Now Showing: The Squared Circle

The Squared Circle
Genre: Drama
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: Mel Gibson, Tom Hardy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Kate Winslet, Kurt Russell, Max von Sydow, Michael Madsen, Philip Baker Hall

Plot: Wallace Dunbar (Mel Gibson) is one of the most legendary professional wrestlers in the business and a notorious alcoholic and serial womanizer. At 59, he is still holding off on retirement. He has a meeting with Laurence Lemming (Kurt Russell) - the CEO of American United Wrestling, the largest wrestling promotion in the United States. Wallace established himself as a star for AUW in the 70s,80s and 90s and continues to wrestle for them on a semi-regular basis. Lemming, a longtime friend of Wallace’s, reveals that he has learned of Wallace suppressing his doctor’s medical advice from over 2 years ago – that if he keeps wrestling, he is at risk for a life-threatening injury. When Lemming tells Wallace that his wrestling career for them is effectively over, Wallace pleads for one final match to go out the right way. Knowing the money that match would rake in if promoted properly, Lemming agrees and sets it for their big show WrestleFest in three months. Wallace tries to call his son Ray but gets no answer.

Ray Wright (Tom Hardy) changed his name 17 years ago from Wallace Dunbar Jr. to avoid being asked about his father every time he told someone his name. After a failed stint in wrestling when he was younger, Ray took up unassuming (but important) work as a building inspector and descended into anonymity. He has dinner with his ex-wife Kate (Kate Winslet) to celebrate his 15 years of sobriety and they discuss how their daughter Hannah is doing do in her first week of college.

Wallace has lunch with “Danger” Dick Thompson (Michael Madsen), his former tag team partner and most-heated rival (after they turned on each other in story). Wallace tells him that he is finally hanging up the boots. Dick has been retired for 10 years now and gives him some advice on going forward. Wallace admits that he does not think he is ready to give it up yet (or ever) – he was raised a wrestler and it is in his blood. He admits that one of his biggest regrets in life was failing to transition his son into the business and keep the family name alive.

Ray goes to the nursing home to visit his grandfather Lars Dunbar (Max Von Sydow), himself a wrestler from the 1950s and 60s who is now in his 90s and has dementia. Lars invites Ray to watch television with him and his nursing home mate Sal (Phillip Baker Hall), who also has dementia. Ray face-times in his daughter Hannah (Anya Taylor-Joy) so she can talk to her great-grandfather – although it is not entirely clear if he knows who she is.

At a college party, Hannah is talking to a guy that is wearing a wrestling shirt and tells him who her grandfather is. He starts freaking out and praises Wallace as the greatest of all time but he also starts asks if “Rockstar” Ray Dunbar is her father. She is confused as to how he knows her father and the guy explains that Ray is one of the most legendary “what could have been” performers in wrestling history. He had a super promising debut but then seemingly disappearing from wrestling after that. People still talk about it on online forums. Ray never talked to Hannah about his wrestling past and so she is stunned when the guy shows her a clip on YouTube of Ray’s debut. He is absolutely electrifying and charismatic, worlds away from the straight-laced boring Ray she was raised by.

The next day, Hannah calls her mom and says she wants to become a professional wrestler. When she tells her mom, Kate is adamant that she stay enrolled in school but that she will support her either way. She also warns her daughter that she cannot tell her father, as he will not take the decision lightly. In fact, he will likely forbid it totally. So instead, Hannah decides to ask her grandfather Wallace to help her train for an AUW try-out. Wallace, seeing this as an opportunity to continue his career vicariously through his granddaughter, is enthusiastic about the request.

Wallace meets with Lemming to discuss how they are going to approach his final match. Wallace suggests they try to convince Dick Thompson to come out of retirement and have one last showdown. Lemming turns down the idea, as he doesn’t think the crowd will want to see two sixty-year-olds limping around the ring (even if it has nostalgic value). He proposes the idea that he face Scott Stevenson (Armie Hammer) – the company’s biggest star at the moment. It would be a way to officially pass the torch. Wallace, still in denial about his retirement, is reluctant but Lemming brings Scott in and Wallace becomes more receptive after meeting him.

After sleeping with Crystal Vance (Gal Gadot), a female wrestler at AUW that he is having a fling with, Wallace asks her if she’d be willing to train Hannah and she says she would love to. At the training session, Wallace thinks Crystal is being too soft in her teaching style and wants her to be harder on Hannah. Wallace gets an emergency call and excuses himself immediately. While he is away, Crystal tells Hannah she will train her how she wants to. Hannah has lunch with her mother afterwards, and is torn about telling her dad about her upcoming try-out. She decides not to.

Wallace arrives at the nursing home to find Sal being treated to by EMTs. The administrators inform him that Lars threw Sal down with a body-slam type of move after an argument over a card game they were playing. Sal’s situation is dire and authorities are debating how to approach the situation. Since both men have dementia, they are hesitant to file any charges to classify it as an assault. When Wallace asks Lars about the incident and if he is okay, Lars has no clue what event he is talking about.

A week before WrestleFest, Wallace and Kate take Hannah to her try-out with the AUW. Hannah tells Wallace that she will go by the ring name “Hannah Dunbar” and this brings a tear to his eye. Crystal is also there for emotional support and Lemming is on hand to scout the potential talent. Things are going very well and Hannah is impressing everyone in attendance. As she attempts a moonsault, she lands on her elbow wrong and begins screaming in pain. The trainers rush to her and determine she needs to go the hospital to get evaluated. Kate is heartbroken and follows her daughter to the hospital. Wallace meets with Crystal in a back room and lashes out on her for not training Hannah properly. She insists that it was a freak accident but he slaps her with the back of his hand and walks away.

Kate tells Ray of Hannah’s injury and asks he come to the hospital, thus also informing him of Hannah’s wrestling ambitions for the first time. When Ray visits her, he is visibly annoyed for the first time in the film.

Crystal visits Scott Stevenson as he trains and we learn that they are actually dating. He confirms to her that his match with Wallace will be his last match for the company, after which he plans to transition to mixed-martial arts. She is the first person he has told this and he does not plan on letting Lemming know of his future plans. Still shaken from Wallace lashing out on her, she tells him how she was treated at the try-outs. She does not reveal her secret affair with Wallace but does talk about how scared it made her to see that angry side of him. Scott is seething with anger over this and debates how to confront Wallace about it.

He visits his grandfather again and is shocked to learn of the incident days earlier. He is angry that this is another thing that his father has hidden from him. He believes it is because Wallace is ashamed of how broken and frail that Lars has become – something that he is afraid to become himself, thus why he keeps wrestling. We find out that Sal actually died of complications from the incident but Lars will not be charged with anything due to his condition. Ray holds the hand of the grandfather as they watch television, still no recollection of the fracas. Back home, he goes on a long run, attempting to let out his frustration. Exhausted, he stops dead in his tracks and bends over, screaming in anger.

On the day of WrestleFest, Lemming invites Hannah and Ray to watch the event from backstage and Hannah is eager to go, prompting Ray to also begrudgingly accept. Hannah, arm in a sling, apologizes for hiding her wrestling training from her dad and that it was seeing his video that made her want to do it and impress him. Ray explains that when he was a wrestler in his younger years, his dad was too hard on him with expectations and it mentally broke him, finding himself often on the brink of suicide. Their relationship was permanently altered ever since. He was just worried the same would happen to her (from either him or his father). He reveals that he was arrested for possession of narcotics and steroids, both of which he found necessary to cope with his physical and mental strain in the wrestling business. It took this to realize how much the situation was weighing him down and that it was time to move on. Hannah tells him that she has decided that the wrestling life probably isn’t for her anyways and that she will focus back on school. He hugs her and tells her she doesn’t need his approval for whatever she wants to do in life.

During the big match between Scott and Wallace, the match goes according to plan and the crowd is eating out of the palms of their hands. Scott dominates most of the match but Wallace makes an epic comeback and hits most of his signature moves. Scott kicks out after Wallace’s finisher and then hits his own devastating powerslam, the “Black Angel”. Wallace (and Ray from backstage, who still has a wresting mind) is expecting this to be the ending but Stevenson breaks up his own pin before the referee can count to three. He taunts the crowd, an unexpected move from the beloved fan favorite and continues to needlessly beat down Wallace. He whispers into Wallace’s ear and tells him “you know what this is for” and proceeds to put him in an MMA armbar.

Wallace taps out and the bell is rung, signaling Ray as the winner. However, Scott keeps a tight grip on Wallace’s arm and demands that he say “I quit”. Wallace is writhing in pain but will not submit to Scott’s demands. Lemming panics and goes to send in security, which tips off Ray that this prolonged beatdown is unscripted. Without hesitation, Ray runs out to the ring before security can get there themselves. The crowd goes bonkers in hysterics – unaware of the reality of the situation and instead just assuming that Ray has made his long-awaited return to professional wrestling.

Ray punches Scott straight in the jaw and Scott scurries away, aware that a televised beatdown will hurt his future earning potential. The security subdue them both as they trash talk each other. The crowd come to realize that something is not right and fall silent. Lemming, wanting to turn this negative into a positive on his biggest show, radios in to the security to let go of Ray. Ray turns to his father, tension rife in between them. He stares down his father, who lies writhing on the ground. Ray looks up and surveys the crowd who are deafeningly cheering him on, which eventually fades out (along with the story) and all we hear is Ray's heavy breathing. Finally, he takes his father’s hand, helps him up, and raises it in the air with the crowd erupting in cheers. Hannah runs down to the ring and joins them in celebration as confetti falls down upon them and the crowd chants “Thank you Wallace”.

Wallace, Ray, and Hannah visit Lars at the nursing home and the four of them play a game of cards.

Release: Paradiso

Paradiso
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writer: Mo Buck
Based on the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Guy Pearce, Aaron Eckhart, Bill Pullman, Michael Cera, John Malkovich, Edie Falco, Tom Hiddleston, Ian McShane



Budget: $165,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $200,710,223
Foreign Box Office: $308,019,447
Total Profit: $90,111,665

Reaction: Seems like people were very interested in seeing the finally of the Divine Comedy trilogy as Paradiso has finished with the highest box office and profits of the series.

"Talk about an epic. Three films worth of adventure and fantasy have all boiled down to this thrilling spectacle. The action is great, but so are the characters who are finally hitting the end of their long journey." - Clark Haverford, Nerdist

"The first film of the series, Inferno, felt like a pretty simple story, but writer Mo Buck has smartly developed the series into a complex fantasy saga." - Ken Decker, Denver Post

"Good luck understanding this one without watching the first two films immediately beforehand. The film is a visual feast, but the film was a little too confusing for me to enjoy. I had to keep trying to figure out the rules of the universe, taking me out of the story." - Perry Manson, CinemaBlend.com

LRF 100: Top 10 Blockbusters

To celebrate the 200th release from Last Resort Films, the studio's writers were asked to vote on 100 top choices from those 200 films. The votes were split up into 10 categories, and each writer chose their top 10 choices in the category. First place votes were worth 10 points, while 10th place votes were worth one point (you can do the math for the votes in-between). In parentheses next to the film's title will be the number of first place votes the film or actor received. And now for the results of the second category: Top 10 Blockbusters...

TOP 10 BLOCKBUSTERS
10. Alan Wake
9. Splinter Cell 
"The Splinter Cell series has printed tons of money for the studio, and all started with this smart, well-cast blockbuster." - John Malone
8. Inferno
7. Booster Gold   (1)
"A really fun film that brought the character into the mainstream and paved the way for a lot of overpriced toys. Those who have children know what I'm talking about!" - Seth Overton
6. Paradise Lost   (1)
5. Scion   (1)
"A blockbuster not carried by the popularity of previous works. And on top of that, a really ballsy film as well!" - Seth Overton
4. Green Arrow   (1)
3. Uncharted
2. The Question
"Not just the studio's best superhero film but one of the best superhero films period." - Chad Taylor
1. The Prisoner   (6)
"John Malone's The Prisoner is one of those films that I wish I wrote, and that's probably the highest compliment I can give." - APJ

Now Showing: Paradiso

Paradiso
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writer: Mo Buck
Based on the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Sequel to Purgatorio
Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Guy Pearce, Aaron Eckhart, Bill Pullman, Michael Cera, John Malkovich, Edie Falco, Tom Hiddleston, Ian McShane

Plot: The garden of Eden is completely destroyed, Virgil, Adam and Eve are dead, lying on the ground. The flowers have died too. King Midas (Ian McShane) was victorious in the battle. He sits on a rock, smiling. He lies on it, trying to sleep. Someone else has arrived. He steps on Virgil's corpse and kicks Adam. He slowly makes his way to Midas, who isn't aware of his presence. Out of nowhere, the new visitor plants his sword in King Midas, who's brutally waken up. He screams, SATAN! The devil himslef left hell to chase Dante. In his human form, Satan (Gary Oldman) explains to Midas, right before he dies, that he killed him, because he wasn't able to stop Dante from progressing in his journey. Midas breathes for the last time and Satan drinks from the river and starts his ascend.

Dante (James Franco) wakes up, he's disoriented. Beatrice (Kate Mara) hasn't woke up yet. Dante decides to explore a little bit. It's pitch dark around him, the ground is a sort of grey rock, with no water or plants in the horizon. He climbs a small mountain and sees where he really is, the Moon. He hears someone walking behind him and grabs his sword. Someone touches him on the shoulder and Dante takes out his sword, quickly turning around. It's a woman : Constance of Sicily (Edie Falco). She tells Dante that she feels a great threat coming and that he should move fast. She says to him that come people may force him to do things, but he should always listen to his heart. They go down the mountain and sit near Beatrice, who finally wakes up. She meets Constance and they have a brief exchange of words. She tells them where to go next, as they need to travel with portals from planet to planet, in order to reach the Empyrean, the end of Dante's journey in the afterlife. Constance says she has a vision and she shows it to them. They see a man, who Constance claims is Satan, starting his ascend to Heaven. They must move and they must move quick. Constance says she'll stay here and protect the Moon with her army, just like she did for centuries. Dante and Beatrice start running and they enter the portal. As they're vanishing away, they witness someone arrive on the Moon and Constance's army arriving.

Dante and Beatrice arrive on Mercury. They see someone making a public speech, talking about the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. He says everybody should be ambitious, have a dream. He ends his speech and goes to talk to Dante and Beatrice. Justinian (Tim Roth) the Emperor says he heard about what happened at the garden of Eden and on the Moon. He says Dante has a great battle ahead of him. He says that he can give the command of his army to one of his general and come with them, he'll show them the way. He's ready to die for Dante, the man who escaped hell after being wrongly sent there. Dante and Beatrice accept his offer. Justinian gets back on stage and says his goodbyes to his people. The population of Mercury follows them to the portal and all three of them disappear.

Satan steps over Constance's body. He cleans his hands in a river and enters the portal to reach Mercury.

Dante, Beatrice and Justinian arrive on Venus, the planet of Love. Everyone seems to get along, the mood is happy and everyone has a smile on their face. They walk through the streets and stop in front of a troubadour, Folquet de Marseille (Guy Pearce). He sings a song about a man who fled Hell and is now making his way in the afterlife. His voice is mesmerizing and everyone is captivated by his music, almost like a spell. Dante interrupts, saying it's actually him. Folquet can't believe it and the audience members suddendly all want to meet Dante. Justinian interrupts them, saying they don't have the time. Folquet wants to accompany them, saying he's more useful and resourceful than he looks like. Before they go, Folquet guides them to a public space and everyone magically starts listening to him once he starts signing. He sings a song about a great war coming and how, for the sake of Love, every people on Venus should help defend the planet against Evil. Once he's done, people of Venus start going back to theri home. The group goes to the portal. Beatrice takes a look behind her and sees the people of Venus in armors with swords and bows. She asks Folquet how he did it and he says that's what he does. They step into the portal.

Satan is seen laughing in front of a burning city. He grabs a man who fainted on the ground and asks him where is the portal. He indicates him where to find it and Satan impales him with his sword. He steps into the portal.

The group appears on the Sun. The desert-like landscape makes for a wonderful and mostly hot environment. The walk on the Sun's surface and struggle to find people. Folquet sees a camp just beside a tree, a single tree, surrounded by the sand of the desert. They arrive at the camp and see a couple of poor, skinny people, being helped by a man. He feeds them and hydrates them from large amount of food. He presents himself, St. Francis (Aaron Eckhart) St. Francis tells Dante that he needs to talk to him, but first he needs to take care of these people. After he's done, he tells Dante and his group about a vision he had about Satan's victory on the Moon, Mercury and Venus. We see Satan destroying the planet of Venus and teleporting himself to the Sun. St. Francis warns them that they must leave and invoke the spirits of his friends, St. Bonaventure and St. Dominic to help defend the Sun. They leave in a hurry, in Mars' direction.

The group, now consisting of Dante, Beatrice, Justinian, Folquet de Marseille and St. Francis reach Mars, home of the cosmos' army. They watch a parade from a balcony and decide to eat a little bit while they're waiting for it to end. St. Francis has another vision as Satan is destroying the Sun. He raises sandstorms and throws fire at small campments, killing everybody there. A celestial battle starts between Satan and the two remaining people on the Sun, the spirits of Bonaventure and Dominic. The parade is finally over and Dante meets with one of their leader, Cacciaguida (Bill Pullman). He tells Dante that he wants to accompany him to help him defeat the great danger that's coming. Dressed from head to toes in a heavy armor, Cacciaguida is one of the best fighter to ever live. Beatrice, who likes him, accepts his offer. They are slowly walking towards the portal, when they hear people starting to fight. They see flames coming from a place near the portal. They start running to the other side of the town to get to portal that leads to Jupiter, while Mars is starting to get destroyed by Satan.

They're all able to reach Jupiter without getting injured during the destruction of Mars. Jupiter consists of one huge city, where everyone works under the authority of the Supreme Leader. It's a planet where everyone is equal and justice is always delivered to those to wrong others. Folquet starts to sing, not listening to Cacciaguida and Justinian who suggest him otherwise, but he does it anyway. Since his voice controls people, law officers are brought to see what magical being is controlling Jupiter's citizens. As they clearly don't have the time to face a trial and explain what's happening to them, Beatrice starts leading the group, who's running through the streets of the city, tryting to avoid the law officers. As they turn a corner, Beatrice is grabbed by someone who hides them in his home. That someone is David (Michael Cera), a rather diminutive man. He says he saw in his dreams what's going to happen soon and he must accompany them to their destination. Justinian asks what he could do to help them, as he's skinny and weak. St. Francis says he has an idea, but they must reac Saturn first, their next stop. When they're exiting the home, Satan starts to attack the city. David claims he'll be busy here, so they clearly have the time to reach the portal that will take them to Saturn. Satan easily sends off the law officers and soldiers sent to stop him. He burns houses to the ground and reanimates people, forming an army. Dante's group reach the portal and they teleport to Saturn.

On Saturn, it's always night time, always dark, never sunny. Most citizens of Saturn never leave their home, only when it's time to take food from the reserves. St. Francis leads the group, taking over from Beatrice, as he needs to find an old friend to do something about David. They enter a small chapel, where someone is praying. Francis kneels besides him and they start praying togheter. They both get up at the same time and Francis presents them his friend, Peter Damian (John Malkovich). Justinian and Cacciaguida asks them how an old man can help them achieve Dante's journey and Francis tells them to wait. They sense a great battle coming, there's no need to remind them. Francis and Damian ask for David to stand still, in a circle. They start saying something in latin and David starts to grow. They just transformed him into a giant. They say they need to go away fast, danger is coming. Beatrice claims the next portal is special, because it bends time. Time moves slower in the next circle of heaven, so the faster they reach portal, the more time they will have to seperate themselves from Satan. They exit Damian's chapel, run to the portal and enter it.

Satan gets out of the portal on Saturn. He slowly walks on a path leading to a village. At one point, he stops and turns around. He puts his palms up in the air and says things in latin. Several beings appear, they do not look human at all. They’re all armed. It’s the army he formed out of the citizen of Jupiter. He intends to make it bigger here on Saturn. He shouts something at his army, who enter the houses and start killing people. Satan smiles.

Dante’s group is sitting in a circle. Beatrice explains that this is the last station, the last circle Dante needs to get through to complete his journey and reach heaven. She tells Dante that the only reason she insisted on forming a team instead of racing through all the circles is because the portal isn’t always active here. It only works for a couple of hours a day and since time moves slower, they’re stuck here for a long time before it opens again. After Constance told them a great danger was coming, she knew they would have to face it here, there was no other way around it. When they turned around to see someone attacking Constance, Beatrice saw Satan. She knew it was him. She was told what his human form looks like by someone who was really old and the man she saw seemed to fit the description. The others are all a little scared, but they’re ready to fight for Dante, the first man to escape from Hell, in his quest to reach heaven. They start to prepare for the upcoming battle.

Everyone is sleeping and Folquet de Marseille is on patrol duty. He witnesses someone coming out of the portal and he starts to sing to wake up everyone. They all stand in line and Satan just completed his teleportation. He starts walking towards them. Dante tells him to stop, but he continues. Justinian and Cacciaguida start running in Satan’s direction, but he sends them flying with a fire blast. The others are stunned, but Folquet starts singing to bring them back on their feet. Satan stopped walking and starts saying things in latin again. Several beings start to appear. Francis and Peter know what Satan is doing after taking one good look at each other, Francis nods. Peter Damian gets away from the line and starts screaming. A white orb appears in his hands and starts to shoot light beams all around. The majority of the beings are destroyed, but Damian falls on the ground, unconscious. As his army continues to appear, Satan starts to fly in the air and protects himself in a magic bubble. They starts hammering on Satan’s army. David uses his newly acquired superhuman strength, Dante, Beatrice, Justinian and Cacciaguida cutting them in half with their sword, Folquet signing to heal David’s multiple wounds he got from the supernatural beings and St. Francis invoking his magic to kill them. They kill a lot of them, but Satan seemingly has an infinite number of beings at his service. The group is all backed up in a circle, with St. Francis in the middle. He starts to scream and closes the portal who can lead to Saturn. Satan’s army stops growing, but Francis faded. It’s Cacciaguida who’s the next to fall, being torn in half by one of the beasts. Folquet finds the time to tell Dante that he doesn’t think he still has a purpose in this battle. He starts to sing a song and transforms into Virgil (Tom Hiddleston), Dante’s old pal. They form a circle again. They start to get the upper hand and Satan comes down. They all want to stop him, but he protects himself with a fire barrier. He throws fireballs at David, who falls on the ground, also killing Justinian in the process, who caught fire after David tries to deck one of the fireballs. It all comes down to Dante, Beatrice and Virgil, against Satan. His fire barrier dies off and they start to attack him. He tries to throw fireballs at them, but they’re able to avoid them. They’re now tightening the circle around Satan. He knows he wouldn’t be able to kill two of them without one of them reaching him, so tells them they will do it the old-fashioned way. He invokes a fire sword. They take turns attacking him, but he sends them off. He quickly cuts Virgil and Beatrice cuts Satan on the leg, he’s limping. He concentrates his attack Virgil, the weakest link. The disarms him, cutting his two arms and cuts his head, who rolls next to Dante’s foot. Beatrice looks at Satan and his wound closed and disappeared. She knows they won’t be able to kill him easily. They continue to try to kill Satan in an impressive fight, but he somehow remains alive. The portal leading to heaven opens behind Satan. Beatrice looks at Dante and she starts running in Satan’s direction, with her guard down. He stars cutting her in pieces as she screams. Dante comes from behind and in one big swing, cuts Satan’s head off. Beatrice is on her knees, fighting to stay alive. She tells Dante to go and he says he’s sorry. He doesn’t want to go. During his journey, everyone kept making sacrifices for him and he doesn’t understand why everyone did this for him. He doesn’t think he deserved it. Beatrice tells him with her last breath that the moment she saw him, she knew he was the one who would defeat evil and be successful in his journey. He tells her again that he doesn’t want to go. She starts crying and for the first time, uses her magic, to push Dante into the portal before it closes. The last thing Dante sees before disappearing, is Beatrice falling down, dead.

Dante is rises up in the air, in a sort of air column. It’s all black first, but as he rises up, it changes to a sort of light blue. He sees several big moments from his journey and the face of everyone who helped him in his adventure. An emotional Dante lands on a golden cloud of dust and is facing a huge golden door. He walks towards it and it opens. He gets through it. He’s amazed by what he’s seeing, but we can’t see it. He says one thing before the screen cuts to the credits : heaven.

Premiere Magzine #69

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 7 Round 9)

Can you believe that the seventh season of Last Resort Films is already entering its final round? Here's the second to last Roundup of Season 7.....

3. The Carpet Makers
It's not every day that such an ambitious and "out there" sci-fi film is released. The casting is great, and the story is something I've never seen the likes of on the big screen. It was also nice to see Bong Joon-ho get his first big budget Hollywood film - even if wasn't a traditional effort.

2. Start of the LRF 100
The LRF 100 is an endeavor by the studio that I am really intrigued by. The first category released was the Top Soundtracks category. The big surprise was such a recent film like Revolution having enough support to garner the top spot in the category. It just goes to show how well John Malone planned out that soundtrack.

1. Plastic Man
Plastic Man makes two comedic characters for the studio's DC Universe alongside Booster Gold. It will be very interesting to see if they both appear in the in-the-works Justice League International team-up film. Glenn Howerton manages to make for a comedic leading man, but in a completely different style than Billy Magnussen in Booster Gold. The sarcastic and sardonic wit of Plastic Man makes it truly stand out, even among other superhero comedies.

3. Box Office Disappointment of The Carpet Makers
It's a bummer that such a unique film failed to attract an audience. I understand that the story isn't especially marketable, and mostly appeals to a more mature audience that isn't especially likely to see a sci-fi/fantasy film on the big screen.

2. Eleanor & Park Casting
Normally I don't comment on a film's casting progress until the film is released, but the first casting announcement for Eleanor & Park is definitely a head-scratcher. In the book, the Eleanor is described as a chubby, 16-year-old with big red hair, but then they go ahead and cast  beautiful 21-year-old Chloe Grace Moretz. Apparently the filmmakers involved with casting the film didn't learn anything from Moretz's casting in the Carrie remake...

1. Length of Dark Places
There were some strong aspects in H.G. Hansen and Cary Fukunaga's Dark Places, but the length was a big knock against it. There simply isn't enough story to warrant such a lengthy film. The film could have cut back on some extraneous details and some of the flashbacks that don't move the plot forward.

Release: The Carpet Makers

The Carpet Makers
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Writer: Seth Overton
Based on the novel by Andreas Eschbach
Cast: Colin Farrell, Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac, Jeff Goldblum, John C. Reilly, Ian McShane


Budget: $89,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $49,002,873
Foreign Box Office: $79,444,120
Total Profit: -$38,101,223

Reaction: This story might have been a bit too "out there" for general audiences - an ambitious, introspective sci-fi film that just didn't have a lot of marketable aspects aside from the cast. This film definitely could have lost a lot more money than it did, but thankfully home video sales were quite strong.

"Director Bong Joon-ho and writer Seth Overton have delivered an odd and compelling sci-fi film here. While not for everyone, those who can keep with it will enjoy this more thoughtful sci-fi spectacle." - Michael Van Patten, Slant Magazine

"The Carpet Makers just doesn't feel like it has the urgency required in big films these days. There are certainly some intriguing parts, but it is all just too out of reach for most audience members." - Stephen Ridley, Boston Globe

"This film is exactly the type of film that people expected David Lynch's Dune to be. An ambitious and trippy film with rich and unique characters, and a thoughtfulness not always characteristic of the genre." - Ben Bernard, New York Times

In Development

Damned Ship: Rounding out the cast of Adam Wingard's latest directorial effort, Damned Ship, will be Bella Thorne (You Get Me, "Famous in Love"), Ashley Rickards (The Outcasts, "Awkward") and Max Irons (Metal Gear Solid, "Condor"). Thorne and Rickards will play fashion models, while Irons will play a student of Jeremy Davies. Ben Collins wrote the script.

Splinter Cell: Double Agent: With Tom Cruise and Laurence Fishburne already set to return for the fourth film in the Splinter Cell series, now some new players have joined the series. Woody Harrelson (The Wolfman, Carmilla), Holt McCallany ("Mindhunter", Monster Trucks) and Morena Baccarin (Dark Places, Strangers Friends) have all signed on to appear in the film. Harrelson will play the leader of a domestic terrorist organization, with McCallany as his head of security. Baccarin will play the organization's weapons expert. Yann Demange is directing the film from a script by D.R. Cobb.

The Banded Ants 3 - Showdown: The new voices that will be heard in this Banded Ants trilogy capper will be from Mark Strong (La Resistance, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory), Charlize Theron (Numero Uno, Atlas Shrugged) and Scarlett Johansson (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Avengers: Infinity War). Strong will voice an ant king, Theron will voice an ant queen, and Johansson will voice a wasp.

Crowley: Tom Hardy (Numero Uno, Hated: The Ballad of GG Allin) is set to portray famed occultist Aleister Crowley in this biographic film. Nicolas Winding Refn (Cat People, The Question: The End) will direct the film from a script by Lon Charles (Bad Education, Deprogramming).

Eleanor & Park: Writer H.G. Hansen (Looking for Alaska, Dark Places) is back with another young adult adaptation, this time Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park. Chloe Grace Moretz (The Secret History, Brain on Fire), Ryan Potter ("Titans", "Supah Ninjas"), Bruce Campbell ("Ash vs. Evil Dead", The Escort) and Malin Akerman (Perfect Blue, "Billions") have all been cast in the project. Moretz and Potter will play two high school outcasts who strike up a relationship. Akerman will play Moretz's mother, while Campbell will play her abusive stepfather. Richard Linklater (Last Flag Flying, Everybody Wants Some!!) will direct the film.

Maple Leaf: Harry Wright (Spawn, Grand Theft Auto) has written a quirky crime film about a trio of ex-cons who team up to steal Canadian maple syrup and sell it in America. Jason Reitman is set to direct the film (Tully, Labor Day) with Billy Bob Thornton ("Goliath", Skin Tight), Steve Buscemi (Death and All His Friends, The Death of Stalin) and William Fichtner (Metal Gear Solid, Without Remorse) set for the lead roles.

LRF 100: Top 10 Soundtracks

To celebrate the 200th release from Last Resort Films, the studio's writers were asked to vote on 100 top choices from those 200 films. The votes were split up into 10 categories, and each writer chose their top 10 choices in the category. First place votes were worth 10 points, while 10th place votes were worth one point (you can do the math for the votes in-between). In parentheses next to the film's title will be the number of first place votes the film or actor received. And now for the results of the first category: Top 10 Soundtracks...

TOP 10 SOUNDTRACKS
10. The Beatles
"It's hard to not vote for a soundtrack full of Beatles songs..." - Lon Charles
9. Last Rites 
8. Missoula
"The songs are not personal favorites of mine, but I appreciated the nostalgic nod to someone that might have been in college at the time these were all over the radio." - Seth Overton
7. Trip     (1)
"Like most picks in the top half, the cohesiveness and the great fit with the actual movie is what really inspired this choice." - Seth Overton
6. Atlantic City 
5. Welcome to Paradise     (1)
4. Life on Mars 
3. Booster Gold     (2)
2. Cat People     (2)
"Love it or hate it, it's a Refn soundtrack." - Chad Taylor
1. Revolution     (3)
"The songs not only perfectly capture the mood, but they also capture the era - without using any of the obvious songs for the setting." - Dwight Gallo

Now Showing: The Carpet Makers

The Carpet Makers
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Writer: Seth Overton
Based on the novel by Andreas Eschbach
Cast: Colin Farrell, Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac, Jeff Goldblum, John C. Reilly, Ian McShane

Plot: Knot after knot, day in, day out, for an entire lifetime, always the same hand movements, always looping the same knots in the fine hair, so fine and so tiny that with time, the fingers trembled and the eyes became weak from strain.

On Planet G-101/2 in the Gheera galaxy, reverence for and fear of the immortal Emperor Alexander (Ed Harris) is drilled into all citizens as children. The planet’s entire economy is organized around skilled artisans who knot carpets made from their wives’ and daughters' hair. A carpet weaver spends his entire life fashioning just one carpet, which will be transported from the planet to decorate the palace of the Emperor. The weaver’s son takes up the post and spends his entire life doing the same painstaking labor. It has been so for thousands upon thousands of years.

Ostvan (Colin Farrell) is a carpet maker motivated by an almost religious devotion to the distant and seemingly immortal Emperor. Ostvan visits one of his wives (Rachel Weisz) in the city of Yahannachia, where preparations for the annual carpet buying ceremony are in place. His carpet is still far from ready, but he is confident he could sell it and pass on the earnings to his son in 10 years.

At home, he finds that his wife has invited a guest for dinner (Oscar Isaac). Ostvan is insulted that his wife acted without his permission, but decides to let it slide when he finds out that the man is a preacher of the Emperor and his son's teacher. He sends her and the daughters outside the room, as it is tradition for men to dine separately. While drinking, the teacher lets his guard down and betrays the fact that he has been having religious doubts. He speaks of a man called Jubal, who told him many heretical things about the God Emperor, things the teacher had long suspected. He speaks of a rebellion brewing and the overthrow of their tyranny.

The next day, the now bald-headed wife is in tears as guards take away the treacherous teacher. Ostvan sits stoically while sipping a glass of whisky. After he finishes his drink, he bags the hair he has collected and leaves for his workshop.

Elsewhere, in the Central World, Jubal (Joaquin Pheonix) and his Council of Rebels prepare their meticulously planned attack on the Emperor's palace. The Council expects heavy resistance, but to their surprise, they capture the palace and kill the emperor without suffering any casualties. Everyone cheers for Jubal and his perfect plan, but this victory does not seem to bring him any satisfaction. He is troubled by a secret: the rebels' success and the Emperor's death were planned by the Emperor himself, grown weary of his long life.

Looking for answers, they find the Archivist (Jeff Goldblum) an eccentric servant for the late Emperor who reluctantly recognizes them as the new leaders and lets them in the archive rooms. They explore the imperial archives in increasing disbelief. The Star Palace contains no hair carpets, yet, rather than one planet producing them, there are more than ten thousand! More incredibly yet, all the carpets are shipped to a planet that no longer appears on any imperial star chart and cannot be located in space.

Ten years later, back in Yahannachia, nothing has changed. Preparations for the annual carpet buying fair are still in place. Ostvan has finally finished his carpet and is awaiting the arrival of the trader and getting ready for his retirement. Meanwhile, his wife bribed one of the prison guards and has been visiting the teacher in secret, bringing him food.

The Trader (John C. Reilly)- a corpulent bourgeois man holding a cigar, finally arrives at the spaceport. There, he is greeted by Jubal who tells him the Emperor is dead and asks him on whose authority he is still collecting carpets. The trader is left speechless for a few seconds. News of the Emperor's demise have not reached these godforsaken parts of the galaxy. He answers that there is no authority. It is simply tradition.

The carpet buying fair has begun. Old men gather around accompanied by their successors, as the trader enters the city to buy their lifetime work. Jubal tries to interrupt the fair, telling everyone they have been liberated. They are no longer required to weave carpets. In the crowd, there is also the carpet maker's wife. She runs, elated, towards the prison, planning to meet with the teacher and leave the planet together. A few others from the crowd leave the fair as well, but most of them ignore Jubal and things go on as usual.

The trader buys most of the carpets, including Ostvan's and loads them up into his spaceship. He allows Jubal to travel with him to a distant space station near a black hole - the delivery point for all the hair carpets. Once traders arrive at the space station, an automated system transfers them a number of credits for each carpet sent through the black hole.

When entering the black hole, Jubal is transported to a lone barren planet, in an isolated bubble of space, removed from all the other stars of the galaxy. He is astonished to learn that all the hair carpets have been sent through to this world and now cover most of its surface. Only an ancient palace remains and, within it, a captive former king (Ian McShane) kept alive by artificial means, forced to watch the destruction of his world.

He returns to the Imperial Archives, once again demanding answers from the Archivist. With a sly smile, the archivist recounts an ancient story: the former king had teased the Emperor's predecessor about being unable to grow hair on his head, so in vengeance the old Emperor had decided to cover his enemy's entire planet with the hair of his former subjects, a plan which the next Emperor had allowed to continue ever since.

Knot after knot, day in, day out, for entire lifetimes.

Release: Plastic Man

Plastic Man
Genre: Action/Superhero/Comedy
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Writer: APJ
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Glenn Howerton, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Moss, Clayne Crawford, David Dastmalchian, Dean Norris, H. Jon Benjamin




Budget: $180,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $302,973,210
Foreign Box Office: $345,001,087
Total Profit: $279,100,751

Reaction: Astounding numbers for this film based on a lesser known comic book character. It joins Booster Gold as another hit DC superhero comedy.  The success of LRF superhero films like Booster Gold, Plastic Man, White Tiger and The Question, plus the success of films like Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy outside of LRF, shows that character popularity is not always indicative of future box office.

"In this day and age, audiences expect to see high stakes in their superhero fare. With Plastic Man, most of the movie is spent with him trying to stop some bank robbing former colleagues. This just didn't create the kind of action set pieces to build a movie around." - Manny Duncan, San Antonio Express-News

"When Glenn Howerton was first cast in the lead role and Rawson Thurber Marshall was hired to direct, I was worried that this film was trying to copy the blueprint of Booster Gold. Thankfully, I was wrong. Both are fun superhero comedies, but the tone of Plastic Man is arguably darker and weirder than the more goofy, mainstream humor found in Booster Gold." - Michael Wilmington, Rolling Stone

"Sometimes a big time character is so perfectly cast that it seems like a no-brainer in hindsight. Like Chris Pratt as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, it is now hard to imagine anyone other than TV star Glenn Howerton as the occasionally-heroic Plastic Man. He perfectly captures the sardonic tone that makes the character interesting and hilarious." - Ben Bernard, New York Times

Resume: Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks has slowly worked her way to stardom in her Last Resort Films career. She started out playing love interests, but through her work in The Question series has grown her exposure and acclaim. This season she starred in the well-regarded The Question: The End, which has led to some awards buzz for her performance. In this edition of Resume, we will look at the filmography of this radiant leading lady...









Season 1

Skin Tight
Director: David Dobkin
Writer: D.R. Cobb

Budget: $65,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $51,280,026
Foreign Box Office: $61,907,041
Total Profit: -$5,843,601




The underrated dark comedy Skin Tight was the final film of Season 1, and the first comedy effort from the studio. She played a reality TV producer who become romantically intangled with a private detective (Vince Vaughn( investigating a criminally inept plastic surgeon (Billy Bob Thornton). The film failed to break even at the box office, but was well received by critics.

Season 2

The Question
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer: D.R. Cobb

Budget: $106,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $150,860,040
Foreign Box Office: $267,105,398
Total Profit: $260,890,147

 

 

While not the first superhero film from the studio (that would be Blue Beetle), The Question is arguably the film that put LRF's DC Universe on the map. She played the female lead in the film, Myra Connelly, The Question's love interest, but hardly the standard damsel in distress found in this type of film. The film was a huge hit with critics and audiences alike.

Season 4

Last Rites
Director: Paolo Sorrentino

Writer: Lon Charles

Budget: $9,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $9,297,064
Foreign Box Office: $18,328,509
Total Profit: $335,621

 

 

Not the biggest of films or roles, Hendricks turns up in this cathartic tale of a dying movie star (Michael Madsen). Despite only appearing in a couple of scenes, she leaves quite the impact - and reportedly just missed out on a Golden Reel nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

 

Season 5

The Question: Dark Tomorrow

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer: D.R. Cobb

Budget: $135,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $175,934,643
Foreign Box Office: $277,453,987
Total Profit: $251,323,255

Hendricks is back in this sequel to The Question. She has more screen time in this outing as the character has grown from love interest to the full-blown co-lead. While not quite as universally acclaimed as the first entry in the series, this sequel managed to bring in more money than its predecessor.

Ringer

Director: Scott Derrickson

Writer: Dwight Gallo

Budget: $53,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $54,347,046
Foreign Box Office: $60,013,121
Total Profit: -$2,787,025

In this sci-fi thriller Hendricks played the baby crazy wife of a scientist (Bradley Cooper) who inadvertently clones himself, leading to disastrous and murderous results. Critics seemed to have fun with the film, but it narrowly missed out on bringing in a profit for the studio.

Season 7

The Question: The End
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Writer: D.R. Cobb

Budget: $150,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $195,009,755
Foreign Box Office: $282,221,781
Total Profit: $250,400,121

Hendricks returned for The Question: The End, the cap of a trilogy starring the character. Her character once again has grown even more important, this time driving much of the story. Her strong performance has received universal acclaim, leading many to consider her to be one of the front runners in the Best Actress race.

Up Next: Christina Hendricks has at least a handful of projects lined up for future seasons already. Next season, she will star in Decrescendo, a biopic of singer Alys Robi. After that, she has projects with writers such as Chad Taylor and H.G. Hansen.


Review:

• Highest Grossing Film: The Question: The End ($477,231,536)
• Most Profitable Film: The Question ($260,890,147)
• Most Awarded Film(s): The Question: Dark Tomorrow (1 win, 1 nomination), Last Rites (3 nominations)
• Best Reviewed Film: The Question

Now Showing: Plastic Man

Plastic Man
Genre: Action/Superhero/Comedy
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Writer: APJ
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Glenn Howerton, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Moss, Clayne Crawford, David Dastmalchian, Dean Norris, H. Jon Benjamin

Plot: Calumet City crime lord Lew Moxon (Dean Norris) meets with criminals Ralph Dibney (Clayne Crawford), Patrick "Eel" O'Brian (Glenn Howerton) and Chuck Brown (David Dastmalchian) about breaking into the safe at Crawford Chemical Supply to steal the company's payroll before it is sent off to the city bank. Dibney handles point, O'Brian will crack the safe while Brown will handle the getaway. Unbeknownst to them, FBI Agent Nancy Morgan (Elisabeth Moss) has Moxon under surveillance and decides to tail the crew as they head for the job.

The job goes wrong almost immediately as Agent Morgan and her team decide to bust the crew at Crawford Chemical Supply. Dibney opens fire on the feds. Brown escapes to the rooftop of the building and flies away in a squirrel suit. The exchange of bullets punctures one of the chemical vats, spraying the chemicals all over Dibney and O'Brian. Agent Morgan hits O'Brian in the abdomen with a bullet, sending him over a rail and into the factory's drainage pipes, which flushes his unconscious body out of the facility. 

O'Brian wakes up on the city's shoreline. He wanders back into the city, where his body begins stretching and contorting into monstrous shapes. People begin running away, screaming, but it's only when O'Brian catches a glimpse of his own reflection that he realizes they are running away from him. The police arrive and open fire on him. At first he begins stretching to dodge the bullets, but soon he realizes that the bullets have no effect on him and merely bounce away. O'Brian runs away from the police, taking giant steps the length of a city block to run away.

O'Brian loses the police and stops on the Calumet City Bridge. He looks over the edge, contemplating suicide, when he notices another man (Dan Fogler) doing the same thing. The man gets excited when he sees O'Brian and introduces himself as Wolfgang Winks, but says his friends call him "Woozy". Woozy asks why O'Brian is standing on the edge of the bridge. O'Briand tells him he has become a monster and asks Woozy the same question. Woozy explains that he was just released from the city psychiatric hospital due to a lack of funding and was hoping that someone would notice him and call it in so he could get his old room at the hospital back. The two go and get lunch where they start to hatch ideas to capitalize on O'Brian's newfound abilities. They debate whether there is more money in crime or crime-fighting, and end up flipping a coin to decide, ending up with crime-fighting, but only after O'Brian insists on going two-out-of-three, and ultimately eight-out-of-fifteen. O'Brian begrudgingly allows Woozy to stay with him at his old hideout while they figure out how to fight crime, but gives him a series of unrealistic rules he must follow in order to stay including no breathing through his mouth and no using the bathroom (he mentions there is a perfectly good restroom at the gas station down the block).

Agent Morgan sees the reports of the "monster attacking the city" on the news and recognizes the "monster" as O'Brian. She goes to his apartment to investigate, but only finds Woozy there who tells her that he is O'Brian's roommate and that he hasn't seen O'Brian in days. Once Morgan leaves it is revealed that O'Brian was in the room all along, stretching himself to look like curtains.

Woozy goes to the gas station down the block to use the restroom and sees that there is a bank robbery in progress. Woozy decides to hold it in and run back to tell O'Brian about the robbery. O'Brian doesn't understand why Woozy rushed to tell him, but Woozy reminds him that he proclaimed that he will use his powers for good. Woozy gives him a pair of ski goggles to wear to conceal his identity. O'Brian then heads on over to the bank. The criminals are leaving the bank when he gets there and he notices that it is Dibney and Brown. The three get caught up in catching up, but finally O'Brian tells them that he can't allow them to steal all the money. They laugh at him and keep moving, so O'Brian stretches himself extra wide to block their path. Dibney reveals that he can stretch too from the chemical that was spilled on them, and steps over him to make his escape. O'Brian is stunned and decides to focus his attention on Brown, stating he never liked him anyways. Brown suddenly flies off on a kite. O'Brian reaches after him, but the police open fire on O'Brian, distracting him and allowing Brown to escape.

O'Brian heads back to his apartment where he finds Agent Morgan and Woozy waiting for him. He asks Woozy why he let her in, but he says that he went to the gas station to take a bath and when he came back she was already there. She asks him why he tried to stop the robbery, and he explains to her that he has decided to try to use his powers to do some sort of good. He tells her that the robbers are part of his crew from the chemical plant, Ralph Dibney and Chuck Brown. She tells him that she can use her FBI resources to help him track them down. He agrees to try to capture them, but only if she goes on a date with him. Agent Morgan's investigation into Dibney and Brown is a deadend, so she decides to resume surveillance on their only known associate: Lew Moxon.

O'Brian and Woozy discuss ways to make money and Woozy suggests that O'Brian needs a superhero name like "Blue Beetle" or "Batman". Woozy suggests several names such as "Elastic Man" and "Rubberband Man", but O'Brian scoffs at all of them, saying that if he wanted a stupid name he'd go by "Plastic Man".

Reports indicate that Dibney and Brown are in the act of robbing another bank. Agent Morgan calls O'Brian and tells him where to go, but he refuses to help unless she goes on the date she owes him after. She relents, and O'Brian races to the bank. They're already in the process of escaping by the time he gets there. Dibney, now calling himself "The Elongated Man", which O'Brian comments is even worse than "Plastic Man" escapes down a sewer drain. As Brown escapes on his kite, O'Brian grabs on and stretches himself into a sail that forces the kite to crash into a tree. O'Brian laughs about the "Kite Man" getting stuck in a tree like Charlie Brown's kite. O'Brian ties Brown up with one arm and takes Brown to Agent Morgan, who places him under arrest for armed robbery.

That night, O'Brian and Morgan go on their date at a Chinese restaurant. She asks him why he decided to go from committing crimes to trying to stop them and he tells her that he flipped a coin, but she thinks he's kidding. The date is going well until O'Brian starts talking about how he is interested in finding out how his new "superheroes" transfer to the bedroom. Her phone rings and she tells him she has to go, but O'Brian assumes she left because of what he said. When she leaves, he shrinks down to the size of a pack of gum and hides in Morgan's jacket pocket.

Morgan goes home and changes out of her date clothes and into clothes for work, while a shrunken O'Brian watches. Morgan really does go to work and heads to the FBI field office to interrogate Chuck "Kite Man" Brown. She asks him where Dibney is, but he doesn't say a word, not even when he's offered a deal if he testifies against Dibney and Moxon. During the interrogation, O'Brian sneaks out of Morgan's pocket and hides under the table. Morgan leaves the room to give Brown time to think over the deal. O'Brian stretches himself back out to his normal size. Brown comments that Dibney can't shrink like O'Brian can. O'Brian asks where Dibney is hiding out these days, but Brown doesn't tell him. O'Brian tells Brown that kites aren't allowed in federal prison before leaving by slipping under the door. Morgan's superior Agent Felder (H. Jon Benjamin) tells her that the surveillance team has tailed Moxon to Crawford Chemical Supply. O'Brian, who was eavesdropping, sneaks out of the building and heads for the chemical plant.

At Crawford Chemical Supply, O'Brian discovers that Moxon and Dibney are planning on using the company's chemicals to alter more criminals to create a gang of super-powered thugs. Moxon opens fire at O'Brian with a machine gun, but the bullets bounce right off of O'Brian and come right back at Moxon, killing him. Dibney and O'Brian have a stretched out fight through the corridors of the chemical plant. Dibney grabs an axe and attacks O'Brian with it, but it cuts right through O'Brian having no effect on him. O'Brian grabs Dibney's arms and stretches them out, pulling them all around inside and out of the building, but eventually Dibney's arms stop stretching and he starts screaming in pain. O'Brian ties Dibney's arms down, then turns his own arm into a rubber mallet that he knocks Dibney out with. Agents Morgan and Felder enter the plant to find an unconscious Dibney tied into ridiculous, unbelievable knots.

Agent Morgan knocks on O'Brian's door. He stretches his head underneath the door. She tells him that she is sorry for leaving their date early and asks if they can finish it. He kisses her. As they kiss, Woozy walks down the hall, wearing a shower cap, behind Morgan announcing that the gas station won't let him use the bathroom anymore because he flooded it taking a bath.

Release: Dark Places

Dark Places
Genre: Mystery/Drama
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Writer: H.G. Hansen
Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn
Cast: Katherine Waterston, David Harbour, Caleb Landry Jones, Dominique McElligott, Morena Baccarin, Roselyn Sanchez, Andy Serkis, Taylor Kitsch, Peyton Roi List, Alice Englert, Josh Hartnett



Budget: $28,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $24,991,503
Foreign Box Office: $18,777,400
Total Profit: -$12,412,981

Reaction: This just doesn't seem to be a piece of source material that film audiences are interested in latching on to. This version of the film performed far better than the previous adaptation, so that's a silver lining.

"I struggled with the structure of the film. Not because it was confusing, but because while each flashback gives the audience a bit more information, it never makes us care any more about the characters or story." - Richard Park, Globe and Mail

"Director Cary Fukunaga and screenwriter H.G. Hansen do what they can with the material, but they are ultimately stuck making a film based on one of Gillian Flynn's lesser novels. If you can look back the over-abundance of unnecessary twists and turns, and focus on the quality of the work on-screen, the film will be worth your time." - Eli McCown, NJ.com

"The script by H.G. Hansen plots the story out in a far more interesting and coherent fashion than the 2015 Charlize Theron-led adaptation, and the direction by Cary Fukunaga is certainly a step above Gilles Paquet-Brenner's work. One area though that this adaptation does not improve upon is the overall talent of the cast. Katherine Waterston is a talented actress, but she does not have quite the talent or gravitas of a Charlize Theron." - Gillian Donaldson, Variety