EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN - Vol. 25

 Hail and well met, internet scroller! Welcome to EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, my column focused on Remakes, Adaptations and Long-Gap Sequels (a.k.a. Legacy Sequels). If a movie (or TV show) is based on some previously existing concept, it probably counts and I’ll probably talk about it.

So what’s new with all of you? If you think I’m just being “cute” because I can’t hear your responses, I encourage you to drop a comment below: tell me what actually IS new with you! What are YOU working on? What are YOU excited about? Because I’m extremely excited to be handling the MovieJawn Podcast Network! It’s a lot of logistics, not usually always my strong suit - I’m an Idea Man, not traditionally a Details Guy - but I’m having a lot of fun with it. We just dropped the premier episode of our newest pod Killer Bs (all about B-movie/genre/character actors) and you should listen to it HERE.

But enough about podcasts (for now…), we’re here to talk about MOVIES, baybee! So let’s do that. The way EOINA works is: I watch trailers for all appropriate films/series, summarize the (for lack of a better term) vibe I’m getting from the project, give my best educated guess as to where things might be headed and let you know whether I’ll be tuning in.

PREMIERS

These are all the movies coming to the various streaming services in March.

4th:

Pacific Rim: The Black (season 1)

Where: Netflix

Based in the same universe as the 2013 Guillermo del Toro original that pitted dual-piloted giant mecha called Jaegers (German for “Hunter”) against the equally giant monstrous Kaiju (Japanese for “Strange Beast”) this animated series for Netflix follows a teenage brother and sister who have been in hiding in their unspecified city for 5 years following a devastating Kaiju attack, waiting for their parents to return. Somehow they stumble into a hidden hanger that houses an unused Jaeger which is still powered-up and just needs pilots, so the siblings suit up and set off to find their parents. I loved the original Pacific Rim quite a bit and while I’m not adverse to a YA series set in that world, there are a lot of really convenient things at play in just the trailer: Stumbling into a government facility? The Jaeger being fully operational? Didn’t it take whole teams to run the systems that allowed the Jaegers to operate, like a NASA command center? Etc. So while I am fully on board to check this out, I’m not sure I’ll be able to completely suspend my disbelief to the degree that I’d want to. Beyond that, the art looks pretty decent - it resembles the style of the Netflix Godzilla animated movies from the last few years but smoother and less janky - and I’m literally never not in the mood for a giant monster movie / series, so I will definitely be checking this out, I just hope it can hook me and tell me a decent story.

5th:

Coming 2 America (dir. Craig Brewer)

Where: Amazon Prime

The long-gap sequel to 1988’s original, Coming 2 America finds Akeem (Eddie Murphy) returning to New York with his friend and aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall) to find his (male) heir. The first trailer didn’t make a very convincing argument for this flick’s existence beyond watching Murphy & Hall - who both look amazing btw! - rehash gags and characters from the original, luckily there exists a second trailer. This one establishes that Akeem’s home nation of Zamunda is under threat of a coup (imagine that) from wannabe ruler General Izzy (my man Wesley Snipes) and also adds some modern day social context in the form of Meeka, Akeem’s daughter (you can tell because her name is his name backwards) who would be a fine ruler except that “A woman isn’t allowed to rule Zamunda. It’s the law.” It’s not that I’m necessarily dying for the characters from a 33 year-old comedy to weigh in on modern social issues, but the inclusion of some new ground for them to cover makes me infinitely more interested in watching that just the shallow retread I first took this for.

19th:

The Falcon and The Winter Solider (episode 1)

Where: Disney+

Just a few weeks after the finale of WandaVision (Ryan Silberstein’s recaps of which can be read HERE), Disney+ is back in the Marvel expanded cinematic universe game with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. We last saw these boys (Anthony Mackie & Sebastian Stan respectively) in Avengers: Endgame where they left things on seemingly decent footing. However, this trailer opens with them in whatever amounts to the Marvel espionage world’s equivalent of couples counselling. They seem to be butting heads over each other’s way of doing things or possibly who should be the leader, though potentially it’s over who should get to wield Captain America’s famous shield (in the comics both Sam and Bucky have been Captains America at some point or another). Beyond that, we don’t get too much info on what the series might be about: Zemo (Daniel Brühl) - the villain from The Avengers: Age of Ultron - has returned, carrying a purple mask that’s a bit of nerdy fanservice which I totally popped for as has international spy Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp)! If I’m being honest, what’s got me most hyped about this after seeing the trailer ...is another show entirely. WandaVision did such an enjoyable and entertaining job of keeping me invested in these characters, and of growing the universe, that it actually gives me hope that F&WS will exceed its seeming Mission-of-the-Week spy set-up and do the same!

25th:

DOTA: Dragon’s Blood (season 1)

Where: Netflix

Let’s get some infodumping out of the way: DOTA is a MOBA. Are you unfamiliar with either of these acronyms? Ok boomer, I’ll explain them for you (I’m kidding; I myself am a million years old). DOTA stands for Defense of the Ancients and is the title of a series of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games, the modern incarnation of real-time strategy games like Starcraft and Warcraft (the original DOTA was a mod built on top of one of the Warcraft sequels actually). What that all means is that the player is in a league with other players against rival leagues of players, all using magic and weaponry to kill each other and claim land or special tokens or what have you. What’s that got to do with being adapted into another of Netflix’s anime series? Well, the lore in DOTA is pretty cool and reasonably elaborate and that’s kind of a huge thing in certain corners of the gaming world. There are whole YouTube accounts that do nothing but unpack the lore of various properties, from Destiny to Dungeons and Dragons. Anywhere that a story is being doled out in little, sometimes conflicting bits and bobs, you’ll find some industrious nerd willing to parse it all out. So anyway, DOTA exists in a fantasy setting not unlike the aforementioned D&D. There were a lot of bulletpoints being thrown at me in the trailer but the key conflict seems to revolve around some magic lotus flowers, the possession of which will make someone the goddess of the moon? So those get stolen in some sort of power bid. There’s also a knight named Devion who wants to kill all dragons for some reason and he teams up with a lady archer who wants to steal back the lotuses. I’m not really sure who any of these characters are, or whom I should be rooting for, but if I’m being honest I love this kind of lore. I know about those lore-heavy podcasts because I enjoy hearing these elaborate mythologies laid out in a satisfyingly linear fashion. Will Dragon’s Blood give that to me? Maybe. Here’s hoping.

26th:

Invincible (season 1)

Where: Amazon Prime

This animated series based on the Image Comics series created by Robert Kirkman & artist Cory Walker looks great! Kirkman (creator of The Walking Dead) has a knack for taking a story that feels threadbare and finding new angles with which to appreciate it, so when I tell you that Invincible is the story about a kid (Steven Yeun) whose father (J.K. Simmons) is a superhero, and who longs for superpowers of his own, trust that things are not going to consistently play out in ways you are familiar. This book (most of which I have read) is so full of fantastic twists and character growth as well as a really satisfying weight applied to its more violent moments, I’ve been recommending it to people for years! Hard to say for sure whether this Amazon series will deliver the same dopamine high, but with the quality of animation (very similar to the book’s art style which was maintained by artist Ryan Ottley) and as stacked a voice cast as this thing has (come for the Jason Mantzoukas, stay for dozen or so other greats including Michael Dorn!) at the very least I’ll be entertained!

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (episode 1)

Where: Disney+

It may be hard to understand if you weren’t there (hashtag only ‘90s kids will understand) but in the ‘90s The Mighty Ducks had a Moment. The original 1992 film spawned two sequels, a bizarre cartoon (seriously - it involves a race of sentient ducks from a world where hockey is everything, embroiled in a forever war with a race of conqueror lizard people) and, wildest of all perhaps, an actual hockey team (still active)! This latest series, despite a line of dialogue dropped early in the trailer stating “...little different than the Ducks of the ‘90s.” seems like exactly the same story: group of misfits bad at hockey seek out former hockey great Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) to coach them. I dunno, I like The Mighty Ducks just fine but don’t really know that I need to watch it again in a new form. Like, I can just watch the original if I so crave, yes? I kind of wish there was another trailer that gave me a better idea of what else might be going on in this series, if anything. There are some decent laughs in the trailer though - particularly when one kid (Maxwell Simkins - Philadelphia native!) who says he has “more of a podcast body” which made me laugh, not just because I could sympathize but he nailed that delivery. So maybe this series can get by on the charm of its cast alone (that has been hockey-mom Lauren Graham’s steez since forever, so...)? 

The Irregulars (season 1)

Where: Netflix

This Sherlock Holmes spin-off only has a teaser trailer, not a full one, so I’m going off of the barest bones here, but it actually looks vaguely interesting. In the Holmes stories, “the Baker Street Irregulars” were orphans and urchins that Holmes paid to be his eyes and ears as to the goings-on of London, since it’s not exactly a small place. I don’t know that they’re ever explicitly aged, but in my head they were kids; the Oliver Twist type image of orphans has become inextricably linked in my head to London as a city. The first of The Irregulars’ changes is to age them up so that they’re all steamy teens with ...I dunno simmering loins and hormonal drama, or whatever. More interestingly, this also heavily implies that the central mystery involves magic. Sherlock Holmes stories & their various adaptations have skirted around magic occasionally but as far as I recall they’ve always ended up being explained through Victorian-era science. This Irregulars trailer is primarily a trail of blue CGI fire circuitously racing across a map of London with narration about evil that uses phrases like “...shadow of a nightmare…” and the like, and shows footage that includes what appears to be a man igniting from the inside with the same blue flame and later a women apparently breathing similarly blue steam? I’m wondering if what makes them “irregular” in this new context is some kind of bobo X-Men mutant powers? I might check this out as my partner (Allison Yakulis) loves Sherlock Holmes things but our continued interest will depend on either the pure quality of their addition to Holmes as a conceptual property or, if things get truly wild, the talent and watchability of the cast. 

SPOTLIGHT

These are some EOINA-appropriate flicks that, though they’re not premiers, are still worth a look:

1st:

Constantine (dir. Francis Lawrence)

Where: HBO Max

Keanu Reeves starring in an adaptation of a comic book whose main character is a snarky film noir-esque supernatural crime solver? OF COURSE I like this movie! But, and this is what’s really important, it’s really damn good. When supernatural detective John Constantine (Reeves) is hired by a beautiful dame (Rachel Weisz) to investigate the suspicious death of her twin sister, he quickly realizes that he’d be in over his head if he was anyone other than John Constantine. There’s a ton of really fun and engaging world building (which I LOVE), great action and a stellar supporting cast (Pruitt Taylor Vince, Djimon Hounsou, Peter Stormare! - a beautifully ambiguous Tilda Swinton! - Bush singer Gavin Rossdale?) and a fantastic lead performance from Keanu. The same sort of beaten-down confidence and reluctance to escalate a situation that will serve him well in the John Wick franchise are on full display here, plus some really brilliant pitch black humor. A personal favorite. The pic above features a piece of my art inspired by a scene from the flick, made for a friend who also loves it (Hi Sandy!).

5th:

Iron Mask (2019) (dir. Oleg Stepchenko)

Where: Hulu

This flick is not what you might traditionally call “good”. It doesn’t make what you might traditionally call “sense”, the stakes and rules are not what you might traditionally call “clear”, the little CGI pseudo-Pokémonster looks like what you might traditionally call “Chris Kattan”. BUT. It’s a lot of fun if you can get on its level. Inspired by a bunch of myths and legends all poured into a blender and intended to appeal to an international audience, this movie features a fight scene between Arnold Schwarzenegger (who I *think* is supposed to be British in this?!?!) and Jackie Chan (long may he reign)! What more could you possibly need to know? Monsters, magic, wuxia action and honestly great lighting abound. If you like the batshit crazy, sure-why-not, anything can happen style of Big Trouble in Little China, I can’t imagine you being disappointed in Iron Mask. 

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This is a film-light / TV series-heavy EOINA which is maybe unsurprising given the past year’s difficulties. I hope wherever you are, reading this, that you’re safe and healthy and doing everything to stay that way. Thank you as always for reading and for potentially sharing this with friends (?). If you’ve got something to say about the column, or about any of the items covered, feel free to leave a comment below or on social media! Follow the MJ Podcast Network and my own pod (co-hosted by Allison Yakulis) Hate Watch / Great Watch - we’re about to drop our 50th episode! I’m very proud of us and I hope you’ll check it out. Until next time, Long Live the Movies!

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This piece was written for Moviejawn where you can find tons of other excellent movie-centric writings, a shop where you can subscribe to the quarterly physical zine and also listen to the  I Saw It In a Movie,  Cinematic Crypt  or  Hate Watch / Great Watch  podcasts!

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EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN - Vol. 24

Greetings and salutations and welcome to the first Everything Old Is New Again of the NEW! MovieJawn! I mentioned in my last column that there were going to be some changes happening on the MJ site and now, reading this, you're knee-deep in 'em! They're more than just cosmetic changes to boot, as they include some restructuring of the MJ crew and the absorption of a bunch of the talented folks from Cinema76. I mention this all, not only because it's exciting and fun and super cool, but it actually means that I - me, hi, hello - I am now the Associate Editor, Podcasts for the entire Moviejawn site!

You can read up a little bit more about the direction of the MovieJawn Podcast Network HERE (PLEASE INSERT LINK TO ANNOUNCEMENT LETTER), but in brief, we're compiling all the pods produced by assorted Jawnies onto the site and we hope you'll give them all a listen - see what you like! We also have many exciting things coming up but those are TOP SECRET so don't ask.

And also February contains my birthday, so - big month for me.

"SPOOR" (2021)

"SPOOR" (2017 - U.S. release 2021)

Directed by Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik
Written by Olga Tokarczuk and Agnieszka Holland, based on the novel “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead” by Olga Tokarczuk
Starring Agnieszka Mandat, Wiktor Zborowski and Jakub Gierszal
Running time: 2 hours 8 minutes
Not Rated

By Hunter Bush

I'm an animal lover, born and bred. My family always had a few pets growing up: a Siamese cat, an English bulldog, some run-of-the-mill Philadelphia street cats and a few hamsters over the years. I was a vegetarian for a little while in college until a stomach flu nearly killed me and a hamburger brought me back from the brink (true story). Watching Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik's Spoor is the closest I've come to maybe swearing off meat since that time.

Based on the novel “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead” by Olga Tokarczuk and titled Pokot in its native Polish - being the name of the ceremony closing out a major hunt wherein a Hunt King is chosen - Spoor is a character piece wrapped in the trappings of a thriller. We spend most of the film with Ms. Duszejko (Agnieszka Mandat) a woman living alone with her two dogs Lea & Bialka on the edge of the woods a little ways outside of a town somewhere in Poland. She greets every day by walking through fields, arms raised in a "v" and basking in the sunlight. She just loves nature, and animals, and isn't very fond of the town's large assortment of hunters and poachers.

When the film starts she seems to understand that there isn't much she can do other than take note of when one of the local huntsmen crosses some legal line or another, hunting animals out of season or poaching for instance, and file a police report that she knows will go unheeded. When the town hunting club contains both the mayor and the chief of police, you can't expect anything like swift justice. At least not from mankind.

When the film opens with narration - from Duszejko - about astrology; star signs and how the celestial arrangement at your birth can reveal clues about your death, I had a feeling the picture might be leaning in a supernatural direction. Once some of the locals - poachers, huntsmen, furriers - start turning up dead with unusual animal tracks around them, Duszejko begins to theorize that this is the work of nature itself, the animals getting revenge on man for a history of heartless criminal behavior.

For the greater part of the Spoor, I wanted her to be right. I was really enjoying myself for the vast majority of this flick, watching brutal men get their comeuppance, not caring whether it was actually nature's doing or the product of some human agent of spiritual and moral justice. In the final act, when Holland and Adamik perform their due diligence and unravel the whodunnit aspect of the story, it briefly lost the rhythm and tone I had been vibing on and almost starts to mimic the heist movie formula where Duszejko and everyone in her orbit - a ragtag group of folks who share an affection for her good hearted idealism - utilize their assorted skills to get her out from under the eye of scrutiny in relation to the deaths. Though it felt perfunctory, like something needed just so that the story could end, it didn't diminish my appreciation of the film any and it leads to a finale that is lyrical, sweet and beautiful.

I initially opted to review Spoor because of its poster. "If all else fails" I thought, "at least I can make fun of this janky poster". Oddly though, my enjoyment of the picture has increased my affection for the poster's rough edges:

Sure, it inadvertently gives the wolf a squinty, incredulous / possibly drunk look that's inherently kind of silly, but the intent is clear: to blur the line between predatory and prey; between who is hunting and who is being hunted. This image combined with something from the synopsis lead me to guess that this would be some sort of "perhaps there is a werewolf about" type of flick, and while that is not really the case, Duszejko slowly comes to be a kind of avatar for mother nature and an advocate of the animals. For instance, there is a scene late in the film when Duszejko reveals that she keeps some bones and scraps of fur from animals she finds slain by man's hands, in the hopes that some future technology will allow them to be cloned back to life as a form of atonement. It may sound like the ranting of an unhinged woman, the Polish archetypal counterpoint to the "crazy cat lady" cliché, but imagine if it was some dude in a black turtleneck calmly supposing it at a TED Talk? Beyond that, animal cloning has happened and with much less righteous aims.

I can't wait for my mom to be able to see Spoor when it hits VOD on January 22nd. My mother - who once bought a leopard fur coat at a yard sale so she could bury it in our front lawn - will probably find Duszejko's passion for a life in harmony with nature very relatable and I love that for her! The fact that there's gorgeous nature photography (cinematography by Jolanta Dylewska and Rafal Paradowski) throughout won't hurt, though there is some brief hunting footage that's a bit hard to take. The score (by Antoni Lazarkiewicz) is tremendous; the kind of thing I'd like to own on vinyl - almost as much as the Josie and the Pussycats soundtrack and that's saying something.

Once I settled onto Spoor's wavelength, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with its characters. Maybe being constantly hyper-aware of how close I am to any other people on every occasion in which I leave my home has me feeling smothered, or maybe I just miss being able to spontaneously take a walk to enjoy the sun, but whatever the reason, I found Spoor very engrossing and very satisfying.

Spoor hits VOD on January 22nd.

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This piece was written for Moviejawn where you can find tons of other excellent movie-centric writings, a shop where you can subscribe to the quarterly physical zine and also listen to the  I Saw It In a Movie,  Cinematic Crypt  or  Hate Watch / Great Watch  podcasts!

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EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN - Vol. 23

by Hunter Bush


Hello and welcome to 2021! As we bid a hearty adi-fuckin’-os to the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year that has passed, I want to offer my condolences to all of you reading this. I’m sorry, but it ain’t over yet. Things will still be rough for quite a while and we’ll be feeling the repercussions of 2020 for a long time to come, but I sincerely hope for all of our sakes that things are gonna start getting better. Fair warning now, I am writing this still within the confines of the bastard year. So there’s a chance that simply by wishing for good things I have doomed us all, but I prefer to think not. I choose to see it as manifesting my desires into existence and I hope you’ll all take a moment to take a deep, slow breath and put forth thoughts of goodness, positivity and light.




Okay. Now let’s talk movies. This, if you’re a first-time reader, is Everything Old Is New Again, my column compiling upcoming movies (and the occasional TV series, etc) coming to screens great and small in the month. For a flick to count as EOINA material, it has to be based on some previously existing content - an older movie, a book, a video game, etc. - in some way. Maybe it’s a remake of something from a while back, aiming to hook new audiences; maybe an adaptation offering a modern take on a Greek myth; maybe a long-gap sequel to a franchise everyone had written off. Whatever it is, I’m here to bring it to your attention, try to give it some context if you’re unfamiliar with it and, in general, give my impression of how it looks.

Trailers are a lost art with very few companies viewing them with the reverence they deserve. So sometimes a picture just has a bad one. I’m not trying to sway anyone’s interest in anything they’re passionate about (or passionately against), but if you’re on the fence as they say, maybe my take will help you decide which side you’ll ultimately come down on.

Below are all the movies fit to cover, divided up by streaming service (since no one in their right mind is going to theaters right now) and separated into Premiers (brand new movies!) and Arrivals (new to that particular service!) in an attempt to give everyone as many viewing options as possible while we’re all, if not technically quarantined, at least spending a lot more time around the house.

AMAZON PRIME
Premiers

I couldn’t find any applicable Premiers coming to Prime this month.

Arrivals

1st

A Night at the Roxbury (1998) - based on the Saturday Night Live sketch characters performed and created by Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell. Also streaming on HULU.

Coneheads (1993) - based on the Saturday Night Live sketch characters created by Dan Aykroyd.

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) - based on the first two installments of the Shopaholic book series by Sophie Kinsella.

Donnie Brasco (1997) - based on the novel by Joseph Pistone subtitled My Undercover Life in the Mafia. Also streaming on HULU.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb (1964) - loosely inspired by Peter George’s novel Red Alert from 1958.

The Firm (1993) - based around John Grisham’s 1991 novel. Also streaming on HULU.

Kiss the Girls (1997) - based on James Patterson’s 1995 novel. Also streaming on HULU.

The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - based on the historical novel written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826, subtitled A Narrative of 1757. Also streaming on HULU.

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) - based on the Steven Pressfield novel from 1995 subtitled A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life. Also streaming on HULU.

The Peacemaker (1997) - based on the book One Point Safe by Andrew and Leslie Cockburn. Also streaming on HULU.

The Town (2010) - based on Chuck Hogan’s 2004 novel Prince of Thieves.

Wonder Boys (2000) - based on the novel by Michael Chabon. Also streaming on HULU.

7th

Gretel & Hansel (2020) - based on the fairy tales the Bros. Grimm compiled and published in 1812. Also streaming on HULU.

11th

The Rhythm Section (2020) - based on the novel by Mark Burnell. Also streaming on HULU. Read my review for Moviejawn HERE.

HBO MAX
Premiers

Also no applicable Premiers for HBO MAX either.

Arrivals

1st

All the President’s Men (1976) - based on the 1974 book written by Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein.

Blade (1998) - based on the Marvel comics character created in 1973 my Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) - based on the 1964 children’s book by Roald Dahl.

The Color Purple (1985) - based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - inspired by the LIFE magazine article “The Boys in the Bank” by P.F. Kluge.

The Exorcist (1973) - based on the novel from 1971 by screenwriter William Peter Blatty.

Flashpoint (1984) - based on the novel by George LaFountaine.

The General’s Daughter (1999) - based on the 1992 novel by Nelson DeMille.

Green Lantern (2011) - based on the DC Comics character originally created in 1940 by Martin Nodell, though the film is based on the Hal Jordan incarnation of the character, created in 1995 by John Broome and Gil Kane.

Happily N’Ever After (2006) - computer animated film based on a number of fairy tales and fables by the likes of Hans Christian Andersen and the Bros. Grimm.

Happily N’Ever After 2: Snow White: Another Bite at the Apple (2009) - sequel to the above.

Kong: Skull Island (2017) - most recent relaunch of the 1933 King Kong, and a tie-in to the Godzilla (2014) franchise, the most recent U.S. relaunch of the 1954 Godzilla.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) - U.S. friendly relaunch/sequel to 1979’s Mad Max.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - Long gap sequel to the Mad Max franchise coming 30 years after 1985’s Beyond Thunderdome.

Miracle on 34th Street (1997) - remake of the 1947 film.

Miss Firecracker (1989) - based on the 1984 play The Miss Firecracker Contest by Beth Henley.

Mystic River (2003) - based on the novel by Dennis Lehane.

No Country For Old Men (2007) - based on the 2005 novel by Cormack McCarthy.

The Notebook (2004) - based on the 1996 novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Ocean’s Eleven (2001) - remake of the 1960 film.

Ocean’s Twelve (2004) - sequel to the above.

Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) - sequel to the above.

Ocean’s Eight (2018) - long gap franchise installment to the above.

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) - big screen adaptation of the TV series Pee-wee’s Playhouse.

Ready Player One (2018) - based on a laundry list of pop cultural objects enjoyed by Ernest Cline.

The Three Stooges (2012) - based on the vaudeville team.

TMNT (2007) - based on the Mirage Comics characters created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird.

V for Vendetta (2005) - based on the DC Comics limited series created by Alan Moore & David Lloyd.

Willard (1971) - based on the novel Ratman’s Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert.

8th

Patriot’s Day (2016) - based on the book Boston Strong by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge.

12th

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) - based on the song from Julie Brown’s album Goddess in Progress.

The Escape Artist (1982) - based on the book by David Wagoner.

Get Carter (1971) - based on the 1970 novel Jack’s Return Home by Ted Lewis.

Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006) - animated adventure based on the Hellboy films, which are based on the Dark Horse Comics character created by Mike Mignola.

Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007) - see above

Hellboy: The Dark Below (2010) - I’m actually not sure? There’s like no information about what exactly this is, but my best guess is: see above.

Lost and Delirious (2001) - based on the novel The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan.

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) - based on the 1888 novella by Rudyard Kipling.

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) - inspired by Jon Ronson’s 2004 book.

Night is Short, Walk on Girl (2017) - animated romance based on the novel by Tomihiko Morimi, with illustrations by Yusuke Nakamura.

15th

It (1990) - TV miniseries based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) - based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey.

Roots (1977) - TV miniseries based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel subtitled: The Saga of an American Family.

30th

The Mummy (1999) - reboot of the series starting with the 1932 film.

The Mummy Returns (2001) - sequel to the above

The Scorpion King (2002) - spin-off prequel to the above franchise.

HULU
Premiers

Et tu, Hulu? No applicable Premiers arriving on HULU either.

Arrivals

1st

A Night at the Roxbury (1998) - based on the Saturday Night Live sketch characters performed and created by Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell. Also streaming on PRIME.

Blow (2001) - based on Bruce Porter’s 1993 book subtitled How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Madellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All.

Constantine (2005) - based on the DC Comics character John Constantine created in 1985 by Alan Moore.

Cujo (1983) - based on Stephen King’s 1981 novel.

The Dead Zone (1983) based on Stephen King’s 1979 novel.

Donnie Brasco (1997) - based on the novel by Joseph Pistone subtitled My Undercover Life in the Mafia. Also streaming on PRIME.

The Firm (1993) - based around John Grisham’s 1991 novel. Also streaming on PRIME.

Graveyard Shift (1990) - based on a Stephen King short story published in 1978.

The Haunting (1999) - remake of the 1963 film, inspired by Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House.

Indecent Proposal (1993) - based on the novel by Jack Engelhard.

Kiss the Girls (1997) - based on James Patterson’s 1995 novel. Also streaming on PRIME.

The Ladies Man (2000) - based on the Saturday Night Live character created by Tim Meadows.

The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - based on the historical novel written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826, subtitled A Narrative of 1757. Also streaming on PRIME.

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) - based on the Steven Pressfield novel from 1995 subtitled A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life. Also streaming on PRIME.

Lost in Space (1998) - based on the tv series from 1965.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - based on a 1953 short story by Dorothy M. Johnson.

Paycheck (2003) - based on the 1953 short story by Philip K. Dick.

The Peacemaker (1997) - based on the book One Point Safe by Andrew and Leslie Cockburn. Also streaming on PRIME.

Poseidon (2006) - remake of the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure which was based on the 1969 novel by Paul Gallico.

The Princess Bride (1987) - based on the 1973 novel by William Goldman.

The Rules of Attraction (2002) - based on the 1987 novel by Bret Easton Ellis.

Shrek (2001) - based on the 1990 picture book by William Steig.

The Three Musketeers (2011) - based on the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas.

Wonder Boys (2000) - based on the novel by Michael Chabon. Also streaming on PRIME.

7th

Gretel & Hansel (2020) - based on the fairy tales the Bros. Grimm compiled and published in 1812. Also streaming on PRIME.

11th

The Rhythm Section (2020) - based on the novel by Mark Burnell. Also streaming on PRIME. Read my review for Moviejawn HERE.

Lights Out (2016) - based on director David F. Sandberg’s 2013 short film.

NETFLIX
Premiers




1st

COBRA KAI: Season 3 - Based on the Karate Kid film franchise begun in 1984, I’ve heard nothing but positive things about this series (though I have yet to watch it myself). As such, I have no real context for what all is happening in this trailer. BUT. I like it. It has Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their roles from the original Karate Kid films, teaching a group (or groups?) of unruly kids the discipline they were taught way back in the day. It seems like there’s been, oh… approximately 2 seasons worth of shenanigans before this story picks up because not only do we have kids in traction, but adults vowing to put their differences aside to help them. Also I think I saw Dee Snider and/or Twisted Sister playing onstage? That can’t be right, can it? What is this, a time-travelling karate show? Regardless, maybe it was the shreddy-guitar version of Auld Lang Syne playing in the background, but this show just looks fun (despite all the kids in traction) (or maybe because of them?) and I think I should stop wasting time and get caught up.

7th

PIECES OF A WOMAN - Based on a stage play by director Kornél Mundruczó and screenwriter Kata Wéber, this is a drama about a couple who lose their baby and how they are dealing in the aftermath of that. Oddly, for a movie about such a monumental tragedy in the lives of its characters, the biggest bummer in this trailer is the presence of Shia LaBeouf as husband Sean. In the wake of his latest round of toxic behaviors coming to light, it’s tough to want to empathize with him. But I’m willing to try because: it’s not his movie. It’s not called Pieces of a Sean, is it? Nah. Vanessa Kirby is the star here, playing Martha, and it looks like a fantastic performance.

Arrivals

1st

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) - based on the 1978 kids book by Judi & Ron Barrett.

Cool Hand Luke (1967) - based on Donn Pearce’s 1965 novel.

The Departed (2006) - U.S. remake of Andrew Lau & Alan Mak’s 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs.

Goodfellas (1990) - based on the 1985 book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi.

Into the Wild (2007) - based on the 1996 non-fiction book by Jon Krakauer.

Julie & Julia (2009) - based on Julia Child’s autobiography My Life in France (written with Alex Prud’Homme) and Julie Powell’s memoir, subtitled My Year of Cooking Dangerously.

Sex and the City: The Movie (2008) - based on the HBO series that aired from 1998 - 2004.

Sex and the City 2 (2010) - sequel to the above.

Sherlock Holmes (2009) - inspired by adventures of the detective character created in 1887 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) - Peter Hedges based this screenplay on his novel of the same name.

5th

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - U.S. adaptation of Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s 2005 novel.

15th

Hook (1991) - a pseudo-sequel to J.M. Barrie’s 1911 novel Peter and Wendy.

16th

A Monster Calls (2016) - Patrick Ness based the screenplay on his 2011 novel.

18th

Homefront (2013) - based on the 2005 novel of the same name.

20th

Sightless (2020) - based on director Cooper Karl’s 2017 short film.

SHUDDER
Premiers




14th

HUNTED - Inspired by the Little Red Riding Hood fable, this trailer is very stylish. When a car with a kidnapped woman (credited as Eve, played by Lucie Debay) in the trunk overturns on a road, she escapes into the woods pursued by her would-be captors. The trailer is narrated by an older woman telling the story to a young girl in the fashion of its fairy tale inspiration, so there’s a lot of fun juxtaposition and implied importance. For instance, when she says “(the forest) sent harsh and punishing emissaries” we see a crow, a snake and a wolf all attacking the men. That’s fun! This genuinely looks like a blast and director Vincent Paronnaud is a comic artist as well, so I’m expecting strong visuals. I’m curious to find out how the woman escapes her handcuffs, and to find out how the scenes of her with blue paint on her face come to pass.

Arrivals

18th

And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) - based on David Case’s 1973 novella Fengriffen.

Asylum (a.k.a. House of Crazies) (1972) - adapted by Robert Bloch from four of his own short stories.

The Beast Must Die (1974) - based on the short story There Shall Be No Darkness by James Blish.

25th

Nightbreed (1990) - based on Clive Barker’s novella Cabal.

Rawhead Rex (1986) - based on the Clive Barker story.

26th

The Woman (2011) - based on Jack Ketchum’s novel.

...And that about puts the first EOINA of the new year to bed. There are about to be some changes here on MovieJawn, both cosmetic and structural, and I for one am very, very excited for this next phase! Tell your friends!

Thanks for reading and, as always - Long Live the Movies!

Twenty Twenty in Film

Hello all. Since I started tinkering away at this blog - back in 2017 - I've endeavored to end the year with a post cataloguing all the year's films that I'd seen, in a personalized order. Obviously, this isn't a new idea by any stretch, year-end lists are a dime a dozen, but the majority of the more well-known ones represent the compiled tastes of a group of people or some kind of Metacritic-like aggregate.

My year-ender is always based entirely on a very slippery personal metric that takes the overall quality of a film and marries it to my personal views on its rewatchability. In that regard, an absolutely flawless film could easily rank below a fun trashterpiece bit of popcorn entertainment. The question of Would I Recommend This to People? is also in there as well as my affinity for novelty, appreciation for originality, and of the creative voice... it's a complex system and the goalposts will absolutely change from year to year.

And there are a number of flicks that I could put asterisks next to for one reason or another. Some are short films - one of which I worked on -, one's a mini-series, some were actually made many years ago but were not previously widely available - or still aren't - in the US, so I'm counting them now as this was the year I saw them.

What can I say?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy it and I encourage you to make your own. Drop me a link in the comments and I'll surely read it.

"HUNTER HUNTER" (2020)

Hunter Hunter (2020)

Written and directed by Shawn Linden
Starring Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa and Nick Stahl
Running time: 1 hour and 33 minutes
Unrated: contains incidences of violence on the scale from implied to very explicit

by Hunter Bush


Hello there. My name is Hunter and I’m here to talk about the film Hunter Hunter, which I took because of both the repetitive use of my name and the presence of Devon Sawa in the cast. Which do you want me to talk about first?

Well, according to family legend, my mom was going to name me after an actor (or possibly the character) that her father quite liked: Gunnar - a strong, handsome name! -  and then her eye kind of drifted across the page of the baby name book and there was Hunter, just sitting there minding its own business and all of a sudden BOOM! That’s my name. I was made fun of a little bit for it, not as much as you’d think. Most of the mockery was aimed at my physical appearance or interests. What can I say? Children are monsters.

Devon Sawa is a Canadian-born actor who rose to fame doing commercials before breaking into film with roles in pictures Little Giants, Now and Then and, notably, Casper. He aged into some decently well-known teenage roles in films like SLC Punk, Idle Hands and Final Destination, and has been acting consistently, in films and on TV, all along. His most enduring contribution to pop culture will probably end up being his role as Stan in Eminem’s music video of the same name, which codified the name into a term meaning “someone who is an outspoken fan of a thing” which in recent years has become a verb. As in “In this house, we stan Devon Sawa.”

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, Vol. 22 - December 2020

Everything OId Is New Again
Vol. 22 - December 2020

by Hunter Bush


Greetings, greetings! One and all! Welcome to another installment of EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, the column where I scan the horizon for upcoming film & TV projects based in some way on previously existing concepts. If it’s inspired by a book, or a modern update of an earlier film, or one of those long gap sequels, then it’s definitely EOINA material! Since we’ve all been spending a lot more time indoors, I’ve also taken to listing the EONIA-friendly titles that will be arriving on certain streaming services. They might not be new releases but hey, in a pinch they’ll do just fine.

Before we move on, I’d just like to take a second to mourn the passing of my local multiplex, the Regal/United Artists Riverview Plaza, a.k.a. The Riverview. I had already seen so many movies there in my lifetime that it would be impossible to keep track and that was before I moved to a place about 15 minutes’ walk away. I attended special screenings, limited engagement showings and organized group outings of friends. I even saw Speed Racer there, high on acid with my best friend and though that may not be “the only way to see it”, it’s definitely recommended. Philadelphia has many theaters. So my options aren’t nearly what I’d call “limited” and there are tons of unsavory stories surrounding the Riverview, but it will nonetheless always have a special place in my heart.

R.I.P. Riverview, you’ll be missed.