CMC Pictures has released a new clip from fantasy action film A WRITER’S ODYSSEY to celebrate the exciting news that the film will be playing in the San Francisco Bay Area starting today, February 26 and in select New York City theaters beginning next Friday, March 5. The clip showcases the film’s special effects and dark fantasy world. After a climactic battle, the Black Armor prepares to attack a child – until Kongwen Lu (Dong Zijian, ASH IS PUREST WHITE) discovers his power to control it.
A WRITER’S ODYSSEY tells the story of Kongwen Lu, the author of a fantasy novel series following a heroic teenager on a quest to confront Redmane. Through a strange twist of fate, the fantasy world of the novel begins to impact life in the real world, leading Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin, THE LONGEST DAY IN CHANG’AN, BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES), to accept a mission to kill the author.
A WRITER’S ODYSSEY is directed by Lu Yang (BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES) and also stars Yang Mi, Yu Hewei, Guo Jingfei and Tong Liya.A WRITER’S ODYSSEYis out now in theaters and at the Vineland Drive-In in Los Angeles, CAand West Wind Drive-In in San Jose, CA, including newly opened theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area. The film will open in select New York City theaters beginning March 5, 2021.For more information and a list of theaters, please visit: www.CMC-Pictures.com/A-Writers-Odyssey
Anthony Scott Burns’ new sci-fi thriller, Come True, will be released on Digital March 17 in Australia and New Zealand by Lightbulb Film Distribution.
Come True, which celebrated its World Premiere at Fantasia, stars Julia Sarah Stone (Honey Bee, Weirdos) and Landon Liboiron (Truth or Dare).
The film was produced by Vincenzo Natali (Splice, In The Tall Grass) and the score was composed by Canadian synth-pop duo Electric Youth and Burns (under the moniker Pilotpriest).
Plagued by nightmares, a troubled teenager signs up to a sleep disorder study. Hoping that will finally stop her sinister dreams, she unknowingly becomes the channel to a horrifying new discovery. Commenting on the release down under, Peter Thompson, Sales & Acquisitions Director at Lightbulb Film Distribution, said: “We are thrilled to be bringing this ground-breaking feature to Australia and New Zealand audiences. Come True was the most talked about film at Fantasia last year and Anthony Scott Burns is truly a visionary director. This film doesn’t just require repeat viewings – it demands it.”
Come True will be released in on Digital March 17 in Australia and New Zealand by Lightbulb Film Distribution. Available on iTunes, Google Play and Sony Playstation.
There is nothing like sitting back and watching a good fantasy film. Think back to some of the classics – The Neverending Story, Labyrinth etc. They are the films that stay with you long after the credits have rolled, simply because they are full of amazing imagery and take the audience on a journey that they will never forget. Now a new film is being released that will certainly also join that list of great fantasy films – A Writer’s Odyssey and this week we sat down to chat to the critically acclaimed director of the film – Yang Lu.
“After reading the novel I decided to turn this into a film because this is a story about whether a man will stick to his faith when life goes hard and he has to decide to stick with it no matter how hard everything gets or even when the world says no,” says Lu as we begin to talk about why he decided to take on this project. “I was deeply moved by the story because it was also about a father finding his missing daughter. As a father myself I found myself deeply connected and I was moved by the emotions behind the story.”
There is little doubt that Lu was the right person to direct A Writer’s Odyssey, not only because of his personal connection to the screenplay but because he had a vision like no other. “I wanted to turn the story into an incredible fantasy film as well,” he says with a smile. “I thought with all these Chinese elements fuelling the story I thought it was going to be an incredible experience to direct this film.”
As a director Lu himself found himself going on a journey though when it came to casting the film because they started with a blank slate. “When we were writing the script we actually had no idea who we would cast in the film,” he admits openly. “Part of that was because the lead character has to play two roles – one in reality and one in the novel world. This is not a common hero story that we are used to having this is about a middle aged male whose life went hard and had to start a journey to find his daughter in order to become a hero himself.”
“So the audience really needs to believe in this character,” says Lu continuing. “Even though he is a middle aged male who is an ordinary person the audience needs to believe in him and that he has the quality to become a hero. So as the director and also the writer of the film I needed to believe in him as well so we tried to find someone that is that kind of character and has that quality. I think we were very like to find actors that could fit the qualities of the characters as well as play two very different roles in the film, that way the audience would not only believe in the character but also find themselves emotionally connected to the character and the story.”
Despite the contrary belief that is often taught in film schools Lu says as a director you don’t really have more freedom with a fantasy film than you do a standard drama or romance. “Actually to be honest it is harder,” he says. “You have to put so much effort into the process because you are building a new world. You cannot rely on the mere reality or the real world so you have to build a whole new world from scratch so that means that we have to put a lot of effort into the issues that might happen with creating a new world as well.”
“That is not merely just to impress the audience,” he says continuing. “This is because we have to have these details ourselves. Then we have to share those details with the other filmmakers and the cast and we have to convince ourselves with how the new world is going to be so that often means that there is a lot more work during the filmmaking process.”
All of that hard work has paid off with the result being an exceptional fantasy film and Lu finishes the interview with this message for audiences out there. “We hope that we are able to take you on an adventure,” he says. “This is a story of Chinese characters and Chinese elements and we hope that it can bring Chinese and Asian thinking patterns to the audience right around the world. This is a story about a teenager and a father who have to challenge themselves and they have to challenge their own faith and challenge themselves and we hope to bring this story to an international audience and we hope that they are affected and inspired by this incredible Chinese story.”
A Writer’s Odyssey opens in cinemas on the 12th Feb.
Summary: Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
Year: 2020
Cinema Release Dates: 27th August 2020 (Australia), 27th August 2020 (Thailand), 26th August 2020 (UK), 3rd September 2020 (USA)
VOD Release Dates: Out now
Country: USA, UK
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenwriter: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Kenneth Branagh (Sator), Michael Caine (Crosby), Adam Cropper (Young Sator), Jack Cutmore-Smith (Klaus), Elizabeth Debicki (Kat), Martin Donovan (Fay), Fiona Dourif (Wheeler), Dimple Kapadia (Priya), Yuri Kolokolnikov (Volkov), Mark Krenik (Toby), Anthony Molinari (Rohan), Himesh Patel (Mahir), Robert Pattinson (Neil), Clemence Posey (Barbara), Laurie Shepherd (Max), Denzil Smith (Sanjay), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Ives), Jeremy Theobald (Steward), John David Washington (Protagonist)
Running Time: 150 mins
Classification: M (Australia), G (Thailand), 12-A (UK), PG-13 (USA)
Summary: A group of school students welcome a new witch into their coven, but due to her secret legacy the results are not what they predicted.
Year: 2020
Cinema Release Dates: 20th December 2020 (Australia), 6th November 2020 (Thailand), 28th October 2020 (UK)
VOD Release Dates: 3rd February 2021 (Australia), 28th October 2020 (USA)
Country: USA, Canada
Director: Zoe Lister-Jones
Screenwriter: Zoe Lister-Jones, Peter Filardi (based on characters created by)
Cast: Gideon Adlon (Frankie), Fairuza Balk (Nancy Downs), David Duchovny (Adam), Nicholas Galitzine (Timmy), Hannah Gordon (Ashley), Julian Grey (Abe), Zoey Luna (Lourdes), James Madge (Mr Bly), Donald McLean Jnr. (Isiah), Michelle Monaghan (Helen), Lovie Simone (Tabby), Cailee Spaeny (Lily), Chris Tomassetti (Jeremy), Charles Vandervaart (Jacob)
Running Time: 97 mins
Classification: M (Australia), 13 (Thailand), 15 (UK), PG-13 (USA)
OUR THE CRAFT: LEGACY REVIEWS
David Griffiths’ The Craft: Legacy Review:
Horror film fans are some of the most unforgiving cinephiles there are. They are never afraid to tell a filmmaker what is ‘wrong’ with a film and if someone dares make massive changes to a horror franchise then you better believe that everybody on social media is going to hear about. While many filmmakers have come unstuck through the passion of the genre’s fans one group has managed to avoid any of that fury over the past few years – Blumhouse Studios.
Formed by producer Jason Blum Blumhouse have become one of the most prolific film studios over the past few years and have had no issue with putting their stamp on some of the biggest horror franchises that cinema has ever seen – and the result has been both well received and profitable. Perhaps the jewel in the crown was releasing a Halloween film in 2018 that even the most hardcore fans embraced with open arms.
Now Blumhouse take on a new challenge. Taking the beloved 1996 film supernatural-thriller The Craft and giving it a modern day sequel. Everybody involved with this film went to great lengths to point out that this is not a remake or a rebooting and while I was sceptical to begin with I have to credit – they have created a sequel that works while paying homage to the original.
Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid) The Craft: Legacy centres around teenager Lily (Cailee Spaeny – Pacific Rim: Uprising) whose life is turned upside down when her mother, Helen (Michelle Monaghan – Source Code) moves them across the country so she can move with her boyfriend Adam (David Duchovny – The X-Files).
While the move originally terrifies Lily it is soon made a little more bearable when she meets three young witches at her High School whom quickly pick up on the fact that she is the powerful fourth that their coven needs.
If the plot does sound a little close to that of the original The Craft you would be right. To their credit though Lister-Jones and Blumhouse do create enough new plot devices to make the film work without being labelled a carbon copy. For starters the film does have a ‘woke’ feeling to it. Instead of the witches simply casting a love spell like in the original this time their ‘victim’ is Timmy (Nicholas Galtizine – High Strung), the school’s resident nasty jock who the witches believe can be improved and made a better person with a simple personality altering spell.
Whether the events that then follow is the director’s way of making a statement about ‘woke’ culture is in the eyes of the viewer but either way the film does not ever become preachy towards its audience. Lister-Jones is also creative in the way she has the film link back to the original but I cannot tell you too much about that as it is a massive spoiler.
Despite the fact that so many things do work for The Craft: Legacy the film does have some negatives that prevent it from being a great film as well. It does feel that Lister-Jones took the safe route with this film. The story is simple and clearly aimed at a teenage audience but aside from that it seems like the film was afraid to take any big risks. In these days and times we have seen shows like Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina take older ideas and give them a darker twist and to be honest I think The Craft: Legacy could have benefitted from a little darker twist because at times the film felt like it was just a little ‘teenage’ centric.
The other flaw with the film is that a few of the major twists in it are severely sign-posted to the point where the audience can predict what is going to happen next. This alongside the fact that it felt that David Duchovny was under-used does suggest that this film could have been improved with a few risks taken here and there and even a longer runtime could have helped things out a little.
For the most part The Craft: Legacy is a smooth, yet enjoyable watch. You do get a strong feeling that neither Lister-Jones or Blumhouse wanted to rock the boat too much for hardened The Craft fans and the result is a film that possibly plays it a little too safe. Still fans won’t be too disappointed but let’s hope that film number three does have a bit more of an edge to it.
Legends collide in “Godzilla vs. Kong” as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia, a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction across the globe. The epic clash between the two titans—instigated by unseen forces—is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth.
Godzilla vs Kong stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler and Demián Bichir. It is directed by Adam Wingard.
Warner Bros. Pictures and Roadshow Entertainment have announced today that the major superhero tentpole film “Wonder Woman 1984” will be exclusively fast-tracked from cinemas to Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) and premium digital ownership in Australia and New Zealand from January 27, 2021.
This title will be one of the first wide-released blockbusters to be fast-tracked ahead of the usual three month release window.
Since Boxing Day, “Wonder Woman 1984” has brought in over $26 million to the Australian and New Zealand Box Office, and now fans and families will have the option to enjoy the film in the comfort of their own home, or continue to enjoy the film on the big screen.
“Wonder Woman 1984”, will be available for rental either via PVOD for $29.99 AUD or to own digitally for $34.99 AUD, beginning on Wednesday January 27.The title will be available on participating digital platforms.
From director Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot in the title role, “Wonder Woman 1984” fast forwards to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her riding lightning across the sky, donning wings of gold, and chasing a dream while in pursuit of two new formidable foes: Max Lord and the Cheetah.
In “Wonder Woman 1984,” the fate of the world is once more on the line, and only Wonder Woman can save it. This new chapter in the Wonder Woman story finds Diana Prince living quietly among mortals in the vibrant, sleek 1980s—an era of excess driven by the pursuit of having it all. Though she’s come into her full powers, she maintains a low profile, curating ancient artifacts and only performing her superheroic acts incognito. But now, Diana will have to step directly into the spotlight and muster all her wisdom, strength and courage in order to save mankind from a world of its own making.
The film also stars Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Kristen Wiig as the Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Max Lord, Robin Wright as Antiope and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta.
Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot and Stephen Jones produced the film. Rebecca Steel Roven Oakley, Richard Suckle, Marianne Jenkins, Geoff Johns, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo and Wesley Coller served as the executive producers.
Jenkins directed from a screenplay she wrote with Geoff Johns & Dave Callaham, story by Jenkins & Johns, based on characters from DC. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston. Joining the director behind the scenes are several members of her “Wonder Woman” team, including director of photography Matthew Jensen, Oscar-nominated production designer Aline Bonetto (“Amélie”), and Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (“Topsy-Turvy”). Oscar-nominated editor Richard Pearson (“United 93”) cut the film. The music is by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer (“Dunkirk,” “The Lion King”).
