Latest news with #sequels
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Ghosted review – dating-scene romcom is Bridget Jones tribute act
It is a truth universally acknowledged that there was some drop-off in quality between the first incomparable Bridget Jones film and its sequels, but this cheap would-be spiritual successor will have you crawling after even the worst Bridget film begging for forgiveness. Ghosted hews close to the template, to the point of feeling like a tribute act – but unfortunately not the kind of tribute act that sells out arenas but the kind that plays down the Dog & Duck of a Saturday night. Mercy (Jade Asha) is unhappily single, on the hunt for Mr Right, and hoping to improve her career (ideally from waitress to international acting superstar). Part of the film's problem is that Bridget Jones' Diary is of its time, and to hear a 30-year-old supposedly modern and progressive heroine in 2025 complain that she is a decade older than the majority of singles definitely feels dated. Thirty in 2025 is not the same as 30 in the 1990s, and it's peculiar to watch someone today bemoan it as the end of their youth. It also doesn't help that the Ghosted's narration borrows so overtly from Bridget-speak, including the dropping of personal pronouns and definite articles as in the original – but without a diary as the prop, the point of these pleasing abbreviations vanishes completely. Meanwhile the attempts to wring the same humour from pratfalls and workplace calamities fails utterly. Perhaps worst of all, Mercy is still drawn to a cad long after he reveals himself to be dodgy. It's as if Bridget had responded to Daniel Cleaver's cheating not with vodka and Chaka Khan but by inventing terrible excuses for why it was OK and by letting herself be treated like a doormat. It may be true to how people behave in real life, but if you're trying to create a fun romantic comedy, you need a perfectly imperfect heroine you can cheer on. Ghosted is on digital platforms from 21 July.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Ghosted review – dating-scene romcom is Bridget Jones tribute act
It is a truth universally acknowledged that there was some drop-off in quality between the first incomparable Bridget Jones film and its sequels, but this cheap would-be spiritual successor will have you crawling after even the worst Bridget film begging for forgiveness. Ghosted hews close to the template, to the point of feeling like a tribute act – but unfortunately not the kind of tribute act that sells out arenas but the kind that plays down the Dog & Duck of a Saturday night. Mercy (Jade Asha) is unhappily single, on the hunt for Mr Right, and hoping to improve her career (ideally from waitress to international acting superstar). Part of the film's problem is that Bridget Jones' Diary is of its time, and to hear a 30-year-old supposedly modern and progressive heroine in 2025 complain that she is a decade older than the majority of singles definitely feels dated. Thirty in 2025 is not the same as 30 in the 1990s, and it's peculiar to watch someone today bemoan it as the end of their youth. It also doesn't help that the Ghosted's narration borrows so overtly from Bridget-speak, including the dropping of personal pronouns and definite articles as in the original – but without a diary as the prop, the point of these pleasing abbreviations vanishes completely. Meanwhile the attempts to wring the same humour from pratfalls and workplace calamities fails utterly. Perhaps worst of all, Mercy is still drawn to a cad long after he reveals himself to be dodgy. It's as if Bridget had responded to Daniel Cleaver's cheating not with vodka and Chaka Khan but by inventing terrible excuses for why it was OK and by letting herself be treated like a doormat. It may be true to how people behave in real life, but if you're trying to create a fun romantic comedy, you need a perfectly imperfect heroine you can cheer on. Ghosted is on digital platforms from 21 July.
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Jaws to Oppenheimer: the seven best films to watch on TV this week
The 50th anniversary of Jaws – the Year Zero of the modern-day blockbuster – has already been well covered. However, half a century of Jaws also means half a century of Jaws sequels, which is a different kind of fun. This week, Netflix has gathered together all four films for viewers to enjoy at their leisure. The question is: which should you watch? The peerless original? Jaws 2, which is basically a remake of the first one? Jaws 3, which was shot for 3D seemingly just for the scene where a shark gets exploded? Or Jaws: The Revenge, in which a shark with a vendetta chases Michael Caine around the Bahamas? Strictly speaking, only one of these films is good. But, in their own way, they are all great. Tuesday 15 July, Netflix After its extraordinary theatrical run and silverware haul, it's safe to assume that everyone who wants to watch Oppenheimer has already watched it. But even after all the ballyhoo about seeing it on the big screen, Christopher Nolan's film loses very little impact on TV. It's still a total marvel, turning a bog-standard biopic into a puzzlebox of clashing timelines. It's still masterly to look at, transforming the planes of Cillian Murphy's face into grand topography. Best of all, we get to see what Robert Downey Jr looks like when he really puts his all into acting. A must watch. Saturday 12 July, Netflix His days as the do-no-wrong king of Hollywood behind him, Tom Hanks has long since settled into a much more rewarding second act. He writes books. He's become a Wes Anderson day-player. And, more importantly, he gets to star in films like A Man Called Otto. Hanks plays a bitter old crank who plans to kill himself, only to be shaken out of his stupor when he begins to integrate with his neighbours. It's a hard role to pull off – lean too hard one way and you become repellant, lean too hard the other and you become unpleasantly sentimental – but Hanks gets it exactly right. Saturday 12 July, 9pm, Channel 4 Very possibly the greatest Ealing comedy ever made, Passport to Pimlico has one of the most wonderful premises of the 20th century; thanks to a confusing legal loophole, an area of Pimlico is declared part of Burgundy. As such, a forgotten bit of Westminster ends up breaking away from the rest of the country and becoming its own self-governing micronation, with all the greed and pettiness that comes with it. It might have been made in 1949, but the themes in Passport to Pimlico feel incredibly current, especially in post-Brexit 13 July, 1.50pm, BBC Two Sign up to What's On Get the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday after newsletter promotion Channing Tatum could have made any film he wanted for his directorial debut, and it's telling that he ended up making Dog. On the surface, Dog is a Turner and Hooch rip-off about an army ranger who has to escort his dead friend's dog across the country to be put down. However, the amount of layers Tatum manages to fold in is incredible. There's comedy, and a surprisingly clear-eyed take on mental health in the military. And you'll probably cry at the end. So much better than it needed to be. Monday 14 July, 7pm, Film4 To be specific, hell is Manchester. This stunning 1960 British noir has plenty going for it, like its tight, hardboiled plot – an inspector is tasked with tracking down a murderer following a jailbreak – and the gruffly unsentimental performances from Stanley Baker and John Crawford. It deserves to be rediscovered and heralded as a classic. However, Hell Is a City was also a rare film shot in Manchester, which means that it provides a wonderful snapshot of the city as it was 65 years ago. To call it unrecognisable would be an 15 July, 2:20pm, Film4 Clint Eastwood is 95, and the likelihood is that Juror #2 will be his final movie. Criminally overlooked by its own studio, which attempted to dump it on to streaming without a theatrical release, this is arguably his best film for 20 years. A tight legal thriller about a journalist (played by Nicholas Hoult) who is called up for jury duty only to realise he may be responsible for the victim's death, the film quickly becomes a knotty morality play designed to keep you torn till the very end. If this is Eastwood's last work, he's going out on a high. Friday 18 July, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
15 Actors Who Refused To Return For The Sequel And Made A Good Choice, Honestly
Sequels are a funny beast — rarely do they live up to the original movies they're based on, and they can often feel like hollow imitations of what came before. It's no wonder some stars flat-out refuse to do them when they can. Here are a few examples of actors who made a lucky escape... was a huge hit in the '90s, thanks in no small part to Keanu Reeves' charisma in the lead role, and his incredible chemistry with Sandra Bullock, but he turned down the follow-up Speed 2: Cruise Control. He declined after reading the script and deciding it "just wasn't right". His character, Jack, was replaced by an almost identical character named Alex, who was played by Jason Patric. Speed 2: Cruise Control turned out to bomb at the box office and was widely panned by critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 4% (compared to the first movie's 95%). Related: Weisz was iconic in the role of Evie alongside Brendan Fraser's Rick in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, both of which were mega-hits. But while Brendan Fraser returned for a third movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Rachel didn't. There were rumours this was due to her character being aged up to be the mother of an adult son, but she claimed it was primarily because of scheduling conflicts. Maria Bello replaced Rachel in the role of Evie for Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Although it did achieve box office success, it was the lowest earner of the franchise, and a critical flop, with just 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. The planned follow-up was subsequently cancelled. Foster won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role as Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs, but she wasn't interested in revisiting the character for the sequel, Hannibal, due partially to scheduling issues but mainly due to creative concerns. Julianne Moore replaced her as Clarice, and while Hannibal was a commercial success, it received mostly negative reviews, and Jodie seemed to have no regrets, later saying "I saw Hannibal. I won't comment." Dreyfuss declined to reprise his Jaws role of Matt Hooper in Jaws 2 because original director Steven Spielberg wasn't returning — and also because of pay concerns. And while Jaws 2 was a hit, it received mixed reviews, with Roger Ebert even calling it "pure trash". Related: Tucker starred alongside Ice Cube in Friday, which was a commercial and critical success, but he didn't reprise his role of Smokey for the sequel Next Friday due to religious reasons — although Ice Cube suggests money was the actual issue. Whatever the reason, he doesn't seem to have regretted his decision. Next Friday, meanwhile, was absolutely panned by critics. Carrey initially agreed to return for a sequel to his hit comedy The Mask, but ultimately walked away after his experience with the Ace Ventura: Pet Detective sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, left him feeling creatively dissatisfied and turned him off to the idea of returning to a character he'd already played. A sequel, Son of the Mask, later went ahead without him, and it was an utter failure at the box office and with critics. Day Care didn't get great reviews from critics, but it was a huge commercial hit. Despite this, star Eddie Murphy opted not to return for the sequel, Daddy Day Camp (in fact, none of the original cast returned). Related: Cuba Gooding Jr took up the mantle as Eddie's character Charlie, but Daddy Day Camp was even more negatively reviewed than its predecessor — earning a measly 1% on Rotten Tomatoes and winning Worst Prequel or Sequel at the Golden Raspberry Awards. before it was an MTV series, Michael J. Fox starred as Scott in quirky comedy Teen Wolf, which was so successful it quickly spawned a sequel, Teen Wolf Too. However, due to reportedly disliking the heavy werewolf makeup and also being busy with other projects, Michael J. Fox declined to return for the sequel. Teen Wolf Too instead focuses on his character's cousin, Todd, who was played by Jason Bateman. It was a complete critical and commercial flop. Day was a blockbuster smash when it was released in 1996, and Will Smith was a key part of that success in the role of Captain Steve Hiller. It took twenty years for a sequel to appear in Independence Day: Resurgence, and despite several original cast members returning, Will declined due to scheduling conflicts and salary concerns. Resurgence was a box office disappointment and failed to impress critics, earning 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even returning star Vivica A. Fox acknowledged afterwards that she didn't think the movie was good, and that "we missed out by not bringing Will Smith back". Davis starred opposite Jeff Goldblum in The Fly, which was a commercial and critical hit, but she refused to return for the sequel when the script had her character, Veronica, dying in childbirth in the first act. She was replaced by Saffron Henderson, and while the movie was moderately successful at the box office, it is pretty widely hated by fans and critics alike. paparazzi images revealed Kristen Stewart allegedly having an affair with Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, both were let go from the franchise — although Kristen was offered a cameo in the sequel, Snow White and the Huntsman: Winter's War, which she turned down. Related: Jessica Chastain joined the franchise as the wife of Chris Hemsworth's character, the titular Huntsman, but the movie was a letdown for fans and critics, not to mention at the box office. Kristen Stewart later said, "Thank God" she wasn't in it. Macauley Culkin and the other lead cast members returned for Home Alone sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, he was taking a break from acting by the time Home Alone 3 was in the works. The movie shifted focus from Macauley's character Kevin to a kid called Alex, who was played by Alex D. Linz. While Home Alone 3 didn't completely flop, it didn't reach the heights of the first two movies, and it's not remembered very fondly compared to the originals. Lee Curtis shot to stardom as Laurie Strode in Halloween and its sequel Halloween II, but she bailed on the franchise and its many, many sequels for nearly two decades after that because she didn't want that one role or genre to define her. While she did return to the series and several of its movies in her later career, with varying degrees of success, the declining quality of the intervening movies suggested she made the right choice early on. Schwarzenegger declined to reprise his role of Dutch in Predator 2, the sequel to Predator, due to a salary dispute. Although later movies in the franchise did well, Predator 2 itself wasn't very well received and was the lowest-grossing movie in the series. finally, Brendan Fraser didn't return to the titular role of George of the Jungle for the sequel, George of the Jungle 2 because, he says, the studio was "too cheap" to hire him. He was replaced by Christopher Showerman, and the sequel ended up going direct to video and completely underwhelmed audiences and the few critics who bothered with it. Also in Celebrity: Also in Celebrity: Also in Celebrity:
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ryan Gosling Fan-Favorite Movie ‘The Nice Guys' Gets Long-Awaited Sequel Update
While Hollywood has leaned more heavily on movie remakes over recent years, fans seem to have an increased interest in another approach: sequels. Fortunately, many are getting their wish, with a few popular older movies getting sequels or spinoffs of late, including the upcoming Happy Gilmore 2 as a prime example. The latest film to address the idea of a potential sequel originally premiered in 2016, so the buzz hasn't been quite as loud lately, but it's apparent fans still want it. The Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe detective mystery, The Nice Guys, earned rave reviews and director Shane Black addressed the possibility recently. As /Film revealed, Black's comments came on Second Sight Films' new limited edition 4K release of The Nice Guys. His comments were also made after Gosling previously said it was unlikely a sequel would happen after The Angry Birds Movie hurt their release at the box office. Black went on to detail how challenging a sequel to The Nice Guys may be due to all the parties involved, per /Film. "I know the rights situation on The Nice Guys is a bit difficult. Joel [Silver] is a producer, Warner Bros. is the distributor, there's an overseas company that Ken Kao is a producer on," Black explained. "So to carve it out and make sure — in other words, can you make the sequel? Yes. Will it be financially feasible once you pay off everyone involved, including the actors getting their bump?" "That's the problem—is you're gonna present something that the actors have to agree to, that's a good script, and that is going to be very expensive and the studio's going to say, 'Well, didn't the last one sort of bomb at the theaters?' And you say, 'Yeah, but we want you to spend twice as much on this one anyway to get everyone back.'" So while Black didn't entirely shoot down the idea, it seems like it's an extremely long shot that fans are ever treated to The Nice Guys 2. But keep your fingers crossed, because the idea even being mentioned nine years later is a positive, at least. The Nice Guys earned an impressive 91 percent critic score from Rotten Tomatoes, while picking up a 79 percent rating on the fan-focused Gosling Fan-Favorite Movie 'The Nice Guys' Gets Long-Awaited Sequel Update first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 14, 2025
