Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Now Showing: Delaware

Delaware
Genre: Historical/War
Director: Scott Cooper
Writer: Matt Parker
Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Rockwell, Eric Stonestreet, Ed Helms, Will Arnett, Jack Huston

Plot: The Continental Army retreats across New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War after a defeat. George Washington (Christian Bale) and his army narrowly escape across the river to the Pennsylvania shore, setting up camp. Washington meets with his officers: Gen. Hugh Mercer (Sam Rockwell), Col. John Glover (Ed Helms), Gen. Horatio Gates (Will Arnett) and Gen. Henry Knox (Eric Stonestreet). In the past six months, they have lost New York City and been chased through New Jersey by the British, and 90% of their troops have either been killed or taken prisoner, or have deserted.

General Mercer, informs Washington that their supplies of food, medicine, ammunition and winter clothing are dangerously low. Realizing that something must be done or the Revolution will collapse, Washington conceives a plan to cross the river before it freezes and conduct a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton. The situation makes the plan appear all but impossible to Colonel Glover, but due to his loyalty to Washington, he agrees to take the army across. When Washington proposes this operation to his staff, General Gates scoffs at its possibility, going over the line by calling Washington insane and unfit for command. Furious, Washington dismisses Gates from the camp at gunpoint, ordering him into silence. The rest of the staff laughs, but Washington and Glover silence them with the lack of advantages they have.

Washington puts General Knox in charge of leading the logistics of leading the soldiers across the freezing river. They decide to make the crossing on Christmas night, hoping to catch the enemy sluggish and hungover the following morning.  The officers have only a few days to prepare their troops and weapons, and the soldiers, until it is time to cross, must be told no more than necessary.

On Christmas night, Washington orders the boats to start leaving as soon as it is dark enough to conceal their movements on the Delaware River. Once the boats get on the water, the weather begins to get progressively worse, with winds and snow making the trip much more treacherous. The boats have to evade floating ice in the river.

Washington's boat is one of the first across the river. He orders troops to make a sentry line around the landing area to make sure no one enters the area. As soon as all of his soldiers are across the river, Washington orders the army to split into two columns: one under his command and another under the command of General John Sullivan (Jack Huston). The two columns take parallel routes that surround the Hessian encampment in Trenton, New Jersey. Washington's column engages Hessian guards, some stay to fight Washington's troops, while others retreat only to see Sullivan's troops blocking any escape. Washington's army forces the Hessians to surrender after minimal fighting. The Americans capture 1,000 prisoners, seizing their muskets, gun powder and artillery, while only losing the lives of three American soldiers.


In Development

Batman: Gotham Knight: Fan favorite Bryan Cranston (Gorky Park, Blood Meridian) has reportedly signed a very lucrative contract to appear as Jim Gordon in Batman: Gotham Knight and any subsequent sequels. Also joining him in the film as fellow allies of Jake Gyllenhaal's Dark Knight will be Ian McShane (The Wolfman, Into Thin Air) as Alfred, Bruce Wayne's most trusted confidant, and Madelaine Petsch (Dracula Lives, "Riverdale) as Gordon's daughter Barbara, who in the comics later becomes Batgirl. Joseph Kosinski directs from an APJ screenplay.

Last Rites: Hailee Steinfeld (101, Pitch Perfect 3), Joel McHale (Ted, "Community") and Michael Sheen (Solution, "Masters of Sex") have all joined Michael Madsen in Paolo Sorrentino's drama about an aging former action star. Steinfeld will play Madsen's character's pop star daughter, McHale will play his agent, and Sheen will play the director of the actor's latest low-budget action film. Lon Charles wrote the script.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Michael Jai White (Accident Man, Falcon Rising), Annabelle Wallis (The Mummy, "Peaky Blinders"), Michael Stuhlbarg (Jonestown, The Fountainhead), Corey Hawkins (Kong: Skull Island, Straight Outta Compton) have signed on to appear as part of the growing cast of the latest Star Trek film, Star Trek: Enterprise. Michael Jai White will play a Klingon who crashlands on Earth, kickstarting the events of the film. Wallis will play an alien with questionable motives the Enterprise crew encounters, Stuhlbarg will play the ship's medical officer, and Hawkins will play a crewmember. Rupert Wyatt directs the film from a script by two-time Best Adaptation winner John Malone.

Synthetic: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Snowden, The Walk) and Karen Gillan (Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Dino Crisis) will star in this sci-fi thriller set in a future where war has effectively killed out the human race, with only a select number of androids surviving. The two stars will play androids will decide to clone a human being. Francis Lawrence (The Mummy, Red Sparrow) will direct the film which was written by Mark Newton (Easy Money, Without Remorse).

Demons: Eli Roth (Knock Knock, The Green Inferno) will remake the schlocky 1985 horror film Demons from a script by rookie writer Gabe Winsor. Lili Simmons (American Playboy, "Banshee"), Imogen Poots (Bride of Frankenstein, Flicker), Nicholas Hoult (The Prisoner, Rasputin) and Alex Pettyfer (The Strange Ones, Elvis & Nixon) have all been cast in the project, set at a horror film screening that goes terribly wrong.

Road Rash: Robert Rodriguez (Blue Beetle, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) has signed on to direct the motorcycle racing video game adaptation Road Rash based on a script by Jack Ryder. The film depicts a game of cat and mouse between a gang of motorcycle racers and a group of cops. Liam Hemsworth (The Duel, Independence Day: Resurgence) and Natalie Dormer (The Forest, "Game of Thrones") have been hired to lead the cast.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Premiere Magazine #31


Release: Cat People

Cat People
Genre: Supernatural/Horror
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer: Lon Charles
Based on the 1982 and 1942 films of the same name
Cast: Barbara Palvin, Luke Evans, Aaron Taylor-Johnson




Budget: $10,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $5,046,028
Foreign Box Office: $10,383,511
Total Profit: $2,349,325

Reaction: We knew from the get-go that this one would be a hard sell, although the $10 million budget is still one of the higher ones given to a Nicolas Winding Refn film (but small for a studio release, and the lowest budget yet for a Last Resort Films release).


"Avoid this film unless you are a big fan of the director's smaller budget work like The Neon Demon or Only God Forgives. It is another pretentious, brooding effort from Nicolas Winding Refn." - Samuel O'Brien, Sight and Sound Magazine

"Director Nicolas Winding Refn has crafted another visual feast with this moody, beautiful, sexy, bloody horror film. Each is actor is impeccably cast, even model Barbara Palvin who is a vision on screen (and is wisely not asked to do too much by Refn)." - Sean Sullivan, Financial Times


"Nicolas Winding Refn's work is so divisive that it is genuinely difficult to critique his films. I didn't particularly enjoy his latest release, but it is definitely an on-brand effort from the auteur." - Janelle Arbor, Vogue

Last Resort Films Jukebox: Cat People

1. "Cat People (Putting out Fire)" - Shooter Jennings feat. Marilyn Manson (Vectorwolf Remix)

2. "Ceremony" - Chromatics feat. Ida No

3. "Slow Dreams" - Johnny Jewel

4. "Saturday" - Desire

5. "White Light" - Chromatics

6. "Sadness, Grief and Hope" - Tangerine Dream

7. "Shadow" - Chromatics

8. "Stardust" - Johnny Jewel

9. "Witch" - Goblin

Monday, February 26, 2018

Now Showing: Cat People

Cat People
Genre: Supernatural/Horror
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer: Lon Charles
Based on the 1982 and 1942 films of the same name
Cast: Barbara Palvin, Luke Evans, Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Plot: Carolina Szabo (Barbara Palvin) travels to London from Hungary to try to track down her brother Erik (Luke Evans), who has been missing for years but sent her a blank postcard from London. That night, while Carolina sleeps at a hostal, she wakes up when she gets the feeling that someone or something is watching her. She only sees shadows and lights coming in through the window, so she goes back to sleep.

Carolina visits the local zoo and is drawn to the panthers, staying long after closing, undetected for hours. She is finally discovered by one of the zoologists, Oliver Reed (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). She tries to flee, but Oliver catches up to her in an empty animal habitat. He tells her she's not in trouble and offers to buy her dinner. Over dinner they discuss what brought her to London. Oliver offers to help her get a job at the zoo. The next day she is hired to work in the gift shop. On her first day of work, one of the zoo workers is mauled to death by a panther during a routine cage cleaning.  Oliver is pressured by his bosses to euthanize the panther, only to find that it has escaped.

Carolina is sleeping at the hostal when she is awoken by her brother Erik, who is sweaty, dirty and bloody. She helps him clean up. In the process, Erik tells his sister of a Hungarian folk tale about a werecat. If the werecat mates with a human, they transform into a panther, and can only regain human form by killing a human. Carolina falls asleep. When she wakes up, the window is open and Erik is gone.

Police discover a bloody mess in anbandoned warehouse: shackles, bones, and the remains of nearly a dozen corpses. They suspect a wild animal was kept there and call Oliver in for his expert opinion. That night, Carolina and Oliver have sex. She transforms into a panther and flees. Police and animal control later corner her on a bridge, suspecting her of being the panther that killed the zoo worker. Just as they are about to shoot her, another panther emerges and begins killing the cops. Carolina, as a panther, kills one of the animal control officers before they can shoot her with a tranquilizer gun. Both panthers then jump off the bridge, and swim away down the river.

When they get out of the water, the panthers transform back into Carolina and Erik. She tells him he wants nothing to do with him and runs away. She shows up at Oliver's house where she explains to him the tale her brother told her. She tells him that she did not want to kill him because she loves him.

Erik, in panther form, crashes through the window and attacks Oliver. Carolina shoots her brother with a gun she found in Oliver's nightstand. The dead panther reverts back to human form when it dies. Carolina reveals to Oliver that she wants to be with her kind. Oliver ties Carolina to the bed and has sex with her, turning her back into a panther. Oliver brings her to the zoo as the supposedly re-captured panther. He tells her that he will always take care of her as he hand-feeds her a steak and strokes the panther's neck, lovingly.


Breaking News

Following the monumental success of his film The Prisoner at the 3rd Golden Reel Awards, many people were left wondering what will be next for two-time Best Adaptation Golden Reel Award-winning writer John Malone (Flicker, The Prisoner). Sources tell us that he has been in contact with the studio about a whopping four upcoming mystery projects. We already know that he has the Star Trek adaptation, Star Trek: Enterprise, due for release soon, but that will be his only film released during the current fourth season. We don't have too many specific details at this time, but we do know that two of them will be television adaptations, which has become John Malone's wheelhouse as of last season. Of the other two, one will be a novel adaptation and the other will be a horror remake. While Last Resort Films has released the titles of most of their upcoming films as well as their release slots, it is still unclear which projects are those of John Malone's.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Release: Green Arrow

Green Arrow
Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Wes Ball
Writer: APJ
Based on the DC Comics character
Cast: Armie Hammer, Vanessa Kirby, Clive Owen, Zhang Ziyi, Ray Stevenson, Scott Adkins, Q'orianka Kilcher



Budget: $160,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $312,705,006
Foreign Box Office: $348,550,680
Total Profit: $320,807,965

Reaction: A great start to what will hopefully become a new franchise for the studio. 


"The cast is good, but the cutting back and forth between the past and the present is disorienting and keeps the film from getting into any real rhythm." - David Boorman, Film Threat



"The structure of the film takes some getting used to, but it keeps things fairly fresh and avoids the problem of spending too long on the superhero's origin like many other films." - Sara Karlsson, Willamette Week



"It could have used a few more set-pieces, but the cast is well-selected and strong across the board and the hand-to-hand fights are intense and surprisingly brutal for a superhero film." - Rob Morse, ScreenRant

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Now Showing: Green Arrow

Green Arrow
Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Wes Ball
Writer: APJ
Based on the DC Comics character
Cast: Armie Hammer, Vanessa Kirby, Clive Owen, Zhang Ziyi, Ray Stevenson, Scott Adkins, Q'orianka Kilcher

Plot: Billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Armie Hammer) goes to a charity auction fundraiser in Star City. He gets drunk and begins making outrageous bids on items. He then throws up while on stage. The next morning Ollie is mortified and tells his business manager Hackett (Ray Stevenson) that he would like to tag along on a business trip involving some of Queen Industries' offshore accounts. Hackett tries to talk him out of it, but Ollie insists. On the luxury ship, The Pacific Queen, Ollie learns that Hackett has been embezzling money on behalf of a criminal named China White (Zhang Ziyi). Hackett holds Ollie at gunpoint while discussing what to do with him with China White over the phone. China orders him to shoot Ollie. Instead Hackett pistol-whips Ollie and tosses him overboard.

Oliver Queen, now a bow-wielding vigilante known as the Green Arrow foils a bank robbery in Star City. He easily defeats the robbers, but it turns out to be a set-up and he is attacked by Constantine Drakon (Scott Adkins). They fight, with Drakon easily gaining the upperhand in hand-to-hand combat. Just as cops arrive, responding to the bank vault alarm, Drakon stabs Queen in the shoulder, pinning him to a wall. He tells Queen that he isn't paid enough to kill to kill superheroes yet. Drakon then escapes the building with the cops closing in.

Ollie washes ashore a tropical island. He is alone, tired and hungry. He begins wandering into the nearby jungle. He comes upon the remains of a camp, along with a water pump and power generator, both of which, turn out to be useless however. Near the camp is a pit that leads down into a dark, dank shaft It is filled with the skeletal remains of human bodies – victims of apparent gunshot wounds. Going back topside, Ollie finds a leaf-spring suspension blade and fashions it into a makeshift bow. He uses rusty nails, bamboo shoots and broken bottles to make arrows, and manages to eke out an existence for himself hunting fish, birds and monkeys. Several nights pass, and Ollie hears the sound of an airplane from off in the distance. He runs out from the camp and fires a signal flare arrow (made from burning rubber) in the plane's direction. As the plane angles itself in Ollie's direction, a gunman leans out the hatch and begins spraying machine gun fire at him. Ollie manages to respond with two well-placed arrows. The pilot loses control and the plane crashes into the side of a mountain. Ollie scales the side of the mountain to inspect the wreckage and manages to acquire a pair of boots in the process. Wandering around the volcanic base of the mountain, Ollie finds tilled fields of poppy seed. He also meets a pregnant native woman named Taiana (Q'orianka Kilcher) who tells him that China White uses slave labor to cultivate the poppies for heroin. China White and Hackett arrive at the sight of the downed plane, and Taiana and Ollie hides in the brush. China orders Hackett to find out who is responsible for the plane crash. She also has him finish off the surviving crewmen.

Queen pulls the arrow out of his shoulder and tries to chase after Drakon. Queen makes his way to the rooftop of the bank just as cops burst into the bank. On the rooftop, Queen is ambushed by the Dark Archer (Clive Owen). The Dark Archer attacks Queen, all the while inquiring where Queen learned his archery skills. The Dark Archer tells Queen that the best archer will win before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

Ollie encounters Hackett in the jungle. Hackett opens fire on him with his machine gun, but Ollie pins him to a tree with an arrow. Hackett draws a handgun and tags Ollie in the shoulder. He then frees himself from the arrow and produces a grenade launcher, which he fires in Ollie's direction. The attack fails to produce the desired results however, and the tree falls down on top of Hackett. Ollie is bleeding profusely and collapses to the ground.

Various Star City business leaders are found murdered, each with an arrow in the heart. The police announce that the vigilante known as the Green Arrow is suspected of the murders. Queen, dressed as Green Arrow, breaks into the Star City Police Department to steal forensic evidence to see if it can help him find the Dark Archer. On his way out of the building, he is attacked by the Black Canary (Vanessa Kirby). She uses a sonic device called the "Canary Cry" that emits a deafeningly high-pitched sound to incapacitate Queen.

When Ollie wakes up, he finds Taiana kneeling over him. She resets his arm that was broken during his fight with Hackett. Meanwhile, Hackett reports back to China White. China is furious that Hackett didn't shoot Ollie aboard the Pacific Queen as she instructed him to. She tells him to find Queen and finish him off or else she will throw him away in a dungeon to be eaten by rats. A short time later, two of China's gunmen find the meager camp that Taiana and Ollie have been resting in. They open fire on him, but Ollie drives them off with several well-placed shots from his custom-made bow. Taiana and he run off in separate directions and Ollie eventually reaches the shoreline. He is shocked to find that his yacht, the Pacific Queen has beached itself on the shore. He goes inside to clean himself up and gather supplies. He then sets fire to the ship. He hopes that the flames will alert China White's mercenaries and that they will come looking for him.

Queen wakes up in a warehouse when the Black Canary pours a bucket of water on him. He is tied to a beam. Black Canary asks why he was breaking into the police station for the evidence. He tells her about the Dark Archer, who is clearly trying to frame him. Black Canary believes him and asks why Oliver Queen of all people has decided to become a superhero. She unties him and introduces herself as Dinah Lance. Together they discuss how they can catch the Dark Archer, when Dinah suggests that since the Archer is killing business leaders, that Queen take over as the public face of his family's company and hold a big event to draw the Dark Archer out.

Ollie attacks a patrol boat that saw the smoke and are trying to find him. He takes the boat and returns to the base. He gets inside while China White believes that her men have already killed him. Ollie stops a drug shipment from leaving, while Taiana frees the natives. Hackett electrocutes Ollie, while Ollie is trying to make a broadcast to get help.

Oliver Queen holds a huge gala event at the Queen Industries headquarters in Star City with Dinah Lance as his date. Sure enough, during the event the power goes out. Queen and Dinah head to the stairwell where they have hidden their costumes and weapons. Drakon and the Dark Archer make their way through the building looking for Queen. Black Canary uses her Canary Cry, which incapacitates Drakon, but has seemingly no effect on the Dark Archer. The Archer and Queen fight their way up the stairwell all the way up to the rooftop. Queen asks the Archer why he's doing all this. The Dark Archer says that he and Drakon were hired to kill business leaders to clear out the Star City ports for his employer. Queen and the Archer square off on the roof, shooting arrows at each other, before engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The Dark Archer manages to get Queen in a choke hold, but Queen grabs an arrow from the Archer's quiver and manages to stab the Dark Archer through the chest with one of his own arrows, by stabbing himself through his shoulder. Queen demands the Dark Archer to tell him who his employer is, but the Dark Archer refuses, telling Queen that Drakon has his "lady friend", before passing out.

On the island, the natives have overrun China White's men. Hackett tries to kill Ollie, but Taiana holds a gun to the back of Hackett's head, but Ollie says not to shoot him. China White, however, does shoot Hackett. She says that if Oliver doesn't drop his weapon then she will shoot Oliver and Taiana. Ollie tells China White the story of Robin Hood, then shoots a rope that was holding a large crate which falls on her and her men. China White and the rest of her men are arrested. Taiana refuses to go with Oliver back to Star City, saying that her and the rest of the natives just want to be left in peace.

Queen makes his way down to the docks in search of Drakon and Dinah. As he is searching for them, he recognizes a ship at the docks as one of China White's ship. He goes on board to investigate. In the bowels of the ship, he finds China and Drakon with a tied up Dinah. He shoots an arrow to free Dinah. He then fires a barrage of arrows at Drakon. Constantine Drakon catches a couple of arrows and attacks Queen with his own arrows. While Drakon and Queen fight, Black Canary attacks China White and her men. Queen uses an explosive trick arrow to blow a hole in the side of the ship. He grabs Black Canary and shoots a grappling arrow out of the hole and out onto the docks. Queen shoots a series of arrows at Drakon as he is escaping. By the time Drakon has reached the docks, he has been hit with several arrows, slowing him down. Queen hits Drakon across the face with his bow, knocking him out cold. China White, meanwhile, goes down with her sinking ship. Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance watch from a nearby rooftop as police arrive to arrest the unconscious Constantine Drakon.


Release: Nation's Pride

Nation's Pride
Genre: War/Biography
Director: Martin Campbell
Writer: Harry Wright
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Liam Hemsworth, Edward Norton, Cliff Curtis, Jason Clarke, Manu Bennett, Rosamund Pike, Anthony LaPaglia



Budget: $74,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $97,114,089
Foreign Box Office: $90,325,572
Total Profit: $27,945,026

Reaction: Really solid numbers for such a Oceania-centric war movie about a little known figure. It's a nice way to start out a new season.


"Martin Campbell is a craftsman when it comes to action scenes, and he seems to be having a ball getting the chance to direct a war film (something he surprisingly hasn't had the chance to do during his illustrious career)." - Pearce Chayka, Daily Telegraph



"The casting is at best confusing, and at worst absurd (looking at you Liam Hemsworth), but Martin Campbell and Chris Hemsworth turn the film around along with help from a great performance from the talented, but difficult Edward Norton." - Henry Daniels, Vancouver Sun


"While well-made from a technical standpoint, the lead actor switch is jarring and distracting, and is not easily overcome. Liam Hemsworth does not have the acting range of his brother Chris, nor do they really look enough alike to be playing the same character a year or so apart. While not a bad film, it will most likely only be remembered for this key casting decision." - Mark Brown, Austin American-Statesman

Friday, February 23, 2018

In Development

Masters of the Universe: Katheryn Winnick (The Dark Tower, "Vikings"), Dolph Lundgren (Kindergarten Cop 2, The Expendables 3) and Virginia Madsen (Joy, Dead Rising: Watchtower) will round out the cast of Masters of the Universe. Katheryn Winnick will play Sorceress, who unveils the power of Grayskull to Prince Adam (Alan Ritchson). Lundgren will play King Randor, ruler of the kingdom of Eternia and father of Prince Adam. Virginia Madsen, meanwhile, will play Queen Marlena, Randor's wife and Adam's mother.

Carbon: Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West, The Little Hours), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spectre) and Sharlto Copley (HArdcore Henry, Free Fire) have signed on to appear in supporting roles in the DJ Caruso-directed Carbon, from writer Clive Steinbeck. Plaza will play a young ambulance-chasing lawyer, Bautista, the head of security of the compound Taron Egerton escapes from, and Copley will play the compound's head doctor.

Batman: Gotham Knight: It has been recently announced that Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) has been cast as The Joker in the new Jake Gyllenhaal-led Batman film from director Joseph Kosinski (Metal Gear Solid, Only the Brave) and writer APJ. Now Michael Pitt ("Boardwalk Empire", Ghost in the Shell), who was also considered for The Joker, has also joined the film in a villainous capacity as Roman Sionis, better known as Black Mask.

Last Rites: Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (Youth, This Must Be The Place) has been hired to direct a drama about an aging action star, Last Rites. Michael Madsen (The Hateful Eight, Hell Ride) has been cast in the lead role, marking a rare leading role for the actor. Lon Charles wrote the original screenplay for the film.

Raptor Red: Brad Bird (The Incredibles 2, Tomorrowland) has been hired to direct what could possibly be Last Resort Films' riskiest film to-date: a silent, photo-realistic CG-animated film about a group of Utahraptors. Clive Steinbeck wrote the script for the unconventional project based on the novel by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Many have been eager to learn more about the previously announced Star Trek film Last Resort Films has been set to produce. Now we know that the film will depict the initial voyage of the Starship Enterprise, captained by Capt. Jonathan Archer, who will be played by Jason Clarke (Nation's Pride, The Osterman Weekend). The film takes inspiration from the Scott Bakula-led TV series "Star Trek: Enterprise" which was set during the early stages of Earth's deep space exploring following "First Contact" with the Vulcans. Lily James (Darkest Hour, Baby Driver), Josh Pence (La La Land, Siren) and Hugh Laurie ("The Night Manager", "Chance") have also all been hired for prominent roles. James will play T'Pol, a Vulcan assigned to chaperone the Enterprise's first mission. Pence will play Commander Charles Tucker, while Hugh Laurie will portray Starfleet Admiral Forrest.

Now Showing: Nation's Pride

Nation's Pride
Genre: War/Drama
Director: Martin Campbell
Writer: Harry Wright
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Liam Hemsworth, Edward Norton, Cliff Curtis, Jason Clarke, Manu Bennett, Rosamund Pike, Anthony LaPaglia

Plot: The 2nd New Zealand Division is deployed in the North African Campaign against Mussolini's Italy. Lieutenant Charles Upham's (Liam Hemsworth) unit is deployed in Greece, on the island of Crete. The attack on Maleme is in a couple of hours. He and his two friends, Manuel Thompson (Manu Bennett) and David Kelly (Jason Clarke), know they're probably walking on the battlefield facing certain death, but the love for their beloved country is too strong for them to back down.

Upham's platoon is under heavy fire, dropped in the middle of a field, with barely any cover, against a strong and well organized defense post. They're 3,000 yards away from their objective. They're held up by a machine gun nest, hammering them with all the ammo it can find. After seeing several of his men taken down by the machine gun, Upham takes his pistol and grenades and ran in the machine gun's direction while his section covered him. He managed to be close enough to the pit to kill the occupants with a grenade, allowing his platoon to advance. About a 1,000 yards further, they're once again held up by three machine guns inside a house. He repeated the same routine and managed to throw two grenades through windows, killing two machine gun operators and his unit killed the other. At the objective, the platoon is surprised by a hidden machine gun post, killing several of Upham's men in the process. He crawled on the ground slowly while the massacre continued and when he's 15 feet away from the machine gun, he throws a grenade, killing the enemy and the massacre stop.

Upham's unit is now tasked to hold on to the open position they just took from the enemy. On the first day, their food reserve is destroyed by mortars and it is judges too dangerous for the Allies to bring them another one. Continuously under fire, Upham is injured when he's blown over by a mortar shell and a piece of shrapnel lodged in his left shoulder. After the position was deemed too dangerous, Upham's platoon was tasked to return to Sphakia, home of a Force headquarters to be reassigned. At Galatas, Upham's unit is the target of heavy mortar and machine-gun fire. They stop and hide and Upham gets out of hiding and observes the enemy. He comes back and they all get out, surprising the enemy, killing 40 men and making the other go away. In the encounter, Upham is shot in the foot, but he doesn't tell anyone. On their way to Sphakia, he goes ahead of his colleagues to survey the field and he's fired on by two Germans. He falls and when the Germans approached to see if he was dead, he surprises them and shots both of them with his pistol.

They finally reach Sphakia, where they're ordered to kill a party of enemy, advancing. They climb a rocky hill and with a Bren Gun and two riflemen, he manages to kill 22 and the others fled. When he came back to Sphakia, they heal his shoulder, his foot, his back and they heal his dysentry, which prevented him to eat for the past week. Hearing Upham's impressive feats, General Howard Kippenberger (Anthony LaPaglia) advises the king in a letter to award him the Victoria Cross.

1942
Captain Charles Upham (Chris Hemsworth) runs across an open ground in the German troops direction, when he's shot twice. He falls on the ground and goes back up. He desperately throws a grenade in the German's direction, killed an entire party. Upham's company was ordered to hold on to the position, but when the communication system broke down, Upham crossed the battlefield again to go to the other side to start it up again, killing a dozen of Germans in the process. Just before dawn, Upham's party is attacked by four machine-gun posts and a number of tanks. They decimate Upham's unit, but he doesn't give up. He destroys a tank with grenades, but he's shot in the arm by a machine gun, breaking his arm. He continues the attack, carrying wounded soldiers to a safe position. When backup arrives, they send Upham to the Regimental Aid Post to heal his arm and treat his severe blood loss. He will remain there for an hour, before returning to his men. They're eventually captured, when down to only six survivors, Upham's party gave up.

Upham's taken to Colditz Castle, along with Kelly and Thompson. This is where they meet Andrew Jacobson (Cliff Curtis), another prisoner. Colditz Castle is under the command of Reinhold Eggers (Edward Norton). They soldiers discuss the possibility of escaping, but everyone says there's no way they could. When the Germans transported them through open trucks in Italy, Uphan knocks one of the guards unconscious and tries to escape. He gets about 400 yards away, before being captured. His colleagues continue to tell him he can't escape and they're going to kill him, but when he's on a moving train, he breaks the bathroom's window and jumped down, knocking himself unconscious. When he wakes up, he's inside Colditz Castle. He convinces his friends in helping him escape. They refuse and Upham takes the matter in his own hands, trying to escape in broad daylight, climbing the fence. He's captured again.

After the third incident, Eggers decided to place Upham in solitary confinement, with Eggers keeping an eye on him personally. When he's allowed to exercise alone in a small fenced yard, guarded by Eggers, two armed guards and a machine-gun towering over them, he knocks down Eggers with a dumbbell and climbs over the fence. The guards didn't shoot him, out of respect for the men, and because an entire party of Germans were exercising on the other side. Eggers orders that Upham should see the sunlight until he dies.

Upham is left for dead for a couple of days, until the Americans captured Colditz Castle. He finds out that Eggers killed his friends, after he believed they helped him trying to escape. Upham is taken to the hospital. He lost a ton of weight and badly injured, but he keeps dreaming about killing Eggers. He joins an American unit, tasked to find German officials, but when they find out about his health problems, they send him to a British hospital, where he grows fond of the nurse treating him, Molly McTamney (Rosamund Pike). When the war is over, Upham weds McTamney and goes back to New Zealand, where he receives his two Victoria Crosses from General Howard Kippenberger.


Thursday, February 22, 2018

Season 3 Golden Reel Awards


Welcome to the Season 3 Golden Reel Awards, celebrating the best Last Resort Films releases of Season 3. This season there are total of 15 films nominated for the 12 prestigious awards at stake. This season's ceremony design is inspired by Season 1 Best Picture nominee, White Jazz.


And now for the awards.....





AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... THE PRISONER






AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... INFERNO



American Outlaws - Matthew McConaughey, Joaquin Phoenix, Jessica Chastain, Michael Fassbender, Adrien Brody, Tom Hiddleston, Bryan Cranston, Margo Martindale.

Inferno - James Franco, Tom Hiddleston, Vincent D'Onofrio, Gary Oldman, Josh Brolin, Jaimie Alexander, Ron Perlman, Jared Harris, Ed Harris.

The Prisoner - Tom Hardy, Liam Neeson, Jessica Chastain, Nicholas Hoult, Elizabeth Olsen, Olivia Williams, Pedro Pascal, Mia Wasikowska, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Justin Theroux.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... THE PRISONER



AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... MADS MIKKELSEN - BLOOD COUNTESS






AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... THE PRISONER






AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... INTO THIN AIR



AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... MIA WASIKOWSKA - BLOOD COUNTESS



AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... LIAM NEESON - THE PRISONER



AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... SUKI WATERHOUSE - FEMME FATALE



AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... TOM HARDY - THE PRISONER



AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... CHRISTOPHER NOLAN - THE PRISONER






AND THE AWARD GOES TO..... THE PRISONER

Congratulations to all of the winners! It was a great third season in the world of Last Resort Films and Hollywood Movie Studio. Tune in for Season 4!