Total Film - July 2023

JULY 2023 | TOTAL FILM | 101

TA K I N G STO C K PHILIP STUCKEY JASON ALEXANDER, PRETTY WOMAN (1990) Now universally loved as Seinfeld’s George Costanza, Alexander found audiences hating him after his turn as the money-grubbing right-hand man to Richard Gere’s businessman Edward Lewis. ‘Fans were attacking me… I got punched many times, one woman spat on me. It was a rough year,’ lamented the actor. It’s easy to understand the vitriol for the misogynistic character. Not only is the corporate lawyer slavishly obsessed with making as much cash as possible by destroying the opposition, but also assaults and tries to rape Roberts’ sex worker Vivian in the story’s darkest moment. Jealous of her presence from the start, he holds her responsible for losing a multimillion-dollar deal and sees her as yet another commodity to be used and discarded. An odious sleazeball. KEN BOWDEN B I L L M U R R AY, W I L D T H I N G S (1 9 9 8) A walking cliché - cheap suits; a storefront law office with an ‘as seen on TV’ notice; dollar signs in his eyes - Murray’s hack personal-injury lawyer initially seems the most corrupt character in John McNaughton’s raunchy South Florida neo-noir but is soon overtaken by everyone with a hidden agenda. ‘Although I’m twisted, I’m about the nicest guy in it,’ he noted during filming, although an added post-credits scene gave his character an even deeper involvement with the murky goings-on. Wilfully ignoring the soap-level seriousness, Murray gives one of his most underrated performances, delivering 20 minutes of welcome comedy as an ambulance chaser who has a keenness for scamming insurance companies with the aid of prop neck braces for his clients and even himself. LEO F. DRUMMOND JON VOIGH T, THE R A INM A K ER (1997) Voight’s best performance of his 90s resurgence plays like an iron fist inside a velvet glove. The slick big-shot attorney surrounded by underlings smugly senses an easy win against newbie Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon), but swiftly drops the niceties. ‘You’re an arrogant little piss ant, aren’t you? I advise you to mind your manners. You’re in the big water now,’ he coldly delivers down his nose. Voight saw the role as a damning indictment of lawyers, remarking, ‘We are concerned for the ethics of the profession. This character represents a lot of those appalling aspects.’ Bereft of morals, Drummond bugs his opponent’s phones and harangues a mother grieving the death of her son from leukaemia in order save his multibillion-dollar client from paying a legitimate insurance claim. DONALD GENNARO MARTIN FERRERO, JURASSIC PARK (1993) There to represent corporate investors and accurately described as a ‘bloodsucking lawyer’ by park owner John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), Gennaro’s initial concerns are quickly dropped as he excitedly speculates on potential ticket prices, eyes bulging with imagined riches. Even allowing for ‘a coupon day’, he’s picturing the merchandise. Ferrero’s best-known role gifts him one of cinema’s most iconic deaths as he abandons the kids and flees to cower from a T-rex in a nearby bathroom, only for the beast to flatten the building and pluck the hapless lawyer off the toilet. The actor appreciates the importance (and humour) of the scene, explaining, ‘It’s about the halfway point of the movie… They gotta have a memorable death scene to shake everybody up and establish the T-rex.’ 102 | TOTAL FILM | JULY 2023 SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.TOTALFILM.COM/SUBS BUFF AL AMY, SHUTTERSTOCK

TA K I N G STO C K JIM TROTTER III LANE SMITH, MY COUSIN VINNY (1992) The district attorney for Beechum County is full of good old Southern charm with a dash of condescension, sitting snickering at his New York opponent’s lack of knowledge of Alabama court procedure. Often cast as authority figures, including possibly the shiftiest (pre-Trump) president ever, Richard Nixon, Smith made the prosecutor distinct enough with a smarmy charisma, noting, ‘That role… I moulded myself into the part.’ Trotter is great at working a jury, giving an enthusiastic thumbs-up to any juror whose attitude is ‘fry ’em’. His prosecution falls apart when he makes the classic legal error of asking a question he thinks the witness can’t answer, with Marisa Tomei’s automotive expert Mona Lisa Vito torpedoing his argument and winning the case for Vinny (Joe Pesci). BILLY FLYNN RICHARD GERE, CHICAGO (2002) ‘We want Billy,’ sing the inmates of Cook County Jail with good reason; the man introduced as ‘the silver-tongued prince of the court room’ has never lost a case. Having portrayed an honourable lawyer in 1996’s Primal Fear, Gere performs a complete 180 and gives them ‘the old razzle dazzle… an act with lots of flash in it.’ Flynn sips nightclub cocktails, laughing about the murders his clients commit while inventing sympathetic fictional backstories for them to recite – playfully represented with him as a ventriloquist and Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) as the puppet on his lap. Cash and fame are his goals and the courtroom his stage. ‘It’s all a circus. It’s showbusiness,’ he confides to a murderer he puts back on the streets. JOHN MILTON A L PA C I N O , T H E D E V I L’ S A D V O C AT E (1 9 9 7 ) Of course the Devil would be a lawyer. Pacino’s incarnation of Beelzebub has a plan to bring down heaven – use the law to keep the sinners on the streets, sinning. ‘Acquittal after acquittal after acquittal, until the stench of it reaches so high and far into heaven, it chokes the whole fucking lot of them.’ He’s also got a game plan to bring about the coming of the Antichrist by manipulating Keanu Reeves’ Southern litigator Kevin Lomax into impregnating his own half-sister. Milton is disarming, a self-styled ‘little guy’ who you never see coming. ‘He’s a contradiction,’ explains director Taylor Hackford. ‘He’s a powerful international lawyer but also a man from the streets.’ He expertly plays a system where you get the best justice money can buy. TOTALFILM.COM JULY 2023 | TOTAL FILM | 103

ESTATE REEL FLOP CULTURE FOR SALE Gorgeous lake house within easy driving distance from the heart of Chicago – perfect for romantic getaways or solo introspection. Floorto-ceiling windows give great 360 views of idyllic countryside, sunsets to write about and quirky vintage mailbox on shore. Great area for dogs and those seeking to get away from modern life. Please note mail service is erratic in this area – can take years for letters to reach destination. Please call architect Alex Wyler for a tour. AL AMY, GETT Y Style, wit, chemistry, thrills… How did the 1998 reboot of the 60s spy show miss all the essential targets? Why it was a good idea (on paper) Retro 60s fetishism was hot in the 90s. With hip and/or Oscar-grade leads (Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery) alongside zeitgeist-y cameos (Eddie Izzard, Shaun Ryder), director Jeremiah S. Chechik’s reboot of the kinky-booted spy show seemed well-groomed to do a Mission: Impossible. What went wrong? A self-declared fan of the series, Chechik (Diabolique) loved the ‘kooky’ aspects of Don MacPherson’s script. But had Warner Bros. read it? They wanted the coolest action hit of the summer. Surrealism and killer teddy bears, less so. Chechik later recalled having fun making the film, though he conceded chemistry ran low between Fiennes and Thurman, who replaced original lead Nicole Kidman. With the robotic leads lost in a tonal muddle of action and absurdity, coherence and cuts were also issues. On completion, said Chechik, upheavals at Warner left him with execs who were hostile to the project. He suffered a test screening in Arizona, where viewers ‘complained that the movie was too English’. Twenty-plus minutes of enforced snips left the plot riddled with holes, like a tornado had ripped through it. Would Chechik’s first cut have been better? Tough to say, given that MacPherson’s script was a laboured barrage of backstory, bad gags and bitty plotting. Either way, in a rare practice for the time, the film wasn’t screened for the press. Deserved drubbings and desultory box-office returns duly ensued. Redeeming feature The tea dispenser in the car. What happened next? Chechik didn’t make another feature for 15 years, instead travelling the globe and redirecting himself to TV. After the one-two flops of Poison Ivy and Emma Peel, Thurman struggled until Kill Bill. Fiennes emerged largely unscathed, though he dodged the action-movie bullet for many years. Should it be remade? Rebooted, retitled, yes. Is Shane Black and Fred Dekker’s proposed TV series about Steed and Mrs Peel still simmering? KEVIN HARLEY THE AV ENGERS BUDGET $60m $54-7m ★ ★★ ★★ 5% B OX O F F I C E AWA R D S R OT T E N TO M ATO E S T F STA R R AT I N G 0 TOM HANKS FORREST GUMP November 2017 ‘Bob [Zemeckis, director] told us at the very beginning of shooting that our destiny is to wander around and try to figure stuff out. It’s almost like a Zen outlook on life but Forrest stumbles upon it very early on… The accepting of everything that goes on – that is probably an idea that has more pages devoted to it in the history of mankind than the existence of God himself.’ May 2023 ‘I say, “Hey, Bob, I’ve got a question for you. Is anybody going to care about this movie?” And Bob said, “It’s a minefield, Tom. It’s a goddamn minefield. We may be sowing the seeds of our own destruction. Any footstep we take can be a Bouncing Betty that’ll blow our nuts right off.”’ HINDSIGHT CORNER 104 | TOTAL FILM | JULY 2023 SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.TOTALFILM.COM/SUBS

TOTALFILM.COM JULY 2023 | TOTAL FILM | 105 IS IT JUST ME OR IS RAMBO’S CLIFF JUMP PEAK ACTION CINEMA? ‘Could this possibly happen? Absolutely,’ says Sylvester Stallone on First Blood’s DVD commentary. And therein lies the secret of the 1982 film’s most heart-stopping action sequence. Well, that and the fact we’d never seen the like before. You know the scene; it’s iconic. But let’s recap anyway: Vietnam vet John Rambo (Stallone) has been arrested for vagrancy while passing through the mountain town of Hope, Washington. Savagely mistreated by Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy) and his men, he busts out of the police station and is pursued into the woods, tracked by cops and dogs until he’s hanging from a cliff face. Sadistic Deputy Sergeant Art Galt (Jack Starrett) arrives in a helicopter and starts taking potshots… and then, shockingly, Rambo pushes off the cliff and plummets down, down, down, into a tree, its branches breaking his fall enough to result in severe injury (cue hugely influential self-surgery scene), but not death. Watching the movie in the 1980s, no one expected him to jump. However desperate the situation, it was just too outrageous, especially in an action drama with a grounded tone. Now, when not just superheroes but John Wick, the Fast family and every Liam Neeson character are indestructible, such a stunt is obligatory. Achieved in three takes, with stuntman Buddy Joe Hooker performing the plunge and Stallone dropping through the final third of the tree (he broke a rib on take three), it’s perilous stuff. ‘It was easy to act the pain,’ winces Stallone as he recalls hitting the turf. You just don’t get that danger, that horror, that awe, watching CGI – and even Tom Cruise’s real-deal set-pieces can’t replicate the jolt of seeing such a thing for the first time. This was ‘mission: improbable’ back when Tom was starring in teen sex comedy Losin’ It. There are, of course, far more impressively choreographed action scenes by the likes of Kurosawa, Peckinpah, Hill, Woo, Cameron, Mann and more. But there’s never again been a thrill to match Rambo’s leap, your jaw dropping in sync with his descent. Or is it just me? Share your reaction at www.gamesradar. com/totalfilm or on Facebook and Twitter. IT’S JUST YOU IT’S NOT JUST YOU LAST TIME DO MORE MOVIES NEED INTERMISSIONS? PHILIP MAYES Bring back the lady with the choc ices! KEEF CROSS If the runtime warrants it, then definitely. The intermission in The Hateful Eight was much appreciated. CONALL RT Or maybe people should just cut out the gallons of soda they slurp down during the trailers. GRAEME COLQUHOUN If the film’s really good I just wee myself. ZACHARIAH LAI It would be a box-office nightmare… Less time to make more money. OFFICE-OMETER THE TF STAFF VERDICT IS IN! IS IT JUST ME? 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS, STUDIOCANAL JAMIE GRAHAM @JAMIE_GRAHAM9

VIDEODROME’S ORGANIC TV T H E B I G SHOT I felt kind of stupid when I was doing it,’ said star James Woods of the scenes where Max Renn, the protagonist of Videodrome, gets up close and personal with his TeleRANGER TV screen. His ‘stupid’ is our disturbing and (whisper it) erotic, as a mesmerised Max approaches the televised lips of Nicki Brand (Blondie’s Debbie Harry) and the screen begins to bulge outwards as she puckers, and then billows when she blows. ‘Don’t keep me waiting,’ she murmurs, inviting Max to sink his flesh into her open mouth. This he does, meshing man and machine in a prescient horror movie that traverses the edges of reality and consciousness as it explores our fears and fascination with sex, violence and technology. Long live the new flesh, indeed. Much of Videodrome’s appeal is in its ideas, with Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg melding themes of right-wing conspiracy, S&M and human transformation/evolution as surely as Renn fuses with his gogglebox. But as TV programmer Renn stumbles upon a pirate transmission of hyperviolent torture show Videodrome while seeking shows for his sleazy cable TV station, Cronenberg’s sixth feature also reveals itself to be one of the SFX showcases of 80s horror. It’s less talked about in this regard than the director’s 1986 hit The Fly, but Videodrome’s WTF creations, overseen by Rick Baker as he came off the back of winning an Oscar for An American Werewolf in London, continue to breathe life into a 40-year-old movie. Baker and his team were responsible for Renn’s abdominal slit, into which he inserts a Betamax tape to deepen the fusion of flesh and technology (‘I am not an actor anymore, I’m just the bearer of the slit,’ said a discomforted Woods, only half-joking). But it’s the undulating TV that is the movie’s piece de resistance, with various methods attempted to bring it to life. ‘We experimented with a weather balloon first, stretching it over a frame the size of a TV screen, and pushed a hand through to see how far it stretched, and then we rear-projected on it,’ Baker said. In the end, a dental dam provided the answer – ‘a stronger, stretchier kind of rubber,’ noted Baker – and it was coated with reflective white paint to best receive the projections. The result is one of the most iconic televisions in horror, as memorable as the TV sets that act as deadly portals in Poltergeist, Ringu and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. You might just say it’s essential viewing. JAMIE GRAHAM ALAMY 106 | TOTAL FILM | JULY 2023

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108 | TOTAL FILM | JULY 2023 SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.TOTALFILM.COM/SUBS GETT Y, AL AMY THE FIRST FILM I EVER SAW I don’t honestly remember what the first movie I ever saw was but I have a pretty distinct memory of going to a double feature of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back in 1983. It was right before Return of the Jedi was coming out and they were doing a double feature to get people all caught up. I was living in England at the time in a little town called Felixstowe and I was seven years old. It was pretty amazing. I must have really enjoyed it because I joined the Star Wars fan club. THE LAST FILM I SAW IN A CINEMA Triangle of Sadness. My goodness, I don’t even know where to begin with it. It’s such brilliant social-class satire; absurdity executed in such an admirably grounded way, filled with great performances and incredible dialogue. I was so impressed with the plotting, too. As a writer, if I was writing it, I would’ve thought: ‘Where am I going to go from here?’ but it just continues to unfold and get more and more insane as it goes on. It goes so much further than most films are willing to go and it was so funny at the same time. T H E F I L M T H AT A LWAYS M A K E S M E C R Y I get choked up really easily, which I think might surprise people considering the characters they’re used to seeing me play. I’m a total softie. I cry so easily. I have a distinct memory of being on a date - if you could call it a date - in fifth grade or something, and for some reason we saw the movie Beaches. I remember I was crying so hard and was like, ‘Don’t cry with a girl you like!’ Just another example of how we’ve somehow grown up in a world where we don’t let little boys cry. I was ashamed and crying. Glenn HowertonThe films that make the BlackBerry star sad or sunny. MY MOVIE LIFE DEFINING FILMS T H E F I L M T H AT A LWAY S M A K E S ME LAUGH I’ll revisit The Naked Gun every couple of years. There’s just something about the absurdity of that humour that has had me hooked ever since I was a kid. It’s the complete ridiculousness combined with how straight the actors play it and I just love that. It was in all those Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker movies like Airplane! and Top Secret! They really influenced my comedic style in the sense that I found it much funnier when actors play comedy straight. For as crazy as we sometimes get on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I try to play things as grounded as possible. T H E F I L M T H AT S CA R E S M E M O ST Taking the question very literally, the film that scares me the most deeply, honestly, is a documentary called The Social Dilemma. As someone with kids, it’s just terrifying watching Silicon Valley insiders giving us the scoop on how the algorithms they themselves created are basically designed to keep us hooked to our devices. It’s horrifying in the way it explores the horrors of a world that’s basically dominated now by social media and our growing dependence on digital communication instead of real human connection. To me, that’s more horrifying than any horror film could ever be. MY DESERT ISLAND FILM If I could only watch one movie for the rest of my life, I think it would have to be The Big Lebowski. To me, it’s just perfect. I remember when that movie came out. I was 22 years old and already a Coen brothers fan. I saw it in a theatre by myself and there was just one other person in there with me and I was cackling and so filled with joy. It’s just endlessly entertaining to me and it works on so many levels. It’s so layered and full of rich characters and brilliant dialogue. I could watch that movie on a loop and never be bored. BLACKBERRY RELEASES LATER THIS YEAR.

I N STA N T E X P E RT E L E C T R O G O D FAT H E R ‘I don’t like nationalities and borders,’ said Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died on 28 March, aged 71. Throughout his career, the Japanese composer made fertile work of this dislike. Born in Tokyo to a hat designer and a literary editor, he grew up surrounded by creativity and embraced classical and pop music. As one third of proto-techno trailblazers Yellow Magic Orchestra, he helped shape electronic music before film called. G L O B A L T R AV E L L E R ‘Each time is like a little journey into an unknown culture,’ said Sakamoto of his film music. He developed a reputation for spacious, exploratory scores, acutely evocative of period, place and feeling. With a delicate feel for the epic, his work for Bernardo Bertolucci is exemplary, ranging from The Last Emperor (1987) to the sumptuous The Sheltering Sky (1990). Sakamoto himself singled out Little Buddha’s (1993) transcendent Acceptance as his most memorable work. C H R I S T M A S G I F T ‘I started off very lucky because Mr [Nagisa] Oshima trusted me completely,’ said Sakamoto of his move into film scoring. He enjoyed ‘total creative freedom’ on Oshima’s POW movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), rewarding the veteran filmmaker with a breakout score that blurred pop/classical boundaries. He also acted in the film and banked a hit with Forbidden Colours, the title theme’s vocal version, recorded with Japan singer David Sylvian. F U L LY B O O K E D Sakamoto’s hunger to immerse himself in different cultures brought him renown among auteurs. He travelled far, from Spain for Pedro Almodóvar (1991’s High Heels) to Emily Brontë’s windy moors with his Wuthering Heights score (1992). He flexed a literary intelligence on The Handmaid’s Tale (1990), while ranging from lavish scores for Brian De Palma (1998’s Snake Eyes, 2002’s Femme Fatale) to abstract mood music for Love Is the Devil (1998). M O R TA L I T Y A N D M O N S T E R S Diagnosed with cancer in 2014, Sakamoto continued exploring. Alongside solo reflections on ageing and metaphysics (async, 2017), he composed for sci-fis Proxima (2019), After Yang (2021) and Black Mirror. He also received awards nods for The Revenant (2015) and, latterly, scored Hirokazu Kore-eda’s incoming Monster. ‘Art is long, life is short,’ he once said, committed to making ‘meaningful work’ of long-lasting worth to the end. KEVIN HARLEY Explorations in sound… RYUICHI SAKAMOTO ARROW, DISNEY, LIONSGATE, MODERN, PAR AMOUNT, SK Y, SONY JAPAN, TWENTIETH CENTURY STUDIOS M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S , MR. LAWRENCE 1983 ★★★★★ Given Bernard Herrmann’s Citizen Kane score for reference, Sakamoto instead offered a timeless one of his own. THE LAST EMPEROR 1987 ★★★★★ Working with David Byrne and classical composer Cong Su, Sakamoto banked an Oscar for his score’s lyrical immersion in Chinese history. SNAKE EYES 1998 ★★★★★ Pulp and beauty: Sakamoto rose to the challenge of De Palma’s flashy noir with a high-grade, Bernard Herrmann-esque score. THE REVENANT 2015 ★★★★★ With Alva Noto and Bryce Dessner, Sakamoto evoked the space and majesty of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s revenge epic with controlled power. KEY SCORES TOTALFILM.COM JULY 2023 | TOTAL FILM | 109

110 | TOTAL FILM | JULY 2023 SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.TOTALFILM.COM/SUBS BUFF JUKEBOX MUSICALS THE TF BRAIN Greatest Days! Green fairies! George Lucas! Test your movie knowledge… LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS 5 . STRANGE MAGIC 4 . OZZY OSBOURNE 3. TITANIC 2. NONE MEDIUM – 1. B) 30S 5 . PIERCE BROSNAN 4. THE BAND 3 . JIM BROADBENT 2 . ROBIN WILLIAMS ANSWERS: EASY – 1. A); THE OTHERS FEATURE TOM CRUISE (ROCK OF AGES) 5 . SING 4 . CYNDI LAUPER, 1986 3 . PHYLLIDA LLOYD, OL PARKER 2 . 2007 HARD – 1. EASY 1 Happy Feet Two marked the final animated role for which megastar? 2 Which actor won a BAFTA for their role in Moulin Rouge!? 3 What was the original title of the stage musical that inspired Greatest Days? 4 Which actor connects Mamma Mia! with Cinderella (2021)? 5 Kenneth Branagh’s Love’s Labour’s Lost features songs predominantly from which decade? a) 50s; b) 30s; c) 80s. MEDIUM 1 Which members of The Beatles voice their animated counterparts in Yellow Submarine? 2 Which film did Mamma Mia! overtake to (briefly) become the UK’s highest-grossing movie? 3 In Moulin Rouge!, who is credited as the voice of the Green Fairy? 4 George Lucas has a ‘story by’ credit on which animated musical? 5 Bono covered which Beatles song for Across the Universe? HARD 1 Sunshine on Leith is based on a stage musical that debuted in which year? 2 Who are the respective directors of Mamma Mia! and its 2018 sequel? 3 True Colors, as heard in Trolls, was originally a hit for which artist in which year? 4 Which musical set a record for being the highest-grossing film NOT to top the US box office? 5 Which is the odd one out? a) Can’t Fight This Feeling; b) I Want to Know What Love Is; c) Paradise City; d) Pour Some Sugar on Me

TOTALFILM.COM JULY 2023 | TOTAL FILM | 111 NAME THE FRAME THE TF BRAIN 1 3 5 7 2 4 6 8 Can you guess these eight phone scenes? AMAZON, ELYSIAN, 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS, UNIVERSAL TAKEN 8 . (2006) WHEN A STRANGER CALLS 7. JERRY MAGUIRE 6 . MUNICH 5 . (1996) SCREAM 4 . LOST HIGHWAY 3. DIAL M FOR MURDER 2. SORRY, WRONG NUMBER ANSWERS: 1.

112 | TOTAL FILM | JULY 2023 SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.TOTALFILM.COM/SUBS When asking for tickets for the latest in the excellent F&F franchise, the er{0rĿfh#dvvlvwdqw#vdlg/#ĠGr#|rx#phdq# Fast 10Bġ#L#vdlg#ĠSdugrqBġ#Kh#vdlg#ĠFast “XĤBBġ#Zhoo/#vruu|#wr#vd|#L#ihow#d#olwwoh# krw#xqghu#wkh#froodu>#wkh#yhlq#rq#p|# iruhkhdg#wkureehg/#p|#h|heurzv# nqlwwhg/#p|#mdz#mxwwhg#+lq#doo/#qrw# d#jrrg#orrn,111#\hv/#lq#idfw/#L#zdv#0# doo#wrjhwkhu#qrz#0#IXULRXV$# JACK H, ADDINGHAM Our beef with the series’ titling antics (when will the ‘The’s make a comeback?) is that they’ve failed to build on the sublime wordplay of 2 Fast 2 Furious. Still, there’s a chance to redeem themselves with F&F: Highway to Eleven or F&F: 12 Grease Monkeys (those cars have got to come in for a service some time, right?). Liking the retirement-home idea, so long as Kurt Mail, rants, theories etc. Russell’s characters aren’t in charge - neither ‘Ego’ nor ‘Mr. Nobody’ sound like the most trustworthy of landlords. WELCOME MAT Uhdglqj#Ohh#Pxufxwwġv#ohwwhu#^TF 338] derxw#krz#oryho|#Vljrxuqh|#Zhdyhu#zdv# wrrn#ph#edfn#wr#d#juhdw#hqfrxqwhu#zlwk# Fudlj#Fkduohv1#Pdq|#|hduv#djr/#L#wrrn#p|# vrq#wr#d#frplf0dqg0Ľop#frq#dw#wkh#QHF/# zkhuh#Fudlj#zdv#uhsuhvhqwlqj#Red Dwarf +rqh#ri#rxu#idyrxulwh#frphglhv,1#Zh# zdqwhg#wr#vd|#khoor#exw#e|#wkh#wlph#zh# vdz#klp#L#zdv#vnlqw#dqg#frxogqġw#dļrug# wr#ex|#rqh#ri#wkh#jrrglhv#iru#Fudlj#wr# vljq1#Vhhlqj#p|#khvlwdwlrq/#dqg#srvvleo|# khdulqj#rxu#frqyhuvdwlrq/#Fudlj#fdoohg#xv# ryhu#dqg#vljqhg#d#ehhu#pdw#rq#klv#ghvn# iru#p|#vrq1#Zkdw#d#juhdw#jhvwxuh1# MARK O’FLYNN, HINCKLEY H AV E YOUR SAY TOTALFILM.COM V I D E O S • R E V I E W S • TRAILERS • NEWS ★STAR LET TER L#hqwhuhg#p|#olylqj#urrp#odvw#qljkw#wr# Ľqg#p|#490|hdu0rog#vrq#zdwfklqj#zkdw# L#wkrxjkw#zhuh#vrph#xqxvxdo#vfl0Ľ# qxuvhu|0uk|ph#ylghrv1#Lpdjlqh#p|# vxusulvh#zkhq#kh#h{sodlqhg#wr#ph#wkdw#lw# zdvqġw#Kxpsw|#Gxpsw|#rq#vfuhhq/#exw# P1R1G1R1N1#lq#Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania1#Lw#glg#lqvsluh#ph#wr#frph# xs#zlwk#vrph#lghdv#iru#ixwxuh#qxuvhu|0 uk|ph#furvvryhuv/#wkrxjk=#Lqf|0Zlqf|# Vslghu0Pdq/#Kh|#Glggoh#Ghdgsrro/# Wzlqnoh#Wzlqnoh#Olwwoh#Vwdu0Orugĩ# Exw#p|#idyrxulwh#lv#Klfnru|#Glfnru|# Grfwru#Vwudqjh1# TOM ELLIS, VIA EMAIL In the Multiverse of Mouseness? Seems fitting, given the Disney connection. And maybe we need to tweak what M.O.D.O.K. stands for in this new nursery-verse: Mind Out, Dumpty-face is Overbalan– Ker-splat! Tom and everyone with a letter printed here will receive a copy of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, available on DVD and Blu-ray on 26 June from Mediumrare Entertainment. Didn’t send an address? Email it! Shoes off, skates on! FAST TR ACK Uxqqlqj#zlwk#d#suhylrxv#Dialogue#wkuhdg/# L#mxvw#zdqwhg#wr#uhdvvxuh#uhdghuv#wkdw# iruphu#vxshukhurhv#qrz#kdyh#wkhlu#rzq# uhwluhphqw#frppxqlw|#krph1#Lwġv#d# sodfh#zkhuh#uhvlghqwv#fdq#wdnh#sduw#lq# prwru0phfkdqlf/#dgydqfhg0gulylqj#dqg# ryhudfwlqj#frxuvhv1#Wkh|#fdq#vwloo#uxq# zlog#lq#jurxs#dfwlylwlhv#dqg#fdxvh# pd|khp/#exw#zloo#dozd|v#eh#wuhdwhg# olnh#sduw#ri#wkh#idplo|1#Vr#uhvw#dvvxuhg/# Jurrw/#Eodfn#Dgdp/#Fdswdlq#Pduyho/# Dtxdpdq/#Khlpgdoo/#Khvshud#hw#doo#zloo# eh#RN#iru#wkh#qh{w#[#|hduv1#Rk/#vruu|/# irujrw#wr#phqwlrq#wkh#qdph#ri#wklv# idoohq0vxshukhur#wuxvwĩ#Wruhwwrġv# Jroghq#Wzloljkw#Krph1 DECLAN M, SKIPTON totalfilm.com twitter.com/totalfilm facebook.com totalfilm [email protected] @AustinAlistair1 [on Kim Cattrall’s SatC return] ‘Never mind Samantha, get some good writers!’ Exclusive interviews with Hypnotic’s Robert Rodriguez, The Boogeyman’s Rob Savage and Chevalier stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Lucy Boynton… plus (spoilerfree!) reviews and much more – every week! WHAT YOU MISSED ON THE POD LAST MONTH Vin Diesel buckles up for Fast 10? Fast Ten? Fast Ex? Fast X Marks the Spot? MEDIUMRARE, SIGNATURE/NETFLIX, UNIVERSAL REFLECTIVE INTEREST CURVE™ THRILLED ENTERTAINED FLIPPIN’ ECK! BAD TIMES RUNNING TIME WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 DEADLINE Or seeing Crystal Skull by mistake Or being pancaked by runaway boulders Not feeling any ill will towards Indy V watchers, oh no Definitely not picturing them tumbling into snake pits

GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JANE CROWTHER [email protected] @janevgcrowther DEPUTY EDITOR MATT MAYTUM [email protected] @mattmaytum REVIEWS EDITOR MATTHEW LEYLAND [email protected] @totalfilm_mattl NEWS EDITOR JORDAN FARLEY [email protected] @jordanfarley ART EDITOR MIKE BRENNAN [email protected] @mike_brennan01 FILM GROUP Editor (SFX) Darren Scott Art Editor Jonathan Coates Deputy Editor Ian Berriman Production Editor Ed Ricketts CONTRIBUTORS Editor-at-Large Jamie Graham Art David Graham, Catherine Kirkpatrick Prepress and cover manipulation Gary Stuckey Hollywood Correspondent Adam Tanswell Contributing Editors Kevin Harley, Leila Latif, James Mottram, Neil Smith, Paul Bradshaw Contributors Tom Dawson, Matt Glasby, Joel Harley, Ann Lee, Matt Looker, Clarisse Loughrey, Rafa Sales Ross, Chris Schilling, Josh Slater-Williams, Anna Smith, Kate Stables, Paul Tanter, Gabriel Tate, Kim Taylor-Foster, Anton van Beek, Alia Waheed Entertainment Editor, Gamesradar+ Emily Murray Senior Entertainment Writer, Gamesradar+ Bradley Russell Senior Entertainment Writer, Gamesradar+ Lauren Milici Entertainment Writer, Gamesradar+ Molly Edwards Entertainment Writer, GamesRadar+ Fay Watson Photography Alamy, Contour, Getty, Shutterstock, Trunk Archive Thanks to Nick Chen, Rhian Drinkwater, Ian Farrington, Peter Fuller, Heather Seabrook, Matt Yates (Production) Cover image Robert Viglasky/Netflix 2023 ADVERTISING Media packs are available on request. Please contact Chris Mitchell. Commercial Director Clare Dove [email protected] Advertising Manager Chris Mitchell [email protected] Account Manager, Gaming & Film Nick Hayes [email protected] INTERNATIONAL LICENSING Total Film is available for licensing and syndication. To find out more contact us at licensing@ futurenet.com or view our available content at www.futurecontenthub.com Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw SUBSCRIPTIONS UK orders and enquiries 0844 848 2852; overseas orders & enquiries +44 (0)1604 251 045 Online enquiries www.magazinesdirect.co.uk [email protected] Total Film (ISSN 1366-3135 USPS 23870) is published monthly with an extra issue in April by Future Publishing, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA, UK. The US annual subscription price is $168.87. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named World Container Inc., co BBT 150-15 183rd St, Jamaica, NY 11413, USA. Periodicals Postage Paid at Brooklyn Brooklyn NY 11256. 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Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions. ISSN Total Film 1366-3135 We encourage you to recycle this magazine, either through your household recyclable waste collection service or at a recycling site. We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. The paper in this magazine was sourced and produced from sustainable managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic standards. 27,156 (Jan-Dec 2021) 18,483 Print 8,673 Digital TOTALFILM.COM ‘Had a dream I watched Tenet on a bus. It just wasn’t the same.’ * ‘If the next one is BEYOND the Spider-Verse, will it be entirely spiderfree? Suitable for arachnophobes?’ CHATTER ‘GEMS’ OVERHEARD IN THE TOTAL FILM OFFICE THIS MONTH… YOU CAN ALSO WRITE TO Total Film, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London, W2 6JR (postal addresses will be used for the sole purpose of sending out prizes) Gold star for Mr. Charles - and what a cool keepsake (though we would be nervous about someone smudging his signature with their perspiring pint glass). Anyone else have any novel items signed by celebs, which you now cherish? Feel free to send details and photos (unless it’s an unprintable body part, of course). 616 APPEAL L#kdg#wkh#vdph#wkrxjkw#d#ihz#|hduv#edfn# uhjduglqj#vshfldo#gd|v#rq#zklfk#wr# fhoheudwh#fhuwdlq#Ľop#iudqfklvhv#^vhh# Dialogue/#lvvxh#66;`1#L#zdv#wu|lqj#wr#frph# xs#zlwk#d#vxlwdeoh#gdwh#iru#dq#PFX#Gd|># hyhqwxdoo|#L#ghflghg#wkdw#dv#prvw#Pduyho# prylhv#duh#vhw#rq#zkdw#lv#nqrzq#lq#wkh# pxowlyhuvh#dv#Hduwk0949#+Ġrxuġ#sodqhw,/# wkhq#PFX#Gd|#vkrxog#eh#49#Mxqh1# KLIF FULLER, ASHINGTON Good shout. Alas, we’ve missed it for this year, but have drawn a big Cap-shield star (Captain Marvel’s one was too complicated) around the date on next year’s calendar. Movie-and-limited-event-seriesmarathoners assemble! (We’ll work on the catchphrase.) EVERYBODY LOVES CHRIS Mxvw#shqqhg#wklv#rgh#wr#Fkulvwrskhu# Qrodq=#Khġv#wkh#ehvw#gluhfwru#lq#wrgd|ġv# flqhpd2Klv#prylhv#xvxdoo|#vwdu#Nhqqhwk# Eudqdjk2Rqh0zrug#wlwohv/#elj#irupdwv2 Lq0fdphud#hļhfwv#dqg#LPD[2Fdqġw# zdlw#wr#vhh#Qrodqġv#Oppenheimer1 ELLIE PA-HA, GILDERSOME Love it. Interesting how Nolan’s films are so expansive, yet his titles so minimal - there have been eight single-worders in 12 movies! We trust that somewhere else in the multiverse there’s the opposite - all the Pirates of the Caribbean films set in the local duck pond, with every role played by the same cutlass-waving Lego man. TAKEN TOO FAR? Mxvw#zdwfkhg#Made in Italy1#Oldp#Qhhvrq# lv#vwloo#olnhdeoh/#vr#Lġp#qrw#vodwlqj#klp># exw#zdwfklqj#wklv#5353#frphg|#gudpd/# L#h{shfwhg#klp#wr#vwduw#nlfnlqj# vrphrqhġv#dvv#ru#vkrrw#d#jxq1#Kh# no longer sounds#olnh#khġv#dfwlqj$#Rqh# wrr#pdq|#dfwlrq#ĽopvB#Fdq#kh#erxqfh# edfn#dqg#gholyhu#dqrwkhu#Rvfdu0 qrplqdwhg#shuirupdqfhB MICHAEL, VIA EMAIL You never know, he might do a Stallone à la Creed and sweep back into contention with a stunning reprise of an earlier character. Although we probably wouldn’t rush to put money on the upcoming Ice Road 2 bringing him home any golden statuettes. OFFICE SPACED @jordananimate [Who would win in an Indy/ Han Solo fight?] ‘They would merge and become Handiana ‘Solo’ Jones.’ Liam Neeson was in the driver’s seat in 2021’s The Ice Road. Then he got out

114 | TOTAL FILM | JULY 2023 SUBSCRIBE AT WWW.TOTALFILM.COM/SUBS FADE IN: EXT: MARKET STALL, WASHINGTON DC CHRIS EVANS is the most Hollywood-looking farmer/botanist/agriculture historian imaginable. ANA DE ARMAS tries to buy a plant from him. CHRIS EVANS I can’t sell you this because I think you’re a horrible person. [Pause] Wanna go out with me? ANA DE ARMAS Sure. They have an amazing date that lasts all day and night. Afterwards, CHRIS EVANS ruins everything by hassling ANA DE ARMAS endlessly via text. CHRIS EVANS Luckily, she has my inhaler! I have somehow tracked that to London, so I’ll ambush her there and help to normalise stalker-like harassment in films. EXT: ALLEY, LONDON CHRIS EVANS is kidnapped and tortured by arms dealers who think he is a CIA agent. ANA DE ARMAS kills everyone and saves him. They are somehow now in Pakistan. CHRIS EVANS You killed all those people! You must be a spy! Which means… you lied to me! Also, why didn’t you return any of my messages? ANA DE ARMAS This relationship is already very toxic. I really don’t see how anyone can root for us to get together. EXT: LOCAL TOWN, PAKISTAN Agent-turned-terrorist ADRIEN BRODY surveys the torture site then proceeds to chew the scenery down to matchsticks. CHRIS EVANS and ANA DE ARMAS meet a contact of hers that she also used to sleep with. MARWAN KENZARI Despite all my inappropriate comments about our relationship, I have to admit the sexual chemistry between you guys is off the chart! ANA DE ARMAS Really? You should say that more so that the viewers believe it. Anyway, I’m leaving now to continue my mission. CHRIS EVANS is kidnapped by a couple of MCU CAMEOS and JOHN CHO. They all immediately die. ANA DE ARMAS saves him again. CHRIS EVANS What an absolutely Marvel-lous waste of time… INT: PLANE Having saved his life, ANA DE ARMAS now uses CHRIS EVANS as bait to catch ADRIEN BRODY and a bio-weapon called Aztec. It is never fully explained what this is. ADRIEN BRODY I have Aztec, but it’s in a suitcase and suitcases are notoriously impossible to open, so we need you to give us the passcode. CHRIS EVANS Yikes. At least I have my girlfriend to protect me. Oops! I mean– With their cover blown, they all fight on the plane. ANA DE ARMAS gets stabbed. Farmer/botanist/ agriculture historian CHRIS EVANS saves her by parachuting out of the plane. ANA DE ARMAS You saved me! And you have Aztec! And you treated my wound using your botanical knowledge! All is forgiven. Let’s kiss. CHRIS EVANS Yes! I knew I’d wear you down eventually. Plus OUR SEXUAL CHEMISTRY IS OFF THE CHART. INT: REVOLVING RESTAURANT CHRIS EVANS somehow works out that the passcode is based on the DNA of an ancient Aztec plant. Obviously. He goes undercover again. ADRIEN BRODY I want Aztec even though it’s still not really clear what it is exactly. ANA DE ARMAS arrives and a gunfight breaks out within the mechanism of the revolving restaurant, which is nowhere near as interesting as it sounds. Eventually ADRIEN BRODY is killed. CHRIS EVANS Phew. Now that’s over, do you want to come to mine for dinner? I promise not to act like a total creep this time! Probably. EXT: THEATRE, THREE MONTHS LATER CHRIS EVANS and ANA DE ARMAS somehow make time for each other between his book research and her perilous work as an international spy. CHRIS EVANS I’m so in love, I don’t even care that you have probably killed a dozen people today. ANA DE ARMAS Here’s hoping we get a sequel. Just remember, everyone, our sexual chemistry is off the chaFIN NEXT ISSUE: FAST X TF SAVES YOU THE COST OF A MOVIE EVERY MONTH. THIS ISSUE: GHOSTED 60 SECOND SCREENPLAY NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 20 JUL S P O I L E R ALERT! APPLE See page 40 for details SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND GET AN ALEXA PORTABLE SPEAKER WORTH £49.99

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