On Wednesday night, Netflix held a red carpet for Jessica Jones second season. The new episodes aired earlier today, March 8th, for International Women’s Day. The Knockturnal spoke with some of the stars, along with the show’s composer and executive producer.
On Monday night, Netflix held a red carpet for THE PUNISHER. PUNISHER is the latest Marvel series for the digital streaming service. The Knockturnal spoke with the stars, showrunner, and executive producer.
Peter Macon stars in the new FOX drama THE ORVILLE, playing the role of Bortus. Macon talks with us about his character, the tone of the show, and his alien prosthetics!
HBO held a screening on Tuesday for the return of Vice Principals. The HBO comedy series begins its second and final season this Sunday. The series is helmed by Danny McBride, who also created the comedy Eastbound & Down for HBO. He attended the screening alongside Walton Goggins, who plays Lee Russell alongside McBride’s Neal Gamby.
The screening took place Tuesday, beginning with a performance by the Brooklyn Express Drumline. Goggins and McBride took questions about the series. McBride talked about how both seasons of Vice Principals were shot at the same time. “It probably made it feel more like when you shoot a film,” said McBride. “When you shoot a movie, there’s a beginning, middle, and end. You know what your character’s gonna do the entire story. So I think we kinda replicated that here. We all knew where it was heading, and we knew what everyone was gonna do… Everything we had, we basically put it up on screen.”
“I had met Walton a handful of times, and was obviously familiar with his work, but we hadn’t worked together before, and we hadn’t spent a considerable amount of time together,” McBride said on working with Goggins. “He was someone that I always wanted to spend time with, and always wanted to work with. We didn’t even think about who would play this role when writing it. We were just sort of getting the scripts out. When it came time for it to be real, and to be cast, there wasn’t anyone that we could think of that we felt had what it would take to bring Lee to life. Then – I think it was David Green had suggested Walton, and instantly we were all like ‘yes, that’s who we have to talk into doing this.’ Because that character of Lee is so tricky – he’s hilarious and vile, but there has to be a level of charisma so that you can actually watch him. That was something we thought Walton was gonna be able to nail perfectly.”
Vice Principals returns tonight, September 17th, at 10:30 PM. The show stars McBride and Goggins as two vice principals, fighting for dominance over North Jackson High School. The second season picks up after the assassination attempt on Gamby’s life, and getting vengeance on those who hate the duo.
MARVEL’S ‘THE DEFENDERS’, the Netflix equivalent of ‘THE AVENGERS’, is coming out this Frida. The Knockturnal had the chance to sit down with the four stars and members of the titular team. We first sat down with Charlie Cox (Daredevil) and Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones). We then talked with Mike Colter (Luke Cage) and Finn Jones (Iron Fist). Here are the highlights from our conversations!
Tony Leondis is the director of Sony Animation’s latest project, “The Emoji Movie.” Leondis talks to The Knockturnal about modern day expression, favorite apps, and dreams for a Shrimp Cake With Swirl spin-off.
Joe Mande is a stand-up comedian, and writer for such shows as ‘Parks & Recreation’ and ‘The Good Place.’ In this interview, Mande talks about his new Netflix special, his comedy mixtape, the Cannibal Cop, and being called an “internet troll.”
The third film in Illumination’s flagship franchise comes with no surprises. DESPICABLE ME 3 is as formulaic as a children’s animated movie can get. This isn’t to say it’s a garbage film, but it’s awfully predictable. DESPICABLE ME 3 (Or DESPICABLE M3, if you will) is a rehash of fart jokes and physical humor. As someone who has seen neither DESPICABLE ME 2 or MINIONS, it’s hard to say how the threequel compares. But as a standalone film, it’s quite simple. Neither astoundingly good or bad, DESPICABLE ME 3 merely exists. Kids who go see the film are certain to enjoy the exploits of Gru and his small yellow friends. However, rewatching the original film is a better use of one’s time.
DESPICABLE ME 3 begins with Gru’s expulsion from the Anti-Villain League. After a Minion coalition strikes out on their own, Gru is contacted by his long lost twin brother. Dru, Gru’s brother, is a clueless and goofy Gru lookalike, only with a full head of hair. Dru pleads with Gru to teach him the ways of villainy, so that they may continue the family tradition. Gru agrees, but only so he can get revenge on new villain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker). From there, the film is a series of goofy, predicable action sequences.
Everything about the film feels like a retread. Dru’s relationship with Gru is a lot like the dynamic between Gru and Lucy. The children are barely visible, set aside for the brother relationship. It’s odd that the film would push away its strongest emotional dynamic for double Steve Carrell. In fact, a lot of the movie feels like a distraction from the main story. It’s unsurprising that the Minions, who got their own movie, are given too much screen time. But the fact that every other storyline feels extraneous makes the movie weaker. DESPICABLE ME 3 feels like a series of shorts stitched together.
There’s strangely too much going on. Despite having a simple premise, the film tries packing in several other narratives. There’s a relatively strong central storyline with Gru meeting his brother. However, it becomes bogged down with the several side plots. Lucy struggling to be a mother is only semi-resolved by yelling at a foreigner. Agnes’ quest for a unicorn is just a way to remind viewers of her catchphrase “fluffy.” The arrival of a new boss (Jenny Slate) at the AVL has no real bearing on the action. It just serves as a reminder of how good Slate was in ZOOTOPIA. Not to mention the randomly introduced – and quickly dropped – Margo romance plot. With so many stories, DESPICABLE ME 3 loses focus on its primary story.
While the film tries juggling multiple storylines, the central plot works well enough. As annoying as Carrell’s dual performance is, Gru’s moral struggle is engaging. It works specifically well when playing off of Parker’s nostalgia-heavy Bratt. Bratt is a former child actor, who turned to villainy when his super-villain TV show was cancelled. The vocal performance of Parker, and the physicality of his animated persona, plays really well. As far as superhero tales go, the nostalgia gimmick feels right at home in a Batman film. At the core of DESPICABLE ME 3 is a solid animated action flick.
While DESPICABLE M3 has elements that work, it mimics the previous films without enough reinvention. There’s not enough in the threequel to make it worth watching over the original. That doesn’t make it garbage – it just makes it a franchise film. Considering just how many movies Illumination has churned out, it’s commendable that the film is watchable. There’s still some heart and humor in DESPICABLE ME 3 – it’s just harder to find. But as far as this reporter is concerned, anything’s better than a MINIONS sequel.
DESPICABLE ME 3 comes out in theaters this Friday, June 30th. It stars Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, and Trey Parker.
TBS’s SEARCH PARTY held a red carpet last night in New York. The carpet is part of their Emmy ‘For Your Consideration’ campaign. The Knockturnal was lucky enough to chat with many of the stars, as well as the creators and executive producers.
WARNING: CONTAINS SOME LIGHT SPOILERS FOR SEASON ONE.
On Sunday evening, the Split Screens Festival held a screening and discussion of BETTER CALL SAUL. The festival screened the upcoming episode “Slip,” airing tonight. The post-screening discussion took place with Michael McKean and Peter Gould. McKean plays Chuck McGill, the brother of Jimmy (aka Saul Goodman). Gould is the co-creater and executive producer of the AMC original series.
BETTER CALL SAUL is a prequel series to AMC’s BREAKING BAD. The show centers around Jimmy McGill, the lawyer that becomes Saul Goodman. The show is now in its third season, building towards the world of BREAKING BAD. Most notably, BETTER CALL SAUL has reintroduced notable villain Gustavo Fring. The show has gotten a lot of critical love in its own right.
The screening and discussion was held by the Split Screens Festival. The Festival is a new event series, celebrating television. The festival is holding several such discussions at the IFC Film Center. The festival will include panels from shows like BILLIONS, ORPHAN BLACK, and MR. ROBOT.
Michael McKean plays Chuck McGill, Jimmy’s angry older brother. Peter Gould is the co-creator and executive producer of the series. The two sat down with Matt Zoller Seitz. McKean talked about the “yummy curves” that come with playing a character like Chuck. Gould expanded on this, discussing the “dad energy” that courses through Chuck’s relationship with Jimmy.
The episode “Slip” comes on tonight at 10:00PM. The Split Screens Festival will run until June 8th.