Sundance (2022) review: In ‘DUAL’ writer-director Riley Stearns wades into emotional darkness through deadpan sci-fi.

DUAL

 After receiving a terminal diagnosis, Sarah commissions a clone of herself to ease the loss for her friends and family. When she makes a miraculous recovery, her attempt to have her clone decommissioned fails, and leads to a court-mandated duel to the death.


The minute I realized the deadpan nature of most of the cast’s delivery, I exclaimed, “Oh shit, this has to be by Riley Stearns!” In 2019, I saw The Art Of Self-Defense, and the stylized nature of the dialogue has stuck with me ever since. Festivals can be a blur. I usually enjoy going into a screening blind. Either that or I can’t remember a damn thing by the time I’ve consumed 20+ films. Lucky for me, DUAL was my final watch. It was on my dance card immediately because of Gillan and Paul. I’m a big fan of Doctor Who and Westworld, and this plot sounded like a combo of the two worlds. I wasn’t necessarily wrong from a storyline and humor perspective. 

There’s a blunt absurdity to it everything in this film. The indifferent nature of this emotionally complex scenario makes it cringe-worthy in the best way possible. There is no filter on anyone. Aaron Paul is Trent, Sarah’s Death Dual coach. He’s so zen and focused you cannot help but smirk every time he speaks. Could I watch him dance every day of the week? You’re damn right. Would I hire his character to teach me to disassociate violence and be a badass? Every time. Karen Gillan plays both original and clone Sarah. They are two distinct but equally fascinating characters. As original Sarah, her dispassionate personality is jarring. Once her training begins, Gillan’s past roles come in handy. As her clone, she gets to play Sarah with a bit more uppity finesse. Besides her tone, Gillan’s physicality made me laugh out loud. The 110% commitment by these actors makes DUAL so damn entertaining. Beyond the sci-fi aspect, it’s the emotional depth and darkness that hits me harder a day after watching. Riley Stearns, you wily bastard. You got me again.

Cast: Karen Gillan, Aaron Paul, Beulah Koale.

World Premiere.


To find out more about tickets and the full lineup for Sundance 2022, click here!


NSFW Trailer for ‘Triple 9’ is Here

Triple 9 1

Open Road Films has released the first NSFW trailer for Triple 9 the gritty, action-packed crime thriller from director John Hillcoat (The Road, Lawless), and you can view it below.

The film follows a group of criminals and corrupt cops who find themselves in serious trouble. The Russian mafia is blackmailing them, and the only way to deal with them is to perform what is believed to be an extremely challenging heist. Impossible as it may seem, however, they eventually hatch a plan: on one side of town, half of the crew will plan the murder of a rookie cop named Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), and while the rest of the force is distracted by a 999 call (“officer down”), the other half of the corrupt cops will pull off the job. This all seems like it’s going to work until Allen winds up surviving the attack and fights back.

Triple 9 also stars Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs), Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Martian), Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”), Gal Gadot (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies), Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”) and Anthony Mackie (Captain America: The Winter Soldier).

Triple 9 hits theaters on February 19, 2016

Triple 9

New trailer for ‘Bojack Horseman’ on Netflix makes you smile all over again!

BojackHorseman_S2_DateAnnounce_USBoJack is back for a second season with a B.N.A. (Brand New Attitude). The darkly hilarious, serialized animated adult comedy BoJack Horseman will premiere twelve (12) new episodes only on Netflix on Friday, July 17, 2015 at 12:01am PST in all territories where Netflix is available. BoJack Horseman Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

Will Arnett voices BoJack, the legendary 90’s sitcom star, who has been trying to find his way through a muddle of self-loathing, whisky and failed relationships.  Now starring in his dream movie (a biopic of Secretariat), but humbled by the events of last season, BoJack attempts to use his career second wind as a stepladder to a springboard to becoming a newer, better BoJack. But new challenges on set and in his personal life, and the demons of his past make it difficult to shake off the skin of his previous self. If season one of BoJack Horseman is about a character learning he needs to change, the new season is about whether or not he can. It’s a character in a rut, trying to pull out of that rut, and the rut pulling back.

Also, there are lots of surprise guest stars and funny talking animal jokes.

The all-star cast includes Will Arnett as BoJack Horseman, Aaron Paul as Todd Chavez, Amy Sedaris as Princess Carolyn, Alison Brie as Diane Nguyen and Paul F. Tompkins as Mr. Peanutbutter. Lisa Kudrow guest stars as Wanda Pierce.

BoJack Horseman was created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg.  The series is Executive Produced by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Steven A. Cohen and Noel Bright.  Will Arnett (The Millers, Arrested Development) and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) also serve as Executive Producers. BoJack was designed by graphic artist Lisa Hanawalt and animated by LA-based ShadowMachine. The show is a Tornante Production, brought to life by Michael Eisner’s The Tornante Company and is only available on Netflix.

For more information on BoJack Horseman, please visit the following pages: www.netflix.com/bojackhorseman

Facebook.com/BoJackHorseman

Twitter.com/BoJackHorseman

Instagram.com/BoJackHorseman

Michael’s Review: ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’- This One’s Not Heaven Sent

Exodus_Ver2_Wave PosterWhen I first heard of director Ridley Scott’s willingness to make a feature length interpretation of the story of Moses and his quest to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, I had my doubts of the outcome. Scott has not had a very good track record of making historically epic films with duds like 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Kingdom of Heaven in his resume. Armed with a  cast of white actors to play the lead roles of Hebrew and ancient Egyptian characters,  Ridley Scott sets out to retell the story of Moses no matter what the cost and what audience he alienates in the process. The portrayal of Moses which will no doubt leave religious audiences scratching their heads and others with little more than a visually stunning movie with little substance. Read More →