From Director Gracie Otto (Under the Volcano, Bump) comes the first look at Seriously Red, a musical dramedy produced by Dollhouse Pictures and Robyn Kershaw, and distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Roadshow Films.
Seriously Red stars Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids, Insidious, Spy, Neighbors), Krew Boylan (Primal), Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire, Blue Jasmine) and Daniel Webber (The Dirt, Escape From Pretoria).
Currently in post-production, Seriously Red first look shows a dolled-up Boylan (Red) gazing at Bobby Cannavale (Wilson). Scripted by Krew Boylan, the film features music by Dolly Parton and many others and is scheduled for theatrical release in 2022.
Red (Boylan) is a vivacious and at times misguided red-head who pours herself a cup of ambition and trades her 9 to 5 career in real estate, for a life under the spotlight as a Dolly Parton impersonator. On her journey to success, Red has to lose herself in order to find herself because as Dolly Parton says, “Be yourself because everyone else is taken’.”
Director Gracie Otto said, “Seriously Red embodies so much of what I love about cinema, culture and music.”
“We have all worked incredibly hard, filmmaking is no walk in the park (especially during a pandemic) but we are stronger for it and I love my team and the ‘happening’ a film creates. It will always occupy a special corner of my heart” said writer and lead actor, Krew Boylan.
Seriously Red is produced by Jessica Carrera, Timothy White (I am Mother), Sonia Borella (Go!) and Robyn Kershaw (Bran Nue Dae). Executive Producers include Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids, Insidious, Spy, Neighbors), Danny Nozell (Dumplin’), Jack Christian and Deanne Weir.
Summary: Thomas and Bea are now married and living with Peter and his rabbit family. Bored of life in the garden, Peter goes to the big city, where he meets shady characters and ends up creating chaos for the whole family.
Year: 2021
Cinema Release Dates: 25th March 2021 (Australia), 7th October 2021 (Thailand), 17th May 2021 (UK), 11th June 2021 (USA)
VOD Release Dates: TBA
Country: Australia, India, USA, UK, Canada
Director: Will Gluck
Screenwriter: Will Gluck, Patrick Burleigh
Cast: Stewart Alves (Mr. Tod (voice)), Jack Andrew (JW Rooster III (voice)), Hayley Atwell (Mittens (voice)), Jack Batchelor (Farmer Busby), Owen Beamond (Liam), Alex Blias (Hardware Clerk – Phil), Rose Byrne (Bea), Nigel Cooke (Marvin Stewart), James Corden (Peter Rabbit (voice)), Elizabeth Debicki (Mopsy (voice)), Rupert Degas (Samuel Whiskers/Little Pig Robinson/Trainer von Stauffenmouse/Kennedy St Squirrel (voice)), Simon Edds (Cheese Monger Pemberly), Andy Gatherwood (Mail Carrier – Matthias), Domhnall Gleeson (Mr Thomas McGregor), Alexandra Gluck (T. Whinosaurus Lex), Taryn Gluck (Boney Suarez), Tom Golding (Carlos), Lily Hall (Amelia), Isla Hawkins (Baby McGregor), Damon Herriman (Tom Kitten (voice)), Aimee Horne (Cotton-tail (voice)),Lennie James (Barnabas (voice)), Buckminster Kerfuffle (Tweedy Fantastic IV), Lance Kerfuffle (Sir Tweedy Fantastic III), Dave Lawson (Hardware Clerk – Chris), Ewen Leslie (Pigling Bland (voice)), Eliza Logan (Farmer Near Sawrey), Callum Macgowan (William Pemberly), Tim Minchin (Busker K. Bushy Esq.), Colin Moody (Benjamin Bunny (voice)), Sam Neil (Tommy Brock (voice)), Matt Newport (Farmer Far Sawrey), David Oyelowo (Nigel Basil-Jones), Harold Peek (Farmer Brown), Will Reichelt (JW Rooster II (voice)), Margot Robbie (Flopsy/The Narrator (voice)), Sia (Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (voice)), Shona Tough (Mail Carrier – Moira), David Wenham (Johnny Town-Mouse (voice)), Faizan Munawar Varya (Ray Rabbie), Connor Van Vuuren (Dungaree McGee), Matt Villa (Feix D’eer (voice)), Chaka Yasumura (Sara Nakamoto)
Running Time: 93 mins
Classification: G (Australia), U (UK), PG (Australia)
OUR PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY REVIEWS
David and Lee Griffiths’ Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Review:
Sony Pictures have this morning announced that Peter Rabbit 2 will hit cinemas on March 25th in Australia. The film which is directed by Will Gluck and stars Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, David Oyelowo, Elizabeth Debicki, Margot Robbie and James Corden was to be released last year but was postponed due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
Summary: Two friends with very different ideals start a beauty company together. One is more practical while the other wants to earn her fortune and live a lavish lifestyle.
Year: 2020
Australian Cinema Release Date: 23rd January 2020
Thailand Cinema Release Date: TBA
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: United States
Director: Miguel Arteta
Screenwriter: Sam Pitman, Adam Cole-Kelly
Cast: Jaylah Alise (Young Mia), Caroline Arapoglou (Brook), Rose Byrne (Mel Carter), Catherine Carlen (Aunt Margo), Jennifer Coolidge (Sydney), Aaron Dominguez (Justin), Ari Graynor (Angela), Brittany Guess (Ellie), Tiffany Haddish (Mia), Ryan Hansen (Greg), Salma Hayek (Claire Luna), Lisa Kudrow (cameo), Vanessa Merrell (Lux), Veronica Merrell (Zaylee), Mackenzie Messick (Mackenzie), Donece Monk (herself), Billy Porter (Barrett), Natasha Rothwell (Jill), Melissa Saint-Amand (Jess), Karan Soni (Josh), Jessica St. Clair (Kim), Jimmy O. Yang (Ron), Lana Young (Shay Whittmore)
Running Time: 83 mins
Classification: M (Australia) TBC (Thailand)
OUR LIKE A BOSS REVIEWS & RATINGS:
Dave Griffiths’ Review
Kyle McGrath’s Review
Average Subculture Rating:
IMDB Rating:
Other Subculture Entertainment Like A Boss Reviews: N/A
Summary: Just as Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) sell their home and plan on moving to the suburbs they suddenly find themselves under attack again as a sorority led by party girl Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz) move in next door. The arrival of former frat boy Teddy (Zac Efron) has everybody asking which side he will decide to join.
Year: 2016
Australian Cinema Release Date: 5th May 2016
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: United States
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Screenwriter: Andrew Jay Cohen, Brendan O’Brien, Nicholas Stoller, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
OUR BAD NEIGHBOURS 2: SORORITY RISING REVIEWS & RATINGS:
David Griffiths:
The last few things have shown us that comedy sequels often do not live up to original film in the franchise… especially, so it seems, if that original film was an absolute comedy gem. Comedy fans have watched as franchise after franchise have taken this ill-fated path as – Zoolander 2, Horrible Bosses 2, Hangover 2 + 3 and Anchorman 2 have all fallen well short of the brilliance that their predecessor had brought. The result was scorn from film critics and comedy lovers right around the world.
Now we find ourselves sitting down to watch Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising a film born into existence after the shock success of the 2014 adult rated comedy. With much of the key cast and crew returning for a second trip you could be excused for thinking that this film would be just as good… sadly that wasn’t the case.
This time around we find young parents Mac (Seth Rogen – This Is The End) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne – Insidious) expecting their second child and in the middle of selling their home as they decide to move their expanding family out to the suburbs. With the house sold the couple just have to hope that nothing goes wrong during the thirty day cooling off period.
Enter Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz – Kick-Ass) who feels that the sororities are getting the raw end of the deal when she discovers that they can’t party the same way as fraternities. Desperate to proves that girls can do it just as well as boys she moves her sorority into the house next to Mac and Kelly’s causing the couple to realise that their nightmare is coming true. Worse still is the fact that after being thrown out by his best friend, Pete (Dave Franco – Now You See Me), former fraternity leader Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron – The Lucky One) is only too happy to teach them everything he knows.
Sadly though Bad Neighbours 2 is another sequel that struggles to get anywhere near the quirkiness and humor that the first film managed to produce. The sad thing about this film is that it should have been painfully clear for anyone watching the first cuts of the film to see what had gone wrong – yes the problems here at basic but enough to sink the film.
The main thing that drags down this film is some very lazy and poor screenwriting. At times it feels like the writers here forgot key points from the first film, things such as the fact that at the end of the film Mac and Teddy met up and seemingly settled their difference, yet at the beginning of this film it feels like they haven’t seen each other since the frat moved out and Teddy still has a score to settle. Likewise much of the ‘wrong’ comedy that made the first film work so well are missing here. At the screening I was at the audience burst into laughter the 2-3 times the writers were game enough to attempt a politically incorrect joke but for the rest of time barely raised a chuckle as attempted jokes just played out on the screen in front of them.
The other big issue with Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising is the members of the sorority themselves. It seems like the writers were hamstrung with what they should do with most of the female characters this time around. On one hand they set up Shelby, Nora (Beanie Feldstein – Fan Girl) and Beth (Kiersy Clemons – Dope) as bad girls who want to live up life at college. Yet when it comes to the crust of things we see anything but and the girls end up becoming walking clichés whose actions seem to become very ‘unimportant’ to the writers. In one scene a big deal is made about the fact that Shelby is a virgin yet her ‘Shelby Lost Her Virginity’ is shown in a quick ten second montage. As if that isn’t made enough the writers seem to have borrowed the characteristics of the girls from Pitch Perfect – perhaps they didn’t think we would notice that the alternative girl, the larger girl and the strange-speaking Asian character act had all been done before.
Sadly it seems the sorority was ruined by writers who seemed to want to make the characters too politically correct and as a result they lost their hard edge. Remember back to the original film when Teddy, Pete and Scoonie (Chrisopher Mintz-Plasse – How To Train Your Dragon) were politically incorrect yet also had memorable characterisation? Well all of that is missing here from the girls of the sorority and boy does it show. Perhaps the writers needed to revisit films like Valentine and Sorority Row to see how ‘bad’ sorority girls should be written.
The other unfortunate losers when it comes to the writing are the cast. Rogen and Byrne are certainly held back from delivering the good comedic performances they did in the first film and while supporting cast members like Ike Barinholtz (Sisters) and Carla Gallo (We Bought A Zoo) do get the odd laugh here and there it just isn’t enough to save the film. And as for poor Chloe Grace Moretz, well this normally good actress is reduced to a ‘nothing’ role that is best to be left off her resume.
In reigning in Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising and making it more politically correct than the original film in the franchise the powers-that-be behind the film have made this a largely unfunny film that rehashes old jokes and doesn’t even deserve to live in the shadow of its much more impressive brother. Fans of the original film beware, you will not get as many laughs this time around.
Movie sequels can be very hit and miss for any number of reasons, for every Terminator 2 there’s a Terminator 3. Comedy sequels are much more miss than hit, this usually has to do with the set up for the original film not really being suited for a franchise. Some movies like 22 Jump Street or Robocop 2 feature self aware humor about this. As if the writers are nodding to the audience saying “yeah we know its silly, just go with it”. Not every comedy movie needs to break the fourth wall like this but it sometimes helps to know the filmmakers understood how ridiculous it was to make a sequel to something that was better suited as a one off. When they don’t then often the movie can come off as a shameless cash in.
Bad Neighbors 2 is the sequel to the hugely successful 2014 comedy. When we last left our protagonists new parents Mac (Seth Rogan) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) they had successfully defeated the troublesome fraternity and its leader Teddy (Zac Efron) who had moved in next door to their new home. They were content and ready to continue their lives without fear of loud late night parties next door or stray condoms in their front yard. Flash forward 2 years and Mac and Kelly are expecting a second child, despite all their money going into their new home in the first film it is apparently time to upgrade to another house in a different neighborhood. They’ve bought their new home, sold their “old” house to new home owners and are now waiting for the 30 day cool off period to end before they can officially move on. Much to their dismay at this point a sorority led by pot smoking partying Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her forgettable friends moves in to the old frat house next door and Mac and Kelly and the audience find history repeating itself.
Personally I really enjoyed the original Bad Neighbors. The characters were as believable as they needed to be, the improvisation (line-o-rama) scenes didn’t feel out of place and the humor was on par with what I expected. It was a somewhat average frat-house comedy but I enjoyed it. This movie didn’t quite match that. To be honest I didn’t have high expectations yet still I felt disappointed. Generally it feels like a lazy rehash of the original movie without any of the minimal characterization or even minimal originality which made it decent. The story largely playing out the same way we saw it 2 years ago but without the focus on the characters that was needed it streamed from one joke to the next without me ever seeing why I should care about anyone in the movie. The “this is sexist” angle is played out in such an over the top hamfisted but unfunny way im not sure why they bothered in the first place.
Bad Neighbors 2 is a movie which probably shouldn’t have been made. While not being quite as bad its very much on the Hangover 2 side of comedy sequels. I’m much more a fan of “follow ups” than sequels in this case where the same crew and principal actors make another movie in the same vein as the original rather than a straight sequel. I’d much rather Hot Fuzz than Shaun of The Dead 2. If only something similar had been done here.
Other Subculture Entertainment Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rises reviews: You can also listen to our full Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rises review on The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show Ep #175.
This week on The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show Dave, Greg and Nick take a look at new release films ‘Florence Foster Jenkins,’ ‘An,’ and ‘Bad Neighbours 2’. This episode also contains interviews with Zac Efron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Rose Byrne, Seth Rogen, Malcolm Blaylock (Human Rights Film Festival)and Cherie Currie (The Runaways).
You can listen to The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show or download it for free from our Podcast Channel – Listen/Download here.