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Patrick Stewart is the Genre Film Genius We All Deserve
Sir Patrick Stewart, born July 13, 1940, is a living legend for fans of just about every genre. He is best known for such iconic roles as Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise, but in his wildly diverse portfolio, he has also provided his velvet voice to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and TMNT.
His genre roles extend to Dune and Lifeforce, but my absolute favorite has to be Green Room. He blends in perfectly and embraces the harrowing tone of the film, showing us a side of Stewart we haven’t seen before.
Stewart’s performance as Darcy breathes a calm intensity. There is a quiet and tense physical communication. We see it in his stern and tired expression. He doesn’t pontificate like most villains – thanks to Jeremy Saulnier’s rock-solid script – and he truly doesn’t need to in order to get his point across.
Stewart commands respect in every role (who else could get away with playing Poop in The Emoji Movie?), but in Green Room, the respect granted to Darcy is unshakable. He has a powerful hold over his group of followers – they do whatever he asks without hesitation.
There is no remorse for the fate of the young punk rockers – they are simply collateral damage. Darcy’s reserve is unsettling and he is frightening in his indifference.
That being said, Darcy is not a psychotic monster. He is deeply human with his own complexities and motivations, forced to facilitate an unexpected clean-up. He has total control of the situation, and every coaxing word he says to The Ain’t Rights is designed to maintain that control.
Green Room may be Stewart’s first real foray into horror (aside from smaller roles in Lifeforce and The Doctor and the Devils), but he proves that a truly skilled actor can master any genre. Although there is nothing to disguise his appearance – aside from the beard – he is virtually unrecognizable.
With such a dark movie, Stewart’s seamless performance has us all shook. This type of role is a whole different ball game, but he absolutely knocks it out of the park.
In both Green Room and Logan, Stewart transforms in dramatically different ways. Logan sees Charles Xavier as a frail and damaged shell of the mighty mutant he once was. Stewart’s portrayal of this change in character is heartbreaking. In an ultra-violent film, he is the heart and soul of the action (and – because the man has range – occasionally the comedic relief).
Stewart is hardly thought of as a genre film actor, but his impeccable contributions to various niche projects have been a gift to us all. In a world of hokey B-moves and overacting, we can always rely on Patrick Stewart to brings a gravitas to every role that is simply unparalleled.
His willingness to explore different characters (again, Poop) means that we get to enjoy his thespian genius across different genres. So, today, on his birthday, let’s toast this wonderful gem of a man, and pray that he spends a bit more time in horror.
Check out the trailer for Green Room here!
Featured image via Screen Anarchy
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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening
Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.
Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.
Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.
Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.
Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.
The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.
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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date
Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.
Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.
These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:
According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”
Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.
Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.
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Movies
Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed
The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.
Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.
The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.
Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”
Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.
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