Tom Cruise is on the campaign trail
Friday, Sept. 18 — Happy Friday! Let’s get right down to business. Tom Cruise is doing press.
Long-form interviews are not something that Cruise really does – and if you look back at the track record, it’s not hard to see why! He seems far more measured than he has in the past here, but within the first few minutes of talking to GQ’s Zach Baron, he starts off with a couple of bangers, comparing himself to The Beatles (kind of fair, I think) and telling Baron that he does not, in fact, fear death.
But, what tickled me most about this interview was listening to Cruise find new ways to either A) make questions that were decidedly not about work about work, or B) turn the question around on Baron (Cruise eventually asks Baron if he fears death). This is the start of Cruise’s awards campaign for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film “Digger” (coming out Oct. 2), so we have plenty more sidestepping and redirecting to look forward to! But, while I’m aware that the Cruise that we’re getting is a very carefully manufactured one, I can’t help but wonder if talking about movies, especially in the way he does – with such reverence, in such an intensely grandiose way – is really the only way he can find it in himself to communicate with other human beings. Time will tell, and I will be watching this press tour closely.
Side note: I hope someone gets a better photoshoot out of him in the future. Do better, GQ! You can find the interview here.
Without further ado … Action!
🎞️ The American Black Film Festival Pop-Up Tour, which comes to Atlanta Oct. 24-25, has announced new programming, including a screening of “Brown Sugar” featuring Taye Diggs.
🍿 The Home Depot Backyard is hosting two movie screenings this weekend, with “ATL” tonight and “Space Jame’ tomorrow.
🎤 “American Idol” is reportedly moving to Georgia for production on its next season.
🎻 The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has added “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Matilda” to its Movies in Concert series for next year. Tickets go on sale today.
📽️ Composer Hans Zimmer’s tour “Hans Zimmer – The Next Level” will make a stop at State Farm Arena on March 16, 2027. General ticket sale starts Sept. 25.
✍️ With an endorsement from President Donald Trump, members of Congress have begun drafting legislation that would create a 20% federal film and television tax incentive.
🇵🇸 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to revoke the citizenship of two Israeli filmmakers over their documentary “NAZA” and its portrayal of the country’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza.
💼 According to The Dailies newsletter, a leaked report said that Paramount leaving California – something CEO David Ellison has threatened to do if the lawsuit against Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery succeeds – could cost the state 58,000 jobs.
🦁 The Venice Film Festival’s top prize, called The Golden Lion, went to May el-Toukhy’s film “Woman Unknown.”
📺 In case you missed it earlier this week, “Widow’s Bay” swept at the Emmys. Check out the full list of winners here.
This week’s newsletter includes an interview with director Raymond Creamer, and reviews of the new films “The Weight” and “Resident Evil.” Plus, what’s playing at theaters this week, a new edition of Spotlight, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
🧺 Join us at Oakland Cemetery to celebrate Historic Oakland Foundation’s 50th anniversary at the Golden Jubilee Picnic on Thurs., Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. Reserve your table for a once-in-a-lifetime evening at Oakland after dark. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Raymond Creamer on becoming a horror filmmaker with ‘Goody Goody’
🤰 Years ago, one of filmmaker Raymond Creamer’s family members decided to have a home birth. As anyone who has ever considered that possibility knows, if things don’t go as planned – if even a yellow flag arises during the birthing process – the midwife will make the decision to finish out the birth at a hospital.
Something about that scenario got the creative juices flowing in Creamer’s mind – what if it was imperative that you make it to the hospital, but you simply couldn’t leave?
Creamer’s feature directorial debut “Goody Goody,” which premieres on the horror streaming service Shudder on Sept. 18, takes this premise and runs with it. Goody (Samantha Robinson) and Jayson (Colby Hollman) desperately want to have their baby at home. But when things start to go wrong, and a snowstorm makes it impossible for them to get Goody to the hospital, their midwife, Sarah (Colleen Foy) starts to realize that this pregnancy is not a normal one – and the baby inside of Goody might not be human at all.
🌨️ Ahead of the film’s release, I spoke with Creamer about the film. Check out our conversation here.
Atlanta Food Culture Meets Comedy at Dad’s Garage
SPONSORED BY DAD’S GARAGE THEATER
🥘 Comedy-drama “The Bear“ won Emmys and Golden Globes for comedy, but Atlanta’s Dad’s Garage dares to delve into the question plaguing the minds of erudite television gourmands everywhere: what if “The Bear” actually was a comedy? Presenting: “SCANDAL! The Bare“—a lovingly absurd and spoofish take-off on the critically acclaimed television hit.
While the “SCANDAL!” format is a classic sight at the comedy theatre, no two seasons are the same and feature a unique story, cast, theme, and plot.
“The Bare“ is open now and runs through Nov. 6.
→ See what makes “SCANDAL! The Bare“ unique among Atlanta’s live performance experiences.
🧺 Join us at Oakland Cemetery to celebrate Historic Oakland Foundation’s 50th anniversary at the Golden Jubilee Picnic on Thurs., Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. Reserve your table for a once-in-a-lifetime evening at Oakland after dark.SPONSOR MESSAGE
Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ is a video game adaptation done right
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🦝 There is a moment early on in “Resident Evil” when Bryan (Austin Abrams) is on the run from his first zombie – but the chase isn’t taking him very far.
In this early sequence, Bryan, cornered up against a cop car by the bloody, screeching creature, panics and starts to frantically circle the car. The zombie gives chase, and the two run circles around the cop car for a bit longer than feels appropriate, until finally, the zombie tries a new tactic. It might seem silly, but that round-the-car chase solidifies that filmmaker Zach Cregger has a pretty good handle on not only how to adapt the “Resident Evil” video games, but how to adapt video games in general.
“Resident Evil” is full of moments like this, ones that succinctly capture the odd marriage of nail-biting tension and blundering silliness that make up the experience of first-person shooter and survival horror gaming. Cregger is able to avoid the pitfalls of most video game adaptations by finding the similarities between his own sensibilities as a filmmaker (he co-wrote the script with Shay Hatten) and what it is that makes video games so enjoyable. It’s his most straightforward film by far, but also a bloody disgusting good time.
🎮 Read my full review here.
‘The Weight’ is a straightforward, dependable thriller
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
💰 “The Weight” starts off quietly, with a wide shot on a picturesque country road. Birds are chirping, the dulcet tones of nature are humming, and all is peaceful. Until a car comes roaring into the scene.
This is Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke). He might be driving like he’s a bootlegger on the run, but he’s really just a big softie trying to show his young daughter Penny (Avy Berry) a good time. “I told you,” he growls playfully at her from the driver’s seat as she smiles with delight. “I ain’t never been caught, and I ain’t never gonna be caught!”
This is a bit ironically prophetic coming from Murphy – who, in just mere moments, will be arrested and sentenced to hard labor, leaving Penny behind. But the opening of “The Weight,” directed by Padraic McKinley with a screenplay from Matthew Booi and Shelby Gaines, is emblematic of the tone of the film as a whole – peace and quiet interrupted by quick action, and stillness permeated by the feeling that something very intense is about to happen. Much like Murphy, you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
⛰️ Read my full review here.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
💰 “The Weight”
🏥 “Resident Evil”
🐝 “ASALi: Power of the Pollinators”
🎭 “The Musical” (pictured)
👻 “If I Go Will They Miss Me”
🍎 “Bad Apples”
📱 “I Wanted to Hear Your Voice”
Special Events:
🤖 “The Transformers: The Movie” 40th Anniversary @ The Plaza (Friday-Monday)
🧃 Soul Cinema Sunday: “Juice” @ The Plaza (Sunday)
🌊 “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” in 35mm @ The Tara (Saturday-Tuesday)
Spotlight: Samantha Morton, ‘The Odyssey’
🐽 As a huge fan of Madeline Miller’s novel “Circe,” the way that Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” interpreted Circe’s section of Homer’s story was always going to be important to me. And on the page, Nolan’s depiction of Circe doesn’t go nearly as far as Miller’s in thinking about her life, her suffering, her joy.
But, Samantha Morton’s performance fills in those blanks.
Circe is an island sorceress who turns Odysseus’ crew into pigs when they happen upon her home. In Miller’s novel, she takes the time to wonder why a woman might feel compelled to do such a thing (an important question, I’d argue). Nolan doesn’t have much time to explore that question – Circe is just a small part of the film – but Morton has clearly explored it for herself. And it shows. As easily as she molds Odysseus’ men into swine, her features twist into anger, fear, triumph, sadness – there’s so much complication wrapped up in her few minutes of screen time.
One of the things I love about Morton’s Circe is that, for all her feeling, she is still quite scary. She is someone who has clearly suffered at the hands of men who have visited her island, but she is not a shrinking violet. The practicality of how she molds the men’s faces is one of the most striking visuals in the entire film, and her power – the way Morton dives in with no hesitation, her conviction that she is in the right so clear in that moment – is startling.
But that power is steeped in so much context. While Nolan is focused on Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) failings in this moment – what compelled his men to go visit Circe without him, the ways in which he has not been able to save them in the past – Morton’s performance creates such a rich tapestry of a lifetime of experience. There’s a confidence to her, one that I find kind of elating, all things considered. When Odysseus asks Circe if his men hurt her, she says no – but they could have. She is so assured in that moment, so staunch in her belief that it was only a matter of time. Even Odysseus, despite his understandable qualms, can’t really argue with her – he has seen the truth of her statement before, and is struck by her resoluteness.
Lights, Camera, Action!
💀 Andrew Scott is one of my favorite working actors, and has given some of what I consider to be the very best performances of the last several years (‘Blue Moon,” “All of Us Strangers”). I’m excited to see him getting such good reviews for his newest film, “Elsinore,” and I really enjoyed Alison Willmore’s review of the film, which you can read here.
😂 On a recent episode of his podcast “Cannonball,” Wesley Morris went long with Times’ comedy critic Jason Zinoman on how the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 changed the comedy landscape. You can listen here.
🎧 Danielle Brooks has a new movie coming out this weekend, and she also appeared on a recent episode of NPR’s “Fresh Air.” Brooks spoke with Terry Gross about her career, including why she was initially hesitant to take her break out role in the show “Orange is the New Black.”
🖊️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
