Latest news with #Furiosa
San Francisco Chronicle
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Movie Review: In 'The Old Guard 2,' Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman get half a movie
About 80 minutes into 'The Old Guard 2,' I found myself wondering how the filmmakers were going to wrap things up. There were a lot of threads dangling with Charlize Theron'sgang of immortal warriors, split up and facing extinction, and she still had yet to face off with the new villain, Discord (apparently the first immortal), played by Uma Thurman. The promise of a showdown between The Bride and Furiosa may not justify the existence of this sequel, now streaming on Netflix, but it was something to look forward to nonetheless. And while they do fight, for a little, something even crazier happens not too long after: The movie ends or, rather, stops mid-climax. An ending was never part of the plan. This might be an attempt at a cheeky nod to the life of an immortal — what is an ending after all, I guess? But unlike the first film, which merely left the door open for the possibility of a sequel, 'The Old Guard 2' cuts off mid-movie. Not only is there no option to 'continue watching,' there's no promise we'll even get an 'Old Guard 3.' Moviegoers endure a lot of partial stories in these days of franchise filmmaking, ever desperate for a built-in audience. With some, you know a resolution is coming at a later date, as with 'Mission: Impossible' or 'Wicked.' With others, like 'Dune,' a part two or three might have been a question mark, but the intention was unambiguously there. There's nothing fun or enjoyable about being surprised that you've been watching a 'part one' the whole time, especially on a service that has helped train us to click next episode. Perhaps that also has to do with the quality of 'The Old Guard 2,' which feels like a step down from the first movie, which provided much-needed escapism in the summer of 2020 as we met Theron's Andromache the Scythian (Andy, for short) and welcomed KiKi Layne's new immortal Nile. It ended with Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) being exiled for a betrayal and the tease that Andy's old companion Quynh (Vân Veronica Ngô), was still alive. Quynh is, understandably, not thrilled that she was left at the bottom of the ocean for centuries. She wants to punish Andy the most — the movie heavily implies that they were more than sisters in arms, but never quite goes so far as to confirm that their love was romantic, which is especially strange given that it doesn't shy away from letting Nicky (Luca Marinelli) and Joe (Marwan Kenzari) be an out gay couple. One of the most significant behind-the-scenes changes is that Gina Prince-Bythewood ( 'The Woman King,' 'Love & Basketball') ceded directing duties to Victoria Mahoney, who has directed episodes of 'Queen Sugar' and 'You' and served as second unit director on 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.' Working off Greg Rucka and Sarah L. Walker's screenplay, the movies opens with a lively action sequence in which the immortals attempt to nab an arms dealer. Nicky and Joe are the distractors, getting their own James Bond-esque car chase, while Nile, Andy and Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) get more hand-to-hand combat on the property. It sets a fun tone and allows for some (mostly) welcome exposition — 'remember, you're not immortal anymore' — for those who might not have the best memory of something they watched at the height of the pandemic. But the film never recaptures that energy again and devolves into an increasingly tedious meditation on time, death and the science of why Andy lost her immortality power (which is approaching 'Face/Off' levels of insanity). Thurman has a mighty good scowl as the 'bad immortal' who long ago decided she didn't have any desire to help the humans who persecuted her kind, but the movie seems to be saving her big moment for later. Overall 'The Old Guard 2' is fine, a bit of a background movie that's probably easy enough to tune in and out of (though Schoenaerts, a standout, gives it some real pathos). Its greatest sin is the non-ending, which might have moviegoers engaging in their own rants about wasted time. Cliffhangers are a gamble — when the movie is satisfying on its own, it can leave them wanting more. In this case, it might just leave them angry. Audiences in 2025 deserve better. 'The Old Guard 2,' a Netflix release now streaming, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 'sequences of graphic violence and some language.' Running time: 105 minutes. Two stars out of four.
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Movie Review: In ‘The Old Guard 2,' Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman get half a movie
About 80 minutes into 'The Old Guard 2,' I found myself wondering how the filmmakers were going to wrap things up. There were a lot of threads dangling with Charlize Theron'sgang of immortal warriors, split up and facing extinction, and she still had yet to face off with the new villain, Discord (apparently the first immortal), played by Uma Thurman. The promise of a showdown between The Bride and Furiosa may not justify the existence of this sequel, now streaming on Netflix, but it was something to look forward to nonetheless. And while they do fight, for a little, something even crazier happens not too long after: The movie ends or, rather, stops mid-climax. An ending was never part of the plan. This might be an attempt at a cheeky nod to the life of an immortal — what is an ending after all, I guess? But unlike the first film, which merely left the door open for the possibility of a sequel, 'The Old Guard 2' cuts off mid-movie. Not only is there no option to 'continue watching,' there's no promise we'll even get an 'Old Guard 3.' Moviegoers endure a lot of partial stories in these days of franchise filmmaking, ever desperate for a built-in audience. With some, you know a resolution is coming at a later date, as with 'Mission: Impossible' or 'Wicked.' With others, like 'Dune,' a part two or three might have been a question mark, but the intention was unambiguously there. There's nothing fun or enjoyable about being surprised that you've been watching a 'part one' the whole time, especially on a service that has helped train us to click next episode. Perhaps that also has to do with the quality of 'The Old Guard 2,' which feels like a step down from the first movie, which provided much-needed escapism in the summer of 2020 as we met Theron's Andromache the Scythian (Andy, for short) and welcomed KiKi Layne's new immortal Nile. It ended with Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) being exiled for a betrayal and the tease that Andy's old companion Quynh (Vân Veronica Ngô), was still alive. Quynh is, understandably, not thrilled that she was left at the bottom of the ocean for centuries. She wants to punish Andy the most — the movie heavily implies that they were more than sisters in arms, but never quite goes so far as to confirm that their love was romantic, which is especially strange given that it doesn't shy away from letting Nicky (Luca Marinelli) and Joe (Marwan Kenzari) be an out gay couple. One of the most significant behind-the-scenes changes is that Gina Prince-Bythewood ( 'The Woman King,' 'Love & Basketball') ceded directing duties to Victoria Mahoney, who has directed episodes of 'Queen Sugar' and 'You' and served as second unit director on 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.' Working off Greg Rucka and Sarah L. Walker's screenplay, the movies opens with a lively action sequence in which the immortals attempt to nab an arms dealer. Nicky and Joe are the distractors, getting their own James Bond-esque car chase, while Nile, Andy and Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) get more hand-to-hand combat on the property. It sets a fun tone and allows for some (mostly) welcome exposition — 'remember, you're not immortal anymore' — for those who might not have the best memory of something they watched at the height of the pandemic. But the film never recaptures that energy again and devolves into an increasingly tedious meditation on time, death and the science of why Andy lost her immortality power (which is approaching 'Face/Off' levels of insanity). Thurman has a mighty good scowl as the 'bad immortal' who long ago decided she didn't have any desire to help the humans who persecuted her kind, but the movie seems to be saving her big moment for later. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Overall 'The Old Guard 2' is fine, a bit of a background movie that's probably easy enough to tune in and out of (though Schoenaerts, a standout, gives it some real pathos). Its greatest sin is the non-ending, which might have moviegoers engaging in their own rants about wasted time. Cliffhangers are a gamble — when the movie is satisfying on its own, it can leave them wanting more. In this case, it might just leave them angry. Audiences in 2025 deserve better. 'The Old Guard 2,' a Netflix release now streaming, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for 'sequences of graphic violence and some language.' Running time: 105 minutes. Two stars out of four.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Charlize Theron Uses 1 Harsh Word To Describe Jeff Bezos And His Wedding Guests
We didn't know the next installment in the 'Mad Max' franchise was Furiosa vs. the Broligarchy. Charlize Theron kicked off her fifth annual block party for her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project— which advances and invests in the health and safety of young people in Africa — Saturday night with an opening quip that made her opinion of Jeff Bezos and his ilk crystal clear. 'I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding,' Theron told event attendees at the Universal Studios backlot, according to the Hollywood Reporter. 'But that's OK because they suck and we're cool.' After the 'Monster' star used one concise word to describe the Amazon founder and the famous attendees of his opulent Venice, Italy, wedding over the weekend, she moved on to thank her attendees for 'taking the time to be a part of this, especially when the world feels like it's burning because it is.' 'Here in Los Angeles, in the U.S. and across the globe, we're moving backwards fast,' Theron said. 'Immigration policy has destroyed the lives of families, not criminals; women's rights are becoming less and less every day; queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased; and gender-based violence is on the rise. This isn't just policy, it's personal.' THR notes that as the crowd began to appllaud, she added: 'Yeah, fuck them.' Bezos aligned himself with MAGA in January, when he snagged primo seats at President Donald Trump's inauguration alongside the other leaders of the nation's biggest technology companies, including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook and Tesla's Elon Musk. Bezos is seemingly so chummy with the Trump family that the president's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, attended the billionaire's wedding, which Forbes estimates may have cost around $25 million. Other attendees joining the star-studded guest list included Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom and the Kardashian/Jenner family, who weren't exactly welcomed in the Italian city. Despite Bezos and his now-wife, Lauren Sánchez, promising to donate money to Venetian charities after they tied the knot, local activist groups, including Greenpeace, protested the wedding. Critics accused the couple of exploiting a city already suffering from overtourism, rising housing prices and the threat of flooding due to environmental factors. But, unlike Trump, it doesn't seem like Theron thinks that protestors suck. The 'Tully' star noted in her speech Saturday that she feels that the 'resistance' against the president's policies is a glimmer of 'hope.' 'There is power in all of us standing up, organizing, protesting, voting and caring for each other, and refusing to accept that this is the new normal,' Theron said, per THR. 'That spirit of resistance, justice and care for each other, that's the spirit that drives the work at CTAOP.' 'And although our focus is on the youth in Southern Africa,' Theron added, 'what we're really talking about here tonight is that all lives should be valued.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Charlize Theron Uses 1 Harsh Word To Describe Jeff Bezos And His Wedding Guests
We didn't know the next installment in the 'Mad Max' franchise was Furiosa vs. the Broligarchy. Charlize Theron kicked off her fifth annual block party for her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project— which advances and invests in the health and safety of young people in Africa — Saturday night with an opening quip that made her opinion of Jeff Bezos and his ilk crystal clear. 'I think we might be the only people who did not get an invite to the Bezos wedding,' Theron told event attendees at the Universal Studios backlot, according to the Hollywood Reporter. 'But that's OK because they suck and we're cool.' After the 'Monster' star used one concise word to describe the Amazon founder and the famous attendees of his opulent Venice, Italy, wedding over the weekend, she moved on to thank her attendees for 'taking the time to be a part of this, especially when the world feels like it's burning because it is.' 'Here in Los Angeles, in the U.S. and across the globe, we're moving backwards fast,' Theron said. 'Immigration policy has destroyed the lives of families, not criminals; women's rights are becoming less and less every day; queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased; and gender-based violence is on the rise. This isn't just policy, it's personal.' THR notes that as the crowd began to appllaud, she added: 'Yeah, fuck them.' Bezos aligned himself with MAGA in January, when he snagged primo seats at President Donald Trump's inauguration alongside the other leaders of the nation's biggest technology companies, including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook and Tesla's Elon Musk. Bezos is seemingly so chummy with the Trump family that the president's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, attended the billionaire's wedding, which Forbes estimates may have cost around $25 million. Other attendees joining the star-studded guest list included Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom and the Kardashian/Jenner family, who weren't exactly welcomed in the Italian city. Despite Bezos and his now-wife, Lauren Sánchez, promising to donate money to Venetian charities after they tied the knot, local activist groups, including Greenpeace, protested the wedding. Critics accused the couple of exploiting a city already suffering from overtourism, rising housing prices and the threat of flooding due to environmental factors. But, unlike Trump, it doesn't seem like Theron thinks that protestors suck. The 'Tully' star noted in her speech Saturday that she feels that the 'resistance' against the president's policies is a glimmer of 'hope.' 'There is power in all of us standing up, organizing, protesting, voting and caring for each other, and refusing to accept that this is the new normal,' Theron said, per THR. 'That spirit of resistance, justice and care for each other, that's the spirit that drives the work at CTAOP.' 'And although our focus is on the youth in Southern Africa,' Theron added, 'what we're really talking about here tonight is that all lives should be valued.'
AU Financial Review
02-06-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
IMAX bets that bigger, louder will win people back from streaming
IMAX will grow its number of screens in Australia from four to nine by 2027, at an average cost of $1.5 million each, on a bet that those still venturing out to cinemas want bigger screens and more lifelike imagery and sound than they can get at home. The NYSE-listed IMAX, which makes cameras and software to shoot movies like Oppenheimer and Furiosa in its high-resolution format and builds laser projectors and screens more than four times larger than the average cinema to show them, said it would partner in four new cinemas with EVT, the ASX-listed entertainment business controlled by Financial Review Rich Lister Alan Rydge.
