🍿#20: The Green Knight
Lots of exciting news this week, plus the latest trailers and a feature review of The Green Knight 🤴🏽
"Take car. Go to Mum’s. Kill Phil. Grab Liz. Go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over."
~ Shaun of the Dead, 2004
Whose round is it?
As mentioned in ‘🍿#15: Supernova’, something exciting is on the horizon that involves beer and prizes. If you haven’t guessed already, Salty Popcorn will be teaming up with the Margate Film Festival 2021 to host a film-based pub quiz.
Such an event will bring together two of my favourite things on the planet—pubs & cinema—and there will be a wide range of questions, as well as picture and music rounds to test your film knowledge.
For more details, head to the MFF21 website.
When
13:00 | Sunday 31st October
Where
Margate (venue TBC)
Cost
£3 per person, premium SP subs go free.
Now for the headlines:
Christopher Nolan has left Warner Bros. for Universal and starts work on his next film, which will focus on J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the makers of the atom bomb.
Nolan actually summoned the heads of major production companies, including Sony, Warner Bros., Paramount and Apple, to his home to discuss the film and his terms, to which only Universal agreed. These terms included:
Total creative control.
At least a 100-day theatrical window.
$100 million budget (and equal marketing spend).
20% of first-dollar gross profits.
A “blackout period” where the studio wouldn’t release another movie for three weeks before or after the film’s release.
Beloved Christmas film Home Alone is getting a reboot titled Home Sweet Home Alone. While there’s no trailer to be seen (yet), the film is set to release in November and will star Archie Yates (Jojo Rabbit) alongside Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Rob Delaney (Catastrophe), Kenan Thompson (SNL) and Chris Parnell (Rick and Morty). Read more.
After 33 years, the movie Twins is getting a sequel, titled Triplets. The film will star original cast members Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger alongside Tracey Morgan. Read more.
Gritty crime drama Luther returns this time to the big screen. Idris Elba will reprise his role as the gruff detective, along with Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis. Read more.
Speaking of crime, multiple spin-offs for the upcoming The Batman movie are already in the works, including one that will centre around icy villain, The Penguin (played by Colin Farrell in the film). Read more.
Salty Popcorn is 100% free but you can support this independent publication by paying just £5 per month. In return, you’ll be the first to access upcoming premium features.
Upcoming Releases
Nightmare Alley
UK: TBC* // USA: 17 December
Guillermo del Toro directs Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Bradley Cooper and Willem Dafoe in his latest fantastical thriller. The film follows an ambitious carny (Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words as he hooks up with a psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is
*The film may well be released in the UK on 17 December, but there’s nothing to say for sure.
Finch
UK: 5 November // USA: 5 November
It’s the end of the world with Tom Hanks, a dog and a robot-cross between Pixar’s WALL-E and Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie.
Fact of the week
During the filming for LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring, the cast were often flown by helicopter to remote locations. However, Sean Bean has a fear of flying and avoided getting in the chopper unless it was absolutely necessary.
When it came to the scenes when the fellowship are crossing the snowy mountains, Bean got up two hours earlier than everyone else and hiked up the mountain to the set, while wearing his Boromir costume. Apparently, the cast and crew that did fly could see him from their helicopters.
Review: The Green Knight
Star rating:
4 (out of 5)
Worth a watch?
Yes
Where to watch:
USA: Only in cinemas
UK: Only in cinemas
Runtime:
2hr 5m
Director:
David Lowery (A Ghost Story)
Blurb:
King Arthur's headstrong nephew, Gawain (Dev Patel) embarks on a mission to confront the Green Knight, a mysterious giant who appears at Camelot. Risking his head, he sets off on a quest to prove himself before his family and court.
The review (NO spoilers):
You wouldn’t be blamed for going to watch The Green Knight and expecting to watch a brutally violent film. Following Game of Thrones, I think this is what most of us have come to expect of medieval worlds.
However, if you’re hoping for lots of fight scenes with plenty of sword-swinging action, you may be disappointed because that’s not what this is. This also isn’t the kind of film that holds back on violence so that any violent scenes are more impactful. In truth, The Green Knight isn’t very violent at all, but this isn’t an issue as there’s plenty going on to keep your eyes fixed on the screen.
Dev Patel is on top form as Sir Gawain and perfectly captures the inner trials and tribulations of a man that knows what he wants to be but is struggling to overcome who he really is. As we follow Gawain on his quest, it becomes clear that this really is the crux of the film - he is not the flawless hero with limitless courage, like those we see in many Hollywood films, he is just a man.
With almost psychedelic cinematography that’s reminiscent of Midsommar and a story that’s so old it’s new, this film is a triumphant reimagining of the near-ancient Arthurian tale.
Scroll down for the critic’s cut and what’s coming in the next issue.
If you liked The Green Knight…
The King
2019 | UK: Netflix // US: Netflix
A little more violent and much more realistic, this period drama tells the story of Henry V (Timothée Chalamet) as he invades France. While it’s not 100% historically accurate, it’s a well-grounded period piece with plenty of action.
In the next issue:
The Guilty
UK: 1 October // USA: 1 October | Watch the Trailer
The Critic’s Cut 🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨:
Those familiar with the original tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight will know that of all the film’s inaccuracies the ending is one of the most notable.
In the original, the Green Knight turns out to be the Lord (played by Joel Edgarton in the film) and everything that happened was nothing more than a game, or a trick, to test Sir Gawain’s nerve and honesty but it ends quite happily.
I was disappointed that the film left the ending so ambiguous. Perhaps David Lowery didn’t want to so obviously stray from the original story and instead leave it to the audience to make up their own mind about whether Dev Patel gets to keep his head, but I’d have preferred a more definitive finale.
Do you know someone who’d like a taste of Salty Popcorn? Feel free to send this issue on.
Nice! Love how Christopher Nolan is bossing it. Haven’t seen Green Knight but I do like a medieval drama. More excited now that there aren't that many fight scenes.