Minority Mindset

The story of a middle-aged man navigating a divorce and trying stand-up comedy in New York doesn’t sound like much, even with Will Arnett – known for playing divorced characters – co-writing the script. However, this film, directed by Bradley Cooper, who excels at realistic relationship stories, focuses less on the comedy and more on the breakdown of Alex’s marriage to Tess (Laura Dern), a former Olympic athlete who now stays at home with their children. Inspired by comedian John Bishop’s life, the film shows that Alex and Tess’s marriage had been struggling for a while before they separate. They manage to maintain a friendly facade, even pretending to still be together at a party, but the separation is inevitable. Despite agreeing they need space, they struggle to understand what went wrong, and they try to reassure their two sons that everything is okay.

It’s rare for a horror movie’s sound to be as impactful as what you see on screen, but Bryan Bertino’s new film, *Vicious*, definitely achieves that. Now available to stream, *Vicious* traps Dakota Fanning’s character, Polly, in a terrifying situation. One of the film’s best choices was to minimize the musical score, allowing Fanning’s performance and the chilling sound design to truly shine.

A recent report from industry insider Daniel Richtman suggests Tom Holland’s Spider-Man won’t be in the upcoming movie, *Avengers: Doomsday*. While Richtman says Holland is expected to have a major part in the next *Avengers* film, *Avengers: Secret Wars*, he isn’t currently planned to appear in *Doomsday*.

Mary Bronstein had been developing this film for years, and I was interested to hear when I first became involved. She’d actually been working on it for a full seven years when the script came to me through my agent. I was immediately impressed – it was a fantastic read with lots of unexpected twists. Even the more unusual elements of the movie were clearly present in the script. What you see on screen is elevated, but it all started on the page. After speaking with Mary, I learned this story was deeply personal to her, which gave the project a strong foundation.

While the original *Harry Potter* films were popular, they weren’t without flaws. The filmmakers had to make difficult choices and streamline the story, which meant some characters and plot points were left out or changed. The new reboot provides an opportunity to address these issues, especially regarding the character of Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore was a complex figure whose full story wasn’t revealed until later in the books, and the films only hinted at this depth. Subsequent franchises unfortunately lost this nuance.