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Movie Review: All American Bully (Starring Friday the 13th’s Adrienne King)

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All American Bully was recently released to DVD and VOD. The title fits the narrative a lot more than the description and the cover art do:

Wild Eye Releasing has put a famous face to the ever-present topic of bullying in schools.  Adrienne King (Friday the 13th) makes a rare appearance on the screen as a tyrannical principal with a secret…Three friends try to cope after one of them is victimized by a bully, and their lives are slowly torn apart as the they fall deeper into a twisted web of buried secrets, ignorance, and revenge.  Through it all, Principal Kane (King) rules her small town high school with an iron fist, teaching harsh lessons to students and faculty alike.  The vicious cycle leads to a disturbing and violent conclusion where it turns out no one is truly innocent.

all-american-bully

This is a prime example of where marketing has the potential to negatively impact the viewer’s experience. Despite being marketed to horror fans, All American Bully is more like an R-rated after school special than a traditional horror movie. That’s not to say it doesn’t get dark, but you should know right up front that you’re not exactly getting the movie you might be inclined to expect. You should also know that it has essentially a DIY-budget feel to it. I don’t say any of this to keep you from watching it, but they’re things worth knowing before deciding whether or not to take the plunge.

Now, none of this is a knock on the film itself. I actually found myself quite engaged throughout. The acting, for the most part, was better than expected, and plenty of time is dedicated to developing the characters to ensure that we do care about them. At least some of them. In fact, it’s those that aren’t developed enough that become the movie’s main flaw as it gets closer to its conclusion. Ironically, that includes the very character that the marketing has used as the film’s selling point.

I’m referring of course to the role played by Adrienne King. All American Bully has been marketed as a return to the screen for King, and it’s not hard to understand why. She’s the only well-known name in the cast and everybody loves her (myself included). Her performance in All American Bully is just as good as we would expect from her too, and I was happy to see that she was attached to a film with some level of integrity as we often see so-called horror icons appear in numerous embarrassments. The problem is that her part in the story feels entirely incomplete. It’s almost as if they ran out of time to finish her scenes and just finished the movie without some of them.

Scenes with King and related characters are fine, and seem to be part of the overall plot until the movie just kind of leaves that part of the story behind, and never bothers to give it any kind of resolution or connection to the larger story that the viewer is expecting.

Despite this flaw, there is enough going on with the other characters and the central story to have kept me interested until the end, and quite frankly, I’ve got to respect just about anything that manages to do that.

All American Bully is a multi-layered look at small town bullying, which is a never-ending plague to teenagers from generation to generation. It’s a familiar message, but one that resonates nevertheless. Despite some flaws and the aforementioned caveats, I’d say it’s worth a watch for those not expecting a blood-soaked chiller. That’s just not what All American Bully is.

This trailer gives you a better idea of what to expect:

[youtube id=”adbU5tSXTVM” align=”center” mode=”normal”]

You can probably tell from that whether or not this movie is for you. Ignore the completely misleading cover art.

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Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel

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Maybe it’s because The Exorcist just celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year, or maybe it’s because aging Academy Award-winning actors aren’t too proud to take on obscure roles, but Russell Crowe is visiting the Devil once again in yet another possession film. And it’s not related to his last one, The Pope’s Exorcist.

According to Collider, the film titled The Exorcism was originally going to be released under the name The Georgetown Project. Rights for its North American release were once in the hands of Miramax but then went to Vertical Entertainment. It will release on June 7 in theaters then head over to Shudder for subscribers.

Crowe will also star in this year’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter which is set to drop in theaters on August 30.

As for The Exorcism, Collider provides us with what it’s about:

“The film centers around actor Anthony Miller (Crowe), whose troubles come to the forefront as he shoots a supernatural horror movie. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to figure out whether he’s lapsing into his past addictions, or if something even more horrific is occurring. “

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New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie

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Deadpool & Wolverine might be the buddy movie of the decade. The two heterodox superheroes are back in the latest trailer for the summer blockbuster, this time with more f-bombs than a gangster film.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Movie Trailer

This time the focus is on Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman. The adamantium-infused X-Man is having a bit of a pity party when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) arrives on the scene who then tries to convince him to team up for selfish reasons. The result is a profanity-filled trailer with a Strange surprise at the end.

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It comes out on July 26. Here is the latest trailer, and we suggest if you are at work and your space isn’t private, you might want to put in headphones.

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Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film

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The Blair Witch Project Cast

Jason Blum is planning to reboot The Blair Witch Project for the second time. That’s a fairly large task considering none of the reboots or sequels have managed to capture the magic of the 1999 film that brought found footage into the mainstream.

This idea has not been lost on the original Blair Witch cast, who has recently reached out to Lionsgate to ask for what they feel is fair compensation for their role in the pivotal film. Lionsgate gained access to The Blair Witch Project in 2003 when they purchased Artisan Entertainment.

Blair witch
The Blair Witch Project Cast

However, Artisan Entertainment was an independent studio before its purchase, meaning the actors were not part of SAG-AFTRA. As a result, the cast are not entitled to the same residuals from the project as actors in other major films. The cast doesn’t feel that the studio should be able to continue to profit off of their hard work and likenesses without fair compensation.

Their most recent request asks for “meaningful consultation on any future ‘Blair Witch’ reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc., in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.”

The blair witch project

At this time, Lionsgate has not offered any comment about this issue.

The full statement made by the cast can be found below.

OUR ASKS OF LIONSGATE (From Heather, Michael & Josh, stars of “The Blair Witch Project”):

1. Retroactive + future residual payments to Heather, Michael and Josh for acting services rendered in the original BWP, equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.

2. Meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc…, in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.

Note: Our film has now been rebooted twice, both times were a disappointment from a fan/box office/critical perspective. Neither of these films were made with significant creative input from the original team. As the insiders who created the Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans love & want for 25 years, we’re your single greatest, yet thus-far un-utilized secret-weapon!

3. “The Blair Witch Grant”: A 60k grant (the budget of our original movie), paid out yearly by Lionsgate, to an unknown/aspiring genre filmmaker to assist in making theirfirst feature film. This is a GRANT, not a development fund, hence Lionsgate will not own any of the underlying rights to the project.

A PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS OF “THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT”:

As we near the 25th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, our pride in the storyworld we created and the film we produced is reaffirmed by the recent announcement of a reboot by horror icons Jason Blum and James Wan.

While we, the original filmmakers, respect Lionsgate’s right to monetize the intellectual property as it sees fit, we must highlight the significant contributions of the original cast — Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Mike Williams. As the literal faces of what has become a franchise, their likenesses, voices, and real names are inseparably tied to The Blair Witch Project. Their unique contributions not only defined the film’s authenticity but continue to resonate with audiences around the world.

We celebrate our film’s legacy, and equally, we believe the actors deserve to be celebrated for their enduring association with the franchise.

Sincerely, Eduardo Sanchez, Dan Myrick, Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie, and Michael Monello

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