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Drama

Suburbicon (2017)

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SuburbiconIn the bosom of Suburbicon, a family-centred, all-white utopia of manicured lawns and friendly locals, a simmering tension is brewing, as the first African-American family moves in the idyllic community, in the hot summer of 1959. However, as the patriarch Gardner Lodge and his family start catching a few disturbing glimpses of the once welcoming neighbourhood’s dark underbelly, acts of unprecedented violence paired with a gruesome death will inevitably blemish Suburbicon’s picture-perfect facade. Who would have thought that darkness resides even in Paradise?

Genre : Crime/Drama
Country : USA

Cast :
Matt Damon : Gardner
Julianne Moore : Rose/Margaret
Noah Jupe : Nicky

Director :
George Clooney

My opinion on “Suburbicon”

“The only thing Suburbicon is missing is you.
Isn’t it time for your new start?
Come home to Suburbicon.”

It doesn’t happen often, but now I had a feeling I didn’t really understand what I’d watched. Not that “Suburbicon” was a complicated, incomprehensible film. But I didn’t know what the initial intention was of the filmmakers? Was it meant to bring a socially critical message? Or was it a satirical view of an American society during the 50s with its tidy, decent neighborhoods and good-humored citizens? Or was it simply a crazy crime story with a fraudulent twist? Ultimately, in my eyes it was a mix of all of this, with not one facet that stands out. It’s a bundling of mediocrities. And the two mixed stories seem to have nothing to do with each other. It is, as it were, an amalgamation of two ordinary short films.

 Suburbicon

Two separate stories.

On the one hand you have the story of the Lodge family who become victim of a home invasion with housewife Rose (Julianne Moore) being killed due to an overdose of chloroform. What appears to be an ordinary robbery, evolves into a web of intrigues and lies. A web Gardner (Matt Damon) threatens to suffocate in. And on the other hand, there’s the Mayers family who moved to a house in Suburbicon. Nothing special at first sight. Only it’s an Afro-American family. And that causes quite a stir and controversy in this town where only white civilians live.

Suburbicon

Hey, the Coens brothers wrote this script long time ago.

The first story is based on a script written by the Coen brothers long time ago. The second story is based on true facts. It’s the story of the Myers family who in these days moved to Levittown, much to the disliking of the inhabitant, and settled themselves in a similar neighborhood. The result was an interference by the authorities to stop racist reactions and physical violence. This led to an injunction and criminal charges against the harassers just to protect the Myers family. But as I mentioned earlier, these are two separate storylines.

Suburbicon

This movie lacks subtlety.

Fortunately, the design of the film looks terrific. The idyllic image of this suburb and the typical features that belong to this time were worked out in an adequate way. The clothing, the cars, the interior and the friendly attitude to life are perfectly represented. In that respect, the film looks attractive. In terms of acting, the role of Matt Damon stands out. A superficial looking timid citizen. A similar character to that of Michael Douglas in “Falling Down“. Jullianne Moore could enjoy herself with her double role. But you can not call it impressive acting.

For me, Karimah Westtbrook was the one who played the most colorful role (no pun intended) as the adamant and persevering Mrs. Mayer. A woman who’s patiently watching how a limited protest slowly grows into an angry crowd shouting slogans and singing nationalistic songs. At a certain moment I didn’t know whether this was a satirical portrait or a reflection of reality. And then we come flawlessly to the humor section. I like black humor. And probably it was also intended to be blackish humoristic at certain times. But the only moment where I could see a glimpse of black humor was in the denouement. All in all, I didn’t think the film was really spectacular and the subject wasn’t worked out subtle enough.

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

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Drama

Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez to Headline ‘Unstoppable’ for Ben Affleck & Matt Damon’s Production Company

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Hot off the great reviews for the upcoming Air Jordan flick, Air, it seems that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are already set for their next project, one that will star someone near and dear to the heart of the latter. News comes in from Deadline, that Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers, Out of Sight) will star in the upcoming wrestling drama Unstoppable which comes from the new Artists Equity banner from Affleck and Damon, as well as Amazon. Additionally, in a separate report, we know that Emmy-winning actor Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us, Moonlight) will star as the lead of the film, playing the son of JLo’s character.

Unstoppable will star Jerome as three-time All-American wrestler Anthony Robles, an athlete born with one leg who persevered through his inspiring story to win a National Championship at Arizona State University. Lopez is set to play his supportive mother, Judy Robles. Robles, himself, is expected to be heavily involved in the production process of the film, which again, is set to stream on Amazon and produced by Amazon Studios. The latter news makes a lot of sense, following the early success of Air and the partnership forged between Amazon and Artists Equity on that particular project. Production on Unstoppable is expected to start sometime this Summer.

Lopez appeared on screen in two romance films last year with Amazon’s Shotgun Wedding and Marry Me which got a same day release in theaters and on Peacock. She’ll next appear in The Mother on Netflix which is directed by Mulan director Niki Caro. 

Jerome is best known for his Emmy-winning role as Korey Wise in the limited Netflix series When They See Us based on the Central Park Five which was directed by Ava DuVernay. He’ll soon be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s HBO Max series Full Circle before leading Amazon’s I’m a Virgo from Sorry to Bother You filmmaker Boots Riley.

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Adventure

‘1883’ Spinoff Series ‘Bass Reeves’ Adds Dennis Quaid to Cast

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Dennis Quaid (Far from Heaven, The Day After Tomorrow) is the latest star to join the cast of Bass Reeves, a new drama series coming from Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone, Tulsa King) and Paramount+, according to DeadlineBass Reeves was announced as a spinoff to the Yellowstone prequel, 1883 back in May 2022 with David Oyelowo (Selma, A Wrinkle in Time) attached to star as the legendary lawman.

Bass Reeves will follow Oyelowo as someone who is known to many as “the greatest frontier hero” in American history in his own series on Paramount+. The streamer already houses so many Sheridan-fronted programs, most recently, Mayor of Kingstown starring Jeremy Renner returned for its second season while CIA drama, Lioness added to its cast with Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman. Some believe that Reeves served inspiration to “The Lone Ranger” having worked as a peace officer for Indian territory capturing over 3,000 criminals on that land. Quaid will play Sherrill Lynn, a Deputy U.S. Marshall within the show.

Quaid most recently voiced the character Jaeger Clade in Disney’s animated feature Strange World which is currently available to stream on Disney+. He’ll also star in Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming HBO Max series Full Circle alongside Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes and Emmy-winner Jharrel Jerome. 

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Drama

Amy Winehouse Biopic ‘Back to Black’ Adds to Cast with Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville

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Let the casting of music biopics commence! As we’ve been hammered with news of superstar musician biopics each and every week, we have more news of one that is filming currently with Back to Black about the late, great Amy Winehouse. While it was reported back in January that Industry star, Marisa Abela will be leading as Winehouse, we now have details courtesy of Deadline on who will be joining the British pop star’s life story on screen. 

The report indicates that Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, ’71), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread, Another Year) and Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan, The World’s End) will all appear alongside Abela in Back to Black. O’Connell is set to play Blake Fielder-Civil, the love of Winehouse’s life who she was married to from 2007 until 2009, just a few years prior to her death as their love was unfortunately addled by prescription drug abuse and alcohol as well as multiple stints in rehab for both of them. Marsan will play Winehouse’s father while Manville will play Winehouse’s maternal grandmother in the film.

Back to Black will follow the life of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all-time in Amy Winehouse. Her sophomore album (which the film is named after) won her 5 Grammy Awards all at the young age of 25 just before her untimely death in 2011 at age 27. The film will focus on Amy’s creativity, genius and upbringing at Camden High School in the UK before she propelled into stardom.

The film will be written by Matt Greenhalgh and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson reuniting the two of them after their 2009 film Nowhere Boy, which chronicled John Lennon’s formative years and adolescence. Taylor-Johnson is coming off directing episodes of Hunters and Solos for Amazon but is best known for helming Fifty Shades of Grey

O’Connell had a big 2022 starring in Netflix’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover and MGM+’s new original series, SAS Rogue Heroes. He’ll next star as professional race car driver Peter Collins in Ferrari. Manville most recently starred as Princess Margaret in the recent season of The Crown for Netflix and in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Marsan is best known for playing Ray Donovan‘s brother, Terry in the hit Showtime series but will next appear in the film, Fair Play with Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor.

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