johnson

Release Date: June 11th, Y5

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi

Special Formatting: Dolby Cinema; half of the IMAX screens on June 11th-17th, all IMAX screens June 18th-29th

Major Cast: Ashton Sanders, Tiffany Espensen, Alexander Ludwig, Timothy Spall, and Gemma Chan

Theater Count: 3,375

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for Action Violence and Disturbing Images

Runtime: 1 hr 28 min

Production Budget: $60 Million

Plot Summary: A young man named A.J. acquires a mysterious phone card and is subsequently sent to a mysterious wasteland.

 

Spoiler

We open with a voice-over from high school student A.J. (Ashton Sanders), supported by stock footage.

 

“I heard on TV. Our planet’s doomed. The Earth’s getting warmer. The glaciers are melting. There’s no getting rid of war or nuclear weapons, and there’s a suicide, like, every fifteen minutes.

 

“People keep disappearing. There’s a 1 in 4 million chance a meteor strikes the earth, and who knows if we’ll ever see a dime from social security? But…”

 

A.J.: I don’t care about that.

 

A.J. has been pondering out loud at a café where his friends are studying. His friends tell him to study, but he teases them and laughs, showing his optimistic nature.

 

“There’s no way to predict the future. All we can do is live in the present. That’s good enough for me!”

 

****

 

A.J. runs down an empty city sidewalk at night when he notices that a nearby phonebooth is ringing. He picks it up and asks who is ringing. Through reflex, his eyes grow wide. We see what’s above him—a strange humanoid spirit, floating above him, lit by the streetlamps and the moonlight, holding a ringing flip-phone to his ear. As we learn later, this is the white phantom Nemesis Q. A.J. turns around—Nemesis Q jumps into the air and disappears. A.J. blows it off as a hallucination—but ringing still comes from the phonebooth. He walks to it and grabs the card from within the machine. The card is labeled PSYREN, with an insignia of a closed eye is plastered above.

 

The next day, A.J. sits in a classroom, talking about how his tough-love older sister (who he lives with) chewed him out for missing curfew, when a girl with glasses and a stone-faced expression walks in: Sakura (Tiffany Espensen), a.k.a. The Ice Queen. As she sits at her desk and pulls out a book titled “How To Fell The Cosmos,” A.J. explains that he knew her when they were little—she was cheerful, smart, popular. Now, she’s had some sort of experience that’s changed her into a detached, unapproachable ‘anarchist’.

 

We open with a voice-over from high school student A.J. (Ashton Sanders), supported by stock footage.

 

“I heard on TV. Our planet’s doomed. The Earth’s getting warmer. The glaciers are melting. There’s no getting rid of war or nuclear weapons, and there’s a suicide, like, every fifteen minutes.

 

“People keep disappearing. There’s a 1 in 4 million chance a meteor strikes the earth, and who knows if we’ll ever see a dime from social security? But…”

 

A.J.: I don’t care about that.

 

A.J. has been pondering out loud at a café where his friends are studying. His friends tell him to study, but he teases them and laughs, showing his optimistic nature.

 

“There’s no way to predict the future. All we can do is live in the present. That’s good enough for me!”

 

****

 

A.J. runs down an empty city sidewalk at night when he notices that a nearby phonebooth is ringing. He picks it up and asks who is ringing. Through reflex, his eyes grow wide. We see what’s above him—a strange humanoid spirit, floating above him, lit by the streetlamps and the moonlight, holding a ringing flip-phone to his ear. As we learn later, this is the white phantom Nemesis Q. A.J. turns around—Nemesis Q jumps into the air and disappears. A.J. blows it off as a hallucination—but ringing still comes from the phonebooth. He walks to it and grabs the card from within the machine. The card is labeled PSYREN, with an insignia of a closed eye is plastered above.

 

The next day, A.J. sits in a classroom, talking about how his tough-love older sister (who he lives with) chewed him out for missing curfew, when a girl with glasses and a stone-faced expression walks in: Sakura (Tiffany Espensen), a.k.a. The Ice Queen. As she sits at her desk and pulls out a book titled “How To Fell The Cosmos,” A.J. explains that he knew her when they were little—she was cheerful, smart, popular. Now, she’s had some sort of experience that’s changed her into a detached, unapproachable ‘anarchist’.

 

After class, one of the friends gives A.J. a poster of a missing cat—“You solve any problem for a hundred dollars, right?” his friend says—and he goes looking for it. He’s walking when he sees three girls near a garbage bin. They run off, snickering. A.J. searches through the garbage and finds a wallet—he opens it to see whose it is, and, sure enough, it’s Sakura’s.

 

But here’s the kicker—in Sakura’s wallet, he also finds the PSYREN telephone card.

 

We cut to Sakura in the classroom as she notices the wallet is missing. She frantically searches for it, until A.J. finds her and hands it back to her. Sakura snatches it back, saying nothing.

 

A.J.: Your wallet was… um… on the ground… it was… uh…

Sakura: I know. It happens all the time. …Thank you.

 

When A.J. mentions the telephone card, Sakura snaps back at him. She pretends not to know anything about it and discourages from looking into it.

 

She suddenly turns around in horror. The sound drops out.

 

Sakura: Now, of all times?!

 

She storms down the hallway. A.J. calls to her and says he’ll help her out with anything she needs for a hundred dollars.  Sakura freezes, and, with her back turned, she yells for him to save her. A.J. shudders; he peeks his head out of the classroom… but she’s disappeared.

 

A.J. ‘s voiceover explains that she was missing the next day. He ponders: everyone at school were spreading rumors along the lines of “she was abused,” or “she owed money to gangsters,” and so on. Sakura had always come to school with injuries, too. So what’s been going on? Where is she?

 

His friends explain the meaning of the telephone card: Psyren is an urban legend of a secret society trying to form a way to a new paradise. They send A.J. to the president of the school’s Occult Research Club, who explains that the society is supposedly behind the disappearances, along with their envoy—the mysterious, elusive Phantom Nemesis Q. The telephone cards are meant to be the only way to communicate with Psyren, and that the price of an unused card is about $50,000.

 

At first, A.J. is ecstatic. $50,000? He’ll be living like a king!

 

****

 

A.J. goes home to his apartment. His older sister Fiona (Keke Palmer) chastises him—someone had told her A.J. was dumpster diving. A.J. explains that it was a misunderstanding, though Fiona brings up the fact that he’ll “solve any problem for $100.”

 

Fiona: What are going to do with your life? If mom saw you now, she’d cry.

 

Through this interaction, we learn that their dad is away on business and their mom has her ashes in an urn on top of the dresser.

 

A.J. watches television alone. He’s looks at the card with a smile on his face and money on his mind when an updated missing persons report comes on the news. Sakura is one of the many people listed. This keeps A.J. up all night.

 

We cut to A.J. at the city sidewalk, walking towards the phonebooth in the dead of night.

 

A.J.: If I save you, Sakura… You’re really going to have to pay me a hundred dollars.

 

He hesitates before putting the card into the machine. It rings. He picks up the phone. An automated voice messaging system welcomes him to the Psyren Immigration Center. The voice proceeds to survey him for all kinds of information. At question 62, she asks him a question about his sister, his mother, his initial desire to sell the card…

 

A.J. slams the phone away, takes a moment to breathe, and comes back to the phone. The voice yells at him for walking away like he did. A.J. screams back for her to relinquish Sakura. The voice asks Question 63.

 

Messaging System: Do you want to go to Psyren? Yes or no.

 

A.J.’s eyes widen. The voice repeats the question. A.J. mashes the ‘no’ button repeatedly on the keypad and storms away.

 

 

****

 

The next morning, Fiona is annoyed that A.J. snuck out last night. A.J. denies this.

 

A jarring knock on the front door. Fiona opens it and finds two “police officers” in tuxedoes—one of which is wearing an eyepatch over his right eye. They enter the apartment and tell them they’re looking for a red telephone card. When A.J. correctly calls their authenticity into question, he runs out of the apartment, and the men take after him. Just when A.J. thinks he’s safe, they surround him and beat him. He fights back, but the eye patch man pepper-sprays him in the face, and he stumbles into an alleyway.

 

The insignia of the closed eye appears in the alleyway. The two men scramble to find A.J.. A.J. trips over an empty metal trash can.

 

The eye opens.

 

A.J. hears a ringing noise in his head—it gets louder, and louder, and louder, and louder. A.J. is in pain from this NOISE. The men find him run after him, just as he picks up his flip phone and holds it up to his ear. Nemesis Q appears above his head. A.J.’s eyes snap open. Nemesis Q turns down at him through its mask.

 

Instant silence.

 

Ageha is no longer in the alleyway. He’s in a lifeless wasteland. He stumbles to the edge of a cliff and looks out—city skyscrapers protrude from the sand and the dirt.

 

Messaging System: Your world is connected!

 

****

 

A.J. takes in a deep breath. He hears a blood-curtling scream from a torn-apart building—a hopeless man emerges before he is stabbed by the fangs of a grotesque giant centipede. It tries to attack him, but Sakura appears out of nowhere and slices the centipede in half with a katana.

 

She pushes up her glasses and stumbles to A.J.. She tackles him with a hug and cries to herself before fainting to the ground—she’s got a fever. She explains that what they’re going through is a game. If they clear this stage, they can go back to the real world. A.J. resolves to protect her, no matter what.

 

A.J. carries Sakura on his back. He stumbles in the wasteland towards a damaged building—there’s people waving at him in the window. He goes in, and six men stand before him—a glasses-clad nerdy-type, a beanie-wearing dropout, a strong man, a coward, a well-built man as young as A.J. (Alexander Ludwig), and an enigmatic old man (Timothy Spall). All of them came into possession of the same red telephone card, all of them saw Nemesis Q, all of them were sent to this place.

 

The strong man blurts out the prize money for finding out the mystery of PSYREN is rewarded $4.5M dollars, and that he’ll be the one obtaining the money. The [one who is played by Alexander Ludwig] punches the strong man in the face for the sole reason that he’s getting on his nerves.

 

The guy in the beanie explains that this young man has the first name of “Hugh” and the nickname of “Dragon.” Hugh explains that he’s not here for the money—he’s here to find his friend, Taylor.

 

When Hugh and the strong man threaten each other to a fight, A.J. steps between them and calls for peace.

 

A nearby payphone rings. A.J. picks up the phone—a woman’s automated voice tells them through a shared vision to find a certain payphone in a battered room of an unknown building—the voice calls it the gate, and the players must find it.

 

They’re sent back to the normal world. The six men reiterate that they’re supposed to play a game, and they wander outside the building to talk about the clue they all saw.

 

A.J. is still with Sakura, who is resting against shrapnel. He wants to stay with her to make sure she heals, and he gets mad that the others are wandering off already. He runs out and tells them about the centipede he had seen—they don’t believe him in the slightest. Hugh calls A.J. “Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and the six men leave him behind.

 

A.J. goes back to where Sakura is resting. He tells her that the other men had gone looking for the gate. She demands to know which way they went—A.J. says they went towards the sound of the siren. Sakura is horrified by this.

 

We cut from the men walking through the wasteland back to A.J. and Sakura. Sakura points towards the payphone—it’s the type of payphone with a screen in the middle. A.J. pushes a button—a map appears, showing a rocky maze-like terrain. The ‘gate’ is northwest. But the siren tower, in the middle of a dark circle on the map, is directly north—Sakura says that the circle is a danger zone. A.J. asks to know where they are.

 

Sakura: I’m not telling! Why should I?! You’ll never believe me anyway!! You’ll just think I’m crazy!! You’re all the same! No matter what I say… Nobody ever believes me! And then they die! It’s pointless! I’m sick of it! I’M SO SICK OF IT!

 

Sakura curls into a ball.

 

Sakura: Ha ha… It’s too late for the people who headed for the tower. But that’s not my fault! It’s not my fault who dies! It’s not… my fault!!

 

Sakura begins to cry to herself.

 

****

 

The steel tower is visible in the horizon. The six men walk towards it, barely able to see through the sand that’s blowing in the wind.

 

The coward runs on top of high ground and rejoices that he’s almost home. And as the wind lets up, an arrow flies into frame and lands in the side of his head. He dies with a smile on his face.

 

The other men scream. A freakish cybernetic humanoid monster with a crossbow in his right hand and a butcher’s apron over its body jumps down from the rocky canyon and lands in front of the men.

 

A.J. copies down the map and carries Sakura on his back. He tells her he’s running towards the siren tower.

 

The monster grabs the nerdy-type by the hand and thrusts him into the ground with such velocity that it jams his torso into the ground—effectively killing him.

 

The other men scream. As the monster cracks his head, we see a shot of nametag on the bag of the skull—“Alfred,” it reads.

 

The monster screeches. Gaint bugs come out from within the rocks. Hugh fights the humanoid, but the humanoid throws him into the faraway canyon. The old man is chased by a giant centipede until he falls off a cliffside. The guy in the beanie is struck by an arrow in his back. The strong man gets in a good hit, bashing his head with a rock, but the humanoid response by twisting the strong man’s head off. The humanoid growls as it stands over the dead and the dying.

 

Hugh, having survived, tries to crawl to safety—he’s confronted by a grotesque monster and tries to back away. A.J. jumps up with a katana and whacks at the monster—but the sword doesn’t cut into the skin. Hugh stands up and punches the monster away, so that they have enough time to run away.

 

We cut to Hugh, A.J., and a resting Sakura inside of a cave. When A.J. tells Hugh about the danger zone, Hugh punches him in the face and blames him for killing the others. A.J. states that they’re no time for that argument and that Hugh can go ahead and blame him if he wants.

 

They stare down from their high point and look at the menacing humanoid. Hugh tells A.J. that the guy in the beanie was the only one still alive to his knowledge. A.J. resolves to go back for him, and Hugh resolves to carry Sakura around the danger zone and to the gate—that way, they can get out of Psyren faster.

 

A.J. leaves. Hugh finds Sakura, tells her who he is, and asks her to trust him. She nods.

 

A.J. runs to the place where the men were being killed, and he finds the guy in the beanie crawling on the ground, muttering for someone to help him. As he reaches him, the other bodies begin to turn into ash, vanishing before their very eyes—this scares the guy in the beanie.

 

As A.J. carries him along, the guy in the beanie pleads for him to give his phone card to his mom, so she can make ends meet. They’re interrupted when a flying monster knocks both of them to the ground. As the monster flies back around, A.J. makes a connection—there’d been something sort of glowing ball, somewhere on the bodies of these monsters, and there’s a glowing ball on this monster’s chest. As the monster flies by, A.J. grabs onto it. A.J. rips the ball out of chest, and the monster explodes in midair. They both crash to the ground; A.J. makes some snide comments to the monster, and the monster spontaneously combusts into ash.

 

A.J. stumbles back to the guy in the beanie and fails to realize that he’s already turned into a statue of ash. He picks up the guy’s phone card, but that turns to ash as well. The ash blows away in the wind, and when the sky clears…

 

He sees the Golden Gate Bridge. It miraculously still stands, abandoned on an endless field of dirt.

 

A.J. laments the fact that he’s been in America the whole time.

 

****

 

Hugh has the gate’s building in his sight—though just out of his reach. He stumbles towards it, and an arrow comes by and lodges into the toppled pillar of concrete in front of him. He turns his head to the left. It’s the monster.

 

Hugh rushes up to the third floor building with Sakura on his back. The monster bursts in through a window and prowls through the building, a predator searching for its prey.

 

Sakura sits in a corner with staggered breath. Hugh arms himself with a steel pipe. He breathes in and out.

 

The monster’s head bursts through the concrete wall right next to Hugh. Hugh smacks the head with the steel pipe, over and over again, and the monster shrieks. Once it looks like it’s finished, and the head slumps downward, Hugh takes a breath. But he’s been fooled—the monster punches through the concrete wall, knocking it over. The monster throws a punch, but Hugh dodges in the nick of time. The monster swaggers forward and throws another punch. Hugh finds the opening on the side of his head, but he can’t react soon enough—the monster knocks him into a faraway concrete pillar.

 

The monster gears up his crossbow. Hugh grunts in pain. The monster aims the crossbow and smiles—maliciously.

 

Sakura rises to her feet and wobbles towards the enemy, unwavered by Hugh’s concerned protests. Sakura slips her glasses off.

 

Sakura: I’ll buy some time. You run!

 

Sakura mumbles the word ‘Rise.’ The monster fires its arrow at the girl—she steps back and catches the arrow—just before it stabs her eye. Hugh stares in amazement.

 

Sakura: Please. I won’t hold out much longer. Stand up. Hurry!

 

The monster loads another arrow into the Sakura mumbles ‘Rise’ once more. The monster aims and fires. Sakura smacks the arrow away. She holds her hand to her head and winces. She tells Hugh to hurry as her nose begins to bleed.

 

The monster’s left arm grows to a ridiculous size. He holds three broken arrows in his fist—emulating the type of melee weapon worn to enhance one’s knuckles. Sakura falls to her knees. Hugh tries to get himself out of the rubble he’s trapped under. The monster roars as it begins to throw its punch.

 

A sword is thrust through a body.

 

It’s A.J.. He’s attacked the monster from behind.

 

A.J.: We’re going to survive.

 

The monster whips around. Hugh runs to Sakura as she calls out A.J.’s name. The monster grabs A.J. by the neck and squeezes tight—but the arm explodes in a puff of ash. Hugh and Sakura stare in horror as A.J. coughs hoarsely.

 

The monster rips off its apron. It’s been stabbed through its heart.

 

A.J.: Oops! My bad!

 

The monster growls and punches a hole in the floor. It grabs onto A.J.’s leg as it begins to fall. A.J. refuses to be taken down—he kicks the monster off, and the monster falls to the ground, turning completely to ash at the impact.

 

Hugh grabs A.J. by the arm as he falls. They stare into each other’s eyes. They communicate, through their looks, an unspoken relief.

 

****

 

The group rests for a while. Sakura explains what the monsters are—Taboo, a forbidden species. That’s all she explains about the world for the time being.

 

A.J.: You’ve gotta be kidding me! I’m not moving until you tell me everything!

 

Sakura stares into A.J.’s eyes.

 

Sakura: Oh… Really? Stay here then. Forever.

 

A.J. gulps. Hugh laughs to himself.

 

****

 

They eventually find the ‘gate’—a payphone on the highest floor of the building. A.J. rejoices—but the voice of the old man—the one who fell off the cliff—enters the soundscape. He enters the room with a limp and many bruises, boastful that he managed to survive.

 

A.J. grabs him by the shirt and screams at him for failing to give the guy in the beanie the help he needed. The old man that it would’ve been suicide for him to try helping him.

 

Sakura tells them to deal with that problem later.  She inserts the phone card; a purple shimmer envelopes her, and she disappears. A.J. inserts his phone card and finds himself transported back to his home-world. But he looks around—the room looks like the same room they were just in, except much cleaner.

 

Sakura explains to him that the world they were just in… was the future.

 

Sakura pulls out her flip phone to call for help as Hugh and the old man reappear. The old man frantically searches for his phone card until he finds it in his pocket. Sakura falls to ground unconscious as blood seeps out her nose.

 

A.J. picks up her phone and tells the other person—the phone says her name is “Molly”—that they had just come back from Psyren and that her nose is bleeding.

 

Molly: (*from the phone*) She must have overused her PSI! I warned her about the strain on her mind!

 

Molly tells them not to take Sakura to the hospital—she’s coming to get Sakura herself. Molly then hangs up.

 

They meet outside the building in a park. A.J. tells the others they’ve come back from the future. The old man doesn’t want to believe it.

 

A woman on a motorcycle, dressed in a black suit and helmet (Gemma Chan), drives into the park. She picks up Sakura in her arms and begins to walk off. She turns to the others and explains that they are now Nemesis Q’s chosen ones—Psyren Drifters. Nemesis Q will continue to send them back to Psyren into the points on their phone cards reach zero. And they can’t tell any outsiders about Psyren, either.

 

A.J. stands in Molly’s way. When A.J. doesn’t move aside, Molly throws him away with the power of her mind. The motorcycle rises into the air and lands gently at Molly feet. She helps Sakura onto the motorcycle and turns to the others.

 

Molly: Oh, and one other thing… You’ll probably have an intense fever and nosebleed tonight… But don’t worry. Just sleep it off. They’re just symptoms of your infection by the Psyren atmosphere. It’s your powers coming online.

 

Molly rides off. The old man introduces himself to A.J. and Hugh before walking off. A.J. and Hugh talk to each other about what’s happened. Hugh reminds A.J. that they knew each other in fifth grade, back when A.J. used to bully Hugh. Hugh isn’t the scrawny kid he used to be.

 

Hugh: I’ve got a ton of questions… So when Sakura gets back, let’s meet up again. I’m not crybaby Hugh anymore. Take care, alright, A.J.?

 

****

 

The ashes of A.J’s mother rests on the dresser as A.J stumbles back into his apartment.

 

A.J. stares at himself in the bathroom mirror. His eyes are bloodshot, and his nose is bleeding. A fever strikes him. Fiona comes in and announces that she’s home—she’s surprised that A.J. is already sleeping. She asks if he’s sick. A.J. lies and says he’s fine.

 

We cut to a dark city sidewalk. Nemesis Q is chasing after the old man. The old man turns to the phantom and yells at it.

 

Old Man: Quit pestering me! I’m supposed to call Elmore Tenjuin today! I’ve gotta pay the 1,200,000 I owe, or the mob’s gonna kill me! See if I care, I’m calling Elmore right now!

 

Nemesis Q snatches his card away by method of telekinesis.

 

Old Man: Hey! Gimme back my card! I’m sorry! I was just kidding! I’ll do whatever you want!

 

Nemesis Q , lifts the floating card into the air. It breaks into pieces and explodes into ash. The old man falls to his knees and immediately turns into a pile of ash below the phantom’s floating body. Nemesis Q summons a portal and disappears through it, leaving the pile of ash behind.

 

Cut to black. Words appear on the screen:

 

PSYREN WILL RETURN

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by SLAM!

[Ezen Baklattan]

Since @Blankments and I were sidestepped in our battle for supremacy in Y7 for Best Actress...

 

The Rich and Famous

Writer/Director: Tamara Jenkins

Composer: Rob Simosen

Cast: Kathryn Hahn (Janie Coleman), Christina Applegate (Molly Walters), Anjelica Huston (Diana Coleman), Chris Cooper (Samuel Coleman), Jude Law (Nick Findel), Jonathan Pyrce (Bill Jappers), Charlene Yi (Ginnie), Kaitlyn Dever (Young Janie), Ellie Bamber (Young Molly)

 

Genre: Romance/Drama/Comedy

Date: July 30th

Theaters: 2,853

Rating: R for language, some sexual content including mature thematic material, & drug use

Runtime: 116min (1hr, 56min)

Budget: $25 million

 

Spoiler

There is footage shown of some generic  80s/early 90s sitcom. The show, which is called, “That’s Kristen’s Life!” follows a teenage girl named Kristen (played by Janie Coleman) and her best friend Margaret (Molly Walters) as they struggle to make their way through the various hurdles of high school, boyfriends, and life. The show features many of the characteristics of old sitcoms, with laugh tracks and “complicated” matters. However, it is now revealed that all of this footage is actually on a TV set in what appears to be a bedroom in a rather nice home. The camera zooms out to find a woman asleep on her bed, (which is a mess of blankets) wearing a night mask. She appears to be in her late 30s, and she has hair very similar to Janie Coleman on the show, which allows us to conclude that this is indeed an older version of Janie Coleman. There is also a small dog, Pepper, trying to wake her up. He is a small Pomeranian with white fur. “Those were the f#%king days,” Janie says as she wakes up and watches the sitcom.

 

What follows is a montage of Janie Coleman going through her daily life, now working as a writer. She has written a few novels about life and fame, among other things, but she never did one of those phony “tell-all” novels that most actors seem to be obsessed with. She works at her own home, accompanied by her pet cat, Diamond. She wears her robe and slippers when she writes, and it looks like she just doesn’t feel as enthusiastic about it as she once was. Even though her books do bring her decent revenue, she still spends a lot of money, even bringing Pepper along for the ride in her purse. She drives around the colorful scope of Los Angeles living the high life, going to expensive restaurants and doing much shopping. However, Janie realizes that almost no one recognizes her while she goes out. Occasionally she'll get a small project or meet some unsuspecting fans. As far as the others can tell, she’s just another pretty face living it up in 90210. As she arrives home that night to her spiffy home, she finds that there is a message left on the phone from her parents, Diana and Samuel. Samuel leaves the message that they’re coming to visit Los Angeles, and they’d like to say hi to their daughter if she’s able to take time out of her busy schedule. Samuel is clearly being very sarcastic with that last part. Janie sighs, picking up the phone to call her parents, asking when they’d want to meet up.

 

We see a rather nice restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, on top of a large observatory overlooking the city. Janie’s parents are seen sitting opposite their daughter. All three of them are dressed well, but Janie is a bit slumped over. Both of the parents seem a bit annoyed with their daughter, who has been spending money a bit recklessly over the past few days. Janie insists that she is able to pay for all of it thanks to the money that her books have been bringing her. She just doesn’t feel as motivated to do much more writing nowadays, explaining that she still has a valid career, a non toxic relationship with her parents, and something else is just kind of missing. Samuel sighs, annoyed that this is happening again. Diana retorts that they don't want to be THOSE parents who don't take their children's' struggles seriously. After bickering to Janie's annoyance, He asks that Diana talk to her, considering how she went through all of this before. Diana tries to talk to her, saying that being a former Broadway star, she has had a lot of similar feelings as she faded from the spotlight. Yet, she was able to finally settle down after a while. She had a beautiful daughter who was able to follow in a variation of her footsteps, and a beautiful husband (Sam tells her that she’s bluffing.)

 

Janie insists that she’s not like them, and how unlike Diana, she never got into drugs and sex and nearly destroyed her life. Diana becomes rather annoyed. She argues that first of all, it was the 1970s. Everyone was doing it. Secondly, Diana herself was never a whiny bitch who complained about boredom when she essentially had anything she could ask for at her fingertips. Their conversation tones down a bit after the parents realize that they may be bringing attention to their table. The waitress deliberately arrives at various intervals, even without a significant update, just to try and diffuse tension where he can. The night soon comes to a close, but before the two parties depart, having humorously been at each others' throats the whole night. Returning home, she pulls out an entire bottle of wine. She fees exhausted and frustrated that her life should be so great, yet something's missing. Janie sighs, She figures that at this point, most routes would recommend seeking therapy. That night, she decides to humor her parents and go find a therapist. She soon comes across one with a reasonable rate: a man named Nick Findel.

 

While she is looking at the therapist’s website,  there is an ad for a tacky celebrity lifestyle show on E! Molly Walters, who had more luck in maintaining a strong career once “That’s Kristen’s Life” had ended, and she eventually became someone who was famous for “being famous.” She has a new show called, “That’s Molly’s Life!” where she basically just lives lavishly in Los Angeles, dealing with petty matters such as affairs, family, large parties, and so on. The footage of “That’s Molly’s Life” makes Janie seems reasonable and calm. Molly constantly whines when she doesn’t get her way, complaining about most things in life. Janie soon hears the ad clearly, and she immediately goes up to the tv to shut it off. She was extremely jealous of Molly’s higher level of fame, especially since she had the starring role of the show. It wouldn’t have been as bad if Molly didn’t decide to become “mean and bitchy” a while ago. At least she’ll be able to let her feelings out with someone. As she checks her phone, we see a few messages from Molly, but Janie promptly ignores them.

 

Nick Findel’s office is a bit small, but it otherwise looks like a slightly-upper scale office. A lot of his clients are rich people, and they wanted a good therapist for that money. Janie soon comes into the office, saying that she’s here for an appointment with Mr. Findel. The receptionist affirms her request and tells her that he’ll be ready in just a few minutes. Janie sits down on a long couch, and Dr. Findel comes out. He’s a fair man in his early 40s. Upon looking at his client for the first time, he drops his things in shock. “My god…my client is the Janie Coleman?!” Janie smiles and nods, much to Findel’s ecstatic reaction. He has been a huge fan of “That’s Kristen’s Life,” and he can pretty much quote every episode. As he continues to express his joy over the situation, Janie smiles at meeting her first big fan in a while, looking at Dr. Findel almost like a cat walking on its hind legs. “It’s always nice to see a fan,” Janie says, “but apparently I need some help in life.” Nick corrects himself and sits down on a chair, while Janie lies down on the couch.

 

Janie tells Findel that she just feels so discouraged lately. Life has never been the same for her ever since she left the glorious façade of screen acting. She’s tried to reboot her career several times in the past, but alas, all of these times were met with the same failures. She just needs something to kick start her life once again, be it finding another role, of the very unlikely probability of something else. Nick had heard several of these stories before where he lacked much desire to pay great attention, but he was very attentive to the girl that he had been in love with for 20 years. Nick tells her that he knew many clients with this same matter, and how he was able to help them. Usually he recommended things like Yoga, self help classes, and other mundane things, but he felt that Janie was feeling lonely, and that she would benefit from having someone to be with often. Janie insists that she has a large group of friends, but she soon realized that none of them were truly close to her. Janie soon realizes that Nick just wants to spend time with his favorite celebrity, and how he’s using this as an excuse to be with her. Janie sees quickly through this ethically questionable field of thought, but she decides to play along. Janie sighs, telling her that she might as well give her a chance, and how the two can meet for lunch on another day, outside of the regular therapy sessions.

 

She goes back to her house, where Diamond goes crazy to see her. She notices that his food bowl is empty, so she sighs and goes to fill it up once again, deciding to sit out on her sundeck and just crash. That therapist just wanted to play with her heart, just wanting to live his dream of dating his favorite celebrity crush. “If only our lives were as interesting as our characters’,” Janie says as she begins to lie down. She soon receives a cell phone call, and she picks it up while still lying on the sun chair. It’s actually Molly Walters. She finally caves and picks it up, amping herself up to try and pretend to be friendly. Janie tells her that she’s throwing a huge party at her mansion in a few weeks, and she’s trying to get as many guests as possible. She was so eager to have guests, that she decided to invite her old friend. Janie imagines that Molly sees herself as being virtuous and putting aside such imprudent passive aggression. She gives her the full details of her party, but Janie is pretty silent for the whole conservation. She shows neither excitement nor anger, but she simply doesn’t know how to react to her old friend-turned-bitch calling her and inviting her to a party after all of this time. As she hangs up to Molly’s invitation, she tosses her cell phone onto the patio table, but she soon picks it up again to browse the internet. She finds out that the party will play a big role in an upcoming episode of “That’s Molly’s Life,” and that this could be her chance to finally tell her off, something she could never bring herself to do. She tells her phone (which works somewhat like Siri on the iPhone), with a somewhat devious smile, to place Molly’s party on her personal schedule.

 

Janie and Molly meet each other on the first day of filming, introduced to one another by producer Bill Jappas. He tells them that they will be the best of friends in TV, and that if all goes well, in real life as well. He compliments both a bit too cheekily, but the two begin to meet in their own terms. 

 

We cut to a stylish café at a complex in Hollywood. Nick Findel is sitting at a table by himself while Janie soon comes up to him, sitting down. “I bet you got the sinking feeling that I wouldn’t come?” Findel admits that many celebrities he’s worked with have been unpredictable, but he’s glad that she’s better than most of them. Janie says that she usually honors her commitments, unless she ends up getting so drunk that she’s too f$&king hungover to do anything. They both laugh. Rather than talk about what’s bothering Janie, the two just decide to have a casual conversation about life and love in their worlds. Nick Findel had recently gotten a divorce, and Janie Coleman was never married to anyone in her life, although she did have sex with a few men at parties before. Nick is surprised that she would be so upfront about her own life experiences, and she says that it doesn’t really matter. Nick adds that many people go insane over what you had for breakfast the other day, let alone who you slept with, when you’re a Hollywood celebrity. The two continue to talk casually, as their conversation comes to a close. Janie drives home, saying to herself that this Findel guy is actually pretty cool, but that she has no business dating a therapist who clearly has ulterior motives.

 

At a set for That's Molly's life, we see that her life is a bit more idyllic. At least, compared to how Janie's handling her own life. Molly's life is full of opulence, but she's finding more and more that she's become a laughing stock. Trying to get back into her life of being a self respecting artist, but gets auditions turned down repeatedly. Molly's assistant and liason to the network, Ginnie, is trying to get as many auditions as she can. Molly, it turns out, seems to act much more friendly, kind, and empathetic than the TV sets show, and she even apologizes to some people she trash talks on the show. Moreover, Molly admits that if she can just get to meet with Janie once more, that things can go well. However, they also find out that Bill Jappers, the producer of the show they were in, had passed away of cancer. Molly has a fairly blank reaction, but asks Ginnie to just focus on helping her send more invitations.

 

At another therapy session, we see Findel give advice to Janie about alternative ways to finding happiness. A humorous montage of such attempts follows. She tries to join a yoga class, but in reality, she’s not very good at it, and even that’s an understatement.  She tries touring new restaurants in LA, but she never finds any of them delectable. One of them is owned by a rather creepy fan of “That’s Kristen’s Life,” who instantly recognizes Janie. Janie decides that it’s probably not a very good idea to eat here. She then tries to jog daily, but when she is running on the side of the road, she is almost hit by a reckless driver. As the driver passes by, she stops and shouts at him from an increasing distance, shouting insults and obscenities. We then cut back to Janie in Findel’s office, where she bluntly tells him that all of that probably isn’t working out well for her. Nick Findel tells her that people sometimes a bit more than the usual treatments to find some energy in life. Nick decides that since she rather enjoyed the last meeting that she had at a café, that he knows a great Sushi restaurant and he has tickets for a special production of Hamilton on LA’s Broadway. Janie decides that she’d like to go along with Nick, but he better not call this a date. Suddenly, the TV at the office comes on, showing footage of “That’s Molly’s Life!” with her preparations for the epic party that she’s going to have.

 

Nick admits that he loves watching this show, and he was also a big fan of Molly Walters. Janie sighs, muttering under her breath that she knew that she forgot to mention something. Janie turns off the television and tells Nick that she and Molly went way back, but complicated things happened. Janie sums it up by saying that she became nasty for some reason, and their friendship ended. Janie felt sad, since they were the best of friends in the show's heyday, but she  She still, for some reason, wanted to invite her to her party, and she would decide to go. Dr. Findel soon sighs and tells her that the night of the party is the same day as the show. After a pause, Findel says that he was just screwing with her, and that the two events are occurring on different nights. Having said that, Findel asks her why she wants to go to a party of a girl that she apparently hates. Janie sits down again, admitting that she just wants a chance to say to her face what a twat she’s been, even if it means causing a scene. Findel sighs and tells her that he wouldn’t re-open old wounds just for fame, but if that’s what she wanted, who was he to stop her?

 

Cut to a flashback of Janie and Molly hanging out in each others trailer. They are clearly having a good conversation, but Molly opens up that she's a bit sad, seeing how Molly has more fans and popularity than her. She admits that it's wrong for her to be jealous, but she also remarks that her role in the show hasn't been what it was. Janie tells her that she wants her to have a bigger role. The best episodes were always when they both got to shine together. Bill appears in their trailer, asking the girls how they are doing. He seems to act fatherly to them, but gives a bit more special treatment to Janie, seemingly. They leave the trailer, as Molly goes to read her script again, quietly.

 

The days soon pass, and Janie continues to attend the therapy sessions with Findel, and she finds that her outlook on life is beginning to improve a slight bit. She has more motivation in her free writing, and she’s not as reckless in her spending. In addition, Molly is becoming somewhat bratty in the way that she is planning her party, demanding that every detail be just right. Naturally, the camera tends to follow her around a lot. Her friends and family try to keep her calm and collected, but she is still in a very agitated and actually mean state of mind. This party must be perfect at all costs. At least, that's what the camera is conveying. She's trying to play up the drama factor and letting people know. She's trying to care for her co-staff, but feels kind of exhausted herself, taking pills in her bedroom. Ginnie tries to check on her, but she says that she's fine.

 

The night soon comes when Findel and Janie soon go out on the date. Findel is wearing a nice suit, while Janie is wearing a beautiful dress which she hadn’t worn in a long time. Thus, the dress wasn’t really a perfect fit, but she honestly didn’t care. The sushi at the restaurant, which happens to be beautifully decorated inside, is delicious, and the theatrical production of Cats is also very good. Janie decides to drive afterwards, telling Nick that she never showed her around her own home, and now would be a pretty time to do so. They soon arrive at Janie’s home, nicely lit at night.

 

The two step into the house as Janie turns on the light. Findel tells Janie that he’s impressed by the place, even though she probably saw better from other celebrities. His white lie served mainly to merely flatter Janie. After Janie shows her around the place, introducing Nick to Diamondas well, Janie soon decides that she really may have a thing Findel, telling him so. It was kind of a stupid Hollywood movie premise, but she openly admits that she...might want to fuck Nick Findel. Dr. Findel seems willing to get on it, but urges her to step back and make sure that she consents, and that he isn't overstepping any boundaries beyond this. He already is fucked if he tells her information on other patients. Janie doesn't care at this point. The two soon get on top of Janie’s bed, and they kiss passionately as Diamond watches. The two soon strip down their clothing and get under the covers, but the camera cuts away before much else is shown. The night soon comes to an end, and the camera fades away.

 

At a party in the 90s, Janie and Molly try to get away from the noise and to a place where they can think more readily. Suddenly, a producer tells Molly that she had a really strong dramatic bit in a recent episode, one that Janie had written herself. Janie smiles. The producer wants to give Molly a special audition that Bill will try to set up. Janie eagerly pushes for Molly to take her shot, and they hug each other in excitement. Janie returns to the party, and we see her parents come to get her. After enjoying some ice cream, it seems that life couldn't be sweeter.

 

Cut to the next morning, where only Janie is left lying in her bed. She wakes up drowsily, and she is licked awake by Diamond. She initially thinks that it was Nick, being somewhat grossed out, but she is relieved that it’s just her dog. She soon gets out of bed, looking for Nick. She soon finds a note left by Nick on the kitchen island, telling her that he had an appointment to attend to. Janie notes that this is a bit odd for a therapist to have an appointment on a Sunday morning. She decides not to worry about, and she gets dressed for the day. She goes into her jewelry cabinet to pick out something to wear, checking her phone next. Taking a look through Nick Findel's FB page to see his status, we see that he tried to hide pictures of...his wife. Janie sighs, muttering, "Fuck" around the house, feeling that nothing meant it. 

 

The next day, Dr. Findel is in his office as he usually is, but Janie nonchalantly walks in, asking to see him now. A confused Dr. Findel is happy to see Janie, but is confused as to cold state she is in. Janie calls out Findel on the affair, admitting that she's trying not to wreck anything else than she needs to. This was all likely just a shitty ploy for him to live out some childhood fantasy. Dr. Findel assures him that they were close to a divorce anyway, but Janie storms out, saying that he lost a client and that she's blocking his number. Janie remarks that at this point, she probably does have something. She's miserable. She has everything. Something doesn't add up. But rather than help her, he uses this as a chance to live some stupid fuckboy fantasy. Dr. Findel eventually drops defending himself, saying that most people in his situation would do the same thing. "Do you know what people would give to see the intimate lives of the Rich and Famous? To get so close to them after having adored them all their life?" Janie refuses to speak any further, believing that Nick made his point. She begins to walk out. Nick's receptionist remarks that she now has quite a bit of trepidation about working here further.

 

Leaving the party, she decides, for the first time, to call Molly and not the other way around. She's actually a good bit shocked, trying to seem friendly. Janie agrees to go to the party. Molly is about to ask about Nick, as pictures of them appeared in her social feed. Janie thanks Molly for the reminder and promptly goes to delete them. Dr. Findel soon goes to his own home, where we see a note left by Melissa, Nick’s wife. The only thing it says is, “Fuck You, Nick.” Findel sighs to himself, saying how he knew that she would tell her about this. He goes to his bed, lacking any energy at all. What he had done was wrong, ruining his personal live just to live out a foolish childhood fantasy. But it was worth trying to have.

 

At a Santa Monica Pier one day, with both riding a ferris wheel, Janie and Molly are hiding out from Paparazzi. Molly remarks to Janie that she wants to get as far away from here as she possibly can. She needs to cut off everything. She can't do this anymore.  Janie asks what happens, but Molly becomes cold. She begins to cry, but refuses to speak about why. As the ride ends, Molly says nothing. Janie can't, either.

 

We see Janie and Molly prepare for the big day in their unique manners. Ginnie is hyped for Janie to appear, but is anxious to record the scene. It'll be a reunion for the ages. Meanwhile, Janie writes out a script to tell off Molly, rehearsing it at her home. It sounds humorously over the top. 

 

Blaring party lights and dance music begin to play. The film has moved to the party at Molly’s house. Many people are partying and drinking, while some are even engaging in sexual activity or binging on drugs. Janie soon arrives at the party, and Janie comes to the front door to greet her. Molly is very enthusiastic, although she is essentially acting like a drunken party girl, not having a single care in the world. Janie smiles, telling Molly that she’s glad that she could make it to the party, although Janie doesn’t mean it wholeheartedly. From the outside of the party, we see that there is a crowd of paparazzi trying to sneak inside. One of them looks a bit familiar.

 

Janie is now sitting on a fancy couch next to Molly and some of her girlfriends, while a camera crew is recording the footage of her. Molly is talking to the camera, introducing her to her friends, Mikayla and Bridget. The camera doesn’t focus at all on Janie, probably which she infers as to the request of Molly. While the camera is rolling and Molly is talking about how awesome her party is, Janie shouts obscenities and says that she’s had enough. She yells at Molly for always trying to steal her spotlight, becoming such a bitch on the set of “That’s Kristen’s Life,” and how she pretty much threw away their friendship out of jealousy. A cameraman films excitedly. Molly calmly tries to diffuse tension, but Janie finds herself not holding back. As the scene explodes, Nick breaks in and tries to apologize to Janie and convince her take him back.

 

At this point, Janie is about to explode. The scene gets romantic, but Molly quickly reads what's going on. As he unrelents, clearly a bit drunk, he tries to put himself onto Janie. Molly eventually strikes up a fiery instinct and beats the snot out of him, then getting a bouncer to throw him out. Janie begins to vomit and becomes deathly ill. Eventually, she needs to run to a bathroom to throw up. Molly, to Janie's surprise, helps her out. She calls off the party and tells everyone to go home. She even pushes away the camera men.

 

The next morning, Molly prepares breakfast for Janie. For the first time in her home, it's empty. Molly begins to speak to Janie to apologize for everything that had happened. She admits that Bill Jappers began to push Janie towards more dramatic stuff than the sitcom, which she truly wanted at the time. However, it led to her getting taken advantage of, and she tells Janie to assume the worst. However, she had taken it out on her friend, and she regrets doing that. Even now, as she tries to live her current life, she adapted the route of being a tough, party girl all her life, because then she could convince herself that she was just as invulnerable. Breaking down Molly begs for Janie to forgive her for what happened. While she's sorry about what happened, Janie doesn't feel ready to forgive her yet. They share a silent breakfast with each other, as Janie thinks about everything. She thanks her for letting her stay the night.

 

As Janie drives home, she remembers how Bill treated her like a princess during the show, but as an object as it ended. Knowing that Molly had it worse, she begins to cry in her car, realizing that maybe she's the one who did this.

 

Later on, "That's Molly's Life" goes on a hiatus for some time, and Ginnie tries to check on Molly as much as she can, also putting out a restraining order for Nick Findel. Janie tries to hide back into obscurity, recalling more of her friendship with Molly. Was she really abused? She had a perfect life, the life Janie secretly wanted. Was...was this why? A bit of time passes, Janie's parents tell her that they're coming up to the funeral for Bill Jappers. Both had thought Janie and Molly would attend. Eventually, Molly calls Janie once again, and she asks to meet at a small cafe by her place. No cameras, no strings, just the two.

 

At the cafe, Janie realizes she needs to give an apology. Molly needed a friend, someone to trust, even as she tried to run away. And Janie ran as soon as she got pushed back. They reconcile, but Janie asks if she wants to tell people. Molly hesitates, especially with it being so close to his death. Molly decides what she wants to do.

 

The funeral comes, and Janie's parents do speak a bit, but it's a smaller crowd, and the two stars of "That's Kirsten's Life" are absent. We see a car arrive with Janie and Molly inside, as both agree to say if they want to go through with this. It's ultimately Molly's call. She nods, and Janie goes up to tell the driver that they have arrived. We find that the two arrive to the surprise of all present. After Molly becomes nervous, feeling persuaded and comforted by Janie, she begins to let loose a five minute monologue on the abuse that she had felt at Bill Jappers' hands, shocking the crowd. Janie follows simply with, "Yep, he was a cunt." Shocking the crowd, but feeling embraced in one another, Janie goes up to her parents, telling them to make this story fly. They owe it to Molly. It's time they took their lives back.

 

Janie and Molly take a limo back, as news reports begin to fly about the allegations. It turns out that Jappers has a few other accusers as well. That day, when they get home and prepare for the media circus that may follow, Molly remarks that she's done with her reality TV show. She wants to start a new studio. To tell better, more just stories. (Janie agrees) To prove that we are still here, and we have stories worth telling. (Janie agrees) To donate all this bougie shit to charity and live more modestly (Janie needs more convincing) Both smile, having found solance in one another. Remarking that they still have the place to themselves, they rewatch a classic episode of "That's Kristen's Life." Better yet, halfway through, they decide to re-enact it then and there, right in their home. Inviting a few friends over, they begin to play, feeling more hope in their future, and in each other.

 

The end credits play over the re-enactment. (The episode is condensed into basically 7 minutes, so it fits over the ending)

[Xillix]

The Trick-or-Treater

Release Date: October 29, Y5

Studio: Red Crescent Pictures

Genre: Slasher Horror

Director: Alexandre Aja

Theater Count: 2,731

Shooting Format: 35mm anamorphic Panavision
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Release Image Formats: 4K DCP
Release Audio Formats: 5.1, 7.1

Production Budget: $7.5 million

MPAA Rating: R

Running Time: 89 minutes

Major Cast: Anna Hutchison (Claire), Dan Ewing (Michael)

Plot Summary:
On Halloween night, newlyweds Claire and Michael go all-out decorating their new suburban house and putting on a show for the trick-or-treaters. One particularly creepy kid in a grim reaper costume, though, just watches them from across the street, never coming to the door to get candy. In fact, it seems like he never approaches any of the houses or leaves the street. Michael and some of their neighbors convince Claire she's just being paranoid, and that he's probably lost and waiting for his parents or something. But late that night, after the last of the trick-or-treating is done, the kid begins to break into the houses of people along the street using information he got by watching them all night - an unlocked window here, a basement entrance there, etc. - and murders them horribly. The film climaxes with the kid breaking into Claire and Michael's house, sneaking around out of sight while Claire searches for him after hearing strange noises. She goes to check on the next door neighbors and finds them dead; meanwhile, as she's calling 9-1-1, the kid murders Michael. There's the usual slasher movie climax chase scene down the street and through some of the victim's houses until finally the cops arrive and rescue Claire - but the kid has disappeared, leaving his costume behind to make his escape as just an unassuming-looking young boy.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Xillix

[YM!]

New plan:

@Xillix

Move Up The Butt to July 2nd, Splatoon to June 18th and Gold Diggers to Memorial Day weekend.

[Blankments]

Scooby-Doo: Apocalypse

 

In Association with EssGeeKay Studios

Director: Reed Morano

Writers: Deron Nefcy and Jim Lee

Genre: Horror/Comedy/Sci-Fi

Release Date: July 16

Formats: IMAX, Dolby Cinema

Major Cast:

Alden Ehrenreich as Shaggy Rogers

Jane Levy as Daphne Blake

Trevante Rhodes as Fred Jones

Mandip Gill as Velma Dinkley

Rahul Kohli as Rufus Dinkley

Danny Pudi as Quenton Dinkley

Raza Jaffrey as Hugo Dinkley

Avan Jogia as Cheeves Dinkley

Yaya DaCosta as Daisy Dinkley

With Christopher Lloyd as Old Man Jenkins

And Jeff Goldblum as Scooby-Doo (voice)

 

Featuring the Voices of:

Billy Magnussen as Scrappy

Zach Galifianakis as Dum

Holly Hunter as Dee

Kate McKinnon as Ruby

Bill Hader as Yabba

 

Cameos:

 

Frank Welker as Cat (voice)

Dakota Johnson as Thorn

Laura Harrier as Luna
Camila Mendez as Dusk

 

Theater count: 4,043

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for action violence, language, some frightening images and thematic elements

Runtime: 131 minutes

Production Budget: $150 million

Music by: Damon Albarn

 

Plot Summary: Mystery Incorporated faces their biggest foes yet in the form of nanotechnology, zombies, and each other. Based on the critically acclaimed comic book series created by Jim Lee.
 

Concept Art:

 

Plot:

 

Teenagers Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy’s dog Scooby investigate a series of strange instances at the Nevada Complex, a government facility outside of their hometown of Coolsville. After observing a series of flashing lights coming from the facility, as well as reports of local citizens and pets going missing, the gang decides to infiltrate the building. Daphne and Velma are initially hesitant with Fred’s willingness to trespass on government property, with Daphne pointing out that this may affect their plans for the future following their senior year of high school if they get caught, and Shaggy worried about the potential of them finding dangerous or frightening government secrets. Fred assures Daphne and the gang that they won’t get caught, and picks the lock on the building.

 

Once the gang is inside, Fred suggests the group split up, and pairs up with Daphne while Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby group together. Apart from the others, Fred comforts Daphne romantically and discusses their plans for prom and graduation in the coming months. Fred wants Daphne to join him at UC Berkeley, but Daphne reminds him that she’s been accepted into her dream school NYU. Daphne chastises Fred for not letting her choose her own path, but their argument is interrupted by suspicious noises in one of the labs.

 

Elsewhere, Shaggy tries to reminisce about old times with the gang, but Velma senses his discomfort and presses him. He tells her he’s worried not just with being in a restricted area, but also the gang splitting up to go to different colleges. He also subtly brings up Scooby’s age, explaining that he’s had the dog since he was in Kindergarten. Velma tries to assure Shaggy that nothing will split up the gang, but is interrupted by the same noises that Daphne and Fred heard on the other end of the facility.

 

Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby peek into a window into the lab and see the recently deceased Old Man Jenkins being observed by a group of scientists. Peeking in through a window at the other end of the lab are Fred and Daphne. The two groups make eye contact with each other and Shaggy tells the others through miming that they should leave, but Fred mimes that they should stay. In the lab, the four scientists continue their experiments on Jenkins’s body, injecting the corpse with a serum that causes it to convulse and then seemingly come back to life. The Mystery Gang looks on in horror as the baseless Jenkins begins to destroy the lab, but he is quickly subdued by the scientists using a remote control device.

 

The Gang tries to leave in a panic but when the two groups converges they are cornered by security. The group splits up once again with Fred and Daphne going one direction, Velma another, and Shaggy and Scooby in another. Fred and Daphne hide in an empty lab, with Daphne panicking about getting caught and arrested, potentially ruining her chances at attending NYU. Fred assures her he won’t let anything happen to her. They barricade the door, but the room is quickly surrounded by security demanding that they come out.

 

Velma doubles back to the now-empty main lab and observes the equipment and computers. She looks in the morgue drawers and sees other bodies that are either deceased or in a dormant state like Jenkins. She also pulls back a sheet and finds several cages filled with dogs and cats, some wearing special collars. One of the cats speaks to her, startling her and causing her to collide with one of the four scientists who has entered the room.

 

Scooby and Shaggy stealthy avoid guards in the hallway and make it to a back entrance. Shaggy is reluctant to leave without the rest of the gang but is startled by the sound of gunfire in the building and makes an exit, successfully escaping the facility. One of the scientists watches Shaggy and Scooby as they exit on a security camera.

 

Back with Daphne and Fred, the guards outside of their hiding place threaten them with gunshots and then surprise the two by addressing them by their names and revealing they know their personal information. One of the four scientists tries to persuade Daphne to surrender, telling her she’ll throw away her chance to go to NYU if she doesn’t. Daphne initially listens but rejects the scientist, calling him crazy and evil for his experiments, and vows to expose the Nevada Complex. The scientist turns his attention to Fred, threatening his family and then Daphne if he doesn’t cooperate. Fred seems to waver but Daphne tells him not to listen. The scientist then tells Fred he can go to any school he wants, and Daphne can join him if he comes out. Fred decides to move the barricade, horrifying Daphne, but he points out it’s better to turn themselves in now than keep running, and that this will help their futures. Fred comes out and his snatched by security. Daphne fights but is grabbed as well, and they are led down opposite hallways, with Daphne making eye contact with Fred one last time before being pulled away.

 

SEVEN YEARS LATER–Daphne vlogs in her room as she gets ready for her college graduation. She grabs her cap and gown and goes downstairs in the modest apartment she lives in with her mother Elizabeth. Daphne asks if her father will make it to the graduation ceremony that day but her mother bitterly tells her no and that he’s too busy with his new wife. Daphne blames herself for her father not wanting to be involved in her life, and her mother comforts her but doesn’t deny it. Daphne excuses herself and leaves.

 

Later, Daphne gives a valedictorian speech at Coolsville Community College. The small ceremony is briefly interrupted by a mysterious figure on a motorcycle pulling up to the ceremony. Daphne is caught off guard when the helmeted figure stays to watch her speech and subsequently the rest of the ceremony. After the ceremony, Daphne angrily confronts the mystery man, who takes off his helmet to reveal a bearded, tattooed Shaggy. Daphne is shocked by his transformation but warmly embraces him, and is surprised to see him in Coolsville after leaving five years ago. Shaggy offers to take her to dinner to celebrate her graduation and to catch up, which she accepts. She hops on the back of his motorcycle and they ride off.

 

At the Coolsville Diner, Daphne asks why Shaggy decided to show up in town after five years. Shaggy tells her he’s been offered a new job at the Nevada Complex. Daphne is initially upset, telling Shaggy that the Complex is responsible for ruining her life. She explains that after Fred gave her up she was taken into police custody and faced trial for trespassing on government property. Her father paid her bond and her legal fees but this put a big financial hit on the family which resulted in her parents splitting up and her father resenting her. Her acceptance to NYU was revoked and she had no choice but to study at Coolsville Community College. She also adds that the Nevada Complex threatened to harm her family and friends if she shared what she saw that night. Shaggy asks her about the others, and she explains that Fred got off scot free, and was offered a full ride scholarship to UC Berkeley just like he wanted, and his betrayal ended their relationship. Daphne also tells him that she hasn’t seen Velma since that night and her family also went missing shortly afterwards. Shaggy tells her that Velma was the one to contact him about this job at the Nevada Complex, and apparently she’s the head of a new project there. Daphne is shocked to hear this, and wonders if Velma now works there under duress. Shaggy agrees, stating that he took the job in order to see Velma again and make sure she’s alright. Daphne asks Shaggy what he’s been up to since the night of the Nevada Complex Incident. Shaggy tells her that he and Scooby managed to escape and he graduated high school afterwards, but he couldn’t pretend that was he saw at the Nevada Complex was normal and it’s haunted him ever since. He says that two years after the Incident, Scooby passed away and Shaggy took that as a sign to leave Coolsville for good. Daphne comforts him and they share a brief moment before Shaggy goes to leave. Daphne quickly comes up with a plan to have Shaggy record his findings inside the building for her since she’s unable to go inside the building. Shaggy is hesitant, but gives in when she tells him it will be just like old times.

 

The next day, Shaggy and Daphne prepare for his first day at the Nevada Complex. Daphne gives him a pair of glasses to wear that hold a tiny camera that will livestream Shaggy’s entire day to Daphne, who will watch in her room. Shaggy startles her by snapping the glasses in half, pulling the camera out and attaching it to his ear piercing, telling her the glasses are a bit cliche. Daphne agrees, and takes it as an opportunity to ask him about his new look. Shaggy shrugs and tells her he was stuck in the past for too long. He asks Daphne if she’s ever thought about leaving Coolsville and she tells him she’s not sure if she can at this point, since she’s spent her life here and she’s not capable of changing her future. Shaggy tells her she’s better than she gives herself credit for, which makes her blush. She shows Shaggy a tiny speaker that she can use to communicate with him throughout the day. She puts on his other earring, lingering there slightly. She shyly pulls away and hurries Shaggy out the door, telling him he doesn’t want to be late for his first day.

 

Shaggy arrives at the Nevada Complex and is given a high security escort to the main lab. Once inside, he meets his fellow lab assistant Daisy, who tells him they’ll be working directly on Project Elysium together. When Shaggy asks what the project is, Velma answers as she walks into the lab. Velma wears goggles and a pixie cut. Shaggy is happy to see her, and she tells him she’s happy, but today is all business. Velma tells Shaggy that when she was caught in the lab seven years ago, she was given an opportunity to work on the project. She asks him if he remembers what they saw happened to Old Man Jenkins that night. Shaggy uncomfortably answers that he could never forget it. Velma asks him what he thinks happened. Shaggy answers that they injected his dead body with some sort of serum that brought him back to life. Velma corrects him, telling him it wasn’t a serum, but rather nanites that rebuilt his tissues and restored his brain functions. She explains that the serum can be used to cure diseases and prolong lives. Shaggy continues to feel uncomfortable, telling Velma that bringing the dead back to life is morally wrong. Velma tells him she has something to show him, and opens the lab door to reveal Jenkins, now completely alert just like he’s alive, who converses easily with Shaggy and the others. Velma says that Shaggy and the others, including herself that night, were so focused on their ideas of monsters and zombies and failed to see the scientific potential the nanites hold. Shaggy tells her she sounds like the villains they used to catch, but Velma laughs it off goodnaturedly, telling Shaggy he’s always focused on the past when he should be looking to the future. Shaggy tells Velma this sounds like a conversation they should be having in private, nodding towards Daisy. Velma holds Daisy’s hand and tells Shaggy that Daisy’s with her. Shaggy excuses himself to go to the bathroom, telling Velma he needs to process all of this.

 

In the bathroom, Shaggy looks at himself in the mirror and speaks to Daphne. Daphne assures him that Velma has just been at the facility for too long and is clearly brainwashed. Shaggy is distressed that one of his closest friends is capable of this type of experimentation. He panics, briefly acting like his old self and telling Daphne it would be best if he just left now while he still can. Daphne scolds him, telling him that they never run away from a mystery. Shaggy concedes, and as he turns to leave the bathroom, the door opens and Fred walks in. Both Shaggy and Daphne are shocked. Fred, who looks the same, greets Shaggy warmly and acts like his old self. When Shaggy asks him what he’s doing there, Fred explains that he’s been hired as an engineer at the Nevada Complex and today is his first day on the job. Shaggy tells him it’s his first day too. When Fred asks what Shaggy’s job will be, Shaggy realizes that he doesn’t actually know, and excuses himself.

 

Shaggy goes back into the lab and tells Velma he’d like to stay, but he wants to know what the job is. Velma leads him into a back room and shows him a kennel full of dogs all wearing special collars. She explains that due to his proficiency with animals, she’d like him to be the dog handler for their “Smart Dogs,” dogs that have been injected with the nanites and can now speak with humans as long as they wear their special collars. Velma explains that aside from Old Man Jenkins, the nanites have not had any human testing yet, but the Smart Dogs project has been very promising so far. Shaggy crouches in front of the cage of a small dog named Scrappy, who looks like Scooby-Doo. Velma comfortingly tells Shaggy that the dogs have never been harmed and that she would never ask him to do the job if they were. Shaggy takes one last look at Scrappy and agrees.

 

Later that night at the diner, Daphne and Shaggy discuss what happened at the lab. Daphne is still worried about Velma, but Shaggy admits that she’s the happiest and most confident he’s ever seen her. He mentions Fred but Daphne shoots him down, saying that Fred is unimportant in their plan. Shaggy tells her it might be good to talk about Fred but Daphne becomes frustrated, telling him he focuses on who they once were too much, and that Velma knew that when she showed him the dogs. Shaggy becomes offended but Daphne quickly apologizes and admits that she wasn’t prepared to see Fred and it upset her. Shaggy offers to take her on a ride on his motorcycle, which she accepts. They ride through the city and stop at a hill that overlooks the city’s cemetery. Daphne leans her head on Shaggy’s shoulder and tells him she feels like she’s getting a sense of purpose again. She stands up when she notices movement down at the graveyard, and recognizes one of the men below as the scientist who convinced Fred to turn them in. She and Shaggy decide to split up and go down the hill in different directions in order to spy on the scientist and his henchmen. Up close, Daphne sees they are in the process of marking graves. She overhears the scientist tell his henchman that the graves cannot be too old. She makes eye contact with Shaggy and he motions towards his earring, which is still picking up video. They watch as the scientist stands over a grave and gets angry when his henchman suggests they mark it. Daphne and Shaggy hide as the scientist and his goons leave, then they sneak up to the grave. Daphne reads it and sees that it’s the grave of Dale and Angie Dinkley, Velma’s parents. She tells Shaggy this makes Velma more suspicious, and wonders if Velma has somehow been connected to the Nevada Complex for longer than they initially thought. Shaggy agrees that it’s strange, but still wants to give Velma the benefit of the doubt. Daphne tells Shaggy to continue with his intel inside the building and she’ll watch on her computer.

 

A few weeks later, Shaggy sits alone in the kennel watching over the dogs. There’s been little progress in Project Elysium as far as he can tell. He has befriended Scrappy and the other dogs Dum, Dee, Ruby, and Yabba, and chats with them daily. He sits in the kennel eating his lunch while Daphne sits at her desk also eating. They chat about the progress Shaggy has made in infiltrating the complex, but Shaggy suggests they actually take a break on their lunch and talk about something else. At a loss, Daphne asks what they should talk about. Shaggy asks her what she would be doing right now if the Nevada Complex Incident had never messed with her future. She replies that she would be a journalist and blogger traveling the country in search of stories, but instead she’s stuck in Coolsville. Shaggy questions if she wants to uncover Project Elysium not for the sake of helping Velma, but rather for her own personal gain. She admits that since she’s become suspicious of Velma it’s more of the latter. Fred comes in a talks to Shaggy about the dogs he cares for. Shaggy introduces Fred to all of the dogs and explains that they all have their own personalities and he can talk to any of them as long as they’re wearing their special collars. Fred tells Shaggy that in engineering he’s been working on a nanochip that will replace the collars completely and allow the dogs to speak freely. He says that Velma has a test dog in mind that they’ll introduce to him later, but not even he is allowed to see the dog until Velma and the Four scientists have finished. Shaggy is intrigued by this and tells Fred he looks forward to seeing it. Fred turns to leave, but hesitates and asks if Shaggy has talked to Daphne at all. Shaggy evades the question, asking Fred why he wants to know. Fred admits that things don’t feel right with them all here without Daphne, and Scooby of course. Shaggy agrees, and asks Fred if he regrets his actions the night of the Incident. Fred wavers and admits that he wishes things could have been different, but his future is secured. Shaggy tells him he didn’t just affect his own future that night. Daphne listens in silently.

 

As Shaggy is leaving the Complex for the day, Fred walks past him, quietly slipping him a note. Back at Daphne’s Shaggy reads the note to her, which instructs Shaggy to meet Fred back at the lab the next night at midnight. Daphne insists that she’s going, and Shaggy initially diagrees, telling her it’s too dangerous, and that they need to be able to trust Fred. Daphne is frustrated and manages to convince Shaggy to let her go if she hides during his meeting with Fred.

 

The next night, Shaggy sneaks Daphne into the facility, keeping her out of sight as they slip into the lab. Inside, Shaggy sees Fred and asks why he wanted him to come here. Fred tells him that they are able to talk in private here, and admits that he took the job at the Nevada Complex in order to get to the bottom of what happened that night seven years ago, and he suspects Shaggy is in the same boat. Fred says that he’s been wanting to contact Daphne about getting in on the mystery, but he’s worried she’ll never forgive him for what he did to her. Shaggy tells him he should talk to her in person, and tells Daphne to come out of her hiding spot. Fred is initially surprised but is happy to see Daphne and tries to be friendly with her. Daphne angrily confronts Fred for only now deciding to investigate Project Elysium when he could have stuck by her side seven years ago. Fred apologizes, but tells her that if he hadn’t struck a deal with them when he did, he never would have been able to come back and work for them, and he would be forced to work in secret like Daphne. This angers Daphne, and she tells Fred that she never wanted to be his scapegoat. Shaggy breaks up the fight between the two and reminds them that regardless of what’s happened between them, they’re all together now, and that they need to figure out what’s going on with Velma. Suddenly Velma enters and Daphne confronts her, accusing her of being responsible for the horrors that they saw that night seven years ago. Velma tells her that’s partially true, and through flashbacks, we learn that the Four scientists in charge of the Nevada Project are in fact her brothers: Quenton, Hugo, Cheeves, and the one that Daphne and Shaggy saw at the graveyard, Rufus. Velma explains that when she discovered what her brothers were up to, she had no choice but to work with them and take the lead on Project Elysium in order to stop them from using the nanites like they used them on Old Man Jenkins. Since then, she’s made sure to only use the nanites in small quantities for good, and she really does consider the Smart Dog project to be her greatest success. Daphne interjects, telling Velma that she and Shaggy saw Rufus at the cemetery presumably picking graves to dig up and use as test subjects for the nanites. Velma tells them that she feared that would happen as her brothers have grown more and more impatient on Velma’s progress with the project. This is why she contacted Fred and Shaggy to work at the Nevada Complex, and she knew that Shaggy wouldn’t be able to keep Daphne out of the loop. Fred wistfully remarks that it’s just like old times, and that they’re only missing one. Velma tells him he’s wrong, and leads the group into the kennel. In the back of the kennel, Velma unveils the newest addition to the Smart Dogs: Scooby-Doo!

 

Scooby is the first dog to be implanted with the nanite chip and can speak openly to the group. Velma explains that her brother Rufus always intended to use Scooby as a test subject for Project Elysium and exhumed his body shortly after he died. When Shaggy arrived back into town, Velma used the nanites to revive Scooby and bring him over to the good side after the effects of the revival temporarily made him crazy, much like Old Man Jenkins. She tells Shaggy she doesn’t want him to feel uncomfortable with this discovery, but Shaggy and Scooby have an emotional reunion, and Scooby humorous tells Shaggy all the things he always wanted to tell him but never could.  

 

With the Mystery Gang completely reunited, Velma proposes that they put a stop to the Nevada Complex once and for all, and Daphne puts aside her anger at Fred to join in. Daphne proposes that they must proceed with caution and continue with their day to day lives at the Complex as normal. She says that she’ll hook up Velma, Fred, and Scooby with earpieces and cameras just like Shaggy and compile the footage she collects. With that footage, they’ll be able to expose the immoral practices of the Complex, but they’ll need to get more employees on her side. Velma reveals that her girlfriend Daisy is actually her sister-in-law, and therefore her brother Rufus’s wife. She says that between herself and Daisy they’ve slowly been scoping out Complex employees that they can trust, and when the time comes to expose the truth, they’ll have a small army on their side. With everything in place, the group says their goodbyes and splits up.

 

In a montage, the group goes about their days working at the Complex, or in Daphne’s case, working on gathering incriminating footage. Shaggy continues to care for the Smart Dogs and it becomes apparent that Scrappy has become jealous of Shaggy and Scooby’s friendship. Fred blends in with his coworkers and pretends to be happy in his nine to five job, but is clearly unhappy with the work. Velma and Daisy continue to secretly meet up, and Velma has meetings with her brothers. Daphne continues to edit in her room as she becomes more and more technologically savvy. Daphne and Shaggy continue to hang out at the diner and grow closer. As the montage ends, Velma tells Shaggy and Daphne that they’re going to have another meeting that night.

 

At the Complex, Velma surprises the group by having a large meeting with a group of her trusted employees. She tells everyone present that the time to expose the Nevada Complex is now, and that if they all stick together the Four cannot harm them. She tells Daphne to use the lab computer to upload the footage she compiled to the internet. Daphne begins the upload, but they are interrupted by the Four, who demands that Daphne stop what she’s doing. When Daphne refuses, Daisy stands up to Rufus. A metal wall comes down as part of a security alert, trapping Daisy and the other employees inside the lab. Cheeves tells Velma it’s time for Project Elysium to reach its full potential, and using a remote control, releases airborne nanites onto Daisy and the other employees, turning them all into zombies as the Mystery Gang watches in horror. Daphne tells the Four that even though they’ve released the nanites, the footage condemning them has been released online, and that all of them have been livestreaming this conversation. Rufus laughs at her, telling her it won’t matter when the world is overrun by the Nevada Complex’s zombies. When Velma asks her brothers why they’re doing this, Hugo tells her that initially it was for scientific reasons, which is what convinced Velma to stay on, but with the nanites on their side they can effectively hold the rest of the world hostage and get whatever they want by threatening to create more zombies. Velma tells them there’s just one problem with their plan: they have no way of stopping the nanites or zombies from attacking them. Rufus laughs at her and tells her she’s wrong. From an air vent, a swarm of nanites appear and rematerialize into Daisy. Velma runs to Daisy, asking her if she’s okay, and Daisy begins to laugh. It is revealed that Daisy has been the brains behind the operation all along, and that the body of the real Daisy was inhabited by an AI being called the Nanite Queen seven years ago. The Nanite Queen is able to control all the nanites, including those inside of living or dead human beings.

 

In the kennel in the lab, Scrappy and the rest of the dogs begin to mutate, becoming humanoid zombie creatures. They escape their cages and break through the back wall, leaving the complex altogether.

 

The Nanite Queen gathers the rest of the nanites and she and the four leave, but not before Rufus lifts the partition and unleashes the zombies on the Mystery Gang. The gang takes refuge behind a lab counter. Daphne tries to formulate a plan to get out of the lab to safety, but Shaggy tells her it’s hopeless. Ignoring him, Daphne asks Velma if there’s any way to shut down the nanites and the zombies for good. Velma says that the only way would be to kill the Nanite Queen, and even then, there’s no guarantee that the zombies would be cured, and that there’s really nothing they can do when they’re trapped in the lab about to be killed by the zombies. Fred points out the exit from the kennel that the dogs created, and explains that if they can keep the zombies distracted on one side, they can make their escape. Velma offers to sacrifice herself, blaming herself for Project Elysium being used for evil by her own family. Fred tells the group that he should be the sacrifice, since it’s his fault they’re in this mess since he insisted they investigate the Nevada Complex all those years ago. Shaggy points out that whoever is going needs to go now since the zombies are almost on them. Fred gives Daphne a kiss on the forehead and then runs in the opposite direction of the hole in the wall, giving the rest of the gang a clear escape route. The gang runs and Daphne glances back to see the nanites swarming Fred. Shaggy pulls her away.

 

The gang evades more zombies as the exit the facility and Daphne surmises that the Nanite Queen is probably leading the swarm into Coolsville in order to infect as many people as possible. Shaggy tells the women and dog he’ll drive, and Daphne points out they can’t all go on his motorcycle. Shaggy says he didn’t come on his motorcycle, and leads them to the Mystery Machine. They pile in, avoiding the zombies that surround their van.

 

On their way to town, the gang passes by the cemetery and sees the Four and the Nanite Queen reanimating corpses from their graves. Daphne tells Shaggy to stop the van. She tells them all to get ready to fight. Outside, she grabs a metal pipe from a construction site outside the cemetery. Velma takes a nail gun, and Shaggy grabs a two by four. They fight zombies in their way towards the Nanite Queen as “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest plays.

 

Once they reach the Nanite Queen, her swarm continues to surround her. She angrily sends the zombies to attack the group and they’re quickly surrounded. Standing back to back, the group becomes hopeless, but Daphne tells them to keep fighting. Shaggy tells her it looks like it’s the end of the road. Suddenly Fred appears and knocks the Nanite Queen down, causing her control over the zombies to waver. Daphne asks how Fred was able to get out of the lab alive and he explains through flashback that he’s technically not alive, and that Old Man Jenkins found him in the lab after he had been zombified. Because the nanites entered Jenkins so long ago, they became fully integrated into his body and are unable to be controlled by the Nanite Queen. Jenkins was able to successfully transfuse some of his own immune blood into Fred and cure him, though it may only be temporary. He stay behind in the lab to cure as many employees as he could.

 

Velma helps the Nanite Queen up and appeals to Daisy, telling her she knows she’s still in there and that she can do the right thing, and they can be together. The Nanite Queen acts like Daisy and tells Velma that she can fight it, and reaches for her. Suddenly the Nanite Queen pounces at Velma and Velma quickly grabs Daphne’s metal pipe and stabs the Nanite Queen in the chest with it. As Daisy’s body dies, the Nanite Queen’s swarm flies away to find a new host body. The zombies under her control stop focusing completely on the Mystery Gang and begin to attack the Four, killing them. The gang then begins to fight the rest of the zombies in the graveyard, with a smash cut ending the scene.

 

As the gang stands on the hill overlooking Coolsville, they discover that the nanites that possessed living people have exited their bodies. Velma surmises that the Nanite Queen must not be powerful enough to possess living people, and now can only possess the dead, meaning her swarm will probably possess the dead across the world until she can find a new living host. They look out over the valley and see chaos in the neighboring cemeteries as the dead begin to rise.

 

Aside from the others, Daphne jokes with Shaggy that it looks like she’ll be leaving Coolsville after all. Shaggy tells her with the gang back together and a new mystery to solve it’s just like old times. She corrects him and tells him “not quite” and grabs him by the shirt, pulling him in for a kiss. He enthusiastically kisses her back. They are interrupted by Scooby, who tells them they’ve got work to do. As the gang readies their weapons and goes to the van, Daphne pulls out her phone and livestreams the carnage, telling people that zombies are on the loose and that Mystery Inc. is going to save the day.

 

Elsewhere in the desert, Scrappy and the other dogs stop and rest as the sun rises. Scrappy vows to have his revenge on Shaggy and the Mystery Gang for abandoning him and the other dogs.

 

Post Credits Scene: Three women, Thorn, Luna, and Dusk sit outside their van. Thorn watches Daphne’s video, Dusk fiddles with a knife, and Luna pulls a shotgun from the backseat and loads it up. Thorn asks, “ready to go girls?” And they get in the van, with the door closing to reveal the Hex Girls logo.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Blankments

[Ezen Baklattan]

Please make these changes:

• The Winter Star - move to November 19th (and change director to Niki Caro)
• Next Vegas - change director to Anna Foerster
• The Epsilon Syndicate - release in Dolby Cinema
• Two Lonely Bounty Hunters - release in 3D and Dolby Cinema
• Train 38 - release in Dolby Cinema and IMAX

Also, for Two Lonely Bounty Hunters, is it okay to open it in IMAX a week after its actual release on the 14th? This ensures Green Lantern has two weeks in the format.

[SLAM!]

Out Of My Mind

 

Studio: New Journey Pictures

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Genre: Family/Drama

Release Date: March 5th, Y5

Major Cast: [Unknown Tweenage Actress with Cerebral Palsy], Kim Dickens, Kyle Chandler, Isabella Crovetti, Martin Starr, and Kristen Scott Thomas

Theater Count: 2,245

MPAA Rating: PG for Thematic Elements

Runtime: 1 hr 40 min

Production Budget: $5 Million

Plot Summary: The film follows the life of a young teen with cerebral palsy.

 

Spoiler

 

(Source Of Summary:

http://www.supersummary.com/out-of-my-mind/summary/)

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by SLAM!

[YM!]

On 3/12/2019 at 11:51 AM, YourMother the Edgelord said:

Static Shock

Studio: Endless Entertainment
DC Entertainment

Director: Rick Famuyiwa

Producer: Rick Famuyiwa

Executive Producer: Xavier B. Irving
Writers: Rick Famuyiwa and Joe Robert Cole

Composer: Ludwig Goransson

Director of Photography: Rachel Morrison

VFX: Industrial Light and Magic

VFX Supervisors: Paul J Franklin

 

Main Cast:

Niles Finch as Virgil Hawkins/Static

Babs Olusanmokun as Ivan Evans/Ebon

Blake Cooper as Richard Foley

China Anne McClain as Sharon Hawkins

Sterling K Brown as Robert Hawkins

Jessica Sula as Freda Goren

Ser’Darius Black as Wade

Michael Keaton as Mayor Adrian Wayne

with

Rosa Salazar as Talon

Yoo Seung-Ho as Shiv

Nicholas Hamilton as Francis Stone/Hotstreak 

and

Rutger Hauer as Edwin Alva

 

Genre: Superhero/Action/Coming Of Age/Comedy-drama

Release Date: July 30th, Y5
Theater Count: 4,173 (including 405 IMAX theaters)
Format: 2D (2.39:1), 3D (2.39:1), Dolby Cinema (2.39:1) and IMAX 2D+3D (1.44:1)
Budget: $135 million
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action, thematic material, and language

Running Time: 137 minutes (2 hours, 17 minutes)

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HaojGpEPONL7tOIDKhe8u7xO1IQgOmfrhYYuADBQ_cE

@Xillix I be done.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Kaleidoscope

 

Genre: Crime/Comedy

Director: Lucia Aniello

Cast: Julia Garner (Johnny)

Runtime: 86min (1hr, 26min)

Budget: $10 million

Rating: R for drug use throughout, language, and some sexual humor

Date: January 29th

Theaters: 2,368

 

At a liberal arts college in New England, a group of best friends, led by charming slacker Joanna, who accidentally invent a new synthetic drug in their chemistry class. Just for kicks and giggles, they all try out their creation, and they are surprised to find that it provides a rather enjoyable high. In fact, the drugs action is presented in a trippy animated sequence with many odd elements and a wide array of colors. They decide to name the new drug "Kaleidoscope" because of the crazy visions that the drugs give. Word gets around about the drug quickly in the school, and people really want more of the stuff. They all find it hard to recall the recipe for Kaleidoscope, but after some trial and error, they get it working again. Joanna and her friends soon find that they are reaping much profit from the drug, and word is getting out that the new drug is really strong across the nation. It even makes national news, but not in a good way. Of course, the college faculty is not happy with the four of them for selling an untested substance to peers and others, although it's admittedly impressive that they were able to create such a drug. Either way, the gang of friends is expelled from the school. Before the four of them leave, however, they realize that with the spread of the drug, some criminal syndicates have gotten hold of the drug without paying, and given how much they have consumed, they owe the creators of the drug a whole lot of money. Rather than pay it off, they will simply kill them here and now. The friends are soon on a madcap chase around the small town by a gang of criminals, until Joanna tricks them into getting high off of the drug. They foolishly accept, and they lose sight of why they were even here in the first place. The news soon comes out that the drug actually has no dangerous side effects, other than the fact that it creates crazy hallucinations. It's basically like LSD, but it won't kill you. Everyone is relieved by this, and the friends are allowed to attend the school once again, becoming entrepreneurs.

[SLAM!]

@Xillix Here are some minor adjustments I'm making to my schedule.

 

Yin:

• Up the theater count by 500.
• Give it Dolby Theater.

 

Sabrina:

• I'm adding another expansion on the 17th. The wider expansion's theater count will be 2,534.
• I'm also manually increasing its production budget.

 

Psyren:

• Dolby Cinema
• IMAX--for the weekend of July 11th, I'll split the IMAX screens with In The Valley; then, for the 18th and 25th, I'll take all the IMAX screens for Psyren, and I'll relinquish the screens to One Punch Man on the 30th.

 

That'll be it.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Slambros

[Ezen Baklattan]

O, MAESTRO!

 

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Composer: Rachel Portman

Director of Photography: Bruno Delbonnel

Cast: Oscar Isaac (Allen Tovarson), Jake T. Austin (Prior), Emmy Rossum (Rosanna DeLine), Christoph Waltz (McKlask), Idris Elba (Wilfan), Bill Skarsgard (Franklin Sabor), Olivia Colman (Clawdrem)

 

Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Drama/Comedy

Date: Decmeber 3rd, Y5

Theaters: 4 (12/3), 42 (12/10), 436 (12/17), 1,725 (12/22)

Rating: R for disturbing violent imagery, brief sexual content, and language 

Runtime: 121min (2hr, 1min)

Production Budget: $25 million

 

SETTING: 1960s New York City
 

Spoiler

A lavish Broadway musical begins its finale. Through the perspective on the side of the sage, we see the main singer ascend into the rafters, as the final bow begins. The crowd erupts in applause. We then see a man looking straight up at the stage from the first row, the camera making “eye contact” – he smiles as the crowd erupts in applause. We are quickly introduced to him as Allen Tovarson. He’s one of the most acclaimed Broadway composers working in the town today (which can be inferred to be around 1960) and given his reception at the wild parties he attends, it’s a very known fact.

 

As the party begins to die down, we see Allen Tovarson speaking with his main investor, McKlask. He begins people watching in a somewhat bizarre manner at the party, trying to find inspiration for his next work. As McKlask tries to help him relax and simply enjoy the night, Tovarson insists that he will go out of business and be outed as a fraud. All of this in a deadpan manner, of course. He tries to make up a story for McKlask then and there, telling something oddly convincing and deeply invested. McKlask feels a bit uncomfortable, admitting that he would like a drink. Tovarson tells him that he would like one too. If he gets one with the olive, he will pay for a select costume out of his own pocket.

 

Also at the party is the main star of the scene, Rosanna DeLine, a sharp tounged, gorgeous, and beloved artist known especially for her strong voice. She’s naturally drawn to the top talent of the town, so she’s excited to be in the same room as Tovarson. Noticing his eccentricities, she can’t help but feel oddly impressed. This is especially true as she takes a car home from the party, driving through the city. She finds Tovarson out alone, seemingly investigating the city. She offers him a ride, but he refuses. Tempting him, she pulls out a jar of olives, shoving her face with them through the window. She spits one out, and Tovarson accepts it, but continues to walk.

 

As he gets home, we see his place is very large. He also has a pet goat, Ferdie. He lives in a pen on the roof of his penthouse. As he crashes, we cut to a dream of a young sailor singing in a boat in WWII. The scene is hazy and dreamlike, but his general remarks that he is being too reckless and immature. The soldier doesn’t care, humming along as he goes to a battle station. He opens fire to the rhythm of his hums, feeling not a care in the world. Eventually, he snaps back into reality and walks through the hall again. This time, however, it seems like Tovarson’s room.

 

Tovarson wakes up, slightly stunned to see his younger doppleganger present. They engage in a conversation about how Tovarson has not yet met his fullest potential, and that he dreamed of the greatest story of all during his time in WWII. Tovarson’s musicals are relative shit. However, the boy asks that Tovarson help create his magnum opus, pointing a gun to him in bed. “Can you let me whack it first, at least?” Tovarson gets dressed, seeing his younger self, referred to here as Prior, making some coffee.

 

Prior guides Tovarson to a library, locking him in a secret study room. Prior explains his masterpiece, and how it touches on nearly all themes that humanity experiences. Prior notices Tovarson drifting away after his ramble, manually opening his eyelids and warning him that the state of his career depends on the success of the project. Prior’s vision is written on completely every wall in the study room, while a custodian comes in. Tovarson promises that he will get it off, but the custodian simply believes they are having a secret affair. Tovarson tries to clear the air, but instead smudges the walls further by mistake. They leave, and the janitor tells him to “go fuck yourself,” in a calm, stoic manner.

 

Tovarson asks to do much of the formulation at home, and Prior’s optimism begins to pick up. Prior begins to people watch intently, asking Tovarson to go home. He will have notes to bring in the morning. Prior begins investigating directors in the area, coordinating dinner with one in a rapid amount of time. The director, Wilfan seems to come almost instantly, for some unforeseen force. Prior begins to coerce the director into his project, using disturbing manipulation techniques and using a dinner sandwich as an allegory. Wilfan is quite convinced by the knowledge of Prior, and he plans to lead a potential reading of the play.

 

We find out that Tovarson had been taking his goat to a photo shoot the whole day, but Prior greets him back at his home unexpectedly. He has completed the first 50 pages of the script. As Tovarson remarks that it would approach feature length, Prior remarks that this will be five hours. Tovarson is hesitant, but Prior tells him that with beverage sales high, the theater will thank him. “People can’t go too long without nourishment. We all need something in our blood to keep us at it. No?” Prior asks, rhetocially. Tovarson asks when the rest will be completed.

 

That night, we see Prior keep Tovarson awake. He is desparate to finish it now. They can get a workshop set up as early as tomorrow. Prior knows all of the right people. Tovarson feels tired, but decides to humor…himself. As Prior piques memories in Tovarson, Tovarson finds him as his younger self in the room, leading to double. Prior begins to talk with “himself”, trying to get new ideas flowing, and as they continue to talk of gibberish, undoubtedly becoming more and more enamored with an increasingly abstract idea, they end up writing a full script within the night.

 

Tovarson awakens, shocked to see Prior still feeling so awake and alert. Prior admits that his play is garbage, but he should probably read it. Tovarson remarks that it’s 213 pages, but Prior admits that he overshot. “Remember the urine,” Prior ads. Tovarson begins to make an announcement for a workshop, as an impressive lot of artists come, led by Wilfan and McKlask, while DeLine is in talks to play the female lead. Playing the male lead is actor Franklin Sabor, who lacks the finesse and finer subtlety of his co-stars but is enough of a matinee idol to maybe help draw ticket sales amidst the tough sell of the concept.

 

As the reading takes place, DeLine finds herself moved to tears at the end, while Sabor admits he didn’t get it. Prior, noticing that Sabor is being incompetent, dramatically gives the closing monologue, feeling every inch of his body rise with a fiery fervor. Tovarson finds himself shaking as Prior speaks. As Prior stands still, hearing applause as he slightly smiles, Tovarson takes back control. Finding that the show is in shape to start rehearsal, he asks about the process of initiation to his investors. As McKlask hesitates, Tovarson feels a force come over him, threatening to beat him senseless if this play does not happen. It is something all humans must experience. It is birth, it is sex, it is death. After a pause, Tovarson mutters to himself…” That’s what we name it.”

 

DeLine congratulates Tovarson on the successful reading, but also praises Prior for his work. To Tovarson’s confusion, she discusses Prior as if he’s a different person and simply a strong inspiration to and influencer on behalf of Tovarson. He accepts this truth, knowing that he wanted to create something that would truly stand the test of time. DeLine admits that she’ll be honest if a play is garbage. If it is, she won’t put it past her to take down those who undermine her career. Either way, she’s happy to see that the progress is being made.

 

Tovarson stays up as Prior sleeps while tending to the goat. They curl up in a pile in the night sky. Tovarson reads the play again, and to his disappointment, it seems far, far less coherent and more awful then he remembers as “he” had written it. Tovarson schedules a meeting with McKlask where he says that he wants to rewrite the play. McKlask, however, refuses to let him. The production was so amazing, so mind numbing, that he refuses to produce it unless tampered with. Feeling that he does not trust his own genius, McKlask rubs cigar dust on Tovarson’s forehead, trying to help him find the confidence to believe in his work.

 

Rehearsal begins, and Prior begins to have an influence over the designers. We see him go to several locations in town to pick up supplies for the show, all objects so incoherent as to how they would fit. However, Prior begins to get everything that he needs. Tovarson tries to take control as production moves far, far quicker than he wants to believe. Tovarson has no confidence in his ability to keep up, but Prior guides him every step of the way. Prior guides the script and the ideas out of Tovarson’s hands, soon enough, and he begins pushing the actors himself.

 

Eventually, Tovarson has a discussion with Prior. Tovarson suspects that Prior came to help fulfill his destiny and cement his place in theatrical history. However, he can take things from here. Tovarson doesn’t want to feel like he can’t direct his own show. Prior feels guilty but shifts it on him. This is his dream too, and they are endlessly connected. Prior, however, asks to just work alongside him one last time. He is the key to make this dream possible. He is the thing that connects the reality of the mind to what people see on stage.

Tovarson, however, finds that the direction of his show is naturally shifting more towards the oblique and bizarre. As he begins to speak with Wilfan, who again, eats up his ideas, Tovarson proposes something far more bizarre and abstract than he’d ever imagine. It’s something far out of character. In positioning musical numbers, he even feels a force come over him. Tovarson freezes at his sudden moment, but Prior comes from behind. “Trust me.”

 

Through one shot, Prior uses Tovarson as a marionette, creating a dance and song that inspires the performers. Prior casts Tovarson aside to sing again, beginning to get oddly close to DeLine. DeLine pushes him away but remains intrigued. Sabor, on the other hand, feels more dazed than ever. He admits that he wants to give up on the show to Tovarson, believing him to be an unideal fit for the material. Tovarson comforts him at first, but Prior is less comforting. Prior whacks a metronome to his vocal cords, diaphragm, forehead, and hits. He needs to be conditioned to be in the right mindset for the show.

 

That night, as Prior is out on the street, DeLine approaches him. Prior tells DeLine that Tovarson is at home, feeling the need to rest. DeLine admits that she’s starting to notice bizarre and perhaps not amazingly written aspects of the play. Prior responds to this as something of a personal betrayal, but he tries to keep a steady lip. DeLine tries to calm him down, but in a stoic manner, Prior admits that he will look at it again.

 

Tovarson is violently awaken by Prior, who forces him to write again. As Tovarson is dragged out of his bed, he writes a new script into the walls, digging his fingernails into the paint to write words. In the morning, his apartment is covered, and Tovarson feels horrified. Prior remarks that he is doing this for his own benefit, and that he will be a star. Prior then goes to the crew, who are more willing to accept the rewrites.

 

The play progresses, but Tovarson finds himself a mere puppet of Prior, who pushes Tovarson to the brink but seems to likeable, confident, and genuine that it seems to connect to the rest of the cast. DeLine, however, admits that she still has odd feelings about the play, which is set to begin performances in a week. Tovarson breaks down, confessing the happenings to DeLine. However, she speaks as if she knows what is going on. She wants this play to destroy her. To destroy her career. DeLine had been in the limelight for 20 years, having made it out of Nazi-occupied France to perform in a singing tour across America. She has been unable to let go since, and demands that Tovarson ruin her and set her free. Tovarson then says that he will make it a real shit show, almost feeling the same way.

 

Eventually, as the play’s opening progresses, Sabor begins to feel able to embrace the role for once, finally understand the play. He, however, only lacks chemistry with DeLine, who makes it difficult for him continuously. Prior takes notice and motivates him, but Tovarson reacts coldly. Prior and Tovarson get into a fight the night before the first night of previews. Tovarson demands his freedom, but Prior refuses. In a mark of blind rage, Tovarson accidentally goes to far as to set the scenery on fire, burning it all to the ground. Prior, feeling despair and anger, walks into the flame, letting himself burn alive at Tovarson’s rejection of his old self.

 

The theater is salvaged, but the show must go on, and the sets and performers begin to play in burnt, charred costumes. The play goes without a hitch, although Sabor does inhale several ashes. The show receives a standing ovation, especially for DeLine at the end. She looks out to the crowd with glee, but at Tovarson in a state of horror and confusion. McKlask and Wilfan are pleased and ecstatic.

 

A critic, Clawdrem, congratulates Tovarson on a successful preview, but she remarks that it will be difficult to top this again. “No shit,” Tovarson replies. As Clawdrem tries to speak with Tovarson a bit, she states that his old self must have created this.

 

Clawdrem tells Tovarson that the same thing had happened to her in her youth, where she became obsessed with dance but felt more and more pressure to perfect. She reveals to Tovarson that she had cut off her toes and resigned herself to a life of criticism. Clawdrem smiles at Tovarson, telling him to make the right choice.

 

As Tovarson meets DeLine at the stage to wish each other goodnight, Sabor stumbles out of the stage, having inhaled too much. As he struggles for air, Prior appears, unharmed, and shoots Sabor unceremoniously. He criticizes Tovarson for ruining his vision, asking if he wants to settle for a life of mediocrity. Prior drags him out of the theater, as DeLine tries to swallow more and more of the ashy dust, trying to burn her own lungs and ruin her own voice.

 

Tovarson and Prior have one last confrontation in a scene shop, where Tovarson tries to cut off his fingers. Prior remarks that it will not work. He has made his dream a reality, and if he can’t write at all, he still can be a legendary storyteller. As Prior drags Tovarson out to Times Square, Prior begins to people watch. As crowds begin to look on, Prior finds that Tovarson’s foot had been crushed by a moving car. As Prior grand stands, he uses this as chance to market the play. People look to Tovarson and Prior, cheering. Tovarson lays his head, getting an idea, closer and closer to the street. He then moves it in as he sees a car coming…

 

Fade to white. Several screams.

 

It’s officially the opening night of the musical, and we see an understudy for Sobor along with DeLine. DeLine can barely sing, but the show is still raved about. As Wilfan compliments her performance, he contemplates rebuilding the set, but tries to keep it as is in an effort to secure the memory of Tovarson, who died as he lived, creating masterful art. DeLine smiles, having a departure date where she can finally be free. McKlask had given it to her after many requests, and she feels happy to have a ticket out of this career.

 

As she stands in the bathroom, she begins to violently cough, and a black stream of vomit and dust comes out of her mouth. As she lays down in the mirror, we see a hand hold her face back, looking suspiciously like a younger DeLine….