When Greta Gerwig sent her longtime editing collaborator Nick Houy the script for “Barbie,” the first thing he texted her back was a question: “Are they going to let you do it?”
Indeed, inside the box of the “Barbie” movie is a bonkers melange of musical numbers, existential dread, slapstick visual comedy, gender politics, earnest yearning for connection, and a Snyder Cut joke that definitely feels like Warner Brothers should’ve killed it. That it exists in the form it does feels as unreal and miraculous as Barbie Land itself. But the film also has a momentum that was familiar to the challenges Gerwig and Houy have set for themselves in their previous collaborations, “Lady Bird,” and “Little Women.”
Just as “Little Women” alternates between past and present, “Barbie” manages transitions between worlds that are more or less heightened, but always at least a little, as Gerwig put it, “bananagrams.
Indeed, inside the box of the “Barbie” movie is a bonkers melange of musical numbers, existential dread, slapstick visual comedy, gender politics, earnest yearning for connection, and a Snyder Cut joke that definitely feels like Warner Brothers should’ve killed it. That it exists in the form it does feels as unreal and miraculous as Barbie Land itself. But the film also has a momentum that was familiar to the challenges Gerwig and Houy have set for themselves in their previous collaborations, “Lady Bird,” and “Little Women.”
Just as “Little Women” alternates between past and present, “Barbie” manages transitions between worlds that are more or less heightened, but always at least a little, as Gerwig put it, “bananagrams.
- 7/27/2023
- by Sarah Shachat
- Indiewire
As far as midlife crises are concerned, Hank takes center stage often. And it is accompanied by childhood trauma that takes him by the hand and walks him through the valley of relationships that he has ended up making, apparently half-heartedly. Even his marriage is like a pact, despite how much we may feel that he loves Lily. He is the kind of guy who suits the world as it is but isn’t someone the world likes. As much as we may not like him, he states facts, and maybe we do not want to hear the truth, just like those people around him, and that’s what makes him rude, not in general but to others. In episode 1 of Lucky Hank, after losing the chair in his department, he asks Lily if a job in New York is available, but then later on makes it clear to her...
- 5/11/2023
- by Shubhabrata Dutta
- Film Fugitives
“We used to argue for hours,” admits Paul Lieberstein about writing “Lucky Hank” with Aaron Zelman. For our recent webchat he continues, “It was all cured when we realized we agreed on the page almost 100%. We could never agree on what a scene is suppose to be. Then we write the scene and agree completely. But if we then talked about the scene we’ve already written, we’d be disagreeing about why it worked.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Lieberstein and Zelman developed the AMC series “Lucky Hank” from the Richard Russo novel “Straight Man.” They serve as executive producers and writers on the series. The dark comedy is about English department chair Hank, played by Bob Odenkirk, going through a midlife crisis at an underfunded college. Lieberstein says, “He’s a person who’s doing his best to deal with a bunch of stuff . Whenever he hits adversity in any way,...
Lieberstein and Zelman developed the AMC series “Lucky Hank” from the Richard Russo novel “Straight Man.” They serve as executive producers and writers on the series. The dark comedy is about English department chair Hank, played by Bob Odenkirk, going through a midlife crisis at an underfunded college. Lieberstein says, “He’s a person who’s doing his best to deal with a bunch of stuff . Whenever he hits adversity in any way,...
- 5/6/2023
- by Matt Noble
- Gold Derby
We know of famous authors who either quit writing for the lack of inspiration or developed serious writer’s block but produced classics when they finally got to writing. Isn’t it a little odd when a writer announces retirement from writing? Because, unlike other professionals, who, after retirement, would walk away from the fame they have gathered from a particular profession to do something insignificant. For instance, a retired sports star could become a coach or a mentor to a team; a retired professor could be on the advisory committee of an institution, etc. But if a writer quits, what is one going to do? One can engage in different activities, but the passion for which one wrote or the pain with which one constructed a flowery sentence will come haunting.
In the second episode of “Lucky Hank,” we have Hank being haunted by a thought because of which...
In the second episode of “Lucky Hank,” we have Hank being haunted by a thought because of which...
- 3/25/2023
- by Carlos Luis
- Film Fugitives
Film markets are a very interesting part of the industry. While these markets often try and promote movies that end up going nowhere, there are always a few projects announced that we hope we get to see in the future. With the European Film Market currently underway, we've been introduced to one such project, and this one may have an all-star lineup of talent attached to it.
Deadline exclusively reported that one of EFM's buzziest reveals is that of "The Semplica Girl Diaries," a feature adapted from the 2012 short story by George Saunders. Richard Ayoade is currently slated to adapt the story, marking his long-awaited return to the director's chair after 2013's criminally underappreciated "The Double." However, this is far from the most interesting aspect of this new production package. While details are still coming together as of this article's publication, here is what we can currently gather about "The Semplica Girl Diaries.
Deadline exclusively reported that one of EFM's buzziest reveals is that of "The Semplica Girl Diaries," a feature adapted from the 2012 short story by George Saunders. Richard Ayoade is currently slated to adapt the story, marking his long-awaited return to the director's chair after 2013's criminally underappreciated "The Double." However, this is far from the most interesting aspect of this new production package. While details are still coming together as of this article's publication, here is what we can currently gather about "The Semplica Girl Diaries.
- 2/18/2023
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
The New Pornographers are gearing up to share their new album Continue as a Guest on March 31st, and they’ve shared another preview of what’s to come today with the single “Angelcover.”
Driven by an uptempo beat and suspenseful instrumentals, “Angelcover” finds vocalist A.C. Newman wrestling with perfectionism and the challenges of conveying your emotions through a creative medium: “Angels on the edge of my bed, been there half of the night/ Looked around, asked ‘You made this hell yourself? Well it’s real nice,'” goes the track’s tongue-in-cheek first lines.
“I pictured this one as a weird little George Saunders-esque sketch, a snapshot,” Newman said in a press release. “I found myself a lot more concerned with performance and/or delivery, changing melody and phrasing to get a better performance, less concerned, less precious about the original melody or lyric that I wrote.”
Newman continues: “With that in mind,...
Driven by an uptempo beat and suspenseful instrumentals, “Angelcover” finds vocalist A.C. Newman wrestling with perfectionism and the challenges of conveying your emotions through a creative medium: “Angels on the edge of my bed, been there half of the night/ Looked around, asked ‘You made this hell yourself? Well it’s real nice,'” goes the track’s tongue-in-cheek first lines.
“I pictured this one as a weird little George Saunders-esque sketch, a snapshot,” Newman said in a press release. “I found myself a lot more concerned with performance and/or delivery, changing melody and phrasing to get a better performance, less concerned, less precious about the original melody or lyric that I wrote.”
Newman continues: “With that in mind,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
Although he delivered quite a memorable performance as a director in Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir series, it’s been a decade since Richard Ayoade actually last directed a film. Following 2010’s Submarine and 2013’s The Double, he’s now finally returning with a new feature and the first details have been unveiled.
Deadline reports Ayoade will direct, star in, and has co-written with George Saunders an adaptation of his New Yorker short The Semplica Girl Diaries. Also starring Ayoade’s wife Lydia Fox, with Ben Stiller, Jesse Eisenberg, and Sally Hawkins in talks to join the ensemble, the 2012 short story follows a suburban father who buys an elite status symbol outdoor decoration called Semplica Girls. It’s then revealed these “decorations” are actually poor young women from other countries.
See the full synopsis below for the project that will be sold by Cornerstone Films at EFM.
Family man Lloyd Turner...
Deadline reports Ayoade will direct, star in, and has co-written with George Saunders an adaptation of his New Yorker short The Semplica Girl Diaries. Also starring Ayoade’s wife Lydia Fox, with Ben Stiller, Jesse Eisenberg, and Sally Hawkins in talks to join the ensemble, the 2012 short story follows a suburban father who buys an elite status symbol outdoor decoration called Semplica Girls. It’s then revealed these “decorations” are actually poor young women from other countries.
See the full synopsis below for the project that will be sold by Cornerstone Films at EFM.
Family man Lloyd Turner...
- 2/13/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: BAFTA winner Richard Ayoade (The It Crowd) has been set to direct and stars in The Semplica Girl Diaries, written by Ayoade and Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders.
Ayoade and Lydia Fox (The Souvenir 1 & 2) will lead cast and we hear from sources in the market that there are early talks with A-list U.S. and UK talent including Ben Stiller, Jesse Eisenberg and Sally Hawkins. None are signed on yet.
Adapted from the story of the same name, which was originally published in The New Yorker, the film is set in a near-future world in which real-life ‘Semplica Girls’ are imported from impoverished countries across the globe to serve as decorative items for the wealthy.
Cornerstone Films is handling world sales and is launching for this week’s EFM.
The movie is a House Productions / Alcove Entertainment production and is produced by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell (The Wonder...
Ayoade and Lydia Fox (The Souvenir 1 & 2) will lead cast and we hear from sources in the market that there are early talks with A-list U.S. and UK talent including Ben Stiller, Jesse Eisenberg and Sally Hawkins. None are signed on yet.
Adapted from the story of the same name, which was originally published in The New Yorker, the film is set in a near-future world in which real-life ‘Semplica Girls’ are imported from impoverished countries across the globe to serve as decorative items for the wealthy.
Cornerstone Films is handling world sales and is launching for this week’s EFM.
The movie is a House Productions / Alcove Entertainment production and is produced by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell (The Wonder...
- 2/13/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Ethel Cain has responded after former president Barack Obama included her song “American Teenager” in his annual end-of-year culture roundup.
Each year, Obama has made a tradition of sharing his favourite books, films and music with his followers on social media.
In 2022, he revealed he has been listening to artists including Kendrick Lamar, a longtime favourite, along with Rosalia, Omar Apollo, Sza, Lizzo, Koffee, Bad Bunny, and Burna Boy.
Included in the list of 25 songs is Cain’s single “American Teenager”, which is included on her debut album Preacher’s Daughter.
“I always enjoy sharing my end of year music playlist with you,” Obama wrote in the caption. “This year we heard oa lot of great songs. Here are some of my favourites.”
He also asked his followers to recommend any other music they felt he should check out.
On Twitter, Cain appeared overwhelmed at the inclusion, commenting: “Did not...
Each year, Obama has made a tradition of sharing his favourite books, films and music with his followers on social media.
In 2022, he revealed he has been listening to artists including Kendrick Lamar, a longtime favourite, along with Rosalia, Omar Apollo, Sza, Lizzo, Koffee, Bad Bunny, and Burna Boy.
Included in the list of 25 songs is Cain’s single “American Teenager”, which is included on her debut album Preacher’s Daughter.
“I always enjoy sharing my end of year music playlist with you,” Obama wrote in the caption. “This year we heard oa lot of great songs. Here are some of my favourites.”
He also asked his followers to recommend any other music they felt he should check out.
On Twitter, Cain appeared overwhelmed at the inclusion, commenting: “Did not...
- 12/24/2022
- by Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - Music
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Newsrrr.First: Notebook is launching a weekly email newsletter in 2023! Sign up here to keep up with our latest writing in this precarious digital age.At a recent screening of Rrr in Chicago, S.S. Rajamouli mentioned that his father and screenwriting partner V. Vijayendra Prasad is beginning to draft a sequel. In the meantime, Rajamouli is preparing an untitled film starring Mahesh Bubu, set to begin filming in the spring.In this Willamette Week article about George Saunders’s new short story collection Liberation Day, there is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it mention of a film project. Richard Ayoade will direct an adaptation of Saunders’s 2012 short story “The Semplica-Girl Diaries,” set to begin filming next year. Though Ayoade stole the show in both parts of Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, this will be his...
- 11/16/2022
- MUBI
Click here to read the full article.
Each week, The Hollywood Reporter will offer up the best new (and newly relevant) books that everyone will be talking about — whether it’s a tome that’s ripe for adaptation, a new Hollywood-centric tell-all or the source material for a hot new TV show.
Rights Available
Parachute Women by Elizabeth Winder (LoTurco Literary)
Everyone knows The Rolling Stones, but fewer know the four women whose sense of adventure and know-how helped build the band. Here, Winder puts Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger and Anita Pallenberg at the forefront of the story.
The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham (The Gernert Co.)
The legal thriller author’s latest release is one of his most epic. It’s the story of two friends growing up in 1960s Mississippi as the drama of the Dixie Mafia — mobsters who ruled Biloxi — swirled around them, haunting the two protagonists into adulthood.
Each week, The Hollywood Reporter will offer up the best new (and newly relevant) books that everyone will be talking about — whether it’s a tome that’s ripe for adaptation, a new Hollywood-centric tell-all or the source material for a hot new TV show.
Rights Available
Parachute Women by Elizabeth Winder (LoTurco Literary)
Everyone knows The Rolling Stones, but fewer know the four women whose sense of adventure and know-how helped build the band. Here, Winder puts Marianne Faithfull, Marsha Hunt, Bianca Jagger and Anita Pallenberg at the forefront of the story.
The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham (The Gernert Co.)
The legal thriller author’s latest release is one of his most epic. It’s the story of two friends growing up in 1960s Mississippi as the drama of the Dixie Mafia — mobsters who ruled Biloxi — swirled around them, haunting the two protagonists into adulthood.
- 11/4/2022
- by Seija Rankin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Hrishikesh Hirway, the musician and creator of the hit podcast Song Exploder, has signed with CAA.
Song Exploder, which first launched in 2014, features interviews with musicians who discuss the backstories and creative process behind some of their songs. Past guests have included Fleetwood Mac, Tame Impala, Sheryl Crow, Lorde and Dua Lipa, among many others.
In 2020, the podcast was adapted into a Netflix series produced and directed by Morgan Neville, with the first season bringing on Alicia Keys, R.E.M., Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ty Dolla ign for in-depth explorations of one of their respective songs.
Next month, Hirway will launch an eight-episode spinoff of Song Exploder, co-hosted with The Library Book author Susan Orlean, that will bring on authors to discuss a specific passage from one of their works as a means to explore their writing processes. Book Exploder, which debuts on...
Hrishikesh Hirway, the musician and creator of the hit podcast Song Exploder, has signed with CAA.
Song Exploder, which first launched in 2014, features interviews with musicians who discuss the backstories and creative process behind some of their songs. Past guests have included Fleetwood Mac, Tame Impala, Sheryl Crow, Lorde and Dua Lipa, among many others.
In 2020, the podcast was adapted into a Netflix series produced and directed by Morgan Neville, with the first season bringing on Alicia Keys, R.E.M., Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ty Dolla ign for in-depth explorations of one of their respective songs.
Next month, Hirway will launch an eight-episode spinoff of Song Exploder, co-hosted with The Library Book author Susan Orlean, that will bring on authors to discuss a specific passage from one of their works as a means to explore their writing processes. Book Exploder, which debuts on...
- 7/13/2022
- by J. Clara Chan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Photo: ‘Spiderhead’ A Brief Overview ‘Spiderhead’ is a lighthearted take on the thriller genre while encompassing the themes of science fiction. The movie is based on the 2010 short story, ‘Escape from Spiderhead’, which was published in The New Yorker by George Saunders. Many great people behind the film such as the writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who were the writers of ‘Deadpool’, adapted the short story into a screenplay soon after. In addition, the film was directed by Joseph Kosinski who worked on recent films such as ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Tron: Legacy’. The film’s concept is dystopian that mimics the antics of the short story as Saunder fuses the ideas of dark humor with unfortunate situations. Although it contains the liveliness of the original story, it lacks certain aspects that are needed to stick the landing. Related video: Full Commentary - Cast & Crew Spills Secrets on Making...
- 6/28/2022
- by Anica Muñoz
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
The title of the 1982 film Blade Runner is taken directly from a book. Well, from two books: the 1979 novella Blade Runner (a movie) by William S. Burroughs, which, in turn, was based on the 1974 novel The Bladerunner by Alan E. Nourse. Both of those books are science fiction stories set in the near future, but have nothing to do with escaped androids. Instead, the movie’s plot is based on the 1968 novel by Philip K. Dick called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? It’s tempting to say that Ridley Scott’s science fiction masterpiece took the name Blade Runner and slapped it on a Philip K. Dick story, but the truth is, Blade Runner succeeds because it’s not really an adaptation of anything.
On June 25, 1982, Blade Runner hit theaters for the first time. The reception was less-than-stellar. However, largely thanks to smart science fiction fans and an arthouse revival in the 1990s,...
On June 25, 1982, Blade Runner hit theaters for the first time. The reception was less-than-stellar. However, largely thanks to smart science fiction fans and an arthouse revival in the 1990s,...
- 6/25/2022
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
Click here to read the full article.
[This story contains spoilers for Netflix’s Spiderhead.]
Jurnee Smollett knew she wanted to book some time with Spiderhead, even before her character’s path was fully locked down.
The actress, who got her start as a child actor on show like Full House and has established herself as a forceful presence in a wide range of recent roles, plays inmate Lizzy in Netflix’s sci-fi prison thriller Spiderhead. Based on a short story by author George Saunders, director Joseph Kosinski’s film boasts an impressive pedigree, with a script from Deadpool screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller. The story focuses on Steve Abnesti (Hemsworth), who is in charge of a facility that tests experimental drugs on convicts, including subject Jeff (Teller).
It didn’t take Smollett long to realize she wanted to work on the project with Kosinski,...
[This story contains spoilers for Netflix’s Spiderhead.]
Jurnee Smollett knew she wanted to book some time with Spiderhead, even before her character’s path was fully locked down.
The actress, who got her start as a child actor on show like Full House and has established herself as a forceful presence in a wide range of recent roles, plays inmate Lizzy in Netflix’s sci-fi prison thriller Spiderhead. Based on a short story by author George Saunders, director Joseph Kosinski’s film boasts an impressive pedigree, with a script from Deadpool screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller. The story focuses on Steve Abnesti (Hemsworth), who is in charge of a facility that tests experimental drugs on convicts, including subject Jeff (Teller).
It didn’t take Smollett long to realize she wanted to work on the project with Kosinski,...
- 6/23/2022
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This is the summer of Joseph Kosinski.
The filmmaker started the season with a bang, as “Top Gun: Maverick,” his long-awaited sequel to Tom Cruise and Tony Scott’s 1986 classic, finally hit theaters (it was completed in the summer of 2020) and was a runaway smash. And now his winning streak continues with “Spiderhead,” a sleek, sci-fi-tinged thriller that features maybe the single greatest Chris Hemsworth performance ever, which just premiered on Netflix.
When TheWrap spoke to Kosinski, he was in his newly remodeled home theater. He said he had spent the end of “Top Gun: Maverick’s” post-production working on the movie in his kitchen, which is incredible given the film’s you-must-see-it-in-a-theater hugeness. For “Spiderhead,” he had the theater finished – with its dark, angled walls it looks like one of the expansive, carefully diagrammed spaces highlighted in so many of his films. “I was able to do a lot of work out of here,...
The filmmaker started the season with a bang, as “Top Gun: Maverick,” his long-awaited sequel to Tom Cruise and Tony Scott’s 1986 classic, finally hit theaters (it was completed in the summer of 2020) and was a runaway smash. And now his winning streak continues with “Spiderhead,” a sleek, sci-fi-tinged thriller that features maybe the single greatest Chris Hemsworth performance ever, which just premiered on Netflix.
When TheWrap spoke to Kosinski, he was in his newly remodeled home theater. He said he had spent the end of “Top Gun: Maverick’s” post-production working on the movie in his kitchen, which is incredible given the film’s you-must-see-it-in-a-theater hugeness. For “Spiderhead,” he had the theater finished – with its dark, angled walls it looks like one of the expansive, carefully diagrammed spaces highlighted in so many of his films. “I was able to do a lot of work out of here,...
- 6/23/2022
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Australian actor Sam Delich, who is currently appearing in Netflix’s Joseph Kosinski feature Spiderhead, has landed a major recurring role on Disney+’s comedy-drama series Last Days of the Space Age.
Details of his role are being kept under wraps, but we understand he will essentially play the villain of the piece, which is a tentpole of Disney+’s Australia and New Zealand 2022/23 slate and was unveiled in Sydney last month.
Last Days of the Space Age is an eight-part dramedy series set in 1979 Perth in Western Australia, as a power strike threatens to plunge the region into darkness, while the city hosts the iconic Miss Universe pageant and the US space station Skylab crashes just beyond the city’s suburbs. Against this backdrop, three families in a tight-knit coastal community find their marriages, friendships and futures put to the test.
Delich will appear in the supporting role...
Details of his role are being kept under wraps, but we understand he will essentially play the villain of the piece, which is a tentpole of Disney+’s Australia and New Zealand 2022/23 slate and was unveiled in Sydney last month.
Last Days of the Space Age is an eight-part dramedy series set in 1979 Perth in Western Australia, as a power strike threatens to plunge the region into darkness, while the city hosts the iconic Miss Universe pageant and the US space station Skylab crashes just beyond the city’s suburbs. Against this backdrop, three families in a tight-knit coastal community find their marriages, friendships and futures put to the test.
Delich will appear in the supporting role...
- 6/23/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix released the new original film “Spiderhead” last week, but in addition to debuting a new thriller starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller, the streamer also unveiled a truly killer soundtrack of yacht rock staples – and you can see the full “Spiderhead” soundtrack list below.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (“Deadpool”), “Spiderhead” is based on a dystopian short story by George Saunders and takes place entirely at a facility called – you guessed it – Spiderhead. Run by Chris Hemsworth’s Steve Abnesti, this facility is host to prisoners serving long sentences who have agreed to take part in an experimental drug trial in exchange for more freedoms.
But as Teller’s prisoner character Jeff soon learns, there may be more than meets the eye when it comes to the true nature behind these experimental drug trials.
Also Read:
Chris Hemsworth Runs...
Directed by Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (“Deadpool”), “Spiderhead” is based on a dystopian short story by George Saunders and takes place entirely at a facility called – you guessed it – Spiderhead. Run by Chris Hemsworth’s Steve Abnesti, this facility is host to prisoners serving long sentences who have agreed to take part in an experimental drug trial in exchange for more freedoms.
But as Teller’s prisoner character Jeff soon learns, there may be more than meets the eye when it comes to the true nature behind these experimental drug trials.
Also Read:
Chris Hemsworth Runs...
- 6/19/2022
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
This article contains Spiderhead spoilers.
Spiderhead, the new Netflix movie from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, stars Miles Teller as Jeff, a young man who is serving time for a drunk driving incident in which at least one person was tragically killed. Jeff has agreed to serve his time in what is actually a quite comfortable facility run by Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth), who is using the inmates as subjects to test out a range of drugs that can control and alter one’s behavior and emotions.
At first Jeff, like the rest of the inmates, goes along meekly with the drug experiments, which range from giving him increased powers of description and language (via a concoction called Verbaluce) to making him and a total stranger incredibly horny for each other (Luvactin). Then there is the dreaded Darkenfloxx, which makes the subject incredibly paranoid, physically ill, and even violent,...
Spiderhead, the new Netflix movie from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, stars Miles Teller as Jeff, a young man who is serving time for a drunk driving incident in which at least one person was tragically killed. Jeff has agreed to serve his time in what is actually a quite comfortable facility run by Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth), who is using the inmates as subjects to test out a range of drugs that can control and alter one’s behavior and emotions.
At first Jeff, like the rest of the inmates, goes along meekly with the drug experiments, which range from giving him increased powers of description and language (via a concoction called Verbaluce) to making him and a total stranger incredibly horny for each other (Luvactin). Then there is the dreaded Darkenfloxx, which makes the subject incredibly paranoid, physically ill, and even violent,...
- 6/18/2022
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are used to movies taking a long time to get made. After all, they were hired to write Deadpool in 2010 and didn’t see the finished film onscreen until 2016. But in the case of their passion project, the new Netflix movie Spiderhead, even the process of getting the Merc with a Mouth into movie theaters was left in the dust.
“This was about a 10-year process,” Reese tells Den of Geek on a Zoom chat witth Wernick by his side. “It took almost 10 years to get when that thing was brought to us until the movie was on the screen.”
That thing is “Escape from Spiderhead,” a short story penned by acclaimed literary fiction writer and essayist George Saunders. The original story, published by The New Yorker in 2010, is about a man named Jeff who is sent to an experimental prison after he kills someone.
“This was about a 10-year process,” Reese tells Den of Geek on a Zoom chat witth Wernick by his side. “It took almost 10 years to get when that thing was brought to us until the movie was on the screen.”
That thing is “Escape from Spiderhead,” a short story penned by acclaimed literary fiction writer and essayist George Saunders. The original story, published by The New Yorker in 2010, is about a man named Jeff who is sent to an experimental prison after he kills someone.
- 6/17/2022
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
In this episode of The Discourse Podcast, we talk to screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Known for being the writers behind the “Zombieland” and “Deadpool” franchises, Reese and Wernick’s latest movie is “Spiderhead,” an adaptation of a George Saunders dystopian sci-fi short story directed by Joseph Kosinski for Netflix.
The film, which stars Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett, is set in a near future, where convicts are offered the chance to volunteer as medical subjects in exchange for shortening their sentence.
Continue reading ‘Spiderhead’: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick Talk Dark, Twisty Dystopian Sci-Fi & Writing ‘Deadpool 3’ [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.
The film, which stars Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett, is set in a near future, where convicts are offered the chance to volunteer as medical subjects in exchange for shortening their sentence.
Continue reading ‘Spiderhead’: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick Talk Dark, Twisty Dystopian Sci-Fi & Writing ‘Deadpool 3’ [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.
- 6/16/2022
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Marvel actors must be desperate to play something, anything, that isn’t run of the mill heroics. Since retiring his shield, Chris Evans has launched an entire second career by portraying heels and a-holes, including on Netflix; you could sense Scarlett Johansson’s joy as she shouted Adam Driver into submission in Marriage Story, also on Netflix; and now Chris Hemsworth appears downright giddy as he shimmies across the screen as the most malevolent tech bro this side of Palo Alto in Spiderhead—which is about to debut on Netflix.
Yet more than just a showcase for the insidious side of Hemsworth’s now familiar comedic charisma, Spiderhead is also a throwback to the type of witty and wicked B-movie that acts as both star vehicle and smarter-than-it-seems chamber piece. It’s also an antiquated form of genre moviemaking that only gets released on streaming these days.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski—and developed,...
Yet more than just a showcase for the insidious side of Hemsworth’s now familiar comedic charisma, Spiderhead is also a throwback to the type of witty and wicked B-movie that acts as both star vehicle and smarter-than-it-seems chamber piece. It’s also an antiquated form of genre moviemaking that only gets released on streaming these days.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski—and developed,...
- 6/16/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Click here to read the full article.
In real life, there would probably be no shortage of people willing to commit crimes if it resulted in being given free reign to wander around a minimum-security prison and receive psychedelic drugs administered by Chris Hemsworth. So it’s not too much of a stretch to go along with the imaginative premise of Netflix’s new, nearly unclassifiable film starring the MCU veteran along with Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett.
Based on a short story by George Saunders, Joseph Kosinski’s Spiderhead could be categorized as sci-fi, except its central conceit isn’t all that far removed from our “better living through chemistry” reality. It’s a thriller at times, but also a wickedly funny dark comedy. And it features a nostalgia-inducing yacht rock soundtrack that slyly comments on the action.
Hemsworth, wearing wire-rimmed glasses to establish his character’s intellectual bona fides,...
In real life, there would probably be no shortage of people willing to commit crimes if it resulted in being given free reign to wander around a minimum-security prison and receive psychedelic drugs administered by Chris Hemsworth. So it’s not too much of a stretch to go along with the imaginative premise of Netflix’s new, nearly unclassifiable film starring the MCU veteran along with Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett.
Based on a short story by George Saunders, Joseph Kosinski’s Spiderhead could be categorized as sci-fi, except its central conceit isn’t all that far removed from our “better living through chemistry” reality. It’s a thriller at times, but also a wickedly funny dark comedy. And it features a nostalgia-inducing yacht rock soundtrack that slyly comments on the action.
Hemsworth, wearing wire-rimmed glasses to establish his character’s intellectual bona fides,...
- 6/13/2022
- by Frank Scheck
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There is only one way to escape from Spiderhead in sly postmodern scamp George Saunders’ all-but-unfilmable short story “Escape from Spiderhead,” and it rhymes with skip-to-my-lou-icide. Unlike print fiction, where pretty much anything goes, movies that feature acts of self-harm must be very careful, since audiences have been known to emulate those same acts. Right up front, Netflix warns viewers of its woefully wrongheaded adaptation that the movie features such behavior. But if Netflix really cared about our well-being, why release a film so bad, we’d do practically anything to escape from “Spiderhead” ourselves?
No one would blame you for sampling it in the first place. Saunders is a wickedly funny author with more major writing prizes than Meryl Streep has Oscars. The tricky source material was translated by “Deadpool” duo Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who understand how to walk the line between outrageous and offensive, and then...
No one would blame you for sampling it in the first place. Saunders is a wickedly funny author with more major writing prizes than Meryl Streep has Oscars. The tricky source material was translated by “Deadpool” duo Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who understand how to walk the line between outrageous and offensive, and then...
- 6/13/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Tale of lab-rat detainees testing psychoactive drugs, presided over by a creepy Chris Hemsworth, rather loses its way
Here is a rather self-conscious sci-fi satire, directed by Joseph Kosinski and adapted by Deadpool screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese from George Saunders’s New Yorker short story Escape from Spiderhead, published in the collection Tenth of December – which someone in this film is actually shown reading, an unbearably smug piece of brand cross-promotion.
Miles Teller plays Jeff, a convict who some time in the future has been given the chance to serve his term in the relatively cushy Spiderhead unit for experimental psychology, run by the oleaginous Dr Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth). Jeff is there on condition that he, like all the other specially chosen lab–rat prisoners, consents to have various hi-tech drugs flooded into his system from a special unit fixed to his lower back: drugs to make...
Here is a rather self-conscious sci-fi satire, directed by Joseph Kosinski and adapted by Deadpool screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese from George Saunders’s New Yorker short story Escape from Spiderhead, published in the collection Tenth of December – which someone in this film is actually shown reading, an unbearably smug piece of brand cross-promotion.
Miles Teller plays Jeff, a convict who some time in the future has been given the chance to serve his term in the relatively cushy Spiderhead unit for experimental psychology, run by the oleaginous Dr Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth). Jeff is there on condition that he, like all the other specially chosen lab–rat prisoners, consents to have various hi-tech drugs flooded into his system from a special unit fixed to his lower back: drugs to make...
- 6/13/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Imagine if there were a giant, multi-billion-dollar machine fueled by human attention; a massive contraption that could only be sustained by attracting every pair of eyeballs on Earth through the use of an algorithm that mulched art into content, and reduced audiences into data points. Now imagine how ironic it would be if someone took a singular work of sci-fi satire — a mordantly funny nugget of short fiction about a prison where inmates are used as test subjects for potent new drugs that make them fall in love at the drop of a hat, kill themselves with extreme prejudice, or overwrite the very essence of human individuality in various other ways — and fed it into that big machine with the hope of it becoming the next thing people look at on their magic slabs for 364 million view hours.
If that all sounds more like something that might happen in a...
If that all sounds more like something that might happen in a...
- 6/13/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Still riding on the high of “Top Gun: Maverick”’s box office-smashing success in recent weeks, director Joseph Kosinski is firing out another, less bombastic project on Netflix, created in Australia during the two pandemic years that delayed the release of the Tom Cruise vehicle.
Adapted from a short story by George Saunders originally published in The New Yorker, “Spiderhead” imagines a not-so-unfeasible reality where a pharmaceutical company experiments on inmates with chemicals that can drastically alter a person’s behavior.
In an increasingly rarer onscreen sighting of the Australian actor without his Thor attire, Chris Hemsworth plays a smarmy villain, Steve Abnesti, in charge of this ethically questionable pursuit, but still a pawn of the larger corporation that he claims forces him to push the boundaries of his test subjects’ health. He’s all smiles and pleasantries, but he’s hiding something sinister. Up in his Bond-villain lair overlooking the ocean,...
Adapted from a short story by George Saunders originally published in The New Yorker, “Spiderhead” imagines a not-so-unfeasible reality where a pharmaceutical company experiments on inmates with chemicals that can drastically alter a person’s behavior.
In an increasingly rarer onscreen sighting of the Australian actor without his Thor attire, Chris Hemsworth plays a smarmy villain, Steve Abnesti, in charge of this ethically questionable pursuit, but still a pawn of the larger corporation that he claims forces him to push the boundaries of his test subjects’ health. He’s all smiles and pleasantries, but he’s hiding something sinister. Up in his Bond-villain lair overlooking the ocean,...
- 6/13/2022
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
Profound? Funny? Twisted? Welcome to the warped world of master storyteller George Saunders, whose short story is the basis for this futuristic prison film. Chris Hemsworth is Steve Abnesti, an ego-driven scientist administering mind-altering drugs to convicts who volunteer in exchange for shorter sentences. “I was fascinated by the morality,” says Hemsworth, adding that his character has “a naivete about his actions.” Abnesti’s experiments are conducted in a state-of-the-art penitentiary in which inmates wear a surgically attached device that administers the drugs. In Spiderhead, “there are no bars, no cells, or orange jumpsuits,” Netflix teases. “Incarcerated volunteers are free to be themselves. Until they’re not. At times, they’re a better version. Need to lighten up? There’s a drug for that. At a loss for words? There’s a drug for that, too.” In the film, two subjects, Jeff (Miles Teller) and Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett), connect, but...
- 6/12/2022
- TV Insider
This week pretty much has it all – it has Jeff Bridges leading a cool-sounding new series, the end of an exemplary season of Bill Hader’s “Barry,” a new show from Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin (!) and the return of our beloved “Evil.” Plus, there are more big new movies streaming this week than are in theaters, including a new Chris Hemsworth thriller, a Jennifer Lopez documentary and a pair of buzzy Sundance breakouts – one starring Emma Thompson and the other with Dakota Johnson. So, yes, a very good week indeed!
On with the television!
“The Old Man”
Thursday, June 16 at 9 p.m., FX
The Old Man — Pictured: Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase. Cr: Kurt Iswarienko/FX
This limited series has an ingenious, paperback thriller conceit and a fine pedigree – it is Jeff Bridges’ first regular role on a television series and the first two episodes were directed by Jon Watts,...
On with the television!
“The Old Man”
Thursday, June 16 at 9 p.m., FX
The Old Man — Pictured: Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase. Cr: Kurt Iswarienko/FX
This limited series has an ingenious, paperback thriller conceit and a fine pedigree – it is Jeff Bridges’ first regular role on a television series and the first two episodes were directed by Jon Watts,...
- 6/11/2022
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Even with Top Gun: Maverick continuing to crush at the box-office, buzz for director Joseph Kosinski’s next film Spiderhead continues to grow as Netflix as released a new clip of the pic featuring stars Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller. The clip was unveiled during a panel for Netflix’s Geeked Out Festival with Hemsworth introducing it himself.
The film also stars Jurnee Smollett and Tess Haubrich and is based on the incredible short story by George Saunders, Spiderhead follows a brilliant visionary running a correctional facility that allows its inmates to shorten their sentences by participating in drug trials for mind-altering substances.
In the clip, features Hemsworth’s character administering a new drug to Teller and Haubrich’s character and while at first they aren’t into each other, it’s a matter of time before the drug kicks in and they are unable to keep their hands off each other.
The film also stars Jurnee Smollett and Tess Haubrich and is based on the incredible short story by George Saunders, Spiderhead follows a brilliant visionary running a correctional facility that allows its inmates to shorten their sentences by participating in drug trials for mind-altering substances.
In the clip, features Hemsworth’s character administering a new drug to Teller and Haubrich’s character and while at first they aren’t into each other, it’s a matter of time before the drug kicks in and they are unable to keep their hands off each other.
- 6/7/2022
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
2017-12-18T11:57:54-08:00Amazon Cancels Three Series
Back in 2013, Amazon decided to let viewers decide which series it produced. The streamer put all of its contending pilots online and based the decision of which series to pick on viewer feedback from the pilots. The policy has led to quite a few unpopular and critically lambasted series getting full-season orders. That's going to change as the streamer ditches the feedback model and cancels several of its current series, including Sea Oak and Love You More.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
Amazon Studios continues to inch toward scrapping its viewer feedback model.
On Monday, the streaming outlet and retail giant passed on three of its five comedy pilots, with Sea Oak, The Climb and Love You More no longer moving forward. The fate of its two remaining pilots — Greg Daniels' single-camera Upload and multicam Making Friends, from How I Met Your Mother...
Back in 2013, Amazon decided to let viewers decide which series it produced. The streamer put all of its contending pilots online and based the decision of which series to pick on viewer feedback from the pilots. The policy has led to quite a few unpopular and critically lambasted series getting full-season orders. That's going to change as the streamer ditches the feedback model and cancels several of its current series, including Sea Oak and Love You More.
Via The Hollywood Reporter.
Amazon Studios continues to inch toward scrapping its viewer feedback model.
On Monday, the streaming outlet and retail giant passed on three of its five comedy pilots, with Sea Oak, The Climb and Love You More no longer moving forward. The fate of its two remaining pilots — Greg Daniels' single-camera Upload and multicam Making Friends, from How I Met Your Mother...
- 12/18/2017
- by EG
- Yidio
Celebs like to curl up with interesting reads, too.
In the most recent episode of PeopleTV’s Shelf Life, Chrissy Teigen, Megan Mullally and Stephen Colbert share their favorite books… as of right now. Colbert reveals he has an especially voracious appetite for literature by listing not one, not two, but four books that are on his night stand. (Proving that, unlike some, he doesn’t rely solely on Twitter to inform his social commentary.)
Here’s the list:
Chrissy Teigen: The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
“I am about half way done with Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me,...
In the most recent episode of PeopleTV’s Shelf Life, Chrissy Teigen, Megan Mullally and Stephen Colbert share their favorite books… as of right now. Colbert reveals he has an especially voracious appetite for literature by listing not one, not two, but four books that are on his night stand. (Proving that, unlike some, he doesn’t rely solely on Twitter to inform his social commentary.)
Here’s the list:
Chrissy Teigen: The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
“I am about half way done with Ann Rule’s The Stranger Beside Me,...
- 12/7/2017
- by PEOPLE TV Staff
- PEOPLE.com
Amazon released three new pilots on Friday, November 10, and it’s up to viewers to determine which ones get picked up. “Love You More,” “The Climb,” and “Sea Oak” make up the 2017 fall pilot season, and whether you like ’em, love ’em, or they’re just not your cup of tea, the power lies with all of us to determine which are worthy of a full season order. Read IndieWire’s reviews below to gain insight into each offering, and watch the episodes for yourself right here.
Read More:November TV Premieres: 11 New Shows To Look Out For This Month “Love You More”
If we were evaluating pilots on the basis of the quality of their hearts, “Love You More” would get an A++++. Starring the increasingly ever-present (and delightfully so) Bridget Everett as Karen, a woman balancing her love of chardonnay and casual sex with her job as a counselor...
Read More:November TV Premieres: 11 New Shows To Look Out For This Month “Love You More”
If we were evaluating pilots on the basis of the quality of their hearts, “Love You More” would get an A++++. Starring the increasingly ever-present (and delightfully so) Bridget Everett as Karen, a woman balancing her love of chardonnay and casual sex with her job as a counselor...
- 11/10/2017
- by Ben Travers, Steve Greene and Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
Glenn Close is set to star in a new Amazon series called Sea Oak and this thing sounds crazy! Close will be taking on a role that is different from anything else that's she's ever played in her career... a vengeful zombie.
The series is described as a mix of zombie drama and family revenge comedy. This is the description of the series that we get from THR:
Sea Oak revolves around Aunt Bernie (Close), a meek, unmarried woman with no children in working-class Rust Belt City who dies tragically in a home invasion. Compelled by sheer force of dissatisfaction, she comes back from the dead full of rage and determined to get the life she never had. She proceeds to inflict a range of demands on what's left of her nuclear family, including a quasi-stripper nephew and two feckless nieces, who live in a low-end subsidized hellhole of a housing complex called Sea Oak.
The series is described as a mix of zombie drama and family revenge comedy. This is the description of the series that we get from THR:
Sea Oak revolves around Aunt Bernie (Close), a meek, unmarried woman with no children in working-class Rust Belt City who dies tragically in a home invasion. Compelled by sheer force of dissatisfaction, she comes back from the dead full of rage and determined to get the life she never had. She proceeds to inflict a range of demands on what's left of her nuclear family, including a quasi-stripper nephew and two feckless nieces, who live in a low-end subsidized hellhole of a housing complex called Sea Oak.
- 6/19/2017
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
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