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adamwatchesmovies · 5 months
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
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We’ve come a long way from 2000’s Dungeons & Dragons. Not only in terms of special effects but also in terms of performances, storytelling and most importantly, fun. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a blast. There’s humor, memorable characters brought to life by a great cast and an energy that makes you feel like the people on-screen are part of your circle of friends. It truly captures the feeling of a session played with your buddies.
After escaping from prison, bard Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) and barbarian Holga Kilgore (Michelle Rodriguez) set out to find Edgin’s daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman). She’s been deceived into believing her father has abandoned her. To prove he was imprisoned for “the right reasons”, Edgin has to retrieve a Tablet of Reawakening - trying and failing to steal one is what landed him in prison. With the tablet, he can bring his late wife back to life and his family will truly be whole. The nearest tablet is in a vault in Neverwinter. To get it, Edgin and Holga need to assemble a team.
This film’s got a great cast. Some names, you’ll recognize. Some, you won’t. Hugh Grant plays Forge Fitzwilliam, an ambitious con artist/rogue, Bradley Cooper has a small role as Holga’s ex-husband and Justice Smith is Simon Aumar, a half-elf sorcerer whose magical skills… are hit-and-miss. You probably won't be familiar with Sophia Lillis, who plays Doric, a tiefling shapeshifter, but she'll have your attention after this. It’s a pretty steep competition for who wears this campaign the best but I’m going to hand the award not to the ever charismatic Chris Pine or to Hugh Grant (equally charming) but to Michelle Rodriguez. Most recently, we've been seeing her in the “Fast & Furious” films, where the theme of "family" is emphasized endlessly. What that franchise built over 10 films, “Honor Among Thieves” manages to do in one. Holga and Edgin are not romantically involved but she’s basically Kira’s surrogate mother. Although she never says how much the little girl means to her (that would be very un-barbarian-like), you feel it, particularly during the film’s conclusion. This movie makes you care about its characters effortlessly. Think about that. This movie has all sorts of races and half-races, wild monsters, crazy locations, spells and other things that make it as different from our world as possible. Yet, the characters feel like real people, the kind you’d be delighted to follow on another adventure once this one wraps up.
The screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley and Michael Gilio (the first two also serve as the picture’s directors) has an episodic feel. I mean that in a good way. For our heroes to accomplish their main quest, they have to complete a bunch of smaller side quests, each leading into the next while revealing a conspiracy brewing in Neverwinter. The stakes build atop each other as the team learns to work as a unit and their tactics become increasingly inventive. There are plenty of jokes along the way but the film still takes itself seriously. By this, I mean that “Dungeons & Dragons” doesn’t make fun of itself or its audience. The humor comes from the world and its citizens. To them, all of this is normal. A magical spell allowing you to talk to the dead is neat but not mind-blowing, so it’s easy to take for granted. If you or I got a hand on that spell, we’d be super careful not to waste it. Them? Nah.
We’ve seen many movies over the years that have felt like a long campaign someone played and thought was so great it deserved to be turned into a movie. Rarely have any of them felt like an adventure you wanted to be involved with. This quest? by the time it’s over, you’ll feel like you were part of the ride all along. As a heist movie, it’s great. As a comedy, it has laughs to spare. As a fantasy film, it's got cool creatures, engaging lore and a smart take on its mythology. At the box office, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" didn’t make nearly enough money to earn itself a sequel, which is a real shame. For now, I guess I’ll settle for the after-credit scene. (August 19, 2023)
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movie-titlecards · 3 months
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
My rating: 7/10
Very true to the actual TTRPG experience, while also being extremely entertaining to watch. Docking it half a star for the whole "walking fat joke dragon" thing, though, that was just... not great.
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vintagewarhol · 9 months
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stuff-diary · 1 year
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
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Movies watched in 2023
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023, USA/Canada)
Directors: Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley
Writers: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley & Michael Gilio (based on a story by Chris McKay & Michael Gilio)
Mini-review:
I hadn't seen such a fun, old-school fantasy adventure in a while. All the characters are charming and the story moves at brisk pace, so the viewer is never bored. Also, the cast has great chemistry and their rapport always feels natural. I love a good heist movie and, on top of that, if you add a complex, well-built fantasy world, it's even more enjoyable. To be honest, my knowledge of the D&D world is fairly limited, so I got a bit lost whenever they started mentioning races, classes, etc. Thankfully, there are not many moments like that, so everyone can enjoy the movie without worrying about not understanding what's going on.
On the technical side, the movie is very well-made. The costumes, the make-up, the sets and the CGI are all really good, and they help you immerse yourself in the movie's world and story. I think anyone who likes fantasy and adventure stories will enjoy this movie, so make sure to watch if you are that type person. Anyway, I would like to see more movies about these characters and their world, so I hope things turn out well in the box office.
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theuntitledblog · 1 year
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - REVIEW
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SYNOPSIS
A Bard, a Barbarian, a Sorceror and a Druid must team up and find a way to break into a castle to save the Bard's daughter from a treacherous Rogue and a powerful Wizard.
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It can be a great thing to be completely wrong about something and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is one of those very rare surprises that you just didn't expect at all. The first trailers did nothing to win me over; sure the visual effects looked impressive enough but everything else about it just screamed generic, throwaway fantasy of the likes of say Eragon. While Eragon remains a truly terrible cash-in, Dungeons & Dragons couldn't be far from that if it tried. Contrary to the special effects, huge Lord of the Rings-esque landscapes, magical creatures etc; Dungeons & Dragons greatest asset isn't the spectacle but rather its heart. This is a film that is very earnest and the writers (Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley and Michael Gilio) have put a lot thought and effort into characters who you are more than happy to just hang around with while on this adventure.
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It's an eclectic group of characters who all have different personalities and abilities that they bring to the table (much like in the game) but all are grounded by their respective personal and somewhat relatable demons. Justice Smith's Simon is a sorceror with self-esteem, confidence and performance issues, Michelle Rodriguez's Holga struggles with being outcast for marrying someone her family disapproved of while Chris Pine's Edgin grieves the loss of his wife and trying to manage with fatherhood. Yes there's a fantasy adventure for them all to go on and challenges for them to overcome but it is the amount of depth that they are given as characters that is the biggest surprise. A scene where Holga visits her ex-husband (Bradley Cooper) could've been played for just laughs but it's an incredibly tender scene and the subsequent exchange with Pine's Edgin afterwards that is memorable. Each character has a moment like that of sorts with perhaps Sophia Lillis's Doric receiving slightly less from a character perspective but even then she is no simply bystander. The main take away from this is that this is a film whose foundations are firmly rooted on characters that you are actually given a reason to care about and makes you invested.
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But of course what also helps the film is that it is just incredibly good fun and you get that sense from the opening and hilarious escape attempt from a barren and icy prison. Effortlessly blending the standard exposition with the type of humour that Chris Pine does so well, you know very early on you're in for a fun ride. The humour is neither mean spirited or seeks to mock but is playful and endearing with respect to the source material and those who play it with a graveyard interrogation scene a particular stand out for me. Pine and Rodriguez enjoy great chemistry in a platonic relationship but perhaps no-one appears to be enjoying themselves more on screen than Hugh Grant's treacherous Rogue; Forge Fitzwilliam. But it's Regé-Jean Page's Paladin Xenk Yendar who gracefully wanders into the film and steals it from everyone in the roughly 20 minutes he's in the film for. I could go and say more but sufficed to say, the greatest compliment I can pay Dungeons & Dragons is that it is the type of film you could watch over and again no matter what mood you're in.
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VERDICT
An unexpected triumph but a delightfully entertaining one at that. With a strong cast, likeable characters with plenty of depth and a genuine earnestness, Dungeons & Dragons is a blockbuster you will want to revisit again and again.
5/5
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cinesludge · 8 months
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Movie #73 of 2023: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
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screenzealots · 1 year
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"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"
An irresistible fantasy adventure has a healthy dose of good humor, playful charm, and is easily accessible to all who love imaginary worlds filled with wizards, sorcerers, warlocks, knights, and fire-breathing dragons.
Based on the legendary role-playing game, “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is nothing like what I anticipated and much better than I expected. This irresistible fantasy adventure has a healthy dose of good humor, playful charm, and is easily accessible to all who love imaginary worlds filled with wizards, sorcerers, warlocks, knights, and fire-breathing dragons. Charismatic thief Edgin…
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"Dungeons And Dragons: Ehre unter Dieben": Neuer Trailer online
Im Verleih von Paramount Pictures Germany kommt bald der Film “Dungeons And Dragons: Ehre unter Dieben” in die Kinos. Dazu gibt es auch einen neuen Trailer, den ihr weiter unten sehen könnt. Paramount Pictures präsentiert den Film in Zusammenarbeit mit eOne. Es ist ein Film von Jonathan Goldstein und John Francis Daley, die auch Regie führten. Das Drehbuch schreiben ebenfalls die beiden sowie…
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cultfaction · 6 months
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Dark Harvest is out now!
Directed By David Slade, with a screenplay by Michael Gilio (based on the novel by Norman Partridge), Dark Harvest takes place in a cursed town, where the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town’s children. Groups of boys unite to defeat the murderous scarecrow before midnight.…
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milliondollarbaby87 · 8 months
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023) Review
Edgin is a rather charming thief who together with a rather misfitted group of unlikely adventurers must head on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, obviously nothing goes to plan! ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Untitled
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miravayl · 10 months
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28.06.2023
#Mira-Marathon | Hasbro
Film Name: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023); Production studios: Paramount Pictures, Entertainment One, Hasbro Studios, Hasbro, AFFC, Northern Ireland Screen, Allspark Pictures, British Film Commission, Film In Iceland; Director by: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein; Screenwriters: Chris McKay, Michael Gilio; Starring: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant; Genres: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Comedy; Running Time: 2 hours, 14 minutes;
"Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" is an exciting adventure film of 2023, a well-known tabletop role-playing game. This is an uplifting and fun movie about a group of adventurers in search of a missing artifact.
My rating: 9/10
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pinesource · 1 year
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You joined Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in December 2020 and filmed Spring and Summer 2021. What was it about this big-budget film that drew you in? I respected the guys, [directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley]. I liked the story [by Chris McKay and Michael Gilio]. I knew this character played to some strengths that I have. And knowing I was going to work opposite Michelle Rodriguez was exciting. And so in terms of how it’s going to be perceived, I have definitely learned after my time doing bigger budget things you can’t control that.
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stewblog · 1 year
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
I’ll just cut right to the chase. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has a real shot at being one of my favorite movies of the year. It almost certainly won’t be an awards contender and no one’s likely expecting this to break box office records. But as a work of pure entertainment? A high bar has been set for the rest of 2023 to try and clear.
There was reason to think otherwise, however. High fantasy films both before and after The Lord of the Rings have largely been underwhelming duds. The genre is difficult to truly nail, but co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (along with their co-writer Michael Gilio) have managed to channel everything fun, fanciful and fantastic (in the older sense of the word) about swords and sorcery into a rocket-propelled adventure that satisfies at nearly every turn.
And if you’re completely new to the realm of D&D and have no idea what a displacer beast is, can’t point out where Neverwinter is on a map, or know the difference between magic missile and mage hand, fear not! Honor Among Thieves does a fantastic job of introducing the audience to this world and its inhabitants.
Guiding us through this adventure is Edgin (Chris Pine), a bard and thief who pals around with Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a barbarian warrior exiled from her people. They’ve broken out of prison and are scheming a way to rescue Edgin’s daughter and get payback on the man who stabbed them in the back during a theft that went horribly wrong. To do it, they’ll need the help of a struggling wizard, Simon (Justice Smith), a shapeshifter, Doric (Sophia Lillis) and paladin Xenk (Rege’-Jean Page). As you can probably guess, what they see as a very straightforward mission at the start becomes something much more dangerous and complicated the deeper into it they get.
The particulars of the plot aren’t terribly interesting and feel like a fairly standard setup at play if it was a Saturday night and you’re sitting at a kitchen table with some friends, rolling a D20 and waiting for your older brother to further unfurl his scenario as Dungeon Master. What makes Honor Among Thieves such a cracking good time at the movies is the playful spirit Daley and Goldstein infuse into the proceedings, the superlative chemistry among the cast and a script that delivers a very precise balance of humor, pathos and swashbuckling adventure.
Part of why this movie had my audience eating out of the palm of its hand was due largely to how funny it is. There’s an abundance of laughs to be had with sarcasm and one-liners to spare, though it blessedly avoids that Joss Whedonesque trap of simply making everyone a snark-machine that fires off identical-sounding quips at the drop of a hat. The members of our heroic quartet each react to the escalating escapade with humor at various moments, but it all feels organic to who they are. These characters are all archetypes (each a literal class you can choose in the tabletop game), but the script never treats them specifically as such. We’re given ample backstory, but never so much as to bog down the proceedings. Each gets their time to shine. Page deftly steals his scenes by being charmingly dense. Smith and Lillis are new to my eyes but keep up with the veterans. And this may be the most fun I’ve seen Rodriguez have since the first Fast & Furious movie.
But even as well-balanced as the party is, it’s safe to say that this is Chris Pine’s show. I’ve been a fan of Pine’s since he pitch-perfectly played a slack-jawed yokel assassin in the schizophrenic action flick Smokin’ Aces. It was clear then that he had a wicked comedic sense and he was unafraid to bury himself in a character. But he was also burdened with leading man looks, which of course only confuses Hollywood producers who seem incapable of letting pretty people do wild and weird things. (See also: Pitt, Brad.) The joy of Honor Among Thieves is that it perfectly splits the difference for Pine. He’s certainly a capable leading man, but his role as Edgin finds the perfect balance between his strengths as a character actor and his leading man charm.
I can’t stress enough, though, just how fun this is. The villains are villainous. The heroes are (mostly) scoundrels with hearts of gold. There are no existential moral conflicts at play. It’s just a good old-fashioned magic-fueled romp with high (but not world-ending) stakes and a healthy dose of heart. And, perhaps most importantly for a high-fantasy flick, it doesn’t skimp on the stuff you want to see. Dragons. Black magic. Danger-filled caves. Mythical beasties of all stripes. A deadly maze. Mimic chests. Gelatinous cubes. It’s all here. A movie of this pedigree demands these elements show up in excess and Honor Among Thieves delivers.
I hope these early screenings are a sign that Paramount Pictures knows how great this movie is and they’re trying to build as much positive word of mouth as possible. I want sequels. As many as I can get. This was a delight from end to end and if nothing else, I’m happy with that.
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remedialreviews · 1 month
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Remedial Rewards 2023
I didn't follow the Academy Awards at all this year, though of course I watched Ryan Gosling's performance of "I'm Just Ken" afterwards. I hardly know or care who was nominated, and was devastated to learn that my worst picture of the year came away with 7 trophies. Truly, these are the Remedial Rewards! In no particular order, then, the winners in my esteem (from 42 watched pictures) are:
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Best Picture
Monster
Godzilla Minus One
Past Lives
Perfect Days
Evil Does Not Exist
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Best Director
Hirokazu Kore-eda - Monster
Takashi Yamazaki - Godzilla Minus One
Wim Wenders - Perfect Days
Celine Song - Past Lives
Ryuske Hamaguchi - Evil Does Not Exist
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Best Lead Actor
Kōji Yakusho - Perfect Days
Ryunosuke Kamiki - Godzilla Minus One
Hitoshi Omika - Evil Does Not Exist
Greta Lee - Past Lives
Cailee Spaeny - Priscilla
Sophie Wilde - Talk to Me
Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers
Emma Stone - Poor Things
Jun Jong-seo - Ballerina
Soya Kurokawa - Monster
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Best Supporting Actor
Hinata Hiiragi - Monster
Kuranosuke Sasaki - Godzilla Minus One
Robert Pattinson - The Boy and the Heron
Teo Yoo - Past Lives
Minami Hamabe - Godzilla Minus One
Sakura Ando - Monster
Eita Nagayama - Monster
John Magaro - Past Lives
Arisa Nakano - Perfect Days
Hidetaka Yoshioka - Godzilla Minus One
Best Adapted Screenplay
Takashi Yamazaki - Godzilla Minus One
James Gunn - Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3
Sofia Coppola - Priscilla
Robert L. Baird, Lloyd Taylor, Troy Quane, Pamela Ribon, Keith Bunin, Marc Haimes, Nick Bruno - Nimona
John Francis Daley, Chris McKay, Michael Gilio, Jonathan Goldstein - Dungeons & Dragons
Best Original Screenplay
Yuji Sakamoto - Monster
Wim Wenders, Takuma Takasaki - Perfect Days
Celine Song - Past Lives
Ryuske Hamaguchi - Evil Does Not Exist
David Hemingson - The Holdovers*
*Pending its plagiarism case
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Best Production Design
Suzie Davies - Saltburn
Anri Jojo - Godzilla Minus One
Masato Nunobe - Evil Does Not Exist
Andrés Villagrán - El Conde
Tamara Deverell - Priscilla
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Best Cinematography
Linus Sandgren - Saltburn
Yoshio Kitagawa - Evil Does Not Exist
Łukasz Żal - The Zone of Interest
Franz Lustig - Perfect Days
Atsushi Okui - The Boy and the Heron
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Best Costume Design
Sophie Canale - Saltburn
Evil Does Not Exist
Wendy Chuck - The Holdovers
Thierry Delettre - The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan
Stacey Battat - Priscilla
Best Film Editing
Hirokazu Kore-eda - Monster
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Azusa Yamazaki - Evil Does Not Exist
Clémentine Decremps, Toni Froschhammer - Perfect Days
Paul Watts, Andreas D. Nold - The Zone of Interest
Ryuji Miyajima - Godzilla Minus One
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Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Priscilla
Saltburn
Evil Does Not Exist
Barbie
Bottoms
Best Sound
The Zone of Interest
Godzilla Minus One
Evil Does Not Exist
The Boy and the Heron
A Haunting in Venice
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Best Visual Effects
Godzilla Minus One
Dungeons & Dragons
Barbie
Salaar: Part 1 - Ceasefire
Best Original Score
Eiko Ishibashi - Evil Does Not Exist
Naoki Sato - Godzilla Minus One
Joe Hisaishi - The Boy and the Heron
Ravi Basrur - Salaar: Part 1 - Ceasefire
RADWIMPS, Kazima Jinnouchi - Suzume
Best Original Song
I'm Just Ken (Barbie)
Kanata Haruka (Suzume)
Prathi Gaadhalo (Salaar: Part 1 - Ceasefire)
Dance the Night (Barbie)
The Ballad of Lucy Gray Baird (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes)
Best Stunts
John Wick Chapter 4
Salaar: Part 1 - Ceasefire
Godzilla Minus One
Dungeons & Dragons
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3
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fearsmagazine · 1 year
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | New “Meet the Characters” Featurette.
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.  Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure.
Directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and Michael Gilio, based on HASBRO’S DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and staring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head and Hugh Grant.
The journey begins in theaters on March 31st, 2023, from Paramount Pictures.
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mediamixs · 7 months
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Dark Harvest: David Slade's new horror film
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Dark Harvest is an upcoming American fantasy horror film directed by David Slade and written by Michael Gilio, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Norman Partridge. The movie is set in a cursed town where the annual harvest becomes a brutal battle for survival. On Halloween 1963, Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, rises from the cornfields, threatening the town’s children. Groups of boys unite to defeat the murderous scarecrow before midnight. Richie, a rebellious outcast, joins the run, motivated by his brother’s previous victory. As the hunt progresses, Richie makes a shocking discovery and faces a pivotal choice to break the relentless cycle. The movie stars Casey Likes, E'myri Crutchfield, Dustin Ceithamer, Elizabeth Reaser, and Jeremy Davies. The film was previously rated R for “Strong horror violence and gore, language throughout, and brief drug use . The movie is set to release in theaters for one night only at Alamo Drafthouse Theaters on October 11, 2023, before heading to digital on Friday, October 13, 2023. The trailer of the movie shows two teens fighting a sinister monster called Sawtooth Jack.
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Dark Harvest is a novel written by Will Jordan, also known as The Critical Drinker, a popular YouTuber famous for his savage critiques of bad movies. The book has received positive reviews, with readers praising its fun and intense storytelling and the author's ability to weave military action and a historical event with an air of mystery. The story is set in a world where a deadly virus has turned people into zombies, and a group of survivors must navigate a post-apocalyptic landscape to find safety. The novel showcases The Critical Drinker's talent for writing, proving that he knows what he's doing and can throw curveballs when needed.
The story is about Sawtooth Jack, a terrifying legend, emerges from the cornfields on Halloween night, threatening an entire town. As several young people band together to defeat the chilling figure before midnight, an outcast teenager discovers what he could be.
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