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[Beyond Fest 2020] Review: ‘Archenemy’ A Gritty Take On Superheroes and Former Glory

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The super hero genre in the past several years has become a tentpole of cinema and pop culture, for better or worse. In doing so, for major franchises like The AvengersBatmanSpider-Man and so on, have elevated comic book adaptations to multi-million dollar extravaganzas. But still there are many different types of stories to tell and many that can be told from the ground, instead of the skies. Such as what if a hero loses their powers? What do they do then? This is the set-up to Archenemy.

 

Max Fist (Joe Manganiello, True Blood) is the most powerful superhero in the universe. At least, he was. Now, he is a homeless man and alcoholic with possible delusions of grandeur and an anger problem. Punching brick walls and desiring being able to punch through buildings like he claims he could. He is beneath notice in a big city, humored by his bartender and treated like a nuisance until he meets someone willing to actually listen to him. Hamster (Skylan Brooks, The Darkest Minds) is a local vlogger and reporter looking for a big scoop, and he sees his chance with Max. Though he has his doubts about Max Fist’s fantastical stories of super heroics and his nefarious Archenemy from his home universe, they’ll at least make for entertainment. But he’ll need Max’s help when his sister Indigo (Zolee Griggs, Bit) gets entangled with The Manager (Glenn Howerton, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) a vicious crimelord who wants Indigo in his clutches. Now the siblings have to team up with Max Fist and discover whether his tall tales are true or if he’s a lunatic. Or maybe both?

Image via IMDB

 

Archenemy comes from writer/director Adam Egypt Mortimer, who gave us 2019’s mind and bodybending horror movie Daniel Isn’t Real. Much like his last project, he’s made something that defies being boxed into one singular genre or style. Archenemy is an action crime movie, a psychological thriller, a super hero movie turned on its head. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. While I wouldn’t say people are sick of super hero movies, there is some fatigue stemming from the limits of their stories. And this bashes right through them. The truth and delusions of Max Fist are kept up in the air, with clues and turns that will make audiences question the veracity of the supposed super’s claims. But they will not doubt he’s a fighting machine.

 

Joe Manganiello gives a hell of a performance as Max. Imagine an embittered Thor or Superman struggling with his loss of identity, of power. Even if he’s crazy, you cannot help but sympathize with the guy, even if he punches brick walls to feel something and can bust a man’s skull with his bare hands. But then again, it could just be thanks to all the drugs and alcohol in his system. Skylan Brooks and Zolee Griggs stand out as his unwitting ‘sidekicks’ though they have far better sense and logic than the deranged would be hero. Zolee as Indigo shows unmistakable cunning and is aloof, even when the odds are against her and she’s put into intense situations with literal guns to her head. Hamster is an excellent audience surrogate and gives support to Max Fist’s story. Giving an in-universe perspective on his mystery and his interactions with the everyday world. And Glenn Howerton shines going full blown villain as the elusive Manager. Adding some quirks to a very dangerous and very easily angered crime kingpin.

Image via Youtube

 

The action scenes are harrowing whenever Max Fist goes all out. Be it with pipes, guns, or just his seemingly unbreakable hands, Max makes minced meat out of anyone in his way. Especially if he’s inebriated. And Max’s past and possible delusions are handled masterfully with an extremely colorful and surrealist series of motion comic style sequences and rotoscoping. Max’s origins are a comic book style fantasy world, so it only makes sense they’re presented as much. It also makes for an interesting contrast between the sci-fi aspects and the more muted and drab reality Max finds himself trapped in. The plotlines twist and turn together, intersecting in a pretty balanced fashion though some moments dragged a little.

 

I was fortunate enough to experience Archenemy at Beyond Fest 2020 at the Mission Tiki drive-in and it was a blast on a big screen. As well, the cast and crew including Adam Egypt Mortimer and Joe Manganiello (With his dog, Bubbles!), Skylan Brooks, Zolee Griggs and others including producers from Spectrevision were in attendance with the Legion M car for photo-ops and intros.

Photo Credit Lisa O’Connor: Director / Writer Adam Egypt Mortimer, Joe Manganiello, Bubbles the dog and Elijah Wood

Archenemy was as entertaining as it was heart rending and face punching. Though people don’t yet know the name “Max Fist”, they hopefully will be as invested as Hamster is.

Archenemy is set to be released on December 11th, 2020.

 

Image via IMDB

 

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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