Expect the unexpected as I believe I’ve just witnessed 2021’s finest artisan gem. Pig is truly a soulful yet devastating journey showcasing the effects of grief and companionship, especially on how far Nicolas Cage is willing to go to get his beloved truffle pig back.
Divided into three chapters, the narrative follows Robin Feld (Cage), a truffle hunter who lives a quiet and simple life in the great wilderness of Oregon alone with his Pig. However one fateful night his cabin in the woods is raided and pig kidnapped. Robin must return to his forgotten past with assistance from the only contact he has, Amir played by Alex wolff who stops by once a week for his supply of truffles. Amir aids Rob in finding and rescuing the animal.
Pig is Michael Sarnoski’s feature film debut as a writer/director and has truly shown that he’s got a distinct visual style as the filmmaking is phenomenal plus the cinematography adds a dampness and disenchanted quality to this foodie noir.
Nicolas Cage has truly aged like fine wine as he’s not afraid to make himself look and feel dirty in the truffle woodland environment.His performance shows a deeper side to the actor since he plays a character quiet and introverted with only few words. Pig also marks Wolff’s best role since his breakout performance in Hereditary.
Pairing Cage and Wolff together was the films masterstroke. both work perfectly together and have the chemistry which allows them to go back and forth with each other, which is enjoyable to watch.
With her thick auburn hair, striking eyes and sleek physique, Nicolas Cage’s latest co-star is Brandy who’s landed her first ever onscreen role as Pig. Though despite looking the part brandy had to go through weeks of training, encouraged with grapes and apples she eventually leaned to sit, step back and jump, she even had her own trailer.
Without saying too much, Rob is able to gather that the culprits are from Portland and must definitely share connections with his past life there as a renowned chef and loving partner. This allows the script to peel away each layer of character such as Amir who had a toxic upbringing and seeking his fathers approval. Their search takes them down into the cooking scene of Portland as the characters are fuelled by the passion for food.
If your expecting a rampage, go find another movie. There is a little violence in the film, especially seen through an underground chefs’ fight club of sorts. Its unglamorous and brutal thus not easy to watch. Cage’s mountain man is keenly observant and verbally fights them by saying meaningful things that strike other characters in a deep place. He’s not being abusive, just telling them the gods honest truth as he see’s it. Sarnoski goes through every scene in detail, he provides exceptional visuals that left me in tears. Henry Mancini’s score accompanies the film gracefully with the addition of classic themes that aid in the films progress in building an emotional ending. The film never breaks it’s tone and stays consistent and effective. Cage seems at home smell-testing the mushrooms he’s truly a scavenger.
Overall, Pig is a phenomenal piece of art that tells an emotional, touching and lonely journey that focuses on companionship and discovering who you once were, especially facing your past. The film has also proved to be one of Cage’s best performances to date. Now we just need a film showing the pigs perspective.
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.
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 Deadline. Bass 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.
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.