Home//Empire Australasia/November 2018/In This Issue
Empire Australasia|November 2018THIS MONTH AT EMPIRESO, YEAH. IT’S almost the end of 2018. How in the hell did that happen? Stupid time, what with its always marching forward and what have you! (Where’s a DeLorean when you need one?) Still, it does give us the opportunity to look back on the cinematic year that was, and we thought it’d be fun to do a 2018 Empire Australia Awards. Who doesn’t love a list?! The categories are below, and I’d love it if you’d shoot through your picks to me at empire@bauer-media.com.au. We will bring glory to the winners, and a deep, withering shame to the losers. It’ll be fun! Get voting, and check the December issue for the results! Yours in list-making procrastination,…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Riding with the punchesSO FAR, THE John Wick movies have given us all kinds of fu. Kung-fu. Gun-fu. Car-fu. Now, with the grandly titled sequel John Wick 3: Parabellum, Keanu Reeves and his director, Chad Stahelski, are introducing the latest, and possibly, greatest yet: horse-fu. “I thought it would be cool if John Wick escaped on a horse,” explains Reeves casually. “So we have John Wick riding on some horses. And fighting on some horses. So that’s fun.” This image, and concept, doesn’t even scratch the surface of the madness that lies in store for the world’s greatest hitman this time around. For starters, this horse-bike interface is how the movie picks up, after Chapter 2 left off with Wick on the run, escaping a huge price on his head. Cue a…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE INTROCYNTHIA ERIVO WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE IN HEIST THRILLER WIDOWS? Widows is badass. It’s about these four women who have to take their lives back in their own hands. Three of them have lost their husbands [in] a heist, and these women are left with their debt, so they decide to take over the heist. My character, Belle, goes one night to babysit for one of the wives’ children. They get talking and the wife sees her as an asset to this plan, so brings her in on it. It’s messy, it’s gritty, it’s not polite, and I love that. HOW DID YOU GET THE ROLE? Steve’s [McQueen] casting director had come to see me in The Color Purple [on Broadway]. Then we had breakfast and…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Love in a cold climateWHEN PAWEŁ PAWLIKOWSKI dreamt up the scenario for gorgeous romantic drama Cold War, he loosely telegraphed his own parents’ turbulent love story onto the story, set against the backdrop of oppressive Communist Poland in the ’50s. The result: a dazzlingly shot black-and-white masterpiece, spanning decades, which picked up the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Here, Pawlikowski explains how it came together. How did your parents inspire the story of Cold War ? My parents inspired and reflect the mechanics of the relationship and temperament in the film. It was a love story I witnessed as a kid: the mother of all love stories, for me. So I’ve been trying to make a film about that kind of relationship for a long time. And…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... TERMINATOR1 __ Skynet is not dead! A sixth Terminator movie is currently in production — the second reboot of the apocalyptic science-fiction franchise in four years. 2 __ This is a reboot with a difference, however: it has the full participation of James Cameron, the creator of the series and writer/director of the first two films. Cameron wrote a story treatment that the script follows, and is also a producer. 3 __ The film completely disregards the continuity of the last three films in the series (Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator: Genisys). “It’s a continuation of the story from Terminator and T2,” Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re pretending the other films were a bad dream. Or an alternate timeline, which is permissible in our…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Place your betsBEST PICTURE WHAT SHOULD WIN: AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR The Academy may have ditched that silly popular film category (for now), but Infinity War is no less viable a ‘proper’ Best Picture than the likes of Gladiator, Braveheart or The Return Of The King. It is a vast, epic spectacle, featuring a strong ensemble cast, which tackles a big, ethical question (at what cost the greater ‘good’?) and deals emotional gut-jabs while orchestrating all its cosmic action. DAN JOLIN WHAT WILL WIN: ROMA Alfonso Cuarón’s memory movie of growing up in ’70s Mexico ticks so many Oscar boxes without consciously trying. It is deeply autobiographical, mixes the personal and political in a way that wins over the liberal base, boasts naturalistic performances that will resonate with the acting block, and has…4 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE BARRY EFFECTBARRY JENKINS KNOWS how to cast. Just look at the stars of 2016’s Moonlight, whose careers were juiced from appearing in the Oscar-winning drama. Trevante Rhodes got a plum role in The Predator, as ex-military tough-nut Nebraska Williams; Mahershala Ali stars in the upcoming Green Book as a jazz virtuoso. Both of those films, as it happens, played at the Toronto Film Festival in September, alongside Jenkins’ new movie, If Beale Street Could Talk. “I’m always in contact with those guys,” says the director, “so I was trying to find a way to get them on the carpet for a mini-reunion. But sadly, we couldn’t work it out.” The next likely recipients of a Barry Jenkins career-boost are Kiki Layne and Stephan James, the actors playing Tish and Fonny, the…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Why Superman deserves betterWHEN THE HOLLYWOOD Reporter claimed that Henry Cavill was no longer going to be the Man Of Steel after ‘parting ways’ with Warner Bros. (in a statement, the studio said that no decision had been made regarding future films), the internet came alive. Some thought it a good move, others disagreed and a third group cried, “Who cares? Superman is boring anyway!” It’s true that Cavill’s performances, to date, have not always done the character justice. But perhaps he hasn’t been given the right chance. Perhaps it’s worth asking why. After all, Superman should never be dull. Cavill’s first turn in Man Of Steel tried to force the Big Blue Boy Scout into a Dark Knight mould, and ended up with a dull, navy blue hybrid…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018WAIT, WHAT HAPPENED?THE LOGAN/ GREATEST SHOWMAN CONNECTIONS It may have come out ages ago but we’re still talking about The Greatest Showman. A screengrab from the hit musical’s closing credits went viral this month after a Wolverine Easter egg was spotted. For Hugh Jackman, the spectre of his adamantium claws must have hung heavy over the musical; the actor had barely a week’s gap between filming Logan and Showman. There’s another Logan/Showman connection: Logan’s director, James Mangold, is credited as an executive producer on the musical, and assisted in the film’s post-production.…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018SUSPIRIA★★★★ OUT 8 NOVEMBER RATED TBC / 152 MINS DIRECTOR Luca Guadagnino CAST Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Chloë Grace Moretz, Angela Winkler PLOT American Susie Bannion (Johnson) escapes her austere Mennonite family life by heading to Berlin to join the exclusive Helena Markos Dance Company. When she arrives, the school is in turmoil: one of the students has gone missing and the teachers are being accused of witchcraft. WHEN THE FIRST whispers of a Suspiria remake made themselves heard, the internet was aghast. No one could believe that someone would have the audacity to have a stab at Dario Argento’s 1977 classic. How could they? The director’s use of eye-popping colour and grisly ultraviolence, all accompanied by prog-rocker’s Goblin’s cacophonic sonic assault on the senses, were legendary. Suspiria…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018VENOM★★ OUT NOW / RATED M / 112 MINS DIRECTOR Ruben Fleischer CAST Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott MOVIES HAVEN’T BEEN kind to Venom. Third-wheeling behind Sandman and the New Goblin in Spider-Man 3, and with a background nod in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane’s unfriendly neighbourhood symbiote now stars in his own film that mostly botches its attempts to bring the anti-hero to life. Lacking the we-knowhow-to-do this confidence of Disney’s MCU, Ruben Fleischer’s film never finds a strong footing, mixing drab stretches of plot, efficient but flat action, mishandled comedy, a few fun elements and squandering one of the most exciting casts of the year. The first act is ham-fisted, charmless and dull. There is a protracted set-up where…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018I USED TO BE NORMAL: A BOYBAND FANGIRL STORY★★★★ OUT 22 NOVEMBER / RATED PG / 96 MINS DIRECTOR Jessica Leski CAST Elif, Sadia, Dara, Susan DID ONE DIRECTION light up your life like nobody else? Ever wished the Backstreet Boys would quit playing games with your heart? Whether you get these references or not, there’s plenty to enjoy in Melbourne filmmaker Leski’s documentary, which catches up with four female superfans (two Australian, two American) variously of the aforementioned pop acts plus The Beatles and Take That, across several years. The film is frontloaded with the really fun stuff – the delirium, inherent ludicrousness and even the love of music that comes with being a bona fide tragic – before it digs deeper into the lives of the devotees. It proves to be a fascinating exercise, told with…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018SAM CLAFLIN SPEAKSON... LIFE IN THE TRENCHES My dad is somewhat obsessed with history, especially the First and Second World Wars. I thought I had a good understanding of what it was about from watching documentaries growing up — as an actor you want to say, “I know what it felt like to be in trenches.” But of course we don’t have a clue. But filming in the mud and with the weather being very unpredictable, it does help you to imagine. ON... HIS FAMILY CONNECTION I’ve [looked into] my family history and found my great-great grandfather was in a battalion posted to the Battle of Saint-Quentin, which is what we’re depicting. I’m now trying to find out his exact movements. ON... HIS PREPARATION The script we’re dealing with is different from…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018LEAN ON PETE★★★★ OUT 29 NOVEMBER / RATED M / 122 MINS DIRECTOR Andrew Haigh CAST Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn ANDREW HAIGH CASTS a humanist eye over a little-seen aspect of the American Dream in this adaptation of a Willy Vlautin novel about a teenager’s bid to rescue a condemned horse and find his estranged aunt. Despite Magnus Jønck’s sublime photography, the odyssey lacks the intensity of the opening Portland sequences, as Charlie Plummer befriends seedy trainer Steve Buscemi. But this retains a slow-burning authenticity, as Haigh avoids weepie platitudes in charting Plummer’s progress through a landscape that emphasises his isolation and insignificance. The supporting cast is splendid, but it’s the impassive Plummer who carries this quietly devastating picture.…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018CHRIS HEMSWORTH1 __ LISTENED TO THE DOORS “I was listening to a lot of The Doors — that sort of psychedelic [scene], heavily vivid music and drugs. I found that there was so much life and colour to dive into. I watched a lot of interviews with Jim Morrison and there was sort of an attitude there. Not like I’m saying he’s a cult leader. There’s just another layer, another aesthetic to pull from, particularly his mannerisms.” 2 __ STUDIED REAL-LIFE CULT LEADERS “I looked at documentaries about cults and the incredibly manipulative nature of cult leaders, but also this sort of sick charisma. You start to listen to people talk and you see if you’re a little vulnerable and someone with that much charisma and belief says to you, “Here…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018MANIAC★★★★ OUT NOW / NETFLIX EPS VIEWED 10 OF 10 DIRECTED BY Cary f*ckunaga CAST Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Sonoya Mizuno, Justin Theroux, Sally Field PLOT Troubled Owen (Hill) and Annie (Stone) join an AI-controlled pharmaceutical trial intended to wipe out the need for therapy. But when a computer malfunction occurs, they are thrown together in a series of drug-induced dream-world adventures. IT’S HARD TO know where to start with Maniac. Largely because Maniac itself doesn’t know where to start. The first episode hurls us into a retro-tech world that seems to be a vision of now from the perspective of the ’80s, throwing out numerous Philip K. Dickian, dystopian touches without giving us a chance to properly absorb them. It juggles a plot about a mentally ill rich guy…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018RECAPTURING THE MAGICWORKING AT HOGWARTS DOES not make you immune to getting a bit overwhelmed about being in Hogwarts. The first time Zoë Kravitz walked through the entrance hall of the wizarding school, with its enormous wooden doors and crackling torches, she had a minor freak-out. The space was just as she remembered from watching it on film as a teenager. She felt a strange flash of déjà vu. “There were all these kids in their uniforms with their owls in their cages. It was… epic,” she says. “Harry Potter was the first book I ever asked my mom to buy me.” She was stepping into a world she’d held in her imagination for almost two decades. “It was completely surreal.” Kravitz is one of the new additions to the expanding world…13 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018SONS OF THE DESERTWalking into a room with Joel and Ethan Coen is a little like walking into the saloon of a one-horse town where nobody knows your name. The music seems to stop. There is an uncomfortable silence. Drinks are put down (in this case, Joel’s mug of herbal tea). Searching eyes assess you. Nobody’s quite sure how this one’s going to go down. But then you get the brothers talking about Westerns, and it’s as if the honky-tonk piano starts playing again. “Making Westerns somehow seems connected to that play that you used to do as kids,” says Ethan (younger, shorter, more prone to giggles). “It’s certainly part of the pleasure of doing this kind of movie,” concurs Joel (older, taller, wilder hair, hidden behind a pair of sepia-tinted 1970s shades).…12 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018SCREEN QUEEN1 ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in Wayne’s World The sequence that brought back headbanging (probably), Wayne’s World opens with Wayne, Garth and their friends whose names nobody can ever remember, driving around while singing along to Queen’s epic rock opera. 2 ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ in Shaun Of The Dead Edgar Wright is such a Queen fan that he closes Shaun with ‘You’re My Best Friend’. But it’s hard to top the bit where Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Kate Ashfield beat up a zombie with pool cues to ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. 3 ‘Under Pressure’ in Grosse Pointe Blank Martin Q. Blank goes to his high school’s tenth anniversary reunion. At one point, he’s handed a baby. And, as Queen and David Bowie’s collaboration builds, the two lock eyes, and suddenly…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018WHITNEY00:00:50 THE MONSTER __ Macdonald begins his documentary about iconic singer Whitney Houston with an eerie juxtaposition of slo-mo shots from the ‘How Will I Know?’ video (“For a few frames, she’s revealing her real self”) with a candid interview she gave about a dream of being chased by a monster. “The main question people have about Whitney is, ‘What was the demon that she was a victim of?’” he says. “This is a way of setting up that idea.” 00:51:32 THE BREAKDOWN __ A truly heart-rending moment comes when Houston’s Aunt Bae breaks down recalling how she took care of Whitney and Bobby Brown’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, from when she was a baby. “It’s always a problem when you have a story and everyone knows the end,” says Macdonald.…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Stones cold killerA MAN — WELL, a being — steps onto a porch, sits down in a chair, and watches the sun rise with a contented smile. It’s been a long, hard day, during which he’s been forced through the emotional and physical mill, defeated all the accursed enemies who opposed him, ticked every box on the mental to-do list he made when he woke up that morning, and he’s earned himself a chance to reflect on his achievements. A moment’s grace. It’s a fitting end for a hero’s journey. Just one problem. This isn’t the hero. It’s the villain. Going into Avengers: Infinity War, directors Joe and Anthony Russo knew they had a monumental task on their hands. Not only did they have to somehow fit all 289 major characters in…5 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018KEEP ON RUNNINGTHERE’S NO SUCH thing as a perfect film — well, maybe Paddington 2 — but Midnight Run comes pretty damn close. Martin Brest’s 1988 movie, about Jack Walsh, a bounty hunter (Robert De Niro), transporting Jonathan ‘The Duke’ Mardukas, an absconded Mob accountant (Charles Grodin), across country under the nose of the Mafia and the Feds, is part road-trip, part-buddy comedy, part-action movie, and is utterly magnificent. It’s incredibly influential — many movies, including the Gerard Butler/Jennifer Aniston comedy The Bounty Hunter, Reese Witherspoon’s Hot Pursuit and the Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson misfire The Hitman’s Bodyguard, have attempted to match its blend of character-based comedy, potty-mouthed humour and chaotic action, but none have come close. Its appeal lies in the incredibly quotable dialogue, the memorable, well-drawn supporting cast, and its…9 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018JOHN HANNAH1 You battled Arnold Vosloo’s Imhotep across three Mummy films. But can you spell it? I-M-H-O-T-E-P. Nobody knew if the film was going to be a success or not, but we had a fun time doing it. I’ve not seen the Tom Cruise one. I don’t know if they were going for something more spooky. Correct. 2 You share a scene with Ardeth Bay’s pet bird in The Mummy Returns. What is its name? Horus. Correct. 3 What’s the name of the yacht in Overboard? I don’t know. [On hearing answer] Ah, okay. I think I actually say that at one point in the film. Incorrect. The correct answer is Birthday Present. 4 In Sliding Doors, what is Helen’s response to James’, “You know what the Monty Python boys say?”…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE TOP TEN1 TOY STORY (1995) Helen: “It was seismic in its impact because it’s impeccable in its storytelling. The tech may have dated a little, but the characters and emotion never pale. The original and best.” 2 WALL-E (2008) Ben: “This is prime Pixar. Just like its titular robot, WALL-E will take your heart, churn it up into a neat little cube, and spit it back out.” 3 INSIDE OUT (2015) Helen: “As befits a film about the workings of the brain, this is the smartest film Pixar has ever made. Long live Bing Bong.” 4 UP (2009) Dan: “A true original, whose seemingly random elements (talking dogs, balloons, talking birds, grief) click together to form a perfect whole.” 5 THE INCREDIBLES (2004) Dan: “My personal favourite, and it’s a super-crime…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 20185 OF THE BESTHEREDITARY OUT NOW / RATED MA15+ / 128 MINS The horrifying thing about Ari Aster’s debut feature is not the tinge of supernatural weirdness that haunts the Graham family. It’s not even the creepy dollhouse that reproduces the family home. What will really chill your bones is the possibility that every plot development here has an entirely rational explanation, that this family is merely being torn apart by grief, mental breakdown and appalling, awful luck. From the opening scenes, in which Toni Collette’s Annie eulogises her recently deceased mother in such scathing terms that you have to wonder which of them is the real monster, this film creates a sense of gathering unease that gets nastily under your skin. Some viewers criticised the operatic finale for straying too far from…4 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018COMMENTDIE HARD LOVE I enjoyed the ‘Spring Movie Preview’ in your October issue, but, most of all, I loved the Die Hard 30th Anniversary Special. Die Hard is my absolute favourite movie of all time. I know it word for word, scene for scene, having watched it so many times. Bruce Willis is may all-time favourite actor and I am pleased he got the role of John McClane. I love all Die Hard movies, but you can’t go past the original. I look forward, to, hopefully, Die Hard: Year One. LINDA, VIA EMAIL Glad you enjoyed Linda! We did too. Nobody loves or knows Die Hard better than us! DIE HARD LOVE 2: LOVE HARDER Just finished reading your wonderful scene-by-scene run down on Die Hard in the October issue.…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018A league of his ownJAMES WAN ISN’T really treating Aquaman as a superhero movie. It has irrefutable comic-book roots, of course, but the film — the first solo outing for hairy, boozy, fish-whisperer Arthur Curry, played by Jason Momoa — “has a fantasy approach to it,” the director tells Empire . “It shows you a part of Earth we’ve never seen before. That’s what enticed me to it: the opportunity to play on a big canvas.” Judging by the first trailer, the canvas isn’t just big, it’s also drenched in bright, salty watercolours. Not only will the movie explore Curry’s backstory, it will also plunge headlong into the subaquatic realm that helped spawn him via his Atlantean queen mom Atlanna (Nicole Kidman). A realm now lorded over…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... GAME OF THRONES: SEASON 81 __ After a wait of nearly 18 months, to allow for winter shooting, more ambitious battle scenes and bigger special effects, the final season of Game Of Thrones will be broadcast in “the first half of 2019”. 2 __ There will be only six episodes, down from last season’s seven, and the previous standard of 10 — but each one is likely to be feature-length. 3 __ As with the last season, it’s uncharted territory for George R.R. Martin fans. The season adapts material from Martin’s as-yet unpublished final novels in the series, the long-delayed The Winds Of Winter and A Dream Of Spring. 4 __ All the previous season’s surviving characters will return, with the exception of Dornish paramour Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma), whose fate remains ambiguous; and…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE MONEY SHOTCAPTAIN MARVEL 1__Before she became embroiled in galactic warfare or developed the ability to shoot energy blasts from her hands, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) trained as a US Air Force pilot. In this frame, we see her working with Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), mother of Monica, who in the comics took the mantle of Captain Marvel during the ’80s. 2__ It’s been confirmed that Captain Marvel will have her powers when the film begins. Born Carol Danvers on Earth, it’s only when she becomes NASA’s head of security that she embarks on missions among the stars. In the comic book, Danvers becomes superhuman after her DNA fuses with that of a Kree soldier named Mar-Vell (the original ’60s Captain Marvel), when an alien device called the Psyche-Magnetron explodes. However, here…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Expanding the cartelWHEN A TV show ‘reboots’, it’s a sign its story has run out of steam. In the case of Narcos, the show is undergoing a reboot, of sorts, because its story is just too big. Its universe needs to be split into manageable parts. For its fourth season, the cocaine chronicle — which so far has followed Pedro Pascal’s DEA agent Javier Peña as he brought down Colombia’s most powerful drug cartels — is wiping its cast list clean. Agent Peña is out. The action is travelling back from the early 1990s to the late 1970s and north from Colombia to Mexico City. This season, we’ll see what led to the events of the first three seasons — how cocaine became big business. “From very early on I had a…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018SMALL TALKHi Simon! How are you? Hi! I’m trying to figure out what I’m doing now. We’re on the Slaughterhouse Rulez set — what’s today’s plan? I’ve just got a little scene with Michael [Sheen]. Michael and I always wanted to be in a scene together so we can prove that we’re not the same person. So this will put an end to the conspiracy theory, then. Absolutely! It’ll finally put that to rest. Although there’ll be split screen theories and all sorts. They can do wonders now with CGI. I know! Look at Armie Hammer. Congratulations on the production company [Stolen Picture, set up with Nick Frost] by the way. Have you got lots lined up? Yeah, we’ve got a slate, and the majority of it…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Caught between worldsTHE OPENING PAGES of The Hate U Give, the debut novel by Angie Thomas, describe an African-American girl named Starr struggling over which side of her identity to present at a party — her black side or her white side. “There are just some places where it’s not enough to be me,” her narration reads. “Either version of me.” Filmmaker George Tillman Jr was working on Season 1 of Luke Cage when he was given an early manuscript of the book and immediately related to her experience. “She has two worlds,” Tillman Jr explains. “She goes back and forth. It’s about a woman who was code-switching — how African-Americans change their behaviour and how they act around white individuals. This is something we haven’t really seen in film before.” Sensing…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018HOW MUCH IS A CARTON OF MILK?What’s your earliest memory? I don’t know if being a photographer has anything to do with this, but memories are so caught up with the photographs that you see of yourself at a young age. I have one of myself, I think I’m about maybe four. I have an empty gun belt on, I’m holding a teddy bear, I’m standing in front of the tree that I used to love to climb, and I’ve got this intense smile on my face. And as I look at that photograph I remember the joy I used to have of just playing all by myself. Which film have you seen more than any other? It’s a toss-up between The Big Lebowski and The Godfather. When I watch TV and Lebowski comes on, I’ll…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... STAR TREK1 __ Following on from 2016’s Star Trek: Beyond, a fourth movie in the ‘Kelvin’ reboot universe — and the 14th Trek film overall — is now in pre-production, bringing Kirk and co back to the Enterprise once more. 2 __ For the first time in the series’ storied film history, there will be a female captain at the helm — behind the camera, at least — with S.J. Clarkson having signed on as the film’s director. 3 __ Clarkson is best known for her TV work, which has included directing episodes of Life On Mars, Dexter, The Defenders and Season 2 of Jessica Jones. She also directed all four parts of Carey Mulligan BBC miniseries Collateral. 4 __ The as-yet-untitled Trek is being written by J.D. Payne and Patrick…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018BOY ERASED★★★★ OUT 8 NOVEMBER RATED MA15+ / 115 MINS DIRECTOR Joel Edgerton CAST Lucas Hedges, Joel Edgerton, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Flea, Joe Alwyn PLOT Outed to his deeply religious parents by a malicious would-be lover, closeted teen Jared Eamons (Hedges) is packed off to a gay conversion course, where he must contend with the program’s strict director (Edgerton) and come to terms with his own emerging sexuality. WITH HIS SECOND feature as director, actor Joel Edgerton drops the thriller trappings that characterised his 2015 offering, The Gift, opting instead to dive into the timely and controversial topic of gay conversion therapy. Adapted from Garrard Conley’s 2016 memoir of the same name, Boy Erased follows a trail blazed earlier this year by Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation Of Cameron Post, which…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018GENERATION WEALTH★★ OUT NOW / RATED MA15+ / 106 MINS DIRECTOR Lauren Greenfield CAST Limo Bob, Lauren Greenfield AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER-TURNED-filmmaker Greenfield has called this documentary Generation Wealth but a more accurate title might have been Me Me Me: My Life Spent Shooting Rich L.A. Douchebags And Annoying My Family By Filming Everything They Do. It masquerades as a study of a money-obsessed society in moral decline but spends far too much time on the filmmaker herself and says little that’s fresh or profound when it gets to her subjects. Gasp at the woman getting endless plastic surgery she can’t afford. Shake your head at the p*rn star who cites Kim Kardashian as an inspiration. Throw up in your mouth at the phony former hedge-fund manager. Greenfield should stick to photography.…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018BEAUTIFUL BOY★★★★★ OUT NOW / 120 MINS RATED MA15+ DIRECTOR Felix Van Groeningen CAST Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan PLOT Based on the memoirs of David Sheff and his son Nic, we witness the devastation of drug addiction from the perspective of both addict and parent, as David attempts to protect his son and save his life. “CLOSE YOUR EYES/Have no fear/ The monster’s gone/He’s on the run and your daddy’s here.” So begins John Lennon’s Beautiful Boy, a song he wrote for his son, Sean; a song imbued with the love a parent feels for their child and the primal instinct to protect, to be the one who can scare the monsters away. Beautiful Boy is also the perfectly chosen, heartbreaking title of this devastating film, as…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018BOOK WEEK★★★ OUT NOW / RATED TBC / 98 MINS DIRECTOR Heath Davis CAST Alan Dukes, Airlie Dodds ONCE A CELEBRATED author, Nicholas Cutler’s (Dukes) reputation as a jerk has caused his career to stall. Now a jaded teacher, he’s tasked by his publisher to avoid any outbursts for a week in order for his next book to be released – easier said than done when the self-important scribe is about to endure his school’s shambolic Book Week. There’s a lot of relatable comedy here, especially for anyone familiar with the education system, but it’s hard to know who to root for when your lead character is this dislikeable. Sure, there’s a redemptive arc but it feels too late to get the audience on side. Despite this, Book Week does have…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 201822 JULY★★★ NETFLIX / OUT NOW 143 MINS DIRECTOR Paul Greengrass CAST Anders Danielsen Lie, Jonas Strand Gravli, Jon Øigarden, Ola G. Furuseth PLOT After killing eight people with a car bomb, far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik (Danielsen Lie) drives to a summer camp on the idyllic island of Utøya and guns down 69 teenagers. 22 July counts the ripples felt in the aftermath. PAUL GREENGRASS IS a master of the true-life story. From Bloody Sunday to United 93 to Captain Phillips, few can match his skill and sensitivity at getting under the headlines with sincerity, compassion and kineticism. His latest is a bold effort, dramatising one of the darkest days in living memory with a Norwegian cast (speaking English). But while 22 July has powerful stretches, thoughtful resonances and great…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018TRUST★★★★ FOX SHOWCASE OUT NOW EPS VIEWED ALL EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Christian Colson, Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle CAST Donald Sutherland, Hilary Swank, Harris Dickinson, Brendan Fraser PLOT It’s 1973, and John Paul Getty III (Dickinson) — heir to an oil shipping fortune — has just been kidnapped while living in Rome. His mother (Swank) and a family security official (Fraser) try to secure his safe return but, suspecting a hoax, his billionaire grandfather (Sutherland) refuses to pay a penny. THERE’S AN UNFORTUNATE air of late arrival to this one. Inspired by the same true-life events as Ridley Scott’s All The Money In The World and thematically of a piece with recent HBO breakout hit Succession, Trust runs the risk of offering viewers the TV equivalent of a well-meaning colleague delivering a…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018FIERCE CREATURESRUN AWAY IMMEDIATELY ZOUWU __You’re going to want to keep your distance from the Zouwu, a huge Yeti-like creature. “The Zouwu is probably the most powerful beast,” says Redmayne. “It can travel a thousand miles in a day. It can be incredibly savage or dangerous when it’s damaged. It’s been locked up, chained up, so it’s got a lot of anger.” LEUCROTTA __ If you’ve ever wondered what the Fantastic Beasts version of a moose would looks like, wonder no more. The Leucrotta differs from its muggle-world cousin in two main ways: it sports long, jagged antlers and has a mouth so huge that Newt can get his whole head and shoulders inside to give the beasts’ chompers a good clean. KELPIE __ It might look formidable, with its enormous…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE PERFECT CRIMEWhen Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, he jumped for joy. It was the celebration of a man who took a risk, who told a story without knowing whether anyone would be willing to listen, and found himself vindicated on the world’s biggest stage. The next day, the phone started ringing with offers from Hollywood. “‘Do you want this or that?’” he remembers. “Yeah. That’s alright. But I had an idea what I wanted to do next during the production of 12 Years, before I started shooting. I think I’ve got my own path, and I would like to follow it, if possible.” So with the Oscar wind behind him McQueen set out to make another personal passion project — even if, when…14 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018CALL OF THE WILDTHE FIRST THING I NOTICE WHEN CAREY MULLIGAN TAKES OFF HER COAT IN THE BAR IS THE TATTOO A simple image of a seagull, on her right wrist, subtle, but speaking volumes. In 2007, at 21, Mulligan played Nina in a production of Chekhov’s The Seagull that started at London’s Royal Court Theatre and went to Broadway, and it had a seismic effect on her. In 2010, when she met Steve McQueen to discuss Shame, keen to persuade him of her appetite for the work, she told him she might get this tattoo, inspired by Act 4 of The Seagull, when Nina loses everything but finds focus, saying, “I know now that it’s not about fame or glory or all the things I used to dream about. When I think…12 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFFTHE EVERGREEN, ALL-AGES appeal of John Hughes’ 1986 school-skipping classic may be basic, but it hits a primal urge within all of us: what if, just for a perfect, single day, we could completely shirk our responsibilities and indulge in nothing but consequence-free fun? (Okay, Ferris’ gormless pal Cameron’s day may not be consequence-free given he trashes his father’s 1961 Ferrari GT California at the climax, but you get the point). As an added bonus, what if that day involves being able to thoroughly, completely stick it to The Man? (‘The Man’ here being represented in the form of driven but hapless school Principal Ed Rooney, played with sh*theel relish by Jeffrey Jones.) For The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles writer-director John Hughes, it was a fantasy of a different…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018KIDS WATCH CLASSICSDAISY PIERCE — 6 WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT Did you like the film? Yes, it was very funny, but also quite scary. It’s really, really, really good. What was it about? It was about Roger Rabbit and a person who was actually a ’toon, who was the bad guy [Christopher Lloyd]. It was also about a guy [Bob Hoskins] who saved Roger Rabbit from being killed. Roger Rabbit was also a ’toon. Who was your favourite character? Roger Rabbit. What were your favourite bits? My favourite bits were when the guy who saved Roger Rabbit destroyed the bad guy by using the thing that he had created to destroy ’toons. How did it compare to the last film you saw in the cinema? Peter Rabbit was the one I last…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Be kind rewind“IT’S KIND OF weird,” says Steven Soderbergh, of revisiting his debut feature, 30 years since he made it and roughly 15 since he last watched it, for the previous reissue. A note on this new disc requests you destroy all previous copies. Remastered and remixed, the Criterion Collection edition is sex, lies, and videotape as spiffy as it’s ever been seen. An intimate chamber piece credited with re-igniting indie filmmaking in America, it won the Palme d’Or in 1989, causing the then-26-year-old to quip on stage in Cannes, “Well, I guess it’s all downhill from here.” That hasn’t proved to be the case — he won the directing Oscar for Traffic in 2001 and is still proving our most probing and prolific high-end filmmaker. Returning to where it all began,…4 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018PIXAR MOVIESHelen: So, Pixar. Are we pro? Are we anti? Are we on the fence? I don’t expect an anti. Olly: Pretty pro. Ben: Same. One thing that I think comes through in Pixar a lot is how much of an impact they make on you at different times of your life and how you carry that with you between the older films and some of the newer ones. That comes through in my list. Dan: I was there at the start with Toy Story in 1995, and was an instant convert. I will say that my enthusiasm for Pixar has waned gradually. I don’t get as hyped now about a new Pixar movie as I did 10 years ago, for example. Helen: Is it not just the name Pixar that…4 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE EMPIRE CLASSIC SCENEBRAD BIRD: “I like the scene in True Grit , where Mattie Ross is bargaining with the guy. He’s very satisfied with himself when the negotiations start and he’s been thoroughly schooled by the time they’re over. I think the Coen brothers’ version mops the floor with the John Wayne one. Hailee Steinfeld owns it.” INT. STONEHILL’S OFFICE — DAY Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is bargaining with Stonehill (Dakin Matthews) over three ponies and a horse owned by her recently murdered father. STONEHILL: I do not entertain hypotheticals; the world as it is is vexing enough. Secondly, your valuation of the horse is high by about $200. How old are you? MATTIE: If anything, my price is low. My Judy is a fine racing mare. I…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018LETTER OF THE MONTHHi Empire! So in your October issue you did an article featuring a count of all the times Chris Hemsworth has taken his shirt off in movies. How could you miss the classic Chris shirtless scene in Cabin In The Woods, especially since the same director, Drew Goddard, directed Chris in Bad Times At The El Royale? (Although in Cabin In The Woods he was a supporting actor, I should probably note). Here is the evidence. Hope you enjoy it! HUI, VIA EMAIL To think we missed this clearly incredibly crucial scene while tallying our results. For shame! Just out of curiosity, though, how many Chris Hemsworth shirtless film scenes have you got seared into your memory? Did you realise almost immediately that we’d missed the scene in Cabin In…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018PRIME TIMEThey’re making a film of The Call Of The Wild ? Didn’t I read this as a kid? Entirely possible. Jack London’s 1903 novel is a classic in the popular canon, an old-school adventure beloved of children and adults alike for generations. Also, it’s told from the perspective of a dog. Who’s our pooch protagonist? The hero of this tale is a St Bernard/ Scotch collie cross named Buck, who moves between owners during the late 19th century gold rush in north-western Canada, ultimately arriving at the door of a crusty outdoorsman named John Thornton. Is this the first film adaptation? Far from it. The first cinematic take was a silent film in 1923. Later adaptations had Clark Gable and Charlton Heston play Thornton. There was even…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018WAIT, WHAT HAPPENED?HENRY CAVILL’S RESPONSE TO THOSE SUPERMAN RUMOURS A story in The Hollywood Reporter last month claimed Henry Cavill would be in no future Superman films. The film world waited with bated breath for word from the man himself. Cavill’s official response was... amazing. Cavill posted a video of himself on Instagram in a ‘Krypton Lifting Team’ T-shirt, slowly lifting a Superman figure, set to the tune of ‘The Blue Danube’ barked by dogs, captioned: “Today was exciting. #Superman” What the hell does it all mean? Is Cavill confirming or denying the rumours? It remains a mystery — but it did mean that one eBay store quickly sold out of ‘Krypton Lifting Team’ T-shirts. And that we loved Cavill a little more.…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Princesses assemble!THE PITCH As glimpsed in the latest trailer, the Wreck-It Ralph sequel Ralph Breaks The Internet sees arcade hero Ralph (John C. Reilly) and pint-sized pal Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) travel to the world wide web and the official Disney website, where Vanellope encounters 13 of Disney’s princesses, from Snow White to Moana — the first time they’ve all appeared on the big screen together. The scene was “in the very first version of the film”, says producer Clark Spencer, originating from the observation that Vanellope, as heir to the throne of the Sugar Rush kingdom, is technically a Disney princess herself. In the first storyboard-based screening, “It played through the roof.” THE SIGN-OFF As Disney own the copyright to all 13 princesses, using the characters didn’t require Who…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018“Suspiria needs to be polarising”WHEN SUSPIRIA — a bold, unpredictable remake of the 1977 horror classic about a coven of dancing witches — premiered this year at Venice Film Festival, it earned an eight-minute standing ovation. Yet, in a press screening earlier that morning, there were walkouts and boos from some journalists. One critic called it “bland, grisly, boring and silly”, while another declared it better than the original. This is a film, it seems, that people could well be arguing about for years. Here, Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) explains his intentions in remaking a Dario Argento masterpiece. The reactions to Suspiria have been extreme, both positive and negative. Were you expecting that? Well, I love extreme cinema. I’m wise enough…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE NEED FOR A NEW SPEEDTHE OPENING _ It’s the song that sets your mood. It needs energy. It needs force. It doesn’t need the acid-washed, back-combed ’80s pomp of Kenny Loggins. It needs the stomp and arrogance of peak Kanye. THE SEX SCENE _ It’s got to be a song that will work over gauzy shots of shiny bodies in sheets and motorbikes being ridden into sunsets. Kendrick and SZA seduce where Berlin bellowed you into bed. THE VOLLEYBALL SCENE _ The scene has no other purpose but hom*oerotic sweaty, slo-mo pecs and flexing, so it needs a fat slab of high-energy, camp pop with zero subtlety. Sax is all this and a big, winking double entendre.…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Period goes punk“IT GETS QUITE bonkers,” says Olivia Colman. “[At one point] there’s a naked bloke who gets pelted with a sh*tload of pomegranates.” The Favourite, it seems, isn’t your average period picture. “I love it. I don’t want to see costume drama unless Yorgos Lanthimos has done it. You can almost smell what it smelt like: the sweat, the putting the wee around everybody’s skirts. It’s sumptuous but stinky.” Set in 18th century England during a war with France, The Favourite sees Colman play Queen Anne, beset by clinical obesity and characterised by a huge temper, with the real governing left to her lover Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz). Their relationship is thrown into crisis by the arrival of ambitious new servant Abigail (Emma Stone), who makes a play for Anne’s affections.…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018BURT REYNOLDS 1936-2018I’LL NEVER FORGET the time I couldn’t escape Burt Reynolds’ mansion. It was a humid Saturday in late October 2015, and I’d just spent one of the most surreal mornings of my life as guest of the movie legend. After a lengthy interview in his man-cave (complete with ten-foot-tall Kodiak bear) and tour of his 20-seat private movie theatre (complete with prints of Dirty Harry and Blade Runner), I was bid goodbye and traipsed down the driveway, which seemed to never end. After at least a mile, or so it felt, I reached the set of towering entrance gates, with my taxi waiting on the other side. Then I realised the gates were locked. And I had no phone reception. So back I went, returning all the way to Reynolds’…7 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE APOSTLE★★ NETFLIX / OUT NOW 129 MINS DIRECTOR Gareth Edwards CAST Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Milner, Kristine Froseth, Paul Higgins, Michael Sheen PLOT In 1905, a man named Thomas Richardson (Dan Stevens) infiltrates a strange religious cult on the remote island of Erisen after they kidnap his sister and demand a ransom. Can he find her before the commune’s wary cultists figure out he isn’t the faithful, goddess-worshipping disciple he pretends to be? WITH THE RAID , Welsh writer-director Gareth Evans took the action genre and turned it up a brutal notch, delivering a kinetic thriller that made us wince with pleasure. Now (after that film’s less successful sequel) Evans has shifted gears and aims to make us wince in a very different way…2 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018JOURNEY’S END★★★★ OUT 8 NOVEMBER RATED M / 108 MINS DIRECTOR Saul Dibb CAST Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Asa Butterfield PLOT Northern France, 1918: Raleigh (Butterfield) requests to be sent to the company led by Captain Stanhope (Claflin), his old school friend. Once he gets there, the men agonisingly wait on the front line for a major German offensive. FIRST PERFORMED BARELY a decade after the end of World War I, at a time when the wounds were still raw, Journey’s End is a bracing and understandably angry play. This, the fourth cinematic adaptation, is fittingly bracing and angry (and superbly acted). This war occupies an uncomfortable position in our popular memory: our cultural picture of its participants reduces them to either hapless Blackadder Goes Forth characters or tragic poets dashing…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE CHILDREN ACT★★★ OUT 22 NOVEMBER RATED M / 105 MINS DIRECTOR Richard Eyre CAST Emma Thompson, Fionn Whitehead, Stanley Tucci, Ben Chaplin, Eileen Walsh PLOT In the midst of a marital crisis (her husband has announced he intends to have an affair), High Court judge Fiona Maye (Thompson) has to decide whether 17-year-old Jehovah’s Witness Adam (Whitehead) should be forced into having a life-saving blood transfusion. HE MIGHT NOT be approaching Stephen King levels, but Brit author Ian McEwan is racking up the book-to-film adaptations. Since 1990, The Comfort Of Strangers, The Cement Garden, The Innocent, Enduring Love, Atonement and, most recently, On Chesil Beach have all been released on the big screen with various levels of success. Despite its literary origins, the latest, The Children Act, feels somewhat stage-bound: adapted…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE★★★★ OUT NOW / 140 MINS RATED MA15+ DIRECTOR Drew Goddard CAST Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth PLOT America, 1969. Four guests check in to a once-stylish, now down-on-its-luck hotel. None of them are quite what they seem — and neither is the hotel itself. The stage is set for an almighty reckoning. BAD TIMES AT The El Royale’s thrilling 1950s prologue is a noir checklist. Mysterious man up to no good in a hotel room? Check. Trilby? Check. Cigarette? Check. Sudden and extreme gun violence that almost gives you a cardiac arrest? Double-check. It’s like, how much more noir could this be? And the answer is none. None more noir. This is precisely the point, of course: Bad Times At The El…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018HOLD THE DARK★★★ NETFLIX / OUT NOW RATED MA15+ / 125 MINS DIRECTOR Jeremy Saulnier CAST Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgård, Riley Keough, James Badge Dale PLOT In the Alaskan wilderness, a grieving mother (Keough) hires a renowned student of wolves (Wright) to find the beast that likely killed her missing son. As the hunter begins to investigate, though, he finds much darker mysteries at play. ALASKA IS NOT a happy place. The landscape is merciless and the locals are damaged. “Do you have any idea what’s outside those windows?” asks Keough’s Medora Slone at the start of Hold The Dark. It’s a rhetorical question. “How black it gets,” she qualifies. “How it gets in you.” This is how she welcomes guests. It’s winter in Keelut, an isolated village currently blessed with five…3 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018MEET OUR CRITICSJAMES DYER @jamescdyer Evangelical about Aliens and Nuns On The Run . Once had a wee next to Ice Cube. TERRI WHITE @terri_white Is disappointed in any film that isn’t unrelentingly grim. Apart from La La Land . JONATHAN PILE @jonnypile Flirts with highbrow films, but is happiest in front of a decent thriller. HELEN O’HARA @helenlohara Likes superheroes. And films about smart people arguing, ideally while falling in love. DAN JOLIN @danjolin Favourite film is Brazil , director is Nolan, franchise is Planet Of The Apes (the good ones). IAN FREER @mrianfreer Loves Jaws and The 400 Blows and Apocalypse Now…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018HOGWARTS AND ALL993AD Hogwarts is founded by Godric Gryffindor (brave one), Helga Hufflepuff (kind one), Rowena Ranvenclaw (clever one), and Salazar Slytherin (evil one). 1000AD(ISH) The founders give Gryffindor’s hat consciousness, creating the Sorting Hat. The four fall out over Slytherin’s wizard-supremacist views, and he storms off after creating the Chamber Of Secrets. 1300(ISH) Hogwarts establishes the first irresponsibly dangerous Triwizard Tournament with rival schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. 1892 Albus Dumbledore arrives for his first year. He later becomes a prefect and head boy. 1908 Newt Scamander enrols, but later is expelled in a beast-related incident. 1910(ISH) Dumbledore returns as Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher. 1938 An orphaned Tom Riddle, the heir of Slytherin, arrives. 1943 Riddle coins his own nickname, Lord Voldemort, and opens the Chamber Of Secrets to kill…1 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018HE WILL ROCK YOUOh, we’re f*ckED!” Rami Malek shouts above the noise. Then he grins, looks around the pub — the big screen, the bustle — and immediately offers to do another interview, another time, in another place, if the recording of this one doesn’t come out. “But if England win,” he adds, “you won’t mind listening to this over and over again!” Ah, soccer. It’s the hope that kills you. That Rami Malek is a fan of the beautiful game is a surprise. Not because he’s American or an actor, but because of the nature of the role that brought him to prominence: doe-eyed cybertech/anarchic digital messiah Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot, Amazon’s prescient portrayal of a world riven by dark money and digital terror. In the opening of Season 2, watching…12 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018Fever DreamsONE COLD, RAINY DECEMBER night in 1975, a young man who was dressed to blend in — flared bright-crimson trousers and a sheer black body-hugging shirt — made his way across the dancefloor of a Brooklyn nightclub, through the strutting and writhing crowd, and out to get some air. The scene on the sidewalk was no less lively: a full-on brawl was enthusiastically playing itself out. But in the middle of the familiar flying fists and knees was an entirely unusual sight. Just starting to get out of a cab was an older man wearing, of all absurdities, a tweed suit. The pair’s eyes met and they studied each other briefly, aliens from distant galaxies establishing tentative first contact. As well as the tweed, the man was wearing an expression…14 min
Empire Australasia|November 2018THE GODFATHERIT ONLY TOOK — contrary to some reports — a day. One day, one take. “Oh my God. You can’t do that over again. How many times you think you can do that?” James Caan told Larry King, reflecting on the bloody massacre of his character Santino ‘Sonny’ Corleone, hot-headed firstborn to The Godfather (Marlon Brando), gunned down at the tollbooth on the Long Beach Causeway in New York State. Cinema doesn’t get much bloodier than this. It also, ultimately, doesn’t get much more emotional. Because although Sonny is an old-school hoodlum — peaco*cking and punching like he’s walked out of a ’30s Warner Bros. gangster classic — he’s also beloved. He’s funny, he’s flawed, he’s fiercely loyal. The reason Sonny is driving alone is he’s enraged, racing to attack…2 min
