YouTube had the great idea of starting original programming and this lead to the birth of the series known as “Cobra Kai.” This series is set decades after the original “Karate Kid” films and follows Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka). Lawerence is middle aged and running low on luck, so he reopens the infamous Cobra Kai dojo in an attempt to get his life in order.
As the series unfolds, Lawerence begins to teach a band of misfits and crosses paths with ghosts from his pasts, one of the biggest ghosts being Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Maccio). LaRusso is now a successful car dealer and has issues with Lawerence reopening the dojo, leading to their famous martial-arts rivalry restarting.
Since Cobra Kai’s May 2018 debut on YouTube, the show has had two incredibly popular seasons and started work on a third season, but YouTube changed their plans and pulled the plug on their original series. This could have been the end of “Cobra Kai”, but the show was able to quickly find a new home at Netflix.
On August 28th 2020, the first two seasons of “Cobra Kai” will be released on the streaming platform and, hopefully, this will quickly lead to an announcement for the release of season 3.
2011 was a banner year for movies but one movie that came out was a movie that divided alot of people. Drive starring Ryan Gosling followed the story of a Hollywood stunt driver/mechanic who lived a secret life as a getaway driver for the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles. The movie was full of some really talented actors including Bryan Cranston, Oscar Issacs, and the love interest to Ryan Gosling, Carrey Mulligan. The second half of the movie revolves a lot around Mulligan’s family and the effect that the partnership of Gosling/Issacs has on their lives as the seedy underbelly starts to aim its sights at Driver and his associates. The scene I will be talking about today occurs in the first half of the movie when things are still calm and full of quaint moments showing how 2 lives can come together in a matter of moments.
We find out very early early in the movie that Irene and Driver are neighbors, and they know of each other but don’t know each other. After finding her and her son stranded in a grocery store parking lot because of a busted car, he takes her home and has the very standard getting to know you talk. Now to skip ahead to the scene I am referring to, Driver has taken Irene and Benencio on a nice little adventure and he has carried her son to bed using his infamous jacket as a blanket for little Benencio. Now before looking at this scene let’s remember that most modern movies now are full of scene guiding dialogue and lots of cuts to help keep the audience focused on the screen.
The first thing that jumps out on this scene, it is done in one single take. We see Driver sitting by the window looking out at Downtown LA when Irene walks over to him with his jacket. This whole scene is meant to show the beginning of the feelings they share for one another but very little is actually spoken and in a true Art imitating Life moment the characters really don’t speak much but communicate more through their eyes and body language. When you first start developing feelings for someone you don’t sit next to each other and have a expostional talk about your feelings. No, you look into each other’s eyes, you have a small amount of awkward tension in the air, but it’s the sitting next to each other and how you look at each other that speaks your feelings.
That is what the director Nicolas Winding Refn does here: body language, sweet eyes, awkward small talks. The entirety of the scene leads to Driver offering to take Irene anywhere she needs to go that weekend as she has no car at the moment. A very good gesture that shows compassion, the difference being they stared at each other speechless for a very long moment before either of them spoke. Also the camera has never changed, still it sits in a neutral space between them, capturing the moment that 2 people realize they have some real feelings for the other person. The thing about this scene and other scenes like it in the movie is, this kind of filmmaking turned alot of people off of the movie. This style of filmmaking is a very classic movie, art house style of shooting, so for a studio to put out this film with this style to a large audience, most of those going to see the new Gosling movie didn’t understand the nuances that were being conveyed. But it’s those nuances in this scene, that make this my “Greatest Scene Ever *This Week.”
You read that correctly and it’s a movie that you will not expect. The streaming service HBO Max has released the trailer for “An American Pickle”, this film will be their first original film since the service’s May 2020 launch.
“An American Pickle” stars Seth Rogen in dual roles as Herschel Greenbaum and Ben Greenbaum. Herschel is an American immigrant in the 1920’s, he tries to live the American dream and gets a job inside a factory. After a twist of fate and a fall into a vat of pickles, he is brined and awakens 100 years later. Now, in this new world, he meets his great-grandson Ben and they attempt to connect on levels that could never be imagined in a great twist to the time travel genre.
This film was written by Simon Rich, who adapted the script from his own 2013 short story “Sell Out” and was directed by Brandon Trost, who has directed multiple shorts and “The FP” with his brother Jason.
Originally, “An American Pickle” was set to be distributed by SONY Pictures and receive a theatrical release, but in the pandemic world, things changed and HBO Max gain the film for the streaming viewers at home.
“An American Pickle” will be released on August 6th
What if you lived the same day on a never ending loop? Would you make the most of your time or go on a rampage? In the past, the cinematic world answered this question with the classic “Groundhog Day” and most recently with the horror series “Happy Death Day”. Now, Hulu and NEON Productions will bring a new answer to the small screen (and selected larger screens, depending on the state of the world) with “Palm Springs”.
“Palm Springs” is a darkly edged romantic comedy that follows Sarah (played by Cristin Milioti) to Palm Springs for a wedding. As Sarah tries to make it through the wedding, she crosses paths with Nyles (played by Andy Samberg) who seems to live a carefree existence and they connect at the event, but her world quickly gets stuck on repeat and Nyles becomes her seasoned guide in this insane world.
This film was directed by Max Barbakow, who developed the story with screen writer Andy Siara and “Palm Springs” premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. Also, Hulu and NEON bought this film for a festival record breaking $17.5 million, which will lead to a July 10th streaming premiere on Hulu services.
What are your thoughts on this trailer? Will you watch it? Tell us your thought in the comments or nowhere_california@yahoo.com
What would you put on the line to enlarge your bank account? Would you risk your life for a slice of paradise? These are the questions posed to Bob in the new film “Life Insurance Lottery” and this film is the second entry into the Nowhere California Digital Underground.
“Life Insurance Lottery” is the new movie from Chuck Norfolk, Chuck is the creative mind behind the Nowhere favorite “Getting Schooled..” and he continues to elevate his cinematic eye in this unique thriller. This film takes you on a journey down easy street with Bob and his entry into an ultra secret club that promises a quick pay day, but Bob’s world is turned upside down as the body count begins to rise quicker then his bank account.
This film has assembled an excellent cast from the main characters to the background players, each performer helps you to believe this world and you can only hope for their success or failures, depending on their true motivation in this script. It’s hard to give the proper credit to every actor in this movie, because viewing this film will give the proper meaning behind that statement and I would highly recommend viewing this movie, but there are two performances that deserve acknowledgement on this page.
The first performance comes from Brad Potts. Brad plays Detective Gallagher, who crosses paths with the club and Bob throughout the movie. He is a grizzled investigator, who seems to have been on this case for a long time and is the greatest definition of a functioning alcoholic in film.
The second performance comes from Joe Grisaffi, who plays Bob’s best friend James and enters the secret club in the same hopes of cashing in. In the start of the movie, James isn’t sure what to take of this offer and quickly dives in. Joe’s performance can be described as multiple layers, from comedic to dramatic and deserves to be noticed.
As I said above, every performance from the cast and crew deserves to be acknowledged. There is a lot of passion that can be clearly seen on this production, this film deserves to be seen on multiple screens and Vimeo On Demand is the place to go.
In the debut of Nowhere California’s Digital Underground, we left the review to you the reader and recommended the title, this will not be different. “Life Insurance Lottery” is a great piece of independent cinema and we encourage everyone to give this movie a chance, so head to Vimeo On Demand or the link at the end of this piece and check out this movie. Also, when you’re finished, leave your thoughts for the filmmakers and let us know your thoughts about “Life Insurance Lottery”
Denis Villeneuve sure knows how to help us nerds chase away the COVID-19 blues! This week, the Bladerunner 2049 director gave us our first glimpse of House Atreides as well as some of the Fremen from the upcoming film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s legendary novel. To say that I love Dune is a vast understatement. The book remains one of my favorite novels of all time and I watch the 1984 David Lynch film, arguably, an unhealthy amount. When this film was announced, I went crazy. When the A-list celebrity cast was announced, I lost my damn mind. With these photos, I can truly get a feel for the direction Villeneuve is taking and I am going fucking bonkers! I’ll shut up now and let you enjoy the pics. Dune is slated to hit theaters on December 18th. With the current global pandemic, check back with Nowhere California for the latest updates. Be safe and Listen Irresponsibly!!!
Top Left: Oscar Issac as Duke Leto Atreides. Top Right: Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck. Center Right: Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho. Bottom: House Atreides
Left: Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides and Jessica Ferguson as The Lady Jessica. Top Right: Zendaya as Chani. Bottom Right: Sharon Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet-Kynes
Nowhere California has a history of looking at every side of the street when it comes to movies, we will watch the tent pole blockbusters and we will take the road less travel to find those hidden gems. This mentality developed into the on going series of “Why Not?” episodes of the podcast and the evolution will continue into our digital underground.
The world is in a crazy place and some outlets are hard to find, so within the walls of this article we will hopefully point you in the direction of a movie that might not make it to your radar. This column will be on going and will point you in the direction of where to find these selections, but for now, it’s time to enter the underground with our first selection.
Line Of Duty was released in 2019, directed by Steven C. Miller and written by Jeremy Drysdale. The film follows police officer Frank Penny (played by Aaron Eckhart) Penny goes from his normal beat into a rogue world, when he goes into a personal investigation into the abduction of the police chief’s young daughter. During the early stages of Frank’s investigation, he crosses path with internet reporter Ava Brooks (played by Courtney Eaton) who becomes his unwanted sidekick as she streams his actions to the web.
This movie blends the action world into the modern era of social media where anyone can be a reporter, with the possibility of putting their bodies on the line in the name of news. It is easy to look past this movie as the typical rogue cop movie, but the production and cast breath important life into a film that could be easily lost in the streaming shuffle.
It would be easy to fall into the normal movie review checklist, but I would like to stand with this recommendation and open our doors for your feedback. The links below will lead you to the different ways you can watch this movie and we would love for you to tell us your thoughts about Line Of Duty…
In the current news cycle, some good news is welcome treat and some great nerd news is a dish to savor. As we wait for the next season of the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian”, some casting information has been released and it’s possibly a fantasy casting dream come true. Rosario Dawson will be joining the cast for the new season slated for release this fall (..hopefully)
Dawson has made a career on a path she has controlled and has chosen projects that weren’t about the check, but about the creation of something special. Now, as she enters this galaxy, Rosario is rumored to be playing the role of Ahsoka Tano and this rumor has sparked a lot of excitement in the Star Wars universe.
The character of Ahsoka debut in the feature film version of “The Clone Wars” and was voiced by Ashley Eckstein. This character continued her evolution through the REBELS animated series and developed a fan following that continued to grow, after the original series came to an end.
This news is still developing and the production of “The Mandalorian” seems to not have been stalled by the current state of the world. As new information is released and rumors become fact, we will continue to watch this story.
Bond, James Bond is back. This time he is no longer 007 and has retired from Mi6 to live out his days with his true love Madeline played by Lea Seydoux. In an art imitating life situation Bond is thrust back into the dangers of Mi6, just like star Daniel Craig had been thrust back into the Bond universe. During the press junket for James Bond 24 know more specifically as Spectre, Craig had said that it was his final Bond. But, with the fans maintaining the stance of 1 more film with Craig, and a script that enticed Craig to return to the role, Columbia announced James Bond 25: No Time to Die with Craig returning for shaken Martinis one more time. Now don’t get the notion that he is now back for more; during an interview this week Craig has confirmed that this is definitively his final Bond.
After a small sizzle reel was released online, fans speculated a trailer would be released in November as it seems 6 months before release seems to be the standard timeline for a trailer. Columbia pushed the release of the first trailer to December 4, 2019.
Premiering in the morning tandemly with 5 character posters the trailer came in at 2 minutes 38 seconds. The trailer did not bury the lead, with the opening showing Bond being chased, fired at by henchman on motorcycles and finding out he had been betrayed by Madeline. Now in the world of deception and misdirection this could be a different scene just taken out of context, but with what the trailer furthered showed us, it is very obvious Bond will have to fight one more time in order to survive. This time he will not be 007, as that title has been given to a new Mi6 agent: Nomi, a no nonsense, paid her dues, Mi6 agent.
The most anticipated character to arrive with this movie is the new villain: Safin. Safin is being played by Academy award winner, and a much loved actor of our show, Rami Malek. With Rami’s sky rocket to fame after Bohemian Rhapsody, and his titular role as Elliot Alderson on Mr. Robot coming to an end fans were wondering what he would be doing next. Taking on the role of the facially scarred Safin, put Rami in a position to be one of the top Bond villains, behind Christoph Waltz and his portrayal of Bloefield, whom coincidently also makes a return in this film.
Also returning to the movie are: Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomi Harris as Moneypenny, and Ben Whishaw as Q, a character who Bond expresses his emotions for by claiming he missed Q. I don’t want to give much of the trailer away, as I feel it needs to be seen rather that read about, but there the Bond staples in this trailer, and a lovely homage to the infamous Bond opening credits. The only remaining staple to be announced by Columbia is what famous singer or band will take on the opening credits song whos past songs have been performed by the late Chris Cornell, Jack White and Alicia Keys, Adelle, and Sam Smith.
No Time to Die the 25th Bond film will be released to theatres on April 8th, 2020.
Anton Yelchin was born in 1989 and tragically taken from this world in 2016, but this talented individual’s impact is still being felt to this date. You can quickly look through Anton’s Imdb listings and realize he was wise beyond his year, as his talents are forever linked to some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Anton was a talent in every aspect of his life and his hobbies beyond acting were known by a random few, until now and that is in thanks to the new documentary “Love,Antosha”
“Love, Antosha” is the new documentary from director Garret Price and this is a rare portrait of a young talent that easily transcended the typical ideals of young Hollywood, by constantly raising his game in front of and behind the camera. This story is presented through movie clips and home movies, these images are punctuated by the people that worked and knew Anton recounting their friendships with a young talent gone way too soon.
This film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to glowing reviews and has been labeled as “heartbreaking” and a reminder of how one person can impact so many lives in an unfortunate short time.
“Love,Antosha” will be entering theaters on August 2.
(Nicholas Dye/Staff Writer)
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