Disney+ announced that “The Mysterious Benedict Society” will premiere on Friday, June 25 with two episodes. Character posters and a new television spot highlighting Tony Hale’s dual roles of twin brothers Mr. Benedict and L.D. Curtain are also now available.
After winning a scholarship competition, four gifted orphans are recruited by the peculiar Mr. Benedict for a dangerous mission to save the world from a global crisis known as The Emergency. Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance must infiltrate the mysterious L.I.V.E. Institute to discover the truth behind the crisis. When the headmaster, the sophisticated Dr. Curtain appears to be behind this worldwide panic, the kids of “The Mysterious Benedict Society” must devise a plan to defeat him.
“The Mysterious Benedict Society” stars Tony Hale, Kristen Schaal, MaameYaa Boafo, Ryan Hurst, Gia Sandhu, Seth B. Carr, Emmy DeOliveira, Mystic Inscho and Marta Kessler.
The series is executive produced by Sonar Entertainment, 20th Television, Jamie Tarses, Karen Kehela Sherwood, Deepak Nayar, David Ellender, Matt Loze, James Bobin, Matt Manfredi (writer/creator) and Phil Hay (writer/creator). Showrunners for the series are Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin.
Summary: A CIA Agent must befriend a young girl after she works out his occupation while he watches her family.
Year: 2020
Australian Cinema Release Date: 9th January 2020
Thailand Cinema Release Date: 5th June 2020
Australian VOD Release Date: 15th April 2020
Country: USA, Canada
Director: Peter Segal
Screenwriter: Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber
Cast: Darrin Baker (Dr. Weller), Dave Bautista (JJ), Greg Bryk (Marquez), Laura Cilevitz (Ms. Besser), Chloe Coleman (Sophie), Nicola Correa-Damude (Christina), Chris D’Silva (Andre), Noah Dalton Danby (Todd), Basel Daoud (Hassan), Olivia Depatie (Selma), Emily Anne Dupere (Emily), Parisa Fitz-Henley (Kate), Ali Hassan (Azar), Ken Jeong (David Kim), Vieslav Krystyan (General Gregovich), Benjamin Luborsky (Trent), Charlie Luborsky (Brad), Rakhee Morzaria (Tina), Jean-Michel Nadeau (Koll), Karen O’Keefe (Pauline), Ace O’Spades (Ozzie), Devers Rogers (Carlos), Kristen Schaal (Bobbi), Kellar Viaene (Emmy)
Running Time: 99 mins
Classification: PG (Australia), 13 (Thailand)
OUR MY SPY MONSTER REVIEWS & RATINGS:
Dave Griffiths’ My Spy Review:
There seems to come a time in every action hero’s career when they decide it might be time to make a family film. For some it works really well! Say what you like about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Kindergarten Cop but it still a film that will always bring a smile to your face whenever you go back and give it a watch. But the hits for action heroes deciding to deliver a family film though are usually very few and far between. Has anyone ever tried to go back and watch Vin Diesel’s The Pacifier after enduring it the first time?
Still that path full of our action stars’ most cringe worthy moments has not frightened wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista from deciding that it his turn to try and create a family favourite. Sure Bautista has already endeared himself to many younger audience members with his portrayal of the gruff but loveable Drax in the Marvel universe but with My Spy there is no costume to hide behind – this is Bautista trying to make people of all ages laugh using just his acting and comedic abilities.
In My Spy Bautista plays JJ, a hardened special-forces soldier who is trying his hardest to become a CIA Agent. The transition isn’t successful though as JJ lacks all the class of James Bond and hits anybody that stands in his way with the subtleness of a sledgehammer. He can’t even put an accent that works well enough to fool the bad guys. When he blows his first major case his boss David Kim (Ken Jeong – Community) teams JJ up with a tech expert named Bobbi (Kristen Schaal – Toy Story 3) and has them watch the widow and child of a deceased arms dealer whom Kim believes may hold the secret of their next case.
Through his sheer bumbling nature the young daughter, Sophie (Chloe Coleman – Big Little Lies) picks JJ as a spy pretty much straight-away and then blackmails him teaching her to become a spy or she will expose his true identity to her mother, Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley – Fantasy Island).
While a brief look at the plot of the film does make My Spy seem pretty simplistic although to give the film some credit it does actually go a little deeper than expected and it is that depth that makes the film not only watchable but also enjoyable.
Where a lot of these kinds of comedies decide the best way to get a laugh from the action heroes is to use slapstick and physical comedy the team behind My Spy decide to give Dave Bautista a little bit more credit than that. Together director Peter Segal (Get Smart) and his screenwriting team put Bautista and Coleman to the test with a storyline that mixes drama, comedy and action together as it depicts Sophie as a girl whose life is very much in danger while she battles with issues including bullying and dealing with her father’s death.
Bringing themes like that in the storyline allows young Chloe Coleman to show that she is an actress with a big future ahead of her and reveals why she has been cast in Avatar 2. At the same time it also leads to some emotional and touching moments between JJ and Sophie. While JJ may be a bumbling mess with his work life he is willing to go above and beyond in order to protect and help a young girl that is desperate for his help.
Parents of young children should be warned though that at times Peter Segal does seem to forget that he is directing a family film in 2020. There are times throughout the film where it feels like the film is a throwback to the family action films of the 80s and 90s where it was more than acceptable to point a gun at a child actor and throw them head first into action sequences. While those scenes here do add to the surprising realism and believability of the film some parents may wish to be a little cautious when it comes to the age of the children that they are allowing to watch the film.
My Spy is perhaps one of the biggest surprises of 2020. Many may have expected this to be a film that would have made a few people’s Worst Films Of The Year list but instead it is an action comedy with real heart. Bautista it seems has more acting cred then many would have expected.
Sony Pictures have just released the ‘Cheespider Attack’ clip from ‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2’ which is in cinemas on December 5th.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 picks up where Sony Pictures Animation’s hit comedy left off. Inventor Flint Lockwood’s genius is finally being recognised as he’s invited by his idol Chester V to join The Live Corp Company, where the best and brightest inventors in the world create technologies for the betterment of mankind. Chester’s right-hand-gal – and one of his greatest inventions – is Barb (a highly evolved orangutan with a human brain, who is also devious, manipulative and likes to wear lipstick). It’s always been Flint’s dream to be recognised as a great inventor, but everything changes when he discovers that his most infamous machine (which turns water into food) is still operating and is now creating food-animal hybrids – “foodimals”! With the fate of humanity in his hands, Chester sends Flint and his friends on a dangerously delicious mission, battling hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, apple pie-thons, double bacon cheespiders and other food creatures to save the world again!
Cast: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Kristen Schaal, Terry Crews, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Benjamin Bratt
Summary: Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s worldwide blockbuster, Despicable Me, delighted audiences around the globe in 2010, grossing more than $540 million and becoming the 10th-biggest animated motion picture in U.S. history. In Summer 2013, get ready for more minion madness in Despicable Me 2. Chris Meledandri and his acclaimed filmmaking team create an all-new comedy animated adventure featuring the return of Gru (Steve Carell), the girls, the unpredictably hilarious minions…and a host of new and outrageously funny characters.
Year: 2013
Australian Cinema Release Date: 20th June, 2013
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: USA
Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Screenwriter: Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul
Cast: Moises Arias (Antonio (voice)), Russell Brand (Dr. Nefario (voice)), Benjamin Bratt (Eduardo/El Macho (voice)), Steve Carell (Gru (voice)), Pierre Coffin (Kevin The Minion/Bob The Minion/Stuart The Minion (voice)), Steve Coogan (Silas (voice)), Miranda Cosgrove (Margo (voice)), Elsie Kate Fisher (Agnes (voice)), Dana Gaier (Edith (voice)), Ken Jeong (Floyd (voice)), Nasim Pedrad (Jillian (voice)), Kristen Schaal (Shannon (voice)), Kristen Wiig (Lucy (voice)),
Runtime: 98 mins
Classification:PG
SUBCULTURE MEDIA/THE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY FILM SHOW REVIEWS/RATINGS OF ‘DESPICABLE ME 2’: