Handsome, Dull ‘DEATH ON THE NILE’ Paddles Towards Predictability

February 10, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Agatha Christie, Annette Bening, Armie Hammer, Death on the Nile, Emma Mackey, Gal Gadot, Kenneth Branagh, Letita Wright, Michael Green, Reviews, Russel Brand, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Bateman 1 Comment

Death on the Nile begins with the origin story of Hercule Poirot’s (Kenneth Branagh) ridiculous mustache. His face was half-blown off in WWI you see, this facial deformity informing his older self’s reclusive and fussy nature. The overly coiffed, quadruple-pronged mustache was a cover up all along. A way to throw people off the scent of his great trauma and deep-seated pain. The detective, it seems, is indeed human after all. Surmising why the world-famous detective became who he is proves the best material in this sequel to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, a murder mystery that is otherwise haunted by an almost total lack of mystery. Read More

He Did It, He Actually Did It: The Journey of ‘ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE’

March 24, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Jeremy Irons, Jesse Eisenberg, Justice League, Ray Fisher, Reviews, Willem Dafoe, Zack Snyder 3 Comments

Pluck the plumage off the bird because I’m prepared to eat some crow. For years, I doubted the fact that the long-rumored Zack Snyder director’s cut of Justice League would ever exist in a format suitable to be watched outside of a producer’s screening room. It just didn’t make one iota of sense. With WB having moved on from Snyder’s vision after the director was forced to leave the film mid-production when his daughter tragically committed suicide, the “Snyder Cut” was incomplete, with tens of millions of dollars in VFX shots never even brought into post-production. Read More

Uninspired ’WONDER WOMAN 1984’ A Careless Sequel I Wish Didn’t Exist

December 23, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Chris Pine, Gal Gadot, Kristen Wiig, Out in Theaters, Patty Jenkins, Pedro Pascal, Reviews, Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman 1984 1 Comment

An aimless, uninteresting, and frankly deeply disappointing follow-up to 2017’s critically beloved and widely-adored Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman 1984 is a top-down failure of a sequel. Losing nearly all the magic of what made the Diana Prince character work so well in her first solo venture and throughout her tenure in the DCEU, this unintelligible next chapter is a total overstuffed mess that somehow manages to be both too heavy and too thin on plot, one that shambles around for a two-and-a-half-hour runtime without ever truly convincing us that it has much of a story to tell in the first place. Folks, it’s a damn mess. Read More

Diana Prince Swings Across Lightning Bolts in Flashy ‘WONDER WOMAN 1984’ Trailer

December 8, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged DC, DCEU, Gal Gadot, Patty Jenkins, Trailers, Wonder Woman 1984 Leave a comment

Two years ago, Wonder Woman proved that a female-led superhero movie was not destined for poor box office returns and critical lashings, the Patty Jenkins-directed big-screen debut becoming the DCEU’s biggest success at the time. Though the film wasn’t perfect, there was plenty to enjoy and fans were eager to see more of Gal Gadot’s version of Diana Prince. With DC’s current film slate in an admittedly confusing jumble of maybe/maybe-not-interconnectedness, their latest approach has seemed to deteether their heroes and if Wonder Woman 1984′s trailer indicates anything, it’s that the title star won’t be worrying about making room for Batman, Aquaman or anything other supermen. Read More

‘RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET’ a Sporadically Clever, Nostalgia-Bombed Delight

November 14, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alan Tudyk, Bill Hader, Disney, Gal Gadot, John C. Reilly, Out in Theaters, Phil Johnson, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Reviews, Rich Moore, Sarah Silverman, Taraji P. Henson 2 Comments

This November, families have a chance to decide between two cartoon villains to treat their kids to. Illumination Entertainment’s The Grinch, a perfectly affable and admittedly adorable – if toothless – remake of the Dr. Seuss classic, and Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet. A sequel to 2012’s critical and commercial success Wreck-It Ralph, the follow-up directed by Phil Johnson and Rich Moore (Zootopia) reacquaints us with Ralph’s 8-bit world, wherein he happily stars as a stocky bad guy in an arcade game called Fit-It Felix, content as a clam in his closed-loop routine. Read More

Out in Theaters: ’JUSTICE LEAGUE’

November 15, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Ciarán Hinds, DCEU, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Joss Whedon, Justice League, Out in Theaters, Ray Fisher, Reviews 1 Comment

For many DC comic fans, just the thought of a Justice League movie gets their panties all warmed up; finally seeing the Big Three (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman) join forces with the Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman on the big screen in a live-action super-blockbuster enough to produce a seizure-inducing nerdgasm. Well prayers have been answered and after many years of waiting, we can finally stop wondering what a feature film Justice League might look like because it is here in all its ridiculous glory. And the result, well it ain’t too pretty. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE’

March 22, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Amy Adams, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ben Affleck, Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jeremy Irons, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Zack Synder 3 Comments

Overlong and under-focused, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a deceptively dark furlough into the blackest corner of DC’s batcave where men battle gods, Wonder Woman finally gets the spotlight (guitar solo and all), Jesse Eisenberg puts on an entertainingly manic Lex Luthor face, and none of it feels like much fun. As expected, the heavy-handed fog that is 155 minutes of super-porn allows itself splashes of clear-eyed splendor, most notably those that center around Ben Affleck’s positively boiling Batman, but Batman v Superman hardly has the desired ratio of grandeur to gratuity to do the battle of the century it’s pitched as justice. Read More

Gal Gadot to Play First Big Screen Wonder Woman

December 5, 2013 by Jill Landon Posted in Casting News Tagged Casting, Gal Gadot, Superman Vs. Batman, Wonder Woman

Zack Snyder’s much speculated on new film, Batman vs. Superman, released a non-Ben Affleck related news item today: Gal Gadot will be playing Wonder Woman. The internet responded with a collective, “Who’s Gal Gadot?” Speculation on her ability to carry the role has been expectantly absent, as she only has five film credits to her name, three of which have the words “Fast” and “Furious” in the title.

What does it say about the target audience for these films, when Ben Affleck’s announcement to play one of the most iconic vigilantes of all time is met with uproarious disapproval, but when an actress is announced for an iconic role, our only criteria is her hotness? Snyder gave his take on her, “Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role.” A magical quality? Spot on analysis, Zack.

I, for one, am glad they went with a more unproven actress. It should be exciting to see what other heroes are announced for the film, as this is quickly turning into the Justice League film that has been long anticipated. Plus, it’ll be the first time that one of DC’s most iconic superheroes will grace the screen – unless you count the x-rated 1979 spinoff, Superwoman, which starred Jesie James and has been called “a comedy porn classic.” Hopefully this will be a more, ahem, forward looking debut for Wonderwoman.

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